Books in National Geographic Pocket Guide series

Gazing into the night sky, children investigate our solar system, the universe, and major constellations. Star charts map the sky and help young astronomers navigate their way with the naked eye, binoculars, or telescopes. From Pluto to Pegasus, each entry examines a different heavenly body and answers the questions "how big and how far?" A special hand sky-measuring system that’s easy for kids to learn and use helps them understand scale and distance.

More than two hundred million people visited our national parks in 2009. National parks are some of America's most treasured places, and the National Geographic Kids National Parks Guide U.S.A. is the perfect way to bring the fun and amazement of these majestic places to kids. Divided by region, (Northeast & Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West), this guide is both accessible and tons of fun. NG Kids color treatments, full-color photographs, and layering of information make information jump off the page. Features include tips on exploration, information about animals, sidebars, checklists, fun facts, maps, cool things to do, and much more. Conservation information, a find out more section, glossary, and index add ample back matter to round out this book.

Ladies and Gentlemen: the next President of the United States will soon be included within the pages of one of our perennial favorites. National Geographic Children’s Books will publish this fully revised and updated edition of Our Country’s Presidents in time for the Inauguration of our 44th head of state—the first Presidents reference book on the market after the election.This president will follow in the footsteps of 43 predecessors who have assumed America’s greatest responsibility: these men have faithfully executed their duties—they have signed treaties, addressed Congress, brokered peace, and waged war. Each has left his own indelible mark on the history of the United States and on the lives of the American people.Find out why George Washington gave up his life as a Virginia planter to lead the nation; why John Taylor was deemed "His Accidency"; walk with the presidents through wars, depressions, civil rights movements, and the space race; romp with the Garfield children in a White House pillow fight; and mourn with a nation for John F. Kennedy.This timely update will offer fascinating and comprehensive profiles of all the presidents, timelines of their administrations, historic images, and features on important aspects of their terms. A fresh cover design and informative insight about our new leader will make this volume stand apart from all other contenders, and confirm its place as the definitive family reference guide to the fascinating lives of our leaders past and present.

More than two hundred million people visited our national parks in 2009. National parks are some of America's most treasured places, and the National Geographic Kids National Parks Guide U.S.A. is the perfect way to bring the fun and amazement of these majestic places to kids. Divided by region, (Northeast & Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West), this guide is both accessible and tons of fun. NG Kids color treatments, full-color photographs, and layering of information make information jump off the page. Features include tips on exploration, information about animals, sidebars, checklists, fun facts, maps, cool things to do, and much more. Conservation information, a find out more section, glossary, and index add ample back matter to round out this book.

National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs takes readers on a spectacular visual journey through some of the most stunning photographs to be found in National Geographic's famed Image Collection. Award-winning photographer Annie Griffiths culled the images to reflect the many variations on the universal theme of beauty. Chapters are organized around the aesthetic concepts that create beauty in a photograph: Light, Composition, Moment (Gesture and Emotion), Motion, Palette, and Wonder.Beyond the introduction and brief essays about each featured concept, the text is light. The photographs speak for themselves, enhanced by lyrical quotes from scholars and poets. In the chapter on Light, for example, we read these words of whimsical wisdom from songwriter Leonard Cohen: "Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the lights get in." And then the images flow, of light entering scenes via windows, clouds, and spotlights, from above, alongside, and behind, casting radiance upon young ballerinas and weathered men, into groves of autumn trees and island-dotted seas, revealing everything it touches to be beautiful beyond expectation.To illuminate the theme of Wonder, Griffiths chose a wish from Andre Bazin: "If I had influence with the good fairy...I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life." This thought is juxtaposed with an exquisite vision in white, a frame filled with the snowy-pure dots and rays of a bird's fan tail. And on it goes, picture after tantalizing picture, alive with wondrous beauty.When she created National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs, Annie Griffiths set two goals: to maximize visual delight, and to create a book unique in the world of publishing--one in which many of the photographs could be purchased as prints. She has succeeded on both counts. Many of these stunning images are available for order, and there can be no doubt as to the visual delight. You must open this book for yourself, and take in its radiant beauty.

The new fourth edition of National Geographic's award-winning Student Atlas of the World is more fascinating and fact-filled than ever, and has gone INTERACTIVE with new digital extras, including scannable pages that link to photo galleries and quizzes. Dynamic, user-friendly content includes photos, facts, charts, graphics, and full-color political, physical, and thematic maps on important topics. From the cartographic experts at National Geographic comes the latest edition of its award-winning student atlas, with everything kids want and need to know about our changing world!

Year after year, hundreds of millions of visitors spend more than a billion hours enjoying the magnificent, astonishingly diverse realm overseen by America’s National Park Service. And the National Geographic Society has been involved with this forward-looking, environmentally-minded department from the very beginning.This extensive travel planner covers not just the 58 official National Parks but also the nearly 350 additional properties in the Park Service’s domain. The premier Parks are described in detail, but equal attention is given to the National Monuments, Memorials, Preserves, Historic Sites, Battlefields, Cemeteries, and Seashores, not to mention a network of "National Trails" and even the intriguingly referred to "Affiliated Areas." From Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty, from the hallowed ground of Gettysburg National Military Park to the Pacific waters shrouding Hawaii’s U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, this catalog spans American history and territory both, with practical advice on how to reach each park, when to go, and what to do there.

No one could have thought up a more amazing character than the living, breathing Benjamin Franklin. He was everything from a "soapmaker, candle dipper, and printer" to a "postmaster, political activist, community reformer, revolutionary, statesman, international diplomat, and first great citizen of a nation which he, as much or more than anyone, helped to create." Acclaimed children's author-illustrator Cheryl Harness through her true-to-life paintings and storytelling-style narrative, along with a generous sampling of Franklin's own words, lets you "walk in his shoes" as you discover just how truly remarkable Benjamin Franklin was.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Essential, comprehensive, and easy to use, National Geographic Complete Book of Birds is an astonishing resource that covers every bird species in North America, as well as all the migrants that fly through. The entries are organized by family groups-an incredible 82 are included-according to the American Ornithological Union guidelines. Within a family, each separate bird entry has dozens of tips and illustrations on species' genders, age groups, behavior, habitats, nesting and feeding habits, and migration routes. Readers will also find unique features, such as:A quick-find index for the most common bird groups and a full glossaryStraightforward, accessible text by numerous birding experts, including National Geographic's resident birding consultant Jonathan AlderferHundreds of range and migration maps from renowned ornithologist Paul Lehman with National Geographic cartographersState-of-the-art, updated bird illustrations by expert artists, including Jonathan AlderferNew and original photographs from well-known bird photographers Kevin Karlson and Brian SmallPerfect for novice or experienced birders alike, National Geographic Complete Book of Birds is a definitive, must-have resource. Quite simply, there is no other volume like it.

With beautiful illustrations, specially designed maps, and concise essays written and reviewed by National Geographic's Alliance Program, this authoritative guide stands alone among children's reference titles. Easy-to-read physical maps introduce each region of the U.S., followed by a lively essay of the area's history, climate, natural resources, and physical features.