A funny and affectionate look at all the things your parents do for you. It's not all tidying up and making you brush your teeth ...

You may think your parents just boss you around and tell you what to do. And there's no getting away from it - they do have to do quite a lot of that! But there's so much more to them - did you realise they are also tent poles for dens that are wonky, dustbins for bits you don't want to eat up and grandstands to make you grow tall?

240 pages, inner pocket

Maggi and her dog Milo work as partners in perfecting the art of froghunting.

Taking her very smart, very big dog on a frog-hunting venture after reading a book about frogs, little Maggi discovers that hunting frogs is harder than anticipated and welcomes Milo's help. A first book.

Three little chicks are sound asleep when they hear a mysterious cheep! But who could it be? Babies and toddlers can follow along as the three chicks set out to investigate. Plush collage figures in nursery-room colors look soft enough to cuddle up to, while sturdy card-stock pages and safely rounded corners will hold up to repeated readings. Reviews "Take a family of adorable, three-dimensional chickens-constructed from velvety, cozily domestic terry cloth-add a text made up entirely of words with a giggle-inducing 'eep' sound, and the result is this irresistible, inventive paper-over-board book. 'Sleep' starts off the first spread, where a chicken family tries to get some shut-eye. A turn of the page shows a 'Cheep' coming from the egg below their perch. Making a joint 'Leap!' (the smallest chick uses its blankie as a parachute) the peeping protagonists land in a comic 'Heap' and eagerly welcome their newest addition. Baicker-McKee (the FussBustersseries) gives her absorbent cast minimalist facial features and highly streamlined appendages (the two-color backdrops are equally spare). But she comes up with an amazing array of expressions and comic poses; when the reconstituted family settles down on the perch for a group slumber party, the two smallest downy siblings share a priceless conspiratorial wink and hug. Young children will undoubtedly view the chick family as toys come to life and be thoroughly enchanted. Here's hoping another diphthong inspires a follow-up from this talented team."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "The art is extremely simple while being exactly right. Digitally assembled from puffy terrycloth bodies, googly eyes and the odd feather or two, the chickies are cuteness in action! One to keep." -Kirkus

192 pages, inner pocket

192 pages, inner pocket

192 pages, inner pocket

A renowned authority on the secret world of opium recounts his descent into ruinous obsession with one of the world’s oldest and most seductive drugs, in this harrowing memoir of addiction and recovery. A natural-born collector with a nose for exotic adventure, San Diego–born Steven Martin followed his bliss to Southeast Asia, where he found work as a freelance journalist. While researching an article about the vanishing culture of opium smoking, he was inspired to begin collecting rare nineteenth-century opium-smoking equipment. Over time, he amassed a valuable assortment of exquisite pipes, antique lamps, and other opium-related accessories—and began putting it all to use by smoking an extremely potent form of the drug called chandu. But what started out as recreational use grew into a thirty-pipe-a-day habit that consumed Martin’s every waking hour, left him incapable of work, and exacted a frightful physical and financial toll. In passages that will send a chill up the spine of anyone who has ever lived in the shadow of substance abuse, Martin chronicles his efforts to control and then conquer his addiction—from quitting cold turkey to taking “the cure” at a Buddhist monastery in the Thai countryside. At once a powerful personal story and a fascinating historical survey, Opium Fiend brims with anecdotes and lore surrounding the drug that some have called the methamphetamine of the nineteenth-century. It recalls the heyday of opium smoking in the United States and Europe and takes us inside the befogged opium dens of China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The drug’s beguiling effects are described in vivid detail—as are the excruciating pains of withdrawal—and there are intoxicating tales of pipes shared with an eclectic collection of opium aficionados, from Dutch dilettantes to hard-core addicts to world-weary foreign correspondents. A compelling tale of one man’s transformation from respected scholar to hapless drug slave, Opium Fiend puts us under opium’s spell alongside its protagonist, allowing contemporary readers to experience anew the insidious allure of a diabolical vice that the world has all but forgotten.

192 pages, inner pocket

Like most dogs, Jake loves playing fetch. Unlike most dogs, Jake loves music even more. He loves to wag his tail to the beat of an ordinary day and "sing" with the birds. When his friend Richie, the principal stagehand at the Philharmonic, brings Jake to work one day, Jake is treated to a lesson in real music. He "woofs!" to the tweeting woodwinds and "ruffs!" to the deep horns, but when he hears the entire symphony orchestra practice, he knows to be quiet and listen. And when a crisis develops at that night's performance, Jake steps onstage and steals the show.

Paul turns into a monster complete with a long green tail when his parents say it is bedtime

Humble Bumbles, the best-selling baby journal in America, has been updated for a 2nd edition, celebrating the joy, love, and adventure surrounding a baby’s first three years. Complete with 100 beautifully illustrated journal pages that include placeholders for mementos, photographs, sonograms, family tree, and more, this edition also includes a full-color growth chart, 24 adorable color photo frames, one large vellum envelope to keep baby’s mementos, two small vellum envelopes for baby’s hospital bracelet and lock of hair.

240 pages, inner pocket

192 pages, inner pocket

Bugs bite, drink blood, and rob food from gardens and fields. They can even kill plants, animals, and, occasionally, people. Is bugging a crime? Alexandra Siy compiles "rap sheets" on several of the major categories of bugs and takes a very close look at some of the types of insects in an engaging text. The fascinating photo micrographs magnify insect parts from 10 to 300,000 times their actual sizes. this kid-friendly approach, coupled with meticulous research and lively writing, turns learning about insects into an intriguing experience.

Angelina and her friends have to memorize and recite poems in front of the entire class. Angelina has no trouble with the assignment, but the same can't be said for her best friend Alice, who has a major case of tummy butterflies! Luckily, Angelina is there to help Alice overcome her fear—by putting her poem to a dance,

An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel'sGuardians of the Galaxy tells the story of a group of cosmic misfits--Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot--who band together to protect a mysterious orb against Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

When a bear named Mack wakes up with a boy on his back, we know instantly that we’re back in the droll and sweetly wacky world created by Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy in their first two highly successful picture books about a bunny-wearing boy and his sister Claire, who wakes up with a gator on her hair. Like A Boy and His Bunny and A Girl and Her Gator, this new picture book will entertain young children and their parents, and put smiles on the faces of their grandparents too.