Biographies

Throughout his young days at school and just afterwards, a number of things happened to Roald Dahl, which made such a tremendous impression he never forgot them....

How to Be a Writer is peppered with nuggets of practical advice for every person who is aspiring to write and be published, all told in Ruskin Bond's characteristic understated, tongue-in-cheek, humorous style....

What was Isaac Newton like? Secretive, vindictive, withdrawn, obsessive, and oh, yes, brilliant. His imagination was so large that, just “by thinking on it”, he invented calculus and figured out the scientific explanation of gravity....

It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims....

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls 2 is the sequel to the sensational New York Times best seller and the most crowdfunded book of all time. Authors Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli take you and your kids on an empowering journey through 100 new bedtime stories....

Cristiano Ronaldo overcame poverty and childhood illness to become one of the best football players ever. Escaping the hot streets of Madeira, Ronaldo first proved himself as a wonder-kid at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson....

As young boys, Orville and Wilbur Wright loved all things mechanical. As adults, the brothers worked together to invent, build, and fly the world's first successful airplane. This is the fascinating story of the two inventors and aviation pioneers....

The spiritual needs of the Muslim world, long neglected by Christian missionaries, came to the world's attention again when Samuel Zwemer dedicated himself to the advancement of the gospel in Arabia....

In a typical school year, every kid has one or two things go wrong. But for Jordan, there’s a lot going wrong all the time. By keeping his cool (some of the time), banging on the drums (a lot), and keeping his sense of humor (all the time), Jordan makes it....

There is an ongoing crisis with regards to young men and mental health, with unhelpful gender stereotypes contributing to this malaise. Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different offers a welcome alternative narrative....

Proving a gifted footballer from the age of four, Lamine Yamal overcame adversity to sign with La Masia at the age of seven. A talented right winger, Yamal's pace and powerful long-range shots have propelled him in his career to become one of the best young footballers in the world.

H. E. Marshall’s classic children’s chronicle of Britain Our Island Story includes all the best-loved (and most infamous!) stories from history....

William Carey watched from the dock as the magnificent sailing ship headed for the English Channel without him. Tears filled his eyes, and deep disappointment filled his heart....

Lionel Messi is a legend - Barcelona's star player and the world's best footballer. But when he was young, he was so small that his friends called him 'Little Leo' and coaches worried he wasn't big enough....

Searching since boyhood for the way to God, Sundar Singh found truth in Jesus Christ. At sixteen, the former Sikh became a Christian sadhu, or holy man, and at great risk devoted his life to Christ....

Under Egypt’s wind-swept sands, mummies and breathtaking treasure await those savvy and daring enough to seek them out....

Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 for speaking out against injustice even when it was terrifying to do so. She was an ordinary Muslim girl who wanted to attend school, and she refused to stop protesting for her rights even after being attacked....

This thrilling narrative, with its wealth of little-known facts takes the listener on a journey through the life of independent India’s first law minister....

This is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village....

This book explores the world of Sigmund Freud, who, making it into the author's highly popular series due to his creation of a brand-new branch of medicine called psychoanalysis, introduced the world to such controversial theories as Oedipal complexes, the id, and the ego....

While many missionaries died within months, this fiery mill worker from Scotland labored in love among the unreached tribes of Africa's Calabar region for thirty-nine years (1848-1915)....

Born and raised in India, Kalpana Chawla was told that she shouldn’t try to become an aeronautical engineer because it was hard for women everywhere to succeed in that field. But she persisted, getting her university degree and then immigrating to the US to keep studying....

George Muller stared at the beggar girl. She was no older than five and was piggybacking her little brother. Her mother had died in the cholera epidemic sweeping England. Her father had never returned from the mines....

Follow the story of Cole Palmer, ultimate football hero, from academy player at Manchester City all the way to scoring the equalising goal at the UEFA Euro 2024 final and being named as England's Men's Player of the Year in 2024.

Channel Kindness is a collection of 51 stories of kindness, bravery and resilience from young people all over the world collected by the Born This Way Foundation and introduced by Lady Gaga....

Do you ever find yourself feeling curious about who created the science behind some of our most impressive structures? Or wonder who it was that invented the equipment you find in your classroom? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to know who it was that created coding, or how on earth the Egyptian Pyramids were built so long ago and yet still look brand new? Well, now you need look no further!

Can you feel it? That FANTASTICAL FIZZ of CURIOSITY? Lizzy Sparks has the spark, the spark of INVENTION, and she’s going to need it because her pet hamster Gizmo is MISSING! That's where Ruby, Lizzy's super-smart babysitter, comes in. She's going to show Lizzy how inventors NEVER give up … because there's an inventor in ALL of us. And maybe Lizzy can invent the perfect solution to find Gizmo.

When Jules Verne was born in 1828, his family had his future planned out for him. They expected him to become a lawyer, but he dreamed of writing. He started out writing more traditional poetry and plays, but then he began to create a new, unconventional kind of fiction. It combined adventure, the modern world of science and invention, and his personal view of the future. With fantastical characters, spaceships to the moon, and deep-sea submarines, his books told of things that would not actually occur for decades.

Four short, engaging biographies of some of America's most famous pioneers. Let these stories give you a front row seat to the draw, drama, and danger of Westward Expansion.

Before she became a professional runner and a respected community advocate, before she began speaking out for Indigenous causes and peoples, Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone was just a kid. In this chapter book biography by acclaimed author Andrew Maraniss, listeners learn more about the life and work of Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone—from growing up Lakota in South Dakota, to her journey to becoming a Division 1 runner in college and later a professional runner, to her work in Washington DC advocating for Indigenous people and communities.

Dolly Parton is an award-winning songwriter and entertainer who released her first single when she was just thirteen years old. She has written thousands of songs, starred in TV shows and movies, and runs her own businesses and philanthropy. With her talent, grit, and generous spirit, she makes the world a brighter place.

Rosa Parks was the courageous thinker and leader known as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Long before the Montgomery Bus Boycott made her famous, she was a social justice activist and organizer. In honor of her work, she received a Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ida B. Wells was a groundbreaking journalist and civil rights activist in the decades after the Civil War. She worked fiercely for the equal treatment of Black people in schools, in society, and at the voting booth. With her powerful voice, she spoke out against injustice wherever she saw it.

Marie Curie was the brilliant, trailblazing scientist who discovered radium and coined the term radioactivity. She is the only woman ever awarded two Nobel Prizes—one in physics, and one in chemistry. She helped develop the use of X-rays and radiation therapies that have had a lasting impact on medicine and human health.

You're invited to meet artists, athletes, scientists, activists, and more—all in the same book. LGBTQ+ Heroes introduces you to 51 LGBTQ+ role models from today and as far back as the 1800s who have used their voices to uplift and advance their community, their fields of work or study, and the world!

Lorena Hickok came from nothing. She was on her own from the age of 14, cooking and scrubbing for one family after another as she struggled to finish school. But the girl who secretly longed for affection discovered she had a talent with words. That talent allowed Hick to carve out a place for herself in the male-dominated newsrooms of the Midwest where she earned bylines on everything from football to opera to politics. By age 35 she’d become one of the Associated Press’s top reporters.

Willie Nelson showed interest and promise in music at a young age. After being gifted a guitar by his grandpa at age six, Willie wrote his first song at age seven. He continued to be involved in music throughout his youth, singing in dance halls and honky-tonks to earn money. Since then, Willie has released countless more popular albums and singles, solidifying him as a country legend. Not only that, he is a businessman, author, and activist—showing support to American farmers through his farm aid fundraising concerts.

More than a century after Louisa May Alcott wrote them, classics such as Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys continue to be read and treasured by readers around the world. Alcott began writing as a young girl and dreamed of becoming a rich and famous author. Despite supporting her entire family with the proceeds from her writings, she was able to achieve her dreams and became one of the best-known and admired writers of her time.

As a youth, Malcolm endured violence, loss, hunger, foster care, racism, and being incarcerated. He emerged from it all to make a lasting global impact. As a Muslim. As a family man. As a revolutionary. Malcolm’s life story shows the promise of every human being. Of you! To trace Malcolm’s childhood and adult years, Kendi draws on Malcolm’s stirring oratory style, using repetition and rhetoric. Short, swift chapters echo Malcolm’s trademark fast walk.

From the time she was a very young girl, Rachel Carson felt a bond with nature. Growing up in Pennsylvania, she spent hours exploring meadows and woods, dreaming of seeing the ocean. As Rachel grew older, she combined her gift for writing with her love of nature, producing award-winning books about the sea. But her best-known achievement was the publication of Silent Spring, an account of the dangerous effects of pesticides on plants and animals.