Featuring David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life. In "The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck," three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In "Hello Kitty," a cynical feline struggles to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings. In "The Squirrel and the Chipmunk," a pair of star-crossed lovers is separated by prejudiced family members. With original illustrations by Ian Falconer, author of the bestselling Olivia series of children's books, these stories are David Sedaris at his most observant, poignant, and surprising.

More clever science experiments, funny jokes, and robot hijinks await readers in book four of the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein chapter book series from the mad scientist team of Jon Scieszka and Brian Biggs. The perfect combination to engage and entertain readers, the series features real science facts with adventure and humor, making these books ideal for STEM education. This latest installment examines the quest to unlock the power behind the science of “all connected life.” Kid-genius and inventor Frank Einstein loves figuring out how the world works by creating household contraptions that are part science, part imagination, and definitely unusual. In the series opener, an uneventful experiment in his garage-lab, a lightning storm, and a flash of electricity bring Frank’s inventions—the robots Klink and Klank—to life! Not exactly the ideal lab partners, the wisecracking Klink and the overly expressive Klank nonetheless help Frank attempt to perfect his inventions. In the fourth book in the series, Frank—along with his best friend, Watson, and Klink and Klank—once again finds himself in competition with his classmate and archrival T. Edison and his sign-language-speaking sidekick, Mr. Chimp, over Frank’s newest invention: the EvoBlaster Belt, which allows the user to evolve and devolve into other forms of life, blasting from one species to another. Integrating real science facts with wacky humor, a silly cast of characters, and science fiction, this uniquely engaging series is an irresistible chemical reaction for middle-grade readers. With easy-to-read language and graphic illustrations on almost every page, this chapter book series is a must for reluctant readers. The Frank Einstein series encourages middle-grade readers to question the way things work and to discover how they, too, can experiment with science. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews raves, “This buoyant, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the impulse to ‘keep asking questions and finding your own answers’ fires on all cylinders,” while Publishers Weekly says that the series “proves that science can be as fun as it is important and useful.” Read all the books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein series: Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Book 1), Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger (Book 2), Frank Einstein and the BrainTurbo (Book 3), and Frank Einstein and the EvoBlaster Belt (Book 4). Visit frankeinsteinbooks.com for more information.

I want to be a completely different kind of teenager. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to make that happen. When my bubbly, outgoing best friend suggests a Junior Year Wish List of goals, bookish me reluctantly agrees. Now I have barely ten months to meet all five goals that will transform me from a bookworm to a butterfly.Most seventeen year olds don't have bucket lists, but me, Katie O'Connell does--a Wish List actually. Because I long to be someone new, the kind of girl you take notice of and remember. Someone who isn't just a part of the background. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to make that happen, but my outspoken best friend does: a Junior Year Wish List of goals, starting with earning a role in the senior play, and my bookish self reluctantly agrees. Now I have barely ten months to meet all five goals that will transform me from a bookworm to a butterfly. Wish List in hand, I’m going to need to pull my motley crew of dramatic friends closer for support to launch my Junior Year with a fresh (somewhat anxious) attitude. That is, until the boy who was my first childhood friend, the boy who disappeared right before my tenth birthday, shows up on the first day of school throwing my quiet life into an emotional tailspin. His surprise reappearance will start my junior year with more questions than answers. Why did he leave? Where has he been all this time? Can friendships last after a seven-year break? Is achieving my Wish List even possible now? Most importantly, will he be the one to make Wish Number Five a reality?

A myth describing the origin of the land crab found in the southern slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, India. Retold in a humorous vein for increased pleasure of the readers.A folk tale and myth which explains the origin of the land crab found in Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, India. It is retold in a lighter vein to enhance readers' experience. The story revolves around a Jackal, a Crow and the uncommon Land Crab. This story is part of folklore and mytholology of the Khasi ethnic race which include the Khynriam, Pnar, Vaar, Bhooi, Maharam and Lyngngam ethnic groups.

The leap from an extra to a leading lady can't be that difficult. Can it? Kelly Ferguson believes it's more of a skip than a leap and is determined to show her co-workers her destiny lies beyond secretarial work in Manchester. The start - extra work in an opera.Kelly’s life is, in her own words, boring. As a child, she envisaged setting the world on fire, be famous. One day she reads an advertisement: Local extras needed to take part as slaves in the forthcoming production of Verdi’s Aida at the Opera House. The sounds of paparazzi cameras clicking, popping champagne corks, shouts to her on red carpet events, these treats, and more, beckoned. Kelly’s ticket to riches was how she saw the advertisement. She would be discovered; her kismet, a star on Broadway. Is Kelly’s life destined to rocket into a new stratosphere? Read: A Night in the Life of an Extra to find out.

It seems no mother of a newborn has ever been more hilarious, more honest, or more touching than Ann Lamott is in OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. A single parent whose baby's father is out of the picture, Lamott struggles not only to support her little family by her wits and her writing, but to stay sober at the same time. Faith in God helps; so does her loyal band of helpers, from her childless best friend Pammy to her mother and "Aunt Dudu" to the folks at the La Leche League hotline. And between colic, wheat-free diets, and the triumph of solid food, Lamott learns that blessings and losses come together, and that as our capacity for joy increases, so does our capacity for grief. "An enormous triumph . . . Charming . . . Powerful . . . A gracious book, with dozens of lovingly drawn characters and a deep, infectious religiosity throughout. It is also funny." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Smart, funny and comforting . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review From the Trade Paperback edition.

Sharply observed and brilliantly plotted, Stars and Bars is an uproarious portrait of culture clash deep in the heart of the American South, by one of contemporary literature’s most imaginative novelists. A recent transfer to Manhattan has inspired art assessor Henderson Dores to shed his British reserve and aspire to the impulsive and breezy nature of Americans. But when Loomis Gage, an eccentric millionaire, invites him to appraise his small collection of Impressionist paintings, Dores's plans quite literally go south. Stranded at a remote mansion in the Georgia countryside, Dores is received by the bizarre Gage family with Anglophobic slurs, nausea-inducing food, ludicrous death threats, and a menacing face off with competing art dealers. By the time he manages to sneak back to New York City–sporting only a cardboard box–Henderson Dores realizes he is fast on the way to becoming a naturalized citizen. From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the aftermath of HG Wells Martian invasion, to the sad fate of the universe's last Platitudeypus this brief selection of short stories includes giggles, murder, vinyl records and a peculiar solution for unemployment.Reporter Nadia Maverick takes an adventure through the underbelly of her town where she discovers that even the criminal life she had been reporting on isn't quite like it seemed. Things turn bad for Nadia when in the middle of an investigation the tables are turned and she becomes the one under the watchful eye of Mr. A. Everyone becomes a suspect when Nadia turns up missing.Who will be there to set her free?Read and see.

A fairytale and social story for parents about autism and social communication.Princess Gladys is the light of her father's life and the apple of his eye, but parenting turns out to be far more complicated than King Sidney could ever have imagined. Left alone to care for Gladys following the death of her mother in childbirth, the kindly old King finds himself increasingly baffled by his daughter's unusual and often challenging behaviour. When he seeks the help of the Royal Physician, Dr Otto Von Blotto, things go from bad to worse... The Princess and the Peas is a short fairytale about Autism and social communication. Unusually for a fairytale, King Sidney's journey toward understanding his daughter is perhaps more relevant to the parent reader than it is to the child listening in.

The fourth story in the Lost Forest series sees life in the forest being as unpredictable as ever...Once there was a time when after breakfast there was nothing... except the stork being chased, a tiger falling from the sky, tree monkeys discussing tea... A tiger falling from the sky? "I am Typhon-the-Tiger, the last of the great Greek Tigers". Not so much an adventure as a series of discoveries.The fourth story in the Lost Forest series sees life in the forest being as unpredictable as ever...Once there was a time when after breakfast there was nothing... Nothing except the stork being chased, nothing except a tiger falling from the sky, nothing except two tree monkeys discussing tea... Oh, a tiger falling from the sky?"My name is Typhon-the-Tiger and I am the last of the great Greek tigers." And so begins not so much an adventure but a series of discoveries. Some are unsettling; at one point the stork is perturbed by the thought, of all things, zombie African bush squirrel babies! Others are quite deadly; what is the cause of wild and strange hypnotise? What happened in a certain valley in Peru and will it happen in the Lost Forest? What is the difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea? And what does yak butter tea have to do with any of this?Then there is the dragon...the stork tells Typhon to let him know when it's all sorted. Sorted how? Does the Sloth of Gloom know? What about the chess playing hyenas? But before all this, Typhon-the-Tiger smiled, “You must have done something very bad to have upset that many hippo and rhino beasts.” Yes, but who upset them?Grumpy lions, unreliable griffon vultures, the Cape Vultures Aerobatic Team, a stripe-stripped zebra all mix and swirl together around the Typhon-the-Tiger, the Last of the Great Greek Tigers, the stork and the two tree monkeys and their quest to defeat the one known as... "a name that is spoken only in hushed whispers…"How will it all end? Hopefully with a well-stocked larder, at least that is what the tree monkeys hope. But before then there is much, much to discover.

Thirteen bestselling authors bring you a collection of stories that aren't a 'One Size Fits All'. We're bringing you laughter that just might cause you to pee your pants. Heat; that might cause you to fan yourself. Steam; that you might need to dry off from. Toys; that might require batteries and more packed in behind this cover. Join Gina Whitney, Shari J. Ryan, Courtney Cole, Danielle Jamie, Isabelle Richards, Misha Elliott, Gia Riley, Meghan Quinn, M.C. Cerny, Alexis Noelle, BL Berry, A.M. Willard, and TJ Burton as we support the Purple Heart Foundation with 100% proceeds donated.

Uncle Fred's nephew Pongo has just smashed the prized statue of his lady love's father. His troubles multiply as the replacement bust is revealed to be a smuggling vessel filled with jewels. This bust busting gut buster has Uncle Fred and Wodehouse himself at the very height of their work.

Brooke is getting married tomorrow. Her mother is still sewing beads on her gown and her father is being difficult. Will she survive her final night as a single woman or will it all fall apart?The narratives are meant to help make the intent of Bible stories more understandable to the minds and hearts of children, so they may comprehend the significance and the power of the Word of God more readily. These books are given away free. Please help me spread the news of my Christian Children's Stories - all I ask is that when you pass them on, that you send your friends here to my online page. This makes more "hits" for my online statistics. Thank you. Alice ~

"Sometimes the greatest things are the most embarrassing." Ellen Degeneres' winning, upbeat candor has made her show one of the most popular, resilient and honored daytime shows on the air. (To date, it has won no fewer than 31 Emmys.) Seriously... I'm Kidding, Degeneres' first book in eight years, brings us up to date about the life of a kindhearted woman who bowed out of American Idol because she didn't want to be mean. Lively; hilarious; often sweetly poignant.

The Money Box - Odd Craft, Part 1. is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.