Brian Floca

Learn what it was like to travel on the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s.

"An ode to the essential workers keeping the country operating during the Covid-19 pandemic"--

Quick! If you don't move fast, you're going to miss him -- there he goes-- Randolph Caldecott, future famous illustrator. His sketchbook is full of hurly-burly; wild weather, frisky animals and people so sprightly they can barely hold on to the pages. But in the 1850s, there are no children's books like that. Not yet. Many are published, but their pictures look still, full of pretty poses and cluttered scenery. No one has imagined how much fun an...

While spending Christmas at their grandparents' farm, Lily becomes convinced that her younger brother Liam is right about White Cow being lonely and helps him seek a companion for her, leaving little time for Christmas preparations or reading.

After a long, hard winter in Dimwood forest, Poppy the deer mouse finds new adventure thrust upon her while rescuing Ereth the porcupine from the mud.

Early morning and a ruffle of feathers, a shadow gliding through the backyard. High above your house Father Hawk circles, sharp eyes searching for prey. Swoosh! He dives after chipmunks, crows, sparrows, squirrels. Screech! The sun hangs low in the sky as three hungry chicks wait. Will they eat today?

With help from her Grandma Barb, Marty builds a habitat for worms in her school cafeteria as part of the Save the Earth Project.

When tomboy Marty is cast as the princess in the third-grade play, she learns about improvisation, which helps her become more adaptable.

When their home next to a brook is destroyed by beavers, a large family of golden mice is aided by Poppy the deer mouse and her grumpy porcupine friend, who in the process forges a relationship with the son he had abandoned.

It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and families are traveling together, riding America's brand new transcontinental railroad. The pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean. Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails,...