Books with author Emily Arnold McCully

Maisie Ferris and her parents are interested in new ideas and the world beyond their small town of Galesburg, Illinois. When a visiting journalist from England tells Maisie he has never heard of popcorn, Maisie and her father come up with the wild idea of growing popcorn and selling it overseas. Their plan is a success, and Maisie’s dreams of selling popcorn in England and meeting Queen Victoria come true.

Lizzie Murphy was good at baseball. In fact, she was better than most of the boys. But she was born in 1900, and back then baseball was not a game for girls. Lizzie practiced with her brother anyway, and then she talked her way onto the local boys' team, first as a batboy, then as a player. Everyone was impressed by her hard catches and fast pitches. By the time she turned fifteen, she was playing for two different amateur boys' teams. When she turned eighteen, Lizzie did something else that women weren't supposed to do: she signed up with a professional baseball team, determined to earn her living playing the game.

This fascinating, informative, and touching picture book by a Caldecott Medalist is based on the true story of an eighteenth-century rhino who toured Europe and started a sensation! Clara is a book sure to fascinate young animal lovers, history buffs in the making, and kids interested in geography, as they follow a rhinoceros on her journey across Europe. In detailed illustrations, McCully shows Clara being introduced to Louis XV of France, Frederick the Great of Germany, and others willing to pay for a chance to stroke her soft lip. Her owner, a Dutch sea captain, keeps Clara fed (she eats 100 pounds of hay and 30 loaves of bread a day!) and watered (she drinks 14 buckets of water and beer) and takes loving care of her until her death 17 years later.Winner of the National Parenting Product Award

This illuminating biography reveals how the daughter of Lord Byron, Britain’s most infamous Romantic poet, became the world’s first computer programmer.Even by 1800s standards, Ada Byron Lovelace had an unusual upbringing. Her strict mother worked hard at cultivating her own role as the long-suffering ex-wife of bad-boy poet Lord Byron while raising Ada in isolation. Tutored by the brightest minds, Ada developed a hunger for mental puzzles, mathematical conundrums, and scientific discovery that kept pace with the breathtaking advances of the industrial and social revolutions taking place in Europe. At seventeen, Ada met eccentric inventor Charles Babbage, a kindred spirit. Their ensuing collaborations resulted in ideas and concepts that presaged computer programming by almost two hundred years, and Ada Lovelace is now recognized as a pioneer and prophet of the information age. Award-winning author Emily Arnold McCully opens the window on a peculiar and singular intellect, shaped — and hampered — by history, social norms, and family dysfunction. The result is a portrait that is at once remarkable and fascinating, tragic and triumphant.

This illuminating biography reveals how the daughter of Lord Byron, Britain’s most infamous Romantic poet, became the world’s first computer programmer.Even by 1800s standards, Ada Byron Lovelace had an unusual upbringing. Her strict mother worked hard at cultivating her own role as the long-suffering ex-wife of bad-boy poet Lord Byron while raising Ada in isolation. Tutored by the brightest minds, Ada developed a hunger for mental puzzles, mathematical conundrums, and scientific discovery that kept pace with the breathtaking advances of the industrial and social revolutions taking place in Europe. At seventeen, Ada met eccentric inventor Charles Babbage, a kindred spirit. Their ensuing collaborations resulted in ideas and concepts that presaged computer programming by almost two hundred years, and Ada Lovelace is now recognized as a pioneer and prophet of the information age. Award-winning author Emily Arnold McCully opens the window on a peculiar and singular intellect, shaped — and hampered — by history, social norms, and family dysfunction. The result is a portrait that is at once remarkable and fascinating, tragic and triumphant.

Alice Cogswell was a bright and curious child and a quick learner. She also couldn't hear. And, unfortunately, in the early nineteenth century in America, there was no way to teach deaf children. One day, though, an equally curious young man named Thomas Gallaudet, Alice's neighbor, senses Alice's intelligence and agrees to find a way to teach her. Gallaudet's interest in young Alice carries him across the ocean and back and eventually inspires him to create the nation's first school for the deaf, thus improving young Alice's life and the lives of generations of young, deaf students to come.

Strongheart may have been a movie star, but he wasn't always famous. He started out as a police dog who could sniff out criminals and march like a soldier, but he didn't know how to have fun. Larry Trimble was a Hollywood director who wanted to put Strongheart in his movies―not just as a pet but as the lead actor. Larry taught him to play with toys and walk like a regular dog. In his films, Strongheart brought audiences to tears. He was a sensation! But when Strongheart's military training led to trouble, was his career over? Set in the early days of silent movies, Emily Arnold McCully's extraordinary story about a real-life hero will capture the hearts of dog lovers and movie fans everywhere.

Maisie Ferris and her parents are interested in new ideas and the world beyond their small town of Galesburg, Illinois, even though their neighbors frown on anything too different. When a visiting journalist from England tells Maisie he has never heard of popcorn, Maisie and her father come up with the wild idea of growing popcorn and selling it overseas. Their plan is a success, and Maisie’s dreams of selling popcorn in England and meeting Queen Victoria come true.

Fly into fun with a determined girl engineer named Min who finds a clever way to join her big sister's games. This Level G book is perfect for young readers building their vocabulary and skills! Big Sister Ann and her friend Bess are playing school—and Min wants to join in. But Ann tells Min she's not ready for school. "Here is the line." says Ann, "You may not step over it." Min doesn't give up so easily, though—she finds a rock and a board, some rope and a tube, and builds herself a catapult and rocket. Launching herself into the air and over the line, Min ends up in the middle of the playdate without stepping over the line. Beginning readers will cheer underdog Min's triumphant landing in this easy-to-read book that celebrates ingenuity and perseverance. Detailed watercolor illustrations by Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully showcase the budding engineer's brilliant plan. They'll all play rocket scientists instead! The award-winning I Like to Read® series focuses on guided reading levels A through G, based upon Fountas and Pinnell standards. Acclaimed author-illustrators--including winners of Caldecott, Theodor Seuss Geisel, and Coretta Scott King honors—create original, high quality illustrations that support comprehension of simple text and are fun for kids to read with parents, teachers, or on their own! For early-to-mid first grade readers, Level G books feature more complex storylines than prior levels, and a wider variety of structure and punctuation. Illustrations offer support for decoding the more challenging vocabulary words introduced.

With her sketchbook labeled My Inventions and her father's toolbox, Mattie could make almost anything – toys, sleds, and a foot warmer. When she was just twelve years old, Mattie designed a metal guard to prevent shuttles from shooting off textile looms and injuring workers. As an adult, Mattie invented the machine that makes the square-bottom paper bags we still use today. However, in court, a man claimed the invention was his, stating that she "could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities." Marvelous Mattie proved him wrong, and over the course of her life earned the title of "the Lady Edison."With charming pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations, this introduction to one of the most prolific female inventors will leave readers inspired.Marvelous Mattie is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.