Rob Shepperson – illustratör

The students in Miss Molina''s third grade class are abuzz with excitement about the upcoming spelling bee, where they will be competing against the two other classes in third grade. Simon Ellis, who just happens to be good at a lot of other things, is also very good at spelling. But Simon''s best friend, Jackson, tells him that it''s getting boring losing to Simon all the time. Simon is stuck in an impossible situation: Jackson will be mad whether he spells all the words correctly for their team or if he makes a mistake on purpose and causes his team to miss out on the all-you-can-eat pie buffet. Simon''s competitive spirit takes over until he realizes that sometimes the best way to win is to take a chance and let other people shine.

Cody Harmon doesn''t love reading, math, spelling, or really any of the subjects that Miss Molina teaches in her third-grade class. But he lives on a farm and he loves animals--he even has nine pets--so when the school holds a pet-show fund-raiser, it should be his time to shine. There''s a ten-dollar entrance fee per pet, though, and Cody can''t pay it for all nine pets. He''d love to take his pig, but what about the others? In the end, Cody figures out a way to lend out his pets so that every person in the class (and every pet) gets to participate in the show.

Sam and Katie find a stray dog and make a big mistake, but it's hard to make amends--how can you apologize to a dog?A dirty, skinny, dog shows up in Sam and Katie's neighborhood. They start to follow it, and they don't like what they see: The Wilson sisters yell at it because it goes in their garden and the Tracy twins chase it on their bikes and throw things at it. Sam and Katie want the dog to know they'll be its friends. They think it should have a name. Most of all, they want it to like them. But then they do something thoughtless, and after that, it's hard to make things right, especially because the dog now won't come near them. How they earn the dog's trust, help it find its place in their town and how it gets its name, makes for a heartwarming story told in two voices using prose and poetry. Blue Daisy is illustrated with 20 black-and-white illustrations and includes recipes for dog biscuits and snickerdoodles. A Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year!

In book number five in the popular Franklin School Friends series, Cody Harmon stars in this story about a class pet show!