Long ago in Germany, an old woman cleans her house and decorates her Christmas tree, hoping that this year she will witness some special Christmas Eve magic.

Two cats that are as different as night and day are nevertheless best friends.

Cindy Ellen loses one of her diamond spurs at the square dance in this wild western retelling of the classic Cinderella story.

Wilson is a curious sheep, and after he foolishly climbs into the back of a piano movers' truck, he ends up alone in the big city, far from the farm. But Wilson is also one smart sheep, and soon enough he's finding his way home to his worried owner by recognizing the sounds that he heard while he was trapped in the truck--a jackhammer, a calliope, a hotdog man. And could that be the excited barking of his friend Tippy, the border collie?

The old woman who lives in a boot uses a magic potion to quiet the noisy children who live in a shoe.

Elves, snowmen, stars, and reindeer cavort at the North Pole on Christmas Eve, introducing the numbers one through ten.

On a visit to the zoo, a little boy imagines what it would be like to be various animals, such as a hippopotamus or a penguin, and listens as his mother explains how all parents keep their young ones safe.

Learn the alphabet and see a different buttocks on an animal with each letter.

Here is the library, not just as a place that houses books, but as an experience. Fifteen poems celebrate the thrill of getting your first library card, the excitement of story hour, the fun of using the computer, the pride of reading to the dog, and the joy of discovering that the librarian understands you and knows exactly which books you'll love. The poems, compiled by noted poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins, pay homage to the marvels of...