Chris Van Dusen

When a circus ship runs aground off the coast of Maine, the poor animals are left on their own to swim the chilly waters. Staggering onto a nearby island, they soon win over the wary townspeople with their kind, courageous ways. So well do the critters blend in that when the greedy circus owner returns to claim them, villagers of all species conspire to outsmart the bloated blowhard.

Mr. Magee and his dog Dee go camping and have an adventure with a hungry bear.

Jack describes the kind of car he would build--one with amazing accessories and with the capability of traveling on land, in the air, and on and under the sea.

Randy Riley, a science genius who loves baseball but is not very good at it, needs to use both his interests to save his town from a giant fireball that is heading their way.

"It's a summer day so beautiful and peaceful that Hattie, paddling in her canoe in the middle of a lake, can't help but sing. In the deep water below, a creature is lurking. He's huge and green, with a long, long neck and he rarely leaves his lair. But on this day, he hears something sweet and inviting. He hears a song. What happens when the creature rises to the surface is nothing short of magical. Can a young girl and an enormous lake monster become...

An encounter with a moose while they are learning to ski provides Mr. Magee and his dog with some unexpected excitement.

When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself--with enthusiastic...

After Mercy the pig snuggles to sleep with the Watsons, all three awaken with the bed teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor.

Baby Lincoln's older sister, Eugenia, is very fond of telling Baby what to do, and Baby usually responds by saying "Yes, Sister." But one day Baby has had enough. She decides to depart on a Necessary Journey, even though she has never gone anywhere without Eugenia telling her what to take and where to go. And in fact Baby doesnt knowwhere she is headed only that she was entirely happy in the previous nights dream, sitting aboard a train with a view...

Saddle up for this first volume in a spin-off series starring favorite characters from DiCamillo's "New York Times"-bestselling Mercy Watson books. Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn't have is a horse--until he meets Maybelline, and then it's love at first sight.