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Showing 1 - 20 of 624 items
By Jim Murphy. 1995
An account of the conflagration that levelled much of Chicago in 1871. Chronicles events from the fire's outbreak and rapid…
spread to its extinguishment by rain, as reported by survivors and in documents of the period. Examines the origins, circumstances, and official failures that contributed to the disaster. Grades 5-8. A 1996 Newbery Honor Book. c1995.By Peter Benoit. 2011
Have you ever heard of the famous Hindenburg blimp that crashed and burned in New Jersey on May 6, 1937?…
Learn about the history of airships (also called zeppelins after the man who invented them, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin), and the Hindenburg, and about what happened the day of the crash - how sixty-two people managed to survive, and that it’s still not known why the crash took place. Also includes facts about the blimps of today, statistics, and a timeline. Grades 3-6. 2011.By Jim Pipe. 2011
Highlights some extreme survival stories of adventurers who met with disaster, from being adrift on the ocean to getting lost…
in the Sahara Dessert. Explains the split-second decisions that make the difference between living and dying. And find out what to do if you’re lost in the jungle, the mountains, or in the middle of the ocean. Grades 3-6. 2011.By Larry Verstraete. 2003
Think about your worst fears - being attacked by a wild animal, swept away by a killer storm, trapped in…
a wrecked car or a burning building. Here are 29 stories of real people who survived life-threatening situations. Each section includes Survival Tips that give readers essential information about what to do in dangerous circumstances. Some descriptions of violence. Winner of the 2004 Silver Birch Award. Grades 4-7. Bestseller 2005. 2003.By Linda Granfield. 2009
"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow..."Every Canadian student, teacher and parent can recite these powerful words. But behind every poem…
is a poet, who lived, breathed, and in this case, led an extraordinary life. Despite John McCrae reaching Canadian icon status, his life has been largely unknown. This books is a beautiful tribute to this man. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 4-7. 2009.During WWI, the battle for the tiny Belgium town of Passchendaele was one of the most significant tests of Canadian…
courage and expertise. General Haig ordered a headlong attack into the heavily fortified German entrenchments, to capture the town and drive toward the coast to destroy German submarine bases. General Currie's Canadian Corps, known as unstoppable 'storm troopers', was called to the front. For junior high and older readers. 2008.By Shelley Tanaka, Ken Marschall. 1996
The story of the Titanic, once the world's largest ocean liner, as told through the experiences of two of its…
survivors. Detailed explanations about the ship, passengers, and crew are interwoven with an account of its tragic sinking in 1912. Grades 4-7. Winner of the 1997 Silver Birch Award. c1996.By Maria Coffey, Debora Pearson. 2000
Join Maria on her kayaking trip though the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. She paddles to remote villages…
which haven't seem outsiders in years, visits the Skull Island burial ground, confronts a ferocious crocodile, sleeps in a leaf hut, and explores the jungle. Learn what it's like to visit a coral reef 'garden', where the bathrooms are in the jungle, and what kids love about life in the Solomons. Grades 3-6. 2000.By Lynn Curlee. 1998
Describes the history of human exploration of the ice cap surrounding the North Pole. At first the Inuit people were…
the only people in this Arctic region. Then, over the centuries, various explorers came to kill animals and to try to locate the exact North Pole. Grades 3-6. 1998.By Lauren Tarshis. 2015
True stories of real kids up against terrible forces of nature. From the 14-year-old lone survivor of the shark attacks…
of 1916, to the 9-year-old who survived the Peshtigo Fire of 1871, here are four unforgettable survivors who managed to beat the odds. Grades 3-6. 2015.By Lucille Recht Penner. 2001
Describes the true story of British explorer Shackleton's attempted 1914 expedition to Antarctica. When the ship was caught in the…
frozen sea, he and his crew experienced an eighteen-month ordeal, during which they camped on ice floes and lived on an island. Grades 2-4. 2001.By Celia Godkin. 2008
Along Florida's coast, people board up their homes and the animals head inland - a hurricane is coming. When it…
reaches land, howling winds uproot trees and homes with equal ease, and storm surges devastate the town. Then, after the eerie quiet of the hurricane's eye, the winds howl again, toppling structures that had survived the first onslaught and washing away the remains. But even as the last of the storm dies down, the process of renewal gradually begins. Grades 2-4. 2008.By Hugh Brewster. 2014
All was not quiet on the Western Front during the last years of WWI. Soldiers faced mud, trench foot, bombardments,…
barbed wire, snipers, and poison gas. Despite dreadful odds, the Canadian Corps moved forward, reaching deep inside enemy-occupied Belgium. The war cost Canada 60,661 of its finest citizens and thousands more who were wounded in body and mind. After their hard-won victory at Vimy Ridge, Canadians earned the admiration of the world — and a reputation as soldiers who could get the job done. From that moment in 1917, Canadian soldiers proved themselves again and again on the bloody battlefields of Europe. Grades 3-6. 2014.By Robert D Ballard. 1998
Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, explores other famous lost ships. The Titanic's sister ship the Britannic…
is now the largest wreck on the ocean floor, while the Lusitania, sunk by a German torpedo during World War I, is shrouded in mystery. Grades 3-6. 1998.By Simon Chapman. 2003
Explorers wanted to learn jungle survival, trek through rainforest, find lost cities, discover Indian tribes, encounter strange creatures, brave the…
sweltering heat, battle swarms of stinging insects and face constant danger. This book allows you to search of the lost city of Rucu-rumimarca and experience what it's really like to travel into the heart of the unexplored Amazon jungle. Grades 3-6. 2003.By Rory Storm. 2000
Planning on being a castaway somewhere? Then this guide is for you. Learn how to live off the land, find…
food and shelter, and battle weather, poisonous plants and animals, and any other dangers you might encounter. Includes castaway stories, quizzes and brainteasers, and the recipe for cooked snake. Grades 3-6 and older readers. 2000.By Larry Verstraete. 2009
A young man in Nunavut fights off a polar bear to save his friend, a Canadian peacekeeper in the Congo…
risks his own life to save those of stranded tourists, and ordinary people show extraordinary character during the Halifax Explosion, the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina, the Tiananmen Square protests, and September 11, 2001. Over twenty true-life stories about life-threatening situations and the wrenching choices made by the people facing them. Winner of the 2010 Silver Birch Award for Non-fiction. Grades 5-8. Some descriptions of violence. 2009.By Hugh Brewster. 2006
April 9, 2007 marks the 90th anniversary of the pivotal World War I battle - one that many historians view…
as the battle that defined Canada as a nation. Canadian soldiers achieved what more experienced soldiers From Britain and France could not - taking the strategic position of Vimy Ridge from the Germans. Includes a bibliography of books and websites, an index, and a glossary. Grades 4-7. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.By John Wilson. 2017
Russell Rabjohn was just eighteen years old when he joined up to fight in the First World War. In his…
three years of soldiering, he experienced the highs and lows of army life, from a carefree leave in Paris to the anguish of seeing friends die around him. Private Rabjohn was also a trained artist, and drew everything he saw, including a captured pilot of a downed German biplane; the horrific Flanders mud; a German observation balloon exploding in midair; and the jubilant mood in the streets of Belgium when the Armistice is finally signed. With no surviving veterans of the First World War, Rabjohn's drawings are an unmatched visual record of a lost time. Grades 4-7. 2017.By Stephanie Innes, Harry Endrulat. 2008
In 1916, at the height of the First World War, a Canadian teddy bear travelled all the way to France…
in a care package for Lawrence Rogers - a gift from his daughter Aileen. When Teddy returned from the front lines, he did so alone: Lieutenant Rogers, along with many other Canadian soldiers, died at the battle of Passchendaele. Here is Teddy's story - from his life in East Farnham, Quebec, to France, home, and eventually to the Canadian War Museum. Grades 2-4. 2008.