Ready-For-Chapters – serie

Now that Mush -- the talking, cooking, educated dog from space -- is part of the Mangiaro household, Kelly wants to know more about the planet Growf-Woof-Woof, and how her dog came to Earth. When the two of them go on a picnic, (which Kelly prepares carefully under Mush's supervision), Kelly asks Mush about her past. "Well, it's such a long story," says Mush...and soon, Kelly is hearing about Mush's old jazz band, The Hot Animals, and how they dealt with robbers who threatened to knock over their boss's jive joint!

Little Lotta has Big troubles Poor Lotta is having a very bad day. First, she wakes up mad because in her dream her older brother and sister were mean to her. Then, Mother expects her to wear a sweater that "scratches and tickles." Madder than ever, Lotta decides to run away and find a new place to live. After all, everyone at her house is mean, so she won't miss her family at all -- will she? This hilarious and authentic look at a very bad day in the life of a very spunky five-year-old is sure to resonate with every reader.

LASSIE, GO HOME -- MUSH IS HERE! Now that Kelly Mangiaro's family has moved out of their apartment into a house, she figures her parents will finally let her get a dog. Instead, her mother gets a job, and Kelly gets a baby-sitter. Then Kelly comes upon Mush, a mushamute -- a breed not recognized by the Westminster Kennel Club, or by anyone else for that matter, possibly because mushamutes come from the planet Growf-Woof-Woof, in the solar system of Arfturus. Mushamutes can talk, tell time, cook up a storm, and even clean up the kitchen afterwards. Who needs a baby-sitter when there's a mushamute around? Now if only Kelly can persuade her parents to let her keep Mush....

At age eleven, Rosie Lepidus's main concerns are winning ring-a-levio, going to school, and staying out of trouble. But when Mama falls ill with pneumonia and Papa throws all the family's savings into the nickelodeon business, the burden of caring for her family falls on Rosie's shoulders. Tall for her age, Rosie is able to pass for sixteen and take Mama's place sewing sleeves at a shirtwaist factory. Her family needs the money. But working conditions are horrible and the factory boss is incredibly strict. The girls are fined for nearly everything -- even talking or humming! Within days of starting work, Rosie hears the buzz about a huge strike of twenty thousand shirtwaist workers. It's the strike that Mama's been working toward for ages: a huge push for change in the workplace. Rosie wants to join in, but as the streets become more dangerous, Papa asks his daughter to return to school. And Rosie must choose: follow Papa's orders...or fight with everything she's got.

One night Hector falls asleep to the sound of rain rat-a-tat-tatting on the roof of his wumblebug hole. And even though the rain has been coming down for days, Hector is not worried. He's safe and snug. But then Hector wakes up to discover his hole is filling up with water fast! Hector is swept out of his home, along with all of his belongings. The next morning he sets off in search of a new place to live. And though Hector is sad to lose his old hole, he soon discovers what makes a hole a home.