McCurdy and the Silver Dart recounts the thrilling story of J. A. McCurdy, Canada’s aviation pioneer. Born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Douglas McCurdy had a unique childhood during which he assisted world-famous scientist and inventor, Alexander Graham Bell in fascinating and frequently dangerous experiments conducted with kites and airplanes. He was the first person to fly an airplane in the British Empire. Later he became a barnstormer and daredevil pilot, taking part in some of the earlies...

Readers can discover all the foul facts about the STORMIN' NORMANS, including why Norman knights slept with a dolly, which pirate hung up his eye-patch and became a saint and why Crusader ships were defended with barrels of pee. With a bold, accessible new look and a heap of extra-horrible bits, these bestselling titles are sure to be a huge hit with yet another generation of Terry Deary fans.

As a young boy, Charles Darwin hated school and was often scolded forconducting “useless” experiments. Yet his passion for the natural world was so strong that he suffered through terrible seasickness during his five-year voyage aboard The Beagle. Darwin collected new creatures from the coasts of Africa, South America, and the Galapagos Islands, and expanded his groundbreaking ideas that would change people's understanding of the natural world. About 100 illustrations and a clear, exciting...

The illustrated true history of the 11th-century Scottish king made famous by William Shakespeare's play.Macbeth And All That is a real-life adventure packed with historical facts about Scotland's infamous king. Journey back to the dark ages where the throne is splattered in blood and death lurks in every corner. Join Macbeth's quest for power—and find out why the truth is very different from the way Shakespeare told it. Groaning with great illustrations, ...

As young boys, Orville and Wilbur Wright loved all things mechanical. As young men, they gained invaluable skills essential for their success by working with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and any sort of machinery they could get their hands on. As adults, the brothers worked together to invent, build, and fly the world’s first successful airplane. This is the fascinating story of the two inventors and aviation pioneers who never lost sight of their dream: to fly, and to soar higher!

This entertaining Step 4 leveled reader introduces kids to Ben Franklin and his many inventions, including the story of how he created the "magic square." If your child likes sudoku, they'll love learning about the magic square!A magic square is a box of nine numbers arranged so that any line of three numbers adds up to the same number, including on the diagonal! Teachers and kids will love finding out about this popular teaching tool that is still used in elementa...

Meet young men with grand goals in these profiles of forty-six movers and shakers who made their mark before they turned twenty.This engaging and thought-provoking collection of influential stories provides forty-six illustrated examples of strong, independent male role models, all of whom first impacted the world as teenagers or younger. This updated and expanded edition of Boys Who Rocked the World encompases a variety of achievements, interests, and bac...

Between the 8th and 11th centuries Vikings stormed out of their Scandinavian homelands to raid and loot along the coasts of Europe. In old Norse to go-a-viking meant to go on an adventure to seek wealth and fame. Vikings would take to the sea in a long ship, sometimes for a trading trip, sometimes a piratical raid. Often it was both. Explorers and traders, warriors and poets, they ranged between Byzantium in the south and Iceland, and even North America, in the North. Their fame lives on.

The Library of Alexandria was the largest library of its time and a major center for learning and scholarly research, particularly in the fields of astronomy, geography, mathematics, and medicine. Caesar and Cleopatra, Erastosthenes and Euclid, Archimedes and Alexander the Great are just a few of the famous people connected to its story. Today, historians still argue about how the library was destroyed, and no one knows exactly what it looked like, yet there is no question that the library...

Learn all about the soaring science behind aerodynamic airplanes in this fact-tastic nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series about the science of fun stuff!Did you know that some military aircrafts are capable of “supersonic flight,” traveling at speeds faster than sound? Or that the Wright brothers designed the first airplane after studying the wings of birds? You’ll learn this and much more as you become an expert on the science behind airplanes.

**ALA NOTABLE BOOKAMELIA BLOOMER TOP TEN BOOK“Stanley has been delighting and informing readers with her biographies for years, and here, her considerable talents are once again on display…Hartland’s charmingly busy art, reminiscent of Maira Kalman’s work, is full of wit.” —Booklist (starred review)From nonfiction stars Diane Stanley and Jessie Hartland comes a beautifully illustrated biography of Ada Lovelace, who is known as the first computer programmer.*...

A hilarious nonfiction look at two of history's most epic "failures": the Wright brothers, whose countless crashes ultimately led to groundbreaking success.Although Orville and Wilbur Wright are celebrated today as heroes for their revolutionary contributions to science and engineering—they are acknowledged as the first men to successfully achieve powered, piloted flight—their success was hard-earned. (Spoiler alert: there were a lot of nosedives involved.) In fact,...