Do you know what a Solanum caule inermi herbaceo, foliis pinnatis incises, racemis simplicibus is?* Carolus (Karl) Linnaeus started off as a curious child who loved exploring the garden. Despite his intelligence—and his mother's scoldings—he was a poor student, preferring to be outdoors with his beloved plants and bugs. As he grew up, Karl's love of nature led him to take on a seemingly impossible task: to give a scientific name to every living thing on earth. The result was the Linnaean system—the basis for the classification system used by biologists around the world today. Backyard sciences are brought to life in beautiful color. Back matter includes more information about Linnaeus and scientific classification, a classification chart, a time line, source notes, resources for young readers, and a bibliography. *it's a tomato! A handsome introductory book on Linnaeus and his work — Booklist, starred review A good introduction to a man in a class by himself — Kirkus Reviews Lends significant humanity to the naturalist — Publisher's Weekly The biographical approach to a knotty scientific subject makes this a valuable addition to STEM and biography collections — School Library Journal

"By turns witty, erudite, probingly serious and sparklingly irreverent, these essays refresh our readings of the Bible, and deepen our vision of foundational feminist figures. A wonderfully thought-provoking and readable collection." EVA HOFFMAN Author of EXIT INTO HISTORY This is the first collection of essays in which women read and respond to the Bible out of pleasure and curiosity--reclaiming the Bible for women and showing readers that the Bible is a source we can return to again and again. Drawing on their own epxeriences and interests, Louise Erdrich, Cynthia Ozick, Fay Weldon, Phyllis Trible, Rebecca Goldstein, June Jordan, Ursula Le Guin, and twenty-one other writers boldly imaginatively--and sometimes reproachfully--address the Old Testament stories, characters, and poetry that mean the most to them. As with all great works of literature, it is a book that changes as we change, a garden in its own right whose pleasures are there for the taking, as are its surprises and thorny byways.

"Sara Midda's richly illustrated In and Out of the Garden has delighted readers and critics alike: "This is the most gentle of books, a peaceful pastime. The delicacy of Sara Midda's art is enchanting. Anyone who is a gardener, or who has worked with plants in nature, will respond to what she has put forth so exquisitely," wrote Joan Lee Faust, Garden Editor of The New York Times. Diana Vreeland praised it as "delightful and delicious," Time magazine as "Cause for revel," and Laura Ashley called it "pure inspiration." In scores and scores of delicate illustrations and tender reflections, the author recalls the English gardens her childhood and the gardens she tends now, to reveal surprises both dainty and daring. The colorings and imaginings make the fancy soar with pleasure, as she creates the most elegant and subtle of books to give and to have, a book to cherish as dearly as a volume of treasured poetry. Sara Midda's garden is sown with glorious images. Ruby-red radishes are the jewels of the underworld. Myriad colors fall upon warm green moss. Brown leaves drift with sweet scent. And "in the beeman's garden, a host of hives and a swarm of bees bring sticky honey for your teas." Vegetable gardens, herb gardens, flower gardens are illustrated. The pleasures of the orchard are celebrated. Recipes are shared for lotions and potions to cheer the heart and delight the senses." -- Publisher.

This timely and innovative book provides a detailed history of marketing to children, revealing the strategies that shape the design of toys and have a powerful impact on the way children play. Stephen Kline looks at the history and development of children's play culture and toys from the teddy bear and Lego to the Barbie doll, Care Bears and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He profiles the rise of children's mass media - books, comics, film and television - and that of the specially stores such as Toys 'R' Us, revealing how the opportunity to reach large audiences of children through television was a pivotal point in developing new approaches to advertising. Contemporary youngsters, he shows, are catapulted into a fantastic and chaotic time-space continuum of action toys thanks to the merchandisers' interest in animated television. Kline looks at the imagery and appeal of the toy commercials and at how they provide a host of stereotyped figures around which children can organize their imaginative experience. He shows how the deregulation of advertising in the United States in the 1980s has led directly to the development of the new marketing strategies which use television series to saturate the market with promotional "character toys". Finally, in a powerful re-examination of the debates about the cultural effects of television, Out of the Garden asks whether we should allow our children's play culture to be primarily defined and created by marketing strategies, pointing to the unintended consequences of a situation in which images of real children have all but been eliminated from narratives about the young.

Capture all the hues of the garden with a few simple brushtrokes and Lorene Edwards Forkner’s inspirational advice on observing color in nature, painting with watercolor, and gardening with joy and intention If you love flowers and the rich colors of the garden, Color In and Out of the Garden is for you. Artist and garden expert Lorene Edwards Forkner shares her simple watercolor techniques for capturing every lovely hue in a miniature artwork. Along the way, she also offers practical advice on topics from painting (no matter your skill level) to gardening mindfully to celebrating life. This delightfully useful and addictively readable little book may just inspire you to begin keeping a garden journal of your own, so you can record favorite plants with just a few simple brushstrokes. Arranged by color, each chapter helps readers sharpen their powers of observation and capture nature’s lovely palette. Plant profiles and personal reflections mingle with creative prompts for making a simple watercolor that helps focus one's attention. Both a mindfulness exercise for seeing garden colors and an easy guide to reproducing them on the page, Forkner guides you through the spectrum with her own watercolors while offering inspiration and a delightful garden respite from everyday stress.

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.

Out of the Scientist's Garden is written for anyone who wants to understand food and water a little better - for those growing vegetables in a garden, food in a subsistence plot or crops on vast irrigated plains. It is also for anyone who has never grown anything before but has wondered how we will feed a growing population in a world of shrinking resources. Although a practicing scientist in the field of water and agriculture, the author has written, in story form accessible to a wide audience, about the drama of how the world feeds itself. The book starts in his own fruit and vegetable garden, exploring the 'how and why' questions about the way things grow, before moving on to stories about soil, rivers, aquifers and irrigation. The book closes with a brief history of agriculture, how the world feeds itself today and how to think through some of the big conundrums of modern food production.