Maribeth Boelts

Ruben feels like he is the only kid without a bike. His friend Sergio reminds him that his birthday is coming, but Ruben knows that the kinds of birthday gifts he and Sergio receive are not the same. After all, when Ruben's mom sends him to Sonny's corner store for groceries, sometimes she doesn't have enough money for everything on the list. So when Ruben sees a dollar bill fall out of someone's purse, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket. But...

Jeremy, who longs to have the black high tops that everyone at school seems to have but his grandmother cannot afford, is excited when he sees them for sale in a thrift shop and decides to buy them even though they are the wrong size.

Fairy Godmother teaches young fairies--and Ivy the dog--to become fairy godmothers, but something is missing.

Calls to fires, an injured friend, and cooking disasters threaten to keep a group of fire fighters from enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

Little Bunny gradually learns to give up his pacifier.

LB spends the summer dreading the first day of preschool, especially after his second-grade cousin makes him worry about what it will really be like.

A young boy imagines what his rescued dog's life might have been like before he adopted him.

Discusses the dangers of a fire, what to do if caught in a fire, and how to plan an emergency exit for a family.

Sixth-graders Russell and Shawn, poor and picked on, work together scooping dog droppings to earn money for a Rottweiler puppy to protect them from bullies, but when they learn the puppies' owner is running an illegal dog-fighting ring, they are torn about how to respond.

Discusses ways children can be safe around strangers, traffic, and other potentially dangerous situations.