Newton the squirrel and his sister, Curie, conduct experiments based on what they hear through a classroom window, making simple machines to learn more about how the world works and to help their neighbors. Includes author's notes and glossary of scientific terms.
In long-ago China, as a young princess prepares to leave her parents' kingdom to travel to far-off Khotan where she is to marry the king, she decides to surreptitiously take with her a precious reminder of home.
During the Great Depression, seven-year-old Ruby's family leaves their Oklahoma home to seek work in California, where Ruby meets Dorothea Lange, who takes a photograph that becomes known as "Migrant mother." Includes historical note.