Bøger af Maggie De Vries

For city kids like Sophie and Matthew, growing pumpkins is a big thrill.But they're worried. They know they need bees to make their pumpkins grow, but will the bees find their garden? Are there even bees in the city?So one day, Grandpa and the children set out to look for bees. They arrive downtown just in time to see something amazing: a buzzing ball of bees hovers from the branch of a nearby tree. And high on the terrace of a towering hotel are four brightly coloured beehives!For Matthew and Sophie, this is the beginning of an exciting adventure. All summer they tend their plants, eagerly watching as their seeds sprout and turn into shoots, then vines and leaves. But they're still worried. Will the bees come when they're needed?Finally, the golden pumpkin flowers appear among the leaves. The female flowers will be open for just one day, and Matthew and Sophie arrive at the garden early in the morning to wait and watch. Will the bees arrive in time to pollinate the plants?

One day a little girl accompanies her conservationist father as he tags a big black hibernating bear. Nestled beside her are two tiny cubs, a male and a female. The child names them Fraser and Samantha. She will remember them always, and one day will see Fraser again. "Fraser Bear" follows the first two years in a black bear cub's life in the Pacific Northwest--from his first tentative steps outside his mother's den to the day when, alone now, he must find his own den for the winter's sleep. In between, his life is filled with play, learning, adventure, and the endless quest for food. Most important, he tries to learn the skill of salmon catching from his mother. Eventually Fraser must leave the protection of his mother and sister and journey on by himself. This exciting story is illuminated by beautiful illustrations of Fraser and his adventures, uniting the cycles of bear and fish, whose lives are so importantly intertwined. A map of the area, glossary, and further information about bears and salmon complete this delightful nature story for young readers.

It's World War Two in Amsterdam. Teenaged Lena leaves her starving family to travel by train with her friend, Sofie, to Almelo, a town close to the German border. It's a risky plan. They have false papers and are quickly pulled off the train by German soldiers. Only by fluke do they get back on again -- with the help of Albert, one of the other soldiers. After Lena discovers that the train had also been used to transport Jews to concentration camps, she fears her new friendship with the helpful Albert may lead her into more danger. Sofie, too, befriends a soldier, a relationship that quickly turns serious and has unforeseen consequences for both girls.

Big Fish is ancient and enormous. In her 177 years she's brushed against death more than once -- stalked by panners in the gold rush of 1858, nearly crushed in a rock slide in 1913, almost stranded when the lake drained into the river in 1924, and threatened by a mysterious disease that killed many other sturgeons in the early 1990s. Since then, sport fishers have hooked her several times, and she's led them through quite a chase. But today scientists and many others are trying to help the sturgeon survive. Now, we hope, only old age will claim her when her time comes. This exciting adventure tale offers science, history, and environmental lessons supplemented with a glossary, a diagram, and interesting facts about the biology and history of the sturgeon.