Publisher Description

A Newbery Honor Book: A classic children’s novel that “can make a hardened adult reviewer laugh repeatedly” (The New Yorker). Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn’t the youngest in the family, and she isn’t the oldest—she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery . . . the mysterious “Middle Moffat.” But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks. In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury . . . so he can live to be one hundred. Between brushing her hair from her eyes and holding up her stockings, she has to help the girls’ basketball team win the championship. And it falls to Jane—the only person in town with enough courage—to stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard Wallie Bangs. Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all. . . . “There is much that is touching about Janey, and funny and lovable too.” —The New York Times “This is the second Moffat book and seems even funnier, particularly the part where Jane takes the part of the Middle Bear in a charity show . . . The pictures by Louis Slobodkin add tremendously to the fun. Don't miss this!” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Newbery Honor Book: “Delightful reading. An hour spent with the Moffats is fun for all ages.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) You’ve never met anyone quite like Rufus Moffat. He gets things done—but he gets them done his way. When he wants to check out library books, Rufus teaches himself to write...even though he doesn't yet know how to read. When food is scarce, he plants some special “Rufus beans” that actually grow . . . despite his digging them up every day to check on them. And Rufus has friends that other people don’t even know exist! He discovers the only invisible piano player in town, has his own personal flying horse for a day, and tours town with the Cardboard Boy, his dearest friend—and enemy. Rufus isn’t just the youngest Moffat, he's also the cleverest, the funniest, and the most unforgettable, in this classic series about a single-parent family in WWI-era Connecticut praised for its “abundant humor” (Horn Book Magazine). “Rufus M. is . . . unbeatable.” —The New Yorker “[The Moffats are] as nice a group as ever pulled together through hard times.” —The New York Times Book Review

The adventures of the Moffat children living in Cranbury, Connecticut in the early twentieth century as they create a museum, participate in their sister's wedding, and try to buy a trolley car.

A heartwarming, yet quirky, story about a boy called Jerry whose much-loved puppy, Ginger Pye, goes missing. Jerry and his sister begin a desperate hunt for Ginger, who they're convinced has been stolen away by the stranger in the yellow hat. After months of fruitless searching the children are about to give up hope when a chance gust of wind reveals the villain to the children and Ginger Pye is saved. BLA book which has stood the test of time and deals with the special relationship between a boy and his dog in a fun and lively way

Eleanor Estes's The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn't and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it's too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda's classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again." This powerful, timeless story has been reissued with a new letter from the author's daughter Helena Estes, and with the Caldecott artist Louis Slobodkin's original artwork in beautifully restored color.

While spending a bird-watching summer on Fire Island, the Pye family acquires a small black kitten that can use a typewriter.