History For Kids

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 great author started out as a kid. Before the best sellers, fan clubs, and beloved stories we know today, the world's most celebrated writers had regular-kid problems just like you. Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain) loved to skip school and make mischief, with his best friend Tom, of course! A young J. R. R. Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula - or as he called it, "a spider as big as a dragon." Toddler Zora Neale Hurston took her first steps when a wild hog entered her house and started chasing her!

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!

Who lived in Texas over a thousand years ago? In Porch Talk, John Erickson and his archaeologist friend Doug Boyd investigate this question while explaining the art and science of archaeology for middle listeners. On the Perryton ranch, John and his friends unearthed a ghost town that dated back to around 1300 CE. For more than twenty years, they worked together on this and other prehistoric sites, sharing a fascination for the ancient people who occupied the area. How did these people work, play, and survive?

From prehistoric times to the 1800s, the Plains or Great Plains were settled by people who migrated from Asia. Around 10,000 years ago, the earliest settlers of America were the Stone Flaked people (Lithic). They chipped rocks to make heads for their spears to hunt food or to make scrapers. The scrapers were for cutting wooden spear handles or for cleaning animal hides to make them soft for wearing. Do you think you could have survived as one of the Great Plains People?

One day in 1882, Thomas Edison flipped a switch that lit up lower Manhattan with incandescent light and changed the way people live ever after. The electric light bulb was only one of thousands of Edison’s inventions, which include the phonograph and the kinetoscope, an early precursor to the movie camera. As a boy, observing a robin catch a worm and then take flight, he fed a playmate a mixture of worms and water to see if she could fly! An accessible, appealing biography of the inventor.

In May 1962, Naval Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle flew to Saigon to establish a new armed forces radio station. Next to follow were his wife and three boys, Leslie among them. Saigon Kids is the candid, recondite slice of 14-year-old military brat Les Arbuckle's experience at the American Community School during the critical months of the Vietnam War when events would, quite literally, ignite in downtown Saigon.

Do you know why the Romans were considered the most powerful nation in the world for many centuries? How did they live? What was life like in early Rome? In this audiobook, you’ll discover how they lived, what they ate, and how they entertained themselves. Discover the story of how Rome began and why the Roman Empire fell. Learn about some of the greatest soldiers who led the Roman armies into battle and the kinds of weapons they used. Learn about famous emperors and whether they were loved or hated—and why.

Four hundred years ago, no one bothered to write down the exact words of stage plays. Characters’ lines were scribbled on small rolls of paper (as in, an actor’s role) and passed around, but no master script was saved for the future. The main reason we’ve heard of Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, and Shakespeare himself is that a group of people made the excellent choice to preserve the plays after the Bard died. If they hadn’t created the book known as the First Folio, Shakespeare and his works would surely have been lost to history.

In 2005, a group of construction workers in Jerusalem made an incredible discovery. Underneath the parking lot they were digging up lay an ancient city that was built in the tenth century! Three years later, gold coins from an even earlier century were found at the site. The city of Jerusalem is like a layer cake of history—more than five thousand years of complicated history—all of which author Ellen Morgan explains clearly and objectively in this audiobook.

The White Tiger Temple is under threat. To help the Shaolin monks, Sensei Ki-Yaga and the whole gang of samurai kids embark on a perilous journey across the Sea of Japan to China. But they soon discover that getting there is only half the battle. An enemy awaits them: a former student of Sensei’s named Qing-Shen, China’s Warrior, who is now the most skilled soldier in the Middle Kingdom and who holds a grudge against his onetime teacher.

In this audiobook, you’ll discover what life was really like for the Vikings during their golden age. Learn about the most significant Vikings and raids, and find out more about their daily lives and the things that were most important to them. You’ll also explore their folklore and hear of monsters, gods, goddesses, and the epic adventures they went on.

Hace miles de años, los antiguos griegos contaban historias maravillosas sobre sus numerosos dioses, diosas, aventuras y héroes... Al final, alguien decidió que era una historia tan asombrosa que debía escribirla. Esos son los mitos que tenemos hoy.

En un caluroso día de verano de 1776, cerca de Filadelfia, Thomas Jefferson se sentó en su escritorio y escribió intensamente hasta la mañana siguiente. Estaba redactando la Declaración de Independencia, un documento que rompería los lazos de este país con Gran Bretaña y anunciaría una nueva nación: los Estados Unidos de América. Los colonos estaban dispuestos a arriesgar sus vidas por la libertad, y la Declaración de Independencia lo hizo oficial.

Before Raphael Warnock became a pastor and the first Black senator from Georgia, he was a little boy whose father told him to get up, get dressed, put on his shoes, and get ready! So that’s what he did, along every step of his journey. From his work boots to his marching band shoes to his shiny lace-ups, Senator Reverend Warnock found the right shoes to fit his feet and to carry him toward his dreams.

Unleash your students’ imagination with this one-of-a-kind Writing Prompts guidebook. This book is not a simple laundry list of famous quotes. Rather, it is an engaging guidebook made up of quotations which include age-appropriate writing prompts designed to inspire and challenge young minds. The prompts are geared to multiple age groups.

What Do We Know About Atlantis? lets curious young listeners dive into what we really know about the sunken city. First described by Plato, the idea of Atlantis has existed since 360 B.C.! Learn about the history of the Greek god Poseidon's relationship with the kingdom and the real research that's been done by historians and scientists who are trying to locate Atlantis. Featured in plenty of movies, books, and comics, Atlantis is still relevant in popular culture today...but does it really exist?

Discover the extraordinary stories behind everyday things! Did you know that the ice cream sundae was invented because of a law forbidding the sale of ice cream on Sundays? Or that the first motorcycle was really just a tricycle with a motor? Would you believe that Mickey Mouse started out as a rabbit? Arranged in alphabetical order, this fascinating book is packed with the stories behind these and over 100 more inventions.

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.

A perfect tool for young listeners as they grow into the leaders of tomorrow, Veronica Chambers’s inspiring collection of profiles—along with Senator Cory Booker’s stirring foreword—will inspire listeners of all ages to stand up for what’s right.