John Farndon: 45 books

At the age of five, Takeshi joins the other youngsters in a samurai's castle to train as a noble fighter. Join him in action as he fires arrows while riding on horseback and defeats three foes in bare-handed combat. Take on the samurai's "way of the warrior" lifestyle and it will make you strong—but always remember that honor can be more important than life.

The molten rock just under Earth's solid crust sometimes erupts suddenly and violently, causing streams of red-hot lava and scorching high-speed avalanches called pyroclastic flows. Volcanoes can bury entire cities in ash, poison the air with suffocating gases, trigger earthquakes and tsunamis, and...

In just a few seconds, a spark can turn a forest into a rapidly spreading inferno of intense heat and suffocating smoke. Firefighters try to control the wildfire—a battle that might last for months. Water can be used to fight wildfires, but too much water can cause deadly floods. Floods reduce land...

Follow four centuries of discovery and change, from the moment people set out to explore the world to turbulent times when it turned upside down—even for the people who stayed home! See how South American gold fueled Spain's Golden Age, Ivan the Terrible expanded Russia at a terrible cost, a French...

Muscles help you run, jump, play sports, and even sit still long enough to read this book. Your bony skeleton holds you up and keeps everything in its place. Let the Stickmen give you a tour of your incredible body! Find out why muscles are strong and how they get even stronger, how many bones make...

Being sick is horrible. But it used to be worse. Inside this book, you'll see evidence of the plagues of the past—rotting skin, dissolving lungs, and sinister swelling all over the body. Diseases like the Black Death wiped out whole towns and villages. Tuberculosis consumed young people like a bloodsucking...

Imagine facing a storm so vast you can only see it all from space, or winds that uproot trees and hurl cars in the air. The unleashed power of extreme storms can flatten homes and drown low-lying land in torrential rain, and they come with a steep cost in dollars—and lives. Learn all about the science...

Invisible microbes cause sickness by invading our bodies and multiplying. But doctors didn't always know that sickness was caused by germs. Most people thought diseases came from smelly, damp air. But over time, those ideas changed. A Dutch scientist saw bacteria through his microscope. Doctors realized...

It's 1718 and the world goes dark for Jamie Flynn, who's been snatched from the docks to join Blackbeard's crew of the fearsome pirates. Join him on board as he learns to fight with a cutlass and pistol, and follow him as he storms a treasure ship and shares in the spoils. You'll need your sea legs and strong nerves to live like a Caribbean pirate!

Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom . . . your incredible heart beats more than once every second, no matter what you're doing. And your lungs pull in up to 145 gallons of oxygen each day. So how are your heart and lungs connected, and what do they do? Join the Stickmen as they explore your body to find out...

Earthquakes can destroy entire cities in mere minutes and send shock waves rippling around the world. These devastating quakes become even more deadly when followed by monster waves. Tsunamis may travel faster than a jet across thousands of miles of ocean. Once they reach the coast, these huge walls...

It's the year 1492, the height of the Aztec Empire, and Ten Vulture is learning to become a priest—and a deadly warrior. On his adventures, he has to learn a secret language and rituals and make human sacrifices to the gods. Visit the largest city in the Americas and take part in the ultimate bloodletting ceremony alongside Ten Vulture. You'll need a courageous heart and a strong stomach!

It's easy to take a pill when we aren't feeling well. But did you know that the art of making medicines goes back thousands of years? Early remedies weren't always so easy—or effective. Some seemed downright disgusting. Wine infused with a venomous snake was used to cure fatigue and hair loss. Snail...

Travel down the Nile and into the heart of an ancient tomb with young Neferu, who is training to mummify a great pharaoh. Look over his shoulder to witness the dog-headed Anubis weighing the heart of a corpse, or the brains being removed and the body wrapped. Unlock the secrets and rituals as you...