Frank, no ordinary sixteen-year-old, lives with his father outside a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace.
More thrilling Star Wars episodes for young readers! Kids can continue their discovery of the fantastic Jedi knights, rogue rebels, heroic allies, and evil Sith lords that were loved by their parents' generation, while strengthening their reading skills at the same time. Discover how a promising young Jedi turned to the Dark Side and became the most feared Sith lord in the galaxy.
My name is Alan Quatermain. My companions and I journeyed through the jungles with death lurking on every hand; travelled over arid desert wastes where the torturing sun evaporated the very blood from our veins; climbed stony paths to mountain heights until we turned blue from freezing gales; and at last we came to the valley - The Valley of Death!
Once upon a time there was a very rich king by the name of Midas. He loved gold more than anything in the world. One day a stranger approached him and granted him one wish. Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. At the time, it seemed like a wonderful wish, But, alas, all good things come to an end. One day, Midas accidentally patted his daughter Marigold and she was turned into a gold statue. After much soul-searching by Midas, the stranger reappeared and turned Marigold back into human form again. There are many other things more valuable than gold.
In each, the special friendship between this small boy and his enormous dog shines through in both the simple text and in the energetic watercolors in warm autumnal colors. In the first story, Henry and Mudge ex plore the woods while Rylant notes the similarities and differences between the boy and the dog (``Henry's ears turned red and Mudge's ears turned inside out''). A Halloween story addresses children's fears. The humor of this one comes from discovering that lumbering Mudge is the most frightened of all. The final story, set at Thanksgiving, shows Henry beginning to accept a previously disliked relative.
