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Featured
Children's Book: Activity
Africa for Kids
Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities
by By Harvey Croze
Age Range: 9 to 12
Africa is brought to life in this imaginative look at the
plants, animals, and people that make it such a fascinating
continent. Studies of both traditional tribes and modern African
cities showcase Africa's diversity, and authentic activities
allow kids to dive into the rich culture by making a Maasai
bivouac shelter, writing a fable in the African style, working
as a field biologist, making a ritual elephant mask, and
learning to tie an African Kanga dress. This cross-cultural
study also shows kids what challenges Africa faces today while
giving them a look at what it is like to live on this
interesting continent.
Harvey Croze is the coauthor of Pyramids of Life and The
Serengeti's Great Migration. He is one of the world's foremost
experts on African elephants and has been studying them for 35
years as a founding member of the Ambosli Elephant Research
Project. He lives in Nairobi.
Amazing Leonardo da Vinci
Inventions You Can Build Yourself
by Maxine Anderson
Age Range: 9 to 12
From armored tanks and gliders to "plastic glass" and drawing
machines, this interactive children's book explores the incredible mind of
Leonardo da Vinci through hands-on building projects and
activities. Most of Leonardo's inventions were never made in his
lifetime and remained sketches in his famous notebooks; kids
examine some of these original sketches and learn about the
models he made of his inventions. From there they delve into
detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for
each project, which are interpersed with historical facts,
biographical anecdotes, and trivia. Most of the building can be
done using simple household supplies: construction paper, tape,
markers, glue, cardboard tubes, aluminum foil, and cardboard
boxes. Background about the Renaissance as a period of
remarkable achievement in art and science appears throughout the
book.
Maxine Anderson is the author of Great Civil War Projects You
Can Build Yourself. She is a former teacher and an avid amateur
historian, focusing on inventions and innovations in a
historical context. She lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself
by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
Age Range: 9 to 12
The amazing accomplishments of the ancient Maya as well as the
Maya currently living in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula are
highlighted in this collection of 25 creative, educational,
hands-on projects. Covering everything from the 20-base
numbering system to the Maya's extensive trade relationships,
kids learn about appeasing the gods with a "jade" ceremonial
mask, language development with a screen-fold book for drawings
and hieroglyphs, and Maya astronomy with a sand art picture of
the cosmos. Informative text and sidebars teach about the Maya's
impressive achievements in science, math, language, music,
medicine, and architecture; and their daily activities and
management of natural resources.
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt is the author of of many children's books,
including: Great World War II Projects You Can Build Yourself
and a coauthor of 2005 NASCAR Travel Planner and Ripley's
Believe It or Not! Planet Eccentric! She has written for
American Profile, Family Circle, Go, Ladies' Home Journal, and
The Washington Post. She lives in Buffalo, New York.
American Folk Art for Kids
With 21 Activities
by Richard Panchyk
Age Range: 9 and up
Drawing on the natural folk art tendencies of children, who love
to collect buttons, bottle caps, shells, and Popsicle sticks to
create beautiful, imperfect art, this activity guide teaches
kids about the history of this organic art and offers
inspiration for them to create their own masterpieces. The full
breadth of American folk art is surveyed, including painting,
sculpture, decorative arts, and textiles from the 17th century
through today. Making bubblegum wrapper chains, rag dolls,
bottle cap sculptures, decoupage boxes, and folk paintings are
just a few of the activities designed to bring out the artist in
every child. Along the way kids learn about the lives of
Americans throughout history and their casual relationships to
everyday art as they cut stencils, sew needlepoint samplers,
draw calligraphy birds, and design quilts. Important folk
artists such as the last surviving Shakers, the legendary
Grandma Moses, and the Reverend Howard Finster are also explored
in sidebars throughout the book.
Richard Panchyk is the author of World War II for Kids and
Archaeology for Kids and the coauthor of Engineering the City
The American Revolution for Kids
A History with 21 Activities
by Janis Herbert
Age Range: 9 and up
Heroes, traitors, and great thinkers come to life in this
activity children's book, and the concepts of freedom and democracy are
celebrated in true accounts of the distinguished officers, wise
delegates, rugged riflemen, and hardworking farm wives and
children who created the new nation. This collection tells the
story of the Revolution, from the hated Stamp Act and the Boston
Tea Party to the British surrender at Yorktown and the creation
of the United States Constitution. All American students are
required to study the Revolution and the Constitution, and these
21 activities make it fun and memorable. Kids create a fringed
hunting shirt and a tricorn hat and reenact the Battle of
Cowpens. They will learn how to make their voices heard in "I
Protest" and how Congress works in "There Ought to Be a Law." A
final selection including the Declaration of Independence, a
glossary, biographies, and pertinent Web sites makes this book a
valuable resource for both students and teachers.
Janis Herbert is the author of The Civil War for Kids, Leonardo
da Vinci for Kids, Lewis and Clark for Kids, and Marco Polo for
Kids.
Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors
An Activity Guide
by Marian Broida
Age Range: 9 and up
Want to speak Hittite? Hold out a glass and ask for "wa-tar."
This unique activity book for children ages nine and up shows
what life was like among the Nubians, Mesopotamians, Hittites,
and their neighbors the Egyptians from around 3100 B.C., when
Upper and Lower Egypt became one kingdom, to the death of Queen
Cleopatra under the Romans, in 30 B.C. Projects such as building
a Nubian irrigation machine, creating a Mesopotamian cylinder
seal out of clay, making kilts like those worn by Egyptian boys
and men, and writing in Hittite cuneiform help young readers to
connect with these ancient cultures and see how profoundly they
have influenced our own.
Marian Broida is the author of Ancient Egyptians and Their
Neighbors.
Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors
An Activity Guide
by Marian Broida
Age Range: 9 and up
Children can try their hand at re-creating ancient Israelite
culture—along with the cultures of their neighbors, the
Philistines and Phoenicians—in a way that will provide
perspective on current events. This children's book covers a key period from
the Israelites’ settlement in Canaan in 1200 B.C.E. to their
return from exile in Babylonia in 538 B.C.E. This part of the
Middle East—no larger than modern-day Michigan—was the
birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. More than 35
projects include stomping grapes into juice, building a model
Phoenician trading ship, making a Philistine headdress, and
writing on a broken clay pot. Israelites', Phoenicians', and
Philistines' writing and languages, the way they built their
homes, the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and the work
they did, and of course, their many interesting stories, are all
explored.
Marian Broida is the author of Ancient Egyptians and Their
Neighbors.
Archaeology for Kids
Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past, 25 Activities
by Richard Panchyk
Age Range: 9 and up
This activity children's book features 25 projects such as making a surface
survey of a site, building a screen for sifting dirt and debris
at a dig, tracking soil age by color, and counting tree rings to
date a find teach kids the techniques that unearthed Neanderthal
caves, Tutankhamun’s tomb, the city of Pompeii, and Tenochtitlan,
capital of the Aztec empire. Kids will delight in fashioning a
stone-age tool, playing a seriation game with old photographs of
cars, "reading" objects excavated in their own backyards, and
using patent numbers to date modern artifacts as they gain an
overview of human history and the science that brings it back to
life.
Richard Panchyk is coauthor of Engineering the City. He holds a
master’s degree in anthropology and has taught college-level
archaeology.
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To order the following children's books, please visit:
Africa for Kids
Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself
Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself
American Folk Art for Kids
American Revolution for Kids
Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors
Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors
Archaeology for Kids
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