Kate DiCamillo

"Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends--a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl--bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart's mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room...

"Voici l'histoire d'un petit homme dont le grand rêve est de devenir cow-boy. Pour l'instant, cet homme est un voleur qui s'apprête à cambrioler la cuisine des Watson! Lorsqu'il met la main sur le grille-pain et qu'il le laisse tomber avec fracas, il ne se doute pas encore qu'il vient de réveiller un cochon, qui adore les rôties avec beaucoup de beurre. Il est aussi loin de penser que ses faux pas - et les délicieux bonbons au beurre qu'il garde...

"Jake volunteers at a nursing home because he likes helping people. He likes skating and singing, playing Bingo and Name That Tune, and reading mysteries and comics aloud to his teachers. He also likes avoiding people his own age . . . and the cruelty of mirrors . . . and food. Jake has read about kids like him in books--the weird one, the outsider--and would do anything not to be that kid, including shrink himself down to nothing. But the less he...