New Releases by Elise Primavera

From New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Elise Primavera comes an imaginative young middle grade fantasy adventure bubbling with wit and whimsy. Marigold Star is destined for greatness. Everyone in Bramblycrumbly thinks so, her parents and pet dragon included. There’s just one problem. Marigold can’t do magic! Then one day she tries a new spell written in a very old book. It’s called the Invis-O-Friend Spell, and it makes Marigold invisible to all but the friend who needs her most. To Marigold’s surprise, the spell works! But now there’s another problem. The spell sent Marigold to the human world. And to return home, she’ll have to befriend a host of human children who are struggling to make friends. Marigold will have to hurry, or the line between her magical world and the human one might crumble until she has no home left to go back to.

When a baked potato–loving lady adopts a dog, she adores him unconditionally—and given the pup''s small, round frame and warm, brown coat she can''t help but call him "Baked Potato"! But what happens when a dog who thinks he''s a baked potato gets lost? Will he find his lady? And more importantly, will he find himself? I''m a Baked Potato! is a fun, bighearted story about the names we''re given, the names we choose, and how both can help us find our way home. Full of heart and laugh-out-loud moments, this story will leave readers giggling—and looking at pets in a whole new way.

The charming sequel to Ms. Rapscott''s Girls. Children of busy parents attend a whimsical school where they go on magical adventures. For fans of Mary Poppins and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Includes beautiful black-and-white illustrations throughout. Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents is not your typical boarding school. Students arrive in boxes, birthday cake is served for breakfast, and two very talented corgis assist the rather quirky headmistress. This semester, the girls will learn how to get to The Top, but the semester is not off to a good start. One of the girls doesn’t make it back to school and when her friends try to rescue her, they wind up at the Bottom of the Barrel. Luckily, Ms. Rapscott knows that learning to fail is the secret to Going Far in life.

Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents is not your typical boarding school. Students arrive in boxes, birthday cake is served for breakfast, and two multitalented corgis assist the wonderfully peculiar headmistress. Having learned to Find Their Way during the summer term, Ms. Rapscott''s pupils must now make it to The Top.

"At Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents, Ms. Rapscott teaches her students How to Get Lost on Purpose, resulting in a series of fantastical adventures that makes each learn a little something about courage, strength, bravery, and teamwork"--

"There is only one way for Libby to live up to her potential and achieve her dream of being the best rider in the world. Find a way to win a Blue Ribbon with Saddleshoes, the most difficult pony at High Hopes Farm"--

Scarlett Starlett and Simon Greensnout were best friends; they were also alligators who lived in a town menaced by a rotten-to-the-core witch. She hated anything sweet and nice and had no use for love. Scarlett longed to be a singer and Simon yearned to travel the world. One day, they stumbled upon a silver dollar that the witch had lost. In exchange for its return to her, the witch granted them their wishes. But be careful what you wish for, because these wishes came with an evil spell attaches. . . . Through some scary twists and turns, Scarlett and Simon managed to find what they were looking for as well as the answer to the question, "Who needs love?"

Louise, who wants nothing more than to be important, jumps at the chance to attend a charm school run by Claire Eclaire, who is from Paris. Full color.

Angelina Neatolini''s wish for a pet, denied by her family on the grounds that pets are too messy, is overheard by a hard-of-hearing ladybug, who fills their tidy new home with assorted pests. By the award-winning author of Auntie Claus.

Louise the Big Cheese is determined to make the grade in school this year and that means straight As. But she''s stuck with the toughest teacher ever. Will Louise make the grade?

For seven years, bad luck has followed Ivy around like a dog on a leash. Her father disappeared, her mother is a washed–up beauty–pageant winner, and now Viola and her mother have moved into a raqmshackle house on Gumm Street. Ivy''s new neighbors–bookish Pru, stuck–up Cat, and wannabe adventurer Franny–are worse than unfriendly. But then a mysterious pair of ruby red slippers turn up, and the four girls are swept away...not to OZ, but to the jaw–droppingly strange lands of SPOZ, and SPUDZ, and OOZE, pursued by the fashionably mad Cha–Cha Staccato, who bears a frightening resemblance to a certain wicked witch.... Ages: 8 –12

"Dream big" is Louise the Big Cheese''s motto. But try though she might, she''s just plain old Louise, no Cheese. When the casting call goes out for Cinderella, Louise just knows that it''s her moment to shine and take the stage as the STAR of the show. Unfortunately, the director casts Louise as a mouse while her best friend, Fern, who wasn''t even going to try out in the first place, gets to be Cinderella. Louise may be a mouse in the show, but in the end it''s up to her to save the day.

Lulu was a thumb sucker. She and her thumb were very happy together—in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, Lulu and her thumb were best friends. Despite the urging of her family and the teasing of her friends, Lulu just would not give up her thumb-sucking habit. That is, until one day . . . when Lulu made up her mind to stop. And to help herself and thumb suckers all over the world, Lulu developed a program—one with steps. Twelve steps, to be exact. Join Lulu in her quest to kick the habit as she goes through the steps in this funny and insightful picture book. Told in a light-hearted manner and filled with good humor about a universal and important concern, Thumb Love will be embraced by parents and caregivers alike. This is not an issue book but a story that will resonate with anyone who is—or was—a kid.

Louise''s mother will not allow her to get shiny black shoes with sparkles on them, but when her friend Fern gets a pair, Louise finds out just how impractical fancy shoes really are.

When Sophie is cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy in her school''s performance of the Nutcracker, her Auntie Claus forgoes her usual fall business trip and transforms New York City into the North Pole, with some unpleasant consequences.

Horror has never been so absurd. After a bloodcurdling summer at camp, Fred and Anthony are eager to get back to watching horror movies and slacking off at school. But on their first day back, the boys'' plans are dashed by some chilling changes at Sunny Babbling Brook Elementary. Their nicest teachers have been replaced by maniacs, and the cafeteria now serves nothing but organic health food. Then worse, a new kid named Billy Bob Bomzie, son of the infamous Mr. Bomzie, shows up to torment the boys. Right away Fred and Anthony are framed for a rash of weird accidents at school. Clearly Billy Bob is guilty, but the whole school is suddenly in love with him. Not only that, he''s rolling in awards and dough for his hit picture book, which is thirty-two blank pages. How can this be? The boys suspect he is receiving help from some being in the Netherworld in charge of making dreck popular. Now it''s up to Fred and Anthony and their new ally, the Phantom of the Mop Closet, to defeat the dark forces at Sunny Babbling Brook. While they''re at it, maybe they can find the supernatural force to make their own dreck popular and rake in some dough!

Fred and Anthony plan to spend summer vacation in Fred''s basement, watching horror movies and eating Pez and Chex Mix. Instead, the boys are shipped off to Camp Plenty Wampum, where their nights are spent shivering around a sputtering campfire listening to stories about the camp''s notorious Burnt Marshmallow Mummy. Things start looking up the day their canoe sinks in Lake Gitchi Lagooni, and Fred and Anthony discover that it is really the infamous Black Lagoon-and another portal to the Netherworld. The boys decide to make some wampum of their own by giving guided tours. They even meet a cute, harmless little fellow called a Heinie Goblin who entertains the kids, and soon Fred and Anthony are raking in the dough. But when a couple of the more tender-hearted girls take the Heinie Goblin back to camp, the creature begins to multiply by the hundreds and mayhem ensues. In no time, Camp Plenty Wampum looks more like Camp Plenty Heinie Goblins, and Fred and Anthony once again find themselves in plenty big trouble!

Sophie trouve sa tante Noël bien mystérieuse. D''abord, elle porte un manteau rouge bordé de fourrure blanche et, à son cou, une clef en diamant. Sa drôle de tante lui rappelle toujours « qu''il vaut mieux donner que recevoir ». Mais plus étrange encore, chaque année, après l''Halloween, sa tante Noël part en « voyage d''aff aires » pour ne revenir qu''à la Saint-Valentin... Cette année, Sophie décide qu''il est temps de découvrir le secret de sa tante. Elle entre sans bruit dans son appartement, se cache dans une boîte et part elle aussi en « voyage d''affaires »...

When Fred and Anthony are faced with their unfinished history project, they come up with a great idea: pay someone else to do it. There''s just one problem: they have no money. Luckily, they have plenty of schemes for making quick dough. So, after a paralyzing case of writer''s block forces them to abandon careers as best-selling authors, they ride around town on their skateboards, trying to get "old people" to hire them. But Fred and Anthony never imagined that in their quest to avoid work, they would stumble into a portal to the Netherworld, where terrifying (or just plain wacky) encounters with ghosts, monsters, and other paranormal creatures eerily echo the plots of their favorite horror movies . . . We''re launching with two titles and following with one a season thereafter.

Fred and Anthony may have escaped the evil dentist, Dr. Nietsneknarf -- but they never did finish their horrible hideous history project. So when the boys fail the class, they figure the only way to convince their diabolical teacher, Mr. Bomzie, to change their grades is to catch the mysterious OCD Ghost who is wrecking havoc--not to mention squeaky-cleaning houses all over town. While they''re at it, they figure they can earn extra dough by ghost-busting some condos on the other side of the tracks. But when the boys end up at Maniac Towers, they discover to their horror that it is the home of many Netherworld denizens, including the Giant Slimy Snot-Sandwich-Eating Fungus Blob and the Demented Super-DeGerm-O Zombie from Maniac Towers.

With an unfinished history project looming before them, Fred and Anthony try to think of ways to make some quick money, in order to hire somebody to finish their project for them. Unfortunately, they fall into the Netherworld first where they have terrifying encounters with ghosts and monsters, much like the ones in their favorite horror movies.

When Chris expresses doubt about the existence of Santa Claus, his older sister Sophie reveals that their aunt is really Santa''s sister and helper and then sends him on a strange journey.

Une petite fille riche et gâtée part à la recherche de sa tante Tatie Noël, qui s''absente mystérieusement chaque année. Le parcours initiatique d''une enfant égoïste qui va découvrir, au travers d''un fabuleux voyage au pays du Père Noël, la générosité et le don de soi.

Une petite fille découvre un oeuf de dragon. Il éclôt et c''est le début d''une aventure sur le thème de l''amitié, de la loyauté et des joies de l''inattendu.

In his junkyard Bertie discovers a life form fond of gardening, but he nearly loses his new pet by not understanding its needs.

Three dotted animals, a frog, duck, and moose, enjoy playing together and form a band, but their friendship is endangered as the fortunes of their band rise and continue to change.

Ralph, a fearless explorer on his way to the North Pole, meets a friendly polar bear who helps him in his journey.