Books with author Shelley Tanaka

breaking into an ancient tomb, marked with the seal of an Egyptian king who died three thousand years ago. A treasure trove of precious artifacts lies waiting in the dark — but we now realize that even more valuable is the mummy inside. Shelley Tanaka takes us back in time to the lives of the people whose bodies were preserved as mummies. Why were the bodies so carefully preserved? What can we learn about life thousands of years ago from the mummified bodies? How can knowledge about ancient peoples help us to better understand ourselves? From the rituals for preserving human bodies to the most up-to-date technology used to study the mummies, this fascinating book provides intriguing details and a personal look at the lives of the people whose remains have survived the millennia. For anyone who has ever shivered at stories of the mummy's curse, or been dazzled by stories of great cultures of long ago, this book is as essential as it is enlightening.

Imagine breaking into an ancient tomb, marked with the seal of an Egyptian king who died three thousand years ago. A treasure trove of precious artifacts lies waiting in the dark — but we now realize that even more valuable is the mummy inside. Shelley Tanaka takes us back in time to the lives of the people whose bodies were preserved as mummies. Why were the bodies so carefully preserved? What can we learn about life thousands of years ago from the mummified bodies? How can knowledge about ancient peoples help us to better understand ourselves? From the rituals for preserving human bodies to the most up-to-date technology used to study the mummies, this fascinating book provides intriguing details and a personal look at the livesof the people whose remains have survived the millennia. For anyone who has ever shivered at stories of the mummy's curse, or been dazzled by stories of great cultures of long ago, this book is as essential as it is enlightening.

It’s autumn in Tokyo, and twelve-year-old Akira and his younger siblings, Kyoko, Shige and little Yuki, have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it’s a new start for all of them, even though the little ones are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise, since the landlord doesn’t permit young children in the building. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while.Akira bravely shoulders the responsibility for the family. He shops and cooks and pays the bills, while Kyoko does the laundry. The children spend their time watching TV, drawing and playing games, wishing they could go to school and have friends like everyone else. Then one morning their mother breezes in with gifts for everyone, but she is soon gone again.Months pass, until one spring day Akira decides they have been prisoners in the apartment long enough. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill-kempt, it seems that they have been hiding for nothing. In the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It’s as if nobody knows.But by August the city is sweltering, and the children are too malnourished and exhausted even to go out. Akira is afraid to contact child welfare, remembering the last time the authorities intervened, and the family was split up. Eventually even he can’t hold it together any more, and then one day tragedy strikes…Based on the award-winning film by Kore-eda Hirokazu, this is a powerfully moving novel about four children who become invisible to almost everyone in their community and manage — for a time — to survive on their own

There is no longer any question that the planet is warming, and that this warming is caused by human activity. Shrinking glaciers and melting permafrost, erratic weather patterns and threatened water supplies are already affecting the lives of people around the globe.Climate change has been called the single greatest threat confronting societies today. The crisis is real, but there is little consensus about how to confront the problem, because the science is complex, the economic, political and social implications of taking action are far reaching, and the scope of the problem is vast.Climate Change — A Groundwork Guide addresses the main questions. What is happening, and how did we get here? What is the basic science behind climate change? What is going to happen in the future? Why is it so hard for us to accept what is going on, and what can we do about it?Perhaps most important, this book acknowledges that the issue involves much more than agreeing on the underlying science. Climate change is an emotionally charged political and philosophical issue as well. It affects how governments and industry form policy, the choices we all make in our daily lives, how we look at the rest of the world, and what kind of world we want to leave to future generations. And it is an issue of particular importance to young adults, because long after our current leaders are dead and gone, it is young people who will be left to deal with the consequences bequeathed to them by today’s policy-makers.Charts, maps, glossary, index and suggestions for further reading accompany the text.The Groundwork Guides provide an overview of key contemporary political and social issues. Engaging, concise and clearly written, these books tackle pressing and sometimes controversial topics, offering both a lively introduction to the subject and a strong point of view.

It’s autumn in Tokyo, and 12-year-old Akira and his younger siblings Kyoko, Shige, and little Yuki have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it’s a new start for all of them. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill kempt, it seems in the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It’s as if nobody knows.

On Aug. 24, A.D. 79, a column of fiery ash & pumice shot into the air from the top of Mt. Vesuvius in Italy. By the next day, the nearby Roman city of Pompeii was buried. More than 1,800 years later archaeologists excavated one of the city's most luxurious houses. Inside were the skeletons of two people: a steward with a leather purse & a seal that said his name was Eros & that he worked for one of the most important families in Pompeii; & a young girl with a bronze ring. This is their story. With fascinating text & splendid color photos & accurate illus., this book recreates the lost world of this buried Roman city & describes how Eros might have lived & how he came to die in his master's house. Also describes the ongoing scientific study of Pompeii.