When a Poem Meets a Pencil is an imaginative collaboration of the pencil drawings of Rob Hedges and the whimsical poetry of Chris Carpenter. Rob and Chris met while working at Gess Elementary in Chewelah, Washington, a small rural school nestled in the Selkirk Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest. Chris was the music teacher and Rob was a para educator and the two would frequently combine their talents to make a lesson pop, showcase a school community bulletin board, or contribute to the annual PTA Reflections Art Program. Rob came to his career in education after a 23 year stint as a technical illustrator for Hanford, showcasing his drawing abilities in spite of his color blindness. In fact, his color blindness gave him a depth and dimension that set his drawings apart from other illustrators and caught the eye of Chris, who was looking for just the right person to capture the essence of her poems. When a Poem Meets a Pencil is the delightful result of two talented educators combining their efforts and leaving their mark - a mark of joyful wonder and thought. The pages of this book are meant to celebrate the unique view of those who see the world through their color blindness. It is estimated that 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females have some form of color blindness affecting 4.5 % of the entire world's population. When a Poem Meets a Pencil also honors the pencil doodlings of lines and curves and the rhythms and rhymes of words that lead to pictures and stories that celebrate life's lessons through reflection, humorous anecdotes, and animal personification. Imagine a turtle changing her shell, a dragon living in a toaster, a fishy quartet, or a territorial squirrel. These are just a few of the animals that come to life and captivate the imaginations of those who spend time with the pages of this enchanting book.

Featuring writing prompts and tips from one of the “great [writing] teachers of NYC,” this guide to memoir writing will help you discover the power and pleasure of bringing your memories to life (New York Magazine) Sometimes all it takes is a single word to spark a strong memory. Bicycle. Snowstorm. Washing machine. By presenting one-word prompts and simple phrases, author and writing teacher Patty Dann gives us the keys to unlock our life stories. Organized around her ten rules for writing memoir, Dann’s lyrical vignettes offer glimpses into her own life while, surprisingly, opening us up to our own. This book is a small but powerful guide and companion for anyone wanting to get their own story on the page. We all have stories to tell, and Patty Dann can help you bring them forth.

With playful prose and vivid art, Things to Do brings to life the small moments and secret joys of a child's day. There are wonders everywhere. In the sky and on the ground—blooming in a flower bed, dangling from a silken thread, buzzing through the summer air—waiting ...waiting to be found. In this thoughtful and ingenious collection of poems, Elaine Magliaro, an elementary school teacher for more than three decades and a school librarian for three years, and illustrator Catia Chien provide a luminous glimpse of the ordinary wonders all around us. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition.

Over 70 stunning paintings showcasing master colored pencil artists from all over the globe. Every featured artist also generously shares tips, techniques and insights into their personal own style. CP Treasures will absolutely become a highly treasured volume in any colored pencil artist's library.

A Boston Globe Best Poetry Book of 2011 Winner of the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize Winner of the 2011 Poetry Now Award Seamus Heaney's new collection elicits continuities and solidarities, between husband and wife, child and parent, then and now, inside an intently remembered present—the stepping stones of the day, the weight and heft of what is passed from hand to hand, lifted and lowered. Human Chain also broaches larger questions of transmission, of lifelines to the inherited past. There are newly minted versions of anonymous early Irish lyrics, poems that stand at the crossroads of oral and written, and other "hermit songs" that weigh equally in their balance the craft of scribe and the poet's early calling as scholar. A remarkable sequence entitled "Route 101" plots the descent into the underworld in the Aeneid against single moments in the arc of a life, from a 1950s childhood to the birth of a first grandchild. Other poems display a Virgilian pietas for the dead—friends, neighbors, family—that is yet wholly and movingly vernacular. Human Chain also includes a poetic "herbal" adapted from the Breton poet Guillevic—lyrics as delicate as ferns, which puzzle briefly over the world of things and landscapes that exclude human speech, while affirming the interconnectedness of phenomena, as of a self-sufficiency in which we too are included.

Award-winning author Peter Markus delivers an uplifting and imaginative chronicle of teaching writing to elementary students in Detroit public schools

Angelica Sprocket lives next door. Her overcoat has pockets galore! And you'll never guess what's in them... Prepare to be surprised, thrilled and tickled pink by Angelica Sprocket's never-ending pockets, and the marvellous things she keeps in them!

"Amira, look at me," Muma insists.She collects both my hands in hers."The Janjaweed attack without warning.If ever they come-- run." Finally, Amira is twelve. Old enough to wear a toob, old enough for new responsibilities. And maybe old enough to go to school in Nyala-- Amira's one true dream. But life in her peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when the Janjaweed arrive. The terrifying attackers ravage the town and unleash unspeakable horrors. After she loses nearly everything, Amira needs to dig deep within herself to find the strength to make the long journey-- on foot-- to safety at a refugee camp. Her days are tough at the camp, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind-- and all kinds of possibilities. New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney's powerful verse and Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist Shane W. Evans's breathtaking illustrations combine to tell an inspiring tale of one girl's triumph against all odds.

Lola Bensky is a nineteen-year-old rock journalist who irons her hair straight and asks a lot of questions. A high-school dropout, she's not sure how she got the job – but she's been sent by her Australian newspaper right to the heart of the London music scene at the most exciting time in music history: 1967. Lola spends her days planning diets and interviewing rock stars. In London, Mick Jagger makes her a cup of tea, Jimi Hendrix (possibly) propositions her and Cher borrows her false eyelashes. At the Monterey International Pop Festival, Lola props up Brian Jones and talks to Janis Joplin about sex. In Los Angeles, she discusses being overweight with Mama Cass and tries to pluck up the courage to ask Cher to return those false eyelashes. Lola has an irrepressible curiosity, but she begins to wonder whether the questions she asks these extraordinary young musicians are really a substitute for questions about her parents' calamitous past that can't be asked or answered. As Lola moves on through marriage, motherhood, psychoanalysis and a close relationship with an unexpected pair of detectives, she discovers the question of what it means to be human is the hardest one for anyone – including herself – to answer. Drawing on her own experiences as a young journalist, the bestselling author of Too Many Men has created an unforgettable character in the unconventional and courageous Lola. Genuinely funny and deeply moving, Lola Bensky shows why Lily Brett is one of our most distinctive and internationally acclaimed authors. 'Brett delivers an entertaining story that is also full of heart.' Australian Bookseller and Publisher 'A touching look at a woman's quest for self-understanding.' Who Weekly 'Funny, warm and insightful.' Herald Sun 'For Brett, resolution has come through creative remembering and retelling, and by constructing a fine comic novel from an unspeakable tragedy.' Australian Book Review 'A witty novel you'll struggle to put down.' Grazia 'A book that will entertain legions of readers.' Courier Mail 'An entertaining story that is also full of heart.' Bookseller+Publisher 'Lily Brett's heroines exude curiosity and Lola Bensky is no exception.' Sun-Herald 'Brett's sixth book hooks you in, not just because of her characteristic wit, but because she was a rock journalist herself back in the day.' Melbourne Times Weekly 'Lola Bensky will thrill [Brett's] fans: finally a book based on her extraordinary experiences as a reporter for Australia's first music magazine, Go-Set, during the most exciting era in pop music history.' Australian Jewish News