Michele Palmer

American toile is scenic fabric and wallpaper that bring the story of America to life. These delightful prints depict both historic events and everyday moments beginning with colonial times and moving right on up to the present. Over 180 bright color photos capture American toile in its many themes. While based on a European design model, American toile is quintessentially American. It portrays cowboys and Indians, farmers and suburbanites, slaves and soldiers. Its major illustrated topics include the colonial era, the new republic, the Civil War, the West, farm and city life, maritime and leisure activities, as well as a variety of patriotic symbols. In addition to a historical introduction and identification guide, the book includes antique, vintage, and reproduction toile patterns, along with original contemporary designs. It is fifty percent American history, fifty percent fabric history, and one hundred percent fascinating!

From tiny cottages in a turn-of-the-century camp meeting ground to grand mansions on the hill, the classic New England mill town of Willimantic, in northeast Connecticut, abounds with Victorian architecture. It boasts the greatest number of Victorian homes per capita on the East Coast, and all the major styles are represented: Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne, Stick, Italianate, and Second Empire. Enjoy details of porches and porticos, doors and windows, towers and gables, all carefully preserved in colorful splendor. Over 175 photographs showcase this charming place, which is enjoying a renaissance based on its Victorian architecture and reflected in its new nickname, "Romantic Willimantic."

Jewish stories of the supernatural are nothing new. The very first Jewish ghost story appears in the Bible. This collection offers contemporary tales with modern-day children as the main characters. The stories, each illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings, are suspenseful and haunting. The spirits in these tales are forces for momentous change in the lives of the children who encounter them - helping them to gain new understandings of themselves and their Jewish tradition. So, too, will these stories have a lasting impact on young readers.