Wonder Garden

In a series of interconnected short stories, the residents of Old Cranbury, Connecticut face unseen battles and creeping truths, dreaming the massive dreams that each person holds close-- and that hold them close to each other.

Much more than a how-to flower gardening book (though you will learn how to), Garden Maker is for those who want to grow beautiful things that reflect the glory and majesty of the Creator and bring a little bit of heaven down to earth. From the beginning God made a garden, so it’s no surprise if you feel closer to Him with your hands in the dirt and the sun on your back. There is something profoundly soul-satisfying about creating and cultivating beauty. If you long to experience more splendor in your life, you can grow some of your very own. Join kindred spirit Christie Purifoy as she helps you unearth the simple delights of growing garden flowers, from preparing and planning to creating beautiful bouquets and other arrangements. Lavishly photographed and lovingly written, this all-seasons guide invites you to discover the innumerable joys and wonders to be found in the flower garden.

Open the gates of the Wonder Garden to explore five of Earth's most extraordinary habitats, each filled with incredible creatures and epic scenery. Trek through the Amazon Rainforest, travel to the Chihuahuan Desert, dive in the Great Barrier Reef, delve deep into the Black Forest and stand on the roof of the world - the Himalayan Mountains - to see nature at its wildest. Breathtaking, engraved illustrations bring to life Earth's spectacular Wonder Garden.

“In 13 sharply drawn linked stories, Acampora reveals the complexities beneath the polish and privilege of a prosperous Connecticut town.”—People A man strikes an under-the-table deal with a surgeon to spend a few quiet seconds closer to his wife than he’s ever been; a young soon-to-be mother looks on in paralyzing astonishment as her husband walks away from a twenty-year career in advertising at the urging of his spirit animal; an elderly artist risks more than he knows when he’s commissioned by his newly-arrived neighbors to produce the work of a lifetime. In her stunning debut collection, The Wonder Garden, Lauren Acampora brings to the page with enchanting realism the myriad lives of a suburban town and lays them bare. These linked stories take a trenchant look at the flawed people of Old Cranbury, incisive tales that reveal at each turn the unseen battles we play out behind drawn blinds, the creeping truths from which we distract ourselves, and the massive dreams we haul quietly with us and hold close. Deliciously creepy and masterfully complex The Wonder Garden heralds the arrival of a phenomenal new talent in American fiction. “Like Wharton, Acampora seems to understand fiction as a kind of elegant design.”—The New York Times Book Review “Acampora is a brilliant anthropologist of the suburbs . . . [The Wonder Garden] is reminiscent of John Cheever in its anatomizing of suburban ennui and of Ann Beattie in its bemused dissection of a colorful cast of eccentrics.”—Boston Globe “Intelligent, unnerving, and very often strange . . . as irresistible as it is disturbing.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This ‘Wonder Book’, written by Frances Jenkins Olcott, is a collection of over 150 nature myths and tales from all parts of the world, illustrated by Milo Winter. It’s 500 pages provide a vast array of tales, including tales of flowers, fairies, dragons, talking birds, magic waters and enchanted forests, that children can revel and delight in. Winter (1888 – 1956) was best-loved for his animal drawings, and was among the artists working in the later stages of the ‘Golden Age’. His work can be identified from its masterful accuracy, humorous touches, personality, and attention to detail. Winter produced artwork for such well-known tales as Aesop’s Fables, Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland, and Gulliver’s Tales. Presented alongside the text, his illustrations further refine and elucidate Olcott’s captivating storytelling. A bit of the Sky fell down one day; It touched a Star and glanced away; A spark from the Star in its breast it bore, And fell to the earth, and was no more. Up sprang from the grass a tiny flower That brightly grew ‘neath sun and shower:- The bit of the Sky in its petals blue, The spark from the Star in its bodom, too. The Star gazed down at its happy lot, And whispered, ‘Dear, forget-me-not!’

"Identifies and locates one of the Ancient World wonders -- New description of a very early garden and the technology behind its water supply -- Identifies the early occurrence of the "Water-raising Screw" -- Links Assyrian texts and sculpture to later classical sources and explains legends surrounding the characters of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar -- Reassesses specific sculpture in the British Museum." --Publisher.