Child Esteem

That was where she needed to be, in a field of purple flowers, where no one could bother her. She would sit there until the confusion left her head and the stink of the camp left her nostrils. Shauzia has a dream. She dreams of getting away from the refugee camp in Pakistan and travelling to France. There she knows she would find a better life, away from the war in her home country of Afghanistan...But escape is not so easy. Once she leaves the camp, she has no money, no food - and only her dog Jasper for company. But Shauzia is determined to find a new future for herself...

Alice is ready for eighth grade, but she isn’t ready for this summer. All her friends are spending their days swimming in the neighborhood pool - all of them except Alice. Somehow neither curiosity about her widowed father’s new girlfriend nor the thrill of reading a forbidden book can distract her from her greatest fear: the deep end of the pool. Brimming with high spirits and courage, Alice the Brave tackles some of the biggest problems of growing up: conformity, popularity, and independence.

While her grandmother was alive, Emma's world was filled with enchantment. But now Gram is gone, and suddenly strange spots are appearing on Emma's skin. Soon, she's diagnosed with vitiligo - a condition that makes patches of her skin lose their color - and the magic in her world is suddenly replaced with school bullies and doctor appointments. But when Emma writes one last story in the journal she shared with Gram, something strange happens.

To solve the mystery of the disappearing stones, Conn goes back to his beginnings - gutterboy, chimney sweep, mudlark, and, yes, thief. It's the only way he can clear his name and find the culprit. But turning back is not easy, and old enemies don't disappear. Can Conn pull himself out of the gutter one more time?

Helps kids grow in faith and confidence by looking at what the Bible says about their identity. Sooner or later, kids ask big questions about themselves and their faith: Who am I? Where do I fit in? Am I good enough? What do people think of me? What does God think of me? Christian studies teacher and school chaplain Chris Morphew has been answering big questions from kids for over a decade. In this warm, empathetic audiobook, he shows children how to embrace and enjoy their identity as those loved by God and made in his image.

In this entertaining children's adaptation of his number one New York Times best seller, Admiral William H. McRaven shares life lessons from Navy SEAL training and encourages young listeners to become their best selves.

Fifteen-year-old Rae Maddox’s mom, Gina, is a big fan of fresh starts. Gina thinks of them as an adventure, but for Rae, each move is just one more friend lost, one more chance to feel like an outsider. After arriving in Wisconsin, Gina promises to stay put until Rae graduates. Cautiously optimistic, she wades into the social whirl at Whitman High School, making a few friends and even earning a chance at love. But when the vice principal pairs her with fellow newbie Allison Daly, Rae’s tentative happiness is jeopardized.

Julia is very short for her age, but by the end of the summer run of The Wizard of Oz, she'll realize how big she is inside, where it counts. She hasn't ever thought of herself as a performer, but when the wonderful director of Oz casts her as a Munchkin, she begins to see herself in a new way. As Julia becomes friendly with the poised and wise Olive and with her deeply artistic neighbor, Mrs. Chang, Julia's own sense of self as an artist grows.

Annabelle, like all of her fairy friends, desperately wants to be a rose fairy when she grows up. But when things go horribly wrong at the Great Selecting ceremony, the fairy queen tells Annabelle she will have to spend the rest of her life as a fart fairy! As Annabelle's childhood friends distance themselves from her, Annabelle's family - especially her goofy brother, Fevrile - tell her everything will be all right. But, she knows better than to believe them.

Sneaking out of prison isn't easy, unless you are a thief, or a wizard. Luckily, Conn is both! Trouble is, once he's out, where does he go? His home is a pile of rubble since he blew it up doing magic. His master, the wizard Nevery, is not happy with him. Worst of all, Conn's been exiled, and staying in the city will mean his death.

When he loses his left hand in an accident, Norm finds that the world becomes a complicated place. But he refuses to give up the things he loves - after all, who says you need two hands to play sports or a musical instrument?

Ever since Tyler started getting into art and hanging out with Emmie, his friends and teammates have been giving him a hard time. He wonders why can’t he nerd out on drawing and play ball? Emmie is psyched that she gets to work on a comics project with her crush, Tyler. But she gets the feeling that his friends don’t think she’s cool enough. Maybe it’s time for a total reinvention.

What happens when you can't do the one thing that matters most? Twelve-year-old Hope Toriella lives in White Rock, a town of inventors struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb's Breath - the deadly band of compressed air that covers the crater left by the bombs - than fail at yet another invention.

Bee is an orphan who lives with a carnival and sleeps in the back of a truck. Every day she endures taunts for the birthmark on her face, though she prefers to think of it as a precious diamond. Then one day a scruffy dog shows up, as unwanted as she, and Bee realizes she must find a home for them both. She discovers a cozy house with gingerbread trim that reminds her of frosting, where two mysterious women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter, take her in. Whoever these women are, they matter. They matter to Bee.

Last year, Masie Potter was voted most outstanding seventh grade female athlete. She is a super basketball player. But last summer, she developed a crush on classmate Eric Delong. Now her priorities have changed. She will do anything to be near Eric - even join the wrestling team. From the first, Masie gets opposition and antagonism from all sides: friends, classmates, teachers. Soon, her place on the team isn't about Eric any more. It's about determination, discipline, and perseverance.

Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives. So when 12-year-old orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he wonders whether they are even related. Family or not, Rayna is Anders’s only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away. To rescue her, Anders must enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else.

You are a very lucky girl to have so many people love and support you. Your relationship with your parents and family can give you confidence and help you spread your wings through the world. The connection you have with your loved ones will inspire you to do many things you may not have tried before. You are a loved and wonderful girl.

Con el humor y la sabiduría que lo caracterizan, Matthew McConaughey, actor ganador de un Óscar y autor bestseller y número uno del New York Times, ofrece una compilación de lecciones vitales fresca y conmovedora que invita a los lectores de todas las edades a celebrar las posibilidades que habitan en nosotros.

Will is the only round kid in a school full of thin ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with, because of his size—but he can’t help wondering what if? Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise.

The wildebeest, warthog, vulture, hyena and marabou stork swagger proudly across the savannah, rejoicing in their ugliness - and delighting their babies, who think they're perfect just the way they are. Inspired by the real-life ugly five safari animals, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's brand-new book is a jubilant celebration of animals who are often rather unloved.