Numerous books have been written about Victorian child care pioneers, but few biographical studies have been published about more recent child care and welfare giants. In this book, Bob Holman, a champion for children in his own right, looks at the lives of six inspirational individuals who have made significant contributions to the well-being of disadvantaged children over the course of the 20th century. Each of the six discussed - Eleanor Rathbone, Lady Marjory Allen, Clare Winnicott, John Stroud, Barbara Kahan and Peter Townsend - has been important in establishing present systems of child care and welfare, and in stimulating debate around issues which remain high on policy and practitioner agendas today. Based on documentary research and extensive interviews, "Champions for children" relates personal histories to wider policy and practice developments. It makes important connections between poverty, inequality and child care policy - links that are often overlooked. The author also gives an engaging account of his own life, which has been dedicated to improving the lives of children through research, education and direct work with children. In the final chapter, he makes recommendations for the future development of services for children and families and policy recommendations for tackling poverty. "Champions for children" is aimed at social workers, policy makers, academics and students with an interest in child care and welfare issues.

Numerous books have been written about Victorian child care pioneers, but few biographical studies have been published about more recent child care and welfare giants. In the revised edition of this classic book, Bob Holman, a champion for children in his own right, looks at the lives of six inspirational individuals who have made significant contributions to the well-being of disadvantaged children. Each of the six discussed - Eleanor Rathbone, Lady Marjory Allen, Clare Winnicott, John Stroud, Barbara Kahan and Peter Townsend - has been important in establishing present systems of child care and welfare, and in stimulating debate around issues which remain high on policy and practitioner agendas. Champions for children is essential reading for childhood and youth studies, sociology of the family, social work, social welfare, academics and students with an interest in child care and welfare issues.

Woodbine Willie was the affectionate nickname of the Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, an Anglican priest who volunteered as a chaplain on the Western Front during the First World War. Renowned for offering both spiritual support and cigarettes to injured and dying soldiers, he won the Military Cross for his reckless courage, running into No Man's Land to help the wounded in the middle of an attack. After the war, Kennedy was involved in the Industrial Christian Fellowship, and he wrote widely. This superb biography is based on original interviews with those who knew and loved him. A deep and real concern for his fellow men drove him relentlessly, and this book shows how vital was the role he played, on the battlefields of the trenches and then the slums. Bob Holman, described by the "Daily Telegraph" as 'the good man of Glasgow, ' has made a mission of living alongside the disadvantaged of British society. An accomplished writer, who contributes regularly to the "Guardian," he is the author of several books, including "Keir Hardie" (Lion).

An introduction to an original poetic voice from eastern Ukraine with deep roots in the unique cultural landscape of post-Soviet devastation "Everyone can find something, if they only look carefully," reads one of the memorable lines from this first collection of poems in English by the world-renowned Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan. These robust and accessible narrative poems feature gutsy portraits of life on wartorn and poverty-ravaged streets, where children tally the number of local deaths, where mothers live with low expectations, and where romance lives like a remote memory. In the tradition of Tom Waits, Charles Bukowski, and William S. Burroughs, Zhadan creates a new poetics of loss, a daily crusade of testimonial, a final witness of abandoned lives in a claustrophobic universe where "every year there's less and less air." Yet despite the grimness of these portraits, Zhadan's poems are familiar and enchanting, lit by the magic of everyday detail, leaving readers with a sense of hope, knowing that the will of a people "will never let it be / like it was before."

Keir Hardie was a founder and the first parliamentary leader of the Labour Party. At the turn of the 19th century he was Labour's most famous face. But despite being voted Labour's 'Greatest Hero' at the 2008 Party Conference, in recent years his extraordinary story seems all but forgotten. Born illegitimate just outside Glasgow in 1856, his life didn't start gently. Before the age of 10, he was the sole wage earner in his working class, atheist family. He never went to school but was self-taught, avidly reading books lent him by a kind young clergyman. This led to two major conversions in his life: first to Christianity, and then to socialism. While earlier biographies have neglected the former, pointing out his experience of hardship as the source of his passion for social justice, the role of Christianity in Hardie's life was profound. It shaped his involvement in many of the greatest social changes of the time.

With mercurial wands, Baals angels, decks with wild Jacks of oracle bones, tempest Serpens, Lord Byron on the Bridge of Sighs, stallions mottled grey, a dark blue stronger than the Flemish blue of hummingbirds, and poesis lying in the ashes of a dress, Janet Hamill turns her wizard poets eye on an immense body of alchemical empathies. This book is a romantic, surreal, lyrical Voyage. It twists and turns with the playful tide of poetic vision, enhanced by the delicate measures of Patti Smiths photography. Kudos all around.
Anne Waldman
Reading Janet Hamill now, as I have over the last thirty years, Im amazed again at the particulars of the world her poetry makesa night world, as I read it, peopled with bright creatures and splashes of color, beautiful and terrifying by turns. With this there is a mix, too, of pop forms and strains, and of catholic and pagan names and imagesangels and saints and hermitsas in the vision of her sleeping gypsy: firebird sweets / a morsel a taste of carrion / . . . as in a dream. With this and much more, she has become indispensable.
Jerome Rothenberg
With its unbridled surrealistic, hypnotic imagery, Janet Hamills alchemy of language gives us back communion with our souls. With a magicians grace she reminds us of the enchantment of our being. Hers is a music both modern and magik.
Maureen Owen
. . . Janet Hamill has sought transcendence in language on the page or sung . . . Hamills mastery of form and feeling comes together to create a poem that delicately examines celebrity, gallantry, silence, talent, and beauty. Only a poet could do that. Or maybe only Janet Hamill.
Patricia Spears Jones

Numerous books have been written about Victorian child care pioneers, but few biographical studies have been published about more recent child care and welfare giants. In this book, Bob Holman, a champion for children in his own right, looks at the lives of six inspirational individuals who have made significant contributions to the well-being of disadvantaged children over the course of the 20th century. Each of the six discussed - Eleanor Rathbone, Lady Marjory Allen, Clare Winnicott, John Stroud, Barbara Kahan and Peter Townsend - has been important in establishing present systems of child care and welfare, and in stimulating debate around issues which remain high on policy and practitioner agendas today. Based on documentary research and extensive interviews, "Champions for children" relates personal histories to wider policy and practice developments. It makes important connections between poverty, inequality and child care policy - links that are often overlooked. The author also gives an engaging account of his own life, which has been dedicated to improving the lives of children through research, education and direct work with children. In the final chapter, he makes recommendations for the future development of services for children and families and policy recommendations for tackling poverty. "Champions for children" is aimed at social workers, policy makers, academics and students with an interest in child care and welfare issues.

Compiled by poets who have been at the heart of this vibrant and original movement since its earliest days, Aloud! is an inclusive cross section of the most innovative and accomplished word artists from all parts of America.

This is a book of encounters. Part memoir, part essay, and partly a guide to maximizing your capacity for fulfillment and expression, The Poetry of Everyday Life taps into the artistic side of what we often take for granted: the stories we tell, the people we love, the metaphors used by scientists, even our sex lives. A folklorist, writer, and cultural activist, Steve Zeitlin explores how poems serve us in daily life and how they are used in times of personal and national crisis. In the first book to bring together the perspectives of folklore and creative writing, Zeitlin explores meaning and experience, covering topics ranging from poetry in the life cycle to the contemporary uses of ancient myths."This convergence of poetry and folklore," he suggests, "gives birth to something new: a new way of seeing ourselves, and a new way of being in the world." Written with humor and insight, the book introduces readers to the many eccentric and visionary characters Zeitlin has met in his career as a folklorist. Covering topics from Ping-Pong to cave paintings, from family poetry nights to delectable dishes at his favorite ethnic restaurants, The Poetry of Everyday Life will inspire readers to expand their consciousness of the beauty that resides in everyday things and to use creative expression to engage and animate that beauty toward living a more fulfilling awakened life, full of laughter. To live a creative life is the best way to engage with the beauty of the everyday.Visit the author's website for The Poetry of Everyday Life at http://citylore.org/the-poetry-of-everyday-life/.