Showing results by narrator "John McDonough" in All Categories

Award-winning author Jim Murphy whisks you back in time to witness the disastrous 1871 Chicago fire. He depicts the tragedy so vividly, you can almost feel the scorching heat and hear the roar of the blaze as it reduces the bustling city to a smoldering wasteland.

During the Great Depression, Jeb Nubey is running from the law when he meets three abandoned children. With nowhere else to go the group passes a stormy night in a comforting church. When they are discovered, a case of mistaken identity ensues. It seems the congregation has been waiting for their new pastor, a widower with three kids. Looks like more trouble for Jeb. Yet the chance for a steady job and three squares a day is too good to turn down.

It's springtime, and Mr. Putter wants to paint his porch. He gets a bucket of pink paint and a big brush. Tabby keeps the paint rags from blowing away. All goes well until a squirrel jumps onto the porch railing. Creations of Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Rylant, Mr. Putter and Tabby are both funny and endearing. Young readers will want to listen to their adventures again and again.

Christmas is Mr. Putter's favorite time of the year. He starts thinking about Christmas presents in July. It's easy to buy gifts for the postman, the grocer, and the librarian. But he has to think very hard about a gift for his neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry. Mrs. Teaberry likes strange things. She likes coconuts that look like monkey heads and tiny dresses that fit her teapots. She even likes fruitcake. That's it! He'll make her a good cake for Christmas, a light and airy one that won't break her toe if she drops it.

What does a little bear wear as he dances and plays his way through a sunny summer day? Young listeners will be fascinated as John McDonough's upbeat narration perfectly delivers this book's lilting, musical rhyme and joyful, exuberant rhythm that make Jesse Bear's day a pleasure for everyone.

After eating 21 of Mrs. Teaberry's delicious pineapple jelly rolls, Mr. Putter tries to calm his tummy on a nighttime walk with Tabby. As they gaze up at the stars, they are surprised to find they have company. Mrs. Teaberry and her dog Zeke are also out for a walk - and Zeke has a stomachache, too.

Jonathan London serves up another winner in the widely adored Froggy series. What should Froggy do for his mother’s birthday? He could make a cake! Of course whenever Froggy does anything it never turns out exactly as he expects. Froggy mixes up the flour, the sugar, the chocolate candy his mother had hidden since Halloween, and a whole box of baking powder - what could possibly go wrong?

Marlena de Blasi, best-selling memoirist of A Thousand Days in Venice, makes her remarkable fiction debut with this poignant tale. Deemed an illegitimate child by her royal Polish family, Amandine is abandoned as a baby at a French convent. As she grows, Amandine struggles to accept her orphaned state. She longs to put together the missing pieces of her identity, but as World War II engulfs Europe, her time to find answers may be running short.

It’s Father’s Day and Froggy wants to show his dad how much he loves him. So he flop flops to the kitchen and tries to make his dad breakfast. But Froggy being Froggy, things don’t go exactly as planned. Then it’s off to the mini golf course, where Froggy attempts to hit a hole in one. Maybe he will be blessed by beginner’s luck. Golf balls can take some crazy bounces, though, so Froggy had better be careful. And it also might help if he faced in the right direction when swinging his club!

Jonathan London has captured the imagination of children everywhere with his beloved tales starring Froggy, a precocious yet lovable frog who just can’t help landing himself in trouble. In this fun-filled escapade, Froggy decides to build a tree house - with Dad’s help, of course. The tree house promises to be the ideal place for pizza parties. But Frogilina gets hop-hop-hopping mad when Froggy says that his treehouse is for "Boys only!"

Long ago, when the world was new, the ostrich's neck was so short that he couldn't reach the succulent berries in the trees, and he had to sit on the ground to eat bugs. All that changed on the fateful day when the crocodile awoke with a terrible toothache that no one dared to help her with - no one, that is, but a naive and compassionate young ostrich. Compromising his own safety to help a needy stranger, he was rewarded with a most amazing surprise.

Even though Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to learn all he could, he never received a formal education. Struggling to make a living in his 20s, he then moved to Milan, where he flourished. New worlds of discovery opened to him and his interests in engineering, art, theatre, and much more were satisfied. He expanded his knowledge in these fields to become a key figure in the Renaissance and an inventor whose designs of helicopters, parachutes, submarines, and many other ingenious devices were well ahead of their time.

Recipient of a 1993 Newbery Honor, this novel is an achingly beautiful, powerfully rendered journey through childhood that is not to be missed, now available in a new edition with a striking new cover. “From an outstandingly perceptive writer, a moving portrait of a boy, observed at four...

As detective Xavier Kilgarvan sorts through clues and rumors, facts and fantasy, he is united with his beloved Perdita in a perilous challenge - the case of The Bloodstained Bridal Gown. Twelve years after solving the mystery of The Devil’s Half Acre, Xavier has received an urgent plea for help. A young minister and a woman from his parish have been murdered. Their torn bodies are found in an oddly suggestive position: leaning tenderly upon each other on a sofa in the rectory. Yet something even stranger is discovered upstairs....

When baby Jack is born, Mary’s joy abounds—until a shocking diagnosis proclaims him a deaf mute. While Mary lovingly nurtures the boy, her husband longs to be rid of “the freak”. Abandoned, Mary struggles to survive. And then she discovers Jack’s amazing gift.

Newbery medal-winner and recipient of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Cynthia Rylant instills gentle humor into this cozy listen. When Mr. Putter goes outside without a hat on, he catches a cold. Tabby tries to make Mr. Putter feel better, but "colds aren't so much fun when you're old." Yet his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry and her dog Zeke know just the thing to help Mr. Putter recover.

The night before the big soccer game, Froggy is so excited he can’t get to sleep. But morning comes, and he’s ready to go. If the Dream Team beats the Wild Things, they win the City Cup. It’s zap, zeep, znap, and Froggy’s in his uniform. On the way to the game his dad reminds him: "Head it! Boot it! Knee it! Shoot it! But don’t use your hands!" The game starts, and Froggy is on the field. He does some cartwheels, he picks some flowers and his nose. With a minute left to go the game is tied, and the ball is headed straight for Froggy.

Rescue thought he'd grow up to be a Seeing Eye dog - it's the family business, after all. When he gets the news that he's better suited to being a service dog, he's worried that he's not up to the task. Then he meets Jessica, a girl whose life is turning out differently than the way she'd imagined it, too. Now Jessica needs Rescue by her side to help her accomplish everyday tasks. And it turns out that Rescue can help Jessica see after all: a way forward, together, one step at a time.

Newbery Medal winner Cynthia Rylant is widely recognized for the consistent excellence of her tales for young readers. Her Mr. Putter & Tabby stories have won immense popularity, and the 20th book in the series, Mr. Putter & Tabby Ring the Bell, showcases Rylant at her very best. When Mr. Putter wishes he could go back to school - just for one day - he soon finds that he’ll need a few tricks up his sleeve (pet tricks, that is) to keep the kids entertained.

Froggy and friends enjoy a back-to-school ritual: a trip to the pumpkin patch. Froggy can't wait to pick a pumpkin. He plans to carve a jack-o'-lantern and make a pumpkin pie. Prizes are given for the biggest, smallest, and prettiest pumpkin, but when Froggy trips and smashes his pumpkin, he takes home a special prize - for the ugliest pumpkin!