For years Dickens kept the story of his own childhood a secret. Yet it is a story worth telling. For it helps us remember how much we all might lose when a child's dreams don't come true . . . As a child, Dickens was forced to live on his own and work long hours in a rat-infested blacking factory. Readers will be drawn into the winding streets of London, where they will learn how Dickens got the inspiration for many of his characters. The 200th anniversary of Dickens's birth was February 7, 2012, and this tale of his little-known boyhood is the perfect way to introduce kids to the great author. This Booklist Best Children's Book of the Year is historical fiction at its ingenious best.
From Plato to Groucho, this comprehensive edition features some of the most quotable people who ever lived. They are the famous, infamous, the little-known, and the unknown, inspired enough by life to comment on it, and smart enough to be clever about it.
Changing the course of rivers has changed the course of history. Award-winning author-illustrator- and captivating storyteller- David Macaulay (The Way Things Work) goes to extremes to bring you an unprecedented look at the power of dams. From the banks of the Nile to the top of the Hoover Dam, you’ll meet the courageous and ambitious builders, relive the deadly disasters, and discover the little-known personal triumphs and tragedies behind the greatest dams ever built.
