Best Selling Books by Alan Armstrong

The power of reading is beautifully captured in this 2006 Newbery Honor-winning book. Bernie keeps a barn full of animals the rest of the world has no use for–two retired trotters, a rooster, some banty hens, and a Muscovy duck with clipped wings who calls herself The Lady. When the cat called Whittington shows up one day, it is to the Lady that he makes an appeal to secure a place in the barn. The Lady’s a little hesitant at first, but when the cat claims to be a master ratter, that clinches it. Bernie’ s orphaned grandkids, Abby and Ben, come to the barn every day to help feed the animals. Abby shares her worry that Ben can’t really read yet and that he refuses to go to Special Ed. Whittington and the Lady decide that Abby should give Ben reading lessons in the barn. It is a balm for Ben when, having toughed out the daily lesson, Whittington comes to tell, in tantalizing installments, the story handed down to him from his nameless forebearer, Dick Whittington’s cat–the legend of the lad born into poverty in rural England during the Black Death, who runs away to London to seek his fortune. This is an unforgettable tale about how learning to read saves one little boy. It is about the healing, transcendent power of storytelling and how, if you have loved ones surrounding you and good stories to tell, to listen to, and to read, you have just about everything of value in this world.

ANDREW HAS grown up near the Plymouth docks hearing the sailors talk about America. Knowing that Andrew''s heart is set on going to the new world, his father sends him up to London to serve as page in the house of Walter Raleigh. In Queen Elizabeth''s court, Raleigh''s the strongest voice in favor of fighting with Spain for a position in the New World, and everyone knows that it''s just a matter of time before Her Majesty agrees to an expedition. Can Andrew prove himself fit to go on an expedition to the New World? Meticulously researched and brilliantly crafted, combining fictional characters with historical, Andrew''s tale offers up a vivid look at the cloakand- dagger politics of the time and a genuine feel for what it must have been like for the first Europeans to set foot on the beautiful, bountiful, savage shores of America.

In 1947, eleven-year-old Alex and her impulsive, older brother Chuck befriend an army scientist who shares their interest in rockets and outer space travel.

The untold story of a plan that would have prevented Pearl Harbor--and perhaps World War II

Compares the characteristics and costs of the principal systems of urban public transportation.

A detailed study of York, one of Britain''s most notable historic towns, during the Industrial Revolution.

This volume presents the results of the long-term co-operation of archaeologists from the University of Ghent and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago to establish the ceramic chronology for Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C. Drawing only upon pottery found in good context in well-conducted excavations, going back to the 1930s, but relying especially on the collaboration of other excavators who were working in southern Iraq from the 1960s onward, James Armstrong and Hermann Gasche, with the participation of cuneiformist Steven Cole and ceramic specialists Abraham Van As and Loe Jacobs, have created a typology of all major forms, showing the subtle changes that occurred in individual shapes through time at one site and at related sites. It also shows regional variations in shapes. Their graphic presention of the forms makes visible a centuries-long break in occupation of numerous sites in southern Iraq beginning in the time of Samsuiluna, the successor to Hammurabi of Babylon, and another break at the end of the millennium. There are detailed discussions of the forms and their geograhical distribution, as well as a treatment of the historical implications of the evidence.

This book seeks to distil the experience of some 5 million people over two centuries in four contexts - the home and the workplace, the local community and the wider social environment, in order to produce a picture of farming life as experienced by individual workers and their families.

Maori Games and Haka is a popular and much loved guide to haka and action songs, poi, stick games, powhiri, haka weapons and much more. First published in 1964, it is still in demand as an informative and comprehensive resource. It includes the Maori words for songs and a guide to pronunciation, as well as to concert presentation. The many drawings in the book illustrate the actions. This new edition has a revised introduction and clear layout.