Indiana

Read-aloud time is about to get a lot more fun! The Indiana Wise Animal Handbook offers laugh-out-loud animal kingdom advice for kids of every age!

Engaging animal photos entertain while charming read-aloud rhymes help jump-start conversations about practical life solutions. The Read Together/Do Together™ experience continues with pull out coloring pages in the back of the book featuring fun facts about special Hoosier State animals including the firefly and white-tailed deer. Enjoy the opportunity to share your own practical wisdom with your favorite little one as you read-aloud… and laugh-aloud….again and again.

Crawfordsville, founded in the early 1820s, has a diverse history for a small town located in rural, west-central Indiana. The town was the site of an important land office, which attracted many settlers, as well as speculators, to the area. Crawfordsville became known for its intellectual and progressive atmosphere and earned the nickname of the "Athens of Indiana," especially for the numerous residents with literary accomplishments. Wabash College was established in Crawfordsville in 1832, and the institution's teachers and students have contributed greatly to the development of the town's culture and prestige. In addition to its authors and poets, Crawfordsville has had its share of musicians, artists, soldiers, and statesmen who have played a role far beyond the borders of Montgomery County, of which Crawfordsville is the seat. Images of America: Crawfordsville is a photographic tour of the people and places that have marked this town from its early days. Some 200 historical images capture the town's development, along with its interesting, and often unique, accomplishments.

Das Deutsche Haus, now known as the Athenaeum, is one of the great architectural and historic treasures of Indianapolis. Now recognized as a national landmark, it is emblematic not just of the culture of this great Midwestern city but also of the role of German immigrants, particularly die Freidenker (the freethinkers), who sought to build a community centered on secular ideas and family. It is a cathedral to healthy minds and bodies, boldness and ingenuity, and cultural inclusiveness and the arts. This building's 19th-century founders would approve of the Athenaeum today--a multicultural center, throbbing with life, that unites a diverse community with its past and beckons a bright future. The structure looks the same as it did a century and a quarter ago and serves much the same purpose.

Situated along the southern shores of Lake Michigan, between Mount Baldy and the Indiana-Michigan border, is a unique Midwestern landscape.

Established at the foot of Hoosier Slide, a natural landmark, Michigan City had attracted a diverse group of pioneers, industrialists, and fun-lovers by the late 1800s. Hoosier Slide is now gone. While the rugged dunes in the east have been replaced by resort communities, the beauty that first captivated settlers is as evident now as it was in the early part of the 20th century.

In 1908, the Aurora Business Mens Association decided to bring a celebration to its sleepy river town. Little did these men realize that the Aurora Farmers Fair would bring their community together for the next 100 years. During the 1909 fall festival, Second and Main Streets were blocked off and lined with farm exhibits and storefronts were decorated. There were over 700 entries and 12,000 people attended. Every year merchants and manufacturers parade, and contestants are selected from area schools to compete for a place in the royal court that presides over the festivities. Class reunions and family homecomings are held around the event, and schoolchildren are released early to participate in a bicycle and pet parade. In 1959, the Aurora Business Mens Association ceded management and sponsorship of the fair to the Aurora Lions Club, and in 1969, the Lions Club purchased a beautiful old building from the Aurora Casket Company to house exhibits. Sadly, in 1998, arson destroyed the fair building, and years' worth of fair history was lost. This book has been created, in part, in an effort to regain a portion of the collection that was lost.

In 1912, the Hammond Times boasted of available 10-, 20-, and 40-acre tracts "located on the Ridge Road." That newspaper piece helped sell these tracts as part of a developing area that had an agriculture base but was also part of a region on the verge of joining the Industrial Revolution. The announcement's predictions rang true and, in a sense, told of the development of a town called Highland, Indiana. In the beginning, the town had its agricultural roots with it farms, open spaces, and prairies. As the steel mills along Lake Michigan grew into a major manufacturing hub and American society modernized, Highland evolved. The once developing turn-of-the-20th-century small town became a more urban and populated center. This book will show how Highland became one of the largest and most vibrant towns in Indiana.

Four months after the Indiana General Assembly established Clinton County, longtime resident John Pence donated 60 acres of centrally located farmland where the county seat would be built. Thanks to Pence's generosity, the city of Frankfort, named in honor of his ancestral German home, was born on May 9, 1830. Dense forests, poor roads, and harsh winters were among the many challenges facing Frankfort's earliest inhabitants. Yet, that tiny, close-knit community grew and blossomed into the beautiful "Gem City," abundant in commerce, schools, churches, and culture. The spirit of those early settlers still prevails. It is revealed in their sons and daughters, who include heroes, entrepreneurs, educators, political leaders, artists, entertainers, athletes, and more. The images in this book highlight much of the history of a proud Hoosier city and those who call it home.

Once an almost impenetrable landscape of dunes, marshes, and woodlands hugging the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the land comprising what would become East Chicago was a developer's dream for the emerging steel industry. Considered one of the country's ultimate melting pots, four out of five of its citizens hailed from other countries, each bringing their valued cultures and traditions to this thriving metropolis. The industrial jobs, requiring hard work and much grit, provided a way out of poverty, but the area also offered beautiful parks and mansions along the waterfront, as well as great schools, neighborhoods, and civic organizations. East Chicago had a sense of vitality and the essence that the American dream was available for all.

Since its founding in 1821, Columbus, Indiana, has changed greatly-from an early agricultural town to a small modern city with varied business and industry. Today Columbus is most famous for its architectural gems from the past half century, but many historic buildings from early Columbus still exist. As Columbus has changed, its buildings have changed as well.

According to legend, Kokomo, Indiana was named after a Miami Indian Chief who lived in the area, "Ma Ko Ko Mo" -meaning Black Walnut.

Founded in 1842 by David Foster, a frontier trader, Kokomo has since become the home to many of the nation's most influential inventions. From the birthplace of the automobile to the introduction of stainless steel and the development of canned tomato juice, Kokomo has been a leader in ingenuity, earning its nickname, the "City of Firsts." In this collection of reminiscent images, Kokomo, Indiana illustrates the charming history of an area which has developed from a small community to what is now one of the largest cities in Indiana. The book is an exploration of the city's streets and a stroll through the history of its growing neighborhoods, tracing the fascinating past of a bygone age.

Gary's East Side is a nostalgic look back at one of the Steel City's oldest neighborhoods. Through a captivating collection of photographs that chronicle the many aspects of life on the east side of Gary, the book presents the rich history of the community from 1906, the year of Gary's founding, to the present.

From the steel mills to the churches to Gary's City Hall, Gary's East Side offers a touching look at this close-knit community. The east side of Gary was a place where people knew their neighbors, where children went to school together, and married high school sweethearts. The area has changed, but a new Gary is emerging. Gary's East Side presents the history of this area in poignant detail and points to the heartening future. Author John Trafny's skillful compilation promises to bring back fond memories of this historic neighborhood.

Based on vintage postcards, this new book is a unique and welcome addition to the small number of works devoted to the history of Martinsville.

Captured here in more than 220 postcard images is an important chronicle of the past 100 years in the "City of Mineral Water." This visual record showcases the sanitariums--including the glorious Home Lawn and its sibling, the Martinsville--industries and businesses, buildings and people, courthouse square, and special events that shaped the past and influenced the present. This fascinating retrospective is an indispensable companion to and expansion of Morgan County, the authors' first book in Arcadia's Postcard History Series.

Illinois may be known as the "Land of Lincoln," but Abraham Lincoln spent the formative years from the age of 7 until he turned 21 in southwestern Indiana, living with his family on a farmstead in the rolling hills of this beautiful rural area.

The Lincoln family moved from Kentucky, crossing the Ohio River and settling in an area known as Little Pigeon Creek in December 1816. Now known as Lincoln City, the town is just one of several stops on a back roads tour that takes wanderers through many historic sites, representing important moments in the life of a great man. Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, is buried here, and the cabin where his cousin lived and Lincoln spent the night still stands. Those who want to retrace Lincoln's life in southern Indiana can do so easily by following the narrow roads that traverse the 20-mile area where he lived and traveled during those 14 years when he called Indiana home. The people of the region still claim Lincoln as one of their own.