Sophie Blackall

"Explores the life of one lighthouse as it beams its message out to sea through shifting seasons, changeable weather, and the tenure of its final keeper."--

"A child imagines what life would be like as a horse"--

Persistent young Edward has many questions for his sleepy mother, many of which are answered, "Because it's night time."

Raise the mainsail! Batten the hatches! It's time to set sail…on the couch! There's a storm coming, and a child is ready to captain the ship. "Make haste and climb aboard," they call out to their parent, "before you're swept out to sea!" Sea? What sea? The parent is only trying to vacuum the rug. But the child is adamant. It's not a rug--it's the ocean. And that broom? It's the ship's mast. Soon enough, child and parent are both off on an imaginary...

Second-grade best friends Ivy and Bean beg for ballet lessons, then, when they are cast as squids in their first recital, scheme to find a way out of what seems to be boring, hard, and potentially embarrassing.

Second-graders Ivy and Bean set out to expel the ghost who is living in the girls' bathroom at their school.

After watching a movie about a detective on the television, Bean decides to set up shop as a private investigator--and she and Ivy start looking for mysteries to solve.

Ivy and Bean try to make money by writing a newspaper about Pancake Court but the neighbors are not pleased to read about themselves.

When classmate Vanessa insists that all single children are spoiled, Ivy wonders whether she can become "unspoiled" by giving away all her clothes at school (which does not go over well with her teacher or parents)--but ultimately decides that all she needs to accomplish her goal is a little sister.

In China, at a time when few girls are taught to read or write, Ruby dreams of going to the university with her brothers and male cousins.