The Star Festival

The Star Festival
Author: Moni Ritchie Hadley
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2021-04-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 080757600X

2021 Freeman Book Awards Honorable Mention - Children's Literature The Best Children's Books of the Year 2022, Bank Street College STARRED REVIEW! "Hadley has created a remarkable debut that flows elegantly, interweaving the two tales in a way that is readable and fun...An exquisite choice for all collections."—School Library Journal starred review A multigenerational retelling of a Japanese legend. Tanabata Matsuri, the Star Festival, celebrates a popular folktale: The Emperor of the Heavens separates his daughter, Orihime, from her love, Hikoboshi, all year—but on this day the two stars finally reunite on a bridge across the Milky Way. For Keiko, her mama, and her grandmother, Tanabata is about making tanzaku wishes, taking in the colorful decorations, and eating delicious food like nagashi somen and shaved ice. But when Obasaan gets lost in the crowd, Keiko and Mama must make their own bridge to find her again—and see if their tanzaku comes true.

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Frank Einstein series #1)

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Frank Einstein series #1)
Author: Jon Scieszka
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2014-08-19
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1613126956

New York Times Bestseller "I never thought science could be funny . . . until I read Frank Einstein. It will have kids laughing." —Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Huge laughs and great science—the kind of smart, funny stuff that makes Jon Scieszka a legend." —Mac Barnett, author of Battle Bunny and The Terrible Two Clever science experiments, funny jokes, and robot hijinks await readers in the first of six books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein chapter book series from the mad scientist team of Jon Scieszka and Brian Biggs. The perfect combination to engage and entertain readers, the series features real science facts with adventure and humor, making these books ideal for STEM education. This first installment examines the science of “matter.” Kid-genius and inventor Frank Einstein loves figuring out how the world works by creating household contraptions that are part science, part imagination, and definitely unusual. In the series opener, an uneventful experiment in his garage-lab, a lightning storm, and a flash of electricity bring Frank’s inventions—the robots Klink and Klank—to life! Not exactly the ideal lab partners, the wisecracking Klink and the overly expressive Klank nonetheless help Frank attempt to perfect his inventions.. . . until Frank’s archnemesis, T. Edison, steals Klink and Klank for his evil doomsday plan! Integrating real science facts with wacky humor, a silly cast of characters, and science fiction, this uniquely engaging series is an irresistible chemical reaction for middle-grade readers. With easy-to-read language and graphic illustrations on almost every page, this chapter book series is a must for reluctant readers. The Frank Einstein series encourages middle-grade readers to question the way things work and to discover how they, too, can experiment with science. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews raves, “This buoyant, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the impulse to ‘keep asking questions and finding your own answers’ fires on all cylinders,” while Publishers Weekly says that the series “proves that science can be as fun as it is important and useful.” Read all the books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein series: Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Book 1), Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger (Book 2), Frank Einstein and the BrainTurbo (Book 3), and Frank Einstein and the EvoBlaster Belt (Book 4). Visit frankeinsteinbooks.com for more information. STARRED REVIEW "In the final analysis, this buoyant, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the impulse to ‘keep asking questions and finding your own answers’ fires on all cylinders." --Booklist, starred review "Scieszka mixes science and silliness again to great effect." —Kirkus Reviews "In refusing to take itself too seriously, it proves that science can be as fun as it is important and useful." —Publishers Weekly "With humor, straightforward writing, tons of illustrations, and a touch of action at the end, this book is accessible and easy to read, making it an appealing choice for reluctant readers. A solid start to the series." --School Library Journal "Kids will love Frank Einstein because even though he is a new character he will be instantly recognizable to the readers...Jon Scieszka is one of the best writers around, and I can't wait to see what he does with these fun and exciting characters." —Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl "Jon Scieszka's new series has the winning ingredients that link his clever brilliance in story telling with his knowledge of real science, while at the same time the content combination of fiction and non fiction appeals to the full range of the market." —Jack Gantos, Dead End in Norvelt

Tonic to the Nation: Making English Music in the Festival of Britain

Tonic to the Nation: Making English Music in the Festival of Britain
Author: Nathaniel G. Lew
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2016-07-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1317009886

Long remembered chiefly for its modernist exhibitions on the South Bank in London, the 1951 Festival of Britain also showcased British artistic creativity in all its forms. In Tonic to the Nation, Nathaniel G. Lew tells the story of the English classical music and opera composed and revived for the Festival, and explores how these long-overlooked components of the Festival helped define English music in the post-war period. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Lew looks closely at the work of the newly chartered Arts Council of Great Britain, for whom the Festival of Britain provided the first chance to assert its authority over British culture. The Arts Council devised many musical programs for the Festival, including commissions of new concert works, a vast London Season of almost 200 concerts highlighting seven centuries of English musical creativity, and several schemes to commission and perform new operas. These projects were not merely directed at bringing audiences to hear new and old national music, but to share broader goals of framing the national repertory, negotiating between the conflicting demands of conservative and progressive tastes, and using music to forge new national definitions in a changed post-war world.

The Pacific Festivals of Aotearoa New Zealand

The Pacific Festivals of Aotearoa New Zealand
Author: Jared Mackley-Crump
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0824838726

With a history now stretching back four decades, Pacific festivals of Aotearoa assert a multicultural identity of New Zealand and situate the country squarely within a sea of islands. In this volume, Jared Mackley-Crump gives a provocative look at the changing demographics and cultural landscape of a place frequently viewed through a bicultural lens, Pākehā and Māori. Taking the post–World War II migrations of Pacific peoples to New Zealand as its starting point, the story begins in 1972 with the inaugural Polynesian Festival, an event that was primarily designed as a Māori festival, now known as Te Matatini, the largest Māori performing arts event in the world. Two major moments of festivalization are considered: the birth of Polyfest in 1976 and the inaugural Pasifika Festival of 1993. Both began in Auckland, the home of the largest Pacific communities in New Zealand, and both have spawned a series of events that follow the models they successfully established. While Polyfests focus primarily on the transmission of performance traditions from culture bearers to the young, largely New Zealand–born generations, Pasifika festivals are highly public community events, in which diverse displays of material culture are offered up for consumption by both cultural tourists and Pacific communities alike. Both models have experienced a significant period of growth since 1993, and here, the author presents a thought-provoking and wide-ranging analysis to explain the phenomenon that has been called a “Pacific renaissance.” Written from an ethnomusicological perspective, The Pacific Festivals of Aotearoa New Zealand incorporates lively first-person observations as well as interviews with festival organizers, performers, and other important historical figures. The second half of the book delves into the festival space, uncovering new meanings about the function and role of music performance and public festivity. The author skillfully challenges accounts that label festivals as inauthentic recreations of culture for tourist audiences and gives both observers and participants an uplifting new approach to understand these events as meaningful and symbolic extensions of the ways diasporic Pacific communities operate in New Zealand.

The National Cherry Festival in Traverse City: Blessing of the Blossoms

The National Cherry Festival in Traverse City: Blessing of the Blossoms
Author: Brooks Vanderbush
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625849613

The National Cherry Festival is northern Michigan's most popular event. It turns Traverse City, a beach town of thirty thousand, into a thriving city of nearly one million. Begun almost a century ago, the festival started out as a small, neighborhood affair and grew into an international phenomenon that draws in visitors from all over the globe. Twist and pop a pit of Cherry Festival history with author and Traverse City native Brooks Vanderbush as he recounts the festival's growth and its queens and courts, governing bodies, past personalities and other memorable stories that have made it such an essential part of this vacation paradise.

The Cambridge Companion to International Theatre Festivals

The Cambridge Companion to International Theatre Festivals
Author: Ric Knowles
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2020-06-11
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1108559301

The global rise of festival culture and experience has taken over that which used to merely be events. The Cambridge Companion to International Theatre Festivals provides an up-to-date, contextualized account of the worldwide reach and impact of the 'festivalization' of culture. It introduces new methodologies for the study of the global network of theatre production using digital humanities, raises questions about how alternative origin stories might impact the study of festivals, investigates the festivalized production of space in the world's 'Festival Cities', and re-examines the social role and cultural work of twenty-first-century theatre, performance, and multi-arts festivals. With chapters on festivals in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Arab world, the francophone world, Europe, North America, and Latin America it analyses festivals as sites of intercultural negotiation and exchange.

Sundance - A Festival Virgin's Guide (3rd Edition)

Sundance - A Festival Virgin's Guide (3rd Edition)
Author: Benjamin Craig
Publisher: Cinemagine Media Publishing
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0954173783

Sundance - A Festival Virgin's Guide is the essential handbook for filmmakers, film industry professionals, and film-fans looking to attend the festival. Demystifying the event and providing practical advice for attending, Sundance - A Festival Virgin's Guide™ is about helping you make the most of your visit to Park City and America's most important film festival.

Festival Culture in the World of the Spanish Habsburgs

Festival Culture in the World of the Spanish Habsburgs
Author: Professor Fernando Checa Cremades
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2015-11-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 140943561X

Festivals and ceremonials played a major role in the Spanish world; through them local identities as well as a common Spanish culture made their presence manifest within and beyond the peninsula through ephemeral displays, music and print. This book explores Habsburg Visual culture at court and its connection with the creation of a language of triumph, the relationship between religion and the empire, and examines cultural, artistic and musical exchange in Naples and Rome. Taken together these essays contribute further to our growing appreciation of the importance of early-modern festival culture in general, and their significance in the world of the Spanish Habsburgs in particular.