New Releases by Allen Shaw

J Allen Shaw was declared legally blind in March of 2013. When his life took this drastic turn, he was determined not to let it get the best of him. Discovering a hidden gift that God had given him, he eventually became a freelance writer and motivational speaker. After seven children''s books and writing thousands of poems, lyrics, and voice-overs, he has now written his first book about these experiences. His tongue-in-cheek style of writing keeps things light and enjoyable for what could be a very dark subject.

This third book in the "Brainstorms! series is the most colorful imaginative books I have written. Its colorful illustrations and humorous rhymes make it a delight for children of all ages.

This humorous book takes our main character through a horrible day but is humbled when she realizes she does not have it so bad. No matter how bad you think your life "stinks," someone else has it much worse.

Have you ever wondered how novelists get their ideas? How do they develop characters that get their readers addicted? How do they develop plots. And how do they avoid writer''s block? Charlie is about to find out. And he''s not sure he likes where this journey is taking him.

10 Questions you need to ask yourself before inviting a canine slobber monster into your home. Including, but not limited to, a chapter dedicated solely to poop. Yes, poop. Not house training, but poop.

February, 1940: After a decade of worldwide depression, World War II had begun in Europe and Asia. With Germany on the march, and Japan at war with China, the global crisis was in a crescendo. America''s top songwriter, Irving Berlin, had captured the nation''s mood a little more than a year before with his patriotic hymn, "God Bless America." Woody Guthrie was having none of it. Near-starving and penniless, he was traveling from Texas to New York to make a new start. As he eked his way across the country by bus and by thumb, he couldn''t avoid Berlin''s song. Some people say that it was when he was freezing by the side of the road in a Pennsylvania snowstorm that he conceived of a rebuttal. It would encompass the dark realities of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, and it would begin with the lines: "This land is your land, this land is my land." In This Land That I Love, John Shaw writes the dual biography of these beloved American songs. Examining the lives of their authors, he finds that Guthrie and Berlin had more in common than either could have guessed. Though Guthrie''s image was defined by train-hopping, Irving Berlin had also risen from homelessness, having worked his way up from the streets of New York. At the same time, This Land That I Love sheds new light on our patriotic musical heritage, from "Yankee Doodle" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" to Martin Luther King''s recitation from "My Country ''Tis of Thee" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963. Delving into the deeper history of war songs, minstrelsy, ragtime, country music, folk music, and African American spirituals, Shaw unearths a rich vein of half-forgotten musical traditions. With the aid of archival research, he uncovers new details about the songs, including a never-before-printed verse for "This Land Is Your Land." The result is a fascinating narrative that refracts and re-envisions America''s tumultuous history through the prism of two unforgettable anthems.

This work ranges historically from Primal Religion, with its beginnings in prehistory, to the Baha''i tradition, which arose in the 19th century. It engages with early religious movements, such as those of ancient Egypt, Qumran, and Greece and Rome; it looks at the monotheistic religions, such as the Jews, Christians, and Muslims; it investigates Indian traditions, such as Hindu, Theravada Buddhist, and Sikh; and it explores Far Eastern traditions, such as Confucian, Taoist, Mahayana Buddhist, and Shinto. The book offers readers the opportunity to empathize with others'' circumstances, past and present, and to come to an understanding of their existence.