Ada’s Ideas

Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was the daughter of Lord Byron, a poet, and Anna Isabella Milbanke, a mathematician. Her parents separated when she was young, and her mother insisted on a logic-focused education, rejecting Byron’s “mad” love of poetry. But Ada remained fascinated with her father and considered mathematics “poetical science.” Via her friendship with inventor Charles Babbage, she became involved in “programming” his Analytical Engine, a precursor to the computer, thus becoming the world’s first computer programmer.

Rex

Once upon about 65 million years ago, a terrifying tyrannosaurus roams the earth. He spends his days raging through the jungle, scaring every other dinosaur in sight with his fierce roar. Then, one night while he is sleeping, an abandoned egg cracks open and out pops a tiny dinosaur who decides right then and there that this scary tyrannosaurus is his father. And so begins the touching story of a little dino and his search for a dad—a tale sure to resonate with families of all stripes.

The Big Monster Snorey Book

The sleeping monsters are making an awful lot of noise — snoring and grumbling, tapping and chattering. After such a long sleep, what happens if they wake up feeling hungry? Any little monsters around better watch out! With masses of monsters to spot and an awesome onomatopoeic text, children will ask for this hilarious, inventive book over and over again. While the text introduces readers to a cast of curious characters, including knobbly-kneed Norris, Flora the fussy fidget, and snotty Stanley, the illustrations suggest that something pretty monstrous might be going on.

Beowulf

Graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf. Now it is reinvented for a new generation with Gareth Hinds’s masterful illustrations. Grendel’s black blood runs thick as Beowulf defeats the monster and his hideous mother, while somber hues overcast the hero’s final, fatal battle against a raging dragon. Speeches filled with courage and sadness, lightning-paced contests of muscle and will, and funeral boats burning on the fjords are all rendered in glorious and gruesome detail. Told for more than a thousand years, Beowulf’s heroic saga finds a true home in this graphic-novel edition.