Book picks similar to
While You Were Sleeping by Steve Murrie


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Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq


Mark Alan Stamaty - 2004
    Determined to preserve the irreplacable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place.Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.

Recycle This Book


Dan Gutman - 2009
    Cooney, Laurie Halse Anderson, Bruce Coville, Gennifer Choldenko, and over 100 others, each piece is an informative and inspiring call to kids of all ages to understand what’s happening to the environment, and to take action in saving our world.Helpful tips and facts are interspersed throughout. This book will be a great classroom tool to teach young readers how they can help to make the Earth a greener place.

A Smart Girl's Guide to Boys: Surviving Crushes, Staying True to Yourself & Other Stuff


Nancy Holyoke - 2001
    Unlike the teen titles on the market that focus on dating and romance, this book addresses a girl's very first forays into the "boy/girl world" and gives her wise, warm advice. Help! letters from girls--collected from our AmericanGirl magazine files--and quizzes are included, too.

Kid Scientists: True Tales of Childhood from Science Superstars


David Stabler - 2018
    Did you know:Jane Goodall, who would become the world's foremost expect on chimpanzees, had a stuffed chimpanzee named Jubliee as a child. She loved animals so much that she was constantly bringing them inside--including worms and snails--much to her mother's horror!Although he would one day become a brilliant theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking hated school as a child, and spent his free time assembling model airplanes, inventing board games, and even building his own computer.Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who became a famous astrophysicist, ran a dog-walking business after school to save up money for a telescope, which he used to observe the skies from the roof of his family's apartment building.The diverse and inclusive cast ranges from physicists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Marie Curie, and Stephen Hawking to inventors like Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Nikola Tesla, and includes astronaut Sally Ride, mathematician Katherine Johnson (of Hidden Figures fame), primatologist Jane Goodall, and many more, making it a perfect addition to libraries, classrooms, and kids' home collections alike. With Anoosha Syed's whimsical illustrations bringing every caper, scrape, and sticky situation to life, this book is a fun and approachable introduction to the giants of the scientific world.

Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be


Charlotte Foltz Jones - 1991
    POTATO CHIPS were first cooked by a chef who was furious when a customer complained that his fried potatoes weren't thin enough. Coca-Cola, Silly Putty, and X rays have fascinating stories behind them too! Their unusual tales, and many more, along with hilarious cartoons and weird, amazing facts, make up this fun-filled book about everyday items that had surprisingly haphazard beginnings.And don't miss Eat Your Words about the fascinating language of food!"A splendid book that is as informative as it is entertaining . . . a gem." --Booklist, Starred Review

Horse (Eyewitness Books)


D.K. Publishing - 1960
    This closeup look at the evolution and behavior of horses, zebras, ponies, mules, and more examines their importance to humans throughout history, and includes photos of all major domestic breeds.

I Love You with All My Butt!: An Illustrated Book of Big Thoughts from Little Kids


Martin Bruckner - 2017
    We share our own children’s gems with friends and family. If we’re smart, we write down these scraps of accidental poetry. And we turn them into books. Martin Bruckner is an artist and father who not only recorded the sayings of his daughter, Harper, but used each as the inspiration for a work of art. After posting them on social media, Bruckner became the artist that other parents sought out to transform their own children’s funny words into artwork. Collected here are 100 mini-posters of pure delight, a marriage of the children’s surprising wisdom and the artist’s nimble style, plus the occasional backstory that amplifies both. Every parent will recognize the spirited declarations of personality—“I’m training to be a wolf.” The endearing mangling of language—“Mommy, I don’t need your mouth to talk to me right now.” The creative mixing of metaphors—“I need a tissue to wipe my feelings.” Those precious, heartbreaking outbursts without guile or filters—“I only love you at the toy store.” Illustrated with sweetness and whimsy, each is a window into the irresistible innocence of childhood, even if the sentiment is “Dad, please wipe the bum of this beautiful princess.”

Boy: Tales of Childhood


Roald Dahl - 1984
    From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books. Packed with anecdotes—some funny, some painful, all interesting—this is a book that's sure to please.

The Elephant Scientist


Caitlin O'Connell - 2011
    This observation would guide the scientist to a groundbreaking discovery about elephant communication: elephants actually listen with their limbs.

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure


Hans Magnus Enzensberger - 1997
    As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone--from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads--winds up marveling at what numbers can do.Hans Magnus Enzensberger is a true polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who loves thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world. In The Number Devil, he brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach them.

Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future!


Kate Schatz - 2015
    The perfect gift for the junior riot grrl in your life."--Bust Magazine"The History of Feminism--in an Awesome Picture Book. The ABCs just got a major girl-power upgrade."--Chantal Strasburger, Teen VogueLike all A-Z books, this one illustrates the alphabet—but instead of "A is for Apple", A is for Angela—as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement.And the list of great women continues, spanning several centuries, multiple professions, and 26 diverse individuals. There are artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and agents of change of all kinds.The book includes an introduction that discusses what it means to be "rad" and "radical," an afterword with 26 suggestions for how you can be "rad," and a Resource Guide with ideas for further learning and reading.American history was made by countless rad—and often radical—women. By offering a fresh and diverse array of female role models, we can remind readers that there are many places to find inspiration, and that being smart and strong and brave is rad.Rad American Women will be appreciated by various age groups. It is Common Core aligned for students grades 3 - 8. Pre-school and young children will be captured by the bright visuals and easily modified texts, while the subject matter will stimulate and inspire high-schoolers and beyond."This is not a book. This is a guest list for a party of my heroes. Thank you for inviting us." —Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events books"I feel honored to be included in this book. Women need to take radical steps to become feminists, and to be strong to fight for their rights and those of others facing oppression and discrimination. The world needs rad women to create a just society." —Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader, Civil Rights Activist"It's almost always with a chuckle that I view a cartoon image of myself. But to see cartoon-me positioned (alphabetically) amongst so many of my women heroes and role models . . . well, I just broke down and cried. Happy tears. I surely hope that this one-of-a-kind collection of radical American women reaches the hands of all children who want to grow up and become amazing women." —Kate Bornstein, author of My New Gender Workbook"I was totally in rapture reading this book. Bold women, bold colors, and fierce black paper cutouts. I cheer these histories of women who fight not for war or country or corporation, but for EVERYONE! I can't wait for my son to read this." —Nikki McClure, Illustrator of All in a Day

Animalium


Jenny Broom - 2014
    Open 365 days a year and unrestricted by the constraints of physical space, each title in this series is organized into galleries that display more than 200 full-color specimens accompanied by lively, informative text. Offering hours of learning, this first title within the series "Animalium" presents the animal kingdom in glorious detail with illustrations from Katie Scott, an unparalleled new talent.

Who Was George Washington Carver?


Jim Gigliotti - 2015
    Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black professor. He went on to the Tuskegee Institute where he specialized in botany (the study of plants) and developed techniques to grow crops better. His work with vegetables, especially peanuts, made him famous and changed agriculture forever. He went on to develop nearly 100 household products and over 100 recipes using peanuts.

A Young People's History of the United States: Columbus to the War on Terror


Howard Zinn - 1980
    A Young People's History of the United States is also a companion volume to The People Speak, the film adapted from A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People's History of the United States.Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus's arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers' rights, women's rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in the volumes of A Young People's History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America's history. In so doing, he reminds readers that America's true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.

The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure


Caroline Paul - 2016
    But girls often allow fear to stand in their way.In The Gutsy Girl, author Caroline Paul emboldens girls to seek out a life of exhilaration. Once a young scaredy-cat herself, Caroline decided that fear got in the way of the life she wanted--of excitement, confidence, self-reliance, friendship, and fun. She has since flown planes, rafted big rivers, climbed tall mountains, and fought fires as one of the first female firefighters in San Francisco. In The Gutsy Girl, she shares her greatest escapades as well as those of other girls and women from throughout history, and offers engaging activities such as confidence-building stances, creating a compass, positive self-talk, and using crickets to estimate outside temperatures. Each section includes a place for girls to “journal” their adventures, thus encouraging a new generation to develop a zest for challenges and a healthy relationship to risk. The Gutsy Girl is Lean In for young girls, a book about the glorious things that happen when you unshackle from fear and open up to exhilaration. Fully illustrated and enlivened throughout by bestselling illustrator Wendy MacNaughton's whimsical pen-and-ink drawings.