The Dangerous Journey

Tove Jansson takes us on a beautifully illustrated and delightfully quirky journey through Moominvalley, perfectly capturing the experience and its emotional impact as seen through the innocent eyes of Susanna, who is bored with her life: Her cat is too content; her surroundings, too gentle. She craves adventure when there is none to be had. But when a new pair of glasses appears in front of her, she gets an opportunity to live the bold life that she has always longed for as her surroundings are transformed into a dark and sinister landscape. At first Susanna is afraid, but then her daring side takes over and she moves forward to an unknown destination, seeing some familiar faces along the way. Combating everything from an exploding volcano to a fierce winter storm, from mysterious monsters to stormy seas, Susanna and her newfound friends are given the adventure of a lifetime. With subtle existential themes, a lyrical rhythm, and delicate watercolor illustrations, The Dangerous Journey captures the curiosity of children and adults alike. Published for the first time in North America, and the last picture book completed by the world-renowned Jansson, The Dangerous Journey pushes the emotions that underlie our nostalgia out into the open with an unparalleled viewpoint that always brings forth a new perspective. Take this fantastical journey to Moominvalley and never look back.

Animals face scary challenges every day! These narrative nonfiction books focus on describing the changes to animals habitats that affect the animal's way of life—or even puts their species at risk of dying out! Readers will learn about the reasons for changes in habitats that affect animals and small steps they can take to help protect them. A turtle is making her way across a highway to find a nesting spot. She avoids being run over, only to find trash in the nesting grounds which will attract predators to her eggs. Will the turtle survive this dangerous journey? This narrative nonfiction title includes a range map, notes on how to help turtles, further resources, and a glossary.

The pieces in this series are long-time favorites that have appeal for pianists of all ages. Very carefully correlated to standard piano method levels, each book contains arrangements that are musically appropriate to that level. The arrangements are teacher friendly, even for the teacher who is reluctant to add pop music to the curriculum. And the series is student friendly -- there will be willing practice! Titles: * Begin the Beguine * Evergreen * I Only Have Eyes for You * Stairway to Heaven * 'S Wonderful * Star Wars (Main Title) * Tea for Two * Theme from A Summer Place * The Thorn Birds (Main Theme) * The Wind Beneath My Wings * Your Smiling Face.

A virtual memoir in letters by the beloved creator of the Moomins Tove Jansson’s works, even her famed Moomin books, fairly teem with letters of one kind or another, from messages bobbing in bottles to whole epistolary novels. Fortunately for her countless readers, her life was no different, unfolding as it did in the letters to family, friends, and lovers that make up this volume, a veritable autobiography over the course of six decades—and the only one Jansson ever wrote. And just as letters carry a weight of significance in Jansson’s writing, those she wrote throughout her life reflect the gravity of her circumstances, the depth of her thoughts and feelings, and the critical moments of humor, sadness, and grace that mark an artist’s days. These letters, penned with characteristic insight and wit, provide an almost seamless commentary on Jansson’s life within Helsinki’s bohemian circles and on her island home. Shifting between hope and despair, yearning and happiness, they describe her immersion in art studies and her ascension to fame with the Moomins. They speak frankly of friendship and love, loneliness and solidarity, and also of politics, art, literature, and society. They summon a particular place and time reflected through a mind finely attuned to her culture, her world, and her own nature—all clearly put into biographical and historical context by the volume’s editors, both longtime friends of Tove Jansson—and, in the end, draw a complex, intimate self-portrait of one of the world’s most beloved authors.

Tomboy, Lucy Howe, takes many dangerous journeys. On a sled ride down a steep incline she ends up setting fire to the school house. In a larger adventure, Lucy, and her family, embark on a trip involving raging rivers, unknown people and animals and unforeseen hardships, as they leave the safety of a farm in Vermont in the late 1700s and go to Ohio, the first Northwest Territory. At the age of eleven, Lucy deals with the transition from childhood to adulthood. She comes to grips with the changes in her body and her emotions. Lucy faces her future growing up in a nation still in formation. Dangerous Journey, a fictional tale, is based on a true story told in 11-year old Lucy Howes journal, published as Grandma Trowbridges Little Book in 1875.