Luciano Anastasini had been a circus performer from the time he was a child until the day he fell fifty feet from the high wire, ending his days as an acrobat. Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs, by Michaela Muntean, is the story of how Luciano got a second chance at a circus career by giving stray dogs a second chance at life.

Bowser was a thief who could even open cupboard doors to steal food. Penny walked into walls. Stick was a stray, knocking over garbage cans for food. Tyke was just ornery, and Cocoa kept digging giant holes in her owner's yard. The one thing they had in common was that no one wanted them—until Luciano took them home to the circus.

There's that familiar anecdote: a child gets a nice, big, expensive toy for his birthday. The parents have spent hours putting it together,. For all of their sweat, pain, and suffering they find that the child is most fascinated with the big cardboard box the toy came in.

Cardboard, by Doug TenNapel, is a clever variation on that premise. Mike, an out-of-work carpenter, has nothing for his son Cam's birthday. A strange old man approaches him with an offer. For just a handful of change, Mike can get his son an amazing gift. It may seem like an ordinary cardboard box, but whatever Cam makes out of the corrugated paper pulp comes to life.