"Buk, buk, book," Jared whispers, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Eight-year-old EllRay Jakes is sick of getting picked on. But every time he tries to defend himself against class bully Jared Matthews, EllRay is the one who winds up in trouble. It's just not fair Then his dad offers him a deal: If EllRay can stay out of trouble for a week, they'll go to Disneyland So now EllRay has a lot to prove - he's not a troublemaker, and he's not a chicken.
This humorous and true-to-life story kicks off the EllRay Jakes series, which is just right for boys (and girls ) who are beginning to read chapter books.

Things are going just swimmingly for EllRay. He's finally getting along with most of the kids at school. He's even getting along with his family. But then everything comes screeching to a halt when his younger sister accidently overfeeds the classroom goldfish EllRay was supposed to be taking care of over Spring vacation. What is EllRay going to tell his teacher and the kids in his third-grade class? Fortunately, most of them are sympathetic. But not bossy Cynthia. She sees this as an opportunity to blame EllRay for her own mess-ups. Must EllRay now walk the plank for stuff that he didn't do?

"Young animal enthusiasts won't soon forget these unique students or Miss Mingo's enthusiastic celebration of their diversity." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
If there's an elephant in the classroom -- along with an alligator, a koala, a centipede, an octopus, and who knows what else -- it must be Miss Mingo's class on the fi rst day of school! Miss Mingo, a flashy flamingo, starts off the year by inviting all creatures big and small to share something special about themselves. Did you know that Cricket hears with his legs, Snake smells with his tongue, and Frog enjoys eating his own skin? Visit this multi-species classroom for a nonfi ction storybook filled with

Everyone has something to brag about in EllRay's third-grade class. Corey's on the swim team, Kevin is super tall, Jared's dad has an ATV (with flames ). But what about EllRay? He isn't about to gloat about how his geologist dad collects rocks. Boring Or is it? The crystals in his dad's office are really cool looking. And if EllRay just "borrows" them to show his classmates, he knows they be impressed. He'll be a rock star-literally And his dad will never have to know. It's a fail-safe plan . . . until everything doesn't go according to plan.