Search results for ""Author Michael McCurdy""

Take your children back to 1910 for an old-fashioned New England summer in the country, complete with a July Fourth parade.Poet laureate Donald Hall (author of The Ox-Cart Man and other classics of country life) grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s farm in rural New Hampshire. It was there he milked cows, raised sheep, and heard stories about the past that are brought to life in this read-aloud picture book for young children.In that long-ago time, the biggest celebration of the year was the July Fourth celebration in Danbury, New Hampshire—complete with flags, marching bands, speeches, and ice cream. A trip to Boston, where toys could be bought for a penny apiece, was a major event. This is a piece of Americana that will bring readers—and listeners—back to a simpler time when pleasure came from making as much as buying, where politics were truly local, and when worth was determined by character, not price.Published in the same format and with the same delightful handcolored scratchboard illustrations by Michael McCurdy as Donald Hall’s Lucy’s Christmas, this is a wonderful way to share old-time summer traditions and history with your child.

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Share an old-fashioned New England Christmas with your children—back to a time when making the presents was far more satisfying than buying them.Lucy Wells likes planning ahead. In her quaint New England town the leaves have just begun to change, but Lucy is already thinking of Christmas. She begins to make presents for her family: a pincushion for her mother, a doll for her sister, and a pen-wiper for her best friend. For the whole family, her parents have ordered a new modern range stove. The days grow colder and shorter, the snow grows deeper, and everyone grows more excited. Finally, the day arrives Lucy and her family travel to the South Danbury Church on Christmas to exchange gifts, sing carols with the whole town, and perform in the Christmas pageant.Poet laureate Donald Hall (author of The Ox-Cart Man and the companion to this book, Lucy’s Summer) grew up spending as much time as he could on his grandfather’s farm in rural New Hampshire. It was there he milked cows, raised sheep, and heard stories about Christmases past that are brought to life in this read-aloud picture book for young children.

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'A book for children from 8 to 80. I love the humanity of this story and how one man's efforts can change the future for so many.' Michael Morpurgo, Independent '[This] simple classic may just hold the secret to meaningful existence.' Richard Powers, author of The Overstory The Man Who Planted Trees was first published by Chelsea Green twenty years ago and it became a timeless classic. Now this beautiful gift edition is available for the first time in the UK, complete with reproductions of the original woodcut engravings. In this ageless eco-fable about what one person can do to restore the earth, Elzéard Bouffier spends his life planting one hundred acorns a day in a desolate, barren section of Provence in the south of France. The result is a total transformation of the landscape - from one devoid of life, with miserable, contentious inhabitants, to one filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds and fresh, flowing water. Since our first publication, The Man Who Planted Trees has sold over a quarter of a million copies and inspired countless numbers of people around the world to take action and plant trees. This edition includes a foreword by Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the African Green Belt Movement. 'It has given me much joy to reread this story.' Wendell Berry

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