Some readers may ask, why is a book of poems called a book of lyrics and songs, or vice versa? This may be because the word, poem, can be misused, and may be the most misused word in the English language, and leads one to be very cautious about using it. More recently the word poem, seems to have included pretty well any thing. What makes a good poem, who really knows? But it does seem have to be a little more than well-written prose. The Oxford dictionary describes a poem, as a piece of imaginative writing in verse and poetry as a quality of beauty or emotional power, poetry and fire, balanced in music. At what stage do songs and lyrics become poetry is not very clear but the connection is clearly very close.

From the author of the New York Times bestseller that defined nature-deficit disorder and launched the international children-and-nature movement, Vitamin N (for “nature”) is a complete prescription for connecting with the power and joy of the natural world right now, with 500 activities for children and adults Dozens of inspiring and thought-provoking essays Scores of informational websites Down-to-earth advice In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv was the first to bring widespread attention to the alienation of children from the natural world, coining the term nature-deficit disorder and outlining the benefits of a strong nature connection--from boosting mental acuity and creativity to reducing obesity and depression, from promoting health and wellness to simply having fun. That book “rivaled Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring” (the Cincinnati Enquirer), was “an absolute must-read for parents” (the Boston Globe), and “an inch-thick caution against raising the fully automated child” (the New York Times). His follow-up book, The Nature Principle, addressed the needs of adults and outlined a “new nature movement and its potential to improve the lives of all people no matter where they live” (McClatchy Newspapers).Vitamin N is a one-of-a-kind, comprehensive, and practical guidebook for the whole family and the wider community, including tips not only for parents eager to share nature with their kids but also for those seeking nature-smart schools, medical professionals, and even careers. It is a dose of pure inspiration, reminding us that looking up at the stars or taking a walk in the woods is as exhilarating as it is essential, at any age.

In 365 Days of Art in Nature, Lorna Scobie, invites the reader to take a closer look at the natural world - whether that's outside on location, or inside their own home - reminding us all that regardless of whether we live in the city or the countryside, wildlife is just on our doorstep. Observe the slow, constant pace of the nature that surrounds you every day, and use it to inspire you in your art and creativity. Activities may include visiting a particular tree four times in the year and drawing it. How has it changed? Study the colors you find in autumn leaves. Explore drawing them in different materials. Featuring nature-inspired quotes, breakaway activities to get you outdoors and plenty of supportive prompts and tips, this book will spark your imagination and help you to open your eyes and appreciate the natural beauty in our world.

In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically. A resolutely materialist spirituality based equally on science and science fiction: a wild feminist and afro-futurist ride! adrienne maree brown, co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, is a social justice facilitator, healer, and doula living in Detroit.

'Rousing, polemical and heartfelt' - Gardens Illustrated 'An invitation to take action' - The Observer One thing has become clear this year - we need nature more than ever. And it needs us too. From our balconies and gardens to our woodlands, national parks and beyond, Back to Nature captures the essence of how we feel about the wildlife outside our windows. Through personal stories, conservation breakthroughs and scientific discoveries, it explores the wonder and the solace of nature, and the ways in which we can connect with it - and protect it.

This visionary book from one of the most intriguing and unsettling new voices to have emerged from the churches in recent years finds life and growth in surprising places.Barbara Glasson’s widely discussed first book, I Am Somewhere Else, described ‘the bread church’, the inclusive faith community in Liverpool where people gathered to bake bread and worship God together. She has since worked with lesbian, gay and transgendered Christians, with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, with a group of disabled ministers and with other individuals and groups dealing with trauma and displacement. It is in these ‘prophetic communities’ that she has discovered new ways of understanding the transforming power of the love of God.The ‘Exuberant Church is not a church on a ‘journey’, not an ‘emerging church’, but something more explosive and unpredictable and messy, a church undergoing the strange, frightening but liberating process of ‘coming out’. In The Exuberant Church we are invited to a new way of understanding mission and the church. At a time of meltdown, reorientation and confusion, Barbara Glasson sees hope for the churches in communities sometimes seen as threatening and troubling, and in the process of ‘coming out’ something both profoundly human and deeply of God.

Extract from Augustine's Retractions (Book II, Chapter 42): At that time also there came into my hands a certain book of Pelagius', in which he defends, with all the argumentative skill he could muster, the nature of man, in opposition to the grace of God whereby the unrighteous is justified and we become Christians. The treatise which contains my reply to him, and in which I defend grace, not indeed as in opposition to nature, but as that which liberates and controls nature, I have entitled On Nature and Grace. In this work sundry short passages, which were quoted by Pelagius as the words of the Roman bishop and martyr, Xystus, were vindicated by myself as if they really were the words of this Sixtus. For this I thought them at the time; but I afterwards discovered, that Sextus the heathen philosopher, and not Xystus the Christian bishop, was their author. This treatise of mine begins with the words: 'The book which you sent me.'"

Snow, ice, leaves, flowers, branches, rocks, sand and light... this book is a series of simple works of art, made with easily found natural materials, through the changing seasons. For those who delight in a few minutes of creativity, for families and for educators, the book is a rich source of inspiration to engage closely with the shapes, colours and textures of the everyday outdoors