When a warm March day beckons Aldo and his best friend, Jack, outdoors to their fort under the giant pine tree, stick-in-the-mud Aldo gets, well, stuck in the mud. As they dig Aldo's sneakers out from the embankment, they unearth a humungous bone, which rock-hound Jack believes to be a dinosaur fossil from the Jurassic period. Their hilarious quest to figure out the bone's origin and value takes them to the nearby university, the local pawn shop, the famous dino dig site a few hours away, and finally, over spring break, to Dinosaur National Monument. Meanwhile, Aldo discovers the Indiana Jones movies, writes a book report on Journey to the Center of the Earth, starts in on a jumbo jawbreaker, and tolerates Bee, whose newfound passion for journalism could make or break him. This tenth installment in an A-to-Z alphabet series also includes a glossary of fun and challenging "J words," such as juju, jocular and jinx.

As summer draws to a close, 10-year-old Aldo Zelnick travels to the Anderson farm in Minnesota for a family vacation. Aldo's mom is eager for him to experience her favorite childhood pastimes such as shucking sweet corn, milking cows, gathering eggs--and best of all--enjoying fresh air and living off the land. But Aldo suspects that farm life isn't all it's cracked up to be, and his worst fears are confirmed. The rooster wakes him at dawn, the chores exhaust him, and the cousins--identical twin pranksters--are in cahoots against him. Even the creepy old portrait of his great-grandfather seems to be watching these shenanigans from the frame on the wall. Aldo must endure all this without the consolation of TV or computers, because the farm is (gasp ) technology free. The humorous plot turns and lively drawings in this book will captivate both enthusiastic and reluctant young readers. This third installment in an A-to-Z alphabet series features a vocabulary-building glossary of cool words starting with the letter C, including conniption, charisma, and cattywampus.

In their final month of elementary school, 11-year-old Aldo Zelnick and friends are faced with a series of Lasts: Last Cafeteria Meatloaf; Last Band Concert; Last Monkey Bars Fail. Blindsided by an uncharacteristic sense of loss, Aldo decides to bag some new Firsts—including putting himself out there for the 5th grade talent show—only to be beset by a series of logjams. This twelfth installment in an A-to-Z alphabet series also includes a glossary of fun and challenging "L" words, such as lackadaisical, loony, and limbo..

Cue the trumpets! As the legendary 5th grade medieval banquet at Dana Elementary nears, 11-year-old Aldo Zelnick and his friends Jack and Bee develop knight fever, don homemade armor, and undertake quests as simple as cleaning up trash in the neighborhood park, as chivalrous as helping a family in a financial pinch, and as heroic as confronting a new kid with knavish intentions. Meanwhile, Easter is also coming, and Aldo keeps catching glimpses of a fluffy white tail...This eleventh installment in an A-to-Z alphabet series also includes a glossary of fun and challenging "K words," such as klutz, kowtow, and keister.