Kate Messner

Over the snow, the world is hushed and white. But under the snow exists a secret kingdom of squirrels and snow hares, bears and bullfrogs, and many other animals that live through the winter safe and warm, awake and busy, under the snow. Discover the wonder and activity that lies beneath winter s snowy landscape in this magical book.

Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek--two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town's maximum security prison, everything changes. Doors are locked, helicopters fly over the woods, and police patrol the school grounds. Worst of all, everyone is on edge, and fear brings out the worst in some people Nora has known her whole life....

Ranger, a golden retriever, could have been a great search-and-rescue-dog except for the squirrels--but one day he unearths a mysterious box and finds himself transported back to the year 1850 where his faithful service is really needed by a family traveling west along the Oregon Trail.

The mysterious box that Ranger the golden retriever found in the garden transports him back to first century Rome, where he must rescue Marcus, a young servant boy, and Quintus, a volunteer gladiator, from the brutal world of the Colosseum.

When the mysterious first aid kit takes golden retriever Ranger to New Orleans shortly before Hurricane Katrina hits, he finds himself helping Clare Porter and her grandmother, who are waiting for Clare's father at their home in the Lower Ninth Ward--and when the levees break and Clare is separated from Nana, Ranger must somehow get her to the relative safety of the Superdome, and reunite her with her family.

Ranger, a time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, heads to Normandy on the morning of the D-Day invasion where he meets Leo, a Jewish boy who is hiding with a local farmer, and Walt, a young American soldier fighting to free France from the Nazis.

"Discover the magical depths of the kelp forest, and all the fascinating creatures living just a paddle's length away-both over and under the waves"--

When the original Star Spangled Banner is stolen, seventh-graders Anne, José, and Henry, all descendants of the Silver Jaguar Society, pursue suspects on airport carts and through baggage handling tunnels while stranded at a Washington, D.C., airport during a snowstorm.

This time the mysterious box transports the golden retriever Ranger back to the shipyards of Belfast in 1912, where a ship is being prepared for her maiden voyage, and when he saves young Patrick Murphy from being crushed by falling boards, Ranger expects to be transported home; when he is not, he knows that somehow his job is not finished--but then, Ranger has never heard of the Titanic, and knows nothing of the fate that awaits Patrick, and all...

Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel playfully chronicle the process of becoming a writer in this fun follow-up to How to Read a Story, guiding young storytellers through the joys and challenges of the writing process. From choosing an idea, to creating a problem for their character to resolve, to coming to The End, this empowering picture book breaks down the writing process in a dynamic and accessible way, encouraging kids to explore...