Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling

Book Description

In this elegantly written, passionately argued book, Fowler presents a convincing case for teaching the arts to all children. He argues that, far from a luxury, the arts are a vitally important part of our society and our schools. Highlighting the crucial effect of the arts on learning, this volume shows how the arts can enliven and extend the entire school curriculum by integrating different subjects in innovative interdisciplinary ways. These eighteen compelling essays are a clarion call to action for any teacher, parent, policy maker, or citizen concerned about the fate of the arts in American society and schools.

Customer Reviews:

Ideas for rescue the arts.......2005-10-12

The best from this book is the idea to let the industry people to understand the importance of the arts for the job scenario. Mr. Fowler is very focused and well centered in his proposal. As an educator-artist, I have been talking about the same idea but few understand the point; the idea of pushing the arts and it's uniqueness to the academic structure can be a self destructive idea. Let's open our minds and put the effort where it's neccessary. Just read and follow the instructions!

Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling.(Review): An article from: Childhood Education

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Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling.(Review): An article from: Childhood Education
Paula Kelberman
Manufacturer: Association for Childhood Education International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Childhood Education, published by Association for Childhood Education International on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 469 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling.(Review)
Author: Paula Kelberman
Publication: Childhood Education (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: Association for Childhood Education International
Volume: 75 Issue: 3 Page: 176(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Gelernter is golden.......2000-04-05

I'll read anything with this great writer's name on it!

Product Description

Su-Lin Kelly is a unique woman - she's beautiful and deadly. Trained in a Tibetan monastery in the arts of Oriental fighting, she is a master assassin and a murderous spy. If exact replicas of her were to be created from just one cell the results would be fatal. There'd be worldwide pandemonium and global disaster! Soneone has duplicated Su-Lin Kelly and the cloning conspiracy of the century is about to begin.

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Kung Fu 4 Girls
Simon Harrison
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Kung Fu for Girls: Self-Defense with Style

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EXCELLENT!!
Self defense with style, truly!
Inexpensive self defense that works!

Kung Fu for Girls: Self-Defense with Style
Simon Harrison
Manufacturer: Quirk Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Safety & First Aid | Health, Mind & Body | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 1931686939

Book Description

It's a dangerous world out there, and knowing how to protect yourself against would-be assailants is a skill that should be in every girl's bag of tricks. Get your kicks with a book that teaches self-defense -- and self-esteem.
As movies like Kill Bill, Tomb Raider, and Charlie's Angels have demonstrated, the martial arts aren t just for boys anymore. Kung Fu for Girls is a funky, handbag-sized book of self-defense techniques that will get you out of any tight spot.
With step-by-step instructions and dynamic illustrations, martial arts trainer Simon Harrison shows how every part of your body -- hands, hips, knees, elbows, even your butt! -- can be used to fend off potential attackers. From palm strikes to slap blocks to stiletto stomps, it's full of useful techniques for college students, city dwellers, and butt-kicking "girls" of all ages.

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT!! .......2006-11-16

What more can I say, this is a small, useful and informative book with pictures, guides, (and humor) to teach you how to use some simple techniques (and items) to help prevent attackers from harming you anywhere.
It illistrates techniques that will help you if you are standing, sitting, or even have fallen asleep on the subway. Guides you through blocking attacks from all sides. As the book points out as well - having confidence in yourself and a good amount of self esteem combined with these moves you're chances of being targetted will dramatically decrease.
If you can't sign up for a class I'd recommend all women and girls at least take the time to go through this book and PRACTICE the techniques with friends!

Self defense with style, truly!.......2005-05-05

The title is a misnomer; it's not Kung Fu, it's women's self defense. You can tell the difference because Kung Fu doesn't involve biting people's noses or end every kata with a groin strike. Women's self defense teaches you to use moves that are effective but unlikely to injure you when you use them, since it has to work even for people who are a bit out of shape. It warns you that punches and high kicks are one of those things that are more likely to injure you than your opponent, so only use open-palm strikes and low kicks. The subtitle "self defense with style" is more apt, because this book oozes style!

It'd fit in nicely with the "Bad Girls" book series... despite having very different design, they fit together so well it's almost like they were made for each other. It might even fit in certain magazines for young women, some of which have similar graphic design to this.

The artwork is realistic but nicely stylized, vectorized. It's a slender little book, but packed with ideas, and with pictures on every page.

It's also presented with a great deal of humor, and uses a lot of mental images ("now stick out your elbows like a chicken") that make it more memorable. Lots of all-around advice, even some things indirectly related to self defense, such as maintaining an attitude that discourages attackers. (Muggers will go for the distracted, nervous person in constricting clothing.) Excellent, even as self-defense books go. (I've read quite a few. Some of them were so dense and text-oriented that I couldn't keep interested, even though I knew they were important, or I couldn't visualize what they were describing.)

The fact that it has so many pictures, humor, mnemotics, all-around advice while being small and chic increases the likelihood that people will read it. It's very effective that way. It's not like that just to look pretty.

People who should read this:
~ All females. The world would be a better place if all women were empowered with knowledge of self-defense; it would save lives.
~ People who enjoy graphic design, anime, and manga.

People who probably don't want to read this:
~ All males who prize their family jewels. I mean, the book is great, you can read it if you want, and you'd probably benefit by it, but you'll be wincing a lot. Women's self defense is designed to treat that as a convenient "off" button.
~ People who have some problem with reading white text on an orange background. It's stylish, but it kind of stings. The book's worth it anyway, in my opinion.

Conditions which befit the reading of this book:
Comfortable clothing, a wide open area in which you can practice the moves, and a brightly-colored sports drink. You may also read it along with a book or several from the "Bad Girls" series.

Inexpensive self defense that works!.......2005-04-05

I bought this book thinking it would help me defend myself in case of emergency. It does more than that! This little book teaches you how to block attacks, where to strike back and how to defend yourself in a knife attack. Savvy, smart and really honest, this book can help you avoid being raped or injured if you or a friend is being attacked.

Being attacked is a big threat, especially if your petite like me. After reading and practicing the moves in this book, I feel comfortable that I would know how to react in the case that I was attacked, even though I am on the smaller side.

Nothing compares to taking a real class, but this book will help in case of emergency.

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Kung Fu Girl
Suke Bei , and Kono Yaro
Manufacturer: Eros Comix
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1560975512

Book Description

Three students of superheroine crimefighter Kung Fu Girl invoke a bitch demon with sexy results.

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Voted Best New Author 2005
The Middle Sister deserves a place in every high-school library.
Picking Up the Pieces
Searching...
A Wonderful Read

The Middle Sister: A Novel
Bonnie Glover
Manufacturer: One World/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0345480902
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Book Description

“As Kwai Chang moved through the arid desert of the American West, I would move through the equally desolate ghettos of Brooklyn, and we would each search: he for his family and I for my father. . . .”

The middle of three sisters, Pamela is a quiet, thoughtful girl with a huge hole in her life–the space her father used to fill before her mother kicked him out. Occasionally, Pamela conjures up Kwai Chang, David Carradine’s character, from the Western action series Kung Fu, to give her spiritual guidance and advice she would normally turn to her parents for. But with her father gone, her mother has fallen into a pit of confusion and mental disarray. So it is up to Pamela and her sisters, Nona and Theresa, to run the household.

When their money runs out, the family must leave their beloved East New York house and move to the projects. It is a change that will alter their lives forever–and even wise Kwai Chang cannot alter their destiny. But as Pamela discovers, “Everyone searches. The real challenge is in the finding and the keeping.”

In this powerful literary debut, vividly set in the 1970s, Bonnie Glover has written a marvelous story about a young black woman struggling to define her identity–and make her family whole.

Customer Reviews:

Voted Best New Author 2005.......2005-12-21

Pamela Johnson is the middle sister, who along with sisters Nona & Theresa have the daunting task of keeping the sanity of their family. After their dad vacated his "Daddy" spot, the mental fabric of the family becomes tattered and it's all the girls can do to survive in the midst of their Mother's mental breakdown.

BONNIE J. GLOVER'S debut novel is not a bad effort at all. In fact it's quite daring and introspective on more than just one level. The writing at times becomes a bit pretentious, but the overall effect is notable for this first-time fiction author.

The Middle Sister is set in 1970's East New York where Pamela conjures an invisible friend into being, as if he were the Father figure that she'd missed since the days of her daddy's departure. In fact that is the only plausible reason for the appearance of Kwai Chang - David Carradine's character from the old action series Kung Fu - to offer the fatherly advice that is lacking in Pamela's life. This fact speaks very boldly on how one survives the devastation of life. It speaks on how the human mind places that very survival above all other situations that make up the muck of life.

And that is exactly what GLOVER'S expertly crafted novel represents: surviving the muck the world sometimes offers up. And as a side motif: finding buried talents and establishing them as part of your own persona, your own legacy.

[pg. 56]

The lock on the apartment door turned slowly and made a grinding noise when Nona pushed it open. Theresa rolled her eyes since we had been trying to be as quiet as possible. I thought right away that I would check my toolbox to see if I had any four-in-one. I'd lubricated the lock and doorknob and get rid of that sound. Funny how I knew what to do with problems like doorknobs or dripping faucets without thinking hard. In my mind I could see exactly how I would approach a problem like that, what tools I'd use, and how long the job would take, all in a few seconds. Maybe that was my talent, fixing things like Daddy used to do. That made me smile a little inside.
--------------------

No doubt Pamela's talent for solving problems and preserving the peace within is the glue that keeps this family together. And you'd better believe GLOVER gives Pamela and her sisters more than their fair share of problems to resolve, conquer and move beyond. Sometimes GLOVER does this with startling and chilling alacrity, but at other times the sobering effect of her writing is bittersweet with humor.

At one point in this spectacular freshman effort the sisters have taken their Mother for a doctor's visit. Having witnessed Alzheimer's work its' mystical effects, this scene is firmly etched in my memory:

[pg. 119]

"That James Brown, he sure do know how to keep that head combed. Wished I could get a perm to do like his do."
"Mama, you look fine. You don't need no perm. You got an Afro now. You a real soul sister."
....The door opened, and a large white woman came in holding a folder in her right hand and fumbling to put on glasses with her left...
"Mrs. Johnson?"
"That's me, Doctor."
"My name is Dr. Renee Moore.... Can you tell me what's wrong?"
My mother waited a couple of seconds, then looked at Nona, me, and Theresa.
"They say I done lost my mind."
"And what do you say?"
"That it's a matter of opinion."
I'd never heard Mama speak like this before. I jerked my head up.
"Why is it a matter of opinion?"
"Maybe I ain't lose it, maybe I just misplaces it every once in a while."
Mama gave the doctor one of the grins she gave to us when we brought her home a candy bar or burger from McDonald's....
--------------------

Another poignant moment is when GLOVER reveals to us Nona's lesbianism. The very fact was announced in such a way as one never saw it coming, but the way the Johnson family embraced Nona makes for a very admirable stance.

GLOVER'S novel has shattered stereotypes of mega proportions. She has given a voice to the strength of iron will and determination. She has given a voice to the mentally ill and the ill-spurned alike. She has shown that in the face of adversity one must be there for family and she's done so in stunning & beautiful fashion.

4 ½ Stars - Introspective, Strong-voiced & Admirable

Jacquii Cooke
Mahogany Media Review

The Middle Sister deserves a place in every high-school library........2005-11-03

This book, The Middle Sister, by debut novelist Bonnie Glover, is a thoughtful, warm, beautifully written book that leaves the reader thinking about the characters long after the cover is closed. Glover's characterizations are right on the mark, and the pathos of the story is leavened by its humor.

It is, quite simply, a wonderful read, and I can't wait for Bonnie Glover's next novel!

Picking Up the Pieces.......2005-11-02

Middle Sister, by debut novelist Bonnie Glover, is a powerful tale about unconditional love and family. Set against the backdrop of Harlem, NY, during the 1970s, middle sister, Pamela embraces life with reckless abandonment and freedom, until her two-parent home is shattered. After her father moves out, her mother suffers a nervous breakdown and the family is forced to move from their quaint, modest, one family home to the roach infested, urine smelling surroundings of the projects. Always studious and the smartest of the sisters, the projects prove to also be challenging for someone as naïve as Pamela. To help her navigate her way through her new environment, Pamela conjures up David Caine's character, Kwai Chang, from the television series Kung Fu. Okay, I must admit, it seemed odd that someone as old as Pamela would create an invisible friend from a television series. And, is it really this friend who helps to keep her on the straight and narrow or is it her conscious? Whatever the source, coping skills were definitely necessary to survive her new home as she comes of age amidst new situations and people.

Glover has skillfully crafted a poignant and powerful storyline. Middle Sister is filled with messages about family, love, survival, acceptance and redemption as well as taboo subjects such as mental illness and sexual identity. Once the reader accepts Pamela's Kung Fu side-kick, climatic plot twists and turns quickly move the storyline forward. But, it was the primary characters, as well as secondary characters, who really brought the storyline to life. Though flawed and scarred with blemishes, they were often loveable and endearing even in their most confused, sometimes most difficult moments. As I watched Pamela come of age, she would flounder and make many mistakes, some of them before thinking, but I never felt that any situation was too arduous for her to conquer. Trials and triumphs, eccentric characters, not so tidy endings make the Middle Sister an eclectic yet heartwarming read.

Bonnie Glover takes us on a literary journey through the eyes of the Middle Sister characters and she does not allow us to get off until she is satisfied that it has been a journey worth taking. Solid writing, engaging characters, timeless plot and theme, vivid imagery and shocking twists and turns make Middle Sister a recommended read for those who need a change of pace.

Yasmin
APOOO BookClub

Searching..........2005-08-13

At one point or another, we can all relate to searching for something in life. Whether we're searching for love, for self, or for understanding, the search never really ends. In Bonnie Glover's debut novel, THE MIDDLE SISTER, she focuses on this search as she introduces us to characters who are on the journey to finding themselves and those around them. We meet Pamela, her imaginary friend Kwai Chang, her two sisters, and her mother. The story follows Pamela's growth from a young girl and the problems she encounters growing up after her father exits their lives. We also are privy to the many changes on the surface of her life, such as her mother's depression and mental instability.

Battling against the dilemmas of their young lives, they encounter many struggles caring for their mother, maintaining a household, and growing into women. As they mature and start relationships outside of their family, they take one step closer to really understanding and seeing each other for who they are, accepting of their flaws, societal abnormalities, and past hurts.

Shortly after beginning the novel, I felt it seemed a bit weird for an imaginary friend to be popping up -- mostly announced -- throughout the story. Why would a young black girl in the projects choose to conjure up a Kung Fu character to guide her through the experiences of life? It seems Kwai Chang served more as her conscience or as her advisor since her father was gone and her mother appeared to be mentally unstable. In the vein of most contemporary books bordering on literary fiction, THE MIDDLE SISTER makes you think beyond the words, beyond what is actually being said. At the end, I was left with the true meaning of family -- flaws and all -- and following one's own search for identity and the unconditional love of family.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A Wonderful Read.......2005-06-28

I loved this novel. Glover uses the gritty setting of black American urban culture to portray a very human and universal story of growing up, facing challenges, and taking bittersweet leave of childhood things.

I found the cultural aspects very interesting - I like learning about environments and settings I know very little of (I grew up and live in Asia), and this added immensely to the book's appeal- but I reckon this is no more a "black American" story than, say, Heart of Darkness is a travelogue about a group of men going up an African river. Told from the appealing and genuine first person voice of Pamela, the middle of three sisters, it's really about family, and as in all great novels, the immensely engaging characters, while grounded in the setting (and necessarily so), transcend the setting to speak to everybody. The story unfolds naturally and organically and authentically-nothing is forced, no shoe-horned happy ending, but the ending is deeply satisfying nonetheless.

The novel deserves to bust through to a wide readership.

Scooby-doo, #91 (Comic Book): THE Kung Fu Ghost Girl

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Scooby-doo, #91 (Comic Book): THE Kung Fu Ghost Girl
JOHN ROZUM
Manufacturer: DC COMICS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q5VB5M

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Kung Fu for Girls 8c Display
Simon Harrison
Manufacturer: Quirk Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1931686947

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Kung Fu 4 Girls
Simon Harrison
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGRJ5Y

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Kung Fu for Girls and Women
C. Soo
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0860330788

Customer Reviews:

Innocent, Naive, & Hopeful.......2006-01-31

This visual essay of hippies in San Francisco and especially in the Haight Ashbury area during the Summer of Love (1967), does a good job of portraying the surface of the scene. The attentive viewer will notice that all the photographer's subjects are well-fed, white, and typically very young. These qualities were in fact characteristic of the hippie phenomenon, rightly viewed as a middle-class revolt against conformism and institutionalized violence. It's a good idea to remember that at the time these innocent youths--of whom I was one--were assembling in an undirected, searching way at the Be Ins and Love Ins, most black people in America still could not vote without great personal risk; the Vietnam war was in full swing; and in most locales of America, it was an invitation to harassment or even assault to wear hair or clothing in unusual and flamboyant fashion.

What is not shown here--and why I give this photographic essay only four stars--is the real underside of the hippie phenomenon. This is not the place to write at length about the bad trips, murders of drug dealers, or exploitation of innocent youth (especially women) appearing on the scene, expecting to be loved, protected, and cared for. That there were indeed widespread acts of love and concern for others, including total strangers, is a credit to the ethos that marked especially the earlier phase of the hippie phenomenon. Once the hippie scene became marketable, this supposed alternative quickly devolved into simply another commercial venue...prompting the famous "Death of Hippie" parade through the Haight.

The value of this volume is of course historical, and there is a wide variety of subjects and personalities to make it visually appealing apart from any knowledge of the place and time it portrays. Most of the photos are in black and white, with a small, full-color middle section. Some of the famous personalities portrayed include Allen Ginsburg, Timothy Leary, and rock performers such as Grace Slick.

This is a partial but accurate portrayal of a moment in our history when millions of young people simultaneously asked whether commercialism and war were the future they wanted for themselves. That question remains in front of us; perhaps a better answer is still to come.

The Summer of Love: a Photo-Documentary Haight-Ashbury at its Highest

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The Summer of Love: a Photo-Documentary Haight-Ashbury at its Highest
Gene. Anthony
Manufacturer: Celestial Arts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RUUAXU

The Summer of Love: Haight-Ashbury at its Highest

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The Summer of Love: Haight-Ashbury at its Highest

Manufacturer: Celestial Arts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GX8TFY

Customer Reviews:

Totally exhausts its topic.......2005-04-29

Great book!
If you're WILLING to read a book about George Harrison.
Really, if you were there at the time, and the right age, there was something about him the other Beatles didn't have. And gee, all those portentious songs on "All things must pass" and what was that other one, "Dark Horse" was it? He really did seem to BELIEVE something. Well, contact with self-righteous, self-centered, holy-no-matter-what religious types over the years teaches you that it's EASY for someone who believes in nothing in particular to BELIEVE IT WITH HEART AND SOUL, to use G.'s own original eloquence. "Where are we going, why are we here etc." were the kind of questions that motivated this character who, as his former business associate Paul McCartney managed to say in weak eulogy, "didn't suffer fools gladly", e.g. tore up the bits of paper proffered to him by star-struck kiddies or signed all of the Fab Four when sought for his own unique sign, the sign that he did indeed inhabit the same universe that the rest of us milling around outside of his preposterous mansions were forced to inhabit.
Did this guy EVER do anything for anybody else?
Try Catholicism, Judaism, Baha'i, deism, radical atheism, anything other than "I'm-too-good-for-the-worldism".
Or if you want to stay with the Beatles, stick with jabberin' John, who seems to have been more or less sincere in his peaceniking, or send a card to Paul, who's done some good in the world and certainly deserves to get a card on his 64th. And isn't Ringo still married to Barbara Bach? That's something, anyway. And I've never heard of him tearing up a 14-year-old's notebook and buggering back off to his palace when asked for an autograph.

I want to tell you.......2004-06-12

I bought this book based on the far superior Beatles Encyclopedia written by Bill Harry. This was a big disappointment. The book is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccurate information. For example, there are three differnt stories on how the Traveling Wilbury's were formed, depending on if one reads the Roy Orbison entry, the Tom Petty entry or the Traveling Wilbury entry. Unlike the Beatles Encyclopedia, there are no pictures, which would have greatly enhanced this book. I am giving it three stars as there was some new (to me anyway) information, but the editting and fact checking were very sloppy.

I Want to Tell You..........2004-02-03

...to check out this book! Although there are some inaccuracies in this work, it is still a treat to read. This is a MUST have for Harrison fans and Beatle fans alike. This book gives a good coverage of the life of the youngest Beatle; the people and events that influenced his career and his own deeply profound words. This is a welcome addition from the inveterate Harrison fan to people who are just becoming familiar with the works and life of this outstanding artist. George Harrison was a man who did, indeed, with his words AND his music influence countless people.

I love the book and can't recommend it highly enough.

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The Columbia Viking Desk Encyclopedia: A-K, Volume One (Volume 1, 2nd Edition, Condensed Version)
William Bridgwater , Columbia University , and Viking Press
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LZD0Y2

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George Harrison Encyclopedia
Bill Harry
Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K7X780

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