“Home” resources

What does “home” mean? When is “progress” a step backwards? If we are building for a community in need, we must consult the community to see what it values. What about co-housing – sharing resources?

—-Movies—

The Pruitt-Igoe myth. Housing project in St Louis.

Surviving Progress. Overconsumption, environmental collapse.

The Human Scale. Architect Jan Gehl. Cities for people – human sized, meant for livabilit

Tomorrow we disappear. India slums rehab. Doing for people (the poor) versus doing to people.

Commune. About Black bear ranch. Features Peter Coyote

Urbanized. Documentary by Gary Hustwit about design. “Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? And how does the design of our cities affect our lives?” (from the description)

Blackout. “The lights went out and all hell broke loose” – about the chaos that followed the July 13, 1977 New York City blackout. Haves and have-nots.

“10 that changed America” – 10 homes, parks, and towns that changed our nation. Urban design, relationship of environment upon the people who live in it. Shaping people by where they live.

A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil

—-Books—

“Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World” by Chapin, Ross

“A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction” by Alexander, Christopher W.

“Microshelters: 59 Creative Cabins, Tiny Houses, Tree Houses, and Other Small Structures” by Diedricksen, Derek

Books that wish they were apps.

Perhaps there are too many kids growing up with books that are digital. They don’t know how to appreciate a book that doesn’t move or make noise.

Here is a list of books that think they are apps. They don’t beep or wiggle, but they are interactive, nonetheless. They are all picture books.

“Mix it Up!” by Herve Tullet

“Press Here” by Herve Tullet

“Tap the Magic Tree” by Christie Matheson

“Touch the Brightest Star” by Christie Matheson

“Shake to Assemble” by Calliope Glass

“Look” by Edouard Manceau

Books that open your head

Alexander, Christopher W.  A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Anderson, Walter Inglis   The Horn Island Logs of Walter Inglis Anderson
Arndt, Ingo      Animal Architecture

Bantock, Nick   Griffin and Sabine

Barklem, Jill       The Secret Staircase

Becker, Aaron      Journey

Bender, Tom      Silence Song and Shadows: Our Need for the Sacred in Our Surroundings

Berry, Jill K.      Map Art Lab: 52 Exciting Art Explorations in Mapmaking, Imagination, and Travel

Brown, Patricia D.       Paths to Prayer: Finding Your Own Way to the Presence of God

Brown, Peter         Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Cameron, Julia    The Complete Artist’s Way : Creativity as a Spiritual Practice

Castaneda, Carlos   The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Chapin, Ross  Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World

Cloud, Henry      Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life

Collins, Ross     Doodleday

Dass, Ram     Be Here Now

Dick, Philip K.        Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Egan, Tim        The Pink Refrigerator

Elgin, Suzette Haden        Star-Anchored, Star-Angered

Ewing, Al     I, Zombie

Foster, Alan Dean      Cyber Way

Gaiman, Neil     The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

Goldsworthy, Andy    Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature  (anything by him)

Hall, Michael     Red: A Crayon’s Story

Hallendy, Norman     Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic

Hoff, Benjamin     The Tao of Pooh

Kalman, Maira        The Principles of Uncertainty

Lawhead, Stephen R.      The Skin Map (Bright Empires, #1)

L’Engle, Madeleine      A Wrinkle in Time

Lerner, Rokelle     Affirmations for the Inner Child

Lehman, Barbara    Museum Trip

MacBeth, Sybil       Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God

Martin, Bruce T.        Look Close, See Far: A Cultural Portrait of the Maya

Miles, Sara       Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

Neeper, Cary      A Place Beyond Man: The Archives of Varok
Pohl, Frederik      A Plague of Pythons

Pratchett, Terry   Small Gods (Discworld, #13)

Rex, Adam      Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

Roach, Mary       Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Rumi, Jalaluddin      The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems

Saltz, Ina      Body Type: Intimate Messages Etched in Flesh

Seuss, Dr.      Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Skloot, Rebecca     The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Smith, Keri      Wreck This Journal

Snodgrass, Melinda M.      The Tears of the Singers

Spangler, Ann       Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith

Swift, Vivian      When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler’s Journal of Staying Put

Tall, Stephen     The People Beyond the Wall

Tan, Shaun      The Arrival

Tolkein, J.R.R.      The Hobbit

Wiesner, David      Tuesday

Willems, Mo      You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon a Day

Zeff, Ted      The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World

 

 

Many of these authors have other books – you are more than encouraged to explore them as well. Some of these books are fiction for adults, some are nonfiction, some are for children, and some are wordless, while some are just the beginning to a series that is just as interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

Art books

Here are some books I’ve read that have helped me on my creative journey. Some have taught me tricks that have saved me years of struggle. Some have made me see the world in new ways. If your local library does not have them, ask for them to get them for you from Inter-library Loan (ILL). Remember, the more money you save from not buying books means more money for art supplies.

When Wanderers Cease to Roam. Vivian Swift

Gardens of Awe and Folly. Vivian Swift

The Art of Expressive Collage. Crystal Neubauer

Graffiti World – Street art from five continents. Nicolas Ganz (

Art Before Breakfast: A zillion ways to be more creative no matter how busy you are. Danny Gregory

The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be The Artist You Truly Are. Danny Gregory

An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers. Danny Gregory

The Trickster’s Hat – a mischievous apprenticeship in creativity. Nick Bantock

Urgent Second Class: Creating Curious Collage, Dubious Documents, and Other Art from Ephemera Nick Bantock

The Art of Cardboard: Big Ideas for Creativity, Collaboration, Storytelling, and Reuse. Lori Zimmer

Freehand: Sketching Tips and Tricks Drawn from Art: sketching tips and tricks drawn from art. Helen Birch

The art of urban sketching: drawing on location around the world. Gabriel Campanario

Urban watercolor sketching: a guide to drawing, painting, and storytelling in color. Felix Scheinberger

Urban sketching: the complete guide to techniques. Thomas Thorspecken

The Art of Whimsical Lettering. Joanne Sharpe

Acrylic Solutions: Exploring Mixed Media Layer by Layer. Chris Cozen

Map Art Lab: 52 Exciting Art Explorations in Mapmaking, Imagination, and Travel. Jill K. Berry

Art Journal Kickstarter: Pages and Prompts to Energize Your Art Journals. Kristy Conlin

Wreck this Journal. Keri Smith

How to be an explorer of the world- portable life museum. Keri Smith

How to avoid making art. Julia Cameron

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Julia Cameron

Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun. Carla Sonheim

Watercolor Pencil Magic. Cathy Johnson

Collage Discovery Workshop: Make Your Own Collage Creations Using Vintage Photos, Found Objects and Ephemera. Claudine Hellmuth

The Creative Edge: Exercises to Celebrate Your Creative Self Mary Todd Beam

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages. Susan Schwake

Watercolor Journeys: Create Your Own Travel Sketchbook. Richard Schilling

Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings. Kelly Rae Roberts

How to Make a Journal of Your Life. Dan Price

Chanukah books for children

These are very good picture books for children that are about Chanukah. I will add to this list as I find more.

Simon and the bear: a Hanukkah story by Eric A Kimmel

The menorah story by Mark H. Podwal

Hanukkah Bear by Eric Kimmel

The Count’s Hanukkah Countdown (from Shalom Sesame) by Tilda Balsley and Ellen Fischer

Christmas books for children

These are all very good picture books for children that are about Christmas. I will add to this list as I find more.

Babushka by Sandra Ann Horn
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
A song in Bethlehem by Marni McGee
Why Christmas trees aren’t perfect by Richard H. Schneider
Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson

Specifically featuring the Magi –

The Stone: a Persian Legend of the Magi by Dianne Hofmeyr
The Fourth King: The story of the other wise man by Ted Sieger
The Fourth Wise Man (retold by Susan Summers, based on the story by Henry Van Dyke)
Small Camel Follows the Star by Rachel W.N. Brown

Bear books for children

These are all very good picture books for children that feature bears. I will add to this list as I find more.

Where’s My Teddy? by Jez Alborough

A Library Book for Bear by Bonny Becker

The Bear’s Song by Benjamin Chaud

Otto the Book Bear By Katie Cleminson

Don’t Worry Bear by Greg Foley

The Winter Visitors by Karel Hayes

Mr. Brown’s Fantastic Hat by Ayano Imai

Hugless Dougless by David Melling

Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu

Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman

Monster books for children

These are all very good picture books for children that feature monsters. I will add to this list as I find more.

Love Monster by Rachel Bright

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Kaplan

The Monster’s Monster by Patrick McDonnell

Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott

Some Monsters are Different by David Milgrim

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex

Wanda’s Monster by Eileen Spinelli

A list of books about Judaism

Here is a short list of books that would be useful to anyone who is interested in learning more about Judaism, especially if they are Christian. They are in no particular order.

Menorahs, mezuzas, and other Jewish symbols by Chaikin, Miriam

The book of letters : a mystical alef-bait by Kushner, Lawrence

God was in this place and I, i did not know : a spiritual encounter : Genesis 28:16 by Kushner, Lawrence

The book of words by Kushner, Lawrence

The book of miracles by Kushner, Lawrence

Living Jewish life cycle by Milgram, Goldie

Jewish ritual by Olitzky, Kerry M

Reclaiming Judaism as a spiritual practice by Milgram, Goldie

Traditions : the complete book of prayers, rituals, and blessings for every Jewish home by Shendelman, Sara

How to run a traditional Jewish household by Greenberg, Blu

Jewish living: a guide to contemporary reform practice by Washofsky, Mark

The Jewish home : a guide to the Jewish holidays and life cycles by Syme, Daniel B

Honey from the rock : an introduction to Jewish mysticism by Kushner, Lawrence

And here’s small selection of Jewish movies that might be useful –
Ushpizin
Arranged
Under the domim tree

Books on Japanese garden/home design

I spent one summer studying what makes a Japanese garden distinctly Japanese. These books were very helpful on my quest. Some of them cover interiors as well as exteriors of Japanese homes, so there is more to them than just gardens. I found it quite interesting that the Japanese word for “home” is composed of two characters – the one for “house” and the one for “garden”. A house isn’t a home unless it has a garden. The home is often designed around the garden, rather than the other way around.

A Path Through the Japanese Garden by Bryan Albright and Constance Tindale

The Japanese House: Architecture and Interiors by Alexandra Black

Zen Gardens by Erik Borja

Quiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America by Kendall Brown

The New Asian Architecture: Vernacular Traditions and Contemporary Style by William Lim

Japan Style: Architecture Interiors Design by Geeta Mehta

Japan Modern: New Ideas for Contemporary Living by Michiko Rico Nose

The Art of Japanese Architecture by Michiko Young

Serene Gardens – creating Japanese design and detail in the western garden. by Yoko Kawaguchi

Creating Japanese Gardens by Philip Cave