Books published by publisher David R Godine

In this delightful fable by the team behind Henrietta and the Golden Eggs, a cantakerous duck and a grumpy owl square off over the right way to eat, the right time to sleep, and the right place to perch. Neither thinks the other is right about anything, and each clearly has a blind spot about the other's way of life. Johansen tells the story almost entirely through dialogue, giving lively energy to the petty bickering and narrow-mindedness that stand in the way of a woodland friendship.Bhend's intricate, telling ink drawings, show convincingly the value in each creature's point of view. Together, words and pictures reveal how respect for others can be the first step toward true friendship and real understanding. And, as any good fable should, it does it all without preaching its moral or losing its sense of humor.

Henrietta has big dreams for a little chicken: learning to sing, to swim, to fly, and, most important of all, to lay golden eggs. Even when her three thousand, three hundred thirty-three fellow inmates in the old henhouse laugh at her ambitions, Henrietta holds fast, practicing day and night. And while she's honing her talents, she's also getting ready to move on to the bigger, brighter world she can see through the tiny hole in the henhouse wall.Our heroine is no fool; she knows her limitations, but doesn't let them destroy her ambitions, any more than she lets the henhouse walls keep her a prisoner. And she's not above causing a little havoc along the way once the other three thousand, three hundred thirty-three chickens find her escape route, chaos reigns in the barnyard, by the pond, and among the wheat fields.Whether Henrietta achieves her dreams is debatable, but through her persistence and her resolute belief in herself, she does manage to change the lives of everyone in the henhouse for the better.This delightful fable is the first book by Hanna Johansen to be published in English. The spirited pen-and-ink illustrations by Käthi Bhend, printed in two colors, capture the henhouse denizens and their frenetic escapades down to the last feather.

The expression of love has occurred throughout the ages in innumerable fashions. Sonnets, soliloquies, songs; 'countless ways' is the true answer to Elizabeth Barrett Browning's How do I love thee? Often, the simplest method is best, using the word itself: Love. In Animals Spell Love, gorgeously written and designed by David Cundy, sixteen critters from the farthest reaches of the animal kingdom help readers of all ages learn how to express the word love in sixteen languages from around the globe. From Czech to Amharic to Korean, and even including American Sign Language, children and adults will be delighted by the way Cundy shapes the letters into animals, and his brief primers, complete with pronunciation guide for every incarnation will help readers indulge in the languages of love.

A board book especially for country toddlers. In sweet pictures and rhyme, we are taken through the daily tasks of running the farm: milking, egg collecting, laundry, woodcutting, and more. The little old man, the little old lady, their cat, their dog, and other familiar livestock are depicted in Andrea Wisnewski's uniquely charming paper-cut print style. The words on each page beg to be read aloud, time and time again.

Electra to the Rescue brings young readers the captivating story of Electra Havemeyer Webb and her adventures in "America's attic." Illustrated throughout with archival images and full-color photographs of items from the Shelburne collection, the book is a splendid introduction not only to a dynamic, unconventional woman but also to the rich, colorful world of Americana - the "visual vernacular" of our nation's people. Electra's enthusiasm was in many ways childlike, and she collected things that fire the imagination of children: rag dolls, cast-iron banks, embroidery samplers, miniature circuses even a working paddle-wheeler. Here is a book that perfectly embodies Electra's lifelong mission: to teach, in a unique and fun way, the American tradition of craftsmanship and the often sublime beauty of simple, everyday objects.

The Golden Ass has been a favorite of the private presses and illustrators since the invention of printing. Apuleius's comic masterpiece, originally composed in Latin in the second century a.d. traces the hilarious misadventures of a young man a tad too curious about magic for his own good. Hoping to change himself into an owl, he turns himself into a donkey instead, and in this guise is sold, stolen, or otherwise shunted from one master to the next. Along the way, he sees the underbelly of the sprawling Roman Empire, with its saints and villains, its venal merchants and greedy priests, until he's transformed back to human form via divine intervention. Not only a story of comic redemption, it is also a self-conscious, early example of storytelling that left an indelible mark on subsequent literature from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to Boccaccio's Decameron, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream to Pinocchio.M.D.Usher's creative adaptation brings the tale alive for young readers of all ages. Classical scholars will admire its faithfulness and its clever innovations, while new readers young and old will enjoy its freshness and accessibility. Motley's lively, thoroughly contemporary drawings capture the boisterous, see-sawing plot, while wittily quoting any number of graphic predecessors. Here is illustration at its best, at once illuminating and expanding a text while bringing it squarely into a new century.

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 great storyteller and, second, he clearly writes from first-hand experience. Independence and initiative are qualities any child can understand and every volume in this collection celebrates these virtues. Swallows and Amazons, the book that started it all in 1930, introduces the Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat "Swallow," and the two intrepid Amazons, plucky Nancy and Peggy Blackett.

A perfect New England summer in 1910, based on the childhood stories of Donald Hall's own mother. Poet laureate Donald Hall grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s farm in what was then rural New Hampshire. It was there that his mother, Lucy, and her sister Caroline told stories about their childhood – a time when the July Fourth parade in Danbury, New Hampshire was the biggest celebration of the year (complete with flags, speeches, and ice cream) and when a trip to Boston, where toys could be bought for a penny apiece, was counted as a major event. This is a piece of Americana that will bring readers back to a simpler time in which pleasure was derived from making as much as buying, where politics were truly local and not a national circus, and when worth was determined by character, not price.

First published in England in 1902, and full of whimsical charm, The Adventures of Uncle Lubin, presents one of literature’s most guileless and sincere characters. With his comically floppy hat and striped baggy stockings, gentle, serious Uncle Lubin is left in charge of his beloved nephew Peter. One fateful day, a great Bagbird swoops down while Uncle Lubin is innocently napping, whisks away the screaming child in his beak, and flies to the moon. Deeply horrified by the unexpected turn of affairs, Uncle Lubin nonetheless recognizes his duty as Peter’s guardian and sets out on a series of adventures to deliver the child from the wretched bag-bird, searching high and low (literally) for the kidnapped child. His ingenuity proves boundless: he builds an air-ship to follow the bird to the moon (using his hat as a parachute to descend); he invents a submersible sea-boat to search for Peter among the mer-men and mer-children of the deep; he kills a sea-serpent by putting salt on its tail (which we all know is the only way to kill a sea-serpent). He even melts an iceberg with a candle to reach the wicked bag-bird perched mockingly on top. These fantastic adventures are enhanced by Robinson’s detailed pen-and-ink drawings depicting, among other things, Uncle Lubin’s remarkable inventions and contraptions. Robinson had a profound affection for the ridiculous, and was a genius at sensitively and inventively depicting the absurd.

A sad, forgotten phone booth in New York City becomes a hero in this story of community and caring for others. The Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street was one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City. Everyone used it―from ballerinas and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents. 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.