Selections from Nancy Willard's acclaimed volumes of poetry and proseThis diverse collection features some of Nancy Willard's most critically lauded poetry—including works from her Newbery Medal–winning volume, A Visit to William Blake's Inn—as well as her short fiction and four unconventional essays on writing.Hens, children, magic bottles, and the moon are just some of the characters running through the luminous musings gathered here. "How to Stuff...

The lyrical poems of award-winning author Nancy Willard celebrate the magic of lifeNancy Willard, who was the first recipient of a Newbery Medal for a volume of poetry, displays her versatility in these companion collections.Divided into five sections, Water Walker blends the mundane with the mystical. From sleeping fish to Marco Polo to a tortoise who dispenses unique advice to a bride on her wedding day, these poems integrate fables, nursery rhym...

This marvelous collection brings together the finest of Nancy Willard's workTransporting us from Michigan farm country to the streets of New York, from a family picnic by a stream to snow-covered fields peopled by angels, the poems gathered here represent the best of Nancy Willard.Willard's gift for peeling back everyday existence to reveal something magical and wondrous is everywhere in evidence here. Ordinary trees become surreal landscapes "fanning the f...

This delightful collection brings together five short stories and eight essays on writing by Newbery Medal–winning author Nancy WillardNancy Willard's gift for bringing out the whimsical in all of us illuminates this memorable anthology." 'Who Invented Water?' " celebrates the craft and magic of creating children's books. In "Becoming a Writer," Willard admits she dislikes giving and receiving advice. She prefers telling a story, with real-life characters r...

The first novel by Newbery Award–winning author Nancy Willard: A stunning story of magic and miracles, and a testament to the enduring power of faith and loveBen and Willie Harkissian are twin brothers (think Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau) growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the eve of World War II. A baseball launched into the October sky sets in motion a series of events that transforms many lives. Ben leaves for the front and faces death—figuratively as well as...

Newbery Medal-winning author Nancy Willard's trilogy of adventure tales, now in one volume. Children won't be able to put down these stories of the journeys of a boy and his orange cat, Plumpet.Anatole has a knack for seeking and finding adventure, often with Plumpet, his orange cat, who is accustomed to ghost trains, amnesiac soldiers, flying horses, and wallpaper portals, just a few of the enchantments encountered along the way. From his perilous search for wild ...

Birthday presents for mothers are never right-they're always too big, too small, or the wrong color. So when a young girl's mother simply asks for a homemade birthday cake, the girl thinks her troubles are over. Her happiness quickly disappears, though, when she hears the name of the cake her mother wants. The girl knows she won't find a High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake recipe in The Joy of Cooking. It will take a secret ingredient, a clumsy uncle, a grand p...

Anatole's adventure begins and ends quietly beside the rosy brick dollhouse in Uncle Terrible's living room. But everything in between the beginning and the end is like a 3-dimensional comic strip dream. Anatole is the only one who can rescue Uncle Terrible and his friend Rosemarie from the wizard Arcimboldo's enchantments. Everything depends on the outcome of a wacky game of checkers, the unweaving of a magical cloak, and a slightly dopey bat.

Sam Theopolis entered the Woolman household like a clown with treasures up his sleeve. He kept the absent-minded Jessie from permanently checking out of reality, and he brought an inconceivable joy to Jessie's younger daughter and grandson. But just when the current of their lives seemed smooth and untroubled, tragedy struck like a squall. With eccentric characters reminiscent of Anne Tyler, Willard takes the reader on a quirky journey of the heart.

The wallpaper above Anatole's bed is dotted with islands and shepherds and small boats decorated with roses. While gazing at the figures one afternoon, Anatole is sucked into the wallpaper itself. Includes the stories Gospel Train and The Wise Soldier of Sellebak.

Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard is the author of many award-winning children's books. In this lyrical story, a man falls in love with a broom and they dance through the sky together-until one night the broom is stolen from its home. Someone else wants the powers of the broom for himself. Will the man be able to find his beloved broom and dance once again?

The book that helped inspire Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot SeeAn updated edition of this classic World War II memoir, chosen as one of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century, with a new photo insert and restored passages from the original French editionWhen Jacques Lusseyran was an eight-year-old Parisian schoolboy, he was blinded in an accident. He finished his schooling determined to participate in the wo...