Showing results by author "Kate DiCamillo" in All Categories

Welcome back to Deckawoo Drive for a sixth endearing installment in the companion series to Kate DiCamillo's New York Times best-selling Mercy Watson books. Frank Endicott is a worrier. He worries about lions, submarines, black holes, leprosy, and armadillos. He lists his worries alphabetically in a notebook and suffers vivid nightmares that even a certain neighborhood pig can't dispatch. When he accompanies Eugenia Lincoln on an errand to duplicate a key at her favorite dark and dusty thrift shop, Frank earns fresh cause for alarm.

When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana's life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes.

It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating plans.

Baby Lincoln's older sister, Eugenia, is very fond of telling Baby what to do, and Baby usually responds by saying, "Yes, Sister." But one day Baby has had enough. She decides to depart on a Necessary Journey, even though she has never gone anywhere without Eugenia telling her what to take and where to go. And in fact Baby doesn't know where she is headed - only that she was entirely happy in the previous night's dream, sitting aboard a train with a view of shooting stars.

At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order.

When Mercy Watson the pig goes missing, all of Deckawoo Drive is in an uproar. The Watsons are inconsolable, and the local police, fire, and animal control departments are no help whatsoever. Bossy neighbor Eugenia Lincoln is not quite as sad as she might be, but thankfully her sister, Baby Lincoln, has the idea to hire a private investigator. Granted, Percival Smidgely, PI, may be more bumbler than gumshoe, but his pigeon, Polly, is there to point the way.

Pig hero. Porcine wonder. Fan of toast with a great deal of butter on it. Mercy Watson’s disarming personality and hilarious hijinks captivate early chapter-book audiences. Here, for Mercy Watson’s loyal fans and new friends, comes an audiobook collection that will have listeners squealing with delight.

From the best-selling author of Because of Winn-Dixie comes the moving story of an 11-year-old boy, Rob Horton, who finds a caged tiger in the woods behind the hotel where he lives with his father. With the help of his new friend, Sistine Bailey, Rob must decide what to do with his discovery and at the same time come to terms with his past.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and the Guys Read Library, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; and more.

In a touching, funny, and fearless conclusion to her sequence of novels about the beloved Three Rancheros, number one New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo tells the story of a character who will break your heart and put it back together again.

When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself—with enthusiastic contributions from the pig, the cat, and the horse she picks up on the way?

Stella Endicott loves her teacher, Miss Liliana, and she is thrilled when the class is assigned to write a poem. Stella crafts a beautiful poem about Mercy Watson, the pig who lives next door - a poem complete with a metaphor and full of curiosity and courage. But Horace Broom, Stella's irritating classmate, insists that Stella's poem is full of lies and that pigs do not live in houses. And when Stella and Horace get into a shouting match in the classroom, Miss Liliana banishes them to the principal's office. Will the two of them find a way to turn this opposite-of-a-poem day around?

Orris the rat and Timble the owl are unlikely friends. Each night, Timble visits Orris in the barn and listens to his stories. But Timble is growing up, and one evening when the owl doesn’t appear as usual Orris wonders if Timble has forgotten him. Is their friendship over? Or could it be that Timble has a tale of his own to share? The second title in a projected trilogy to feature this charmingly offbeat pair masterfully explores the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we tell each other, and the binding magic of friendship.

Oh, Mercy! Pig out on the first three adventures in the New York Times best-selling series.

School can be a tough place, filled with cliques and bullies. In this collection, discover how schoolkids learn to fit in - and discover who they are in the process. In "My Name's Not Chuck", Steve's classmates give him the nickname Chuck, but he doesn't like this at all. Find out how he can use his talking pet parrot to get them to stop calling him Chuck. Also included are six other stories about fitting in at school: "Ava the Big", "Blushing Blake", "The Tanner Mystery", "Super Tulip", "Hobby Friday", and "The Mystery of Sound."

The Newbery Medalist ( The Tale of Despereaux) talks about her eagerly anticipated new novel, a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected and making the extraordinary come true, with kids ages 8 and up. The event includes an excerpt performed by actress Rita Wolf, a discussion with the audience, a creative writing project, and a book signing

Frances is worried about the monkey and organ grinder who play outside her window, especially after she sees them sleeping outside on the cold street after midnight. At the local Christmas pageant, she finds just the right words to express her compassion.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: an hilarious story.

These two girls are marvelous companions who often do not agree... on socks... or goldfish... or venturing to the Andes. This humorous story relates how compromise helps these two very different individuals remain the best of friends.

The fair is in town and these two very different girls--but best friends extraordinaire--use teamwork to navigate its many wonders.