Patricia MacLachlan

Barkus is a large and very smart dog who comes to live with seven-year-old Nicky when Nicky's Uncle Everton goes traveling--and soon he is a family and school favorite.

Reminds firstborn children that they will always special--even if another child or children follow--because they have been the first to do many things, including teaching their mother and father to be parents.

Die-cut pages invite reader to explore how Earth is a friend to all creatures, watching over us as the year cycles through the seasons.

In the year before they become the orphans known as the Boxcar children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden live with their parents at Fair Meadow Farm, where, although times are hard, they take in a family who has been stranded in their car during a blizzard.

When a drought tests the commitment of a mail-order bride from Maine to her new home on the prairie, her stepchildren hope they will be able to remain a family.

When Papa goes away for a little while, his family tries to cope with the separation by adopting four dogs and a cat.

The stranger lurking on the Witting family's prairie farm turns out to be their long-lost grandfather, whose presence plus prodding from Sarah forces Jacob to deal with his past.

Teddy, a dog, leads siblings Nickel and Flora through a terrible snowstorm to shelter in a cabin, where he is flooded with memories of his deceased owner, the poet Sylvan.

Eight-year-old Cassie Witting is upset when she finds out that her mother, Sarah, is expecting a baby, but writing in the journal that was her brother Caleb's helps her sort out her feelings and she finally learns that Sarah will always love her.

If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France, what would your life be like? Would it be full of color and art? Full of lines and dancing figures? Find out in this beautiful, unusual picture book about one of the world's most famous and influential artists by acclaimed author and Newbery Medal-winning Patricia MacLachlan and innovative illustrator Hadley Hooper. A Neal Porter Book