Angelina is a determined little mouse in a pink tutu who dreams of becoming a ballerina. Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig revisit their beloved character, the star of more than 25 picture books.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe visits the food writer's home to talk and cook. Clark has a new book of recipes promising minimal fuss (and dirty dishes).

Entries to the Tiny Desk Contest tend to be incredibly creative and fun — maybe none more so this year than an entry from the singer-songwriter Lillian Frances.

Three siblings spend a summer day at the beach building sandcastles and watching them get demolished in a wordless picture book written by JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Qin Leng.

A circus performer whose act is called "The Leap For Life" loses his nerve and gets a regular job as an elevator operator. Then a moment comes when The Great Zapfino must finally perform.

Colin Kaepernick's kindergarten teacher gave his class an assignment: Draw a picture of your family. When he colored his family yellow and himself brown, it became a pivotal moment for his identity.

With all its complexities, a chain of this size is hard to pull off. This one was postponed three times. But with many waiting for a kidney, it's a critical opportunity to save some lives.

In the second part of our report from Houston Methodist Hospital, we check in with the 10-person kidney donation chain. This week, donors and recipients meet in an emotional reveal.

The color blue is all around us, but where does it come from? In Blue, written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, the answer is as deep as the sea and wide as the sky.

A grandmother brings her granddaughters to her special garden, where they learn about their connection to nature and tell stories about magical rocks, seashells, crystals and meteorites.

Samantha Balaban and NPR's Life Kit provide insight to teaching old and new dogs new tricks.

Baby Izzie howls, Rayhan's parrot screeches, Benny and his friends play flashlight tag, and Natalia launches her rocket in the new children's book by author Anne Wynter and illustrator Oge Mora.

NPR's Eyder Peralta speaks with Spanish rapper C. Tangana about his highly-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album, "El Madrileño."

The day after her beloved Baba Bazorg dies, a little girl remembers some of her favorite things about him: his striped slippers, the mints in his pockets and the fig cookies he always shared.

In Erin and Philip Stead's follow-up to 2010's A Sick Day for Amos McGee, the fastidious zookeeper gets help from his animal friends to finish his chores, so they can go on an exciting outing.

Meet Mr. Sidney, who's always sharply dressed. Belle, who catches butterflies in jar. And the Hat Lady, Ms. Sarah. They're just some of the residents of Dream Street, the best street in the world.

Polly is tired of being told "that's not what girls do." Then she meets a woman running for President, who makes a pinkie promise with her to always remember that girls can do anything.

Gary Paulsen — whose wilderness adventure Hatchet taught generations of kids to survive in the forest — worked as a farmhand, truck driver and satellite technician before turning to writing.

Afghans are trying to reach Pakistan via the frontier near the Khyber Pass, but Pakistan is wary of more refugees. Cargo trucks are backed up for miles, waiting to deliver goods into Afghanistan.

The soccer stadium in the Haitian seaside town of Les Cayes is now a tent city of people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Aid continues to arrive, but slowly.