The Day I Became a Bird


Ingrid Chabbert - 2015
    Sylvia sits in front of him at school, and he's so in love with her, she's all he can see. But sadly, Sylvia doesn't see him. In fact, it seems the only thing Sylvia has eyes for is birds. “There are birds on her pants and dresses. She wears bird barrettes in her hair. She draws birds on her notebooks and folders. And when she speaks, her voice sounds like birdsong.” So in a bold attempt to get Sylvia's attention, the boy decides to go to school dressed up as a bird. He endures the stares and giggles of his classmates, and a great deal of discomfort, but the boy doesn't care. Because when it comes to love, sometimes you have no choice but to follow your heart and spread your wings.In this sweetly funny picture book, Ingrid Chabbert perfectly captures the emotional essence of a child's first love. The boy's voice as narrator is realistic and endearing as he engagingly and honestly shares the wonder of his experience. With imagination and gentle humor, Guridi uses spare lines in mostly black and white drawings to tenderly express the poignant heart of the story. This book offers a terrific exploration of young children's self-discovery and self-expression, as well as the early development of social skills. It makes a wonderful read-aloud to launch a classroom discussion about relationships and feelings.

The Call of the Swamp


Davide Calì - 2017
    It doesn't matter that he has scales and gills, or that his parents found him in a swamp when he was just a baby. But one day Boris catches the scent of his old home, and suddenly he's not quite sure where he belongs. He journeys to the swamp, filled with questions, and eventually discovers the only answer he needs. From the creators of The Queen of the Frogs comes an enchanting, nuanced story about adoption and family.

The Distance To Home


Jenn Bishop - 2016
    They’re headed for the championship, and her loudest supporter at every game was her best friend and older sister, Haley. This summer, everything is different. Haley’s death, at the end of last summer, has left Quinnen and her parents reeling. Without Haley in the stands, Quinnen doesn’t want to play baseball. It seems like nothing can fill the Haley-sized hole in her world. The one glimmer of happiness comes from the Bandits, the local minor-league baseball team. For the first time, Quinnen and her family are hosting one of the players for the season. Without Haley, Quinnen’s not sure it will be any fun, but soon she befriends a few players. With their help, can she make peace with the past and return to the pitcher’s mound?

Where Happiness Begins


Eva Eland - 2020
    You can try to chase it, control it or capture it, but even if it seems like it’s gone for a while, you’ll know it’s never far away...This is the second of Eva Eland's picture books that helps little ones deal with big emotions. Start on your journey with happiness... who knows where it could take you?

Summer Of The Aliens


Louis Nowra - 1992
    He has also written fim scripts and for television.

Ocean Meets Sky


Terry Fan - 2018
    Every time he looks out his window it’s a constant reminder of the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfish soar and birds and castles float.Finn’s grandfather is gone now but Finn knows the perfect way to honor him. He’ll build his own ship and sail out to find this magical place himself!And when he arrives, maybe, just maybe, he’ll find something he didn’t know he was looking for.

'night, Mother


Marsha Norman - 1983
    By one of America's most talented playwrights, this play won the Dramatists Guild's prestigious Hull-Warriner Award, four Tony nominations, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. 'night, Mother had its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 1982. It opened on Broadway in March 1983, directed by Tom Moore and starring Anne Pitoniak and Kathy Bates; a film, starring Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek, was released in 1986.

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off & Dracula


Liz Lochhead - 1987
    Written in Lallan Scots, it is a most exciting piece of poetic drama.

Cyprus Avenue


David Ireland - 2016
    He believes his five-week old granddaughter is Gerry Adams.His family keep telling him to stop living in the past and fighting old battles that nobody cares about anymore, but his cultural heritage is under siege. He must act.David Ireland's black comedy takes one man's identity crisis to the limits as he uncovers the modern day complexity of Ulster Loyalism.Cyprus Avenue was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 11 February 2016, before transferring to the Royal Court Theatre, London in April 2016.

Pillar of Fire and Other Plays for Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond Tomorrow


Ray Bradbury - 1975
    All are adaptations of his short stories of the same names.

All This Intimacy


Rajiv Joseph - 2010
    In an unprecedented (for him) run of promiscuity, Ty has managed to impregnate three women in the span of one week: His ex-girlfriend, his 40-something married next-door neighbor, and his 18 year-old student. In this edgy comedy by playwright Rajiv Joseph, Ty's problems illuminate every triumph and failure of his life, and as the women

Un soñador para un pueblo


Antonio Buero Vallejo - 1958
    His profound, innovative theatre has earned him success and respect since 1949. Each new play has been an exciting experiment with dramatic form as well as a powerful expression of a tragic view of human life and Spanish society. A Dreamer for the People was first performed in 1958. In this history play, the first of a remarkable series, culminating in La detonacion (The Shot also published by Aris & Phillips), the dreamer of the title is the often maligned Marquis of Esquilache, the reformist minister of Carlos III. Buero sets off Esquilache's relations with the king, the aristocracy, his wife and his maidservant against a lively re-creation of the build-up to the famous 1766 Capes and Hats Revolt in the streets of Madrid. Public history and private tragedy are brought together in a complex structure, bringing into clear focus the clash between forces of change and immobility that lay at the heart of both the 18th century and the Franco period in Spain. In returning his proofs, Buero compliments the author of this first translation into English of his play: 'La version de Mr Thompson es muy cuidada y fiel, asi como acertadas y oportunas sus notas'.

Five Modern No Plays


Yukio Mishima - 1950
    The late Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's outstanding post-war writers, infused new life into the form by using it for plays that preserve the style and inner spirit of No and are at the same time so modern, so direct, and intelligible that they could, as he suggested, be played on a bench in Central Park. Here are five of his No plays, stunning in their contemporary nature and relevanceâ��and finally made available again for readers to enjoy.

Anatomy of Gray


Jim Leonard - 2006
    At first, the new doctor cures anything

A Soldier's Play


Charles Fuller - 1982
    But A Soldier's Play is more than a detective story: it is a tough, incisive exploration of racial tensions and ambiguities among blacks and between blacks and whites that gives no easy answers and assigns no simple blame.