Ten beautifully illustrated stories tell fables and folktales from different cultures featuring animal characters that often speak and act like humans in order to teach a lesson. Tales include: Anansi the Spider and Mainu the Frog, from African folktales; Brer Rabbit, an African American folktale; Wenebojo and the Buffalo, a Native American legend; the Hare and the Tortoise, a Greek fable; and Androcles and the Lion, a Roman fable. Feature boxes add additional details to help readers better understand concepts in the story as well as the time period in which the story was written.
For thousands of years, women in many cultures were excluded from or limited in education. This meant that others told their stories for them. This fascinating book shines a light on women writers who broke that mold. These women wrote some of the most intriguing stories ever written, such as Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the world’s first novel, and Olympe de Gouges, whose political essays helped spark the French Revolution.
Ten boldly illustrated stories tell classic tales from different cultures of giants, who were usually villains being outwitted and defeated by mythological heroes. Myths include: the hero Heracles versus the hated giant Geryon, and Odysseus versus the giant Cyclops Polyphemus, from Greek mythology; the good-natured giant Finn McCool from Celtic mythology; the Mayan twins versus the destructive mountain giant Cabracan, from Mayan mythology; Sedna, the giant goddess of the sea, from Inuit mythology; and the giant Goliath who was slain by David, from the Bible. Feature boxes add additional details to help readers better understand concepts in the story as well as the time period in which the story was written.
Realistic fiction is a defined as a story that is not true, but could happen in real life. This exciting title encourages budding young writers to draw inspiration from the world around them to develop characters and plot. Engaging writing activities provide guidelines for readers to create their own realistic fiction stories.
Adventure stories are exciting stories that take readers on a journey out of the ordinary and into the dangerous unknown. This action-packed book introduces young writers to the elements of an adventure story and provides fun ideas for writing a daring tale of ones own!
Science fiction stories incorporate science and technology that take readers into new worlds where anything can happen. In this fun title, key elements of science fiction are explored using sample texts. Step-by-step instructions help readers compose science fiction stories that are out-of-this-world!
A drama is a story that is experienced by an audience as a performance. In this engaging title, readers will explore acts, dialogue, stage direction, and other elements that define this genre. Mentor texts and writing prompts guide readers as they compose their own show-stopping dramas.
A myth is a story that attempts to explain a natural phenomena - such as how the world was created. Myths often include supernatural characters who have extraordinary powers. How To Tell a Myth is an engaging title that introduces readers to myths from around the world and highlights the common elements that make up this genre. Step-by-step instructions help readers create their own myths.
This exciting title introduces readers to the folktale genre. Readers will learn that folktales are often passed down and retold from generation to generation. Readers will discover the similarities and differences between folktales from around the world. The title also includes guided writing activities to help readers write their own folktales.
A fable is a short story that teaches the reader a lesson. The characters in a fable are often animals that speak and act like humans. How To Tell a Fable is an engaging title that uses fables from around the world to help readers identify the conventions of this genre. Readers are guided through a series of writing tasks to learn how to incorporate these same conventions in their own writing.
A legend is a story about a hero, a people, or a natural phenomena. Popular legends include King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Blackbeard, and Robin Hood. This exciting new title teaches readers about the common characteristics found in legends from around the world. Engaging writing activities guide readers as they use these characteristics to create their own legends.
How To Write a Fantasy Story is an engaging title that identifies the common features that make this genre so imaginative and distinctive. Step-by-step writing prompts guide readers through the writing process as they create their own fantasy stories.
In this informative book, readers will focus on figurative language and using all the senses to create vivid details. Students will also use brainstorming techniques to choose exciting topics and write their own free verse poems.
This easy-to-understand book introduces young readers to poems that tell stories. Students will explore story elements in poem form. They will also learn how to break poetry into lines and stanzas to write their own narrative poems.
Ten beautifully illustrated stories tell classic tales from different cultures of powerful gods and goddesses in mythology clashing with each other and with humans. Myths include: Pandora opening the box that releases the evils of humanity, and King Midas whose touch turned everything to gold, from Greek mythology; Ganesha, the god with the elephant head, from Indian mythology; Thor's Hammer, from Norse mythology; mighty Glooscap and the baby Wasis from Native American mythology; and the god Horus taking back the throne of Egypt, from Egyptian mythology. Feature boxes add additional details to help readers better understand concepts in the story as well as the time period in which the story was written.
Ten wonderfully illustrated stories tell folktales and legends from different cultures about ghosts and spirits, and their interaction with the human world. Feature boxes add additional details to help readers better understand concepts in the story as well as the time period in which the story was written.
This fascinating book provides a snapshot of the different forms of communication developed by various ancient civilizations. Engaging illustrations, detailed timelines, and fascinating information bring back to life the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, Africa, China, and more. Read about Africa's hundreds of regional dialects, Mesoamerican folding-screen books, Egyptian hieroglyphs and how to interpret them, and Mesopotamian cuneiform writing.
In this book, children will learn how to write an autobiography, a biography of a family member who has influenced their lives, a memoir of an event or special occasion, or even a creative journal on their possible future lives. Children will learn how to interview people and write and recite narratives. They will learn more about themselves through their wonderful stories.
This book teaches children about mountains, volcanoes, coasts, valleys, islands, caves, and canyons. For their own books, suggestions for research will begin with the landforms around the children's homes and schools or ones they have visited. Writing their own landform book will offer kids some fascinating creative opportunities to take their own photographs, paint various landforms themselves, and learn how to research and write instructions for activities to add to their books.
This fascinating book shows children what to include in a book about history. Children are shown how to create a book about an event in history or about social history, such as life in a colonial city or a pioneer village. Suggestions for research include a visit to a nearby historic site, reading stories or watching television shows about children who lived during that time in history, and reading non-fiction books about the subject.
With the help of this book, children can write a book about different countries or concentrate on one country. Children will learn how to draw maps showing the continent on which the country is located, its capital city or cities, important regions, and proximity to oceans, polar regions, or the equator. Creating a book about a country's land, people, and culture will inspire kids to learn about other places and ignite a love for travel.
This fun book teaches children concepts, or big ideas, about butterflies, including metamorphosis, migration, symmetry, and pollination. Children are encouraged to draw their own butterflies, take photographs, or find butterfly photos on the Internet. The text styles taught in this book include informational text, using headings and different fonts, boxed info, and creative writing.
Today, children in many communities come from different countries, speak more than one language, and practice different customs, celebrations, religions, and traditions. This colorful book helps children write a book about their own familys culture or about the cultures of their friends, highlighting foods, celebrations, dance, or traditional clothing.
