Top Grade Spring 2012 Selections
Created by Top Grade on February 29, 2012
Dog Breath
A funny but heart-warming tribute to a child's memorable, mischievous dog.
A comfy dog bed, a red rubber ball, a favorite bone: a collection of images left behind stirs up memories, both poignant and humorous, of a child's best friend. This lovable, rambunctious dog will steal your heart just as easily as he once stole bites of food from the table or a whole birthday cake — candles and all — off the kitchen counter.
Uumajut, Volume 2
In Uumajut, volume 2, readers will get acquainted with more arctic wildlife.
Picking up where Uumajut: Learn About Arctic Wildlife! left off, Uumajut, Volume 2 will introduce the youngest readers to the diets and habitats of more arctic species including the Siksik, Ermine, Wolf, Muskox, Eider Duck, Ringed Seal, Harp Seal, and Walrus. They will also learn about traditional Inuit uses for these animals, from traditional food preparation to clothing and household uses.
Uumajut, Volume 2 is brough …
Jasper John Dooley: Star of the Week
At last, it's Jasper John Dooley's turn to be Star of the Week at school. Unfortunately, nothing turns out as planned. His Show and Tell falls flat. A new baby at his friend Ori's house steals his spotlight. And worst of all, the new baby has only-child Jasper wondering if his own family is too small. When Jasper decides to build himself a brother (named Earl) out of wood, Earl's schoolyard shenanigans send Jasper to the principal's office! But with a little help from family and friends, things …
Summer in the City
Husband-and-wife team Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel create a sequel to the enormously popular Travels with My Family and On the Road Again! — but with a twist. This time Charlie and his family stay home, and find adventure in their own Montreal neighborhood.
Charlie can’t wait for school to be over. But he’s wondering what particular vacation ordeal his parents have lined up for the family this summer. Canoeing with alligators in Okefenokee? Getting caught in the middle of a revolutionar …
Was this supposed to be a change? No way. We lived here every day of the year. I knew every detail by heart. I knew the neighbor across the street would come out the next minute to water his lawn. And he did.
This wasn’t going to be a vacation at all. A vacation is when you go somewhere special and see new things and do stuff you’ve never done before. A vacation means going, not staying . . .
“A stay-cation,” I said to Max. “I wonder where Dad got that one.”
“I’d rather go on a go-cation.”
Then he laughed his head off.
* * *
“See that orange truck?” Max whispered. “The guy inside it is an ax murderer.” He ducked his head. “Here he comes. Stay down!”
An ax murderer? What was Max talking about?
The next minute, an ancient truck moved past our house, so slowly I could have beaten it in a foot race. The truck didn’t have any doors, and standing at the steering wheel was a man even more ancient than the truck. The lines on his face were so deep you could have drowned in them. He was steering with one hand and ringing a bell with the other.
The truck was covered with drawings of knives, scissors and axes.
“Look – knives!” Max whispered. “I told you so.”
The truck stopped right in front of our house. I could have explained to Max that it was Tony the Knife Sharpener and not Tony the Bloodthirsty Criminal, but why not have a little fun? After all, there wasn’t anything else to do.
“You’re right,” I said to Max. “We’d better go investigate.”
Northern Dancer
This third installment of the Larger than Life series details the astonishing success of a Canadian horse-racing legend. Northern Dancer was born in 1961 at the famed Windfields farm of Oshawa, Ontario. As a colt, he was unimpressive - small and stocky in stature, and ornery and mischievous by disposition. An auction buyer refused to take him, even for free, but breeder E.P. Taylor stuck by him. Eventually, the colt nobody wanted took the racing world by storm.
Unwanted for $25,000 as a yearling …
Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea, The
Based on the idea that knowledge is power, The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea shows how the ocean works and why this immense ecosystem needs our protection. Experiments using everyday materials help explain scientific concepts, such as why the ocean is salty, how temperature affects water density and why fish don't get waterlogged.
A focus on pollution and other ecological hazards raises awareness. Young scientists will gain a hands-on understanding of how “booms” clean oil spills and ho …
Big City Otto
Otto is a lumbering, sweet-natured elephant who can't forget his childhood chum Georgie, a smiley-faced chimpanzee who was abducted and shipped away from their forest home by the mysterious and sinister Man with the Wooden Nose. Accompanied by a wisecracking but protective parrot named Crackers, Otto decides to hop a plane and look for Georgie in America. But once they hit the wild streets of the concrete jungle, Otto and Crackers court trouble at every turn --- even becoming unwittingly involve …
Cherry Blossom Winter
After being outcast to a small community, 10-year-old Michiko’s life gets better when a former baseball star becomes her teacher. Second book in the Cherry Blossom Books series.
Ten-year-old Michiko wants to be proud of her Japanese heritage but can’t be. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her family’s possessions are confiscated and they are forced into deprivation in a small, insular community. The men are sent to work on the railway, so the women and children are left to make the trip o …
