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In this exquisitely rendered memoir set on the high plains of Texas, Pulitzer Prize winner Gail Caldwell transforms into art what it is like to come of age in a particular time and place. A Strong West Wind begins in the 1950s in the wilds of the Texas Panhandle–a place of both boredom and beauty, its flat horizons broken only by oil derricks, grain elevators, and church steeples. Its story belongs to a girl who grew up surrounded by dust storms and cattle ranches and summer lightning, who took refuge from the vastness of the land and the ever-present wind by retreating into books. What she found there, from renegade women to men who lit out for the territory, turned out to offer a blueprint for her own future. Caldwell would grow up to become a writer, but first she would have to fall in love with a man who was every mother’s nightmare, live through the anguish and fire of the Vietnam years, and defy the father she adored, who had served as a master sergeant in the Second World War. A Strong West Wind is a memoir of culture and history–of fathers and daughters, of two world wars and the passionate rebellions of the sixties. But it is also about the mythology of place and the evolution of a sensibility: about how literature can shape and even anticipate a life.Caldwell possesses the extraordinary ability to illuminate the desires, stories, and lives of ordinary people. Written with humanity, urgency, and beautiful restraint, A Strong West Wind is a magical and unforgettable book, destined to become an American classic.From the Hardcover edition.

In her acceptance speech upon receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pearl Buck said, "The mind of my own country and of China, my foster country, are alike in many ways, but above all, in our common love of freedom". "East Wind: West Wind" embodies this love of, and struggle for, freedom.

'The Mother West Wind Collection, Volume 1' is a compilation of the first four Thornton W. Burgess books in the "Mother West Wind" series. These are "Old Mother West Wind," "Mother West Wind's Children," "Mother West Wind's Animal Friends," and "Mother West Wind's Neighbors." * * * * The eight books in the 'Mother West Wind' series were just the beginning of Thornton W. Burgess's long running - and much beloved - series of children's nature books about the Green Meadow, the Green Forest, and the Smiling Pool. Young readers, and listeners, travel to this timeless world and learn gentle lessons about nature, the environment, and the "lesser folk of fur and feathers." * * * * Readers learn why Johnny Chuck doesn't like Blacky the Crow, how Sammy Jay was found out, how Spotty the Turtle won a race, what happened to Happy Jack Squirrel's stolen nuts, why Bobby Coon washes his food, and fifty-six more tales in this book. There are stories about Reddy Fox, Peter Rabbit, Blacky the Crow, Johnny Chuck, Ol' Mr. Buzzard, Bobby Coon, and a over a dozen more of the animals that inhabit the world of the Green Forest, Green Meadow, and Smiling Pool. * * * * Any imaginative child will be captivated by this book. The chapters are short, with simple language that children will identify with. Read aloud to pre-readers, or read by children themselves, this book will surely be a family favorite in no time, if it isn't already. * * * * This volume includes all sixty-one stories and the original sixteen illustrations from the first editions published in 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913, respectively. * * * * Check out the other Thornton Burgess books published by Flying Chipmunk Publishing!

"Mother West Wind's Neighbors" continues the adventures begun in the book "Old Mother West Wind." * * * * Children will love hearing, and reading, about the origins of why Johnny Chuck does not like Blacky the Crow, the arrival of Unc' Billy Possum in the Green Forest, why Ol' Mistah Buzzard has a bald head, how Hooty the Owl gets even with Blacky the Crow, and eleven other stories that are sure to delight entertain both children and adults. * * * * Young readers travel to the timeless world of the Green Forest and Smiling Pool. Gentle lessons about nature, the environment, and the "lesser folk of fur and feathers" for today's young readers and listeners. * * * * Originally published in 1913, "Mother West Wind's Neighbors" was Thornton W. Burgess's fourth book in his long running -- and much beloved -- series of children's nature books about the Green Meadow and the Green Forest. This edition includes the original four illustrations. * * * * Check out the other Thornton Burgess books published by Flying Chipmunk Publishing!

Mother West Wind "How" Stories is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

This special set of seven delightful books of warmth and whimsy take young readers to the Green Forest to meet Johnny Chuck, Bobby Raccoon, and other characters to learn gentle lessons about wildlife and the environment.

The Red Dragon & The West Wind is the perfect introduction to this ancient game of strategy and subterfuge, covering all aspects of the two most common varieties, American and Chinese, along with an overview of other global approaches. The book begins with the history and origin and moves on to the rules of play and ways to win and avoid essential errors as well as the etiquette to follow. With everything from clear instructions on dealing, building, and distributing tiles to a look at the history and future of the game, this is the essential book for anyone who wants to have fun–and win–while playing mah–jongg.

The New York Times has called Oliver's poems "thoroughly convincing - as genuine, moving, and implausible as the first caressing breeze of spring." In this stunning collection of forty poems she writes of nature and love, of the way they transform over time. And the way they remain constant. To quote Library Journal: "From the chaos of the world, her poems distill what it means to be human and what is worthwhile about life."

In lines pulled taut by the tension between the silent beauty of nature and the poet's longing for words, Mary Oliver has again provided readers with plenty to think about. Consider "Stars": "How can I hope to be friends / with the hard white stars / whose flaring and hissing are not speech / but a pure radiance? / How can I hope to be friends / with the yawning spaces between them / where nothing, ever, is spoken?" Yet Oliver does strike up a kind of friendship between nature's inexpressible beauty and the necessity and solace of language. She writes vividly of each, noting the way "the sunlight and shadows are chasing each other," (from "The Dog Has Run Off Again"), in one instance, while elsewhere describing the excitement of writing poems: "little curls little shafts / of letters words / little flames leaping" (from "Forty Years"). Oliver is one of the most honored poets now writing in the English language, and, along with Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, and A.R. Ammons, an important part of the revival we are seeing in contemporary pastoral poetry.

Mother West Wind's Children is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.