Showing titles in History

From Mary Anning to Simone Biles, Billie Eilish to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malala Yousafzai to Mary Wollstonecraft, Shirley Chisholm to Jayben Desai, Lily Parr to Sophie Scholl, discover the stories of 366 incredible women throughout history. You'll find well-known figures and unsung heroes, key cultural moments and forgotten stories, spanning across the world and through time, from ancient times to the modern day.

Lorena Hickok came from nothing. She was on her own from the age of 14, cooking and scrubbing for one family after another as she struggled to finish school. But the girl who secretly longed for affection discovered she had a talent with words. That talent allowed Hick to carve out a place for herself in the male-dominated newsrooms of the Midwest where she earned bylines on everything from football to opera to politics. By age 35 she’d become one of the Associated Press’s top reporters.

On June 19th, 1865, the last enslaved African Americans were finally freed in Galveston, Texas. Every year, our community comes together to honor this special day. We play hopscotch, eat spice cake, and listen to music, but what about the first Juneteenth? As family and friends recount their memories and stories of Juneteenths past, a young girl learns about the holiday's longstanding history and traditions.

Listeners of all ages will witness the rise and fall of a scientific and historical icon in this masterful new edition. Exploring his childhood, his secret work on the bomb, his central role in the Cold War, and his tragic downfall, this quintessential biography is history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative, and now available to a younger audience.

From an early age, Cecilia Chiang could be found delighting in the sounds and smells from her favorite room in her home—the kitchen. Little did Cecilia know that she would one day have to escape war and travel to a faraway country, destined to change Chinese cuisine in the United States forever. Experience the dishes Cecilia Chiang enjoyed throughout her life as the seventh daughter in a large family to the owner of the famous Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere… So begins the classic poem of devoted patriot Paul Revere's midnight ride on April 18, 1775. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem in 1860 as a tribute to the revolutionary hero who rode his horse through Medford, Lexington, and Concord to warn the American patriots that the British were coming to attack.

In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to found the very first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The initial settlement—called the Lane colony—failed due to extremely low supplies and a hostile relationship with the Native American people who were already living on the land. Despite this miserable first attempt, Raleigh decided to establish another settlement. Over one hundred people agreed to join this new colony on Roanoke Island, just off the coast of what is now North Carolina.

In April 1970, twenty million people grabbed their rakes, gloves, and recycling bins to celebrate the first Earth Day. Since that environmental kickoff, nature has never been in better shape. RIGHT? WRONG! The real deal is a bit muddier than that. It’s true that the first Earth Day encouraged people around the globe to clean up their act when it came to the environment. But activists have been working for centuries to save the planet! Join the History Smashers team to bust history's biggest misconceptions and figure out what really went down before (and after!) the first Earth Day.

Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance was a cultural movement that spread throughout Europe and affected art, science, technology, politics, and thought. From the 1300s to the beginning of the 1600s, scholars started to question what they knew and looked to literature and historical texts to develop new ideas for why things were the way they were. In just a short amount of time, the foundations for European life were uprooted and examined, leading people, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to explore new ways of thinking and being.

Do YOU like PIZZA? Because right now, somewhere in the world, someone is eating it. Did you know that in the United States we eat 350 slices of pizza every second? Or that in Sweden they serve pizza with bananas and peanuts? All over the world, people love pizza—but where did it come from? And who made the first pizza? Join award-winning author and illustrator Greg Pizzoli as he travels through time and around the globe to discover the mouth-watering history of pizza.

Inspired by civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis's call to challenge injustice, explore famous moments of global activism throughout history with more than 70 narrative stories - including the Newsboys' strike of 1899, the Freedom Summer Project of 1964, Greta Thunberg's first School Strike for Climate, and students against book banning. Each true story shares how activists across a variety of beliefs, ages, and backgrounds called for change, empowering young readers of all ages, abilities, and circumstances to make a difference.

From the big stage to the US Navy, from laboratories to the board room, from the Olympics to the pages in books, these girls and women lead every line. Bold, bright, and empowering profiles by Geisel Honor-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling artist Niña Mata place these incredible changemakers at the very front and inspire listeners to tap into their own greatness.

Tomie has his own diary with a lock and a key—now he can write down all his secrets and no one will be able to read them. All through the year, exciting things happen and Tomie writes about them in his diary. Sledding down the steep hill on his new Junior Flexible Flyer, being a pirate in the dance recital, and starting second grade with real art lessons at last! Then one Sunday morning Tomie's family hears news on the radio that changes everything. Master storyteller Tomie dePaola takes us back to 1941 and lets us experience what life was like growing up in the dePaola household.

World War II is raging in Europe, and Tomie finds that life has changed in many ways. Now he has to wear an extra sweater to school because they're trying to conserve coal. Then tragedy brings the war home to the dePaola family, and all Tomie can do is ask "Why?"

Tomie keeps hearing the phrase, "For the duration." Gas is being rationed "for the duration." The Fourth of July fireworks will be the last show "for the duration." So many things will be different as long as the war goes on, but much of Tomie's life goes on as usual. He's excited about starring in a dance recital, taking the bus around town all by himself, and having his first Communion. But Tomie is also still getting over his cousin's death in the war, and he has to say good-bye to his uncle as he ships off to basic training.

Well-loved author Tomie dePaola brings his childhood memories to audio in this collection of books 5-8 from his 26 FAIRMOUNT AVENUE series.

Before he became the president, Barack Obama was a little boy called Barry. Amid a happy childhood, he also yearned for a better understanding of Black history and culture, and a better sense of his own identity as a Black American. Spurred by conversations around race, injustice, and inequality, he became a community organizer, practiced civil rights law, and was elected to the US Senate. “Yes we can!” became a rallying cry for his message of hope and change throughout the 2008 presidential election—which resulted in Barack Obama becoming the first Black president of the United States.

Before James Baldwin was a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist, he was a boy who fell in love with stories. Words opened up new worlds for young Jimmy, who read and wrote at every opportunity. He ultimately realizes his dreams of becoming an author and giving voice to his community, and in doing so he showed the world the fullness of Black American life. This biography of an American icon is a poetic introduction to James Baldwin and an ode to the power of language.

What makes a hero? Brad Meltzer and illustrator Christopher Eliopoulos answer that question, one great role model at a time.

This true story took place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Ostracized as "dumb Okies," the children of Dust Bowl migrant laborers went without school—until Superintendent Leo Hart and 50 Okie kids built their own school in a nearby field.