New Releases by Judy Sierra

From habitual to ritual. Created by a Yoga and meditation instructor, this journal is for people who want to disrupt automated routines and develop rituals to build a more joyful life. Fifty-two rituals, one for each week of the year, to practice and reflect on your life mindfully. Mindfulness means paying attention, to be aware of the choices you are not making. Being aware of what brings you joy and what doesn''t will allow you to make changes and adjustments to design the life you always wanted. This journal asks the right questions and guides you in the right direction; to reflect on your days, inviting joy in your daily chaos.

From the bestselling creators of Wild About Books comes a rhyming, counting, and teamwork-focused picture book about the beginnings of a new zoo! When Takoda the tiger cub happens upon a tumbledown mall, the lone cub imagines a zoo. All Takoda needs is a capable crew to lend a paw or two--or three, four, or more. Two rhinos, three lemurs, four oryx, and eventually ten crocodiles turn up to help. Soon the animals are finding places to pitch in: bears are carving out burrows, elephants are stomping the way for a playground, and crocodiles are crafting a waterslide. It seems everyone''s got something to do--everyone, that is, except for ten eager bugs. Will they be underestimated for their size or will this be a new kind of zoo where everyone counts? Judy Sierra''s rhymes and Marc Brown''s colorful, folk-inspired art lend themselves to themes of counting and teamwork in this new picture book all about how a tiger cub and a whole lot of friends to count on add up to one wonderful zoo. A Bank Street Best Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit "The creators of Wild About Books and Wild About You! again demonstrate finely tuned creative teamwork in this nimble tale about cooperation, inclusivity, and the rewards of a job diligently done."--Publishers Weekly "Sierra''s rollicking rhymes are fun to read aloud and listen to, and Brown''s gouache and pencil illustrations give children lots of details to pore over. This rhythmic, imaginative romp practically reads itself aloud."--Kirkus

“Teachers will have field day with this wordplay; this caper is clever, capricious, and cunning.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Bored with sitting in a dictionary ‘day in, day out,’ the words make a break for it and organize a parade which…introduce linguistics terminology in just about the most playful way possible.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This is a charming, peppy introduction, enhanced by Comstock’s energetic, retro-flair illustrations, which fill the pages with cavorting words and creative details…In approach and format, this is both entertaining and educational—likely to hold and pique kids’ interest in the topic and provide a fun learning supplement.” —Booklist (starred review) When all of the words escape from the dictionary, it’s up to Noah Webster to restore alphabetical order in this supremely wacky picture book that celebrates language. Words have secret lives. On a quiet afternoon the words escape the dictionary (much to the consternation of Mr. Noah Webster) and flock to Hollywood for a huge annual event—Lexi-Con. Liberated from the pages, words get together with friends and relations in groups including an onomatopoeia marching band, the palindrome family reunion, and hide-and-seek antonyms. It’s all great fun until the words disagree and begin to fall apart. Can Noah Webster step in to restore order before the dictionary is disorganized forever?

A lively new picture-book biography of the most beloved children’s book author of all time: Dr. Seuss! Have you ever wondered how the great Dr. Seuss wrote his most famous book? Did you know that for The Cat in the Hat, he wasn’t allowed to make up the fun words he was known for—like OOBLECK and IT-KUTCH and HIPPO-NO-HUNGUS? He was only allowed to use words from a very strict list! This bouncy account of the early career of Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Ted Geisel) proves that sometimes limitations can be the best inspiration of all. Kid-friendly prose (with Seussian rhyme for Ted’s dialogue) and whimsical illustrations by award winner Kevin Hawkes recall the work of Dr. Seuss himself. Writing tips from Dr. Seuss and exclusive letters from the author and illustrator, detailing how they created this book, are included!

Animal toddlers arrive for storytime with Miss Bingo the flamingo.

The Little Red Hen gives old MacDonald some pointers on composting — and a legendary farm is born — in this rhyming, rollicking read-aloud. Features an audio read-along! Once upon a time, Old MacDonald didn’t have a farm. He just had a yard — a yard he didn’t want to mow. But under the direction of the wise (and ecologically sensitive) Little Red Hen, Mac learns to look at the environment in a very different way, and whole new worlds start to bloom with the help of some mud, garbage, horse poop, and worms! Judy Sierra’s spirited verse, paired with Matthew Myers’s exuberant illustrations, yields a fresh take on a children’s classic, complete with raised-bed gardens and an organic farmers’ market—making this a perfect story for armchair gardeners and devoted locavores of all sizes.

Struggling with an overgrown yard and his own aimlessness, Old MacDonald receives advice from the wise and ecologically sensible Little Red Hen, who helps him compost his way through the steps of creating a thriving organic farm. By the best-selling author of Wild About Books.

The tree kangaroo at the zoo would like nothing more than a baby of her own. So, when a new egg arrives via the endangered species van, the ''roo jumps at the chance to take care of it, even when no one else wants it. Soon, out comes a penguin and all the animals chip in to help because, as the tree kangaroo says, "Penguins eat fishes." Told in Judy Sierra''s classic rollicking rhyme, and paired with Marc Brown''s breathtaking folk-art style paintings, Wild About You! is another delightful collaboration from this New York Times bestselling duo that fans of Wild About Books and ZooZical will want to adopt for their own book collections.

OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD! Winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award It started the summer of 2002, when the Springfield librarian, Molly McGrew, by mistake drove her bookmobile into the zoo. In this rollicking rhymed story, Molly introduces birds and beasts to this new something called reading. She finds the perfect book for every animal—tall books for giraffes, tiny ones for crickets. “She even found waterproof books for the otter, who never went swimming without Harry Potter.” In no time at all, Molly has them “forsaking their niches, their nests, and their nooks,” going “wild, simply wild, about wonderful books.” Judy Sierra’s funny animal tale coupled with Marc Brown’s lush, fanciful paintings will have the same effect on young Homo sapiens. Altogether, it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

"Schoolyard rhymes are catchy and fun. They are easy to remember. In fact, they stick in the mind like bubble gum to a shoe." writes Judy Sierra in her introduction to this lively collection of traditional playground chants. Included are more than 50 verses ranging from the familiar jump rope rhyme about the mythical lady with the alligator purse to less familiar counting-out ones, from funny rhymes for ball-bouncing and hand-clapping games to "Liar, liar, pants on fire, nose as long as a telephone wire" and other choice insults of children. Melissa Sweet includes bright, colorful fabric swatches in her watercolor-and-pencil collages to perfectly capture the spirit of these funky, street-smart verses that children love to recite and chant.

Welcome to Ballyhoo Bay, where Mira Bella the artist teaches painting and sculpture to grannies and kids. Sun, sea, sand, and sky - what could be more fun? Until one gray day a billboard goes up, announcing a high-rise building and all kinds of stuff. No more sand or seashells or painting or fun. And absolutely no children and wildlife allowed. Mira Bella is not one to take this plan lightly. But despite Mira Bella''s conviction, can art save Ballyhoo Bay? Mom''s Choice Award winner and E.B. White Read Aloud Award recipient Judy Sierra has created a modern fable for the ages, celebrating art, nature, and community. Derek Anderson''s vibrant and buoyant illustrations are as close as you can get to a day at the beach without actually being there. Come put your toes in the sand at Ballyhoo Beach!

Winter weather is keeping children from visiting the zoo. So the animals are out of sorts—listless, grumpy, and no longer fun. All except two little friends, a very small hippo and a baby kangaroo. Their hip-hopping, toe-tapping, and rap-rocking soon has the other animals joining in the hip-aroo beat—now brought to life with audio narration in this Read & Listen edition. "Raccoons danced in pairs, baboons danced in troops, and snakes joined the dancers as live hula-hoops." Children''s favorite songs get a funny new spin—seals bark out "The seals on the bus go round and round"—as the animals create their very own musical. Young readers and listeners will be amazed and delighted at how the animals chase the winter doldrums by getting along as friends, pooling their talents, and pushing themselves to new heights. After all, these are the same clever animals who learned to read in Judy Sierra''s and Marc Brown''s Wild About Books, the award-winning New York Times #1 bestselling picture book. ZooZical is sure to inspire some "can do" fun in kindergarten and primary grades. This ebook includes Read & Listen audio narration.

This picture book about the first day of school, featuring a frog, a duck, a mouse, and a snail, combines a story in rhyme with colorful graphic rebuses, making it a fun book for parent and child to share in the reading. Children about to enter kindergarten or first grade who long to be able to read will get a sense of accomplishment by "reading" the little rebus pictures in the story. Judy Sierra, author of Wild About Books, uses bouncy rhyme and rhythm as cues for the child to name the pictogram rebuses. Preschoolers will enjoy following the animals and their teacher, Tom Burkey (who is a turkey), through a happy first day of school.

DANGER! WARNING! KIDS beware! Bound in the bilious green-spotted fur (100% fake) of an unidentified weird beast, here is a book that kids will love—quite literally—from cover to cover. In the macabre spirit of the Halloween season, funny rhymes range from “Parasite Lost” to “Leap Halloween,” and are illustrated with gruesome graphics. Elementary school kids will want to be the first to own this outrageous fur-clad book, but librarians may prefer the standard library bound edition, minus the fur!

Big Bad Wolf’s first visit to his local library (as related in Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf) was such a success that he returns to tell his version of “The Three Little Pigs.” His outrageous spin on the tale draws skeptical remarks from his audience: “Isn’t that wolf’s nose getting longer?” asks Pinocchio. “It’s a cooked-up, half-baked tale,” snaps the Gingerbread Boy. And “Tell the truth, B.B. Wolf!” squeal the Three Little Pigs. Caught in his own lie, B.B. explains that he is a reformed villain: “Now I’m begging on my knees, Little Pigs, forgive me, please!” How B.B. turns his bad old deed into a good new one provides a happy ending to this fun-to-read fractured fairytale.

A delightful book to read out loud with children who are just learning their ABCs. It''s sleepy time in Alphabet Town. But the twenty-six little letters of the alphabet all have something they need—or want—to do before BIG-letter moms and dads tuck them in. Not since the classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has there been such an appealing way to teach the youngest child the ABCs while providing a one-minute goodnight story. Of course, Melissa Sweet’s animated watercolor, pencil, and collage illustrations may beg for a little more time to match up all the toys with the right letters, and Judy Sierra’ s rollicking rhymed story will want to be heard again and again. Okay, so maybe it’s a three-minute story!

A good-natured monster thinks a pie made out of flies would be a good dessert, and invites all his friends and relatives over to try it.

A collection of twenty-five nursery rhymes, rewritten to feature vampires, ghouls, mummies, the Loch Ness monster, and other fearsome creatures.

Make room in your suitcase for this monstrously entertaining guide to fantastic creatures around the world — and how to elude them. I did not make any of this up. Do you know why you should have baby teeth handy when visiting the Midwest? Or why you should bring a cucumber with you when swimming in Japan? How good are you at solving Russian riddles? From Boston to Bejing, from Moscow to Mali, any place you visit has its own terrifying tales of very real creatures. Complete with handy "gruesomeness ratings," this guide offers all the important facts on some sixty-three folkloric monsters and how (if possible!) to survive an encounter with them. Meticulously researched by Judy Sierra and illustrated in grotesque detail by Henrik Drescher, here is the ultimate resource for any world traveler, armchair or otherwise, hoping to make it home alive.

Miss Darling''s class has twenty-six pets--one for every letter of the alphabet!

Publisher Description

A collection of poems celebrating the habits and habitat of Emperor penguins.

Engaging rhymes capture the familiar rituals of preparing for bed--toys, baths, bottles, and lullabies--as all the little pteranodons and diplodocus and their young relatives get ready to go to sleep. Reprint.

A warm and hilarious bedtime story for all little creatures!

When a mud puddle traps a pizza van, police car, tow truck, and other vehicles, a group of preschoolers comes along and saves the day. Full-color illustrations.

In this rhymed retelling of a traditional Asian tale, a clever monkey uses her ability to count to outwit the hungry crocodiles that stand between her and a banana tree on another island across the sea.

In the Spice Islands, where clove and nutmeg trees grow, a girl named Damura lived long ago. Damura is a beautiful girl, as kind and lovely as the little green parrot that perches on the nutmeg tree. But Damura''s stepmother and stepsister mistreat her. They force her to rise before dawn, carry out all the chores, and sleep on the floor. One day, while down by the river, Damura calls out to the creatures of the wild for help. Rising from the waters, an ancient crocodile answers the call. This unusual fairy godmother, aptly named Grandmother Crocodile, outfits Damura in a sarong of gold, with slippers to match, and sends her to the palace to dance for the prince. Once he sees her, the prince knows that she will be his bride. But the fairy tale isn''t quite over. Damura''s wicked stepmother and stepsister are so jealous that they push Damura into the river, where she is swallowed by a crocodile. Too bad they didn''t know about Grandmother Crocodile.... The Gift of the Crocodile, a tale from the Spice Islands in Indonesia, offers a colorful and dramatic twist on the universally adored Cinderella story.

Uriko-hime, a girl born from a melon, battles the monstrous oni, who steal babies to eat their tasty belly buttons.

In this Halloween version of a familiar cumulative rhyme, the inhabitants of a haunted house get increasingly agitated until a group of children sets things right.