Books in Books in Action series

"The Little Free Library is a terrific example of placing books—poetry included—within reach of people in the course of their everyday lives. Free is always a good thing, and the project has a nice give-and-take feel to it. Here's hoping we bump into literature when we turn the next corner—before we have time to resist!"—Billy Collins"Take a book. Return a book." In 2009, Todd Bol built the first Little Free Library as a memorial to his mom. Five years later, this simple idea to promote literacy and encourage community has become a movement. Little Free Libraries—freestanding front-yard book exchanges—now number twenty thousand in seventy countries. The Little Free Library Book tells the history of these charming libraries, gathers quirky and poignant firsthand stories from owners, provides a resource guide for how to best use your Little Free Library, and delights readers with color images of the most creative and inspired LFLs around.Margret Aldrich is a freelance writer and editor. Her articles have appeared in the Utne Reader, Experience Life!, and elsewhere. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her family.

Art in Action 1 is the first of two beautifully illustrated art activity books that introduce children to artwork by major painters of different eras, while also encouraging boys and girls to stretch their imaginations and enjoy the unique experience of creating original artwork of their own. Each book presents 24 creative projects inspired by works from famous artists who include the Italian baroque master Caravaggio, James McNeill Whistler, Henri Matisse, and many others. An introduction to parents and teachers advises on how to use these books with children, and emphasizes that no prior knowledge of the subject is needed. Each project includes a reproduction of an artwork, background on the artist, the historical period, techniques employed, and directions for presenting it to children as inspiration for them to create their own original art. The accomplished paintings shown for demonstration are intended as stimuli to get kids started creating artwork of their own, and are

This new guided-missile destroyer ship class of nuclear-powered escorts was originally conceived in the late 1970s. However, cost forced planners to build these new cruisers with modified destroyer hulls and gas-turbine propulsion. The end result was a longer, sleeker cruiser with a formidable variety of offensive and defensive weapons as well as cutting-edge radars, sonars, and a full electronic warfare suite. Ticonderoga-class vessels eventually totaled 27. They have shown the flag in ports all across the globe, maintained peace, and effectively performed their primary role to protect the aircraft carriers with anti-submarine and anti-air systems. Armed with Tomahawk cruise and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, ships of this class have destroyed targets on the seas, air, land, and have even eliminated a damaged satellite flying 133 miles above the Pacific Ocean with a missile impact velocity at 22,000 mph. Although the first five ships of the class have been decommissioned, 22 Ticonderoga-class ships navigate the planet to protect America’s interests.

Art in Action 2 is the second and more advanced of two beautifully illustrated art activity books. Both books introduce children to artwork by major painters of different eras, while also encouraging boys and girls to stretch their imaginations and enjoy the unique experience of creating original artwork of their own. Each book presents 24 creative projects inspired by works from famous artists who include the Italian baroque master Caravaggio, James McNeill Whistler, Henri Matisse, and many others. An introduction to parents and teachers advises on how to use these books with children, and emphasizes that no prior knowledge of the subject is needed. Each project includes a reproduction of an artwork, background on the artist, the historical period, techniques employed, and directions for presenting the artwork to children as inspiration for them to create their own original art. The accomplished paintings shown for demonstration are intended as stimuli to get kids started crea

Capitalizing on the public's fascination with forensic investigative techniques, this brand-new kit provides kids with the tools they need to solve household mysteries. With the detective tool kit, children can use fingerprints to determine who drank that last glass of orange juice, or work with hair samples to figure out if someone's been snooping in their secret hiding place. Using the science of forensics, they will discover how to find and interpret seemingly ordinary clues around them. The kit includes a 32-page illustrated full-color book, innovative facial identification kit, fingerprint pad, ink stamp, brush and powder, clue containers, evidence bags, labels, chromatography paper for ink analysis, and magnifying glass.