Mia, an imaginative and grown-up fifth grader, befriends a dog, Mister Pepper who just happens to be of stone. With a bit of magic she and her dog Bubbles learn the secret of how Mr. Pepper, who was once a real live dog, became a statue. A heart warming story that may have the reader looking at the world in a different light.A story told by Astor Court the building in New York City that Mia lives. Mia is an imaginative and grown-up fifth-grader. One snowy day she offered to help her neighbor, an old lady, Mrs. Goldenrod who was struggling, carry her shopping bags home. Mrs. Goldenrod invited Mia in for tea and they learned delightful things about one another. While Mia was there she became fascinated by a statue of a black dog. That statue was Mister Pepper and was given to Mrs. Goldenrod by an actress friend. Mister Pepper was to be given as a gift to the courtyard garden. Mia left to take her dog Bubbles for a walk. When Mia and Bubbles returned the found Angelina in the courtyard garden deciding the placement of Mister Pepper. Angelina, who was Mrs. Goldenrod's niece had taught Mia so much about animals. Angelina gave Mia a magic red collar and instructed Mia to place it around Mister Pepper's neck. Then Mister Pepper could tell Mia and Bubbles his secret.The day of the annual courtyard barbeque Mia did as Angelina had instructed. She and Bubbles learned why Mister Pepper was now of stone. He was happy in the garden where he "wants everyone to think of him as a friend - the friend who will be waiting for them no matter what. "The building, Astor Court ends the story saying that Mrs. Goldenrod was right in that if people would be polite to their friend as well as their enemies, the world would bea better place. And he would like to add - "polite to the things of the world that don't breathe or move. One never knows how a little polite attention can make all the difference to that brick, or furniture, or statue..."

Mia was walking her dog, Bubbles in New York City. They came upon a chicken lost and alone. Mia rescued the bird and called it Maggie. But an apartment was no place for a chicken. With a bit of magic Maggie the chicken went to a family farm in Woodstock. This gentle story tugs our hearts and asks if there isn't better ways for chickens and humans to live with one another.Mia was walking her dog, Bubbles on Broadway in New York City when they came upona disheveled and confused bird that looked like a chicken. The doorman of the buildingit was at said indeed it was a hen. Mia ran home with Bubbles and came back by herself with a jacket to throw over the bird. She put it in herbathroom and named the hen Maggie. Her father said that Maggie was most likely the result of a careless backyard breeder and he would help her take it to a poultry farm soon. Her mother was proud that Mia had such a big heart as it was not everyone who would rescue a chicken. Mia's friend Angelina gave Mia a magic egg of hearts, saying it would help her find a place for Maggie.All was well until one day Maggie was let out of the bathroom to expand her horizons at which time Bubbles came to close and scared her. So Maggie flew over the kitchen and into the living room and stopped behind the sofa with Bubbles close behind knocking over furniture this way and that. After that incident her father said that Maggie would have to go. That night Mia had a dream where a little baby chick Sunshine emerged from the egg of hearts and showed her the two choices that humans have -the sad and horrible state of a poultry factory farm and a small family farm. She awoke and told her mother. After a few calls her mother found a place for Maggie with a small family farm in Woodstock. At first her father said it was too far but he relented and drove them to the Waverly's. There Maggie had a good home but she wasn't settled until a couple of weeks later..the Waverly's put the magic egg of hearts near her nest. Then Maggie found her place there. This is a story that awakens the reader to the idea that there might be a better day for the way humans and chickens live together...that there are other choices than the poultry factory farms.

Mia was given a baby pigeon by the porter of Astor Court, the building where Mia lived. She named the pigeon Peepers and called Rita a wildlife doctor. With the help of Rita, Mia was able to find Peepers a new home where she could learn to be a bird. The other pigeons didn't accept Peepers until Hubert came to the aviary. Peepers and Hubert found true love and a true home in the New York skies.Mia was given a baby pigeon by the porter of her apartment house, Astor Court. She named it Peepers because it peeped so much.She called the neighborhood Wildlife Bird Fund and spoke to her mothers friend Rita a wildlife doctor. When Rita was able to check it over, she pronounced it in good health. Rita suggested that it go to live with another patient of hers, Squeaks so Peepers could learn to be a bird. The guardian of Squeaks lived in the grand Hooper Cooper Mansion and so Mia thought that surely Peepers would be leading a life of leisure. When Mia arrived at the mansion everything was in renovation and the place looked like a dinosaur had sneezed tossing everything this way and that. The other pigeons didn't accept Peepers until one day a black pigeon named Hubert came to the aviary. Peepers and Hubert became instant friends and found true love and their true palace in the New York skies.

Mia, while walking her dog, Bubbles, comes upon a teenager, Angelina who has sculpted a papier-mâché life-size cow. The cow's name is Milky Whey and she needs a home. Mia and Bubbles take her in unaware she is a magic cow. One night Mia learns about Milky Whey's life when she was a real cow. Mia's and Bubble's lives have been touched with a bit of magic and a bit of truth.When facing the most difficult challenge that life can throw at us, can we come together as a family or will we fall apart? It is an everyday battle that Savya and her family, ever since that fateful day when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. It didn't seem fair or reasonable that her mother had to suffer when everybody else just went about their lives unhindered. But, it is what it is and it is time to understand the true meaning of family.