Annabelle Aiden Sapiens Our Human Evolution

Where did humans come from? What is our story? Join Annabelle & Aiden as their friend Lucy retraces our first steps in Africa. We fan across the globe, encountering the strangest human (and nonhuman) creatures: from twenty-foot sloths to tiny dwarves in faraway lands. We learn to cook. Express ourselves. Farm, build empires, and fall in love. We dream of kings, gods, and monsters, and light our world with a scientific revolution. Discover how our shared story can overcome our differences. How it's etched deep into genes: we're all children of Lucy, and have far more in common than we think.

In this inspirational storybook written in rhyme, Annabelle asks "Why do we look, the way that we do? With hands and feet, in neat sets of two? What made my eyes? And what made my nose? And the shape of my body, from my head to my toes?" A wise owl answers with the amazing story of Darwinian evolution, and perhaps more importantly, what we can learn from it: to be kind to one another, as we are all related in the same family tree.

How did our earliest beliefs form? What were they, and what do they say about us? Tardigrade Tom takes our characters on a historical journey of world religions! From the earliest humans who believed everything around them (trees, rocks, skies) could think and feel - like they could. To deep inside dark caves, where early humans draw animal spirits on the walls, and watch shamans sway, illuminated by nearby fires. Watch us build amazing temples and tombs, and give offerings and praise, as we learn ideas of reciprocity and trade. Explore world religions & cultures chronologically, such as: Animism Shamanism Mesopotamia The Egyptians Indo-European & Greek Gods Zoroastrianism Hinduism & Buddhism Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam. But most uniquely, this book explains how and why our beliefs emerged and evolved, and what they say about who we are.

Ancient relics--stone tools, bones, footprints, and even DNA--offer many clues about our human ancestors and how they lived. At the same time, our kinship with our human ancestors lies as much in their sense of humor, their interactions with others, their curiosity and their moments of wonder, as it does in the shape of their bones and teeth. And the evolution of human behavior left no direct fossil traces. Children of Time brings this vanished aspect of the human past to life through Anne Weaver's scientifically- informed imagination. The stories move through time, following the lives of long-ago hominins through the eyes of their children. Each carefully researched chapter is based on an actual child fossil--a baby, a five-year- old, a young adolescent, and teenagers. The children and their families are brought to life through illustrator Matt Celeskey's vividly rendered paleoenvironments where they encounter saber-toothed cats, giraffids, wild dogs, fearsome crocodiles, and primitive horses. Their adventures invite readers to think about what it means to be human, and to speculate on the human drama as it unfolds in many dimensions, from social organization and technology to language, music, art, and religious consciousness. Visit the website at www.children-of-time.com.

"How did our universe form?" Annabelle wonders to Aiden. Luckily, the friendly Tardigrade Tom answers by taking the children on their biggest adventure yet! Soaring through space and time, they witness the universe's earliest stages, marvel at the big bang, and learn how each and every one of us is literally made of the same stardust. Readers will learn how we each hold a part of the universe inside us, and are far more special, interconnected, and 'larger' than we may think.

Over the past 150 years scientists have discovered evidence that at least twenty-seven species of humans evolved on planet Earth. These weren't simply variations on apes, but upright-walking humans who lived side by side, competing, cooperating, sometimes even mating with our direct ancestors. Why did the line of ancient humans who eventually evolved into us survive when the others were shown the evolutionary door? Chip Walter draws on new scientific discoveries to tell the fascinating tale of how our survival was linked to our ancestors being born more prematurely than others, having uniquely long and rich childhoods, evolving a new kind of mind that made us resourceful and emotionally complex; how our highly social nature increased our odds of survival; and why we became self aware in ways that no other animal seems to be. Last Ape Standing also profiles the mysterious "others" who evolved with us-the Neanderthals of Europe, the "Hobbits" of Indonesia, the Denisovans of Siberia and the just-discovered Red Deer Cave people of China who died off a mere eleven thousand years ago. Last Ape Standing is evocative science writing at its best-a witty, engaging and accessible story that explores the evolutionary events that molded us into the remarkably unique creatures we are; an investigation of why we do, feel, and think the things we do as a species, and as people-good and bad, ingenious and cunning, heroic and conflicted.

At first, nothing lived on Earth. It was a noisy, hot, scary place. Choking gas exploded from volcanoes and oceans of lava bubbled around the globe... Then in the deep, dark ocean, something amazing happened. This is an exciting and dramatic story about how life began and developed on Planet Earth, written especially for younger children. The authors explain how the first living cell was created, and how the cells multiply and create jellyfish and worms, and then fish with bendy necks, which drag themselves out of the water into swampy forests. They tell the story of the biggest creatures that have ever walked on land - the dinosaurs. Long after that, hairy creatures who have babies, not eggs, take over, stand on two legs and spread around the world, some of them living through cataclysmic events such as ice ages and volcanic eruptions. Everyone living today is related to these survivors. With delightful illustrations including lots of detail and humour, all carefully researched and checked, this book shows the development of life on Earth in a truly accessible and simple way. CLICK HERE to download Teachers' Notes specially written by the authors, Catherine Barr and Steve Williams, to assist teachers and librarians in the promotion and teaching of The Story of Lifein schools and to help foster a love of good books, literature and reading in children.