Winter Fun - Embracing the Magic of Snowy Adventures and Endearing Childhood Favorites

William O. Stoddard

Summary

In "Winter Fun," William O. Stoddard masterfully captures the essence of childhood joy during the winter months, blending a vivid narrative style with rich descriptions that evoke the simple pleasures of snow-covered landscapes. The book is set against the backdrop of late 19th-century America, a time when outdoor play was cherished, and winter festivities were integral to community life. Stoddard employs a playful tone, reminiscent of classic children'Äôs literature, while intricately detailing the adventures of young protagonists who embrace the chill of winter with unbridled enthusiasm, drawing readers into a world where imagination reigns supreme. William O. Stoddard, an American author and contemporary of Mark Twain, was himself a lover of the outdoors and a keen observer of children's behaviors and interactions. His experiences growing up in the Midwest, coupled with his deep understanding of youth and play, informed his writing style, allowing him to craft relatable characters who mirror the delight and wonder of his own childhood. Stoddard's works often reflect a nostalgic longing for simpler times, filtered through a lens of humor and warmth. "Winter Fun" is not merely a children's book; it is a celebration of the spirit of winter that transcends age. Ideal for parents and educators seeking to inspire a love of reading and the outdoors, this delightful tale encourages readers to cherish the fleeting moments of joy that winter brings, resonating with both young audiences and the young at heart.

Available since: 10/05/2023.

Print length: 144 pages.

Poetry & Theatre

Other books that might interest you

Born in the USA - Exploring...

Emily Dickinson, Amy Lowell,...

Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another. Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us.

Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition and even in its more hubristic moments, the crushing triumph of an enemy.

In the volumes of this series we take a look through the prism of individual regions of the United States through the centuries and decades.

The United States may be many things: the world’s policeman, a bully, a shameless purveyor of mass market culture but it also, in its better moments, a standard bearer for truth, transparency, equality and the more positive qualities of democracy.

Little wonder that’s its poets are rightly acknowledged as wonders of their art. Leading lights in the fight against slavery and for equality, even if the rest of the Nation is finding it problematic to catch up.

In this volume we have collected verse from poets born in the tiny Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its history is scarred with tragedy, much of its own making, and yet its natural beauty and its kaleidoscope of cultures summon the envy of us all when put to verse by the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amu Lowell, Emily Dickenson, William Cullen Bryant and James Russell Lowell.

Show book

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world. The play consists of four interconnecting plots, connected by a celebration of the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazon queen, Hippolyta, which is set simultaneously in the woodland and in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the moon. The play opens with Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, resistant to her father Egeus' demand that she wed Demetrius, whom he has arranged for her to marry. Helena meanwhile pines unrequitedly for Demetrius. Enraged, Egeus invokes an ancient Athenian law before Duke Theseus, whereby a daughter must marry the suitor chosen by her father, or else face death. Theseus offers her another choice: lifelong chastity while worshipping the goddess Artemis as a nun. Peter Quince and his fellow players Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout, and Snug plan to put on a play for the wedding of the Duke and the Queen, "the most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe". Quince reads the names of characters and bestows them to the players. Nick Bottom, who is playing the main role of Pyramus, is over-enthusiastic and wants to dominate others by suggesting himself for the characters of Thisbe, the Lion, and Pyramus at the same time. He would also rather be a tyrant and recites some lines of Ercles. Bottom is told by Quince that he would do the Lion so terribly as to frighten the duchess and ladies enough for the Duke and Lords to have the players hanged. Quince ends the meeting with "at the Duke's oak we meet."

Show book

Revolving Door

William Sharp

Quietly reflective, the beautifully written poems in this slim volume offer a welcome respite from the noisy insistence of modern life. The language, now simple and direct, now rich in associations, double-meanings, and imagery, has its own natural rhythm and appeal regardless of subject and rhyme. Intriguing, absorbing, thought-provoking, the poems are innovative and fresh and the intensity of the verses in places will undoubtedly strike a chord with readers of all kinds - both established readers of poetry, those who read poetry now and again, and those 
turning to poetry for the first time. Largely relating one person's take on how it is to be in the world, the poems address such aspects of life as time, being, loss, culture, and contingency. The collection is divided into three sections - non-rhyming poems, rhyming poems, and a 
concluding section of lighter, more humorous verses, with each of two additional poems serving as foreword and afterword.

Show book

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner...

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a classic narrative poem that follows the harrowing journey of a mariner who faces supernatural occurrences and the consequences of his actions.
Each poem in this collection showcases Coleridge's mastery of language, imagery, and symbolism, inviting readers on a journey through landscapes both real and imagined. 
From the eerie enchantment of "Kubla Khan" to the gothic suspense of "Christabel" and the tranquil introspection of "Frost at Midnight," this collection offers a diverse range of poetic experiences. Through themes of nature, imagination, and the human condition, Coleridge's poetry continues to resonate with readers across generations.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a captivating compilation that showcases the timeless beauty and enduring appeal of Coleridge's poetry.

Show book

The Rose - Poems

Ariana Reines

In The Rose, award-winning poet Ariana Reines navigates the intersection of power and surrender. Drawing on the history of "romance" as the troubadours knew it and the titular flower's ancient allegories for sexuality and mystery, Reines plunges into feminine archetypes to explore masculine pain: "I have always liked helpless / & terrible men because they break my mind." In these poems, inherited ideologies of gender performance are replaced with bold vulnerability: paradoxes of power and surrender transmute the speaker's understanding of suffering, desire, and the soul. 
 
 
 
The voice in The Rose is wry and bare, approaching the connection between erotic love and spirituality with humor. Investigating war, maternity, violent sensuality, and the role of language in magical acts, Reines is unafraid to uncover the "secret / & terrible shovelings / Of love," and the result is a bloody and pulsing, sexy and unabashed bloom.

Show book

Poetry Book Society Spring 2024...

Alice Kate Mullen

The quarterly poetry magazine of the Poetry Book Society, founded by T.S. Eliot, featuring poems and exclusive interviews from Victoria Kennefick, Isabel Galleymore, Gillian Clarke, Rachel Mann, Jane Hirshfield, Rosa Campbell, Bunny Lang, and Maria Stepanova.

Show book