Famous in his time as a painter, prankster, and philosopher, Leonardo da Vinci was also a musician, sculptor, and engineer for dukes, popes, and kings. What remains of his work-from futuristic designs and scientific inquiry to artwork of ethereal beauty-reveals the ambitious, unpredictable brilliance of a visionary, and a timeless dreamer. Robert Byrd celebrates this passionate, playful genius in a glowing picture book replete with the richness and imagination of Leonardo's own notebooks. Twenty lavish spreads, including side drawings, supplemental texts, and quotes from Leonardo's writings, highlight distinct periods and make the master's art, jokes, explorations, and inventions wonderfully vivid and accessible. A striking tribute to an irrepressible mind and to the potential within all who are curious.

Milan, 1496 and forty-four-year-old Leonardo da Vinci has a reputation for taking on commissions and failing to complete them. He is in a state of professional uncertainty and financial difficulty. For eighteen months he has been painting murals in both the Sforza Castle in Milan and the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The latter project will become the Last Supper, a complex mural that took a full three years to complete on a surface fifteen feet high by twenty feet wide. Not only had he never attempted a painting of such size, but he had no experience whatsoever in painting in the physically demanding medium of fresco.For more than five centuries the Last Supper has been an artistic, religious and cultural icon. The art historian Kenneth Clark has called it 'the keystone of European art', and for a century after its creation it was regarded as nothing less than a miraculous image. Even today, according to Clark, we regard the painting as 'more a work of nature than a work of man'. And yet there is a very human story behind this artistic 'miracle', which was created against the backdrop of momentous events both in Milan and in the life of Leonardo himself.In Leonardo and the Last Supper, Ross King tells the complete story of this creation of this mural: the adversities suffered by the artist during its execution; the experimental techniques he employed; the models for Christ and the Apostles that he used; and the numerous personalities involved - everyone from the Leonardo's young assistants to Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan who commissioned the work. Ross King's new book is both a record of Leonardo da Vinci's last five years in Milan and a 'biography' of one of the most famous works of art ever painted.

Electric Ben is now a 2013 Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Book Award Winner, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book, a Horn Fanfare Book, and a Robert F. Sibert Honor book! “a true standout…bright, witty, informative and cleverly organized as the man himself.” – The New York Times A true Renaissance man, Benjamin Franklin was the first American celebrity. In pictures and text, master artist Robert Byrd documents Franklin's numerous and diverse accomplishments, from framing the Constitution to creating bifocals. The witty, wise, and endlessly curious Franklin is the perfect subject for Byrd's lively style and vibrant art. The pages pulse with facts, quotes, and captions, while the inventive design and intricately detailed illustrations make a striking tribute to the brilliant American.

A deeply informative and gorgeously illustrated look at the Statue of Liberty, from award-winning nonfiction master Robert Byrd. America's most iconic national symbol was a gift from France to the United States--provided America raised the money for the pedestal on which it was to stand. Urged on by the publisher Joseph Pulitzer, it was raised, largely with the help of children, in the first example of a crowd sourced fund-raising campaign. This book tells the story of the best gift ever: how it was designed, created, transported, and then finally erected on its pedestal in the entrance to New York Harbor. Readable text is enhanced with illustrations chock-full of historical detail in Bob Byrd's lighthearted, witty style.

Zoro is the pupil of the painter, sculptor, scientist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci. He works hard in Leonardo's workshop, but he is never allowed inside the secret locked room, where Leonardo spends hours working on a mysterious invention. Then one day a mischievous boy steals the keys.

A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor.

Presents the childhood years, family life, early influences, inventions, and masterpieces of this renowned fifteenth-century inventor and artist.

A beautifully illustrated account of the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts with informative details from the award-winning author of Electric Ben The story of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the earliest recorded Greek myths. Here, master artist Robert Byrd has created a striking telling of the legend for a new generation of readers. Complete with explanatory notes and illustrated back matter, Jason and the Argonauts traces each step of our hero’s journey, from the Golden Fleece’s origin story and Jason’s childhood to his triumphant return with the prize and eventual death. Deftly designed to accommodate glorious large pictures and captioned insets, the book is not only a great story, but a wealth of information about ancient Greece.

A biography of Leonardo Fibonacci, the 12th century mathematician who discovered the numerical sequence named for him.

Examines the life and accomplishment of Leonardo da Vinci.