Poet, teacher, essayist, anthologist, songwriter and singer, Naomi Shihab Nye is one of the country's most acclaimed writers. Her voice is generous; her vision true; her subjects ordinary people, and ordinary situations which, when rendered through her language, become remarkable. In this, her fourth full collection of poetry, we see with new eyes-a grandmother's scarf, an alarm clock, a man carrying his son on his shoulders. Valentine for Ernest Mann You can’t order a poem like you order a taco. Walk up to the counter and say, "I’ll take two" and expect it to handed back to you on a shiny plate. Still, I like you spirit. Anyone who says, "Here’s my address, write me a poem," deserves something in reply. So I’ll tell a secret instead: poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, they are sleeping. They are the shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that lets us find them. Once I knew a man who gave his wife two skunks for a valentine. He couldn’t understand why she was crying. "I thought they had such beautiful eyes." And he was serious. He was a serious man who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly just because the world said so. He really liked those skunks. So, he re-invented them as valentines and they became beautiful. At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding in the eyes of skunks for centuries crawled out and curled up at his feet. Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite. And let me know.

His dying wish was to set her free. So why does she feel so trapped? Jack had two dying wishes: that his wife scatter his ashes somewhere 'exotic', and that she not give up on life once he was gone. He intended to spur her on to new adventures, but despite clinging to her red suitcase, Geraldine Verne hasn't left the house for three months. It takes an accident for Geri to accept help from her friends, but when Meals on Wheels arrive she is mortified. Yet heartbroken volunteer Lottie brings with her more than cottage pie and custard. Like Geri, she too is struggling to cut loose. As a gloriously unlikely friendship blossoms, Geraldine begins to feel a long-lost spark of life and a newfound confidence. Perhaps what both women needed most, after all, was each other.

A beautiful and touching journey of one little dragon fleeing a home that has become dangerous and finding refuge in a new place and with new friends. The Red Suitcase is a simple and allegorical story with evocative illustrations and minimal text depicting the plight of refugees. From the unrest they leave behind, the treacherous journey they undertake, the fear they are met with, and finally the acceptance and helping hand that is, and should always, be offered to them. The Red Suitcase tells this story in its simplest form in a way that young children can understand and enjoy as one of friendship and acceptance.

"When a weary stranger arrives one day with nothing but a suitcase, his new neighbors ask nervous questions about who he is and where he comes from before they are challenged to decide between trusting the newcomer or taking the risk of not believing him"--

"Previously published as The decameron project."

What do you do when it's your first day of school and your mum gives you a terrible suitcase instead of a red backpack with yellow rockets and a silver zipper? Well, first you get mad. M A D! Then you use your imagination to build a rocket ship and escape with all your new friends.

"A terroist bomb has forced Ruth's family to leave Indonesia and return to Takapuna, Auckland, where she desparately tries to establish a life at her new school. But instead she finds herself inexplicably sharing the exploits of a mysterious airman who went missing during World War II. The only person who makes any sense of what's happening to Ruth is physics geek Thomas Barnard - he knows something about the slippery nature of time"--Publisher information.