Best Selling Books by Kathi Appelt

An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner''s run-down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free.

In 1910, Zada the camel treks across the West Texas desert to save two baby kestrels from an approaching haboob, a mountain-sized storm. sharing adventures from her youth in Turkey to keep them calm.

Join a rambunctious child as she exuberantly celebrates all the wonderful qualities that make her special -- her nose, her toes, her ears, herself! Award winners Kathi Appelt and G. Brian Karas team up to create this joyous tribute to the wonders of being ... ME!

Keeper was born in the ocean, and she believes she is part mermaid. So as a ten-year-old she goes out looking for her mother—an unpredictable and uncommonly gorgeous woman who swam away when Keeper was three—and heads right for the ocean, right for the sandbar where mermaids are known to gather. But her boat is too small for the surf—and much too small for the storm that is brewing on the horizon. Kathi Appelt follows her award-winning and New York Times bestselling novel The Underneath with this stunning, mysterious, and breathtaking tale of a girl who outgrows fairy tales just a little too late—and learns in the end that there is nothing more magical and mythical than love itself.

The good ol'' days are over. It''s official, it''s the news! With my brand-new baby brother came the brand-new baby blues! When a new baby wears her old pajamas, sleeps in her old bed, and seems to get all her parents'' attention, a girl''s bound to sing the blues. Is there anything a baby brother can do to change her tune?

Fish and birds and lizards and socks…is there anything Max won’t attack? Watch your ankles and find out in this clever, rhyming picture book about a very naughty kitty cat. Max is a cat. He attacks. From socks to strings to many a fish, attacking, for Max, is most de-lish. But how many of these things can he actually catch? Well, let’s just say it’s no even match.

It''s fun to tell time as you dance around the clock! Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie! It''s American Batstand - a twelve-hour rock and roll extravaganza with Click Dark as your host. Decked in go-go boots and bobby sox, the buoyant bats bebop their way around the clock. And there''s a special guest appearance at the end! With their swinging text and groovy illustrations, the creators of Bat Jamboree and Bats on Parade don''t miss a beat when it comes to the basics. Telling time has never been so much fun!

Mogie is a real-life Labradoodle with a special talent: he always knows just what a sick kid needs! Get to know this passionate pup with this story by a Newbery Honoree. Give that dog a puddle and he’d splash. Give him a whistle and he’d roll over. Give him a rule and he’d break it. One day a passel of puppies was born. Each puppy was designated for a Very Important Job, like Service Dog, or Search and Rescue Dog, or Groomed for the Show Ring Dog. Each puppy, that is, except Mogie. Mogie was a ball-chasing, tail-wagging, moon-howling pup. Not the kind of pup for any of those jobs! But there is a place that is just right for Mogie: a very special house where sick children and their families can stay while they undergo long-term treatment. A place with children who NEED a ball-chasing, tail-wagging, moon-howling pup. And there’s one little boy in particular who needs Mogie. And Mogie is about to prove he’s the best darn pooch in the passel. Based on a true story, this heartwarming picture book is published in conjunction with the Ronald McDonald House.

The Bat Jamboree was held early this year, at the old drive-in movie not too far from here. It was standing room only as the houselights went down. The spotlight came up -- there wasn''t a sound! Then: DD1 bat sang.DD2 bats flapped. DD3 bats cha-cha-edDD4 bats tapped. Every year a troupe of 55 buoyant bats comes up with 10 fabulous acts to entertain and instruct an enthusiatic audience. And every year the bats top themselves when they perform the grandest finale of all . . . With its exuberant text and enchanting illustrations, Bat Jamboree is both a counting book and a thrilling theatrical event.

An ocelot. A slave. An angel thief. With interconnecting stories ebbing and flowing, this jewel of a novel from Newbery Honor–winning author and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt is a striking depiction of family devotion, a harsh cry for freedom, new love, oh, and an ocelot. Sixteen-year-old Cade Curtis is an angel thief. Abandoned by his mother, he and his dad moved to the apartment above a local antique shop. The only payment the owner Mrs. Walker requests: marble angels, stolen from graveyards, for her to sell for thousands of dollars to collectors. But there’s one angel that would be the last they’d ever need to steal; an angel, carved by a slave, with one hand open and one hand closed. If only Cade could find it… Zorra, a young ocelot, watches the bayou rush past her yearningly. The poacher who captured and caged her has gone away, and Zorra is getting hungrier and thirstier by the day. Trapped, she only has the sounds of the bayou for comfort—but it tells her help will come soon. Before Zorra, Achsah, a slave, watched the very same bayou with her two young daughters. After the death of her master, Achsah is free, but she’ll be damned if her daughters aren’t freed with her. All they need to do is find the church with an angel with one hand open and one hand closed… A soaring, searing novel from Newbery Honor–winning author and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt, Angel Thieves weaves together stories across time, connected by the bayou, an angel, and a universal desire to be free.

Jory fears that he is too small to find a suitable gift to welcome the new parson.

Using only prepositions as text, relates the adventures of two elephants as they travel to Africa to visit their Aunt Rwanda.

Help hungry crows avoid a feline foe in this clever concept book from the author of The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp and The Underneath. One, two, three, crows in a tree, bedecked in red scarves and hungry as can be. So they fly out of their nest with snacking in mind, and snack they do. Snack one, snack two, snack three—all the way to a dozen! But before they have time to complain about bellyaches, they have a bigger problem: a cat has been eyeing them…as potential snacks! Can these well-fed crows become well-FLED crows? Read and find out in this counting book from Newbery Finalist and two-time National Book Award Nominee Kathi Appelt, with spot-on illustrations from Rob Dunlavey. It’s the cat’s meow!

“Librarians often say that every book is not for every child, but The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp is” (The New York Times). Meet Bingo and J’miah, raccoon brothers on a mission to save Sugar Man Swamp in this rollicking tale and National Book Award Finalist from Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt. Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts. Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it. And help is surely needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all. The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four… Newbery Honoree and Kathi Appelt’s story of care and conservation has received five starred reviews, was selected as a National Book Award finalist, and is funny as all get out and ripe for reading aloud.

Young Jesse waits all summer for her watermelon to ripen.

Publisher Description

Graduating eighth graders relate their stories of love and heartbreak that have brought them to Dogwood Junior High''s magical Stardust Dance.

Worlds collide in a spectacular way when Newbery and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt and Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestseller Alison McGhee team up to create a fantastical, heartbreaking, and gorgeous tale about two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever. Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, more than best friends, they’d be identical twins if only they’d been born in the same year. And if only Sylvie wasn’t such a fast—faster than fast—runner. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the river they’re not supposed to go anywhere near to throw a wish rock just before the school bus comes on a snowy morning, she runs so fast that no one sees what happens…and no one ever sees her again. Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that—like their mother—her sister is gone forever. At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born—half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast—faster than fast—and she senses danger. She’s too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide. Writing in alternate voices—one Jules’s, the other the fox’s—Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee tell the searingly beautiful tale of one small family’s moment of heartbreak, a moment that unfolds into one that is epic, mythic, shimmering, and most of all, hopeful.

Also written by Kathi Appelt:Bubba and Beau, Best FriendsIllustrated by Arthur Howard0-15-202060-8 $16.00Oh My Baby, Little OneIllustrated by Jane Dyer0-15-200041-0 $16.00

Bluebonnets and lady''s slippers, larkspurs and blazing stars, black-eyed Susans and Granny''s nightcaps. From a lonely childhood in the Piney Woods of East Texas to an exciting life in the White House, Lady Bird Johnson loved these wildflowers with all her heart. They were her companions in her youth, greeting her everywhere as she explored wild forests, bayous, and hills. Later, as First Lady, she sought to bring the beauty of wildflowers to America''s cities and highways. She wanted to make sure every child could enjoy the splendor of wildflowers. In this warm, engaging look at the life of a great First Lady, Kathi Appelt tells the story behind Lady Bird Johnson''s environmental vision. Joy Fisher Hein''s colorful wildflowers burst from every page, inviting us to share in Lady Bird''s love for natural beauty.

From award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman comes a collection of quirky, smart, and vulnerable childhood works by some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators—revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today. Everyone’s story begins somewhere… For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license. For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who liked to draw. For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother’s Day—and perfected through draft after discarded draft. For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words, and pictures, and stories. Your story is beginning, too. Where will it go?

Pigs dance the night away when a polka band plays at the annual hootenanny.

A series of prose poems describes the author''s life while she was growing up in Houston, Texas, from her eleventh birthday in 1965 through her eighteenth in 1972, and beyond.

While preparing for a visit from some relatives--and even after they arrive--Bubba and Beau want nothing more than to sink their paws into the squishy, squashy mud hole.

The members of a family celebrate the arrival of a new baby.

Even after a long day of running errands, baby Bubba and his puppy Beau are not ready for bedtime.

A collection of poems about the experiences of young people and a section with information about how each poem was written to enable readers to create their own original poems.

It''s 4:30 in the morning, and the "book woman" and her horse are already on their way. Hers is an important job, for the folks along her treacherous route are eager for the tattered books and magazines she carries in her saddlebags. During the Great Depression, thousands lived on the brink of starvation. Many perished. In 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Works Progess Administration under his 1933 New Deal initiative. The WPA was designed to get people back on their feet. One of its most innovative programs was the Pack Horse Library Project of Eastern Kentucky. Thoroughly researched and illustrated with period photographs, this is the story of one of the WPA''s greatest successes. People all over the country supported the project''s goals. But it was the librarians themselves -- young, determined, and earning just $28 a month -- who brought the hope of a wider world to people in the crooks and hollows of Kentucky''s Cumberland Mountains.

A mother explains to her child all the ways her love remains even while she''s away.

While fishing with his grandfather in the swamp, a young boy asks all kinds of questions about a very special bear.

A busy crow flies around town picking up all kinds of discarded items and uses them to create a beautiful Christmas tree.

On a midsummer''s night the Marching Bat Band makes a rare appearance, its members grouped in formations that demonstrate multiplication from two times two up to ten times ten.

While his life seems perfectly good as it is, Cardell, a young coyote, learns to tolerate--and even like--the coyote that is courting his mother.

A little cowpoke is lulled to sleep by dreams of the sights and sounds of the Western landscape at night.

Presents an illustrated collection of poems, followed by a section in which the author comments on each selection and offers prompts to help young adult readers begin their own writing projects.

A little girl dreams that she''s all alone at sea in a tiny boat. It''s dark, and the sea is scary. Then she sees the gentle moon, the first sign of God''s love. The moon, the stars, and at last the sun lend enough light to lead her back to shore, where she realizes she was never alone at all. God has brought her safely home. Based on a traditional children''s rhyme, Kathy Appelt''s poetic text and Debra Reid Jenkins'' imaginative and dramatic paintings, accented in gold leaf, convey a sense of mystery and wonder and make this book a perfect illustration of God''s abiding love.