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Regarded by Charles Dickens as his best novel upon publication, "Martin Chuzzlewit" relates a tale of familial selfishness and eventual moral redemption. First published serially from 1842 to 1844, it is the story of young Martin Chuzzlewit, who has been raised by his grandfather. He has fallen in love with his grandfather's ward and caretaker, the young orphan Mary Graham. Martin's grandfather does not approve and young Martin alienates himself from...

When a tennis ball lands in a prairie dog town, the residents find that their newfound frenzy for fuzz creates a fiasco.

"For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dreams blind him to the greed that the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors. Baring the fallacy of the American dream-that wealth erases all problems-Steinbeck's classic illustrates our fall from innocence."--Pub.desc.

Publisher Annotation: The squirrel loves a particular tree ("It's MY tree") and is happiest eating pinecones in its shade ("MY pinecones in the shade of MY tree"). But then the squirrel starts to worry. What if someone else decides it's THEIR tree? What if that someone wants to eat THEIR pinecones in the shade of THEIR tree? Should the squirrel build a gate in front of the tree to keep the others out? Or maybe a wall? Yes, a wall. The squirrel will...

"The Greedy Python" is quick to gobble up every creature he meets--including to his own great misfortune, himself, when he mistakes the tip of his tail for a lunchtime treat. With drawings by one of the country's most popular illustrators, this story of a python who is quick to eat everything in sight, including the end of his tail on one sad day, is sure to delight and amuse young readers. Full-color illustrations.

On a snowy Christmas morning in 1979, Gunther Fahnstiel, traveling with his wife, accidentally backed his RV over a stranger, killing him instantly. In the poor soul's car was a satchel containing plane tickets, a .22-caliber pistol, a bottle of Johnnie Walker and more money than Gunther had ever seen in his life. For the debt-ridden old couple, it would indeed be a merry Christmas. But nobody can buy a happy ending, especially not Gunther. Ten years...

"Now that the villagers have finally accepted Darek's dragonling, Zantor, they've all fallen in love with him. Especially Rowena, the spoiled daughter of the Chief Elder--so much so that she wants the dragonling for her very own. But Darek can't give him up! He and Zantor are so close that he can almost get inside the little dragon's mind. So the Chief Elder orders Darek's father to find another dragonling. Even though a dragon mother will have to...