The author provides a fictional look inside the world of the "Rennies"--the artists, entertainers, and offbeat characters who travel the Renaissance festival circuit. During the 1981 season, Gulliver and his troupe of stilt dancers explore a curious, alternate, 16th-century themed universe.

Just as Scheherazade told tales each night to a sleepless king with no love in his heart, Annie Doherty leaves stories on the kitchen counter of Daniel Ashe, an insomniac who believes he is incapable of falling in love.

One sparkling summer day, Jill Abramson brought home a nine-week-old golden retriever named Scout. Over the following year, as she and her husband raised their adorable new puppy, Abramson wrote a hugely popular column for The New York Times's website about the joys and challenges of training this rambunctious addition to their family. Dog-lovers from across the country inundated her with emails and letters, and the photos they sent in of their own dogs became the most visited photo album on the Times's site in 2009. Now, Abramson has gone far beyond the material in her column and written a detailed and deeply personal account of Scout's first year. Part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, The Puppy Diaries continues Abramson's intrepid reporting on all things canine. Along the way, she weighs in on such issues as breeders or shelters, adoption or rescue, raw diet or vegan, pack-leader gurus like Cesar Millan or positive-reinforcement advocates like Karen Pryor. What should you expect when a new puppy enters your life? With utterly winning stories and a wealth of practical information, The Puppy Diaries provides an essential road map for navigating the first year of your dog's life.

The third book in a sweet and funny Branches series about a pug and his human, told from the pug's POV! Pick a book. Grow a reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!When the local animal shelter can't afford new toys, it's up to Bub and his human, Bella, to save the day. But how could they possibly raise the money? A pet wash, of course! Fun and high jinks abound as Bella and Bub learn that running a pet wash is harder and wetter than it looks.With full-color artwork throughout, this funny and charming diary-format early chapter book is perfect for anyone who believes a furry pal is the best kind of friend.

Diary of a Barking Mad Dog Owner Due to his obsession with the hedgehog, Mr Mac was lead-walked in the garden first thing in the morning before the sun was quite up and as soon as it was dusk, when hedgehogs are likely to be around searching for food. Thus, you can imagine how mad I was when I arrived home from work on Friday, drove towards my gate and saw this half-flat, brown, spiky lump in the middle of the road. "Arrrgggghhhh " I shouted at it, "you stupid, stupid hedgehog " I parked my car in the drive and stomped back up the road. I was still shaking my head and ranting, "How could you be so stupid? After my efforts to keep you safe all summer and you go and run out in front of a car in broad daylight." I reached the little spiky brown lump and stared at it as if I was hoping for an answer to my questions about its stupidity. Then a big smile spread across my face and I looked round sheepishly, hoping that noone had witnessed or heard my outburst. The little spiky brown lump was left on the road by a horse.

Ten puppies, just hours old, are found abandoned in a Dumpster. How could anyone be so cruel? This book takes you on a week by week journey to save the life of Bandit, one of those puppies. The author, a cat lover who has never owned nor cared for a dog, must become mother and lifeline to a newborn dying puppy. The author shares moments of joy and sorrow as Bandit survives and finds a loving new family. Color photos throughout enhance this touching true story. A family-friendly book enjoyed by children and adults. This is a little book with a lot of heart.

Struggling to solve your dog's behavioural problems? Looking to achieve the perfect relationship with your dog? The Dog Guardian is here to help. Dog behaviourist Nigel Reed teaches emotional intelligence for dog owners, leading to confident, happy and well-behaved dogs. Through his many years of experience Nigel has found that there are four fundamental components for a content and well-behaved dog. In The Dog Guardian Nigel explains the philosophy and gives you practical, step-by-step advice. This new and vital information will empower you to address any of your dog's undesirable behaviours, no matter its age, breed or history. The Dog Guardian has already helped thousands of dogs and their owners address problem behaviours including anxiety, nervousness, aggression, hyperactivity, lead pulling, jumping up and much more. It's easier than you'd think.

"I went on a journey in order to acquaint myself with my province, in a two-horse wagon with a lot of fodder and a tin bucket rattling in the back. The bucket was required for the horses to drink from. I traveled through a country of hills and pine groves that gave way to woodlands, where swirls of smoke hovered over the roofs of houses, as if they were on fire, for they were chimneyless cabins; I crossed districts of fields and lakes. It was so interesting to be moving, to give the horses their rein, and wait until, in the next valley, a village slowly appeared, or a park with the white spot of a manor in it. And always we were barked at by a dog, assiduous in its duty. That was the beginning of the century; this is its . I have been thinking not only of the people who lived there once but also of the generations of dogs accompanying them in their everyday bustle, and one night-I don't know where it came from-in a pre-dawn sleep, that funny and tender phrase composed itself: a road-side dog." --Road-Side Dog

The Renaissance Faire—a 50 year-long party, communal ritual, political challenge and cultural wellspring—receives its first sustained historical attention with Well Met. Beginning with the chaotic communal moment of its founding and early development in the 1960s through its incorporation as a major “family friendly” leisure site in the 2000s, Well Met tells the story of the thinkers, artists, clowns, mimes, and others performers who make the Faire. Well Met approaches the Faire from the perspective of labor, education, aesthetics, business, the opposition it faced, and the key figures involved. Drawing upon vibrant interview material and deep archival research, Rachel Lee Rubin reveals the way the faires established themselves as a pioneering and highly visible counter cultural referendum on how we live now—our family and sexual arrangements, our relationship to consumer goods, and our corporate entertainments. In order to understand the meaning of the faire to its devoted participants,both workers and visitors, Rubin has compiled a dazzling array of testimony, from extensive conversations with Faire founder Phyllis Patterson to interviews regarding the contemporary scene with performers, crafters, booth workers and “playtrons.” Well Met pays equal attention what came out of the faire—the transforming gifts bestowed by the faire’s innovations and experiments upon the broader American culture: the underground press of the 1960s and 1970s, experimentation with “ethnic” musical instruments and styles in popular music, the craft revival, and various forms of immersive theater are all connected back to their roots in the faire. Original, intrepid, and richly illustrated, Well Met puts the Renaissance Faire back at the historical center of the American counterculture.