Croc is in love. He's in love with you. Will you be Croc's valentine? Children's author Tom Gardner presents "Crocodile Love, Be Mine Valentine," a fun picture book about love and valentines. With its uplifting message of love and hope, this book is great reading not just for Valentine's Day but for any day.

The book focuses on individuals writing in the '90s, but also includes 12 classic authors (e.g., Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, J.R.R. Tolkien) who are still widely read by teens. It also covers some authors known primarily for adult literature (e.g., Stephen King) and some who write mainly for middle readers but are also popular among young adults (e.g., Betsy Byars). An affordable alternative to multivolume publications, this book makes a great collection development tool and resource for author studies. It will also help readers find other books by and about their favorite writers.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1859.

This is a musical analysis of Paul McCartney from 1970 to today. It is aimed at students of popular music theory; educators; musicians; and aspiring songwriters. It will also appeal to the general Beatles and McCartney fan who wishes to understand music on a deeper level - A beginner's guide to music theory and glossary are provided. Eighty of McCartney's post-Beatles songs are discussed in the format of short, but accessible essays. For each song, full details are provided concerning date of release; place of recording; instrumentation; and key signature. The description for each song details the musical techniques that McCartney uses, such as chord patterns; structure; use of instruments; vocal harmony; tonality; and key changes. In addition, every chapter details his life and work in each decade. A conclusion identifies the main characteristics of McCartney's style. The appendix details every recording location used. An invaluable guide to the music of the world's most successful songwriter.

_______________ 'Superb ... Booth's psychology is subtler than Motion's and more convincing' - Peter J. Conradi, Spectator 'Booth's diligence is unquestionable and even readers who think they know the poems will see nuances they had previously missed ... should render further attention by biographers superfluous for several years' - Guardian 'Those of us who never warmed to Larkin the man or poet, will have our aversions challenged by this sympathetic but different account of his life and work' - Independent _______________ A fascinating and controversial study of Philip Larkin's world and how it bled into his work, James Booth's biography is a unique insight into the man whose life and art have been misunderstood for too long Philip Larkin was that rare thing among poets: a household name in his own lifetime. Lines such as 'Never such innocence again' and 'Sexual intercourse began / In nineteen sixty-three' made him one of the most popular poets of the last century. Larkin's reputation as a man, however, has been more controversial. A solitary librarian known for his pessimism, he disliked exposure and had no patience with the literary circus. And when, in 1992, the publication of his Selected Letters laid bare his compartmentalised personal life, accusations of duplicity, faithlessness, racism and misogyny were levelled against him. There is, of course, no requirement that poets should be likeable or virtuous, but James Booth asks whether art and life were really so deeply at odds with each other. Can the poet who composed the moving 'Love Songs in Age' have been such a cold-hearted man? Can he who uttered the playful, self-deprecating words 'Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth' really have been so boorish? A very different public image is offered by those who shared the poet's life: the women with whom he was romantically involved, his friends and his university colleagues. It is with their personal testimony, including access to previously unseen letters, that Booth reinstates a man misunderstood: not a gaunt, emotional failure, but a witty, provocative and entertaining presence, delightful company; an attentive son and a man devoted to the women he loved. Meticulously researched, unwaveringly frank and full of fresh material, Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love definitively reinterprets one of our greatest poets.