Bücher veröffentlicht von Dayton Publishing LLC

Some inventions are such a familiar part of our everyday lives that we may never stop to think about where they came from or who invented them. Botts's Dots: Not Just a Bump in the Road is the first book in the Who Invented That? series about just such inventions.Dr. Elbert Dysart Botts was a hero of the modern era. In the 1950s he worked as an engineer at a division of California's Highway Transportation Agency later called Caltrans. To improve safety for drivers and highway workers, he and his team developed the markers now known as Botts Dots. These little round dots, laid out in rows, made it easier for drivers to stay within their lanes, especially at night or in rainy weather, or when sleepy or distracted.This is the story of Dr. Botts and his dots.

Callum Takes Swimming Lessons is a treasure for any young child learning to swim, and a gentle guide for parents who want to help their children learn and keep them safe in the pool.At the beginning of this heartwarming story about a child's first season of swimming lessons, Callum's swim teacher, Miss Marcia, earns his trust and draws on his natural curiosity and imagination to help him feel comfortable in the water. Callum has a lot of fun with Miss Marcia and her little "animal friends," who help him learn. Colorful illustrations show what happens at each step as Callum and Miss Marcia enjoy his lessons.By the end of his first set of lessons, Callum has gone from a child who wasn't quite sure he wanted to get into the pool to a confident little boy with solid swimming and water-safety skills. He can float on his front and back, swim underwater, and lift his head to take a breath. He can jump into the pool and swim across to the other side, taking a breath whenever he needs one. He has also learned important safety rules, and techniques for staying safe in the pool. And he's looking forward to coming back for more lessons next summer.At the back of the book is a section for grown-ups, with tips for keeping children safe in and around swimming pools.An experienced and patient instructor, author Marcia Stanleyhas taught swimming lessons for more than 30 years, and also taught preschool for many years. She wrote Callum Takes Swimming Lessons because she feels strongly about the advantages of learning to swim. "While most people look at swimming as a recreational activity," she says, "it's also a safety measure. All children should learn how to swim."

Often when we look at a desert landscape, we see only today's "snapshot" of the plants and animals that live there. But what would we see if we took a much longer look - long enough to see the dramatic changes that happen over time in this dynamic ecosystem?This friendly book tells the fascinating story of life in the desert as seen through the eyes of Renaldo, a Sonoran desert tortoise who has observed the weather, plants and animals in the highly diverse ecosystem for many years."I am more than 80 years old," begins Renaldo, "and I've lived here all my life. I want to tell you about some of the things I've seen."Photos, drawings and Renaldo's clear explanations help readers of all ages and backgrounds understand this Sonoran desert and encourage them to wonder about what they see there:• Why is that packrat nest surrounded by a mess of sharp-spined cactus "buds"?• Why is this saguaro cactus standing all alone, while that one over there seems to be "embraced" by the branches of a mesquite tree?• Why do some ocotillo plants have a few long stems reaching almost straight up, while other ocotillos are "bushy," with more, shorter stems?• What killed the cactuses whose woody "skeletons" we see stretched out on the ground?• Why are grasses and small flowering plants dotted over the landscape in patches, almost as if they were planted in small gardens? And what does that have to do with jackrabbit boxing matches?Find the fascinating answers to these and other questions in the pages of Rabbits and Rats, Birds and Seeds, Cactus and Trees, or in the Spanish-language edition: Liebres y Ratas, Aves y Semillas, Cactos y Árboles.Royalties from this book will be donated to support regional environmental education in Sonora, Mexico.Renaldo the tortoise has observed this desert for many years. Photos, drawings and Renaldo's clear explanations answer many questions like these:• Why is that packrat nest surrounded by sharp cactus spines?• Why is that tree "hugging" that cactus?• Why do jackrabbits have boxing matches?• What killed those cactuses, leaving behind only "skeletons"?Rabbits and Rats, Birds and Seeds, Cactus and Trees is also available in a Spanish-language edition: Liebres y Ratas, Aves y Semillas, Cactos y Árboles.