The Sky

Twelve--year-old Aisulu defies the expectations of her Kazakh family and tradition to train an eagle in order to save her brother, Serik, and prevent her family from giving up their nomadic life forever.

Book One of a new Hi-Lo series: Sydney's Journey: Sydney never thought she would be the new girl at school, but when she moves to Minneapolis, everything changes. At her old school on the reservation, almost all the kids were Native, and she was known as a tough bully. Now, at her new school, which has only a few Native kids, she wonders if she will fit in. On the first day of school, it doesn’t take Sidney long to realize she stands out like a sore thumb. After accidentally bumping into a classmate in the hall, the bullying begins, and it’s aimed right at Sydney. Although Sydney was used to being the bully at her old school, the tables have turned, and she is now on the other side. A chance encounter with a boy in the lunchroom turns into a close friendship. Her new friend Finn, who is gay, is also the target of bullies. Sydney begins to feel ashamed of her past behavior. Before she can begin the journey to self-forgiveness, Sydney realizes that she must make amends with the girl she had bullied at her old school.

In rural Nova Scotia, a young girl and her grandfather look for a perfect branch to carve.

In this companion to the bestselling Picture a Tree, Barbara Reid has us look up . . . way up Wherever we may be, we share the same sky. But every hour, every day, every season, whether in the city or the forest, it is different. The sky tells many stories: in the weather, in the clouds, in the stars, in the imagination. Renowned artist Barbara Reid brings her unique vision to a new topic - the sky around us. In brilliant Plasticine illustrations, she envisions the sky above and around us in all its moods. Picture the sky. How do you feel?

“Clever and effective for the pre- and primary school nature shelves.”—Kirkus In the vein of Jack Prelutsky and Dennis Lee comes a celebration of the sky with thirty zippy poems that will lift kids’ spirits and let their imaginations soar. What do you see when you look up at the sky? In this “lyrical” picture book (Booklist) for ages 3-8, the award-winning and critically-acclaimed children’s poet, Robert Heidbreder, shares thirty memorable poems that capture the magic and beauty of all the wonderful things kids can see when they gaze at the sky. Gorgeous illustrations by artist and naturalist Emily Dove depict a diverse cast of children playing and cheering under a sky filled with birds and balloons, snow and shooting stars, sunflowers and falling leaves, and helicopters and kites. “A multicultural cast of children are shown reveling in the outdoors. Readers are encouraged to observe and appreciate the natural world around them.” —Booklist

BREAKING NEWS: Amanda Lindhout’s lead kidnapper, Ali Omar Ader, has been caught. Amanda Lindhout wrote about her fifteen month abduction in Somalia in A House in the Sky. It is the New York Times bestselling memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most remote places and then into captivity: “Exquisitely told…A young woman’s harrowing coming-of-age story and an extraordinary narrative of forgiveness and spiritual triumph” (The New York Times Book Review). As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself visiting its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road. Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark. Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, A House in the Sky is “a searingly unsentimental account. Ultimately it is compassion—for her naïve younger self, for her kidnappers—that becomes the key to Lindhout’s survival” (O, The Oprah Magazine).

This gorgeous, large-format book is filled with clever cutouts that take readers on a soaraway journey up, up and away through the clouds, through the atmosphere and to the planets, the stars and beyond. On the way they'll learn about birds, insects and pollination, witness a tornado and an eclipse, and see all kinds of flying machines. This fact-filled journey is by Hélène Druvert, the acclaimed creator of many laser-cut books for children.

On the island of Arcosi, dragons and their riders used to rule the skies. But now they are only legends, found in bedtime stories, on beautiful murals and ancient jewellery. Then servant girl Milla witnesses a murder and finds herself caring for the last four dragon eggs. Forced to keep them secret amidst the growing tensions in the city, she begins to fear that the island's ruler, Duke Olvar, isn't all that he seems. But how can Milla and her friends keep the eggs safe when it means endangering everything she's ever loved? Fiery friendships, forgotten family and the struggle for power collide as Milla's fight to save the dragons leads her to discover her own hidden past.