The inspiring story of amputee Bethany Hamilton, who survived losing her arm in a shark attack and then went on to become a professional surfer!Bethany Hamilton grew up in a family full of surfers. She learned to surf at a very young age and earned her first sponsorship by the time she was nine. When Bethany was thirteen, her life was changed forever when a fourteen-foot-long tiger shark burst out of the water and bit off her left arm while she was surfing on the n...

Elves have been hiding out in popular fairy tales for years. Have you ever wondered what elves look like, where they live, or how they trick people? Look carefully through this book to find out the truth about elves.

Marvel at the mesmerizing northern lights by learning the history of the natural light show and the science behind how the aurora borealis works!It takes three things for the northern lights to appear in the sky: a stream of charged particles, a magnetic field, and an atmosphere of certain gases. For much of history, however, this scientific recipe was unknown. The northern lights were thought to be something magical or supernatural: It was once believed that the l...

Read all about how a young boy from California who listened to polka music and played the accordion became a comedian, parody songwriter, and Grammy winner in this biography for young readers about “Weird Al” Yankovic!When Alfred Yankovic was seven years old, a salesman knocked on the door of his family home selling guitars and accordions. Al's life was never the same! He drew inspiration from comedian, radio broadcaster, and novelty songwriter Dr. Demento. By the ...

Discover why comedian and actress Carol Burnett is one of the most iconic entertainers of the twentieth century.From an early age, Carol Burnett developed a love for entertainment, teaching herself to "Tarzan yell" at age nine. After graduating from high school, Burnett studied theater arts and English at UCLA, which only solidified her passion for acting. She fell in love with making audiences laugh, landing her first breakthrough role in Broadway's Once Upon ...

Learn about the history of American Sign Language, from its origins in older signed languages to its role in the education of deaf and hearing children today in this illustrated chapter book!American Sign Language (ASL) has played a crucial role in history of the United States, from education and politics to arts and sports. Not simply a transcription of spoken English, ASL is its own language with unique grammar and structure. In this fact-filled history of Americ...

The What Do We Know About? series explores the mysterious, the unknown, and the unexplained. Is this celebrated sea creature fact, myth, or legend? Find out all we know about the Kraken and its history in this exciting book!Presenting What Do We Know About?, an exciting new extension the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series!Sea monsters have a long history in lore and literature. Homer first wrote of them in 700 BCE. What Do We Know A...

Learn more about China's most famous teacher and philosopher, whose ideas are still influential today.Born in 551 BC, Confucius was a young man when he set his heart and mind on learning as much as he could. By his thirties, he'd become a brilliant teacher who shared his knowledge of several subjects, including arithmetic, history, and poetry, with his students. Confucius wanted to make sure that everyone in China had access to an education and devoted his whole li...

Autism did not stop her--in fact, it helped Temple Grandin become a brilliant scientist and inventor.Temple Grandin wasn't officially diagnosed with autism until she was in her 40s, but she knew at an early age that she was different from her family and classmates. She couldn't show affection, she acted out when noises or other stimuli overwhelmed her, and she only felt comfortable when spending time with the animals on her aunt's ranch. But instead of seeing her d...

Louis Braille certainly wasn't your average teenager. Blind from the age of four, he was only fifteen when in 1824 he invented a reading system that converted printed words into columns of raised dots. Through touch, Braille opened the world of books to the sightless, and almost two hundred years later, no one has ever improved upon his simple, brilliant idea.

**Young armchair adventurers can travel to the topmost point on the globe and learn all about the vast region surrounding the North Pole.From the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series comes Where Is?, a series that tells the stories of world-famous landmarks and natural wonders and features a fold-out map!**It might seem lonely at the top of the world, but the North Pole is teeming with life! Polar bears, walruses, and arctic seals make their home on sea i...

Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, Frederick Douglass was determined to gain freedom--and once he realized that knowledge was power, he secretly learned to read and write to give himself an advantage. After escaping to the North in 1838, as a free man he gave powerful speeches about his experience as a slave. He was so impressive that he became a friend of President Abraham Lincoln, as well as one of the most famous abolitionists of the nineteenth century.