Lisa made the brave step and suddenly found herself in a place full of magic. Just look at those sweet houses and roads the gnomes built and chocolate flowers they looked after. If the little girl could only imagine what incredible adventures were awaiting her in Candyland!

'Purple Dandelion' is the true story of Farida Sultana, an extraordinary Muslim woman and single mother. The book is a reflection of her personal journey as an unconventional child who struggled through her adulthood and married life. Being a survivor of violence and abuse, Farida emerged as a strong advocate against all forms of violence and cultural and religious oppression against women. The book chronicles her remarkable life. It begins in Bangladesh when as a young girl, she found herself in conflict with her traditional family values and the Islamic culture that prevents girls and women from learning music and arts. Later her arranged marriage to a doctor at the age of 18 took her to war-torn Iran with her husband and young daughter, then to the UK and finally to New Zealand. At each stage of the journey, she attempts to capture the nuances, sights and sounds of the events that she became a part of as she continued on her quest to find herself – in Bangladesh during its freedom struggle, in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, in England as a single mother and a survivor of domestic violence, and in New Zealand as an immigrant woman. Soon after her arrival in New Zealand, Farida became aware that there were many more immigrant women like her who had to overcome domestic violence and the oppressive, patriarchal societies they lived in. Their need drove her to initiate Shakti, which set up the first ethnic women’s refuge in the country. What was conceived as an essential support group for migrant and refugee women has grown into the largest ethnic community organisation in New Zealand, bringing together women and families of over 42 different ethnicities. 'Purple Dandelion' brings to life the experiences and struggles of some of these courageous women. In recognition of her work, Farida was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for Community Service in 2003. In recent years she has been working in Asian and Middle Eastern countries encouraging women to condemn violence and claim their human rights.

"Based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children--and the adults who love them." --Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts. A book that offers hope and a pathway to success for parents, teachers, psychologists, and child development experts coping with difficult children. In Tom Boyce's extraordinary new book, he explores the "dandelion" child (hardy, resilient, healthy), able to survive and flourish under most circumstances, and the "orchid" child (sensitive, susceptible, fragile), who, given the right support, can thrive as much as, if not more than, other children. Boyce writes of his pathfinding research as a developmental pediatrician working with troubled children in child-development research for almost four decades, and explores his major discovery that reveals how genetic make-up and environment shape behavior. He writes that certain variant genes can increase a person's susceptibility to depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviors. But rather than seeing this "risk" gene as a liability, Boyce, through his daring research, has recast the way we think of human frailty, and has shown that while these "bad" genes can create problems, they can also, in the right setting and the right environment, result in producing children who not only do better than before but far exceed their peers. Orchid children, Boyce makes clear, are not failed dandelions; they are a different category of child, with special sensitivities and strengths, and need to be nurtured and taught in special ways. And in The Orchid and the Dandelion, Boyce shows us how to understand these children for their unique sensibilities, their considerable challenges, their remarkable gifts.

A guide to useful Southwestern wild plants, including recipes, teas, spices, dyes, medicinal uses, poisonous plants, fibers, basketry, and industrial uses. All around us there are wild plants useful for food, medicine, and clothing, but most of us don’t know how to identify or use them. Delena Tull amply supplies that knowledge in this book, which she has now expanded to more thoroughly address plants found in New Mexico and Arizona, as well as Texas. Extensively illustrated with black-and-white drawings and color photos, this book includes the following special features: · Recipes for foods made from edible wild plants · Wild teas and spices · Wild plant dyes, with instructions for preparing the plants and dying wool, cotton, and other materials · Instructions for preparing fibers for use in making baskets, textiles, and paper · Information on wild plants used for making rubber, wax, oil, and soap · Information on medicinal uses of plants · Details on hay fever plants and plants that cause rashes · Instructions for distinguishing edible from poisonous berries Detailed information on poisonous plants, including poison ivy, oak, and sumac, as well as herbal treatments for their rashes

The recently updated field guide designed to help easily identify wildflowers native to Texas. Many color photographs help make identification easy and foolproof.

This critical Flora provides a definitive account of the native species, naturalised species, frequent garden escapes and casuals found in the British Isles. Full keys and descriptions will enable the user to name all plants occurring in the wild, plus some ornamental trees and shrubs. For the first time detailed accounts of all the large apomictic genera are given and many infraspecific variants included. Each species entry begins with the accepted Latin name, synonyms and the common English name. A detailed description follows, including information on flowering period, pollination and chromosome number. Separate descriptions are given for infraspecific taxa. Information on the status, ecology and distribution (including worldwide distribution) of the species and infraspecific taxa is also given. Clear black and white line drawings illustrate an extensive glossary and also illuminate the diagnostic features in a number of groups of plants.