Change is an ever-present part of our personal and professional lives. It is not something to be tolerated, endured or adapted to. Rather, change is to be embraced, welcomed, and regarded as an opportunity to gain a new perspective. Like a plow that tills the soil, events and conditions (whether unexpected or planned) turn our lives inside out and upside down, and give us the chance to grow stronger. The Gifts of Change encourages readers to push beyond self-imposed boundaries, using the changes that come into their lives as a way to develop new abilities as well as find those that have lain dormant. The Gifts of Change will provoke thought, encourage reflection, and create an enhanced awareness in readers; and along the way it can ignite physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Writer, essayist and entrepreneur, "change master" Nancy Christie uses her own experiences with change as a basis for her writing and workshops. Her work has appeared in Woman's Day, Better Homes & Gardens, Tai Chi Magazine and other publications, frequently focusing on identifying opportunities for personal development in everyday life.

At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by a battle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological condition that made it difficult for her to walk, work, or enjoy her life. Seeking a remedy for her depression after being hospitalized, she received an uncommon prescription from an African medicine woman: give to others for 29 days. 29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author's life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving and receiving. Many of Walker's gifts were simple?a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By day 29, not only had Walker's health and happiness improved, but she had created a worldwide giving movement. The book also includes personal essays from others whose lives changed for the better by giving, plus pages for the reader to record their own journey. More than a memoir, 29 Gifts offers inspiring lessons on how a simple daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world.

Change is an ever-present part of our personal and professional lives. It is not something to be tolerated, endured or adapted to. Rather, change is to be embraced, welcomed, and regarded as an opportunity to gain a new perspective. Like a plow that tills the soil, events and conditions (whether unexpected or planned) turn our lives inside out and upside down, and give us the chance to grow stronger. The Gifts of Change encourages readers to push beyond self-imposed boundaries, using the changes that come into their lives as a way to develop new abilities as well as find those that have lain dormant. The Gifts of Change will provoke thought, encourage reflection, and create an enhanced awareness in readers; and along the way it can ignite physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Writer, essayist and entrepreneur, "change master" Nancy Christie uses her own experiences with change as a basis for her writing and workshops. Her work has appeared in Woman's Day, Better Homes & Gardens, Tai Chi Magazine and other publications, frequently focusing on identifying opportunities for personal development in everyday life.

From the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS - an essay on the joy of reading, for anyone who has ever loved a book Every book is a kind of gift to its reader, and the act of giving books is charged with a special emotional resonance. It is a meeting of three minds (the giver, the author, the recipient), an exchange of intellectual and psychological currency, that leaves each participant enriched. Here Robert Macfarlane recounts the story of a book he was given as a young man, and how he managed eventually to return the favour, though never repay the debt. From one of the most lyrical writers of our time comes a perfectly formed gem, a lyrical celebration of the transcendent power and humanity of the given book.

An empathetic and engaging introduction to coping with unsettling events. Change is impossible to avoid because it happens ALL the time! In this book, the author speaks about how to cope with and embrace life’s expected and unexpected turns by telling personal stories and asking kids thought-provoking questions. Empathetic and encouraging, this book emphasizes talking through life’s many changes with the people you care about and trust. Meet A Kids Co., a new kind of media company with a collection of beautifully designed books that kick-start challenging, empowering, and important conversations for kids and their grown-ups. Learn more about us at akidsco.com.

Richard Titmuss (1907-1973) was a pioneer in the field of social administration (now social policy). In this reissued classic, listed by the New York Times as one of the 10 most important books of the year when it was first published in 1970, he compares blood donation in the US and UK, contrasting the British system of reliance on voluntary donors to the American one in which the blood supply is in the hands of for-profit enterprises, concluding that a system based on altruism is both safer and more economically efficient. Titmuss’s argument about how altruism binds societies together has proved a powerful tool in the analysis of welfare provision. His analysis is even more topical now in an age of ever changing health care policy and at a time when health and welfare systems are under sustained attack from many quarters.

Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. Giving is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizations—and by individuals—to solve problems and save lives both “down the street and around the world.” Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, “regardless of income, available time, age, and skills,” can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams. Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money. From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Among them: Dr. Paul Farmer, who grew up living in the family bus in a trailer park, vowed to devote his life to giving high-quality medical care to the poor and has built innovative public health-care clinics first in Haiti and then in Rwanda; a New York couple, in Africa for a wedding, who visited several schools in Zimbabwe and were appalled by the absence of textbooks and school supplies. They founded their own organization to gather and ship materials to thirty-five schools. After three years, the percentage of seventh-graders who pass reading tests increased from 5 percent to 60 percent;' Oseola McCarty, who after seventy-five years of eking out a living by washing and ironing, gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for African-American students; Andre Agassi, who has created a college preparatory academy in the Las Vegas neighborhood with the city’s highest percentage of at-risk kids. “Tennis was a stepping-stone for me,” says Agassi. “Changing a child’s life is what I always wanted to do”; Heifer International, which gave twelve goats to a Ugandan village. Within a year, Beatrice Biira’s mother had earned enough money selling goat’s milk to pay Beatrice’s school fees and eventually to send all her children to school—and, as required, to pass on a baby goat to another family, thus multiplying the impact of the gift. Clinton writes about men and women who traded in their corporate careers, and the fulfillment they now experience through giving. He writes about energy-efficient practices, about progressive companies going green, about promoting fair wages and decent working conditions around the world. He shows us how one of the most important ways of giving can be an effort to change, improve, or protect a government policy. He outlines what we as individuals can do, the steps we can take, how much we should consider giving, and why our giving is so important. Bill Clinton’s own actions in his post-presidential years have had an enormous impact on the lives of millions. Through his foundation and his work in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, he has become an international spokesperson and model for the power of giving. “We all have the capacity to do great things,” President Clinton says. “My hope is that the people and stories in this book will lift spirits, touch hearts, and demonstrate that citizen activism and service can be a powerful agent of change in the world.”