This challenging visual puzzle will appeal to lovers of logic and deduction brain teasers. How To Play: A map grid shows two towns, typically A and B. The objective of the puzzle is to lay down tracks to connect the two towns. Numbers around the outside of the grid tell you how many pieces of track are to be placed in each row and column. You can only use straight (horizontal and vertical) and curved (right and left) rails and the track cannot cross over itself. There is something very satisfying in the laying down of tracks. The puzzles are arranged with varying levels of difficulty, where difficulty is largely dependent on the size of the map grid (from 6x6 to 10x10). Puzzles included cover three levels of difficulty: 70 Easy, 70 Moderate, and 60 Difficult.
Terrible news has reached cat brothers Anton and Cecil: their rodent friend Hieronymus has been captured. Anton and Cecil must set out to rescue the mouse who once saved Anton’s life. Boarding one of the monstrous machines the mice call “landships,” the brothers travel to the Wild West. Along the way Cecil is tossed out onto the prairie by the train’s conductor only to face bison, prairie dogs, and a boy who would make him a pet. Meanwhile, Anton meets a ferret friend who warns of stampeding herds, rattlesnakes, and fierce, enormous cats. Facing such danger can Anton and Cecil find the courage and wit to save Hieronymus?
The noted expert selects 70 of his favorite "short" puzzles, including such mind-bogglers as The Returning Explorer, The Mutilated Chessboard, Scrambled Box Tops, and dozens more involving logic and basic math. Solutions included.
Winter is coming and Thomas, being a small engine, needs to put on his snowplow. Thomas hates his snowplow; he thinks it makes him look funny, and when he has it on, the other, bigger engines tease him. But Thomas saves the day when a big storm comes up and Toby is stuck on his branch line. From the Trade Paperback edition.
THE THUNDERING SMOKE - BOOK 2, THE DUTCHMAN’S PLAN IS A CONTINUING EVOCATIVE TALE OF REDEMPTION, RESILIENCE, AND THE ENDURING BONDS OF FAMILY SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE AFRICAN WILDERNESS AND THE TUMULTUOUS HISTORY THAT SHAPES ITS INHABITANTS' LIVES. TOM SUTTON'S JOURNEY FROM GRIEF AND DESPAIR TO PURPOSE AND HOPE IS A TESTAMENT TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT'S CAPACITY FOR TRANSFORMATION IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY. AS TOM GRAPPLES WITH THE AFTERMATH OF A TRAGIC MINE ACCIDENT, HE FINDS SOLACE AND PURPOSE IN THE COMPANIONSHIP OF HEIDI, A YOUNG ORPHAN GIRL WHOSE RESILIENCE MIRRORS HIS OWN. THEIR RELATIONSHIP BLOSSOMS INTO A BOND OF FATHER AND DAUGHTER, ANCHORED BY LOVE AND MUTUAL HEALING. YET, THEIR NEWFOUND FAMILY FACES CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES AT EVERY TURN. TOM'S DETERMINATION TO ADOPT HEIDI IS COMPLICATED UNTIL THE REVELATION OF A LETTER FROM THE GRAVE, THE DUTCHMAN’S PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF HIS DAUGHTER IS CAST IN STONE AND UNRAVELS SECRETS OF A VAST INHERITANCE IN THE FORM OF DEMBERRA, A SPRAWLING CATTLE RANCH. WITH THE SUPPORT OF HIS LOYAL FRIEND TIM AND THE GUIDANCE OF SIMALALA, AN AFRICAN ALLY FROM HIS PAST, TOM EMBARKS ON A JOURNEY TO CARVE A FUTURE OUT OF THE UNTAMED WILDERNESS. HOWEVER, THEIR DREAMS ARE THREATENED BY THE MACHINATIONS OF BRADLEY, A CUNNING ANTAGONIST HELL-BENT ON SEIZING DEMBERRA AND THE HIDDEN FORTUNE OF STOLEN GOLD IT HARBORS. BRADLEY ENGAGES JOHN SUTTON, TOM’S ESTRANGED SON TO ASSIST IN HIS PLANS. TOM'S RESILIENCE IS PUT TO THE TEST AS HE NAVIGATES A TREACHEROUS LANDSCAPE OF BETRAYAL, GREED, AND VENGEANCE. AMIDST THE TURMOIL, A NEW CHALLENGE EMERGES IN THE FORM OF ANOTHER WOMAN VYING FOR TOM'S AFFECTION, TESTING THE BONDS FORGED BETWEEN FATHER AND DAUGHTER. AS PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE, TOM MUST CONFRONT HIS OWN DEMONS AND RECONCILE WITH HIS ESTRANGED SON, WHOSE THIRST FOR REVENGE THREATENS TO TEAR THEIR FRAGILE FAMILY APART. "THE THUNDERING SMOKE" IS A CONTINUING GRIPPING SAGA OF PERSEVERANCE, SACRIFICE, AND THE ENDURING POWER OF LOVE TO CONQUER EVEN THE DARKEST OF SHADOWS. THROUGH TOM'S UNWAVERING RESOLVE AND HEIDI'S INDOMITABLE SPIRIT, IT EXPLORES THEMES OF FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, AND THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF SECOND CHANCES. SET AGAINST THE MAJESTIC BACKDROP OF AFRICA'S RUGGED TERRAIN AND HAUNTED BY ITS TROUBLED HISTORY, IT IS A TIMELESS TALE OF HOPE AND REDEMPTION THAT WILL RESONATE WITH READERS LONG AFTER THE FINAL PAGE IS TURNED.
As a vast Holy War begins, a powerful new force emerges in the second book of this “violent, passionate, darkly poetic” fantasy series (SFSite.com). The first battle against the heathen has been won, but while the Great Names squabble over the spoils, Kellhus draws more followers to his banner. The sorcerer Achamian and his lover, Esmenet, submit entirely—only to face an unimaginable test of faith. The warrior Cnaiur falls ever deeper into madness. The skin-spies of the Consult watch with growing trepidation. And across the searing wastes of the desert, a name—a title—begins to be whispered among the faithful. Who is the Warrior-Prophet? A dangerous heretic who turns brother against brother? Or the only man who can avert the Second Apocalypse? With the fate of the Holy War hanging in the balance, the great powers will have to choose between their most desperate desires and their most ingrained prejudice. Between hatred and hope. Between the Warrior-Prophet and the end of the world . . .
From the Newbery Medal–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, nine semi-autobiographical stories that will make you laugh so hard it hurts In Jack on the Tracks, fifth-grader Jack Henry is hoping for fresh adventure when he moves to a new home in Miami with his family, but he can't escape his old worrying ways. He worries about being fascinated with all things gross and disgusting. He worries about his crazy French-obsessed schoolteacher. And most of all he worries about worrying so much. In this cycle of interrelated stories, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, if only Jack can get on the right track to survive his outrageous year. This title has Common Core connections.
This book provides an in-depth exploration of trains and train travel. Letherby and Reynolds have conducted extensive research with all those concerned with trains, from leisure travelers and enthusiasts to railway workers and commuters. Overturning conventional wisdom, they show that the train has a social life in and of itself and is not simply a way to get from A to B.The book also looks at the depiction of train travel through cultural media, such as music, films, books and art. The authors consider the personal politics of train travel and political discussion surrounding the railways, as well as the relationship trains have to leisure and work. The media often paints a gloomy picture of the railways and there is a general view that the romance of train travel ended with the steam locomotive. Letherby and Reynolds show that this is far from the case.
