Venture through the unknown lands beyond the Mississippi with Lewis and Clark, their crew of army men, the slave York, the young Shoshone guide Sacagawea, and a dog named Seaman. See the party brave all kinds of hair-raising obstacles in its search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Rosalyn Schanzer’s marvelously detailed and engaging illustrations work beautifully with excerpts from Clark’s journal and other primary resources to re-create one of America’s greatest adventures. From hostile terrain to helpful Indians, from boating disaster to grizzly bear encounter, the people, places, and events of this amazing expedition come to life on every page of this outstanding picture book.

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Long before Harry Houdini thrilled the world with his impossible deeds, America had produced an escape artist whose biography reads like an adventure novel.

Many readers will know John Smith as the man rescued from death by Pocahontas, but Smith's story included a series of fantastic episodes: escape from imprisonment, ambush by Indians, attacks by ruthless sea pirates, and more escapades than seem possible in one life.

Now, just in time for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, author Rosalyn Schanzer recounts the full details of John Smith's eventful life in her engaging storytelling style, complemented with a series of entertaining illustrations.

Smith's role as the president of the pioneering colony of Jamestown is well known to schoolchildren. Schanzer's compelling narrative adds the perspective of Smith's English background to his better known adventures in America. Readers are given a complete portrait of the intrepid explorer and adventurer, of the fighter whose battling spirit always prevailed, and of the writer whose work was to shape the idea of the American Dream.

Smith's story is punctuated by several impossibly daring escapes. His final escape left us with the rich legacy of his life story: through his writings, he escaped the fate of dying unknown. He returned to England as a poor man with a rich trove of memories, spending his final years writing the popular books that defined colonial America in tales of excitement and courage....

There were once two enemies who were both named George - George Washington and George III. They were very much alike in some ways, and they were both beloved by their people. But wars alter perceptions of people and interpretations of events. Because the winners tend to tell the tale, very few people in the United States have ever considered the British side of the American Revolution. In George vs. George, Roz Schanzer deftly shifts her perspective and includes primary source quotes from people on both sides of the Atlantic and both sides of the conflict. (There were loyalists in the Colonies and people who supported American independence in England.) The book compares the two Georges, who turn out to be remarkably similar men; talks about what life was like for people in England and in the Colonies on the eve of the Revolution; explains how the government of England worked and also how the Colonial governments worked; and then begins the story of the Revolutionary War. After the Stamp Act, the tax on tea, the boycotts, the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Massacre, come the early battles. The book includes a wonderful description of what led up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. From the British point of view, the famous British crossing of Boston Harbor and march to Concord immortalized in "Paul Revere's Ride" were pre-emptive strikes against a weapons stockpile amassed by dangerous rebel insurgents. Coverage of the war includes spreads about the composition of the British and Colonial forces as well as the Declaration of Independence. The book ends with the stories of what happened to the two Georges after the American Revolution. As the main text and pictures tell the main story, small paintings of historical figures in the margins comment on the events in their own words, which are drawn from primary sources....

There were once two enemies who were both named George - George Washington and George III. They were very much alike in some ways, and they were both beloved by their people. But wars alter perceptions of people and interpretations of events. Because the winners tend to tell the tale, very few people in the United States have ever considered the British side of the American Revolution. In George vs. George, Roz Schanzer deftly shifts her perspective and includes primary source quotes from people on both sides of the Atlantic and both sides of the conflict. (There were loyalists in the Colonies and people who supported American independence in England.) The book compares the two Georges, who turn out to be remarkably similar men; talks about what life was like for people in England and in the Colonies on the eve of the Revolution; explains how the government of England worked and also how the Colonial governments worked; and then begins the story of the Revolutionary War. After the Stamp Act, the tax on tea, the boycotts, the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Massacre, come the early battles. The book includes a wonderful description of what led up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. From the British point of view, the famous British crossing of Boston Harbor and march to Concord immortalized in "Paul Revere's Ride" were pre-emptive strikes against a weapons stockpile amassed by dangerous rebel insurgents. Coverage of the war includes spreads about the composition of the British and Colonial forces as well as the Declaration of Independence. The book ends with the stories of what happened to the two Georges after the American Revolution. As the main text and pictures tell the main story, small paintings of historical figures in the margins comment on the events in their own words, which are drawn from primary sources....

Ben Franklin was the most famous American in the entire world during colonial times. No wonder! After all, the man could do just about anything. Why, he was an author and an athlete and a patriot and a scientist and an inventor to boot. He even found a way to steal the lightning right out of the sky.

Is such a thing possible? Is it. Take a look inside and find Ben busy at work on every spread. Then find out how he used his discovery about lightning to make people's lives safer.

In an inventive way, Rosalyn Schanzer brings us a brilliant and ever-curious American original.

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In 1831 a 22-year-old naturalist named Charles Darwin stepped aboard the HMS Beagle as a traveling companion of an equally youthful sea captain called Robert FitzRoy. The Beagle’s round-the-world surveying journey lasted five long years on the high seas. The young Darwin noticed everything, and proved himself an avid and detailed chronicler of daily events on the Beagle and onshore. What Darwin Saw takes young readers back to the pages of his journals as they travel alongside Darwin and read his lively and awestruck words about the wonders of the world.

We follow Darwin’s voyage, looking over his shoulder as he explores new lands, asks questions about the natural world, and draws groundbreaking conclusions. We walk in his footsteps, collecting animals and fossils, experiencing earthquakes and volcanoes, and meeting people of many cultures and languages. We examine his opinions on life in all its forms. We consider the thoughts of this remarkable scientist, who poured his observations and research into his expansive theories about life on Earth. In this exciting and educational account, Charles Darwin comes alive as an inspirational model for kids who think and question the world around them....

There are two sides to every story. Rosalyn Schanzer's engaging and wonderfully illustrated book brings to life both sides of the American Revolution.

The narrative introduces anew the two enemies, both named George: George Washington, the man who freed the American colonies from the British, and George III, the British king who lost them. Two leaders on different sides of the Atlantic, yet with more in common than we sometimes acknowledge. We are lead through their story, and the story of their times, and see both sides of the arguments that divided the colonies from the Kingdom. Was King George a "Royal Brute" as American patriots claimed? Or was he, as others believed, "the father of the people?" Was George Washington a scurrilous traitor, as all the king's supporters claimed? Or should we remember and celebrate him as "the father of his country?" Who was right? History teaches us that there are two sides to every story.

Rosalyn Schanzer's book is an accessible account of one the most vital periods in American history. It is also a timeless lesson in seeing history from different points of view. The author spent two years researching books, paintings, cartoons, and descriptions of Revolutionary times. She uses art, text, and first-hand accounts to illustrate how history should never be reduced to simplistic conflicts between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Her illustrations, and her engaging quote bubbles, bring the Revolution to life again, and allow the characters of the period to speak for themselves. Through its lively text, detailed illustrations, and fully authenticated quotes, George vs. George shines fresh light on both sides of the story of our country's formative years....

In 1831 a 22-year-old naturalist named Charles Darwin stepped aboard the HMS Beagle as a traveling companion of an equally youthful sea captain called Robert FitzRoy. The Beagle’s round-the-world surveying journey lasted five long years on the high seas. The young Darwin noticed everything, and proved himself an avid and detailed chronicler of daily events on the Beagle and onshore. What Darwin Saw takes young readers back to the pages of his journals as they travel alongside Darwin and read his lively and awestruck words about the wonders of the world.

We follow Darwin’s voyage, looking over his shoulder as he explores new lands, asks questions about the natural world, and draws groundbreaking conclusions. We walk in his footsteps, collecting animals and fossils, experiencing earthquakes and volcanoes, and meeting people of many cultures and languages. We examine his opinions on life in all its forms. We consider the thoughts of this remarkable scientist, who poured his observations and research into his expansive theories about life on Earth. In this exciting and educational account, Charles Darwin comes alive as an inspirational model for kids who think and question the world around them....