Search results for ""spark""

21st Century Communication, Second Edition, a four-level series, presents big ideas from TED and National Geographic Explorers to engage students in English. Each unit explores one idea from different angles to prompt students to think critically and express their own opinions, while teaching the skills needed to communicate with confidence. Through inspiring models of effective communication, students develop essential listening and speaking skills to achieve academic success for the 21st century.

Read more less

"A marvelous invitation to anyone with an interest in creativity, invention, and design." (Michael Bierut) This colorful, handy card deck presents fifty-two exercises and activities to jump-start your creative juices, free you from creative block, start a new project, or finish an existing one. Each exercise offers insight into the innumerable small decisions involved in design: How to establish a pattern, continue a series, how to say it without words, how to name a project, what fits, and what doesn’t? These cards benefit established practicing designers or creatives in any field with activities that are sometimes playful, sometimes challenging, but always enlightening. Each activity is estimated to take 15 minutes.

Read more less

Pathways is a best-selling, five-level academic skills series that combines highly visual, real-world content and rigorous language instruction to help students develop the skills, language, and critical thinking they need for academic success. Exploring academic topics through authentic videos, photos, and infographics, students connect to ideas while building academic competence skills through collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. Pathways helps students to improve the academic and interpersonal skills needed to succeed in and out of the classroom.

Read more less

Environmental organizing in Beijing emerged in an unlikely place in the 2000s: new gated residential communities. After rapid population growth and housing construction led to a ballooning trash problem and overflowing landfills, many first-time homeowners found their new neighborhoods facing an unappetizing prospect—waste incinerator projects slated for their backyards.Delving into the online and offline conversations of communities affected by the proposed incinerators, A Spark in the Smokestacks demonstrates how a rising middle class acquires the capacity for organizing in an authoritarian context. Jean Yen-chun Lin examines how urban residents create civic life through everyday associational activities—learning to defend property rights, fostering participation, and mobilizing to address housing-related grievances. She shows that homeowners cultivated petitioning skills, informational networks, and community leadership, which they would later deploy against incinerator projects. To interact with government agencies, they developed citizen science–based tactics, a middle-class alternative to disruptive protests. Homeowners drew on their professional connections, expertise, and fundraising capabilities to produce reports that boosted their legitimacy in city-level dialogue. Although only one of the three incinerator projects Lin follows was ultimately canceled, some communities established durable organizations that went on to tackle other environmental problems.Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and ethnography, A Spark in the Smokestacks casts urban Chinese communities as “schools of democracy,” in which residents learn civic skills and build capacity for collective organizing. Through compelling case studies of local activism, this book sheds new light on the formation of civil society and social movements more broadly.

Read more less

Explore Meta Spark Studio, a program used for augmented reality (AR) effect creation and deployment across multiple social media channels. This beginner’s guide to AR development focuses on practical, project-based learning — no prior coding or design experience is required.You will start by learning the fundamentals of AR as a whole and become familiar with key terminology and core concepts, building a baseline understanding of the technology overall.Using that foundational knowledge, you’ll embark on step-by-step tutorials and get hands-on with building AR effects. Projects include selfie effects that react to facial expressions and target tracking effects that respond to images detected in the real-world environment. You’ll also learn how to create an entire AR game, including animations and scoring.Along the way, you’ll learn techniques for how to customize each one of these projects to fit your own unique vision. Additionally, you’ll become familiar with the ways to publish and share these creations with others.With access to this technology being available in nearly every smartphone, the world of AR is expanding every day. Now is a great time to tell your creative story through this new medium.You will:• Create a face tracking project that reacts to facial expressions• Build a target tracking project that responds to images in the real world• Develop a complete AR game with animations and scoring• Customize project templates with alternative assets and parameters• Understand how to package these effects for official publishing through social media platformsWho is this book for:This book is ideal for students, educators, creatives, small-business owners, or anyone else interested in creating immersive AR experiences for social networking platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. No coding or design experience is required.

Read more less

From popular Christian voices Lisa Jacobson and Phylicia Masonheimer, The Flirtation Experiment inspires you to strengthen your marriage with a fun, unexpected approach that leads to the depth, richness, and closeness you desire. Romance novels, Hallmark movies . . . the immense demand for romantic stories reveals a deep, unsatisfied longing that can be found in many marriages, but does it have to be that way? Is it possible that the best marriage has to offer can grow, rather than fade after you say “I do”? Lisa and Phylicia say, “Absolutely yes!” So what is the secret to a happy, thriving, loving marriage, where the fire of romance and close friendship do not fade? While The Flirtation Experiment includes the frisky side of marriage, it’s far more than a good romp. By degrees, each chapter takes you to a deeper place, covering themes every beautiful marriage has in common, such as covenant, healing, and hope. After reading The Flirtation Experiment, wives will be filled with hope and encouragement for how they can make a powerful, positive change in their marriages, become empowered to pursue their husbands romantically, understand the Bible invites women to be proactive in their marriages, be motivated to consistently love in creative ways, and forge closeness and intimacy in their marriages. “Intentional flirting keeps a positive lightness in the atmosphere and improves our overall communication,” says Jacobson. “My light flirtations bring us closer in meaningful ways and lead to connection on a deeper level. It helps us discover true romance waiting for us in everyday situations.” Perfect for the wife who wants romance, passion, and the closeness that only comes from a deep heart connection but isn’t sure where to start, The Flirtation Experiment is a candid, real-life record of two Christian women from different seasons of life who discovered they could make a significant impact on their marriage relationships, one small flirtatious experiment at a time.Readers can go deeper by using The Flirtation Experiment Workbook.

Read more less

Twelve mind-blowing Minecraft builds to spark your imagination.Epic Bases contains twelve mind-blowing builds to inspire you to construct the most incredible bases in Minecraft. There's a glittering ice palace, an ancient mummy's tomb, a floating scientist's laboratory and an entire kingdom of sweets, plus many more. Each build is presented to you by its builder – a construction expert eager to share their tips with you. As well as learning how to choose blocks and construct amazing builds, you'll also learn some excellent pro builder tips like how to terraform the landscape. Try our indispensable handbooks for your Minecraft journey:Minecraft Redstone Handbook 978 0008495992Minecraft Survival Handbook 978 0755503452Minecraft Creative Handbook 978 0755500413Minecraft Combat Handbook 978 0755500420Minecraft Explorers Handbook 9780008608507Minecraft Legends Handbook 978 0008595012 Brilliant books full of inspiration:Minecraft Bite Size Builds: 978 0755500406Minecraft Amazing Bite Size Builds: 978 0008495954Minecraft Super Bite Size Builds 978 0008534127Minecraft Epic Inventions 978 0008496012 Perfect Gifts:Minecraft Maps 978 1405294546Minecraft Blockopedia 978 0755500390 Sticker, humour and activity:Minecraft Survival Sticker Book 978 1405288552Minecraft Sticker Adventure Treasure Hunt 978 0755503582Minecraft Sticker Adventure Mobs Attack 978 0008533953Minecraft Joke Book 978 1405295253Minecraft How to Draw 978 0008534028Minecraft Would You Rather 978 0008534028Minecraft Catch the Creeper 978 0755503575

Read more less

Learn how to build end-to-end scalable machine learning solutions with Apache Spark. With this practical guide, author Adi Polak introduces data and ML practitioners to creative solutions that supersede today's traditional methods. You'll learn a more holistic approach that takes you beyond specific requirements and organizational goals--allowing data and ML practitioners to collaborate and understand each other better. Scaling Machine Learning with Spark examines several technologies for building end-to-end distributed ML workflows based on the Apache Spark ecosystem with Spark MLlib, MLflow, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. If you're a data scientist who works with machine learning, this book shows you when and why to use each technology. You will: Explore machine learning, including distributed computing concepts and terminology Manage the ML lifecycle with MLflow Ingest data and perform basic preprocessing with Spark Explore feature engineering, and use Spark to extract features Train a model with MLlib and build a pipeline to reproduce it Build a data system to combine the power of Spark with deep learning Get a step-by-step example of working with distributed TensorFlow Use PyTorch to scale machine learning and its internal architecture

Read more less

Spark was previously published as Bored and Brilliant.'Crammed with practical exercises for anyone who wants to reclaim the power of spacing out' - Gretchen Rubin, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller The Happiness ProjectIt’s time to move ‘doing nothing’ to the top of your to-do list Have you ever noticed how you have your best ideas when doing the dishes or staring out the window? It's because when your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy connecting ideas and solving problems.However in the modern world it often feels as though we have completely removed boredom from our lives; we are addicted to our phones, we reply to our emails twenty-four hours a day, tweet as we watch TV, watch TV as we commute, check Facebook as we walk and Instagram while we eat. Constant stimulation has become our default mode. In this easy to follow, practical book, award-winning journalist Manoush Zomorodi explores the connection between boredom and original thinking, and will show you how to ditch your screens and start embracing time spent doing nothing. Spark will help you unlock the way to becoming your most productive and creative self.'Full of easy steps to make each day more effective' - Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

Read more less

Instead of drill-and-practice apps and worksheets, what if technology enabled exploration of math concepts? Instead of screens for disconnected individual learning, what if technology fostered mathematical discourse and collaboration? Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching mathematics, what if we used technology to differentiate to meet students’ diverse needs? Technology has the power and potential to support the teaching and learning of math content at all grade levels, but the presence of technology is insufficient unless it’s paired with effective teaching practices and meaningful content. This book poses and unpacks the above questions and many more, with detailed classroom examples to illustrate practical strategies for integrating technology in the K-5 math classroom, highlighting opportunities to amplify and transform mathematics teaching through strategic technology use.

Read more less

The Red Book is nothing less than a spiritual fire starter -- a combustible cocktail of Hindu Tantra and Zen Buddhism, Rumi and Carl Jung, goddesses and psychics, shaken with cosmic nudges, meaningful subway rides, haircuts, relationships, sex, dreams, and intuition. Author Sera Beak's unique hybrid perspective, hilarious personal anecdotes, and invaluable exercises encourage her readers to live more consciously so they can start making clearer choices across the board, from careers to relationships, politics to pop culture and everything in between. For smart, gutsy, spiritually curious women whose colorful and complicated lives aren’t reflected in most spirituality books, The Red Book is an open invitation to find your true self and start sharing that delicious truth with the world.

Read more less

Chatting with colleagues at the coffee machine is easy enough. Talking to a new colleague is a little less easy. Having an in-depth conversation with someone you do not know, is anything but easy. And, if that someone is either half your age or twice as old, it becomes difficult. This game turns that task into a joyful experience. Lay Your Cards on The Table consists of 60 cards with conversation starters. Choose questions from 3 different categories and you will be having great conversations in no time. You can play this game with 2 people or more. You can start the conversation by randomly asking or answering some of the questions or, if you need some more guidance, you can use the game rules. Although in the end, there really is just one rule: Whatever is discussed on the table, stays there!

Read more less

Includes interviews with Gail Rebuck (CEO of Penguin Random House), Sir John Hegarty (Founder of BBH) and Stuart Murphy (Director of Entertainment Channels atSky) Def: Spark (n) - an elusive moment when a new idea strikes that has the potential to transform the way you do business. Big or small, new ideas are the lifeblood of all successful businesses. They are responsible for higher profits, quicker growth and game-changing innovations. But how do you foster a creative culture, nurture new ideas and manage the people behind the electricity? The Spark answers these questions and more, unravelling the mystique around business creativity and offering 10 practical steps to building an innovative team and becoming an inspiring creative leader.

Read more less

Stay wild and free There’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored. Spark your wanderlust with this little book, packed with beautiful quotes and affirmations from the world’s greatest travellers and adventurers, and be inspired to dream, explore and discover!

Read more less

'A wonderful book' Bill Bryson'Ashcroft achieves the sort of rich simplicity most science writers can only dream about ... this book carries the eponymous spark of life' Sunday Telegraph From before birth to the last breath we draw, from consciousness to sexual attraction, fighting infection to the beating of our hearts, electricity is essential to everything we think and do.In The Spark of Life award-winning physiologist Frances Ashcroft reveals the secrets of ion channels, which produce the electrical signals in our cells. Can someone really die of fright? How do cocaine, LSD and morphine work? Why do chilli peppers taste hot? Ashcroft explains all this and more with wit and clarity. Anyone who has ever wondered about what makes us human will find this book a revelation.'A rare gift for making difficult subjects accessible and fascinating' Bill Bryson 'She communicates complex science with engaging passion and eloquence' Helen Dunmore, Observer'Compelling and very readable, an excellent writer' Literary Review'Riveting ... she has a stock of good tales' New Scientist'Lively, conversational prose, refreshingly accessible to any lay reader ... a positively charged little book' Daily TelegraphFrances Ashcroft is Professor of Physiology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Trinity College Oxford. She is also Director of OXION, a consortium of scientists studying ion channels, the heroes of this book. Her scientific research focuses on how a rise in your blood sugar level stimulates the release of insulin and what why this process goes wrong in diabetes. She has won many prizes for her research, most recently the L'Oreal/UNESCO 2012 Women in Science award. She is also a recipient of the Lewis Thomas Prize for Science Writing for The Spark of Life. Her first book for the general reader was Life at the Extremes: The Science of Survival.

Read more less

Blaze a new path. The latest addition to the popular Spark box series, this inspiring journal will lead you to new discoveries and give you a place to record them along your journey. Let adventure lead the way, and capture it all in these pages. Peppered with inspiring prompts and artwork throughout the interior, this journal will encourage you to explore and take adventurous paths as you record and reflect. With an exterior that shines with gilded page edges and foil-stamping all over, this journal is as handsome as it is inspiring.

Read more less

Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. They seek ways to understand and interact with their environment, often using digital tools to do so. Imagine a world where children’s curiosities are amplified -- helping them see the power of their thinking, perspective and voice. Spark Change examines the multitude of possibilities available when students are given the opportunity to amplify their learning online, centering on three ideas of citizenship: be a good person, be critical and be an advocate for something you care about in life. The book introduces readers to Liv, a young changemaker empowered to use digital tools to create and share content online. Liv’s story offers readers an opportunity to explore how students can use technology as a tool for empathy, equity and activism. Kids can’t become changemakers if they aren’t empowered to think beyond their own community. Liv’s online sense of agency serves as an example of maximizing opportunities, developing a powerful voice and making global connections that deepen her compassion for people and the world.Connected-learning opportunities help students develop key understandings about the world around them. This book shows how these understandings lead to social action, and how students develop a deeper sense of empathy and kindness from interacting with the world.

Read more less

Building a Better Path to Breakthrough, By Design Innovation is a process by which new ideas, services, and sources of value are brought to life. Yet approaches to the pursuit of innovation often rely on stale methodologies. Transformative innovation requires something else. Not just methodologies, but mindsets. Not just focusing on known challenges, but on unknown opportunities. Not just hoping for breakthrough by default, but realizing breakthrough by design. In The Breakthrough Manifesto, a renowned business innovation leader teams up with a social-personality psychologist to offer that something else—a collection of 10 visionary principles to obliterate barriers to change and ignite a whole new level of creative problem-solving. Drawing upon decades of experience working with the world’s best-known organizations and their teams, the authors provide practical advice that goes beyond “business as usual” for successfully tackling intractable challenges. They’ll show you how to: Silence your inner cynic and strip away old, fallacious assumptions as you embrace problem-solving anew Embrace experimentation, prototyping, and co-creation revealing new potential by making a mess together Challenge yourself and each other to test your own limits and expand your comfort zone Bursting with behavioral science, stories from the field, and pragmatic strategies, The Breakthrough Manifesto explores why these principles are critical for the current times and how they can spark breakthrough and unlock potential for you and your teams. Whether you’re an executive or manager, product or service designer, educator or student, this book is a must-read for anyone inspired to change the world or transform their own place in it.

Read more less

At some point today you will have to influence or persuade someone - perhaps ask a colleague a favour, negotiate with a contractor or get your spouse to put out the recycling. In The small BIG, three heavyweights from the world of persuasion science and practice - Steve Martin, Noah Goldstein and Robert Cialdini - describe how, in today's information-overloaded world, it is now the smallest changes that lead to the biggest differences in results. Offering deceptively simple suggestions and explaining the extensive scientific research behind them, the small BIG presents over fifty small changes - from the little adjustments that make meetings more effective to the costless alteration to correspondence that saved a government millions. the small BIG is full of surprising, powerful - and above all, tiny - changes that could mean the difference between failure and success.

Read more less

If you’re like most R users, you have deep knowledge and love for statistics. But as your organization continues to collect huge amounts of data, adding tools such as Apache Spark makes a lot of sense. With this practical book, data scientists and professionals working with large-scale data applications will learn how to use Spark from R to tackle big data and big compute problems. Authors Javier Luraschi, Kevin Kuo, and Edgar Ruiz show you how to use R with Spark to solve different data analysis problems. This book covers relevant data science topics, cluster computing, and issues that should interest even the most advanced users. Analyze, explore, transform, and visualize data in Apache Spark with R Create statistical models to extract information and predict outcomes; automate the process in production-ready workflows Perform analysis and modeling across many machines using distributed computing techniques Use large-scale data from multiple sources and different formats with ease from within Spark Learn about alternative modeling frameworks for graph processing, geospatial analysis, and genomics at scale Dive into advanced topics including custom transformations, real-time data processing, and creating custom Spark extensions

Read more less

Historically we have constructed our classrooms with the assumption that learning is a dry, staid affair best conducted in quiet tones and ruled by an unemotional consideration of the facts. The field of education, however, is beginning to awaken to the potential power of emotions to fuel learning, informed by contributions from psychology and neuroscience. In friendly, readable prose, Sarah Rose Cavanagh argues that if you as an educator want to capture your students' attention, harness their working memory, bolster their long-term retention, and enhance their motivation, you should consider the emotional impact of your teaching style and course design. To make this argument, she brings to bear a wide range of evidence from the study of education, psychology, and neuroscience, and she provides practical examples of successful classroom activities from a variety of disciplines in secondary and higher education.

Read more less

Encouraging children to let their imagination run wild, Emily K. Neuburger offers 40 inventive projects and activities that will inspire kids ages 5 to 12 to express themselves through storytelling. Younger children will love making story stones and a storytelling jar, while older kids will open up and thrive as they embark on guided story walks and inspiring journaling exercises. Sparking creativity while developing a child’s love of language, Show Me a Story will kindle a lifelong passion for both writing and telling original stories.

Read more less

Apache Spark's speed, ease of use, sophisticated analytics, and multilanguage support makes practical knowledge of this cluster-computing framework a required skill for data engineers and data scientists. With this hands-on guide, anyone looking for an introduction to Spark will learn practical algorithms and examples using PySpark. In each chapter, author Mahmoud Parsian shows you how to solve a data problem with a set of Spark transformations and algorithms. You'll learn how to tackle problems involving ETL, design patterns, machine learning algorithms, data partitioning, and genomics analysis. Each detailed recipe includes PySpark algorithms using the PySpark driver and shell script. With this book, you will: Learn how to select Spark transformations for optimized solutions Explore powerful transformations and reductions including reduceByKey(), combineByKey(), and mapPartitions() Understand data partitioning for optimized queries Build and apply a model using PySpark design patterns Apply motif-finding algorithms to graph data Analyze graph data by using the GraphFrames API Apply PySpark algorithms to clinical and genomics data Learn how to use and apply feature engineering in ML algorithms Understand and use practical and pragmatic data design patterns

Read more less

Refresh your approach to teaching reading comprehension with these original guided and whole-class reading activities for the primary classroom. Running out of ways to get children engaged in reading comprehension? Or are you looking to help reluctant readers discover the magic of books? This book is for you! Reading Recharged includes a wide range of creative ideas, top tips and photocopiable activities for KS1 and KS2, and covers all seven reading skills from the National Curriculum (vocabulary, inference, summarising, predicting, commentating, author choice and retrieval). Designed to spark a love of reading for pleasure, the activities range from an intriguing lie detection task for teaching characterisation to synonym snakes and ladders for practising word choices. Whether you're teaching whole-class guided reading or using the carousel format, this book provides advice on structuring your session, as well as tried-and-tested ways to run it successfully. Experienced primary teacher and literacy resource creator Alex Barton shares his top teaching activities to engage and enthuse young readers so you can teach reading with creativity and confidence.

Read more less

I could not ignore the tiny spark of hope that whispered to me that there might be someone with whom I could be vulnerable and real, and that this time they might just not let me down...This is the story of Alexia and her therapist Kim, and their three-year therapy journey to begin Alexia's path to recovery. Written from both perspectives, it is a powerful and revealing account of a therapist-client relationship. Together, the authors show the manifold challenges that adult survivors of childhood abuse have to overcome, and offer insight to all therapists on how relational interventions can pave a way to healing.

Read more less

A fresh look at electricity and its powerful role in life on EarthWhen we think of electricity, we likely imagine the energy humming inside our home appliances or lighting up our electronic devices—or perhaps we envision the lightning-streaked clouds of a stormy sky. But electricity is more than an external source of power, heat, or illumination. Life at its essence is nothing if not electrical.The story of how we came to understand electricity’s essential role in all life is rooted in our observations of its influences on the body—influences governed by the body’s central nervous system. Spark explains the science of electricity from this fresh, biological perspective. Through vivid tales of scientists and individuals—from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk—Timothy Jorgensen shows how our views of electricity and the nervous system evolved in tandem, and how progress in one area enabled advancements in the other. He explains how these developments have allowed us to understand—and replicate—the ways electricity enables the body’s essential functions of sight, hearing, touch, and movement itself.Throughout, Jorgensen examines our fascination with electricity and how it can help or harm us. He explores a broad range of topics and events, including the Nobel Prize–winning discoveries of the electron and neuron, the history of experimentation involving electricity’s effects on the body, and recent breakthroughs in the use of electricity to treat disease.Filled with gripping adventures in scientific exploration, Spark offers an indispensable look at electricity, how it works, and how it animates our lives from within and without.

Read more less

Yo-Yo Ma's ear for music emerged not long after he learned to walk. By the age of seven, he was performing for President Kennedy; by fifteen he debuted at Carnegie Hall. Maya Angelou, by contrast, didn't write her iconic memoir, I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings, until she was 40. What propels some individuals to reach extraordinary creative heights in the earliest years of life while others discover their passions decades later? Are prodigies imbued with innate talent? How often are midlife inspirations triggered by propitious events, like Julia Child's first French meal at the age of 36? Do late bloomers reveal their talents because their skills require life experience and contemplation? Through engaging storytelling and intriguing historical and cutting-edge scientific research, best-selling author and acclaimed journalist Claudia Kalb explores these questions to uncover what makes a prodigy and what drives a late bloomer. In this series of linked biographies, Kalb follows the journeys of thirteen remarkable individuals--from Shirley Temple to Alexander Fleming to Eleanor Roosevelt to Bill Gates--to discover the secrets behind their talents. Each possessed a unique arc of inspiration. Each--through science, art, music, theater, and politics--reached extraordinary success at different stages of life. And each offers us a chance to explore the genesis--and experience--of genius.

Read more less

Family entertainment in a box: Full of easy offline activities that will encourage connection and fun for all ages, this attention-grabbing and affordable box of prompts makes an excellent gift. It’s the gift of inspiration, with prompts and talking points that will get loved ones laughing, connecting, and playing together. Includes 50 faux matchsticks with printed prompts.Fans of Spark Creativity or Spark Happiness will love this gift. This gift is ideal for:• Parents• Family gatherings• Childcare workers• Gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day

Read more less

Discover Your Next Breakthrough Idea Every company starts with one idea—that one passion that keeps you up at night, gets you up every morning, and drives you to create something bigger than yourself.Turning an idea into a thriving business requires more than just passion. You'll need to think big, take risks, and be able to step back and recognize game-changing ideas that may already be in front of you. Those are your aha! moments.Business growth expert and serial entrepreneur Scott Duffy shares his journey and the aha! moments that led to launching and selling new businesses to innovators like Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Duffy also shares the stories of entrepreneurs who have turned their ideas into multi-million-dollar businesses, like Shaun White, Tony Robbins, Daymond John, and Gary Vaynerchuck, to help you: Be a nimble leader who makes quick buy smart decisions Unlock hidden gems in your business with the power of finding your "Why?" Apply growth strategies designed to scale your business in today's economy Build a positive company culture by bringing in the right people Determine which next step is right for your business after launch Create sustainability with efficient, effective processes Learn from your mistakes and turn failures into fortunes

Read more less

The global economy has an insatiable need for creative workers - to develop new products and services in a speeded-up hyper-competitive environment; to provide content for the exponentially growing mass media; to manage; and yet educate inform and pacify the expanding population. Yet creative workers themselves are subject to new forms of control and expropriation and many understand only too well the nature of the system they work under. What sort consciousness are they developing? Will they rebel? Is there an endless supply of geese to keep laying the golden eggs or might some decide to fly the coop and imagine how to create a better world?

Read more less

Get ready for all-new, original adventures with Hanazuki! These original chapter books are set within the timeline of the Hanazuki: Full of Treasures YouTube series, but they are not retellings of episodes. Each story invites fans to enjoy the colorful world of Hanazuki in a new format: two-color illustrations and vibrant packages that will catch the eye of every little Moonflower. Building upon the brand’s connection between emotion and color, each title in this planned four-book series highlights a specific emotion and color as Hanazuki learns more about herself and her world. Also Available: Hanazuki 2019 Wall Calendar (ISBN: 978-1-4197-3000-9)

Read more less

'A compelling first novel which I promise you won't be able to put down' Daisy Styles, bestselling author of The Bomb Girls Can her fight for the country fix her broken heart? A knock on the door early one morning wouldn't normally be cause for concern but it is 1941, Britain is at war, and Kitty Williams's fiancé Joe is far from home fighting Hitler with the Navy. As Kitty's heart is shattered into pieces hearing the news she had been dreading, resolve kicks in and she becomes more determined than ever to do her bit for the war effort. Signing up to the Women's Army is just the sort of challenge Kitty needs and on meeting new recruits Mary, Di and Peggy, she is happy to learn that the challenge won't be a lonely one. But it also won't be easy and when bombs start to fall on her home town of Coventry, and supposed allies turn against her, Kitty must find the strength she never knew she had to save her family, fix her broken heart and help her country to victory.The Spark Girl is an absorbing and poignant saga, perfect for fans of Daisy Styles, Kate Thompson and Ellie Dean. The second book in the series, The Spark Girl's Promise is now available for pre-order'a fabulous debut from an immensely talented author' Annie Groves'Ford gets to the heart of what it was like to live through the dangerous war years in this warm, captivating, down-to-earth story which is brimming with engaging characters, adventure, romance and heartbreak.' Lancashire Post 'Fiona Ford has written a charming and very appealing story...Kitty Williams is the girl we all want to be.' Swirl and Thread'an enjoyable read with a twist towards the end to keep the reader engaged until the next one!' Jera's Jamboree

Read more less

Kick start your creativity and become an even more effective leader by getting outdoors. Here’s how to ditch the boardroom and set off on adventures that might just change your thinking and enhance your leadership skills. Every successful business endeavour is born of a unique and innovative idea, and that in turn was born from the creative thinking of the people behind it. Then why is it the case that so many executives, founders and managers fail to actively develop and apply their creativity? The Creativity Factor clarifies how creativity is a key ingredient of effective leadership, before highlighting the strategies and approaches through which you can actively develop and cultivate your creative capabilities – not least of which is moving meetings and team-building exercises out of the office and into the great outdoors! Rather than being an unchangeable trait, creativity is an ability and skill that we can train and improve. But how do you develop a creative mind-set that will lead to success? Creativity doesn’t tend to come from inspired ‘flashes’, but from sustained periods of thought and effort. Through a combined effort of both the conscious and subconscious mind, much easier to encourage and develop in an outdoor setting, previously unseen connections are made and original ideas flourish. The Creativity Factor explores the scientific & practical evidence for entrepreneurial creativity, and explains the mechanisms, habits and techniques that help develop this skill. This uniquely holistic guide will provide you with a newfound awareness of your creative potential and how it can lead to business success. "Garry Pratt makes a compelling case to take our thinking outdoors as a simple but powerful way to free it from constraints." - Dimo Dimov, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Bath, UK "Outside thinking is powerful stuff... Enjoy this fantastic journey!" - João Perre Viana, Founder of Walking Mentorship

Read more less

Poetry Emotion contains a treasure trove of original poems to stimulate a child's observation and deep thinking; to affirm individuality and a sense of belonging; to express a myriad of feelings; and to develop meaningful skills for living. The 50 poems are organised under 12 value-based topics, providing an ideal vehicle to address social and emotional values at Key Stage 2. They can be used with great effect in Collective Worship, and readily related to English, PSHCE, SEAL and RE in the classroom. The poems in each section are offered with introductory suggestions for ways in which the topics can be unpacked. Topics include: Whose world? Who am I? Who is my neighbour? What's so special about the Bible? It's not fair! Getting on and falling out Going for goals New beginnings Saying no to bullying Good to be me Changes Self awareness Managing feelings Motivation Social skills Ideal for KS2 Collective Worship and SEAL

Read more less