Possum Come A Knockin

A cumulative tale in verse about a mysterious stranger that interrupts a family's daily routine.

A cumulative tale in verse about a mysterious stranger that interrupts a family's daily routine.

Big one? Small one? Skinny one? Tall one? Which tree will be perfect for climbing? Not the tree with one owl nesting. Not the tree with two possums dangling. Not the tree with three worms crawling. Uh-oh! Oh, no! Will there ever be a tree that’s just right? Filled with colorful animals to count and name, this bouncing story will have even the youngest listeners chiming in.

A funny, finger-wagging rhyme with some very good advice: never tease a weasel, because teasing isn't nice! Rather, kids should do nice things for animals, such as bake a drake a cake, or give a mule a pool, and much more. Long out of print, this new edition of Never Tease a Weasel with art by the great New Yorker cartoonist George Booth will surely please a weasel, and everyone else who reads it!

Little Baby Bobby, who lives on a hill, just can't seem to sit still. So it's inevitable that, in the blink of an eye, his baby buggy goes careening down that hill with his babysitter in frantic pursuit. Whizzing through the park, scattering street vendors' wares, crashing into a fire hydrant, there goes Baby Bobby, enjoying every minute of his wild buggy ride. A perfect read-aloud reminiscent of Nancy Van Laan's "Possum Come a-Knockin', this rollicking, rhythmic text gathers momentum as Baby Bobby's buggy wends its way through the town. Laura Cornell's hilarious, overflowing illustrations perfectly capture the lighthearted joy of Bobby's raucous romp. A laugh-out-loud addition to any story hour!

Possums may steal your garbage…but with this book, they’ll also steal your heart! Possums are more than the ugly-cute icons of the internet. These so-called trash animals and pointy kitties are not only relatable avatars for anxious but resilient people everywhere, but nature’s secret clean-up crew. Organized around common myths that have given possums a bad reputation, this fun and offbeat book reveals the truth about possums through dozens of adorable photos, informative illustrations, and fascinating facts. Did you know that… • Possums protect people and pets from disease! A single possum can eat up to 4,000 ticks per week! • Possums excel at interspecies friendships, often sleeping in other animals’ dens. • Possums are shy creatures: when they “play dead,” they are actually fainting from anxiety! Written by wildlife rehabber and possum advocate Ally Burguieres, known for her popular Instagram account @ItsMeSesame, this accessible and giftable guide explains why possums deserve our admiration and offers tips on how we can protect and advocate for these magical marsupials.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love "I'm so glad Novella Carpenter has written this book... The resulting journey is both brave and honest." San Francisco Chronicle “[R]iveting... Carpenter reminds us that sometimes the self is the thorniest wilderness of all." Novella Carpenter picks up the phone one day to receive some disturbing news: her father has officially gone missing. Carpenter’s father, George—a back-to-the-land homesteader and troubled Korean War veteran—has spent decades battling his inner demons while largely absenting himself from his children’s lives. Though George is ultimately found, Carpenter is forced to confront the truth: her time with her dad—now seventy-three years old—is limited, and the moment to restore their relationship is now. Gone Feral is the story of Carpenter’s search for her parents’ broken past in the harsh wilds of Idaho. The story starts in San Miguel de Allende in 1969, where Carpenter’s free-spirited parents meet and fall in love. Their whirlwind romance continues through Europe and ends on 180 acres near Idaho’s Clearwater River. Carpenter and her sister are born into a free, roaming childhood, but soon the harsh reality of living on the land—loneliness, backbreaking labor—tears the family apart. Carpenter’s mother packs the girls and heads for the straight life in Washington State while George remains on the ranch, tied to the land and his vision of freedom. In Gone Feral, Carpenter—now a grown woman leading an untraditional life, not unlike her parents’, raising livestock and growing vegetables in the city—finds herself contemplating a family of her own. Before that can happen, she knows she has to return to Idaho to discover why her father chose this life of solitude. She quickly finds that George is not living the principled, romantic life she imagined, and the truth is more com-plicated—and dangerous—than anything she suspected. As she comes to know the real George, Carpenter looks to her own life and comes to recognize her father’s legacy in their shared love of animals, of nature, and of the written word; their dangerous stubbornness and isolating independence. Finally, Gone Feral sees the birth of Carpenter’s own daughter, an experience that teaches that a parent’s love is itself a wild thing: unknowable, fierce, and ever changing. In reckoning with her past, Carpenter clears the road to her future. Raw, funny, unsentimental, alive with unforgettable characters and pitch-perfect dialogue, Gone Feral marks Carpenter’s transformative passage from daughter to mother, a wry and rough tale of life lived on the margins and redemption between generations. Booklist "Spurred on by a desire to raise a family of her own and decipher the genetic code for either survival or destruction that she might be passing on, Carpenter performs a wild pas de deux with the cantankerous George, approaching him as one would a wild animal with no trust in humanity. Carpenter chronicles her daring quest for understanding and familial continuity in this sincere and remarkably uninhibited memoir."

Possum returns in a lushly illustrated story about new homes and old friends—perfect for fans of Possum's Harvest Moon, Kevin Henkes, and Beth Krommes. Possum looked out one summer afternoon. “Time to come in!” he called to his baby possums. “It looks like we’re in for some weather!” Possum calls his children out of the summer storm—but what can he do when their home is swept away by rising water? The possum family must rely on their friends to construct a new house. At first it seems that no other animal's home is suited for a possum, but they come up with something spectacular! Beloved character Possum is back, along with an array of friends who make for a broad, ranging ensemble, giving children a tantalizing peek at how different animals build their homes.