Yipes My Stripes

Although the book is fiction, it is also informative because it begins with some facts about the National Zoo in Washington, DC, which is the setting for the story. The author wanted the story to be more than sheer entertainment.

It's another Monkey Says adventure story! When Monkey, Juliet, Boo and Otis visit Africa to see zebras, Boo, as usual, finds himself in trouble. A baby zebra won't leave him alone and keeps following him. Boo is afraid and the zebra is clearly lost. Will Monkey and his friends be able to help the baby zebra get back to its mom? Find out how this fun fact about zebras helps Monkey know just what to do.

Some students just don't want to share intimate details about their thoughts, feelings and lives—at least, not with others in a class or group. That's where Unjournaling comes in. All the writing prompts in this book are entirely impersonal but completely engaging for both kids and adults. Two examples of the 200 writing prompts include: Write a paragraph about a girl named Dot, but use no letters with a dot (in other words, no i or j). Why on earth would Yankee Doodle stick a feather in his cap and call it “macaroni”? Come up with a plausible explanation. The book includes sample responses to all of the questions—a helpful tool for anyone who gets stuck with a topic and wants to see how it can be done! Grade 7-Adult

Imagine being just twenty-one, thirteen thousand miles from home in a strange country where the inhabitants want to kill you! Envision living in mud, eating food packed in 1941, witnessing hostilities from your enemies and among your friends. The Dirty Thirty explains life as it was as a Gun-Bunny, a trucker, a thief and a soldier in the jungles and towns of South Vietnam Live as a draftee lived among the diversity of an army of draftees. The odd and endearing characters of The Dirty Thirty and the strict military minds of the Lifers, will give you a glimpse of the real Vietnam experience. Jolt at the realization that the NVA was not an Evil Empire, but a military force with a cause and a heartfelt dedication among its soldiers. Be sad at the plights of individual U.S. soldiers at the mercy of the Military Machine. Be proud of the sacrifices made by the men and women of both sides during the 10,000 Day War. The Dirty Thirty gives a day to day account of what life was really like on the fire bases in the jungles and hills of Vietnam and Cambodia in 1969-1970.

All the animals are in a panic. The elephant's sneeze would blow the monkeys out of the trees, the feathers off the birds, the stripes off the zebra. Even the fish and the fly, the crocodile and the kangaroo, know what a catastrophe that sneeze would be. "Please don't sneeze!" they beg. . . . The classic story of an enormous sneeze in the marking, told in sprightly nonsense verse, has been newly illustrated in full color to delight a new generation of fans.

Presents the lyrics to a song from the Broadway musical, "Do Re Mi," in which animals in an overcrowded zoo beg to be let out while accidentally stepping on one anothers trunks, quills, and toes.

Elinor Malcolm is an eleven-year-old girl whose mother has big plans for her. When Elinor is rejected as a ballet student from a prestigious ballet academy, her attorney mother threatens a lawsuit, and Elinor is granted a spot in the program &– the only problem is that Elinor has no interest in ballet. After sitting out the first class, she finds an urban park to hang out at in lieu of dancing. There she meets an older girl named Indira with a seemingly magic ability to grant Elinor's wishes. Eventually, Elinor is found out. She is unceremoniously dropped from the program and returns to her humdrum life where she's miserable and friendless. Indira reappears out of the blue one day and helps her look deep inside to find out what she's capable of. Eventually, through Indira's intercession and a chance meeting with a local writer, Elinor opens up enough to make a friend at school who enjoys all the same things she does. In the final magical scene, all the characters in Elinor's life converge where secret identities are revealed and Elinor has an epiphany about the nature of relationships and the power of love.