Genre

Catalog sorted by genre

Saving the Baghdad Zoo

The Baghdad zoo was once home to more than six hundred magnificent animals. But after the war in Iraq began in 2003, the city faced widespread destruction. When U. S. Army Captain William Sumner was asked to check out the state of the zoo, he found that it, too, was devastated. Hundreds of animals were missing, and the few remaining were in desperate need of care. And so Captain Sumner accepted a new mission. Together with an international team of zoologists, veterinarians, conservationists, and dedicated animal lovers, Captain Sumner worked tirelessly to save the neglected—but tenacious—animals of Baghdad. Saving the Baghdad Zoo tells the poignant stories of these remarkable animals. Meet the abandoned lions who roamed an empty palace with no food or drink; the camel, Lumpy, who survived transport through sniper fire; the tigers, Riley and Hope, who traveled 7,000 miles from home; and many more. The Baghdad Zoo, open once again to the people of Iraq, has become an oasis of hope and safety in a city where both are precious gifts.

Click here to read the Worlds of Words review.

Goal!

A lyrical, strikingly illustrated story celebrates the unifying power of soccer. In a dusty township in South Africa, Ajani and his friends have earned a brand-new, federation-size soccer ball. They kick. They dribble. They run. They score. These clever boys are football champions! But when a crew of bullies tries to steal their ball, will Ajani and his friends be able to beat them at their own game?

Edgar Potato

If you knew you were to read a story of a Prince Edward Island potato that had grown too big, you would be able to predict the rest: his peer potatoes would give him a hard time, right? Right. But in the end he would win out, right? Right again, in fact the prize for the Potato Beauty Contest. There is not too much to be put in the middle of such predictability, but Don Oickle has made a good effort. Because Edgar Potato is so near the surface, he gets to see and experience much of the lovely Prince Edward Island scenery. This makes up in part for the insults he receives from his smaller neighbour potatoes. He will not, they jeer, be able to become a wonderful baked or French fried or instant mashed potato. His fate will be to be made into pig food. After winning his beauty prize, Edgar’s last comment is “Maybe being bigger than all the others isn’t so bad after all!

A Prairie Alphabet

When most people think of the prairies, they picture endless flat plains, miles of farms with grain waving in the wind, gentle, undulating hills, and vast cattle ranches. But to the people who live there, particularly the children, the prairies are much more. A Prairie Alphabet offers the adult and child alike a remarkable tour – from the grain elevators that are an integral part of the landscape, to oil rigs that pop up like “grasshoppers,” to fairs and rodeos, to auctions, barns, combines, and dugouts. From the Hardcover edition.

A Pioneer Alphabet

A is for Abigail and Anna, Zebediah’s two sisters. He is making them an alphabet book. From B, which stands for bandalore, a forerunner of the yoyo, H for the hornbook that taught children to spell, and on through the pigeons that blackened the sky, to the uniform that Papa wore when he defended the king, right through to X for the eXhaustion of parents who are homesteading. This lovely romp through the seasons on a pioneer farm is full of fascinating information. Artist Mary Jane Gerber has placed numerous items in each of her paintings and detailed borders, and there is a useful list of them for readers to find. Author Mary Alice Downie has included detailed background notes, making this a sweet introduction to our history. From the Hardcover edition.

Arctic A To Z

A beautifully illustrated dictionary of 26 key aspects of life in the Arctic.World-class photographer and science writer Wayne Lynch takes readers to one of his favorite parts of the world: the Arctic.Using a plant, an animal or a phenomenon for each letter of the alphabet, Lynch describes the unique ways in which systems for living differ where temperature and light can be amazingly extreme. But Lynch also dispels the myth of the Arctic as a perpetually frozen landscape by introducing us to the birds, mammals, insects and plant life that thrive in the short yet glorious sun-filled days of summer.

A Seaside Alphabet

Whether it’s a treasure hunt on Jewell Island, Maine, a sunny afternoon on the rocks at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, or a dip in the ocean on Prince Edward Island, life by the sea is fun. This gloriously illustrated picture book is a celebration of all things coastal: humpback whales, teeming wildlife, and most of all, people who make their homes by the ocean. Seaside life is shown in twenty-six magnificent illustrations. The alliterative text and the detailed notes at the back make the book as informative as it is beautiful. For those lucky enough to have visited the coast, as well as those who only dream of the sea, this book is a feast for the eyes and for the spirit. From the Hardcover edition.

Edward And The Eureka Lucky Wish Company

Edward wishes he could fly. But no matter how much he adjusts and re-adjusts the splurchler and turbo-twirler on his Skyhopper 2000, he can’t get off the ground. Imagine Edward’s thrill when he gets a coupon for not just one, but three wishes. Edward makes a wish that his Skyhopper could fly. And there it goes – Boing! Sproing! Z-z-ooom! – without him. Things really start to lurch out of control when his mother tells him to clean his room. Edward wishes that he didn’t have to! After a monster gobbles up the contents of his room until there’s nothing left to clean, Edward is determined to be more careful with his last wish. Wishes, like flying, should not be taken lightly. Will Edward ever figure out what he really wants to wish for?

Courage In The Storm

She urged the horse on with a jerk at the reins. Judy went on a few steps and stopped again. The object stretched right across her path. It was close and clear now, and Greta gasped. Her very heart seemed to stop beating. For there, like a ghost risen out of the ice, lay a ship. A ship, of all things! A big schooner with three tall masts, all crusted with snow. What was it doing here? Slowly her mind filled with awful suspicion. She tried to put it aside, but it came back. At last she faced the truth.

The little mare had been lost all this time. Instead of crossing the ice, they had been wandering down the river, towards the open sea.