Very Droopy Honey Bear is so sad that he can’t see beyond the table on which he sits. It takes the positive attitude of his friend Very Smiley Honey Bear and two children to help him see, feel, hear, and touch the good and the loveliness around him. Your young reader will learn about empathy. Look for shapes, colors, and surprises hidden in this simple reader.
The Very Droopy Honey Bear and friends are back. The group decides to take a “Duck Walk” in the neighborhood. On their adventure, they have fun on the playground, honk at the geese blocking traffic, and find the “Grampy Tree” near the lake. The children and bears discover who Grampy is, and they enjoy their customary cup of hot tea and honey. Through dialogue and illustration, The Very Droopy Honey Bear: Takes a Duck Walk tells the story of friends who gently introduce the use of non-gender pronouns.
Limericks or quintillas cómicas have a rhythm that make them accessible to children of all ages. They are easy to say or sing in both English and Spanish, and they’re even more fun when done together. Many of these silly poems came as a result of listening to students in diverse Fairfax County, where I now work as a substitute teacher.
The Very Droopy Honey Bear and friends return to the playground. They notice a little girl sitting aside in a wheelchair. She cannot play because there is no access, nor adaptive equipment. Outraged, the friends recruit other neighborhood kids to plan and present a proposal to the adult homeowners’ committee. The children learn about the ADA. The adults learn that children can organize for the greater good. Young readers are encouraged to look for pertinent words from the Glossary, which are embedded in the text. ABC hints are provided on each page.
This work covers ninety years of animation from James Stuart Blackton's 1906 short Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, in which astonished viewers saw a hand draw faces that moved and changed, to Anastasia, Don Bluth's 1997 feature-length challenge to the Walt Disney animation empire. Readers will come across such characters as the Animaniacs, Woody Woodpecker, Will Vinton's inventive Claymation figures (including Mark Twain as well as the California Raisins), and the Beatles trying to save the happy kingdom of Pepperland from the Blue Meanies in Yellow Submarine (1968). Part One covers 180 animated feature films. Part Two identifies feature films that have animation sequences and provides details thereof. Part Three covers over 1,500 animated shorts. All entries offer basic data, credits, brief synopsis, production information, and notes where available. An appendix covers the major animation studios.
The school year’s almost over, and Madison, Park, and Lexington Hamilton are ready to trade in their Birkin bags for bikinis. But before vacation comes work, and the triplets have plenty of it. Cleopatra, the newest, hottest, and most expensive club in Manhattan, is opening–and it just happens to also be Hamilton Holdings’ latest business venture. The girls must throw the party to end all parties. But this is one opening the sisters won’t soon forget. Before the night ends, the body of a classmate is found with a bloody wound on the side of his head. At first glance, the case appears to be open-and-shut. But the girls smell trouble. They know the murderer is still out there, and they’re willing to bet their sizable inheritance that the police won’t be able to unravel the mystery. Murder is so out, but until this crime is solved, it’s arrivederci Italia. And the Hamilton sisters simply won’t accept that as an option.
