Best Selling Books by Mary Lyn Ray

"A delightful little book" for kids about feeling gratitude for gifts big and small ( Kirkus Reviews). Thank you isn''t just for learning manners. It''s also for when something wakes a little hum— a little happy hum— inside you and you want to answer back. The Thank You Book explores the many ways we can be thankful for the pleasures great and small that await us every day. Tender and poetic, it reflects on the role gratitude can play in our lives and celebrates the powerful impact it can have. "An appealing picture book with a theme that''s timely at Thanksgiving but always relevant." — Booklist

"The farm''s creatures prepare for night and rest"--

Illustrations and easy-to-read text provide a primer on friendship, including the many ways friendships are formed.

Somewhere a rock is waiting for you. One just the right size for playing with, or the right color for your windowsill, or just the right shape for holding in your palm. Maybe it is a rock from the heart of a mountain, that will remind you of how big YOU are inside, too. Maybe it is a rock washed by the sea, that knows all about the backs and forths and ups and downs of things. Maybe it is a small rock, just the right size to close your hand around, and know that the rock is with you, and it is just right. Poet Mary Lyn Ray and artist Felicita Sala offer an marvelous exploration of the special relationship children find with the natural world, and the fascination and friendship they find in special rocks. KIDS LOVE ROCKS: Whether it’s a special pebble for a pocket, or a colorful collection in a box, rocks offer a special kind of companionship, and a portable and lasting connection with the natural world. MINDFULNESS FOR KIDS: Our connections with nature reduce stress and increase happiness and resilience. This book is an ode to the present-ness that we find in the natural world. NATURE FOR ALL: A love of the natural world is so easy to instill in kids, and it’s so rewarding--both intellectually and emotionally. Here is a wonderful reminder that when we see ourselves in nature, we end up in touch with our own depth, and texture, and lastingness. Perfect for: - Parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children who love the natural world - Teachers and librarians looking for a poetic picture book on rocks and nature - Anyone who has found the secret joy of a special rock

Celebrate all of the glittering stars in the sky in this tender Classic Board Book by acclaimed author Mary Lyn Ray and Caldecott Honor winner Marla Frazee! A star is how you know it’s almost night. As soon as you see one, there’s another, and another. And the dark that comes doesn’t feel so dark. What if you could have a star? Look very closely in this lovely Classic Board Book for all kinds of stars both near and far…because stars are everywhere. Not just in the sky.

For every aspiring young author out there, this story of a lucky author (and, of course, her dog!) offers both answers and inspiration! Ever wonder what it''s like to be an author?Does she write in a quiet corner somewhere? Or someplace loud and busy? Does she have ideas forty times a day? Or does she sometimes get stuck? And how does her dog make her lucky?New York Times bestselling author Mary Lyn Ray, together with illustrations from Steven Henry (Ella the Elegant Elephant) that are chock full of hidden jokes, answers these questions and more in a story of one writer, her furry friend, and a school visit that brings authors young and old (and dogs!) together.

After hearing some men call his father and him hillbillies on his first trip into the nearby town of Hudson, a young boy is not so sure he still wants to become a basket maker.

Wilma decides to plant Christmas trees with the help of her young neighbor, Parker.

As winter melts into spring, the frozen earth turns into magnificent mud.

A luminous picture-book tribute to house and home gently evokes the passage of time, the solace of memory, and the joys of preservation and renewal. Every house has a story. This house—an old one hunkered in the deep grass below a wide country sky—is a waiting house. Once it was full of laughter and song. The sounds of life rang within its walls. Now it stands quiet and still. The house has sheltered many families over the years and remembers them fondly, especially the children. New families arrive to look, but none stay. Perhaps the house, too, now belongs to the Long Ago and Used to Be? Or will the “right” family move in to honor its past and build new memories? Wistful and nostalgic, Mary Lyn Ray’s poetic text, combined with glowing, pastoral illustrations by E. B. Goodale that capture the lonely house’s unique character, create a quietly affecting hymn to hope and surprise that will enchant readers of all ages.

It’s time to say goodnight. But what if a dog isn’t sleepy? Intimate and accessible, this young dog story captures how a reluctant pup warms to bedtime in a way that children will recognize immediately--and find as reassuring as their own beds.

As a child, Elva asks for a violin so that she can make beautiful music but many years pass before her dream can come true.

A joyous celebration of the delights of a rainy day.

A man harvests and sells a bountiful crop of pumpkins so that he will be able to preserve a field from developers.

Hop in the car, turn the key, and vrooom away in this bright, bold book for young car enthusiasts! Vrooom vrooom! Honk honk! Green means go as readers set off on an exuberant celebration of automobiles. Colorful, graphic illustrations explore the winding roads, tollbooth, fix-it garage, and bridges with vehicles zipping across. It’s the perfect read-aloud for little ones who love all things that go.

A girl who is in a woodland clearing to practice dancing spies a deer and observes how it leaps and turns.

"This picture book celebrates, through words and images, the best birthday gift of all--a whole day that is yours to unwrap"--

This nonfiction picture book tells the true story of four sisters who used their skills and creativity to bring storybook houses from their childhood fairy tales to life in 1930s Southern California. Mildred, Harriet, Brenda, and Wilma Moody grew up reading classic fairy tales and inventing their own, wishing they could live in the stories. They imagined storybook houses for themselves and slept there in their dreams every night. As adults, the sisters followed separate career paths until Mildred, an artist, needed a place to paint. Harriet, an architect, sketched plans for a studio that looked like the whimsical abodes from their childhood dreams. When people saw the enchanting studio, they began to want fairy tale houses of their own. So, Harriet drew more plans, and Mildred decorated the insides, and Brenda and Wilma joined them to take care of the banking and business. Soon, storybook cottages bloomed throughout their tiny town. And when families moved into their new homes, they could all feel just a little bit of the Moody sisters’ fairy tale magic.

Em algum lugar, uma pedra está te esperando. Talvez seja uma pedra do coração de uma montanha, que te lembrará de como você é grande por dentro. Talvez uma pedra banhada pelo mar, que conhece todos os altos e baixos da vida. Ou ainda uma pequena pedra, do tamanho perfeito para segurar e saber que ela está com você — e é só disso que precisamos! Entre pedras pequenas e imensas, este livro convida o leitor a enxergar na matéria mais antiga do mundo um espelho da experiência humana. Com linguagem poética e delicada, as pedras se tornam metáforas de afeto, permanência, desafios e transformação. Uma leitura sensível sobre encontrar, em cada momento da vida, a pedra que nos sustenta.