Books published by publisher Firefly Books Ltd

A beautiful new edition of Steadman's 1968 work, now available in paperback. The force of social satire and fantasy in the original text of Alice in Wonderland is as relevant today as when the book was first published in 1865. In this edition, Ralph Steadman's drawings remain faithful to the book's satirical tone while revealing his own passion for irony. This version of Carroll's classic tale is a startling departure from the traditional Victorian or Disney approaches. In his introduction, Steadman describes how a fresh illustrative perspective created an original, modern vision. The story acquires new life with his audacious and dynamic illustrations. The 47 pen-and-ink illustrations are the same as in the critically acclaimed 1968 British edition. Reformatted and meticulously restored, they convey the energy, imagination and power of Steadman's pen and introduce the wit and wisdom of Alice to a new generation of readers.

Being a dentist is a busy job. What do dentists and their helpers do? Where do dentists go to school? Photos and lively captions show what happens at the dentist's office. Includes tips for keeping teeth and gums healthy. With full-color, full-page photographs throughout plus straightforward and engaging text, the I Want to Be ... series is an appealing introduction to a broad spectrum of occupations. The series gives young children a realistic insight into the working day of adults. Easy-to-read captions and color photographs of women and men from different cultures help children understand what's involved in each occupation. Young readers learn to respect the importance of doing a job well and appreciate the contributions these workers make to our life and the world around us. These books are perfect for reading alone or in group story times. They are certain to spark questions and encourage dialogue and prompt children to learn more about these occupations.

The Mighty Machines series. Mighty machines in full color for the kids who love them. In the Mighty Machines series, vivid color photographs of machines at work jump off the page. Large type describes the machines, their parts and their uses. Glossaries explain essential terms, and suggested activities add to the fun. The big format and vibrant designs make the books perfect for kids to read alone or share with a friend. With their lively designs and topics that are always a favorite with kids, these books offer popular subject matter and excellent value. Traveling down the highway, kids often see spiderlike harvesters and dust-raising tractors working in a field and wonder what these extraordinary vehicles are doing. This book shows all kinds of wheeled farm equipment at work, including: Tractors and their enormous wheels Plows Seed drills Field weeders and crop sprayers Vegetable harvesters Combine harvesters Straw balers The sport and fun of a tractor race!

The bestselling reference updated and expanded with seven new coffee-growing countries. Praise for the first edition: "Fills a gap in the popular reference literature. Recommended." -- Booklist "The definitive guide.... Well-written, informative, and a must-have for general readers who want to know more about their favorite morning brew." -- Publishers Weekly "Educational, thought-provoking, and substantial. I've already recommended this book to (our) readers countless times." -- Barista Magazine The World Atlas of Coffee takes readers on a global tour of coffee-growing countries, presenting the bean in full-color photographs and concise, informative text. It covers where coffee is grown, the people who grow it and the cultures in which it is a way of life. It also covers the world of consumption -- processing, grades, the consumer and the modern culture of coffee. For this new edition, the author expanded his research travels over the last several years to include seven additional coffee-growing regions: Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, China, Philippines, Thailand, Haiti and Puerto Rico. These are covered in 16 additional pages. As well, all of the book's maps have been updated to show greater detail, and all statistics and data have been updated to the most recent available. Organized by continent and then country or region, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the world's favorite brew in color spreads packed with information. The coverage in The World Atlas of Coffee is wide and deep. The book is used by barista and coffee-tasting instructors in North America and overseas and has been welcomed by enthusiastic coffee drinkers everywhere. Appropriate for special and general collections alike, it is an essential selection.

An interactive reader experience that poses the question: which machine is best for the job? Children love machines! Especially big ones! Big ones in the dirt! Construction Machines is a new take on the world of big machines. It looks at a specific job that needs doing, then provides information on the right machine to do it, whether a digger, steam roller, excavator, loader or bulldozer. The book includes sections on quarrying stone, laying a road, building a skyscraper, digging a tunnel, and demolishing a building. Each section begins with a construction scene and asks "what sort of big machines can get this job done?" A sidebar gives the reader different machine options and subsequent spreads take a detailed look at the amazing machines that are up to the challenge. Accessible text gives the key characteristics of favorite machines and colorful sidebar boxes give each machine's vital statistics. Value priced, colorful and informative, this is the perfect book for all young machine enthusiasts! Pack it up with Emergency Machines (9780228101123) to make a great gift.

"A work of art [that] no amateur astronomer should be without." -- Astronomy Forum The Firefly Planisphere is a valuable tool for beginner and advanced stargazers. The previous edition, published in 2013, had star maps up to 2022. This sixth edition updates the maps to 2030. Charted by the month, day, hour and minute, the Firefly Planisphere is easy to use, battery-free and weather-resistant. The stargazer needs only to turn the wheel to align the current date and time. What the see-through panel reveals will match the view of the night sky. The planisphere shows the position of the stars for every night of the year. Icons describe star magnitudes -- the larger the symbol, the brighter the star -- making it easy to locate specific stars. Stargazers will be able to identify planets, stars, constellations, globular clusters, nebulas, galaxies and other celestial wonders. Features include: At-a-glance coordinates for locating the brightest objects in the sky Planetary tables to locate Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, now improved for easier use An overlay window with a new shape for better viewing Times of sunrise and sunset for each day Declination and right ascension scales The ecliptic path. The planisphere's booklet provides accurate information on bright and faint stars, the Milky Way and deep-sky searching. Other topics include: How to use the planisphere Finding planets, sunrise and sunset How to read a star map Learning the sky Exploring the skies, season by season. With its improved features, sturdy construction, portability, weather resistance, smooth wheel rotation, easy-to-read booklet and protective pocket, the Firefly Planisphere is simply the handiest guide to the night sky for the amateur astronomer -- all at the same price as the previous edition, just $19.95.

An in-depth look at the world's mightiest structures. Stunning foldout pages, panels, diagrams, photographs and "Mega Facts" boxes make this book a stimulating read for all ages. Megastructures describes how and why these structures were designed and built. It explains the physics behind the designs, which allows buildings, dams or bridges to rise to incredible heights, withstand enormous pressures, and resist collapse from environmental forces. The book is organized into four sections. Towering Giants: skyscrapers, towers, monuments, offshore platforms Burj Khalifa Skyscraper (gatefold) -- casts shadows on passing clouds Troll A Gas Platform -- its legs weigh an astonishing 72,300 tons each Pearl River Tower -- the first "green" skyscraper Gigantic Lengths: wide and long, over and under Types of bridges -- beam, arch, cantilever, suspension, cable-stayed Öresund Link (gatefold) -- joins Denmark and Sweden Gatthard Base Tunnel -- at 35 miles, the world's longest Massive Monsters and Darkest Depths: stadiums, islands, dams London's Olympic Stadium (gatefold) -- cut-away diagrams Hoover Dam -- changing a river course Palm Islands, Dubai -- palm-tree shaped artificial islands longest Darkest Depths: mines, power stations, ice cores Channel Tunnel (gatefold) -- a network of interlinking tunnels and passages Thunder Horse Oil Field -- the deepest oil field ever found Bingham Canyon Mine -- the world's deepest opencast mine longest In each chapter, Megastructures also looks at Failures and Accidents, including such frightening events as windows falling out, roofs collapsing, floods and explosions. Future chapters in each section describe the monsters of tomorrow, like the pickle-shaped Gherkin tower, the Lake Vostok tunnel deep under Antarctic ice and the Bering Bridge linking the USA and Russia. A glossary of words highlighted in the text, a resources section and an index round out this riveting book.

Very comprehensive... an informative and fun read. -- Canadian Society of Forensic Science An excellent survey of the postmortem identification and interpretation of human remains. -- Science Books and Films Human remains have much to tell us about how our ancestors lived and died, what they believed, and the rituals that were important to them. In Written in Bones, a team of international forensic anthropologists and archaeologists examines important case studies of human remains found at archeological sites around the world. Comprehensive text and color photographs describe how the remains were analyzed using modern scientific techniques and how the data were assembled to create authentic pictures of ancient cultures. The book is organized in five chapters: A Way of Life, Natural Deaths, Deliberate Deaths, Burials, and Mummies and Mummification. Some of the astonishing discoveries covered are: A Han Dynasty aristocrat preserved in an unknown red liquid Bog bodies in Europe The riddle of Tomb KV55, where a male body was found inside a female coffin The headless men and giant wolves of a Mesolithic cemetery in Siberia The seven new cases in this revised edition include: The Silk Road Mummies Early European FarmersMummies and Modern Medicine Infant Deaths in a Roman brothel Called "grisly, gross and utterly compelling," Written in Bones is used as a text in archaeology and anthropology courses around the world. It is sure to find an audience among a wide variety of readers.

The New Book of Optical Illusions is a mind-bending collection of 150 of the most significant optical phenomena, loosely grouped into 33 chapters according to particular visual effect. An optical illusion has two elements. One is the perceived illusion, what you see. It may be merging lines, moving shapes or conflicting sizes. The other element is the scientific explanation or neuronal basis of the illusion. Here enters The New Book of Optical Illusions, which describes the latter--the science of an optical illusion. Concise text describes the history of the optical illusions and their origin. Some are ancient (like a 3D Roman mosaic in a 2nd-century BC home on Malta) and others are modern (like emoticons and street art). There are rarely seen phenomena, works by great illusionists, like M.C. Escher, and well-known illusions like the Impossible Triangle and the Albert Einstein/Marilyn Monroe portrait. Some of the illusions are: Seeing Things That Are Not There -- Discovered on a BBC studio wall in the 1950s, this illusion involves shadows that seem to flit up and down along columns of stripes. Apparently the number of identical lines causes the brain to lose proper focus on what it is seeing. Flashes from the Corner of the Eye -- The Scintillating Grid is a variation of the classic Hermann Grid first described in 1870. In this illusion, circles in an intersecting grid disappear and reappear elsewhere. It is a complex effect rooted in lateral inhibition, which increases the contrast between light and dark in the retina. Perfect for young and adult readers and enthusiasts of optical illusions, this is a great selection for circulating collections and retail customers.

Professionals and enthusiasts alike will love this beautiful book by James Hoffmann. From overviews of the world's most vibrant coffee-growing regions, to step-by-step brewing tutorials, the content is educational, thought-provoking, and substantial. I've already recommended this book to Barista Magazine readers countless times. -- Sarah Allen, Editor Barista Magazine A beautiful world guide to the brown bean. Taking the reader on a global tour of coffee-growing countries, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the bean in full-color photographs and concise, informative text. It shows the origins of coffee -- where it is grown, the people who grow it; and the cultures in which coffee is a way of life -- and the world of consumption -- processing, grades, the consumer and the modern culture of coffee. Plants of the genus Coffea are cultivated in more than 70 countries but primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. For some countries, including Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Honduras, coffee is the number one export and critical to the economy. Organized by continent and then further by country or region, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the brew in color spreads packed with information. They include: The history of coffee generally and regionally The role of colonialism (for example, in Burundi under colonial rule of Belgium, coffee production was best described as coercive. Every peasant farmer had to cultivate at least 50 coffee trees near their home.) Map of growing regions and detail maps Charts explaining differences in growing regions within a country Inset boxes (For example, what is the Potato Defect? Is Cuban coffee legal in the United States?) The politics of coffee and the fair trade, organic and shade grown phenomena Beautiful color photographs taken in the field. Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. The World Atlas of Coffee is an excellent choice for these coffee lovers.

The monster trucks are back and they're still big, just like kids love them. Monster Trucks is an in-your-face book about the eye-popping behemoths that attract more than four million Monster Jam fans every year to sold-out stadiums in the United States, Canada and Europe. Superfans dress up in the painted designs of their hero truck, pack the seats, and add to the noise. Monster trucks are their superheroes. On wheels. Very, very BIG wheels. First published in 2012 as part of the Mighty Machines series, this new release has more pages and is as big and bold in color and content as the roaring monsters that crush cars, jump in the air, and do wheelies, spins and tricks. Large type describes the nuts and bolts of monster trucks, literally: how they are made, what makes them safe, and exactly how impressively big and tall and wide and fat they are. But the kick for monster truck fans are the pages and pages of the most famous monster trucks: Monster Medic, Thundertrax, Maximum Destruction, Jurassic Attack, Raminator, Grim Reaper and more. With a quiz to test monster truck know-how and activities to keep the fun going, plus a glossary of terms, Monster Trucks is perfect for kids to enjoy alone or with other monster truck superfans.

About other titles in the series, which to date have sold 65,000 copies: The Little Book of Woodland Bird Songs "An excellent home purchase, but it should certainly also be considered by libraries and classrooms that are willing to accept some wildlife sounds. Highly Recommended." --Canadian Review of Materials The Little Book of Backyard Bird Songs "A 'trilling' way to bring natural history into the nursery." --Kirkus "One of the very few items with a battery that I like for young children." --LivingMontessoriNow.com "The sounds and selected facts may spark an interest in venturing out into the backyard 'wild' to glimpse some of its avian residents." --Kirkus Reviews "The naturalist in me adores this book!" --Rainbow Resource Rumble! Hiss! Squawk! Thwack! With just the touch of a button, readers can travel back 65 million years and more to find out what these 12 extraordinary creatures sounded like, from the trombone-like call of Parasaurolophus to the low-frequency rumble of T-Rex. Twelve of the most iconic dinosaur species are brilliantly brought to life with amazing images, fascinating facts and the authentic primeval sounds. The dinosaur noises have been reconstructed in collaboration with leading paleontologist Thomas Williamson, and are based on the very latest paleoacoustic research. The child-friendly book brings the sounds of a long-lost world to life for young dinosaur fans. The 12 dinosaurs are: Carnotaurus Deinocheirus Stegosaurus Pachycephalosaurus Allosaurus Triceratops Apatosaurus Tyrannosaurus Sinosauropteryx Ankylosaurus Parasaurolophus Velociraptor. Features include accurate text and 12 realistic illustrations on sturdy pages, authentic sounds, a high-quality sound module allowing for replaceable batteries, and packaging that conforms to required safety standards. This is a surefire treat for all young dinosaur enthusiasts.