Wonder Science

Pirates were thieves and murderers. But even these criminals had to follow certain rules. And if they broke the rules, they faced severe punishments. Listen to learn about the pirate code and how it guided everyday life on a pirate ship.

Triumph. Tragedy. The empyreal. The infernal. Even the mundane, filtered through the fantastical. Superheroes are, appropriately enough, a sort of super-genre, encompassing all other story types. This YA anthology features thirteen short stories that creatively turn superhero tropes on their head, while still paying homage to the genre that has found fans for more than eight decades. And there will be no mistake—superheroes don’t have to just be generic handsome white dudes.

Cousins Middy and Nathan love magic. The on-stage, cape-swirling, bunny-out-of-a-hat kind. For Middy, it’s all about patience and practice. She uses magic skills to help her out of tricky situations. Nathan is a show-off and a total danger magnet, he is drawn to the sensation, spectacle and audience. So when the famous Blackpool Tower dramatically vanishes the night of the Grand Lights Switch-On, showman Nathan announces live on TV that they will magic it back home.

Have you heard the story about the bird that turned to stone? Did your parents warn you about the extra-specially-super-deliciously-fantastically naughty boy who got a frog stuck in his throat? No? Well, never fear: Onjali Q Raúf is here to entertain you with her sparkling collection of fables for kids who want to make the world a better place!

Are you worried that your child's low self-esteem will prevent her from pursuing friendships and opportunities to shine? You’re not alone. Almost every parent hopes their kid grows up to be confident in who they are and content in their own skin.

Have you ever wondered: Why a day has 24 hours? Why is there a hole in the doughnut? Why do we light candles on a birthday cake? Like many people, you’ve probably asked some of these questions when you were younger or maybe recently. Well, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover the interesting and maybe slightly bizarre origins of the strange things we do.

Disguised as Diana Prince, young Wonder Woman goes to Metropolis to start school and quickly meets a group of students who are also secretly heroes. They convince her to enter a school contest, and she tackles the competition in true Amazon fashion. Unfortunately, some of the school's villains have their eye on the same prize, and Wonder Woman is going to need Supergirl, Batgirl, and her other hero friends to help her save the day. This audiobook features humor and action-packed stories throughout.

In Lost Wonders author and journalist Tom Lathan tells the stories of ten species that have lived, died out and been declared extinct since the turn of the twenty-first century. In a series of fascinating encounters with subjects that are now nowhere to be found on Earth – from giant tortoises to minuscule snails the size of sesame seeds, from ocean-hopping trees to fish that wag their tails like puppies – Lathan brings these lost wonders briefly back to life and gives us a tantalising glimpse of what we have lost within our own lifetime.

Born to parents who were enthusiastic naturalists, and linked through his wider family to a clutch of accomplished scientists, Richard Dawkins was bound to have biology in his genes. But what were the influences that shaped his life and intellectual development? And who inspired him to become the pioneering scientist and public thinker now famous (and infamous to some) around the world?

“I’ve always felt that the term fairy tale doesn’t quite capture the essence of these stories,” writes Emily Urquhart. “I prefer the term wonder tale, which is Irish in origin, for its suggestion of awe coupled with narrative. In a way, this is most of our stories.” In this startlingly original essay collection, Urquhart reveals the truths that underlie our imaginings: what we see in our heads when we read, how the sight of a ghost can heal, how the entrance to the underworld can be glimpsed in an oil painting or a winter storm—or the onset of a loved one’s dementia.

Perché il gatto odia il topo? Perché si sogna? Perché quando passa un'auto le foglie che stanno per terra le corrono dietro? Perché la neve è bianca? Perché si nasce? Facili, difficili o impossibili, tante erano le domande che i giovani lettori ponevano a Gianni Rodari e alle quali rispondeva, con umorismo, fantasia e competenza scientifica, dalle pagine delle sue rubriche giornalistiche. Oggi come ieri, Rodari ci invita a camminare con lui sulla strada dell'empatia e dell'amicizia, abbandonando facili pregiudizi e piatto conformismo.

There is a major revolution sweeping astronomy as amateur astronomers, linked by the Internet, make important discoveries that are the envy of the professionals. In Seeing in the Dark, Timothy Ferris invites us all to become stargazers, capturing the exquisite experience when ancient starlight strikes the eye and incites the mind.

Join Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and the rest of the DC Super Hero Girls in an all-new action-packed series! When an athletic competition with the school's super-villains gets way out of hand, young Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl team up with a few of their fellow superpowered studen.

We are a people of stories. We use them to entertain, to teach, and to instruct. Sometimes they warn us of the dangers of wandering too far into the woods, or they can be a detailed story to explain how magnificent landscapes came to be. Story has always been the way we pass time, the way we connect to each other, and most importantly, how we promote our values. Parables, especially, have a dual purpose. Not only do they keep us entertained, but they also make a point. Consider Aesop’s fables—tales of talking animals who learn valuable life lessons.

Can you find your way out of any maze, even blindfolded? You can, if you know this one simple secret.

¿Alguna vez has levantado la vista al cielo en una noche estrellada y te has dejado llevar por la imaginación? Igual en ese momento te has trasladado a mundos que van más allá de lo que podemos imaginar en la Tierra. Algunos con vida, puede que inteligente, y otros completamente inhóspitos e infernales. O quizá simplemente te has preguntado cuántas estrellas hay en la Vía Láctea.

Wonder World: Part 3, The Adventure Continues is the third book in Robert W. Williams' series for tweens and young adults. This series is about a group of five teens who travel through a wormhole to the other side of the Sun. Having found themselves stranded on a humanless world full of strange creatures and incredible plants, the team of five explore this new world with the help of their alien walking stick friends, their air balloon backpacks, and the mysterious wheel controlled by the sound beings from another dimension.

How much of the earth’s surface do you think is volcanic in its origin? Have you any idea of the difference between a shield volcano and a stratovolcano? And do you know which 10 eruptions were the largest in human history? Join Charles King as he talks us through all of these things and more and discover 101 amazing facts about volcanos. Whether you’re studying the subject at school or are simply interested to find out more about one of nature’s most impressive and dangerous sights, then this is the perfect book for you.

John Farrell takes kids on a rhyming tour of the night sky, from A to Z, with facts about the wonders of space. From distant Andromeda, a galaxy made up of billions of stars, to the constellation of the zodiac, Farrell covers the high points of outer space. How do you find Jupiter or Venus? How does the Moon cause the tides of Earth's shores? How can you find the North Star, and why do all other stars seem to go around it? The answers to these and many other questions are contained in this beautiful volume of science that will delight a young listener's imagination.

Did dinosaurs land on the moon 66 million years before us? Is the Loch Ness monster really a ghost? Should cats be in charge of protecting countries from Earthquakes? Are imaginary friends mysteriously turning into real people? Investigate the weird, the wacky and the downright weird questions you've always wanted to know the answers too (and some you hadn't even thought of!) with podcaster and fact-detective Dan Schreiber.