His art is instantly recognizable. With “Botero”, now learn how he became an artistic master.
Until now.
My aunt Yolanda owns a Botero. An original Botero. I hope she bequeaths it to me. Just think! I can sell it and make lots of money.
Sound crass?
Botero is one of the world’s most popular living artists, with millions of fans transcending cultures across the globe. While his art is instantly recognizable, the story of how he became “the Maestro” is largely unknown.
Botero (Corinth Films) changes that.
This poetic, beautifully filmed documentary for award-winning filmmaker Don Millar offers an inspiring look at the power of relentless vision, unwavering conviction and a lifetime of discipline.
Botero ultimately brings together the man and his art to capture his essence—the quiet resolve and strength of character that allowed him to overcome poverty, decades of harsh criticism and the tragic death of his four-year-old son. Never-before-seen moments come to life: His children uncover 50 year-old sketches in a shuttered storage facility; cameras go behind the scenes at a show exhibiting his work alongside that of Pablo Picasso; the artist takes us on a private tour of his studio.
Kids learn about the right way to eat (and have good manners!) in the nifty “Fellow in Yellow”
It’s a perfect day, brimming with a bright blue sky and puffy white clouds. Then a young boy spots a man wearing a yellow suit, walking down the sidewalk carrying and enjoying a huge piece of pie and an oversized cookie in his bare hands. A pie in the sky moment?
Nope.
The boy’s curiosity sparks a conversation with the man. The boy is surprised, almost shocked, as the man tells the boy about his unique, peculiar and–gulp! unhealthy–eating habits. (Neither the boy nor man have names; part of the book’s universal appeal.)
Such food for thought is the main dish of David Duncan’s debut book Fellow in Yellow (Amazon.com Services LLC, $9.99), a nifty book whose rhyming text whimsically helps young readers ages 3-9 understand the importance of a healthy diet and good manners.
A sampling of the prose: You’re a kid,
my diet won’t do.
You should eat your
fruits and veggies too!
The tasty lessons are accompanied by oodles of captivating illustrations by Patrick Carlson.
We think of Fellow in Yellow as a delicious dessert (and no calories!) that needs to be on every parents menu. Kids are sure to ask Mom and Dad to read the story again and again, savoring its humor and amusing images.
Duncan serves up another extra: A portion of the book’s profits will be donated to the Children’s Cancer Center in Tampa , Florida.
Hungry for more about the author? Visit facebook.com/davidduncanbooks and davidduncanbooks.com
The Best Simon & Schuster Books You Must Read During the Pandemic, Part 1
Open. Shut. The pandemic continues to drive us crazy.
And for those who have gotten sick, the suffering and frustration and anger and confusion refuses to end.
So we decided to start a new chapter in this pandemic nightmare.
We decided to read. More often. More books.
And when we say “read”, we mean physical books. Audio books have a place (in the car), but electronic versions read on tablets and Kindles and sundry doodads are major no-nos. True bibliophiles want to hold a book, smell a book, rifle through the pages and bask in a momentary breeze.
And so we read.
Choices on our “must-read” list . . .
The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place (Simon & Schuster, $27)
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama gushes, “This book shows vividly how, even in the face of the greatest adversity, compassion and a warm-hearted concern for others bring peace and inner strength”, you know you are holding an important book.
Great book, great lessons. In 1981, when he was 19, Jarvis Jay Masters was imprisoned at San Quentin and then accused of murdering a prison guard five years later. A criminal investigator offered to teach him breathing exercises to help him deal with the rage, anxiety and panic as he prepared for his trial. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he tried meditating and likened it to the George Clinton lyric, “Free your mind and your ass will follow.”
Masters transformed his outlook and became a bodhisattva—someone dedicated to reducing others’ suffering. He lives with the threat of execution everyday, yet he makes the most out of confinement. Though not a Buddhist himself, author David Sheff learned a multitude of lessons from all the time he’s spent with Masters. They are shared with readers; to research the book, Sheff made more than 200 trips to death row, visiting Masters almost every week in Tuesdays with Morrie fashion, recorded more than 150 hours of conversations. Sheff also spoke on the phone with Masters for countless hours.
This is a profound book about one man’s capacities for learning, enduring, and ultimately, inspiring others—capacities we all share.
Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World (Simon & Schuster, $27)
New history is made every day, but we never forget events that shattered the world. August 6 marked the 75th anniversary of the first atomic bombing. Fallout exposes how the U.S. government engaged in the biggest cover-up of the 20th century by suppressing the truth about the full effects of atomic weapons and radiation poisoning after the bombings of
Garnering praise from noted voices including Carl Bernstein, Dan Rather, Adam Gopnik and former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, the book serves as a timely reminder of the essential role of journalism to save lives when the world is threatened by a global existential crisis. It also is a call for remembrance and deterrence in regard to nuclear warfare. Right now, the Doomsday Clock reads: 100 seconds to midnight according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists—midnight being nuclear annihilation. This setting is closer than the world has ever been to doomsday before, even during the height of the Cold War.
A Private Cathedral (Simon & Schuster, $28)
In James Lee Burke’s 40th (!), beloved Detective Dave Robicheaux must battle the most terrifying adversary he has ever encountered: A time-traveling superhuman assassin.
Mixing crime, romance, mythology, horror and science fiction, the book is a captivating story about the all-consuming, all-conquering power of love. to give away any more would ruin the mysteries . . . and horror.
Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness (Simon & Schuster, $28)
Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s crusading environmental legacy and troubled by the fight that still wages today over America’s public lands, acclaimed nature writer David Gessner takes to the road.
Roosevelt’s life guides Gessner along a wilderness road trip through America’s national parks and wild places. He travels to the Dakota badlands where Roosevelt awakened as a naturalist; to Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon where Roosevelt escaped during the grind of his reelection tour; and finally, to Bears Ears, Utah, a monument proposed by Native Tribes that is embroiled in a national conservation fight.
Along the way, Gessner questions and reimagines Roosevelt’s vision for today in a profound meditation on our environmental legacy and future. Part travelogue, part environmental clarion call and part biography of one of America’s greatest conservationists, the book has been praised by Robert Redford, who says,it’s a “rallying cry in the age of climate change”.
Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976-1980 (Simon & Schuster, $40)
Over two decades, Rick Perlstein has published three definitive works about the emerging dominance of conservatism in modern American politics. With the saga’s final installment, he has delivered yet another stunning literary and historical achievement. In late 1976, Ronald Reagan was dismissed as a man without a political future: defeated in his nomination bid against a sitting president of his own party, blamed for President Gerald Ford’s defeat, too old to make another run.
His comeback was fueled by an extraordinary confluence: fundamentalist preachers and former segregationists reinventing themselves as militant crusaders against gay rights and feminism; business executives uniting against regulation in an era of economic decline; a cadre of secretive “New Right” organizers deploying state-of-the-art technology, bending political norms to the breaking point—and Reagan’s own unbending optimism, his ability to convey unshakable confidence in America as the world’s “shining city on a hill.”
Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions (Simon & Schuster, $27)
The Frédéric Chopin Annik LaFarge presents here is not the sickly figure so often portrayed. The artist she discovered is, instead, a purely independent spirit: An innovator who created a new musical language, an autodidact who became a spiritually generous, trailblazing teacher, a stalwart patriot during a time of revolution and exile.
LaFarge follows in his footsteps during the years, 1837-1840, when he composed his iconic “Funeral March”—dum dum da dum—using its composition story to illuminate the key themes of his life. LaFarge visited piano makers, monuments, churches, and archives; she talked to scholars, jazz musicians, video game makers, software developers, music teachers, theater directors and of course dozens of pianists.
Dare we say: True music to our eyes!
Kids in quarantine? The welcome and wondrous “Ants Don’t Talk, Do They?” will help them start a new chapter in the “new normal”
We almost bugged out when we realized a new and good . . . a new and very good . . . kids’ book was being released tomorrow! How did this happen? Do we blame spam? Laziness? The pandemic? We’ll blame all of them, though we do wish important emails that live in our unwelcome underground go to . . .
Spam should be against the law, which brings us to British lawyer/author John Sharer, who now brings us to Ants Don’t Talk, Do They? (Wompetias Press, $18.95/$10.95), the warm and welcoming story of Chet, a lonely boy who, because he has a contagious illness, has to stay in his room. By himself. All day every day. For month after month.
Chet keeps busy by daydreaming and playing games on his tablet. One day an ant walked across the screen. It looked like an ordinary insect, but over several weeks, Chet learned this was not an ordinary ant. It talked! It did wondrous and magical things! It was kind and gentle, actions which really helped Chet overcome his loneliness and boredom, helped him stay engaged and, of course, get well. The most important lesson he learned? Not to take anything before being quarantine for granted . . . especially when he’s able to return to his friends, family and school.
Indeed, such adventures didn’t bug out Chet. But what would you do if an ant started talking to you? Would you faint? Run from the room? Or, gulp!, stomp on the little creature? No need to worry: Talking ants—officially known as member of the special club ASK (Ants for Sick Kids)—only visit and interact with children who are ill and contagious and who must be quarantined from others.
We told you such talking ants was anything but ordinary!
With warmth and humor, Ants Don”t Talk, Do They? will capture the imagination of kids during these extraordinary and sometimes challenging times. And the illustrations by Jay Mazhar are simply delightful! This amusing and lighthearted tale offers a very relatable situation for children—and adults—as we all begin to reemerge from months of staying at home to a “new normal”.
Think of this as a gift parents, grandparents and “ants” and uncles, should give to restless and bored little ones.
Learn more about the author and book @ johnhsharer.com
An “Outback” urban legend comes to life . . . as alive as the snakes and scorpions and wild dogs
Expect chills and thrills in the pulse-pounding global spy thriller, “Legacy-of Lies”
Scott Adkins stars in the explosive action-thriller Legacy of Lies, arriving on DVD, Digital, and On Demand July 28th from Lionsgate. This political espionage thriller follows a former assassin (Adkins) who is pulled back into the dangerous world he hoped he’d left behind
A decade ago, agent Martin Baxter quit MI6 after his wife’s tragic murder in an operation gone wrong. But when Sacha, a beautiful journalist, asks for help solving an old case, Martin finds himself in the crosshairs of both UK and Russian intelligence. Now, with his daughter held captive by the KGB, Martin has just 24 hours to deliver the secret case files—which means risking both Sacha’s life and his own.
Expect chills and thrills in this pulse-pounding global spy-thriller.
Mel Gibson delivers a knock-out performance as he deals with a Category 5 hurricane in “Force of Nature”
What’s the fuss?
Four kids. A visit to the beach. A floppy-eared creature that grants their wishes. Welcome to “Four Kids and It”.
Surviving the days during the pandemic? “Survive the Night” is well worth the wait
Wait some more. For a good reason. On July 21, from an executive producer of Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, comes the tense home invasion thriller Survive the Night, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD July 21 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand.