Jim LaMarche

"A group of friends discovers a neglected pond in the woods and decides to fix it up together"-- Provided by publisher.

A lonely little fir tree, standing by itself at the edge of the forest, has its life transformed when a father takes it home to serve as a living Christmas tree for his bedridden son.

A cat whose kitten days are far behind her says goodbye to her human family, and the animals and places that have made her life special, before leaving this life behind.

Brokenhearted when her best friend departs for the summer, Ivy spends her own summer caring for animals in the mid-century Southwest, sharing her season of discovery with a stubborn pony, a mischievous puppy, and a scarred racehorse.

A girl visiting her grandmother longs for a glimpse of the solitary and rarely seen puma. Her grandmother tells her that if she's patient, one day her wish will come true. But patience is hard, the girl thinks. So, the girl and her grandmother stand watch each day, and then finally, without warning, she sees the beautiful animal from afar. Knowing she may never see a puma again, she now knows it's everyone's responsibility to protect these increasingly...

A young bear who is fascinated by the mysterious marks he sees on paper finds a friend when a kind woman reads to him.

"In a stunning debut, Melmed combines standard fairy tale devices (a wish granted by magic; a series of trials to prove worthiness; virtue rewarded, etc.) in a wholly original story featuring the most fetching cast of little ones since the Dionne quintuplets. Melmed's writing is flawless..." —- Publisher's Weekly

The moon presents a childless couple with twelve tiny babies, which they care for with tenderness and love. In the end they...