Dream Entry*
May 6, 2007
The Kitten Whisker Exchange is busy and the line is long. Three beagle puppies in line behind my friends and me are counting the kitten whiskers they’ve collected. Bigfoot passes the time darning a green and purple striped sock. Beverly and Norman are mocking each other. Morzant and Penny are playing Fifty-six Questions.
“Is it bigger than a whale box?” Morzant asks.
“Yes,” Penny says.
“Does it have rearview mirrors?”
“No,” Penny says.
“Can you play checkers with it?”
“Yes,” Penny says.
“Is it a giant blueberry waffle iron with four speed settings?”
“You got it!” Penny says.
In line ahead of us a duck is squawking because an earthworm has cut in front of him. While they’re arguing, I sneak in line in front of them.
Soon it’s my turn to exchange my kitten whiskers for new books.
“How many you got?” the man at the booth asks.
“Eighty-two,” I tell him.
He frowns as he takes my kitten whiskers. He separates one from the bunch. He holds it up to the light, turns it, bends it, and then sniffs it.
“What’re you trying to pull?” he says. He’s angry.
I don’t know what he means and say so.
“These are counterfeits,” he says. “Don’t come here again.”
He calls over a couple of huge walrus security guards who grab me and pull me away from the Kitten Whisker Exchange. I’m confused. I got my kitten whiskers directly from the source. I remember how I traded the three little kittens three pairs of warm mittens for the whiskers.
Soon I see the kittens coming down the street. They see me seeing them. They begin to run in the other direction. I chase after them. They run up a cheese-covered tree. At the bottom of the tree I find three kitten costumes. I look up. Three squirrels are waving their mittened paws at me and laughing.
When I return to the Kitten Whisker Exchange, my friends have all gone through the line and are waiting for me.
“Is it an elliptical galaxy with rainbow sprinkles?” Penny says.
“You got it!” Morzant says.
The books BIGFOOT got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
FRIENDS WITH BOYS by Faith Erin Hicks
[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]
First Second-Roaring Brook
February 28, 2012
CURVEBALL: THE YEAR I LOST MY GRIP
by Jordon Sonnenblick
[YOUNG ADULT]
Scholastic Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
FRESHMAN YEAR & OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
by Meredith Zeitlin
[YOUNG ADULT]
Putnam-Penguin
March 1, 2012
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews
[YOUNG ADULT]
Amulet-Abrams
March 1, 2012
The books MORZANT got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
GEORGIA IN HAWAII: WHEN GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
PAINTED WHAT SHE PLEASED
by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Yuyi Morales
[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]
Harcourt-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
February 28, 2012
ZERO THE HERO by Joan Holub,
illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
[PICTURE BOOK]
Henry Holt
February 28, 2012
HOW MANY JELLY BEANS? by Andrea Menotti,
illustrated by Yancey Labat
[PICTURE BOOK]
Chronicle
February 29, 2012
WHAT’S LOOKING AT YOU KID? by J. Patrick Lewis,
illustrated by Renée Graef
[PICTURE BOOK]
Sleeping Bear Press-Thomson Gale
March 1, 2012
SIGN LANGUAGE ABC by Lora Heller
[PICTURE BOOK]
Sterling
March 6, 2012
UNBEELIEVEABLES: HONEYBEE POEMS
AND PAINTINGS by Douglas Florian
[PICTURE BOOK—POETRY]
Beach Lane-Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
BIRD TALK: WHAT BIRDS ARE SAYING
AND WHY by Lita Judge
[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]
Flash Point-Roaring Brook
March 13, 2012
GOING APE! by Eduardo Bustos,
illustrated by Lucho Rodriguez
[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]
Tundra
March 13, 2012
MISS MINGO WEATHERS THE STORM by Jamie Harper
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
SEABABY: A LITTLE OTTER RETURNS HOME
by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Jon Van Zyle
[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]
Walker
March 13, 2012
STEP GENTLY OUT by Helen Frost,
photographs by Rick Lieder
[PICTURE BOOK—POETRY]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
The books PENNY got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
A BEAUTIFUL EVIL by Kelly Keaton
[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO DARKNESS BECOMES HER]
Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster
February 21, 2012
DOUBLE by Jenny Valentine
[YOUND ADULT]
Hyperion-Disney
February 21, 2012
RIPPER by Stefan Petrucha
[YOUNG ADULT]
Philomel-Penguin
March 1, 2012
KATANA by Cole Gibsen
[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE SERIES]
Flux-Llewellyn
March 8, 2012
CROSS MY HEART by Sasha Gould
[YOUNG ADULT]
Delacorte-Random House
March 13, 2012
THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED by April Henry
[YOUNG ADULT]
Henry Holt
March 13, 2012
STARTERS by Lissa Price
[YOUNG ADULT]
Delacorte-Random House
March 13, 2012
The books THE DUCK got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
GOBLIN SECRETS by William Alexander
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Margaret K. McElderry-Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
THE GRAVE ROBBER’S APPRENTICE by Allan Stratton
[MIDDLE GRADE]
HarperCollins
March 6, 2012
EYE OF THE SWORD by Karyn Henley
[YOUNG ADULT—SECOND IN THE
ANGELAEON CIRCLE TRILOGY]
WaterBrook Multnomah-Random House
March 13, 2012
The books NORMAN got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
EYE OF THE STORM by Kate Messner
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Walker
February 28, 2012
EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES by Kazu Kibuishi
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Abrams
March 1, 2012
SPY SCHOOL by Stuart Gibbs
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG FLIES AGAIN
by Frank Cottrell Boyce, with illustrations by Joe Berger
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
DANGEROUS WATERS: AN ADVENTURE ON
THE TITANIC by Gregory Mone
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Roaring Brook
March 13, 2012
FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO IT:
FALSE APOLOGY POEMS by Gail Carson Levine,
illustrated by Matthew Cordell
[POETRY]
HarperCollins
March 13, 2012
MAN OVERBOARD! by Curtis Parkinson
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Tundra
March 13, 2012
OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN by Donna Gephart
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Delacorte-Random House
March 13, 2012
The books BEVERLY got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
IF ONLY by Carole Geithner
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Scholastic Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
THE MOON OVER HIGH STREET by Natalie Babbitt
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Michael di Capua-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
ONE DOG AND HIS BOY by Eva Ibbotson
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Scholastic Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
PLUNKED by Michael Northrop
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Scholastic Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
BALLYWHINNEY GIRL by Eve Bunting,
illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
[PICTURE BOOK]
Clarion-Houghton Mifflin
March 6, 2012
MORE by I.C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies
[PICTURE BOOK]
Houghton Mifflin
March 6, 2012
PIECES OF US by Margie Gelbwasser
[YOUNG ADULT]
Flux-Llewellyn
March 8, 2012
A BUS CALLED HEAVEN by Bob Graham
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle
[YOUNG ADULT]
Henry Holt
March 13, 2012
The books OLIVER got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
ARTHUR’S DREAM BOAT by Polly Dunbar
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
February 28, 2012
ANIMAL MASQUERADE by Marianne Dubuc
[PICTURE BOOK]
Kids Can Press
March 1, 2012
BLUE SKY by Audrey Wood
[PICTURE BOOK]
Blue Sky Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
PETER AND THE SEAL by Rick de Haas
[PICTURE BOOK]
NorthSouth
March 1, 2012
SWEET DREAMS by Rose A. Lewis,
illustrated by Jen Corace
[PICTURE BOOK]
Abrams
March 1, 2012
WHERE’S MY MOMMY? by Carol Roth,
illustrated by Sean Julian
[PICTURE BOOK]
NorthSouth
March 1, 2012
NO GO SLEEP! by Kate Feiffer,
illustrated by Jules Feiffer
[PICTURE BOOK]
Paula Wiseman-Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
THE CLOUD SPINNER by Michael Catchpool,
illustrated by Alison Jay
[PICTURE BOOK]
Knopf-Random House
March 13, 2012
KALI’S SONG by Jeanette Winter
[PICTURE BOOK]
Schwartz & Wade-Random House
March 13, 2012
LITTLE LAMB, HAVE YOU ANY WOOL?
by Isabel Minhos Martins, illustrated by Yara Kono
[PICTURE BOOK]
Owlkids
March 13, 2012
The books LENNY got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
THE PIRATES NEXT DOOR by Jonny Duddle
[PICTURE BOOK]
Templar-Candlewick
February 28, 2012
BEEP AND BAH by James Burks
[PICTURE BOOK]
Carolrhoda-Lerner
March 1, 2012
MISS ANNIE #1: FREEDOM! by Frank Le Gall,
illustrated by Flore Balthazar
[GRAPHIC NOVEL]
Graphic Universe-Lerner
March 1, 2012
MISS ANNIE #2: ROOFTOP CAT by Frank Le Gall,
illustrated by Flore Balthazar
[GRAPHIC NOVEL]
Graphic Universe-Lerner
March 1, 2012
ZIP IT! by Jane Lindaman, illustrated by Nancy Carlson
[PICTURE BOOK]
Carolrhoda-Lerner
March 1, 2012
MAMMOTH AND ME by Algy Craig Hall
[PICTURE BOOK]
Boxer Books
March 6, 2012
ME WANT PET! by Tammi Sauer,
illustrated by Bob Shea
[PICTURE BOOK]
Paula Wiseman-Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
BUGS GALORE by Peter Stein,
illustrated by Bob Staake
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
LET’S HAVE A TREE PARTY! by David Martin,
illustrated by John Manders
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
The books VIOLET got at
the Kitten Whisker Exchange:
PENNY AND HER SONG by Kevin Henkes
[EARLY READER]
Greenwillow-HarperCollins
February 28, 2012
Z IS FOR MOOSE by Kelly Bingham,
illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
[PICTURE BOOK]
Greenwillow-HarperCollins
February 28, 2012
HUFF & PUFF: CAN YOU BLOW DOWN THE
HOUSES OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS?
by Claudia Rueda
[PICTURE BOOK]
Abrams Appleseed-Abrams
March 1, 2012
SILLY GOOSE’S BIG STORY by Keiko Kasza
[PICTURE BOOK]
Putnam-Penguin
March 1, 2012
SPLIT! SPLAT! by Amy Gibson,
illustrated by Steve Bjorkman
[PICTURE BOOK]
Scholastic Press-Scholastic
March 1, 2012
VIRGINIA WOLF by Kyo Maclear,
illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
[PICTURE BOOK]
Kids Can Press
March 1, 2012
ITSY-BITSY BABY MOUSE by Michelle Meadows,
illustrated by Matthew Cordell
[PICTURE BOOK]
Simon & Schuster
March 6, 2012
DIXIE AND THE CLASS TREAT by Grace Gilman,
illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers
[EARLY READER—THIRD IN SERIES]
HarperCollins
March 13, 2012
OH NO, GEORGE! by Chris Haughton
[PICTURE BOOK]
Candlewick
March 13, 2012
THE SMILEY BOOK OF COLORS by Ruth Kaiser
[PICTURE BOOK]
Golden Books-Random House
March 13, 2012
* The dream entries from Briar’s journal contain premonitions of books that will be published in the future. Briar’s dream self foresees the books’ summaries and knows which will likely appeal to each of her friends. Briar always wakes up before she can see whether her friends will enjoy the books.