Like Michelangelo, Galileo is another Renaissance great known just by his first name--a name that is synonymous with scientific achievement. Born in Pisa, Italy, in the sixteenth century, Galileo contributed to the era's great rebirth of knowledge. He invented a telescope to observe the heavens. From there, not even the sky was the limit! He turned long-held notions about the universe topsy turvy with his support of a sun-centric solar system. Patricia Brennan Demuth offers a sympathetic portrait of a brilliant man who lived in a time when speaking scientific truth to those in power was still a dangerous proposition.

Born in Austria in 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first piece of music, a minuet, when he was just five years old! Soon after, he was performing for kings and emperors. Although he died at the young age of thirty-five, Mozart left a legacy of more than 600 works. This fascinating biography charts the musician's extraordinary career and personal life while painting a vivid cultural history of eighteenth-century Europe. Black-and-white illustrations on every spread explore such topics as the history of opera and the evolution of musical instruments. There is also a timeline and a bibliography. Illustrated by Carrie Robbins. Cover illustration by Nancy Harrison.

When Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519, he believed he could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west through or around the New World. He was right, but what he didn't know was that the treacherous voyage would take him three years and cost him his life. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate Magellan's life and voyage, with sidebars and a time line that enhance readers' understanding of the period

Abigail Adams was a Revolutionary War Patriot and wife andpartner of Founding Father John Adams. Interviews with experts andlively writing deliver the accurate reporting you expect from TIMEFor Kids. Historical illustrations and contemporary photographscapture the life of this thoughtful woman and show how she helpedinfluence our current ideas of equality.

Even grownups enjoy a bedtime story every now and then,especially one that combines, as does this one, the sophisticationof a novel with the whimsy of a fairy tale. Gaarder, the Norwegianformer professor of philosophy who brought us The Solitaire Mystery(1996) and the bestselling Sophie's World (1995), is up to hisusual tricks here, serving up a metaphysical brainteaser thatunfolds into a warm?but not preachy?meditation on God and theChristian doctrines. Set in an unnamed town in present-day Norway,it tells the story of Joachim, a young boy who finds a faded,handmade Advent calendar in a bookstore on the eve of Decemberfirst, and begs his father to let him take it home. The nextmorning, when he opens the calendar's first door, Joachim discoversnot just the expected picture but also a tightly folded piece ofpaper, the first installment of the fantastic tale of a littlegirl's journey through time and space to be present at theNativity. Soon the girl's story is making unexpected intrusionsinto Joachim's o

Clara Barton is most renowned as the Civil War nurse who laterfounded the Red Cross. Yet in everything she did, Clara strove tomake a difference. This important biography highlights many of herlesser-known feats, including her early teaching career, work inthe U.S. Patent Office, and unceasing fight for women’s rights.There are also sidebars on kids’ games, Civil War Medicine, MysteryPerson (Florence Nightingale), Red Cross fast facts, and Glen Echo(Clara’s home, which is now a National Historic Site)—as well as aninterview with Bonnie McElveen Hunter, Chairman of the American RedCr

Take a close-up look at Benjamin Franklin, ajack-of-all-trades who served his country well. Interviews withexperts and lively writing deliver the accurate reporting youexpect from TIME For Kids Historical reproductions and contemporaryphotographs capture the life of this ingenious man and show how hemade life better and safer for Americans today.

In this biography of “the Mother of the Civil Rightsmovement”, Rosa Parks’s life is traced from her birth in Tuskegee,AL to her recent death in Detroit, MI. In addition to her famousprotest, the text and photos focus on Rosa’s childhood on hergrandparents’ farm, schooling, marriage to Raymond Parks, work forthe NAACP, and her involvement in the Civil Rights movement afterthe Montgomery Bus Boycott. There are also sidebars on the KKK,Roaring 20s, voting tests, other pioneers who fought againstsegregation on public transporation, and the Mystery Person (BillClinton), as well as an interview with Congressman John Conyers,whom Rosa Parks worked for in Mich

Born to a family of farmers, Lincoln stood out from an earlyage—literally! (He was six feet four inches tall.) As sixteenthPresident of the United States, he guided the nation through theCivil War and saw the abolition of slavery. But Lincoln wastragically shot one night at Ford’s Theater—the first President tobe assassinated. Over 100 black-and-white illustrations and mapsare included.

Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks are mind-boggling evidence of a fifteenth-century scientific genius standing at the edge of the modern world, basing his ideas on observation and experimentation. This book will change children's ideas of who Leonardo was and what it means to be a scientist.

Marie Curie, the woman who coined the term radioactivity, wonnot just one Nobel Prize but two—in physics and chemistry, bothsupposedly girl-phobic sciences.

As a teenage slave, Harriet Tubman stood up to an overseer whowas trying to harm another slave. From that time forward, Tubman(above left) fought against unfairness and for what she believedwas right. She helped hundreds of African Americans escape on theUnderground Railroad. TIME For Kids Biographies help make a connection between thelives of past heroes and the events of today. Harriet Tubman'scourage and ideals have inspired generations of Americans to fightfor equal rights and to stand up for their convictions.

As a young boy, Henry Ford was fascinated by technology andhow objects worked. His childhood interests led him to leave theFord family farm in Michigan in search of a career with machinery,and the rest is automotive and economic history. TIME For Kids Biographies help make a connection between thelives of past heroes and the events of today. Henry Ford made carsaffordable, turning them into the primary means of travel forAmericans. His innovations, including the assembly line, are stillbenefiting us today.

Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World Meet EleanorRoosevelt, one of America's most powerful first ladies. Learn abouther youth and her career helping those less fortunate than she.

Take a close-up look at Jesse Owens, an African American trackstar—and one of the greatest athletes of all time. Interviews withexperts and lively writing deliver the accurate reporting youexpect from Time For Kids. Historical and contemporary photographscapture the life and times of this remarkable Olympic-medalwinner.

For a long time, the main role of First Ladies was to act as hostesses of the White House...until Eleanor Roosevelt. Born in 1884, Eleanor was not satisfied to just be a glorified hostess for her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Eleanor had a voice, and she used it to speak up against poverty and racism. She had experience and knowledge of many issues, and fought for laws to help the less fortunate. She had passion, energy, and a way of speaking that made people listen, and she used these gifts to campaign for her husband and get him elected presidentfour times! A fascinating historical figure in her own right, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of First Lady forever.

All his life, Charles Darwin hated controversy. Yet he takes his place among the Giants of Science for what remains an immensely controversial subject: the theory of evolution. Darwin began piecing together his explanation for how all living things change or adapt during his five-year voyage on HMS Beagle. But it took him twenty years to go public, for fear of the backlash his theory would cause. Once again, Kathleen Krull delivers a witty and astute picture of one of history's greatest scientists.

You want girl power? Meet Annie Oakley! Born in 1860, shebecame one of the best-loved and most famous women of hergeneration. She amazed audiences all over the world with hersharpshooting, horse-riding, action-packed performances. In an agewhen most women stayed home, she traveled the world and forged anew image for American women.

Here is a man with an imagination so large that just abythinking on it,a he invented calculus and figured out thescientific explanation of gravity. Kathleen Krull presents aportrait of Isaac Newton that will challenge your beliefs about agenius whose amazing discoveries changed the world.

Here is a man with an imagination so large that just “bythinking on it,” he invented calculus and figured out thescientific explanation of gravity. Kathleen Krull presents aportrait of Isaac Newton that will challenge your beliefs about agenius whose amazing discoveries changed the world.