New Releases by Lauren Castillo

It’s the first day of school for Hedgehog and her forest friends in this cozy classroom caper about overcoming doubts and letting your light shine, with full-color art on every page from a beloved Caldecott Honor winner. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, Our uniqueness is what makes us shine... When the humans of Hedge Hollow head off to school, Hedgehog and her furry, feathery friends decide to start a school of their very own! Owl will teach reading. Beaver will teach shop. Mole will teach geography. Hen will teach math. And Hedgehog . . . Hedgehog isn''t so sure. After all, you have to be an expert to teach a class, don''t you? Hedgehog doesn''t feel like an expert in anything. Lucky for Hedgehog her friends are happy to lend a paw, sharing laughter and kind words as they figure out a solution. From the award-winning author-illustrator of Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us comes a tale of overcoming doubts and taking pride in doing what you love.

Dr. Lila Hensley, a renowned sleep specialist, lives a life of meticulous routine, a carefully constructed fortress against the anxieties that haunt her waking hours. The unresolved trauma of her twin sister April’s disappearance years ago casts a long shadow, driving Lila to chart the landscapes of other people’s dreams, seeking the control that eludes her in her own life. When Francisco Jones, a tormented insomniac plagued by “missing days,” walks into her Portland clinic clutching an antique stopwatch identical to April’s, Lila’s carefully ordered world begins to unravel. The stopwatch, once a childhood trinket, now whispers of hidden dimensions of time and a chilling echo of the past. Drawn by morbid curiosity and a flicker of desperate hope, Lila agrees to take on Francisco’s case, unaware that she’s stepping into a labyrinth of fragmented memories, distorted realities, and a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have imagined. As Lila delves deeper into Francisco’s amnesia, she notices unsettling parallels to her own life. Moments slip away, then hours, then days. Her once-precise diary becomes a disjointed chronicle of forgotten appointments and unsettling dreams of her sister. Her colleague, Dr. Kelsey Vasquez, haunted by her own past failures, attributes Lila’s erratic behavior to suppressed grief, but Lila’s gut tells her something far more disturbing is at play. The discovery of April’s old journals, filled with cryptic symbols and disturbing drawings of distorted clock faces and shadowy figures, unveils a hidden obsession with chronomancy—the manipulation of time. A shocking twist reveals that Francisco is not merely a patient, but a pawn in a game orchestrated by a clandestine organization known as the Chronos Initiative, obsessed with unlocking the secrets of time travel. Lila realizes they are not losing time; they are being robbed of it. In a race against a fast-approaching celestial alignment, Lila must confront not only the architects of this conspiracy but also her own haunting past. Alongside Kelsey, now a crucial ally, Lila deciphers the cryptic clues in April’s journals, leading them to a hidden room beneath an abandoned observatory, a place where time itself can be manipulated. Lila is faced with a devastating choice: reclaim the stolen time, risking the fabric of reality, or sacrifice her own chance at healing to protect the world. As the observatory crumbles around her, Lila makes a heart-wrenching decision, one that will forever alter her understanding of time

In a gentle story from Caldecott Honoree Lauren Castillo, a shy young girl finds exploring her new city and making friends overwhelming—until a rescue dog helps her uncover the bravery that was always in her. A young girl and her mother move to an apartment in a new city. Despite her mother’s efforts to take her out, the girl would rather play by herself in their cozy home—she feels just fine on her own. Introductions to children her age have her hiding behind her mother’s legs, and invitations to group activities have her in tears. That is, until she meets Millie, a rescue dog who is not too big, not too small, and kisses her arm when the girl nervously reaches out. With Millie, saying hello to new people isn’t so scary . . . and maybe making a friend isn’t either. Through emotionally honest prose and soft, expressive illustrations, Lauren Castillo explores one girl’s shyness and anxiety—and how one dog’s love helps her open up—in a warm picture book that reminds readers of how the right companion can make the world feel like a less frightening place.

Nana visits her grandson, who sets out to share with her all the lovely things the country has to offer.

From the Caldecott Honor-winning author of Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us comes a warm-hearted story about the meaning of home and the power of friendship to help you become your truest self. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are joined by birth, and other times they are chosen... Autumn leaves are falling in Hedge Hollow, and the change in season brings with it a spiny surprise... another hedgehog! Is it friend or foe? Or is it . . . family? On the one paw, Hedgehog is excited to meet one of her own kind, but on the other paw, she has never felt so different—or distant—from her old friends. Where does Hedgehog belong, and who does she belong with? A journey upriver through an unfamiliar forest just might lead her home… From the award-winning author-illustrator of Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us comes a tale of old friends and new, and the true meaning of home.

From a Caldecott Honor-winning artist comes a cozy classic-in-the-making about finding your friends and sticking together through thick and thin. "Our Friend Hedgehog feels like a modern-day Winnie the Pooh. It''s so warm and full of joy and love. It''s got classic written all over it." --Victoria Jamieson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Roller Girl Sometimes you make a friend, and it feels like you have known that friend your entire life. . . . Hedgehog lives on a teeny-tiny island with only her stuffed dog, Mutty, for company. When a great storm carries Mutty away, she embarks on a quest to find her friend. Following the trail of clues Mutty left behind, brave Hedgehog meets a wiggly Mole, a wordy Owl, a curmudgeonly Beaver, a scatterbrained Hen and Chicks, and a girl who''s new to the neighborhood, Annika May. With bravery and teamwork, there''s nothing that can stop these seven from finding Mutty, but along the way they discover something even more important: each other. The first book in a new series from Caldecott Honor winner Lauren Castillo, Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us has the feel of a timeless classic, introducing an unforgettable cast of characters who will star in many more adventures to come.

How do people with different personalities interact with horses? This study was designed to determine if introverts have an easier time handling an unfamiliar horse when compared to extroverts. Volunteers with a range of horse experience were asked to complete the Myers Briggs Personality Assessment. Volunteers were assigned a horse to lead over a 12-foot platform in an outdoor arena. All horses were familiar with this obstacle. Every participant was videotaped. The dependent variables included the fluid motion of the horse, horse facial expressions, and horse body language along with horsehuman interactions. The hypothesis was that introverts would experience an easier time with fewer stops when compared to extroverts in completing this task with the horse. The results showed that there was no significant difference in how the horses were led when with an extrovert or an introvert. There was a difference in the time taken depending on if the person was handling a reactive horse or a nonreactive horse.

Destiné aux 4-7 ans qui seront sensibles aux liens affectueux qui unissent un petit garçon et sa grand-mère, cet album a pour décor la ville de New York et sa célèbre presqu''île de Manhattan : Central Park, les taxis jaunes, le pont de Brooklyn et l''Est River, les gratte-ciels opulents, mais aussi les sans-abris quémandant une pièce ou les artistes de rues, acrobates, musiciens et autres saltimbanques. C''est tout un monde, un monde nouveau que John, et les jeunes lecteurs, vont découvrir et aimer au fil des pages et du temps.

"En este mágico libro de imágenes, un niño va a pasar una noche con su abuela en su nuevo piso de la ciudad. Piensa que la ciudad no es un buen sitio para ella. Se asusta al ver que está llena de ruidos y de gente, y de cosas que dan miedo. Pero entonces su abuela le hace una capa especial que le ayudará a ser valiente. Pronto comprobará que los lugares interesantes que le brinda la ciudad, sus multitudes, sus ruidos y olores no dan ningún miedo. Al contrario, son maravillosos y excitantes. La ciudad es ruidosa, está abarrotada de gente, pero es el sitio perfecto para que viva la abuela. El texto breve se combina con acuarelas que captan toda la vitalidad, la energía y la belleza de la ciudad."--Casadellibro.

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.

After playing a trick on his sister by stealing her toy rabbit, a mischievous little boy wonders who the new troublemaker is when his toy raccoon disappears.

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. Full color.

Connais-tu Brooklyn ? C''est le quartier où j''habite, à New York. Aujourd''hui, c''est mercredi. Ouvre ce livre, je vais te raconter...