Meekins: 209 books

For thousands of years, many kingdoms and empires have fought for control of the Rhine River. It changed hands many times and defined where countries would come to exist.From its beginnings in the Swiss Alps, the Rhine has cut huge gorges, valleys and waterfalls. Its growing delta spreads across the...

The Nile River has amazed people for thousands of years. It runs opposite from most river systems. It floods for miles, pushing back the desert and providing farming lands for civilizations to thrive. It fills a massive swamp and has canyons and waterfalls that are as spectacular as anywhere in the...

Alexander the Great was a Greek ruler. He conquered many lands. He also built or named 17 cities Alexandria – after himself. One of these cities is in Egypt, about 20 miles west of the Nile River Delta. In this a massive, ancient lighthouse was built. The Lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the Seven...

After William, the French Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings, William became King of England. He built a fortress along the River Thames where he could maintain control of London and watch any invaders coming along the river. The fortress became The Tower of...

The Danube is a romantic river. It begins in the Black Forest of Germany, slashes gorges through the mountains and meanders along broad plains. Many castles and palaces have been built along its banks. Many cities have been built, destroyed and rebuilt. A truly international river, it is a source...

John Flynn was a man with a dream. The outback of Australia was a land of risk and adventure. It was also a land of isolation and danger.Flynn wanted to create a “mantle of safety” across the outback. He set up hospitals, hostels, nursing homes and welfare centres, and created the world’s first...

When we look at clouds in our sky, we can sometimes make out shapes. This is called pareidolia, where the human brain finds shapes or patterns hidden in random images. This can also happen with nebulas – clouds of dust and gas in space.There are two main types of nebulas; bright and dark. There...

The Great Wall of China is a man-made wonder, spanning thousands of miles. It spreads from the Pacific Ocean in the East to the Gobi Desert and beyond in the west. Much of it has stood for hundreds of years, with some portions over 2000 years old.The Great Wall stood as a wall of defense for many...

How old is Earth? How fast does Earth spin? What is happening to Mount Everest, the highest place on Earth? What is the lowest place on Earth? Learn the answer to these questions and many more fun facts in this 15-Minute Book. Earth is the only planet in the universe that has life. It orbits...

Simon was watching the school diving sports. Xavier stood on the one metre board, ready to take his dive. Xavier was the best diver in the school. He’d already won a spot to compete in the State Finals. This was his last dive. It was going to be his hardest – a double backflip.Xavier had never...

William McKinley was a religious man who wanted to be a Methodist minister. He fought in the Civil War as a teenager, then became a lawyer and politician. He won the 1896 election to become the 25th President of the United States. Six months into his second Presidency, he was shot and killed. Find...

You see it every night in the night sky, but how much do you really know about the moon? Here are some things you may not know. Do you know: What one thing is different about our moon from every other moon we have found? What kind of atmosphere is there on the moon? How many sides of the moon do we...

When was Mercury discovered? Does Mercury have a magnetic field? How big is Mercury’s atmosphere? Was Mercury bigger in the past? Learn the answer to these questions and many more fun facts in this 15-Minute Book. The closest planet to the sun is Mercury – a tiny, hot, lifeless ball of...

Louis Pasteur was a scientist. When he tried to convince the medical establishment that germs caused disease, he was laughed at. Louis never accepted defeat. He discovered how to kill germs in liquids in a process we call “pasteurization”. He developed vaccines and encouraged the use of antiseptics...