Blue Umbrella

From the puppies in Philadelphia to the piglets in Wichita, here are poems and pictures for everyone to love. Color ilustrations.

The Umbrella was like a flower, a great blue flower that had sprung up on the dry brown hillside.'In exchange for her lucky leopard's claw pendant, Binya acquires a beautiful blue umbrella that makes her the envy of everyone in her village, especially Ram Bharosa, the shop-keeper. Ruskin Bond's short and humorous novella, set in the picturesque hills of Garhwal, perfectly captures life in a village, where both heroism and redemption can be found. It is One of the bestsellers and one of the great works of Ruskin Bond.

When Zac Sparks's mother dies, he's sent to live in Five Corners with his cruel old Aunties. It isn't long before Zac knows something strange is going on. Five Corners is populated with weird characters—a midget butler, a girl who doesn't speak, a blind balloon seller, a mysterious singer, and the Aunties' father, Dada. Zac's first encounter with Dada is so terrifying that he faints dead away. The one bright spot is Sky Porter, a friendly soul who encourages Zac and shows him kindness. But Sky isn't what he seems either, and when Zac learns Sky's amazing secret he sees that this wonderful man may have a very dark side as well. Discovering that Dada is an evil magician who is intent on stealing the ultimate treasure, Zac knows that many lives are at stake, including his own.

Binya, a young girl living in rural India, trades her leopard-claw necklace for a dainty blue umbrella, but the local tea shop proprietor wants the umbrella for his own.

“A subtle, deceptively simple book about inclusion, hospitality, and welcoming the ‘other.’” —Kirkus Reviews “A boundlessly inclusive spirit...This open-ended picture book creates a natural springboard for discussion.” —Booklist “This sweet extended metaphor uses an umbrella to demonstrate how kindness and inclusion work...A lovely addition to any library collection, for classroom use or for sharing at home.” —School Library Journal In the tradition of Alison McGhee’s Someday, beloved illustrator Amy June Bates makes her authorial debut alongside her eleven-year-old daughter with this timely and timeless picture book about acceptance. By the door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is so big that when it starts to rain there is room for everyone underneath. It doesn’t matter if you are tall. Or plaid. Or hairy. It doesn’t matter how many legs you have. Don’t worry that there won’t be enough room under the umbrella. Because there will always be room. Lush illustrations and simple, lyrical text subtly address themes of inclusion and tolerance in this sweet story that accomplished illustrator Amy June Bates cowrote with her daughter, Juniper, while walking to school together in the rain.

Jan Brett's New York Times bestselling picture book The Umbrella has all the rollicking fun of the woodland animals that crowd into a mitten in the snow in The Mitten. Only this time it's in a lush cloud forest as one by one, tree frog, toucan, kinkajou, baby tapir, quetzal, monkey, and jaguar crowd into an open, upside down banana umbrella until a tiny hummingbird lands and they all fall out. A shortened text for toddlers and simple Spanish phrases like "Hola!" add to the fun of reading aloud this lively board book.

Read along with Disney! One rainy evening on a busy street, a blue umbrella and a red umbrella meet. It could be love... But then they are pulled apart in the bustle of the crowd, and it's up to Blue to find Red again. Watch the adventure and romance unfold with word for word narration in this charming storybook full of colorful stills from the Disney*Pixar short film!

Ruskin Bond has been writing stories for children for over six decades now, delighting and enchanting each new generation of readers with his heart-warming tales of friendship, love and coming-of-age. Curated in this essential collection are some of his best-loved stories, designed to introduce the young reader to Ruskin's cast of beloved characters - from the irrepressible Rusty, with his constant thirst for adventure, to his Grandfather, with his overflowing kindness towards all creatures great and small, from the resolute Bina, who braves a leopard to walk to school, to Suraj and Sunder Singh, who become unlikely friends. Including classic tales such as 'The Girl on the Train', 'Coming Home to Dehra', 'The Room of Many Colours' and 'The Blue Umbrella', in turns funny, touching, whimsical and nostalgic, this collection is a must-read for children and adults alike.