When rock-loving Marian stumbles upon a perfect, pointy stone in the park, she just knows it is a dinosaur fossil! But her geologist mom and her fossil-hunting hero remain unconvinced, so there’s only one thing to do — Marian has to find the rest of the dinosaur. One by one, she excavates more fossils in her backyard (though her parents keep mistaking them for gardening tools and household objects). Piecing them together is puzzling, but Marian’s dinosaur is shaping up to be her best disco...

Teddy is the king of the dump!Teddy and his dad are going to the dump. At the rural waste management center, Teddy helps to sort the recyclables, using a garbage claw to rescue a missorted bottle, chasing scrap paper and watching (and hearing!) the compactor at work. “Got to make it as small as possible,” Dad says as they watch forklifts and bulldozers moving garbage into piles that stretch as far as the eye can see, “because there’s soooo much.” Finally, it’s time...

The extraordinary story of the woman who made plastics recycling possible.Milly Zantow wanted to solve the problem of her town’s full landfill and ended up creating a global recycling standard — the system of numbers you see inside the little triangle on plastics. This is the inspiring story of how she mobilized her community, creating sweeping change to help the environment.On a trip to Japan in 1978, Milly noticed that people were putting little bundles o...

From award-winning author and illustrator Scot Ritchie comes this lively look at the journey of a West Coast tugboat towing a log boom, as seen through the eyes of a young boy."I’m helping Dad on the tugboat. We’re going to tow a log boom to the sawmill on the river… I look out for ferries and other boats in the harbor… Then I see it — a deadhead!"Follow a child and his father through their workday on a tugboat on the West Coast as they watch a log boom bei...

A look back in time helps a sixth-grade class envision a greener, more sustainable future.When construction at Birch Elementary uncovers a time capsule buried by the school’s sixth-grade class in 1900 the year the school was built! Mr. Marons’s current sixth-grade class is delighted to discover letters from students among the artifacts inside. Focused on the exciting innovations in the new building, the letters inspire the idea for the modern-day students’ intriguing assignment: En...

Follow That Map! is a mind-expanding adventure for the young and a unique way to introduce mapping concepts at the primary level and get kids started on the road to mastering this essential skill.

The perfect kid-friendly introduction to mindfulness.Pedro’s friends — Yulee, Nick, Martin and Sally — are at his house for a sleepover. Pedro is moving in a few days, and he’s been feeling sad and worried about the change. To help Pedro feel better, his mom decides to teach the five friends about mindfulness. As the children practice focusing on their bodies, using their senses, paying attention to their feelings and accepting life as it happens, Pedro learns there are many ways t...

Everybody in the pool! It’s time to get moving!Pedro, Yulee, Nick, Sally and Martin are excited! Tomorrow their swim team, the Flying Sharks, will be competing in the school meet. Readers follow along as the team has one last practice with their coach at the community pool. Then it’s off to the races on the big day! While the friends work hard to get ready for the meet, they learn about the benefits of physical fitness and what it takes to stay active and healthy.With so mu...

A perfect, kid-friendly introduction to family heritage.Today is a big day for the five friends. Their class is hosting a Heritage Festival to celebrate the customs and traditions of people from all over the world. Martin, Sally, Pedro, Nick and Yulee each have their own heritage, and they have so much to share! They learn about various traditions involving music, food, language, stories, crafts, clothing and games. They also learn that exploring their different heritages makes eve...

A fun introduction to why the world needs bees.Pedro, Nick, Yulee, Sally and Martin are buzzing with excitement today! The five friends are visiting Martin’s neighbor, Mr. Cardinal. He keeps beehives in his backyard, and he’s offered to show the friends how honeybees live. Mr. Cardinal explains how bees feed and pollinate, what happens inside their colony, how they build their hives and even why they like to dance! He also describes why some bees are in trouble and what people can ...

Learn about the problem of single-use plastic — and what to do about it.On his birthday, Nick challenges his friends to spend the day without using any single-use plastic. This means they bring their own cloth bags, say no thanks to plastic straws and decorate with paper streamers instead of balloons. Along the way, the kids learn what plastic is made of, how much of it surrounds us and how it’s polluting our oceans and affecting the food chain. Most importantly, the five friends l...

Learning about buildings and how they are constructed has never been so much fun. This gem of a book introduces young readers to basic construction concepts through the eyes of five friends keen on building a doghouse for their pet pooch, Max. To find out more about the task, Yulee, Martin, Nick, Sally and Pedro head to the library, where they learn about foundations, beams, frames and other building fundamentals. Fun facts, bright illustrations and comic-book-style discussions among the c...