Best Selling Books by Patricia Lakin

When construction puts a friend''s concert at risk, the Tinkerers agree: the show must go on! When road construction wakes Gus the groundhog from his hibernation a week early, the Tinkerers are more than happy to take him in. Before long, their new friend reveals that he has a special talent: he can play the ukulele! Every spring, Gus puts on a concert for his family and friends to celebrate the season, but this year, between the construction and the noise it brings, he may just have to cancel. Can the Tinkerers engineer a solution in time for the show?

From award-winning author Patricia Lakin and Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Brian Floca comes a Level 1 Ready-to-Read starring the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Come along on their first day of school! It’s back-to-school time for Max and Mo. They have new “big ones” to meet and a new home in the art room. What better way to learn their new friends’ names than by creating nametags? A fun activity at the back of the book teaches kids how to make a craft celebrating the first day of school!

The Tinkerers help an injured bird fly back to her family. When Lucy the goose does a crash landing in Big River Junkyard, the Tinkerers need to find a way to get her back up and flying before her family migrates south for winter. Can they use technology to help Lucy get her confidence back?

When a pile of junk lands on their lodge, two beavers call on the Tinkerers to save their home. The pair of beavers who live next to Big River Junkyard don''t agree on much. But when the factory upstream starts polluting the water, they both know something needs to change. Can the Tinkerers design a solution that will make them both happy? In each story in this series, the Tinkerers put on their engineering caps to come up with creative solutions to help others in their world. Along the way, they explore topics that align with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.

Award-winning author Patricia Lakin is back with a Level 1 Ready-to-Read starring the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Join them as they celebrate the 100th day of school! It’s the 100th day of school, and Max and Mo can’t wait to celebrate. The hamsters have so much fun making festive crowns and practicing their counting skills by making necklaces with 100 beads! Follow along with Max and Mo using simple instructions at the back of the book for kids to make a fun activity and play a game celebrating the 100th day of school!

Go behind the scenes and learn how craftsman Jake Eshelman makes one-of-a-kind skateboards by hand with this nonfiction book that’s full of photographs and illustrations about his process. Jake Eshelman of Side Project Skateboards in Houston, Texas, grew up with a love of skateboarding. After meeting his future wife in college, Jake decided to turn his passion into a career: making one-of-a-kind skateboards from beautiful pieces of found wood. This book gives readers an inside glimpse into Jake’s creative process, from wheel to finished wheel! Charts, infographics, and bold photographs make this a picture book for anyone who is curious about how a skateboard is made. This book also features a history of skateboarding, a timeline, and resources to inspire kids to make their own objects by hand.

Carl the car loves to race and run at the park with his friends. But when he follows the sign that says Park Here, it brings him to the wrong place! Can Carl and his friends figure out what went wrong and find their way to the real park?

A girl and her father prepare their beach cottage for the coming hurricane, which topples their swing tree and washes away their stairs. Includes section of hurricane facts.

From award-winning author Patricia Lakin and Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Brian Floca comes a Level 1 Ready-to-Read starring the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Follow along as they go on an apple-picking adventure! Max and Mo usually eat corn, but they would like to try a new food—apples. Watch as the fun-loving hamsters learn how to make applesauce and a fun craft using a real apple! With the activity in the back of the book, young readers can make a fun apple-themed craft!

Tow Truck Mo comes to the rescue when a fancy sports car gets stuck in a muddy puddle in this second book in the adorable Level 1 Ready-to-Read series by acclaimed author Patricia Lakin! Mo the lovable tow truck always mambos while he works, but to rescue a sports car from a squelchy mud puddle, Mo’s solo routine may have to become a duet!

"Did you know that not everything is made with machines? In fact, many musical instruments--even guitars--are made by hand. In this book you''ll meet business owner Meredith Coloma, who is so passionate about guitars, she learned how to make them by hand." -- Page [4] of cover.

A helpful tow truck rescues cars from a snowstorm in this adorable Level 1 Ready-to-Read from award-winning author Patricia Lakin! Mo the lovable tow truck likes to mambo while he works. When ten cars get stuck in a snowstorm, Mo has to mambo faster than ever before to get them out!

Presents the life and career of the innovative computer pioneer who helped found Apple Computer, and returned to the company to bring it a second period of success in the industry.

Award-winning author Patricia Lakin is back with a Level 1 Ready-to-Read about the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Join Max and Mo as they participate in an exciting science fair! It’s school science fair time, and Max and Mo love seeing what the big ones—the kids in the class—are making. The two hamsters decide to do their own experiment and learn how to grow plants from seeds! Follow along with Max and Mo with simple instructions at the back of the book for kids to grow their own plants!

From award-winning author Patricia Lakin and Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Brian Floca comes a Level 1 Ready-to-Read starring the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Celebrate Halloween with their class! When the hamsters see the kids in their classroom making Halloween costumes, they decide to join in the fun by creating spooky and silly masks! A fun craft at the back of the book teaches kids how to make their very own Halloween mask.

Go behind the scenes and learn how craftsman Glenn Rowsey makes one-of-a-kind steel drums by hand with this nonfiction book that’s full of photographs and illustrations about his process. Tap-happy Glenn was inspired and taught by the Father of the Modern Steel Drum, Ellie Mannette. This book gives a step-by-step glimpse at Glenn’s creative process for making and tuning pans—from start to finish—with love and care. It also features a timeline and history detailing how the passion of generations of determined people from Trinidad gave birth to this percussion instrument. Charts, infographics, and bold photographs will inspire kids to make their own objects by hand.

Bud the car loves to be muddy. It makes him look and feel so good! But when he thinks a car wash will help him get muddier, he''s in for a big surprise.

From award-winning author Patricia Lakin and Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Brian Floca comes a Level 1 Ready-to-Read starring the adorable hamsters, Max and Mo. Join them in building the perfect snowman! It is wintertime and Max and Mo want to go play in the snow. If only it weren’t so cold outside! But the two hamsters can still have winter fun from the warmth of the art room. With a little creativity, they build a silly and fun indoor snowman! With the activity in the back of the book, young readers can make their own snowman.

Go behind the scenes and learn how craftsman Aaron Dykstra makes one-of-a-kind bicycles by hand with this nonfiction book that’s full of photographs and illustrations about his process. Aaron Dykstra of Six-Eleven Bicycles in Roanoke, Virginia, got his first job at a small local bike shop when he was fifteen and he spent the majority of his teen years riding and racing bikes. After a stint in the air force, Aaron realized his true passion was on land: making these beautiful machines. This book gives kids a detailed peek into Aaron’s process making steel bike frames with his own hands. Charts, infographics, and bold photographs make this a perfect book for anyone who’s curious about how a bicycle is made. This book also features a brief history of cycling, a timeline, and resources to inspire kids to make their own objects by hand.

Offers a look at the childhood of this world-famous genius who overcame obstacles and challenges in his early years to grow into the man celebrated for his incredible scientific work with light and energy. Simultaneous.

Get to know heroes of the Civil War in this fact-tastic, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series about the secrets of American History! Secrets of American History is an action-packed nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read series that lets beginning readers in on a little secret: history is full of surprises! Want to know what invisible ink has to do with the American Revolution? Or why shark repellant and inflatable army tanks were used in World War II? Find out in this fact-filled series of fascinating true tales, wild adventures, and spy missions, and discover the secret side of American history! Did you know that Harriet Tubman was a spy for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War? Or that Robert Smalls used secret hand signals to escape slavery on a Confederate ship? Mary Touvestre risked everything to bring plans for the first ironclad warship to the Union. Find out about heroes who spied, fought, and sailed to freedom in this book of amazing true stories!

Vroom zoom with Bud as he tries to win the race! Bud always loves to be muddy. When he enters a race, he gets distracted by a mud puddle! Should he jump in, or finish the race?

A deaf boy and his father share an early morning adventure. Early one morning, a young boy wakes to the light of his alarm clock. He puts on his hearing aids and clothes, then goes to wake his father. Together they brave the cold as they walk down the dirt road that leads to the beach. Lakin''s understated story reminds readers that sometimes the best way to communicate doesn''t involve words, while Steele’s watercolor illustrations show that beauty is never far away.

The New York City subway provides inspiration for a writer, a composer, a choreographer, and a painter, taking them in four different artistic directions.

Four crocodile friends have many adventures on the way to the beach.

For newly independent reader fans of ELEPHANT & PIGGIE, here’s a book featuring two best friends who love to have fun at the playground. Bruno likes straight-forward adventure while Lulu uses her over-the-top imagination to play. In two short, funny episodes, readers discover why Bruno and Lulu''s different personalities help them become even better friends. With simple vocabulary and sentence structure, and told solely through speech bubbles, these adventures are just right for new readers.

Discover the thrilling side of history—starting with how spies helped during the Revolutionary War—in this fact-tastic, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series about the secrets of American History! Secrets of American History is an action-packed nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read series that lets beginning readers in on a little secret: history is full of surprises! Want to know what invisible ink has to do with the American Revolution? Or why shark repellant and inflatable army tanks were used in World War II? Find out in this fact-filled series of fascinating true tales, wild adventures, and spy missions, and discover the secret side of American history! Before he was the President of the United States, George Washington was a spy! It’s true…and he wasn’t the only one! During the American Revolution, founding fathers like Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin sent secret messages rolled up in quill pens, used invisible ink, and wrote in secret codes to keep important information from getting into British hands. In George Washington’s top-secret spy ring, a woman named Anna Strong sent secret messages to other spies by hanging laundry on a clothesline! Without spies, Americans might still speak with British accents: find out how and why it happened in this book that includes a special extend-the-learning section with activities about the science behind invisible ink, how to make a secret code, and more!

A true incident in the life of young Helen Keller in which she gets stuck in a storm and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, rescues her.

This full biography of Amelia Earhart for the independent young reader tells about the many "firsts" accomplished by the world''s most famous female pilot. Full color.

A brief biography of the woman who overcame her shyness to become a teacher, a nurse during the Civil War, and founder of the American Red Cross.

Simple text describes how Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss, worked hard to become a great magician.

Clarence, a cat who does not want to hurt mice or any other creatures, does not feel welcome anywhere until he discovers the Barnstable Library.

Blast off into a galaxy full of fun with this fact-tastic nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series about the history of fun stuff! Did you know that ancient people all over the world looked at the stars and saw constellations? Or that a science fiction author named Jules Verne predicted the first moon landing? Or that astronauts from different countries take turns living on board the International Space Station? Houston, you’re cleared for takeoff and ready to become a History of Fun Stuff Expert on space travel! Amaze your friends with all you’ve learned in this fun, fact-filled Level 3 Ready-to-Read! A special section at the back of the book includes Common Core–vetted extras on subjects like science, social studies, and math, and there’s even a fun quiz so readers can test themselves to see what they’ve learned! Learning history has never been so much fun!

An introduction to the history of comics, graphic novels, and manga cites the roles of cave drawings, Benjamin Franklin''s newspaper cartoons, and other influences.

A reclusive raccoon makes room in his life for new friends and new projects. In the furthest corner of a long-forgotten junkyard, Roscoe lives a life that suits him. But when a disaster sends three visitors to his gate looking for a new home, he finds that he can create more with others than he ever could on his own—and that together they can build an environment that''s better for everyone. In each story in this series, the Tinkerers put on their engineering caps to come up with creative solutions to help others in their world. Along the way, they explore topics that align with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.

A little ladybug catches Harold''s interest one night, and leads him off on an adventure into a giant garden created with his purple crayon. Follow Harold as he travels in a world filled with plants, insects, and animals that are as big -- or bigger -- than he is!

A portrait of the supportive wife of President John Adams details the life of this extraordinary woman who used her love for learning, for her family, and for her country to shape the early history of the United States.

Sam, Pam, Will and Jill are crocodile friends with a camping plan but not much know-how. They get lost on their way to the campsite, get attacked by a swarm of bees, get all mixed up while trying to assemble their tent, and then get so frightened by nighttime shadows that their campout is in danger of fizzing out. But all ends well, as it always does for this happygo- lucky crew. This is a breezy summer story that?s ?ideally pitched for prereaders or brand-new ones? (as Booklist said of its predecessor, Rainy Day!).

This is a true incident in the life of young Helen Keller in which she gets stuck in a storm and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, rescues her. Ready-to-Read Level 2.