Old Friends

Paired with colorful and vibrant art by Lenny Wen, Old Friends by Margaret Aitken is an inventive and heartfelt debut picture book that celebrates found family, caregiving, and the value of intergenerational friendships. Marjorie wants a friend who loves the same things she does: baking shows, knitting, and gardening. Someone like Granny. So with a sprinkle of flour in her hair and a spritz of lavender perfume, Marjorie goes undercover to the local Senior Citizens Group. It all goes well until the Cha-Cha-Cha starts and her cardigan camouflage goes sideways. By being true to herself, Marjorie learns that friends can be of any age if you look in the right places.

A Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s “touching, funny and inspiring” true story of daily life in a New England nursing home (The New York Times). Ninety-year-old Lou quit school after the eighth grade, worked for the rest of his life, and stayed with the same woman for nearly seventy years. Seventy-two-year-old Joe was chief probation officer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, holds a law degree, and has faced the death of a son and the raising of a mentally challenged daughter. Now, the two men are roommates in a nursing home. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, the two become close friends. Focusing on these two men as well as introducing us to the other aging residents of Linda Manor in Northampton, Massachusetts, literary journalist Tracy Kidder examines the sorrows and joys of growing older and the universal struggle to find meaning in the face of mortality. From the New York Times–bestselling author and National Book Award–winning author of The Soul of a New Machine, this is an extraordinary look inside an often-hidden world. “As in his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the best-selling Among Schoolchildren, Kidder reveals his extraordinary talent as a storyteller by taking the potentially unpalatable subject of life in a nursing home and making it into a highly readable, engrossing account.” —Library Journal “Rich detail and true-to-the-ear dialogue let the brave and determined elderly speak for themselves—and for the continually surprising potential of the human spirit.” —Kirkus Reviews

It's the first day of school, and none of my old friends are in my new class! Making new friends can be hard, but in this gorgeous new picture book, it can also be a whole lot of fun!

Grace begins to feel left out when her best friend, Laura, gets a part in the school play and spends all her time rehearsing with a new friend.

This Toy Story 4 deluxe Step into Reading leveled reader is based on the exciting new Disney/Pixar movie hitting theaters June 21, 2019! Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 4 opens a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of the Toy Story gang. Directed by Josh Cooley (Riley's First Date?) and produced by Jonas Rivera (Inside Out and Up) and Mark Nielsen (associate producer for Inside Out), Toy Story 4 opens in theaters on June 21, 2019. Step 1 readers feature big type and easy words. Rhymes and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story. For children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading on their own.

Over the last decade Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, has put a new face on the concept of equine aftercare. When Michael Blowen first dreamed of creating Old Friends, he envisioned a place where Thoroughbred stallions could retire with dignity following their racing or breeding careers. He also wanted people to visit the iconic horses. In 2003, Old Friends opened on leased land with a miniature horse named Little Silver Charm, a gelding named Invigorate and a mare named Narrow Escape. Today, the two-hundred-plus-acre farm in Georgetown has more than 160 retired Thoroughbred stallions, geldings and mares, including two Kentucky Derby winners. It even welcomed two satellite farms, one in New York and one at Kentucky Downs racetrack. In his follow-up to History of Old Friends, Rick Capone revisits the unforgettable history of this horse retirement home.

Raggedy Ann and Andy join Marcella at the park and make some new friends in this delightful Level 2 Ready-to-Read! When Marcella takes Raggedy Ann and Andy to the park to play with some new friends, they’re very nervous. They like their old friends, so why should they make new ones? But soon, they learn that they can always make new friends—and keep the old friends, too! Celebrate 100 years of Raggedy Ann and Andy with this timeless story that helps teach little ones about friends of all kinds!