So Big

Download or read book So Big written by Edna Ferber and published by . This book was released on 2020-05-23 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So Big is a 1924 novel written by Edna Ferber. The book was inspired by the life of Antje Paarlberg in the Dutch community of South Holland, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1925. The story follows the life of a young woman, Selina Peake De Jong, who decides to be a school teacher in farming country. During her stay on the Pool family farm, she encourages the young Roelf Pool to follow his interests, which include art. Upon his mother's death, Roelf runs away to France. Meanwhile, Selina marries a Dutch farmer named Pervus. They have a child together, Dirk, whom she nicknames "So Big," from the common question and answer "How big is baby? " "So-o-o-o big!". Pervus becomes ill and dies, and Selina is forced to take over working on the farm to give Dirk a future. As Dirk gets older, he works as an architect but is more interested in making money than creating buildings and becomes a stock broker, much to his mother's disappointment. His love interest, Dallas O'Mara, an acclaimed artist, echoes this sentiment by trying to convince Dirk that there is more to life than money. Much later in life, Selina is visited by Roelf Pool, who has since become a famous sculptor. Dirk grows very distressed when, after visiting his mother's farm, he realizes that Dallas and Roelf love each other and he cannot compete with the artistically minded sculptor. In the end, Dirk comes to appreciate the wisdom of his mother, who always valued aesthetics and beauty even as she scraped out a living in a stern Dutch community. Ultimately, Dirk is left alone in his sumptuous apartment, saddened by his abandonment of artistic values.

Download or read book The Not So Big Life written by Sarah Susanka and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007-05-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you ever found yourself asking, “Is this all there is to life?” Or wondering if this bigger life you have created is actually a better life? And do you wonder how it all got so out of control? In her groundbreaking bestseller The Not So Big House, architect Sarah Susanka showed us a new way to inhabit our houses by creating homes that were better–not bigger. Now, in The Not So Big Life, Susanka takes her revolutionary philosophy to another dimension by showing us a new way to inhabit our lives. Most of us have lives that are as cluttered with unwanted obligations as our attics are cluttered with things. The bigger-is-better idea that triggered the explosion of McMansions has spilled over to give us McLives. For many of us, our ability to find the time to do what we want to do has come to a grinding halt. Now we barely have time to take a breath before making the next call on our cell phone, while at the same time messaging someone else on our Blackberry. Our schedules are chaotic and overcommitted, leaving us so stressed that we are numb, yet we wonder why we cannot fall asleep at night. In The Not So Big Life, Susanka shows us that it is possible to take our finger off the fast-forward button, and to our surprise we find how effortless and rewarding this change can be. We do not have to lead a monastic life or give up the things we love. In fact, the real joy of leading a not so big life is discovering that the life we love has been there the entire time. Through simple exercises and inspiring stories, Susanka shows us that all we need to do is make small shifts in our day–subtle movements that open our minds as if we were finally opening the windows to let in fresh air. The Not So Big Life reveals that form and function serve not only architectural aims but life goals as well. Just as we can tear down interior walls to reveal space, we can tear down our fears and assumptions to open up new possibilities. The result is that we quickly discover we have all the space and time we need for the things in our lives that really matter. But perhaps the greatest reward is the discovery that small changes can yield enormous results. In her elegant, clear style, Susanka convinces us that less truly is more–much more.

Download or read book A Dream So Big written by Steve Peifer and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Dream So Big is the story of Steve Peifer, a corporate manager who once oversaw 9,000 computer software consultants, who today helps provide daily lunches for over 20,000 Kenyan school children in thirty-five national public schools, and maintains solar-powered computer labs at twenty rural African schools. Steve and his wife, Nancy, were enjoying a successful management career with one of America’s high tech corporate giants during the dot-com boom of the 1990’s when, in 1997, he and his wife Nancy discovered they were pregnant with their third child. Tragically, doctors said a chromosomal condition left their baby “incompatible with life.” The Peifers only spent 8 days with baby Stephen before he died. Seeking to flee the pain, Steve and Nancy began a pilgrimage that thrust them into a third-world setting where daily life was often defined by tragedy—drought, disease, poverty, hunger, and death. They didn’t arrive in the service of any divine calling, but the truth of their surroundings spoke to their troubled hearts. A short-term, 12-month mission assignment as dorm parents for a Kenyan boarding school turned this ordinary man into the most unlikely internationally recognized hero, and his story will inspire you to pursue similar lives of service.

Download or read book So Big! written by Mike Wohnoutka and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A simple, clever text paired with utterly adorable animal characters makes school-day jitters seem not so big after all! Bear is so big, and he's ready to start school! But even if you're SO BIG, you might feel a little nervous at times. Can Bear brave his first day and find a way to make it feel just right? A clever and charming story, So Big! is the perfect gift for helping young readers through all the important first steps in life, especially the sometimes scary, but always exciting first day of school. Acclaim for Dad's First Day Bank Street Best Children's Books of 2016--outstanding merit title Acclaim for Moo! An ALA Notable book A BCCB Blue Ribbon selection

Download or read book So Big written by Edna Ferber and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "So Big," tells of the highs and lows of Chicago's rural communities. Selina DeJong has big plans after her father suddenly dies but life brings more failures than she expected.

Download or read book Dream So Big written by Christopher B.Pearman and published by Sterling & Lord. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With my father, what you see is what you get. He doesn't pretend to be some kind of guru, and he doesn't believe he did everything right (which he didn't, despite how hard he tried). But he's definitely confident about what he knows, and eloquent in the way he puts it across. I urge you to put his lessons to the test with your kid, and see how far they'll take you both. I think, once you start reading, you're going to find my dad's confidence and enthusiasm contagious. When I look back now, I remember my father was always focused. Always firm. Always loving. Always thinking about the future. It was kind of like he was always searching for the right way, the most successful way to do things. Make no mistake about it, he was always making sure I watched my p's and q's. I mean always: morning, noon, and night. Without that love and discipline, I would never have gotten to where I am today. You certainly would not have ever heard of Raven-Symon?. Raven-Symon?January 2010 While so many talented and ambitious kids have become tabloid fodder, Raven-Symon?, beloved star of That's So Raven, has remained grounded and happy as she's created a massive franchise for Disney, won multiple Kids' Choice Awards, and made history as the first African-American woman with her own sitcom. The difference? Her parents' positive-approach plan--which you can now use with your own children. As her father and manager, Christopher B. Pearman worked tirelessly to nurture Raven's dream, while teaching her to believe in herself and, most importantly, never losing sight of their family's core values. Inside, Pearman breaks down his plan into eight "Dream Catchers"--spiritual and practical principles that filter out negativity, and allow only affirming thoughts into your child's consciousness. Make no mistake: This is not a guide to stage parenting, but a doctrine for raising your kids to reach their full potential in any endeavor, simple or grand. As a parent, you know there's nothing more important than making sure your children become all they want to be. Dream So Big shows how commitment, responsibility, and dedication to your children's innermost wishes can catapult them to great success--and happiness.

Download or read book So Big and So Small written by John Coy and published by Beaming Books. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Next to a speck of sand, you're huge. But gaze up into the night sky with its millions of stars, and suddenly you're tiny. So which is true? Are you big or little? Author John Coy captures the whimsical poetry of a child's perspective as he looks at everything gigantic and minuscule in the universe to arrive at a surprising conclusion: kids are both big and little--just the right size to be exactly who they're meant to be.