New Releases by Bernette Ford

How does this city garden grow? With help from L’il Sissy and her siblings--and love, love, love! A celebration of nature, family, and food. Visiting the city from her home in the suburbs, an African American girl sees how a few packets of seeds, some helping hands, and hard work transform an empty lot in a housing project into a magical place where vegetables grow and family gathers. It’s the magic of nature in the heart of the city! Bernette Ford’s autobiographical story is a loving glimpse at a girl, her siblings, and her uncle, and their shared passion for farming. L’l Sissy’s fascination with measurement, comparison, and estimation introduces children to STEM concepts. And the progress of Uncle John’s garden introduces readers to the life cycle of plants. Frank Morrison, winner of multiple Coretta Scott King awards and an NAACP Image Award, depicts dramatic cityscapes as well as the luscious colors and textures of Nature. A Smithsonian Magazine Best Children''s Book of the Year A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

A colorful concept book on first words, illustrated in Britta Teckentrup''s distinctive style. Teddy, Truck and Other First Words gives younger children a colorful introduction to vocabulary. It features over 80 words covering everyday items and pets. These first words--from chair and clock to cookies and milk to dog and fish--present the commonplace things kids encounter throughout the house.

A colorful first-concept book on counting, illustrated in Britta Teckentrup''s distinctive style. Three little frogs, 5 orange buttons, 7 green spots. One Black Cat and Other Numbers gives younger children a colorful introduction to counting from 1 to 10.

Clear, colorful illustrations will keep toddlers engaged as they explore the concept of shapes.--

As Red Riding Hood wends her way through the woods to Grandma''s house, several surprises spring out of the pages of this favourite tale.

Ballet Kitty and her best friend Princess Pussycat both want to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy for the Christmas recital. But only one of them will be allowed to. How will the friends decide?

Piggy, Ducky, and Bunny all love their dummies. When they cry, it’s the only thing that makes them stop. But one day, Bunny doesn’t need his dummy because he’s too busy playing. Then Ducky doesn’t need her dummy, because she wants to be a grown-up. But will there be no more dummy for Piggy?

Learning begins at home, and these first words--from chair and clock to sink and soap to cookies and milk--present the everyday things kids encounter throughout the house. That makes it easy for parents to reinforce the lesson in a child’s most comfortable and secure environment. Britta Teckentrup’s pictures, with their geometric shapes and primary colors, have true kid-appeal.