Collection: Biography & Memoir

The Blind Woodsman is an inspiring and motivational autobiography about a man who finds true joy after struggling with depression, drug addiction, anxiety, financial despair and a failed suicide attempt at the age of 16. John Furniss, more famously known today as "The Blind Woodsman," along with his wife, inspiration and fellow artist Anni share their amazing story with the mission to help others. Despite being blind, John is now a highly skilled woodworker creating incredible pieces of art in complete darkness. Chapter one starts with how John and Anni met preceded by John sharing his experiences as a young teen and challenges along the way. Be inspired by the amazing images of John's work and many inspirational messages that will make you laugh and smile along the way. A story that will give hope and inspiration to those dealing with depression, addiction and the many anxiety driven stresses in our lives.

Introduce your brilliant baby to famous naturalist and painter of the Southwest Georgia O'Keeffe.

Georgia O'Keeffe went to art school in Chicago and New York, but when she saw the New Mexico desert, she fell in love. She moved to New Mexico and wanted to share its beauty with the world through her paintings. Kate Coombs' engaging story and Seth Lucas' beautiful art bring Georgia O'Keeffe to life for young readers, encouraging little naturalists to Be Adventurous and Be Creative.

JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER
IACP Cookbook Award finalist

In the face of apocalyptic climate change, a former fisherman shares a bold and hopeful new vision for saving the planet: farming the ocean. Here Bren Smith--pioneer of regenerative ocean agriculture--introduces the world to a groundbreaking solution to the global climate crisis.

A genre-defining "climate memoir," Eat Like a Fish interweaves Smith's own life--from sailing the high seas aboard commercial fishing trawlers to developing new forms of ocean farming to surfing the frontiers of the food movement--with actionable food policy and practical advice on ocean farming. Written with the humor and swagger of a fisherman telling a late-night tale, it is a powerful story of environmental renewal, and a must-read guide to saving our oceans, feeding the world, and--by creating new jobs up and down the coasts--putting working class Americans back to work.

When I first discovered that my 8-year-old kid believed that the adventures of Odysseus were the actual history of ancient Greece, I panicked and bought him a stack of children's history books. I sat by his side as he started reading about the class structure of Athens and the economic underpinnings of the Greek polis. He yawned. He asked for candy... and then for the Disney Channel...

Kids like stories. And when it comes to history, they learn from stories, not from dense paragraphs about the phases of the Bronze age, the location of trade routes, or the injustices of the social order here and there.

This book follows the old-fashioned, story-based, traditional route of teaching history - through tales of heroes and kings, with no tribute paid to modern economic and social perspectives. Culture is memes. And that means historical figures, and anecdotes about them.

To write this book, I went back to Tacitus, Livy, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Valerius Maximus, Josephus, Eusebius, Theodoret, and other ancient sources of biographical anecdotes, and extracted from them the stories that will be most memorable to a modern kid. I retold them without adding any fictional color. I have omitted some things, however. Anything gruesome, off-color, or outside traditional-family-friendly morality is not included. I also wove information about the social order and daily life of Ancient Rome into the stories of the era's most exciting historical figures.

The suggested reader age for this book is 8 to 14 years old.

This book is richly illustrated with paintings portraying historical figures and everyday life in ancient Rome. Whenever I could, I chose late 19th century and early 20th century realistic art featuring a more accurate representation of the Ancient Roman costume and environment. I also feature beautiful images of the sculpture, artifacts, and architectural monuments of Ancient Rome.

Important: I have selected illustrations with absolutely no nudity, so it's safe to take this book to school.

Here is a list of the historical figures included in this book:

Romulus and Remus, Numa Pompilius, Tarquin the Proud, Cincinnatus, Coriolanus, Cato the Censor, Scipio Africanus, Pompey, Spartacus, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Mark Anthony, Caesar Augustus, Virgil, Caligula, Nero, Seneca, Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine the Great, Julian the Apostate, Theodosius.

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Iris Apfel, the vivacious (and accidental) fashion icon.

Growing up in Queens, New York, little Iris was the only child at family events. Her grandmother would open a giant bag of fabric, filled with every color and pattern, and let her play with fabric scraps. This inspired a lifelong love of fashion. Famous for her eclectic style, built around oversized glasses, bright colors, and bold jewelry, Iris was the subject of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when she was just 84 years young. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the style icon's life.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling biography series for kids that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series of books offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover and paperback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. With rewritten text for older children, the treasuries each bring together a multitude of dreamers in a single volume. You can also collect a selection of the books by theme in boxed gift sets. Activity books and a journal provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.

Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

"A work of real comic genius. . . . A wonderful, funny, warm, honest book, and, to use a much overused word, a classic." -Michael Korda, author of Country Matters

When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. With no running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, the MacDonalds had barely a moment to put their feet up and relax. And then came the children. Yet through every trial and pitfall--through chaos and catastrophe--this indomitable family somehow, mercifully, never lost its sense of humor.

A beloved literary treasure for more than half a century, Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I is a heartwarming and uproarious account of adventure and survival on an American frontier.

A lyrical picture book biography of Simone Biles, gymnastics champion and Olympic superstar.

Before she was a record-breaking gymnast competing on the world stage, Simone Biles spent time in foster care as a young child. Nimble and boundlessly energetic, she cherished every playground and each new backyard.

When she was six years old, Simone's family took shape in a different way. Her grandparents Ron and Nellie Biles adopted Simone and her sister Adria. Ron and Nellie became their parents. Simone was also introduced to gymnastics that same year, launching a lifelong passion fueled by remarkable talent, sacrifice, and the undying support of her family.

From her athletic early childhood to the height of her success as an Olympic champion, Flying High is the story of the world's greatest gymnast from author Michelle Meadows and illustrator Ebony Glenn.

Follow the story of a woman so downtrodden that she did not know how to go on. With a simple prayer, the Lord guides her to a place of refuge, healing, and comfort.Learning how to cope with a neglectful marriage and overcoming spousal substance abuse by binge drinking she has to find herself again after all the lies and cover-ups.Placed in a haven by God, she encounters him with a four-hour visitation and underlying tests she has overcome. She has to find herself again for not only herself but also for her beautiful children. To reclaim her strength and dignity.This book is about overcoming cruelty and is a story of encouragement, hope and growth not only in herself but in Christ. I believe it will help others understand the Lord better.

"A fascinating romp through the feminine side of the infamous Khan clan" (Booklist) by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan

"Enticing . . . hard to put down."--Associated Press

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. The daughters of the Silk Route turned their father's conquests into the first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.

Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section about the queens from the Secret History of the Mongols, and, with that one act, the dynasty of these royals had seemingly been extinguished forever, as even their names were erased from the historical record.

With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, a groundbreaking and magnificently researched narrative, Jack Weatherford restores the queens' missing chapter to the annals of history.

Here is Jim Morrison in all his complexity-singer, philosopher, poet, delinquent-the brilliant, charismatic, and obsessed seeker who rejected authority in any form, the explorer who probed "the bounds of reality to see what would happen..." Seven years in the writing, this definitive biography is the work of two men whose empathy and experience with Jim Morrison uniquely prepared them to recount this modern tragedy: Jerry Hopkins, whose famous Presley biography, Elvis, was inspired by Morrison's suggestion, and Danny Sugerman, confidant of and aide to the Doors. With an afterword by Michael McClure.

An ALA Notable Children's Book and Best Book for Young Adults

Guggenheim Fellow John Fleischman separates fact from legend in this delightfully gruesome tale about Phineas Gage, the man with the hole in his skull.

In 1848, Phineas Gage was just a normal man in Cavendish, Vermont, working as a railroad construction foreman when a thirteen-pound iron rod shot through his brain. Defying all expectations, he went on to live another eleven years.

His miraculous recovery couldn't hide the fact that he was forever changed by the accident. The people around him agreed that the well liked and dependable Phineas Gage had turned into a crude and unpredictable man.

What happened to Phineas Gage's brain?

Complete with full-color photographs, a glossary, index, and a guide to resources, Phineas Gage will show you how your brain works through this fascinating case study as packed with neuroscience as it is shocking details.

Gordon Parks (1912-2006)--the groundbreaking photographer, writer, composer, activist, and filmmaker--
was only sixteen in 1928 when he moved from Kansas to St. Paul, Minnesota, after his mother's death. There, homeless and hungry, he began his fight to survive, to educate himself, and to fulfill his potential dream. This compelling autobiography, first published in 1966, now back in print by popular demand and with a new foreword by Wing Young Huie, tells how Parks managed to escape the poverty and bigotry around him and to launch his distinguished career by choosing the weapons given him by "a mother who placed love, dignity, and hard work over hatred." Parks, the first African American to work at Life magazine and the first to write, direct, and score a Hollywood film, told an interviewer in 1999, "I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera."

"A perceptive narrative of one man's struggle to realize the values (defined as democratic and
especially American) he has been taught to respect." --New York Times Book Review

"A lean, well-written memoir." --Time

Gordon Parks (1912-2006) was a groundbreaking photographer, writer, composer, activist, and film director. He may be best known for his photo essays for Life magazine and as the director of the 1971 film Shaft. Wing Young Huie is an acclaimed photographer and the author of several books including Frogtown and Looking for Asian America.

In The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, director of UCLA's Brain and Creativity Institute, presents "the first truly compelling neurobiological account of the self...a remarkable work of intellectual daring" (Nature).

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

Widley praised for his innovative scientific thinking and elegant writing, Antonio Damasio, the international bestselling author of Descartes' Error achieves an understanding of consciousness by asking and answering profound questions: How is it we know what we know? How is it that our conscious and private minds have a sense of self?

In this groundbreaking book, Damasio -- a renowned and revered scientist and clinician who spent decades following amnesiacs down hospital corridors, waiting for comatose patients to awaken, and devising ingenious research using PET scans to piece together the great puzzle of consciousness -- explores the biological roots of sentient awareness and its role in survival.

Consciousness is the feeling of what happens-our mind noticing the body's reaction to the world and responding to that experience. Without our bodies there can be no consciousness, which is at heart a mechanism for survival that engages body, emotion, and mind in the glorious spiral of human life. Linking body and emotion in an arresting and original study of what it is to be human, The Feeling of What Happens "will change your experience of yourself" (The New York Times).

"Both Descartes Error and The Feeling of What Happens are essential reading. They are ground-breaking classics of psychology and neuroscience."--Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

The definitive portrait of Kobe Bryant, from the author of Michael Jordan. "Lazenby's detailed research and fantastic writing paint a complex, engaging picture of one of the NBA's greats" (Kurt Helin, NBC Sports).

Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball's absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography.

Even within the flashiest franchise in all of sports -- the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played his entire career -- Bryant always took center stage, and his final game captivated the basketball world, indeed the country. Roland Lazenby delves deep to look behind this public image, using classic basketball reporting and dozens of new interviews to reveal the whole picture, from Bryant's childhood through his playing years.

Showboatis filled with large personalities and provocative stories, including details of Bryant's complicated personal life and explosive relationships on the court, and is a riveting and essential read for every hoops fan.

"All you have is all you need," is the life lesson entrepreneur Mignon François learned as she turned the $5 she had to feed her family dinner for the week into a multi-million-dollar bakery brand. With no experience and no recipe for success, or cake for that matter, her path was truly made from scratch.

In Made from Scratch: Finding Success Without a Recipe, Mignon shares her story of climbing out of a life of continuous upsets, struggle, and lack to building a legacy that would bless her and future generations.

Made from Scratch is one woman's story of finding her purpose with no blueprint, mapping a journey that led to the joy that has become synonymous with Mignon François.

Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. were born the same year a world apart. Both faced ugly prejudices and violence, which both answered with words of love and faith in humanity. This is the story of their parallel journeys to find hope in darkness and to follow their dreams.