Whether Congress is in session or not, here is an enthralling overview about the branch of our government closest to average Americans. Best-selling adult author and the first woman to become executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is a self-confessed political junkie. Now she has written the book she wishes she'd had as a young reader. Explaining clearly and concisely what exactly Congress does, this book is peppered with fascinating stories, including the bloody beating in the Senate of a lawmaker in pre-Civil War days, the Watergate hearings, and Senator Joe McCarthy's shamefu... View More...
An amazing, miraculous refugee story of coming to America, the young readers edition of Tani Adewumi's story will inspire kids looking for true stories of doing hard things.At eight years old, Tani Adewumi, a refugee, won the 2019 New York State Chess Championship after playing the game for only a year--and while homeless. Tani and his family fled Boko Haram's reign of terror in Nigeria to come to the United States, where they lived in a New York City homeless shelter while waiting to be granted religious asylum. Tani began attending a public elementary school and decided he wanted to join the... View More...
Our sixteenth president, whom some say was our greatest, was born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky. As a boy he helped his father clear land and even built a boat that he floated to New Orleans. As president, he led the country through the Civil War, and wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, setting all slaves free in the Confederate states. Young readers will be inspired by Lincoln's story of hard work, success, and justice. For almost thirty years, David Adler's Picture Book Biography series has profiled famous people who changed the world. Colorful, kid-friendly illustrations combine with... View More...
The Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones spent most of his lifetime trying to prove his ideas about naval tactics and training. Born in Scotland, he chose a life of adventure as a sea captain. He commanded cargo ships before settling in America and becoming an officer in the newly formed Continental Navy. Through persistence, training, and sheer nerve, Jones fought against the formidable British Navy and helped America win its freedom.
How did a New York printer become one of the most influential poets of all time? Find out in this addition to the Who HQ library Walt Whitman was a printer, journalist, editor, and schoolteacher. But today, he's recognized as one of America's founding poets, a man who changed American literature forever. Throughout his life, Walt journeyed everywhere, from New York to New Orleans, Washington D.C. to Denver, taking in all that America had to offer. With the Civil War approaching, he saw a nation deeply divided, but he also understood the power of words to inspire unity. So in 1855, Walt publis... View More...
An inspiring true story in the tradition of The Little House on the Prairie.Grace McCance was three when her family settled in a one-room sod house on the lonely Nebraska prairie. There was hard work for everyone, the nearest water source was two miles away, and disaster could strike at any time in the form of a tornado, a drought, or a rattlesnake bite. Still, Grace thrived amid the dusty soil of the American heartland: "I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful life." 01-02 Young Hoosier Book Award Masterlist (Gr 4-6) and 00-01 South Carolina Book Award Nomination Masterlist (Grds 3-8)... View More...
If you grew up with Abraham Lincoln --Would you have to work hard? --What kinds of games would you play? --What would your school be like? This book tells you what it was like to grow up on the frontiers of Kentucky and Indiana, in the prairie town of New Salem, Illinois, and in the city of Springfield, Illinois, during the early 1800s.
Claude Monet is considered one of the most influential artists of all time. He is a founder of the French Impressionist art movement, and today his paintings sell for millions of dollars. While Monet was alive, however, his work was often criticized and he struggled financially. With over one hundred black-and-white illustrations, this book unveils a true portrait of the artist View More...
As a boy Franklin Roosevelt had almost no contact with people outside his parents' upper-class social circle, but as president he would do more for the poor and working class than perhaps any other chief executive, including the creation of Social Security. This book examines the pivotal early years of his life. View More...
A humorist, narrator, and social observer, Mark Twain is unsurpassed in American literature. Best known as the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, not unlike his protagonist, Huck, has a restless spirit. He found adventure prospecting for silver in Nevada, navigating steamboats down the Mississippi, and making people laugh around the world. But Twain also had a serious streak and decried racism and injustice. His fascinating life is captured candidly in this enjoyable biography. View More...
Learn all about Christopher Columbus' early life at sea, which led him to seek fortune by sailing west in hopes of creating new trade routes with the Indies. Kids will read about why he called himself the "Great Admirald of the Seas" and learn of all his struggles to find finacial support for his voyage. View More...
The story of one of the most influential civil rights activist of our time. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 25 when he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was soon organizing black people across the country in support of the right to vote, desegregation, and other basic civil rights. Maintaining nonviolent and peaceful tactics even when his life was threatened, King was also an advocate for the poor and spoke out against racial and economic injustice until his death--from an assassin's bullet--in 1968. With clearly written text that explains this tumultuous time in history and... View More...
Learn how Fred Rogers, a minister and musician from Pennsylvania, became one of America's most beloved television personalities and everyone's favorite neighbor. Even though he's best known for his successful PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Fred Rogers never dreamed of working in television. In fact, he hated the very first program that he ever watched Join author Diane Bailey as she takes readers through the journey that brought Mister Rogers into our living rooms. From his childhood interest in puppet-making and music, to his courageous visit to Russia during the Cold War, this book... View More...