Miranda the Explorer: A Magical Round-the-World Adventure
 | author: James Mayhew rating:  asin: 1842550004 binding: Hardcover list price: $20.00 USD amazon price: $20.00 |
An enchanting child’s–eye view of the wonders of the world, from the author of The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year.
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth (Magic School Bus)
We love the Magic School Bus series.
 | author: Joanna Cole rating:  asin: 0590407600 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Where do rocks come from? When Ms. Frizzle asks her students to bring rocks to class, almost everyone forgets.
Jocasta Carr Movie Star
 | author: Roy Gerrard rating:  asin: 0374437777 binding: Paperback list price: $4.95 USD amazon price: $4.95 |
The Barefoot Book of Brother and Sister Tales
Stories from around the world about brothers and sisters.... really neat.
 | author: Mary Hoffman rating: asin: 1841480290 binding: Hardcover list price: $19.99 USD amazon price: $19.99 |
Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy
Yet another book from our recomended history reading that we all enjoyed hearing as a family was Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japenese Boy. Laurel was particularily taken up with this book about a poor fishing boy who is shipwrecked and rescued, but can not return to Japan because the country does not allow anyone to leave and come back. Ella (then 6) didn't like this book after she found out about what it means to live and work on a whaling boat.
 | author: Rhoda Blumberg rating: asin: 068817485X binding: Paperback list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $8.99 USD |
Any person who leaves
the country to go to another
and later returns
will be put to death.
This was the law in Japan in the early 1800s. When fourteen-year-old Manjiro, working on a fishing boat to help support his family, was shipwrecked three hundred miles away from his homeland, he was heartbroken to think that he would never again be able to go home. So when an American whaling boat rescued him, Manjiro decided to do what no other Japanese person had ever done: He went to America, where he received an education and took part in events that eventually made him a hero in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought)
Even though this book is mostly text, it was fascinating to my 8 year old and we read selections from it daily, sometimes over and over.
 | author: Kathleen Krull rating: asin: 0152008071 binding: Hardcover list price: $21.00 USD amazon price: $14.28 USD |
Not all governments have been run by men. Lives of Extraordinary Women turns the spotlight on women who have wielded power, revealing their feats--and flaws--for all the world to see. Here you'll find twenty of the most influential women in history: queens, warriors, prime ministers, first ladies, revolutionary leaders. Some are revered. Others are notorious. What were they really like? In this grand addition to their highly praised series, Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt celebrate some of the world's most noteworthy women, ranging from the famous to those whose stories have rarely been told. Features twenty extraordinary women, including:CleopatraJoan of ArcElizabeth IHarriet TubmanEleanor RooseveltEva Perón
A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying around the World
A multicultural view of how babies are woven into our lives.
 | author: Emery Bernhard rating:  asin: 0152008705 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.00 USD amazon price: $10.88 USD |
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice
 | author: Wendy Pfeffer rating: asin: 0525469680 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $11.55 USD |
The beginning of winter is marked by the solstice, the shortest day of the year. Long ago, people grew afraid when each day had fewer hours of sunshine than the day before. Over time, they realized that one day each year the sun started moving toward them again. In lyrical prose and cozy illustrations, this book explains what the winter solstice is and how it has been observed by various cultures throughout history. Many contemporary holiday traditions were borrowed from ancient solstice celebrations.
Tatterhood and Other Tales
 | rating: asin: 0912670509 binding: Paperback list price: $10.95 USD amazon price: $8.76 USD |
All the central characters in these folk tales are spirited females-decisive heroines of extraordinary courage, wit, and achievement who set out to determine their own fate. Some of their stories are comic, some adventurous, some eerie, and some magical. The 25 traditional tales come from Asia, Europe, India, Africa, and the Americas; detailed information about their sources is given. "A sparkling gathering or traditional, yet little-known tales."-Chicago Sun Times
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books)
 | author: Marjorie Priceman rating: asin: 0679880836 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Illus. in full color. An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients. First hop a steamboat to Italy for the finest semolina wheat. Then hitch a ride to England and hijack a cow for the freshest possible milk. And, oh yes! Don't forget to go apple picking in Vermont! A simple recipe for apple pie is included.
