Books with author Jan Smith

A wide-ranging and delightful narrative history of the celebrated plant breeder Luther Burbank and the business of farm and garden in early twentieth-century America A century ago, Luther Burbank was the most famous gardener on the planet. His name was inseparable from a cornucopia of new and improved plants—fruits, nuts, vegetables, and flowers—for both home gardens and commercial farms and orchards. At a time when the science of genetics was in its infancy and agriculture was often a perilous combination of guess work and luck, many people wanted a piece of the man they called the Wizard of Santa Rosa. As the United States moved from a nation of farms to a nation of city dwellers, the people behind the new products that transformed daily life were admired with a fervor that is not accorded to their present-day counterparts. Everyone knew and marveled at Samuel Morse’s telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and Thomas Edison’s electric light. And like these other great American inventors, Burbank was revered as an example of the best tradition of American originality, ingenuity, and perseverance. Burbank had learned the secret of teaching nature to perform for man, breeding and crossbreeding ordinary plants from farm and garden until they were tastier, hardier, and more productive than ever before. The Garden of Invention is neither an encyclopedia nor a biography. Rather, Jane S. Smith, a noted cultural historian, highlights significant moments in Burbank’s life (itself a fascinating story) and uses them to explore larger trends that he embodied and, in some cases, shaped. The Garden of Invention revisits the early years of bioengineering, when plant inventors were popular heroes and the public clamored for new varieties that would extend seasons, increase yields, look beautiful, or simply be wonderfully different from anything seen before. The road from the nineteenth-century farm to twenty-first-century agribusiness is full of twists and turns, of course, but a good part of it passed straight through Luther Burbank’s garden. The Garden of Invention is a colorful and engrossing examination of the intersection of gardening, science, and business in the years between the Civil War and the Great Depression.

Many many years ago, before you were born, before your parents were born and before their parents were born, there was a strange and magical land called Quinkanna - a land that was home to many kind and wonderful people and creatures.Quinkanna was a peaceful land ruled by the kindest King and Queen ever to have lived. The Kindg and Queen shared their humble castle with their two young children; Prince Benjamin the Wild and Princess Jessica the Wise. Quinkanna had been at peace for over a thousand years. The last time the land had been threatened was during the Great Dragon War when the fiercest, most evil dragons had nearly destroyed Quinkanna. Luckily for the King and Queen, no dragons had been seen in Quinkanna for a thousand years.Until now.The discovery of a friendly but scared dragon cub in the land followed by a mysterious illness that befalls the beautiful Princess Jessica threatens to destroy the happiness that had been bestowed on the land for so may years. When the wisest healers in the land are unable to cure the child it falls to the brave little dragon cub to take on an incredible quest to save her, and all of Quinkanna, from the threat of the Wonambi Dragons!A Thousand years ago, Quinkanna had been attacked by the terrible and evil Wonambi Dragon tribe. After the land was destroyed in the Great War, the Wonambi retreated to the treacherous Mountains of Bex, far away from the green and lush fields and orchards of Quinkanna. Since then, no creature or person had ever met a Wonambi dragon and lived to tell the tale. To succeed in his quest and save the Princess, the infant dragon cub must face his darkest fears , overcome his weaknesses and discover the truth about his own past before facing the most terrible danger in the land.Only then can he find the cure....

Some call Archie Starmageddon‘s grandmother a witch, but that suits her just fine–it keeps the dangerous pirates away from her small farm in the swamp. But when young Archie rescues a baby monster, she insists he return it to its mother, and thus begins an adventure that ends with Archie and his charge the only ones who can stop their modest kingdom from becoming the first to fall before the new pirate empire.This is a chapter eBook for ages 8-12.

Children love finding out about themselves; they’re curious about what lies beneath the skin. With a pull of some tabs, and the cool images here, they can find out how oxygen circulates, about the digestive process, and what makes up the inside of a cell. The mysteries of the skeleton, skull, teeth, brain, heart, and more are revealed to inquisitive young minds, along with very practical information on how they can stay healthy.

Little Snail meets with difficulties and distractions on his journey to the ark. Does he have what it takes? Will he reach the ark on time?An engaging story that is beautifully illustrated and will appeal to children aged 3-8 years old. The story encourages children to think about an important characteristic that could serve them well through life.The book includes a fun learning section at the back, with activity pages that encourage numerical skills relating to:- Numbers;- Number recognition;- Counting;- Shapes;- Introductory graphing;- Patterns- Adding and subtracting

Many years ago, before you were born, before your parents were born and before their parents were born, there was a strange and magical land called Quinkanna. Quinkanna was a peaceful land ruled by the kindest King and Queen ever to have lived. The King and Queen lived peacefully with their two young children; Prince Benjamin the Wild and Princess Jessica the Wise. The last time their land had been threatened was during the Great Dragon War when the fiercest dragons had nearly destroyed Quinkanna. No dragon had been seen in Quinkanna for a thousand years. Until now. The discovery of a friendly dragon cub in the land followed by a mysterious illness that befalls the beautiful Princess Jessica threatens to destroy the happiness that had been bestowed on the land for so many years. When the wisest healers in the land are unable to cure the child it falls to the brave little dragon cub to take on an incredible quest to save her, and all of Quinkanna, from the threat of the Wonambi Dragons!