Books with author Charlie

You might think that before humankind came into existence the world was probably pretty boring. Think again. Many-headed monsters, temperamental gods, landscape-changing battles, and a little bit of cannibalism thrown in for good measure: the gruesome world of Greek mythology is not for the fainthearted. From the primordial chaos to the birth of the first humans, this thrilling book retells the stories of the early gods in their full skull-splitting, baby-eating glory. Featuring thunder-wielding world-class jerk, Zeus, at the heart of the narrative, this is a hilarious, if a bit macabre, introduction to Greek mythology as you’ve never heard it before.

No one knows the full story of Charlie Small. At least, not yet. His battered journal was found washed up on a remote, windswept shore. And at first we thought it an elaborate hoax. Surely no 8-year-old could have had so many wild adventures, witnessed so many extraordinary things, lived such an incredible life–and still only be eight. And yet . . . there was something so vivid in the telling that we were persuaded to send the journal and some of its boggling content for analysis. And only one conclusion could be drawn. Everything in the journal of Charlie Small is true! In his first adventure, Gorilla City, Charlie wrestles a deadly river croc, rides a steam-powered rhino, and becomes tribal chief in a city of gorillas.

Imagine yourself traveling alone on a gloomy nighttime road. It is lonely and quiet all around. Suddenly, it happens. You encounter something small, cute, and innocent staring straight back at you: a young fox kit. Neither you nor it knows what to expect, but as you approach the creature with caution, a divine feeling of compassion and adoration pounces upon your heart. Enter Dan Foxworthy. He finds himself in this exact scenario, deciding to keep the helpless creature for what he assumes to be a temporary affair. Once the fox snatches a firm hold upon his heart, Dan cannot resist keeping it longer and longer until the weeks become years and his entire family becomes robustly attached to the happy fox. While foxes are similar enough to, yet uniquely different from dogs, they discover taking care of their unconventional pet requires plenty of typical canine attention along with specialized vulpine care many would likely not know. While raising the kit, Dan figures it must have a family out there somewhere. That presumed local fox family is the same one the Foxworthys had watched awhile for leisure, and they are worried sick for the welfare of their missing child. They had always lived challenging lives of basic wilderness subsistence, but now their lives had been turned upside down like never before. Despite the troubled past with his own parents, the kit’s father struggles with fits of continual anxiety and self-blame, prompting his widowed mother to assure him repeatedly it is not his fault the kit escaped. The father will have to decide if he accepts that or not, and quickly, for unseen enemies are looming, jeopardizing all he holds dear. Determined to keep their fox as long as possible, the Foxworthys encounter many hostile threats to their pet, from simple household hazards to power-hungry authority institutions. However, none exists greater than a vengeful hunter with a dark secret and a penchant for killing foxes. Infuriated by his only meaningful friendship fading, this man eventually hears of Dan’s harboring a fox and decides that he will soon take matters into his own hands. Over time, each side becomes increasingly frustrated with the other and desperation sets in, culminating in a battle of wits between both men and their opposing canine companions, each seeking to outfox the other. Will Dan and his precious pet emerge victorious, or will the dogged hunter have it his way instead?Join them all in this fluffy tale–a clever twist on the common trope of a man and his dog from both human and animal perspectives–as they discover joy and heartache alike along the never-ending adventure of their lives!

An infantry battalion of Marines from Hawaii, find themselves deployed to fight in the biggest, urban battle since the Vietnam War. The city of Fallujah, in al-Anbar Province, Iraq, has been hijacked by a foreign, Islamic fundamentalist insurgency, that is hell bent on attacking Americans and torturing and killing Iraqi civilians. The Marines are tasked with ridding the city of the jihadist fighters and giving it back to its people. Lava Dawgs is a down and dirty perspective of grunts on the front lines of urban combat.

No one knows the full story of Charlie Small. At least, not yet. His battered journal was found washed up on a remote, windswept shore. And at first we thought it an elaborate hoax. Surely no 8-year-old could have had so many wild adventures, witnessed so many extraordinary things, lived such an incredible life–and still only be eight. And yet . . . there was something so vivid in the telling that we were persuaded to send the journal and some of its boggling content for analysis. And only one conclusion could be drawn. Everything in the journal of Charlie Small is true! In his first adventure, Gorilla City, Charlie wrestles a deadly river croc, rides a steam-powered rhino, and becomes tribal chief in a city of gorillas.

An original and delightful approach: imagined visits to artists' studios bring art vividly to life for children. Through the pages of this book, young readers step into a famous artist's studio in medieval Germany, Renaissance Italy, or nineteenth-century France. As the making of a particular work is described, the child smells the paint, hears the chisel chipping into marble, or experiences the wonders of a working printing press. The twenty artists are featured in easy-to-follow chronological order: Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Hans Holbein the Younger, El Greco, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Bernini, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Goya, Jacques-Louis David, Turner, Delacroix, Manet, Monet, and van Gogh. All have remarkable life stories that will entrance any child. Beautifully produced illustrations include an introductory portrait or self-portrait of each artist, followed by reproductions of some of their greatest works. Both paintings and sculptures are represented, offering children an inspiring insight into the visual arts. The artworks―Michelangelo's colossal statue of David, van Gogh's self-portrait with bandaged ear, Velázquez's Las Meninas with little Infanta at center stage, Delacroix's dramatic Liberty Leading the People―have all been chosen specifically to appeal to a young audience. Extended picture captions offer further information, focusing on key details or telling memorable anecdotes, and the book includes a listing of where the artworks can be seen. 120 full-color illustrations