North America

The mission and vision of Code Girls United is to expand the future career opportunities of 4th – 8th grade girls through hands-on experiences in coding, technology, and business and to ensure that women play a key role in economic growth through the use of their technology and business skills. They provide an opportunity for girls to see if they like working with technology, and provide the opportunity to try it out. Girls, 4th – 8th grade, meet weekly after school throughout the year. The first half of the year involves learning the basics of Computer Science. The second half of the year, the girls split into teams to choose a service project, then complete a business case and then code their app. The girls then compete in local, country, and international competitions. During the mid-1990s, 35% of computer science jobs were filled by women. Now, almost 30 years later, only 24% of computer science jobs are filled by women. According to the American Association of University Women, this trend can be reversed by removing negative connotations around women in computer science and engaging young girls at the elementary level. Code Girls United leads young girls to open doors to their own futures. They teach coding and practical business skills to build self-confidence and lead to high-tech, high paying careers. Computer science education is not a K-12 educational requirement in the state of Montana. Typically, school districts in the most populated areas have implemented some sort of STEM program, but the rural and tribal areas have been left behind and don’t have access to these opportunities or female mentorship. For the schools that do offer High School Computer Science programs, girls are often self-selecting out of these types of programs to date, there has never been a girl in Montana who has taken the AP Computer Science test, which they aim to change.

Our mission is simple: To provide you with a great selection of kids’ books for unbeatable prices. Kidsbooks.com makes it easy and fun to shop for great books. Visit our friendly website and browse collections curated by our own book-loving staff. Then, order more books without breaking your budget. This world is as challenging as it is fascinating. And if our children are going to survive and thrive here, there will be a lot of things they will need to learn. You’re someone who has chosen to be an influential and inspirational mentor in the lives of children — in the case of your own children maybe the most important mentor they will ever have. So don’t give up. Curl up — with more quality books for your little future movers and shakers. Watch their faces light up as exciting new adventures show up at your door. Watch the wheels in their minds turn as they face new challenges and puzzles. Laugh and giggle along with them in their amusement. Search for the lessons and the tall tales and the memories that remain to be discovered among the pages of more good books. As a company, we encourage our people to dream big, use their imagination and approach life with child-like wonder. We strive to set an example in our industry by continuously growing and innovating. In 2021, we have been recognized for being a leader by being awarded the Canada's Best Managed Companies designation. Our parent company, Book Depot, has been in the book business for over 30 years and is one of the largest bargain book sellers in North America. With the buying power of such a large organization behind us, we are able to procure a great selection of books for the best prices. We purchase huge volumes of store returns and excess inventory from many publishers and pass along our savings to you. Most are marked by the publisher with a small line or dot on the edge. Our books are always new, unread, and in good condition. Shop Kidsbooks.com with confidence knowing the best price is always guaranteed! Your book will always be new and in good condition. Since our books are publisher overstocks there may be very minor wear or bends to the book and this can be expected since some items may have been handled a few times, but most of our books are in great condition.

It all started in a two-room office over a car dealership in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The year was 1946. After decades as teachers, lecturers, and nationally recognized leaders in education and child development, Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers created Highlights, a monthly magazine for children ages 6 to 12. They filled it with stories, adventures, brainteasers, and, of course, our beloved Hidden Pictures puzzles. It reflected the Myerses’ philosophy that children become their “best selves” by using their creativity and imagination; developing their reading, thinking, and reasoning skills; and learning to treat others with respect, kindness, and sensitivity. Since then, the Highlights brand has grown to a diverse and inclusive family of products for kids from birth to 12. Beyond Highlights Hello, High Five, High Five Bilingue, and Highlights magazines, our brand of wholesome fun extends to games, websites, mobile apps, school skills practice books, and the book clubs Let’s Grow, LET'S PLAY Hidden Pictures, EAGLE-EYE Hidden Pictures, Mathmania, Puzzlemania, Puzzle Buzz, Top Secret Adventures, Which Way USA, and 15 Minutes a Day to School Success. Highlights not only reaches across multiple platforms, it also spans the globe: Highlights International's products are now available in 60 countries and in 25 languages. With our flagship magazine's success, Highlights for Children, Inc., expanded to include other companies. From our retail division, Highlights Press, to our education group, Zaner Bloser Inc., including textbook publishers, Stenhouse Publishers, and seminars for teachers at Staff Development for Educators, all our businesses make a significant contribution to the education of children. We help children become their best selves by publishing content and creating experiences that engage, delight, and foster joyful learning. Highlights for Children delights kids of all ages with our most popular magazines and books, on multi-platform digital experiences, digital apps, toys and games, a podcast, and more! Wouldn't you like to join us? Highlights is a trusted resource for parents, grandparents, and teachers. We are dedicated to helping children become Curious, Creative, Caring, and Confident through engaging content and experiences that are focused on nurturing and developing the whole child. Our products make learning fun for every child. When you join our affiliate network, you will receive referral fees for sales of Highlights products generated from your website. We believe that shopping with Highlights should be a fun and positive experience. If, for any reason, your customers are not happy and wish to return an item, they can easily and conveniently do so.

Typing.com is an online typing tutor program designed for all grade levels. The program provides students with a typing curriculum along with supplemental games and typing story adventures, while also allowing students to track their individual progress and address problem areas in their typing skills. The program provides sections to further develop student knowledge of computer coding, website design, and digital citizenship. The website provides a scope and sequence document which overviews the curriculum goals, units and adaptability of technology themes across content areas. The keyboarding curriculum is broken down into beginner, intermediate and advanced sections, providing grade level suggestions regarding the appropriate starting place for students based on their age, skill and consistency of practice. Tech Readiness, Coding Essentials and Career Prep are guiding units that allow students to explore digital citizenship, soft skills for the 21st century workplace, and basic web programming. Educators can customize the student experience by assigning lessons surrounding specific objectives, tasks and learning goals. There are several units of study arranged in categories such as Keyboarding, Tech Readiness, Coding Essentials and Career Prep, each of which include several lessons. Educators can assign students different lessons depending on their own course goals related to keyboarding practice, digital citizenship, coding and workplace appropriate use of technology. Students can begin their typing practice through the beginner, intermediate or advanced units wherein they are presented with a series of activities related to keystrokes, hand placement, and finger reaches. Educators can further customize the individual student learning experience by providing specific texts to type related to their own grade-level content or units of study and set assignment deadlines and a grading threshold (speed, accuracy) for the assigned student lessons. Educators can manage the Typing.com platform and create reports to help monitor students’ individual progress and students can view their own progress, track their “problem keys” and engage with additional practice activities in areas of weakness identified through their performance. Badges are earned and students have the option to print out a certificate from the after completing tests.

Located in San Francisco, California, the Exploratorium is a public learning laboratory exploring the world through science, art, and human perception. Our mission is to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning worldwide. Our vision is a world where people think for themselves and can confidently ask questions, question answers, and understand the world around them. We value lifelong learning and teaching, curiosity and inquiry, our community, iteration and evidence, integrity and authenticity, sustainability, and inclusion and respect. We create tools and experiences that help you to become an active explorer: hundreds of explore-for-yourself exhibits, a website with over 35,000 pages of content, film screenings, evening art and science events for adults, plus much more. We also create professional development programs for educators, and are at the forefront of changing the way science is taught. We share our exhibits and expertise with museums worldwide. The Exploratorium was the brainchild of Frank Oppenheimer. At various times, Frank was a professor, a high school teacher, a cattle rancher, and an experimental physicist. While teaching at a university, Frank developed a “library of experiments” that enabled his students to explore scientific phenomena at their own pace, following their own curiosity. Alarmed by the public’s lack of understanding of science and technology, Frank used this model to create the Exploratorium, believing that visitors could learn about natural phenomena and also gain confidence in their ability to understand the world around them. This was a groundbreaking idea for a science museum in 1969 when the Exploratorium opened. Nowadays, our community of more than four hundred Exploratorium staff members—scientists, artists, educators, exhibit developers, writers, designers, and more—forms the creative and administrative core for everything we do. We constantly brainstorm, evaluate, create, and invent the Exploratorium—but we don’t work in a vacuum. Throughout our history, we’ve invited scientists, poets, visual artists, musicians, and interesting thinkers into the Exploratorium to infuse our community with inspiration and new ideas, and to help us develop new directions for the museum. We also reach out to the local and global community in lots of ways. For example, our Community Educational Engagement Program links the Exploratorium with community-based organizations serving inner-city children, teens, and families. Our Global Collaborations program partners with organizations and people worldwide, focusing the Exploratorium's expertise in creating innovative, curiosity-driven exhibits and programs on each project's unique needs. We also partner with other institutions—NASA and NOAA, for example, on initiatives that foster a public understanding of science—and we work with other science centers on collaborative projects.

Since 1792, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has spoken to all walks of life: planting charts for those who grow their own food; recipes for those who live in the kitchen; Moon- and sunrise times for those who watch the skies; and forecasts for those who don’t like the question of weather, left up in the air. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is North America’s most popular reference guide and oldest continuously published periodical. Its history is as rich and diverse as the Almanac itself. Under the guiding hand of its first editor, Robert B. Thomas, the premier issue of The Old Farmer’s Almanac was published in 1792 during George Washington’s first term as president. Although many other almanacs were being published at that time, Thomas’s upstart almanac became an immediate success. In fact, by the second year, circulation had tripled from 3,000 to 9,000. Back then, the Almanac cost only six pence (about nine cents). Thomas’s last edition, in 1846, was not much different from his first, over 50 years earlier. However, in that time he established The Old Farmer’s Almanac as America’s leading periodical by outselling and outlasting the competition. He died in 1846 at the age of 80, supposedly reading page proofs for the 1847 edition. An almanac, by definition, records and predicts astronomical events (the rising and setting of the Sun, for instance), tides, weather, and other phenomena with respect to time. So, what made The Old Farmer’s Almanac different from the others? Since his format wasn’t novel, it can only be surmised that Thomas’s astronomical and weather predictions were more accurate, the advice more useful, and the features more entertaining. Based on his observations, Thomas used a complex series of natural cycles to devise a secret weather forecasting formula, which brought uncannily accurate results, traditionally said to be 80 percent accurate. (Even today, his formula is kept safely tucked away in a black tin box at the Almanac offices in Dublin, New Hampshire.) The Old Farmer’s Almanac is the oldest almanac in the country—started when George Washington was president. And we’re also proud to say that it’s still made in the U.S.A., which seems to be a rare claim these days. A new edition comes out every year by early September. You’ll start to see it climb in the non-fiction best-seller list until it’s #1 in the Boston Globe and other newspapers. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is the best-selling annual periodical in North America—sold coast-to-coast in the U.S. and Canada. The latest edition can be found wherever magazines and books are sold, from local bookstores to Amazon to our own Web store. If you look back at archive editions of The Old Farmer’s Almanac (see below), you’ll see that this small book with its yellowish cover hasn’t changed much. The words of the Almanac’s founder, Robert B. Thomas, guide us still: “Our main endeavour is to be useful, but with a pleasant degree of humour.” Each edition calculates the tides and times for fishermen, travellers, sailors, bookkeepers, beekeepers, gardeners, prognosticators, pollsters, politician, cooks, and really anyone who walks this Earth, including farmers. There are useful tools—sunrise and sunset times, weather predictions, planting calendars, Moon phase dates, and reference tables. But that’s not all. This almanac is also an annual treasury of facts, trivia, notions, puzzles, pleasantries and amusements, poems, and just about anything and everything. You’ll also find the unexpected, such as stories about “How to Hypnotize a Chicken” and “How Not to Rob a Bank.” It’s hard to really capture what The Old Farmer’s Almanac is all about. Life as we know it, past to present? The cycles of the seasons? Perhaps it’s best captured in the words of others. Here is a magazine article that seems to truly capture the essence of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. In recent years, we’ve expanded The Old Farmer’s Almanac line of products—always with an eye on Mr. Thomas’s wise words about keeping things fun and practical—so that now we produce annual calendars, gardening magazines and books, cookbooks, an Almanac for Kids, and even a digital monthly magazine. In 2016, The Old Farmer’s Almanac celebrated its 225th anniversary.

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life. Bill discovered that he had a talent for tutoring in high school. While growing up in Washington, DC in the 1970s, he spent afternoons and summers de-mystifying maths for his fellow students. When he wasn’t hitting the books, Bill was hitting the road on his bicycle. He spent hours taking it apart to “see how it worked.” Now, he commutes by bike in both Los Angeles and New York. Bill’s fascination with how bicycles, airplanes and other things work led him to Cornell University and a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1977. Soon after, Boeing recruited him as an engineer, so he went to Seattle. The U.S. Department of Justice also recruited Bill for his unique technical expertise and pedagogical skills. It was in Seattle that Bill began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Eventually, Bill quit his engineering day job and made the transition to a night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show “Almost Live” in 1986. This is where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING–TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate. With fellow KING–TV alumni Jim McKenna and Erren Gottlieb, Bill made a number of award–winning shows, including the show he became so well known for, Bill Nye the Science Guy. While working on the Science Guy show from 1992-1998, Bill won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 18 Emmys in five years. To commemorate the series, the Bill Nye The Science Guy original lab coat is on display at the “T is for Television” exhibit in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Bill has written eight kids’ books which weave real-world science in a fun accessible way for a range of ages from elementary to middle school. Along with big picture thinking about global issues, Bill remains involved in a good-natured rivalry with his neighbour, actor and fellow environmentalist, Ed Begley. They compete to see who can save the most energy and produce the smallest carbon footprint. Bill has 4,000 watts of solar power and a solar-boosted hot water system. There’s also the low water use garden and underground watering system. After joining as a Charter Member in 1980, Bill is now the CEO of the Planetary Society, the world’s largest space-interest group. Under his leadership, the non-for-profit Society is growing and becoming more influential having members in 130 countries. Cofounded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman, the organization’s mission is to empower the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration. Space exploration brings out the best in us, because we solve problems that have never been solved before. “If we were to discover evidence of life on another world such as Mars or Jupiter’s moon Europa, it would utterly change this world. People everywhere would think hard about what it means to be a living thing and our responsibilities as stewards of our unique planetary home,” Bill says. His engineering and management experience enabled him to take the lead and play a hands-on role in making programs like LightSail2® a success. Bill is very proud of the MarsDials, three sundials mounted on the robotic rovers exploring Mars. Along with calibrating the cameras and reckoning the Sun’s position in the martian sky, these small instruments are fitted with the only message to the future carried on spacecraft since the Voyager missions launched almost 40 years ago: “To those who visit here, we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery.” Bill says, “This is the essence of the scientific enterprise, the Joy of Discovery. That’s what the process of science is all about.” In 2017, Bill was a co-chair in the inaugural March for Science, a series of rallies and marches held in Washington, D.C., and more than 600 other cities across the world on Earth Day. The goal of the March is to celebrate science and the role it plays in everyday lives and to encourage evidence-based policy in the public's best interest. The global attendance of the movement was a total of 1.07 million participants. In the same year, Bill was the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy which premiered at SXSW. The documentary focuses on Bill’s life and his mission to stop the spread of anti-scientific thinking across the world. The film was a Documentary Spotlight at SXSW Film Festival and an official selection at HotDocs, Los Angeles Film Festival, and AFI Docs. The film opened theatrically in October 2017 and will be airing on PBS. Bill returned to television with the release of his new series Bill Nye Saves The World which debuted on Netflix in April 2017. On the show, Bill explores various problems and misconceptions from a scientific point of view, refuting myths and claims that rebuke science. Episodes feature lively panel discussions from a wide range of special correspondents, including space exploration advocate Emily Calandrelli, model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss and comic Nazeem Hussain. After its freshman season, the show received two Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations. Bill still visits Cornell regularly. From 2001 to 2005, he served as a Professor as part of the Frank H.T. Rhodes Visiting Professorship. As a thankful alumnus and as a tribute to his parents and their strong belief in the value of education, Bill designed and funded a 4-meter (12 foot) diameter clock installed on Rhodes Hall at Cornell in 2012. Bill, the inventor, has a few unusual patents – an improved toe shoe for ballerinas, a device to ease the motion of picking up baseballs, a magnifier made of water, and an abacus that does arithmetic like a computer – with only binary numbers. Along with his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell, Bill joined his astronomy professor Carl Sagan when he was elected the American Humanist Association’s Humanist of the Year in 2010. He was also the honoured by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with the Ralph Coates Roe Medal in 2012.Bill holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from six universities: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University, Quinnipiac University, Willamette University, and Lehigh University. He has delivered commencement addresses at most of these schools along with the University of California Santa Barbara, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Harvey Mudd College, and Caltech. Bill currently speaks at colleges regularly and discusses a variety of topical science matters on news and television programs such as ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, TODAY, CBS This Morning, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and more. He fights to raise awareness of climate change and the value of critical thinking, science, and reason. Through all his work, Bill hopes to inspire people everywhere to change the world.

Founded in 1941, West Music’s mission to "encourage people of all ages and abilities to: Play now. Play for life." is at the root of its success and continued growth. West Music has several retail locations in eastern Iowa and one in western Illinois. Our brick and mortar retail locations specialize in pianos, guitars, drums and percussion, band and orchestra instruments, and print music. These locations also offers music instruction, repair and music therapy services. In addition to its retail locations, West Music publishes an annual catalog focused on music education products for the classroom. Paired with its e-commerce presence, West Music continues to strive to provide the best possible music education experience for both educators and students nationwide. West Music’s founder, Pearl West, was born in 1914 to a very musical family. When the Great Depression impacted farming, the family turned to playing music to survive. Pearl toured and played throughout southern Iowa and northern Missouri in his youth. In 1977 West Music was awarded the exclusive distribution rights of Miyazawa Flutes from Japan to the United States; the original relationship with Miyazawa began primarily thanks to Pearl’s expertise in flute design and production. A new division of West Music, Miyazawa Flutes USA, was established to distribute this outstanding professional flute on a national level. Pearl discontinued the limited production of P.L. West flutes, and all flute manufacturing was transferred to Japan. Steve West’s passion for elementary music education led to the formation of the West Music Music Education Catalog Department in 1980. What began as a 12-page black-and-white catalog evolved into the current full color, 200-plus page catalog that is sent to elementary schools, universities, and churches throughout the United States and abroad. In 1984, West Music expanded operations to Cedar Rapids. In 1988, Westco, a separate import/export wholesale company was created to help establish a dealer organization on a national level. In addition to the importation of flutes from Japan, West Music and Westco began importing and distributing professional piccolos from Germany, guitars from Spain, percussion instruments from Mexico, China, and Germany, and ethnic instruments from Africa. Westco was expanded with the launch of a new website and catalog in 2011. Westco Educational Products is dedicated to providing quality, safe, and affordable musical and movement products designed to encourage and enhance a fun education experience. 1995 saw the beginning of West Music Music Therapy Services, a division of West Music focused on using music to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals of all ages. A strong partnership with the University of Iowa Music Therapy program allowed West Music to develop a program that has expanded to 14 therapists. This program has also further fulfilled West Music’s mission of encouraging people of all ages and abilities to play now, play for life. The West Music website launch in 1996 coincided with extensive technology upgrades, linking stores together online and enhancing efficiency and communication. West Music continued to expand with the establishment of Percussion Source in 1996, providing products for symphonic and concert percussionists nationwide. In 2005, utilizing experiences in early childhood education, West Music introduced a new line of children’s exploratory instruments, Sounds Like Fun. In 2006, a 40,000-square foot fulfillment center was built in west Coralville. The fulfillment center has been a major pillar in the continued growth and development of West Music’s local, national, and international business, providing a central hub where West Music can continue to offer customers enhanced care and delivery service. 2006 also saw further emphasis on branding and customer experience, with many of the regional stores remodeling to reflect West Music’s focus on customers experiencing the power of making music. Over the years, West Music has expanded to include virtually all types of musical instruments, including pianos and keyboards, band and orchestra instruments, guitars and amplifiers, drums and percussion, software, elementary general music materials, early childhood instruments, and music therapy products. West Music is also proud to provide a full array of services with repair technicians, delivery crew, music therapists, lesson teachers, school music representatives, classroom consultants, and customer service consultants, in addition to the sales and administrative staff.

Safe & Sound is a child advocacy organization based in San Francisco. Our mission is to prevent child abuse and reduce its devastating impact. The values we believe in are to be responsible for the wellbeing of children. Whether working directly with children, their families or caregivers, communities, or systems, our goal is to create the greatest positive outcomes for children. No one can do this alone; preventing child abuse is a communal responsibility. We honor the uniqueness of everyone’s own lived experiences and strive for an environment that includes the perspectives of our teams, ourselves as individuals, our clients, and our partners. We value the agency of individuals, families, and systems to keep kids safe. Our approach is to support others in their own growth. We continuously seek to improve as individuals, teams, and an organization. We try new approaches and use data to inform our work. At Safe & Sound, we believe that every child can be kept safe. We seek to inspire each other, our client.