As a storm rumbles and flashes, something wonderful happens up in the clouds: a raindrop begins his journey to earth, thrilled and delighted to be flying. But when flying begins to feel like falling, the raindrop can't enjoy himself for fear that a big change is coming. After hitting a campfire on the ground, the raindrop begins his journey back to the clouds as a wisp of steam. Readers will cheer for the little raindrop, experiencing his joys as well as his worries. This simple story uses spare text and art to explain the science of the water cycle, while happily showing that good things can result from change.
Ping! Ping! It sounds like the sky is raining rocks! Dylan thinks the house is falling down. Bel the Weather Girl tells him not to worry—she knows all about hail. But her dog, Stormy, hides under the kitchen table anyway. Why are chunks of ice falling in the middle of summer? Stay tuned, because every day is another weather day!
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions. The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical: - What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool? - Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns? - What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City? - Are fire tornadoes possible? His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
From cloud to puddle, and puddle to stream, the Little Raindrop is making its way on the remarkable journey that is Earth’s water cycle. In this inviting story—illustrated with pastels for a soft, full color—readers are taught about science and nature through a character driven narrative that leads a little raindrop on a big adventure. With an easy to follow plot that teaches precipitation, water flow, and evaporation, The Little Raindrop offers a sweet story full of learning and discovery. Featuring a heartwarming adventure from author Joanna Gray, and beautiful pastel illustrations by Dubravka Kolanovic, The Little Raindrop takes readers on a fun and educational ride through the water cycle. This is a wonderful introduction for children ages 3 to 6 about the water cycle. They will instantly connect with the cute, smiling little raindrop as it starts its journey in the clouds. The author gives wonderful, age-appropriate explanations and details about the raindrop's journey from air to pond to stream to ocean and back into the air again, making this a wonderful first introduction to science for preschoolers. Parents will appreciate the educational value of the book, as will early educational teachers. This is the type of picture book Scholastic Book Clubs and Fairs are wanting and so it should definitely have a great reception in the school and library market, as well as the general trade. Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Though the uplifting rhymes and profound messages of acceptance, respect and understanding, author Brian D. McClure educates and entertains children, parents and grandparents in the adventurous journey of The Raindrop. In this story, The Raindrop experiences many emotions as it travels from feelings of uselessness to the discovery of its importance and Interdependence of all things big and small. The Raindrop like the other seven books in The Brian D. McClure Children's book series offer universal life lessons that empower and educate the whole family.
Rural Botswana is the backdrop for When Rain Clouds Gather, the first novel published by one of Africa’s leading woman writers in English, Bessie Head (1937–1986). Inspired by her own traumatic life experiences as an outcast in Apartheid South African society and as a refugee living at the Bamangwato Development Association Farm in Botswana, Head’s tough and telling classic work is set in the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi, a haven to exiles. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionize the villagers’ traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with hazards as the pressures of tradition, opposition from the local chief, and the unrelenting climate threaten to divide and devastate the fragile community. Head’s layered, compelling story confronts the complexities of such topics as social and political change, conflict between science and traditional ways, tribalism, the role of traditional African chiefs, religion, race relations, and male–female relations.
Clouds affect our daily weather and play key roles in the global climate. Through their ability to precipitate, clouds provide virtually all of the fresh water on Earth and are a crucial link in the hydrologic cycle. With ever-increasing importance being placed on quantifiable predictions - from forecasting the local weather to anticipating climate change - we must understand how clouds operate in the real atmosphere, where interactions with natural and anthropogenic pollutants are common. This textbook provides students - whether seasoned or new to the atmospheric sciences - with a quantitative yet approachable path to learning the inner workings of clouds. Developed over many years of the authors' teaching at Pennsylvania State University, Physics and Chemistry of Clouds is an invaluable textbook for advanced students in atmospheric science, meteorology, environmental sciences/engineering and atmospheric chemistry. It is also a very useful reference text for researchers and professionals.
