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Q is the Quadrille, danced at our party
R is for the Reindeer, of Santa Claus hearty

W is for waggon laden with holly
X is for Xmas tree all light and toys jolly

The celebration of Christmas throughout history is marked by rich traditions around the globe, yet British festive customs—exchanging gifts, singing carols, trimming the magnificent tree, and sipping wassail—take pride of place in our imaginations. Allowing us a glimpse of some of these customs is a facsimile edition of an Father Christmas' ABC, an1894 Victorian classic that chronicles the activities surrounding the holiday more than a century ago.
Each charming color painting, one for each letter of the alphabet, reveals a custom of a Victorian Christmas. From the lighting of candles on the tree to bell ringing, ice skating, and making jam tarts, the beautiful illustrations vividly bring to life the spirit of the holiday and its history.
Accompanying the illustrations are clever ABC verses that at the time were an alphabet primer and now are an intimate glimpse of Victorian domestic life. The lively verse recounts various holiday traditions, transporting us to the warmth and cozy comfort of a British home at Christmastime.
Together, the rich illustrations and captivating verses create a unique and enchanting picture book on the special moments of Christmas. Father Christmas' ABC will appeal to readers of all ages as a nostalgic window into Christmases of a bygone time.

Established in 1965, the Children's Theatre Company (CTC) of Minneapolis earned its reputation as the flagship theater for young people in this country by staging plays that both entertained and challenged children and their families. Around the age of twelve, however, young people tended to stop coming to CTC, perceiving that they had outgrown what the theater could offer them.

In an effort to reach out to and engage these young people, the CTC began to commission and produce plays aimed at a twelve- to eighteen-year-old audience, focusing on the complexities, idiosyncrasies, and epic dilemmas in the lives of young people. Fierce and True collects four of these critically acclaimed plays: Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka, The Lost Boys of Sudan by Lonnie Carter, Five Fingers of Funk by Will Power, and Prom by Whit MacLaughlin and New Paradise Laboratories.

Professional, full-length works not about teens so much as they are written for them. Ambitious, surprising, and complex, these plays speak directly to teens without pandering to them; they engage, challenge, and respect teenage minds. Diverse and utterly unique, these playwrights are bound together by the excellence of their craft and the power of their storytelling. Fierce and True both redefines the field of theater for young people and provides an invaluable resource for theater professionals, educators, and the teens they serve.

Accolades to Erica Taylor for Figler: My Imaginary Friend. Taylor takes her readers on a journey of self-realization as a child comes to ultimately discover that the wonderful abilities possessed by Figler, the beloved imaginary friend, are talents (he/she) also possesses. The whimsical illustrations draw readers into the main character’s journey of self-discovery.  This book offers a delightful poetic read inspiring young readers to dare to imagine and reach for the impossible.
Jeanine Wood - Distance Learning Coordinator Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative Walnut Ridge, Arkansas

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Rose hasn’t said a word in eleven years—ever since the day she was found lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her mother and what happened that night were frozen.

Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful, wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada, Frozen tells the remarkable story of Sadie Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn’t know her last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother—and the conflicting knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.

One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half dozen faded, scandalous photographs—pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at last into the heart of her own life’s great mystery: who was her mother, and how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel—did she have a choice? What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?

Sadie Rose’s search for her personal truth is laid against a swirling historical drama—a time of prohibition and women winning the right to vote, political corruption, and a fevered fight over the area’s wilderness between a charismatic, unyielding, powerful industrialist and a quiet man battling to save the wide, wild forests and waters of northernmost Minnesota. Frozen is a suspenseful, moving testimonial to the haves and the have-nots, to the power of family and memory, and to the extraordinary strength of a young woman who has lost her voice in nearly every way—but is utterly determined to find it again.

The Boo Baby girl tires of the boring life of a baby, crawling around, getting up, falling down, walking around the coffee table, falling down . . . she aims for more so she climbs out the window—miraculously, as soon as she is out the window she can walk, run, climb, and talk like a grownup.  So she heads out to seek her fortune.

The first adventure she has is rescuing Bootsie, The Cattle-hearding Chiahuahua.  Bootsie has been kicked by a cow and is bleeding. Boo has some band aids in her pack – this pack will be like Bill Lepp’s magical Swiss Army Knife, containing everything from sophisticated medical supplies, to lasers, to time machines, and, of course her pacifier, which she affectionately calls her “suckie.”

She saves Bootsie, who is bilingual. He thanks her in Spanish: “Muchas Gracias mi muchacha.” She does not understand so not only do they have adventures for the rest of the book but he teaches her some fun Spanish phrases like: NO TOQUEZ NADA (Don’t Touch!) if someone is bothering them. Their main job is to face ghosts, and monsters, demons: boogies, the boo hag, banshees, and . . .