Synopsis: Now a major motion picture A great modern classic and the prelude to THE LORD OF THE RINGS   Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the…

Synopsis: Introduces a bear for each letter of the alphabet and describes its special qualities in rhyme.

Synopsis: Stanley Lieber was just seventeen when he got his first job at Timely Comics in 1939. Since then, the man now known as Stan Lee has launched a comic book empire, made Marvel Comics a household name, and created iconic superheroes such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. Stan Lee is still dreaming up caped crusaders and masked vigilantes in his nineties. Who Is Stan Lee? tells the story of a New York City kid with a superhero-sized…

Synopsis: Level 2: Reading Independently • More complex stories • Varied sentence structure • Paragraphs and short chapters One day young Sam Clemens, later known as Mark Twain, plays a big prank in school. His mom punishes Sam by asking him to paint the long fence outside. It's a job that would take one boy hours to complete, but clever Sam figures out a way to get the job done without doing any work himself at all!

Synopsis: Todd and Sonya communicate with the use of sign language and speech while playing at the beach.

Synopsis: Key Features Description Gilly Hopkins has been in one foster home after another. The only thing she has learned is that you have to be tough to survive. Make life difficult for everyone else, is Gilly's philosophy. But then she is housed with Bible-bashing Maime Trotter, and Maime is a large lady in every way. How can the great Gilly Hopkins be expected to tolerate an ignorant foster mother, a freaky foster brother, or the poetry-loving black…

Synopsis: Mabel Ann and Patrick were best friends. They climbed trees together, watched birds together, and played hide-and-seek together. But when one of them wanted to play with the other's toys-well!