Books in A Robbie Reader: What's So Great About...? series

From an early age, Galileo Galilei was curious about the world around him. He began conducting scientific experiments. No one had ever done that before. He invented many useful devices, such as improved clocks and tools to help sailors find their way at sea. His greatest fame came after he invented a more powerful version of the telescope. This new telescope allowed him to observe the skies in more detail than anyone before him. His observations soon led him to believe that Earth revolved around the sun. This belief landed him in trouble with the Catholic Church, which for many centuries had taught that the sun revolved around Earth. Church leaders put him on trial. They would determine whether Galileo lived or died.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. From a very young age, he dreamed of going to sea. By his early teens, he finally did so, aboard a merchant ship in the Mediterranean. As an adult, Columbus believed that there was an easier way to get to the Indies in the east and that was by traveling west on the Ocean Sea. After many failed attempts to get funding, he finally convinced the king and queen of Spain to pay for his voyage. On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed in the New World the Americas becoming the first European to do so. Columbus and his voyage changed both the Old and New Worlds forever.

From the time he was young, Robert Fulton liked to work with his hands. For a while, he thought he wanted to be an artist. But it was a hard way to make a living. So he turned to inventing things. One was a very early version of the submarine. Fulton is most famous for building the first practical steamboat. Others had tried and failed. Fulton was successful. His vessel was called the North River Steam Boat. It sailed regularly between New York City and Albany, the capital of New York. The success of the North River Steam Boat inspired Fulton to build other steamboats. Soon he became a very wealthy man.

What would you do to survive? Most modern Americans never have to answer that question. In 1846, the members of the Donner Party answered it. For months, they walked across the Great Plains. They spent the hottest months of the year using chains and ropes to pull their wagons over mountains. In a hurry to get to California and following bad advice, they forged into unknown territory, hoping to find a quicker route than others had taken. When the winter snows came early to the Sierra Nevada, they were trapped. They were exhausted, with no food and no shelter. One by one, they began to die of starvation and disease. With no rescue in sight, all but one family did the unthinkable they ate the flesh of their dead companions in order to survive. Read the harrowing tale of the early pioneers survival and persistence.

Paul Bunyan chopped down forests, created the Grand Canyon and a few mountains, and, whenever he took a step, made each of Minnesota s 10,000 lakes. He could cut down many trees with one swing of his monstrous ax. His companion was a big blue ox named Babe. Are these American myths true or pure fiction? Find out how Bunyan s amazing exploits may have been based on those of a real person. In the mid-nineteenth century, many French Canadians came to the United States to work as loggers in the woods of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. One of them became renowned for his strength. As the loggers relaxed around their evening campfires, stories about this man may have sparked the Bunyan tall tales. Decades later, these stories appeared in newspapers and books, keeping the legend alive. Read about the birth of Paul Bunyan, the birth of the myth, and the legacy of the legendary logger.

At a young age, Helen Keller lost her ability to both see and hear. She spent the next few years in a dark world plagued by frustration because she couldn t communicate with others. Then, one day, everything changed. On that important day, Anne Sullivan, the woman whom Helen would forever know as Teacher, came into her life. Anne would spend the rest of her life devoted to her very bright and capable student. Helen overcame physical challenges to become a popular speaker and inspiration for the blind. She continues to be an example of strength and determination for people everywhere.

Anne Frank was bright, cheerful, and full of hope when her family moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The family, who were Jewish, had left Germany because Adolf Hitler, the country s leader, was trying to kill as many Jews as possible. Soon the Germans invaded their new country. Anne, her family, and four others hid in a tiny apartment for more than two years. Anne wrote in her diary about her feelings and experiences during this difficult time. When the Franks hiding place was discovered, Anne and the others were sent to German concentration camps. Her father was the only one of the eight to survive. After the war ended, he published her diary. Millions of people have read Anne s words. Her story underlines the tragedy of lost humanity.

Jacques Cartier was born at a time when people were just beginning to wonder about he world. Was it flat or round? How large was it? Was there a Northwest Passage a way to travel from Europe to Asia without having to sail around Africa? Cartier was a French navigator who was familiar with the sea from a young age, and he wanted to learn the answers to these questions. In 1534, Cartier was given a commission by King Francis I to find the Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia. Instead, he discovered a new land Canada- and the mighty river that flows through it the St. Lawrence. Although it has been over four hundred years since Cartier made his discoveries, Canada, and its people, continue to feel the influence of this great explorer.

Pocahontas was just a child when her world changed forever. White men from across the ocean built a fort near her village. Most likely, Pocahontas had never seen a white man before. Some of her people feared the settlers, but Pocahontas wanted to know more about them. She took the settlers food and taught Captain John Smith her language. Find out how this bright, brave young girl became an ambassador for her people, helping to keep the peace between her people and the settlers at least for a while. Discover how she charmed all of England, and why she still captures the hearts of Americans.

Ferdinand Magellan made one of the most famous ocean voyages of all time. He left Spain in 1519 with five ships. He was trying to find a different route to the Spice Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Spices were very important to Europeans at that time. Along the way, he encountered many problems. Many of his men turned against him. He ran into heavy storms. Food and fresh water were often in short supply But he kept going. In 1522, one of his ships returned to Spain. It was the first time anyone had sailed all the way around the world. Unfortunately, Magellan had died in a battle the year before. Yet without his inspired leadership, the voyage would never have succeeded.

The footsteps of Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s changed history. After journeying over 8,000 miles on land and water, Lewis, Clark, and their Corps of Discovery found new plants, animals, people, and lands. Ordered by President Thomas Jefferson, they reached the Pacific Ocean before other explorers, claiming land west of the Mississippi River for the United States. Along the way, they encountered deadly grizzly bears, saw herds of buffalo, overcame starvation and freezing temperatures, lost their way in the woods, sought guidance from the Native Americans, portaged raging waterfalls, and Lewis even survived a stray bullet. Lewis and Clark opened travel to the west. America was growing, and these brave explorers led the way.

On the morning of December 1, 1955, hardly anyone in Rosa Parks s home town of Montgomery, Alabama had heard of her. By the time that night fell, she was on her way to becoming a household word all over the United States. That morning, she had refused to give up her bus seat to a white person on the bus she was riding. Rosa, who was African American, was tired of being pushed around because of the color of her skin. The news of her arrest spread like wildfire. African American leaders decided to urge their fellow African Americans not to ride the buses until they were treated equally. It took a year, but the movement that Rosa Parks began ended in triumph. She became a leading figure in the Civil Rights movement. When she died in 2005, her coffin lay in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to receive that honor.