Rebecca Kraft Rector

Looking up at the stars on a clear night can inspire many questions in young minds. This easy-to-follow narrative provides lots of answers about star formation, sizes, temperatures, colors, constellations, and the life and death of stars. A fun, hands-on-activity illustrates why stars shine only at night. Fast facts and Words to Know sections offer additional information, while colorful photographs bring each concept into splendid focus. This book...

The earliest civilizations developed in fertile river valleys, where the conditions were right to support large, settled populations. This book tracks how social hierarchies, religion, culture, written language, technology, and more developed first in Mesopotamia and then independently in the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River Valleys. A timeline helps readers get a better grasp of what developments were happening simultaneously in different parts of the...

A burning log, a rotting banana, and a rusting bicycle. These are examples of chemical changes. With this accessible narrative, readers are introduced to the basics of chemical changes. Easy-to-follow explanations cover matter, forms, properties, and changes. Further detail introduces how to make chemical changes and how to recognize them. Color photographs, fast facts, and an engaging activity expand and reinforce the newly learned ideas. This book...

We may not be able to see asteroids without a telescope, but there are thousands of these space rocks circling the sun. Readers learn about asteroid formation, size, shape, and orbits. They are also introduced to the methods that scientists use to track asteroids. Fast facts and a hands-on activity expand the reader's learning experience, while full-color images enrich the narrative with additional details and examples. This book supports English...

Explore the past, present, and future of the Great Barrier Reef. Beautiful photos, fact-filled text, and engaging infographics help readers learn all about this natural wonder and how to protect it long into the future.

Children learn about color at a very young age, but there is a lot more to red, yellow, and blue than meets the eye. This simple, engaging book introduces readers to basic forms and properties of color, including kinds of colors, how color changes, and what those changes might mean. Fast facts and a hands-on activity reinforce the new ideas, while colorful images compel attention and underscore concepts. This book supports Next Generation Science...

The sight of the moon in the night sky can be both familiar and mysterious. Readers are introduced to concepts such as the moon's rotation, orbit, and formation. They learn the basics of gravity, tides, atmosphere, and the phases of the moon. Fast facts, a hands-on activity, and eye-catching images capture readers' attention and enhance their understanding. This book correlates directly with the Next Generation Science Standards' expectation for understanding...

Explore the past, present, and future of the Sahara Desert. Beautiful photos, fact-filled text, and engaging infographics help readers learn all about this natural wonder and how to protect it long into the future.

A plate breaks, an ice cube melts, a room is painted. Each of these is an example of a physical change. Readers are introduced to physical changes in matter. Simple explanations cover forms of matter, properties, and changes. Real-life examples illustrate important concepts. Fast facts and Words to Know sections provide additional information. Full-color images expand and support the narrative, while an activity reinforces ideas through experimentation....

Some objects can be scratched or dented easily. Others can take a beating and still look as good as new. This may be one sign of hardness. This accessible narrative introduces basic concepts about the property of hardness of matter. Readers learn how to identify hardness through senses and tests, as well as how hardness may change. A hands-on activity gives readers a chance to experience the concepts in action. Fast facts and vivid images offer additional...