Best Selling Books by Rebecca Stefoff

Describes the evolution, body structure, and behavior of cats, and discusses their interaction with people.

Discover the life of Redbeard (Heyreddin Barbarossa), the powerful Ottoman Admiral who nearly conquered Africa.

How do you know you are getting the best deal in town? Sharpen your consumer smarts with Smart Spending. Curriculum Connections: - Shows how math can be used in real-world situations - Provides multistep word problems with the four basic functions - Compares and contrasts differences between needs and wants - Meets the national standards for fourth grade personal finance education

"An exploration of the origins, history, development, and societal impact of the microscope and the telescope"--Provided by publisher.

Two of every five mammals on Earth are rodents, yet most people know little about this amazingly diverse order of animals. Rats and mice may be all too familiar, but what about gundis and degus? And did you know that porcupines are rodents, but rabbits are not? The Rodent Order explores the world of rodents, from prehistoric guinea pigs the size of horses to the Laotian rock rat, a "living fossil" recently found alive in the forests of Southeast Asia. The Rodent Order also examines the long relationship between people and rodents. For thousands of years, rodents have influenced human life as pests, food, pets, and carriers of disease. Today human activities are threatening the survival of some rodent species, but other rodents are flourishing-sometimes right under our noses. Book jacket.

Dams change the landscape, providing reservoirs of freshwater and even producing electricity. Discover the engineering behind dams.

Examines the 1972 Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia in regard to the death penalty.

Forensic Science Investigated takes young readers inside this fast-growing field, showing them how crime scene investigators and forensic specialists gather evidence, solve crimes, and even liberate innocent people who have been mistakenly imprisoned.

Enormous underground mushrooms and microscopic molds belong to an immensely varied group of organisms that occupy a unique branch in the tree of life. The Fungus Kingdom traces the history of this half-billion-year-old kingdom and explores its diversity, as well as its complex reproductive methods. The Fungus Kingdom also examines the effects of fungi on human life, which are both helpful and harmful. From poisonous mushrooms and disease-causing spores to life-saving penicillin and the yeasts used in making food and drinks, fungi are woven into the fabric of life in important, and sometimes unexpected, ways. Book jacket.

Dikes and levees help protect people from rising floodwaters and hurricanes. Discover the engineering behind dikes and levees.

Explores the past, present, and future to shed light on complex, high-priority public policy. Offers the pros and cons of each issue with opinions from social policy experts.

Soil is something we don’t just live on, it’s something we live in. Throughout history, mankind has developed ways of using soil to build dwellings. The ancients built cities out of bricks, the Native Americans of the Southwest used soil to build adobe settlements, and the pioneers on the prairies built sod homes to combat heat and cold. This book examines the properties of different kinds of soil and what makes that soil useful for building a structure.

Tunnels allow people to cut through tall mountains or even travel deep underwater. Discover the engineering behind tunnels.

Conifers range from familiar pines that grow in almost all parts of the world, to the towering redwoods and sequoias of the American West, to rare plumyews found only in remote Asian forests. these 600 or so species of evergreen trees and shrubs bear their seeds in cones and keep their needlelike leaves through all seasons. Although the conifers are greatly outnumbered by other kinds of plants in the world today, they are an ancient part of the plant kingdom. The Conifer Division explores the origins of these 310-million-year-old plants, as well as their unique physical features and roles in the environment. The Conifer Division also looks at the enormous cultural and economic importance of these plants and at the questions hanging over the fate of the world's last great conifer forests. Book jacket.

From emperor penguins nesting in the frozen reaches of Antartica to peregrine falcons that have made themselves at home among urban skyscrapers, birds are amazingly adaptable. The Bird Class surveys the many orders and families of living birds and traces the origins of these winged, feathered marvels. Bird biology, life cycles, behavior, and habitats are also explored. The Bird Class sounds a warning about the threats that many of the world's ten thousand bird species now face, and describes some of the actions being taken to protect them. Book jacket.

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior. It was widely thought that animal play, mostly in mammals, was part of Darwinian natural selection and somehow fit into survival of the fittest. However, animal researchers believe that animals play out of pure joy, rather than aiding in their survival. This jovial book about animal play, tells the secrets of, and the science behind, clever baboons that know which cars to break into for snacks, mighty elephants that grieve, tricky octopuses that squirt water, and beetles that read messages through their feet. This book includes explanative text by award-winning author Rebecca Stefoff and an extensive bibliography. Key scientific terms and phrases are explained and includes procedures for scientific observation.

Aimed at readers ages 12 and up, the brand new "Colonial Life" series complements the world history and American history curriculum and follows the National Standards guidelines. Easy-to-read chapters featuring full-color maps and illustrations take students from the early days of discovery and exploration, through the establishment of the first colonies by the vying European powers, to the events leading to the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States.Comprehensive in scope, the series covers events in North, Central, and South America, including the early settlements, the thirteen British colonies, Canada, the Spanish possessions of the southwest and California, and the French territories. Thematic volumes introduce students to daily life on the settlements, the diversity of the people, rule of government, religions and beliefs, and the regional and global economies involving trade and commerce. Coverage also includes material on Native American cultural groups from the pre-Columbian era through their interactions with the European colonists and settlers.Feature boxes and sidebars in each volume discuss high interest events and developments and offer biographical information, and primary source material displays historical documents along with quoted text from important figures and excerpts of their writing. A glossary and a guide to further information including Internet resources help make this set an invaluable addition to any school or public library.

Can animals feel empathy or have a consciousness? Through the extensive work from ethologists like Charles Darwin and Jane Goodall, it is widely thought that some animals do feel empathy. Research is ongoing, however, dogs, birds, elephants, rodents, and dolphins are thought to all have a moral compass. In what ways do these animal species show empathy or feeling? Through explanative based text by award-winning author Rebecca Stefoff, your readers will be challenged to notice animal behavior in a myriad of ways. Key scientific terms and phrases are explained and step-by-step guidance for scientific observation procedures are included.

Presents information on some of the causes of the Civil War, the battles fought between 1861 and 1863, and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.