Experience a nostalgic Christmas in the Piney Woods of East Texas where a traveling wood-carver dispenses wisdom that brings four couples to realize the gift of love. Can Bridget show Seth how to forgive? Will Mary see Joseph live up to his promise? Can Seth steer Emma away from the need for vengeance? Will R. C. help Gabriella find her grandfather?

Discover why poop is an important resource in this photo-filled nonfiction book for budding young scientists. Ever ask yourself, “Do we really need poop?” Well, the answer is…YES! In this Pebble Explore book, discover how this not-so-lovely part of nature is essential to our world. In fact, we need poop to help crops grow and replenish soil. Certain animals even eat poop for nutrients! With eye-catching photos, quick facts, and beyond-the-book back matter, Why Do We Ne...

Most film critics point to classic conflicts—good versus evil, right versus wrong, civilization versus savagery—as defining themes of the American Western. In this provocative examination of Westerns from Tumbleweeds (1925) to Rango (2011), Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann argue for a more expansive view that moves beyond traditional conflicts to encompass environmental themes and struggles. The environment, after all, is the fundamental stage for most western storie...

Allosaurus ran on two feet and had razor-sharp teeth. But what did it hunt? And why did it have short, bony horns above its eyes? Young readers can get all the facts on this fierce meat-eating dinosaur. Engaging text and images make this book a great choice for information to use in a report or just to read for fun.

The Aura of Confucius is a ground-breaking study that reconstructs the remarkable history of Kongzhai, a shrine founded on the belief that Confucius' descendants buried the sage's robe and cap a millennium after his death and far from his home in Qufu, Shandong. Improbably located on the outskirts of modern Shanghai, Kongzhai featured architecture, visual images, and physical artifacts that created a 'Little Queli,' a surrogate for the temple, cemetery, and Kong descendants' mansion in Quf...

We tend to think about memory in terms of the human experience, neglecting the fact that we can trace a direct line of descent from the earliest vertebrates to modern humans. But the evolutionary history that we share with other vertebrates has left a mark on modern memory, complemented by unique forms of memory that emerged in humans. This book tells an intriguing story about how evolution shaped human memory. It explains how a series of now-extinct ancestral species adapted to life in th...

The sensationalism and hysteria of the attempt to rescue Floyd Collins from the cave where he was trapped in early 1925 generated America’s first true media spectacle and one of the seminal events of the century.The crowds that gathered outside Sand Cave in Kentucky turned the rescue site into a carnival. Collins’ situation was front-page news throughout the country, ranked the third largest news story between two World Wars. Hourly bulletins interrupted radio prog...

How much do you know about Benjamin Franklin? Find out the facts you need to know about this Founding Father, author, and inventor. You'll learn about the early life, challenges, and major accomplishments of this important American.

Encourage good citizenship and teach young readers about primary sources as they learn about the U.S. Constitution. Readers will get an inside look at the document on which our nation was founded, along with the branches of government, courts of law, amendments, and rights. Written at-level and with curriculum-based content, students will learn about the events leading up to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and how this important document still impacts America today.

Awesome places can be found all over our world. But which ones are the deepest, tallest, or hottest? Through easy-to-read text, amazing photos, and a fun activity, beginning readers will learn all about the most extreme places on our planet.

Explaining Conversations offers a different way of interpreting people’s social exchanges than has been available in the past. The book is replete with examples of people’s verbal interactions in the form of chats, arguments, debates, and negotiations, both within a culture and across cultures. The volume’s subtitle, A Developmental Social-Exchange Theory, identifies a theme featured in Chapters 2 and 5—the typical pattern by which social-exchange skills evolve over the first two decades o...

How much do you know about George Washington? Find out the facts you need to know about the 1st president of the United States. You'll learn about the early life, challenges, and major accomplishments of this important American.