BOOK DESCRIPTION ON THE SIX TASKS OF THE MISERABLE POKE BY HEATHER BRAVERY The story begins with two young royals Prince Poke and Princess Misery who have been betrothed since birth. Prince Poke is a pampered and very spoiled mommys boy who is used to getting his own way and when this does not happen he throws tantrums and screams and cries. His favorite friend is his teddy bear. Princess Misery on the other hand is a feisty young lass who longs for adventure and is known to speak her mind on every occasion, she knows little fear and is practiced in sword fighting. The parents of the two young people are about to announce their engagement, when an evil Wizard appears to prevent this happening. Wizard Lostmywand is determined to have both the princess and the kingdom and when Princess Misery defies him; he sets both youngsters a task. They are to go out into the world and find him six items he needs for a major spell to be performed at the next Wizards convention. These items are the Golden Egg from the Faraway bird who lives in Eggnog. The tooth from Mischief the fierce Dragon of Toofytown. Kelpberries from the Sea Monsters, Blue Lizard from the witch Damnimgood, the spit from the Grannybug and finally the eye of Newt (but then everyone knows that Newts are extinct). Along the way they meet the friendly Lukan the Leprechaun and Wizziboo a rather forgetful wizard, both of whom come to their aid. The four soon become fast friends and experience many wonderful adventures whilst trying to fulfill the tasks. On the other hand there is a young and handsome prince named Sebastian who is on a quest to become a man in order to take the throne from his father. He meets some incredible characters like Elkhorn King of the Pixies and the beautiful Mystique Queen of the Fairies and assists them in taking down their arch rivals Marko the Malicious and Villainous Vile his henchman. Sebastian has to face many challenges but also learns some vital lessons about patience and tolerance. The two groups meet up at the National Music Festival at Splishyden Cove and Sebastian and Misery become friends. Prince Poke meets a young lady named Bubbles, who is really Sebastians long lost sister, although her true identity is only revealed at the end. These six people continue on the quest for the remaining items required and meet up with Wizard Smartass and his strange family. Finally they all return to the castle to hand over the required items to Wizard Lostmywand only to find that he has taken over the entire kingdom and is intent on ruling forever. A magic battle ensues involving Wizziboo, Witch Damnimgood and Wizard Lostmywand. Finally the kingdom is returned to its rightful owners and there is a reunion with Sebastian, his parents and Bubbles his long lost sister. A double wedding takes place and everyone is delighted with the outcome. Although the two young couples are now thinking of taking a further holiday in a new strange land they have heard of called Mughaland.

A bestselling author and business guru tells how to improve your job satisfaction and performance. In his sixth fable, bestselling author Patrick Lencioni takes on a topic that almost everyone can relate to: the causes of a miserable job. Millions of workers, even those who have carefully chosen careers based on true passions and interests, dread going to work, suffering each day as they trudge to jobs that make them cynical, weary, and frustrated. It is a simple fact of business life that any job, from investment banker to dishwasher, can become miserable. Through the story of a CEO turned pizzeria manager, Lencioni reveals the three elements that make work miserable -- irrelevance, immeasurability, and anonymity -- and gives managers and their employees the keys to make any job more fulfilling. As with all of Lencioni?s books, this one is filled with actionable advice you can put into effect immediately. In addition to the fable, the book includes a detailed model examining the three signs of job misery and how they can be remedied. It covers the benefits of managing for job fulfillment within organizations -- increased productivity, greater retention, and competitive advantage -- and offers examples of how managers can use the applications in the book to deal with specific jobs and situations. Patrick Lencioni (San Francisco, CA) is President of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational health. As a consultant and keynote speaker, he has worked with thousands of senior executives and executive teams in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to high-tech startups to universities and nonprofits. His clients include AT&T, Bechtel, Boeing, Cisco, Sam?s Club, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Allstate, Visa, FedEx, New York Life, Sprint, Novell, Sybase, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Lencioni is the author of six bestselling books, including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. He previously worked for Oracle, Sybase, and the management consulting firm Bain & Company.

"A one-two punch! Half kick in the ass, half cheerleading encouragement." —Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art If you are happy being just a dreamer, perhaps you don’t need this book. If you’re enjoying the status quo, don’t even consider reading this book. If you are content waiting for success to find you, please put this book down and go find something else to read. Why has Poke the Box become a cult classic? Because it’s a book that dares readers to do something they’re afraid of. It could be what you need, too. "Is Seth Godin the Pied Piper for however many of us have been afraid to fail? Will I answer his call? Will you?" —Peter Shermeta, reviewing the original edition of Poke the Box

Provides a comprehensive series of tasks and functional carryover activities allowing for integration of language and cognitive skills for neurologically-impaired adolescents and adults with diverse levels of functioning. Exercises cover a broad scope of skills including orientation, auditory comprehension, verbal expression, and reading comprehension.

A clear-eyed, optimistic guide for parents with adult children who need help navigating the challenges to launching an independent life. Times were already tough for young adults looking for ways to start living independent lives after high school and college: rents were up, wages were down, student loan debt was burdensome, then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. A generation of young people were forced out of their classrooms, jobs, and social lives, returning home to live with their parents. Now many of these young adults carry the scars of the internal pandemic, with increased anxiety and depression, poor coping, and the uncertainty of how to restart their lives. Parents want to help, but the old rules of advice-giving can clash with the need to respect their child’s autonomy. In You’re Not Done Yet, two leading adolescent and young adult mental health experts provide a practical and compassionate path to parents combatting the worry and frustrating isolation many feel when supporting their twentysomethings. Hibbs and Rostain explain when and how developmental markers changed, and invite parents and young adults to learn new, more effective ways of communicating with each other. Part I of the book covers the “new normal,” of young adulthood, with its educational and career changes. The new normal of parent-child relationship asks us to rethink our “shoulds,” and in the process develop a closer relationship based on talking and listening to understand each other, rather than “being right.” Part II addresses the common and challenging problems that arise when mental illness creates a drag on a young adult’s progress, and shows how parents may be engaged in their child’s treatment. Packed with helpful information and step-by-step guides to specific problems, this book will be an invaluable resource for parents and their twentysomething children.

A time-tested parenting book with over 900,000 copies sold! Now updated to address technology use, screen time, and social media. Designed for preschool and beyond, this helpful and practical psychology-based parenting method is an invaluable guide for all parents! Teach your children healthy responsibility and encourage their character growth from a young age. Learn to establish healthy boundaries with your children through easy-to-implement steps without anger, threats, nagging, or power struggles. Trusted by generations of parents, counselors, and teachers to lovingly raise responsible children, Parenting with Love and Logic includes solutions for dozens of specific topics such as: Tantrums Managing screen time Grades and report cards Chores Getting ready for school Peer pressure Cyberbullying Navigating crisis situations and grief And much more! Each issue is indexed for easy reference. Learn how to tame tempers and re-establish a calm, healthy relationship and positive communication with your child today! “This is as close to an owner’s manual for parents as you will find. Now, parents can embrace mistakes as wonderful learning opportunities to raise respectful, responsible, and caring children.” —Gloria Sherman, MA, MED, LPC, cofounder, Parenting Partnership “I have been delighted to share the powerful yet simple wisdom of Jim Fay and Foster Cline with my counseling clients. The principles in Parenting with Love and Logic are practical, proven techniques that keep parents on track to raising responsible, loving, confident children.” —Carol R. Cole, PhD, LMFT “Parenting with Love and Logic is a terrific book for parents that provides important concepts and practical solutions to help children become emotionally, socially, and morally healthy.” —Terry M. Levy, PhD, codirector of Evergreen Psychotherapy Center; coauthor of Attachment, Trauma, and Healing “Parenting with Love and Logic is an essential component for our schools, parents, and teachers. Thousands of families have been positively impacted by the love and logic principles.” —Leonard R. Rezmierski, PhD, superintendent support administrator, Wayne RESA

This book is the first study to focus on a metaliterary interpretation of Maximianus’ Elegies, and aims to fill a major gap in international literature concerning the thoughts of the last love elegist on the evolution and renovation of the genre of love elegy during Late Antiquity. The book includes all known subjects of Maximianus’ poetry (e.g., the division of his work into six elegies, its attribution to Cornelius Gallus by Pomponius Gauricus in 1502, its reception in recent years, the intellectual milieu of the Ostrogothic Italy, the historical contextualization of his poetry, the Appendix Maximiani, the impact of the Augustan love elegy (and especially Ovid’s) upon it, etc.), in order to offer a more complete picture of it. However, the content of the book is predominantly prototype, as it examines subjects that have not previously been discussed in the past. These include: a) The generic interaction between the ‘host’ genre of love elegy, and several ‘guest’ genres (e.g., Roman comedy, epic, pastoral); b) The hidden metapoetic discourse regarding the genre of love elegy itself. The book is intended for scholars or students working on or interested in Roman love elegy and its generic evolution in Late Antiquity.

“A superb book—an American equivalent to John Keegan’s The Face of Battle. I sincerely believe that Grunts is destined to be a classic.”—Dave Grossman, Author of On Killing and On Combat From the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die comes a sweeping narrative of six decades of combat, and an eye-opening account of the evolution of the American infantry. From the beaches of Normandy and the South Pacific Islands to the deserts of the Middle East, the American soldier has been the most indispensable—and most overlooked—factor in wartime victory. In Grunts, renowned historian John C. McManus examines ten critical battles—from Hitler’s massive assault on U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge to counterinsurgency combat in Iraq—where the skills and courage of American troops proved the crucial difference between victory and defeat. Based on years of research and interviews with veterans, this powerful history reveals the ugly face of war in a way few books have, and demonstrates the fundamental, and too often forgotten, importance of the human element in serving and protecting the nation.