Elana K. Arnold

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a stray baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter. But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific...

"Harriet Wermer investigates more mysteries during her stay on Marble Island"--

Alder has always lived in his cozy little house in Southern California. An old, reliable, comforting walnut tree has stood between his house and the one next door. When a new family--with a particularly annoying girl his age named Oak--moves into the neighboring house, they cut the tree down. As Oak and Alder start school together, they can't imagine ever becoming friends. But they soon discover a series of mysterious, possibly magical, connections...

"Have you ever walked a chicken on a leash? Well, chicken expert Starla Jean will let you know first hand, it's not easy. But that doesn't stop Starla from taking her pet chicken, Opal Egg, and her baby sister, Willa, out on a stroll through the neighborhood. On their walk, they stumble upon a mysterious bead. And then another! Before they know it, there's a conundrum on their hands, and it's up to Starla and her friends to figure out just who exactly...

It is Willa's first birthday, and between big sister Starla Jean, her pet chicken Opal Egg, and her new neighbor Nate's pet kitten, there is bound to be chaos--especially when it comes to baking a cake.

"For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life is pretty great. He's the caretaker of the best baby skunk in the world--even Janie, his older sister, is warming up to Thor. When Janie gets a part in the school play and can't watch Bat after school, it means some pretty big changes. Someone else has to take care of the skunk kit in the afternoons, Janie is having sleepovers with her new friends, and Bat wants everything to go back to normal. He just...

"Bat grows anxious as his third-grade year comes to an end and the time to release his pet skunk, Thor, out into the wild approaches"--

Once, there was a girl named Kiki, who found a fish on the asphalt. The fish was very hot and very dry. But when Kiki put it in the bathtub, it started swimming, and growing, and . . . speaking? "I want to grant you a wish for saving me," it said. A wish-granting fish! Alas, this fish was only a fish of small wishes, and Kiki's wish was too big. Unless . . . there was a way for both their dreams to come true. Follow Kiki and the wish-granting fish...

Printz Honor winner and National Book Award Finalist Elana K. Arnold makes her chapter book debut with this charming story of a girl and her chicken, irresistibly illustrated by A. N. Kang.
Introducing Starla Jean!
She's full of moxie, clever as a fox, and obsessed with catching a chicken she finds at the park.
When Starla first sees the scrawny bird wandering around, she just knows they're destined for one another. Her dad

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Unhappy about moving from sunny California to rainy Corvallis, Oregon, and grieving over the death of her best friend, sixth-grader Iris looks for a miracle and may find one in new friend Boris.