Life Skills For Kids

The big day is finally here - Amelia Bedelia’s school, Oak Tree Elementary, is 100 years old, and the whole town is throwing a party. Best of all, a secret time capsule that has been buried for an entire century will finally be dug up and opened! Amelia Bedelia and her friends have some guesses about what they’ll find. Are they right? Or is everyone in for a big surprise?

From Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the author of Grandma's Purse, comes a collection of poetry filled with engaging mini-stories about girls of all kinds: girls who feel happy, sad, scared, powerful; girls who love their bodies and girls who don't; country girls, city girls; girls who love their mother and girls who wish they had a father. This book invites listeners to find themselves and each other within.

Isaiah is now the big man of the house. But it's a lot harder than his dad made it look. His little sister, Charlie, asks too many questions, and Mama's gone totally silent. Good thing Isaiah can count on his best friend, Sneaky, who always has a scheme for getting around the rules. Plus, his classmate Angel has a few good ideas of her own - once she stops hassling Isaiah. And when things get really tough, there's Daddy's journal, filled with stories about the amazing Isaiah Dunn, a superhero who gets his powers from beans and rice. Isaiah wishes his dad's tales were real.

After a mostly-successful stint at Hills Valley Middle School, Rafe is excited to visit the incredible city of London with his class. Sightseeing around a foreign country sounds like a blast, until Rafe finds out his roommate is Miller the Killer, bully extraordinaire! Then he's forced to work on a class project side by side with his crush Jeanne Galletta and her too-perfect boyfriend, which might be even worse than rooming with Miller.

James Patterson's hilarious story of perseverance and courage shows everyone's favorite troublemaker, Rafe Khatchadorian, the star of the Middle School series, learning to become a leader at long last. After a rough summer, Rafe is heading back to the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, the site of the very worst years of his life. And as if that's not bad enough, he's learned that he's going to be held back a year unless he can prove himself on an outdoor survival excursion.

Have you heard the question, "Mommy, do you love me?" or "Who do you love the most?" It's never easy to answer, especially to a little one who thinks your heart belongs only to them. Bowen is the center of his parents’ world. But what will happen when baby Bella comes into that world? Will his parents still love him, or will their hearts belong to someone else? Through fun interactions with his mom, Bowen will realize that his heart is big enough to love more than one person at a time.

Ridley Pearson brings us the origins of the rivalry between literature's most famous enemies - Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty - told from the perspective of James' observant little sister, Moria. Before James grew up to be a ruthless, remorseless villain, he was a curious boy from Boston, with a penchant for trouble and an acid tongue. Thrown into a boarding school against his wishes, James winds up rooming with a most unlikely companion: a lanky British know-it-all named Sherlock Holmes.

Amelia Bedelia and her entire class are going on a hike. Amelia Bedelia is excited. What will she find for the classroom nature table? Amelia Bedelia spots squirrels, deer, birds, and insects along the trail. She has fun splashing with her friends in a stream, collecting leaves, and having a picnic. Best of all, her nature table find is a surprise in more ways than one! An easy-to-listen-to book about friendship and exploring the natural world.

Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, a magic school in the clouds where Marvellers from around the world practice their cultural arts, like brewing Indian spice elixirs and bartering with pesky Irish pixies. Despite her excitement, Ella discovers that being the first isn’t easy—some Marvellers mistrust her magic, which they deem “bad and unnatural.” But eventually, she finds friends in elixirs teacher, Masterji Thakur, and fellow misfits Brigit, a girl who hates magic, and Jason, a boy with a fondness for magical creatures.

Amelia Bedelia and her friends learn about recycling, upcycling, and making art in this funny story about community and friendship. With Amelia Bedelia involved, there are guaranteed to be a few funny mix-ups!

Kids can learn about friendship, love, and a variety of special needs/disabilities all while following the amazing relationship of Jinx and Sally! Book number two will take you through the story of Jinx's realization of Sally's autism. 

Beep! Beep! Meet Blue! Filled with truck sounds and animal noises, Little Blue Truck is a rollicking homage to the power of friendship and the rewards of helping others. A muddy country road is no match for this little pick-up—that is, until he gets stuck while pushing a dump truck out of the muck. Luckily, Blue has made a pack of farm animal friends along his route. And they're willing to do whatever it takes to get their pal back on the road.

Ten-year-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own wolf - her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts.

Hi, whoever is reading this. I’m Zipporah Chava McConnell, but everyone calls me Zippy. Things used to be simple—until a few weeks ago. Now my best friend, Bea, is acting funny; everyone at school thinks I’m weird; and my mom is making me start preparing for my bat mitzvah, even though we barely ever go to synagogue. In fact, only thing that still seems to make sense is magic. See, the thing is, I’m a witch. I’ve been casting spells since I was little. And even if no one else wants to believe in magic anymore, it’s always made sense to me, always felt true.

Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely 11-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see. One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood - whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can't be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul.

From New York Times best-selling author Max Lucado, these 100 devotions will help kids worry less, bravely try new things, and draw closer to God as they learn to trust his faithfulness. Adapted from the encouraging devotional for adults, You Can Count on God for Kids teaches children that they can depend on God because he will never leave them and will love them unconditionally.

Beep! Beep! Have you heard the news? There is someone new on the farm! All the animals are curious and cautious about the newcomer—what will he be like? Does he neigh like a horse or oink like a pig? Does he have fur or feathers? Does he swim? Does he fly? Luckily, Blue knows just the thing to help his friends, old and new, feel at home!

While using a simple metaphor of a bucket and a dipper, author Carol McCloud illustrates that when we choose to be kind, we not only fill the buckets of those around us, but also fill our OWN bucket! Conversely, when we choose to say or do mean things, we are dipping into buckets. All day long, we are either filling up or dipping into each other's buckets by what we say and what we do. When you're a bucket filler, you make the world a better place to be!

Meet Alice, a kind-hearted and caring aardvark, who worries being autistic makes her different. As we learn more about her condition, her friends help her realize she has nothing to worry about, and that she is brilliant, just the way she is.

Clarice is a young ship mouse grieving the loss of her mother when a mutiny forces her onto a small, leaky boat with a dangerous cat. Worse, she is separated from her younger brother, Charles Sebastian, who is trapped aboard the great ship. Clarice and Charles Sebastian were taught to always be careful—but they will need to grow bold if they are to survive...and find one another again.