“Irresistible. A major force in the renaissance of storytelling in America.” —New York Times “The Robe of Love takes us straight to the heart singing, glorious reminding us in story after story that no matter who we are—unschooled or learned, young or old – we must make the journey, no matter how difficult. And if we do so faithfully, the deepest love of life waits for us with open arms.” —China Galland, author of Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna Acclaimed story teller Laura Simms gives us a rich tapestry of tales that unveil the secrets of love in all of its forms. Passionate, riveting, often humorous, these stories of emotional, physical, and spiritual love come from a variety of traditions, including Celtic, Inuit, Persian, Hindu, Jewish, and African. As meaningful today as when they were first told her evocative, retellings of these tales of the mysteries of the heart lead us to many faces and profound requirements of love. “A varied and subtle collection of stories, both wise and intensely engaging, on the profound instructions of love.” —Goia Timpanelli, author of Sometimes the Soul and Tales from the Rood of the World “One can never know what love will look like or what form it will take. Each of these fourteen stories is a passage to love with its own perils and triumphs, disappointments, and miracles. It is in the power of story to remind us what we have forgotten, what we need to remember to restore our hearts.” —Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge, Red, and Leap Laura Simms is an internationally renowned storyteller, author, and recording artist whom Maori elders call “as good as our grandparents.” She is the author of the award-winning children’s book, Rotten Teeth (Houghton Mifflin) and the spoken word recording The Gift of Dreams (Sounds True) which Publishers Weekly called “spellbinding,” among other books and recordings. A contributing editor to Parabola magazine, she is co-chairman of the National Healing Story Alliance, and has served as artist-in-residence at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Arts.

More than 6 million copies sold! The classic Christian novel of the crucifixion and one Roman soldier’s transformation through faith. At the height of his popularity, Lloyd C. Douglas was receiving an average of one hundred letters a week from fans. One of those fans, a department store clerk in Ohio named Hazel McCann, wrote to Douglas asking what he thought had happened to Christ’s garments after the crucifixion. Douglas immediately began working on The Robe, sending each chapter to Hazel as he finished it. It is to her that Douglas dedicated this book. A Roman soldier wins Christ’s robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene—a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity. Here is the fascinating story of this young Roman soldier, Marcellus, who was in charge at the crucifixion of Jesus. After he won Christ’s robe in a game of dice on Calvary, he experienced a slow and overpowering change in his life. Through the pages of this great book, the reader sees how a pagan Roman was eventually converted to Christ. Set against the vividly drawn background of ancient Rome, this is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption . . .

You will laugh and cry throughout this TRUE international love story - The Red Silk Robe is full of devotion, intrigue, adventure and suspense. From Bristol to Beirut....The Red Silk Robe encompasses love, death, escape, survival and illegal entry into the US with two small children, without friends, family or funds...A survival story of love and strength.. The Red Silk Robe is a true story of a young English girl from Bristol, left without a family, who was determined to live life to the full and experience the world. You will follow her dream of being in show business, her travels, and her chance meeting with a handsome Lebanese 22 year-old in Beirut, Lebanon, which turned into a 'LOVE-AT-FIRST-SIGHT' encounter and marriage.... ...leading to her first dramatic escape from Beirut after betrayal by her Moslem inlaws... her subsequent bare survival in Bristol with her two babies - broke, alone and vulnerable... and her tragic near-death experience... ...then following her return to Beirut to survive and the glorious times for ten years... her second escape from war torn Beirut, amid tanks and riots... ...her arrival in the USA with her two young sons, illegal and broke again - her struggle to survive, travelling from State to State settling up in Dallas, Texas for twenty years... ...finally retiring in the beautiful Riviera Maya. Julia says, 'I do hope you enjoy The Red Silk Robe, it was MY LIFE; I needed to write it before I perhaps began to forget...' 'It could have been a dream, but when I look at my late husband's picture on the wall and the photo of my two sons and grandchildren in my home in beautiful Mexico, I know it was not; it really happened.' Julia dedicates this book to her two sons, Darren and Tarek and to the father they never knew.

Speaking in front of the class isn't easy for small people like Melissa Herman. Especially when there's nothing very special to say about her house or her family or herself. But with the help of her older brother, Melissa borrows a bottle from her father's dental office to take to show and tell. The teacher is appalled, but the children are intrigued. David Catrow's hilariously zany illustrations reveal that there is nothing ordinary about Melissa Herman, or her house or her family. The bright artwork is laugh-aloud funny and will have children begging to hear the story again, or maybe invent their very own tale.

Robes is a book of global dimensions that offers a compelling look at the next century. By turns startling, comforting, enlightening, and unnerving, it takes a deep look at the coming changes in nations and governments, as well as the rise of business to power. It expands to examine everything from education and population, to wars, weather, food, and famine, including the emerging human potential embedded in the body/mind system. "The most important thing for you to remember as you look at these coming changes," said the little men in brown robes, "is that things could be so much easier if you understood why these things are happening, and if you worked with them instead of against them..."

A rare, intimate account of a world-renowned Buddhist monk’s near-death experience and the life-changing wisdom he gained from it “One of the most inspiring books I have ever read.”—Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart “This book has the potential to change the reader’s life forever.”—George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo At thirty-six years old, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was a rising star within his generation of Tibetan masters and the respected abbot of three monasteries. Then one night, telling no one, he slipped out of his monastery in India with the intention of spending the next four years on a wandering retreat, following the ancient practice of holy mendicants. His goal was to throw off his titles and roles in order to explore the deepest aspects of his being. He immediately discovered that a lifetime of Buddhist education and practice had not prepared him to deal with dirty fellow travelers or the screeching of a railway car. He found he was too attached to his identity as a monk to remove his robes right away or to sleep on the Varanasi station floor, and instead paid for a bed in a cheap hostel. But when he ran out of money, he began his life as an itinerant beggar in earnest. Soon he became deathly ill from food poisoning—and his journey took a startling turn. His meditation practice had prepared him to face death, and now he had the opportunity to test the strength of his training. In this powerful and unusually candid account of the inner life of a Buddhist master, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche offers us the invaluable lessons he learned from his near-death experience. By sharing with readers the meditation practices that sustain him, he shows us how we can transform our fear of dying into joyful living. Praise for In Love with the World “Vivid, compelling . . . This book is a rarity in spiritual literature: Reading the intimate story of this wise and devoted Buddhist monk directly infuses our own transformational journey with fresh meaning, luminosity, and life.”—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge “In Love with the World is a magnificent story—moving and inspiring, profound and utterly human. It will certainly be a dharma classic.”—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart “This book makes me think enlightenment is possible.”—Russell Brand

The sorceress Lady Lamorna has her heart set on a very expensive new robe, and she will stop at nothing--including kidnapping and black magic--to get the money to pay for it.