Today would have been the birthday of Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle is a famous writer of fantasy for young people. Her best-known book, A Wrinkle in Time, has been loved by generations of readers and lauded by critics. Author Marilyn McClellan discusses L'Engle’s life and beliefs and analyzes two of her best known books. She also explores the history and present state of book censorship and helps readers form their own opinions about whether books should be banned.

This blog entry was created and supposed to be posted on November 29, but did not get posted until November 30.

Today would have been the birthday of C. S. Lewis

The author of "The Chronicles of Narnia" would have celebrated his birthday today.

Interested in learning more about C. S. Lewis? Click here.

Jimmie Johnson 5X Champion

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson who won his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship. Visit Team Lowe's homepage for all the details.

We know teens are crazy about cars and their driver's. Reluctant readers can learn more about Jimmie Johnson by reading his biography, Jimmie Johnson: Racing Champ.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enslow Publishers would like to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Our offices will be closed, November 25th-26th.

Football, Football, and More Football

It's Thanksgiving weekend and besides enjoying the Thanksgiving Day Parade there will be plenty of football games to watch so today we thought it would be appropriate to feature two brand new football titles from our Top 10 Sports Stars series.

Football's Top 10 Running Backs and Football's Top 10 Quarterbacks are both popular choices for football fans in grades 5–9. These color biographies cover the biggest names in sports, both past and present. With 48 pages, these titles are perfect for reluctant readers who like sports.

Kanye West To Perform During Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Hip-hop star Kanye West, the subject of an Enslow Publishers biography, will be a featured performer during Macy's 84th annual Thanksgiving Day parade.

For young readers curious about West, Enslow's Kanye West: Hip-Hop Star provides an interesting, accurate narrative about the performer's life and career. Author Gretchen Weicker's 48-page, Guided Reading Level "T" book features a reader-friendly design, fun sidebars, a timeline, and a list of rewards. Reading teachers and literacy coaches will find Enslow's free, downloadable teacher's guide for the title a useful resource. The guide contains curriculum-based activities, background about West, and a reproducible activity.

The teacher's guide for Kanye West: Hip-Hop Star is available on the Enslow Classroom website. Enslow Classroom features paperback books suitable for supplemental classroom use and for classroom libraries. Each Enslow Classroom title includes a teacher's guide, reading level information, and in most cases, correlations to state and national curricular standards.

The Kanye West biography is also available in a library-bound edition via http://www.enslow.com/.

Daniel Radcliffe and the Harry Potter movies

Now that the latest "Harry Potter" movie is out, it is amazing to see how Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have grown up (literally) in front of the camera.

Daniel Radcliffe, a biography for those in grades 5 through 9, is available in both library and paperback editions from Enslow Publishers, Inc. Featuring quotes, personal stories, a timeline and a glossary, this title is great for reluctant readers.

127 Hours and True Mountain Rescue Stories

By now, we've all heard of Aron Ralston's amazing journey in the mountains. He was the man who went hiking in the rigorous Utah terrain and falls into a cavern where a boulder pins his arm against a rock wall. He only had one choice if he wanted to survive: to cut off his own right arm.

A movie has just been released about Aron's story; 127 Hours, starring James Franco.

Enslow has a great series out this fall called True Rescue Stories. Coincidentally, there seems to be so much news fitting this topic this fall (Chilean miners, etc.); it really is such a topical subject.

Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling

Before you go to see the latest Harry Potter movie, read Enslow's biography of J.K. Rowling.

This biography starts with the bidding war for American rights for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Geared toward middle school readers, this biography will be interesting reading for Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling fans.

What is your favorite Beatles or John Lennon song?

Everyone is excited that The Beatles are now finally on iTunes. You can buy all of The Beatles' backlogged songs for $150- which is a relatively good deal.

This fall, Enslow published a book on John Lennon.

What is your favorite Beatles or John Lennon song? Post your answers!

Gettysburg Address Anniversary This Week

The 147th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address will occur on Friday, November 19th. The National Park Service, which administers the Pennsylvania battlefield site, will hold an event to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's speech.

Teachers and librarians planning Gettysburg Address anniversary activities are encouraged to use Enslow Publishers' The Battle of Gettysburg: Would You Lead the Fight? Author Elaine Landau's 48-page, Guided Reading Level "O" title weaves the historical facts of the three-day Civil War battle into a stimulating, accurate rendition of the battle's events. Landau adds extra engagement by creating scenarios in which she invites readers to speculate on what they might have done if they had been in the shoes of Gettysburg's key personalities. Landau uses this speculative approach in this book and the other five books in Enslow's American history series "What Would You Do?"

Each title in this series is available in paperback as well as a library-bound edition.

For more information, and for free, downloadable teacher's guides for each book in the "What Would You Do?" series, visit the Enslow Classroom website -- http://www.enslowclassroom.com/. To obtain the teacher's guide for The Battle of Gettysburg, follow these instructions:

• go to http://www.enslowclassroom.com/
  
• click on "What Would You Do?"
  
• click on the title in which you're interested.
  
• the teacher's guide will appear as a PDF under the image of the book cover.

Enslow at NCTE/Booth 727; Free Book Offer

Help Enslow Publishers celebrate the launch of its classroom paperback brand – Enslow Classroom – at NCTE/Orlando!

Enslow Classroom’s leveled, curriculum-aligned nonfiction books offer pre-K to grade 12 teachers new solutions to print-rich classroom needs! To introduce Enslow Classroom , we want to give NCTE participants a free Enslow book.

How do you get your free book? Just bring this post to Booth 727 (near the Lounge). Not only will you receive your free book, but we’ll also give you an additional Enslow discount coupon!

We look forward to meeting you at NCTE!

Today is World Diabetes Day

I just saw something on tv about today being World Diabetes Day. Do your students need information about this disease?

Teens will find a lot of information in Enslow's new Investigating Diabetes title.

Middle school students will find information in The Diabetes Update.

posted by Pam

It's National Gaming Day!

Have you seen this article by American Libraries Magazine?

More than 1,800 libraries are celebrating National Gaming Day today. Libraries from every state in the U.S., as well as in Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, and Puerto Rico are participating. Organizers expect to easily break last years record of more than 31,000 people playing games on the same day.

Who was Elizabeth Cady Stanton?

195 years ago, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born. She grew up to be a pioneer in women's rights.

In 1848, on a sweltering July day in the small town of Seneca Falls, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her fellow supporters would make history. They staged the first ever women’s rights convention. The convention passed Resolution 9, which said women should have the right to vote. Although this right would not be recognized in the United States until many years later, Cady Stanton had ignited a revolution. Throughout her life, Cady Stanton worked tirelessly for women’s suffrage. In this biography, author Deborah Kent explores this heroic woman’s passionate pursuit of equal rights and her lasting impact on a revolutionary movement.

Today would have been the birthday of Alger Hiss

Who was Alger Hiss? Whittaker Chambers, who was an admitted ex-Communist spy, claimed that Alger Hiss was also a Communist spy. Mr. Hiss, who had been an assistant secretary of state in the State Department, denied this.

Author Karen Alonso outlines the twists and turns of this fascinating case that became a symbol of the Cold War. Readers are encourage to form their own opinions.

Interested in learning more? Click here.

Book Giveaway!

I was cleaning off my desk today and I uncovered one our of new titles, Plant and Animal Science Fair Projects, Revised and Expanded Using the Scientific Method by Kenneth G. Rainis from our Biology Science Projects Using the Scientific Method series. All of the books in this series provide exciting science fair project ideas and tips for science fair presentations using easy-to-obtain materials. For Grades 5–up, they are 160 pages and contain a list of suppliers, a further reading list, Internet addresses, and an index. The books in this series cost $25.95 each for schools and libraries, but today I'm giving my copy away for free! Help me clear my desk. Who wants it? Science fair season is just around the corner!

It's A Girl!

Congratulations to Nicole, Enslow's Photo Manager, and her husband on the new adorable addition to their family.  Lillian (Lilly) Jeanette was born November 4th and weighed 5 lbs 14 oz.. We look forward to meeting her in person but until then, this photo will have to do! Congratulations to Pam D for winning the baby pool!

LaDainian Tomlinson Equals Payton Record

National Football League and New York Jet star LaDainian Tomlinson recently reached two career milestones that place him in among the game's greatest players. The running back has now rushed for over 13,000 yards and caught passes for more than 4,000 yards. The only other running back to have matched those thresholds was the late Walter Payton.

In addition to their football accomplishments, Tomlinson and Payton were separately involved with charitable, off-field activities. For both players, their belief in "giving back" was matched by action. Enslow Publishers' biography of LaDainian Tomlinson discusses his philanthropic interests, and places them in the context of his exceptional professional career.

Author Craig Ellenport's LaDainian Tomlinson: All-Pro On and Off the Field discusses Tomlinson's life, the positive influences on his character, and how he combines athletic success with off-field achievements. This high-interest, 128 page title is available in paperback from Enslow Classroom, as well as Enslow's traditional, library-bound edition.

A free, downloadable teacher's guide is available for this Guided Reading Level "W" title.

On this date in 1971

The album "Led Zeppelin IV," which included the song "Stairway to Heaven," was released.

In 2007 the last three remaining members of the band performed in the Ahmet Tribute Concert a tribute concert dedicated to Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. Led Zeppelin owed their career to Atlantic Records. This concert was done by lottery, and the money raised went to the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which provides scholarships to needy students in the United States, Great Britain, and Ertegun's home country, Turkey.

Want to learn more and reminisce about Led Zeppelin? Click here.

Celebrate National Young Readers Week! Nov. 8-12

National Young Readers Week is an annual event that was co-founded in 1989 by Pizza Hut® and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. To make this week special, many schools recruit local “celebrities” to read aloud a favorite children’s book to classrooms. (bookitprogram.com)

The Book It program is a great program to get children to read more. I actually remember doing this when I was in elementary school. Back then, we all got big buttons, and for every book we read, we got a sticker. Once our button had a certain amount of stickers, we got free pizza from Pizza Hut. It was a big hit in my class, and it still is!

Enslow books are a great way to get children to read nonfiction. See www.enslow.com for lists of our titles.

How are you celebrating National Young Readers Week? Let us know!

-Lisa

Today would have been the birthday of Marie Curie

One of the most famous women in the history of science, Marie and her husband, Pierre, conducted important research on radioactivity, which directly led to the couple's discovery of the elements radium and polonium. She was one of the first women in Europe to earn a doctorate degree, as well as the first woman to win the Nobel prize--an award she shared with both her husband and physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel, for her work on radioactive elements in 1903. She became the first person to win a second Nobel prize in a field of science when she was awarded the 1911 prize for her continuing work on isolating radioactive substances.

Interested in learning more about Marie Curie? Click here.

James Naismith would have celebrated a birthday today

Who was James Naismith? He was the inventor of basketball! He was told to invent an indoor game, and had two weeks to create it. He wanted a fun and fast game, not wanting  it to be risky, like football or rugby, and he didn't want it to be rough, so that the participants would get hurt. As a child, he used to play duck on a rock, which was the inspiration for his new creation of basketball. Want to learn more about duck on a rock and James Naismith? Click here.

Who was the first Republican President?

Abraham Lincoln!

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States as the first Republican to hold that office. He received 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote.

Want to learn more about Honest Abe? Enslow has a few titles that can help: 200 Years with Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and Music for Abraham Lincoln CD

On this day in 2008

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.

This photo-biography of President Obama celebrates events in his life, as well as offering some light-hearted photos of President Obama playing basketball or body surfing in Hawaii.

There are three other titles in The Obama Family Photo Album series.

National American Indian Heritage Month Proclamation

Can you guess which U.S. President proclaimed November as National American Indian Heritage month? Read the Proclamation here to find out.

The National Register of Historic Places link has a list of American Indian properties featured in teaching and Historic Places Lesson Plans making it very convenient to bring a lesson into the classroom or library during November or any time of the year. Supplement that with our The Fascinating History of American Indians title and you're all set to go!

Interesting tidbit of information

On this day in 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

Interested in learning more about North Dakota or South Dakota? Fun and Simple Midwestern State Crafts contains interesting facts about both states as well as the region. Learn how to create some fun crafts as well!

Vote for Character Education with Enslow's "Molly the Great Respects the Flag"

November is filled with opportunities to proudly celebrate our nation, its character, and the responsibilities that come with freedom. Events such as Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving offer ready-made contexts for teaching and learning activities related to these holidays.

For young readers, a wonderful Enslow book that imaginatively addresses these issues is Molly the Great Repsects the Flag: A Book About Being A Good Citizen. Author Shelley Marshall's 24-page title provides a character driven narrative from which larger notions of citizenship emerge. The book’s Guided Reading Level "F" and lovely, watercolor-style illustrations invite readers to enjoy each page and absorb its message about civic responsibility. Molly the Great Respects the Flag also comes with a free, downloadable teacher’s guide, including curricular-based activities and a useful reproducible piece.

The book, included in Enslow’s "Character Education with Super Ben and Molly the Great" series, is available in paperback for $6.95. The title is also available in a library-bound version.

Visit www.enslowclassroom.com for more information and immediate ordering!

Celebrate National Author's Day Today

November 1st is designated as the day to celebrate your favorite author or authors.

Here at Enslow we have some great titles that include personal interviews with popular authors.For young readers in grades 3–4, is our Authors Kids Love series while our Authors Teens Love series is suitable for grades 6–up.

My favorite authors are children's authors. In particular, I love E.B. White because my favorite book happens to be Charlotte's Web. I spent lots of time reading Judy Blume when I was younger and still enjoy reading her books today. If you've ever had the opportunity to hear Richard Peck speak you would have to add him to your favorite list authors. And if you've ever met Jerry Spinelli you couldn't help but add him to your list as well.

Jerry Spinelli with his copy of
Enslow's Jerry Spinelli: Master Teller of Teen Tales biography.

Celebrate National Author's Day by telling us who your favorite author is!

On this day in 2003

LeBron James made his NBA debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LeBron is included in Basketball's Top 10 Slam Dunkers.

Enslow's Halloween Who's Who!

Several staff members dressed up for Halloween. Can you guess who their characters are?

Happy Halloween! (well, almost!)

Last night I was digging through all of my old Halloween costumes that were in my parents' attic-- and I found such a random array of costumes. A ghost, cheerleader, a bride, a lamb (when I was 2), doctor, and my personal favorite- softball player from A League of Their Own!

This year, a friend and I are dressing up as the Blues Brothers. What are you being for Halloween this year? Post your comments, we want to know!

Little kids are my favorite in costumes and they are just learning about Halloween most likely in Preschool. Enslow's newest book, Halloween, for PreK-1 is a great way to get kids to learn about Halloween, but most of all, get them to read!

October is Blind Awareness Month

Did you know: working guide dogs are allowed to enter all public places but puppies-in-training are not?

The next time you see one of these dogs with their special harnesses, you know they are working.

A great tie-in to Blind Awareness Month is Enslow's new Guide Dog Heroes, written by Linda Bozzo. This 48 page book is written for grades 3-4 and is part of the Amazing Working Dogs with American Humane series.

Enslow is planning on publishing two titles on blindness-related subjects in the Fall of 2011. Watch for them!

Look What Enslow's Cooking Up...Literally

An email from one of our editors recently went out to Enslow's staff for volunteers to cook up some of the recipes for our new series, "Easy Cookbooks for Kids." These six new titles that include recipes for breakfast, lunch, main dishes, snacks, desserts, and vegetarian foods will be published in the fall of 2011. With all of the popular cooking shows on television, kids are really going to eat these new titles up! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) Here's just a few of the dishes that were recently tested in our lab...I mean lunchroom.



Papaya Chicken



Jollof Rice



Kolacziki Cookies

 Of course, I went right for the dessert. My grandmother used to make these delicious cookies. I haven't had them in years so I helped myself to two of them!

This series, for grades 3–4, will present information on cooking, culture, and geography in a fun, kid-friendly format along with fun, hands-on recipes kids can do with minimal adult help.

Naismith's Rules of the Game Set to Be Auctioned

There's an interesting article in The New York Times today that caught my eye about Dr. James Naismith who wrote the first rules of the game of basketball. His original rules are set to be auctioned by Sotheby's. What I learned is that nearly every sport is evolved from something else but basketball is one of the few invented sports.

Enslow's The Man Who Invented Basketball: James Naismith and His Amazing Game from our Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies series is a great way to tie-in this famous inventor with current events. This book is 32 pages for grades 3–4 and includes a timeline, words to know, a further reading list and Internet addresses, and an index.

ANSWER to Word Problems...No Problem!

Yesterday we posted this algebra question from our Algebra Word Problems title.

Coach had the entire track team run 4 laps. When they finished, he had the distance runners run some more laps. Each distance runner ran 40 laps in all. Use an algebraic equation to find how many laps the distance runners ran after the rest of the team had finished running?
 

ANSWER:

laps run with the team + more laps run = laps run in all

4 + r = 40

Subtract 4 from each side of the equation to get the variable, r, by itself. Then do the operations.

4 + r = 40
4 - 4 + r = 40 - 4
r = 36

The distance runners ran 36 more laps after the rest of the team had finished running.

Last Chance for Free Halloween Craft

Are you on the lookout for a last-minute Halloween activity for your elementary school students? Have them add a skeleton craft to their repertoire of ghosts and goblins! We're offering a free skeleton craft from Haunted House Adventure Crafts, one of the five titles in Enslow Publsihers' new "Fun Adventure Crafts" series. Call Enslow Publishers now (800.398.2504) to learn how you can download this free Halloween craft.

Haunted House Adventure Crafts is available in paperback for $6.95 per copy. A library-bound edition is also available. Call Enslow Publishers today for more information, including ways to save money when you order books from author Anna Llimos' "Fun Adventure Crafts" series!

Word Problems...No Problem!

You might not realize it all the time because math isn't always written as a math problem, but math is everywhere! Our new series Math Busters Word Problems helps students understand how algebra is used in word problems using topics, they can relate to. Here's an algebra word problem using addition from our Algebra Word Problems title:

Coach had the entire track team run 4 laps. When they finished, he had the distance runners run some more laps. Each distance runner ran 40 laps in all. Use an algebraic equation to find how many laps the distance runners ran after the rest of the team had finished running?

We'll post the answer tomorrow.

VIDEO: Enslow author Randel McGee demonstrates a fun craft!

Just in time for Halloween, Enslow's author Randel McGee demonstrates how to make "Goofy Googles" out of paper, straight from his Paper Crafts for Halloween book by Enslow Publishers. Click here to see the video!

Randel is an expert of paper crafts and has written an entire series for Enslow, Paper Craft Fun for Holidays.

Nicole's Baby Shower

Nicole, our Photo Manager here at Enslow is going on maternity leave starting today. Her Enslow
co-workers threw her a surprise baby shower earlier in the week, complete with decorations, gifts, tasty treats, a baby pool, and of course advice for the soon-to-be new mother. We all wish Nicole the best and we can't wait to meet the new addition to her family.



Nicole doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl so Pam was careful to include
pink and blue icing on her cupcakes.
Kurt's specialty "dirty diaper" Rice Krispie treats are an Enslow tradition.



The Enslow staff couldn't help but give Nicole some parenting advice!





Oooh! Aahhhh!

Lisa carefully thinking about her baby pool choices.

 

Nicole politely smiling but secretly wondering if these people really know anything about babies.

On this day in 1879

Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

That first workable electric light remained lit for over forty-five hours. Edison and some of his workers took turns staying awake to keep an eye on that light.
 
Interested in learning more about Thomas Edison? Click here.

Today is National Reptile Day

There are more than eight thousand different kinds of reptiles. They can be less than an inch long or they can weigh a ton. When reptiles hatch, they look like miniature adults. Reptiles have dry skin and scales, while amphibians have moist skin and do not have scales.

These facts were pulled from Learning to Care for Reptiles and Amphibians, written by Felicia Lowenstein Niven.

Win a Copy of The Devil's Door! Sponsored by SLJ

October 20, 2010



With Halloween just around the corner, it's time to put the finishing touches on your costume and share scary stories about ghosts, goblins, and witches. In Enslow Publishers' newest historical fiction adventures title, The Devil's Door: A Salem Witchcraft Story, Sarah Wright and her father come to Salem Village to start a new life. But a strange affliction has begun to torment some young girls in the village, and after the doctor fails to find a cause, he's determined that it can only be one thing: witchcraft! The devil has come to Salem. As fear and panic spread, so do the accusations. Readers can follow Sarah on her journey in this terrifying tale that's set in colonial America.


Would you like to win a copy of The Devil's Door? Simply email whatsnew@enslow.com and tell them about your favorite Halloween memory. Better hurry! Only the first five entrants will receive a free book. (Please include your mailing address.) Winners will be notified by email within three days and their responses will be posted on the publisher's blog and Twitter pages. All entrants will be added to Enslow's e-newsletter list.


This article originally appeared in School Library Journal's enewsletter SLJTeen.

Today is National Day on Writing

To draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing Americans engage in and to help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft, the National Council of Teachers of English has established October 20, as the National Day on Writing.
 
To celebrate NCTE encourages participants to the visit National Gallery of Writing where they can read published work, contribute their own writing, start a local gallery, or search galleries.

NCTE provides a list of wonderful classroom activities, Web sites, and related resouces available here.

Thinking of writing a book or maybe starting your memoirs? Why not start today?

Need a book to help your students with their writing? Check out our Ace Your Creative Writing Project or Ace Your Research Paper or Ace Your Writing Assignment titles.

Happy National Day on Writing!

Happy Birthday Philip Pullman

The works of Philip Pullman, award-winning author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, are enjoyed by readers of all ages. Some of the themes of his work include the conflict of good vs. evil, the end of innocence, and the beginning of wisdom. Perhaps more than anything else, however, his work is known for its depiction of the relationship between religion and science. Such depictions continue to fuel discussion among readers and inspire debate today.