When Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss opened his wholesale dry goods warehouse on the San Francisco waterfront in 1853, he likely had no inkling that his business would become one of the world's largest clothing companies. Levi Strauss & Co. started with imported clothing, bedding, and notions to supply the many small stores serving the Gold Rush and the expanding American West. By 1873, he and partner Jacob Davis invented the very first blue jeans, which were soon worn by working men from Los Angeles to Laramie. Strauss parlayed his business acumen into social progress by giving back to his community and embedding a company culture committed to positively impacting society. In this spirit, the Levi Strauss Foundation was created after World War II, formalizing the philanthropic work started by Strauss himself a century earlier. All the while, the company has evolved with successive generations of family owners, expanding product lines to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers around the world....

On a dark, dark night
On an old, old farm
In a rickety, crickety
Tumbledown barn,
Everyone slept peacefully--
But not the flea.

What happens when a tiny flea gets a bad case of the sniffles? Utter pandemonium in the barnyard! This rollicking preschool picture book follows a lovable flea and his exceptional sneeze through the mayhem. Before the night is over, every animal--from the mouse to the cow--has something to say. Will the animals ever be able to go back to sleep?

Lynn Downey's quirky text, which begs to be read aloud, combines with Karla Fircharnrner's charming pictures to make this a winning story for very young children.
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