Wim Coleman

In 1856, 15-year-old Bella Lee Dunkinson began hanging around the local railroad in western Tennessee. Engineer John Hardiman took a liking to the spirited girl and gave her a boy's responsibilities helping with the engine. One stormy night, the engine was slipping dangerously on wet rails. While John was putting sand on the tracks, Bella found herself alone in the cab driving the train up a steep and dangerous mountainside. After her heroic and triumphant...

In 1807, folks living along the Hudson River saw a strange fire-breathing monster churning the waters. The sight of Robert Fulton's Clermont created havoc on the shore and river. One of the on-lookers, a young Brenton Dixon, got a job aboard the steamboat and assisted Fulton and his crew. Brenton continued working on steamboats throughout their great pre-Civil War heyday.

In the late 1800s, the bicycle first came to the United States from Europe. For women who either worked in factories or stayed at home, the bicycle liberated them like nothing ever has. This dramatization depicts how one two-wheeled invention changed fashion, opened doors, and led to a movement in women's rights still felt today. Includes special book features for further study and a special section for teachers and librarians.

La Llorona (The Crying Woman) is a sad and haunting tale from Mexico. Parents have told the story for hundreds of years to misbehaving children and to guard against vanity. Some say the story is about Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and a native Mexican woman who served as his translator. Her loss can be compared to the loss of native Mexican culture after the Spanish conquest.

The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was killed by an assassin's bullet on April 15, 1865. Lincoln preserved the union of the nation, but after the Civil War he struggled with Congress and the people over Reconstruction. Despite the war and political strife, Lincoln's life and legacy touched the hearts and souls of millions then as it does today. This play draws from the writings of many of those people and from Lincoln himself....

Examines and explores the transcontinental railroad and the great race to connect the nation.

A dramatization of the sad and haunting Mexican legend, the Crying Woman, that parents have told to children who are misbehaving and to guard against vanity. Some say the story is about Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and a native Mexican woman who served as his translator. Includes special book features for further study and a special section for teachers and librarians.