A History of the World in 25 Cities (British Museum)
by Tracey Turner, Andrew Donkin, Libby VanderPloeg (Illustrator)
This book goes through history, giving information about different cities around the world at their height. We start with Jericho and end with Tokyo. There are ancient cities that now lie in ruins, old cities that kept getting renewed and rebuilt through the centuries, and modern cities that are comparatively young.
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Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings
by Diana Pavlac Glyer (Goodreads Author), James A. Owen (Illustrator)
This book analyzes the inner workings of the writing group, The Inklings, showing specific examples of how they encouraged and influenced each other’s writing. We learn about Lewis’ and Tolkien’s individual writing styles, and how their group read aloud portions of their writing. The process of writing, revising, and editing was intimately connected with the influence of the Inklings, despite Lewis famously saying that it was impossible to influence Tolkien: “…you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch.” This book proves Lewis wrong, giving specific examples of times when Tolkien took criticism from the Inklings very seriously and altered major sections of his writing accordingly.
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Gazing at the Night Sky: 5,000 Year of Humanity’s Quest to Find Our Place in the Universe
by Bruce Wilson Jr.
People have been staring at the stars for millennia, marveling at the beauties of the night sky. This book explores how ancient peoples attached meaning to the stars, developed superstitions around horoscopes to gain a sense of control in their world, and studied science and mathematics to understand how the solar system works. The stars have influenced artists and photographers. Today we have a vast amount of information from space probes that tell us about our solar system. From Aristotle to Armstrong, the stars inspire us to keep looking up.
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The Ocean Blue: A History of Maritime Trade, Naval Warfare, and Exploration
by Bruce Wilson Jr.
The oceans of the globe both connect and separate the world. Seafaring cultures have shaped the landscape of history. Battles at sea have defined warfare for millennia. The ocean influences art, music, literature, and architecture. This book explores all the ways that the ocean has shaped our history from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to the modern day.
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One Day at a Time: 365 Innovations, Discoveries, and Triumphs in World History
by Bruce Wilson Jr.
History is a deep well of wild facts and weird stories. This book presents 365 amazing events in history that still shape our world today. We begin with the first known writing from 3100 BC and travel through history all the way to 2019 when scientists were able to take the first photograph of a black hole. This book includes artists, scientists, royals, politicians, engineers, musicians, doctors, and ordinary people who did extraordinary things.
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Interior Design 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Transforming Your Home
by Barbara Moreau
Have you ever wanted to decorate your home, but had no idea where to start? This book gives practical tips for decorating with an intentional style that works with the space you have. There are sections about lighting, furniture layout, paint colors, textures, accessories, and storage. There are even some tips about using DIY projects to decorate on a budget!
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The Phone Book: Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your Hand
by Jessica Speer (Goodreads Author), Lesley Imgart (Illustrations)
When young teens get their first smartphone, it’s like a whole new digital world opens up for them. This book gives teens the tools and wisdom to navigate the online world with kindness and grace. Phone addiction is absolutely real and can have a negative impact on our lives, causing depression and anxiety as well as health issues. But it IS possible to have a healthy relationship with your phone!
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Master American History in 1 Minute A Day
by Dan Roberts
In one page snippets, you can learn about American history from Christopher Columbus to President Biden. The book is divided into sections about exploration, colonization, the American Revolution, nationalization, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution, economic struggle and the World Wars, and the “era of social and economic advance”, finishing up by calling recent history “the era of reaction, social struggle, and political contention.”
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The Big Book of Mysteries
by Tom Adams (Goodreads Author), Yas Imamura (Illustrator)
4 out of 5 stars
Some mysteries can never be explained. Others have simple explanations or have been proven to be a hoax. Where is Amelia Earhart? Who built Stonehenge? Are the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot real? Are there really aliens making crop circles? Can fish really rain from the sky?
Some mysteries have already been solved. We know what makes aurora in the sky. But other strange lights in the sky are still unexplained. We know that the Piltdown man was a hoax, but what about Atlantis?
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Insectopia: The Wonderful World of Insects (Large Encyclopedias)
by Jiri Kolibac, Pavel Dvorský (Illustrator)
There are millions of species of insects in this world, and in this book we get to learn about some of the interesting habits, environments, and communities of various insects. There are sections about beetles, butterflies, ants, and flies. The book begins with an introduction to the body structure of insects and how different insects are scientifically categorized. We learn about how insects are born from eggs, how some of them metamorphosis and mature, and even how they communicate with each other or hide from predators.
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