Chris Van Dusen

Imaginative Jack describes the kind of house he would build--one with a racetrack, a flying room, and a gigantic slide.

While bumbling PI Percival Smidgely tries to find missing pig Mercy Watson, a trio of clever neighborhood sleuths follow a trail of hoof prints - and a delicious aroma - to recover their porcine wonder, in this uproariously funny, extra-special series finale.

Saddle up for this first volume in a spin-off series starring favorite characters from DiCamillo's "New York Times"-bestselling Mercy Watson books. Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn't have is a horse--until he meets Maybelline, and then it's love at first sight.

After Mercy the pig snuggles to sleep with the Watsons, all three awaken with the bed teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor.

When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself--with enthusiastic...

After Mercy Watson follows the delightful scent and delicious taste of the pansies her thoughtful neighbors plant to beautify their yard, animal control officer Francine Poulet is called out to handle the case, which brings unexpected results.

When she confronts a screaming raccoon that may or may not be a ghost, animal control officer Francine Poulet questions her abilities.

Illustrations and rhyming text explain some of the things that different monsters do before they go to sleep.

"A grown-up monster describes in rhyming verse how monsters of all types go to school, and so must this child monster, no matter how glum about the prospect." --