Daniel Manus Pinkwater

Upon moving to Hoboken, New Jersey, a boy convinces his two new friends to help him track down the mysterious phantom who stole his bicycle, as well as Arthur Bobowicz, owner of a giant chicken that once terrorized local citizens.

When left to take care of himself, a young boy becomes involved with a community of intelligent lizards who tell him of a little known invasion from outer space.

Ralph and Sylvia Nebula and their friend Mavis Goldfarb are bitter at being sent to a bogus weight-loss camp, so they decide to escape and find a way to take revenge on those responsible for promoting the idea that thin is better.

A man who runs a restaurant on the edge of the big north woods meets a talking blue moose that moves in and spends the winter serving as head waiter.

After Ralph and Sylvia Nebula flee a fat camp ashram to join their friend Mavis at a dude ranch, they help her unite the Western town's factions by preparing for the arrival of an unidentified flying object.

After he eats an eighth of a ton of ice cream at Cohen's Cones, Larry the polar bear happily becomes the spokesbear for the Iceberg Ice-Cream Company under the slogan, "I do not feel sick."

When shoelace heir Neddie Wentworthstein and his family take the train from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1940s, he winds up in possession of a valuable Indian turtle artifact whose owner is supposed to be able to prevent the impending destruction of the world, but he is not sure exactly how.

One day when Ned's parents are out, he meets Captain Lumpy Lugo, a space pirate who comes from the galaxy Foon-ping-baba, and they spend the afternoon travelling through outer space.

A young girl and Larry, the polar bear who lives in her father's hotel, enjoy each other's company and, on an outing to the zoo, they discover Larry's brother Roy.

Third grade improves dramatically for a boy after he makes up his mind to win the upcoming yo-yo tournament.