Finally...first grade! Elisa is finally in a grade with a number -- just like her big brother, Russell. Elisa is old enough to take piano lessons, lose a tooth, or make a special Mother's Day breakfast. Sometimes Russell treats her like a baby, but Elisa is making big plans! Elisa is finally in a grade with a number -- just like her big brother, Russell. Elisa is old enough to take piano lessons, lose a tooth, and make a special Mother's Day breakfast. Sometimes Russell treats her like a baby, but Elisa has big plans!

"Crybaby, Crybaby!" That's what Russell calls Elisa whenever she gets upset, and she hates it. Elisa does get frustrated sometimes, like when she can't wear her favorite red shirt to school. But that doesn't mean she can't do other things -- like trade her mittens for a tooth so that the tooth fairy will come sooner, or have a beach party in the middle of winter -- whenever and however she wants!"

Seven-year-old Russell and his three-year-old sister Elisa have adventures with friends and family in their New York City apartment building. Another entry in the popular Riverside Kids series.

Now that she's done with first grade, Elisa has lots of time to prove she can do anything her older brother, Russell, can do. With the family's big vacation coming up, Elisa finds plenty of ways to show Russell that just because he's older, doesn't mean he's better. But topping Russell is one thing. What will happen when it's up to Elisa to save the day for the whole family?

Now that Elisa's in second grade, she's taking charge of whatever comes her way — from a baby-sitter who doesn't know how to change a diaper to an airplane trip without her parents. Of course, it's not easy taking charge when your big brother thinks you're too little and your little brother runs amok! But Elisa is determined to make everything work out in the end. And what better way to celebrate being seven and a half than a day of eating nothing but chocolate. Chocolate cookies, chocolate milk, chocolate bars . . . chocolate and more chocolate, from morning to night. With these delicious new episodes from the whirlwind life of Elisa Michaels, Johanna Hurwitz entertains us once again with a vivid portrayal of family life as seen from four feet tall.

A New York Times and million copy bestseller, the classic handbook on reading aloud to children—revised and updated Recommended by “Dear Abby”, The New York Times and The Washington Post, for three decades, millions of parents and educators have turned to Jim Trelease's beloved classic to help countless children become avid readers through awakening their imaginations and improving their language skills. Now this new edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook imparts the benefits, rewards, and importance of reading aloud to children of a new generation. Supported by delightful anecdotes as well as the latest research, The Read-Aloud Handbook offers proven techniques and strategies—and the reasoning behind them—for helping children discover the pleasures of reading and setting them on the road to becoming lifelong readers.

Russell's enjoying his first year in school. The trouble is his baby sister, Elisa. She's only a few months old, and she's a pest! But sometimes, as Russell is about to discover, it's not so bad to have a little sister. Because that also means he's something special: a big brother!