Jamie Harper

It's no ordinary day in Miss Mingo's classroom: it's the 100th day of school! Everyone has prepared 100th Day projects. There are many ways to get to the number 100, and the students in Miss Mingo's class demonstrate all kinds of combinations: ten sets of ten, two sets of fifty, five sets of twenty, and more. With animal facts peppered in among the festivities, every creature in class has a chance to show off their knowledge and discover something...

Eight-year-old EllRay's father has promised a family trip to Disneyland if EllRay can stay out of trouble for a week, but not defending himself against Jared, the class bully, proves to be a real challenge.

"An emperor penguin mom treks up to fifty miles to bring food to her hungry chick. A toothy American alligator carefully carries hatchlings in her mouth, shuttling them safely to the water. A piping plover uses her best acting skills to feign an injury, luring predators away from her offspring. Whether building elaborate burrows, forgoing food for months on end to feed their cubs, toting hundreds of spiderlings on their backs, conducting patient swimming...

Eight-year-old Emma is just beginning to like her new school when her friend Cynthia starts telling other kids that Emma is, well, a little strange.