It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (SpongeBob SquarePants) by Random House-2013 Picture Book

Format: Picture Book
ISBN-10: 0385378564
ISBN-13: 9780385378567
Publisher: Random House Children's Books24 pages
Grade: From Preschool to Second Grade
Pictureback Ser.Language: English
SpongeBob SquarePants

 

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Synopsis
Based on the first-ever SpongeBob SquarePants stop-motion animation holiday TV special, "Its a SpongeBob""Christmas ," this full-color storybook is the perfect stocking stuffer for boys and girls ages 3-7.

Mr. Men : 12 Days of Christmas by Roger Hargreaves - Christmas Book

Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 084319815X
ISBN-13: 9780843198157
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated 32 pages
Grade: From Preschool to Kindergarten
Mr. Men and Little Miss Ser.Language: English

 

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Synopsis
Every year Mr. Muddle gets in a terrible muddle: He just can't remember when Christmas is! He can never get the right day, or the right present for that matter. But this year Mr. Muddle has a plan to make sure he will get the right day for Christmas! This hilarious caper through the months of the year costars many favorite Mr. Men and Little Miss characters along the way.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (2013, Hardcover)

ISBN-10: 1476727651
ISBN-13: 9781476727653
Publisher: Scribner 544 pages
Language: English

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Synopsis
Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining , in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless--mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes "Doctor Sleep." Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of devoted readers of The Shining and satisfy anyone new to this icon in the King canon., Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining , in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining ) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless-mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes Doctor Sleep. Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted fans of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

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Killing Jesus : A History by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (2013, Hardcover)

Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 0805098542
ISBN-13: 9780805098549
Publisher: Holt & Company, Henry304 pages
Language: English

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Synopsis
Millions of readers have thrilled to bestselling author Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln , page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion people attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus's life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable-and changed the world forever., Millions of readers have thrilled to bestselling authors Bill OReilly and historian Martin Dugards "Killing Kennedy" and "Killing Lincoln," page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history. Now the anchor of "The OReilly Factor" details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. "Killing Jesus" will take readers inside Jesuss life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever., The third book in O'Reilly's bestselling history series, Killing Jesus delivers the story of Jesus's crucifixion as it's never been told before Millions of readers have thrilled to bestselling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln , page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus's life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever.

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Introducing The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA)

The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a volunteer run, not for profit, organisation that was established in 1945 and is comprised of branches of individual members who are passionate about children's and young adult literature.

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ROALD DAHL Collection Phizz Whizzing 15 Classic Books Box Set NEW STORY BOOK - Children Book

It is an absolute delight to have this wonderful boxed collection. Undoubtedly the country's best loved children's author, Roald Dahl's stories continue to delight, excite, shock, entertain and please generation after generation of children. The complete collection of his novels is gathered here, including Matilda, The Twits and The BFG and each one has been repackaged to appeal to a whole new audience of children who will be sure to enjoy in Quentin Blake's timeless illustrations too. This set is an essential addition to your child's bookshelf.

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Titles in this collection

- Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl
- The Witches - Roald Dahl
- The Twits - Roald Dahl
- James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
- The BFG - Roald Dahl
- The Magic Finger - Roald Dahl
- The Giraffe and the Pelly and me - Roald Dahl
- Esio Trot - Roald Dahl
- Boy Tales of Childhood - Roald Dahl
- Matilda - Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl
- Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl
- George's Marvellous Medicine - Roald Dahl
- Going Solo - Roald Dahl

 

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More About the Author

Biography

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to"a wonderful faraway place. In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children's books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over, particularly in Britain where he had lived for many years.The BFG is dedicated to the memory of Roald Dahls eldest daughter, Olivia, who died from measles when she was seven - the same age at which his sister had died (fron appendicitis) over forty years before. Quentin Blake, the first Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl's children's books. 

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The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief  

Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Fiction; Psychological Thriller; Hard to Classify
Length: 560 pages
ISBN: 9780375842207

“There’s an expression that War and Death are like best friends. So, I thought, who better to tell a story set in Nazi Germany, because Death was everywhere at that time and place. And what’s the opposite of that all-powerful Death? Vulnerable Death. What if Death were afraid of us? What if Death were haunted by humans?”     – Markus Zusak

From the time we’re old enough to realize fully the dangers of life and recognize its brevity and uncertainty, we all fear Death. It’s partly instinct: like all other animals, humans are born with the instinct to avoid demise. And it’s partly reason: our fear of Death grows increasingly strong as we gain wisdom and the ability to understand the odds that are stacked against us. But what if, like Markus Zusak asks, Death were afraid of us, too?

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And why wouldn’t Death fear us? Death is, after all, on hand to see all of the terrible things humans do to each other.

Charged with the arduous and impossibly lonely task of taking human souls from the Earth, Death is merely a creature obligated to perform the unenviable task of carrying souls away from this world once violence and sickness have done their irreversible damage.

It makes sense, then, that Death would grow unbearably weary of human suffering, haunted by the twisted evil of which humans are capable. Perhaps that’s why Death, the narrator of Zusak’s award-winning novel The Book Thief , is so drawn to Liesel Meminger and her foster family - Germans who keep their hearts closed to the blackness of Nazi ideology and treasure the small, bright pockets of love in their uncertain world.

As Zusak himself explains, The Book Thief is about “trying to find beautiful moments in an ugly time.” As our narrator, Death lends a surprising and effective new perspective to Holocaust literature with his compassionate focus on Liesel’s vulnerable childhood, and the beauty and kindness that can still be found even as hatred spreads like a quick disease.

Somewhere along his interminable journey of soul-taking across the globe, Death’s curiosity is piqued by the small blonde child who steals “The Gravedigger’s Handbook,” a book that’s fallen in the snow beside her little brother’s hastily-dug grave. Thus, the Book Thief is born, and Death begins an intense fascination with Liesel’s life; he is entranced by the little girl who steals books and somehow manages to avoid his grasp while all those around her seem to become his victims, one by one.

Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief delves into the harrowing nightmare of the Holocaust through an imaginatively novel lens. Zusak takes Death out of hiding, rips off his shroud of mystery, and holds him up to the light for us to explore with our imaginations. When we read about war and the Holocaust, Death is central to everything that’s touched upon. Zusak harnesses the ubiquity of this concept to give us a clever twist on the obvious Holocaust story: It’s still about injustice, upended lives, and innocence lost, but Death is no longer the ever-present elephant in the room. Indeed, the elephant finally tells the story from his point of view – and, once again, who better to tell the consequences of the Holocaust than Death himself?

And so the story of Liesel Meminger is narrated by Death, punctuated by his wistful commentaries, comic-like illustrations, age-old wisdom, and clarity-inducing witticisms on life and all its challenges. Death’s narration of this little girl’s experience of love, loss, and tragedy is detailed, touching, and moving in an abundance of ways. You can’t help but wonder at how much comfort Death must take in her one, sweet life as he watches with horror the destruction of so many others.

A cast of dynamic villagers, including Liesel’s foster family, the Hubermanns, her best friend Rudy Steiner, and the mayor’s wife Ilsa Hermann all flesh out the child’s life before, during, and after the height of Nazi aggression. Through it all, Liesel continues her book thievery, the habit that began with the snatching of “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” on the day of her brother’s death, even risking Nazi violence to steal books from their notorious book-burnings.

But Max Vandenburg is the heart of Liesel’s childhood tale, and Death watches closely as their unlikely friendship unfolds. A Jewish fist-fighter, Max is taken in by the kind Hans Hubermann and hidden in the basement. The young Liesel is drawn to Max: Descriptions of their time together depict the coming together of two minds, both distorted by enormous fear and fighting to overcome the constant terror of life’s very real nightmares.

To be certain, there is a hair-raising irony that permeates The Book Thief : everyone is hiding (Max from the Gestapo, Liesel and the Hubermanns from being exposed as Jewish sympathizers) in order to avoid Death, yet Death himself is carefully watching them all the while. Death, of course, has nowhere to hide. The totality of human suffering, violence, torture and hate is so great that he can’t ever hope to escape the torments of carrying innocent souls – millions upon millions of them – from their bodies.

Once you’ve begun hearing Death’s tale, you might start to believe that Death really is more afraid of us than we are of him. And you’ll certainly share his deep fascination with the girl named Liesel who met Death many times but never left with him, even as inhumanity and violence devoured her world.  

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