Ard Hoyt

A boy imagines that he is a manatee, sprinkling seaweed on his raisin bran-atee and dignifying his watery domain with his wit, sophistication, and urbanity.

A girl and her dog set out in their canoe one morning, only to be insistently joined by a series of animals, large and small.

Caleb has a hard time coming up with a way to symbolize patriotism for Presidents' Day until he realizes that his dad, who is away from home in the military, is what patriotism is all about.

An older brother at first resents his new sibling, but eventually he starts to love the baby.

A young girl's talented but untamed tresses do not impress her strict first-grade teacher, who has rules for everything, including hair.

Winnie Finn raises earthworms, which help her neighbors win prizes at the county fair. Includes instructions on making a worm farm.

After a day out on his own, Little Otter realizes that he still needs his family no matter how big he grows.

When outlaw Dirk Yeller arrives in Cowtown looking for something to take away his cat-scratch fever, young Sam, whose pa says he is "a world-a-trouble and curious as a tomcat," knows just what this dangerous and jittery criminal needs to calm him down.

When the family's prize-winning cows escape their pen, Ida Mae must round them all up and get them back home, and that's when she realizes, one by one, how special each cow is.