A little yellow bird eases a giant's loneliness and inspires him to mend his destructive ways.

The world's wildest collection of animal knowledge and lore! Lions, and tigers, and bears . . . and dinosaurs, dragons, and monsters. Oh my! For hundreds of years, the most popular books in the Western world next to the Bible were "bestiaries," fanciful encyclopedias collecting all of human knowledge and mythology about the animal kingdom. In these pages, eagles and elephants lived next to griffins and sea monsters. Now, in The Big, Bad Book of Beasts, award-winning author Michael Largo has updated the medieval bestsellers for the twenty-first century, illuminating little-known facts, astonishing secrets, and bizarre superstitions about the beasts that inhabit our world—and haunt our imaginations. You'll learn about the biggest bug ever, the smallest animal in the world, and the real creatures that inspired the fabled unicorns. You'll discover how birds learned to fly, why cats rub against your legs, and a thousand other facts that will make you look at nature in a wonderfully new way. Did you know? The fastest animal in the world is the peregrine falcon, which reaches speeds of over 200 miles per hours. Circus ringmaster P.T. Barnum fooled many when he displayed a "mermaid" carcass that was later proved to be monkey bones sewed together with the body of a fish. Discovered in a remote volcanic crater in New Guinea, the Bosavi wolly rat grows to the size of a cat. President Andrew Jackson bought an African gray parrot to keep his wife company. The bird outlived them both and was removed from Jackson's funeral for cussing in both English and Spanish. A to Z: From Aardvark to Zooplankton! For all ages! Includes 289 illustrations!

Ellen Franck isn't in love with Big Bird. After all, he's a big yellow Sesame Street character -- and she's an intelligent single woman with a fabulous job. On the other hand, Big Bird is looking like a better candidate for fatherhood every day: he's tall, affectionate, and steadily employed. And right now, for Ellen, thirty-five years old and dying to have a baby, almost any father will do. In her hilarious and heartbreaking new novel, Laura Zigman, bestselling author of Animal Husbandry, explores what happens when the life we've chosen isn't that life we expected it to be. And at this point Ellen Franck is rethinking all her choices. Mired in a relationship with a man who is better at brooding than breeding, sister to a woman who can't seem to stop having babies, and working under a boss who is about to have the baby shower of the decade, Ellen knows the path to motherhood is clear. All she has to do is leave her relationship, horrify her family, find an anonymous father, and become independently wealthy. Piece of cake.

Sarah and Charlie hunt down the biggest puddle in the world with their grandfather in this fun introduction to the water cycle, perfect for young readers. When Sarah and her younger brother Charlie go to stay with their grandparents, it rains for days. At first, they have fun exploring inside the big, old house, but eventually they want to explore outside, too. “Where does the rain come from?” Sarah asks her grandfather, Big T. He promises to show her once it stops raining. When the storm passes, Sarah, Big T., Charlie and Keeper the dog go exploring. They jump in puddles, draw a puddle map and finally find the biggest puddle in the world! Mark Lee’s lively story is an introduction to the water cycle for young readers. Nathalie Dion’s soft illustrations show the fun, loving relationship between Big T., Sarah and Charlie. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

Sammy is having the absolute rottenest, worst day ever. His little brother, Benji, knows exactly what that's like.