"Perfect for reading aloud, this counting book has lots of sound effects that children will love to replicate. . . . Great fun." -- BOOKLIST
One duck is stuck in the muck. Can two fish, tails going swish, help? What about three moose, munching on spruce? Will four crickets, chirping in the thickets, manage to pull the unlucky duck out of the muck? Bright, spirited illustrations by Jane Chapman enhance this one-of-a-kind counting tale by Phyllis Root -- a feast of sounds and numbers sure to have listeners scrambling to join in the slippy, sloppy fun.

-- funny stories
-- pictures that make words easy to guess
-- eight-page stories that can be finished in one sitting, ensuring a satisfying reading experience
-- notes for parents and teachers to help them guide beginning readers

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Cold, wet, and acidic, bogs appear to be extremely hostile to life, yet numerous plants and animals have adapted in fascinating ways in order to survive there. In Big Belching Bog, Phyllis Root lets us in on the secrets of the mysterious bog, describing such special inhabitants as plants that eat insects, bog lemmings, and frogs that stay frozen through the winter and thaw out in the spring. But what's that coming up from the bottom of the bog? The biggest bog secret of all, we learn, is the remarkable process of methane gas belching out of the bog. The gas is created by decaying peat moss and forms a bulge in the surface of the moss six inches or taller before breaking through. Does this "belch" make a sound? No one knows, says Root, because no one has ever heard it. In fact, bogs are known as some of the quietest places on earth. Maybe you will be the first to hear the big bog belch! Illustrated by renowned woodcut artist Betsy Bowen, Big Belching Bog also contains a section of bog facts, including more information about the plants and animals mentioned in the book as well as tips for visiting a bog. Big Belching Bog will stir the imagination of young readers and teach them about the landscape and environment of these mysterious and, ahem, gassy places.

"A picture book that passes the fun test with flying fizz." -- BOOKLIST
It's hot. Hot, hot, hot So Junie and Jake and Poppa and the baby want to go to the lake. But can they make it there in their rattletrap car? It doesn't go fast, and it doesn't go far -- but with the help of some razzleberry dazzleberry snazzleberry fizz, a beach ball, a surfboard, and a three-speed, wind-up, paddle-wheel boat, they're off to the lake where it's cool, cool, cool Phyllis Root's wonderfully inventive wordplay and Jill Barton's spirited, expressive illustrations make this a read-aloud road trip to remember.

"Perfect for reading aloud, this counting book not only contains bright bold illustrations but also has lots of . . . sound effects that children will love to replicate."-- Booklist
Down by the marsh,
by the sleepy,
slimy marsh,
one duck
gets stuck in the muck . . .
Can two fish, tails going swish, help? What about three moose, munching on spruce? Bright, spirited illustrations by Jane Chapman enhance this one-of-a-kind counting tale by Phyllis Root - a feast of sounds and numbers that will have listeners scrambling to join in the slippy, sloppy fun.

Infectious rhymes, sunny illustrations, and an array of baby animals make an irresistible page-turner for the youngest of listeners.
Little readers are invited to join these baby animals as they fly, swim, wiggle, and slide, all with the help of their mamas. But what these babies like best, of course, is spotting other baby animals With the buoyant rhythms of Phyllis Root and David Walker's cheerful illustrations, here is a guaranteed favorite for babies and toddlers, who will love shouting out the rhyming word sure to come on the next spread.

"From the Hardcover edition."

A Chicago Public Library’s Best Informational Books for Younger Readers selection Begin with a Bee and its story of the life of one queen bee, a rusty-patched bumblebee, teaches us not only about bees but also about our own responsibilities in the natural world By looking closely at the life cycle of one bee, Begin with a Bee helps readers of all ages understand and appreciate the contributions and significance of all bees. The life cycle of the rusty-patched bumblebee is a tale of wonder, the adventure of one queen bee who carries an entire colony of bees inside her tiny body. Her story begins in the spring when she emerges from a hole in the ground to search for pollen. She finds a nest, “underground best,� lays a few eggs, and seals them in pollen. All summer this single queen lays more eggs, and more worker bees hatch. They gather pollen and maintain the colony until next year’s queen hatches in the fall. The queen bee’s life unfolds through Claudia McGehee’s captivating illustrations. The authors—three beloved and prolific writers of award-winning children’s books—impart the poetry and basic science of the rusty-patched bumblebee, the first bee to appear on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species list.  Extensive commentary at the end of the book offers suggestions for being a friend to bees as well as a good citizen of the natural world. It also introduces the native plants that bumblebees need for survival. Begin with a Bee might inspire a child (or any of us) to seek out, identify, even cultivate these essential flowers—and participate in the next chapter in the story of all bumblebees.

Five toads hop, four brook trout swim, three elk graze, two loons call, and one beaver gnaws on a paper birch tree, all under one North Star. Through bog and marsh, along river and lake, across prairie and into the woods, children learn what lives where by counting the creatures on foot or in flight, swimming or perching in exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations created by Beckie Prange and Betsy Bowen in an artistic collaboration. For those looking for more about the pictured wildlife, Phyllis Root includes fascinating facts and information on the state's ecosystems and the plants and animals that make their homes there.

The story of a forest "lost" by a surveying error-and all the flora and fauna to be found there A forest, of course, doesn't need a map to know where to grow. But people need a map to find it. And in 1882 when surveyors set out to map a part of Minnesota, they got confused, or tired and cold (it was November), and somehow mapped a great swath of ancient trees as a lake. For more than seventy-five years, the mistake stayed on the map, and the forest remained safe from logging-no lumber baron expects to find timber in a lake, after all. The Lost Forest tells the story of this lucky error and of the 144 acres of old-growth red and white pine it preserved. With gentle humor, Phyllis Root introduces readers to the men at their daunting task, trekking across Minnesota, measuring and marking the vast land into townships and sections and quarters. She takes us deep into a stand of virgin pine, one of the last and largest in the state, where U.S. history and natural history meet. With the help of Betsy Bowen's finely observed and beautiful illustrations, she shows us all the life that can be found in the Lost Forest. Accompanying the story is a wealth of information about the Cadastral Survey and about the plants and animals that inhabit forests-making the book a valuable guide for readers who might want to look even deeper into the history of Minnesota, the flora and fauna of old-growth forests, and the apportioning of land in America.