Children's Non-Fiction:   Publishing & Rights Management

A story of how humanity came to understand the Sun, its structure, and its role in the solar system, with connections to various sciences and experiments.

This book is not a physics textbook. There are no calculations, no formulas. It gives a simple and understandable explanation of physical laws and examples of how these laws work in the daily life of each of us.

This is not a geology textbook, but a fascinating story about our planet and the people who study it. Interesting facts, lively language, witty illustrations and experiments, which are easily carried out in the kitchen with a pot, a vacuum cleaner, an iron and a bunch of watercress. Transformations of rocks and minerals, emergence of volcanoes, growth and disappearance of islands, the origins of coal and oil, the history of the Earth and even other planets. How does dill help to learn the secrets of the earth’s bowels? Why is the Dead Sea so salty? Do you need to buy a lead umbrella? What do all these questions (and many more) have to do with geology? Read and find out!

An amazing picture book about the wheel transport history, the steam engine invention, first locomotives and first railways in Europe and Russia. Learn everything about the history of bicycle design, the first car engine, about the world’s first metro in London and metropolitan railways worldwide. This book encompasses everything: less known chapters of the transportation history, scentific discoveries, comics, games and a quiz.

Is it true that all pirates were always one-legged and one-eyed, hid treasure chests on secret islands and swam under the Jolly Roger? This book tells you the whole truth about pirates, their habits, harsh life and wanderings, so that all myths will be dispelled.

The Middle Ages – the most controversial millennium in the history of mankind! This is the world of valiant knights and fair ladies, mighty kings and their loyal vassals, wandering poets and mendicant monks, grandiose castles and Gothic cathedrals. And at the same time, this is a gloomy and dark period, when epidemics and famine raged and ignorance and cruelty reigned everywhere. Let’s go visit a monastery and a castle, a noisy city square and a university. We’ll sit at the dinner table with lords and peasants, see how artisans work and where the merchants rush, join the ranks of pilgrims and crusaders. We’ll see how the map of Europe changed, how states arose and collapsed, how dynasties came and went. We will find out what the medieval man himself was like: what he was afraid of and what he believed in. On this journey, you see the Middle Ages in all their glory!

From time immemorial people believed there were all kinds of wondrous creatures in faraway places. They fly in the air and swim deep in the ocean waters and hide in the mountains. Some of them are dangerous and some can bring you wealth and even eternal life. Some have been hunted for hundreds of years and are still sought today. This book describes some of the bizarre creatures born by humankind’s fantasy: their habits and habitats and what science has to say about the possibility of their existence. Here you will find unicorn and cockatice, dragon and kitsune, the kraken and the Nessie, tripodero and bigfoot and many others.

A lively take on geography, its principles, discoveries, and environmental insights.

This history of mathematics from prehistoric times till the 21st century tells about mathematicians and discoveries of each period, solutions to mathematical problems that led to unexpected discoveries in other fields of knowledge and the changing anguage of science. The authors concentrate not only on personalities and facts, but on the history of ideas and their progress, including the circumference of a circle, the π, the law π, of gravity, the theory of relativity, Euclid’s axioms and multidimensional Riemann spaces

We often use the word parasite meaning a lazy sponger. In biology however, organisms living at the expense of others are called parasites. We are surrounded by these creatures, they are everywhere, sometimes inside us, too! What a huge community! Plants, fungi, insects, even fish, birds and animals! Learn about how parasites live, why they are needed in nature and what use they can be to us.

The main idea here is to show winter through various viewpoints: a biologist’s, a physicist’s, a mathematician’s, a historian’s and a geographer’s. It is a collection of the most interesting and unusual facts, exciting stories, myths and legends about winter, arranged in alphabetical order. The book creates a special magical atmosphere with its vivid and colorful illustrations. All that we love in winter and everything that strikes our imagination, from secrets of nature and dangerous adventures of the past, to scientific discoveries and fairy tales – is collected here in one snowy volume.

Cells – surprisingly similar and different in all living things. The one structure that unites a human, a baobab and bacteria in yogurt is the cell. It can live alone, but also loves to gather in large groups, which amazingly make up all of us. How is this done? How does a tiny cell live? Are there differences between whale cells and algae cells? You will find answers to these and many other questions in this book.

All kinds of activities: games, recipes, creativity and science. And to do all this you need to spend a lot of time outdoors! This book tells you how to find out who lives in the pond, which animal has the biggest legs, what the queen of chestnut looks like, how to open a cafe for hedgehogs, where birds hide their nests and so on. And you ‘ll be reluctant to go indoors!

50 interesting facts about the culture, politics, religion of the main civilizations of the ancient world! Kings and philosophers, incredible inventions of the past, the secrets of hieroglyphs, archaeological discoveries — all this awaits you under one cover. This book opens a new pocket series “The World in 50 Facts”.

Metals are all around us, but what do we know about them? Which ones are poisonous, which corrode easily, which are the most expensive and the most rare, which are needed by our body, which have influenced history the most? This book tells all about metals together with an introduction to basic chemistry, physics and metallurgy in fun facts and easy experiments. Most enjoyable and educational reading for the whole family.

Let’s take an exciting journey through the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. His tory, practical advice, various elements and substances and their properties, simple expla nations of complex theories and, of course, many experiments that can be easily carried out at home using available materials. Why does water conduct current? Why burnt food is bad for you? How do medications work? How does one distinguish gold from brass? Why are nitrates dangerous? How do halogen lamps work? Our book will answer these and many other questions from different fields of knowledge.

Isn’t it amazing that Ancient Greece managed to influence the whole world so powerfully! Democracy, theater, the Olym pic Games, philosophy, astronomy, history and mathematics – all of this comes from Ancient Greece, or Hellas, as the Greeks themselves called their country. This is why Greece is called «the cradle of Western civilization». While other ancient civilizations boasted of the size of their territory and their innu merable armies, the Greecs created their own art, science, sports and politics, and the whole world still uses many of their ideas and inventions

A vibrant exploration of daily life in Ancient China from a Sinologist’s perspective.

The book describes the invention of weapons, war tactics, strategy and famous generals from the Stone Age to the fall of the Roman Empire. Weapons and war have always been one of the forces that ruled the course of history. The change from bronze to iron, the introduction of the horse and the chariot, the use of ships or battle elephants are all major steps in the history of weapons and in the fate of nations. The Assyrian kingdom, the large Hellenistic empire of Alexan der the Great and Pax Romana were built by war and perished by war. Illustrations for this book were done by the famous Russian animation and book artist Alexey Kapninsky.

The history of skis, from the start to contemporary models that can reach an incredible speed! Readers will learn how cross-country skiing differs from jumping, whether it is possible to ski where there is no snow at all, what snowboarding has to do with it and who Nansen was. In addition, the book is full of various activities: you will build a ski track from plasticine, find all the hidden skiers on the pages, make skis for the Lego-man!

This is a fresh and creative approach to present the masks humans wear for the last 30,000 years. The book tells about various ways we use masks. Made from wood, metal, wax, palm leaves and even human hair, here you can find ritual, stage and functional masks from all the continents. An anthropologist tells us all about them. The expressive and humorous drawings for this book were made by Alisa Yufa, a rising star of Russian book illustration.

Is it true that the first football players in Russia entertained the public between bicycle races? Why did bachelors and married men have to play against each other? Is it possible to cheat, to deceive the referee and win the world championship? What teams did the Little Mozart, Black Spider and Black Panther play for? Most people never ask such questions, while the authors of this book have not only asked them, but also found the answers. This is an exciting history of football from the very beginning till present day, for both children and adults, either long-standing fans or those trying to understand what inspires their friends and family.

Is it possible to build a railway and accidentally discover an unknown civilization or to believe stories told by an ancient poet and dig up a legendary city? Is it possible not to lose hope against all odds and become a discoverer of the richest tomb ever found? Everything is possible in this book! Dreamers and adventurers, treasure seekers and scientists are waiting for you as well as their outstanding discoveries – whether accidental or the result of many years’ work: burials, treasures, ancient cities and mysterious inscriptions. You will learn how archeology was born and became a real science, what mistakes and difficulties it had to go through, and how even the smallest find can change our understanding of the ancient history of mankind

A comic book introducing readers to famous mathematicians and discoveries from ancient times to modern day.

A fascinating journey in the vast steppe leads us through continents and seasons, from Argentina to Mongolia, encompassing also prairie and pampa. This place is full of life in every season – it is home to many animals and plants. You can spend a whole year watching life of the steppe as seasons change. This inspiring book explores one of the most beautiful Earth’s biomes, which now needs our protection and care. The large and vibrant steppe is vital for the life of our planet.

I saw it myself!” – we say and the argument is over. Our eyes – what could be more reliable? But sometimes the eye does not see exactly what actually exists, or it sees something that is not there at all. Sometimes we encounter illusions – tricks that our eyes and brain perform over and over again. It seems that illusions are something exceptional, rare. But that’s not true. Under certain conditions, illusions are natural phenomena. This book is about the tricks of our vision. We have collected the most famous and impressive illusions and will try to find an explanation for them. However, some tricks of vision have still not been explained by science and remain a mystery for us to solve.

Both humans and animals have them! They mostly grow in the mouth, but also can be found on the tongue, in the esophagus, and even in the head. Has your imagination already started to work? Then another clue: most often they are milky white, but they can also be yellow, orange and brown! And what a bizarre shape they can be: some look like spoons, others like sabers or even a grater. Guess what we are talking about? Well, of course, the teeth! Amazing and fun facts! This book, with absolutely no risk to health, will allow you to look at the jaws of many animals, both living and extinct.

Cities also have wildlife, and there is more of it than we think. How do wild animals and plants get along with humans in a modern city? In this book we visit various cities of Russia, meet the Baltic seal, tiger, mandarin duck, gray whale, karakurt spider and Lusitanian slug... We learn how urban ecosystems function, how green spaces help purify the air and make climate more comfort able, swamps purify water, and urban meadows save pollinating insects.

A book about the life of the river and its inhabitants throughout the year. There are many great rivers: Nile, Amazon, Mississippi, Ganges, Yellow River, and each forms an integral part of the nature, history, and culture of the country or countries through which it flows. In Russia, the most important and the largest river is the Volga. It crosses several climatic zones. A variety of birds, fish, and animals live nearby and around it. Which animals consider it home, and which just come to visit? People changed the Volga dramatically while adapting it to their needs. How can we preserve its beauty and originality?

Humanity has been acting and playing roles from time immemorial. The book explores theatre as an elusive, floating art and outlines the evolving dynamics between the actors, director, costume designer, composer and the public. How did the relationship between actor and spectator change with time? This is an illustrated history of theatre from Ancient Greece till the present. Opera and ballet, puppet shows and street theatre, Noh and kabuki theatre, Shakespeare, Stanislavsky and Meyerhold.

What girl does not wish to become a princess? Many dream of a luxurious dress with a long train, rich jewelry, a large retinue and, of course, that their life becomes a pleasure – like that of a real princess. Or is that so? We decided to check how princesses used to live in various countries. How did they dress, what did they love or hate, what did they study, whom were they afraid of, how did they spent their time? Now girls will be able to choose exactly what kind of princess they like most: one from Ancient Egypt or Medieval Europe, Chinese or Tuareg, or one of many others.

We are used to thinking that nomads are people who constantly move from place to place, following herds of animals, and live in complete unity with nature. This is true, but only partly. Nomads are herdsmen of the steppes, the far north and deserts, and hunters and gatherers of Africa and Australia, and also wandering craftsmen: gypsies, vanlifers and just people working online and traveling around the world. But no matter what a nomad is, he never stands still and always looks forward. Freedom and nomad are almost synonymous.

Today it’s hard to imagine life without an umbrella. Although it was invented a very long time ago, until quite recently it used to look nothing like the umbrellas we know. The first umbrellas were meant to protect people from the sun. For rulers in various parts of the world they were symbols of power. Made of bamboo, paper or silk, decorated with feathers or precious metals, they were quite cumbersome, and had to be carried by servants. The story of the umbrella in pictures and activities.

This is a unique story of how people changed their view of mountains and mountain climbing. First they saw mountains as an enemy to subjugate but with time the very process of ascent acquired a special meaning for the climbers. The subdued illustrations remind us of vintage postcards from the Alps.