Catalog sorted by age group
A book on global warming like no other, merging key concepts with firsthand accounts from people of all ages who have found ways to help. Inspired by the work of outstanding scientist and thinker James Lovelock and written by acclaimed author Nicola Davies, here is a book that takes a clear look at how and why Earth’s climate is changing and the ways we can deal with it.
In 1855, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to his publisher, complaining about the irritating fad of “scribbling women.” Whether they were written by professionals, by women who simply wanted to connect with others, or by those who wanted to leave a record of their lives, those “scribbles” are fascinating, informative, and instructive. Margaret Catchpole was a transported prisoner whose eleven letters provide the earliest record of white settlement in Australia. Writing hundreds of years later, Aboriginal writer Doris Pilkey wrote a novel about another kind of exile in Australia. Young Isabella Beeton, one of twenty-one children and herself the mother of four, managed to write a groundbreaking cookbook before she died at the age of twenty-eight. World traveler and journalist Nelly Bly used her writing to expose terrible injustices. Sei Shonagan left poetry and journal entries that provide a vivid look at the pampered life and intrigues in Japan’s imperial court. Ada Blackjack, sole survivor of a disastrous scientific expedition in the Arctic, fought isolation and fear with her precious Eversharp pencil. Dr. Dang Thuy Tram’s diary, written in a field hospital in the steaming North Vietnamese jungle while American bombs fell, is a heartbreaking record of fear and hope. Many of the women in “Scribbling Women” had eventful lives. They became friends with cannibals, delivered babies, stole horses, and sailed on whaling ships. Others lived quietly, close to home. But each of them illuminated the world through her words.
The Organization of American States is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., whose members are the 35 nation-states of the Americas. Its historic goals are to strengthen peace and security, to consolidate representative democracy, to provide for collective defense, to eradicate poverty, and to promote economic, social, and cultural development. The organization is working on a treaty that will establish a hemispheric free-trade area. Though it has often been seen as an arm of U.S. foreign policy, most observers regard the United States’ influence as waning within the organization.
When this award-winning husband-and-wife team discovered that they each had sugar in their family history, they were inspired to trace the globe-spanning story of the sweet substance and to seek out the voices of those who led bitter sugar lives. The trail ran like a bright band from religious ceremonies in India to Europe’s Middle Ages, then on to Columbus, who brought the first cane cuttings to the Americas. Sugar was the substance that drove the bloody slave trade and caused the loss of countless lives but it also planted the seeds of revolution that led to freedom in the American colonies, Haiti, and France. With songs, oral histories, maps, and over 80 archival illustrations, here is the story of how one product allows us to see the grand currents of world history in new ways. Time line, source notes, bibliography, index.
Just 50,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors ventured off the African Savannah and into the wider world. Now, our technology reaches far out into the cosmos. How did we get to where we are today? With lively text and colorful illustrations,From Then to Now explains how individual societies struggled to find their own paths, despite war, disease, slavery, natural disasters, and the relentless growth of human knowledge. From Hammurabi to Henry Ford, from Incan couriers to the Internet, from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower, from Marco Polo to Martin Luther King, from Cleopatra to Catherine the Great, from boiled haggis to fried tarantulas this is no less than the story of humanity. It’s the story of how we grew apart over all those years of migration and division, and how as we recognize our common heritage and our often mixed ancestry we can come together. An index, maps, and notes make this a must-have reference, as well as a delight to read and to discuss. From Then to Now is bound to create a generation of history buffs!
The latest National Geographic Children’s Books title by Barbara Kerley, A Little Peace, gives a richly evocative and thought-provoking view of the world our children will inherit. Wise words and moving images offer a unique and enriching experience for every young reader. According to author Barbara Kerley, “I believe that peace doesn’t just rest in the hands of politicians and world leaders. We all have the power to make the world more peaceful.”The book juxtaposes photographs from around the world with a simple, reflective message about our responsibilities for finding and keeping peace on the planet. Like the highly acclaimed titles A Cool Drink of Water and You and Me Together, this beautiful children’s picture book features superb National Geographic images accompanied by a brief, poetic text on a subject of global importance. All the photography is reproduced in miniature at the back of the book with geographic, historic, and cultural context and details explained. A world map leads readers to the location of each image. A Little Peace offers a vital lesson for children everywhere.
Gives examples of ways in which people bring about peace by doing things to help and care for one another and their world.
Did you know that the oldest insect lived more than 350 million years ago? That’s more than 100 million years before the dinosaurs! Did you know that a slug has three noses, an octopus has three hearts, and that an earthworm has no eyes, no nose, no ears, and no lungs, but it has five hearts? By compiling facts that astound her and whet her own curiosity, Margriet Ruurs encourages young readers to observe the natural world around them and to share her sense of wonder and respect for it. A perfect introduction to a host of creatures, many of them endangered.
Ready to relive some of the most daring voyages of all time? Unfold these spectacular cross sections and explore fourteen historic journeys. Open this dynamic book and discover how the greatest explorers in history from Marco Polo to Neil Armstrong plunged into the unknown and boldly pieced together the picture of the world we have today. With the help of masterful cross sections, dramatic storytelling, and sidebars that highlight key concepts, places, and technology, immerse yourself in such expeditions as: Leif Eriksson’s voyage to North America (eleventh century) Zheng He’s travels from China to East Africa (fifteenth century) Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe (sixteenth century) Tenzing Norgay’s and Edmund Hillary’s scaling of Mt. Everest (twentieth century) Plus ten more exciting journeys!
“Simple text and colorful photographs describe birthday traditions in different countries”–Provided by publisher.