Picture book fiction that accurately depicts the launch of the Space Shuttle--from the eyes of an eight-year-old astronaut! Ever wonder what it would be like to be an astronaut? In "Floating Home," eight-year-old Maxine finds out when she becomes the world's first child astronaut. Written in David Getz's familiar compact and engaging style, "Floating Home" gives kids a chance to journey to space and see the earth in a different light. Michael Rex's illustrations complement the text as they aptly depict the Space Shuttle and all of Maxine's gear. The flair and wit of Michael Rex's art offsets David Getz's deadpan tone to make a child-appealing combination.
Shantyboat is the story of a leisurely journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. For most people such a journey is the stuff that dreams are made of, but for Harlan and Anna Hubbard, it became a cherished reality. In their small river craft, the Hubbards became one with the flowing river and its changing weathers. This book mirrors a life that is simple and independent, strenuous at times, but joyous, with leisure for painting and music, for observation and contemplation.
2021 DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD — RUNNER-UP Caught between cultures, immigrant families from a Bengali neighbourhood in Toronto strive to navigate their home, relationships, and happiness. Set in both Canada and Bangladesh, the eight stories in Home of the Floating Lily follow the lives of everyday people as they navigate the complexities of migration, displacement, love, friendship, and familial conflict. A young woman moves to Toronto after getting married but soon discovers her husband is not who she believes him to be. A mother reconciles her heartbreak when her sons defy her expectations and choose their own paths in life. A lonely international student returns to Bangladesh and forms an unexpected bond with her domestic helper. A working-class woman, caught between her love for Bangladesh and her determination to raise her daughter in Canada, makes a life-altering decision after a dark secret from the past is revealed. In each of the stories, characters embark on difficult journeys in search of love, dignity, and a sense of belonging.
Seattle's floating homes community began as a population of unregulated and inexpensive industrial houses in the late 1800s, yet it has evolved to become some of the most sought-after real estate in Seattle today. Little has been shared about this intimate and unique community that is characterized by eclectic architecture, diverse individuals, and a strong sense of community. It is hard to imagine Seattle without its floating homes, but there was a period of time when the community was considered undesirable and was almost driven from the city shores. This book explores the community history of floating homes in Seattle, tales from life on the dock, and the ongoing challenges of being a fringe neighborhood in the urban context of the city.
Announcing the launch of a new book celebrating the diversity of living on the water. Gary Cookson interviewed the owners of a variety of floating homes to find out why they chose to live afloat, what decisions they made to achieve their dream and discussed the pros and cons of the lifestyle. This book takes a peek through the portholes of some great floating homes. From permanently moored houseboats, to ships that are permanently travelling and everything in between. And just like their skippers and crew, they come in all shapes and sizes with budgets large and small. Inside are homes based on historic ex-commercial cargo barges (both sailing and motor), narrowboats, tugs, sailing yachts, motor yachts, purpose-built houseboats, a floating log cabin and a look at floating homes of the future. With over 300 colour photographs of homes in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, the USA and Australia there is inspiration for anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to live afloat.
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Today we think of ukiyo-e—“the pictures of the floating world”—as masterpieces of Japanese art, highly prized throughout the world. Yet it is often said that ukiyo-e were little appreciated in their own time and were even used as packing material for ceramics. In Picturing the Floating World, Julie Nelson Davis debunks this myth and demonstrates that ukiyo-e was thoroughly appreciated as a field of artistic production, worthy of connoisseurship and canonization by its contemporaries. Putting these images back into their dynamic context, she shows how consumers, critics, and makers produced and sold, appraised and collected, and described and recorded ukiyo-e. She recovers this multilayered world of pictures in which some were made for a commercial market, backed by savvy entrepreneurs looking for new ways to make a profit, while others were produced for private coteries and high-ranking connoisseurs seeking to enrich their cultural capital. The book opens with an analysis of period documents to establish the terms of appraisal brought to ukiyo-e in late eighteenth-century Japan, mapping the evolution of the genre from a century earlier and the development of its typologies and the creation of a canon of makers—both of which have defined the field ever since. Organized around divisions of major technological and aesthetic developments, the book reveals how artistic practice and commercial enterprise were intertwined throughout ukiyo-e’s history, from its earliest imagery through the twentieth century. The depiction of particular subjects in and for the floating world of urban Edo and the process of negotiating this within the larger field of publishing are examined to further ground ukiyo-e as material culture, as commodities in a mercantile economy. Picturing the Floating World offers a new approach: a critical yet accessible analysis of the genre as it was developed in its social, cultural, and political milieu. The book introduces students, collectors, and enthusiasts to ukiyo-e as a genre under construction in its own time while contributing to our understanding of early modern visual production.
A boat is a hole in the water that you put your passion into. Movable homes provide endless opportunities for exploration and changes of scenery. Modified ferries allow ample space for families. Shanty boats inspire images of Huck Finn's literary journey and youthful spirit. Former cruise ships become charming hotels. These floating domiciles showcase alternative living solutions from the private to the commercial. From the romantic lakes of Kashmir to the Bay of Venice, houseboats claim their space atop the water worldwide. These charismatic and aquatic homes provide refuge from being landlocked and promise to satisfy curious natures. A Life Afloat profiles the imaginative inhabitants and designers behind these houseboats; the volume offers inspiration to anyone interested in a touch of escape from a weekend change of scenery to a permanent change of address.
