"A significant contribution to the continuing exploration of the issues surrounding the learning potential of young children's play. Holland's writing is engaging, her subject is of considerable interest, and her approach succeeds in challenging many of the taken-for-granted assumptions in several areas of the debate. Early childhood educators, those preparing to become early childhood educators, and those who accompany them on this journey will find much that is worthwhile and provocative in this book." Discourse "This book will be a valuable support to all practitioners who do not enjoy 'policing' children's play themes." Nursery World War, weapon and superhero play has been banned in many early childhood settings for over 30 years. This book explores the development and application of a zero tolerance approach through the eyes of children and practitioners. The author challenges the key rationale for linking aggressive play themes to violent behaviour. She examines play where children are allowed to construct weapons and enact goodies/baddies and superhero scenarios with sensitive adult guidance, and explores the generally positive experiences of children and practitioners. Rather than reading this form of play as the beginning of the slippery slope towards anti-social behaviour, readers are invited to view it as an entry point to imaginative play and social development. We don't play with guns here is a fascinating and insightful contribution to this area of much debate in the early childhood community. The book is key reading for early childhood practitioners, teachers, students, parents and policy makers.

"I hope this book will inspire early years practitioners, lecturers and trainers to stop and think in the hustle and bustle of daily practice, to take a fresh look at the play of these very young children. This book does not claim to have all the answers but seeks to challenge practitioners to observe closely and respond to babies as they begin to play."Elinor Goldschmied, author of People under Three: Young Children in Day Care This book focuses on the need to equip practitioners to meet the play needs of children in today’s early years settings. With babies and very young children increasingly being cared for in out-of-home care settings, it is essential for early years practitioners to be responsive and reflective to ensure that these young children’s needs are met in an appropriate way. Beginning to Play explores the young child’s right to a high quality, multi-sensory play environment where play really can begin. It builds on Goldschmied’s concept of Treasure Basket play, which involves a wide variety of everyday objects gathered together to stimulate all five senses of babies and young children. The book features detailed observations of babies beginning to play at and beyond the treasure basket. These observations support readers in offering rich play materials and experiences. Providing valuable insights and practical support, this reader-friendly book: Encourages practitioners to reflect on and review their own current practice. Supports readers in recognising and responding to babies’ signals and communication Emphasises the need for emotional well-being to enable babies and young children to begin to play and examines the effects of non-responsive care on babies and young children Beginning to Play is essential reading for practitioners working with children from birth to three, students on Early Childhood Studies courses, and other readers who are eager to increase their knowledge about children from birth to three.

"Robert Orr... has achieved the balance of evidenced-based practice with the integration of the concept of ordinariness. This work is a must for not only those working with children with an expressed extra special need, but also all nurses who work with people who have a learning disability." Helen Laverty, Health Lecturer, University of Nottingham "This is a slim, accessible and powerful read with a refreshing message... I strongly recommend this as a thoughtful, poignant and often humorous read for all people working with or caring for children, young people and adults with complex needs." PHLD Link "innovative and bold... A wide range of ideas and opinions are introduced at a good pace, and the writing is elegant and engaging - sure to be attractive to a wide range of readers. ...Robert Orr...stimulated us to think in a new way about how some people with complex needs may or may not view the world...My Right to Play will be a valuable addition to the field -...to our thinking on multiple disability" Eye Contact This lively and accessible book provides a take on life from the perspective of a child who has no sight and no speech and who uses a wheelchair because of physical disabilities. The book: Offers a glimpse into the thoughts of such a child, recognizing that family and support workers sometimes get things right and sometimes don't Enables people new to disability work to avoid pitfalls and take short cuts in becoming interesting and useful to a child with complex needs Examines the puzzling behaviour often encountered when working with children who are dependent on others for the ordinary aspects of daily life Compassionate, sympathetic and down to earth, My Right to Play is invaluable reading for a wide ranging audience including the families of profoundly disabled children, teachers, carers, therapists and medical staff.

Making Sense of Play straightforwardly describes how self-chosen, engaging and satisfying play is best for children. It explores how adults can best support children's free play with an approach that is holistic, inclusive and practical and offers clear tools to highlight better ways of relating to and providing for playing children. The book extends two key concepts developed by the author, the Integral Play Framework and the Play Cycle, showing how practitioners can implement these ideas on a day-to-day basis. The author makes clear how the Integral Play Framework works, how it helps makes sense of other models and how it can be used to help plan provision for playing children physically, socially, cognitively and culturally. Everyday practice with playing children is explored in line with introductory and extended understandings of the Play Cycle or 'play process'. Accessibly written with a rich range of examples showing the concepts in practice, these models are further used to explore creativity, the ways in which children play, how provision might be improved and how the approaches can be used to research practice. With its distinctive blend of theory and practice together with reflective questions, this book is essential reading for all playwork students and practitioners and helps put these innovative ideas into practice with playing children. "Perry Else's book, Making Sense of Play, is just what we might expect from one of the UK's leading playwork authors. Drawing extensively on Else's work with a number of theorists, it is thought-provoking in its content and challenging in the breadth of its scope. Those of us who value diagrams and tables as a mechanism for clarifying complex concepts will be rewarded by the format of the chapters. I recommend this book to anyone with an analytical preference, and an interest in the way societies cater for the needs of children at play." Fraser Brown, Professor of Playwork, Leeds Beckett University, UK "Perry has the special ability to write a rigorous academic book applying helpful theoretical perspectives to play without ever damaging the precious importance of uninterrupted, spontaneous child-led PLAY." Sara Knight, Forest School Association and Anglia Ruskin University, UK "Making Sense of Play is an accessible and thought-provoking book for all those who are involved or interested in children's play, whether they are practitioners, academics, students or tutors. Written in an engaging and informative manner, it offers opportunities to deepen understanding about different perspectives on play and how this knowledge can aid adults in supporting play. Notably the inclusion of activities and questions for each chapter are invaluable for consolidating understanding and applying the theory to practice." Julia Sexton, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

This book illustrates how gender equity (and inequality) occurs in primary classrooms. It uses the findings of current research to provide teachers with recommendations for promoting equity amongst boys and girls. Each contributor summarizes recent research in the area of specialization before looking specifically at issues relevant to primary teaching and learning. The areas of the primary school covered include the National Curriculum subjects of literacy, numeracy and science, and broader topics such as working with boys, children with special educational needs, primary/secondary transition, playground cultures and children's construction of gender identities. The book uses classroom-based research to provide accessible accounts of investigations into gender and primary schooling. At the same time, it offers a critique of the whole drive towards 'evidence based' research. Boys and Girls in the Primary Classroom is aimed particularly at primary teachers and student teachers although the research will be of interest to academics and undergraduate students.

Starting from the Child supports early years practitioners to be advocates for young children and their learning needs. In the fourth edition of this highly influential and inspirational book, Julie Fisher outlines the important theories and research which should underpin best early years practice. She takes a robust and principled stand against downward pressure to formalise young children’s learning too soon, and offers practical and meaningful ways to develop high quality learning and teaching in the early years. Starting from the Child challenges all early years practitioners to consider: How to build on children’s innate desire to learn and their competence and autonomy as effective early learners How to plan environments indoors and out that make learning irresistible How to plan for high quality child-initiated learning to take place seamlessly alongside learning that is adult-initiated The role of the adult in supporting and extending young children’s learning How daily observation of children informs and underpins planning for their individual and unique learning needs Revised and updated throughout, this fourth edition includes the latest research on early brain development and reference to recent government initiatives including the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. Starting from the Child is essential reading, not only for early years practitioners, but for all those who manage and make decisions about early learning. “Julie draws on her extensive work with practitioners to present the everyday realities and complexities of their practice, and to sound welcome notes of caution about the ways in which policy frameworks are used... The book also reflects deeply held convictions about the moral and ethical responsibilities we have to teach young children in ways that respect their extraordinary enthusiasm for learning.” Professor Elizabeth Wood, University of Sheffield, UK “The title says it all. Julie takes the reader by the hand and says ‘Look and listen, give these children your full and respectful attention and they will teach you how to be with them.’ All the practical ideas in the book support practitioners in using their skills and knowledge to recognise early childhood as valuable in its own right - to be relished and enjoyed, not to be rushed through or seen merely as preparation for the next stage.” Helen Moylett, Early Years Consultant and writer “Julie Fisher’s work has been a staple of Early Childhood Education since the first edition of Starting from the Child in 1996. Her fourth edition does not disappoint, and is a welcome development of her thinking... This is a book for students, teachers and other early years workers seeking to find their way through the conflicting needs of a rapidly changing area of work.” Nick Swarbrick, Programme Lead for the Undergraduate Modular Programme in the School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, UK

"For all members of the Leave No Child Inside movement who are engaged with early childhood—as educators, child care providers, nature center staff, parents, landscape designers, or pediatricians—this book is an essential resource." Louise Chawla, Children and Nature Network, USA What do children learn through playing outdoors? What makes an effective and challenging play space? What is a safe environment and can children be too safe? How can adults best support challenging play outdoors? Young children seek adventure and challenge in their play outdoors. They look for places they can explore and spaces they can transform. However, provision for exciting and challenging play outdoors is often restricted because of an over-emphasis on safety, and also because the value of play outdoors is not well understood. This book offers a clear rationale for why outdoor play is essential in young children’s lives and learning. It asks fundamental questions about what sort of environments we want for young children, as well as examining controversial issues of risk and safety. The author identifies key principles underpinning the design of challenging outdoor play environments and examines how children use and transform space to create their own imaginary worlds. The essential role of the adult in supporting and extending children’s free play is examined and implications for practice identified. This book makes an important contribution to current debates on risk, safety and challenge in outdoor environments for young children. It brings together research from a range of different disciplines, as well as illustrative examples of children’s play and talk outdoors. Playing Outdoors is inspiring reading for early childhood practitioners, students, play workers, parents, policy makers and all those seeking to develop challenging outdoor play areas.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist William Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the authentic roots of the blues. Now, Give My Poor Heart Ease puts front and center a searing selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this invaluable documentary record. Illustrated with Ferris's photographs of the musicians and their communities and including a CD of original music and a DVD of original film, the book features more than twenty interviews relating frank, dramatic, and engaging narratives about black life and blues music in the heart of the American South. Here are the stories of artists who have long memories and speak eloquently about their lives, blues musicians who represent a wide range of musical traditions--from one-strand instruments, bottle-blowing, and banjo to spirituals, hymns, and prison work chants. Celebrities such as B. B. King and Willie Dixon, along with performers known best in their neighborhoods, express the full range of human and artistic experience--joyful and gritty, raw and painful. In an autobiographical introduction, Ferris reflects on how he fell in love with the vibrant musical culture that was all around him but was considered off limits to a white Mississippian during a troubled era. This magnificent volume illuminates blues music, the broader African American experience, and indeed the history and culture of America itself. The enhanced ebook edition includes: * Almost 2 hours of video clips and interviews scattered throughout the text * An hour of original music, also imbedded throughout the text * Concludes with the full DVD of original film and full CD of original music Watch the video below to see a demonstration of the the features of this enhanced ebook:

It was a day like any other after the world ends, bury your wife, make a lot of unanswered calls and make a list for getting out of town before the weather turns. Then you realize you're not alone. Alex found Mattie standing by his wife's grave her only possession an empty valise. The valise is more than it seems and in fact so is Mattie. Keywords: Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, What If

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.