In the 1970s “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” was a regular television show watched by a lot of people. Jacques Cousteau was the host of the show – an adventurer, explorer and teacher who took his boat called the Calypso all over the world filming amazing underwater creatures to show the rest of us. Jacques was like Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, but without all the “Crikey!” and alligator wrestling.

This book is the story of Jacques life as an adventurer and inventor. He helped develop the aqua lung – the tank that allows people to breath underwater. Jacques’s message about keeping the ocean clean and protecting ocean creatures was way ahead of everyone else. Jacques was green before being green was cool! Author: Jennifer Berne Illustrator: Éric Puybaret

Look at that cover! Talk about making history intresting. Do you know the names Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? Both worked for George Washington during the Revolution. Eventually, Aaron Burr became Vice – President and Alexander Hamilton became Secretery of the Treasury – he’s the guy on our $10 bill. Here are two guys you would consider pretty smart…yet they both couldn’t think of a better way to settle their differences than a duel – a fight to the death. And like many disagreements, their reasons seem very silly now! That’s the thing about fighting, it usually seems pretty dumb later.

These two guys both had tempers, they were jealous, they argued, and they talked badly about each other to other people. They sound like a couple of school boy brats rather than the educated adults they were. Rather than work out their differences they agreed to have a duel, and they even sneaked off in the night to do it because they knew it was illegal. That’s a lot of bad choices made by both of them. In the end, one walked away from the duel but lived out his life in disgrace…and the other was dead. Now that’s a no-win situation!

This is a great book that brings two historic figures to full color life. It also goes to show you what a poor choice fighting is! Fighting has never been a smart way to solve differences. Thankfully, our politicians today use debates and interviews and speeches to settle their differences. So let’s hear it for the 2008 presidential election, a war of words and not of fists. Author: Dennis Fradin Illustrator: Larry Day

• PBS The American Experience: The Duel
• America’s Story: Hamilton and Burr Duel to the Death
• Taking Charge of Anger