Books

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The Poetry of Everyday Life: Storytelling and the Art of Awareness

Steve Zeitlin

Part memoir, part essay, part a guide to maximizing your capacity for artistic expression, Steve Zeitlin’s new book taps into the poetic side of what we often take for granted: the stories we tell, the people we love, the metaphors used by scientists, even our sex lives. For more information, please click here.

$26.00

Nourishing the Heart

Exclusive to City Lore Store

Shari Davis and Beni Ferdman
This book encourages the participation of older people in the classroom, engaging young and old in joint ventures to express their personal experiences and family traditions through writing, theater, and the visual arts. Clear, detailed instructions will help you design intergenerational arts projects with students and seniors.

Teacher resource, All grades, 114 pages, Paperback
$10.00

The Grand Generation: Memory, Mastery, Legacy

Mary Hufford, Marjorie Hunt, Steve Zeitlin
Anyone interested in elder artists, or the role of the elderly in the life cycle, should own a copy of this book. As Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett notes in her introduction, the three authors have a fine feeling for people and their artfulness. This volume brings together in one volume a wide swath of work that has been done by folklorists in all fifty states with older craftspeople and storytellers over the past several decades. The work begins with a pioneering essay on the life cycle, situating the contributions of older adults within the span of an individual lifetime. The chapter, Memory, looks at storytelling, reminiscence, and memory art; Mastery explores the abilities of older adults to focus on tasks that require a lifetime of increasingly honed skills; the concluding chapter, Legacy, talks about the role of older people in the perpetuation of tradition, and the passing on of stories and handmade objects. “Old people, the authors note, need to leave impressions and young people need to be impressed. Schools, festivals, and museums are no less likely or valid a setting for cultural transmission than the hearth, the general store, or the barbershop.”128 pages, Paperback
$10.00

I’ve Been Working on the Subway **OUT OF STOCK**

Exclusive to City Lore Store

Sally Charnow and Steve Zeitlin
Succinctly told oral histories read as if you’re actually hearing Joe Caracciolo hilariously recount his exploits playing midwife on the C train, or Thomas Granger describe the barriers African Americans faced as they climbed the job ladder. The collection conveys a sense of the people, history, skills, language, dangers, and rewards that define the world of transit workers.

Grades 6-12, 50 pages, Paperback
$12.00

Hidden New York

Marci Reaven and Steve Zeitlin
This book is an invitation to visit, revisit, learn, and enjoy all that you didn’t know the city has to offer, not just in Manhattan, but in all five boroughs of New York City. Hidden New York starts with 32 fascinating, little-known places in the Big City, meanders to hundreds more, and seasons all with history. Hidden New York is illustrated with appealing photos and enriched by first-person remembrances and commentaries from New Yorkers themselves. This distinctive work presents over sixty locations and shows that some of the best places to visit are ones that you never even thought existed. Historian Mike Wallace says, “If you’re ready to venture off the trampled tourist path of statues, skyscrapers, malls and museums, this book’s for you. Filmmaker Ric Burns calls it an “extraordinarily intimate love song to a city and to the indelible places and experiences that make it resonant and heart-stoppingly real.”384 pages, 101 photographs, Paperback
$22.95

Toward a More Perfect Union in an Age of Diversity (Discussion Guide Book / DVD set)

Exclusive to City Lore Store

Marci Reaven and Study Circles Resource Center
To form a more perfect union we need to talk about the issues that divide us and the ones that bind us. The discussion-starter DVD and guide raise provocative issues and generate thoughtful discussion about difference and diversity, and personal and national identity. Created for community discussion, this resource can be easily applied to school settings. Includes short readings, key documents, bibliography, and filmography.

Teacher resource, Grades 9-College
64 pages, Paperback and 23 minutes DVD
$25.00

Because God Loves Stories: An Anthology of Jewish Storytelling

Steve Zeitlin
“Why were human beings created?” goes an old Jewish saying. “Because God Loves Stories.” From stories that re-create the lost world of the Eastern European Jewish shtetl to Ladino-infected pieces from Sephardic Jews, from ancient folktales and to contemporary family stories, parables, and humor, this rich volume recounts the Jewish-American experience in stories.Grade 8 and up, 304 pages, Paperback
$20.95

RIP: Memorial Wall Art

Joseph Sciorra and Martha Cooper
This brilliant collection of photographs documents the work of young New York City artists who paint murals on building walls to commemorate young people, mostly Latino and African, who die prematurely, too often violently, on the streets of New York. The authors show how the walls transform personal grief into shared public sentiment. The hip, full-color images will draw young people to the lively text which tells a heart-breaking and life-affirming portrait of inner city life.Grades 9-12, 96 pages, Paperback
$19.95

A Celebration of India: A Curriculum Guide

Exclusive to City Lore Store

Jennifer Homans
Padma and Deepak, a brother and sister from Calcutta, are the hosts for a journey to contemporary Indian history, culture, geography, and folklore — and serve as a reference work, and special activity guide. The guide was written for the National Dance Institute’s year-long residency on Indian dance, but is well-suited to more general usage. Includes lesson plans, maps, illustrations, resources, and a bibliography.

Grades 5 and up, 105 pages, Presentation binding paperback
$20.00

The Making of A Mosaic: An Introduction to the Music and Dance of the Americas

Exclusive to City Lore Store

Kate Ramsey
How did those long ago encounters among Native peoples, Europeans, and Africans influence the music and dance we enjoy today? This comprehensive curriculum guide probes the dance traditions of Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and Mexico, as well as urban forms, such as tango and hip hop, to reveal how these connections are integral to the formation of cultural identity in the Americas. Includes background information for students and teachers, activities and discussion questions, a glossary, bibliography, and discography.

Grades 4 and up, 160 pages, Presentation binding paperback
$20.00

Giving a Voice to Sorrow: Personal Responses to Death and Mourning

Steve Zeitlin and Ilana Harlow
Increasingly, the dying and the bereaved engage in deeply personal — and often shared — creative acts that help them possess their past. These new traditions for memorializing the dead in stories, adapted and invented rituals, and commemorative art are the subject of this book, “Giving a Voice to Sorrow: Personal Responses to Death and Mourning.” From a 6 year-old girl with leukemia who plans the way she wants to die with her favorite lullaby tape playing, to a 95 year old man who dies on his date of birth, requesting that his senior center continue to celebrate his birthday till he is 100; from a woman who crafted her father’s coffin, to another who designed a quilt incorporating pieces of her father’s favorite shirt, “Giving a Voice to Sorrow” is populated with inspiring and creative individuals who refuse to give death the last word.224 pages, Paperback
$10.00

The Cow of No Color: Riddle Stories and Justice Tales from Around the World

National Social Studies Association Notable Book 1999
The Keystone State Reading Association Prize

Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin
Illsutrated by Whitney Sherman
Two men are traveling through the desert with the closest oasis miles away. One carries a flask filled with enough water to keep one man alive. Who should drink the water? The Cow of No Color is a collection of stories from throughout the world, all of which turn on a question of justice. After the authors describe the problem, they leave it to you to solve, and then tell you the answer as it appears in the original tale. Excellent source notes and bibliography.

Grades 6-12, 160 pages, Hardcover
$18.95

While Standing on One Foot: Puzzle Stories and Wisdom Tales from the Jewish Tradition **OUT OF PRINT – NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Winner of Belgium’s 1997-7 Prix Versele
Winner of a 1996 Anne Izard Storyteller’s Choice Award
“A stellar collection that will be read, pondered over, and enjoyed again and again.” – Booklist, starred review

Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin
Illustrated by John Segal
This collection of folktales invites children to match wits with heroes and heroines. At a point in each tale, readers are asked to think about how they might have solved the protagonist’s predicament. The stories tell a history of Jewish life with tales from Biblical times, Eastern Europe, the Lower East Side of New York, and Germany during the Holocaust.

Grades 2-8, 120 pages, Paperback
$7.95

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