A warm summer night, a sky full of stars and a bright, twinkling light. What could it be? Wistful imaginings draw the reader farther and farther away, from a bug up close to finally, face-to-face with Mother Nature! Inspired by a true event, this dreamy bedtime story drifts us into outer space and will change how we look at a night sky forever. Sending us into the heart of the universe, the curious twinkle light unites us all with a wink and a kiss.

Mother Nature's Dream is a magical story about Mother Nature and her four daughters; the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. Blossom, Sunburst, Autumn and Sparkle are dramatically different in appearance and in personality. Each daughter wishes to share her gift of creating unique beauty on Earth, but soon grows impatient. The daughters learn to appreciate and respect one another's talents with the help of their nurturing mother. Simply turn the pages of this book and allow the illustrations to take you deeper. If you are a child, let this story fill your mind with more wonder. If you are an adult, allow yourself to connect with your inner child that is still breathing inside of you.

"Dissatisfaction with nature flows throughout Western civilization, as deep as its blood, as abiding as its bones. Convinced to the marrow that something is deeply wrong with nature, . . . the Western world tries to remake it into something better." For Priscilla Stuckey, this is a fundamental and heartbreaking misconception: that nature can be fixed, exploited, or simply ignored. Modern societies try to bend nature to human will instead of engaging in give–and–take with a living, breathing land community. Using her personal experiences as the cornerstone, Stuckey explores the depth of relationship possible with the birch tree in our backyard, the nearby urban creek, the dog who settles on our bed each night. Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as ancient philosophers and contemporary biologists, Stuckey challenges readers to enact a different story of nature, one in which people and place are not separate, where other creatures respond to human need, and where humans and all others together create the world. With the eloquence of the great nature writers before her, Stuckey encourages us to open ourselves to the unlimited possibilities of a truly connected life.

From Printz Honor author Helen Frost, a middle grade novel in verse about the summer everything changes for two sisters.

How and when did the kiss become a vital sign of romance and love? In this wide-ranging book, pop culture expert Marcel Danesi takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the history of the kiss, from poetry and painting to movies and popular songs, and argues that its romantic incarnation signaled the birth of popular culture.

"Originally published in Great Britain in 2003 by HarperCollins Publishers"--Copyright page.

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.