Kirjahaku

A sad, forgotten phone booth in New York City becomes a hero in this story of community and caring for others. “A story celebrating the fabric of a neighborhood.”—New York Times Book Review The Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street was one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City. Everyone used it—from ballerinas and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents. Kept clean and polished, the Phone Booth was proud and happy until, the day a businessman strode by and shouted into a shiny silver object, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Soon everyone was talking into these shiny silver things, and the Phone Booth stood alone and empty, unused and dejected.How the Phone Booth saved the day and united the neighborhood to rally around its revival is the heart of this touching story. The Lonely Phone Booth has a lot to say about the enduring power of the faithful things in our lives. For children, it’s a wonderful way to talk about their own communities.

Oh, no! Pablo has homework due but the computer conked out! It’s grandma’s old typewriter to the rescue in this read-aloud picture book.Pablo Pressman has homework to do, and Pablo will do almost anything to avoid doing his homework. But when his computer breaks down, he is desperate. His mother takes him up to the attic to discover her mother’s old typewriter. “A what-writer?” asks Pablo, mystified. When his mother shows him how to strike the keys just so, and the words start to appear on paper, Pablo is delighted. And imagine his triumph when he presents his homework at school, amazing his teacher and all his friends with the story of the mechanical marvel that saved the day. Kirkus said, “A lovely, full-circle kind of story, related in bouncy writing characterized by gently percussive onomatopoeia, with expressive, appropriately retro illustrations…it’s heartening to see via the illustrations that the story involves a multiracial family.”A unique read-aloud about old tech but, more poignantly, about family.

A young boy finds his calling as the chef of a fancy restaurant in this read-aloud picture book. Comfort food indeed! Eating outrageously fine cuisine is the sole activity that stops this young lad from screaming incessantly. But one fateful night, when his parents accidentally burn dinner, the boy’s temper flares and he begins to yell. Tired of all the noise, Mom and Dad relinquish all cooking responsibilities, leaving it all up to him. E voilà! The boy so enjoys cooking that he sings instead of screams, and finds that he is so talented that his parents open a restaurant with the boy as head chef.But life in the kitchen of an acclaimed and busy restaurant is not easy, so when the boy begins to make mistakes, will his penchant for earsplitting noise ruin everything?Witty text and clever illustrations combine to create a silly yet serious picture book for readers of all ages which teaches kids that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, especially when you’re singing. The New York Times wrote, “Ackerman and Dalton (The Lonely Phone Booth) have cooked up something witty and, as an example of the parental art of redirecting, perhaps inadvertently wise.”

Today the deadliest conflicts are not between states but rather within them, pitting tyrants against the populations they oppress. Over a century of data shows that civil resistance campaigns-employing strikes, boycotts, mass protests, and many other nonviolent tactics-are the most powerful means for societies to confront authoritarians. The Checklist to End Tyranny is dedicated to enabling dissidents to become more strategic in their thinking and therefore more skillful in their quest to achieve democracy and human rights. This volume is also a unique resource in helping professionals in the foreign policy and democracy promotion communities to understand at a granular level what it takes for pro-democracy activists to end the dictatorships they are living under. The stakes could not be higher. If the world is to have a Fourth Democratic Wave expanding freedom over oppression, then civil resistance campaigns will lead the way.