Nature Mysteries

Walter's family is holding a yard sale, but there are few customers. Walter, farting contentedly near Father, wonders why. When a man offers ten dollars for Walter, Father readily agrees. Walter wonders why. Walter is sad to leave his family behind but relieved to discover that his new owner is a clown. Walter figures he will help the clown bring joy to children on their birthdays. But the clown has a dastardly plot: He will use Walter's gas to inflate balloons and then pop them to stun guards during bank robberies. Will Walter turn to the dark side? Of course not! He comes out a hero and is reunited with his family by doing what he does best.

Watchmaker Hermux Tantamoq is a hardworking mouse who is thankful for ordinary things: donuts, coffee, peaceful evenings at home with his pet ladybug. But his quiet life takes a dramatic turn when Ms. Linka Perflinger, dashing daredevil aviatrix and adventuress, bursts into his watch shop, drops off a broken watch and steals his heart.

Hank makes a foolish bet with his archenemy, Pete the Barncat, that he can catch the Lumberpile Bunny. He loses the wager, his job, his pride, and even his gunny sack bed under the gas tanks. Hank begins to plot revenge. He must dispose of the cat. That sounds simple. But without Pete, Hank discovers scrap time has lost all its joy and meaning.

Butterbean is bored. She and the other pets pulled off a heist once, but that was like a million years ago. Nothing exciting has happened since then. That is, until Mrs. Third Floor shows up at their apartment, convinced there's a ghost in the building. Mrs. Third Floor's rental unit is showing signs of paranormal activity—eerie noises, objects moving when no one is there, fish disappearing from the tank overnight. The pets decide to investigate. Soon they're confronted with a bigger problem than just ghosts: professional ghost hunters who are offering to drive out the spirits for a hefty fee.

The boxcar children are trying to track down a dinosaur-bone thief! But another set of tracks in a cave leads to a whole new mystery....

Help solve the mystery with the detective dog, set sail on an exciting adventure in the flying bath and cook up a feast for a very fussy king! This collection includes stories from four of Julia's illustrator partnerships: David Roberts, Sara Ogilvie, Catherine Rayner and Rebecca Cobb.

From rags to riches...When Pete the Barncat offers to trade good, juicy steak scraps for a couple of old corncobs, Hank the Cowdog smells a rat. Why would Pete want to trade - unless the cobs are worth a fortune? So, armed with his Incredible PricelessCorncobs, Hank sets out to plan his Early Retirement. But retirement and the life of luxury don't come as easily as Hank expects. It seems as though everyone is after his treasure - even his faithful sidekick, Drover!

Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/ guitar/ saxophone/ zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast.... and pointing and laughing.

When there's a bank robbery in the country village where Djuna lives, and one of his dog's best friends gets shot in the escape, the boy makes up his mind he'll find out who did it. His chum and his dog, Champ, are in on the hunt, and two heads and a keen nose are better than one. The boys remember something queer they noticed about a truck with a covered load that passed them on the road when they were going fishing.

Twelve-year-old Epic McDade isn't ready for middle school. He'd rather help out at his family's dog-friendly bed-and-breakfast all summer or return to his alternative elementary school in the fall, where learning feels safe. But change comes in all shapes and fur colors. When Carmelito, California, is named America's number one dog-friendly town, all the top dogs and their owners pour into Epic's sleepy seaside neighborhood for a week of celebration.

A bull shark in the swamp? No one in the Louisiana town of St. Roch believes it at first, but when a local boy has a face-to-face encounter with the toothy monster, every big fisherman is called out for the hunt. There's a big cash bounty on the shark. Sharp-eyed Birdie Gaux and her handsome dog, Bowser, can't help noticing that shark fever is causing some shady doings in town. For instance, where is Snoozy, the clerk who works at the Gaux family fishing store?

To cheat or not to cheat? That is just one of the questions to be answered on the ranch! While interrogating J. T. Cluck, will Hank be able to figure out what scary creatures are planning an attack on the ranch? After Hank lures Pete the Barncat into making a foolish bet for scraps, would Pete try to cheat the Head of Ranch Security? Will truth and justice win in the end?

A series of robberies has disrupted the peaceful life at the Bean Farm. First, food disappears from The First Animal Bank. Then sheets and shirts vanish from a clothesline. By the time oats are stolen from the barn, everyone is suspicious and upset. Soon, the animals even suspect Freddy! Who, or what, is responsible for the crimes? What is the mysterious white shape in the Great Woods?

When the Aldens first arrive in Elbow Bend, they meet Kate Frances, who tells them all sorts of ghost stories about the town! The scariest tale is about a ghost dog who howls at midnight and appears to warn people of danger! The Aldens think it is just a story until they hear dogs all over Elbow Bend howling at midnight. Does the ghost dog really exist or is someone playing a trick on them? The Boxcar Children are determined to find out.

Grace Delaney and her fellow dance students are en route to perform on a South Pacific cruise ship when a freak storm hits and they find themselves stranded on a seemingly deserted island. With the tropical heat rising, passions and tensions swell to breaking point. And the island itself is quietly steaming with a terrible secret....

Big plans are afoot! Butterbean is going to become a therapist. The white cat is going to do a commercial for caviar-flavored pet treats. And Wallace is moving into a great new apartment. But these plans don't include a group of rowdy raccoons taking over the loading dock and throwing the building into turmoil. Now residents from the whole building are coming to the Strathmore Seven for help—from Second Floor Biscuit, a Yorkie with an unfortunate haircut who faces eviction for barking at the intruders, to the loading dock rats, who are feeling intimidated and upset.

Now that Snip the cat is gone (but hardly forgotten), the classroom animals of the Midnight Academy are ready for things to get back to normal at the McKenna School. After all, protecting nutters (students) and lankies (teachers) is an around-the-clock job! When a rare coin and a strange code are uncovered in the school, Malcolm and the academy have another mystery on their hands.

Leila and Nugget have big plans for their snow day—that is, until a neighborhood pet goes missing. Now, they’ve got to solve the mystery before the turtlenapper can strike again. Could it be Weirdy Beardy, the construction worker? Perhaps it’s the cranky, old neighbor lady. Or maybe, just maybe, this is an inside job. Who Stole Mr. T? will keep young listeners guessing until the very end.

The pet show is about to start, and Ava can't find her cat. It's time to do some detective work. Ava, Clair, and Caleb are on the case!

When Kayla discovers that something is eating Daisy's cat food, she immediately calls the Pet Club to action. They grab their pets and start to gather clues. Will they solve the case of the cat food thief?