Listen Up Louella

An overly excited elephant learns to listen with a little help from her new friends in Listen Up, Louella, an adorably humorous new picture book from Ashley Belote, the illustrator of Frankenslime. Louella is VERY excited to be at Roar Scout Camp. There's so many fun things for her to do! But Louella is so busy having fun that she doesn't stop to listen to anyone else... Or to realize that maybe her new friends aren't having quite as much fun as she is. When Louella misses an important invitation, it's up to Tarantula and the rest of their friends to help Louella learn to listen and play together.

From author-illustrator Ashley Belote comes a hilarious story of a bear who has had it with living with roommates. But when he finally finds his own tree ("just for me!"), he discovers that this perfect house may be home to a number of uninvited guests. Designed to engage early readers, this story combines charming characters with simple text, lively illustrations, and laugh-out-loud humor to help boost kids' confidence and create lifelong readers! Bear just wants a tree for himself. No roommates, no guests, just sweet solitude. So he packs up his things, finds a great listing for a spacious tree, and moves in. At first, it's perfect. Just what he wanted. But he soon realizes that his tree might not be just for him... in fact, there seem to be quite a few residents of this tree. Will Bear learn how to share his Me Tree? With hilarious text and illustrations by Ashley Belote, The Me Tree is a story about the ups and downs, sorrows and joys of living together--and finding community even when you're really, really not looking for it. With full-color illustrations on every page, this humorous story is perfect for kids just beginning to read on their own. The early vocabulary and amusing illustrations make reading easy and fun! Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

A young slime scientist's efforts to make a Valentine's Day friend for her slime explode in Valenslime, a clever and funny picture book companion to Joy Keller and Ashley Belote’s Frankenslime. Victoria Franken, slime scientist, loved her slime. And her slime loved her back. Ever since the dark and stormy night when Victoria Franken brought her slime to life, she and Goop have been great friends, but when Valentine's Day rolls around, Victoria comes to the horrifying realization that while she had many friends, Goop only had her. The only solution is for her to make him a new friend. But when Victoria gets bored waiting for lightning to strike twice, things get a bit out of control!

From author-illustrator Ashley Belote comes a hilarious and holiday-themed companion to The Me Tree, the tale of a bear who learned to happily share his space. In this festive follow-up, Christmas visitors quickly put Bear’s patience and hospitality to the test. Designed to engage early readers, this story combines charming characters with simple text, lively illustrations, and laugh-out-loud humor to help boost kids' confidence and create lifelong readers! Bear is back and this time his home, “The We Tree,” is full of holiday cheer… for everyone but Bear. With guests like four flocking birds, three French squirrels, two spruced-up cats, and a partridge in the We Tree, will Bear finally find the holiday spirit? With full-color illustrations on every page, this humorous story is perfect for kids just beginning to read on their own. The early vocabulary and amusing illustrations make reading easy and fun! Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

"The first book of real magnitude to come out of the last war." —John Dos Passos John Horne Burns brought The Gallery back from World War II, and on publication in 1947 it became a critically-acclaimed bestseller. However, Burns's early death at the age of 36 led to the subsequent neglect of this searching book, which captures the shock the war dealt to the preconceptions and ideals of the victorious Americans. Set in occupied Naples in 1944, The Gallery takes its name from the Galleria Umberto, a bombed-out arcade where everybody in town comes together in pursuit of food, drink, sex, money, and oblivion. A daring and enduring novel—one of the first to look directly at gay life in the military—The Gallery poignantly conveys the mixed feelings of the men and women who fought the war that made America a superpower.

If I knew what poets know. --James Whitcomb Riley

A sizzling, smart, and utterly engaging novel about sex, love, folklore, and family history from the author of Redemption Song and The Haunting of Hip Hop. With her characteristic sense of humor and a good dose of motherly wit, Bertice Berry spins the endearing tale of Jim and Louella Johnson, an elderly couple in a southern town who have settled into a marriage that has long lost its pizzazz. Louella, fed up with her lackluster love life, decides to contact her departed ancestors for some advice. Conjuring up her mother, grandmother, and aunt in a dream, she receives a delightful lesson in the art of reigniting the fires of love. Even more startling, the Johnsons discover they can help others rejuvenate their passions, heal their hearts, and mend their souls Written in language that is folksy yet eloquent, Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy is an uplifting and flat-out funny celebration of the connections between past and present, the importance of family, and the pleasures of the body and the heart.