Not everyone loves lawn ornaments. But Pearl was different. Pearl was their friend—the only human who knew they were real.

So when Pearl’s family moves and (shockingly!) leaves their pink flamingo, deer, gnome, and lawn jockey behind, Flo, Betty, Norm, and Jack know what they must do. They must find Pearl no matter how long and perilous the journey.

Through cities and suburbs, over mountains and through swamps, the ornaments make their dangerous way. They survive storms and menacing gargoyles. They get directions from weather vanes and other statuary. And always, always, they must avoid the dreaded trash truck!

In this hysterical and quirky tale of toys-come-to-life, Dan Yaccarino reminds us that home is where the heart is and that no journey is too difficult when it leads to the one you love.
© Helen Hollyman
DAN YACCARINO is an internationally acclaimed author-illustrator with more than thirty books to his credit, including Five Little Pumpkins, Doug Unplugged, and an edition of Mother Goose rhymes for Little Golden Books. Yaccarino is also the creator of the animated TV series Oswald and Willa’s Wild Life, and he designed the characters for The Backyardigans. View titles by Dan Yaccarino
Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2009:
“Yaccarino’s endearing, earnest characters are worth getting to know.”

Review, Booklist, December 1, 2009:
"A keeper."

Review, Publishers Weekly, December 21, 2009:
"In sinuous contemporary art, Yaccarino humorously considers the secret lives of inanimate objects."

About

Not everyone loves lawn ornaments. But Pearl was different. Pearl was their friend—the only human who knew they were real.

So when Pearl’s family moves and (shockingly!) leaves their pink flamingo, deer, gnome, and lawn jockey behind, Flo, Betty, Norm, and Jack know what they must do. They must find Pearl no matter how long and perilous the journey.

Through cities and suburbs, over mountains and through swamps, the ornaments make their dangerous way. They survive storms and menacing gargoyles. They get directions from weather vanes and other statuary. And always, always, they must avoid the dreaded trash truck!

In this hysterical and quirky tale of toys-come-to-life, Dan Yaccarino reminds us that home is where the heart is and that no journey is too difficult when it leads to the one you love.

Author

© Helen Hollyman
DAN YACCARINO is an internationally acclaimed author-illustrator with more than thirty books to his credit, including Five Little Pumpkins, Doug Unplugged, and an edition of Mother Goose rhymes for Little Golden Books. Yaccarino is also the creator of the animated TV series Oswald and Willa’s Wild Life, and he designed the characters for The Backyardigans. View titles by Dan Yaccarino

Praise

Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2009:
“Yaccarino’s endearing, earnest characters are worth getting to know.”

Review, Booklist, December 1, 2009:
"A keeper."

Review, Publishers Weekly, December 21, 2009:
"In sinuous contemporary art, Yaccarino humorously considers the secret lives of inanimate objects."

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

On Monday, June 10th, Penguin Random House Education and DK Learning co-hosted a Reading with Purpose Summit Event in collaboration with Molly Ness, PhD. The event took place at Penguin Random House’s NYC headquarters and included sessions featuring leading education experts and a lunchtime author panel. The in-person professional learning event was built to show

Read more

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more