Eddie just wants to mind his own business on Christmas Eve. So he’ll be sleeping on the street tonight—so what? He can handle the cold. But of course some obnoxious do-gooder from the shelter across town sees a homeless veteran and wants to earn herself a gold star by helping him out. She’s hopelessly naive, the poor thing. She doesn’t understand that there are monsters on the streets, even on Christmas Eve. If he were a younger man, he’d take this opportunity to add another body to his collection. But he doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore. He’ll have to find another way to scare her off. Too bad she’s as persistent as she is annoying. If it’s the only way to get rid of her, he might just have to let her do something nice for him after all. This short story is 3900 words long. It is also available in Santa’s Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.

Warm Fuzzies is about a young girl named Shonna that is having problems fitting in with her friends at school. Her Mom comes up with an idea, a "Warm Fuzzy." (A doll made up of a pom pom, pipe cleaners, eyes, a button nose and string for a mouth). When this little girl is feeling sad and alone, and needs a reminder that someone loves and accepts her all she has to do is reach her hand in her pocket and feel the warmth of her Fuzzy. Shonna quickly learns that it is not just her that has a need to feel accepted. She passes on her Warm Fuzzy to the new girl at school making her not only feel good but making a new friend. She then comes up with the idea to make more so she can pass them onto others in an effort to repair friendships, show someone she cares, and in turn feel good about herself.

From the cutest felted cupcakes and novelty needle cases to hats, scarves and bags, this title offers an experiment with felting techniques, including needle felting and fulling. It features over 30 colourful and quirky designs to make and adore.

Francis has never had a friend like Jessica before. She's the first person he's ever met who can make him feel completely himself. Jessica has never had a friend like Francis before. Not just because he's someone to laugh with every day - but because he's the first person who has ever been able to see her . . . Jessica's Ghost is a funny, moving and beautiful book by a master storyteller, about the power of friendship to shine a warm light into dark places.

This book describes a ubiquitous and potent emotion that has only rarely and recently been studied in any systematic manner. The words that come closest to denoting it in English are being moved or touched, having a heart-warming feeling, feeling nostalgic, feeling patriotic, or pride in family or team. In religious contexts when the emotion is intense, it may be labeled ecstasy, mystical rapture, burning in the bosom, or being touched by the Spirit. All of these are instances of what scientists now call ‘kama muta’ (Sanskrit, ‘moved by love’). Alan Page Fiske shows that what evokes this emotion is the sudden creation, intensification, renewal, repair, or recall of a communal sharing relationship – when love ignites, or people feel newly connected. He explains the social, psychological, cultural, and likely evolutionary processes involved – and how they interlock. Kama muta is described as it manifests in diverse settings at many points in history across scores of cultures, in everyday experiences as well as the peak moments of life. The chapters illuminate the occurrence of kama muta in a range of contexts, including religion, oratory, literature, sport, social media, and nature. The book will be of interest to students and scholars from a number of disciplines who are interested in emotion or social relationships. Supplementary notes can be found online at: www.routledge.com/9780367220945

Two rhyming books in one that inspire and encourage children who are learning to read and write. You are a Reader! / You are a Writer! is a book made to be read twice, once from the front and once from the back. Read one way, children will see all the joys that reading can bring--flip it over and they'll be inspired by the imaginative possibilities of writing! With a jaunty rhyme that’s great for reading aloud and a diverse cast of characters at various stages of reading and writing, there is something for everyone here. Learning to read? Scan, sound, simmer, think. You can guzzle words and ink. You might stumble, you might sigh. But readers practice, grow, and fly! Learning to write? Wake, watch, wonder, plot. You can weave with words and thoughts. Still staring at an empty page? Every writer knows that stage. Ask "What if?" Change your view. Try a pen--or stick--that's new. But writers read and draft, and fly! Throughout the book are suggestions for where to find inspiration for reading and writing and different ways to move on if you are discouraged. Christine Davenier's energetic illustrations add to the fun in this true celebration of what it means to be a reader and a writer, no matter how accomplished you are or aren't. Praise for Snowy Race "A girl gets to ride on her dad's giant snowplow in this delightful rhyming tale. They race through the heavy snow, but it's not clear where they're going until they arrive at the train station. . . Prince's (What Do Wheels Do All Day?) text is intriguingly spare, letting Davenier's (The First Thing My Mama Told Me) softly exuberant wintertime scenes shine." --The New York Times Rhyming, minimal text coupled with fetching illustrations by Davenier expertly convey the exhilarating drama of entering into a snowstorm as well as the comfy feelings of being in a warm house while the weather is frightful. --School Library Journal A winning, winter race. --Kirkus Reviews

“Rachel Macy Stafford's post "The Day I Stopped Saying Hurry Up" was a true phenomenon on The Huffington Post, igniting countless conversations online and off about freeing ourselves from the vicious cycle of keeping up with our overstuffed agendas. Hands Free Mama has the power to keep that conversation going and remind us that we must not let our lives pass us by.” --Arianna Huffington, Chair, President, and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, nationally syndicated columnist, and author of thirteen books http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ DISCOVER THE POWER, JOY, AND LOVE of Living “Hands Free” If technology is the new addiction, then multi-tasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it’s no wonder we’re distracted. But this isn’t the way it has to be. In July 2010, special education teacher and mother Rachel Macy Stafford decided enough was enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. She started a blog to chronicle her endeavors and soon saw how both external and internal distractions had been sabotaging her happiness and preventing her from bonding with the people she loves most. Hands Free Mama is the digital society’s answer to finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. It doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. It means looking our loved ones in the eye and giving them the gift of our undivided attention, leaving the laundry till later to dance with our kids in the rain, and living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart—and your hands—to the possibilities of each God-given moment.