This much-loved book is a collection of over one hundred songs, some well known, some less known, collected over the years by experienced Waldorf teacher Brien Masters. They are graded for different ages from Class 3 (age 8) to Class 8 (age 14) and grouped into festivals and seasons. They include rounds and four-part songs, and musical notation for recorders and other instruments. This is a wonderful resource for Steiner-Waldorf class teachers, and any teacher or parent looking to introduce music to their classroom or home.

Is the philosophy by which we choose to educate our children responsible, at least partially, for the attitudes and general tone of our societies? A recent Unicef report on wealthy countries ranked the United States and the United Kingdom at the bottom of a table that measured quality of life for young people across a wide range of headings, including poverty, health, drugs, friendships and happiness. Experts observed that the nations that performed best in the survey have created 'child-friendly' societies in which, for example, young people are not pressured to achieve academically until their teens. In contrast, the culture of the USA and UK is geared towards economic success, with education as a means of sifting - through increasing testing - the high-achievers who will produce the goods...Brien Masters - an educationalist for over 50 years - argues that education has a central role to play 'in bringing into human lives those qualities that can take us forward to a progressive future'. He proposes that Rudolf Steiner's educational approach, as put into practice mainly in the Waldorf schools across the world, is well equipped to enable this. In "Steiner Education and Social Issues", via a series of short, engaging chapters, and based on his broad personal experience of teaching and teacher-training, Masters tackles a wide range of modern social issues, including everything from drugs and nutrition to boredom, the influence of TV, and multiethnic societies. This is a wise and informative guide for parents, teachers and anybody interested in the future development of our culture.

From Patter-Paws the Fox and Sharp-Claws the Lobster to Lusty-Lion and Trusty Mouse, young children will find the animated animal characters in these stories enjoyable and inspiring. Together with the lively detailed and expressive illustrations of Brian Gold, the narrative content offers stimulus to the young child's imagination and an encouragement to read. For the early reader in particular, great care has been taken in crafting the structure and style of the stories. The language, letter-patterns, progressions of word structures and sound sequences have all been moulded with the intention of building up the child's confidence - leading to the more disciplined work further on in the book. The stories have been graded according to these principles, together with others such as repetition, rhyming devices, and the use of common words that form the foundation of 'sight vocabulary'. The visual element has also been considered in the layout, with larger typeface and smaller paragraphs moving to more condensed print as the child's reading ability gains strength.

On being introduced to the concept of evolving human consciousness, Brien Masters discovered that one could gain insight into the phenomenon by examining the musical styles of different composers. Following years of musical study and practice, he detected in the richness of Mozart's music a reflection of humanity's emerging consciousness of selfhood and individuality. Two hundred and fifty years after his birth, Mozart continues to be acknowledged universally as a musical genius. But recognition of his work goes beyond the pleasure to be derived from listening to his music. In the 1990s, psychologists discovered what has been called 'The Mozart Effect', the notion that listening to Mozart enhances mental capacities and even health! In this original study, Brien Masters considers Mozart in the light of the evolution of human consciousness. Could the 'effect' of Mozart's music be connected to changes in human makeup? Masters studies Mozart's musical style and considers the nature of the human self, or - as Rudolf Steiner called it - the 'ego'. He shows how the laws of the self are particularly evident in Mozart's music, demonstrating this through analysis of his composition. As the author comments, this book '...could be taken as an attempt as much to describe the self's journey towards the richness of Mozart's musical style as it is to shed Mozartean light onto the self as the central element in the human constitution. The former perspective is a comment on the significance of his genius appearing in the second half of the eighteenth century. The latter has relevance, among other things, for the debate on and understanding of the so-called Mozart Effect today...' Full relevant musical scores are included for those who wish to study the various pieces in greater detail.

From the moment that Marie von Sivers met Rudolf Steiner in 1902, their relationship became key to the development of anthroposophy. Marie Steiner's immense contribution is well known in the fields of eurythmy, speech, the arts, and in her management and publication of Steiner's literary estate - but she also assisted in almost every aspect of Rudolf Steiner's work. So why has she been so neglected by the anthroposophical movement? Driven by this central question, the authors of this penetrating study came to the conclusion that the karma and mission of Marie Steiner-von Sivers is of vital importance to the present and future spiritual and cultural development of the West. They evaluate Marie's 23-year partnership with Rudolf Steiner, but also her three previous incarnations: in the Ancient Orphic Mysteries, as the Neoplatonist Hypatia, and as Albertus Magnus. The lives, deeds, cultural legacies and thought of these various personalities are addressed through a series of lucid essays, interspersed with studies on the missions of both Rudolf and Marie Steiner. These are supplemented with short extracts from literature which reverberate with the word, helping to reveal the intimately intertwined karmic missions of Marie Steiner-von Sivers and her work-companion and soul-partner, Rudolf Steiner.

'The power of Shakespeare lies in his evidently conscious knowledge, skill and understanding of how to work with the alchemical potential in the human soul in the crafting of his plays. Each play is made as an exquisitely unique transformative device for the education of the soul."Books carry on conversations across the thresholds of time and space', writes Josie Alwyn in her introduction. This book is the fruit of her 'conversation' with Brien Masters - a collaboration that began more than twenty years ago, when she was learning to be a Waldorf teacher. They open their discussions with the broader theme of the role and 'mission' of drama in human development, before focusing on the central topic: the potential for metamorphosis inherent in Shakespeare's plays. This creative, birth-giving, transformative essence of Shakespeare - the esoteric core of his work - is vitally important to our times, they suggest, and contributes to the ongoing cultural education of the human soul.Published to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, Educating the Soul offers an overview of Shakespeare's journey as a playwright in the context of evolving human consciousness. The heart of the book features nine essays on Shakespeare's most performed plays. Just as the middle act of a Shakespearian drama gives a point of transformation, so these essays represent the central, unfolding dialogue that took place between the writers as the book developed. This section is followed by an in-depth study of Hamlet, that sees the story as a learning process, deeply strengthened by the primary character's own education and changing consciousness. Finally, the book explores the theme of transformation through The Tempest and in relation to the archetypal 'tree of life'. Accessible to all, the motifs of the various chapters in this book are woven lightly together, enabling the reader to follow the contents in sequence, or to dip in and pick up the threads at any point.

An internationally acknowledged authority in Steiner education, Brien Masters has worked for decades as teacher (both State and Waldorf), teacher trainer, consultant, writer and lecturer. In Adventures in Steiner Education he draws on his rich and varied experience to paint a vivid picture of Waldorf education in practice. Spicing the text with many personal stories and anecdotes, he brings to life the theory behind this increasingly popular educational approach, from the Early Years through to the Lower and Upper Schools. This lively book serves not only as an informative and entertaining introduction, but also as a helpful refresher course for those seeking to become fully acquainted with the basic principles of Steiner Education.