Books published by publisher David R Godine

First published in 1957, this is one of those classic dog books that everyone who ever read it remembers. Much as they remember the great Canadian novelist Farley Mowat - for his wry humor, his marvelous use of language (his father was a librarian), his passion for animals in all forms and the outdoors in all its glory, and his seemingly endless series of misadventures.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if it were a little more…exciting? Perhaps, Jared Williams suggests, it would help if you were a ninja. Inspired by the author's conversations with his son, Rabbit Ninja alternates between the quotidian boredom of a young school-aged rabbit (his teeth-brushing and school lessons) and bursts of imagined ninja action, filled with nunchucks, noodles, and the Ultimate Nemesis. Its charming full-color illustrations and playful narration create lively movement from page to page -- the book is also chock-full of ninja facts that will delight and inspire fledgling ninjas in the making. Subtly wise, Rabbit Ninja is a vivid triumph of the imagination that encourages young readers to imagine wilder and more colorful possibilities for themselves.

Following the runaway success of Crime and Puzzlement 1, 2, and 3 (all available from Godine), by popular demand Lawrence Treat conjured up yet another devilishly delightful collection of picture mysteries -- this time for younger readers without any violent crime.The clues are in the pictures; it's up to you, the young detective, to size up the situation and solve the mystery. Read the story; look at the picture; grab a pencil; solve it yourself!

This charming book of hand-colored papercuts is guaranteed to delight gardeners young and old, active and armchair. It is a delicious garden alphabet, a convention as old as the sixteenth century, but one that seems to lend itself especially well to the advantages of high relief, gaily-colored papercuts.In this vivid garden, where A is for Arbor and Z is for Zucchini, artist Wisnewski brings her talents to bear not only on flowers, shrubs, herbs, and fruit, but also on the resident fauna: bees and cats, children, dogs, and rabbits. The result is no static florilegium, but a witty and whimsical beehive of various and charming activity.

For anyone who loves sailing and adventure, Arthur Ransome's classic Swallows and Amazons series stands alone. Originally published in the UK over a half century ago, these books are still eagerly read by children, despite their length and their decidedly British protagonists. We attribute their success to two facts: first, Ransome is a skilled storyteller and, second, he writes from first-hand experience. Independence and initiative, virtues celebrated in each installment of this collection, are qualities any child can understand and every adult covets. In We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, the seventh adventure in the series (following Pigeon Post, winner of the Carnegie Medal), the Walker family awaits Commander Walker's return in Harwich. As usual, the children can't stay away from boats, leading to their discovery of young Jim Brading, skipper of the well-found sloop Goblin. But fun turns to high drama when the anchor drags, and the four young sailors find themselves drifting out to sea—sweeping across to Holland in the midst of a full gale! As in all of Ransome's books, the emphasis is on self-reliance, courage, and resourcefulness. We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea is a story to warm any mariner’s or young adventurer’s heart. Full of nautical lore and escapades, it will appeal to young armchair sailors and seasoned sailors alike.

We have entered an age where microbreweries are in the mainstream, producing experimental amber nectars to the taste (and sometimes distaste) of all palates. Using flavors as diverse as chocolate, grapefruit, mint, and more, brewers push the boundaries of what it means to make a beer. Online groups exist to trade rare brews from coast to coast and country to country (Pliny the Elder, Heady Topper, anyone?), but here, Mary Azarian, with her characteristically charming woodcuts, takes us back to a simpler time where fifteenth-century households produced up to two hundred gallons of beer and ale a month. Seen as a nutritional necessity, this beer came from grain and fresh spring water, and was primarily brewed by women. The Ballad of John Barleycorn is still sung in England today, personifying the spirit of the grain, the essential component of beer-making. From planting, harvesting, brewing, and celebrating, this ballad covers the process of beer-making. Including a four-ingredient recipe, this book reminds us that sometimes the simplest way is best.

From the duo who delighted readers with The Lonely Phone Booth comes this wonderful new book featuring a diverse family of memorable characters. Pablo Pressman has homework to do, and Pablo will do almost anything to avoid doing his homework. But when his computer breaks down, he is desperate. His mother takes him up to the attic to discover her old typewriter. A what-writer ? asks Pablo, mystified. When his mother shows him how to strike the keys just so, and the words start to appear on paper, Pablo is delighted. And imagine his triumph when he presents his homework at school, amazing his teacher and all his friends with the story of the mechanical marvel that saved the day.

What do children and adults love in equal measure? Food! And what food inspires rapture in the hearts of children and adults alike? Pizza! Have your children ever asked where pizza comes from? Who invented the Pizza Mar­gherita? How did anyone think of combining such scrumptious ingredients as mozzarella, tangy tomato sauce, and fresh-baked bread? Thanks to Pizza in Pienza, you and your young charges will have all the answers, in English and Italian, including a recipe for homemade pizza. Here is the essential history of pizza, told by a charming Italian girl who lives in Pienza and whose favorite food is . . . well, you can guess it: pizza. Life in Pienza is pretty old-fashioned, and our young heroine knows everyone on the street and at the market by name. She comes home from school at midday to eat meals with her family, but in between her snack of choice is pizza, and her favorite place is Giovanni's, where Giovanni cooks pizza the old-fashioned way in a hot brick oven heated by a wood fire. Her grandmother, of course, makes it by hand and teaches her how to make it too. Her love of pizza even leads her to the library, where our heroine learns all she can about this ancient and ever-popular food, and so do we.Susan Fillion, author and illustrator of Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America, has shifted her attention from France to Italy in this wonderful book for younger readers. While children will love the vibrant illustrations and simple story of this girl and her great love, adults will be riveted by the history and challenged by the bilingual text for what good is a history of pizza in English only? Read the Italian out loud (Chiudo gli occhi e respiro il suo caldo profumo e il suo sapore) and your mouth will really start watering.

Remember the days when phone booths stood on every street corner? If you had to make a call, you'd step inside the little booth, lift the phone off the hook, put a coin in the slot, listen for the click, push the buttons, and hear it ring? And for only 25 cents, in the quiet of the booth, you could call your grandmother, or let the office know you were running late, or get directions for a birthday party. . .This is the story of one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City, the Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th. Everyone used it — from ballerinas and girl scouts, zookeepers and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents! The Phone Booth was so beloved that people would sometimes wait in line to use it. Kept clean and polished, the Phone Booth was proud and happy . . . until, the day a businessman strode by and shouted into a shiny silver object, "I'll be there in ten minutes!" Soon everyone was talking into these shiny silver things, and the Phone Booth stood alone and empty, unused and dejected.How the Phone Booth saved the day and united the neighborhood to rally around its revival is the heart of this soulful story. In a world in which objects we love and recognize as part of the integral fabric of our lives are disappearing at a rapid rate, here is a story about the value of the analog, the power of the people's voice, and the care and respect due to those things that have served us well over time.With his delightful, witty, and boldly colored illustrations that evoke Miroslav Sasek's mid-century modern aesthetic, Max Dalton simply and elegantly captures the energy and diversity of New York City and its inhabitants. A beauty to behold and a pleasure to read, The Lonely Phone Booth is sure to be a favorite among children and parents alike, and the real Phone Booth, which is still standing at West End Avenue and 100th Street, is worth a field trip!

Like many good fables, this story opens with a found-ling left rather inconveniently, if not surprisingly in the woods. A large lizard, ever conscious of tripping hazards, picks up the infant and takes her home, where she soon grows into a pretty, pampered, and generally useless young woman named Isabella. Despite her adoptive mother's efforts (for the lizard is really a witch in disguise) to shape her up, the girl prefers the alluring life offered her by the charming Prince Rupert, a world of cooks and servants, palaces and jewels, luxury and indolence. Luckily, the lizard woman is a canny, concerned parent. She does not suffer fools lightly and is not about to let her daughter's too-easy transition to palace life go unchallenged. And so she arranges a surprise transformation for her daughter one that puts the prince's marital plans on hold and gives the witch just enough time to hammer home a few lessons about the downside of idleness, the inanity of vanity, and the satisfactions of self-reliance. In this witty, modern interpretation of a classic Italian folktale, Leah Marinsky Sharpe has crafted a light-hearted mother-daughter fable with a moral that is sure to strike a chord with readers of all ages. The illustrations by Jane Marinsky glow with rich color and playful humor. Together, words and pictures provide a zesty treat for parents and children alike.

"Just think - we'll be on the island and we won't have a worry in the world." When her parents are forced to cut short the family's visit to their summer cottage on a Maine island, eleven-year-old Allegra Sloane and her sisters - thirteen-year-old Alice and seven-year-old Edith (aka Minnow) - decide they'd much rather spend a week alone on the island than languish in steamy Boston. So the ever resourceful Allegra concocts a plan for herself and her sisters to surreptitiously remain behind.At first everything proceeds according to plan; the girls slip away from their parents (and avoid a visit to stuffy Aunt Edna) and the promise of freedom beckons brightly. Unfortunately, their plan has a few holes in it; when the girls return to the cottage they find it emptied of food. Allegra realizes it's up to her to provide for her impractical sisters. The bookish Alice is more interested in reading Nancy Drew stories and declaiming Shakespeare and Minnow is preoccupied with gluing seashells to every canister in the house.Forced to fend for themselves, the girls learn to live off the land, gathering berries and chanterelles in the woods and mussels from the shore. Allegra learns perhaps the most important lesson: how stressful parenting can be. But the girls' adventures in survival are only half the story; for years rumors have suggested that their house contains a hidden treasure and this is enough to send the sisters off on a treasure hunt. The treasure they find is not buried gold but a trove that binds them closer to their family's history and to New England's literary heritage.Anne Lindbergh's timeless seaside story is suffused with the carefree pleasures of childhood. Full of summer sun and mischief, set on her own summer home of North Haven, it confirms her place among the best storytellers the region has produced.

Detected you way through Crime and Puzzlement 1 and Crime and Puzzlement 2? Solved all the heinous crimes of You're the Detective? Well then it's time you matched your sleuthing skills against Julius Quackery, amateur detective extraordinaire, as he tries to find out: Who beaned poor Kippy Betcher, ex-jockey, and sent him on his final ride? Wealthy Robert Pickle has disappeared overboard suicide or murder? The police hold a photograph of the murdered on the way to his crime but who or what is in the picture? Read the story. Ponder the picture. Seize the pencil in fist and solve it yourself! In this devilish anthology you'll find more delightfully murderouse suspense from the blood-red pen of the criminally successful Lawrence Treat. Granny Scratch shares a mushroom stew dinner with her son Casper and wife Hecuba. Four days later Granny's dying of mushroom poisoning but her hated heirs are healthy. Granny wants to know how she was killed before she dies! Study the picture and the text, answer the questions, and then solve the mystery... Still stumped, gumshoe? (Answers are in the back of the book.) Happy sleuthing!