New Release Books by Michelle Houts

When you grow up on a farm, adventures happen all day long - even at night! On a cold winter evening, a father and daughter go out to the barn and are welcomed with a warm scene. Who is awake, who is asleep, and who is just making their first appearance in the barn?Michelle Houts' lyrical poetry paired with Jen Betton's glowing watercolors create a warm and wonderful bedtime story - best shared together.

An owl swoops down to lay her egg in a coal yard a dangerous spot for a fragile egg! Rescued by Walter, a bird expert with a big heart and a warm shirt pocket, the egg miraculously hatches and is aptly named Coal. Thus begins a tender story of rescue, rehabilitation, and most of all, friendship. After meticulously researching the facts, Michelle Houts tells Coal's story with warmth and humor. The connections between Coal and the people whose lives he touches are captured by Deb Hoeffner's illustrations, done in her unique style of soft realism. "Explore More for Kids" answers children's questions with facts and photos of Great Horned Owls and Walter Crawford "The Man Who Saved Coal." Parents and teachers will appreciate literacy connections and STEM activities that extend the learning of the story.

Lucy accidentally overhears her parents talking about the family getting a second pet. But what pet should they get? At school, Lucy’s class is learning about fossils and the plants and animals that left them behind. One afternoon, Lucy finds a special rock, and Miss Flippo gets very excited! But when Lucy’s precious fossil goes missing, everyone in Room 2C is a suspect. . . .

Autumn has arrived, and at Granite City Elementary School everyone is gearing up for the biggest and best event of the year: the Harvest Festival. The whole school is excited about the games, the contests, the food, and, most of all, the costumes! Everyone except Lucy. She doesn’t like dressing up, and has no desire to be a fairy princess or rock star, even for one day. But Lucy is excited about the new science unit Miss Flippo has started: the states of matter. Lucy and her friends understand solids and liquids. They’re easy. But gasses are more difficult to grasp. When the class goes on a field trip to an orchard and Stewart Swinefest eats too many apples, and gets a serious stomachache, Lucy suddenly understands that even if you can’t see gasses they can fill space and expand, and even make you move. And with Stewart feeling better, she has a really great idea for her Harvest Festival costume, too. The second book in a new chapter book series from IRA Children’s Book Award-winner, Michelle Houts, Solids, Liquids, Guess Who’s Got Gas draws on STEM themes and is aligned with curriculum guidelines to bring a love of science to young readers, inspiring them to start their own labs and explore their world.

On Lucy’s first day of second grade, she’s excited to meet her new teacher, Miss Flippo, and find out everything’s she’s going to learn about this year in school. And when Miss Flippo tells the class that they’re going to have their very own science lab, complete with lab coats and goggles, Lucy can’t wait to start exploring. But one thing is troubling her. The tree that sat outside her first grade classroom all year is gone. Where are the squirrels going to live? Inspired by her classroom lab, Lucy starts her own research mission to find out what happened to the tree, and then to lobby for the school to plant a new one. With the help of her cousin, Cora, and their new classmates, Lucy discovers that science is everywhere you look, and a lab can be anywhere you look. Launching a new chapter book series from IRA Children’s Book Award-winner, Michelle Houts, Lucy Saves Some Squirrels draws on STEM themes and is aligned with curriculum guidelines to bring a love of science to young readers, inspiring them to start their own labs and explore their world.

“This folkloric tale is rich with depth and tradition and full of a child’s wonder of the natural world. . . . A timeless story.” — Kirkus Reviews Christmas has come, and with it a sparkling white winterfrost. When Bettina’s parents are called away unexpectedly, leaving her in charge of the house, the farm, and baby Pia, Bettina neglects to set out the traditional bowl of Christmas rice pudding for the tiny nisse. No one besides her grandfather ever believed the nisse were real, so what harm could there be in forgetting this silly custom? But when baby Pia disappears, the magic of the nisse makes itself known. To find her sister and set things right, Bettina must venture into the miniature world of these usually helpful, but sometimes mischievous, folk.

It took her two tries, but in 1955, sixty-seven-year-old Emma “Grandma” Gatewood became the first woman to solo hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one thru-hike. Gatewood has become a legend for those who hike the trail, and in her home state of Ohio, where she helped found the Buckeye Trail. In recent years, she has been the subject of a bestselling biography and a documentary film. In When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike, Michelle Houts brings us the first children’s book about her feat, which she accomplished without professional gear or even a tent. Houts chronicles the spirit of a seasoned outdoorswoman and mother of eleven whose grit and determination helped her to hike over two thousand miles. Erica Magnus’s vibrant illustrations capture the wild animals, people from all walks of life, and unexpected challenges that this strong-willed woman encountered on the journey she initially called a “lark.” Children ages 4–10 will delight in this narrative nonfiction work as they accompany Emma Gatewood on the adventure of a lifetime and witness her transformation from grandmother to hiking legend, becoming “Grandma” to all.

Dorothy Mary Kamenshek was born to immigrant parents in Norwood, Ohio. As a young girl, she played pickup games of sandlot baseball with neighborhood children; no one, however, would have suspected that at the age of seventeen she would become a star athlete at the national level. The outbreak of World War II and the ensuing draft of able-bodied young men severely depleted the ranks of professional baseball players. In 1943, Philip K. Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, led the initiative to establish a new league—a women’s league—to fill the ballparks while the war ground on in Europe and the Pacific. Kamenshek was selected and assigned to the Rockford Peaches in their inaugural season and played first base for a total of ten years, becoming a seven-time All-Star and holder of two league batting titles. When injuries finally put an end to her playing days, she went on to a successful and much quieter career in physical therapy. Fame came again in 1992, when Geena Davis portrayed a player loosely based on Kamenshek in the hit movie A League of Their Own. Kammie on First is a real-life tale that will entertain and inspire young readers, both girls and boys. It is the first book in a new series, Biographies for Young Readers, from Ohio University Press.

When you look at a bird, do you see feathers and a beak? Or do you see circles and triangles? Artist Charley Harper spent his life reducing subjects to their simplest forms, their basic lines and shapes. This resulted in what he called minimal realism and the style that would become easily recognized as Charley Harper's. Art fans and nature lovers around the world fell in love with Harper's paintings, which often featured bright colors and intriguing nature subjects. Harper's love of painting and drawing led him from the hills of West Virginia to the bombed-out villages of Europe, to the streets of New York City, and to the halls of the Art Academy of Cincinnati. How did the farm boy who didn't know a single artist become one of America's most recognized midcentury modern painters? The answer is simple. He did it by counting the wings. Count the Wings is the first book for middle-grade readers about Harper's life and work. Author Michelle Houts worked closely with the Harper estate to include full-color illustrations, plentiful supplemental materials, and discussion questions that will intrigue and engage young readers. Count the Wings is part of our acclaimed Biographies for Young Readers series, which brings smart, expertly researched books about often overlooked but exceptional individuals to school-age readers.

After years of waiting, it is finally Libby Ryan’s turn to shine at the Practical County Fair. Libby is filled with excitement as she and her granddad pick out two calves for her to raise on her family’s cattle farm, in hopes of winning the annual steer competition. Against her father’s advice, Libby gives the calves names, even though both steers will eventually be auctioned off. After a few months of preparing for the Practical County Fair, Libby finds that she is growing closer to her steers with each passing day, and the pressure to win Grand Champion is mounting. Luckily, Libby can count on her best friend to get her through most of the county fair chaos. Yet once reality sets in and she realizes that her steers will soon be sold to the highest bidder, the chaos in Libby’s heart becomes too much to bear. Michelle Houts lives on a grain and livestock farm in West Central Ohio with her husband and three children. This is her first novel.

On their last day of 5th grade, eleven-year-old Frannie Ryan's friends are all making plans to hang out at the mall or spend long afternoons at the pool. But Frannie has bigger goals for her summer vacation. Frannie's big brother, Ronnie, is engaged to marry Precious Darling, one of Nowhere, Indiana's despised Darling sisters. With the wedding just ten weeks away and Frannie's level-headed big sister Libby away at vet school, Frannie has to rely on her best friend, the awkward but loyal Cooper Parker Walker, to help her find a way to keep Ronnie from making the biggest mistake of his life. As the youngest of Practical County's Ryan family, Frannie has grown up watching everything. Watching her older brother and sister show steers, watching her Granddad work with the cows and calves, and watching the Darling sisters manipulate, lie, and cheat at the Practical County Fair. Frannie has also grown up knowing that, if she's persistent enough, she can usually accomplish whatever she sets out to do. But in this summer tale of growing up and letting go, Frannie begins to realize that some things in life are beyond her control.