Books published by publisher David Goodin

Living in a "home hand-built" on the Alaskan coast, the man who "trades with the sea" combs the silent dawn beaches each morning for driftwood and cast-off items. For this quiet man, each find has its own story, its own past and dignity. Every day after gathering his treasure - and leaving behind those gifts "that are best never held" - he returns home where he carves a small figure from the driftwood, a gift for the sea. This beautiful - and beautifully illustrated - story is a quiet hymn celebrating man and nature in harmony. Children and ecology-minded adults alike will find much to enjoy in Shannon's spare text and Azarian's elegant woodcut art.

This playful alphabet, lush with surprising details and limned in delicate colors, was inspired by that familiar and beloved nursery companion the alphabet block. As reimagined by artist Judy Pelikan, each letter of the alphabet takes possession of its own face, covering, carving, painting, and manipulating the surface of the block in a variety of inventive and unexpected ways.Pelikan approaches humble wooden cubes as points of entry into a magical world, one of surprising objects, exotic animals, intimate landscapes, and delicate balances. Every face is decorated with images related to its letter: the Painter's Pointillist block introduces a Pitcher and Pearls and one-Point Perspective, while a Tolstoy Tome straightens a Teetering Tea Table (set with a complete, and minute, Tea service). And some are not quite blocks at all: a Folded strip of Film follows sandy Footprints past a Friend's cowrie shell while a quartet of Jaunty Jacks squares up to form a miniature house of cards. Each page offers up its own intriguing and challenging little world, a combination of the best of Kate Greenaway's color and form and M.C. Escher's mystery and visual disconnects.On the verso, facing each block, is the upper and lower case letter, redrawn after the forms of Paul Renner's simple, modern Futura typeface, elegant counterpoints to the fascinating, minutely detailed pencil-and-watercolor illustrations. This is small enough for a child to handle, and sophisticated enough for an adult to appreciate. It is a little bijou of a book.

This beloved short story a classic coming-of-age tale by the author of The Country of the Pointed Firs is gloriously illustrated with pencil drawings by Maine artist Douglas Alvord. Sylvia, a city girl more at home with animals than with people, has come to the Maine Woods to live with her grandmother. One summer afternoon in the late 1800s, her life is changed forever when she meets an attractive young ornithologist searching for birds to snare, stuff, preserve, and display. With consummate literary skill, Jewett dramatizes the storm of emotions Sylvia feels both for this young man and for the natural world, and especially for the rare white heron the ornithologist is so eager to possess. Mr. Alvord's pictures are as delicate as Sylvia's emotions and as precise as Jewett's descriptions of Sylvia's inner struggle.

Mommy, Daddy and I made three, but we thought we might like four. And so. . .And so begins an intensive search for that perfect fourth family member. Maybe a dog? Naw, way too much hair. A chameleon? Naw, it disappears. A dolphin? Naw, uses too much water. The porcupine is too prickly to hug, the rooster wakes up too early, and the octopus messes with everything! But there is, in the end, a simple and totally satisfactory solution. And it is just perfect.Written and illustrated by the illustrator of The Goat-Faced Girl, this book is funny, witty, and winsome. The words are few, but the illustrations are fast paced, full of clever visual puns and diverting imagery. Adults will be seduced by the art and children by the quest. And both will be satisfied (even gratified) by the solution.

The prose of Joan Aiken, her uncanny ability to tell a great story in language that is classically beautiful, her fascinating characters, riveting dialogue, and compelling action, should be better appreciated. Like her father, Conrad Aiken, she is adept at a number of forms but is a master of the short story. In this fetching collection of what she considers thirteen of her best tales, she can be scary (everyone knows her fascination with wolves and witches) and poetic (as in "Moonshine in the Mustard Pot" or "The Lilac in the Lake"). But whatever she sets her hand to, it reads like the work of a master. Set against the lovely and luminous pencil drawings of Pamela Johnson, we have a a baker's dozen of magical tales that will stay with readers long after the last page is turned and the lights turned out.

In his snazzy plaid coat and dandyish bowler hat, Mr. Bing may seem every bit the playboy, but his sharp haberdashery conceals a shrewd head for business and a fine ear for, well, noises. Not just any noises, mind you, but the sort of noises people want to hear again and again.One day in the forest, Mr. Bing stumbles upon a million-dollar idea: there are certain noises that, if one could package them attractively, people might want to own. On this modest yet startling premise, he opens a workshop to build and sell his new inventions: part sculpture, part musical instrument, Mr. Bing's wholly original devices make exotic, unexpected, and delightful noises. A few skeptics may scoff, but these remarkable inventions are a ready hit with the public. An impresario arrives with an offer to set up an exhibition in Tokyo.Yet just as Mr. Bing should be reaping the rewards of his success, things start to go awry. An angry customer arrives, defective noise in hand (clearly a counterfeit), demanding a refund. And there's the matter of the missing Trooloooooloo that keeps him awake at night. . .This light-hearted book, the first collaboration between author Anna Rozen and illustrator François Avril, is a whimsical tale of ingenuity, industry, horse-sense - and a little impromptu detective work.

In one of Robert Frost's most appealing poems for children, this quintessential New England poet brings the reader to a rolling upland meadow just as autumn turns to winter and snow begins to fall. In this interpretation, a child and mother are out for a walk and are captivated by a young Morgan colt, bewildered and skittish, reacting to his his first encounter with falling snow.With striking tableaus, bold shapes, and sumptuous colors, the artist Glenna Lang evokes the archetypal New England landscape crisscrossed with stone walls and inhabited by farm animals. Her winsome colt and sympathetic child will engage the young reader in this moving poem about caretaking and concern for young creatures.Adults may see the poignancy and ambiguity of Frost's words, but children will embrace the resolution that the artist provides. This charming book shows the unknown situations are not always as frightening as at first they might appear, and that a comforting presence is never far away.

Benjy was, quite simply, never bad. In fact, he is the most unbearably good little boy it may ever be your misfortune to meet. He lived in a cozy little house with his dearest Mummy (and her diploma and cap and gown), Daddy (who spent his time playing cards in the back of the TV set), and Sid, the family airedale. He was never rude to his dear Mummy and always kissed his Daddy when he hurt him with building blocks. He played such nice, nice games that Sid moved out of the house into a box marked "refuse" in the backyard. All in all, the family was blissfully happy until a good fairy granted the ever-so-deserving little Benjy a wish. And the wish had some very unexpected results...Benjy is a wickedly funny book about the pitfalls of being just too good, a ferocious and ferociously wonderful story for the most precocious child to the most proper parent to enjoy.