Titles by Richard Panchyk

Drawing on the natural folk art tendencies of children, who love to collect buttons, bottle caps, shells, and Popsicle sticks to create beautiful, imperfect art, this activity guide teaches kids about the history of this organic art and offers inspiration for them to create their own masterpieces. The full breadth of American folk art is surveyed, including painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and textiles from the 17th century through today. Making bubblegum wrapper chains, rag dolls, bottle cap sculptures, decoupage boxes, and folk paintings are just a few of the activities designed to bring out the artist in every child. Along the way kids learn about the lives of Americans throughout history and their casual relationships to everyday art as they cut stencils, sew needlepoint samplers, draw calligraphy birds, and design quilts. Important folk artists such as the last surviving Shakers, the legendary Grandma Moses, and the Reverend Howard Finster are also explored in sidebars throughout the book.

This activity book features 25 projects such as making a surface survey of a site, building a screen for sifting dirt and debris at a dig, tracking soil age by color, and counting tree rings to date a find, teaches kids the techniques that unearthed Neanderthal caves, Tutankhamun’s tomb, the city of Pompeii, and Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire. Kids will delight in fashioning a stone-age tool, playing a seriation game with old photographs of cars, “reading” objects excavated in their own backyards, and using patent numbers to date modern artifacts as they gain an overview of human history and the science that brings it back to life.

A fascinating journey through the history of America's favorite pastime With this interactive book, kids will discover how the game of baseball has changed over the years by reading about topics such as the dead ball era, World War II, segregation and integration, free agency, and the designated hitter. Along the way, young readers will enjoy quotes, stories, and amusing anecdotes from more than 175 former major leaguers and get an intimate look at the game's greatest legends—including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, and Willie Mays. With the 21 included activities, children will learn how to calculate a player's batting average and ERA, throw a palmball, design a logo for their favorite team, cook a bowl of Cracker Jack, and more. A time line of the sport's history and lists of books, websites, and places to visit are also included.

Spanning 400 years of history, from the Tea Party to the Boston Marathon attack, author Richard Panchyk chronicles the lives of Bostonians both famous and infamous, and many colorful characters. Included are 21 hands-on activities such as baking a Boston Cream Pie, writing a poem in the style of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and walking the Freedom Trail. The book also includes a time line and list of books, websites, and places to visit.

Maps have been a part of human culture since the days of scratching on cave walls, and this richly illustrated history chronicles the road from simple diagrams used to avoid danger to the complex, navigational charts used today. Displaying an array of historic atlases and a variety of cartography styles, this book allows young readers to test their map-reading skills while discovering the intricate beauty and the wealth of information held within. Geographical concepts are spotlighted through an assortment of guided activities—including finding the elevation of hills, plotting a course with a magnetic compass, creating three-dimensional land models using a contour map, and performing a plot survey. Drawing the conclusion that the study of geography and maps is crucial to understanding an ever-changing planet, this handbook discloses the ways in which technological advances in cartography can further discussions on climate change, warfare, environmental conservation, population growth, and other timely topics.

How does a city obtain water, gas, and electricity? Where do these services come from? How are they transported? The answer is infrastructure, or the inner, and sometimes invisible, workings of the city. Roads, railroads, bridges, telephone wires, and power lines are visible elements of the infrastructure; sewers, plumbing pipes, wires, tunnels, cables, and sometimes rails are usually buried underground or hidden behind walls. Engineering the City tells the fascinating story of infrastructure as it developed through history along with the growth of cities. Experiments, games, and construction diagrams show how these structures are built, how they work, and how they affect the environment of the city and the land outside it.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s enduring legacy upon the history, culture, politics, and economics of the United States is introduced to children in this engaging activity book. Kids will learn how FDR, a member of one of the founding families of the New World, led the nation through the darkest days of the Great Depression and World War II as 32nd U.S. President. This book examines the Roosevelt family—including famous cousin Teddy Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt—as well as FDR’s early political career and subsequent 12 years in office during some of the most fascinating and turbulent times in American history. Interspersed throughout are first-hand accounts from the people who knew FDR and remember him well. Children will also learn how his personal struggles with polio and his physical disability strengthened FDR's compassion and resolve. In addition, kids will explore Roosevelt's entire era through such hands-on activities as staging a fireside chat, designing a WPA-style mural, sending a double encoded message, hosting a swing dance party, and participating in a political debate.

Galileo, one of history's best-known scientists, is introduced in this illuminating activity book. Children will learn how Galileo's revolutionary discoveries and sometimes controversial theories changed his world and laid the groundwork for modern astronomy and physics. This book will inspire kids to be stargazers and future astronauts or scientists as they discover Galileo's life and work. Activities allow children to try some of his theories on their own, with experiments that include playing with gravity and motion, making a pendulum, observing the moon, and painting with light and shadow. Along with the scientific aspects of Galileo's life, his passion for music and art are discussed and exemplified by period engravings, maps, and prints. A time line, glossary, and listings of major science museums, planetariums, and web sites for further exploration complement this activity book.

The past is brought to life in this fascinating new reference that highlights some of the most seminal documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, Washington’s Farewell Address, the Compromise of 1850, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Each key text is prefaced with a brief, dynamic introduction and then further illuminated by the inclusion of a special “What They Were Saying” feature that provides interesting and relevant quotes taken directly from the books, newspapers, and speeches of that time. The documents are often paired with photographs of the original parchments, offering kids a real look at the words that made history. An original approach to learning, this guided tour of American history blows clean the dust and cobwebs of the last 300 years, presenting students with an opportunity to engage the past in a way that is sure to stay with them long after the bells have rung.

In this lively 400-year history, kids will read about Peter Stuyvesant and the enterprising Dutch colonists, follow the spirited patriots as they rebel against the British during the American Revolution, learn about the crimes of the infamous Tweed Ring, journey through the notorious Five Points slum with its tenements and street vendors, and soar to new heights with the Empire State Building and New York City’s other amazing skyscrapers. Along the way, they’ll stop at Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and many other prominent New York landmarks. With informative and fun activities, such as painting a Dutch fireplace tile or playing a game of stickball, this valuable resource includes a time line of significant events, a list of historic sites to visit or explore online, and web resources for further study, helping young learners gain a better understanding of the Big Apple’s culture, politics, and geography.

This lively and comprehensive activity book teaches young readers everything they need to know about the nation's highest court. Organized around keystones of the Constitution—including free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, criminal justice, and property rights—the book juxtaposes historical cases with similar current cases. Presented with opinions from both sides of the court cases, readers can make up their own minds on where they stand on the important issues that have evolved in the Court over the past 200 years. Interviews with prominent politicians, high-court lawyers, and those involved with landmark decisions—including Ralph Nader, Rudolph Giuliani, Mario Cuomo, and Arlen Specter—show the personal impact and far-reaching consequences of the decisions. Fourteen engaging classroom-oriented activities involving violations of civil rights, exercises of free speech, and selecting a classroom Supreme Court bring the issues and cases to life. The first 15 amendments to the Constitution and a glossary of legal terms are also included.

Chronicling the rich and fascinating history of Washington, DC, this useful resource for teachers and parents, reveals to young readers the city's remarkable past through 21 hands-on activities. Children will gather items for a building cornerstone's time capsule, design a memorial for a favorite president, take a walking tour of the National Mall, and much more. The book also includes a time line and list of books, websites, and places to visit.

Now more than ever, kids want to know about our country's great struggles during World War II. This book is packed with information that kids will find fascinating, from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Much more than an ordinary history book, it is filled with excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by American and German troops, personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war in the United States, Germany, Britain, Russia, Hungary, and Japan, and gripping stories from Holocaust survivors—all add a humanizing global perspective to the war. This collection of 21 activities shows kids how it felt to live through this monumental period in history. They will play a rationing game or try the butter extender recipe to understand the everyday sacrifices made by wartime families. They will try their hands at military strategy in coastal defense, break a code, and play a latitude and longitude tracking game. Whether growing a victory garden or staging an adventure radio program, kids will appreciate the hardships and joys experienced on the home front.