New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice; Real Simple Best of the Month; Library Journal Editors’ Pick In the spirit of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Bringing up Bébé, and The Smartest Kids in the World, a hard-hitting exploration of China’s widely acclaimed yet insular education system that raises important questions for the future of American parenting and education When students in Shanghai rose to the top of international rankings in 2009, Americans feared that they were being "out-educated" by the rising super power. An American journalist of Chinese descent raising a young family in Shanghai, Lenora Chu noticed how well-behaved Chinese children were compared to her boisterous toddler. How did the Chinese create their academic super-achievers? Would their little boy benefit from Chinese school? Chu and her husband decided to enroll three-year-old Rainer in China’s state-run public school system. The results were positive—her son quickly settled down, became fluent in Mandarin, and enjoyed his friends—but she also began to notice troubling new behaviors. Wondering what was happening behind closed classroom doors, she embarked on an exploratory journey, interviewing Chinese parents, teachers, and education professors, and following students at all stages of their education. What she discovered is a military-like education system driven by high-stakes testing, with teachers posting rankings in public, using bribes to reward students who comply, and shaming to isolate those who do not. At the same time, she uncovered a years-long desire by government to alleviate its students’ crushing academic burden and make education friendlier for all. The more she learns, the more she wonders: Are Chinese children—and her son—paying too high a price for their obedience and the promise of future academic prowess? Is there a way to appropriate the excellence of the system but dispense with the bad? What, if anything, could Westerners learn from China’s education journey? Chu’s eye-opening investigation challenges our assumptions and asks us to consider the true value and purpose of education.

When Kaninda survives a brutal attack on his village in East Africa he joins the rebel army, where he's trained to carry weapons, and use them. But aid workers take him to London, to a new family and a comprehensive school. Clan and tribal conflicts are everywhere, and on the streets it's estate versus estate, urban tribe against urban tribe. All Kaninda wants it to get back to his own war and take revenge on his enemies. But together with Laura Rose, the daughter of his new family, he is drawn into a dangerous local conflict that is spiraling out of control.

A beautifully illustrated version of the classic fairy tale about a tin soldier’s adventure and his love for a ballerina, retold with a twist. With her signature warmth and lyricism, Newbery winner Cynthia Rylant has crafted a new version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a tin soldier who falls in love with a ballerina. As in the original story, the tin soldier’s love for the beautiful ballerina is thwarted by a goblin. The tin soldier is separated from the other toys and washed down a sewer, where he encounters a rat and gets swallowed by a fish, but somehow, against all odds, he manages to end up back home only to be cast into the nursery fire. Rylant adds her own twist to the end of the tale, however, for in this version, the tin soldier and the ballerina are melded to each other, rather than melted, in the heat of the fire, so they’ll never be parted again. Rylant’s expert storytelling paired with Corace’s stunning illustrations create a beautiful, unforgettable tale of everlasting love. Praise for The Steadfast Tin Soldier “Gracefully written. . . . The book’s large format gives plenty of scope for Corace’s distinctive illustrations, precise ink drawings brightened with watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paints. Sometimes brilliantly colorful and sometimes more subdued, the scenes can be crowded with dozens of toys or other visual elements, but they show up well from a distance. The subtle depictions of the goblin and his shadow are particularly fine. A softened vision of the literary fairy tale.” —Booklist “Text and illustrations weave seamlessly to create an involving, fast-paced update of a much-loved tale. Rylant's retelling is abridged, yet sprightly, and Corace’s watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and pen-and-ink illustrations add nuance and whimsy to Andersen's original.” —School Library Journal

Celebrate real-life heroes in the US Army with this early board book introduction to the US military branches. The Mini Military series focuses on introducing young readers to the various branches of the US military. Lil' Army Soldier highlights what it's like to be in the US Army, focusing on uniforms, helmets, and vests, and introducing toddlers to military vehicles, such as the Humvee, helicopter, and tank. Perfect for military families, those with veterans in their family, or for anyone looking to educate their youngest readers about our troops, this book and the series is sure to inspire and celebrate our brave service men and women.

This is a wonderful adaptation of Bernard Ashley's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, which was short listed for the Carnegie and the Guardian Fiction Awards. Kaninda is an ex-child soldier from East Africa, orphaned and living in London. When a child from a nearby estate is hit by a car, he is drawn into an inter-estate conflict. The story combines current conflicts in London with real war in Africa. Little Soldier is a gritty and gripping play with a fast-moving, exciting plot which will hook boys. The play can be used to explore: different cultures (set in Africa in London) urban gang culture and moral questions literary and dramatic techniques and devices.

Casey's Unit is, as ever, full of troubled, disaffected pupils, and new arrival Leo is something of a conundrum. Thirteen year old Leo isn't a bad lad - in fact, he's generally polite and helpful, but he's in danger of permanent exclusion for repeatedly absconding and unauthorised absences. Despite letters being sent home regularly, his mother never turns up for any appointments, and when the school calls home she always seems to have an excuse. Though Casey has her hands full, she offers to intervene for a while, to try get Leo engaged in learning again and remaining in school. The head's sceptical though and warns her that this is Leo's very last chance. But Casey's determined, because there's something about Leo that makes her want to fight his corner, and get to the bottom of whatever it is that compels this enigmatic boy to keep running away. With Leo so resolutely tight-lipped and secretive, Casey knows that if she's going to keep this child in education, she's going to have to get to the bottom of it herself...

God's Little Soldier From the backstreets of Bombay to the hallowed halls ofCambridge, from the mountains of Afghanistan to a monastery inCalifornia, the story of Zia Khan is an extraordinary rollercoasterride; a compelling cliffhanger of a spiritual quest, about a goodman gone bad and the brutalization of his soul. Growing up in a well-to-do, cultured Muslim family in Bombay,Zia, a gifted young mathematician, is torn between theunquestioning certainties of his aunt's faith and the tolerant,easy-going views of his parents. At Cambridge University, his beliefs crystallize into a ferventorthodoxy, which ultimately leads him to a terrorist training campin Afghanistan. The burden of endemic violence and killings,however, takes its toll on Zia. Tormented by his need forforgiveness, he is then drawn reluctantly to Christ. But peacecontinues to elude him, and Zia is once again driven to seek outcauses to defend and fight for, whatever be the sacrificesinvolved. Posited against Zia is his brother, Amanat, a writer whose lifeis severely constrained by sickness, even as his mind is liberatedby doubt. Theirs is a relationship that is as much a blood bond asit is an opaque wall of incomprehension. Weaving together thenarratives of the extremist and the liberal, God's Little Soldierunderscores the incoherent ambiguities of good and evil, and thetragic conflicts that have riven people and nations.