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children's book illustration

(Encyclopedia)children's book illustration, any type of picture or decorative work produced for books specifically intended for a youthful audience. During the 1960s a number of seldom-used techniques were introd...

reptile

(Encyclopedia)reptile, name for the dry-skinned, usually scaly, cold-blooded vertebrates (see Chordata) of the order Reptilia. Reptiles are found in a variety of habitats throughout the warm and temperate regions (...

sex

(Encyclopedia)sex, term used to refer both to the two groups distinguished as males and females, and to the anatomical and physiological characteristics associated with maleness and femaleness. Sex relates to the t...

fur

(Encyclopedia)fur, hairy covering of an animal, especially the skins of animals that have thick, soft, close-growing hair next to the skin itself and coarser protective hair above it. The underhair is frequently ca...

Henry IV, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1553–1610, king of France (1589–1610) and, as Henry III, of Navarre (1572–1610), son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret; first of the Bourbon kings of France. Henry's marri...

Angkor

(Encyclopedia)Angkor ăngˈkôr [key], site of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, north of Tônlé Sap, NW Cambodia, for about five and a half centuries (9th to 15th), the heart of the empire. Extending over an ...

jury

(Encyclopedia)jury, body convened to make decisions of fact in legal proceedings. In most criminal cases the charge is first considered by a grand jury with 12 to 23 members. It hears witnesses against the accus...

Charles II, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Charles II, 1630–85, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1660–85), eldest surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Charles was a ruler of considerable political skill. His reign was m...

rain

(Encyclopedia)rain, precipitation in liquid form. It consists of drops of water falling from clouds; if the drops are very small, they are collectively termed drizzle. Rain plays a key role in the hydrologic, or wa...

coffee

(Encyclopedia)coffee, a tree, its seeds, and the beverage made from them. The coffee tree, a small evergreen of the genus Coffea, has smooth, ovate leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers that mature into dee...

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