The Aztecs built an advanced and dazzling empire that stretched across a large part of Mesoamerica. The Chuampa “floating gardens” system of farming is perhaps their most remarkable accomplishment. Other discoveries and inventions related to transportation, agriculture, architecture, science, and technology, enriched their culture and provide a way for us to experience parallels between ancient times and the world we know today.
Age
Catalog sorted by age group
The Mesopotamians
Provides readers with an up-close look at the ingenuity of forward-thinking inventors and engineers from the early civilizations
Crouching Tiger
A Chinese-American boy gains a new understanding of his Chinese grandfather in this celebratory story of family, martial arts, and the Chinese New Year. Vinson is very excited when his grandfather comes from China for a visit. When Grandpa practices tai chi in the garden, Vinson asks to learn, hoping it will be like kung fu, full of kicks and punches. But tai chi’s meditative postures are slow and still, and Vinson quickly gets bored. He can’t understand why Grandpa insists on calling him by his Chinese name, Ming Da, or why he has to wear a traditional Chinese jacket to the Chinese New Year parade. As the parade assembles, however, he notices the great respect given to his grandfather and the lion dancers under his training. And when Vinson is offered a role in the parade, he realizes that being part Chinese can be pretty cool—and is ready to start learning from his grandpa’s martial-arts mastery in earnest.
The Food of China
This book offers students an introduction to the rich and diverse foods found around the world.
The Food of Thailand
This book offers students an introduction to the rich and diverse foods found around the world.
The Chinese
This book focuses on the discoveries and inventions of the ancient Chinese civilization in the areas of transportation, agriculture, architecture, science, and technology.
Little Mist
Little Mist is a sweet-faced snow leopard cub who is wide-eyed with wonder at the world before him. Guided and protected by his mother, Little Mist discovers the glistening snow, the mountain streams, and the cloud forests. The world may look big to a little cub, but one day, his mother tells him, he will be the king of the mountains. Safely curled up in his mother’s paws, Little Mist can’t wait for his journey to begin. A heartwarming portrayal of the unique bond between parent and child, set against the breathtaking backdrop of snow-covered mountains. This is the perfect picture book to read curled up with your own little cub.
Flyaway
If they saved the swan together, could she then save her friend?In a heartbeat, in a wingbeat, it happens. Isla’s father falls. They’re racing across the fields, following the swans flying in to winter at the lake like they do every year, when something goes wrong. And before she can even catch her breath, they’re in the back of an ambulance, she’s holding his hand.At the hospital, upset and scared, Isla meets Harry. Unlike the boys at school, he doesn’t laugh when she tells him about her love of birds. He listens. But what is he doing there?As Isla struggles with her father’s frailty and the new feelings she has for Harry, she’s determined to help the only way she knows how. Outside the hospital windows, Isla watches a lone whooper swan struggling to fly. If only she could save the lost bird, would that somehow heal her dad, and cure Harry, and make everything good again?
The Project
It begins with a book, the most boring book in the world, a book so boring no one could ever read it—the perfect place to hide a dangerous secret.
When best friends Luke and Tommy volunteer to help move books from their library’s basement to higher ground during a quick rising flood, they discover the only surviving copy of the most boring book in the world: Leonardo’s River, lost for over 100 years. The book is connected to Leonardo da Vinci and is worth millions, so they return that night to steal it. After they steal it from the library, dark forces are soon on their tail. Luke and Tommy must unlock the mystery first, but with their pursuers closing in, the clock is ticking down to the final hour.
Kung Fooey
Fourth-grader Cal learns a lot about teasing and standing up for others when a weird new student joins his class, while Stella, the tenth-grader who lives with Cal’s family to help his mother, practices for her driving test.