Books published by publisher Charlesbridge Publishing Feb - 2000

Combining history with culture, the ocean with exploration, and risk with triumph - this is an account of Thor Heyerdahl's world-famous Kon-Tiki expedition, during which he sailed a raft 5,000 miles from the coast of South America to the islands of the South Pacific. Author Deborah Kogan Ray clearly and succinctly sets up how Norwegian anthropologist Heyerdahl became convinced that ancient Peruvians arrived in the South Pacific via raft, why he wanted to re-create the voyage, and how he planned for it. She uses primary-source quotations on each spread to shore up the factual history of the events portrayed in the book.

What is a community? This I See I Learn learning book uses a warm, cheerful story to introduce youngsters to the basic building blocks of their neighborhood: the people who help their community to stay safe and healthy and have fun. Percy helps his dad hang signs for the Neighborhood Fun Run. Along the way, Percy meets the community helpers who make See and Learn City a better place to live, work, and play. Percy is excited to tell the gang about the new friends he met in the neighborhood. Part of the 16-book I SEE I LEARN series for happier, healthier, more confident children!

A favorite fairy tale set in a bustling contemporary Chinatown. It's Chinese New Year, and Goldy Luck’s mother wants her to take a plate of turnip cakes to the neighbors. The Chans aren’t home, but that doesn’t stop Goldy from trying out their rice porridge, their chairs, and their beds - with disastrous results. In this funny and festive retelling of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", Natasha Yim introduces a plucky heroine who takes responsibility for her actions and makes a new friend (and a whole plate of turnip cakes!), just in time for Chinese New Year. Includes back matter about Chinese New Year and a recipe for turnip cakes.

In this charming story about celebrating differences, a Chinese-American girl wishes for a garden of bright flowers instead of one full of bumpy, ugly, vegetables. The neighbors' gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of "black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers" that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that "these are better than flowers". Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose. The Ugly Vegetables springs forth with the bright and cheerful colors of blooming flowers and lumpy vegetables.

Join Sir Cumference and the gang for more wordplay, puns, and problem solving in the clever math adventure that introduces listeners to charts and graphs through an annual bake-off. Sir Cumference and Lady Di need a baker to prepare a special dessert for the annual Harvest Faire. Two bakers compete to see whose dessert is most popular. When Pia of Chartres and Bart Graf have trouble keeping track of the votes their desserts receive, they each develop a better system. Pia places a colored candy around the edges of a pie dough (like a pie chart), and Bart stacks up cookie tins (making a 3D bar graph). When there's a tie, the two chefs cook up a hybrid dessert just in time for the Faire. Puns abound in this fun adventure story with beloved characters and a solid pedagogical foundation.

Join Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius for wordplay, puns, and problem solving in this geometry-packed math adventure. King Arthur was a good ruler, but now he needs a good ruler. What would you do if the neighboring kingdom were threatening war? Naturally, you'd call your strongest and bravest knights together to come up with a solution. But when your conference table causes more problems than the threat of your enemy, you need expert help. Enter Sir Cumference, his wife Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius. With the help of the carpenter, Geo of Metry, this sharp-minded team designs the perfect table conducive to discussing the perfect plan for peace. The first in Sir Cumference series, Sir Cumference and the First Round Table makes math fun and accessible for everyone.

Perfect for the lover of all things that go, Alphabet Trucks provides a fun and accessible way for the littlest of listeners to learn their trucks and their ABCs. Each letter of the alphabet is accounted for in this introductory concept book for young listeners. From the familiar to the unusual, Samantha Vamos writes in snappy verse to present 26 different kinds of trucks, explaining where they work and what they do, from a dump truck that unloads a pile of dirt containing the letter "D" to a fuel truck filling up at a tank shaped like the letter "F". IRA-CBC Children’s Choices Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year Pennsylvania Center for the Book Baker's Dozen: The Best Children's Books for Family Literacy

For fans of all things that go, this noisy alphabet book explores construction equipment from A to Z. Find out about these construction machines and more, from a huge saw that cuts through roads to a massive vacuum that sucks up boulders. You'll even learn a quick and easy recipe for concrete. Rock crushers, jackhammers, and wrecking balls will delight the youngest of listeners learning their ABCs. Jerry Pallotta's trademark humor punctuates the informative text.

A scrambled mess.... Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Or - as his brother Detective Joe Dumpty thinks - was he pushed? This case isn't all it's cracked up to be. Suspects are plenty (as are the puns) in this scrambled story of nursery rhyme noir. Was it Little Miss Muffet? There's something not right about her tuffet. Or could it have been Chicken Little, who's always been a little cagey? Or was it the Big Bad Wolf, who's got a rap sheet as long as a moonless night? Joe's on the beat and determined to find the truth. Listeners of all ages will delight in the word play in this mystery of what really happened to Humpty Dumpty on that fateful day.

Follow a classroom of kindergartners as they participate in a popular activity: hatching chicks. Listeners learn about the life cycle of a chicken, incubating eggs, watching them hatch, and raising the chicks until they are old enough to return to the chicken coop. Winner of the Cybils Award for Elementary Nonfiction "Arnold captures the joy and mystery of this familiar unit of study." (Kirkus Reviews) "Readers will come away with a good understanding of chickens' origins." (Booklist) "An excellent addition to studies of animals, life cycles, or agriculture, as well as an excellent mentor text for the genre of photo essay and stories of classroom life." (SLJ's Classroom Bookshelf Blog)

Making choices can be tricky! This installment in the I See I Learn series uses a warm, charming story to teach basic decision-making strategies to the youngest listeners. Camille is excited to start a new project at school. She’s given two choices: She can build a kite or plant a vegetable. Making a decision is difficult for Camille. With the support of friends and her teacher, Camille soon learns to make thoughtful, timely choices. Part of the 16-book I See I Learn series for happier, healthier, more confident children!