A friendship book perfect for the holiday season One clear night, Bear makes a wish on a twinkling star and Mouse joins him in waiting for the wish to come true. But the other animals who come by all have advice for Bear. "Don't tell anyone," says Owl. "Close your eyes," says Fox. And Elephant suggests standing on one foot. Before long, all of Bear's friends are there. "What did you wish for?" asks Mouse. Bear's answer will bring a smile to even the very youngest readers. Simply told and wonderfully illustrated, Make a Wish Bear reminds readers what's most important in life--good friends.

Because his name and size are similar, second-grader Jimmy Little has to contend with the teasing of his classmates until Wish Bear helps him realize his dearest wish.

A quirky, empowering story about a boy recovering from a bear attack with the help of his friends and, maybe, some magic. For fans of Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones and The Canning Season by Polly Horvath. Newt Gomez has a thing with bears. Having survived a bear attack last year, he now finds an unusual bear statue. Newt's best friend thinks the statue grants wishes. But even as more people wish on the bear and their wishes come true, Newt is not a believer. But Newt has a wish too: while he loves his home on eccentric Murphy Island, he wants to go to middle school on the mainland, where his warm extended family lives. There, he's not the only Latinx kid, and he won't have to drive the former taco truck--a gift from his parents--or perform in the talent show. Most importantly, on the mainland, he never has bad dreams about the attack. Newt is almost ready to make a secret wish when everything changes. Tackling themes of survival and self-acceptance, Newt's story illuminates the magic in our world, where reality is often uncertain but always full of salvageable wonders.

It's Honey Bear's birthday, and he gets to make a birthday wish.

Daniela's sad on her birthday, wishing the world could see her as the girl she knows herself to be inside. When Tulip the Birthday Wish Fairy reads her wish, he learns something new, breaks a few rules, and helps Daniela with her wish.

Seventeen years ago, Sepha Stephanos fled the Ethiopian Revolution for a new start in the United States. Now he finds himself running a failing grocery store in a poor African-American section of Washington, D.C., his only companions two fellow African immigrants who share his bitter nostalgia and longing for his home continent. Years ago and worlds away Sepha could never have imagined a life of such isolation. As his environment begins to change, hope comes in the form of a friendship with new neighbors Judith and Naomi, a white woman and her biracial daughter. But when a series of racial incidents disturbs the community, Sepha may lose everything all over again. Watch a QuickTime interview with Dinaw Mengestu about this book.

New Yorker cartoonist Liam Francis Walsh's Make a Wish, Henry Bear is the story of a young bear, a birthday wish gone awry, and a new friendship to set things right. Henry Bear has very unusual parents. They encourage him to stay up all night, eat chocolate cake at every meal, and get into trouble with his teacher. But what happens when Henry Bear grows tired of indulging in childish things? Find out in this droll tale about making wishes with unanticipated consequences written and illustrated by the creator of Fish, which Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, called “full-bodied” and “rewarding.”