This is the perfect book for bedtime reading. Beautifully illustrated. Children go to sleep with a vision of friendship, love, and freedom. By the end, children snuggle cozily in their bed. A favorite for parents and teachers to read to their child or class. Great for beginning readers: The pictures and rhymes are clues to the text. Teachers report it's a big hit in their classrooms, generating laughter and joy, setting a positive caring tone.
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Bill O'Reilly and James Patterson together present a beautifully illustrated, instantly classic picture book that celebrates the magic of the word "Please" for our children. In this inspired collaboration, bestselling authors Bill O'Reilly and James Patterson remind us all that a single word -- "Please?" -- is useful in a thousand different ways. From finding a lovable stray dog to needing a partner on a seesaw, from reading a bedtime story to really, really needing a cookie, Give Please a Chance depicts scenes and situations in which one small word can move mountains. With a vivid array of illustrations by seventeen different artists, this charming, helpful book is a fun and memorable way for children to learn the magic power of one simple word: please.
Teens really do want to make a difference, but sometimes their attitudes get in the way! Today’s teens are faced with some big issues, and their attitudes can sometimes create even more struggles for their own lives and those around them. But best-selling author Max Lucado wants to teach teens that life is a gift and that gratitude is critical. With a little perspective, teens will see that God can help them overcome their ungrateful days, their stressed-out days, and even their catastrophic days. Life is not going to be perfect. When teens understand that and realize that God is their constant source of support, help, and blessings, even the difficult days can be faced with a cheerful spirit. Make Every Day Count shows readers how to deal with each day—no matter what it throws at them. Real-life teen stories, biblical accounts, and inspiring “Daylifters” encourage teens to make each day count for God. A study guide at the back of the book makes this a perfect choice for individual or group study.
From the author-illustrator of Children's Choice Book Award Winner I'm Trying to Love Spiders: a plea to please give bees a chance! Not sure whether to high-five bees or run away from them? Well, maybe you shouldn't high-five them, but you definitely don't have to run away from them. Give Bees a Chance is for anyone who doesn't quite appreciate how extra special and important bees are to the world, and even to humankind! Besides making yummy honey, they help plants grow fruits and vegetables. And most bees wouldn't hurt a fly (unless it was in self-defense!). Bethany Barton's interactive cartoon-style illustrations and hilarious narrator mean this book is full of facts and fun. With bees officially on the endangered animals list, it's more important now than ever to get on board with our flying, honey-making friends!
Living in poverty is a day-to-day survival of the fittest. It's difficult for children to understand how to maneuver each day, especially if their parents are unsure of how to manage their limited resources and sometimes lack the necessary skills to cope with the mental and physical challenges that poverty presents. Children oftentimes are grossly affected by poverty. Many are hungry, lack needed resources such as school supplies, and do not get the proper treatment for health related matters. These kids go to school every day and are shunned by their peers and school personnel who may treat them badly simply because of their socio-economic status in which they had no control over. Sometimes, they have little to no parent support and are required to perform at the same academic level of other students who have all they need to succeed. Hungry and embarrassed, they try to hide themselves so as not to be noticed by sleeping in class, acting out, or simply dropping out. Thus, the cycle of poverty continues. This book looks at poverty through the eyes of a child who is living it every day, all while facing challenges of his own to help his little brother maneuver the cycle while dealing with a mom who does not know how to cope. He has challenges in school until he meets his new fourth grade teacher. All he asks is to give him and his brother a chance. He defines that poverty does not mean that you are ignorant and incapable of being successful. It means that you lack some of the human, physical, and material resources to be successful. His circumstance changed when he meets his guardian angel in fourth grade.
A stirring account of courage, hope, and victory, A Chance in the World is the extraordinary story of what is possible when you dare to believe. "Home is the place where our life stories begin. It is where we are understood, embraced, and accepted. It is a sanctuary of safety and security, a place to which we can always return. Down in the dank basement, amidst my moldy, hoarded food and beloved worm-eaten books, I dreamed that my real home, the place where my story had begun, was out there somewhere, and one day I was going to find it." Taken from his mother at age three, Steve Klakowicz lives a terrifying existence. Caught in the clutches of a cruel foster family and subjected to constant abuse, he finds his only refuge in a box of books gifted to him by a kind stranger. In these books, he discovers new worlds he can only imagine and gains hope that one day he might have a different life, that one day he will find his true home. Armed with just a single clue, Steve embarks on an extraordinary quest for his identity, only to find that nothing is as it appears. A Chance in the World is the unbelievable true story of a broken boy destined to become a man of resilience, determination, and vision. Through it all, Steve's story teaches us that no matter how broken our past, we have it in us to create a new beginning and to build a new place, where love awaits.
The #1 New York Times bestseller from “one of America’s most hilarious and provocative writers . . . a volatile brew of one-liners and vitriol” (Time). Renowned for his cranky conservative humor, P. J. O’Rourke runs hilariously amok in this book, tackling the death of communism; his frustration with sanctimonious liberals; and Saddam Hussein in a series of classic dispatches from his coverage of the 1991 Gulf War. On Kuwait City after the war, he comments, “It looked like all the worst rock bands in the world had stayed there at the same time.” On Saddam Hussein, O’Rourke muses: “He’s got chemical weapons filled with . . . with . . . chemicals. Maybe he’s got The Bomb. And missiles that can reach Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Spokane. Stock up on nonperishable foodstuffs. Grab those Diet Coke cans you were supposed to take to the recycling center and fill them with home heating oil. Bury the Hummel figurines in the yard. We’re all going to die. Details at eleven.” And on the plague of celebrity culture, he notes: “You can’t shame or humiliate modern celebrities. What used to be called shame and humiliation is now called publicity.” Mordant and utterly irreverent, this is a modern classic from one of our great political satirists, described by Christopher Buckley as being “like S. J. Perelman on acid.” “Mocking on the surface but serious beneath . . . When it comes to scouting the world for world-class absurdities, O’Rourke is the right man for the job.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “The funniest writer in America.” —The Wall Street Journal
2014 Christy Award winner! Darek Christiansen is almost a dream bachelor—oldest son in the large Christiansen clan, heir to their historic Evergreen Lake Resort, and doting father. But he’s also wounded and angry since the tragic death of his wife, Felicity. No woman in Deep Haven dares come near. New assistant county attorney Ivy Madison simply doesn’t know any better when she bids on Darek at the charity auction. Nor does she know that when she crafted a plea bargain three years ago to keep Jensen Atwood out of jail and in Deep Haven fulfilling community service, she was releasing the man responsible for Felicity’s death. All Ivy knows is that the Christiansens feel like the family she’s always longed for. And once she gets past Darek’s tough exterior, she finds a man she could spend the rest of her life with. Which scares her almost as much as Darek learning of her involvement in his wife’s case. Caught between new love and old grudges, Darek must decide if he can set aside the past for a future with Ivy—a future more and more at risk as an approaching wildfire threatens to wipe out the Christiansen resort and Deep Haven itself.
When baker Penelope Quinn steps in to help her brother’s family through a medical crisis, she’s forced into close proximity with charming Air Force fighter pilot Eli Price. Penelope has one iron-clad dating rule—she does not date airmen. Months ago, she relaxed her rule with Eli and immediately lived to regret it. After a long deployment, he’s now back in Misty River and, to her dismay, she finds him just as tempting as always. Eli’s spent months thinking about funny, feisty, creative Penelope. He once leveraged his focus and drive to become a pilot, his childhood dream. Now he's set on leveraging that same focus and drive in order to convince Penelope to give him one more chance. This romantic prequel novella introduces readers to the quaint mountain town of Misty River and a brand-new series from Christy-winning author Becky Wade!
Managing life with a disability is tough for a child, the parents, siblings, and for the child’s teacher and classmates. Every person, disabled or not, wants to be happy, loved, and respected. They want to be accepted. Parents also desire these same things for their child. But, often, society doesn’t accept people with disabilities. In Give Me a Chance, author Janis Gilbert offers insight into the world of the disabled. Based on her professional experiences as a special education teacher and a mother of two sons with life challenges, she shares what she’s learned. This guide: gives an overview of disabilities, defining what they are, how they’re acquired, and provides statistics about disabilities in the United States; looks at well-known people with various disabilities and how disabilities have been portrayed in popular culture through movies; covers the history of the treatment of people with disabilities and how it’s changed throughout the years; examines diagnosis and treatment of disabilities and challenges associated with this work, including shortages of resources; gives insight into aspects of life for people with disabilities including family and social relationships, education, employment, transportation, housing, and others; and discusses caregiving, advocacy, community support services through governmental and nonprofit agencies, and planning for the time when parental caregivers are gone. Give Me a Chance provides an understanding of disabilities and the complex issues people with disabilities and their caregivers face every day and suggests ways we can make a person’s life better and more fulfilling.
