"'Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes...' Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling an unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic....

In this variation on the classic folktale, a rhyming, rope-skipping, little girl rudely helps herself to the belongings of a genteel family of bears.

Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that's where the sisters' similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents' murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman's victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid, settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.

"Fifth grader Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez has to find a solution when his robot 'brother' has repeated malfunctions at school and a newer model robot steps in as competition--and his mother's job is in jeopardy as a result." --

A nun is strangled in the park. Detectives Carella and Brown of the 87th Precinct must find the murderer as well as locate Cookie Boy, who has changed his status of burglar to murderer.

Discover how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, Stephen Strange becomes Doctor Strange, and how the new Avengers join the team! This World of Reading Level 1 reader bind up features three stories and comes with an accompanying audio CD featuring word-for-word narration of the text.