

UNITED STATES AUTHOR · JUVENILE · CHILDREN
Trudi Strain Trueit
Also known as: Trudy Trueit, Trudi Trueit
Trudi Trueit is an American author of children's books. Her work includes a series books for Scholastic Press and National Geographic Kids.
The month of December is filled with celebrations.
— from Kwanzaa, 1972
Most acclaimed

The Vikings
HISTORY. The Vikings came from Scandinavia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They invaded and settled in Northern Scotland and the East of England looking for farmland. The Viking age in Europe ran from around AD 700 to 1100. Vikings arrived in longships and attacked small villages, following a sustained campaign of attack. The Vikings famously settled in York, building houses and establishing trades such as jewellery and pottery making and woodworking. Women were important in Viking family life. They ran the home and farm while their husbands were away trading or fighting. Throughout the Viking age there were many battles between the Vikings and the English with King Alfred preventing them from taking over all of England. In the 10th century England won back much of the land taken, defeating Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking King of Jorvik. Viking rule ended with the invasion of Britain by the Normans in 1066. Ages 9+

Sharks
From the great white to the tiny dwarf lantern, Pocket Genius: Sharks profiles more than 150 sharks and rays and tells what they eat, where they live, and how fast they swim. Young readers will discover fascinating facts about these predators of the ocean including which species are the fastest, the largest, the smallest, and which are the hunters and the hunted. Redesigned in paperback, DK's best-selling Pocket Genius series is now available in an engaging compact and economical format that is ideal for both browsing and quick reference for use in school and at home. Catalog entries packed with facts provide at-a-glance information, while locator icons offer immediately recognizable references to aid navigation and understanding, and fact files round off the book with fun facts such as record breakers and timelines. Each pocket-size encyclopedia is filled with facts on subjects ranging from animals to history, cars to dogs, and Earth to space and combines a child-friendly layout with engaging photography and bite-size chunks of text that will encourage and inform even the most reluctant readers.

Snakes
'I wonder if it hurts them to shed their skins,' she said. She didn't feel afraid standing in the darkness, imagining snakes, even with the smell of death in the air. Bea and Dan, recently married, rent out their tiny flat to escape London for a few precious months. Driving through France they visit Bea's dropout brother Alex at the hotel he runs in Burgundy. Disturbingly, they find him all alone and the ramshackle hotel deserted, apart from the nest of snakes in the attic. When Alex and Bea's parents make a surprise visit, Dan can't understand why Bea is so appalled, or why she's never wanted him to know them; Liv and Griff Adamson are charming, and rich. They are the richest people he has ever met. Maybe Bea's ashamed of him, or maybe she regrets the secrets she's been keeping. Tragedy strikes suddenly, brutally, and in its aftermath the family is stripped back to its rotten core, and even Bea with all her strength and goodness can't escape.