THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS
Birney, Betty

Eben McAllister longs to see the world outside of his small farming community. He might get a chance IF he meets Pa's challenge to find Seven Wonders right there in Sassafras Springs. With his faithful dog, Sal, at his side, Eben begins his quest full of doubts. Little does he know that the Wonders he'll discover among his neighbors, friends and family will give him the adventure of a lifetime ... without his ever leaving home

WANTED ... MUD BLOSSOM
Byars, Betsy

When Junior brings home the classroom hamster, Scooty, he decides to build the best hamster tunnel ever. But when Scooty goes missing, all evidence points to Mud. Meanwhile, Mad Mary is missing, too—although her bag and walking stick were found near the highway. When Mary later wakes up in the hospital, she realizes that the Blossoms might just have provided her with the strength she needs to pull her life back together. It's anything but an ordinary weekend with the Blossoms!

THE CHALK BOX KID
Bulla, Clyde Robert

When nine-year-old Gregory experiences several upsets in his life, he responds by creating a fantastic chalk garden on the charred walls of a burned-out factory behind his house. As his garden grows and flourishes, Gregory finds a voice through his art and, for the first time, is able to find his own place in the world.

RIBSY
Cleary, Beverly


When Ribsy, a city dog, strays from Henry Huggins, he sets off a chain of hilarious events as he tries to make the best of his separation from home.  Separated from his owner, Henry Huggins, in a shopping center parking lot, an ordinary city dog begins a string of bewildering adventures.

MAGIC SCHOOL BUS "INSIDE THE EARTH"
Cole, Joanna

Rock collecting has never been quite like this! When the class forgets to do its homework, a fieldtrip through the Earth's crust, into the center of the Earth, and out through a volcano will teach them not to forget their assignments again - and then some!  On a special field trip in the magic school bus, Ms Frizzle's class learn at first hand about different kinds of rocks and the formation of the earth.

MISS RUMPHIUS
Cooney, Barbara

Alice Rumphius longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went.

JEREMY THATCHER DRAGON HATCHER
Coville, Bruce

When Jeremy Thatcher stumbles into Mr. Elives' magic shop, he leaves with a small marbled dragon's egg. When it hatches, Jeremy's wildest dreams take wing.  Small for his age but artistically talented, twelve-year-old Jeremy Thatcher unknowingly buys a dragon's egg

THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURES OF HANK THE COWDOG
Erickson, John

Hank has been accused of murder! In a fit of despair, Hank resigns his position as Head of Ranch Security and decides to join the outlaw coyotes. There he's known as Hunk (that's Hank in coyote language). Hank meets Missy Coyote, sister to Scraunch — the meanest, roughest, toughest, most notorious coyote in the whole country. If Scraunch found Hank with his sister... Well, look out for trouble.

Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, is framed for the murder of a chicken and becomes an outlaw with the coyotes.

McBROOM'S WONDERFUL ONE-ACRE FARM
Fleischman, Sid

When Josh McBroom learns that the eighty acres of Iowa farmland he's purchased are all stacked up on top of each other at the bottom of a muddy little pond, he thinks he's been bamboozled. But McBroom knows he's got the better of the bargain when the pond dries up to reveal an acre of soil so rich that seeds spring up into full-grown plants in no time and even nickels grow into quarters.

Three humorous adventures on McBroom's wonderful one-acre prairie farm.

STONE FOX
Gardiner, John Reynolds

Little Willy's Grandfather is sick, and it's up to Willy to save their farm from tax collectors. Their only hope is the prize money from the National Dogsled Race. But a lot of other people want to win the race, too, including Stone Fox, who has never lost a race in his life. Do Willy and his dog Searchlight stand a chance against the toughest racers around? Can they win the race to save the farm-and Grandfather-before it's too late?                        

Little Willie hopes to pay the back taxes on his grandfather's farm with the purse from a dog sled race he enters.

THE MILLION DOLLAR SHOT
Gutman, Dan

When Eddie Ball finds out about the Finkles contest-a chance to win a million dollars just by sinking a foul shot at the NBA finals-he realizes it could be the end of his family's troubles but someone is trying to sabotage his million dollar shot.

SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL
MacLachlan, Patricia

Their mother died the day after Caleb was born. Their house on the prairie is quiet now, and Papa doesn't sing anymore. Then Papa puts an ad in the paper, asking for a wife, and he receives a letter from one Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton, of Maine. Papa, Anna, and Caleb write back. Caleb asks if she sings. Sarah decides to come for a month. She writes Papa: I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall, and Tell them I sing. Anna and Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she like them? Will she stay?

When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

THE TALENTED CLEMENTINE
Pennypacker, Sara

Winner or washout?  When it comes to tackling third grade, Clementine is at the top of her game-okay, so maybe not all the time. After her teacher announces that the third and fourth graders will be putting on a talent show, Clementine panics. She doesn't sing or dance or play an instrument. She can't even hop with finesse. And as if she didn't feel bad enough, her perfect best friend, Margaret, has so many talents, she has to alphabetize them to keep them straight.

As the night of the big "Talent-palooza" draws closer, Clementine is desperate for an act, any act. But the unexpected talent she demonstrates at the show surprises everyone—most of all herself.

THE LITTLES
Peterson, John

Meet the Littles, a family like any other but with a few tiny differences! They live in the walls of the Bigg family house where they get everything they need. In return they make sure the Bigg house is always in good repair.

When the Biggs go away for the summer the Newcombs come to stay in their house. And the Newcombs are slobs! The mess the Newcombs make attracts one of the Littles biggest enemies: mice! Just when it seems like things can't get any worse, they bring a cat to live with them. How will this little family get out of such big trouble?

THE BEE TREE
Polacco, Patricia

When Mary Ellen gets bored with her reading, Grandpa knows a hunt for a bee tree is just what she needs. Half the town joins the exciting chase, but it's not until everyone returns home that Mary Ellen makes a discovery of her own.  Sometimes, even the sweetest of things must be worked for.

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS
O'Dell, Scott

The gripping story of young Karana, who survives by herself for eighteen years on a deserted island off the California coast.

Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.

BUFFALO BEFORE BREAKFAST
Osborne, Mary Pope

Jack and Annie are ready for their next fantasy adventure in the bestselling middle-grade series—the Magic Tree House! 

Hello, buffalo!

That's what Jack and Annie say when the Magic Tree House whisks them and Teddy, the enchanted dog, back almost 200 years to the Great Plains. There they meet a Lakota boy who shows them how to hunt buffalo. But something goes wrong! Now they need to stop a thousand buffalo from stampeding!

JUST A DREAM
Van Allsburg, Chris

Walter is a litterbug who does not appreciate the beauty of nature, or understand his role in keeping the planet healthy . . . until a fantastic journey shows him the tragic fate that could befall Earth if humans like him are not more careful. Are Walter’s actions really helping his planet along the road to destruction, or is it all just a dream?

 

When he has a dream about a future Earth devastated by pollution, Walter begins to understand the importance of taking care of the environment.

EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS
Wiles, Deborah

Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.

CANDY BOMBER:  THE STORY OF THE BERLIN AIRLIFTS CHOCOLATE PILOT
Tunnell, Michael

World War II was over, and Berlin was in ruins. US Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen wanted to bring some happiness to the children of the city-but what could one man in one plane do?