Exploration & Discovery

Digby and his sister Hannah stumble across Armstrong's moon rock in Mr. Rummage's flea market stall. This book relates the biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong's life and his most famous achievement in a story format. Wonderful illustrations help recount his famous and historic first steps on the Moon.

Next to petroleum, coffee beans are the second most valuable commodity traded in the world. Young readers will be fascinated to learn how this popular product is grown, harvested, processed, and sold. Find out where coffee plants originated from and how coffee was spread around the world.

Maize, or corn, was the staple food of many early cultures in South America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. The Biography of Corn will teach young readers how the farming of corn spread to the rest of the world and how corn may be one answer to today’s problem of fossil fuel consumption.

Spanish conquistadors brought the potato from South America to Europe in the 1500s. Since then, the potato has helped keep peasants from starving during times of famine, fed armies, and is today the world’s most popular vegetable. The Biography of Potatoes underlines the importance of this source of nutrition throughout human history.

The Biography of Silk follows the path of the Silk Road to tell the story of this luxury material. From its origins in China through to its production in major medieval cities, silk has for centuries been highly valued and considered among the most important of trade goods. Vibrant photographs and text also describe how silk is made organically by …