Most Popular Books by Ron Thomas

Provides an introduction to skiing basics, discussing equipment, safety, skills, and competition.

Ernest Roberts reckoned he was the toughest, hardest son-of-a-bitch around. Then, suddenly, dire circumstances changed all that. He was forced to scarper without so much as a goodbye to his family, with his destination uncertain.

Surveys the history, equipment, techniques, and safety aspects of equestrian sports, including jumping, dressage, vaulting, and reining, plus short biographies of top riders and a time line.

Daniel Landerville''s roots are embedded deep in the red earth of the Australian outback. It is a time when Empire is paramount and many Australians, even native-born ones, think of England as ''home''. His boyhood affinity for horses becomes both his business and his passion. When the clouds of the Great War gather over Europe, Australian soldiers need mounts, lots of mounts, and the army turns to men like Daniel. Like many others, a sense of patriotic fervour and naïve adventurism entices him to leave home and family in answer to his country''s call. When Empire demands it, he becomes a horsemaster of the Australian Light Horse. His sense of adventure is soon quenched once he experiences the trench warfare horrors of Gallipoli. When he is invalided home after the great Light Horse charge at Beersheba, his wounds are not just physical. Melancholy and regret threatens to overwhelm him until he finally realises that he has unfinished business in turbulent post war Ottoman Turkey that he must resolve if he is to ever find peace.

This series of books is written specially for classroom teachers who are required to take their classes into the library to undertake a library program using the resources housed there.It provides a structured, sequential and balanced program for the complete primary school years aimed at developing students as independent library users. Units include photocopiable activities and worksheets, full directions for teachers on how to conduct each activity, and extension activities for fast finishers. Activities can be used individually, in small groups or the whole class, and encourage a ''hands on'' use of resources.