Books with author Richard Connor

One of the most important life skills is the ability to be receptive to the ideas and opinions of others, particularly when they differ sharply from your own. Nature has programmed us to be wary of things that are new, foreign or different. But, in the 21st Century the pendulum seems to have swung too far toward "I'm right and you're wrong; end of discussion." This book is designed to show middle school children and adults how different people (or groups) can have very different beliefs - yet that fact doesn't necessarily mean that one of the people (or groups) is wrong! In fact, this story graphically demonstrates how it's possible for all their different opinions (or beliefs) to all be correct. Not only that, the story also shows how all the groups’ appreciation for their sacred mountain was ultimately enhanced by learning of the other groups different perceptions of it. This story also introduces young people to the challenges of Global Warming and provides a symbolic example of how United Nations (UN) helps those people most vulnerable to it.

Abandoned in the woods, a young boy named Teddy slides downward into a dream world where he is faced with many challenges to his ingenuity and courage. In a realm that is home to a variety of animals and ruled by a gigantic jackrabbit, the king puts him through three major tests to determine whether he is worthy of remaining there. Passing the tests, Teddy moves to a neighboring realm, where he meets a girl name Mindy that he would love to have as a sister. She disappears, and he encounters many other creatures as he endeavors to find her. At the end of an elaborate journey, he awakens to a promising new life.

The Most Dangerous Game is a short story by Richard Connell. The story features a big-game hunter from New York City who falls off a yacht and swims to an isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s. The story has been adapted numerous times, but most notably for the 1932 RKO Pictures film The Most Dangerous Game, starring Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks, and for a 1943 episode of the CBS Radio series Suspense, starring Orson Welles. Sanger Rainsford and his friend, Whitney, are traveling to Rio de Janeiro to hunt the region's big cat: the jaguar. After a discussion about how they are "the hunters" instead of "the hunted", Whitney goes to bed and Rainsford remains on deck. While Whitney returns to his quarters Rainsford hears gunshots and climbs onto the yacht's rail to get a better view of the nearby Ship-Trap Island, and falls overboard. After he realizes he cannot swim back to the boat, he swims to Ship-Trap, which is notorious for shipwrecks. He finds a palatial chateau inhabited by two Cossacks: the owner, General Zaroff, and his gigantic deaf-mute servant, Ivan. Zaroff, another big-game hunter, knows of Rainsford from his published account of hunting snow leopards in Tibet. After inviting him to dinner, General Zaroff tells Rainsford he is bored of hunting because it no longer challenges him; he has moved to Ship-Trap in order to capture shipwrecked sailors, whether due to storms or by luring vessels onto the rocks. He sends the sailors into the jungle supplied with food, a knife, and hunting clothes to be his quarry, although he also runs a "school" of sorts to prepare sailors for this hunt should they be out of shape or disoriented from being washed ashore. After a three-hour head start, he sets out to hunt and kill them. Any captives who can elude Zaroff, Ivan, and a pack of hunting dogs for three days are set free. Zaroff reveals that no one has lasted that long, although a couple of sailors had come close. Zaroff also says that he offers sailors a "choice"; should they decline to be hunted they will be handed over to Ivan, who had once been official knouter for The Great White Czar. Rainsford is against this and denounces it as barbarism. Zaroff reacts in a cosmopolitan manner that "life is for the strong". Realizing he has no way out, Rainsford reluctantly agrees to be hunted. During the three-hour head start, Rainsford begins to lay an intricate trail in the forest and then climbs a tree. Zaroff finds him easily, but decides to play with him like a cat would a mouse, standing underneath the tree Rainsford is hiding in, smoking a cigarette, and then abruptly departing. After the failed attempt of eluding Zaroff, Rainsford builds a Malay man-catcher, a weighted log attached to a trigger. This contraption injures Zaroff's shoulder, causing him to return home for the night, but not before he shouts out that Rainsford laid a good trap that few hunters can make. The next day Rainsford creates a Burmese tiger pit, which kills one of Zaroff's hounds. He sacrifices his knife to make a Ugandan knife trap, however Ivan is killed when he stumbles into this trap and the knife plunges into his heart. To escape Zaroff and his approaching hounds, Rainsford dives off a cliff into the sea; Zaroff, disappointed at Rainsford's suicide, returns home. While enjoying a celebratory dinner, Zaroff is preoccupied with two issues: Ivan would be hard to replace and whether or not the cliff dive killed Rainsford for sure. Zaroff locks himself in his bedroom and turns on the lights only to find Rainsford waiting for him; he had swum around the island in order to sneak into the chateau without the dogs finding him and killing him.

Reflecting on the vitality of the past, through the works of one of Britain’s most audacious 20th-century painters The British painter David Bomberg (1890–1957) was among the most precociously talented artists of his generation, and the influence of his legacy continues to be felt. This catalogue is the first to explore Bomberg’s early work in relation to the collection of London’s National Gallery, demonstrating the importance of painterly tradition for this deeply innovative artist. As a teenager Bomberg intensively copied old master paintings; Botticelli’s Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1480–85) was reportedly one of his favorites. But after joining the Slade School of Art, he embraced the idea of a new, increasingly abstract art that would reflect the drama of the world around him. By placing Bomberg’s rebellious, youthful works alongside those he most admired in the National Gallery, this book explores the true extent of the young artist’s engagement with history, and how it shaped his contribution to the language of early 20th-century modernist art.

The next time you see a rat you should give it a round of applause. Consider the facts: rats can gnaw through lead, wriggle through a hole the size of a quarter, and survive high doses of nuclear radiation. Rats have also managed to exploit us humans for all we’re worth–we’ve unintentionally provided them with food, shelter, and transportation. And contrary to popular belief, rats are quite clean. Some people keep them as pets. Some even worship them.Armed with wit and scientific fact, award-winning natural history writer Richard Conniff gleefully delves into the fascinating and impressive world of the rat–one of the most successful animals on earth.