Deborah Diesen

The Pout-Pout Fish is feeling down in the dumps-he does not have a friend at school to play with. But how does he make a friend? Will it be hard to do? With the help of some undersea creatures, Mr. Fish realizes that maybe making friends isn't so scary. -- from Amazon.

Mr. Fish learns to read with the help of his teacher, and finds it fun until he encounters a really big word and gets stuck.

"Mr. Fish's friends are all about to pout, and soon the whole class is in a bad mood. What can Mr. Fish do to turn the day around? All it takes is a simple act of kindness!"--Jacket flap.

"Mr. Fish's class has a pet, but one day the pet isn't in its cage. Where did he go? The whole class is about to pout! Will they be able to work together to bring the pet home?"--

Willa has a whale of a problem. Willa the whale's a worrywart. She feels timid about raising her fin in class: What if she takes too long to answer or, worse, gets it wrong? When her teacher calls on her encouragingly, Willa remains silent. Whew! That worked; she's saved. But Willa begins to reflect on the teacher's comment to the class: "It isn't always easy / To share the things we know, / But ideas, thoughts, and questions / Are the way we learn...

Mr. Fish and Willa Whale are on their way to a birthday party, but Willa is worried about fitting in so Mr. Fish shows her how to overcome her social anxiety by tackling the worries one at a time.

Mr. Fish recalls how, on his very first day of school, he anxiously went to one classroom after another watching students do things he could not, until Miss Hewitt showed him to the room that was right for beginners.

A mother and child plant flower bulbs in the fall, wait through the winter, and see them bloom in the spring.

"A powerful look at the evolution of voting rights in the United States, from our nation's founding to the present day"--

Mr. Fish cannot fall asleep, but with help from his underwater friends, he finds a bedtime routine.