Family Learning

Young children live with awe and wonder as their daily companions. But as they grow, worries often crowd out wonder. Knowing this, how can parents strengthen their kids' love for the world so it sticks around for the long haul? Thankfully, parents have at their fingertips a miracle vaccine - one that can boost their kids' immunity to the world's distractions: stories. Well-chosen stories connect us with others, even those on the other side of the globe.

Campus Chronicles will inspire you, amuse you, and support you through your college years. Whether you are a high-school student just leaving for college, or a college senior who has seen it all, these stories will illuminate the college experience for you.

In The Invisible Toolbox, Kim shares with parents the single most important thing they can do to foster their child's future-learning potential and nurture the parent-child bond that is the foundation for a child's motivation to learn. She is convinced that the simple act of reading aloud has a far-reaching impact that few of us fully understand and that the importance of that act has recently been further occluded by our nearly universal saturation in technology.

Merilee leads a Very Ordered Existence: V.O.E. for short. She does not have time for Biswick O'Connor. She does not have time for Miss Veraleen Holliday. He with his annoying factoids and runny nose; she with her shining white shoes as big as sailboats. Both of them strangers who, like the hot desert wind that brings only bad news, blow into town and change everything.

New York City is experiencing the hottest summer on record. Eleven-year-old Arcade Livingston can't keep his cool after receiving this suspicious warning atop the Empire State Building: Things will heat up in all areas to test your mettle. In no time flat, Arcade is tested like never before to use the Triple T token's powerful ways to outsmart a bully, find a place for his best friend to live, and spy on some pesky villains from the 1900s.

She was little and quick and pretty. Her mother nicknamed her Colibri, Spanish for "Hummingbird". At age four she was kidnapped, torn from her parents on a crowded bus in Guatemala City. Since then she's traveled with "Uncle", the ex-soldier and wandering beggar who has renamed her Rosa. Uncle has always told Rosa that he searched for her parents but had no success. There's almost no chance Rosa will ever find them, but Rosa still remembers and longs for them.

The Talisman is Sir Walter Scott's tale of the Crusades, a tale of chivalry, of violence, of virtue, romance, and deceit.

Without any doubts, toddlers can be either tricky or lovely. When my children were small, I felt that I was struggling to get them to do things (without using any punishment, of course!). Sometimes, the only alternative was to bribing, threatening, or putting them into time out. I always worked as a teacher in Montessori education. Montessori method, named for the Italian physician Maria Montessori, stresses the importance of the development of a healthy self-concept: “One becomes a well-balanced adult only if one has fully been a child.”

Vivimos en una sociedad caracterizada por la rapidez, las exigencias y el poco tiempo para disfrutar de nuestros hijos. Disponemos de menos tiempo del que quisiéramos para estar con ellos. Tenemos un mundo cada vez más conectado tecnológicamente pero menos conectado emocional y socialmente. Los estudios científicos han demostrado que para desarrollar vínculos de seguridad en nuestros hijos y fomentar su autonomía, empatía y autoestima se necesita tiempo de calidad.

Teaching your child to read is monstrously important, and there's no better way to do it than with everyday opportunities for laughter and play. Bringing Up Bookmonsters is full of fun ways to build literacy at home - no flashcards or timers required! Feed your budding bookmonster's brain as you: Turn storytime into playtime to build comprehension; get giggling with games and jokes that reinforce spelling; converse at family meals with varied vocabulary; satisfy your bookmonster's cravings with books they are sure to devour; and more!

The busy lives we lead today often leave little to no time for cooking. Instead, we're stuck with fast food, pre-packaged food, eating out - all because most of the time, we either have no idea what to cook or we don't have time to do it.

Instead of saying “This is what you do,” then leaving you to it, Beverley takes you by the hand and troubleshoots all the games so that you can get them absolutely right. And the joy is that this is all achieved without shouting, force, or intimidation. Just pure undiluted fun! This first book in the series of Essential Skills for a Brilliant Family Dog introduces you to the concepts of how to get what you want from your dog, and then sends him off to sleep for you.

Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals. But that's not surprising, considering that her family runs the town funeral home. And even though Great-uncle Edisto keeled over with a heart attack and Great-great-aunt Florentine dropped dead, just like that, six months later, Comfort knows how to deal with loss, or so she thinks.

Wild mustangs, ghosts on the ranch, gun-toting outlaws and trailblazing cowboys roam the pages of this collection of 8 classic stories about the American frontier. Travel down "The Road to Hell" with a mysterious ranch builder, face down the "Yellow Devil" mountain lion, travel "Where the Wind Blows Free," and join in on a herd of other adventures that will keep you reading until long after high noon.

Lex fled Memphis years ago, making ends meet with odd jobs teaching English around the world. She only returns when she has no choice, when her godmother presents her with a bargain she can't refuse. Lex has never understood her mother, who died tragically right before Lex's college graduation, but now she's got a chance to read her journals, to try and figure out what sent her mother spiraling all those years ago.

Elise Sabato is proud of her husband, Brad, for serving his country...and grateful when he returns home to her. But the traumatic brain injury he suffered in Iraq has turned him from a thoughtful, brilliant, and patient man into someone quite different - someone who requires more care and attention than Elise can give while working at a demanding law firm. And when Brad ends up on his family’s farm, hundreds of miles away, she wonders where their marriage is headed. Elise feels she must decide between the life she always wanted and the life she seems to be living...until she finds inspiration in the most unlikely of places....

After Tripoli declared war on the United States in 1801, Barbary pirates captured 300 U.S. sailors and marines. President Jefferson sent navy squadrons to the Mediterranean, but he also authorized a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli. He chose an unlikely diplomat, William Eaton, to lead the mission, but before Eaton departed, Jefferson grew wary of the affair and withdrew his support.

Orphan Benjamin Bartholomew Piff closed his eyes, blew out the candle, and wished with all his might. Soon after, sirens wailed all over the Wishworks Factory: Ben had followed every rule of birthday wishing to a T and had made the most dangerous wish of all...a wish for unlimited wishes.

The Gambler brilliantly captures the strangely powerful compulsion to bet that Dostoevsky, himself a compulsive gambler, knew so well. The hero rides an emotional roller coaster between exhilaration and despair, and secondary characters such as the grandmother, who throws much of her fortune away at the gaming tables, are unforgettable.

When Gwen's grandfather disappears from their home in New York City, he leaves a message saying not to worry, but that's hard when Gwen has upcoming violin auditions at Julliard! But then she meets Robert, a fellow musician, and things seem to look up. At the same time, there are other forces in motion, like the scary great uncle who keeps coming by, and the strange man Gwen sees one day when shopping.