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COLOR YOUR LIFE HAPPY

Name: COLOR YOUR LIFE HAPPY
Author: Flora Morris Brown
ISBN: 978-0-9772183-1-8

CREATE YOUR UNIQUE PATH AND CLAIM THE JOY YOU DESERVE

by Flora Morris Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 19, 2015

Effectively employs real-life examples to model self-acceptance.

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The second edition of self-help author Brown’s (Color Your Life Happy Coloring Book for Adults, 2016, etc.) detailed advice, strategies, and methods to attain happiness.

Brown offers prescriptive approaches to nurture well-being. “My goals were to do what led to praise and happy outcomes,” Brown writes of her childhood. Born in a poor minority section of St. Louis, the author, who is African-American, never felt deprived in her childhood. Her positive attitude helped her attain professional success as college teacher, consultant, and writer, as well as a sense of personal fulfillment. She applies many lessons she has gleaned from a lifetime of teaching others about ways to attain life goals. One thing helps: the recognition that some days just “suck,” says Brown. Facing a stressful, rainy day of teaching, she put some papers under her coat to protect them, only to step in a puddle. Her strategy for such mishaps is to be thankful for what goes well—even on bad days. She suggests actively choosing one’s responses to life’s hiccups; rather than just burst into anger, she allows herself some purgative tears if necessary. Written in warm, engaging second-person prose, this book offers relevant quotes from varied sources such as Mahatma Gandhi and the philosopher Seneca. Text boxes encapsulate Brown’s experiences. Short anecdotes and lists elucidate her argument that happiness can be obtained through following her advice regarding diet, attitude adjustment through positive affirmations, and avoiding failure by taking small positive steps toward major goals. Readers won’t find much new information here, but the encouraging, personalized delivery may be appreciated. Perhaps the most salient and convincing part of this book focuses on Brown’s attempts to face the many challenges she encountered when, soon after she and her husband separated, he suddenly died.

Effectively employs real-life examples to model self-acceptance.

Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9772183-1-8

Page Count: 372

Publisher: Sonata Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.