Literature in Art Books

This book challenges so many of the assumptions of white males who continue to attempt to keep Women from showing their work. So much courageous work is being done by Women that it simply can not be kept quiet!!!! As a white woman, I was especially pleased to see that Women of Color were included in the discussions in this book.

How refreshing it is to read a book targeted to graduate programs at universities and to graduate students. This book is well written, well edited and, most importantly, not boring. It will become a valuable tool to graduate programs worldwide. This book enables a better understanding of an environment in which students become teachers and teachers become students. Bravo!

Fun stuff! Wow- there is too much fun to be had in this book, targeted to fourth to sixth graders- I get a buzz just flipping through the pages- such a nice texture and do it yourself feel- and so LO tech- there aren't any batteries needed- or airport connections.This book is about creating forums and objects that display or convey written words by kids. Included among the 40 projects are: how to start your own newspaper how to create a poetry lightbox, a mini book necklace, a placemat, magnetic word kit, and plastic pocket doorway curtain! Included in the book are ohotos of young people and their quotations about their writing life... I cannot imagine a young person or educator (or parent) with the right vibe who would not be creatively inspired for hour and hours with all the ideas contained in this book. Really fun stuff!

In The Face of Presumptions by the acclaimed american artist and illustrator Barry Moser presents one of those rare instances whereby a highly and widely regarded artist shares the inner thoughts and awareness that in turn, inspire visual and literary concepts. Each chapter reveals the necessary acumen and grit of daily living transformed into meaningful and fully accesible paragraphs of language, which in turn engage the reader allowing us to see the bigger picture through the eyes of an artist.
In an age of self-vaunted and pretentious autobiographies and personnal essays Mr. Moser's writing is a uniquely refreshing departure that is immenently cogent, down-to-earth, humoress at times, and sprinkled with wit that has endeared him to readers, and collectors of art and fine press books from his Pennyroyal Press imprints such as the Alice books, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz and his most recent magnum opus The Pennyroyal /Caxton Bible complete with over two hundred engraved prints illustrate painted speech at its best.
The array of subjects and incidents discussed by the author in his book have touches of Goethe, old Huck himself, and James Thurber with an emphasis on life's daily affairs and an honest sharing of the creative output of others whom have provided sources of inspiration and introspection in his work,
The publisher, David Godine, has again given us a fine publication for everyman.

When farmers digging a well in 1974 discovered some statues buried in the ground in the countryside near Xi'an, central China, it wasn't really that unusual. Bits of statuary and broken pottery had been discovered through that area for many years. What was unusual, however, was the fact that there weren't just a few statues buried in the ground; there were literally THOUSANDS of them. A whole, vast army of terra-cotta soldiers, horses, and chariots spanned a size greater than 5 football fields, all buried for over 2,000 years.

One of the better-known recent events in archeological history was the discovery of the Qin army, buried during the reign of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. Thousands of life-sized statues, richly detailed and no two exactly alike, were buried by during the first part of his reign. During his life, Qin was on a constant quest to find an elixir of life that would allow him to live forever. Archeologists believe that the army was made to protect the Emperor in the afterlife, should he not find that elixir during his lifetime.

A beautiful and fascinating book, "China's Buried Warriors" is richly illustrated with photographs from the digs. Though they have lost their original coats of paint and are all an earthy brown, each warrior looks profoundly ALIVE, as if he is ready to spring into action at a moments notice. It's almost spooky to see so many determined, read-for-action faces staring out at the reader from the pages.

Additional information, such as ancient Chinese history, the system of writing, and theories on how the statues were made is interspersed throughout the book. This information helps the reader who may not be familiar with all areas of Chinese history or archeology. The reader comes away with a profound notion of how long it must have taken to make these statues, as well as unearth them (you cannot simply use a shovel to dig them up, the author reminds us, they must be painstakingly dug out with hand trowels, brushes and small picks).

Most books on archaeology leave a reader cold and bored, especially a young reader. What's so interesting about a bunch of clay statues?? "China's Buried Warriors" clearly is not in the ho-hum, humdrum league of most archaeological writings. The enthusiasm and excitement the author has for the subject is immediate from the very first page, and leads the reader ever onward through the narrative.

As a teacher, I've used this book in social studies as a springboard to a great number of topics: China, the past, rulers and emperors, writing, and even death and dying. The text is written clearly and flows evenly from one topic to another. However, very young or beginning readers may have difficulty decoding some of the Chinese words and names.

As an introduction or addition to archeology and the study of past human cultures, I can't recommend this book highly enough!! An excellent work!

As a student at St. Lawrence University, it has been to my privlege to have studied under the tuteledge of Prof. Sondergard and to have conversed with students of prof. Berger. As a student, I would observe that, is this books is anything like the way they teach, it will be a supreme accomplishment for all three.

I recommend this book to teachers hoping to energize their literature or writing classes by positioning all students as creative, ambitious researchers capable of critiquing or even transforming worlds outside the classroom. When I discovered it two months ago, it struck me as just the resource I needed for revitalizing my college survey of multicultural literature for freshman and sophomores, a course which sometimes engaged and sometimes bored students. I have since redesigned materials for the course, using Beach and Myers' idea that to fully understand literature-or our own lives-we must think of individual people (whether characters in a story, authors of those stories, or ourselves and others in the real world) as part of larger systems or "social worlds," acting to protect and continue those systems or to challenge and change them. The book clearly delineates the components of social worlds and is full of sample activities and assignments; with these, I have revised my own discussion questions, presentation assignments and writing prompts. I have also shown Chapter 8, "School and Sports Worlds," to several high school teachers, who now plan to assign the ethnographic inquiry projects outlined there rather than assigning traditional research papers. This is a practical, accessible, entirely useable book.

I've been a big fan of Sandra Evertson ever since I found her book, Fanciful Paper Projects. This is another great volume filled with wonderful, whimsical pages of her original art and vision. If you are into scrapbooking and are looking for something totally fresh pick up some or all of Sandra's books. She also contributes to quite a few magazines from Stampington.

Interesting mix of academic research and cultural observation. Pulls together disparate media - personal narratives, silent film, novels - to explore the imbedded economic and social implications of the (particularly American) mythology of the self-made man. In particular I love the stuff about the silent film guys. Not an easy read, but a rewarding one nonetheless. You'll want to go (re)read and (re)watch all of the texts and films discussed here.

I found the book to be in perfect condition. Although the purchase arrived in less than two weeks I would have preferred a two-day shipment because I paid more than five dollars for the shipment.