Over a span of four years, the author studied the activities of one family of beavers as it went about its business.

A Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book and an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book, The Lily Pond continues the story of two Jewish sisters who left Austria during WWII/Holocaust and found refuge in Sweden. A year after Stephie Steiner and her younger sister, Nellie, left Nazi-occupied Vienna, Stephie has finally adapted to life on the rugged Swedish island where her she now lives. But more change awaits Stephie: her foster parents have allowed her to enroll in school on the mainland, in Goteberg. Stephie is eager to go. Not only will she be pursuing her studies, she'll be living in a cultured city again--under the same roof as Sven, the son of the lodgers who rented her foster parents' cottage for the summer. Five years her senior, Sven dazzles Stephie with his charm, his talk of equality, and his anti-Hitler sentiments. Stephie can't help herself--she's falling in love. As she navigates a sea of new emotions, she also grapples with what it means to be beholden to others, with her constant worry about what her parents are enduring back in Vienna, and with the menacing spread of Nazi idealogy, even in Sweden. In these troubled times, her true friends, Stephie discovers, are the ones she least expected.

Costumed frogs in an enchanting world, all delicately crafted from colored modeling clay, populate the illustrations in LILY POND. The story follows the vivid imagination of a little frog named Lily Pond, as she lies in bed one night daydreaming about her future with all its possibilities and promise of adventure. Lily considers travels to distant lands, saving lives, fame, acclaim and several possible careers, all from the safety of her cozy bedroom. Note: One career possibility Lily considers for her future is being the head of state. This is the “premier” version.

Can Katie capture the magic of the Monet masterpieces? There's an art competition at the gallery and Katie is desperate to win. All she has to do is paint a picture in the style of Claude Monet. Surely Katie can manage that ... can't she?

Two Jewish sister leave Austria during WWII/Holocaust and find refuge in Sweden. It's the summer of 1939. Two Jewish sisters from Vienna—12-year-old Stephie Steiner and seven-year-old Nellie—are sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. They expect to stay there six months, until their parents can flee to Amsterdam; then all four will go to America. But as the world war intensifies, the girls remain, each with her own host family, on a rugged island off the western coast of Sweden. Nellie quickly settles in to her new surroundings. Not so for Stephie, who finds it hard to adapt; she feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who's as unforgiving as the island itself. It's no wonder Stephie doesn't let on that the most popular girl at school becomes her bitter enemy, or that she endures the wounding slights of certain villagers. Her main worry, though, is her parents—and whether she will ever see them again.

A selection of short stories, poems, and artwork drawn from the award-winning journal "Yellow Silk" includes contributions by William Kotzwinkle, Marge Piercy, Gary Soto, Jane Underwood, Marilyn Hacker, and Robert Silverberg

Award-winning nature writer Hope Ryden brings readers not only a scientific look at animal behaviors but also a warm and engaging story of the adventures and family life of the beaver.