Book picks similar to
On the Run in Ancient China by Linda Bailey


china
ancient-times
children-s-books
graphic-novels-and-comic-books

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things


Ted Naifeh - 2003
    Courtney's parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She's not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.

The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson: America's Favorite Recluse Just Got a Life!


Rosanna Bruno - 2017
    The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson explores--often hilariously, and always respectfully--the myth surrounding the reclusive poet using her own words to skew, or slant, a story that is already somewhat fuzzy in detail. Beginning with a line or two from Dickinson’s poems or letters, Rosanna Bruno presents an image of a real or imagined event. For example, she imagines Dickinson’s Facebook page (“Relationship Status: It’s Complicated”), her OkCupid dating profile (“I am small, like the wren; and my hair is bold, like the chestnut burr…”), her senior yearbook page (“Girl Most Likely to Talk to Birds”), and several other hilarious scenes and fictional artifacts. The result is a wickedly funny portrait of one of the most beloved (and mythologized) poets in the American canon.

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess


Richard Platt - 1999
    Eleven-year-old Toby’s vivid diary entries offer an insider’s view of day-to-day castle life, including tips on etiquette (where do you spit at a feast?) and exciting descriptions of hunting, jousting, and harvesting. Complete with glossary, index, and detailed endnotes, this is a rich look at medieval life that informs as much as it entertains.

The Adventures of Benny


Steve Shreve - 2006
    Black-and-white art on every spread of the book will appeal to reluctant readers as well as fans of comics, graphic novels, and illustrated novels.

Motel of the Mysteries


David Macaulay - 1979
    Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber, permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that extraordinary civilization.

Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America's Presidents


David Stabler - 2014
    Some struggled with schoolwork and got into fights; others pranked their teachers and infuriated their parents. William Howard Taft was forced to take dance lessons. Gerald Ford struggled with dyslexia. Teddy Roosevelt had a bedroom "museum" full of dead animals. "Kid Presidents" features 20 captivating true stories from the childhoods of American presidents, complete with lively text and more than 200 cartoon illustrations. Laugh-out-loud funny and packed with cool facts, it's the perfect read for all young future leaders of the free world.

Theras and His Town


Caroline Dale Snedeker - 1920
    He is forced to live like a Spartan, a brutal life with no pity for those who are not physically perfect and totally obedient to Spartan control. After enduring rigorous training and repeated cruel incidents, he escapes with a Perioikoi boy and heads for his beloved Athens. Here is the story of a hard and dangerous journey with Snedeker's amazing historical accuracy. Caroline Dale Snedeker, twice a Newbery Honor winner, captures the authentic flavor of ancient Greek culture in a story of adventure and excitement that fully illustrates the differences between the Athenian and Spartan cultures.

Welcome to Silver Street Farm


Nicola Davies - 2011
    But Silver Street Farm is different - it's in the middle of a city, and it's run by kids!Even though Meera, Gemma, and Karl live in the city, they've always wanted a farm of their own. And it looks as though their dream may happen sooner than they imagined when Meera discovers an abandoned railway station with grounds for grazing. Next, some eggs they thought were foul hatch into ducklings, and a couple of "poodles" bought off the Internet turn out to be lambs. There's just one problem: how can the kids - and the community - persuade the city council not to turn the old site into a parking garage? The first in a series of fun-filled stories about Silver Street Farm, here is a tale with natural appeal for kids who love animals, aim to be green, and enjoy a do-ityourselfspirit of adventure.

What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky


Kelsey Oseid - 2017
     Combining art, mythology, and science, What We See in the Stars gives readers a tour of the night sky through more than 100 magical pieces of original art, all accompanied by text that weaves related legends and lore with scientific facts. This beautifully packaged book covers the night sky's most brilliant features--such as the constellations, the moon, the bright stars, and the visible planets--as well as less familiar celestial phenomena like the outer planets, nebulae, and deep space. Adults seeking to recapture the magic of youthful stargazing, younger readers interested in learning about natural history and outer space, and those who appreciate beautiful, hand-painted art will all delight in this charming book.

The Lincoln Project


Dan Gutman - 2016
    Please do not share this invitation or discuss it with anyone.In New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman's all-new series, which blends fascinating real history with an action-packed and hilarious adventure, four very different kids are picked by a mysterious billionaire to travel through time and photograph some of history's most important events. This time, the four friends are headed to 1863 to catch Abraham Lincoln delivering his famous Gettysburg Address. They'll have to work together to ask the right questions, meet the right people, and capture the right moment. And most important—not get caught! Back matter separating fact from fiction and real black-and-white photographs make Flashback Four the perfect mix of true history and uproarious fun.

One Dead Spy


Nathan Hale - 2012
    In the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series, author Nathan Hale channels his namesake to present history’s roughest, toughest, and craziest stories in the graphic novel format.One Dead Spy tackles the story of Hale himself, who was an officer and spy for the American rebels during the Revolutionary War. Author Hale highlights the unusual, gruesome, and just plain unbelievable truth of historical Nathan Hale—from his early unlucky days at Yale to his later unlucky days as an officer—and America during the Revolutionary War.

Beneath the Trees: The Autumn of Mister Grumph


Dav - 2021
    All the animals but one: grumpy badger Mr Grumpf just can't finish sweeping the dead leaves off his doorstep with everyone coming by to disturb him! Grumpf!This new series paints a tender and colorful portrait of everyday Life, showing that behind every flaw or weakness can lie charm and strength. Readers will recognize their own neighbors, friends, and family members in the endearing animal characters within this forest community. In this first volume, we meet a very busy badger, who may admittedly be a little slow, but who never refuses to lend a paw to help his neighbors. In time, his generosity will be rewarded!The stories in this four-book series take place in the same forest over the course of four seasons. Each can be read independently, exploring the complexity and richness of relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. As both writer and illustrator, the author doesn't rely on text to convey emotions, oscillating between a clever dose of dialogue and wordless passages to makes these stories accessible to young readers starting as young as 5 years old.Presenting a graphic universe somewhere between Michel Plessix's adaptations of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and the cartoons of Walt Disney (in particular those created by Don Bluth, such as THE RESCUERS and ROBIN HOOD), Dav gently conveys each season through a changing palette of colors and rounded designs.

Normandy: A Graphic History of D-Day, The Allied Invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe


Wayne Vansant - 2012
    The initial paratrooper assault is shown, as well as the storming of the five D-Day beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. But the story does not end there. Once the Allies got ashore, they had to stay ashore. The Germans made every effort to push them back into the sea. This book depicts the such key events in the Allied liberation of Europe as: 1. Construction of the Mulberry Harbors, two giant artificial harbors built in England and floated across the English Channel so that troops, vehicles, and supplies could be offloaded across the invasion beaches.2. The Capture of Cherbourg, the nearest French port, against a labyrinth of Gennan pillboxes.3. The American fight through the heavy bocage (hedgerow country) to take the vital town of Saint-Lô.4. The British-Canadian struggle for the city of Caen against the “Hitler Youth Division,” made up of 23,000 seventeen- and eighteen-year-old Nazi fanatics.5. The breakout of General Patton’s Third Army and the desperate US 30th Division’s defense of Mortaine.6. The Falaise Pocket, known as the “Killing Ground, ” where the remnants of two German armies were trapped and bombed and shelled into submission. The slaughter was so great that 5,000 Germans were buried in one mass grave. 7. The Liberation of Paris, led by the 2nd Free French Armored Division, which had been fighting for four long years with this goal in mind.

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims


Rush Limbaugh - 2013
    In this book, he is transported back to the deck of the Mayflower.

Angry Aztecs


Terry Deary - 1997
     Great, grubby fun and an excellent choice for anyone who is curious about these curious of folk.