Learn more about Napoleon Bonaparte, the decorated French military leader who conquered much of Europe in the early nineteenth century.Born in the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte felt like an outsider once his family moved to France. But he found his life's calling after graduating from military school. Napoleon went on to become a brilliant military strategist and the emperor of France. In addition to greatly expanding the French empire, Napole...

Find out how this one-time American hero became the country's most notorious traitor.As a young child, Benedict Arnold never shied away from a fight. So when the French and Indian War began in 1754, Benedict was eager to join the militia and fight for the British colonies in America. And when he was eighteen years old, he got his chance. Arnold had no idea that less than twenty years later, he would be fighting against the British in the Revolutionary War.N...

Told in a new Who HQ NOW format for trending topics, this Who Was? biography details NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's legendary career and the impact of his legacy on the sports world and beyond.Kobe Bryant was just an eighteen-year-old high-school basketball player when he decided to enter the National Basketball Association's draft. Though he was the thirteenth overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets, he would never play a single game for them. Instead, Kobe was traded ...

Be inspired by the magical life of Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki, whose astounding filmography includes My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Howl's Moving Castle.Hayao Miyazaki was born in 1941 in the Hongō district of Tokyo, Japan. By middle school, Hayao had decided that he wanted to be a manga artist. In his last year of high school, that changed when he watched a movie called The Tale of the White Serpent

Find out how stories about his son's stuffed bear, famously known as Winnie the Pooh, made A. A. Milne one of the world's best-known children's authors in this informative biography from the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Series, Who Was?.**Born in England in 1882, Alan Alexander Milne grew up with a love for exploring the woods with his brother and writing poems about their adventures. Alan carried that love into his adult life by exploring the woods wit...

How did a six-year-old Black girl become the courageous face of the 1960 civil rights movement? Learn all about the inspiring true story of the civil rights activist Ruby Bridges.Even though the US Supreme Court ruled segregated schools illegal in 1954, it wasn’t until 1960 that school integration began in Louisiana. Many racist communities—especially in the Southern part of the country—held fast to their dream of remaining segregated in all facets of society. Six-...

Learn about the fascinating history of Bears Ears and the Colorado Plateau in this illustrated chapter book that spans from the formation of buttes millions of years ago to today!Over 300 million years ago, the beautiful buttes of Bears Ears formed on the Colorado Plateau in what would one day become known as the Four Corners, which is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. The first humans in this area—the Clovis people—appeared 13,000 years ago. Sinc...

Ice hockey fans will pull on their skates and gear up for this Who HQ title about the Stanley Cup Finals--the National Hockey League's championship games.Out of the thirty-two pro hockey teams that compete, only one can call itself the champion and proudly hoist up the Stanley Cup--the oldest sports trophy in the world! From the formation of the leagues and the crowning of the first championship-winning team, to the Rangers' Stanley Cup curse and the uncertain fate...

Learn more about the renowned British scientist, professor, and author who spent his entire career trying to answer the question: "Where did the universe come from?"Stephen Hawking was born exactly three hundred years after the death of the scientist Galileo, so maybe it was written in the stars that he would become a famous scientist in his own right. Although he was diagnosed with a neurological disease at age 21, Stephen did not let the illness define his life. ...

At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, track and field star Jesse Owens ran himself straight into international glory by winning four gold medals. But the life of Jesse Owens is much more than a sports story. Born in rural Alabama under the oppressive Jim Crow laws, Owens's family suffered many hardships. As a boy he worked several jobs like delivering groceries and working in a shoe repair shop to make ends meet. But Owens defied the odds to become a sensational student athlete, eventually r...

Learn all about one of Broadway's most beloved figures in this inspiring biography about Stephen Sondheim that highlights his award-winning musicals and fan-favorite songs!Stephen Sondheim is one of Broadway's most cherished songwriters and the creator of American theater blockbusters like Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George. Before he was an eight-time Tony Award winner, he was a teenager who loved writing and theater. Stephen was m...

For more than one hundred years, people have been captivated by the disastrous sinking of the Titanic that claimed over 1,500 lives. Now young readers can find out why the great ship went down and how it was discovered seventy-five years later.At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic, the largest passenger steamship of this time, met its catastrophic end after crashing into an iceberg. Of the 2,240 passengers and crew onboard, only 70...