Subtitle on cover: The story of a divine encounter.

"I remember the day I lost my spirit." So begins the story of Gertrude Simmons, also known as Zitkala-Ša, which means Red Bird. Born in 1876 on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota, Zitkala-Ša willingly left her home at age eight to go to a boarding school in Indiana. But she soon found herself caught between two worlds—white and Native American. At school she missed her mother and her traditional life, but Zitkala-Ša found joy in music classes. "My wounded spirit soared like a bird as I practiced the piano and violin," she wrote. Her talent grew, and when she graduated, she became a music teacher, composer, and performer. Zitkala-Ša found she could also "sing" to help her people by writing stories and giving speeches. As an adult, she worked as an activist for Native American rights, seeking to build a bridge between cultures. The coauthors tell Zitkala-Ša’s life by weaving together pieces from her own stories. The artist's acrylic illustrations and collages of photos and primary source documents round out the vivid portrait of Zitkala-Ša, a frightened child whose spirit "would rise again, stronger and wiser for the wounds it had suffered."

Red bird came all winter / firing up the landscape / as nothing else could. So begins Mary Oliver's twelfth book of poetry, and the image of that fiery bird stays with the reader, appearing in unexpected forms and guises until, in a postscript, he explains himself: "For truly the body needs / a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this work, / the soul has need of a body, / and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable / beauty of heaven / where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes, / and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart." This collection of sixty-one new poems, the most ever in a single volume of Oliver's work, includes an entirely new direction in the poet's work: a cycle of eleven linked love poems-a dazzling achievement. As in all of Mary Oliver's work, the pages overflow with her keen observation of the natural world and her gratitude for its gifts, for the many people she has loved in her seventy years, as well as for her disobedient dog, Percy. But here, too, the poet's attention turns with ferocity to the degradation of the Earth and the denigration of the peoples of the world by those who love power. Red Bird is unquestionably Mary Oliver's most wide-ranging volume to date.

Anna and Matthew, two poor siblings who have known only hunger, cold, and hard labor since their mother died, follow a bright red bird to a land of happiness.

Signs From The Afterlife: Identifying Gifts From The Other Side By Lyn Ragan

This book is about teaching the joy and understanding of classical music to young children. It is about enhancing intelligence and building self-confidence through music. It is about leading the child into a journey of self-discovery and many joyful experiences, through music, that should last a lifetime. The book is full of practical ideas, methods, techniques, and lesson plans for school teachers, parents, hospital caregivers, and musicians at every level who could obtain wonderful results through teaching, sharing, and living this timeless art. It is aimed at finding a way to retain this beautiful art in our education system. It is aimed at possibly creating loving work for parents, grandparents, caregivers, and young students. It is aimed at spreading love and communication through an art that has been around for centuries and is so readily available to all through modern technology. It is aimed at teaching the world to sing, love, laugh, communicate, and play ... through classical music! This book addresses the concepts, theories, and performance aspects of music, like many other books written, but with detailed lesson plans and stories so a person, with a short course of music training, could get straight to work and start teaching a music class. The book is written with step-by-step processes that are fun for children. The activities and ideas in this book have been practised with countless children by the author for the past twenty-two years.

With references to traditional Taoist and Chinese texts, as well as influences from the author's background in psychology and psychotherapy, this book by Lorie Dechar demonstrates how practitioners can work with the spirit of acupuncture points in modern practice. The concept of 'kigo', a Japanese word meaning 'season word', is used to understand the seasonal energy of the points and how the body relates to the universal flow. As an understanding of the spirit of the point brings focus and potency to a practitioner's needling, it also strengthens their ability to touch a patient's soul and spirit, besides the physical body. Tying in the macro cosmic connection of the body to the universe with a poetic force that amplifies and deepens the effect of acupuncture, Kigo is the perfect companion not only for acupuncturists, but also for chiropractors and psychotherapists, doctors and nurses, and other practitioners who use the points as part of their clinical work.

An anthology of essays and short stories exploring the ways that birds enrich our lives. Contributors include top naturalists Kenn Kaufman and Pete Dunne, as well as well-known authors Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich, and Peter Matthiessen. They tell of the lengths birders go to catch a glimpse of their favorite bird, and of lessons birds teach about human relationships, taking readers to locations from Central Park to Bali. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A young adult /adult fiction that is told from a young girls perspective and imagination that takes us away on an unforgettable journey. It weaves two stories, one of a family's experience with keeping a loved one in their home while moving through the dying process with the help of Hospice. It is also a story of a Grandmother and her grand-daughters journey into another world where birds are their twin souls who journey with them throughout life in so many subtle ways. I am really excited about this story and feel it came from my heart with the hope it can find a place of healing for anyone going through the loss of a loved one. However, it focuses on a child's interpretation that brings an element of fantasy and adventure into their journey into life's final months. It is also written as a resource to how Hospice Care can help a whole new way of experiencing the dying and letting go process of our beloveds with dignity. It also gives a great deal of honor to birds with both a scientific as well as symbolic information about these particular characters, who as I said before are twin souls, our reflections. The book has been a collaborative effort by my niece, who has beautifully illustrated the story, my mothers own enthusiasm and her great desire that we create this story, and my burning desire to put this story to page. Life and Death is our whole journey and this book intends to express the joy and the sorrow that weave together to make our lives worthy of celebration from start to finish.

Joseph Eagle Elk (1931?91) was an effective and highly respected traditional Lakota healer. He practiced for nearly thirty years, treating serious physical and mental illnesses among the people of the Rosebud Reservation and elsewhere. In 1990 he began collaborating on his memoir with Gerald Mohatt, a close friend and cross-cultural psychologist. Eagle Elk?s story of his life, practice, and beliefs provides a uniquely introspective, demystified, and informative look at the career of a traditional Native American healer. We learn how a persistent vision and recurring visits by thunder spirits led Eagle Elk long ago to become a healer. On a more general level, we gain valuable insights into how Lakota healers practice today. Eagle Elk?s story and teachings also demonstrate the importance of community support and consensus in the development of traditional healers. Gerald Mohatt?s perspective as a cross-cultural psychologist enables him to highlight the psychological dimensions and efficacy of Eagle Elk?s healings and place them within a cross-cultural context. Eagle Elk?s life and career are presented in a way that brings together formative episodes from his life, selected teachings that emerged from those experiences, and case studies in healing. This arrangement allows readers to grasp the close relationship between the personal and cultural dimensions of traditional healing and to understand how and why this practice continues to affect and help others.