Most Popular Books by Joan Holub

Sporting a quizzical nature that renders her famous at Mount Olympus Academy, Pandora is curious about a box in the possession of godboy Epimetheus and cannot resist opening the box when it falls in her lap.

Priding herself on having the most up-to-date information about everyone at Mount Olympus Academy, gossipy Pheme sends VIP messages that linger in cloud letters above her head, a habit that raises the ire of her fellow goddesses.

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That''s what all the other numbers think of Zero. He doesn''t add anything in addition. He''s of no use in division. And don''t even ask what he does in multiplication. (Hint: Poof!) But Zero knows he''s worth a lot, and when the other numbers get into trouble, he swoops in to prove that his talents are innumerable.

Iris has a rainbow of colorful experiences, from visiting the Underworld to conversing with her crush in this Goddess Girls adventure. Iris is the most colorful goddess girl at Mount Olympus Academy. In fact, her hair and delicate wings can change color according to her mood! When Principal Zeus entrusts her with the job of fetching some magic water, Iris is tickled pink—until she realizes she’ll have to get the water from the gray, gloomy River Styx in the Underworld! And when Iris figures out how to create magical rainbow slides that will allow her to travel from Mount Olympus to Earth and back in a flash, she suddenly becomes a messenger in high demand. All the while, Iris wonders whether her crush, Zephyrus, has caught wind of her infatuation, or if he’s into her BFF instead. Either way, Iris is determined she won’t go green with envy!

The Goddess Girls by put a modern spin on classic Greek myths. This title focuses on Athena, goddess of wisdom.

After a bit of thought, Hestia jotted down five simple things she had always wanted to do but never had the guts to: Sit with someone new at lunch, stand up for someone, talk to a boy, try something I''d normally say no to and take a truly big, bold cooking risk! Would this prove to be the recipe for change?

In order to fit in at Mount Olympus Academy, new girl and forest-mountain nymph Echo copies the mannerisms of all the other students, but instead of ingratiating herself to her classmates, it only seems to grate on them.

A little red pencil embarks on a creative writing adventure in this delightfully illustrated children’s book with “style, humor, and solid writing advice” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). At the Pencilvania School, all the young pencils are given a writing assignment. With a basket of nouns, Little Red embarks on the storytelling path, discovering the joys of creative writing. But when she gets tangled in a run-on sentence full of descriptive adjectives, she must escape a dangerous encounter with the pencil sharpener, Wolf 3000! Acclaimed writer Joan Holub and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet team up in this hilarious and exuberant retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. “The artwork—which integrates written text in a variety of lettering styles—fills the pages with a riot of color, shape, movement and design… Every writers’ group should start with this story.” (Kirkus, starred review). A Kirkus Best Children’s Books of 2013

For an extra credit project, Aphrodite begins a club for matchmaking mortals, which brings her to Egypt and face-to-face with her competition, the Egyptian goddess Isis.

When Orpheus, a charming mortal musician, arrives at Mount Olympus Academy, he asks Persephone to help reunite him with his lost love, Eurydice, but trying to manipulate the rules of the underworld puts her at odds with her boyfriend, Hades.

Despite being the muse of epic poetry, Calliope has trouble putting her bright and fun ideas into action.

Medusa discovers that having the golden “King Midas” touch has its ups and downs in the sixteenth Goddess Girls adventure. When Medusa suddenly becomes able to turn objects into gold just by touching them, she is thrilled. Gold, gold, everywhere! But it’s not just objects that become golden—it’s also food, and, even people! Her new ability turns out to be more dangerous than delightful, but can she do anything to reverse it?

Athletic Artemis rails against the all-boys'' Olympic Games at Mount Olympus Academy, which leaves her at odds with her twin brother, Apollo, while a mortal boy named Actaeon catches her eye.

Seeking to become immortal like the other Goddess Girls, Medusa searches for a magical necklace, an effort that is compromised by her mean reputation, her snaky hair, and unexpected consequences.

Athena''s arrogance throws a wrench into her plans to improve King Minos''s labyrinth.

A clash between the Titans and The Olympians at sea leaves Zeus and his friends shipwrecked—and in a tidal wave of trouble—in this Heroes in Training adventure. After an encounter with Uranus, God of the Sky (and father of the Titans), the Olympians find themselves in the middle of a battle between two big-time Titans. On Cronus’s orders, Titan Oceanus dives into the sea and causes it to turn even stormier. He’s heading straight for the Olympians’ boat, planning to capsize it, no doubt. Just when it looks like the Olympians are done for, Zeus throws his thunderbolt high and causes a huge battle in the sky between the Titans. As broken stars and hunks of clouds crash to earth and into the sea around the Olympians and their ship, they manage to escape—thanks to some help from Zeus’s medallion and guide, Chip—but find themselves shipwrecked. And as Uranus’s stars begin to fall in the ocean, the huge splash makes a wave of bubbles that heads for the shore of the island where the Olympians and their ship are trapped. And Zeus has a feeling those bubbles mean trouble…

Athena and her friends have a time traveling mishap in this thirtieth and final Goddess Girls adventure! Athena can’t believe it’s almost her little sister Hebe’s birthday…or that it’s been a year since Athena found herself at Mount Olympus Academy. It turns out Athena and her BFFs, the Goddess Girls, remember very different versions of Athena’s first day at school. To see what really happened, they use a spell to travel back in time! The girls go back a year earlier but to ancient Rome instead of Greece—where they meet the Roman equivalents of themselves! With time running out for them to get back to Greece—and for Hebe’s celebration!—can the Goddess Girls work with their new friends to find their way home?

When a mermaid named Amphitrite arrives at Mount Olympus Academy, she finds herself falling for Poseidon, but his quirks may be too much for her.

The ants are hard at work in their classroom on a big Valentine''s Day card! They will add lace and glue and stars. But who will they send it to? The Ant Hill kids list all of the possibilities before settling on one lucky person: their teacher!

Get to know Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, in this twenty-fourth Goddess Girls adventure!

A construction site crew is busy at work in this rhyming Step 1 story. As the work continues readers are in for a surprise--the "crew" is actually a group of young friends engaged in a fun day of dramatic play. Two sheets of vehicle-themed stickers are included. It''s a natural for young readers who love to build and are fans of vehicles that dig, scoop, and sometimes go ka-boom!

When Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon continue on a new quest in the search for the Helm of Darkness, they discover many things in the Underworld that Hades does not fear except a giant three-headed dog.

Seed School''s cast of characters--seeds that will grow to be sunflowers, vegetables, and one odd-looking seed with a cap--learn all about what is required to grow.

Meet Cassandra, the newest student at Mount Olympus Academy! She has an amazing talent—but will her new friends believe her? This Goddess Girls story is based on the myth of Cassandra, who has the gift of seeing the future—except no one believes her. Can Apollo, the god of prophecy, help his new crush?

It''s picture day at the dog park. But before the first photo can be taken, an exuberant pack of pups needs a bit of grooming. So they’re off to Shampoodle, the local pet salon, where the eager dogs simply cannot sit still. And when some curious cats stop by, things go from messy to mayhem. Shampoodle is perfect for animal lovers and children who are just starting to read on their own, taking their cues from lively art and bubbly, rhymed text. Step 2 Readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.

Elpis, a hope-spreading bubble, is given the chance to become the Spirit of Hope at Mount Olympus Academy if she can prove herself as a human girl among the students, but quickly realizes that being a human girl comes with its own challenges.

The Olympians must face the fierce giant Typhon in order to find magic seeds that will help grow the earth after the terrible drought brought upon the land by Hyperion.

When dawn comes and it''s time for bats to go to bed, Fink can''t sleep so the whole bat family pitches in to help by telling bedtime stories to lull him to sleep.

Get to know Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, in this twenty-sixth Goddess Girls adventure!

When ten-year-old Zeus is kidnapped, he discovers he can defend himself with a magical thunderbolt.

When the road signs take a vacation, chaos and hilarity ensue--and they quickly learn how important they are. School is ending for the summer, and the stick figures on the school crossing sign are jealous of all the vacation plans they hear the students making. The stick figures work hard--maybe they deserve a vacation, too! So they abandon their signpost and set off on an adventure, inviting along all the other underappreciated road signs they meet on the way. It''s all fun and games for a while, especially when they stumble upon a fantastic amusement park. But the people they''ve left behind are feeling their absence, and soon there are traffic tangles and lost pedestrians everywhere. The signs are more important than they realized, and now it''s time for them to save the day!

When the Olympians arrive on the island of Lemnos, they meet the metal-working Hephaestus who is hesitant to leave with the gods, stating that the only way he will join them is if he gets to be their leader.

Her excitement at having a pen pal quickly turns to disappointment when Daisy, a second-grader, receives some unwelcome news about this new "friend."

Well-researched and true to the original myths, each volume in the Goddess Girls series addresses contemporary issues like friendships and relationships from a classically accurate—and entertaining—persepective. In Aphrodite the Beauty, Aphrodite, goddessgirl of love, must deal with jealousy after giving Athena a makeover. It doesn’t seem fair that the godboys pay more attention to her friend when Aphrodite is supposed to be destined for love! She also copes with a crush from an unlikely source—the nerdy Hephaestus (god of the smith)—and learns that love comes in many forms.

In this fairy tale retelling, Sleeping Beauty goes to boarding school and must find protection from an evil curse. Sleeping Beauty—who just goes by her middle name, Rose—has always been a daredevil. But according to her fairy tale, after her twelfth birthday Rose must avoid all sharp objects. That isn’t easy at Grimm Academy, where enchanted items can also be dangerous. Rose will have to stay wide awake to keep out of trouble-and to find her magic charm!

Zeus and Hercules face a very hungry giant in this latest Heroes in Training chapter book! Zeus and Hercules may have gotten a scale from the nine-headed hydra, but that isn’t enough for King Eurystheus to forgive Hercules for egging his temple. For their next task, the Oracle Pythia reveals that, to make Eurystheus happy, they have to get the golden belt from the queen of the Amazons—a band of warrior girls. Although the Amazons are friendly enough, there’s just one problem…they think that boys are stinky! And Hercules hasn’t been great at getting people to like him. But before they even reach the Amazons, they are caught by the awful giant Alkyoneus. He has seven daughters to feed, and the boys would make for a perfect snack. Can Zeus and Hercules escape his clutches and get the belt in time? Or will they end up in hot water?

The first-ever standalone superspecial in the Goddess Girls series—let the games begin! Athena, Medusa, Artemis, and Persephone are sick and tired of being left out of the annual boys-only Olympic Games. Their solution? The Girl Games! But as the Goddess Girls work to make their dream into a reality, they come up against plenty of chaos and competition. Told in alternating points of view, this superspecial is packed with Olympic spirit!

In Athena the Brain, Athena always knew she was smart and special, but she didn’t realize that she was a goddess! When she’s whisked away to Mount Olympus Academy, she worries about fitting in and dealing with her dad (Zeus). Luckily, she meets the Goddess Girls and finds the best friends she’s ever had.

What makes the great white shark (one of) the greatest fish in the sea? FIN-d out in this hilarious fish-out-of-water story that''s perfect for Shark Week and all year-round! "Don''t miss this one." -School Library Journal, Starred Review Hi! I am Great White Shark, and if you get this book, you''ll read all about ME--the greatest shark in the sea! Not so fast! Greenland Shark here, and as the oldest shark in this book, that makes me the greatest. Did someone say fast? I''m Mako Shark, and I''m the fastest shark in this book! Eat my bubbles! Wow, I''m Hammerhead Shark. You don''t need my special eyes to see that there are lots of great sharks in this book. Sink your teeth into it now! New York Times bestselling author Joan Holub makes a splash with bestselling illustrator Laurie Keller to deliver an entertaining undersea story filled with the greatest shark facts in the ocean!

Artemis, goddess of the hunt, is always perceived as the bravest goddess girl at Mount Olympus Academy. What her classmates and best friends don''t realize is that sometimes she''s not as courageous as she looks.