It was 1780. The Revolutionary War had been going on for four long years.A group of ladies was meeting in a house. It was in Philadelphia."The ladies must do something to help the soldiers!" Hettie said. "I have sent letters to General Washington. The soldiers are in very bad shape. We must raise money to help them!"The leader of the ladies group was named Esther Reed, but everyone called her Hettie."We want to help," one of the women said. "But we are ladies. W...

Many people remember General Tom Thumb as the shortest man in the world. He was more than that. He was an intelligent child, a fabulous entertainer, and a loving husband. He was also a man who knew how to take a difficult situation and make the best of it.Find out more about this man who became one of the most celebrated showmen of his time in this short 15-minute children's biography.Ages 10 and up.Reading Level: 5.7LearningIsland.com believes in the value o...

Joseph II of Austria was a complicated man. He loved his subjects and was willing to do anything for them. Unfortunately for them, in his mind that meant telling them how to do everything!Joseph had been raised to believe that, as royalty, he was smarter and better than anyone else. He believed that being kind to them meant treating them like children. After all, wasn't a ruler supposed to be like a doting parent, always instructing his children? Unfortunately for Joseph, the people...

In the days not long after the pharaohs in Egypt, there lived a woman in China. Leizu (say lee - zhoo) was an empress. She lived in a beautiful palace in China. The palace had a huge garden filled with many trees and flowers.Leizu and her husband, Hoangti loved to walk through their gardens. The emperor and his wife loved their people and always thought of their happiness.One morning Hoangti and his wife were in the beautiful palace garden. They walked up and down, up and dow...

In the days not long after the pharaohs in Egypt, there lived a woman in China. Leizu (say lee - zhoo) was an empress. She lived in a beautiful palace in China. The palace had a huge garden filled with many trees and flowers.Leizu and her husband, Hoangti loved to walk through their gardens. The emperor and his wife loved their people and always thought of their happiness.One morning Hoangti and his wife were in the beautiful palace garden. They walked up and down, up and dow...

Long years ago many cities were built high on a hill. They had great stone walls around them that stood as tall as three or four men. The walls were built to keep out enemies.In those old days cities were each ruled by a different king or lord. These cities often went to war with one another. Each lord wanted more and more land, so he would try to capture the cities that were nearby.The city of Andernach was a city like this. It sat high on a hill overlooking a beautiful vall...

It was a calm, sunny day in the year 1750. The scene: a piece of forest land in the north of Virginia, near a large stream of water.Surveying equipment was lying about, and several men were resting under the trees. Their dress and appearance showed that they were laying out the wild lands of the country.They had just finished their dinner and were letting it settle.Apart from the group walked a young man with a tall and compact frame. He moved with the firm and steady ...

Joseph II of Austria was a complicated man. He loved his subjects and was willing to do anything for them. Unfortunately for them, in his mind that meant telling them how to do everything!Joseph had been raised to believe that, as royalty, he was smarter and better than anyone else. He believed that being kind to them meant treating them like children. After all, wasn't a ruler supposed to be like a doting parent, always instructing his children? Unfortunately for Joseph, the people...

In the summer of 1862, we were living in the State of Minnesota. There I had a most remarkable experience.We lived about a mile from the town of Lac Qui Parle.There were only three of us—father, mother, and myself. My name is Susanna. We had moved to Minnesota three years before. My parents moved to restore their health; for they were feeble and needed a change of climate.The first year, both father and mother were much better; but not long after, father began to fail....

This is the story of an asteroid miner challenged by the universe, and rising to the challenge every time. Told as a saga, Jeffrey Sokolov, accompanied by his sentient artificial intelligence avatar, Elizabeth, finds himself in a position to prevail and defend the solar system at each turn.

Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025.Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American ReadHarper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred...

Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian Era, a period of industrial, cultural, scientific, and political change that was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. But Victoria was raised under close supervision and near isolation until she became Queen of the United Kingdom at the young age of 18. She married her first cousin, Albert, and had nine children who married into families across Europe. By the time she had earned the nickname “The Grandmother of ...