Tony Johnston

In a busy urban neighborhood, six very different individuals who don't know each other have something in common: they all relish the companionship of a friendly cat that roams the area. From a librarian to a homeless war veteran to a little girl who's just moved in, this cat makes everyone's world a little brighter, a little less lonely. Each neighbor is unaware of the cat's visits with everyone else, so he goes by many different names: Stuart Little,...

The beauty and spirit of Christmas resounds in the melodic chimes of a church bell in this lyrical picture book by well-known author Tony Johnston with breathtaking illustrations by watercolor artist Cheng-Khee Chee. On Christmas Eve, people bundle up in the cold and follow the sounds of the bell to gather in celebration. Creatures great-children, dogs, cats, and birds-and small stop to listen as a brass band marches through town. The poetry and imagery...

A boy wins over an abused, stray dog with persistence and love in this heartwarming story. Thoughtful care goes into a child's efforts to help an abused dog learn to trust humans again. Stooping near the bush where the dog is hiding, offering scraps of food, and leaving an umbrella in a rainstorm all convince the dog that the child's offering of friendship is real. When Mom insists on putting up "lost dog" signs, the boy is worried. But in the end,...

Tony Johnston's THE BARN OWLS recalls in quiet tones the memory of a barn that has stood alone in a wheat field for one hundred years at least. The owls have nested there and have hunted in the fields and circled in the night skies as time slowly slipped by. Every night, as the moon rises, a barn owl awakens and flies out to hunt. Feathered against the endless starry night, he swoops and sails to the darkened wheat field below and catches a mouse...

This version of the familiar story in which a mistreated step-child finds happiness with the "man" of her dreams is set in the old-growth forest and features Bigfoot characters.

In rhyming text, tells of the fun that can be had by a new first-grader and ten friends.

Retells, in tall-tale fashion, how Levi Strauss went to California during the Gold Rush, saw the need for a sturdier kind of trouser, and invented jeans.

When jellyfish brothers Spencer and Vincent are separated during a big storm, it will take the help of many friends and all of their brotherly love to reunite them.

"From ice-cream induced brain freezes to bee stings to stubbed toes and bruises, ten children get ten owies that can only be cured by the following: a kiss, a hug, lots of love, and as many colorful Band-Aids as possible"--