"Rupert the rooster is tired from rising early to wake everyone on the farm up. Will his friend Sherman the sheep be able to do the job?"--

A rooster who just wants to sleep in gets a little help from a friend in this laugh-out-loud picture book from New Yorker artist Mike Twohy. Rupert the rooster knows that every morning when the sun comes up he must cock-a-doodle-do—no matter what. But Rupert is terrible at waking up! And even worse, he can never, ever sleep in. Life just isn’t fair. When his friend Sherman the Sheep volunteers for the job, everything is perfect. Or is it?

A user's manual for the awakening process.

An oncologist’s integrative path to treating and living better with or beyond cancer Dr. M. Laura Nasi presents a new way of looking at how we view and treat cancer. With current advances in medicine, we’re learning more about the ways different aspects of our lives and health impact and interact with one another—why does one long-term smoker get diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer while another remains cancer-free? Why does someone exposed to a known carcinogen get sick while someone else is apparently immune? What seemingly unrelated factors end up playing key roles in disease etiology, progression, and prognosis? In this well-researched, inspiring, and easy-to-read guide, Dr. Nasi offers an integrative, whole-person approach to cancer, and explains how it is a systemic disease manifesting a global condition locally. Conventional medicine focuses on attacking malignant cells. Integrative medicine encourages chemo and radiation when necessary, while also focusing on a patient’s internal balance to help halt the disease. Nasi draws on the latest research on the PNIE (psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrine) network to help our systems recognize, repair, or eliminate the cancer cells, focusing on nutrition, stress management, exercise, adequate sleep, healthy relationships, and other body/mind/spirit modalities. Dr. Nasi encourages patients to become empowered agents of their own care.

“Entertaining…A storytime hit.” —School Library Journal “Young listeners will be pleased to make the acquaintance of these two cheerful creatures and, quite possibly, inspired to view the world in engaging new ways.” —Kirkus Reviews “Though they see the world differently and are such physical opposites…their open acceptance of each other’s point of view shows they share the most important quality needed for meaningful connection.” —The Horn Book Mouse creates a painting for his new friend Hippo—and Hippo returns the kindness in an unlikely way—in this delightful story about doing your best to make a friend happy! Mouse offers to paint a portrait of his new friend Hippo, but Hippo doesn’t quite fit on Mouse’s canvas. Still Hippo is delighted. In return, Hippo returns the favor for his new friend in the best way he knows how. In a surprising story sure to cause giggles, picture book readers will ask for this book over and over again!

“I’ve gained deeper understanding listening to Rupert Spira than I have from any other exponent of modern spirituality. Reality is sending us a message we desperately need to hear, and at this moment no messenger surpasses Spira and the transformative words in his essays.” —Deepak Chopra, author of You Are the Universe, Spiritual Solutions, and Super Brain Our world culture is founded on the assumption that the Big Bang gave rise to matter, which in time evolved into the world, into which the body was born, inside which a brain appeared, out of which consciousness at some late stage developed. As a result of this “matter model,” most of us believe that consciousness is a property of the body. We feel that it is “I,” this body, that knows or is aware of the world. We believe and feel that the knowing with which we are aware of our experience is located in and shares the limits and destiny of the body. This is the fundamental presumption of mind and matter that underpins almost all our thoughts and feelings and is expressed in our activities and relationships. The Nature of Consciousness suggests that the matter model has outlived its function and is now destroying the very values it once sought to promote. For many people, the debate as to the ultimate reality of the universe is an academic one, far removed from the concerns and demands of everyday life. After all, life happens independently of our models of it. However, The Nature of Consciousness will clearly show that the materialist paradigm is a philosophy of despair and, as such, the root cause of unhappiness in individuals. It is a philosophy of conflict and, as such, the root cause of hostilities between families, communities, and nations. Far from being abstract and philosophical, its implications touch each one of us directly and intimately. An exploration of the nature of consciousness has the power to reveal the peace and happiness that truly lie at the heart of experience. Our experience never ceases to change, but the knowing element in all experience—consciousness, or what we call “I”—itself never changes. The knowing with which all experience is known is always the same knowing. Being the common, unchanging element in all experience, consciousness does not share the qualities of any particular experience: it is not qualified, conditioned, or limited by experience. The knowing with which a feeling of loneliness or sorrow is known is the same knowing with which the thought of a friend, the sight of a sunset, or the taste of ice cream is known. Just as a screen is never disturbed by the action in a movie, so consciousness is never disturbed by experience; thus it is inherently peaceful. The peace that is inherent in us—indeed that is us—is not dependent on the situations or conditions we find ourselves in. In a series of essays that draw you, through your own direct experience, into an exploration of the nature of this knowing element that each of us calls “I,” The Nature of Consciousness posits that consciousness is the fundamental reality of the apparent duality of mind and matter. It shows that the overlooking or ignoring of this reality is the root cause of the existential unhappiness that pervades and motivates most people’s lives, as well as the wider conflicts that exist between communities and nations. Conversely, the book suggests that the recognition of the fundamental reality of consciousness is the first step in the quest for lasting happiness and the foundation for world peace.

Rupert's Journey is a curious tale about a purported adventure experienced by one Rupert Michael. By all appearances Mr. Michael does not claim this to be a work of fiction. Certainly something happened to the once unpleasant Mr. Michael, so that he did seem to change for the better. If Rupert Michael is a name invented by the actual author, his or her true identity is not now known. All of this said, Rupert's Journey has its own unique charm and is reminiscent at times of Gulliver's Travels and Alice in Wonderland. Some might call it a tightly written work, while others might say that it lacks somewhat in volume. If you are short on time or are in the mood for a relatively brief adventure story, Rupert's Journey might well be just what you are looking for. There is much within these pages that will appeal to a younger audience, or those who believe it is better to grow up than to grow old.