Open The Suitcase

"The final line, "What would you put in your suitcase?" invites lively discussion....children curious about what might go inside bags and luggage will get an eyeful." - Kirkus Reviews Horse, Cat, Piggy and the other animals all have important jobs to do. They carry their belongings in suitcases. Which bag belongs to whom? Open the suitcases and take a look inside. An interactive lift-the-flap book for curious readers ages 3 and up.

"When a weary stranger arrives one day with nothing but a suitcase, his new neighbors ask nervous questions about who he is and where he comes from before they are challenged to decide between trusting the newcomer or taking the risk of not believing him"--

Mothering is messy. Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us. In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it. With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to: Find freedom and walk confidently in purpose Create a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and more Avoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfection Cultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

Now in its third edition, The Suitcase Entrepreneur teaches readers how to package and sell their skills to earn enough money to be able to work and live anywhere, build a profitable online business, and live life on their own terms. After eight years of working in the soul-crushing bureaucracy of the corporate world, Natalie Sisson quit her high-paying job and moved to Canada, started a blog, and cofounded a technology company. In just eighteen months she learned how to build an online platform from scratch, and then left to start her own business—which involved visiting Argentina to eat empanadas, play Ultimate Frisbee, and launch her first digital product. After five years, she now runs a six-figure business from her laptop, while living out of a suitcase and teaching entrepreneurs worldwide how to build a business and lifestyle they love. In The Suitcase Entrepreneur you’ll learn how to establish your business online, reach a global audience, and build a virtual team to give you more free time, money, and independence. With a new introduction, as well as updated resources and information, this practical guide uncovers the three key stages of creating a self-sufficient business and how to become a successful digital nomad and live life on your own terms.

Poet, teacher, essayist, anthologist, songwriter and singer, Naomi Shihab Nye is one of the country's most acclaimed writers. Her voice is generous; her vision true; her subjects ordinary people, and ordinary situations which, when rendered through her language, become remarkable. In this, her fourth full collection of poetry, we see with new eyes-a grandmother's scarf, an alarm clock, a man carrying his son on his shoulders. Valentine for Ernest Mann You can’t order a poem like you order a taco. Walk up to the counter and say, "I’ll take two" and expect it to handed back to you on a shiny plate. Still, I like you spirit. Anyone who says, "Here’s my address, write me a poem," deserves something in reply. So I’ll tell a secret instead: poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, they are sleeping. They are the shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that lets us find them. Once I knew a man who gave his wife two skunks for a valentine. He couldn’t understand why she was crying. "I thought they had such beautiful eyes." And he was serious. He was a serious man who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly just because the world said so. He really liked those skunks. So, he re-invented them as valentines and they became beautiful. At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding in the eyes of skunks for centuries crawled out and curled up at his feet. Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite. And let me know.

Once upon a time, in a little house behind the hills, a boy packs his suitcase for a long journey. Lift the flaps to see what he takes, and travel with him over oceans and mountains, under water and into the forest. With every step on this voyage of obstacles, the boy faces a decision that will lead to a new adventure and help him get home. Delve deeper into each page and always remember what's in the suitcase! Part puzzle, part fairy tale, this is a magical adventure from the mischievous Clotilde Perrin, author of international lift-the-flaps bestseller Inside the Villains.

From the bestselling author of The Traveler’s Gift comes a two-book collection based on the remarkable true story of “Jones,” a mysterious old man who provides priceless lessons about love, life, and the importance of perspective. In this two-book collection, Andy Andrews introduces readers to Orange Beach, Alabama, is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all humans on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems—marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, business people on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the many other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses. Fortunately in The Noticer, when things look the darkest, a mysterious man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. An elderly man with white hair, of indiscriminate age and race, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and leather flip flops carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul. Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” he explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. “Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely,” he says. “Don’t squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure . . . and they matter forever.” Jones speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what we can do about it. As the story continues to unfold in The Noticer Returns, Jones uses his unique talent of noticing little things that make a big difference. And these “little things” grant people a life-changing gift—perspective. Along the way, families will be united, financial opportunities will be created, and readers will be left with powerfully simple solutions to the everyday problems we all face. What starts as a story of one person's everyday reality unfolds into the extraordinary principles available to anyone looking to create the life for which they were intended. This collection will provide you with: A better understanding of life’s challenges and proper perspective for tackling them Practical yet powerful methods of motivation, encouragement, and resolve for those struggling A fresh and insightful perspective on how people can change their view of the world, find strength, and move beyond their problems

Kelsey travels back and forth between her mom's house and her dad's, and each time her suitcase gets bigger, and BIGGER, and BIGGER . . .