Draw with Rob at Christmas


Book Description

Merry Christmas! The internet phenomenon #DrawWithRob is now a fantastically festive art activity book for you to draw with Rob at home... The second book based on the viral videos seen everywhere on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, TV, and more, from the creative genius and bestselling author Rob Biddulph! Christmas is different this year, with more families at home and wondering what to do! Pick up your pencils and join thousands of children around the world and #DrawWithRob - celebrating Christmas has never been so much fun! The first DRAW WITH ROB activity book went to Number One in the charts and was named 'Book of the Year' at the 2020 Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards! Now every family can share this fantastically festive new art activity book for Christmas. Join Rob and learn to draw your favourite Christmas characters - from Polar Bears to Elves and from Father Christmas to a Snowman, this perfect present is packed with arts, crafts and festive fun. The bestselling and award-winning author/illustrator Rob Biddulph is the genius behind the phenomenal, viral sensation that is DRAW WITH ROB and the accompanying activity book, and now the sensational DRAW WITH ROB AT CHRISTMAS - bringing joy to families everywhere with his easy to follow instructions and warm-hearted humour. So whether you're in home education, home-schooling, learning to draw or just having fun, let Rob show you that anyone can learn to #DrawWithRob! *WITH PERFORATED PAGES SO YOU CAN EASILY TEAR OUT AND DISPLAY YOUR ART!* Rob's original hit videos are also available at www.robbiddulph.com, and on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, with Rob appearing on TV to talk about them too. Perfect stay-at-home fun for boys, girls, and everyone aged three to one hundred and three, and a wonderful introduction to Rob Biddulph's bestselling picture book range - including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize-winning Blown Away, Odd Dog Out, and many more! Available in all good bookstores and online retailers, and perfect for children who are learning to read - or just love to!




We Are Santa


Book Description

Who doesn't love Santa Claus? From award-winning photographer Ron Cooper comes a beautifully curated collection of fifty professional Santas from across the country. We Are Santa is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of those who slip into the red suit to spread Christmas cheer. Before and after portraits, behind-the-scenes stories of custom made costumes and specialized training, and surprising anecdotes of on-the-job encounters bring these Santas to life. Just as Humans of New York captures the lives of everyday people, We Are Santa celebrates the humanity of everyday Santas. From a third-generation Kris Kringle to an Orthodox Jew who has been playing Santa for fifty years, Cooper's portraits are a testament to the holiday spirit. When Santa Mike, a Navy veteran and aircraft mechanic, meets a six-year-old girl with a prosthetic hand just like his own, he says, "Her eyes got big, and she threw her arms around my neck. It was the highlight of my season. That's why I’m Santa."




Toronto's Many Faces


Book Description

Toronto is truly a city of communities. Designed for tourists and for residents, Toronto’s Many Faces is the one and only guide to the multicultural character of the city, featuring profiles of more than 60 ethnic communities, including local histories, festivals, food, and art. The book identifies each community - where its people come from, why, when, and where they settled in Toronto. The contribution of each community is also traced, with biographical notes on prominent people whose achievements have been extraordinary. Monuments, memorials, theatres, museums, cultural centres, and restaurants are identified, while detailed maps and photographs of festival events help bring the city’s varied communities to life. Toronto’s Many Faces is a guide for tourists, a sourcebook for newcomers, a directory for businesses and organizations, and a passport for Torontonians to the many cultures that exist at their doorsteps.




Riverside


Book Description




Tommy Steele


Book Description

• The first ever complete and authorised biography of Britain's first rock 'n' roller and all-round entertainment legend • Fully approved and endorsed by Sir Tommy Steele himself (the first time he has given approval for such a work to be completed) • A completely comprehensive and detailed study of Tommy's incomparable 65-year career • Handsomely illustrated with rare and archival photographs from Tommy Steele's archive • Foreword by Sir Tim Rice with direct contributions from Dame Judi Dench, Petula Clark, Elaine Paige, Paul Nicholas, Lesley Ann Warren and also from many of Tommy's theatrical co-stars In the summer of 1956, while on shore leave from the Merchant Navy, Thomas Hicks was spotted playing a new type of music in a coffee bar in London. Having never heard anything like this 'rock' performed in Britain, he became an overnight sensation―never returning to his ship. He changed his name to Tommy Steele and for 65 years he has been Britain's greatest showman. In a remarkable career spanning radio, records, Broadway and Hollywood, Tommy Steele started the rock revolution in the UK before moving to lighter, family entertainment and becoming a well-loved household name. He received an OBE for Services to Entertainment in 1979 and a knighthood for Services to Entertainment and Charity in 2020. He has conquered the West End, Hollywood and Broadway; holds records for the longest-running one-man-show in the London's West End and also the record for most appearances at the hallowed London Palladium. However, his remarkable career has never been detailed accurately and comprehensively―until now. Authorised by Sir Tommy Steele himself, A Life in the Spotlight offers readers a detailed insight into the career of an unrivalled entertainment legend, with countless facts, stories, details and anecdotes never before committed to print.




Santa Claus Worldwide


Book Description

This is a comprehensive history of the world's midwinter gift-givers, showcasing the extreme diversity in their depictions as well as the many traits and functions these characters share. It tracks the evolution of these figures from the tribal priests who presided over winter solstice celebrations thousands of years before the birth of Christ, to Christian notables like St. Martin and St. Nicholas, to a variety of secular figures who emerged throughout Europe following the Protestant Reformation. Finally, it explains how the popularity of a poem about a "miniature sleigh" and "eight tiny reindeer" helped consolidate the diverse European gift-givers into an enduring tradition in which American children awake early on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. Although the names, appearance, attire and gift-giving practices of the world's winter solstice gift-givers differ greatly, they are all recognizable as Santa, the personification of the Christmas and Midwinter festivals. Despite efforts to eliminate him by groups as diverse as the Puritans of seventeenth century New England, the Communist Party of the twentieth century Soviet Union and the government of Nazi Germany, Santa has survived and prospered, becoming one of the best known and most beloved figures in the world.




Finding Father Christmas


Book Description

Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn brings readers a poignant Christmas novella about a woman, desperate for a place to belong, who finds herself in London a few days before Christmas, looking for the father she never knew. In FINDING FATHER CHRISTMAS, Miranda Carson's search for her father takes a turn she never expected when she finds herself in London with only a few feeble clues to who he might be. Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and whom she's quickly coming to love, she faces a terrible decision. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she can't bear to leave. Robin Jones Gunn brilliantly combines lyrical writing and unforgettable characters to craft a story of longing and belonging that will stay with readers long after they close the pages of this book.







Uncle John's 24-Karat Gold Bathroom Reader


Book Description

The twenty-fourth edition in the bestselling bathroom-reading series is jam-packed with over 500 pages of absorbing trivia material. The information miners at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute have unearthed a priceless collection of surprising, amazing, head-scratching, and hilarious articles. Divided by length for your sitting convenience, 24-Karat Gold is chock-full of little-known history, random origins, weird news, celebrity secrets, and urban legends. As always, you’ll find plenty of dumb criminals, clever wordplay, quirky quotations, and much, much more. Just open to any page—who knows what treasures await you? · Judges gone wild · The Barbie scandals · Canada’s underpants king · Helen Keller: vaudeville star · The double A-bomb survivors · The history of the umbrella · America's forbidden island · What the Hokey Pokey is really all about And much, much more




The Gifts of Nicholas


Book Description

Jim, the main character, wakes up on Christmas Eve to the miracles of St. Nicholas where he begins to learn that the meaning of Christmas lies in the meaning of life. The story unfolds as Jim discovers the letter that he had written to Santa when he was a young boy. Santa writes back an unusual letter to Jim filled with Christmas carol titles in his unique script, which fills Jim with Christmas magic. JMK leads us on a unique journey of prose and poetry centered on the realization where we can all change our daily challenges into wonderful successes. ___________ Of Success We will speak in rhyme Our message deep For you to reap Christmas has grown Well tell you how To you we endow Nicholas and James