But eight long years after the first shovelful of earth is dug, Clinton realizes his vision at last. The longest uninterrupted canal in history has been built, and it is now possible to travel by water from the American prairie all the way to Europe! Join Cheryl Harness on a fascinating and fun-filled trip as she depicts the amazing construction and workings of the Erie Canal. From the groundbreaking ceremony on the Fourth of July in 1817 to a triumphant journey down America's first superhighway, it's a trip you definitely don't want to miss.

    My First Hello Readers use basic words to reinforce phonics and sight vocabulary. The books at this level offer punch-out flash cards plus six additional pages of skill-building activities. Levels 1 - 4 combine a greater vocabulary and longer sentence length. Each book has an introductory letter from an education specialist guiding parents on how to help their children learn to read. Grades 2 - Grades 4.

    Here's the all American brother and sister team. Look! It's Dick, in his striped polo shirts and shorts, always ready for an adventure. Look! Look! It's Jane, in her pretty dresses, eager to have fun and learn about life. There's silly, mischievous Baby Sally, and Spot, America's favorite spaniel. Growing Up with Dick and Jane brings to life the cast of characters who are emblems of the American Dream. And side by side with the story of Dick and Jane is an entertaining and informative text that tracks important historical, social and educational events of the "Dick and Jane era."Here's your chance to step back into the innocent watercolor world of Dick and Jane, where night never comes, knees never scrape, parents never yell and the fun never stops. Remember holding a Dick and Jane primer for the first time and the thrill you felt when you knew you could read? Growing Up with Dick and Jane traces the Dick and Jane phenomenon from their birth during the Depression to their retirement in the stormy 1960s. It explores the influence these little books had on education and the evolving American Dream. Packaged with a sampler of original Dick and Jane stories and cutout dolls of Dick and Jane, Growing Up with Dick and Jane stirs memories of home, school and what it was like to grow up when childhood felt like one long summer day.Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman produce innovative visual books and museum exhibitions. Lookout, their company, has created: Talking Pictures (Chronicle), a book and popular multimedia exhibition; Loyalty and Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob (CollinsSanFrancisco); the bestselling Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood (Hyperion) with William Wegman; and the cult classics Mr. Salesman (Twin Palms) with Diane Keaton and I'm So Happy (Vintage).Bob Keeshan, known to generations as Captain Kangaroo, is one of the most beloved performers and influential innovators of children's television. The first Clarabell on The Howdy Doody Show, Keeshan went on to create Captain Kangaroo, the longest-running network children's series. An advocate of children's causes, Keeshan's unique blend of education and entertainment has influenced his followers, on screen and off.

    This is a grand one, told with rightful pride by a boy who was there in the city of Philadelphia in 1777 and was lucky enough to play a role in the American Revolution. John Jacob Mickley, eleven years old, and his father were in the city when the Great Bell began ringing Brong! Brong! BRONG! from atop the State House to warn the citizens: "Redcoats! The Redcoats are coming!" And come the British did -- with their muskets and their cannons and their will to keep the colonies for their king. Looting they came and stealing any metal they could get their hands on to melt down for the making of more weapons. And the prize above all? The Great Bell itself -- metal for many a cannon! But the clever Pensylvanians (yes, the word was spelled like that then) had other plans for keeping the Bell safe from the British. Megan McDonald has aptly caught John Jacob's excited retelling of the story, and Marsha Gray Carrington has relished every wild and wooly moment of it in her pictures -- both funny and carefully researched.

    EXPLORING ART uses art examples from around the world to discuss art in the context of religion, politics, family structure, sexuality, entertainment and visual culture.

    These inspiring words by award-winning poet Elizabeth Alexander celebrate all that has made America what it is today and challenge us—as individuals, as communities, as a nation—to continue working toward the dream of a better world for all.

    Consistent new sounds are added gradually, until young readers have read books with all letters of the alphabet (except Q). Short vowels and three-letter words in simple sentences make Bob Books Set 1 a fun confidence builder. With little books, come big success. (TM)

    "We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm,Digging in the dirt is the life of a worm.We dig and we sing all day long,Our wiggly, waggly, gardening song."Follow Wiggle and Waggle, two wormy best friends, through five wormy chapters as they dig in the dirt, work hard, and have fun swimming and singing.Beginning readers will dig the simple science facts included at the end of this charming book.

    They traveled far each day in their covered wagon, driving through tall grass until they found just the right spot for their new home. With the help of their kind neighbor, Mr. Edwards, Pa built a snug little house for the family in the middle of the wide-open prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers. Now for the first time, the youngest readers can share her adventure in these very special picture books adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story-books. Renee Graef's warm paintings, inspired by Garth Williams' classic Little House illustrations, bring Laura and her family lovingly to life.Renée Graef recieved her bachelor's degree in art from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She is the illustrator of teh paper dolls and the Kirsten books in the American Girls Collection. She is also an avid hat collector, with over 150 hats at last count. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her huisband, Tim, and thier children, Maggie and Maxfeild.Join the Ingalls family as they pick a special spot on the prairie and build their snug log cabin home. Their new neighbor, Mr. Edwards, comes by to help, and after the hard work is through, everyone sings and dances to the joyful music of Pa's fiddle. Renee Graef's enchanting full-color illustrations, inspired by Garth William's classic artwork, bring Laura and her family lovingly to life in this eleventh title in the My First Little House Books series, adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved storybooks.

    Do you see more than five jelly beans? Less than a million? This unique book will show you how to train your eyes and your mind to make really great estimations—by making estimating into a game. Jelly beans are just the beginning! This title has Common Core connections.Great Estimations is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    No matter how hard her mother tried to convince her that she wouldn’t fall, the young witch refused. This was until one day the fairy queen visited her in a dream. Realizing that the young witch had never faced the reasons for her fear, the fairy queen asked her one simple question; one simple question that changed the young witch’s destiny, forever. A wonderfully-illustrated story in rhyme, for children aged 3 to 7 years old, about coming to terms with fear and realizing that often our fears are only thoughts. Most of the time one simple question can motivate us so much that we find the courage inside ourselves to do the things that we were, at first, afraid of.

    Fuzz is a tall possum who also likes to collect shiny stones. Fuzz tries to collect a “stone” from a duck’s nest and, in turn, the mama duck tries to collect him. Will Cork be able to save his friend? An Easy-to-Read series that critics compare to “the measured dialogue and sweet illogic of Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad,”** Cork and Fuzz collect fans with each new adventure.

    It's impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again. A first book of motion for kids, it shows a horse in full gallop and a turtle swimming up the page. A dog runs, a cat springs, an eagle soars, and a butterfly flutters. Created by Rufus Butler Seder, an inventor, artist, and filmmaker fascinated by antique optical toys, Scanimation is a state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the "persistence of vision" principle with a striped acetate overlay to give the illusion of movement. It harkens back to the old magical days of the kinetoscope, and the effect is astonishing, like a Muybridge photo series springing into action—or, in terms kids can relate to, like a video without a screen. Complementing the art is a delightful rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup-a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo!Every child who opens the book will be amazed—and so will every parent.

    Makes a special and engaging learning tool. Perfect for boys ages 0-5.

    And with changing his spots, too. Now he’s into changing his shape, and he wants to be somebody new! But as Spot soon discovers, it’s not easy being as big as an elephant or as tall as a giraffe or as small as a mouse. In fact, sometimes it’s easiest just being yourself, as he— and young readers—learn in this cheerful, rhyming Beginner Book about self-acceptance.