New Releases by Ruth Owen

Specially created to support early years teaching, this beautiful new words and pictures book is perfect for children learning to read. As young readers turn the pages, they will have lots of opportunities to: practice counting 1 to 20; understand more or less; practice adding and subtracting; solve problems including doubling, halving, and sharing.

Specially created to support early years teaching, this beautiful new words and pictures book is perfect for children learning to read. As young readers turn the pages, they will have lots of opportunities to: tell and understand time; explore the importance of physical exercise, healthy eating, basic hygiene, and keeping healthy and safe; understand behavior and consequences; find out about technology in homes and schools; and look at the similarities and differences between everyday places and objects all over the world.

In this book, readers will get the chance to learn about their senses as if they were scientists! They will discover how their senses work and learn lots of fascinating facts about their eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and skin. In this age-appropriate introduction to the topic, readers will get to investigate and challenge their own senses!

What plants and animals live in a garden? What do the living things in this habitat need from their environment? And who eats who in a garden ecosystem? In this title, readers will investigate simple food chains and natural habitats, including a garden, forest, tide pool, desert, and even a tree stump micro-habitat.

If a tree is a living thing, does that mean a wooden table is alive? If a cat is alive because it can run and chase a toy, does that mean a robot is a living thing because it can move? In this title packed with fun challenges, readers will consolidate their understanding of living, non-living, and things that used to be alive.

From weather and day length, to plants and animals, in this title, readers will investigate how the world around them changes as the seasons change. With activities such as recording temperatures and going on seasonal scavenger hunts, students will be challenged to observe and analyze the changing of the seasons.

How are animal bodies alike and different? What characteristics make a mammal a mammal, and a reptile a reptile? In this title, readers will turn their investigative skills to studying animals. Packed with fascinating facts and fun challenges, students will meet a host of animals including blue whales, great white sharks, colorful chameleons, and the world''s largest spider.

Overlooking the River Nile and guarding the Giza pyramids is one of the world’s oldest and largest statues—the Sphinx. Carved from the bedrock beneath the desert, the half-lion, half-human creature has watched over the desert for thousands of years. But who built the giant statue, and why? After centuries of exploration and investigation, which of the Sphinx’s secrets have been uncovered and which still remain a riddle?

In this book, readers will get the chance to investigate their bodies like scientists! They''ll learn all about their skeletons, muscles, hearts, lungs, and blood. They''ll also discover how to take care of their bodies and learn answers to the questions: Why is it important to drink lots of water? What foods should we eat every day? And why should we be active, brush our teeth, and get plenty of sleep?

Thereu0092s more to making St. Patricku0092s Day crafts than the color green! Of course, this craft book with a St. Patricku0092s Day theme features plenty of green, but readers are also led through making shamrock necklaces and bracelets, leprechaun hats filled with candy gold coins, and a u0093reach the rainbowu0094 marble maze game made from Q-tips! Each project includes detailed step-by-step instructions and lots of opportunities for readers to use their own creativity to make designs that are special and individual.

Ghosts, pumpkins, spiders, and witches are great subjects for Halloween craft projects. Through the step-by-step directions in this book, readers can take on a plethora of fun crafts to celebrate the spookiest holiday, including a witchu0092s hat piñata, a spider bracelet made from duct tape, and a pumpkin candy dispenser made from recycled cardboard boxes. Whether Halloween is soon or itu0092s simply a rainy day, these crafts engage readers of all ages with their simplicity and the ability of each crafter to make the project uniquely theirs.

Instead of wood or plastic, imagine a woven Easter basket made of duct tape! Using materials from around the house, including recycled items, the crafts in this book are sure to make preparing for Easter even more fun. Readers are guided by detailed step-by-step instructions to create table centerpieces for Easter dinner, try great twists on traditional painted eggs, and more. Spring can be a rainy time of year, but these Easter crafts can help readers pass afternoons inside with creativity, imagination, and practice reading and following directions.

Readers will wow their friends and family with mind-boggling magic tricks! This book holds all the tips and secrets behind amazing magic tricks from disappearing coins to floating ketchup. No special equipment is needed—only close reading of the instructions and lots of practice. The directions are clear and easily accessible for beginner magicians, while pictures of each step allow readers to visualize the process. This book is perfect for creative illusionists who want to add a bit of magic to their day!

Let’s craft with beads! This book introduces readers to the creative crafts they can make with beads. Projects include bead holiday decorations and a bowl made of multicolored beads. Readers will also learn how to make their very own unique bead jewelry. Each project includes a list of materials needed to complete the project, while step-by-step directions provide clear and helpful guidance. Pictures and illustrations allow readers to visualize each step in the bead project process. All readers need are beads and an imagination to bring these creative crafts to life!

It’s party time! This book is a step-by-step guide to throwing a party for every occasion. From cooking a meal to crafting decorations to dressing up in costumes, this book is packed with ideas to help readers create their own themed parties. Each party theme—from Halloween to superheroes and villains—includes ideas and instructions for easy-to-prepare food, and entertaining games and activities. Using accessible directions and materials, readers can use their creativity to throw a big bash for their friends and family!

In this book, readers will explore a seashore habitat and discover how tide pool animals rely on each other for survival. This title cleverly takes young readers on a mini safari through a tide pool making connections between the living things that call it home. For example: "As fish and other animals feed on seaweed, crabs use the seaweed as a place to hide from predatory seabirds. As barnacles feed on plankton, dog whelks go hunting for barnacles. And after an oystercatcher eats a dog whelk, a hermit crab that’s grown too big for its shell, moves into the empty dog whelk shell!" • Packed with curriculum science information • See microscopic tide pool plankton up close • Discover how seaweed is essential to seashore life • Learn about the food, homes, and life cycles of seashore animals • Controlled vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure • Beautiful, labelled photographs throughout • Close photo/text match • Includes a seashore food web diagram Filled with facts about the natural world, this title is perfect for students studying habitats, animal and plant life cycles, and ecosystems.

Huddled in tense silence, a team of scientists watches a bank of flickering screens. Years of design and engineering work, tests, failures, redesigns, and successes are bound up in this moment. Finally, a grainy picture appears on the screens. Cheers erupt as the men and women realize their robot has landed safely on Mars! Get to Work with Science and Technology is a fascinating new series that introduces readers to the real-life applications of STEM subjects. In Exploring Distant Worlds as a Space Robot Engineer, readers will meet the scientists who design and build robots, send them into space, and even drive the rovers that are exploring Mars today. Told in a lively narrative style, this book includes firsthand accounts of life as a space scientist and robotics engineer, dramatic anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes photos. Readers will also get the chance to try out their robot designing skills with activities that are perfect for science fair projects.

In ancient Rome, highly trained gladiators faced each other in the Colosseum and fought to the death—for the entertainment of thousands of spectators. How did a man, or sometimes a woman, become a gladiator, though? How were gladiators trained? What weapons and equipment did they use? And is it true that some gladiators became famous—just like today''s top sports stars?

Enter the fascinating world of the Samurai and discover how these highly skilled warriors lived and served their masters, the nobility of medieval Japan. Understand the way of the warrior, the Samurai''s code of conduct, find out how a Samurai learned his skills, and see the weapons and armor that Samurai used in battle.

Enter the terrifying, yet fascinating, world of a 17th century Caribbean pirate and discover what life was truly like aboard a pirate ship. Did pirates really have wooden legs and parrots? What weapons did they carry? And can it be true that these ruthless outlaws actually lived by a set of ship''s rules and shared the treasure they stole equally between them?

A space station is a very unique place to live. How do people who live on space stations get food, air, and water? What kinds of experiments are conducted on them? Readers find out as they explore what life has been like on space stations throughout their history. They tour the Soviet Union space stations of the past as well as today’s International Space Station through enlightening text and detailed photographs. Fun fact boxes provide readers with additional information about space stations and their role in space exploration.

People like to prepare for holiday celebrations by decorating with symbols and reminders of the special time. Thanksgiving is a day steeped in history and tradition, and the origami projects in this second book of Thanksgiving activities reflect this in a fun way. Beginner and advanced origami artists will love creating the Thanksgiving imagery, including a wreath of fall colors, the Mayflower, and, of course, a turkey. Each project is introduced with an explanation of the symbol''s significance to the holiday and is broken down into easy-to-follow steps and illustrations.

Are people in danger of being hit by falling space garbage? Readers find the answer as they learn about what space garbage is and how it could affect other objects in space and people on Earth. Through comprehensive text, readers learn about the many kinds of space garbage, including pieces of rockets! They also find fact boxes designed to give them even more information about space garbage. This otherworldly problem is shown in vivid detail through amazing photographs. Readers will be excited to learn about space through a closer look at the garbage orbiting Earth.

Though the Japanese art of paper folding is an ancient tradition, it still delights young and old today. This second volume of Christmas origami projects will appeal to all. Using colored paper or even recycled wrapping paper, readers will be able to make decorations and even small gifts for friends and family. Each high-interest project is accompanied by thoughtful text that explains the significance of the symbols and objects associated with the Christmas holiday. Step-by-step instructions and labeled illustrations guide budding artists as they make reindeer, wreaths, and more.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, isn''t just one special day, but eight. Through the thoughtful text and engaging projects in this high-interest book, a follow-up to its popular predecessor, readers will explore more symbols that reflect the beliefs and traditions surrounding this Jewish holiday. They''ll love making their own origami versions of menorahs, gift boxes, stars, and more. The folds and techniques artists will learn in each carefully explained activity will prove invaluable in mastering challenging origami projects in the future.

Spacecraft have a very important job-transporting people between Earth and space. Readers explore the history of this mode of transportation, including the spacecraft that brought people to the moon and the Soyuz spacecraft that carry astronauts today. This information is presented to readers through engaging main text and fun fact boxes, which provide additional details about this topic. Readers also learn about the future of space exploration, including spacecraft that could one day take people to Mars. Colorful photographs of spacecraft in action make this an out-of-this-world reading exper.

Designer dogs are the latest trend in the pet world. Readers will become experts on goldadors after reading this book that goes into all the essentials on this specialized mix. With colorful photos and interesting facts on the care, upkeep and origins of this unique dog, readers are sure to be engrossed.

Welcome to the world of designer dogs: new types of dogs that get their nickname from combining the names of their parents’ breeds. From appearance to temperament to the care of these special pets, readers will learn about the characteristics that make chugs the coveted designer mix that they are. Easy-to-follow text and full-color photographs will keep readers engaged from beginning to end.

With yaks, mountain leopards and goats, this is anything but a garden-variety origami book. Chock-full of exciting mountain animals, this book teaches readers how to create paper replicas, while instructing them about the eating, social, and daily habits of each creature. Easy-to-follow instructions ensure success with each project, while photos and illustrations will delight readers.

Parrots, gorillas, and snakes—oh my! These jungle creatures and more await readers within the pages of this project-filled book. As readers learn how to create each animal, they will effortlessly absorb facts about the subject creature in its jungle habitat. Even reluctant readers will be captivated by the vibrant photos and clear illustrated projects in this title. Hands-on origami projects keep readers entertained as they read and learn.