Colter illuminates familiar things and people -- 63rd street and Martin Luther King Highway, wives and common-law mates, a teenager hooked on drugs and retired old men subsisting on pensions ...

Welcome to the Parker Palm Springs, where you’ll experience a delightful time away, filled with everything you’d expect from a sunny, California vacation. There’s tennis courts and a lemonade stand, a gorgeous pool, and a lawn for croquet. But, the other guests and staff are more than a little unexpected . . . From the New York Times bestselling photographer of Beaches, Gray Malin, comes Be Our Guest!, Malin’s first children’s picture book, compiled from his acclaimed series of photographs Gray Malin at the Parker Palm Springs. If Eloise had lived in an animal-only hotel, it would have had the style and whimsy of the Parker. Just reading Be Our Guest! will whisk children away on a temporary holiday, which is nothing less than extraordinary.

A fun, illustrated history of the umbrella's surprising place in life and literature Humans have been making, using, perfecting, and decorating umbrellas for millennia--holding them over the heads of rulers, signalling class distinctions, and exploring their full imaginative potential in folk tales and novels. In the spirit of the best literary gift books, Brolliology is a beautifully designed and illustrated tour through literature and history. It surprises us with the crucial role that the oft-overlooked umbrella has played over centuries--and not just in keeping us dry. Marion Rankine elevates umbrellas to their rightful place as an object worthy of philosophical inquiry. As Rankine points out, many others have tried. Derrida sought to find the meaning (or lack thereof) behind an umbrella mentioned in Nietzsche's notes, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote essays on the handy object, and Dickens used umbrellas as a narrative device for just about everything. She tackles the gender, class, and social connotations of carrying an umbrella and helps us realize our deep connection to this most forgettable everyday object--which we only think of when we don't have one.

There's nothing quite like a day at the beach! And Alice Schertle and Barbara Lavallee's clever companion to All You Need for a Snowman is the perfect recipe for fun in the sun. Plant a yellow umbrella in the sand, roll out a beach towel, and pour a glass of frosty lemonade. . . . But wait! What's the most important part of a beach? A surprise ending will inspire young adventurers everywhere to don their shades and head for the beach.

From ALONE and TOGETHER to ABOVE and BELOW, Gray Malin’s stunning photography shows off opposites from all over the world Join Gray Malin as he explores the concept of opposites through his eye-popping photographs taken from Antarctica to Africa. Readers will delight in journeying from the barren desert landscape of Namibia (DRY) to the crashing teal waves of the Australian ocean (WET). His bright and colorful photographs hold heaps of kid appeal, making this the perfect gift for satisfying young readers’ sense of imagination and innate desire to learn more about the world. Gray Malin is a photographer best known for his aerial beach photography, which he has transformed into a lighthearted, conversation-igniting, joyful brand. His work’s sense of adventure and escapism has turned him into a household name. He lives in Los Angeles.

Toddlers will love this uncomplicated story, while older preschoolers will be involved in guessing what must be left behind as they watch Roxanne pack up for the beach! One beautiful summer day Roxanne decides to go to the beach. She loads up the car with everything she wants to take with her: the turtle...the umbrella..the book of wonderful stories...the ball...and, of course her baby! But the car won't start. Undaunted, Roxanne decides to take the bus to the beach. But something can't go on the bus. Whenever Roxanne comes up with a new way to get to the beach she discovers she must leave something behind-and children will have great fun guessing just what's missing each time.