“Together, Rockliff and Bruno make the scientific method seem exciting, and kids interested in science and history will likely be, well, mesmerized.” — Booklist (starred review) When American inventor Benjamin Franklin arrives in Paris, he is upstaged by a compelling and enigmatic figure: Dr. Mesmer. In elaborately staged shows, Mesmer has Parisians believing he can control a magic force that changes the taste of water, cures illness, and controls thoughts! Can Ben Franklin’s approach of observing, hypothesizing, and testing get to the bottom of Mesmer’s tricks? A rip-roaring, lavishly illustrated peek into a fascinating moment in history shows the development of the scientific method — and reveals the amazing power of the human mind.

This touching story of a father and child's nighttime excursion to watch a meteor shower is told through the eyes of a child in awe of the night world. Rockliff's vivid descriptions make readers feel as though they too are watching the tiny bits of other, distant worlds blazing into our own.The "For Creative Minds" education section includes teaching trivia about meteors, meteor showers, comets, and asteroids as well as a "Meteor Math" game, a "Five Steps to a Fantastic Meteor Watching Party" checklist, and a recipe for comet cookies. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 49-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Pieces of Another World is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.