Contains single words to sound out, simple rebus sentences, and a fun short story.

Oscar and Olive Osprey tells me heartwarming story of two ospreys that build a nest, raise three babies, and defend against predators. Filled with amazing color photographs, Oscar and Olive Osprey will delight children and parents alike, and inspire an emotional connection between their lives and the lives of these beautiful creatures. "Oscar and Olive Osprey is a charming book that children will love. It is not only a story of nature-of beautiful and graceful birds-but of family, parents' love, and of young birds growing, dreaming, overcoming their fears, and finding their way. Set atop a nest at the end of a pier, it is a story of life that parents and children can share. I highly recommend it."-Mark A. Reinecke, PhD, Chief Psychologist and professor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital Experiencing these spectacular birds of prey firsthand inspires, in children and adults alike, a sense of awe and a desire for learning more about them that is duplicated by reading this beautiful story. I know this book will guide the next generation of nature lovers to seek out the experience of watching ospreys for decades to come."-Joy Braunstein, CEO/President, Carolina Raptor Center "The connection you feel between this family and your own is so real. This story will capture your heart and you will no longer look at the osprey as just another bird!"-Carla Rohde, Park Naturalist/Raptor Specialist, M-NCPPC, Watkins Nature Center Book jacket.

A young girl and a shelter dog find they are the perfect match for each other.

Follow seventy-six children from birth to thirty to learn about their various developmental life paths and their influences. Children traverse continuous or discontinuous courses. This book describes their life stories, which may transform and enrich the reader's life. In working with these people, the authors heard something basic: stories people tell about themselves. While a life may fall into a group - share characteristics with others - the individual's story remains compelling: to group people is to some degree against psychoanalysis, a humanizing discipline. The authors allow the subjects to speak at length in their own voices, to bring themselves alive for the reader. It is the authors hope that they have been able to convey their awe about watching the inner worlds of children and that these stories may evolve in readers minds and hearts and thus be remembered.

This entertaining and informative encyclopedia examines American regional foods, using cuisine as an engaging lens through which readers can deepen their study of American geography in addition to their understanding of America's collective cultures. Many of the foods we eat every day are unique to the regions of the United States in which we live. New Englanders enjoy coffee milk and whoopie pies, while Mid-Westerners indulge in deep dish pizza and Cincinnati chili. Some dishes popular in one region may even be unheard of in another region. This fascinating encyclopedia examines over 100 foods that are unique to the United States as well as dishes found only in specific American regions and individual states. Written by an established food scholar, We Eat What? A Cultural Encyclopedia of Bizarre and Strange Foods in the United States covers unusual regional foods and dishes such as hoppin' Johns, hush puppies, shoofly pie, and turducken. Readers will get the inside scoop on each food's origins and history, details on how each food is prepared and eaten, and insights into why and how each food is celebrated in American culture. In addition, readers can follow the recipes in the book's recipe appendix to test out some of the dishes for themselves. Appropriate for lay readers as well as high school students and undergraduates, this work is engagingly written and can be used to learn more about United States geography.