Jessie Bollier often played his fife to earn a few pennies down by the New Orleans docks. One afternoon a sailor asked him to pipe a tune, and that evening Jessie was kidnapped and dumped aboard The Moonlight, a slave ship, where a hateful duty awaited him. He was to play music so the slaves could "dance" to keep their muscles strong, their bodies profitable. Jessie was sickened by the thought of taking part in the business of trading rum and tobacco for blacks and then selling the ones who survived the frightful sea voyage from Africa. Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up
Meet the Radleys - Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Clara and Rowan, live in a typical suburban English town. They are an everyday family, averagely dysfunctional, averagely content. But, as their children have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret. In this moving, thrilling and extraordinary portrait of one unusual family, The Radleys asks what we grow into when we grow up, and explores what we gain - and lose - when we deny our appetites.
The further adventures of the family of miniature people who, after losing their home under the kitchen floor of an old English house, are forced to move out to the fields. Driven from their home in the big house, Pod, Homily, and Arrietty take up life in a boot.
In this book, children learn the story of Pocahontas. Famous for helping maintain peace between the English colonists and Native Americans, this brave Indian woman befriended the settlers at Jamestown, saving the life of their leader, Captain John Smith, whom she later married.
Lots of animals spit, spray, spew, squirt and vomit as clever ways to get through the day and night. They use their disgusting abilities for defense, safe housing and protecting their young. Spit and spew help animals to catch food and feed their babies. Some spit even helps them to attract and impress potential mates. Without these handy bodily fluids to help them get along, many of these animals would not be able to survive in the world.
