Congratulations on your acceptance to the Apprentice Academy, one of the world's finest institutions for knightly education. Your course of study here will prepare you for a career as a knight--or, optionally, a samurai, Viking, border-raider, or really any type of sword-swinging warrior. Swinging a sword is inherently dangerous, but this guide will help you complete your education while minimizing the twin risks of 1. getting maimed and 2. working too hard. Learn how to: - Fight people! - Fight dragons! - Fight giants! - Fight monsters! - Fight everything else! - Go on quests! - Die honorably! - And more! Please follow all instructions carefully. If you go off on your own and try something silly, and then get your head chopped off of your body bitten in two, don't start drafting a letter of complaint. You had fair warning.

Imbued with a sense of wonder, and a strong connection to the natural world, Laura Alary's books invite young readers to engage with the liturgical seasons of the church year. Breathe is a journey through Ascension, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. "The day of Pentecost is coming. The church is changing color. The white and gold of Easter will soon burst into flaming red, then cool to green." So begins Breathe: A Child's Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time. In the warm, thoughtful style that has made her books so popular with families who want to encourage their children to think deeply and engage their spiritual imaginations, Laura Alary presents the third book in a trilogy (previous books include Look! A Child's Guide to Advent and Christmas and Make Room: A Child's Guide to Lent and Easter) that explores the church's liturgical seasons. At the heart of Breathe lies a puzzle: How can Jesus go away, yet promise to be with us always? Can we trust someone who comes and goes so mysteriously? Moving beyond long ago and far away events, Breathe invites children to wonder about and watch for the presence and work of the Spirit here and now, in practices of prayer and mindfulness, and through acts of justice, generosity, and kindness. Slowly but surely, we discover that we are the body of Jesus now, his way of being in the world. And that whenever we choose the way of love, Jesus is there. Always.

The largest single anthology of Jane Yolen's poetry, containing more than one hundred poems for all occasions—with fun black-and-white art throughout. Our Kitchen Smells of mornings, blueberry muffins, hot chocolate, tea. It smells of bacon and of eggs. It smells of family. For the first time, legendary author Jane Yolen gathers the largest single anthology of her poetry celebrating childhood. At home or at school, playing sports or practicing music, enjoying the holidays or delighting in each season, Jane Yolen’s masterful collection shows just how lively it is to be a kid. With whimsical artwork by Cathrin Peterslund, this collection of more than one hundred poems is a classic that children are sure to return to again and again.