Cool Off and Ride!

Cool Off and Ride!
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2023-07-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 163592684X

This historical picture book about 1930s Baltimore residents beating the heat the old-fashioned way—by riding a trolley!— is filled with fascinating information on public transit and staying cool before the advent of air conditioning. Everyone in Baltimore is hot and sticky, from little Hazel playing on the slide to the grandma knitting on the porch. So when evening comes, they all jump at the chance for a little "cool off and ride." The whole neighborhood–from the Taylor twins to Grandpa, and even the dog!—piles onto a breezy homemade roller coaster, a city trolley! In this charming, rhythmic romp, Claudia Friddell and Jenn Harney take us back to a time before air conditioning when you had to cool off any way you could. And the Cool Off and Ride Program was certainly a popular way! More than 8,000 people rode the trolleys every evening in the summer. Taking the streetcar brought the whole neighborhood together, and everyone’s fares helped keep the Baltimore streetcars running. This STEAM title is a terrific read-aloud that will also educate kids about weather and the history of transit in the United States.

Get Up and Ride

Get Up and Ride
Author: Jim Shea
Publisher: Jim Shea
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2020-12-11
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 173626060X

In the summer of 2010, brothers-in-law Marty and Jim embark on a cycling trip along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal, a 335-mile trek from their home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Jim's boyhood home in Washington, DC. Chance encounters with colorful local characters and other surprising escapades during five days on the trail make for nonstop laughs. As they travel through forests and along winding rivers, they experience the breathtaking scenery of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, exploring early American history while learning more about each other as well as themselves. This true story is for adventurers and cyclists as well as couch potatoes looking for a lighthearted take on friendship and some hilarious fun.

Road Trip!

Road Trip!
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2022-10-11
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1684372720

Join Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs on their pioneering camping trips during the early 1900s in this energetic and entertaining nonfiction picture-book adventure. After years of inventing things that other people needed, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford realized there was something they needed—a vacation! So, the famous inventors packed up Ford's Model T and invited their good friends Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs to join them as "the Four Vagabonds" hit America's back roads to enjoy the country's natural beauty, fireside chats, and frolicking fun with friends—all while inspiring future generations to invent camping adventures of their own. “Buckle yourself in as Claudia Friddell and Jeremy Holmes take you on a fun, creative, and certainly unique road trip with America’s most famous vagabonds—Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs. The colorful and spirited illustrations, the stories of the Vagabond’s bivouacking travels and campsite escapades, and the well-researched bibliography makes Road Trip! a great addition to any child’s library!” —Matt Andres, curatorial registrar, Edison and Ford Winter Estates

The Stitchers

The Stitchers
Author: Lorien Lawrence
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2020-08-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1683359852

A teenager picks up where her late father left off investigating her peculiar elderly neighbors in this spooky series opener. Something strange is happening on Goodie Lane . . . Thirteen-year-old Quinn Parker knows that there’s something off about her neighbors. She calls them “the Oldies” because they’ve lived on Goodie Lane for as long as anyone can remember, but they never seem to age. Are they vampires? Or aliens? Or getting secret experimental surgeries? Or is Quinn’s imagination just running wild again? If her dad were still around, he’d believe her. When he was alive, they’d come up with all sorts of theories about the Oldies. Now, Quinn’s determined to keep the investigation going with the help of Mike, her neighbor and maybe-crush. They’ll have to search for clues and follow the mystery wherever it leads—even if it’s to the eerie pond at the end of the street that’s said to have its own sinister secrets. But the Oldies are on to them. And the closer Quinn and Mike get to uncovering the answers, the more they realize just how terrifying the truth may be. “What a cool—and wild—ride . . . This is the perfect book for kids to cool off with on a hot day, because the chills come guaranteed,” —Stephen King “A truly creepy read, perfect for fans of “Goosebumps” and Stranger Things.” ?School Library Journal “Reminiscent of R. L. Stine’s Fear Street series, this first book in the Fright Watch series is spooky and mysterious, and it can be counted on to deliver chills to those braving its pages.” ?Booklist “The antagonists are satisfyingly menacing, and Quinn’s struggles—grieving her father’s death, juggling friendships—ground this series opener, giving it a healthy dose of heart.” ?Publishers Weekly

Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call

Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1635923719

Led by twenty-five-year-old Grace Banker, thirty-two telephone operators — affectionately called "Hello Girls" back in the US — became the first female combatants in World War I. Follow Grace Banker's journey from her busy life as a telephone switchboard trainer in New York to her pioneering role as the Chief Operator of the 1st Unit of World War I telephone operators in the battlefields of France. With expert skill, steady nerves, and steadfast loyalty, the Signal Corps operators transferred orders from commanders to battlefields and communicated top-secret messages between American and French headquarters. After faithfully serving her country —undaunted by freezing weather and fires; long hours and little sleep, and nearby shellings and far off explosions — Grace was the first and only woman operator in the Signal Corps to be awarded the Army's Distinguished Service Medal.

Ride: Kit Meets Covington

Ride: Kit Meets Covington
Author: Bobbi JG Weiss
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2017-09-12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0763694398

When Kit Bridges moves to England to attend an elite equestrian boarding school, she struggles with grief from her mother's death and her fear of riding after a bad fall.

Goliath

Goliath
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2010-06-29
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1585365742

In 1904 the city of Baltimore was almost destroyed by fire. Hundreds of firemen, policemen, soldiers, and citizens battled the blaze for three days. The disaster brings out the best in man and the bravest of deeds, but one hero stands head and shoulders above all...literally. Goliath is a fire horse assigned to Engine Company 15. He is massive in size and mighty in heart and steadfastness. To the men of Engine Company 15, Goliath is the ultimate fire horse. He is the lead horse for the team assigned to pulling the mammoth Hale Water Tower No. 1. When the fire alarm sounds, calling them to action, Goliath leads his team into the blaze. Soon his lifesaving actions will lead him into the pages of history. Masterful artwork from acclaimed illustrator Troy Howell brings this true story to pulse-pounding life. Educator Claudia Friddell says of her work researching Goliath, "It was a privilege to meet and interview firefighters and fire historians about the Baltimore Fire of 1904." Goliath is her first children's book. Claudia lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Artist Troy Howell has had a prolific career as a children's book illustrator with countless books to his credit, including The Secret Garden, The Ugly Duckling, and Favorite Greek Myths. He received his formal art education from the Art Center in Los Angeles and the Illustrators' Workshops in New York. Troy lives in Falmouth, Virginia.

To the Front!

To the Front!
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1635925584

This powerful tribute to Civil War nurse Clara Barton and her heroic efforts during the Battle of Antietam reveals how she earned the name "The Angel of the Battlefield," and shows the beginnings of her journey as one of our country's greatest humanitarians and the founder of the American Red Cross. During the Civil War, Clara Barton—one of the first women to receive permission to serve on a battlefield—snuck her supply wagon to the head of a ten-mile wagon train to deliver provisions to the Antietam Battlefield. On the bloodiest day in American history, Clara and her team of helpers sprang into action as they nursed the wounded and dying, cooked meals for soldiers, and provided doctors with desperately needed medical supplies and lanterns so they could operate through the night. Author Claudia Friddell blends her words with Clara Barton’s firsthand account to capture the nurse’s brave actions, while Christopher Cyr’s dramatically accurate illustrations portray one of the most heroic women in history.

The Ghosts of Charleston

The Ghosts of Charleston
Author: Julian Buxton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN:

Includes ghost stories from the Aiken-Rhett House, the Garden Theater, and the Cooper River Bridge.

Saving Lady Liberty

Saving Lady Liberty
Author: Claudia Friddell
Publisher: Thinkingdom
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2020-07-28
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1635923662

Here is the story of how the Statue of Liberty got its pedestal when Joseph Pulitzer, a Jewish immigrant and famous newsman, created one of the first American crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for it. When Joseph Pulitzer first saw the Statue of Liberty's head in Paris, he shared sculptor Auguste Bartholdi's dream of seeing France's gift of friendship stand in the New York harbor. Pulitzer loved words, and the word he loved best was liberty. Frustrated that many, especially wealthy New Yorkers, were not interested in paying for the statue's needed pedestal, Pulitzer used his newspaper, the New York World, to call on all Americans to contribute. Claudia Friddell's text and Stacy Innerst's illustrations capture this inspiring story of how one immigrant brought together young and old, rich and poor, to raise funds for the completion of a treasured national monument.