In this beautiful collection of poems and paintings, Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate, joins with David Allen Sibley, America's foremost bird illustrator, to celebrate the winged creatures that have inspired so many poets to sing for centuries. From Catullus and Chaucer to Robert Browning and James Wright, poets have long treated birds as powerful metaphors for beauty, escape, transcendence, and divine expression. Here, in this substantial anthology, more than one hundred contemporary and classic poems are paired with close to sixty original, ornithologically precise illustrations. Part poetry collection, part field guide, part art book, Bright Wings presents verbal and visual interpretations of the natural world and reminds us of our intimate connection to the "bright wings" around us. Each in their own way, these poems and pictures honor the enchanting creatures that have been, and continue to be, longtime collaborators with the poet's and painter's art. Poet and bird pairings include: Wallace Stevens and the Blackbird; Emily Dickinson and the Robin; Marianne Moore and the Frigate Pelican; Thomas Hardy and the Goldfinch; Sylvia Plath and the Pheasant; John Updike and the Seagull; Walt Whitman and the Eagle; Billy Collins and the Sparrow.

"We have been living on the edge of a small village in the south of Portugal for over nine years. Sometimes, in the stress of the irregular hours and eccentric episodes that make up our life here, we ask ourselves how it all began, simply to find a culprit . . ." Under the Bright Wings tells the story of a pioneering work in the beautiful but ravaged Portuguese Algarve. Keenly aware of their Christian responsibility for the environment and towards their neighbours, Peter and Miranda Harris learn from scratch about cross-cultural evangelism, community living and conservation. The A Rocha Christian Field Study Centre and Bird Observatory has now welcomed hundreds of visitors from all over the world. Lavishly illustrated with evocative line drawings, this is a refreshing, honest and humorous look at how the gospel makes a practical difference to conservation. "In the developing ministry of A Rocha an exciting, contemporary form of Christian mission has come alive." (The Rev Dr. John Stott) "A remarkable commitment to conservation, a joyful appreciation of Portugal's wildlife and a deep sense of community: read this book." (Tim Cleeves, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)

"Wings! Wings! Wings! They are wonderful flying things . . ". Come join Marc Brown for a wacky, whimsical whirl through the world of winged things. Kids will learn about creatures and things that have wings. Brown's dazzling, bold art perfectly complements his easy-to-read rhyming text. Full color.

This young adult fantasy debut about love, found family, and healing is “a fantastical ode to the Golden City’s postpunk era,” told through the eyes of a Mexican-American girl (Entertainment Weekly). “Complex and beautiful, blending folklore, San Franciscan history, the music scene, vampires, magic . . . hard to put down.” —School Library Journal Seventeen-year-old Xochi is alone in San Francisco, running from her painful past: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her. Then one day, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old who lives with her rockstar family in one of the city’s storybook Victorians. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas’s live-in governess and quickly finds her place in the girl’s tight-knit household, which operates on a free-love philosophy and easy warmth despite the band’s growing fame. But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a riot-grrrl ritual in good fun, accidentally summoning a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi’s past. She would do anything to preserve her new life, but with the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who’ve hurt her, no one is safe—not the family Xochi’s chosen, nor the one she left behind.

Historians have largely ignored the role of Eastern Kentuckians in the Civil War, and the effect of the war on mountain communities. Bruce Hopkins corrects that oversight in BRIGHT WINGS TO FLY. Here he relates the fierce struggles of the families of Greasy Creek, broken and in poverty, as they deal with the Civil War and its aftermath.

Willa Bean, who wants to master flying before starting school at Cupid Academy, celebrates her unconventional looks and unique personality, but struggles to accept that cupids learn how to fly at different times.

Provides basic information about the biology, life cycles, and behavior of birds, along with brief profiles of each of the eighty bird families in North America.