New Releases by Diane Stanley

Liz, Lenny, and Grandma are back for another time-traveling adventure. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, there''s only one thing for them to do ... Join the Boston Tea Party! With the help of Grandma''s magic hat, the twins journey back to Boston in 1773. From powdered wigs and petticoats to Indian pudding and chamber pots, Liz and Lenny get a firsthand look at life in colonial America. But best of all they actually join the "Mohawks" as they dump tea into Boston Harbor and help begin the American Revolution. Diane Stanley once again blends humor and historical detail in this exciting second installment of the Time-Traveling Twins series. Featuring word balloons packed with comedy and lots of information, and Holly Berry''s inviting illustrations, this book will make readers jump at the chance to join the twins as they learn about history by living it!

An unwanted child. A brilliant genius. Born in 1452 to a peasant woman and a country gentleman, Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most amazing people who ever lived. He grew up to be a great painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, and inventor. As a boy, Leonardo was apprenticed to a famous artist. But he quickly became more skillful than his teacher, and his passionate interests went far beyond art. Fascinated with the human body, he carried out his own experiments in secret. He filled thousands of pages with plans for incredible inventions including a submarine, an air-cooling system, "glasses to see the moon large," and even a flying machine! In this magnificent addition to a distinguished series that includes Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, and Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, award-winning author-artist Diane Stanley blends wonderful storytelling with gorgeous illustrations to convey the A 1996 ALA Notable Book A 1997 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book for Nonfiction A 1997 Orbis Pictus Award A 1996 Publishers Weekly Best Books Award 00-01 Land of Enchantment Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 3-6)

Peter the Great, crowned tsar of Russia at the age of ten, believed that whatever he wanted he should have -- and the sooner the better. What he wanted most was to bring his beloved country into the modem world. He traveled to the West to learn European ways -- the first tsar ever to leave Russia -- disguised as a common soldier. He explored the West with excitement and curiosity and returned home ready to undertake a series of momentous social reforms. And to satisfy his boyhood dream of a Russian naval port, he began to build, on a freezing swamp, a glittering new capital to be named St. Petersburg. In this welcome reissue of Diane Stanley''s acclaimed picturebook biography, her meticulously researched text and sumptuous illustrations capture the fabulous world of seventeenth -- and eighteenth-century tsarist Russia and the greatness of its larger-than-life leader -- a man of huge stature and tremendous spirit whose impatience and vision, insatiable curiosity and boundless energy transformed half a continent.

Moe the dog and his friend Arlene can''t afford to spend their winter vacation in Tahiti, so they create their own tropical paradise.

While her mother undergoes treatment for cancer, 13-year-old Ginny is sent to live with her father in England, where she becomes part of an archeological experiment to investigate life during the Iron Age.

William Shakespeare was the son of a glovemaker, a small-town boy with a grammar school education. Yet he grew up to become the greatest English-speaking playwright in the world. Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare is both his story and that of a great art rediscovered in the modern world. Drama had been forgotten since the days of ancient Greece, but it reemerged in Elizabethan London with the building of the first modern theater. Its impact can still be imagined today. There were the theaters, open to the weather and featuring neither sets nor curtains, but equipped with dramatic special effects. There were the companies of actors--the leading men, the comedians, the boys who played women''s roles--and the playwrights who gave them all lines to say. Best of all, there was William Shakespeare, who rubbed shoulders with noblemen and royalty as well as with the rowdy crowds at the foot of the stage. He was suspected of involvement in a treasonous rebellion, and his last play literally brought down the house when cannon effects set fire to the famous Globe theater and it burned to the ground. Award-winning collaborators Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema have once again created a feast of words and pictures to celebrate the life of a remarkable person from the pages of history: William Shakespeare, a man for all time."

In this version of Rapunzel, the heroine breaks the enchantment put on her by the ogress who keeps her prisoner with the aid of three acorns.

Queen of Egypt at the age of eighteen, Cleopatra''s passion was to untie the world under Egyptian rule. Legendary leaders risked their kingdoms to win her heart, and her epic life has inspired countless tales throughout history. A timeless story of love, war, and ambition, their pictorial biography is sure to entertain and educate.

When two paintings hanging across from each other in a museum fall in love, a resourceful art student finds a way to unite the lovers.

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The sheriff of a dusty western town rescues Sweetness, an unusually resourceful orphan, from nasty old Mrs. Sump and her terrible orphanage.

After Daniel joins a four-year whaling expedition, he''s disillusioned by the living conditions and horrified by all the gore and peril of hunting the sea creatures. But when he jumps ship off the desolate coast of Siberia, he encounters more danger and adventure than most experience in a lifetime. Full-color illustrations and maps.

Moe''s new job in advertising at the ice cream factory brings him money, travel, and prestige--so why is he lonely and miserable?

In a picture-book biography acclaimed for both its accuracy and beauty, Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema describe how Shaka, a brilliant military strategist, rose from humble beginnings to lead a mighty people nearly two centuries ago. It is an unforgettable story."Stanley presents the life story of Shaka, a Zulu military genius who became king of his people in the eighteenth century....The illustrations are full-color paintings that convey a quiet intensity in their portrayal of Shaka and his people."--Booklist

Transformed into a bird for a day, a child joins a flock of wild geese in glorious flight.

Charles Dickens is one of the world''s greatest and best loved writers. To read Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, or Nicholas Nickleby is to be drawn into a society that still seems fresh and real today: nineteenth-century London with its extraordinary extremes of wealth, progress, poverty, and despair. Dickens captures it all in plots that are by turns wildly comical, wonderfully melodramatic, and tragic to the point of tears. In his writing and later, in his dramatic readings, Charles Dickens was a master showman, mesmerizing the whole world. His novels are stuffed to bursting with unforgettable characters like Mr. Micawber, Ebineezer Scrooge, and Little Nell. Most affecting are his portraits of children abused and abandoned by the Industrial Age. David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Tiny Tim are mirrors that reflect the twisted values of their time. The twists of Dickens''s own life encompassed childhood suffering as well as international acclaim. When he was twelve, his father was consigned to debtors'' prison and Charles to working in a blacking factory. Not twelve years later The Pickwick Papers would propel him toward literary stardom. In their lovingly researched, incisively written biography, illustrated with a lushness and attention to period detail of which Dickens would have approved, Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema illuminate his inspirations, his impact on nations of readers, and his gleaming genius that has only brightened with time. A handsome book on the beloved novelist. Dickens''s troubled, well-documented life has plenty to interest children....Lucid, accessible....A lively, entertaining story for children who enjoy A Christmas Carol in its various guises....A must.

William Shakespeare was the son of a glovemaker, a small-town boy with a grammar school education. Yet he grew up to become the greatest English-speaking playwright in the world. Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare is both his story and that of a great art rediscovered in the modern world. Drama had been forgotten since the days of ancient Greece, but it reemerged in Elizabethan London with the building of the first modern theater. Its impact can still be imagined today. There were the theaters, open to the weather and featuring neither sets nor curtains, but equipped with dramatic special effects. There were the companies of actors--the leading men, the comedians, the boys who played women''s roles--and the playwrights who gave them all lines to say. Best of all, there was William Shakespeare, who rubbed shoulders with noblemen and royalty as well as with the rowdy crowds at the foot of the stage. He was suspected of involvement in a treasonous rebellion, and his last play literally brought down the house when cannon effects set fire to the famous Globe theater and it burned to the ground. Award-winning collaborators Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema have once again created a feast of words and pictures to celebrate the life of a remarkable person from the pages of history: William Shakespeare, a man for all time."

"This biography of Queen Elizabeth I does an excellent job of describing the context of her life so that reasons for many of her actions become clear . . . The resulting depth . . . will give the book a wide audience".--Booklist, starred review. Bibliography included. 1990 Notable Children''s Book in the Field of Social Studies.

In long ago Persia a poor young man, following the advice of his betrothed, goes to the city to seek his fortune and finds it in an unexpected way.

Captain Whiz-Bang spends the years of his youth as a champion cat, chasing dogs and jumping high fences, then ages gracefully into a purring lap-sitting cat.

A magic pencil which Mary Ann discovers accidentally brings her more good luck than she can handle.

An ill-fated visit to the city home of the elegant Mrs. Snickers teaches an impressionable country cat a little about herself and friendship.

A little girl imagines all the things she could do if she were a bird.