Award Winning and Notable Children's Books PreK - 8

October and her dad live in the woods. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They live in the woods and they are wild. And that's the way it is.
Until the year October turns eleven. That's the year October rescues a baby owl. It's the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October's mother comes back. The year everything changes.

From National Book Award finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a novel told in ten blocks, showing all the different directions kids' walks home can take.

Michael is a mixed-race gay teen growing up in London. All his life, he's navigated what it means to be Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican--but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough. As he gets older, Michael's coming out is only the start of learning who he is and where he fits in. When he discovers the Drag Society, he finally finds where he belongs--and the Black Flamingo is born.

Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea stac to hunt birds. But this summer, no one arrives to take them home. Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they've been abandoned--cold, starving and clinging to life, in the grip of a murderous ocean. How will they survive such a forsaken place of stone and sea?

World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety. Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it's normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. Each of the sixteen-year-old girls has her own head, heart, and two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery. But the girls' body is beginning to fight against them. And Grace doesn't want to admit it. Not even to Tippi. How long can they hide from the truth--how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives?

What kind of a girl steals the clothes from a dead man's back and runs off to join the army?
A desperate one, that's who.
World been turned on its head by that big old war, and the army seemed like the safest place to be, until we was sent off to fight them Indians. And then? Heck! When Death's so close you can smell his breath, ain't nothing makes you feel more alive.

I can't believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor. There are no windows. No doors. The elevator is the only way in or out. What's he going to do to me? What am I going to do? People are really quite simple, and they have simple needs. Food, water, light, space, privacy. Maybe a small measure of dignity. A bit of freedom. What happens when someone simply takes all that away?

On the other side of the wall there is a dark secret. And the devil. And the Moon Man. And the Motherland doesn't want anyone to know. But Standish Treadwell, who has different-colored eyes, who "can't read, can't write, Standish Treadwell isn't bright," sees things differently than the rest of the "train-track thinkers." So when Standish and his only friend and neighbor, Hector, make their way to the other side of the wall, they see what the Motherland has been hiding. And it's big.

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor. At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting - he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.

In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world. As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place--he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings--such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?

Welcome to the dark side of Camelot. Gwynna is just a girl who is forced to run when her village is attacked and burns to the ground. To her horror, she is discovered in the wood. But it is Myrddin the bard who has found her, a traveler and spinner of tales. He agrees to protect Gwynna if she will agree to be bound in service to him. Gwynna is frightened but intrigued-and says yes-for this Myrddin serves the young, rough, and powerful Arthur. In the course of their travels, Myrddin transforms Gwynna into the mysterious Lady of the Lake, a boy warrior, and a spy.

Justin Case is convinced fate has it in for him. And he's right. After finding his younger brother teetering on the edge of his balcony, fifteen-year-old David Case realizes the fragility of life and senses impending doom. Without looking back, he changes his name to Justin and assumes a new identity, new clothing and new friends, and dares to fall in love with the seductive Agnes Day. With his imaginary dog Boy in tow, Justin struggles to fit into his new role and above all, to survive in a world where tragedy is around every corner. He's got to be prepared, just in case.

When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland half a century before. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy, and tragedy set against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War -- and unraveling it is about to transform Tamar's life forever.

It was a one-in-a-million chance. A bag crammed with cash comes tumbling out of the air and lands right at Damian's feet. Suddenly the Cunningham brothers are rich. Very rich. They can buy anything they want. There's just one problem -- they have only seventeen days to spend all the money before it becomes worthless. And the crooks who stole the cash in the first place are closing in -- fast.

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has a word for everything, and big dreams of being a writer but little hope of seeing them come true. With the fresh pain of her mother's death lingering over her and the only out from her impoverished life being marriage to the handsome but dull local rich boy, Maddie flees from her home. She takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from Big Moose Lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Brother and sister Dallas and Florida are the "trouble twins." In their short thirteen years, they've passed through countless foster homes, only to return to their dreary orphanage, Boxton Creek Home. Run by the Trepids, a greedy and strict couple, Boxton Creek seems impossible to escape. When Mr. Trepid informs the twins that they'll be helping old Tiller and Sairy Morey go on separate adventures, Dallas and Florida are suspicious. As the twins adjust to the natural beauty of the outdoors, help the Tillers prepare for their adventures, and foil a robbery, their ultimate search for freedom leads them home to Ruby Holler.

The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits. For this is a town where food is scarce and rats are hated, where cellars are lined with deadly traps, and where a terrifying evil lurks beneath the hunger-stricken streets.... Set in Terry Pratchett's beloved Discworld, this masterfully crafted, gripping read is both compelling and funny. When one of the world's most acclaimed fantasy writers turns a classic fairy tale on its head, no one will ever look at the Pied Piper--or rats--the same way again!

Sade is slipping her English book into her schoolbag when her Mama screams. Two sharp cracks splinter the air. "Mama mi?" She whispers Twelve-year-old Sade's journalist father is a vocal critic of the corrupt government in Nigeria. When Sade's mother is murdered, her family sees in bloody detail the violent risks that come with exposing the truth.

Ten-year-old Michael was looking forward to moving into a new house. But now his baby sister is ill, his parents are frantic, and Doctor Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then he steps into the crumbling garage. . . . What is this thing beneath the spiderwebs and dead flies? A human being, or a strange kind of beast never before seen? The only person Michael can confide in is his new friend, Mina. Together they carry the creature out into the light, and Michael's world changes forever. . . .

"She didn't know how fast the current was moving her. It could take many more hours yet, perhaps more hours than she had the strength for. But she must not stop. She must keep going. She must try to catch the river boy, even though she was frightened at the thought of what he was." Jess's beloved grandfather has just had a serious heart attack, but he insists that the family travel as planned to his boyhood home on the river so that he can finish his painting, "River Boy." As Jess helps her ailing grandpa with his work, she becomes entranced by the scene he is painting. Then she becomes aware of a strange presence in the river -- a boy who asks for her help and issues a challenge that will stretch her swimming talents to their very limit. Jess knows that Grandpa and the river boy are connected, but how? Can she take up the river boy's challenge before it's too late for Grandpa?

'Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn''t want to be tied down - not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally you have to come down. Commissioned and produced by Oxford Stage Company, Junk premiered at The Castle, Wellingborough, in January 1998 and went on to tour throughout the UK in 1998 and 1999.

Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world...

They want me to join them. All I have to do is to reach out to them . . . Solomon struggles in school. He is bullied by his teachers and let down by his parents. His only refuge is in the local cemetery, among ancient graves that lie in the shadow of the rowan tree. But when workmen uproot the tree, a dark and terrifying power is unleashed. Will Solomon be able to save himself and the people he cares about from the terrible curse within?

Dave is just another sixteen-year-old who's run away from home. New to London, he falls in with Ginger and, calling himself Link, begins to learn how to survive on the streets. However, a maniac is out there, stalking homeless young people and hell-bent on cleaning up the city...

When his class of underachievers is assigned to spend three torturous weeks taking care of their own babies in the form of bags of flour, Simon makes amazing discoveries about himself while coming to terms with his long-absent father.

It was only once, but she's pregnant. When Helen discovers she is expecting a baby, she cuts off her relationshop with Chris, the boyfriend she loves very much. She's confused and tormented, and so is he. Separately, the two high school seniors must come to terms with their childs future-- and their own. A riveting and unforgettable love story.

Cassy hears footsteps padding through Nan's flat in the middle of the night. The next day she is packed off to stay with her beautiful but childish mother. There is no explanation. Something has gone wrong and Cassy faces danger. Soon she must face up to her past - who her father is, why he left, and where he has gone.

When M.C.C. Berkshire comes into Ailsa and her mother's antiques shop, he turns their lives upside down. He moves in, sleeps on the old bed in the shop (for sale), and corners every potential customer with a specially made-up story about an item in the shop. At the end of each tale the customers are so entranced that they buy the item! Suddenly the shop is a success, with M.C.C. telling a pack of lies to suit every taste. There's a whodunnit, a spoof on Dracula, a Victorian fantasy, and nine other funny and fascinating stories. Soon Ailsa and her mother start wondering whether they should encourage M.C.C.'s lies, and without realizing it, Ailsa begins to fall in love with the magical stranger. But who is this amazing character? At the end of the book, we suddenly find out...or do we?

On a Midwinter night, a shaman demands a new-born baby girl from her slave-mother - and carries the child away in a hut that stalks across the snow on chicken legs. The new-born son of the Czar is imprisoned, for life, in a tiny room at the top of a tall tower because the Czar is afraid his son will outdo him. The slave's daughter, and the princeling, both long for freedom but their search for it earns them vicious enemies - the ruthless Princess Margaretta, and Kuzma, the shape-shifting bear-shaman. Can the slave's-daughter and the prince survive?

Leaving home. It's hard for Jess to imagine what it will be like to be separated from her family and friends. And before she goes, she wants to share all the family secrets - all its love stories and all its ghost stories too. There's Birdie and Jack, whose love was strong enough to keep them together despite the deep divisions between the families; Dorothy, for whom the admiration of a rich young man seems the only escape from the toil and dirt of buffing up cutlery; and, of course, there's Jess's story. She, too, has known moments of grief and happiness, all the pain and joy that goes with living.

Every day Annie walks by the lonely marsh from her remote cottage to school. Only in winter, when the wind howls in the trees, is Annie ever afraid. Her sister Willa is pregnant and Annie is overjoyed when she comes home to have her baby. Annie tells Willa the names of local plants and Willa tells Annie about the ghost, murdered by highwaymen, who is said to haunt the old forge nearby. Then, on a terrible night, with the phone lines down, Willa goes into labour. Annie is terrified of the ghost, but knows she must brave the storm to fetch help. As she ventures into the night, a horseman swings into view. He offers to take Annie to town. But who is this horseman?

A clammy hand pressed Laura down onto her knees beside Jacko's bed. It was the hand of terror, nothing less.' It was a warning. Laura felt it when she looked in the mirror that morning. There had been others: the day her father left home, the day she met Sorensen - the boy with the strange silver eyes. But nothing had prepared Laura for the horror of today. And now her little brother, Jacko, was fighting for his life after being sucked dry of his youth by the sinister Carmody Braque. Laura knows there is only one way to save Jacko; she must join Sorensen and use his supernatural powers to change over if there is to be any hope for her little brother. An unforgettable, supernatural romance.

Erica, a lover of motorcycles, finds her country holiday dreary until she runs into a cat with false teeth, new friends with interesting names, and a lot of motorcycles.

Eight-year-old Barney is willing to accept that the ghost of his Great-Uncle Cole might wish to be friends with him, but his family are sceptical. However, some of his older relations admit that there does seem to be something special about the boy. Barney's sister, practical Tabitha, determines to solve the mystery - but it is Troy, the oldest of the children, who finds out what the truth really is....

There were three people, standing in the darkest place, watching him. Simon is outraged that his Mum plans to remarry. He can't bear her new fiancé or the way his mother and sister seem to have forgotten his late father. Overwhelmed by hatred and anger he seeks solace in a nearby abandoned water mill. But another, powerful hatred lingers within its walls. And it is about to be unleashed.

A fresh retelling of thirty-three Bible stories reflects the vitality and immediacy of oral biblical tradition and provides a new understanding of traditional biblical tales.

On top of the Exeter cathedral when a Nazi bombing raid begins, 14-year-old Colin Lockwood survives the attack and searches for the rest of his family.

The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler by Gene Kemp is a new edition of the classic, much-loved Carnegie Medal-winning school adventure.

A boy who believes that he cannot do anything right befriends a new boy in town and introduces him to the wonders of airplanes--and friendship.

It's 1940, and Britain is at war. Young Chas McGill has the second-best collection of war souvenirs in town, but desperately wants it to be the best. Amidst the bombs and air raids, Chas and his friends plan their own war effort in their newly built bunker. Friendships are forged and loyalties tested, in the adventure of a lifetime.

Crippled in a Roman raid on his native island, Coll spends many years planning an impregnable defense but has to overcome many obstacles before he is given a chance to put it to the test.

James is fed up. His family has moved to a new cottage – with grounds that are great for excavations, and trees that are perfect for climbing – and stuff is happening. Stuff that is normally the kind of thing he does. But it's not him who's writing strange things on shopping lists and fences. It's not him who smashes bottles and pours tea in the Vicar's lap. It's a ghost – honestly. Thomas Kempe the 17th century apothecary has returned and he wants James to be his apprentice. No one else believes in ghosts. It's up to James to get rid of him. Or he'll have no pocket money or pudding ever again.

Watership Down is the compelling tale of a group of wild rabbits struggling to hold onto their place in the world.

For fourteen-year-old Josh, the village of Ryan Creek, settled by his great-grandfather, is a jungle--completely different from Melbourne, where he was born and raised. And the people he meets in Ryan Creek--his eccentric Aunt Clara, the two O'Connor boys and their beautiful sister Betsy, Laura and Harry Jones--are not only baffling but dangerous. Josh does everything wrong here. A dreamer and a poet, he is also strong-willed and uncompromising in his principles. His encounters with the young people of Ryan Creek during his three-day visit begin with mutual bewilderment and confusion and move inexorably to an explosion of violence.

Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen retells some of the most famous Greek myths in this classic of children's literature. This is the epic history of the Greek Gods told from their violent beginnings to the creation of man.

A retelling of the story of Noah's Ark, this tale centers on Reuben, an animal trainer, who is promised passage on the ark as a reward for helping to gather the animals.

Gwen discovers, in the attic, a plate with an abstract design on it that can be traced into an owl, an owl that disappears when no one is looking.

Contents: *A niche for Arthur *Cannon at High Force *The Guns of H.M.S. Artemis *The Lady in the Niche *Change of Command *Where is the Lady? *Gunpowder and Corn Plasters *Sir Joshua's Journal *Augustus *Saint Francis and the Yellow Peril *Here Lies the Body of Gothic Adams *Seven Witches *Sink the Bismarck *The Great Snowstorm *Beckford's Patent Bomb Wiggle *Gothic Adams's Secret *Two-gun Salute

Set in the hills of Shropshire, it features children whose camping holiday seems to engage the prehistoric past.

Set in early nineteenth century England, it addresses the themes of social reform and freedom of speech in a time of war.

In his new home a young boy finds twelve old wooden soldiers with definite personalities and a fascinating history that once belonged to the famous Bronte children.

L. M. Boston's thrilling and chilling tales of Green Knowe, a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English countryside, have been entertaining readers for half a century. Now the children of Green Knowe--both alive and ghostly--are back in appealing new editions. The spooky original illustrations have been retained, but dramatic new cover-art by Brett Helquist (illustrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events) gives the books a fresh, timeless appeal for today's readers.

Not only in giving a clear outline of the evolution of man as a species but also in the way it is done

When Tom's brother gets sick, he's shipped off to spend what he's sure will be a boring summer with his aunt and uncle in the country. But then Tom hears the old grandfather clock in the hall chime thirteen times, and he's transported back to an old garden where he meets a young, lonely girl named Hatty. Tom returns to the garden every night to have adventures with Hatty, who mysteriously grows a little older with each visit. As the summer comes to an end, Tom realizes he wants to stay in the garden with Hatty forever.

An old legend provides the clues for a treasure hunt in the Yorkshire Dales. The seekers are Nan and Mary from the farm, Peter from the inn and Adam Forrest the head boy from Nan's school. The first clue was concealed in the old signboard at the inn and the last somewhere inside a hill but the one that was the most important was a unicorn. Adam was too old to bother with unicorns and thought he could work everything out by science. Mary was too young for science so called the fairies for help and prepared a grass rope so that she could catch the unicorn.

During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge--not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destruction of all they hold dear in this, the magnificent ending to The Chronicles of Narnia.

In The Little Bookroom, Eleanor Farjeon mischievously tilts our workaday world to reveal its wonders and follies. Her selection of her favorite stories describes powerful--and sometimes exceedingly silly--monarchs, and commoners who are every bit their match; musicians and dancers who live for aft rather than earthly reward; and a goldfish who wishes to "marry the Moon, surpass the Sun, and possess the World."

Philip d'Aubigny is a young knight in the kingdom of Outremer and can't wait to prove himself. His chance comes when he rides into battle to defend his home from attack by Saracen leader, Saladin and his army. But after a disastrous campaign, Philip is taken prisoner by the Turks and must work as a servant-and all the while he is plotting his escape. At last his opportunity arrives and Philip flees, joining Richard the Lionheart in his victorious Third Crusade before finally travelling to Britain to claim his family's estate. Only when he arrives, he finds he must once again go into battle . . .

A typical English valley shown through the centuries as it develops from uninhabited forest, hillside and swamp to the modern busy town.

This is the classic story--read and loved by children all over the world--of Pod, Homily, and their daughter, Arrietty, who live under the kitchen floor in a quiet, half-empty house and get their livelihood by borrowing from the human beings.

In England in 1493, Nicholas, the son of a wealthy wool merchant, manages to unmask a plot designed to ruin his father's business.

Kit finally has recognized that no matter what she wants to sing. Only, it comes as a shock to realize that what is at last so obvious to her isn't as obvious to everyone else.

Cam Renton has been an apprentice seaman for a year when he arrives at Liverpool to join the crew of the Langdale, a cargo ship heading for Barbados and the Spanish Main. He is working towards becoming an officer and someday captain of his own ship. Because he is dissatisfied with the progress of his training, he asks the Chief Mate for assignment to one of the night watches rather than to routine day-work. The mate gives him short shrift, and during the outward voyage the two are at odds. Rankling under a sense of injustice, Cam devises a scheme to make the mate think he is haunted by a whistling poltergeist. However, he soon realizes this is childish and futile. When they reach the Caribbean, Cam takes a rare opportunity to go ashore at Boca del Sol, a fictional seaport. He and his bunkmate Rusty find themselves in the local prison after a misunderstanding. Cam executes a daring escape, but Captain Carey already has the matter well in hand, and he tells Cam a few home truths showing him that he is getting an excellent training in seamanship, thanks to the mate. Afterward Cam starts to work and study in earnest, and his knowledge of navigation and semaphore are put to use when he becomes part of a skeleton crew aboard a salvaged derelict.

Collected Stories for Children was first published in 1947 and is a collection of the best seventeen short stories written by Walter de la Mare. The stories cover a range of subjects, but are all dreamy and poetic, captivating both adults and children.

When orphaned young Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels as if she's entered Paradise. Her new guardian, her uncle Sir Benjamin, is kind and funny; the Manor itself feels like home right away; and every person and animal she meets is like an old friend. But there is something incredibly sad beneath all of this beauty and comfort--a tragedy that happened years ago, shadowing Moonacre Manor and the town around it--and Maria is determined to learn about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending. But what can one solitary girl do?

In the English village of Midmeddlecum, Major Palfrey asks his two daughters to behave themselves while he is off at war. Sighing, Dinah says, "I think that we are quite likely to be bad, however hard we try not to be," and her sister, Dorinda, adds helpfully, "Very often, when we think we are behaving well, some grown-up person says we are really quite bad. It's difficult to tell which is which." Sure enough, the mischievous sisters soon convince a judge that minds must be changed as often as socks, stage an escape from the local zoo (thanks to a witch's potion that turns them into kangaroos), and--in the company of a golden puma and silver falcon--set off to rescue their father from the tyrant of Bombardy.

On the banks of the Folly Brook, inside an old oak tree, live the last three gnomes in Britain: Sneezewort, Baldmoney, and Dodder. Before their fourth brother, Cloudberry, disappeared upstream seeking adventure, they lived happily and peacefully among their woodland friends. But now spring has come and the brothers start thinking about spending the summer traveling upstream to find Cloudberry. Before long they've built a boat and set off for unknown lands, where they find themselves involved in all kinds of adventures with new friends (wood mice, water voles, badgers) as well as with enemies (two-legged giants).

It is a contemporary adventure story set on a fictional island in the English Channel during World War II and eventually during a German occupation. Two English children on a Nazi-occupied Channel Island plan their escape.

It is Sussex in 1939. Aunt Myra is entertaining her four nieces and nephews. Their lives are about to change as soon evacuees start arriving and life will never be the same again.

Threatened with life in separate orphanages when their aunt dies, two children run away to search for their uncle who works for a circus and find that they can become a part of the hard work and colorful performances of the tenting season.

The story of everyday life in the big, happy Ruggles family who live in the small town of Otwell. Father is a dustman and Mother a washerwoman. Then there's all the children - practical Lily Rose, clever Kate, mischievous twins James and John, followed by Jo, who loves films, little Peg and finally baby William.

In Pigeon Post, the crew turns their energies to mining for gold, aided by pigeon messengers Homer, Sophocles, and Sappho. The adventurers comb the nearby hills for a fabled lost claim, while being shadowed by a mysterious figure they dub "squashy hat." Undeterred by drought, sudden brushfires, and the continuing presence of Squashy Hat, the young prospectors persevere in their quest--with surprising results. Full of the dangers and dark adventures of old mines and forgotten claims, Pigeon Post has an irresistible appeal to the persistent explorer in all of us.