Princess Faith and her sisters have to make several attempts before succeeding at getting an old garden to bloom again, in this version of the parable of the sower and the seed. Includes note about the parable and its meaning for children.

"With the help of Mr. Gruber and a new magic kit, Paddington becomes Paddington the Magnificent"--

"Benji loves to fly kites--big kites, small kites, even box-shaped kites. One day he sees a giant orange kite in the toy shop near the beach. Benji wants to buy the kite, but he has already spent all of his allowance, so he earns money helping his mom in her garden. Finally, he has enough to buy the big, beautiful, orange kite. Benji takes it to the beach and lets the string out. The kite reaches for the sky--higher and higher and higher ..."--Jacket....

Octavia the octopus can shoot every color of ink cloud except the usual purple one. She practices knowing that she needs the purple one to camouflage from predators. Will she be able to shoot her purple cloud when it counts? Includes activities: for creative minds; camouflage and protection; octopus fun facts; octopus ink cloud craft.

A young girl gets help from her big brother while learning to tie her shoelaces.

The Olympic medalist describes the importance of hard work, perserverance, and self-confidence necessary to achieve any goal, with examples from her own life as she learned to skate as a young child.

Retells 12 familiar Aesop's fables including "The Rabbit and the Turtle," "The Lion and the Mouse," and "The Wolf and the Lamb."

"It's back to school for the Picky Little Witch. She'll need a jar of red newts' eyes, boxes of toads for spell practice, and a black cauldron. But when she and Mama Witch head for Witches R' Us, the battles begin over which items Mama recommends and which items the Picky Little Witch really wants"--

Wayne Miller reflects on how he ended up in the locker room of the Minnesota Elk, on the night of his first professional hockey game.