Bobby and his family are visiting Civil War battlefields on the eve of the war's centenary, while inside their car, quiet battles rage. When an accident cuts their trip short, they return home on a bus and witness an incident that threatens to deny a black family seats. What they don't know is the reason for the family's desperation to be on that bus: a few towns away, their child is missing. Lunch-Box Dream presents Jim Crow, racism, and segregation from multiple perspectives. In this story of witnessing without understanding, a naïvely prejudiced boy, in brief flashes of insight, starts to identify and question his assumptions about race.

A little boy can’t wait to get his first lunch box. ‘He imagines what he could keep in a lunch box and even dreams a splendidly illustrated dream in which he has a different colored and shaped box for each day of the week. A straightforward story about a rite of passage." —K.

We are all being presented with a crucial choice on a daily basis—evolve or repeat. Remember when you were a kid, and your mom or dad or grandmother or aunt—whoever raised you—either did it for you or helped you pack your lunch box for school. Maybe you still do the same thing today when you are preparing to head out to work or school. Regardless, there is something that is so beautiful in that process that applies to everything that you will find in the pages of this book. Try and visualize the connection to such a simple activity and how it applies to the life that you are creating for yourself this very day. Like preparing your lunch box for the day ahead and the physical nutrition it will bring, you can and should do the same thing from a mental, emotional, and spiritual standpoint. If you want the absolute best day, then you need to prepare yourself for the thoughts you will allow into your mind, the emotions and behavior of others that you will allow into your heart, and the people and circumstances that you will allow access to your spirit. What’s it going to be? Do you want to evolve beyond your current situation and circumstances, or do you want to continue to repeat lessons you’re just so tired of seeing become a reality in your life? Today, and every day ahead, you get to decide. To be a legend in your own lunch box and in life involves dedication, practice, taking a very long look at yourself, and making the determined decision to change. It won’t always be an easy road, but here’s a truth that you can hold on to. Your life will improve exponentially! When you take the time and develop the strong habit of preparing your “lunch box,” you can accomplish extraordinary things, and the landscape that you can actively create for your life will drastically change. Try it. See how you evolve. I dare you!

All dreams do come true. If we take away the distance and time factor of the physical world, then our dream and physical reality runs parallel. Having recorded hundreds of dreams over many years I have found that most of my dreams did come true. Often I ask myself, is Patricia dreaming about Soul/Spirit or is Soul/Spirit dreaming about Patricia? Which is the true reality, the dream journey or the physical journey? Here is my story.

Find out what's in the box with this board book that little ones will love to carry with them.

“A treat for reluctant readers,” as two sixth graders discover, when you can travel into books, going around the world is easy (School Library Journal). Middle schoolers Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—have found a unique shortcut to passing English. When their teacher gives them a book to read, they just toss it through the magic metal detector in their school library, which transports them into the world of the novel, allowing them to live the book firsthand and always get an A. The system works great until the librarian hires a repairman to fix what the kids call the “zapper gates.” While trying to distract him, Devin and Frankie drop a book through the detector, and find themselves on a whirlwind tour of the globe in Jules Verne’s classic adventure. In the company of mad explorer Phileas Fogg, Devin and Frankie embark on a round-the-world journey by train, ship, and hot air balloon. But they’ll have to race to beat the clock, or risk getting stuck in the book forever. As with other books in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series, “the message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear. The short chapters make this an ideal read-aloud and a treat for reluctant readers” (School Library Journal).

Bullies, gossip, rumors, cliques . . . sound all too familiar? How can you give your kids the courage to navigate the growing-up years with strong minds and sound values?