Search results for ""Author Bird"

A curious gem of 19th-century gothic fiction Cecil Dreeme is one of the queerest American novels of the 19th century. This edition, which includes a new introduction contextualizing the sexual history of the period and queer longings of the book, brings a rare, almost forgotten, sensational gothic novel set in New York’s West Village back to light. Published posthumously in 1861, the novel centers on Robert Byng, a young man who moves back to New York after traveling abroad and finds himself unmarried and underemployed, adrift in the heathenish dens of lower Manhattan. When he takes up rooms in “Chrysalis College”—a thinly veiled version of the 19th-century New York University building in Washington Square—he quickly finds himself infatuated with a young painter lodging there, named Cecil Dreeme. As their friendship grows and the novel unfolds against the backdrop of the bohemian West Village, Robert confesses that he “loves Cecil with a love passing the love of women.” Yet, there are dark forces at work in the form of the sinister and magnetic Densdeth, a charismatic figure of bad intention, who seeks to ensnare Robert for his own. Full of romantic entanglements, mistaken identity, blackmail, and the dramas of temptation and submission, Cecil Dreeme is a gothic novel at its finest. Poetically written—with flashes of Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde—Cecil Dreeme is an early example of that rare bird, a queer novel from the 19th century.

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Beautiful books make unforgettable gifts. This pocket-sized treasure is the perfect present for fans of nature, language and rich artwork, adult and child alike!Kindred in spirit to The Lost Words but fresh in its form, The Lost Spells introduces a beautiful new set of natural spell-poems and artwork by beloved creative duo Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.Each "spell" conjures an animal, bird, tree or flower -- from Barn Owl to Red Fox, Grey Seal to Silver Birch, Jay to Jackdaw -- with which we share our lives and landscapes. Moving, joyful and funny, The Lost Spells above all celebrates a sense of wonder, bearing witness to nature's power to amaze, console and bring joy.Written to be read aloud, painted in brushstrokes that call to the forest, field, riverbank and also to the heart, The Lost Spells summons back what is often lost from sight and care, teaching the names of everyday species, and inspiring its readers to attention, love and care.'Luminously beautiful. An amulet in dark times, to be carried like a talisman out into the world, where it is very much needed' Dara McAnulty'A book about spells that succeeds in being spell-binding in its own right . . . It already feels like a true classic. Buy one copy for yourself and any others for as many children as you can afford' Books for Keeps

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Glorious flower meadows were part of our life force for 2000 years or more before we swept them away last century on the altar of progress. Is there to be no more drinking from their font of well being? This book says not. Lavishly illustrated, it describes their history and, from the few remaining examples, it shows us how beautiful they are, how rich in plants and animals. It coaches us in their creation, even in small gardens, or their restoration in larger fields. It tells of the extraordinary lives of even the most ordinary denizens, little secrets that make the meadow's world go around and the convoluted links between the many plants and animals that keep everything in balance. Their stories are woven, season-by-season, into a year in the life of two meadows, a small, garden meadow and a larger old paddock. We hear of birds that plant trees, bacteria that become plant organelles, plants that drink from other plants, plants that fool or poison insects and insects that turn the tables, ants that foster butterflies, mice that navigate by compass, snails that house bees and how all of these connections, together with the flow of energy and nutrients, result in a healthy ecosystem. The book even suggests how adults and children alike can see these things for themselves. So, read this book and help your local green space to become a meadow and revel in it.

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Fossils allow us to picture the forms of life that inhabited the earth eons ago. But we long to know more: how did these animals actually behave? We are fascinated by the daily lives of our fellow creatures—how they reproduce and raise their young, how they hunt their prey or elude their predators, and more. What would it be like to see prehistoric animals as they lived and breathed?From dinosaurs fighting to their deaths to elephant-sized burrowing ground sloths, this book takes readers on a global journey deep into the earth’s past. Locked in Time showcases fifty of the most astonishing fossils ever found, brought together in five fascinating chapters that offer an unprecedented glimpse at the real-life behaviors of prehistoric animals. Dean R. Lomax examines the extraordinary direct evidence of fossils captured in the midst of everyday action, such as dinosaurs sitting on their eggs like birds, Jurassic flies preserved while mating, a T. rex infected by parasites. Each fossil, he reveals, tells a unique story about prehistoric life. Many recall behaviors typical of animals familiar to us today, evoking the chain of evolution that links all living things to their distant ancestors. Locked in Time allows us to see that fossils are not just inanimate objects: they can record the life stories of creatures as fully alive as any today. Striking and scientifically rigorous illustrations by renowned paleoartist Bob Nicholls bring these breathtaking moments to life.

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Fossils allow us to picture the forms of life that inhabited the earth eons ago. But we long to know more: how did these animals actually behave? We are fascinated by the daily lives of our fellow creatures—how they reproduce and raise their young, how they hunt their prey or elude their predators, and more. What would it be like to see prehistoric animals as they lived and breathed?From dinosaurs fighting to their deaths to elephant-sized burrowing ground sloths, this book takes readers on a global journey deep into the earth’s past. Locked in Time showcases fifty of the most astonishing fossils ever found, brought together in five fascinating chapters that offer an unprecedented glimpse at the real-life behaviors of prehistoric animals. Dean R. Lomax examines the extraordinary direct evidence of fossils captured in the midst of everyday action, such as dinosaurs sitting on their eggs like birds, Jurassic flies preserved while mating, a T. rex infected by parasites. Each fossil, he reveals, tells a unique story about prehistoric life. Many recall behaviors typical of animals familiar to us today, evoking the chain of evolution that links all living things to their distant ancestors. Locked in Time allows us to see that fossils are not just inanimate objects: they can record the life stories of creatures as fully alive as any today. Striking and scientifically rigorous illustrations by renowned paleoartist Bob Nicholls bring these breathtaking moments to life.

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For fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, fairy tale and magic are weaved together in sparse language that belies a flooring emotional punch.'Strange and beautiful. Imagine the offspring of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle with The Virgin Suicides' GUARDIAN'Genuinely affecting. A story of empathy, collaboration and sharing truths' FINANCIAL TIMESTranslated by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami_______________________________Would you share your deepest secrets to save a friend?In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find their bedroom mirrors are shining.At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways, watchful portraits and twinkling chandeliers. In this new sanctuary, they are confronted with a set of clues leading to a hidden room where one of them will be granted a wish. But there's a catch: if they don't leave the castle by five o'clock, they will be punished.As time passes, a devastating truth emerges: only those brave enough to share their stories will be saved.Tender, playful, gripping, LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR is a mesmerizing tale about the importance of reaching out, confronting anxiety and embracing human connection.Readers love LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR:***** 'This book has become one of my favourite Japanese reads of all time . . . A magical heartfelt read that will stay with you'***** 'Unexpected, beautiful and heart-breaking . . . this is a work of fiction which reaches into the heart of a modern problem and has valuable insight'***** 'Rich and vivid.This book is a symbol that 'there is always hope'

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The erythrocyte is perhaps the world's single best known cell, an opinion affirmed by its inseparable linkage with the French expression "Le sang c'est la vie" (i.e., Blood is life). The red cell made its debut in a few invertebrates and thereupon conducted a conceptual phylogenetic odyssey through the Classes of poikilothermic vertebrates, onward to the first homeotherms the avians, and thereafter to the mammals including man. The erythrocyte presents morphologic, cytochemical and quantitative adaptations as it progresses through its evolutionary continuum. The specific objective of this text is to explore in depth the cytology of the erythrocyte in birds. It is intended to derive an understanding of the red cell's diverse aspects as presented among Orders, Families and Genera of avians. Illustrative of the subjects that are explored are the light microscopy and ulrastructure of the maturational sequence of the erythrocyte from proerythroblast to the mature cell, the quantitative representation of the erythroid progenitors in hemopoietic bone marrow, and the relationship of erythropoiesis with the vascular sinuses in the bone marrow. Sections are devoted to the quail-chick chimera and the insight it offers, erythroleukemia, embryologic considerations, primitive and definitive generation erythrocytes, rbc life span, the impact of sporozoan parasitization upon the erythrocellular profile and the morphology associated with pathologic agents and conditions. A major segment of the monograph is a taxonomically organized Table of Erythrogramic Data (primary source-cited, and when derived, indicators of significant differences between sexes, physiologic and experimental conditions).

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The landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region varies dramatically from parched desert lowlands to semiarid tropical forests and frigid subalpine meadows. Covering south easternmost California, much of southern and central Arizona, most of Baja California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico, it is home to an extraordinary variety of plants and animals. With a Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, this book takes readers deep into its vast expanse, looking closely at the relationships of plants and animals with the land and people, through time and across landscapes. In accessible language, more than forty scientists and/or naturalists examine the region's biodiversity, geology, weather, plants, and animals (from invertebrates to fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals), as well as potential threats to the species and habitats. The text is supplemented throughout with anecdotes, essays, photographs, maps, diagrams, and 450 finely rendered drawings. This new edition adds chapters on the Sky Islands, Sea of Cortez, desert pollinators, and conservation issues. Taxonomic nomenclature has been updated and new color plates and figures have been added. This comprehensive natural history, like the original edition, will surely become an invaluable companion for nature enthusiasts, birdwatchers, hikers, students, naturalists, and anyone interested in the desert Southwest. Published in association with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

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Kids love pets, and they'll love Hidden Pictures Pet Sticker Puzzles just as much! These puzzle scenes feature cats, dogs, birds, pocket pets and more. The book also includes over 280 vibrant stickers to mark hidden objects inside. Great for animal lovers and puzzlers ages 3-6, this 96-page activity book is filled with hours of seek-and-find fun. Stickers bring an exciting new element to timeless Hidden Pictures puzzles. The 280+ colorful stickers add to the fun as kids mark the hidden objects in classic black-and-white scenes. There are full-color puzzles to solve, too, and over 500 total objects to hunt inside! Placing stickers is an irresistible way for kids to improve their fine motor control through play. This book is great for travel, after-school fun or screen-free entertainment on rainy days. Kids love working to achieve a goal, and every puzzle solved encourages them to take on new challenges. Searching for hidden objects is also a great way to build important school skills like concentration and visual perception. Like all Highlights products, Pet Sticker Puzzles is well thought out, well constructed and visually appealing to bring kids meaningful benefits and maximum fun.

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Programar consiste en dar órdenes a una máquina para que las ejecute de forma automática. Exige, únicamente, hablar un idioma que la máquina entienda: un lenguaje de programación. Con las herramientas apropiadas, basta escribir unas decenas de palabras para que nuestros deseos cobren vida en los circuitos de un ordenador. Es magia. Y está al alcance de todo aquel que esté dispuesto a invertir unas horas de su tiempo en estas páginas. El lenguaje de programación que el usuario aprenderá con este libro es C, el clásico por antonomasia. Si la música de los Beatles o los Rolling Stones se convirtiera en código, lo haría en C, sin duda. A diferencia de otros textos, en este se ha apostado por la programación de videojuegos como vehículo principal de aprendizaje. Qué mejor forma de aprender que con ejemplos inspirados por clásicos como Hundir la Flota, Trivial Pursuit, Monkey Island o Angry Birds? A programar se tiene que aprender programando, sí, pero también jugando.

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Wonder: The Natural History Museum Poetry Book is a beautiful gift hardback collection of poetry with poems inspired by The Natural History Museum. It covers everything from the depths of space to the very centre of the earth - there are poems about the solar system, planet earth, oceans and rivers, birds, dinosaurs, fossils, wildlife, flowers, fungi, insects, explorers and palaeontologists. Each section includes an introduction and some footnotes about particularly interesting species. The museum has a collection of over eighty million objects and behind the scenes of its twenty-eight galleries crowd kilometres of preserved specimens, libraries of rare books and artworks, wonders gathered on some of the most famous voyages in history, rooms packed with pressed plants, warehouses teeming with stuffed animals and freezers full of DNA. As well as a museum, it is a state-of-the-art centre for discovery with over three hundred resident scientists and over ten thousand visiting researchers each year, investigating everything from dinosaurs to life on other planets.The collection is made up of brand new and classic poems and is illustrated with botanical drawings and engravings from the museum’s collections.This fantastic collection speaks of the wonder of nature and shows us why we need to look after our incredible planet.

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Soqotra, the largest island of Yemen's Soqotra Archipelago, is one of the most uniquely diverse places in the world. A UNESCO natural World Heritage Site, the island is home not only to birds, reptiles, and plants found nowhere else on earth, but also to a rich cultural history and the endangered Soqotri language. Within the span of a decade, this Indian Ocean archipelago went from being among the most marginalized regions of Yemen to promoted for its outstanding global value. Islands of Heritage shares Soqotrans' stories to offer the first exploration of environmental conservation, heritage production, and development in an Arab state. Examining the multiple notions of heritage in play for twenty-first-century Soqotra, Nathalie Peutz narrates how everyday Soqotrans came to assemble, defend, and mobilize their cultural and linguistic heritage. These efforts, which diverged from outsiders' focus on the island's natural heritage, ultimately added to Soqotrans' calls for political and cultural change during the Yemeni Revolution. Islands of Heritage shows that far from being merely a conservative endeavor, the protection of heritage can have profoundly transformative, even revolutionary effects. Grassroots claims to heritage can be a potent form of political engagement with the most imminent concerns of the present: human rights, globalization, democracy, and sustainability.

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Soqotra, the largest island of Yemen's Soqotra Archipelago, is one of the most uniquely diverse places in the world. A UNESCO natural World Heritage Site, the island is home not only to birds, reptiles, and plants found nowhere else on earth, but also to a rich cultural history and the endangered Soqotri language. Within the span of a decade, this Indian Ocean archipelago went from being among the most marginalized regions of Yemen to promoted for its outstanding global value. Islands of Heritage shares Soqotrans' stories to offer the first exploration of environmental conservation, heritage production, and development in an Arab state. Examining the multiple notions of heritage in play for twenty-first-century Soqotra, Nathalie Peutz narrates how everyday Soqotrans came to assemble, defend, and mobilize their cultural and linguistic heritage. These efforts, which diverged from outsiders' focus on the island's natural heritage, ultimately added to Soqotrans' calls for political and cultural change during the Yemeni Revolution. Islands of Heritage shows that far from being merely a conservative endeavor, the protection of heritage can have profoundly transformative, even revolutionary effects. Grassroots claims to heritage can be a potent form of political engagement with the most imminent concerns of the present: human rights, globalization, democracy, and sustainability.

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From the Second Draft: What other people learn From birth, Betrayal, I learned late. My soul perched On an olive branch Combing itself, Waving its plumes. I said Being mortal, I aspire to Mortal things. I need you, Said my soul, If you're telling the truth. "Draft of a Letter" is a book about belief - not belief in the unknowable but belief in what seems bewilderingly plain. Pondering the bodies we inhabit, the words we speak, these poems discover infinitude in the most familiar places. The revelation is disorienting and, as a result, these poems talk to themselves, revise themselves, fashioning a dialogue between self and soul that opens outward to include other voices, lovers, children, angels, and ghosts. For James Longenbach, great distance makes the messages we send sweeter. To be divided from ourselves is never to be alone. "If the kingdom is in the sky," says the body to the soul, "Birds will get there before you." "In time," says the awakening soul, "I liked my second/Body better/Than the first." To live, these poems insist, is to arise every day to the strange magnificence of the people and places we thought we knew best. "Draft of a Letter" is an unsettled and radiant paradiso, imagined in the death-shadowed, birth-haunted middle of a long life.

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Charlotte Moss encourages readers to bring the garden indoors with ideas for arranging flowers, selecting containers, and placing blossoms around the house. An inviting cluster of blooms on a guest room s bedside table, lavish floral displays for parties and holidays, single stems adding life to any corner of a room Moss has been photographing her flower arrangements for over a decade. This book is a celebration of her artistry and a testament to flowers as part of day-to-day life. From Moss s grander displays in the city to her more informal and breezy creations at her home in the country, as well as in the refined interiors of her clients, the visual result is a chronicle of the myriad ways flowers provide inspiration indoors and out. Readers will be further motivated as Moss describes the contributions of past tastemakers: Gloria Vanderbilt for her ingenious use of floral patterns in her licensed products, Pauline de Rothschild for her fantastic tablescapes, Bunny Mellon for her profusive use of topiaries, Constance Spry for the use of inventive containers and for her groundbreaking artistry, and Lady Bird Johnson for her embrace of the simple, exquisite wildflower. With nature as her muse, Moss implores us to create the backdrop for a life well lived, imbuing every day with flair, beauty, and elegance.

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Justin explores Essex's coastline which meanders for over 350-miles and under its famous big skies visits golden sandy beaches, colourful with piers and beach huts and then around silvery estuaries peaceful but for the cries of birds and flap of sails. Its secretive coast hides over thirty-five islands and a capillary-like network of creeks that branch out and get lost in mile upon mile of wonderfully lonely marshland. Inland he explores the gently rolling medley of golden farmland and ancient forest dotted with historic towns and sleepy villages, thatched cottages and timber-framed buildings. As Paul Forecast, Regional Director for the National Trust says in his foreword, "His stunning photos capture perfectly for me the county's spirit of place and his engaging and informative writing has added new depth to my own understanding and appreciation of a place that I thought I knew well." FEATURING: * 60 locations and over 520 beautiful photographs * Sat nav and map co-ordinates including ///what3words and scannable lat-long QR-codes for your smart phone * Sun compass * Best times to visit and seasonal highlights * Photographic tips * Accessibility notes, Travel Information * The best places to stay, eat and drink

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This beautiful and inspirational book written by a doyenne of British textile design explores the art of painting and making patterns on cloth. Fabrics bring colour and vibrance to our lives, adding inventiveness and charm to both our clothes and our domestic interiors. In this book, lifelong textile designer Sarah Campbell takes you through her world of pattern and colour to uncover the joys of design from dots, stripes and checks to more surprising decorative solutions. Painting straight onto fabric is a very different experience to designing for digital production. Everything is unique, the placing of the patterns and colours is in your hands. The beauty is that the pattern doesn’t have to repeat - there can be just one bird or just one square, if it’s in the right place. Beautifully illustrated with Sarah’s colourful and internationally acclaimed work, her fabric designs show the comforting rhythm and universal language of pattern. - Learn how to create your own unique designs using a range of tools and techniques including brushes and potato-cuts, stencils and simple ‘kitchen cupboard’ resists. - Explore the delights of painting on different fabrics such as cotton, linen, silk and calico/muslin. - Develop your understanding of scale, colour, tonality and the organisation of pattern ideas, alongside suggestions on how to use your finished fabrics.

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Wales is a Celtic country and the Celts have always treasured oral learning and recitation. Indeed they have a passion for committing facts to memory rather than relying on the written word. So it is no surprise, as we can see from Anne Ross's study, that Welsh folklore and story-telling is so rich and varied. In addition to examining the part played by the medieval church in this oral tradition, individual chapters cover legends associated with place-names; calendar customs; giants and monsters; omens and second sight; witches, ghosts and faries; supernatural birds and animals; folk healing and herbal remedies. The landscape is studded with the remains of ancient monuments, which are seen as the creation of gods and heroes. Every lake had its legend, whether it be inhabited by a grim, monstrous afanc, or by a beautiful, enchanted maiden, or maybe harbours a drowned settlement where the bell still tolls to warm of approaching storms. Giants stalk the land, while faries can be dangerous, hostile and demanding propitiation. Omens of potential marriage partners were avidly sought by girls, while ghostly death-lights - corpse candles - could be seen moving relentlessly towards the person who was doomed to death. A whole world of the past is to be found in this rich treasure house of inherited lore.

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Alfred Hitchcock was a strange child. Fat, lonely, burning with fear and ambition, his childhood was an isolated one, scented with fish from his father's shop. Afraid to leave his bedroom, he would plan great voyages, using railway timetables to plot an exact imaginary route across Europe. So how did this fearful figure become the one of the most respected film directors of the twentieth century?As an adult, Hitch rigorously controlled the press's portrait of himself, drawing certain carefully selected childhood anecdotes into full focus and blurring all others out. In this quick-witted portrait, Ackroyd reveals something more: a lugubriously jolly man fond of practical jokes, who smashes a once-used tea cup every morning to remind himself of the frailty of life. Iconic film stars make cameo appearances, just as Hitch did in his own films. Grace Kelly, Carey Grant and James Stewart despair of his detached directing style, and, perhaps most famously of all, Tippi Hedren endures cuts and bruises from a real-life fearsome flock of birds.Alfred Hitchcock wrests the director's chair back from the master of control and discovers what lurks just out of sight, in the corner of the shot.

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“If you have been still enough for long enough, your eyes will have attuned and begun to read the sea-surge fluently, so you recognize the blunt curve and flourished tail of a diving otter. Home your eyes in on that portion of the sea, permit nothing else to move, and you will see the otter eel-catching, resurfacing.” It is a special privilege and a richly rewarding experience to observe a wild animal hunting, interacting with its young or its mate, exploring its habitat, or escaping a predator. To watch wildlife, it’s essential not only to learn an animal’s ways, the times and places you may find it, but also to look inward: to station yourself, focus, and wait. The experience depends on your stillness, silence, and full attention, watching and listening with minimal movement and if possible staying downwind so that your presence is not sensed. With decades of close observation of wild animals and birds, Jim Crumley has found himself up close and personal with many of our most elusive creatures, studying their movements, noting details, and offering intimate insights into their extraordinary lives. Here, he draws us into his magical world, showing how we can learn to watch wildlife well, and what doing so can mean for our ability to care for it, and care for ourselves.

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Una nueva traducción al español de Are You My Mother?Esta edición en español de Are You My Mother?, la historia de un pajarito que busca a su mamá, brinda la oportunidad a millones de hispanoparlantes de leer esta entrañable historia de P.D. Eastman en su propio idioma. Traducido por Teresa Mlawer, una de las figuras más respetadas en el mundo editorial en español, este clásico recrea el eterno vínculo que existe entre una madre y su hijo. El regalo ideal para futuras mamás, el Día de la Madre o cualquier ocasión especial. An all-new Spanish language translation of Are You My Mother? This Spanish-language edition of Are You My Mother?—the story of a baby bird in search of his mother—makes the joyful experience of reading P. D. Eastman’s beloved Beginner Book available to the over 37 million people in the U.S. who speak Spanish! Newly translated by Teresa Mlawer—one of the most respected figures in Hispanic publishing—this classic beginning reader celebrates the timeless bond between mother and child, making it perfect for baby showers, Mother’s Day, and happy occasions of all kinds!

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"This book is... a romantic history of romantic collecting. It takes seriously, and by necessity shares, the tendency of romantic histories to dwell upon their own fragmentariness, on the impossibility of capturing an intact history.... It traces the particular ways in which objects stepped into the lives of romantic collectors, and also the ways in which the objects moved on."—from the IntroductionIn the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the activity of collecting became democratized and popularized, allowing all kinds of people to become caught up in the collecting obsessions of the period: birds, books, Napoleonic relics, botanical specimens, Egyptiana, and fossils. Judith Pascoe invites readers to contemplate the ongoing allure of romantic collections. Pascoe maintains that romanticism as a literary movement played a crucial supporting role in varied attempts by collectors of this era to fashion identities for themselves through collecting. She links the collecting craze during the period with the subsequent fetishization of romantic poets and their possessions, revealing the extent to which an ongoing fascination with material objects—with Keats's hair and Shelley's guitar, for example—helped to produce an enduring image of these poets as spiritual emissaries of a less materialistic age. In language both witty and idiosyncratic, Pascoe makes the case that the romantic period stands out as a distinct moment in collecting history, a transition between the flourishing of the Renaissance wonder cabinet and the rise of the Victorian museum.

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New England has a lot to offer so it’s no surprise that it’s one of the top outdoor tourist destinations in the country. It sees many people traversing its land each year, and many are there specifically seeking outdoor adventure. And, with families spearheading the need to get outdoors with their little ones, there are places a-plenty for exploring with littles of all ages. Whether you live here or are simply traveling through, Hiking with Kids New England offers up new and exciting adventures for parents and their elementary school-age kids alike.Organized around location, for ease of knocking out all of those “bucket list” places, the book features 40-50 easily accessible day hike locations, with each hike featuring a color photo and a map. As is standard with FalconGuides, all the basic information—from trailhead GPS to best times to go to fees and contacts—will be there, along with trail descriptions geared directly for the kids. The book’s handy “Best Hikes For” chart in the beginning will identify the best hikes for water features, historic geographic features, views, cool flora/fauna, and more. Hiking with Kids New England will keep its young participants engaged with tips on cool scavenger hunts; how to identify various animals, bird calls, and more; fun facts about the history of the land; and more.

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This title deals with traditional food and cooking in 25 authentic dishes. You can discover the delights of a distinctive Scandinavian cuisine in this new little book on Norwegian food and cooking. It includes traditional dishes such as Norwegian Fish Mousse and Beef Patties with Gravy, as well as regional specialities that include Bird's Nest Salad, Roe Deer Medallions with Redcurrants, and Tosca Cake. The introduction offers a concise overview of this highly regarded culinary tradition, plus a guide to the main ingredients of the country. From classic recipes for meatballs and marinated herrings to unexpected combinations and local variations, this lovely book unearths the mysteries of the magical food and cooking of Norway. Nutritional information for every recipe is given. It is illustrated with wonderful photographs by William Lingwood of practical steps and final dishes. The pearly clarity of the northern light of Norway is reflected in its pure and wholesome national cuisine. Choose from cold table dishes such as Herb Cured Fillet of Elk, soups that include apple and juniper, and fish dishes that feature salmon, crispy fried herring and carp.Meat and game dishes provide such delicacies as Braised Chicken with Mashed Swede, Roast Saddle of Roe Deer, and Quail in Cream Sauce. Tempting desserts such as Baked Apples with Ginger and Vanilla Christmas Biscuits complete this exciting Scandinavian experience.

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'A rich compendium of incidents, anecdotes and studies illustrating the linguistic abilities of animals . . . a rewarding book' Sunday TimesDolphins and parrots call each other by their names. Fork tailed drongos mimic the calls of other animals to scare them away and then steal their dinner. In the songs of many species of birds, and in skin patterns of squid, we find grammatical structures . . .If you are lucky, you might meet an animal that wants to talk to you. If you are even luckier, you might meet an animal that takes the time and effort to get to know you. Such relationships can teach us not only about the animal in question, but also about language and about ourselves.From how prairie dogs describe intruders in detail -- including their size, shape, speed and the colour of their hair and T-shirts -- to how bats like to gossip, to the impressive greeting rituals of monogamous seabirds, Animal Languages is a fascinating and philosophical exploration of the ways animals communicate with each other, and with us. Researchers are discovering that animals have rich and complex languages with grammatical and structural rules that allow them to strategise, share advice, give warnings, show love and gossip amongst themselves. Animal Languages will reveal this surprising hidden social life and show you how to talk with the animals.

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Established by the leaders of the country’s only successful slave revolt in the mid-nineteenth century, Cross River still evokes the fierce rhythms of its founding. In lyrical prose and singular dialect, a saga beats forward that echoes the fables carried down for generations—like the screecher birds who swoop down for their periodic sacrifice, and the water women who lure men to wet deaths. Among its residents—wildly spanning decades, perspectives, and species—are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God’s last son; Tyrone, a ruthless PhD candidate, whose dissertation about a childhood game ignites mayhem in the neighboring, once-segregated town of Port Yooga; and Jim, an all-too-obedient robot who serves his Master. As the book builds to its finish with Special Topics in Loneliness Studies, a fully-realized novella, two unhinged professors grapple with hugely different ambitions, and the reader comes to appreciate the intricacy of the world Scott has created—one where fantasy and reality are eternally at war. Contemporary and essential, The World Doesn’t Require You is a “leap into a blazing new level of brilliance” (Lauren Groff) that affirms Rion Amilcar Scott as a writer whose storytelling gifts the world very much requires.

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Scoundrels, Cads, and Other Great Artists examines the lives of 12 great artists who were less than exemplary human beings in their lives outside of their art. It explores the question, “Why do we like magnificent art from artists who were awful human beings?” For example, the great Baroque painter, Caravaggio, who developed the chiaroscuro style of painting, was in constant trouble with the law, even having killed a man in a dual. Frederick Remington, the great painter of the American West, was an incredible racist and bigot. His evocative paintings of native Americans on the trail on horseback give no hint of Remington’s enmity toward them or other ethnic groups in America. John James Audubon? He mostly shot the birds he painted; if in doing so, he damaged a part that he wanted to paint, he shot another one. Whistler and Courbet were philanderers and libertines. Scoundrels introduces people to great art by showing the more salacious side of the personal lives of great artists over time. The book not only tells the stories of a dozen artists, but explores how to look at art and the separation between art and artist. This lively narrative is enhanced by over 100 full-color reproductions of great paintings and details from them.

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A rollicking guided tour of one extraordinary summer, when some of the most pivotal and freakishly coincidental stories all collided and changed the way we think about modern sports The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sports when the nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. That summer also saw ESPN’s rise to media dominance as the country’s premier sports network and the first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry raged, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe reigned in tennis, and Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon made pro wrestling a business, while Donald Trump pierced the national consciousness as a pro football team owner. It was an awakening in the sports world, a moment when sports began to morph into the market-savvy, sensationalized, moneyed, controversial, and wildly popular arena we know today. In the tradition of Bill Bryson’s One Summer: America, 1927, L. Jon Wertheim captures these 90 seminal days against the backdrop of the nostalgia-soaked 1980s, to show that this was the year we collectively traded in our ratty Converses for a pair of sleek, heavily branded, ingeniously marketed Nikes. This was the year that sports went big-time.

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How can the tracks of dinosaurs best be interpreted and used to reconstruct them? In many Mesozoic sedimentary rock formations, fossilized footprints of bipedal, three-toed (tridactyl) dinosaurs are preserved in huge numbers, often with few or no skeletons. Such tracks sometimes provide the only clues to the former presence of dinosaurs, but their interpretation can be challenging: How different in size and shape can footprints be and yet have been made by the same kind of dinosaur? How similar can they be and yet have been made by different kinds of dinosaurs? To what extent can tridactyl dinosaur footprints serve as proxies for the biodiversity of their makers?Profusely illustrated and meticulously researched, Noah's Ravens quantitatively explores a variety of approaches to interpreting the tracks, carefully examining within-species and across-species variability in foot and footprint shape in nonavian dinosaurs and their close living relatives. The results help decipher one of the world's most important assemblages of fossil dinosaur tracks, found in sedimentary rocks deposited in ancient rift valleys of eastern North America. Those often beautifully preserved tracks were among the first studied by paleontologists, and they were initially interpreted as having been made by big birds—one of which was jokingly identified as Noah's legendary raven.

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Introduce children to nature in the Northeast through fun activities and hands-on science projects. With 11 states, four distinct seasons, and a wide range of habitats, plants, and animals, the Northeast is a wonderful region for getting outside and discovering nature. There is so much to see and appreciate—even in your backyard or at a nearby park. Teach your children to love and protect the great outdoors. This workbook by naturalist Susan D. Schenck features more than 20 simple, fun introductions to astronomy, birds, geology, and more. Plus, over a dozen activities help kids to make hypotheses, experiment, and observe. The 19 hands-on science projects—such as raising native caterpillars, making mushroom spore prints, and attracting moths with an ultraviolet light—put students in control of their own learning! You never know what your children will uncover in their outdoor classroom. Every day is a little treasure hunt. If they keep good records and share what they find, their observations can even help scientists learn more about nature in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. So get the Backyard Science & Discovery Workbook: Northeast, and get started on a lifetime of discovery.

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The daughter of millionaire racing driver, Woolf Barnato, and grand-daughter of Barney Barnato who co-founded the De Beers mining company, by 1936 Diana had had enough of her affluent, chaperoned existence and sought excitement in flying, soloing at Brooklands after only six hours’ training. She has followed her own instincts ever since. Joining the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1941 to help ferry aircraft to squadrons and bases throughout the country, she flew scores of different aircraft – fighters, bombers, and trainers – in all kinds of conditions and without radio it has to be remembered. She lost many friends, a fiancé and a husband before 1945 but continued to fly. In 1962 she was awarded the Jean Lennox Bird Trophy for notable achievement in aviation and then – her greatest moment – in 1963 flew a Lightning through the sound barrier becoming ‘the fastest woman in the world’. She was awarded the MBE in 1965. Her remarkable memoirs, lauded when first published in hardback, are now available in paperback. Brimming with adventure, anecdotes and famous names, the book makes compelling reading. It is the story of a very special woman who, now in her eighties, continues to live life to the full from her home in Surrey.

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It is exactly like Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid . . . ” Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey—an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx. Ms. Holland narrates the details and arc of each story, and also offers insights into why—how the young leopard, probably motherless, sought maternal comfort with the calf, and how a baby oryx inspired the same mothering instinct in the lionness. Or, in the story of Kizzy, a nervous retired Greyhound, and Murphy, a red tabby, how cats and dogs actually understand each other’s body language. With Murphy’s friendship and support, Kizzy recovered from life as a racing dog and became a confident, loyal family pet.These are the most amazing friendships between species, collected from around the world and documented in a selection of full-color candid photographs.

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"The Bird is Her ReasonThere are some bodies that emergeinto desire as a godrises from the sea, emotion andmemory hang like dripping clothes - thiswant is likeentering that heated redon the mouth of a Delacroix lion,stalwart, always that redwhich makesmy teeth ache and my skin feela hand that has never touched me,the tree groaning outside becomesa man who knocks on my bedroom window,edge of red on gold fur,the horse, the wildflip of its head, the rake of clawsacross its back, the unfocussed,swallowed eye.""Rare High Meadow of Which I Might Dream" is a book haunted by the afterlife of medieval theology and literature yet grounded in distinctly modern quandaries of desire. Connie Voisine's female speakers reverberate with notes of Marie de France's tragic heroines, but whereas Marie's poems are places where women's longings quickly bloom and die in captivity - in towers and dungeons - Voisine uses narrative to suspend the movement of storytelling. For Voisine, poems are occasions for philosophical wanderings, extended lyrics that revolve around the binding and unbinding of desire, with lonely speakers struggling with the impetus of wanting as well as the necessity of a love affair's end. With fluency, intelligence, and deeply felt emotional acuity, "Rare High Meadow of Which I Might Dream" navigates the heady intersection of obsessive love and searing loss.

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Meet Flavia: Mystery Solver. Master Poisoner. 11 Years Old.England 1950. At Buckshaw, the crumbling country seat of the de Luce family, very-nearly-eleven-year-old Flavia is plotting revenge on her older sisters.Then a dead bird is left on the doorstep, which has an extraordinary effect on Flavia's eccentric father, and a body is found in the garden. As the police descend on Buckshaw, Flavia decides to do some investigating of her own.Praise for the historical Flavia de Luce mysteries:'The Flavia de Luce novels are now a cult favourite' Mail on Sunday'A cross between Dodie Smith's I Capture The Castle and the Addams family...delightfully entertaining' GuardianFans of M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin, Frances Brody and Alexander McCall Smith will enjoy the Flavia de Luce mysteries:1. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag3. A Red Herring Without Mustard4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows5. Speaking From Among the Bones6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches7. As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust8. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd9. The Grave's a Fine and Private PlaceIf you're looking for a cosy crime series to keep you hooked then look no further than the Flavia de Luce mysteries.* Each Flavia de Luce mystery can be read as a standalone or in series order *

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Here’s how to create delicious jerky with instructive step-by-step photos that take you through the process. You’ll learn how to utilize more than forty flavorful marinades to create a range of flavors, including Caribbean marinade, sweet beer marinade, and much more.There is nothing like savory, chewy jerky to satisfy a hunger craving. This delicious treat has seen a resurgence as more and more people have been returning to the basics and adopting a self-sufficient lifestyle. Not only is homemade jerky much less expensive than the packaged kind, but it’s also surprisingly simple to make, and it’s much more flavorful. This incredibly hardy food has stood the test of time, and it’s not hard to see why—it lasts long, tastes great, and travels well.In addition, readers will learn how to identify the best cuts for jerky, the process behind preparing it, the different types of equipment available for drying jerky, and how the process has changed over the years. Kate Fiduccia offers a wide range of jerky recipes covering beef, pork, chicken, venison, turkey, game birds, and fish. Enjoy more than fifty recipes, such as: Aloha jerky Fast and easy teriyaki jerky Honey Lola sweet venison jerky Brian’s hot-to-trot venison jerky On the range jerky Skip the junk food and start enjoying this delicious snack today!

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CLICHÉ: nounEtymology: French, literally, printer's stereotype, from past participle of clichér, to stereotype, of imitative originDate: 18921 : a trite phrase or expression; also : the idea expressed by it2 : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation3 : something that has become overly familiar or commonplace In the words of Stephen Fry, “It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue.” Clichés are like rationalizations: try going a week without using one. It can't be done! They are the hobgoblin of little minds. For most of us, once you begin to take notice, they are fingernails on a chalkboard.From Shakespeare to Shakira; in music, on television, at the movies; in the boardroom, on a conference call, online or in person, clichés have taken over the world. While some nitwits might say they're just misunderstood, they didn't start out that way. There was a time when they were new and vibrant, clever and pithy. Now they're just predictable—a vapid collection of much-too-familiar descriptions or metaphors that often replace smart conversation, speech, or writing.This book is a collection of the most overused phrases of all time. Hopefully, it'll make you laugh. Hopefully, it'll make them think. And at the end of the day, if the early bird catches the worm and the slow and steady win the race . . . Please . . . kill . . . me . . . now.

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The Flying Man – Otto Lilienthal, the World’s First Pilot Here is the little-known history of Otto Lilienthal, a daring man whose more than 2,000 successful flights inspired the Wright Brothers and other aviation pioneers. In 1862, balloons were the only way to reach the sky. But 14-year-old Otto Lilienthal didn’t want to fly in balloons. He wanted to soar like a bird. Scientists, teachers, and news reporters everywhere said flying was impossible. Otto and his brother Gustav desperately wanted to prove them wrong, so they made their own wings and tried to take flight. The brothers quickly crashed, but this was just the beginning for Otto, who would spend the next 30 years of his life sketching, re-sketching, and building gliders. Over time, Otto’s flights got longer. His control got better. He learned the tricks and twists of the wind. His flights even began to draw crowds. By the time of his death at age 48, Otto had made more than 2,000 successful glider flights. He was the first person in history to spend this much time in the air, earning the title of the world’s first pilot and paving the way for future aviation pioneers. Beautifully illustrated - this books will absorb you into the story with fascination, excitement and ease!

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Blom’s hypothesis is forceful, and has the potential to be both frightening and, if you hold it up to the light at just the right angle, a little optimistic. The idea can be put like this: climate change changes everything' John Lanchester, New Yorker In this innovative and compelling work of environmental history, Philipp Blom chronicles the great climate crisis of the 1600s, a crisis that would transform the entire social and political fabric of Europe. While hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, by the end of the sixteenth century the temperature plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbours were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and ‘frost fairs’ were erected on a frozen Thames – with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city. Recounting the deep legacy and sweeping consequences of this ‘Little Ice Age’, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had ineradicably changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, Blom brilliantly shows how they also gave rise to the growth of European cities, the appearance of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment. A sweeping examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature’s Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.

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A beautifully illustrated and informative anthology of coastal wildlife throughout the year. They say that no one in the British Isles lives more than an hour or two from the coast, a coastline of contrasts with scenery that changes from estuaries, shingle beaches, saltmarshes and sand dunes, to rocky shores, rugged cliffs, machair and bustling harbours. Our shores are teeming with wildlife, be it in the water, on the tideline, clinging to cliffs or in the skies above them, and this beautiful book you can learn more about familiar and favourite coastal species and some intriguing lesser-known marine creatures. Season by season, Celia Lewis's wonderful illustrations show the flowers, birds, animals, fish and insects found at that time of year. Her craft projects, using driftwood, pebbles and shells, are suitable for all ages and will encourage you to put beachcombed mementos to surprising uses. Or get creative with food and work some foraged ingredients into tasty recipes by Celia and many of our best seafood chefs. We all love spending time near the water's edge, so next time you feel like stretching your legs along a coastal path, fancy a day trip to the seaside or are planning balmy summer holidays, dip into An Illustrated Coastal Year and be inspired by the incredible diversity of wildlife to be found around our little archipelago.

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Kathryn Cowles’s Maps and Transcripts of the Ordinary World is a collection that lingers in memory and place, in the unsettled distance between reality and its transcriptions. “I take seven photographs turning / in a circle, a panorama, / but how will I place them hanging / on a wall back home? Something already slipping,” Cowles writes. These poems surround a central question: how much of a moment is captured by the mechanisms we use to describe it? How much of the shore, the birds, the feeling? In pursuit of an answer, Cowles leads readers through a sequence of distinct landscapes (islands, plains, mountains, oceans) with both traditional lyricism and the playful refrains of a speaker fixated on the dilemma of representation. “Holy photograph. Holy actual world. Equal sign equal sign equal sign.” Maps and Transcripts of the Ordinary World both puzzles over and embraces the valley between literature and lived experience. Along the way, Cowles’s language is light but recursive, rotating around beloved places: a new house, a garden, a seemingly endless plane ride, a battery-operated spit of lamb, a photograph of a battery-operated spit of lamb, dogs, Sue, Ohio. This collection defamiliarizes and refamiliarizes the “actual world,” while navigating toward the clear and substantial stuff of living. Arresting on both visual and textual levels, Maps and Transcripts of the Ordinary World is executed with the utmost intelligence, humility, and tenderness.

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THE HEART-WARMING AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY BARBARA WINDSOR CHRONICLING HER EARLY CHILDHOOD IN LONDON'S EAST END TO RECEIVING A DBE IN 2000'A whopping, no-holds-barred rollercoaster of a book' Mail on Sunday`Barbara Windsor emerges from these pages as a personality both strong and sunny' Sunday TelegraphBorn in the East End of London just before the war, Barbara Windsor made her first stage appearance at the age of 13. From her early roles as the original Carry On dolly bird to her longest role as Peggy Mitchell in the award-winning BBC drama EastEnders, her spectacular success in theatre, film and TV has made her a British icon - the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match.Here, for the first time, she talks in depth about the people and events that have shaped her career: her lonely childhood, her doomed marriage to Ronnie Knight, her legendary affairs, how she never let her fans down whatever her personal anguish. This is the heart-warming story of a courageous woman and consummate performer who has always made sure the show goes on.'By living up to its title alone it makes a nonsense of every other showbiz bleat 'n' brag ever put to paper' Julie Burchill'Infinitely more interesting than the sentimental schmaltz we have read about her before' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph

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Delve into new and unique embroidery designs inspired by botanicals and nature and created by well-known and well-respected Japanese needlecraft artist Yanase Rei. Readers can capture the flowers, greenery, and animals found in their gardens, their neighborhoods, and their imaginations by stitching these embroidered botanical designs. Some bright, some dark, some richly complex like brocade, some simple and joyful—all the moods of the garden are offered here. The rich, multilayered designs from well-known needlework artist yanase rei are at last available beyond her native Japan. Experienced embroiders and crafters new to embroidery will love these inspiring new designs. Twenty-nine embroidery patterns, including colorful, pastel, beige, or black flowers; flowers combined with beads; animals, birds, and fish; leaves and greenery Six complete projects—bow ties, hatbands, bookmarks, brooches, hairbands, and clutch purses Techniques for creating framed embroidered artwork, embroidering on clothing, and selecting the best colors for their own personal embroidery gardens using single- or multiple-floss embroidery methods A complete list of tools and materials necessary for creating stunning nature-inspired embroidery Readers can use the patterns, techniques, and projects found in these pages to recreate rei's designs and then use them as a jumping off point to create lush and exciting embroidery gardens of their own.

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After the phenomenal success of The Storm Whale and On Sudden Hill, this new book by Benji Davies deals with the emotional topic of losing a grandparent. Subtly told, this beautifully illustrated book tackles a difficult subject with great sensitivity and depth.At the bottom of Syd’s garden, through the gate and past the tree, is Grandad’s house. Syd can let himself in any time he likes. But one day when Syd comes to call, Grandad isn’t in any of the usual places. He’s in the attic, where he ushers Syd through a door, and the two of them journey to a wild, beautiful island awash in color where Grandad decides he will remain. So Syd hugs Grandad one last time and sets sail for home. Visiting Grandad’s house at the bottom of the garden again, he finds it just the same as it’s always been — except that Grandad isn’t there anymore. Sure to provide comfort to young children struggling to understand loss, Benji Davies’s tale is a sensitive and beautiful reminder that our loved ones live on in our memories long after they’re gone.Books from the World of the Storm Whale: The Storm WhaleThe Storm Whale in WinterGrandma BirdAlso by Benji Davies: On Sudden Hill, written by Linda SarahWhen the Dragons Came, written by Naomi Kefford and Lynne MooreJump on Board the Animal Train, written by Naomi Kefford and Lynne Moore

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We feel therefore we are. Conscious sensations ground our sense of self. They are essential to our idea of ourselves as psychic beings: present, existent, and mattering. But is it only humans who feel this way? Do other animals? Will future machines? To answer these questions we need a scientific understanding of consciousness: what it is and why it has evolved. Nicholas Humphrey has been researching these issues for fifty years. In this extraordinary book, weaving together intellectual adventure, cutting-edge science, and his own breakthrough experiences, he tells the story of his quest to uncover the evolutionary history of consciousness: from his discovery of blindsight after brain damage in monkeys, to hanging out with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, to becoming a leading philosopher of mind. Out of this, he has come up with an explanation of conscious feeling - 'phenomenal consciousness' - that he presents here in full for the first time. Building on this theory of how phenomenal consciousness is generated in the human brain, he turns to the morally crucial question of whether it exists in non-human creatures. His conclusions, on the evidence as it stands, are radical. Contrary to both popular and much scientific opinion, he argues that phenomenal consciousness is a relatively recent evolutionary innovation, present only in warm-blooded creatures, mammals and birds. Invertebrates, such as octopuses and bees, for all their intelligence, are in this respect unfeeling zombies. And for now, but not necessarily for ever, so are man-made machines.

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Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by award-winning director Guillermo del Toro. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a 'haunting'; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers - and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1919. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story 'The Lottery', which was published in 1948. Her novels - which include The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House - are characterised by her use of realistic settings for tales that often involve elements of horror and the occult. Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are her two works of nonfiction. Come Along With Me is a collection of stories, lectures, and part of the novel she was working on when she died in 1965.

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'Jane Urqhuart charts the restless weather of the human heart in the same observant, inventive way the ancient Greeks mapped the constellations.' Washington Post A magnificent, elegiac novel of intersecting memories that explores the meaning of separation and reunion, the sorrows of fractured families, and the profound effect of Ireland's harshly beautiful landscape on lives lived in solitude After a tragic accident leaves Tamara alone on the most westerly tip of Ireland, she begins an affair with a charismatic meteorologist named Niall. It’s the 1950s, and Tamara has settled into civilian life after working as an auxiliary pilot in World War II. At first her romance is filled with passionate secrecy, but when Niall’s younger brother, Kieran, disappears after a bicycle race, Niall, unable to shake the idea that he may be to blame, slowly falls into despondency. Distraught and abandoned after their decade-long relationship, Tamara decides she has no option but to leave. Jane Urquhart’s mesmerizing novel opens as Tamara makes her way from Ireland to New York. During a layover in Gander, Newfoundland, a fog moves in, grounding her plane and stranding her in front of the airport’s mural. As she gazes at the nutcracker-like children, missile-shaped birds, and fruit blossoms, she revisits the circumstances that brought her to Ireland and the family entanglement that has forced her into exile. Slowly she interweaves her life story with Kieran’s as she searches for the truth about Niall.

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A memoir of motherhood and marriage that will make you laugh and cry - and then laugh again 'This is the sort of book that made me want to be the person who wrote it. Pithy, painful and very, very funny' Emma Thompson '[A] mix of comedy and emotion that makes up this warm and intimate memoir ... This is a funny, affectionate memoir about being an unconventional parent' Daily Mail Julia Sweeney was nearing forty, and quite famous, when she got on a flight to China to turn her life upside down. She had a flourishing career as a comedienne and performer, ample friends and admirers, but what she didn’t have was a child and, after a string of non-committal boyfriends, she decided to adopt alone. Mulan was one-and-a-half years old when she met her new mother, and every bit as feisty as the Disney character (whom she was emphatically not named for). If It's Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother is the story of this unexpected mother-daughter pair who eventually became – to Julia’s astonishment and in a hilariously unconventional way – a mother-daughter-father trio. From being mistaken for her daughter’s grandmother to her tragically short-lived belief that knitting a man a sweater will make him commit to you, Julia’s memoir is at once hilarious, poignant, provocative and wise. It is a story of adoption, Hollywood, dogs, death, marriage, Santa Claus, race and religion, the birds, the bees (and the frogs…) and everything else along the way.

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Animal Welfare An Accessible Overview of the Concept of Sentience Throughout the Animal Kingdom and Why It Matters to Humans Animal Welfare explores the concept of sentience and the development of sentient minds throughout the animal kingdom. The work provides improved definitions and analysis of the ideas of sentience, cognition, and consciousness, along with evidence of advanced mental formulation in birds, fish, and invertebrates. Considerations between humans and animals are also discussed, such as outcome-based ethics in relation to humans’ duties of care and the rights and wrongs of domestication. The work is divided into three parts and covers key topics such as: Specifics of animal sentience, from pain and suffering, to fear and dread, all the way to animals’ social life and the comfort/joy/hope/despair they experience What we know about the sentience of different classes of animals in the waters, air, savannah/plains, and forests Considerations on human interactions based on animal sentience, including death (killing), animal farms, animals in laboratories, wild animals in captivity, and animals in sports and entertainment Analysis on what humans can learn from animals based on what we know about their varying levels of sentience Animal Welfare serves as an invaluable analysis of animal sentience for students, teachers, and professionals directly involved in the study, teaching, and applications of animal behavior, motivation, and welfare. Thanks to the wide-ranging implications of animal sentience, the work will also appeal to everyone with a broader interest in animal behavior and human/animal interactions.

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