News and Reviews…
• Readers looking for stories about people reaching out across barriers to help each other will delight in our new series Famous Friends: True Tales of Friendship. These are people we know and love who celebrated their differences and encouraged one another’s dreams. Learn how Marilyn Monroe helped her friend Ella Fitzgerald battle racism, and how Oprah Winfrey found a kindred spirit in poet Maya Angelou. Discover how Helen Keller found a friend in Mark Twain, and Henry Ford and Thomas Edison helped each other in many ways. “…similar backgrounds: troubled childhoods…and the need to keep pushing to make dreams come true…an interesting depiction of two legends that could inspire further research…Quite Unusual”
~ Booklist on Famous Friends: Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
• Don’t miss the five brand new titles for We Were Here First: The Native Americans. Learn about the Chippewa (The Ojibwe), The Hopi, The Pueblo, The Shawnee, and the Shoshone. “….detailed books on various Native American tribes and their traditions, gender roles, pastimes, foods, shelters, and more… well documented and compelling”
~ School Library Journal
• Find out how our major cities came to be in We Built This City, the 5 part sister series to Building on a Dream (“Highly recommended… Readers will marvel at these “dreams” that became reality.”
~ School Library Journal. “Discover who lived on the land long before the first building went up, and the people from many countries who came together to create the modern marvels we know today.”
• 5 new titles arrive in the newest volume of Building on a Dream. Discover the origins of the Louvre, New York, the famous Flatiron Building, the International Space Station, the Trevi Fountain, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s incredible Fallingwater. “Enlightening”
~ Booklist on Building on a Dream.
• What do Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons have in common? They are part of the newest volume of Beacon Biographies, on sale now! “…appealing to a wide range of readers…consistently strong”
~ School Library Journal on Beacon Biographies.
Our picture book series A Continent of Creatures was called “an interesting abbreviated look at the animals of each continent… good browsing books for the very young,” by School Library Connection. Now we present the companion set: Water Planet. This 7-part series features the creatures that call these seven seas and oceans their home. From the sneaky ghost crab to the mysterious vampire squid, young readers will delight at the amazing variety of life found on this incredible water planet.We’re proud of the reaction to our new series on the Negro Leagues, Swinging for the Fences. “Masterful…these books explain how it (segregation) affected individual lives. Anyone with a nominal interest in baseball or American history will enjoy the books.”
~ School Library Connection. Booklist called the series, “Informative…lively…(these books) place the facts within their historical context of segregation and discrimination…Engaging intros to intriguing aspects of baseball history.”
“…detailed books on various Native American tribes and their traditions, gender roles, pastimes, foods, shelters, and more…well documented and compelling”
~ School Library Journal on We Were Here First
“…these should pair nicely with art-related curricula…the reproductions of the masterworks steal the show and are the heart of the series…the series would make for a useful addition to introductory art units.”
~ School Library Journal on: Brush With Greatness
“…gripping narrative concerning a pivotal event…goes on to describe various aspects of slavery: how it started in America, why it proliferated in the South more than in the North, what daily life was like for slaves, and the role of abolitionists… readers can follow in their footsteps”!
~ School Library Journal on Footsteps to Freedom: The Underground Railroad
“…these narratives are rich in detail and clearly written… complemented with extensive quotations from the First Ladies’ letters, adding a personal perspective…images of historical significance…Good to excellent portraits of important figures often not given full historical treatment.
~ School Library Journal on First Ladies: Second to None
“…accessible and informative…teachers will appreciate…kid-friendly… provide a strong factual overview…appealing…enlightening and will be useful for curricula on cultural diversity.
~ School Library Journal on the Faith in Friendship series.
“Elementary school social studies classes should cheer.”
~ Foreword Reviews on Faith In Friendship: My Friend Is Muslim
We are delighted that the South Asia Book Award (SABA) jury has selected Faith in Friendship: My Friend Is Hindu as a Highly Commended Book for the 2016 SABA Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
“…appealing to a wide range of readers… The illustrations are consistently strong, including intriguing photos of several figures as young children as well as more recent shots. Back matter is also excellent. …Good research materials for intermediate readers looking for a little more depth than a more strictly hi-lo title.”
~ School Library Journal on Beacon Biographies
“These titles examine the Underground Railroad in depth…how the Underground Railroad worked, people who were intimately involved in the Underground Railroad, and Reconstruction… useful for initial research or for further information than what is included in textbooks”
~ School Library Connection on Footsteps To Freedom: The Underground Railroad
New Series
• Meet the women who risked their lives to do what they thought was right in the new 5 part series Wonder Women: Heroines of History. From famed journalists Ida B. Wells and Nellie Bly, to Stagecoach Mary and Sybil Ludington, you won’t soon forget their accomplishments.
• They helped create Rock and Roll, but on their terms. They wrote the songs and they did them their way, even when faced with prejudice and hate thrown in their way. Celebrate the Righteous Rockers in this 5 part series featuring Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Sam Cooke!
• With peaceful protests once again emerging as a powerful tool for change in America and around the world, we present I Protest: A History of Peaceful Protest. This 5-volume series covers some of the stories and heroes of history’s greatest protests, like the colonists who said no to unfair British rule and the suffragettes’ march for the right to vote. From Mahatma Gandhi leading the people of India, to freedom to Malala’s fight for the right to education, to the Native Americans of Standing Rock, these are true tales of people that continue to inspire.
Celebrate 100 years of National Parks with the new 5 part series Walk on the Wild Side: The National Parks.
Five new artists have been added to Brush With Greatness with Volume 2: Cézanne, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Renoir and Vermeer.
Volume 2 of We Were Here First features the Blackfeet, the Creek, the Choctaw, the Seminole and the Zuni.