appreciation

Poet Ben Lerner discusses the common and intense criticism of poetry, using people's dislike of poetry to defend the art form. Explains what he calls poetry's "noble failure" and gives examples from poets such as Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Claudia Rankine.

Young Catherine Morland's entry into nineteenth-century English society is attended by the collapse of many romantic illusions.

A collection of classic paintings with search-and-find picture puzzles.

Provides an introduction to the life and career of nineteenth-century Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, and includes examples of some of his most important works.

Presents a guide to reading "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis, providing trivia, games, facts, and informationon about Narnia, the author, and the first book in the series.

Introduces children to the hidden details in a wide range of famous paintings spanning from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century including Leonardo's "Mona Lisa," Warhol's "Marilyn," Valazquez's "Las Meninas," and Rembrandt's "Night Watch." Presents full-color reproductions of the paintings and features lift-the-flap keys that provide facts about each work and the artist.

"A passionate hymn to the power of fiction to change people's lives, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Ten years ago, Azar Nafisi electrified readers with her million-copy bestseller, Reading Lolita in Tehran, which told the story of how, against the backdrop of morality squads and executions, she taught The Great Gatsby and other classics to her eager students in Iran. In this exhilarating followup, Nafisi has written the book her fans have been waiting for: an impassioned, beguiling, and utterly original tribute to the vital importance of fiction in a democratic society. What Reading Lolita in Tehran was for Iran, The Republic of Imagination is for America. Taking her cue from a challenge thrown to her in Seattle, where a skeptical reader told her that Americans don't care about books the way they did back in Iran, she energetically responds to those who say fiction has nothing to teach us. Blending memoir and polemic with close readings of her favorite American novels-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Babbitt, and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, among others-she invites us to join her as citizens of her 'Republic of Imagination,' a country where the villains are conformity and orthodoxy and the only passport to entry is a free mind and a willingness to dream"--.

A holiday-themed companion to the best-selling Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book, written by the editorial director at Golden Books, collects iconic, retro-style artwork by such luminaries as Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry and Garth Williams.

Explores periods of art and artists throughout history, and discusses thirty-five well-known painters and sculptors including Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Michelangelo, and Pablo Picasso.