Book picks similar to
Kansas by David C. King
childrens-lit
geography
junior-non-fiction
united-states
First Dog
J. Patrick Lewis - 2009
Not just any home--the perfect home, to be exact. So he decides to travel the world, visiting different countries and seeing how other dogs live. Full color.
The Sandy Bottom Orchestra
Garrison Keillor - 1996
Twelve-year-old Rachel has always known that her parents were a little eccentric, and now she fears that their weirdness is rubbing off on her. When Rachel is given an opportunity to play with the Dairyland Symphony Orchestra, she wonders if her music will be enough to sustain her through the long, lonely summer.
Chickenology: The Ultimate Encyclopedia
Barbara Sandri - 2021
Did you know some chickens are so small they can perch in the palm of your hand, and others have feathers that look like a beard? Chickens can learn to count up to four and have excellent hearing—many even like to listen to music!Chickenology takes young readers on a fascinating and informative tour of chickens. Discover the incredible variety of chickens with different origins, breeds, and feather patterns; delve into chicken anatomy and evolution; and even learn the basics of chicken care. With a playful tone and irresistibly charming illustrations by rising star Camilla Pintonato, this lively visual encyclopedia presents chickens in all of their feathered glory.
Going to Extremes
Joe McGinniss - 1980
Yet, it is an important and highly readable classic work that captures a portrait frozen in time of a raw state in turmoil during the oil boom. McGinnis went north to find out if there was anything left of the "last frontier." He found "mind-bending contradictions," as a previous publisher put it--greed, waste, addictions, and racism, among other things, that contrasted with an awesome untamed natural beauty and an honest, open, and independent spirit of the people.
Madeline in America and Other Holiday Tales
Ludwig Bemelmans - 1999
With help from his mother and grandmother (the original Madeline!), Ludwig's grandson brings this delightful work to fruition. The book contains two additional holiday stories, warm family reminiscences, and holiday artwork lovingly selected from the family archives.
Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees in the American Cityscape
Jill Jonnes - 2016
Today, four fifths of Americans live in or near cities, surrounded by millions of trees, urban forests containing hundreds of species. Despite the ubiquity and familiarity of those trees, most of us take them for granted and know little of their specific natural history or civic virtues. Jill Jonnes’s Urban Forests is a passionate, wide-ranging, and fascinating natural history of the tree in American cities over the course of the past two centuries. Jonnes’s survey ranges from early sponsors for the Urban Tree Movement to the fascinating stories of particular species (including Washington, DC’s famed cherry trees, and the American chestnut and elm, and the diseases that almost destroyed them) to the institution of Arbor Day to the most recent generation of tree evangelists who are identifying the best species to populate our cities’ leafy canopies. The book examines such questions as the character of American urban forests and the effect that tree-rich landscaping might have on commerce, crime, and human well-being. As we wrestle with how to repair the damage we have wrought on nature and how to slow climate change, urban forests offer an obvious, low-tech solution. (In 2006, U.S. Forest Service scientist Greg McPherson and his colleagues calculated that New York City’s 592,000 street trees annually saved $28 million in energy costs through shading and cooling, or $47.63 per tree.)
The Train of States
Peter Sís - 2004
fifty in all. The caboose? Washington, D.C.! Look closely! What do you see? State birds, state flowers, state trees ... forty-three presidents! Can you find them all? Can you spot the flags, heroes, animals, and landmarks adorning the train of states?Clickety clack, clickety clack. Rush out the door, rush to the track. Where is the train going? Come along! Over the prairie, over the mountains, down a green valley, and into a billowing tent. It's time for a party -- it's time to celebrate the fifty states!
Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare
Gene Barretta - 2016
President John F. Kennedy was raised in the lap of luxury. One was a Republican and one a Democrat. They lived and served a hundred years apart.Yet they had a number of things in common. Some were coincidental: having seven letters in their last names. Some were monumental: Lincoln's support for the abolitionist movement and Kennedy's support for the civil rights movement. They both lost a son while in office. And, of course, both were assassinated.In this illuminating book, Gene Barretta offers an insightful portrait of two of our country's most famous presidents.
I, Crocodile
Fred Marcellino - 1999
All Paris is enchanted with this exotic creature. But for a crocodile with an appetite as big as his ego, being the toast of the town has its downside, too. What's a crocodile who's used to a dinner of flamingo, snake, or mongoose to make of chocolate mousse? Oh, to return to his beloved Nile! But fickle Napoleon has other plans for our hero...Inspired by an obscure nineteenth-century French satire, I, Crocodile is the first book Fred Marcellino has written as well as illustrated.2000 ALA Notable Children's Book1999 New York Times Best Illustrated Book2000-2001 Georgia's Picture Storybook Award & Georgia's Children's Book Award Masterlist2000 ALA Notable Children's Books
Isabella: Girl on the Go
Jennifer Fosberry - 2012
Isabella ends the day in her home-sweet-home, the most wonderful place to be.
The Big Wave
Pearl S. Buck - 1947
His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya's family, too. As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, he understands it is in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and to appreciate how wonderful life can be.The famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village.
Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds
Cynthia Rylant - 1991
Two award-winning artists, forever touched by their experiences growing up in this unique landscape, have teamed to create a quietly powerful and beautifully crafted portrait of life in a timeless place.
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue
Samuel R. Delany - 1999
Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, 42nd Street was once known for its peep shows, street corner hustlers and movie houses. Over the last two decades the notion of safety-from safe sex and safe neighborhoods, to safe cities and safe relationships-has overcome 42nd Street, giving rise to a Disney store, a children's theater, and large, neon-lit cafes. 42nd Street has, in effect, become a family tourist attraction for visitors from Berlin, Tokyo, Westchester, and New Jersey's suburbs.Samuel R. Delany sees a disappearance not only of the old Times Square, but of the complex social relationships that developed there: the points of contact between people of different classes and races in a public space. In Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Delany tackles the question of why public restrooms, peepshows, and tree-filled parks are necessary to a city's physical and psychological landscape. He argues that starting in 1985, New York City criminalized peep shows and sex movie houses to clear the way for the rebuilding of Times Square. Delany's critique reveals how Times Square is being renovated behind the scrim of public safety while the stage is occupied by gentrification. Times Square Red, Times Square Blue paints a portrait of a society dismantling the institutions that promote communication between classes, and disguising its fears of cross-class contact as family values. Unless we overcome our fears and claim our community of contact, it is a picture that will be replayed in cities across America.