This sparkling shark-tastic board book is a deep-sea twist on the popular bedtime lullaby, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!" Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Shark Swimming deep down in the dark An adventurous twist on the popular bedtime nursery rhyme, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Shark is the fifth board book in the Twinkle, Twinkle series that's perfect for parents and little ones to snuggle up and share.

This delicious board book filled with sweet sayings will have readers gesturing their "chef's kiss" approval with every page turn. Of all the sweets I've ever made, you are my chef's kiss. With a sweet saying on every page, this yummy board book celebrates the joys of parent and child spending time stirring, whisking, making, and baking together. Sure to be a batch made in heaven with little ones who like helping in the kitchen!

From the author of the beloved Itsy Bitsy board book series comes a fire fighting adventure all about fire trucks.

An action-packed yet adorable story, The Wheels on the Fire Truck is the first book in a new series that is perfect for parents and little ones who love things that go. Follow the fire truck around town as cuddly animal firefighters run the siren, hold on tight, and save the day!

A joyous Christmas nativity twist on the popular nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider!" The itsy bitsy angel sang joy to the world, sending good will to every boy and girl. Out came a Star to chase the clouds away, and three wisemen looked up and let the Star guide their way. The itsy bitsy angel is ready to rejoice with every boy and girl. Little ones will love this first Christmas twist on the classic nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

A magical St. Patrick's Day twist on the popular nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider!"

The itsy bitsy leprechaun was hiding pots of gold.

Down came a rainbow, colorful and bold,

Out came his friends and they all began to look,

For the perfect four leaf clover hidden in this book!

The itsy bitsy leprechaun is ready for a St. Patrick's Day adventure as he searches for a lucky four-leaf clover. Little ones will love this magical twist on the classic nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider!"

This shiny board book is a magical twist on the popular bedtime lullaby, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!”

Twinkle, twinkle, unicorn,

sparkle with your magic horn.

Leaping over clouds so high,

like a diamond in the sky.

A magical twist on the popular bedtime nursery rhyme, Twinkle, Twinkle, Unicorn is the first book in a brand-new board book series that’s perfect for parents and little ones to snuggle up with and share.

From the author of the beloved Itsy Bitsy board book series comes a construction site adventure all about construction vehicles. An action-packed yet adorable story, The Wheels on the Dump Truck is the third book in a new series that is perfect for parents and little ones who love things that go. Follow dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, and more as cute animal workers build, build, build!

Mephistopheles is the fourth and final volume of a critically acclaimed history of the concept of the Devil. The series constitutes the most complete historical study ever made of the figure that has been called the second most famous personage in Christianity.In his first three volumes Jeffrey Burton Russell brought the history of Christian diabology to the end of the Middle Ages, showing the development of a degree of consensus, even in detail, on the concept of the Devil. Mephistopheles continues the story from the Reformation to the present, tracing the fragmentation of the tradition. Using examples from theology, philosophy, art, literature, and popular culture, he describes the great changes effected in our idea of the Devil by the intellectual and cultural developments of modem times.Emphasizing key figures and movements, Russell covers the apogee of the witch craze in the Renaissance and Reformation, the effects of the Enlightenment's rationalist philosophy, the Romantic image of Satan, and the cynical or satirical literary treatments of the Devil in the late nineteenth century. He concludes that although today the Devil may seem an outworn metaphor, the very real horrors of the twentieth century suggest the continuing need for some vital symbol of radical evil.A work of great insight and learning, Mephistopheles deepens our understanding of the ways in which people in Western societies have dealt with the problem of evil.

A fun and playful back-to-school twist on the popular nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"! The itsy bitsy school bus was ready for the day. Backpack was full with lunch and books, hooray! Dropped off at school, it was time to learn and play, The teacher said, "Hello, nice to meet you all today." The itsy bitsy school bus is ready for the first day of school! Whether it's a first day to Pre-K or back-to-school, little ones are sure to love this classroom twist on the classic nursery rhyme "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"!

From the author of the beloved Itsy Bitsy board book series comes a silly and smelly adventure all about garbage trucks.

An action-packed yet adorable story, The Wheels on the Garbage Truck is the second book in a new series that is perfect for parents and little ones who love things that go. Follow the garbage truck around town as cuddly animal garbage collectors clean up the neighborhood!

A fun and playful seasonal twist on "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" makes this favorite nursery rhyme perfect for wintertime! The itsy bitsy snowman went sledding into town, looking at the snowflakes softly falling down. Out came his friends to lend a happy hand. And everything was perfect in his winter wonderland. Little ones will love this fresh winter spin on a classic nursery rhyme, as one little snowman sleds through a winter wonderland.

The Christian concept of heaven flourished for almost two millennia, but it has lost much of its power in the last hundred years. Indeed today even theologians tend to avoid the topic. But heaven has always been a central tenet of the Christian faith, writes Jeffrey Burton Russell. If there is no heaven, no resurrection of the dead, the entire Christian story makes no sense. In this stimulating book, Russell sets out to rehabilitate heaven by forcefully attacking a series of ideas that have made belief in heaven, not to mention belief in God, increasingly difficult for modern people. Russell provides elegant and persuasive refutations of arguments ranging from the idea that science has disproved the existence of the supernatural, to the notion that biblical criticism has emptied the scripture of meaning. Along the way, as Russell looks at the ideas of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, Mark Twain and Alfred Lord Tennyson, Marx and Freud, and a host of others, he sheds light not only on the history of Christian thought, but on the process of secularization in the West. One by one, Russell refutes these anti-religious ideologies, pinpointing the deficiencies of their reasoning. Throughout the book, Russell invites the reader, whatever his or her beliefs, to take the concept of heaven seriously both as a worldview in itself and as one with enormous influence on the world. It is a book that will be welcomed by thinking Christians, who often feel beleaguered by the forces of modernity and sometimes find it hard to defend their own beliefs.

"Evil—the infliction of pain upon sentient beings—is one of the most long-standing and serious problems of human existence. Frequently and in many cultures evil has been personified. This book is a history of the personification of evil, which for the sake of clarity I have called 'the Devil.' I am a medievalist, but when I began some years ago to work with the concept of the Devil in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, I came to see that I could not understand the medieval Devil except in terms of its historical antecedents. More important, I realized that I could not understand the Devil at all except in the context of the problem of evil. I needed to face the issue of evil squarely, both as a historian and as a human being."—from the Preface This lively and learned book traces the history of the concept of evil from its beginnings in ancient times to the period of the New Testament. A remarkable work of synthesis, it draws upon a vast number of sources in addressing a major historical and philosophical problem over a broad span of time and in a number of diverse cultures, East and West. Jeffrey Burton Russell probes the roots of the idea of evil, treats the development of the idea in the Ancient Near East, and then examines the concept of the Devil as it was formed in late Judaism and early Christianity. Generously illustrated with fifty black-and-white photographs, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, from specialists in religion, theology, sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy to anyone with an interest in the demonic, the supernatural, and the question of good and evil.

The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles - throughout history the Prince of Darkness, the Western world's most powerful symbol of evil, has taken many names and shapes. Jeffrey Burton Russell here chronicles the remarkable story of the Devil from antiquity to the present. While recounting how past generations have personified evil, he deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil.After a compelling essay on the nature of evil, Russell uncovers the origins of the concept of the Devil in various early cultures and then traces its evolution in Western thought from the time of the ancient Hebrews through the first centuries of the Christian era. Next he turns to the medieval view of the Devil, focusing on images found in folklore, scholastic thought, art, literature, mysticism, and witchcraft. Finally, he follows the Devil into our own era, where he draws on examples from theology, philosophy, art, literature, and popular culture to describe the great changes in this traditional notion of evil brought about by the intellectual and cultural developments of modern times.Is the Devil an outmoded superstition, as most educated people today believe? Or do the horrors of the twentieth century and the specter of nuclear war make all too clear the continuing need for some vital symbol of radical evil? A single-volume distillation of Russell's epic tetralogy on the nature and personifcation of evil from ancient times to the present (published by Cornell University Press between 1977 and 1986), The Prince of Darkness invites readers to confront these and other critical questions as they explore the past faces of that figure who has been called the second most famous personage in Christianity.

Evil is an intrinsically fascinating topic. In Lucifer, Jeffrey Burton Russell continues his compelling study of the personification of evil in the figure of the Devil. The previous two volumes in this remarkable tertalogy—The Devil and Satan—trace the history of the concept of the devil comparatively as it emerged in diverse cultures and followed its development in Western thought from the ancient Hebrew religion through the first five centuries of the Christian era.The present volume charts the evolution of the concept of the devil from the fifth century through the fifteenth. Drawing on an impressive array of sources from popular religion, art, literature, and drama, as well as from scholastic philosophy, mystical theology, homiletics, and hagiography, Russell provides a detailed treatment of Christian diabology in the Middle Ages. Although he focuses primarily on Western Christian thought, Russell also includes, for the sake of comparison, material on the concept of the devil in Greek Orthodoxy during the Byzantine period as well as in Muslim thought.Russell recounts how the Middle Ages saw a refinement in detail rather than a radical alteration of diabological theory. He shows that the medieval concept of the devil, fundamentally unchanged over the course of the centuries, eventually gave rise to the unyielding beliefs that resulted in the horrifying cruelties of the witch-hunting craze in the 1500s and 1600s. This major contribution to the history of the Middle Ages and to the history of religion will enlighten scholars and students alike and will appeal to anyone concerned with the problem of evil in our world.

The Christian concept of heaven flourished for almost two millennia, but it has lost much of its power in the last hundred years. Indeed today even theologians tend to avoid the topic. This stimulating book sets out to rehabilitate heaven by forcefully attacking a series of ideas that have made belief in heaven, not to mention belief in God, increasingly difficult for modern people. The author provides elegant and persuasive refutations of arguments ranging from the idea that science has disproved the existence of the supernatural, to the notion that biblical criticism has emptied the scripture of meaning. Along the way, as Russell looks at the ideas of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, Mark Twain and Alfred Lord Tennyson, Marx and Freud, and a host of others, he sheds light not only on the history of Christian thought, but on the process of secularization in the West. One by one, Russell refutes these anti-religious ideologies, pinpointing the deficiencies of their reasoning.
"A marvelous overview of the many philosophical, literary, social, and even religious forces that have challenged the concept of heaven.... Russell's elegant and richly textured survey of heaven offers a first-rate history of a much-debated subject."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Believers and unbelievers alike will find much here to challenge their thinking.... Russell argues that, far from hiding dark realities behind pretty illusions, the great metaphors of Christianity--from the luminous New Jerusalem of Revelation to the heavenly chariot of African American spirituals--gesture toward realities too cosmic to fit within ordinary language."
--Booklist (starred review)
Patient, generous, eloquent, it delivers to the ordinary reader a brilliant analysis of the long battle for Christian ideas. Russell shrinks from nothing as he pierces the illusions surrounding skepticism and cynicism and how these biases have come to dominate our daily lives. Vitally important for those of us who struggle to articulate the richness of the faith they hold dear."
--Anne Rice