The Leather Apron Club

A powerful celebration of libraries from master storyteller Jane Yolen. Benjamin Franklin introduces his son Billy to the Leather Apron Club, where it's love at first page. When Billy's father Benjamin Franklin announces that Billy and his lazy cousin James will soon have a tutor, Billy is initially dismayed. But his tutor awakens him to the power of story and books, and when Billy accompanies his father to the Leather Apron Club (which Franklin started in 1727), he decides to do more with his education and life. Best-selling author Jane Yolen introduces readers to the Leather Apron Club. Not only was the Club the first successful lending library in the United States--it also exists to this day as the Library Company of Philadelphia! Careful readers will notice that the story cleverly incorporates famous sayings from Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, underscoring the lasting impact of words.

A powerful celebration of libraries from master storyteller Jane Yolen. Benjamin Franklin introduces his son Billy to the Leather Apron Club, where it's love at first page. When Billy's father Benjamin Franklin announces that Billy and his lazy cousin James will soon have a tutor, Billy is initially dismayed. But his tutor awakens him to the power of story and books, and when Billy accompanies his father to the Leather Apron Club (which Franklin started in 1727), he decides to do more with his education and life. Best-selling author Jane Yolen introduces readers to the Leather Apron Club. Not only was the Club the first successful lending library in the United States--it also exists to this day as the Library Company of Philadelphia! Careful readers will notice that the story cleverly incorporates famous sayings from Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, underscoring the lasting impact of words.

An introduction to the life and career of the statesman, inventor, scientist, and printer Benjamin Franklin.

Between 1771 and 1790, American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin sat down to record the important events of his life, from his childhood in Boston to his work as a printer in Philadelphia, to his trips to Paris and his plans for the first public library. The story of the invention of the Franklin stove, the first Poor Richard's Almanac, and his experiments with electricity are all included here. His "Project for Moral Perfection"—a list of desirable virtues and steps to achieve them—influenced the modern self-help genre. Hundreds of years later, Franklin's account of his rise from middle-class obscurity to become a world-renowned scholar and civic figure continues to promote the American Dream. First published in 1791, this unabridged version of Franklin's autobiography is taken from the 1909 copyright edition.

Benjamin Franklin was a 17-year-old runaway when he arrived in Philadelphia in 1723. Yet within days he'd found a job at a local print shop, met the woman he would eventually marry, and even attracted the attention of Pennsylvania's governor. A decade later, he became a colonial celebrity with the publication of Poor Richard: An Almanack and would go on to become one of America's most distinguished Founding Fathers. Franklin established the colonies' first lending library, volunteer fire company, and postal service, and was a leading expert in the study of electricity. He represented the Pennsylvania colony in London but returned to help draft the Declaration of Independence. The new nation then named him Minister to France, where he helped secure financial and military aide for the breakaway republic. Author Brandon Marie Miller captures the essence of this exceptional individual through both his original writings and hands-on activities from the era. Readers will design and print an almanac cover, play a simple glass armonica (a Franklin invention), experiment with static electricity, build a barometer, and more. The text also includes a time line, glossary, Web and travel resources, and reading list for further study.

The scene of this detective story, starring Ben Franklin, is Philadelphia in 1734, soon after the Salem witchcraft trials. Ben must struggle against superstition, as well as murder, for an angry mob is convinced that he is a warlock in league with the Devil.

A brilliant detective, a crazed killer, a mysterious couple, a handful of prostitutes... Lives converge and history is altered as an entire city is plunged into an era of panic and terror. A ruthless killer ravages London, seizing its helpless prostitutes; murdering and mutilating their bodies before vanishing, untraced and unpunished. In a time when lives hang in the balances, when murder is the consequence of failure, when a city teeters upon the brink of pandemonium, it is up to one man to unravel the mystery, to put a face to the myth-like villain; to end the gruesome killing spree. Delving into the bleakest moments of 1888 when death itself walked the streets of London and blood pierced the denseness of the fog, Detective Pierce Ackles is forced to face his most formidable opponent yet: the illusive Jack the Ripper. Through meticulous analysis of evidence, an uncanny perception of the darkest elements of human nature, and an unmatched wit, he is set against the world's most cunning and brutal killers. Driven by a steely commitment and unrelenting desire to see justice prevail, he is the embodiment of every criminal's most dreaded opponent.

Prolific storyteller Jane Yolen marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's arrival by channeling the voice of Plymouth Rock itself. A funny (and fact-checked!) look at a historical monument. The history of Plymouth Rock is explained--by the rock itself. Playful, clever verses offer a comprehensive window into the events leading up to the 1620 landing and beyond, dispelling common misconceptions along the way. Alternating with Rock's poems is a witty analysis of the truthfulness of its statements, told in the voice of the Fact Checker. Truly a book for today's savvy media consumers.

What is it that drives the success of America and the identity of its people? Jack Hitt thinks it's because we're all a bunch of amateurs. America’s self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical garages—fiddling with everything from solar-powered cars to space elevators. In Bunch of Amateurs, Jack Hitt draws a fascinating look at amateurs and their pursuits—from a tattooed young woman in the Bay Area trying to splice a jellyfish’s glow-in-the-dark gene into common yogurt to a space fanatic on the brink of developing the next generation of telescopes from his mobile home. Beginning with Ben Franklin’s kite, Hitt argues that history is bound up in a cycle of amateur surges, each one driving us to rediscover the true heart of the American dream. Amateur pursuits are too often criticized as outdated practices until a Mark Zuckerberg steps out of his dorm room with the rare but crucial success story. According to Hitt, we are poised at another frontier that will lead, once more, to the newest incarnation of the American dream.