Buckle in and join modern day kids Annie and Nico as they witness another historic feat: Man first setting foot on the moon on July 21, 1969. Get to know the astronauts behind the landing, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, as well as the 12 who followed, as they took one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind. Also discover the origins of the space race and the efforts NASA as well as the USSR space programs took to launch human beings into uncharted territory: outer space! Annie and Nico will (moon) walk your through everything in a clear and easy to understand way in this pocket-sized book, perfect for classrooms and libraries!

Benjamin, Trap, and Thea are concerned that Geronimo Stilton works too hard as editor-in-chief at the Rodent’s Gazette. To get him away from the office, they decide to investigate the mysterious three-headed brie-smelling monster that is roaming around the port of New Mouse City. But, things take a turn for the worse, as our heroes find themselves held trapped like rats on a ship…commandeered by the dreaded Captain Blackrat. Will it be a pirate’s life for Geronimo and his relatives? Perhaps a cruise is the vacation he was needing!

New multi-volume series both fun and educational, in slim pocket sized hardcovers! Current day kids Annie and Nico travel back to—ancient Egypt. That's about 4,500 years ago, when the world's largest pyramid was built, The Great Pyramid of Giza. It's also called the Pyramid of Cheops because it was built for the Pharaoh Cheops, who wanted to be buried in it when he died. That's right—pyramids are giant tombs! It was the first of seven buildings known as The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World—and it's the only one still standing! But it still has plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered …

The only single-volume, scholarly reference work available on this subject, this dictionary provides reliable information on magic and witchcraft for the entire span of western history, from classical antiquity to modern Wicca. Particular attention is paid to the history of witchcraft in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, the era of the great witch-hunts.

This volume offers 18 studies linked together by a common focus on the circulation and reception of motifs and beliefs in the field of folklore, magic, and witchcraft. The chapters traverse a broad spectrum both chronologically and thematically; yet together, their shared focus on cultural exchange and encounters emerges in an important way, revealing a valuable methodology that goes beyond the pure comparativism that has dominated historiography in recent decades. Several of the chapters touch on gender relations and contact between different religious faiths, using case studies to explore the variety of these encounters. Whilst the essays focus geographically on Europe, they prefer to investigate relationships over highlighting singular, local traits. In this way, the collection aims to respond to the challenge set by recent debates in cultural studies, for a global history that prioritises inclusivity, moving beyond biased or learned attachments toward broader and broadening foci and methods. With analysis of sources from manuscripts and archival documents to iconography, and drawing on writings in Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages, this volume is essential reading for all students and scholars interested in cultural exchange and ideas about folklore, magic, and witchcraft in medieval and early modern Europe.

Witchcraft and magical beliefs have captivated historians and artists for millennia, and stimulated an extraordinary amount of research among scholars in a wide range of disciplines. This new collection, from the editor of the highly acclaimed 1992 set, Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology , extends the earlier volumes by bringing together the most important articles of the past twenty years and covering the profound changes in scholarly perspective over the past two decades. Featuring thematically organized papers from a broad spectrum of publications, the volumes in this set encompass the key issues and approaches to witchcraft research in fields such as gender studies, anthropology, sociology, literature, history, psychology, and law. This new collection provides students and researchers with an invaluable resource, comprising the most important and influential discussions on this topic. A useful introductory essay written by the editor precedes each volume.

When it comes to images, we are all animists. Deep down, we all know that images can – at least potentially – be alive or come to life. Nowadays, we may tend to rationalize our ingrained animism and explain it away as a mere projection only happening in the space between image and viewer. In the Middle Ages, however, imagery made enthusiastic use of magical, miraculous and mechanical means of animation, empowered and ensouled by both natural and supernatural principles of life. This animist book investigates magic, miracles and mechanics as motors of animation and seeks to understand the living image in solidarity with medieval experience rather than dismissive alienation of it. Effigies did bleed, weep or lactate, either through divine intervention or through hydraulic machinery. Statues did move or speak, either as demonic oracles or as talking heads with implanted speaking tubes. Marvels made by magic or by miracles were real, as real as the wonders of physical mechanics moving bodily matter. We just need to look and listen more carefully to comprehend these fluid realities, even when – especially when – they challenge our received worldview. Animation was by no means uncontested or uncontradicted, but even its stiffest critics knew that gods and demons could intervene in inanimate matter to set it in motion, to speak in tongues and exude the liquids of life.