World Geography

As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams.

The land was theirs, but so were its hardships. Strawberries - big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven't even begun their planting. "Don't count your biddies 'fore they're hatched, gal young un!" her father tells her. Making the new farm prosper is not easy.

In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in the river Offin. He’s warned though, to never go to the river at night. His brother tells him ”There are things about the water you do not know. “ Like what? Kofi asks. “The beasts.” His brother answers.

That was where she needed to be, in a field of purple flowers, where no one could bother her. She would sit there until the confusion left her head and the stink of the camp left her nostrils. Shauzia has a dream. She dreams of getting away from the refugee camp in Pakistan and travelling to France. There she knows she would find a better life, away from the war in her home country of Afghanistan...But escape is not so easy. Once she leaves the camp, she has no money, no food - and only her dog Jasper for company. But Shauzia is determined to find a new future for herself...

Today's most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future. But humanity's story has always been on a global scale. Sachs takes listeners through a series of seven distinct waves of technological and institutional change, starting with the original settling of the planet by early modern humans through long-distance migration and ending with reflections on today's globalization.

The royal palace of Wakanda is one of, if not the most, secure facilities on this planet - or any other. So the anxiety Shuri feels when she’s jolted out of sleep by the queen mother with the news that someone attempted to break into the palace - and succeeded - is significant. And as quickly as they broke in, they vanished.

Außergewöhnliche Begegnungen Down Under. Der kleine Drache Kokosnuss, das Stachelschwein Matilda und der Fressdrache Oskar geraten mit ihrem Boot in einen fürchterlichen Sturm, der sie meilenweit vom Kurs abbringt. Am nächsten Morgen haben sie zwar festen Boden unter den Füßen, aber keine Ahnung, wo sie sich befinden. Als sie einen Koala treffen, der auf einem Eukalyptus-Baum sitzt, ist klar: Sie sind in Australien! Und das ist erst der Beginn eines aufregenden Abenteuers.

John Chapman's (a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed) legacy of botanical achievements and stories he shared with children are presented here at their very best.

If you ask her, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has way too many names: six! How did such a small person wind up with such a large name? Alma turns to Daddy for an answer and learns of Sofia, the grandmother who loved books and flowers; Esperanza, the great-grandmother who longed to travel; José, the grandfather who was an artist; and other namesakes too. As she hears the story of her name, Alma starts to think it might be a perfect fit after all - and realizes that she will one day have her own story to tell.

In the tradition of Jared Diamond and Jacques Barzun, prize-winning historian Anthony Pagden presents a sweeping history of the long struggle between East and West, from the Greeks to the present day.

The relationship between East and West has always been one of turmoil. In this historical tour de force, a renowned historian leads us from the world of classical antiquity, through the Dark Ages, to the Crusades, Europe's resurgence, and the dominance of the Ottoman Empire, which almost shattered Europe entirely. Pagden travels from Napoleon in Egypt to Europe's carving up of the finally moribund Ottomans - creating the modern Middle East along the way - and on to the present struggles in Iraq.

It is late August 1892, and Sophia Tims is coming home from a foreign Age, having risked her life in search of her missing parents. Now she is aboard a ship, with a hard-earned, cryptic map that may help her find them at long last. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful. Threatening clouds hang over the New Orleans harbor. Sinkholes have been opening in Boston, swallowing parts of the city whole. Rogue weirwinds tear up the Baldlands.

Drought-hit regions bleeding those who for whom a rural life has become untenable. Coastlines diminishing year on year. Wildfires and hurricanes leaving widening swaths of destruction. The culprit, most of us accept, is climate change, but not enough of us are confronting one of its biggest, and most present, consequences: a total reshaping of the earth’s human geography. As Gaia Vince points out early in Nomad Century, global migration has doubled in the past decade, on track to see literal billions displaced in the coming decades.

Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.

Best friends Tamanna and Yasmine cannot believe their good fortune when a school is set up in their Afghan village; however, their dreams for the future are shattered when the Taliban burn down the school and threaten the teacher and students with death. As Tamanna faces an arranged marriage to an older man, and the Taliban target Yasmine’s Western-educated family, the girls realize they must flee.

Elementary Geography was originally written by educator Charlotte Mason in the 1880s, yet this beloved book for elementary-aged students still garners attention today. Blue Sky Daisies brings you the same classic book, completely re-typeset in a pleasing and fresh format. Miss Mason’s conversational tone teaches children about their world, from its place in the solar system to their place in its lands. Elementary Geography also includes over a dozen poetry selections throughout the book, chosen by Miss Mason to complement the chapter topics.

When orphaned Mary Lennox arrives at Misselthwaite Manor, her uncle's estate, everybody said she was the most disagreeable looking child ever seen. Depressed and withdrawn, Mary stumbles upon an arched doorway into an overgrown garden. She later discovers her pampered invalid cousin, tucked away in a dark room. Soon a charming journey into the magical secret garden begins.

Naima is a talented painter of traditional alpana patterns, which Bangladeshi women and girls paint on their houses for special celebrations. But Naima is not satisfied just painting alpana. She wants to help earn money for her family, like her best friend, Saleem, does for his family. When Naima's rash effort to help puts her family deeper in debt, she draws on her resourceful nature and her talents to bravely save the day.

Momo has always wanted a Lhasa terrier - a dog like the ones the Buddhist priests hold sacred in their temples. And her dream is realized when a trader brings Pempa to her parents' tea house. But after a band of robbers steals the valuable dog and quickly escapes with him into the mountains, Momo is determined to catch them and recover her beloved Pempa. To do so, she must follow the Great Trade Route across the mountains - a path that most people avoid, and which will surely put her life at risk.

The incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! You will love the inspiring tale of Gobi, a lost dog who kept pace with an ultramarathon runner, Dion Leonard, across a vast desert. Follow their unlikely friendship through the challenges of a race and Dion's struggle to bring Gobi home for good.

The mythic origin stories of the Grand Canyon and the Native American tribes who live in and near it.