Ronald A. Reis is My Guest, Tuesday, Oct. 29

About the book
Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous people in world history, yet few know the full story of the amazing, resourceful, and tragic Italian explorer. Christopher Columbus and the Age of Exploration for Kids portrays the “Admiral of the Ocean Seas” neither as hero nor heel but as a flawed and complex man whose significance is undeniably monumental. Kids will gain a fuller picture of the
seafarer’s life, his impact, and the dangers and thrills of exploration as they learn about all four of Columbus’s voyages to the New World, not just his first, as well as the year that Columbus spent stranded on the island of Jamaica without hope of rescue. Students, parents, and teachers will appreciate the in-depth discussions of the indigenous peoples of the New World and of the consequences of Columbus’s voyages—the exchange of diseases, ideas, crops, and populations between the New World and the Old. Fun hands-on activities illuminate both the nautical concepts introduced and the times in which Columbus lived.

About the author
Ronald A. Reis is the technology department chair at Los Angeles Valley College. He has a bachelor’s degree in applied technology and a master’s degree in the social sciences and has taught at the middle school, high school, and community college level. He is the author of several young adult nonfiction books, including African Americans and the Civil War, Buffalo Bill Cody, and The World Trade Organization. Buffalo Bill Cody won the 2011 Spur Award for the best juvenile nonfiction biography about the West, from the Western Writers of America. He lives in Calabasas, California.