Ollie Outside

Ollie has a big imagination and big plans for summer. But no one in his family wants to go outside and play. Dad is sending emails, Mom is watching TV, Ollie’s siblings are playing video games and texting—even Gram and Gramps are too busy downloading photos. Too much screen time! How can Ollie get his family to shut off their gadgets and play together? In our technology-focused world, more kids than ever turn to screens for information and entertainment—just like their parents. By the time children are eight, they spend seven or more hours a day with screens and electronics. Ollie Outside invites kids and parents to read together, get outdoors, and focus on family fun. Tips at the end of the book reinforce this message.

🚀 Elevate bedtime stories with Ollie's Out-of-this-World Adventure! 🌙 Embark on a cosmic escapade that not only entertains but educates. Blast off with Ollie the owl as your guide and discover the secrets of space. Spark curiosity, fuel imagination, and make bedtime an intergalactic experience for your little ones!

The editors of Discover magazine's popular Bogglers page knit together puzzles of every kind to create a zany adventure story that challenges readers to solve the puzzles along with the characters. Illustrations.

"...A rewarding page-turner..." --Foreword Clarion Reviews "...A truly original cast of characters..." --Blue Ink Reviews "...Sensitive...Engaging...Grounded exploration of recovery, resentment, and redemption..." --BookLife Reviews Ollie Buckmeyer is funny, popular, and lives an idyllic life with his family on one of the last cattle ranches in Southern California. But when he suffers a devastating brain injury, his wonderful world is shattered. Even though he still looks like the same old Ollie, his family mourns as if he had died, his friends don’t know him, and the girl he loves is gone. Everything that matters is taken from him…but something is also given: Ollie has an amazing new talent that might be powerful enough to rebuild his life. Ollie Come Free is a sweeping family saga that explores love, betrayal, and the resilience of the human spirit. Plots and subplots abound—including a buried treasure that has confounded fortune hunters for 120 years—and are brought to life by a full cast of complex and fascinating characters. As Foreword Clarion says in their five star review, “Ollie Come Free is a meticulous novel about a family forever changed by one unexpected day."

Every culture has a creation myth, and skateboarding is no different. The Ollie forged a new identity for skateboarding after its invention in the 1970s, and it lies at the root of nearly every significant move in street skating today. This groundbreaking no-handed aerial has also affected the evolution of surfing and snowboarding, and has left a permanent impression upon popular culture and language. This, then, is the story of the Ollie, the history and technology that set the stage for its creation, the pioneers who made it happen, and the skaters who used it to start a revolution.

Like the swallows, our son Ollie came in the spring and left in the autumn. Dancing, singing, swooping - there was something birdlike about his energy, joy and laughter - but also the fleeting, enigmatic quality of his life. When he was two he lost all his speech, as autism turned his life - and ours - into a baffling challenge. Then at four he had to face a new challenge when he almost died from leukaemia. But chemotherapy worked its magic and he made a full recovery. He was a tough survivor and nothing seemed to dim his spirit: he could light up a room and energize everyone around him. So it was a huge shock, after several cancer-free years, when a fatal brain tumour was discovered. This time his body had had enough and he died very suddenly. He was twelve. Ollie had extraordinary courage and endurance. Time after time he bounced back, determined to enjoy life. He was obstinate, mischievous, playful, flirtatious, quixotic, funny. He generated - and continues to generate - huge amounts of laughter. And he was very beautiful. We always felt that if autism had not unravelled the wiring of his neural pathways, he would have achieved extraordinary things. This is the story of the journey we made with Ollie. Unlike a mountaineer, pursuing extreme experiences out of choice, he had difficulty thrust upon him: he was forced to be brave. For me, too, the journey was far more compelling than any expedition.

When 4-year-old Ollie Tibbles was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he answered, "I'm going to be a train!" Four years later at Union Station-Chicago, at Make-A-Wish Foundation's Grand Ball, Ollie's prediction and wish came true. Ollie's mother shares the story of his struggle with brain cancer and how pain was transformed into possibility.