New Mexico middle-schooler Augie Hobble grapples with adolescence, paranormal mysteries, an overdue Creative Arts project, and heartbreaking loss while working in his father's theme park, Fairy Tale Place.
Augie Hobble lives in a fairy tale—or at least Fairy Tale Place, the down-on-its-luck amusement park managed by his father. Yet his life is turning into a nightmare: he's failed creative arts and has to take summer school, the girl he has a crush on won't acknowledge him, and Hogg Wills and the school bullies won't leave him alone. Worse, a succession of mysterious, possibly paranormal, events have him convinced that he's turning into a werewolf. At least Augie has his notebook and his best friend Britt to confide in—until the unthinkable happens and Augie's life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal, events take on a different meaning.
Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal When a young boy embarks on a journey alone . . . he trails a colony of penguins, undulates in a smack of jellyfish, clasps hands with a constellation of stars, naps for a night in a bed of clams, and follows a trail of shells, home to his tribe of friends. If Lane Smith's Caldecott Honor Book Grandpa Green was an homage to aging and the end of life, There Is a Tribe of Kids is a meditation on childhood and life's beginning. Smith's vibrant sponge-paint illustrations and use of unusual collective nouns such as smack and unkindness bring the book to life. Whimsical, expressive, and perfectly paced, this story plays with language as much as it embodies imagination, and was awarded the 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal. This title has Common Core connections.
Micah's grandfather is gravely ill. He tells his grandson about a mysterious magic circus he visited as a boy, where he was promised a miracle by a man who can bend light. Micah is determined to find out the truth of the Circus Mirandus before it's too late, but he'll have to wrestle with giant white tigers - and his wicked aunt - along the way.
A wry exchange between an IT-savvy donkey, a book-loving ape and a mouse forms this very funny picture book that's perfect for both digital natives and book lovers. With a subversive and signature Lane Smith twist, this satisfying and perfectly executed picture book has something to say to children and adults alike about the importance and joy of reading.It's a Book is another bold and funny story from the creator of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal-winning There Is a Tribe of Kids, Lane Smith.
Download the first chapters of FOUR fantastic middle-grade books! This chapter sampler includes excerpts from Moone Boy: The Blunder Years by Chris O'Dowd and Nick Murphy; From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot; Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith; and The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.Visit MacKids.com to find out more about these great new middle-grade reads!
The companion title to It's a Book, now in nappies! A playful exchange between an uninformed young donkey and a book-loving young ape brings Lane Smith's bestselling It's a Book to an even younger audience. This fun and satisfying board book is perfect for small hands, so now the message about the joy of reading can be shared with toddlers too.