eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
Children will enjoy the unique collage illustrations and an unexpected twist in this retelling of a traditional Irish legend about an old man seeking an enchanted fish that will give him all the knowledge in the world and a young boy hoping to become a great warrior.
This is the story of the great Gaelic hero Fionn MacCool and why he sucks his thumb. This traditional Gaelic tale is retold as an action story to read aloud. It introduces children to storytelling and to Gaelic oral tradition, language, culture, and belief systems. The action story presents gestures corresponding to nine keywords in the story. As the story is read aloud, children perform the matching gesture whenever they hear each keyword. The book contains two versions of the action story, the first entirely in English, and the second in English with Scottish Gaelic keywords. Once children become familiar with the all-English version, the second version with Gaelic action words can be introduced. The actions are the same in both versions, and act as a bridge to introduce the Gaelic vocabulary and increase awareness of the language. This story is one of the tales of the boyhood deeds of Fionn MacCool (or Fionn MacCumhail as he is known in Scottish Gaelic). The tale is rooted in the oral traditions of pre-Christian Celtic culture, and the earliest known written version dates to the 12th century CE. Tales of Fionn and his band of Fiana were popular across the Gaelic world, from Ireland to the Isle of Man and Scotland. Scottish Gaels brought tales of Fionn MacCool to Nova Scotia beginning in the 18th or 19th century and transmitted them orally from one generation to the next as part of their Gaelic culture. Fionn tales were recorded in Nova Scotia in the 1970s and form an important part of Canadian Gaelic heritage and culture. The book is suitable for reading aloud at Gaelic and Celtic cultural events, in community group activities, and in schools as a part of lessons on Gaelic culture, English language arts, public speaking, theatre or drama studies, geography, history, and child studies programs. Adults, teens, and older children can read the story aloud to a group, or adapt the story in various ways as the centrepiece of a lesson on Gaelic culture and beliefs. A free online teaching guide with a pronunciation video is available.
To be the wisest person in the world, knowing absolutely everything, that was the aim of one man, Finnegas. All he had to do was catch and eat the Salmon of Knowledge.
“A fitting eulogy to the master of wacky words and even wackier tales . . . Salmon leaves no doubt as to Adams’s lasting legacy.”—Entertainment Weekly With an introduction to the introduction by Terry Jones Douglas Adams changed the face of science fiction with his cosmically comic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its classic sequels. Sadly for his countless admirers, he hitched his own ride to the great beyond much too soon. Culled posthumously from Adams’s fleet of beloved Macintosh computers, this selection of essays, articles, anecdotes, and stories offers a fascinating and intimate portrait of the multifaceted artist and absurdist wordsmith. Join Adams on an excursion to climb Kilimanjaro . . . dressed in a rhino costume; peek into the private life of Genghis Khan—warrior and world-class neurotic; root for the harried author’s efforts to get a Hitchhiker movie off the ground in Hollywood; thrill to the further exploits of private eye Dirk Gently and two-headed alien Zaphod Beeblebrox. Though Douglas Adams is gone, he’s left us something very special to remember him by. Without a doubt. “Worth reading and even cherishing, if only because it’s the last we’ll hear from the master of comic science fiction.”—The Star-Ledger
Finn McCool is the largest giant in all of Ireland. He's a fierce warrior, even beating the giant Culcullan and saving Ireland from the Scots. Helpful and kind, he helps the farmers bring in the hay. And everyone in the village of Drumnahoon admires him. "He's the best-hearted man that ever walked on Ireland's green grass." But for all his strength, courage, and goodness, there's one thing that Finn lacks. He's just not smart. And he knows it. When a wise man living in a nearby village tells Finn about a magical red salmon with the wisdom of the world, Finn sets out to catch the fish. And he learns a thing or two about himself in the process. An author of more than 250 children's books, Eve Bunting has won numerous awards and honors, including a Pen International Special Achievement award for her contribution to Children's Literature. In 2002 she was chosen to be Irish American Woman of the Year by the Irish American Heritage Committee of New York. She lives in Pasadena, California. Zachary Pullen's picture-book illustrations have won awards and garnered starred reviews. He has been honored several times with acceptance into the prestigious Society of Illustrators juried shows and Communication Arts Illustration Annual of the best in current illustration. Zak lives in Wyoming.
The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout explains the patterns of mate choice, the competition for nest sites, and the fate of the salmon after their death. It describes the lives of offspring during the months they spend incubating in gravel, growing in fresh water, and migrating out to sea to mature. This thorough, up-to-date survey should be on the shelf of everyone with a professional or personal interest in Pacific salmon and trout. Written in a technically accurate but engaging style, it will appeal to a wide range of readers, including students, anglers, biologists, conservationists, legislators, and armchair naturalists.
A cursed druid, blackmailed by a faery queen to find a missing magic rock. Let's just hope they don't hack the druid off... for everyone's sake. JUNKYARD DRUID A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel From M.D. Massey Name's Colin McCool. Folks call me the Junkyard Druid. I hate that name. Despite my last name, I'm not "cool" like the other hunters in town. I don't run an occult bookstore, I've never owned a Harley, and I didn't inherit a family fortune passed down through generations of hunters before me. And I kind of have this curse on me that's messed up my life. So, things have gone to hell since I was cursed. I live in a junkyard, my mentor Finn is a heroin addict, I've got the Cold Iron Circle breathing down my neck, and the local Fae Queen Maeve is blackmailing me into doing her dirty work. Now I'm in way over my head trying to retrieve Maeve's stolen magic rock, all while helping my friend Belladonna solve a series of murders that may or may not involve the local werewolves. And did I mention that my girlfriend is a ghost? If I can just get the Faery Queen's tathlum back, and help Belladonna solve the murders... Then I just might live long enough to finish my first year of college. - - - Junkyard Druid is a new adult fantasy novel that interweaves elements of paranormal mystery and suspense to introduce an exciting new world and characters in the urban fantasy paranormal genre. It's the first book in the Colin McCool urban fantasy series for adults. Readers of Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, and Kevin Hearne will enjoy exploring this new fantasy world through the eyes of Colin McCool. Get your copy today!
This collection by a new wave of contemporary authors (Sighle Meehan, Sheelagh Russell Brown, Marc McEntegart, Coral Atkinson and Marie Gethins) hauls Celtic stories out of the dusty shadows and with succinct mythological analysis places them back into the light where they belong.Love, mystery and drama, these fascinating tales mark a new movement of authentic and original Celtic-based writing and a better understanding of Celtic cultures.The 'Fairies', the 'Salmon of Knowledge', the 'Children of Lir' and the 'Selkie'. They're all waiting for you here.
