This title provides a fine introduction to psychology. It will spark the curiosity of its readers as they learn about such varied topics as Chapter 5’s “What Makes Me Me, or Chapter 14’s What is Stress, or Chapter 16’s What Helps People Do Well, or Chapter 19’s How Can You Understand Other People’s Experiences?
This book has the imprimatur of the American Psychological Association which adds credence to what is included inside its’ pages. Readers will be drawn in right away. One of the first psychologists included is one who works with video games while another studies how people react to smells and another looks at what makes toys appealing. Kids see quickly that psychology covers a wide array of ways to understand feelings and behaviors.
Each section of each chapter is short and will keep readers’ attention. There are also illustrations throughout. I especially liked the sections titled Try This and Now You Know.
All in all, this book provides a good introduction to psychology. Interested readers may well explore deeper after finishing this title or may even begin to consider a career as a psychologist.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Algonquin consistently publishes fiction that is of high quality. In this sampler, readers get a peek at six recently released novels. They are Silence is a Sense, Libertie, A Theater for Dreamers, Legends of the North Cascades, and Hot Stew. For each title, the novelist has also written an essay that will add to a reader’s sense of the book. This collection of previews and more is a real treat and will likely inspire readers to add to their summer reading lists. I, myself, especially want to read Libertie and A Theater for Dreamers.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
This is a very cute rhyming story for preschool children. It features Larry who is a curious puppy. When the bookmobile comes to his farm, he hops on the truck only to find himself in an unfamiliar city. How will he get home? What will happen until then? Young children will enjoy finding out. Along the way, they will become familiar with many of the activities and services that a library offers.
The illustrations are engaging and go well with the text. Young listeners will have fun looking at them as they hear the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Truth here…I love Anne of Green Gables. I have read the first book in the series more than once and I adored the old TV series with Megan Fellows. The original may seem wordy to today’s young readers but it is still a great read aloud or read alone for elementary school kids. There are fun adventures in the book and also universal longings (as for love and acceptance).
For a child who is not ready for the length of the unabridged book this could be a good introduction. It may even encourage some to go to Montgomery’s novel. The events are true to those in the book. There is an added plus here with the beautiful, vividly rendered illustrations.
What happens to Anne (remember the important final E) when Gilbert Blythe comes to school? Follow the short chapters to find out.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
This book’s title is derived from Van Gogh’s description of his home in Arles. He lived there for 444 artistically productive days, leaving after the notorious incident with his ear. Intriguingly, the book’s author has a theory about why that happened when it did.
This work is well-researched and engaging. It can be enjoyed by both serious art scholars and those who simply adore Van Gogh. The number of reproduced paintings is impressive and readers will enjoy studying them at leisure and learning more about them, the artist and those who knew him.
This title is highly recommended. It offers readers an immersive and involving reading experience.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher . All opinions are my own.
From the Publisher
Studio of the South tells the story of Van Gogh’s stay in Arles, when his powers were at their height…
Van Gogh’s home and studio was the Yellow House, which he rented two months after his arrival in Arles. It provided his own personal space to sleep and paint – a welcome change from a cramped hotel room. Van Gogh immediately dreamed of sharing his new home with a fellow artist from Paris. Life would be cheaper, but more importantly it would be stimulating to live and work with a companion. He described it as the ‘studio in the south’. Vincent first used this expression in a letter to his brother Theo. Asking for money to buy beds and other furniture, he exclaimed: ‘How I’d like to set myself up so that I could have a home of my own!’ Once furnished, ‘we’d have a studio in the south where we could put someone up’. He regarded his beloved Yellow House as not simply a physical space, but a ‘living studio’.
The Yellow House, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
DISCOVERING ARLES
Van Gogh arrived in Provence at an extraordinary moment. Having taken the overnight train from Paris he awoke on the morning of 20 February 1888 to find the countryside blanketed with snow, although Arles normally enjoys mild Mediterranean winters. He described the scene to Theo: ‘The landscape under the snow with the white peaks against a sky as bright as the snow was just like the winter landscapes the Japanese did.’ The white hills were the Alpilles (the Little Alps), a chain with craggy peaks which begins just north of Arles – and which would soon appear in the background of many of his landscapes. A local newspaper reported that the snow was 45 centimetres deep, ‘enormous for the land of the sun’.
Arles seen from the Wheatfields, Musée Rodin, Paris
THE RHÔNE AND ITS CANALS
Langlois Bridge with Washerwomen, Kröller- Müller Museum, Otterlo Langlois Bridge with Washerwomen was completed in mid-March 1888, just three weeks after Vincent’s arrival. Writing to Theo, he described it as ‘a drawbridge, with a little carriage going across it, outlined against a blue sky – the river blue as well, the banks orange with greenery, a group of washerwomen wearing blouses and multicoloured bonnets’.
Quay with Sand Barges, August 1888, oil on canvas, 55 x 65 cm, Folkwang Museum, Essen (F449) Van Gogh later painted a similar scene, Quay with Sand Barges, this time with part of the embankment. His striking perspective omits the sky. He described the scene: ‘Boats seen from a quay, from above; the two boats are a purplish pink, the water is very green, no sky, a tricolour flag on the mast. A workman with a wheelbarrow is unloading sand.’
Trinquetaille Bridge, October 1888, oil on canvas, 74 x 93 cm, private collection On the other side of the Rhône lay the small town of Trinquetaille, which in 1875 had been linked to Arles by a bridge. Van Gogh painted Trinquetaille Bridge from the Arles side. Selecting a dramatic viewpoint, he looked up the wide steps heading from the street to the embankment and then up to the bridge itself. A sprinkling of pedestrians add scale and movement. The cylindrical object behind the small tree is probably a pissoire.
More from Martin Bailey
MARTIN BAILEY is a leading specialist on Van Gogh and an arts journalist. He is a London-based correspondent for The Art Newspaper. Bailey has curated several exhibitions on Van Gogh including one at Tate Britain in 2019. His most recent books include:
This title provides a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for young readers. There are fifteen plays included; to name just a few, there are The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, and The Tempest. Each play is brought to life, simply retold but true to the spirit of the original. The illustrations that accompany the stories are truly magnificent. Those who would like to introduce a new generation to Shakespeare may well want to pick up this book and let the bard do the rest.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 