Search results for ""tilbury house,u.s.""

This is a story about love and sacrifice: Tamen’s mom, a nightshift nurse, finds a way to take him camping. For one magical night on the shore of a wilderness pond, the Milky Way in all its glory belongs to them.

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Rafael Guastavino Sr. was 39 when he left a successful career as an architect in Barcelona. American cities—densely packed and built largely of wood—were experiencing horrific fires, and Guastavino had the solution: The soaring interior spaces created by his tiled vaults and domes made buildings sturdier, fireproof, and beautiful. What he didn’t have was fluent English. Unable to win design commissions, he transferred control of the company to his American-educated son, whose subsequent half-century of inspired design work resulted in major contributions to the built environment of America. Immigrant Architect is an introduction to architectural concepts and a timely reminder of immigrant contributions to America. The book includes four route maps for visiting Guastavino-designed spaces in New York City: uptown, midtown, downtown, and Prospect Park.

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Each of the three seeds in this story—a cherry stone in Iran, an acacia seed in Australia and a lotus seed in China—survives a difficult journey through flood, fire or drought, then sprouts and ultimately flourishes.

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Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.

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Alone, cold, and frightened, Zoo Sap cries, and his cries attract the forest animals. Beginning with beaver and ending with the great bald eagle, the animals rush to protect the baby and shelter him from the cold until his father returns for him. New, expanded 10th-anniversary edition of this classic that has sold more than 30,000 copies. · New features include an author’s note explaining the seasonal movement of the Passamaquoddy people; a pronunciation guide to the Passamaquoddy names of the animals in the story; and a QR code that will let readers link to the audio recording of Allen Sockabasin telling the story in the Passamaquoddy language. A beguiling bedtime story and a profound expression of reverence for the natural world. Lexile Level 620 Fountas and Pinnell Text Level L

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When the Earth disappears behind the moon, Collins loses contact with his fellow astronauts on the moon’s surface, with mission control at NASA, and with the entire human race, becoming more alone than any human being has ever been before. In total isolation for 21 hours, Collins awaits word that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have managed to launch their moon lander successfully to return to the orbiter—a feat never accomplished before and rendered more problematic by the fuel burn of their difficult landing. In this singularly lonely and dramatic setting, Collins reviews the politics, science, and engineering that propelled the Apollo 11 mission across 239,000 miles of space to the moon. Fountas & Pinnell Text Level U

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Narrated in the poetic voice of the estuary itself, and accompanied by natural-history sidebars about estuary plants, animals, and cycles, THE SECRET BAY is another topnotch nature book from the author and illustrator of the award-winning, bestselling The Secret Pool. A stand-alone book and a stunning companion volume to Ridley and Raye’s award-winning Secret Pool. Ridley deftly augments the estuary’s lyrical narrative voice with sidebars about the plants, animals, and natural processes of an estuary. Raye’s gorgeous watercolors reveal new features and hidden treats with each reading. Back matter includes The Estuary Food Web, Great Escapes (how estuary animals avoid predators), and an author’s note about the challenges facing estuaries. A perfect book for the budding naturalist and for his or her parents and teachers. Fountas & Pinnell Level S Lexile 1180

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When a downcast Sergio gets home from a bad day at school, his wise mother listens sympathetically to his tale of woe and then suggests an experiment. Placing a bowl of marbles next to Grandfather’s old balance scale, she asks him to go back to the beginning of his day and remember each good and bad thing that happened. For each bad thing, he places a marble on the right-hand pan of the scale; for each good thing he places a marble on the left-hand pan. Sergio is amazed to discover that even on a day that felt awful, the good outweighed the bad.

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Here Amy Newbold conveys nineteen artists’ styles in a few deft words, while Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Edgar Degas’ dinosaur ballerinas, Cassius Coolidge’s dinosaurs playing Go Fish, Hokusai’s dinosaurs surfing a giant wave, and dinosaurs smelling flowers in Mary Cassatt’s garden; grazing in Grandma Moses’ green valley; peeking around Diego Rivera’s orchids in Frida Kahlo’s portrait; tiptoeing through Baishi’s inky bamboo; and cavorting, stampeding or hiding in canvases by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach and Edvard Munch. And, of course, striking a Mona Lisa pose for Leonardo da Vinci. As in If Picasso Painted a Snowman, our guide for this tour is an engaging beret-topped hamster who is joined in the final pages by a tiny dino artist. Thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works, completing this tour of the creative imagination.

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Scorpions and brown recluse spiders are fine as far as they go, but if you want daily contact with venomous creatures, the ocean is the place to be. Blue-ringed octopi, stony corals, sea jellies, stonefish, lionfish, poison-fanged blennies, stingrays, cone snails, blind remipedes, fire urchins—you can choose your poison in the ocean. Venoms are often but not always defensive weapons. The banded sea krait, an aquatic snake, wriggles into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels, killing them with one of the world’s most deadly neurotoxins, which it injects through fangs that resemble hypodermic needles.

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More than 99 percent of all life forms have gone extinct during the 3.6-billion-year history of life on Earth. Other organisms have changed dramatically, but not our extreme survivors. Evolution may have altered their physiology and behavior, but their body plans have stood the test of time. How have these living links with Earth’s prehistoric past survived? The search for answers is leading scientists to new discoveries about the past—and future—of life on Earth. The survival secrets of some of these ancient creatures could lead to new medicines and treatments for disease. Written in a lively, entertaining voice, Extreme Survivors provides detailed life histories and strange “survival secrets” of ten ancient animals and explains evolution and natural selection. Extensive back matter includes glossary, additional facts and geographic range for each organism and a geologic timeline of Earth. F&P Level V

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Worried about the drought that has caused a big decrease in honey production, his dad is irritable and remote, seemingly unable to offer the acceptance that Jonathan yearns for. But one sleepless night Jonathan joins his mother in the kitchen making beeswax candles for sale, and discovers an outlet for his artistic talents that will make a big contribution to the family finances. Bee-fact sidebars buzz through this human story about a child trying to please his father. In this expanded paperback edition, an “About Bees” appendix offers further natural history about these vital and fascinating insects. Helps us see that sensitive, artistic boys have their own special place. Fountas & Pinnell Level O

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Baby golden tortoise beetles pile poop on their backs to create a shield as protection from predators. Silver-spotted skipper caterpillars can shoot their poops 40 times their own body length to conceal their true locations. Baby hoopoes squirt their poops into the eyes of attackers -- and who wants feces in their faces? Baby Ozark blind cave salamanders use gray bat guano for food. The bottom (!!) line: Ever-inventive nature finds a thousand uses for poop. Nothing goes to waste (!!). This book is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser with a lot of information to share.

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Also included are a compendium of caribou facts and a new afterword about caribou in the twenty-first century. Journey into the magical world of the caribou, North America s own reindeer. A Tilbury House classic with 30,000 copies sold Expanded paperback edition includes a haunting new afterword by biologist Mark McCollough, describing the condition of the great arctic caribou herds in the age of climate change. Both an alphabet book and a child's nature book.

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The girl in this story sees it happening, but she would never do these mean things herself. Then one day something happens that shows her that being a silent bystander isn’t enough. Will she take some steps on her own to help another kid? Could it be as simple as sitting on the bus with the girl no one has befriended (and discovering that she has a great sense of humor)? Resources at the end of the book will help parents and children talk about teasing and bullying and find ways to stop it at school.One child at a time can help change a school. Since its release in May 2004, this book has sparked Say Something weeks in schools from Maine to Shanghai. It has been turned into plays, distributed to hundreds of kids at conferences, read by principals on large screens, and rewritten by students in several schools (Do Something! is a favorite title). Most importantly, Say Something has helped start countless conversations among kids and adults about teasing. We’re celebrating with this new edition, updated with a new cover and an author’s note. Fountas & Pinnell Level O

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Mia and Tayja pretend to be princesses on a perilous journey, but there’s one thing they don’t have to pretend. They know in their hearts that they’re real sisters despite being adopted. Playful and sweet, Real Sisters Pretend celebrates the wonderful variety of modern families, in which the only essential ingredient is love.

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Calvin’s dictionary is proud to be carried everywhere Calvin goes—the breakfast table, school then home again—because Calvin is determined to find the perfect word to attach to his annoying older brother. The word isn’t exactly revenge, mayhem, bewilderment, subterfuge, pulverise or even retaliation, though all those words are close and very tempting. When Calvin finally finds the right word for his rascally brother, his dictionary is surprised and delighted, and readers will enjoy celebrating the triumphant discovery of Calvin’s perfect word along with his dictionary.

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Edward Hopper’s monster lurks outside the nighthawks’ diner. James Whistler’s monster rocks in her chair. Monsters invade masterpieces by Dorthea Tanning, Paul Cezanne, M.C. Escher and many other artists, and the monster emerging from Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is unforgettable. Our guide for this romp through re-imagined masterpieces is an engaging hamster, while thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works.

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What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many possible ways to do stargazing: with a friend, with family or alone; on a moonless night, or with a full moon, or even with some clouds; on the beach, lying in the grass or standing on a snowy hill. There is only one rule of stargazing, which is saved for the end, and that is just to do it! Magical illustrations show polar bears, whales and other animals stargazing too, and in the final illustration, diverse kids and animals gaze at the night sky together. Back matter about the constellations completes this bedtime story with its underlying message of love and respect for nature.

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This is a book about mindfulness. About relishing the magic of the here and now. About enjoying the extraordinary unfoldings of an ordinary day. Moving from morning to night, the narrator becomes, by turns, boy or girl, of ever-changing ethnicity and ability, inhabiting city, country, or suburb. They are all children everywhere, opening themselves to the gift of time.

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Big lies are told by governments, politicians and corporations to avoid responsibility, cast blame on the innocent, win elections, disguise intent, create chaos and gain power and wealth. Big lies are as old as civilisation. They corrupt public understanding and discourse, turn science upside down and reinvent history. They prevent humanity from addressing critical challenges. They perpetuate injustices. They destabilise the world. The modern age has provided ever-more-effective ways of spreading lies but it has also given us the scientific method, which is the most effective tool for finding what is true. In the book’s final chapter, Kurlansky reveals ways to deconstruct an allegation. A scientific theory has to be testable and so does an allegation. BIG LIES soars across history: alighting on the “noble lies” of Socrates and Plato; Nero blaming Christians for the burning of Rome; the great injustices of the Middle Ages; the big lies of Stalin and Hitler and their terrible consequences; the reckless lies of contemporary demagogues, which are amplified through social media; lies against women and Jews are two examples in the long history of “othering” the vulnerable for personal gain; up to the equal-opportunity spotlight in America. “Belief is a choice”, Kurlansky writes, “and honesty begins in each of us. A lack of caring what is true or false is the undoing of democracy. The alternative to truth is a corrupt state in which the loudest voices and most seductive lies confer power and wealth on grifters and oligarchs. We cannot achieve a healthy planet for all the world’s people if we do not keep asking what is true.”

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Black lives matter. That message would be self-evident in a just world, but in this world and this America, all children need to hear it again and again, and not just to hear it but to feel and know it. This book affirms the message repeatedly, tenderly, with cumulative power and shared pride. Celebrating Black accomplishments in music, art, literature, journalism, politics, law, science, medicine, entertainment and sports, Shani King summons a magnificent historical and contemporary context for honouring the fortitude of Black role models, women and men, who have achieved greatness despite the grinding political and social constraints on Black life. Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, Sojourner Truth, John Lewis, Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Maya Angelou, Aretha Franklin and many more pass through these pages. An America without their struggles, aspirations and contributions would be a shadow of the country we know. A hundred life sketches augment the narrative, opening a hundred doors to lives and thinking that aren’t included in many history books. James Baldwin’s challenge is here: “We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it". Actress Viola Davis’s words are here too: “When I was younger, I did not exert my voice because I did not feel worthy of having a voice. I was taught so many things that didn’t include me. Where was I? What were people like me doing?” This book tells children what people like Viola were and are doing, and it assures Black children that they are, indisputably, worthy of having a voice. Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter? is a book for this time and always. It is time for all children to live and breathe the certainty that Black lives matter.

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In this sequel to the tour de force children’s art-history picture book If Picasso Painted a Snowman, Amy Newbold conveys nineteen artists’ styles in a few deft words, while Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Edgar Degas’ dinosaur ballerinas, Cassius Coolidge’s dinosaurs playing Go Fish, Hokusai’s dinosaurs surfing a giant wave, and dinosaurs smelling flowers in Mary Cassatt’s garden; grazing in Grandma Moses’ green valley; peeking around Diego Rivera's orchids in Frida Kahlo’s portrait; tiptoeing through Baishi’s inky bamboo; and cavorting, stampeding, or hiding in canvases by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach, and Edvard Munch. And, of course, striking a Mona Lisa pose for Leonardo da Vinci. As in If Picasso Painted a Snowman, our guide for this tour is an engaging beret-topped hamster who is joined in the final pages by a tiny dino artist. Thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works, completing this tour of the creative imagination.

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When scientist Heather Lynch came across a satellite image of the remote Danger Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula showing an enormous pink swath of land, she knew exactly what she was looking at

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Discover the enormous world of some of the planet's tiniest creaturesand the giant job they do in our ecosystem

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The poetic story, combining lyricismwith natural history excellence, is augmented and enriched by informativesidebars and backmatter. Birds, mammals, amphibians, and insects peek out from the beautiful, scientifically accurate illustrations.

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One summer day, Luke and his friends decide to play their favorite game of war, using sticks for guns and pine cones for bombs. But Sameer, who is new to their neighborhood, doesn’t want to join in. When the kids learn that Sameer lost his family in a real war, they realize that war is not a game. The gracefulness of their response and the power of friendship are the real stories here.

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The narrator is a composite of people Pu Zhelong influenced in his work. With further context from Melanie Chan’s historically precise watercolors, this story will immerse young readers in Chinese culture, the natural history of insects, and the use of biological controls in farming. Backmatter provides context and background for this lovely, sophisticated picture book about nature, science, and Communist China. “The first time I saw a scientist in my village was also the first time I saw a wasp hatch out of a moth’s egg,” writes the narrator of this picture book about Chinese scientist Pu Zhelong. “In that moment I could not have said which was the more unexpected—or the more miraculous.” In the early 1960s, while Rachel Carson was writing and defending Silent Spring in the U.S., Pu Zhelong was teaching peasants in Mao Zedong’s Communist China how to forgo pesticides and instead use parasitic wasps to control the moths that were decimating crops and contributing to China’s widespread famine. This story told through the memories of a farm boy (a composite of people inspired by Pu Zhelong) will immerse young readers in Chinese culture, the natural history of insects, and sustainable agriculture. Backmatter provides historical context for this lovely, sophisticated picture book. The author, Sigrid Schmalzer, won the Joseph Levenson Post-1900 Book Prize for 2018 for her book Red Revolution, Green Revolution. This is the most prestigious prize for a book about Chinese history, and the book upon which Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is based. Fountas & Pinnell Level U

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Is a melting snowman a sign of climate change? Can she reduce her carbon footprint? What is buoyancy? Paper airplanes, animal tracks, and a morning of sledding get her thinking about aerodynamics, winter survival, and friction. “Conduct an experiment,” her parents tell her whenever she has a new question. “Use the scientific method.” So Acadia does science. And so can you.

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Acadia Greene has done science in summer, autumn, and winter. In the fourth and final book of this series, she carries her search for answers into the spring, investigating meteors and mass extinctions; germination and pollinators; parasites, ticks, and Lyme disease; and pesticides and malaria. Finally, looking back through her notebooks, she puts together her scientific inquiries from all four seasons into a holistic understanding of the natural world. Acadia is curious, determined, bold, and bright—a wonderful STEAM ambassador! Lexile 750

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How did she navigate the world of venture capitalists and investment bankers to engineer the sale of her company and reap a personal fortune? And what does her subsequent odyssey to buy and donate a new national park in Maine's north woods—thus repaying what she regards as the “harmonic debt to the planet” she incurred by manufacturing beauty products—tell us about America and the American dream? Queen Bee is a fascinating biography of a fascinating woman, her game-changing skin-care company, and the quest to create a national park in the north woods. A richly textured portrait of the woman who built Burt's Bees from nothing and altered the global business of skin care. A tightly woven story of the paper-industry exodus, the giant clearance sale of the north woods, the downward spiral of paper-company towns, and the battle for a new national park. A tale of the American Dream in action— what it can do for the fortunate few who are in the right place at the right time with wits and determination, and what it can do to the unfortunate many who find themselves on the wrong side of “creative destruction.”

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Joe's photos capture moments of ephemeral grace and beauty in places that are forgotten or hiding in plain sight. Smelt Brook in Castine is not on any standard itinerary. Neither are South Addison, Merrymeeting Bay, the Scarborough Marsh, and many other places Joe has explored over the years. Even places that are familiar to many--West Quoddy Head, Old Orchard Beach, Monhegan Island, Pemaquid Point, Portland Harbor, Acadia National Park, and others--are revealed by Joe's camera in moments of other-worldly allure. There are surprises on every page, just as there are surprises around any bend of a Maine coastal road. Every photo in this book was taken from a public vantage point you can reach by car or ferry. An appendix offers directions to each place. Ken Textor's essays reveal hidden nuggets on every page: why the shade on a Castine street has a strange, nostalgic feel; what to think of a mauve lobster boat or a seemingly abandoned dory in the weeds; how a lighthouse surrounded by granite quarries came to be built of brick; which is the front and which is the back of a house built between Main Street and the harbor; how to enumerate the many services provided by a salt marsh; why the lobstering isn't better in upper Blue Hill Bay; why sea air makes us hungry; and how a wormdigger turns a mudflat into money. The great naturalist Louis Agassiz believed that the only way to discover the truth of a thing is through sustained attention. In THE HIDDEN COAST OF MAINE, Joe Devenney and Ken Textor share the results of three-and-a-half decades of attention to an amazing place.

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In E. B. White on Dogs, his granddaughter and manager of his literary estate, Martha White, has compiled the best and funniest of his essays, poems, letters, and sketches depicting over a dozen of White's various canine companions. Featured here are favorite essays such as 'Two Letters, Both Open,' where White takes on the Internal Revenue Service, and also 'Bedfellows,' with its 'fraudulent reports'; from White's ignoble old dachshund, Fred. ('I just saw an eagle go by. It was carrying a baby.') From The New Yorker's 'The Talk of the Town' are some little-known Notes and Comment pieces covering dog shows, sled dog races, and the trials and tribulations of city canines, chief among them a Scotty called Daisy who was kicked out of Schrafft's, arrested, and later run down by a Yellow Cab, prompting The New Yorker to run her 'Obituary.' Some previously unpublished photographs from the E. B. White Estate show the family dogs, from the first collie, to various labs, Scotties, dachshunds, half-breeds, and mutts, all well-loved.This is a book for readers and writers who recognize a good sentence and a masterful turn of a phrase; for E. B. White fans looking for more from their favorite author; and for dog lovers who may not have discovered the wit, style, and compassion of this most distinguished of American essayists.

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Most of these short, savvy essays have appeared in The Forecaster, in Ed's Universal Notebook column (named for the spiral-bound reporter's notebooks that he buys two dozen at a time), or in the Maine Times, where he was a staff writer for a number of years. He started reporting when he was a sophomore at Westbrook High, writing for the Westbrook American, and aside from a stint as a librarian at the Portland Public Library after college, he's been scribbling for a living in Maine for his working life. Opinionated, insightful, humorous, and sometimes controversial, Ed Beem enjoys his role as a local observer, and these essays will resonate with anyone tuned in to day-to-day life in backyard Maine.

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Maine is a rural backwater? Meet Hiram Abrams, born in Portland in 1878 the son of a Russian immigrant real estate broker, attended public schools, left school at age sixteen, sold newspapers, bought a cow and started a dairy -- and eventually became the founder and president of United Artists. Or Aurelia Gay Mace, born in 1835 in Strong, a Shaker from an early age, credited with the invention of the wire coat hanger. Aurelia achieved national fame in 1890 when she mistook Charles Lewis Tiffany for a tramp, gave him lemonade, brushed his clothes, insisted that he sit down for the noon meal, and sent him off with a box lunch. Tiffany responded by sending her a set of engraved silver. Meet Milton Bradley who was born in Vienna (Maine) in 1836, educated at Harvard, worked as a mechanical engineer and patent solicitor, became interested in lithography, developed a board game, The Checkered Game of Life, and founded the Milton Bradley Company. Or Louise Bogan, who was born in Livermore Falls in 1897, moved to Greenwich Village as a young woman, took up the bohemian life,occasionally drove the get away car for a fur thief, and ended up as the poetry critic for the New Yorker Magazine. And many more...

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Stone Wall Secrets also shows positive family dynamics between different generations and different races in an adoptive family. Gus Moore's richly detailed paintings are the perfect complement to a story full of imagery and wonder.

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Bold artworkwith a charming retro feel

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This story examines some of the women and BIPOC figures included at the United States Capitoland featured in statues around the countryas well as examines the timely question: who needs a statue?

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Between his opening greeting and the bookend closing page on which he stalks away after taking no questions, Gato wants to make one thing perfectly clear: Although he has four legs, two ears, and a long, long tail, the word “cat” does not define him. His identity is his alone to describe and determine. With the help of Danica Novgorodoff’s laugh-out-loud illustrations, he takes us on a tour of his adventures, accomplishments, and daily activities that makes mincemeat of our first impressions. He wears a sweater and a leash, so is he a dog? He runs in pastures, so is he a horse? He likes flowers, so is he a bee? He swims, so is he a duck? He has flown in airplanes and ridden in subways, so is he a person? Maybe he’s all those things, but what he truly is, he wants us to know, is Gato. To underline the story’s message of empowerment and self-identity, the back cover and backmatter include photos of the real Gato (Winter Miller’s cat) doing everything he claims and more. Signs on walls, headlines in newspapers, New Yorker cartoon homages, and sight gags on every page reward repeated readings and will make this book the first one that parents reach for at bedtime.

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Rafael Guastavino Sr. was 39 when he left a successful career as an architect in Barcelona. American cities—densely packed and built largely of wood—were experiencing horrific fires and Guastavino had the solution: The soaring interior spaces created by his tiled vaults and domes made buildings sturdier, fireproof and beautiful. What he didn’t have was fluent English. Unable to win design commissions, he transferred control of the company to his American-educated son, whose subsequent half-century of inspired design work resulted in major contributions to the built environment of America. Immigrant Architect is an introduction to architectural concepts and a timely reminder of immigrant contributions to America. The book includes four route maps for visiting Guastavino-designed spaces in New York City: uptown, midtown, downtown and Prospect Park.

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Civilization rearranges nature for human convenience. Clothes and houses keep us warm; agriculture feeds us; medicine fights our diseases. It all works—most of the time. But key resources lie in the most hazardous places, so we choose to live on river flood plains, on the slopes of volcanoes, at the edge of the sea, above seismic faults. We pack ourselves into cities, Petri dishes for germs. Civilization thrives on the edge of disaster. And what happens when natural forces meet molasses holding tanks, insecticides, deepwater oil rigs, nuclear power plants? We learn the hard way how to avoid the last disaster—and maybe how to create the next one. What we don’t know can, indeed, hurt us. This book’s white-knuckled journey from antiquity to the present leads us to wonder at times how humankind has survived. And yet, as Author Gale Eaton makes clear, civilization has advanced not just in spite of disasters but in part because of them. Hats off to human resilience, ingenuity, and perseverance! They’ve carried us this far; may they continue to do so into our ever-hazardous future. The History in 50 series explores history by telling thematically linked stories. Each book includes 50 illustrated narrative accounts of people and events—some well-known, others often overlooked—that, together, build a rich connect the-dots mosaic and challenge conventional assumptions about how history unfolds. Dedicated to the premise that history is the greatest story ever told. Includes a mix of “greatest hits” with quirky, surprising, provocative accounts. Challenges readers to think and engage. Includes a glossary of technical terms; sources by chapter; teaching resources as jumping-off points for student research; and endnotes. Fountas & Pinnell Level Z+

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Gloria loves to sing, dance and act in her bedroom, but not in public. No way. Gloria’s big problem makes sure of that, following her wherever she goes and constantly reminding her that she’s anxious and frightened, that she’s not good enough and that everyone will laugh at her. Anxious Gloria worries all the time, about everything. Until, one day, Gloria summons all her courage to try out for a community theatre production. She marches herself to the audition and her big problem marches right in behind her. She gets up on stage and her big problem takes a seat in the front row and starts to laugh at her. And then at last she yells “STOP!” and her big problem shrinks to a little problem and Gloria wins a part in the play.

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Mrs. Snowden tells the kids that T = True, H = Helpful, N = Necessary, and K = Kind. If what you’re about to say isn’t any of these things, she tells them, you shouldn’t say it. Later that day, when Tyaja is about to criticize her friend Dhavi’s new haircut, she is stopped by four little elves sporting the letters T, H, N, and K, who reinforce Ms. Snowden’s lesson and remind Tyaja how friends should treat friends. Tyaja learns that she is the “I” in THiNK!

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“Have I ever told you that, for me, there is no one more special than you? That for me, you are the most special child in the world, and that I love you now and will love you forever? Have I ever told you that?” Shani King wrote Have I Ever Told You? as a note to his children, to remind them that they are amazing in their individuality and that they have the power to choose who they want to be in this world. The illustrations create a masterful visual narrative: warm, witty, simple, profound, and as ferociously empowering as a children’s book can be.

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While Joey’s mother explains the context of numbers in vivid ways, Joey’s imagination transforms their ordinary car ride into a magical odyssey through a land of make-believe. Is 2 a Lot? is a wonderfully charming and authentic exchange between mother and child. Annie Watson’s story makes numbers tangible and Rebecca Evans’s illustrations bring them to life.

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What happens in the oceans is critically important to life on Earth. The girl in her little blue house wants to believe that other children love the oceans and want to keep them safe, alive and beautiful.

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"Rosy-cheeked and quite antique, Miss Pinkeltink / carried everything but the kitchen sink. / Her purse was so big that it dragged on the floor. / When she rode on the bus it got stuck in the door." Generous and eccentric, Miss Pinkeltink fills her huge purse with everything from a toilet plunger to roller skates, and then gives it all away. She offers tape to fix a flat tire and a bone to a kitty: Miss Pinkeltink’s gifts never quite hit the mark, / but she gave what she had, and she gave from the heart. And then, with nothing left to give or to shelter herself, she huddles on a park bench, trying to sleep in the rain. And that’s where Zoey sees her from her bedroom window and knows that something must be done.

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Snowdrops and crocuses yield to tulips and hyacinths, then dogwood blossoms, iris, lupine, daisies, morning glories, daylilies, geraniums, peonies, sunflowers, roses, and chrysanthemums as spring passes to summer, then autumn. At last the garden slumbers into winter under a blanket of snow, preparing next year’s procession of blooms. Like actors crossing a stage, flowers narrate the passing seasons in the first person, each one briefly proclaiming its unique and vital role in the natural world. Backmatter descriptions complete this child’s introduction to a garden year, in which the passage of time is vividly realized. Fountas & Pinnell Level L

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