Helaine Becker

The bold story of an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA during the space race and was depicted in the film "Hidden Figures, " and how she made sure that the crew of Apollo 13 returned home. Full color.

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

In this fun and funny celebration of literacy, kids of all ages will discover that the act of reading is a daring adventure that can take you anywhere! You can read at the playground, under the sea, at the opera and even in outer space! It turns out you can read everywhere! And when you do, you open yourself to a universe of adventure. Presented in light-hearted, rib-tickling verse that's perfect for reading aloud, You Can Readsings it loud and proud: Books are awesome. And so are the people who read them.

You Can Read

The spy missions of Darren Dirkowitz (aka Dirk Daring, Secret Agent) are interrupted when his stepbrother gets hold of his top-secret notebook.

Dirk Daring, secret agent

Kari Rust

The Most Important Mathematician You've Never Heard Of

Emmy Noether

Sandra Dumais

How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur

Fossil Whisperer

Born in Scotland over 250 years ago, William Playfair was a dreamer who ñsaw the world differently from other people.î Unfortunately, this skill didnÍt easily translate into the fame and fortune he hoped for. In fact, it often got him into trouble with family, friends and bosses. But WillÍs innovative vision did inspire a big idea that would set him apart: he turned numbers into pictures by creating line graphs, bar graphs and pie charts! Numbers as pictures? ThereÍs an idea thatÍs off the charts!

How William Playfair Invented Graphs

Lines, Bars and Circles

An inspiring story of Zheng Yi Sao, the real-life pirate queen who took control of her life — and the South China seas — in the early 19th century. The most powerful pirate in history was a woman who was born into poverty in Guangzhou, China, in the late 1700s. When pirates attacked her town and the captain took a liking to her, she saw a way out. Zheng Yi Sao agreed to marry him only if she got an equal share of his business. When her husband died six years later, she took command of the fleet. Over the next decade, the pirate queen built a fleet of over 1,800 ships and 70,000 men. On land and sea, Zheng Yi Sao’s power rivaled the emperor himself. Time and again, her ships triumphed over the emperor’s ships. When she was ready to retire, Zheng Yi Sao surrendered — on her own terms, of course. Even though there was a price on her head, she was able to negotiate her freedom, living in peace and prosperity for the rest of her days. Zheng Yi Sao’s powerful story is told in lyrical prose by award-winning author Helaine Becker. Liz Wong’s colorful, engaging illustrations illuminate this inspiring woman in history. An author’s note provides historical context and outlines the challenges of researching a figure about whom little is known. Key Text Features author’s note historical context sources Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

A Story of Zheng Yi Sao

Pirate Queen

Helaine Becker and Mike Boldt team up for another hilarious storytime romp! Let's hear it for our underwear! From boxers to bloomers and briefs to bikinis, whether they're frilly, silly, or saggy - we all have our favourite pair, so give three cheers for underwear! The uproarious team behind Little Jack Horner, Live From the Corner brings us another silly storytime treat, this time celebrating an underappreciated piece of our wardrobe: underpants! With Helaine Becker's boisterous rhyming text and Mike Boldt's buoyant illustrations, Ode to Underwear is a perfect read-aloud for anyone who loves to laugh!

Ode to Underwear

A laid-back sloth reminds an entire zoo to sloooow down

Sloth at the Zoom

A hilarious cast of distinctively Canadian characters populate these Twelve Days of Christmas! Christmas, as only Canadians can celebrate! Where else do Mounties frolic, squirrels enjoy a fine game of curling, and hockey players mark the season as lords-a-leaping? This hilarious, tongue-in-cheek re-setting of the popular Christmas carol is the perfect gift for Canadians new and old, young and young-at-heart.

A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas

A Porcupine in a Pine Tree

"Blast off to a universe of photos, facts, and fun!"--Front cover.

Blast Off for a Universe of Photos, Facts, and Fun!

National Geographic Kids Everything Space

Porcupine and his friends are back, singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" Sing your way through the season with Porcupine, Beaver, Moose and the gang! It's a holiday party at the Porcupine Cafe, and all the animals are there, singing out to Porcupine for their favourite treats. The bears arrive first and demand the traditional figgy pudding. But they are followed by puffins, who request fish; beavers asking for tasty twigs; moose, who demand tasty berries; and squirrels, who lobby for crunchy walnuts. What's a frenzied chef to do? This fun holiday romp will have kids and adults singing along -- and inventing their own verses for their OWN favourite foods! Helaine Becker and Werner Zimmermann create even more Christmas merriment and mayhem in this companion to the bestselling A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, Dashing Through the Snow and Deck the Halls.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Are monsters really out there in the big, wide world? Frankenstein, vampires, bigfoot, zombies, werewolves, sea monsters — they’re not real, right? But what if they were? How would science explain their existence? In this totally original book, these mythical creatures are put under the microscope, one by one, and the scientific principles that prove or disprove their plausibility are explained. How does electricity work, and can it ever wake the dead? What’s in our blood, and do real-life bloodsuckers exist? Find out what’s true — and what’s just legend! With frightful fun and just enough ick, the scariest monsters on earth will engage kids so thoroughly in the world of science, they’re sure to be screaming for more!

Could Monsters Survive (and Thrive!) in the Real World?

Monster Science

A quiz book to test how well you know your BFF.

The quiz book for BFFs 2

Are you and your BFF meant to be? Find out in this awesome quiz book for best friends! Can you keep a secret? Do you always know the right things to say to cheer up a friend? And, most important of all, can you throw the best sleepover ever? If you answered yes to any of these, you may just be the best friend ever. If you aren't sure, then it's time to crack open The Quiz Book for BFFs and find out what you're made of! Chock full of quizzes, this book is the humorously foolproof way for young readers to find out if they are BFF material, and more importantly, how to recognize their own BFFs when they find them!

The Quiz Book for BFFs

Darren Dirkowitz thought his life was over when his tippity-top-secret alter ego, Dirk Daring, Secret Agent, was outed to the entire Preston Middle School student body. If only he’d been so lucky. Now the Wolf Lords—a gang of teen thugs bent on wringing every last penny out of Preston students—are breathing down his neck. There’s only one solution: Dirk Daring must embark on his most daring mission yet. A mission so audacious, so cunning, so doggone crazy, that if it succeeds, the Wolf Lords will wind up begging for mercy. But first, Darren must bring his own disobedient “associates” to heel. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie is the sequel to the runaway bestseller Dirk Daring, Secret Agent.

Dirk Daring, Secret Agent

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

12-year-old Dany lives with his father, the scholarly Rob Judah, and his silent mother Rachel in the Stoon ghetto on the outskirts of Gottika. Under the ruthless Count Pol, the Stoon community are subject to military raids, prejudicial laws and restrictions on their culture and freedom. When Pol marries Dany’s cousin Dalil, stoking further tension between Gottikans and Stoons, life gets harder still. Urged on by Dany, Rob Judah finally runs out of patience. Something must be done. One night, Rob Judah breaks curfew and goes down to the river. Dany follows and secretly watches as his father invokes illegal Stoon magic to raise a creature, in human form, from the mud. The Gol comes to live with the family and becomes the invincible protector of the Stoons. He foils plots, prevents violence against them, and starts to bring hope and happiness back to Dany’s family. But then Rob Judah is framed for a brutal murder and thrown in Pol’s dungeon. Now it is Dany’s time to act. With the help of Moishe, Dalil and a wolf-dog hybrid named Khan, Dany sets out to save his father and defeat Pol once and for all. Along the way, he uncovers shocking family secrets, learns where Pol’s vicious hatred of the Stoons comes from and is gifted with an understanding of the sacred mysteries of life itself. Compelling, clever and full of twists and turns, Gottika reimagines the powerful Golem legend as a futuristic fantasy with a universal message.

Gottika

In this fun and funny celebration of literacy, kids of all ages will discover that the act of reading is a daring adventure that can take you anywhere! You can read at the playground, under the sea, at the opera and even in outer space! It turns out you can read everywhere! And when you do, you open yourself to a universe of adventure. Presented in light-hearted, rib-tickling verse that's perfect for reading aloud, You Can Read sings it loud and proud: Books are awesome. And so are the people who read them.

Get in touch with your inner spy in this fun quiz book for agents-in-training! Most kids think they are smart, sneaky and stealthy enough to be a super-spy, and at long last, here's a book to let them prove it once and for all! Readers can determine if they have what it takes to be a super-spy -- are they smart, sneaky, stealthy? Do they like their milkshakes shaken, not stirred? Are they suited to a life of high-intrigue or should they take on their school's gossip blog? Is this a fun quiz book or is CSIS recruiting young? Our lips are sealed.

The Quiz Book for Spies

Willow Dawson

Looks at the ocean and the dramatic ecological changes that it is going through, while offering activities that demonstrate scientific principles related to the issues raised in the text.

Helaine Becker

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