After seven years, the Giant has nothing left to say to his friend the Cornish ogre, and so he returns home to his castle—only to find that in his absence, the children have been playing in his beautiful garden. At once the selfish Giant builds a high wall to keep the children out of the garden. Winter turns into Spring all over the country—but not in the selfish Giant's garden. Across the country Spring turns into Summer and then to Autumn—but in the selfish Giant's garden, the trees refuse to bloom and the birds refuse to sing; they miss the children. The selfish Giant lies shivering in his large bed while Hail, Snow, North Wind, and Frost dance across the garden. But one morning the Giant hears a beautiful noise—what could it be?

An unexpected ending gives the story a poignant, wistful quality, and Bill Bell's dazzling illustrations breathe new life into this classic tale. And adults familiar with Oscar Wilde's work will enjoy seeing this gentler, softer side of Wilde. The Selfish Giant is a beautiful book for parents and children to read together during any season.

Another devotional from the best-selling One Year line, The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter is specifically designed to brighten your day with laughter and joy. Joy is a special type of happiness. Each one of us needs to and should create habits in our lives that encourage us to look on the bright side of our circumstances and see the goodness in what God has given us. This devotional is a daily joy break—something all of us need.

This volume provides an in-depth look at the people who staff assisted living facilities, the tasks they perform, and the environment in which they work.

As the population of the United States ages, increasing numbers of frail older persons are choosing assisted living as a means of maintaining independence and delaying or avoiding admission to a nursing home. But assisted living workers -- mostly women and minorities -- are already in short supply and their numbers are shrinking. The work generally pays substandard wages. It is physically hard, dirty, and mentally and emotionally challenging.

This book uses qualitative methods and multilevel statistical modeling techniques to examine individual- and community-level factors that influence the experiences and work conditions of direct care workers in assisted living. It explores how and why they selected this type of employment, shows what the job entails, highlights the importance of these workers to the people they care for daily, and provides important new information about the interrelationships among issues that affect worker satisfaction and turnover in assisted living. In doing so, it reveals the reasons for the inherent tensions among frontline workers, facilities operators, and residents and their families and loved ones, and it offers practical strategies for attracting and retaining top-notch direct care workers.

Based on a three-year study of assisted living workers, this book provides an important, original analytical snapshot of the assisted living industry and provides teachable, practicable lessons for researchers, scholars, and professionals in gerontology and assisted living.

Traces the second son of Lucretia Borgia's achievement of the coveted position of Archbishop of Milan, in an account that draws on Ippolito d'Este's recently uncovered letters and ledgers and traces his rise to power and wealth in Renaissance Europe. Reprint.

Family lore passes from generation to generation in many ways: through written histories, oral traditions, and photographs. For the Shaifer family of Port Gibson, Mississippi, an amazing collection of fifty quilts made by women from four generations holds the story of the family's past.

Seldom has a family collection of quilts of this range been shared. Not only do the quilts cover a significant time span, but they include diverse types, patterns, and techniques.

Threading the Generations: A Mississippi Family's Quilt Legacy tells the story of the Shaifer family, beginning with Abram Keller Shaifer who came down the Natchez Trace in 1813 and settled in Port Gibson. The book skillfully connects the family's history with the quilts from 1813 to the present.

Featuring seventy-five photographs of quilts, family members, and important locations, Threading the Generations includes a discussion of each quilt and the major quilters. Not just a quilt book, however, it is also about family struggles and achievements, relationships, and life as it was lived by thousands of southerners during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Of special interest is the post-Civil War era when the Shaifer family established personal connections via letters, gifts, and visits between sworn enemies from the North and South.

Research provides ties between generations of women who not only shared a love of one another but also a love of quilting. The legacy they have left will live on as a testament to their creativity, artistic abilities, and strong sense of family.

Author of numerous books on quilts and quiltmaking, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, Montgomery, Alabama, is a publishing consultant, freelance writer, and editorial director of Wordcraft, a publishing company. Carol Vickers, Decatur, Mississippi, is an author and retired English instructor. She coordinated research for and wrote the introduction to Mississippi Quilts.

Abundantly illustrated, these volumes narrate the development of artistic production in all of the regions of the world. The author treats the material regionally and chronologically, relating historic events (such as the rise and fall of empires, changing economic or religious circumstances, and the economic and social role of art itself) to the development of changing artistic production and subjects. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)