Lauren Castillo

A young boy is frightened by how busy and noisy the city is when he goes there to visit his Nana, but she makes him a fancy red cape that keeps him from being scared as she shows him how wonderful a place it is.

"When Juan Felipe Herrera was very young, he picked flowers, helped his mama feed the chickens, slept under the starry sky, and learned to say goodbye to his amiguitos each time his migrant family moved on. When he grew up, Juan Felipe Herrera became a poet." -- Jacket.

Bedtime is near, but from the end of dinner until lights are turned off, it is not really time for sleeping until a child receives a special good night wish.

A hedgehog loses his friend, a stuffed dog named Mutty, in a storm that attacks the tiny island where he lives. As he sets out to find his best and only friend, he meets a mole, an owl, a beaver, a hen and her chicks, and a young girl named Annika May who help him reunite with Mutty.

For soccer games Sierra rides a bus out of the city to fields that are nicer than the "lot" in her neighborhood, but so her auntie can be at her last game, she asks Coach Marco if the team might play in her neighborhood on a day her aunt does not work.

When young Elwyn White lay in bed as a sickly child, a bold house mouse befriended him. When the time came for kindergarten, an anxious Elwyn longed for the farm, where animal friends awaited him at the end of each day. Propelled by his fascination with the outside world, he began to jot down his reflections in a journal. Writing filled him with joy, and words became his world. Today, Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web are beloved classics of children's...

When a boy finds a turtle basking in the sun at the park he thinks he has found the perfect pet, but the turtle only seems happy at bath time. Includes facts about turtles.

A boy and his dog hike to the top of a very tall, snowy hill where they play, enjoy a snack, and then share their favorite book before sledding home.

An easy-to-read book about a globe-trotting cat that crosses paths with a vacationing family in the great cities of Europe. Includes facts about the cities.