Books published by publisher Chicago Review Pr

One hundred years after the start of the “Great War,” World War I for Kids provides an intriguing and comprehensive look at this defining conflict that involved all of the world’s superpowers. Why and how did the war come about? What was daily life like for soldiers in the trenches? What roles did zeppelins, barbed wire, and the passenger ship Lusitania play in the war? Who were Kaiser Wilhelm, the Red Baron, and Edith Cavell? Young history buffs will learn the answers these questions and many others, including why the western front bogged down into a long stalemate; how the war ushered in an era of rapid military, technological, and societal advances; and how the United States’ entry helped end the war. Far from a dry catalog of names, dates, and battles, this richly illustrated book goes in depth into such fascinating topics as turn-of-the-20th-century weaponry and the important roles animals played in the war, and explains connections among events and how the war changed the course of history. Hands-on activities illuminate both the war and the times.Kids can:· Make a periscope· Teach a dog to carry messages· Make a parachute· Learn a popular World War I song· Cook Maconochie Stew· And much more

Discovering Great Artists is a creative collection of easy art-appreciation activities for children. Kids will find 110 amazingly fun and unique projects to experience the styles and techniques of the great masters from the Renaissance to the present. A brief biography of each artist is included with each fully illustrated, child-tested art activity that introduces the featured painting. Artists include painters, sculptors, photographers and more.

Winner of the 2009 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Children’s Literature Award. This activity book tells the amazing true story of how two bicycle-making brothers from Ohio, with no more than high-school educations, accomplished a feat that forever changed the world. At a time when most people still hadn’t ridden in an automobile, Wilbur and Orville Wright built the first powered, heavier-than-air flying machine. Woven throughout the heartwarming story of the two brothers are activities that highlight their ingenuity and problem-solving abilities as they overcame many obstacles to achieve controlled flight. The four forces of flight—lift, thrust, gravity, and drag—and how the Wright brothers mastered them are explained in clear, simple text. Activities include making a Chinese flying top, building a kite, bird watching, and designing a paper glider, and culminate with an activity in which readers build a rubber-band-powered flyer. Included are photographs just released from the Wright brothers’ personal collection, along with diagrams and illustrations. The history of human flight and its pioneers, a time line, and a complete resource section for students are also provided.

The singer and drummer of the Band details, in this book, the history of one of the most influential groups of the 1960s. While their music evoked a Southern mythology with their beautifully crafted, image-rich songs, only their Arkansan drummer, Levon Helm, was the genuine article. This updated edition of his life story includes a new epilogue that covers the last dozen years of his life. From the cotton fields to Woodstock and from seeing Sonny Boy Williamson and Elvis Presley to playing for President Clinton, This Wheel's on Fire replays the tumultuous life of Levon Helm in his own unforgettable folksy drawl.

Want to speak Hittite? Hold out a glass and ask for “wa-tar.” This unique activity book for children ages nine and up shows what life was like among the Nubians, Mesopotamians, Hittites, and their neighbors the Egyptians from around 3100 B.C., when Upper and Lower Egypt became one kingdom, to the death of Queen Cleopatra under the Romans, in 30 B.C. Projects such as building a Nubian irrigation machine, creating a Mesopotamian cylinder seal out of clay, making kilts like those worn by Egyptian boys and men, and writing in Hittite cuneiform help young readers to connect with these ancient cultures and see how profoundly they have influenced our own.

Anyone can recycle a plastic bottle by tossing it into a bin, but it takes a bit of skill to propel it into that bin from 500 feet away. Skill, and a copy of Soda-Pop Rockets. Author and engineer Paul Jarvis has designed 20 different easy-to-launch rockets that can be built from discarded plastic drink bottles. After learning how to construct and fly a basic model, readers will find out new ways to modify and improve their designs, including built-on fins, nosecones, and parachutes that enable a rocket to float safely back to earth. More complex designs include two-, three-, and five-bottle rockets, gliding rockets, long-tail rockets, cluster rockets, whistling rockets, ring-finned rockets, and a jumbo version made from a five-gallon water-cooler tank. Clear, step-by-step instructions with full-color illustrations accompany each project, including how to build a launch pad, along with photographs of the author firing his creations into the sky. For those determined to find an educational benefit to their tinkering, these rockets are a clear demonstration of Newton’s Third Law. Soda-bottle rockets can even be used as science fair projects by budding engineers. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build them, but who knows what career path you’ll take after you do?

A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2019Martin and Bobby follows the lives, words, and final days of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Initially wary of one another, their relationship evolved from challenging and testing each other to finally “arriving in the same place” as allies fighting poverty and racism. The stories of King and Kennedy reveal how life experiences affect a leader’s ability to show empathy for all people and how great political figures don’t work in a vacuum but are influenced by events and people around them. Martin’s courage showed Bobby how to act on one’s moral principles, and Bobby’s growing awareness of the country’s racial and economic divide gave Martin hope that the nation’s leaders could truly support justice. Fifty years later, their lives and words still stir people young and old and offer inspiration and insight on how our country can face the historic challenges of economic and racial inequality.

NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 for 2014 listHumans have gazed into the night sky for thousands of years and wondered, What are those twinkling lights? Though the sun, moon, and planets moved across the background of stars, the stars themselves appeared immovable, forever fixed in constellations. Only when astronomers began taking a closer look did anyone realize what a fascinating, ever-changing universe lies beyond our solar system—red giant and white dwarf stars, spiral galaxies, wispy nebulae, black holes, and much more.In Beyond the Solar System, author Mary Kay Carson traces the evolution of humankind’s astronomical knowledge, from the realization that we are not at the center of the universe to recent telescopic proof of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. In addition to its engaging history, this book contains 21 hands-on projects to further explore the subjects discussed. Readers will build a three-dimensional representation of the constellation Orion, model the warping of space-time caused by a black hole, see how the universe expands using an inflating balloon, and construct a reflecting telescope out of a makeup mirror and a magnifying glass. Beyond the Solar System also includes minibiographies of famous astronomers, a time line of major scientific discoveries, a suggested reading list, a glossary of technical terms, and a list of websites for further exploration.

Isaac Newton was as strange as he was intelligent. In a few short years, he made astounding discoveries in physics, astronomy, optics, and mathematics— yet never told a soul. Though isolated, snobbish, and jealous, he almost single-handedly changed the course of scientific advancement and ushered in the Enlightenment. Newton invented the refracting telescope, explained the motion of planets and comets, discovered the multicolored nature of light, and created an entirely new field of mathematical understanding: calculus. The world might have been a very different place had Netwon’s theories and observations not been coaxed out of him by his colleagues. Isaac Newton and Physics for Kids paints a rich portrait of this brilliant and complex man, including 21 hands-on projects that explore the scientific concepts Newton developed and the times in which he lived. Readers will build a simple waterwheel, create a 17thcentury plague mask, track the phases of the moon, and test Newton’s Three Laws of Motion using coins, a skateboard, and a model boat they construct themselves. The text includes a time line, online resources, and reading list for further study. And through it all, readers will learn how the son of a Woolsthorpe sheep farmer grew to become the most influential physicist in history.

Do you ever dream of being a marine explorer or adventurer? Are you a fan of cool, cute, or creepy creatures? Then here’s some good news: some of the coolest, cutest, and creepiest creatures live in Earth’s oceans and other watery places.Marine Science for Kids is a colorful, fun, photo-filled guide to exploring our underwater world. In these pages, you’ll delve deep into the science of aquatic study, including geology, chemistry, and biology in both salt- and freshwater environments, and gain insight into the real-world practice of aquatic science. You’ll discover how and why oceans move, and learn the answers to questions such as “Why is the ocean blue?” You’ll meet cool creatures, including sharks and rays, penguins and other seabirds, whales and dolphins, squids and octopuses, and many more. You’ll uncover some of the most pressing challenges facing marine environments and find out how you can use your talents to make a difference. Real-life marine scientists share what inspires them every day and provide insights into their exciting careers. Hands-on activities in each chapter make learning fun.Kids can: make an edible coral reef; explore marine camouflage; construct a water-propelled squid; test methods of cleaning up an oil spill; experiment with ocean acidification; and much more.

Of the 38 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) confirmed or presumed dead in World War II, only one—Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins—is still missing. On October 26, 1944, the 32-year-old fighter plane pilot lifted off from Mines Field in Los Angeles. She was never seen again.Seized by the Sun is the story of a remarkable woman who overcame a troubled childhood and the societal constraints of her time to find her calling flying the fastest and most powerful airplane of World War II. It is also a compelling unsolved mystery.Born in 1912 to a wealthy New Jersey family, Gertrude's childhood was marked by her mother's bouts with depression and her father's relentless search for a cure for the debilitating stutter that afflicted Gertrude throughout her life. Teased and struggling in school, young Gertrude retreated to a solitary existence. As a young woman she dabbled in raising goats and aimlessly crisscrossed the globe in an attempt to discover her purpose.As war loomed in Europe, Gertrude met the love of her life, a Royal Air Force pilot who was killed flying over Holland. Telling her sister that she "couldn't stop crying, so she focused on learning to fly," Gertrude applied to join the newly formed Women's Air Force Service Pilots. She went on to become such a superior pilot that she was one of only 126 WASPs selected to fly fighter planes. After her first flight in the powerful P-51 Mustang, her stutter left her for good.Gertrude's sudden disappearance remains a mystery to this day. Award-winning author Jim Ure leads readers through Gertrude's fascinating life; provides a detailed account of the WASPs' daily routines, training, and challenges; and describes the ongoing search for Gertrude's wreck and remains. The result of years of research and interviews with Gertrude's family, friends, and fellow WASPs, Seized by the Sun is an invaluable addition to any student's or history buff's bookshelf.