What’s better than grossing yourself out?

Grossing out friends, family, and anyone else who doesn’t run fast enough to avoid what’s inside this book. It’s a stinkfest of laughs, gasps, and groans topped with a shovel-load of disgusting facts and dreadful definitions. From burps to farts, grime to slime, this book has it all.

What’s gross? Finding a hair in your food.

What’s grosser? It’s a nose hair.

Which noodles always have a cold?

Mac and sneeze.

from Real Stinkers: 600 Jokes to Make You Go EWWW!

Oregon writers and illustrators create SMART readers!

Oregon Reads Aloud celebrated its 25th anniversary of its SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) literacy program with a book of 25 fantastic read-aloud stories for kids. Written by an Oregon author and illustrated by an Oregon artist, each story features something uniquely Oregonian. Kim’s story, “Will and the Piper” (p. 12, illustrated by Lisa Mundorff), is set in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Elizabethan Theater in Ashland, Oregon, and uses elements of the familiar tale of the Pied Piper. Kim shares the stage with amazing Oregon authors and artists including Judy Cox (left in the photo, “Serafina’s Tree,” p. 80), Barbara Kerley (“A Really Good Present for Dad,” p. 76), Liz Rusch (“Diary of a Volcano,” p. 48), and Nancy Coffelt (“Raccoon’s Tooth,” p. 38). Each of these Oregon writers has at one time or another been part of one of the critique groups that have nurtured Kim’s writing through the years.

Will wasn’t born great. How could he be? He had 22 mouse brothers and 16 mouse sisters, all of whom were bigger or faster or stronger or braver than he was.

from “Will and the Piper,” Oregon Reads Aloud

Meat-eating plants? Yum!

Part of the Nature’s Predators series published by KidHaven Press, Carnivorous Plants (2003) was Kim’s first published book. This one was written for the educational market which has a voracious appetite for publishing classroom books that show kids that reading is fun and fascinating!

Most of the victims of carnivorous plants are insects. Hundreds of different kinds of insects have been found trapped inside these crafty predators. Flies, moths, ants, wasps, mosquitoes, and beetles are among their favorite treats.

from Carnivorous Plants

Wheeling is NOT for wimps.

Carly Schuna hated exercise. Then, a giant wheel that looked like something from a hamster’s cage captured her imagination. The contraption was called the German Wheel, and from the moment Carly stepped inside, her whole world changed. Written for the Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Classroom, this Heinemann biography shows that being open to trying new things can turn (and turn and turn) your world upside down.

When her classmates ran around the track, Carly trailed behind, pumping her skinny legs as hard as she could. Her lungs squeezed so tight she couldn’t breathe, and she felt like she was going to die.

from Whirling on the Giant Wheel

Tarantula on the loose!

Carlos didn’t mean to let Kapiri’s tarantula escape. Will he lose his best friend because of it?

Kapiri pointed to a lidded tank on a shelf.

Carlos peered inside. “I don’t see anything.”

“She’s hiding.”

He tapped on the lid.

“Don’t scare her,” Kapiri warned. “And whatever you do, DO NOT open the lid!”

from The Great Escape (Fountas & Pinnell Classroom, Heinemann)

Dude! You ate concrete!

Drew’s been struggling to land a 720 McTwist for weeks. No one else can do it—and then a new kid nails it on his first try. Inspired by Kim’s stepson, Will, this book features two stellar skaters, each determined to win the Medford Madness tournament.

Lightning shot down his leg. Running footsteps came toward him, but he didn’t want to open his eyes. He just wanted to lie there until his bones stopped throbbing.

from Flashfoot Meets Shredzone (Fountas & Pinnell Classroom, Heinemann)

Who haunts Tarry Town?

Kim’s retelling of the classic Washington Irving tale follows the spindly bobble-headed schoolteacher Ichabod Crane from the classroom to his doom.

As the sun dipped below the hills, trees turned into ghouls. Bushes rustled and leaves crackled. With every ominous sound, Ichabod’s ears turned. His tiny head bobbed and swayed, first one way, then another. Shivers crept like bony fingers up his spine.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Benchmark Education)

A Place to Create

Owls, fish, dragons, rhinos, dogs—even samurai warriors—have emerged from a weathered barn in southern Oregon. They’re made of clay, stone, and metal by Japanese sculptor Wataru Sugiyama, who takes inspiration from nature and the life he can sense in all things.

Before sunrise, Wataru Sugiyama rumbles his white van down a pothole-pitted gravel road toward an aging barn at the edge of Bear Creek in rural southern Oregon. When he steps out of the van, the spirit of the creek washes over him. As the sun peers over distant golden hills, Sugiyama sees the grass and trees breathing in and awakening to a new day. He inhales deeply and presses his palms together in gratitude. He is grateful to be able to live a meaningful life doing what he loves: creating art.

Wataru Sugiyama: Sculpting a Life (Fountas & Pinnell Classroom, Heinemann)

Can people learn from animals?

Absolutely! Two opinion texts (one by Kim and one by Brooke) explore how animals work together, divide the work, help one another out, and respect their environment.

Like Canada geese, people have leaders that they follow. Unlike Canada geese, however, human leaders do not always step aside to let someone else take charge. People can learn from Canada geese how to share the leadership role.

Human and Animal Interactions (Benchmark Education)

A Bathroom Reader FOR KIDS ONLY!

Once upon a time…a wizard dropped by the little red house where Uncle John makes Bathroom Readers. Before anyone could stop him, the wizard waved his wand, and…Poof! We had a magical all-new book FOR KIDS ONLY. What would a wizard put inside a Bathroom Reader? We’re glad you asked! Real and imaginative stories, crafts and recipes, fantastic facts and graphic stories, like these…

• The Tattooed Princess
• Ninja-Kid Training Camps
• A Visit to Hogwarts
• Bubbling Up a Batch of Syllabub
• Shooting Spit Wads at Ogres
• Ali Baba and the Forty Steves
• Three Mooned Mice
• And, a never-before-revealed King Arthur legend—The Enchanted Toilet.

One dark and stormy night…

a bolt of lightning jolted the little red house where Uncle John makes Bathroom Readers. On the steps appeared…a rubber duckie. This was not your ordinary squeaky toy. It was—well, if you really want to know, you’ll have to read this all-new, totally terrifying Bathroom Reader FOR KIDS ONLY!

What horrors lurk inside? We thought you’d never ask.

• A Mad Scientist’s Halloween Party
• The Zombie Apocalypse
• How to Make a Bouncing Eyeball
• Bloody Finger Bones (to eat)
• The Tell-Tale Fart
• And the rubber duckie story that started it all—The Haunted Outhouse!

Be warned! This book includes zombie jokes, rotten riddles, Count Fartula, terrible tongue twisters, and the world’s most horrible howl-i-days!