Read Rafe Esquith's posts on the Penguin Blog. The New York Times bestseller that is revolutionizing the way Americans educate their kids-"Rafe Esquith is a genius and a saint" (The New York Times) Perhaps the most famous fifth-grade teacher in America, Rafe Esquith has won numerous awards and even honorary citizenship in the British Empire for his outstandingly successful methods. In his Los Angeles public school classroom, he helps impoverished immigrant children understand Shakespeare, play Vivaldi, and become happy, self-confident people. This bestseller gives any teacher or parent all the techniques, exercises, and innovations that have made its author an educational icon, from personal codes of behavior to tips on tackling literature and algebra. The result is a powerful book for anyone concerned about the future of our children.

The New York Times bestselling author of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire shares his proven methods for creating compassionate children During twenty-five years of teaching at Hobart Elementary School in inner city Los Angeles, Rafe Esquith has helped thousands of children maxi­mize their potential—and became the only teacher in history to receive the president's National Medal of Arts. In Lighting Their Fires, Esquith translates the inspiring methods from Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire for parents. Using lessons framed by a class trip to a Dodgers game, he moves inning by inning through concepts that explain how to teach children to be thoughtful and honorable people—as well as successful students—and to have fun in the process.

An inspiring guide to transforming education for children by an American Teacher Award recipient describes the methods through which he exposes first-generation immigrant students to classic culture, enables them to score in the top one percent on standardized tests, and helps them gain entry into Ivy League universities. 60,000 first printing.

Year after year, Rafe Esquith’s fifth-grade students excel. They read passionately, far above their grade level; tackle algebra; and stage Shakespeare so professionally that they often wow the great Shakespearen actor himself, Sir Ian McKellen. Yet Esquith teaches at an L.A. innercity school known as the Jungle, where few of his students speak English at home, and many are from poor or troubled families. What’s his winning recipe? A diet of intensive learning mixed with a lot of kindness and fun. His kids attend class from 6:30 A.M. until well after 4:00 P.M., right through most of their vacations. They take field trips to Europe and Yosemite. They play rock and roll. Mediocrity has no place in their classroom. And the results follow them for life, as they go on to colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. Possessed by a fierce idealism, Esquith works even harder than his students. As an outspoken maverick of public education (his heroes include Huck Finn and Atticus Finch), he admits to significant mistakes and heated fights with administrators and colleagues. We all—teachers, parents, citizens—have much to learn from his candor and uncompromising vision.

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Funny and smart as hell” (Bill Gates), Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half showcases her unique voice, leaping wit, and her ability to capture complex emotions with deceptively simple illustrations. FROM THE PUBLISHER: Every time Allie Brosh posts something new on her hugely popular blog Hyperbole and a Half the internet rejoices. This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features more than fifty percent new content, with ten never-before-seen essays and one wholly revised and expanded piece as well as classics from the website like, “The God of Cake,” “Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving,” and her astonishing, “Adventures in Depression,” and “Depression Part Two,” which have been hailed as some of the most insightful meditations on the disease ever written. Brosh’s debut marks the launch of a major new American humorist who will surely make even the biggest scrooge or snob laugh. We dare you not to. FROM THE AUTHOR: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative—like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it—but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book: Pictures Words Stories about things that happened to me Stories about things that happened to other people because of me Eight billion dollars* Stories about dogs The secret to eternal happiness* *These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

Did you know that if you forget to pay a speeding ticket you WILL get arrestedin front of your kids, the neighborsthe dogand anyone else who happens to be there? True story. And the thing is, Stacey Turis has a million of them, and she imparts these and other nuggets of wisdom to offer others suffering from ADHD some hope in knowing that they are not alone.A belly-laugh inducing romp through a life so convoluted and chaotic you know it has to be true, Stacey Turis's debut gives a voice to the genius yet tormented souls suffering from giftedness, ADHD, or a combination of both (a condition known as twice-exceptional) who are too afraid to speak.Chronicling her life journey from a state of self-loathing to one of self-acceptance, the stories flow timelessly, always incorporating the resulting lessons and reflections gleaned from each adventure. Including both the tragic, stomach churning details of a horrifically abusive time in her childhood to comic adventures such as deciding to dye her hair plum the day before an important presentation to a bank only to have it turn out purple, her life has never suffered from a dull moment. Though she often thought Karma was the reason she found herself in so many "pickles," a friend explained to her that when you put yourself out in the world more than anyone else, it's really just a matter of statistics. Lucky for Turis and the rest of us, putting herself out there all these years allows us all to look at life through her pair of less-struggle-more-sass glasses.With over three hundred million people suffering from ADHD worldwide and experiencing many of the same debilitating symptoms, Turis' goal is to share her experiences so that others afflicted can rid themselves of the shame of hiding their behavior. A rip-roaring and bracingly honest look at a twice-exceptional life, Here's to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire: An Absent-Minded Tale of Life with Giftedness and Attention DeficitOh Look! A Chicken! turns the rational on its head in a rollicking depiction of a life that seems to be constantly going off the rails.A belly-laugh inducing romp through a life so convoluted and chaotic you know it has to be true, Stacey Turis's debut gives a voice to the genius yet tormented souls suffering from giftedness, ADHD, or a combination of both (a condition known as twice-exceptional) who are too afraid to speak.Chronicling her life journey from a state of self-loathing to one of self-acceptance, the stories flow timelessly, always incorporating the resulting lessons and reflections gleaned from each adventure. Including both the tragic, stomach churning details of a horrifically abusive time in her childhood to comic adventures such as deciding to dye her hair plum the day before an important presentation to a bank only to have it turn out purple, her life has never suffered from a dull moment. Though she often thought Karma was the reason she found herself in so many "pickles," a friend explained to her that when you put yourself out in the world more than anyone else, it's really just a matter of statistics. Lucky for Turis and the rest of us, putting herself out there all these years allows us all to look at life through her pair of less-struggle-more-sass glasses.With over three hundred million people suffering from ADHD worldwide and experiencing many of the same debilitating symptoms, Turis' goal is to share her experiences so that others afflicted can rid themselves of the shame of hiding their behavior. A rip-roaring and bracingly honest look at a twice-exceptional life, Here's to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire: An Absent-Minded Tale of Life with Giftedness and Attention DeficitOh Look! A Chicken! turns the rational on its head in a rollicking depiction of a life that seems to be constantly going off the rails.

The simple secrets to growing your curls healthy and long. Tightly curly hair isn't like any other type of hair, and it needs totally different care to make it happy. Do you spend countless hours—and untold dollars—on weaves, perms, salon visits, and products that promise to change, heal, or make your hair more manageable, only to end up even more frustrated? Do you wrestle daily with hair you can't get a brush through? Do you struggle to keep from hurting your child when you comb through her tight curls? Would you like to grow your tightly curly hair long and healthy? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book was written for you. It gives you the information and techniques you need to celebrate—not fight against—your very curly hair. You will learn how not only to care for your curls, but to cherish them, all the while saving time, effort, and money. Curly Like Me is the off-the-grid, do-it-yourself owner's manual for tightly curly hair: Learn how to wear your own curls in their natural curl patterns Over 250 photographs and illustrations Includes the best products, tools, ingredients, curl-enhancing hairstyle ideas, tips for growing out your perm, and more Shows you pain-free techniques on how to comb and style your curls or your child's curls Over thirty easy, curl-enhancing hairstyle ideas, tips for growing out your perm, and more Helps you save money by avoiding costly treatments, products, marketing misinformation, and frequent salon visits so you can enjoy your own curls without pain, chemicals, or the use of weaves or extensions The story (with lots of photos) of Teri's journey from hair broken by relaxers, texturizers, improper care, trying to force it to conform, and fighting her weave addiction to finally understanding her own curls. End your struggles with misunderstood, damaged hair and begin your journey to thriving natural curls.