Share an old-fashioned New England Christmas with your children—back to a time when making the presents was far more satisfying than buying them. Lucy Wells likes planning ahead. In her quaint New England town the leaves have just begun to change, but Lucy is already thinking of Christmas. She begins to make presents for her family: a pincushion for her mother, a doll for her sister, and a pen-wiper for her best friend. For the whole family, her parents have ordered a new modern range stove. The days grow colder and shorter, the snow grows deeper, and everyone grows more excited. Finally, the day arrives Lucy and her family travel to the South Danbury Church on Christmas to exchange gifts, sing carols with the whole town, and perform in the Christmas pageant. Poet laureate Donald Hall (author of The Ox-Cart Man and the companion to this book, Lucy’s Summer) grew up spending as much time as he could on his grandfather’s farm in rural New Hampshire. It was there he milked cows, raised sheep, and heard stories about Christmases past that are brought to life in this read-aloud picture book for young children.

Twenty years ago Chelsea Green published the first trade edition of The Man Who Planted Trees, a timeless eco-fable about what one person can do to restore the earth. The hero of the story, Elzeard Bouffier, spent his life planting one hundred acorns a day in a desolate, barren section of Provence in the south of France. The result was a total transformation of the landscape-from one devoid of life, with miserable, contentious inhabitants, to one filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and fresh, flowing water.

Since our first publication, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies and inspired countless numbers of people around the world to take action and plant trees. On National Arbor Day, April 29, 2005, Chelsea Green released a special twentieth anniversary edition with a new foreword by Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the African Green Belt Movement.

Illus. in full color. Upstarts like Davy Crockett, giants like Paul Bunyan, and gentle souls like Johnny Appleseed are among the nine "tall" heroes featured in this exuberant collection of traditional American folk tales.

Take your children back to 1910 for an old-fashioned New England summer in the country, complete with a July Fourth parade. Poet laureate Donald Hall (author of The Ox-Cart Man and other classics of country life) grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s farm in rural New Hampshire. It was there he milked cows, raised sheep, and heard stories about the past that are brought to life in this read-aloud picture book for young children. In that long-ago time, the biggest celebration of the year was the July Fourth celebration in Danbury, New Hampshire—complete with flags, marching bands, speeches, and ice cream. A trip to Boston, where toys could be bought for a penny apiece, was a major event. This is a piece of Americana that will bring readers—and listeners—back to a simpler time when pleasure came from making as much as buying, where politics were truly local, and when worth was determined by character, not price. Published in the same format and with the same delightful handcolored scratchboard illustrations by Michael McCurdy as Donald Hall’s Lucy’s Christmas, this is a wonderful way to share old-time summer traditions and history with your child.

Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine months, the expedition ship, the Endurance, was finally crushed and Shackleton and his men made the very long and perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.

This study explores the dualities that inform the entire body of Flannery O'Connor's fiction. From the almost unredeemable world of "Wise Blood" to the climactic moments of revelation that infuse "The Violent Bear It Away" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge," O'Connor's novels and stories wrestle with extremes of faith and reason, acceptance and revolt; they arch between cool narrative and explosive action, between a sacramental vision and a primary intuition of reality.

Beautifully Produced and hauntingly illustrated, this unknown work by Iris Murdoh (1918-1999) is something very special indeed. Previously unpublished but for an excerpt in a 1950s anthology, this is a bittersweet, haunting story. Yvonne, an ordinary, bold young Irish woman, believes that there's more to life than marriage to Sam, the dutiful Jewish lad who is courting her. Set in Dublin, against the vividly recognizable backdrop of the author's native city in the 1950s, Something Special is written with a wry humor and penetrating insight that evokes the psychological tension of James Joyce's "The Dead".

Gorgeously illustrated with line drawings by the renowned American artist Michael McCurdy, Something Special is a perfect gift for all occasions, but especially for anyone in love.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz remains one of the world's most beloved and widely read books. Throughout a century of remarkable change, the popularity of L. Frank Baum's classic tale has endured and grown, embraced by generation after generation of children and the young at heart. To honor the centennial of its publication in 1900, the University Press of Kansas is pleased to present this special anniversary edition that combines Baum's original text with the contributions of two renowned artists: book illustrator Michael McCurdy and writer Ray Bradbury. Distinguished by McCurdy's beguiling illustrations and Bradbury's provocative meditation on the Land of Oz, our book also embraces and even celebrates the oft-kidded connection between Baum's wondrous story and the state of Kansas. With good humor and appreciation, then, we are very proud to welcome both Dorothy and Toto back home.

Because almost every important figure in America's literary history passed through the Berkshires, this anthology illustrates the connections, affections, prejudices and strong opinions which united and divided our literary lights. Richard Nunley has lived in the Berkshires since 1957. He is a poet, a columnist for The Berkshire Eagle and a professor of English at Berkshire Community College. Michael McCurdy is an artist, illustrator, and author. His wood engravings have appeared in many books for both adults and children.