Using a combination of high-quality picture books, fingerplays, movement activities, songs, and games, these ready-to-use, mix-and-match lesson plans focus on universal themes such as family, friendship, and school—but with animal protagonists.

“Mrs Murphy’s fourth caper will be lapped up like half-and-half by the faithful.”—Kirkus Reviews “The best yet.”—Publishers Weekly The residents of tiny Crozet, Virginia, thrive on gossip, especially in the post office, where Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen presides with her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy. So when a belligerent Hell’s Angel crashes Crozet demanding to see his girlfriend, the leather-clad interloper quickly becomes the chief topic of conversation. Then the biker is found murdered, and everyone is baffled. Well, almost everyone . . . Mrs. Murphy and her friends, Welsh corgi Tee Tucker and overweight feline Pewter, haven’t been slinking through alleys for nothing. But can they dig up the truth in time to save their humans from a ruthless killer? “If you must work with a collaborator, you want it to be someone with intelligence, wit, and an infinite capacity for subtlety—someone, in fact, very much like a cat. . . . It’s always a pleasure to visit this cozy world.”—The New York Times Book Review

Silly Shenanigans: Wacky Stories of Kids and Their Animal Friends is a collection of hilarious and heartwarming short stories perfect for kids aged 9-11. Each story follows the adventures of kids and their animal friends as they get into all sorts of wild and wacky situations. In one story, a boy and his dog accidentally swap bodies, leading to a series of comical misunderstandings and misadventures. In another, a family adopts a pet skunk, mistaking it for a cat, and must figure out how to keep their stinky secret hidden from the neighbors. Other stories in the collection feature a boy with a useless superpower, a group of friends who accidentally shrink themselves, and a girl who gets stuck in a tree with her mischievous cat. Throughout each story, readers will laugh, gasp, and cheer on the kids and animals as they navigate the ups and downs of their crazy situations. And in the end, they'll come away with a greater appreciation for the power of friendship, family, and a good sense of humor. With its witty dialogue, lovable characters, and off-the-wall scenarios, Silly Shenanigans: Wacky Stories of Kids and Their Animal Friends is sure to delight young readers who love to laugh and enjoy a good adventure.

Mrs. Murphy thinks the new man in town is the cat's meow.... Maybe she should think again. Small towns don't take kindly to strangers--unless the stranger happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous and seemingly unattached male. When Blair Bainbridge comes to Crozet, Virginia, the local matchmakers lose no time in declaring him perfect for their newly divorced postmistress, Marry Minor "Harry Haristeen." Even Harry's tiger cat, Ms. Murphy, and her Welsh Corgi, Tee Tucker, believe he smells A-okay. Could his one little imperfection be that he's a killer? Blair becomes the most likely suspect when the pieces of a dismembered corpse begin tuming up around Crozet. No one knows who the dead man is, but when a grisly clue makes a spectacular appearance in the middle of the fall festivities, more than an early winter snow begins chilling the blood of Crozet's very best people. That's when Ms. Murphy, her friend Tucker, and her human companion Harry begin to sort throughout the clues . . . only to find themselves a whisker away from becoming the killer's next victims.

Curiosity just might be the death of Mrs. Murphy--and her human companion, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. Small towns are like families: Everyone lives very close together. . .and everyone keeps secrets. Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town-until its secrets explode into murder. Crozet's thirty-something post-mistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tucker), a pending divorce, and a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her. When Crozet's citizens start turning up murdered, Harry remembers that each received a card with a tombstone on the front and the message "Wish you were here" on the back. Intent on protecting their human friend, Mrs. Murphy and Tucker begin to scent out clues. Meanwhile, Harry is conducting her own investigation, unaware her pets are one step ahead of her. If only Mrs. Murphy could alert her somehow, Harry could uncover the culprit before the murder occurs--and before Harry finds herself on the killer's mailing list.

"A lamb for my supper will taste mighty fine!" thought a wily old wolf by the name of Lou Pine. Poor Lou! In this fractured fairy tale, the wolf is stopped at the hedge by the flock's protector, Rambo the Ram. So Lou sets off to find a disguise that will let him sneak into the flock. He tries a fuzzy bathrobe, paint, and even cotton candy, but nothing works out. Can he scare Red Riding Hood's grandmother into knitting him a costume? Or will she—like everyone else—be able to thwart the wolf's plans?

Director, writer, and actor Jay Chandrasekhar tells the hilarious stories behind his films Super Troopers and Super Troopers 2 (out on 4/20/2018!), the history of his comedy group, Broken Lizard, and everything in between. Jay Chandrasekhar has spent the past two decades writing, directing, and acting in film and TV. With his comedy group, Broken Lizard, he has produced and directed beloved movies such as Super Troopers, Beer­fest, and Club Dread. Now, with the upcoming release of the long-awaited Super Troopers 2, Jay is ready to tell the ridiculous, madcap, dead-honest story of how he built his career, how he formed Broken Lizard, and, ultimately, how he made Super Troopers. Jay grew up Indian American in the lily-white sub­urbs of Chicago, and he had an outsider’s perspective from the beginning. Instead of taking the traditional acting path, he formed his own troupe, wrote his own scripts, and made movies his own way. And he had an incredibly good time doing so as readers will learn in this hilarious story about making it in Hollywood and directing, cowriting, and costarring in one of the best-loved and most-watched comedies of all time. Part humorous memoir, part film study, this book will inform, entertain, and tell readers what drinking mul­tiple bottles of maple syrup is really like.