Peter H Reynolds

Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads her to change her mind.

Disappointed when a gift he wished for all year seems quite puny on Christmas morning, young Roland wishes for bigger and bigger gifts before learning a valuable lesson about being careful what you wish for.

"Violet longs for the time when her family was connected: before life, distractions, and technology pulled them all away from each other. They used to gather at the table, with food and love, to make memories, share their lives, and revel in time spent together. But now her family has been drifting apart, and with nobody to gather around it, the table grows smaller and smaller. Can Violet remind her family of the warmth of time spent together, and...

With a little encourgagment from his sister, Ramon discovers that creativity is about a lot more than getting things just "right."

Discover a joyful reminder of the ways that every child is unique and special, from the beloved creator of The Dot, Happy Dreamer, and The Word Collector. Here, Reynolds reminds readers to 'be your own work of art.' To be patient, persistent, and true. Because there is one, and only one, YOU.

Roland can't wait for Christmas Day, and when the morning finally arrives he races downstairs to see what is waiting for him. What he sees stops him in his tracks. Could that tiny present really be what he had waited all year for? It has to be the smallest gift he had ever seen! So Roland wishes for something bigger...and bigger...and bigger. But he's still convinced there must be a bigger gift somewhere in the universe. Will he know it when he sees...

Rafael has looked forward to the Going Places contest and builds his go-cart from a kit in record time, but his neighbor, Maya, has a much more interesting and creative idea for her entry and Rafael decides to help.

A "dreamer maximus" describes the many ways one can dream, and the importance of being a happy dreamer.

"When a young boy begins to play on his family's piano, reveling in the fun of plunking the keys, his father signs him up for lessons so that he can learn to play properly. With his father's encouragement, Raj learns notes, then scales, then songs, and finally classical pieces that his father can recognize and be proud of. But the more Raj practices and the more skilled he becomes, the less he enjoys playing, until he grows up and stops playing altogether....

Third grader Judy Moody is in a first day of school bad mood until she gets an assignment to create a collage all about herself and begins creating her masterpiece, the Me collage.