Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The official inside story on the making of the award-winning movie trilogyThe Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy is a lavishly illustrated, behind-the-scenes, definitive account of the creation of an epic film experience. Hailed by critics worldwide, part one of the movie trilogy was a box-office smash, one of the most successful films of the decade. Peter Jackson's "fierce, imaginative movie takes high-flying risks and inspires with its power and scale," wrote Newsweek. "In every way this is moviemaking on a grand scale," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle, while Time proclaimed the "grandeur, moral heft and emotional depth" of the film, which received thirteen Academy Award(R) nominations. Including more than 300 photographs from all three films, most unique to this book, and exclusive interviews with all the cast and crew, Brian Sibley's fascinating book takes every fan inside the process of adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork for the screen. For the first time in history, three major movies were made at the same time, a triumphant and monumental undertaking that took the world by storm. Here can be found details about the hundreds of dedicated artists, craftspeople and cast and crew members who labored for years -- adding authenticity at every stage -- to bring one of the greatest stories ever told to an eager film audience. Sibley takes us inside the process of filmmaking to show us how the magic is made -- from the director, writers and actors to wardrobe, makeup, miniatures, music and digital special effects, it's all here."It was tiring, physically and mentally, but never dull. Three movies, one big story, and so much variety: one day shooting scenes of intimate heart-wrenching drama, the next, vast battle scenes involving hundreds of extras. Every day brought an opportunity to create something new on this enormous canvas that is The Lord of the Rings." -- Peter Jackson

A companion to The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring, this authoritative and insightful book is packed with more than five hundred full-color images — many exclusive to this volume — and shows the development of the imagery in The Two Towers from concept drawings to wide-screen glory. With illuminating captions telling the story of the images in the words of the artists and designers responsible for the look of the film, including the renowned artists Alan Lee and John Howe, and contributions from Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Grant Major, Ngila Dickson, Paul Lasaine, and others, this book is a must for all fans of The Lord of the Rings.In this essential reference to the architecture and costumes of Jackson’s onscreen Middle-earth, the stunning large-format art, from sketches to paintings to three-dimensional maquettes and digital art, is lovingly reproduced with lavish production values to create a spectacular keepsake for the film’s millions of fans.

After their mama reads to them, it's bedtime for the Five Little Monkeys. But they can't resist reading just one more book...or three! Soon Mama is so tired of trying to get her monkeys to quiet down and go to sleep, she picks up their books and takes them with her. At last, the monkeys are ready to settle down...until they hear strange sounds from down the hall. Could it be that Mama likes to read in bed too? This playful addition to the Five Little Monkeys series features a lively rhymed verse and catchy refrain that's sure to keep young readers chanting along.

This jam-packed treasury features ten bedtime stories that are the perfect addition to any nighttime routine. Ranging from mischievous tales of tireless tots to soothing stories that are sweet and snuggly, each book in this collection has full-color illustrations and can be read aloud in five minutes or less. With its padded cover and shiny foil accents, this is the perfect book to cuddle up with when it's time to settle down for bed! Tuck your child in with these ten tales: " Sweet Dreams, Curious George "by Margret and H. A. Rey"I Will Not Read This Book! "by Cece Meng, illustrated by Joy Ang" Go to Bed, Monster! "by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz" Won't You Be My Hugaroo? "by Joanne Ryder, illustrated by Melissa Sweet" Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime" by Myra Wolfe, illustrated by Maria Monescillo" Blanket" by Margot Apple" Very Hairy Bear" by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Matt Phelan" The Dream Jar" by Lindan Lee Johnson, illustrated by Serena Curmi" What Did You Do Today?" by Kerry Arquette, illustrated by Nancy Hayashi" Piggies" by Audrey and Don Wood

While trick-or-treating on Halloween night, Helen and her dog Martha (begrudgingly dressed as a cat) walk into a very unusual supermarket. One for witches and cats only! What will happen if the manager realizes the truth about them? This whimsical story by Susan Meddaugh is the first about Martha from Martha Speaks (shown in Tiny Pop in the UK), before she got her paws on the alphabet soup that gave her the gift of gab. This new edition features a shiny foil cover and a sheet of stickers!

Jessica Merchant, creator of the popular food blog How Sweet Eats, has now created her first cookbook, Seriously Delish. Her playfulness jumps off the page in her inventive and incredibly delicious recipes, such as Amaretto-Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon Toast Croutons, Mini Crab Cakes with Sweet Corn and Blueberry Salsa, and Fleur de Sel Caramel Bourbon Brownie Milk Shakes. Her sense of humour, which brings millions of visitors to her site, shows through in chapter titles like "Breakfast (...for Dinner?)" and "Salad, Soups, and Vegetable-like Things (Ugh, if We Must)." Merchant makes food that people get excited about, nothing run-of-the-mill or expected. As an added bonus, all of the photographs in the book were taken by Merchant herself, giving her cookbook the personal touch that her fans love and newcomers will appreciate. Seriously Delish features imaginative recipes that are tasty and original and bring readers to a place where cooking becomes adventurous and food becomes fun.

Year two of this fresh, timely, beautiful addition to the Best American series, introduced by Nate SilverThe rise of infographics across virtually all print and electronic media reveals patterns in our lives and worlds in fresh and surprising ways. As we find ourselves in the era of big data, where information moves faster than ever, infographics provide us with quick, often influential bursts of art and knowledge -- to digest, tweet, share, go viral. "Best American Infographics 2014" captures the finest examples, from the past year, of this mesmerizing new way of seeing and understanding our world. Guest introducer Nate Silver brings his unparalleled expertise and lively analysis to this visually compelling new volume.

Now completely revised and updated, this new edition of the essential consumer guide to wine features all the most current information for today's wine landscape. The authors, longtime wine educators at The Culinary Institute of America, have added all the latest and most relevant information to their award-winning book, including new picks for the best regional producers, off-the-beaten-path finds, and bargain bottles. With a practical, anti-snob attitude, the emphasis is always on enjoying wine to the fullest in real-world scenarios and getting the best value for your dollar, whether splurging on a special-occasion bottle or deciding on your own "house" wine. All the basics are covered, including the major wine grapes, flavor profiles, and decoding labels, plus up-to-date information on established and up-and-coming regions, advice on pairing wine with everything from Korean short ribs to all-American burgers, opinions on wine gadgets (yea or nay?), and more. Cheers!

BANG! CRACKLE! BOO! Just as there are different kinds of quiet, there are also different kinds of loud: good louds HOORAY! and bad louds CRASH!, and accidental louds that make you the centre of attention BURP!. The Loud Book presents all these kid-friendly noises in a way that is sure to make readers CHEER! Now in a padded board edition just perfect for little hands. Pair this with its equally entertaining but quieter, The Quiet Book.

Fast Forward : How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose

Named a Best Science Book of 2014 by Amazon, "Wired, "the" Guardian, " and NBC Winner of the 2014 Gourmand Award for Best Spirits Book in the United States "Lively . . . [Rogers's] descriptions of the science behind familiar drinks exert a seductive pull." -- "New York Times" Humans have been perfecting alcohol production for ten thousand years, but scientists are just starting to distill the chemical reactions behind the perfect buzz. In a spirited tour across continents and cultures, Adam Rogers takes us from bourbon country to the world's top gene-sequencing labs, introducing us to the bars, barflies, and evolving science at the heart of boozy technology. He chases the physics, biology, chemistry, and metallurgy that produce alcohol, and the psychology and neurobiology that make us want it. If you've ever wondered how your drink arrived in your glass, or what it will do to you, "Proof" makes an unparalleled drinking companion. "Rogers's book has much the same effect as a good drink. You get a warm sensation, you want to engage with the wider world, and you feel smarter than you probably are. Above all, it makes you understand how deeply human it is to take a drink." -- "Wall Street Journal"

"The Best American Short Stories"is the longest running and best-selling series of short fiction in the country. For the centennial celebration of this beloved annual series, master of the form Lorrie Moore selects forty stories from the more than two thousand that were published in previous editions. Series editor Heidi Pitlor recounts behind-the-scenes anecdotes and examines, decade by decade, the trends captured over a hundred years. Together, the stories and commentary offer an extraordinary guided tour through a century of literature with what Moore calls all its wildnesses of character and voice. These forty stories represent their eras but also stand the test of time. Here is Ernest Hemingway s first published story and a classic by William Faulkner, who admitted in his biographical note that he began to write as an aid to love-making. Nancy Hale s story describes far-reaching echoes of the Holocaust; Tillie Olsen s story expresses the desperation of a single mother; James Baldwin depicts the bonds of brotherhood and music. Here is Raymond Carver s minimalism, a term he disliked, and Grace Paley s secular Yiddishkeit. Here are the varied styles of Donald Barthelme, Charles Baxter, and Jamaica Kincaid. From Junot Diaz to Mary Gaitskill, from ZZ Packer to Sherman Alexie, these writers and stories explore the different things it means to be American. Moore writes that the process of assembling these stories allowed her to look thrillingly not just at literary history but at actual history the cries and chatterings, silences and descriptions of a nation in flux. "100 Years of The Best American Short Stories"is an invaluable testament, a retrospective of our country s ever-changing but continually compelling literary artistry. LORRIE MOORE, after many years as a professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin Madison, is now the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Moore has received honors for her work, among them the"Irish Times"International Fiction Prize and a Lannan Foundation fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for her achievement in the short story. Her most recent novel, "A Gate at the Stairs, "was short-listed for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction and for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and her most recent story collection, "Bark," was short-listed for the Story Prize and the Frank O Connor Award. HEIDI PITLOR is a former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and has been the series editor of"The Best American Short Stories"since 2007. She is the author of the novels"The Birthdays and The Daylight Marriage."

Whiskey fever is sweeping the world. Every day, craft distilleries are popping up in remote counties and urban centers, offering a wealth of great choices to consumers and just as many puzzlements. Does the introduction of a simple "e" to go from whisky to whiskey mean anything? What's the difference between Scotch and Rye? What's Canadian whisky anyway? And what about the whiskeys of Scotland, Japan, and Ireland? Where's a humble Joe to start? In this witty kid style book on an adult topic, Richard Betts boils down his know how into twenty pages, cooling our ''brown-sweat" anxieties and dividing whiskey into three simple categories - Grain, Wood, and Place. While most whiskey tomes are about as fun as a chemistry lesson, Betts makes the learning slide down easy, reassuring us that this exalted spirit is just distilled beer and, through a nasal romp, helping us figure out which kinds we love best. Humorous illustrations and scratch-and-sniff scents (vanilla, sandalwood, grass, and more) help would be connoisseurs learn their personal preferences. Language label and Map to Your Desires included.

Find out where great ideas come from. A father cleans up after his toddler andimaginesa cup that won't spill. An engineerwatches people using walkie-talkies and has an idea.A doctor figures out how to deliver patients to the operating room before they die.By studying inventions like these the sippy cup, the cell phone, and an ingenious hospital bed we can learn how people imagine their way around "impossible" problems to discover groundbreaking answers. Pagan Kennedy reports on how these enduring methods can be adapted tothe twenty-first century, as millions of us deploy tools like crowdfunding, big data, and 3-D printing to find hidden opportunities. "Inventology"usesthestoriesof inventors and surprising researchto reveal the steps that produce innovation. As Kennedy argues, recent advances in technology and communication have placed us at the cusp of a golden age;it's now more possible than ever before to transform ideas into actuality."Inventology" is a must-read fordesigners, artists, makers and anyone else who is curious about creativity. By identifying the steps of the invention process, Kennedy reveals the imaginative tools required to solve our most challenging problems."

A vibrant and playful seek-and-find picture book by the acclaimed Swedish artist and designer Laura Ljungkvist, in which the reader uncoversanimals hidden in a dazzling array of patterns and colors. The artwork, inspired by a European aesthetic, gives this work a simple, but sophisticated look that appeals to both children and adults. Animals are cleverly concealed as each page provides a new challenge for the reader to discover. An artful and unique book for children who love"Where's Waldo"and Walter Wick."

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on Huckleberry Finn, you follow the Mississippi River adventures of Mark Twain's mischief-making protagonist Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim. Just like Huck's makeshift raft, this study guide carries you along on his incredible journey by providing chapter summaries and critical analyses on life in the late-19th-century American south. You'll also gain insight into the man behind this American classic - Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens. Other features that help you study include* Character analyses of major players* A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters* Critical essays* A review section that tests your knowledge* A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure - you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.