New Releases by Kim Howard

Dress code: birthday suit! Here is a side-splittingly funny picture book about a kid who refuses to wear any clothing -- until they discover a few unusual fashion pieces... On a scooter -- naked! In the cereal aisle -- naked! During story time -- naked! All week, the kid's parents beg them to put on some clothes, but their naked streak wears on. There's no end in sight. (Well, other than one *rear* end...) Come on, who cares about boring old clothes? Until… they find an oh-so-sparkly tutu in their sister's closet. And ooh, her favorite pair of underwear -- that would make a fancy shirt, wouldn't it? Plus, Woof Woof won't miss his collar, will he? It's such a glamorous necklace! In this laugh-out-loud picture book that celebrates creativity and individuality, join a free-spirited kid as they finally break their naked streak by creating an ultra-wacky outfit all their own.

Traditional Chinese edition of Do Mommies Ever Sleep?

"A baby imagines all the reasons why mommies never seem to sleep, failing to understand that it is often because babies need so much attention"--

A little girl and a refrigerator box go on many adventures as they imagine all the things they can be in this debut picture book from Kim Howard and Megan Lotter, Grace and Box... Grace and Box have become fast friends. Box delivered a refrigerator earlier in the week and by the end of it, Grace and Box had already been to space, gone camping, and explored the depths of the sea together. But on Sunday, Grace notices something’s wrong with her buddy. Box has some rips and crumples that Band-Aids, ice packs, and rest on the couch can’t seem to heal. Grace certainly doesn't want these adventures to end, so she is determined to fix Box so that they can continue their play together! A universal friendship (child and box) has come alive in this imaginative and humorous picture book. The depths of friendships run deep with children, even if they're just boxes to us!

The field of humic matter research has undergone drastic changes in concepts and principles since the first edition of Humic Matter in Soil and the Environment: Principles and Controversies was published more than a decade ago. Still the only book of its kind specifically addressing humic acid principles and controversies, the Second Edition presents the newest advances in humic acid science. Eleven new and rewritten chapters replace the original nine, with updated material representing modern humic acid chemistry. This includes the delineation of organic matter, humus, and humic matter. The book begins by considering organic matter as a whole, describing terrestrial and aquatic organic matter. It examines humus as a mixture of humified and nonhumified organic matter, focusing also on the importance of the nonhumified fraction plant biopolymers in their original or slightly decomposed forms as raw materials for formation of the humic fraction. The book then presents concepts of humic matter, referred to as humic acid, covering a range of ideas from traditional views of biopolymers to the latest concepts based on micellar, supramolecular, and nanotube chemistry. The author presents the major pathways of humification and discusses humification theories. He also examines the extraction, isolation, and fractionation of humic matter. The book reviews the chemical composition and model structures of humic acids, the chemical and spectroscopic characterization of humic substances, and the electrochemical properties of humic matter. It also addresses the agronomic, environmental, and industrial (including pharmaceutical) importance of humic matter. This revised and updated edition continues the tradition of providing comprehensive coverage of the genesis, extraction, properties, and impacts of humic matter."

It's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets "Time Bandits" in this action-packed science fiction adventure. Stan and Jack are the last remaining members of the Time Authority, a government unit formed to correct disruptions to the established Time Line. Although time travel has been officially outlawed, Stan and Jack must make a quick time hop to 16th Century France to clean up some of their careless littering. Unbeknownst to them, however, Leonardo DaVinci stows away and tumbles out (along with the operating manual for the time machine) in 18th Century England. This disruption is discovered by the Time Authority, as it creates a Chronological Anomaly that begins advancing toward the future and threatens to wipe out all reality. The military and civilian leaders clash before agreeing on a scheme to build one final time machine and send Corporal Spumoni back to correct the Time Line, even though it may ruin any chance of Stan and Jack returning home. Stan and Jack must crash-land their time machine in 1848, where they discover, due to DaVinci's influence, a futuristic Victorian England. After nearly colliding with Maggie Wells on her flying machine, she helps them hide their broken Time Hopper. Stan and Jack realize their only hope to fix their machine is to recover the operating manual, if it still even exists. But Special Services agents, led by Maggie's former boyfriend James Burton, are constantly searching for them. And Jack's growing attraction for Maggie is tempered by the thought that she could be his great-great-great-great-grandmother. Meanwhile, in 1768, DaVinci has become a favorite of King George III of England. His only rival is Benjamin Franklin. Jealous, with the help of Lord Frederick North, DaVinci frames Franklin for the theft of his own notebooks. But when DaVinci learns Britain's plans for his own war machines, he realizes he must work with Franklin to stop Britain's domination of the globe.

"One of the finest and most accurate records of the making of the film that I have ever read. I just wished I could remember what actually went on then." —Terry Jones In 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus—Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic, Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than John Cleese, and managing to ruin only one shot. He became the unit journalist, substitute still photographer, Roman soldier, peasant, Biggus Dickus's double, near-stalker, and, ultimately, friend and confidant of the comedy legends. He also kept a detailed journal of what he saw and heard, on set and off, throughout those six weeks. Now, for the first time ever, the inside story of the making of the film is revealed through the fly-on-the-castle-wall perspective. Here, uncensored, are the legendary Pythons in their prime. It was a period of comedy history that will never be duplicated, and Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday captures the wit, the genius, and the sheer silliness of the six men that comprised Python. "If anyone can remember more about making the Life of Brian than me, it's Kim Howard Johnson. He came, he saw, he got into costume. While the rest of us were fighting to upstage each other, Howard had a notebook hidden in his toga." —Michael Palin "Not only does Howard Johnson know more about Python than anyone outside of the IRS, he was . . . the only person who captured every thoughtless remark, heated exchange, embarrassing detail, petty insult, and spiteful act of indifference." —John Cleese

Nichols and May. John Belushi. Bill Murray. Chris Farley. Tina Fey. Mike Myers. Stephen Colbert. For nearly a half century, Del Close—cocreator of the Harold, director for the Second City, San Francisco's the Committee, and the ImprovOlympic, and "house metaphysician" for Saturday Night Live—influenced improvisational theater's greatest comedic talents. His students went on to found the Groundlings in Los Angeles, the Upright Citizens Brigade in both New York and Los Angeles, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. But this Pied Piper of improv has gone largely unrecognized outside the close-knit comedy community. Del was never one to let the truth of his life stand in the way of a good story—and yet the truth is even more fascinating than the fiction. In his early years, he traveled the country with Dr. Dracula's Den of Living Nightmares, knew L. Ron Hubbard before Scientology, and appeared in The Blob. Del cavorted with the Merry Pranksters, used aversion therapy to recover from alcoholism, and kicked a cocaine habit with the help of a coven of witches. And when he was dying, Del bequeathed his postmortem skull to the Goodman Theatre for use in its productions of Hamlet—a final legend that lives on, long beyond the death of the father of long-form improvisation.

In a new twist on the legend of Superman, the future superhero is raised in a small English town by adoptive parents who teach him to hide his powers, but his job as a tabloid reporter may be in jeopardy unless he chooses to go public.

A grandmother tells about her life as a child in the Scandinavian winter with her grandmother.

Soils and the environment; Inorganic soil constituents. Organic constituents; Gas phase in soils; Liquid phase; Electrochemical properties of solid constituents; Soils and crop prouction; Soilless agriculture; Biotechnology in soil science and agriculture; Soil and pollution.