"The box wasn't empty anymore....."The Story of a Box is a unique book/music project that deals with an issue that many of us are forced to deal with at some point in our lives... bullying. The book also demonstrates the importance in life of remaining true to yourself.The original Story of a Box was written by Joshua Belter for a fourth grade writing project and reflects many of the thoughts and emotions he experienced as a child. Although professionally illustrated by Jean Ashenfelter, the message, tone, and theme has changed very little from the original story written over three decades ago.The music group Fast Time Constant recorded the song "Empty", which is a companion to the book. The song is included with the book as a free download from the official book website: www.thestoryofabox.com. Fast Time Constant is the musical duo of Andy Mason and Joshua Belter.Bullying affects so many, and this topic should be discussed and explained openly with our children. Many children often feel trapped and ashamed when confronting bullies in school. They need to understand their options and the importance of freely discussing those problems with teachers and parents.

This is a book about a box that contained the world. The box was the Picture Academy for the Young, a popular encyclopedia in pictures invented by preacher-turned-publisher Johann Siegmund Stoy in eighteenth-century Germany. Children were expected to cut out the pictures from the Academy, glue them onto cards, and arrange those cards in ordered compartments—the whole world filed in a box of images. As Anke te Heesen demonstrates, Stoy and his world in a box epitomized the Enlightenment concern with the creation and maintenance of an appropriate moral, intellectual, and social order. The box, and its images from nature, myth, and biblical history, were intended to teach children how to collect, store, and order knowledge. te Heesen compares the Academy with other aspects of Enlightenment material culture, such as commercial warehouses and natural history cabinets, to show how the kinds of collecting and ordering practices taught by the Academy shaped both the developing middle class in Germany and Enlightenment thought. The World in a Box, illustrated with a multitude of images of and from Stoy's Academy, offers a glimpse into a time when it was believed that knowledge could be contained and controlled.

A Box Story is an illustrated picture book that invites the reader to look at things in a different way. With the use of hand drawn images, you are taken through simple thought provoking ideas about a box and how it is not just a box. Pinnacle Book Awards Winner 2012 for Children's Interest (March 2012) - From the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs Literary Classics Seal of Approval (March 2012):Young audiences will surely find enjoyment within the pages of this clever little book. Kenneth Lamug's, A Box Story, comes highly recommended, and earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. Winner of 2012 CLC Best First Picture Book, PreSchool 2011 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards - Silver Medalist Creating books that inspire our children to read, to learn, and to dream is an extremely important task, and these awards were conceived to reward those efforts. ForeWord Reviews (June 2012):With a nod to the fact that containers often interest kids as much as what's inside, a web designer meditates on the many uses of this most practical (and abstract) of packages: "A box can keep your secrets . . . or reveal an unexpected surprise." Lovely and inspiring. This Literary Life (March 2012):Something that I found incredibly remarkable about the illustrations is that the box stays in the same place on every single page, but becomes something new and exciting every time you flip to a new page. This gives the reader the impression that it is in fact, the same box being used for a myriad of adventures.The words are simple but thought-provoking. They help build the imagination while simultaneously challenging the reader to find a purpose for their box. A purpose all of their own. Every child will want to build a life inside a box after reading this story. Visit www.aboxstory.com for more information and bonus materials. Book Video Trailer: http://vimeo.com/34422903

What can a fox do with a box? Have a grand adventure! In this debut picture book, author-illustrator Yvonne Ivinson invites readers on an imagination- and vocabulary-fueled journey. With colorful, engaging paintings; a lively, limited word count; an adorable fox; and a story with a surprise ending, this book is a great choice for emerging readers. What can one little fox do with only a cardboard box? Perhaps make it a ship, and go on a trip? A boat that floats across the sea, with a tail as a sail and endless possibilities? Author-illustrator Yvonne Ivinson’s debut picture book is a celebration of imagination, creativity, and language arts, starring a memorable main character. With a brief, engaging text, humorous illustrations, and a surprise ending, this is a perfect book for emerging readers and for sharing together. Fans of What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, by Emma Virján, and Egg, by Kevin Henkes, will love this delightful read-aloud.

A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

Soothing bedtime reading, this reassuring and magical evocation of nighttime encourages imaginative exploration and marks the debut of a talented poet and illustrator picture-book pair. When a little boy opens the Night Box, darkness swoops out, a fox uncurls, and a thousand stars sparkle and shine. Night flows freely then, cavorting and exploring, caring for all its creatures until morning comes, and it's time for Night to rest again. With its soothing cadences and air of quiet wonder, The Night Box is sure to charm any sleepy listener who wonders what happens between sunset and sunrise.

In her first illustrated book for children, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author Toni Morrison introduces three feisty children who show grown-ups what it really means to be a kid.