Serial stories to challenge and delight young readers
Our serial stories have been pleasing teachers and students in Newspapers-in-Education Programs throughout the United States and in Australia, Bermuda, Canada and New Zealand since 2002.
Basic Pricing for print use (based on circulation)
Under 10,000 -- $100 10,000 - 25,000 -- $200 25,001-50,000 -- $300 50,001-150,000 -- $400 Over 150,000 -- $500
Shorter serials* are 2/3 price each or 2-for-1
For on-line (password-protected site) use only: Half-price
Teachers wishing to purchase these serials for individual classroom use should visit this site.
The timing of this morning's Carpe Diem (KFS) got a laugh, because its commentary on computer security came hard on the heels of an article in Forbes, which said the FBI is warning people about texting from iPhones to Androids or vice-versa.
It seems Chinese intelligence has found a way to intercept these messages. Tulsi! Save us!
It's actually okay as long as your texts are encrypted, so that's a comfort, I guess.
But mostly it falls into my standing opinion that the more they gather, the more they have to process, and if Xi Jinping wants to know when I'm leaving for the dog park, he can intercept my text saying so and thus will fall Western Civilization and suchlike.
There are 1.43 billion people in China, and if they were all put to the task of sorting through the drivel we text to one another, they wouldn't have time to pose any other sort of threat.
Speaking of the dog park, these canine epicures in Bliss (Tribune) are behind the times: Tennis balls have become declassé in recent years, in part because they are so easily destroyed. My little pup can skin and split a tennis ball in minutes, and will, happily.
The ball of choice today is the Chuckit, which comes in many forms which have in common that (A) they are all but indestructible and (B) dogs like them so much that they are referred to at our park as "crack balls" on the theory that the Chinese manufacturers have added an addictive drug to the rubber.
Alex always goes on about bonuses at this time of year, and I don't know if that's because they're in Britain or because they're in the financial sector, but I only had one job at which I got a Christmas bonus, a $75 gift certificate at a local jewelers.
However, the trend to get workers back into the building is apparently universal, and I admire the logic of the youngster who has figured out that it costs more for him to commute than he'd get in his bonus. I also think that, if coming in to the office is voluntary, you should be able to write off that mileage on your taxes.
Of course, I also think you should be able to write off the cost of neckties and the IRS never seemed willing to bend on that, either.
The compensation there being that what you spend on neckties to wear for Zoom meetings, you recoup by not having purchase trousers.
I saw an Elf on the Shelf display in a store yesterday and it once again occurred to me to wonder what sort of twisted, manipulative control freak would do that to a child?
My mother was traumatized to learn that Santa wasn't real, and her response as a parent was to let us believe but not to foster the fiction. When I asked how he got down the chimney -- since we didn't have a fireplace -- her response was "Well, what do you think?"
We were a little more directive with our boys, but when they figured it out, we laughed and celebrated it as a sign that they were smart and were growing up.
The kids in Grand Avenue are right: The whole thing is creepy and goes against the other cautions parents give kids.
And that cat deserves a nice piece of fresh salmon.
Yesterday, I placed Anselm in the Dark Ages, which someone corrected in the comments, because historians place him in the high middle ages.
I think the problem is that philosophy and art were not joined at the hip and what artists and musicians were doing was well beyond what theologians and scientists ("natural philosophers") were doing. So there were Dark Ages of Art and Dark Ages of Thought and they did not run in strict tandem.
By happenstance, Existential Comics provides a quick guide to Enlightenment metaphysics and its development and conflicts.
We studied Locke more as a political theorist, but I remember finding Spinoza refreshing in both his theories and his writing.
As for James, I get him confused with Charles Peirce, which I think is probably justifiable, but remember our seminar on one or the other degenerating into an argument about drawing cards and flipping coins.
Perhaps someone should have knocked our heads together.
Different kind of pragmatic philosophy in this Andertoons (AMS). I spent my 20s and 30s in Colorado, where most people were from somewhere else, so most people at a meeting had, at some point, thrown it all in the car and split. Solving a problem by starting all over was in their blood.
In my 40s, I moved to Northern New York, where most people were multi-generational natives. They sought to solve problems with the least change possible, because they were rooted like trees.
Both approaches can work, but, man, did I have to adapt my expectations!
Not laughin' at this David Horsey piece, despite my general loathing of bro culture.
But bro culture seems like a case of empty wagons making the most noise and providing the best copy for reporters and commentators, though if you flog it enough, young followers will pick it up.
I was, however, in a conversation the other day about the number of young successful businesswomen who marry college boyfriends who haven't got their acts together. They muddle along and then divorce approaching their 30s and often remarry successfully, but to someone also in mid-thirties and thus with two feet finally on the ground.
Juliet was engaged to Paris, who was considerably older and established, as was the practice in those days. I'd suggest that she'd have been more chattel than partner in the marriage, and that the point of the play is two young people head-over-heels in love. I don't believe either is a good choice.
"Marry in haste, repent at leisure" remains a wise saying, and I honestly think that, if more couples waited until they were both grown up, there wouldn't be so many 22-year-olds at the altar or 28-year-olds in divorce court.
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (color/b&w) 9 chapters
In this sequel to "Tommy and the Guttersnipe," (see below), a brave, resourceful girl triumphs over abuse and the near-slavery of tenement child labor to find her way west on the Orphan Trains, where she teams with Tommy and Jake to rescue her adoptive family's life savings from a land swindler.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Marina Tay (color/b&w) 14 chapters -- also available in Spanish
Princess Ariadne has the task of caring for her father’s monster, the Minotaur, to whom young Greeks are sacrificed each year. When a dashing hero comes to Crete, she helps him slay the beast and end the murderous tradition. Then, having betrayed her father and her nation, she flees Crete only to discover that handsome Theseus is a different kind of monster. A thrilling adventure and a thought-provoking story of abusive relationships and self-discovery.
By Mike Peterson -- Illustrated by Dylan Meconis (color/b&w) 14 Chapters
In 1800, 15-year-old Antoine Guilbeault bids farewell to St. Sulpice, Quebec, and heads up river with a company of voyageurs into the Pays d'en Haut, the high country of the far west, on a harsh, dangerous and joyful journey into manhood. This story emphasizes the hard work of earlier days as well as depicting the interplay between voyageurs and native people that gave birth to the Metis culture, at a time when the border between the United States and Canada was uncertain and voyageurs, mountain men and native people mingled over much of the West.
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Clio Chiang (color/b&w) 14 chapters
A bi-racial boy finds himself between two hostile factions in a 16th Century kingdom -- His father’s people, the short, dark mountain peasants, and his mother’s, the tall, fair-haired people who rule the nation. He also finds himself caught up in political intrigue, a pawn of the Queen, who seeks to find, and kill, the girl who lives with the Short rebels and their allies, the reclusive colliers. This is a “Treasure Island”- style action thriller, with lessons about tolerance and diversity, historic notes on the period, and a teaching guide that emphasizes note-taking.
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Marina Tay (color/b&w) 14 modular installments -- adapt to your schedule!
This collection of stories from various nations and cultures combines fantasy, multi-culturalism and lessons in character development. Authentic stories from Nigeria, Wales, Denmark, Japan, Ireland and elsewhere around the world are sometimes touching, sometimes funny, sometimes chilling, but always have a moral that has stood the test of time. Marina Tay’s striking anime illustrations give this series appeal beyond elementary classrooms!
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (color/b&w) 9 chapters
Freehand is set in Northern New York during the War of 1812
Caleb MacCrimmons loves to draw, but he keeps his sketchbook hidden in the straw of the barn. Whenever his stepfather sees him drawing, he punishes him severely for not concentrating on his chores. It doesn’t help that his stepbrother, Alex, is content to pretend to work and let Caleb look bad.
When a group of soldiers pass by the trading post, retreating from the defeat in Ogdensburg en route to the military base at Sackets Harbor, they offer Caleb the chance to escape his abusive homelife and join the adventure of the war, though Alex tags along at the last minute. Caleb’s ability to draw quick, accurate sketches attracts General Jacob Brown's attention, because good mapmakers are valuable to the army.
Later, when their friends in the regular army join General Zebulon Pike’s assault on the Niagara, Caleb and Alex must stay behind with Gen. Brown’s militia and work to foil the British attempt on Sackets Harbor.
From his experience in battle, and from General Brown -- who was once a school teacher and a surveyor -- Caleb learns the value of channeling his talent and courage in positive directions, and builds a career for himself in peacetime America.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
"From Seneca Falls to the Polling Booth" is an eight-part history of the women's suffrage movement, beginning with the landmark convention in Seneca Falls and leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the first national elections in which women were permitted to vote. Chapters touch on specific issues as well as particular individuals, including the familiar figures of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, as well as critical figures including Alice Paul and Lucy Stone, and individuals like Inez Milholland and Sojourner Truth. It also looks at issues like the difficult relationship between the suffrage movement and the drive for African-American civil rights.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (color/b&w) 9 chapters
"Hooch" is set on America's northern border in the days of Prohibition. Kenny Rascoe's father died in the World War, his mother in the influenza epidemic. Now his chief influences are his uncles: Raymond, the strait-laced customs officer who took over much of his father's role, and George, who Kenny discovers is a bootlegger. Raymond is a source of security and good advice, but George has a flashy roadster and exciting friends. Kenny's classmates are impressed that he knows famous gangster Eddie Nickels and his beautiful flapper girlfriend, but the fun ends when someone close to Kenny has a violent encounter with rumrunners.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (color/b&w) 9 chapters
It's 1864, and Betsy Harrington has one thing on her mind: Her older brother, Jim, a prisoner of war at the prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia. And life in Elmira offers few distractions, with the Union prison for Confederate soldiers right there in town. She can't understand why the war widow she works for and the former slave who is sexton of her church don't share her bitterness towards the rebel prisoners, until the night she is confronted with a young Southerner who shares her brother's intense desire to get home, and needs her help.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin 14 chapters -- also available in Spanish
This serial combines suspense, action and solid moral values in a story young readers will love! A young mother is cast out to perish with her infant son by one tyrant and sexually harassed by another. Her son, as he comes of age, tries to protect her, but loses his temper and accepts a dare that could prove fatal: To bring back the head of the horrible Medusa. Through his quest, Perseus learns responsibility and the nature of true heroism.
by Frank Lindeman, edited by Mike Peterson illustrated by Christopher Baldwin - 13 modular chapters
Authentic Blackfoot, Chippewa and Cree legends of the trickster, clown and hero Old Man, told in the traditional manner by a writer who lived among the people of the Northern Plains in the 19th century, before turning his hand to journalism. These stories are not only the real thing, but we donate 30% of gross sales to Rocky Boy Elementary School on the Chippewa/Cree reserve in northern Montana that is home to the children for whom they were created. The teaching guide includes materials to help your teachers approach American Indian culture with sensitivity but without losing the fun of the stories.
An 8-chapter non-fiction study of the friendship between President Theodore Roosevelt and nature writer John Burroughs and their camping trip to Yellowstone Park during Roosevelt's presidency, a trip that was pivotal in the birth of the conservation movement and the evolution of thinking about preservation and management of natural resources.
Besides creating national parks and preserving public lands as president, Governor Roosevelt was also influential in preserving and protecting the Adirondacks, while Burroughs was a key figure in setting better standards for nature-writing and is remembered alongside Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as John Muir and Walt Whitman.
Together, these energetic lovers of the natural world formed a key partnership in developing the environmental movement.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Dylan Meconis 14 modular installments -- adapt to your schedule!
Our most ambitious serial, "Stories in the Stars" combines both the mythology and the astronomy behind some of our most well-known constellations. Written with the assistance of Dr. Sherwood Harrington of De Anza College, author and science writer Brian Fies and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, this serial tells the stories behind each constellation and then points out its most interesting astronomical features. This is a beautifully illustrated serial with a teaching guide that combines literature and science.
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Dylan Meconis 14 modular installments -- adapt to your schedule!
Cultural literacy combines with engaging fantasy in these classic stories of the ancient world. Read about Arachne, the proud weaver who was changed into a spider, Echo’s hopeless love for the self-absorbed Narcissus, Diana’s terrible revenge upon a voyeur, the timeless love story of Cupid and Psyche, the heartwarming tale of Philemon and Baucis, the kidnapping of Proserpina and other cornerstone tales of our culture. Great illustrations add interest to these classic stories!
by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin 8 chapters -- plus a Christmas sequel chapter
Historical fiction in the style of Horatio Alger, Jr., "Tommy and the Guttersnipe" partners Tommy, who struggles to help feed his mother and infant sister, with Baby Jake, a tough homeless kid from the streets of New York, as they make their way in a heartless world and, along the way, help to break an arson gang.
*(This shorter serial is priced at two-thirds our standard price)
Oral Histories from the Federal Writers Project 21 modular installments - adapt to your schedule!
An African-American soldier in the trenches of WWI, an itinerant peddler on the Great Plains, a stonecutter’s young widow in Vermont, a cowpuncher from Texas and other real-life witnesses to our nation’s past tell their stories in this series of oral histories from the Federal Writers Project. Extend this serial by publishing oral histories collected by students in your own community.
based on Brooke Kroeger’s “Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist” by Mike Peterson - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin 14 chapters -- also available in Spanish
By far our best-selling serial, “Woman of the World:The Story of Nellie Bly” is a biography of an American journalist who changed the face of newspapers. This serial combines an exciting, inspiring story for young readers with well-documented nonfiction that teachers will appreciate. Artist Christopher Baldwin applied painstaking research to make sure the illustrations for this serial are as historically accurate as the text. Written with the resources and advice of Brooke Kroeger, Nellie Bly’s biographer. Teaching guide includes journalism-based writing prompts.