Listen, World!


Book Description

*Winner of the 2023 Northern California Book Award* The first biography of Elsie Robinson, the most influential newspaper columnist you’ve never heard of At thirty-five, Elsie Robinson feared she’d lost it all. Reeling from a scandalous divorce in 1917, she had no means to support herself and her chronically ill son. She dreamed of becoming a writer and was willing to sacrifice everything for this goal, even swinging a pickax in a gold mine to pay the bills. When the mine shut down, she moved to the Bay Area. Armed with moxie and samples of her work, she barged into the offices of the Oakland Tribune and was hired on the spot. She went on to become a nationally syndicated columnist and household name whose column ran for over thirty years and garnered more than twenty million readers. Told in cinematic detail by bestselling author Julia Scheeres and award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert, Listen, World! is the inspiring story of a timeless maverick, capturing what it means to take a gamble on self-fulfillment and find freedom along the way.




Listen to Our World


Book Description

From beloved storytellers Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson and with shimmering illustrations by Caldecott Honor­ artist Melissa Sweet comes a celebration of the animals all around us! Squawk! Hiss! Grr! Roar! Big, small, black, brown—all kinds of animals make their home in our world. From the jungle to the mountains to your own backyard, listen and you just might hear the sounds they make!




What to Listen for in the World


Book Description

What is the nature of music and what is its meaning in our lives? How is it created? How can it be more fully understood and appreciated? These questions are explored here by a composer who has written music for Itzhak Perlman, the Beaux Arts Trio and the National Symphony Orchestra. With disciplined lyricism and entirely devoid of technical jargon, Bruce Adolphe's book probes into the heart of such matters as the role of memory and imagination in creative expression, the meaning of inspiration, spirituality in music, the challenge of arts education and how music communicates. The author, acclaimed for his pre-concert lectures for The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1992, also considers the work of composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Ravel in a way that is both poetic and accessible, designed to get directly to the essence of their art.




Listen World!


Book Description

"It is my belief that there is no such thing as silence," declares profoundly Evelyn Glennie. In Listen World!, the Grammy Award-winning percussionist challenges misconceptions about deafness, and asserts instead the incredible world of sound she lives in. Having dedicated her entire life to breaking boundaries, Glennie now seeks to transform the entire world - to listen, and to teach others to listen. Listen World! is an incredible insight into the mind behind a musical revolution. From innovative collaborations with choreographers to the incorporation of technology into her work, from her performance at the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony to her production of Shakespeare, Glennie has undoubtedly changed the way we think of sound in the world. More than that, her autobiography gives an unprecedented sense of the character, passion and heart behind it all. In listening to her story, every reader moves one step closer to the compassionate, sensitive, and individual new world she imagines. "I've never met anyone who listens with as much of herself--mind, body, and heart--as does Dame Evelyn Glennie. Her listening is a bridge, a profound and self-giving attentiveness that can heal what can't be cured. I was blessed to learn from Evelyn what it means to truly listen, and I trust you will be as well."--Michael Verde, Founder of Memory Bridge "In this immensely personal book, Evelyn Glennie asks us to listen with our whole being to the magic of music"--Keith Howard, Professor of Music, SOAS, University of London "This book is an invitation to tap into the wonders of listening, what that means to you and everything you engage in. What happens when you engage with the chatter in your head? When you travel to school and college. Is listening only about sound or can our whole body be a resonating chamber? Is listening about observing? How can we begin to enhance our relationship to 'listening' and how can it influence all the decisions you make from minute to minute? My experience is that listening is an activity that never sleeps... even when we are asleep we continue to listen! What an opportunity we have to re-engage, rethink, revisit our everyday lives to make what we do much more vivid and meaningful, and as a result, feel part of the wonders of the world?"-- Evelyn Glennie




Listen, Love, Repeat


Book Description

Our culture is self-obsessed – in our schedules, relationships, and especially online. (Can you say selfie?) But in this near-narcissism, people are less content than in decades past. Why? Because we forgot the joy that comes from putting others first. Doing so requires us to live alert, listening for “heart drops,” hints from those in our lives who need a helping hand or a generous dose of encouragement. Living alert lifts our own spirits, showing us that blessing others blesses us even more. Listen, Love, Repeat offers biblical teaching and suggests doable actions that are simple, heart-tugging, sentimental, even sneaky and hilarious. This message: • Presents scriptural examples of those who lived alert, including Jesus, who noticed those who least expected to be seen. • Explains the role of good works for followers of Christ. They aren’t our ticket to heaven but they are our marching orders on earth. • Gives creative ideas for showing love to friends and family, and suggests practical ways to reach out to the lonely, the marginalized, the outcast, and the odd duck. Additionally, it helps you comfort the grieving, showing what you can do when you don’t know what to say. • Provides inspiration for blessing the “necessary people” in your life, those often-overlooked souls who help you get life done every day, and teaches you how to hug a porcupine by genuinely loving the hard-to-love. As we scatter love, we create a safe space where we can openly share the gospel. We get to see lives changed right before our eyes. Most importantly, Listen, Love, Repeat will enable you to live a life that is full of kind deeds, not to selfishly shout, “Hey! Look at me!” but to humbly implore, “Will you look at Him?”




Listen, Listen


Book Description

Introduce young readers to the sights and sounds of the year - from summer's sizzling sun to winter's crackling snow. Featuring breathtaking illustrations by internationally renowned illustrator, Alison Jay, this book will open your child's eyes and ears to the world around them!




When the World Stopped to Listen


Book Description

From the acclaimed author of A Natural History of the Piano, the captivating story of the 1958 international piano competition in Moscow, where, at the height of Cold War tensions, an American musician showed the potential of art to change the world. April of 1958--the Iron Curtain was at its heaviest, and the outcome of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition seemed preordained. Nonetheless, as star musicians from across the globe descended on Moscow, an unlikely favorite emerged: Van Cliburn, a polite, lanky Texan whose passionate virtuosity captured the Russian spirit. This is the story of what unfolded that spring--for Cliburn and the other competitors, jurors, party officials, and citizens of the world who were touched by the outcome. It is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most remarkable events in musical history, filled with political intrigue and personal struggle as artists strove for self-expression and governments jockeyed for prestige. And, at the core of it all: the value of artistic achievement, the supremacy of the heart, and the transcendent freedom that can be found, through music, even in the darkest moments of human history.







Listen Like a Dog


Book Description

An engaging and sometimes humorous book about the art of listening. The author suggests that to improve the effectiveness of our listening and communication skills, we should model our behaviour after dogs, the masters of communication.




It's Time to Talk (and Listen)


Book Description

Conversations about controversial topics can be difficult, painful, and emotionally charged. This user-friendly guide will help you engage in effective, compassionate discussions with family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers about race, immigration, gender, marriage equality, sexism, marginalization, and more. We talk every day—and we often do it without thinking. But, as you well know, there are some things that are harder to talk about—especially issues pertaining to politics, culture, lifestyle, and diversity. If you’ve ever struggled in a conversation about a “controversial” topic with a loved one, work colleague, or even a stranger, you know exactly how uncomfortable and heated the discussion can become. And even if you are one of the lucky few that expresses themselves eloquently, how do you move beyond mere “lip service” and turn words into actionable change? This groundbreaking book will show you how to get to that important next level in difficult conversations, to talk in an authentic and straightforward way about culture and diversity, and to speak from the heart with tools from the head. Using a simple eight-step approach, you’ll learn communication strategies that are supported by research and have been practiced in classrooms, work meetings, therapy sessions, and more. We constantly hear about friends and colleagues whose family members are not speaking to each other because of different political opinions, who’ve exchanged words that have mutually offended one another. If silence is one end of the continuum and verbal conflict anchors the other, how do we reach a middle ground? How do we take part in the “in between” spaces where both parties can speak and listen? With this book as your guide, you’ll learn to navigate these difficult conversations, and take what you’ve learned beyond the conversation and out into the world—whether it’s through politics, social justice movements, or simply expanding the minds of those around you.