The Big Book Of Belonging

The new installment in the popular Big Book series connects young readers from around the world by emphasizing that we all belong to the same planet Earth. The Big Book of Belonging is a timely celebration of all the ways that humans are connected to life on planet Earth. With children at the heart of every beautifully illustrated spread, this book draws parallels between the way humans, plants, and animals live and behave. We all breathe the same air and take warmth from the same sun, we grow, we adapt to the seasons, and we live together in family groups. Readers will be fascinated to learn that instead of using words to communicate, fava beans send chemical messages through their roots, Caribbean reef squid send warnings of danger and even declarations of love by changing color, and that adorable big-eyed primates called tarsiers make calls to one another over the noise of the rainforest that are too high-pitched for predators to hear. By putting children at the heart of the book’s concept, author Yuval Zommer unites readers of the Big Book series from all corners of the world under one banner—of belonging to planet Earth. The book’s gentle message of caring for nature will inspire readers of all ages and encourage a new generation of environmentalists to flourish.

Why does a crab run sideways? Is a jellyfish made of jelly? Why don't penguins freeze? Find out the answers to these and many more fishy questions inside. Play search and find in the pictures, too. Can you spot the special fish? Meet all kinds of slippery, shimmery, powerful and surprising sea creatures from around the world in this first book of the ocean to share with young children. It is packed with facts about how different types of underwater animals eat, hunt and survive.

The next installment in the popular Big Book series is a fascinating introduction to some of the most magnificent and surprising flowering plants from around the world. In The Big Book of Blooms, the next installment in the wildly successful Big Book series, Yuval Zommer’s charming illustrations bring to life some of the most colorful, flamboyant, and unusual flowers from across the globe. In the opening pages, readers will learn all about botany, including how to recognize different types of flowers. Subsequent pages illustrate the various habitats that are home to flora such as pitcher plants, the giant water lily, and the weirdly wonderful corpse flower. Readers will discover which flowers are endangered and why some blooms are fragrant or colorful, not to mention grisly details about carnivorous and poisonous flowers. This title pairs picture-book charm and concise, informative text to create a beautiful book for children to return to. Zommer’s quirky illustrations appeal to young readers, who will relish these fun and amazing facts about the world’s most exciting plants.

The next Big Book in the series introduces young children to some of the most colorful, magnificent, silly, and surprising feathered creatures from around the world. Following up the hugely successful The Big Book of Bugs, The Big Book of Beasts, and The Big Book of the Blue, The Big Book of Birds is a fact-filled tour of the world’s most wonderful winged creatures. Yuval Zommer’s distinctive illustrations show off some of the most colorful, flamboyant, impressive, and wacky birds of the sky. Picture-book charm pairs with informative nonfiction to make a beautiful, large-format title for parents to share with young children and for older children to read by themselves. The book draws in children and parents alike with captivating information about and charming illustrations of hummingbirds, peacocks, flamingos, bald eagles, secretary birds, puffins, red-crowned cranes, and more. The book also invites young bird-watchers to protect birds where they live and make their gardens bird-friendly. The text is chatty, funny, and full of remarkable facts. Yuval Zommer’s illustrations and fresh approach are what make this series feel distinct. His glorious and quirky pictures appeal to young children, who will relish the flighty questions and pithy facts about the most exciting creatures of the sky.

A beautifully illustrated, informative book for children introducing them to a fascinating cast of beasts In The Big Book of Beasts Yuval Zommer’s wonderful illustrations bring to whimsical life some of the grizzliest, hairiest, bravest, wiliest, and most fearsome beasts in the animal kingdom. Brimming with interesting facts from beast consultant Barbara Taylor, this charming picture book is a beautiful way for parents to introduce young children to the animal world—and for older children to learn by themselves. In the first pages children learn that beasts are wild animals that can’t be tamed and that they all defend themselves in different ways. As the book continues young readers meet specific beasts, including armadillos, bears, tigers, and the Tasmanian devil. The Big Book of Beasts also approaches the world of beasts thematically, looking at mythical beasts, Ice Age beasts, beasts on your street, and how to save beasts in danger of extinction. The funny and conversational text, amazing facts, and glorious and quirky pictures will draw in young children over and over again.

* Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award * Silver Medal Society of Illustrators * * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Comics Beat, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Journal This “ingenious reckoning with the past” (The New York Times), by award-winning artist Nora Krug investigates the hidden truths of her family’s wartime history in Nazi Germany. Nora Krug was born decades after the fall of the Nazi regime, but the Second World War cast a long shadow over her childhood and youth in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany. Yet she knew little about her own family’s involvement; though all four grandparents lived through the war, they never spoke of it. After twelve years in the US, Krug realizes that living abroad has only intensified her need to ask the questions she didn’t dare to as a child. Returning to Germany, she visits archives, conducts research, and interviews family members, uncovering in the process the stories of her maternal grandfather, a driving teacher in Karlsruhe during the war, and her father’s brother Franz-Karl, who died as a teenage SS soldier. In this extraordinary quest, “Krug erases the boundaries between comics, scrapbooking, and collage as she endeavors to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and her family's place in it all” (The Boston Globe). A highly inventive, “thoughtful, engrossing” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) graphic memoir, Belonging “packs the power of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and David Small’s Stitches” (NPR.org).

Set during the years of the British Raj, Umi Sinha's unforgettable debut novel is a compelling and finely wrought epic of love and loss, race and ethnicity, homeland - and belonging. Lila Langdon is twelve years old when she witnesses a family tragedy after her mother unveils her father's surprise birthday present - a tragedy that ends her childhood in India and precipitates a new life in Sussex with her Great-aunt Wilhelmina. From the darkest days of the British Raj through to the aftermath of the First World War, BELONGING tells the interwoven story of three generations and their struggles to understand and free themselves from a troubled history steeped in colonial violence. It is a novel of secrets that unwind through Lila's story, through her grandmother's letters home from India and the diaries kept by her father, Henry, as he puzzles over the enigma of his birth and his stormy marriage to the mysterious Rebecca.

Create a Culture of Belonging! Strong cultures help people support one another, share their passions, and achieve big goals. And such cultures of belonging aren't just happy accidents - they can be purposefully cultivated, whether they're in a company, a faith institution or among friends and enthusiasts. Drawing on 3,000 years of history and his personal experience, Charles Vogl lays out seven time-tested principles for growing enduring, effective and connected communities. He provides hands-on tools for creatively adapting these principles to any group—formal or informal, mission driven or social, physical or virtual. This book is a guide for leaders seeking to build a vibrant, living culture that will enrich lives. Winner of the Nautilus Silver Book Award in the Business and Leadership Category.