Prudence Wants A Pet

Prudence wants a pet. Desperately. "No," says Dad, "pets cost too much to keep." "No," says Mom, "pets make noise." But Prudence is determined. She finds her own pet. It is a...branch. But Branch isn't exactly the pet of her dreams, and neither are Twig, Mr. Round (a car tire), or her baby brother Milo. Poor Prudence. Will she ever find the perfect pet?

Prudence wants a pet so much that she adopts a branch, a twig, a tire, and even a shoe named Formal Footwear, but none is a suitable pet for Prudence.

Prudence wants a pet. Desperately. 'No,' says Dad, 'pets cost too much to keep.' 'No,' says Mum, 'pets make noise.' But Prudence is determined. She finds her own pet and it's a . . . branch. But Branch isn't exactly the pet of her dreams, and neither is Twig, Mr Round (a car tyre), or her baby brother Milo. Will Prudence ever find the perfect pet?

Katie McGinty is finally big enough to have her own pet, and she's so excited! But she doesn't want a cat, or a dog, or a hamster. Katie wants a pet that's a little more unusual-and she has the perfect plan for taking care of it!

The pet you want isn?t always the pet you get.When Charlotte asked her parents for a pet, a rock wasn?t exactly what she had in mind.But she loves her new pet anyway.If only he could love Charlotte back . . .

An honest and compassionate look at post-apartheid South Africa Vusi, an eleven-year-old Zulu boy growing up in poverty in rural South Africa, is enchanted by the helpless puppy he finds in the bush. He names it Gillette for its razor-sharp teeth and hides it from his mother, who disapproves of bush dogs as pets. His devotion to Gillette only grows stronger after the puppy is mauled by a leopard and loses a leg. But as boy and dog play carefree games, storm clouds are gathering over Vusi's family - ruthless rival taxi owners are trying to drive his father out of business. While Vusi and Gillette learn to hunt together, they meet the daughter of a neighboring white farmer. Gillette becomes the catalyst for their unlikely friendship, which has a decisive impact on the fate of Vusi's whole family - and the larger community. A starkly realistic story set against the backdrop of the country's tortured racial history, Zulu Dog holds out the hope that a new generation of South Africans can create a better future for their land. Zulu Dog is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Emily wants to be an artist. She likes painting and loves the way artists like Pablo Picasso mixed things up. Emily's life is a little mixed up right now. Her dad doesn't live at home anymore, and it feels like everything around her is changing. "When Picasso was sad for a while," says Emily, "he only painted in blue. And now I am in my blue period." It might last quite some time. A Neal Porter Book