Childhood Biography

Young Mendel, from age four to 14, tells in vivid detail the wretched journey in cramped cattle cars through frigid Russia, the indignities of being forced labor, the shame of begging for bread just to survive, and death of those closest to him. The family's plight includes abandonment, hunger, and separation (and later remarkable twists of fate and reunion) quite unlike other Holocaust stories.

The world is changing for two girls in China in the 1970s. Da Qin - Big Piano - and her younger sister, Xiao Qin - Little Piano - live in the city of Wuhan with their parents. For decades, China's government had kept the country separated from the rest of the world. When their country's leader, Chairman Mao, dies, new opportunities begin to emerge. Da Qin and Xiao Qin soon learn their childhood will be much different than the upbringing their parents experienced.

Sometimes there is an entire year that sparkles in the memory as a time brimming over with the fullness of life. By the age of 10, Annie’s intervals of awakening began to occur more frequently; the hours and minutes of the years that followed were spent reveling in the delights and the anguishes that accompany being fully alive.

By turns funny, charming, and sad, this is the story of a sensitive and sickly lad's northern working-class childhood; of a loving mother who kept him off school because of his asthma; of how he washed up in hotels by night to fund studying at RADA by day and would often be found asleep in class.

One of the best-loved men in Britain, Alan Titchmarsh brilliantly recalls his childhood in 1950s Yorkshire. Alan Titchmarsh grew up and developed his passion for nature in the wild and beautiful landscape of Yorkshire. A real treat for his millions of fans, the ever-popular presenter vividly depicts a childhood of simple pleasures like climbing trees and fishing in streams in a time of post-war austerity.

Esme tells us about the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids sat on sofas instead of at desks and could choose disco dancing instead of math; her dangerous neighborhood, which her father made seem friendly and wondrous; the Passover dinner when she stole a matzoh right out from under a rabbi; the awe-inspiring, life-threatening Chicago snowstorms; and lessons about love from tea-reading gypsies and Popeye cartoons.

George Rogers Clark was a famous general in the Revolutionary War, and his explorations served as the inspiration for his younger brother William, the leader of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition. Now you can read about the boyhood of Roger and share in the first adventures of this lifelong hero.

The driving force to tell my story came to me as my counselor proclaimed, beaming from ear to ear like a proud parent, that I had “done it!” Instead of feeling pleased about my accomplishment, I was angry. For 24 years, I had been deceived; I had bought into the lie that I could not face the past. But as I stood on the other side looking back on what seemed like the Valley of Death, I saw nothing but a smokescreen and a heroic image of myself. For me, the journey took years, and the sorrow melted away slowly.

Opera prima di Tolstoj, pubblicata nel 1852 su una rivista, Infanzia era destinata a comporre, con le successive Adolescenza, Giovinezza, Età della piena giovinezza, un romanzo dal titolo complessivo "Le quattro età dello sviluppo", che non andò però mai oltre Giovinezza, anch'essa peraltro incompiuta. Il successo fu immediato per la profondità dello scritto che esplora la sensibilità di un fanciullo, in cui si riconosce il futuro grande esploratore dell’animo umano. Edizione Sansoni, 1928.Cornice musicale: temi russi di Balakirev.

El amor de José Andrés por la cocina comenzó cuando era un niño en España, mientras recogía la leña para hacer el fuego que cocinaría la paella perfecta. A José le encantaba cada aspecto: el chisporroteo del aceite de oliva, los montones de vegetales frescos picados, y el olor del azafrán.

The inspiring stories of five people who changed history, including Glenn Miller, the leader of the most famous big band in the USA; Pérez Prado, the Cuban musician who was known as the 'King of Mambo'; Ella Fitzgerald, the most popular female jazz singer in the USA; Luciano Pavarotti, one of the world's best opera singers; and John Lennon, member of the famous band The Beatles.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history. Contents: Harriet Tubman, the slave who helped hundreds of other slaves to escape; Emmeline Pankhurst, who wanted women to be able to vote; Maria Montessori, the doctor who found a new way to teach children; Helen Keller, the deaf and blind woman who became a famous teacher; Eva Perón, the actress who helped poor and sick people in Argentina; Nancy Wake, the Second World War spy.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history. Contents: Galileo who wanted to show that the earth went around the sun; René Descartes, the Frenchman who famously said 'I think, therefore I am.' ; Sir Isaac Newton who proved how gravity works; Carl Friedrich Gauss, 'the Prince of Mathematicians'; Charles Babbage who invented computers; Ada Lovelace who wrote the first computer program.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history, including Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press; Louis Braille, creator of an alphabet for blind people; Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric lightbulb; Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless system; and John Logie Baird, inventor of the television.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history. Contents: William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England; Saladin, historic Muslim leader; Genghis Khan, famous leader of the Mongol empire; Catherine the Great, the woman who turned Russia into an empire; Abraham Lincoln, who stopped slavery in the USA; and Queen Victoria, the famous British Queen. This book is level 1 in the Collins ELT Readers series.

Every great artist started out as a kid. Forget the awards, the sold-out museum exhibitions, and the timeless masterpieces. When the world’s most celebrated artists were growing up, they had regular-kid problems just like you. Jackson Pollock’s family moved constantly - he lived in eight different cities before he was 16 years old. Georgia O’Keeffe lived in the shadow of her “perfect” older brother Francis. And Jean-Michel Basquiat triumphed over poverty to become one of the world’s most influential artists.

Every president started out as a kid! Forget the legends, tall tales, and historic achievements - before they were presidents, the future leaders of the United States had regular-kid problems just like you. John F. Kennedy hated his big brother. Lyndon Johnson pulled pranks in class. Barack Obama was bothered by bullies. And Bill Clinton was crazy clumsy (he once broke his leg jumping rope). Kid Presidents tells all of their stories and more in these hilarious biographies. History has never been this much fun!

My Warped Italian Catholic Childhood is a comedic throwback to the '50s era. Little Rosemarie is a misplaced ward of the times. Her attempt to adapt to the traditions of her culture, coupled with the dogma of the Catholic church, is overwhelming. Because the tale is narrated through the eyes of an innocent child; her recollections are even funnier and engaging. Little Rosemarie trudges through her daily life questioning her puzzling existence. Guilt, sin, the devil, the lack of sex education, and the unmerciful instruction of The Sisters Of Mercy befuddle the sprite.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history, including Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery; Michael Faraday, inventor of the electric motor; Marie Curie, famous for her work on radioactivity; Albert Einstein, creator of the theory of relativity; Alexander Fleming, discoverer of the first antibiotic; and Linus Pauling, chemist and peace activist.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history, including Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher; Socrates, the great Greek philosopher; Aristotle, the first person to organise scientific knowledge; William Wilberforce, who ended the British slave trade; Karl Marx, who wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital; and Mahatma Gandhi, who helped free India from British rule.