The relatives come to visit from Virginia and everyone has a wonderful time

Everyone loves family reunions. Well everyone except Russell, whose family of big, brawny, and boisterous wrestlers has him on the run in this vibrant celebration of what it means to be a family. When the Relatives Came meets Wrestlemania in debut author Cindy Chambers Johnson’s rollicking picture book about a family reunion with a most colorful cast of characters—from Lorry and Tory (the Twin Tornadoes) to Cousin Cora “The Cleaner” to Uncle “el monstruo” Marcoy. Family reunions mean lots of hugging, handshaking, and hair tousling. And Russell’s relatives? Well, they are more…enthusiastic than most. BIGGER than most. BRAWNIER than most. They’re wrestlers! Skinny and scrawny Russell will have to meet, greet, and defeat this clan with some spectacular moves of his own!

Here are twelve deeply moving short stories from the perceptive pen of Cynthia Rylant. Each captures the moment when someone's life changes -- when an animal causes a human being to see things in a different way, and, perhaps, changes his life.

An old woman discovers an abandoned puppy that she is afraid to name--or to even love. This moving story features Gary Larson-esque "(The Far Side)" visuals that will appeal to adults as well as kids. Full-color illustrations.

Caldecott Honor Book! "An evocative remembrance of the simple pleasures in country living; splashing in the swimming hole, taking baths in the kitchen, sharing family times, each is eloquently portrayed here in both the misty-hued scenes and in the poetic text." -Association for Childhood Education International

Living with his grandfather on an island off British Columbia, orphaned ten-year-old Daniel feels deep loneliness until the night he meets a mermaid whose identity he tries to learn.

Beauty asks for little, finding joy in simple things and the company of her father. The Beast, shut away from the world in his great stone castle, knows only loneliness. Brought together by a stolen rose, each finds that love may call for sacrifice, but true love can bloom in even the darkest places. Newbery medalist Cynthia Rylant tells a classic tale of bravery and transformation with stunning, lyrical prose, accompanied by Meg Park's soft yet vibrant illustration