Most dragons are bold and ferocious, breathing fire and looking scary. But Maurice is quiet and gentle. He loves to arrange flowers and take care of plants. He thinks he will never be able to fit in or be accepted by the other dragons, until his brother goes missing. Only Maurice has the special knowledge and courage to find his brother and show all the other dragons that he has his own type of strength.
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Our World: Australia
by Maree McCarthy Yoelu
An Australian family have a perfect day fishing, playing at the beach, grilling out, and playing cricket! In the evening, they visit a food booth to eat traditional food. They fall asleep listening to the kookaburras laughing in the trees.
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Basil in the Wild West (Basil of Baker Street, #5)
by Eve Titus
Basil and his faithful friend, Dawson, are travelling from Mexico into the American West. They hear about a gang of smugglers who are stealing ancient artifacts from Mexico, smuggling them across the border disguised as ordinary souvenirs, and then selling them on the black market. A desperate hotel owner begs Basil to visit the Grand Canyon where their hotel is being terrorized by a mysterious “Thing”. Basil and Dawson travel through various areas of the Wild West, helping other creatures and solving mysteries along the way.
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The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, Abridged by Lou Peacock, Kate Hindley (Illustrations)
I really liked this adaptation of Wind in the Willows. The story is condensed and simplified for a young audience, but still captures the charm of the original and has most of the main plot points. The editor did a great job abridging the story, but still keeping the integrity and grace of the original.
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My First Lift-The-Flap Nursery Rhymes
by Ingela P. Arrhenius (illustrator)
These familiar nursery rhymes are made special by the inclusion of lift-the-flap designs that reveal a cute character or animal behind them. The reader can find Little Bo Peep’s sheep hiding behind a bush. The piggy that stayed at home is reading a book by a cozy fire. An energetic cow jumps over the moon. A spider is revealed inside Miss Muffet’s bowl of curds and whey. An elephant and fox row row row their boat. Humpty Dumpty takes a terrible fall behind the wall on the largest flap.
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Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World
by Matt Ralphs, Rui Ricardo (Illustrations)
This book gives information about 50 amazing vehicles, including boats, cars, planes, motorcycles, chariots, wagons, rockets, and bicycles. It’s really amazing to see how history has changed over the centuries and especially in the last one hundred years just because of mankind’s ability to travel.
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A History of the World in 25 Cities (British Museum)
by Tracey Turner, Andrew Donkin, Libby VanderPloeg (Illustrator)
This book goes through history, giving information about different cities around the world at their height. We start with Jericho and end with Tokyo. There are ancient cities that now lie in ruins, old cities that kept getting renewed and rebuilt through the centuries, and modern cities that are comparatively young.
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Every Bunny is a Yoga Bunny
by Emily Ann Davison, Deborah Allwright (Illustrator)
Yo-Yo is a bouncy bunny. She can never sit still. Her grandpa tries to teach her some yoga poses to help her learn to be calm and still. But Yo-Yo gets distracted and races after a butterfly. She runs so far that she gets lost. Yo-Yo starts to panic, but then remembers the yoga poses and breathing exercises her grandpa taught her. It helps her to stay calm and find her way home.
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Heidi
by Carole Aufranc (Illustrator),Johanna Spyri
This picture book tells the basic story of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi in just a few pages. I love how the story is condensed to only a few sentences on each page, but the spirit of the story is intact.
Heidi loves living with her Grandfather on the mountain, but her aunt takes her away to live in the city and be the companion to a rich invalid girl, Clara. Heidi loves Clara, but she misses her mountain home.
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The Music of Dolphins
by Karen Hesse
Mila is a wild girl, growing up on a deserted island with a family of dolphins. When she is rescued, she is placed with a doctor who studies the way that humans learn language. The doctor hopes to learn the girl’s dolphin language, and uses music to capture the sounds dolphins make. Mila begins to connect with her caregivers and their families; even the janitor cannot help connecting with this unique girl. At first, Mila is interested to learn English and learn how humans interact and live. But soon, she begins to miss her dolphin family and the simplicity of her life on the island. Her spirit starts to despair and turn inward, searching for the music she used to know.
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Luminous Libro 