. . . But instead, his batty parents get into their monthly argument. This time it's because his mother has to feed the chickens. It ends with her shouting the same thing as always about their Louisiana chicken farm: I hate it here! What follows is Don's journey from obscurity to fame and back again, when he becomes the youngest kid to ever win the Horse Island Dairy Festival chicken-judging contest. Gradually, his mom notices that something strange is going on--everyone knows her son!--but once she realizes that Don has become the town celebrity, she sees that there may be benefits to living on a chicken farm. What she doesn't seem to see are the benefits of having a son like Don. For Don, the contest is the beginning of a big, big adventure. It involves trips to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, fair weather friends, a missing sister, and one big secret. Readers will cheer for Don, who goes out of his way to see the good in everything.

    

    As well as her top 10 design hacks, Kate reveals the rules of rug layout, explains how to buy a sofa, and shows you how to get the lighting right in every room. Learn how to decorate your home with style and confidence, select colours that work, make the most of small spaces and create the perfect zones for relaxation, entertaining and work sometimes all in the same space.Whatever your style, Mad About The House is a must-have for anyone who is interested in interior design and who wants to make their house a home.

    He goes about his day, calling on a friend, going to the store for his mom and visiting his grandfather's grave. But all the while, his mind strays to his father who is digging for coal deep under the sea.Written by Joanne Schwartz, this beautifully understated and haunting story brings a piece of history to life. Stunning illustrations by Sydney Smith, the award-winning illustrator of Sidewalk Flowers, show the striking contrast between a sparkling seaside day and the darkness underground where the miners dig.--front flap

    A modern preschool classic.Using bright, simple illustrations and clean prose, Byron Barton deftly familiarizes young readers with the various rooms and important parts of a house in this companion to his critically acclaimed My Car, My Bike, and My Bus.Jim the cat leads readers through the bedroom, the kitchen—and even onto the roof—before his owner, Jane, comes home and makes his dinner. The rhythmic text and bright bold illustrations make this the perfect book for very young children and repeated readings.“Jim’s abode is a welcome place for all who enter.”—School Library Journal

    Book by Mike Oehler

    Anyone who's ever quailed at the thought of buying a two-by-four or suspected that his (or her) dwelling is breaking down out of spite will be charmed, educated and entertained by this delightful history and how-to of the house.

    At home, everything always feels the same: comfortable and safe.But sometimes things change, and a home must be left behind.Follow a family as they move out of their beloved, familiar house and learn that they can bring everything they love about their old home to the new one, because they still have each other. This heartfelt picture book by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard is richly illustrated by former Pixar animator Chris Sasaki.

    There's even equal time given to some of children's favorite animal families. With warm and inviting jewel-tone illustrations, this is a great book for that long talk with a little person on your lap.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    “Just a mom?” There’s no such thing. Motherhood isn’t a second-rate occupation. It is a career that can maximize your talents and strengths to their fullest. Look past the surface of mothering—the endless tasks and frantic pace—to the incredible skills required to raise your children while nurturing your marriage. The truth is clear: You’re a professional in one of the most dignified, demanding, and rewarding fields any woman can find. Upbeat, candid, and engaging, Professionalizing Motherhood will do more than help you radically redefine how you see yourself. It will guide you toward practical development as a career woman who specializes in the home. Jill Savage helps you determine a strategy and set goals for professional training and growth. From the foundational to the practical, you’ll learn about Establishing your mission Developing a network of “coworkers” Discovering your value in Christ How marriage and mothering work together Organizational and homemaking basics Taking care of your personal needs Professionalizing Motherhood casts a fresh and meaningful vision for mothering as a worthy career choice for this season of your life.

    Yet when a hurricane crashes into their isolated Mennonite life, she can no longer keep the world at bay. With Christmas approaching, Amish carpenter Michael Miller wants to help her rebuild her home. But can their burgeoning love withstand the rising storm of her secrets?Green Mountain Blessings

    Once a month, and sometimes other times, too, Dad would be gone for a few days. Mom told us that he was in the National Guard. We were normal, you could say. And then we weren’t.â€Rachel “Brownie†Browning is thirteen when her father comes back from the war in Iraq. Of course she understands that he has been injured and that he will be a little different, at least for a while. But Brownie doesn’t even know the man with a prosthetic arm and leg who sits in the living room day after day. He’s certainly not the father who helped her build a fort in her backyard, or played basketball with her sister, or hauled her little brother around like a sack of potatoes. Brownie’s mother says that because of his traumatic brain injury, their father needs their affection and patience. In time, he’ll be better–Dad will be back. But Dad doesn’t seem to be making much progress, or much effort. He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t talk. He won’t even get out of his wheelchair, even though the doctors have taught him how and say that walking is essential to his recovery. And Brownie begins to wonder, will her family ever be able to return to the way life was before the war?A story about an ordinary family forced to deal with an extraordinary loss, Back Home tells the tale of families scarred and the battle just beginning when their wounded loved ones return home.

    She leaves behind the graves of her husband Joe and her baby daughter. With no money and limited options, Stella accepts her brother-in-law Harry’s offer to live at the O’Riain cane farm in the Richmond Valley. There she hopes to get answers to the questions that plague her about her marriage. However Harry refuses to discuss Joe or the family’s secrets, even forbidding her to speak to the owner of the neighbouring property.Nearly a century earlier in County Tipperary, Irish cousins Brandon and Sean O’Riain also fled their homes – as wanted criminals. By 1867, they are working as cedar-cutters in New South Wales’s lush green Richmond Valley. But while Brandon embraces the opportunities this new country offers, Sean refuses to let go of the past. And one cousin is about to make a dangerous choice that will have devastating consequences down the generations . . .

    The poem engages in flights of fancy - what about a husk being a house for an ear of corn, or a throat being a house for a hum? "And once you get started in thinking this way,/ It seems that whatever you see/ Is either a house or it lives in a house,/ And a house is a house for me!" whimsical drawings color the imaginative text.

    While renovating the decrepit cabins at Camp Wandawega, they kept stumbling upon curious objects, some dating back ninety years or more: a Boy Scout patch, an old sled, a pristine set of Fiesta Ware, dozens of midcentury aprons, an untouched box of board games in their original packaging. Tereasa knew the power that one mundane object has when grouped with its siblings. So rather than discard everything, she set out on a five-year expedition to turn the more than 150 found items into full-fledged collections. Relying on her own thriftiness, she only acquired pieces for free or at a bargain price: items that she found, negotiated for free, or unearthed at a flea market. Found, Free & Flea explores Tereasa’s passion for collecting while encouraging you to tap into your own with ideas on where to look to see collectibles. Throughout the book, she shares her secrets and historical tidbits behind these prized antiques, now used to create innovative displays and for entertaining guests at her renovated lakeside retreat. From vintage wine taster cups turned into a wind chime to cheese boxes reinvented as drawer organizers, to a chicken feeder that houses old tea cups for impromptu coffee bar setups, everything at Camp Wandawega earns its keep. Learn how to navigate flea markets and how to best negotiate, why “localvore” collecting should matter to the thrifty shopper (and what finds to expect on your travels), which vintage collections are easiest to start and the quickest to fill out, and what tips you should employ for turning even the most simple items into stunning displays. The beautiful photography and Tereasa’s clever DIY projects and sharp eye for design will inspire anyone to add charm and personality to interiors with a few well-worn objects. A celebration of Americana and ingenuity, Found, Free & Flea is a must-have for knowing how to spot treasures, complete collections, and display them artfully.