Families with new babies and older siblings will see themselves reflected in this ever-so-sweet story of sibling rivalry as a young elephant gets frustrated with all the attention his baby sister is receiving. Toby is no longer a little elephant. He's a big boy now, much bigger than baby sister Iris. He can do exciting things all by himself. He can pour his own milk, read his own bedtime stories (sort of), and even reach the snacks high on the shelf that he's been told are "just for mamas." But sometimes it feels that Toby has to do everything by himself because Mama is too busy with Iris. And some things are really hard even for a big boy. Toby ends up with spaghetti on his nose, rain boots that don't match, and toilet paper everywhere! He is mad. Luckily, Mama is there to remind Toby of the perks of being a toddler--and that no matter how big he gets, he'll always be her baby.

Toby is a Big Boy now, but sometimes even when you're big the tricky things are still a bit tricky...

The story of a little boy who really does run away to join the merriment and miseries of circus life.

Toby is twelve years old and lives at Fort Gibson, in the Indian Territory (what in present day is the State of Oklahoma). There are no boys at the fort his age, and he finds himself lonely for someone to spend time with. When a tragic event strikes his family, he finds himself spending more time alone in his grief. One day, he unexpectedly meets an unlikely friend in Bearpaw. He has never known an Indian personally before, and many at the fort don't particularly like them. Toby becomes best friends with Bearpaw as they share fun activities together and learn from each other. How does he tell his family about Bearpaw though, and what will they think? There are a few older boys at the fort who make fun of Toby and try to bully him. Toby has a good heart, is honest and hardworking, and can usually avoid trouble. The Western Frontier was hard in many ways. Just surviving the harsh elements, some unsavory people, new family dynamics, and scary life-and-death situations made for interesting and sometimes stressful times in Toby's life. Bearpaw and his grandfather White Cloud were Cherokee. They arrived at their present location by having to walk the Trail of Tears. The White people governing our nation at that time forced the Cherokees and other Indian tribes from their homes in the southeastern part of the US. They had to walk all the way to where they now live. Thousands died along the way, especially in the winter, when they became sick with pneumonia and other illnesses. White Cloud doesn't trust White men because of the way his people were treated. Can Bearpaw convince him that Toby isn't like that? Will they always have to hide their friendship, or can the difference in the color of their skin, prejudices, and culture be overcome? To make things even more interesting, there is a mystique surrounding White Cloud. 12

Steampunk’s big, brassy, powerful, and sweaty way of looking at the world sideways inspires six stories of the Victorian age of wonder. Author Irene Radford offers new and old stories that reach from a weapon of mass destruction that could change the outcome of the U.S. Civil War, the truth behind why the ballet Giselle disappeared for nearly fifty years, pirates in Indonesia questioning whether we should control technology or be controlled by it, to a glimpse of Princess Victoria coming of age as secret operatives try to protect her from madmen acting in the name of long dead Lord Byron. Adding to the fun Steampunk Journeys includes a sneak peek at an upcoming novel in the world of dirigibles, necromancy, a steam powered book catalog, and hints of romance.

A fantastical steampunk novel of magic and machines set in an alternate 1830s London Madame Magdala has reinvented herself many times, trying to escape Lord Byron's revenge. She destroyed the Transference Engine Byron hoped to use to transfer his soul into a more perfect body and perpetuate his life eternally. A fanatical cult of necromancers continues Byron's mission to force Magdala and Byron's only legitimate child--Ada Lovelace--to rebuild the machine and bring Byron back. Magdala now bills herself as the bastard daughter of a Gypsy King. She runs a fashionable London coffee salon and reading room while living a flamboyant lifestyle at the edge of polite society. Behind the scenes, she and Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, use the massive library stored at the Bookview Cafe to track political and mercantile activity around the world. They watch to make certain the cult of necromancy surrounding Lord Byron, the poet king who worshipped death, cannot bring him back to life. On the eve of Queen Victoria's coronation in June of 1838, rumors of an assassination attempt abound. Both the Bow Street Runners and Magdala's army of guttersnipe spies seek to discover the plot and the plotters. Who is behind the mysterious black hot air balloon that shoots searing light from a hidden cannon, and who or what is the target? And who is kidnapping young girls from all walks of life? Desperately, Magdala and her allies follow the clues, certain that someone is building a new Transference Engine. But is it to bring back the dead or destroy the living? Includes a special bonus story, "Dancing in Cinders."

In a poor part of London, but not in the very poorest part--two children sat on a certain autumn evening, side by side on a doorstep. The eldest might have been ten, the youngest eight. The eldest was a girl, the youngest a boy. Drawn up in front of these children, looking into their little faces with hungry, loving, pathetic eyes, lay a mongrel dog.