Most Popular Books by Mike Artell

Trosclair, Thibodeaux, and Ulysse are three pigs with a whole lot to do. Their mom has just kicked them out of the house and it''s time they make their own way and start constructing new homes in the heart of the swamp. When ol'' Claude the gator comes sneaking along, however, the three brothers are forced to question their choice of construction materials! This hilarious tale from the creators of the popular Petite Rouge (which School Library Journal declared "A treat from start to finish") will once again take you to the heart of the Cajun swamps and show you the Three Little Pigs like you''ve never seen them.

When her grand-mère comes down wit'' de flu, this Cajun Little Red knows what she has to do. With her witty cat, TeJean, she sets off in a pirogue to bring Grand-mère some gumbo. Who should she meet upon the way, but that big ol'' swamp gator, Claude! Mean ol'' Claude may want to gobble up Petite Rouge, but she and TeJean have a better idea. Before long, they have Claude running back to the bayou where he belongs!

The author writes a wonderful story. The illustrator creates incredible images. But what can educators bring to their read-alouds? Do the read-alouds ROCK? The fact is, every read-aloud is a performance. And every aspect of a read-aloud performance informs a child''s understanding and appreciation of the story. In this book educators of elementary grades learn dozens of innovative ways to ROCK the read-alouds regardless of experience or performance skills. Educators can apply all the techniques in this book or simply pick a specific performance area to improve upon. Regardless, methods and classroom-tested approaches are provided by some of the best read-aloud performers and storytellers in the business.

I don''t know for sure if dat story is true, But down where de Cajuns live on de bayou, When dey tell dem stories, dey shore like to talk About dat boy Jacques and his magic beanstalk. You know the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you''ve never heard it like this before. Told in Cajun dialect with a distinct bayou flair, this book is perfect for reading aloud. There is even a glossary and pronunciation guide to help! The creators of Petite Rouge (which Publishers Weekly called "a sassy, spicy outing") once again deliver a hilarious twist on a well-known fairy tale.

Ideally suited for Guided Reading and proven highly successful in Reading Recovery and similar early intervention programs, the 169 Carousel Readers were conceived and created by teachers and teacher trainers. The Carousel Big Books contain the same text and illustrations and are ideal for shared reading. Teacher''s Cards for each title provide comprehensive support.

Brimming with kid-friendly activities, this book helps young children understand the natural world around them and how their actions can affect the environment. Nine lessons cover the sun, water, air, soil, trees and plants, endangered species, litter, noise, and recycling. Each chapter begins with stories, poems, or songs to introduce the topic. Thoughts to ponder, discussion questions, and cross-curricular projects follow. The lessons conclude with activities parents can do at home to reinforce and expand upon what students have learned at school. Grades K-2. Bibliography. Illustrated. Good Year Books. 159 pages.

Educational resource for teachers, parents and kids!

C.1 ST. AID JR. LIBRARY GUILD. 09-26-2007. $17.96.

Mike Artell rouses reluctant writers with 43 short, informational writing exercises that use humor to engage students and equip them with the skills they''ll need to write clearly and effectively. Using "real world" texts like letters, advertising copy, resumes, and maps, Reaching the Reluctant Writer helps you encourage students to trust their own wit, stretch their creative muscle, and learn how to "think funny." Each inventive exercise challenges students to practice specific writing craft skills and includes a drawing component that develops visual literacy. The result is a valuable resource that blends humor and creativity with practical, real world writing practice.

Learn how to draw simple characters, then exaggerate, simplify or contort them to crack your friends up.

"Presents the athletic biography of Peyton Manning, including his career as a high school, college, and professional football player"--Provided by publisher.

Can you draw letters that look like bones, pencils, or tools? What about broken, slimy, or fuzzy letters? Kids will love copying these wacky alphabets, and will be inspired to create their own fonts. The book includes examples of 17 different alphabets, followed by sections on cartoon words (such as drawing words in the shape of the things they describe), special effects (such as loops), and ideas for what to do with these newly learned skills. Use this resource to encourage students to be imaginative and to make lettering that can enhance school projects of all kinds. Grades 2-8. Illustrated.

"Presents the athletic biography of Drew Brees, including his career as a high school, college, and professional football player"--

Educational resource for teachers, parents and kids!

Carrots, canoes, fishhooks, saws, golf clubs, and a host of other items lurk in the most unlikely places. Solutions included.

Hold your nose as you learn about stinkbugs, skunk cabbage, turkey vultures, cockroaches, corpse plants, skunks and many more animals, insects and plants that just plain stink. You''ll be amazed to learn why even the worst smells are important to life on earth. Chock full of smelly facts about stinky creatures and plants! Learn about your own sense of smell. A national Sense of Smell Day? Read all about it. Find out how the turkey vulture chases away predators-it''s disgusting! Can you guess how many smell receptors a rabbit has? How far can a skunk squirt its spray? You''ll be surprised. Imagine this: Darkling beetles do a walking headstand as they release a foul smell. Find out why bats pollinate the fruit of the durian tree. Full-color throughout, Pee-Yew! is illustrated with art, cartoons and photographs.

Keep kids busy for hours with this entertaining collection of more than 90 hidden picture puzzles containing objects, letters, words, numbers, and other odd items in scenes where they don''t belong.

An illustrated collection of hundreds of difficult tongue twisters, arranged alphabetically.

Educational resource for teachers, parents and kids!

An illustrated collection of tongue twisters for children.

More sassy than Sally sells seashells, more peculiar than Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, these twisters will either loosen your tongue or get you all tangled up and laughing. Either way, they''re pure entertainment, and a great way to kick-start a kids'' party. Some of the twisters might look easy at first. But when you multiply them and speed up, suddenly you''re tripping over the words, reversing letters, and turning mush-mouthed. So grab the clock and find out just how many times you can repeat this in ten seconds: The bad brats broke the bats or Fresh fried fish filets, fresher fried fish filets, freshest fried fish filets. It''s an irresistible challenge.

Test your wits and pathfinding skills in 40 confusing creations full of false leads, blind alleys, and dead ends. You''ll have hours of fun threading your way through these fascinating mazes. Solutions included.

Questions, Facts & Tongue Twisters about Creepy, Crawly Creatures.

Fun and colorful introduction to the contents of the sky: stars, galaxies, planets, meteors, comets, black holes, and much more.

Coffee cups, kites, teepees, buckets, and more all cleverly hidden in unlikely places in 48 puzzles focusing on sports. "

Okey-Dokey Ding-a-Ling’s ridiculous rhymes are guaranteed to get tongues wiggling and bellies giggling. The silly story offers a surprise with each turn of the page, including animal cameos from waving penguins and smooching frogs to dining dinosaurs and swinging chimpanzees! Rhythmic text and alliteration are perfect for reading aloud, and with lift-the-flap, pull-tab, and pop-up pages, Okey-Dokey’s interactive elements are sure to encourage exploration in young readers.

CARTOONING FOR KIDS #1 is the first in a series of how-to-draw-cartoons books for beginning cartoonists. Unlike many "how to draw" books, MIke puts less emphasis on "underlying structure" and more emphasis on "outlines and edges," which is the way most kids like to draw. Mike Artell has taught hundreds of thousands of kids (and adults!) how to draw cartoons using this, "outlines and edges" approach during his school visits, on television and online. Mike''s goal is to help young cartoonists focus on the Three R''s when drawing their cartoons: The cartoons should be RECOGNIZABLE. In other words, the cartoons should look like what you''re trying to draw. Someone should be able to look at a drawing you''ve done and know what it is you''ve drawn. It could be a dog, a whale, etc. It''s not necessary that the cartoon is an, "accurate" drawing of a dog or whale, only that the viewer can easily recognize what it is you''ve drawn. In fact, sometimes "inaccuracies" are really funny. The cartoons should be REMARKABLE. The finished product should be something that elicits an honest, positive reaction from the viewer. A typical positive reaction from the viewer might be something like, "Wow! This is really good. I didn''t know you could draw like this." The cartoons should be REPRODUCIBLE. If you learn how to draw a particular cartoon once, it should be possible to draw a similar cartoon again if you decide to do so in the future. It doesn''t matter if you draw with a pencil on a sheet a paper, a piece of chalk on the sidewalk, or an electronic drawing device. The first step is to make a mark on a blank surface. There aren''t many rules for creating cartoons, so feel free to stretch your creative muscles and have some fun. cartooning;drawing;art;cartoons;illustrations;graphics;doodles;

An incredibly cool, close-up look at the skulls of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. Dozens of animals (including their scientific name), fun facts, jokes, wordplay and off-the-word, fascinating trivia related to each animal. Plus, there''s a "match the skull" quiz at the end of the book and some links for related web sites. Your young scientist is going to love this book!