Most Popular Books by Jane Drake

The Actor''s Business Plan is a self-directed practical guide for actors graduating from formal training programs, as well as for those already in the business whose careers need to move ahead more successfully. Using the familiar language of acting training, the book offers a method for the achievement of dreams through a five-year life and career plan giving positive steps to develop a happy life as an actor and as a person. It assists performers to flourish using the same kind of business/career planning that is a necessary part of life for entrepreneurs and business people. This introduction to the acting industry provides essential knowledge not only for how the business actually works, but also describes what casting directors, agents, and managers do, demystifies the role of unions, discusses how much things cost, and offers advice on branding and marketing strategies. It differs from other such handbooks in that it addresses the everyday issues of life, money, and jobs that so frequently destroy an actor''s career before it is even begun. While addressing NYC and LA, the guide also gives a regional breakdown for those actors who may wish to begin careers or to settle in other cities. It is loaded with personal stories, and interviews with actors, casting directors, and agents from throughout the US. The Actor''s Business Plan is the answer to the common complaint by students that they were not taught how to negotiate the show business world while at school. It is the perfect antidote for this problem and can easily fit into a ten or a thirteen-week class syllabus. Offering support as a personal career coach, empowering the actor to take concrete steps towards their life and career dreams, The Actor''s Business Plan: A Career Guide for the Acting Life is a must-have book for actors who are determined to be a part of the professional world .

"How do we move actors into the less accessible regions of themselves and release hotter, more dangerous, and less literal means of approaching a role?" Superscenes are a revolutionary new mode of teaching and rehearsal, allowing the actor to discover and utilize the primal energies underlying dramatic texts. In Acting, Archetype, and Neuroscience Jane Drake Brody draws upon a lifetime’s experience in the theatre, alongside the best insights into pedagogical practice in the field, the work of philosophers and writers who have focused on myth and archetype, and the latest insights of neuroscience. The resulting interdisciplinary, exciting volume works to: Mine the essentials of accepted acting theory while finding ways to access more primally-based human behavior in actors Restore a focus on storytelling that has been lost in the rush to create complex characters with arresting physical and vocal lives Uncover the mythical bones buried within every piece of dramatic writing; the skeletal framework upon which hangs the language and drama of the play itself Focus on the actor’s body as the only place where the conflict inherent in drama can be animated. Acting, Archetype, and Neuroscience weaves together a wealth of seemingly disparate performance methods, exciting actors to imaginatively and playfully take risks they might otherwise avoid. A radical new mixture of theory and practice by a highly respected teacher of acting, this volume is a must-read for students and performance practitioners alike.

From killer toads, feral felines, and brown tree snakes to multiple invaders in the Great Lakes and Lake Victoria, Alien Invaders explores the impact on our ecosystems of the wave after wave of invaders and why they have become a worldwide concern. Environmentalists Jane Drake and Ann Love take us on a journey from the days of sailing ships and shipboard rats to the fungus that sparked the Irish potato famine to the beautiful but deadly purple loosestrife strangling native wetlands, while presenting the concepts of biodiversity and endangered species. Learn where the invaders originate, how they travel, what they displace, why the invaded natural system is vulnerable, and what can be done. Discover if you are an invader or a saver and how you can help.

Through time and across continents, stories of sweets and their inventors intrigue and entertain us. Learn about primal sweets — from honey, sweet milk, and nuts to sugar candy, chocolate, and “sweet” stories of success. Sweet! The Delicious Story of Candy takes us through history from 4,000 B.C., when islanders in Papua New Guinea cut sugarcane for its sap, and 2,600 B.C., when the first-known beekeepers produced honey to embalm the dead, to 500 A.D., when the Chinese made pear and plum syrups from unripe fruit, and all the way through to the world’s first chocoholics and modern-day candy factories. From cravings to the scoop on ice cream, Ann Love and Jane Drake present a comprehensive and irresistible story of candy through the ages, complemented by a detailed timeline and playful illustrations from artist Claudia Dávila.

This outdoor-activity book is packed with simple and entertaining ways for kids to interact year-round with the fun and wondrous world outside. Illustrations.

The Black Death. Yellow Fever. Smallpox. History is full of gruesome pandemics, and surviving those pandemics has shaped our society and way of life. Every person today is alive because of an ancestor who survived--and surviving our current and future pandemics, like SARS, AIDS, bird flu or a new and unknown disease, will determine our future. Pandemic Survival presents in-depth information about past and current illnesses; the evolution of medicine and its pioneers; cures and treatments; strange rituals and superstitions; and what we''re doing to prevent future pandemics. Full of delightfully gross details about symptoms and fascinating facts about bizarre superstitious behaviors, Pandemic Survival is sure to interest even the most squeamish of readers.

Winner of the Skipping Stones Honor Award in the Ecology and Nature Books category The boreal forest is the last great forest wilderness on earth. It drapes across the subarctic right around the world. It pervades our myths and folklore. It provides us with wood and water. It freshens the very air we breathe. Jane Drake and Ann Love take the reader on an unforgettable journey around the world to view the boreal forest. They show the reader the seasons in the bush, the science and myth of wolves, the life cycle of the woods. From the Siberian Taiga, where tigers and sika deer live, to the Old World forests of Norway, from the Boreal Shield of North America to the birch forest of Northwest Russia, we are introduced to a region of incredible importance. Despite our reliance on it, we have placed the “lungs of the earth” under siege with clear-cutting, acid rain, and even radioactivity. Cool Woods is not only informative and beautiful, but it is a call to action to anyone who cares about our planet.

Pets and their owners appear together in a book as heartwarming as it is informative. From our earliest beginnings, we have shared our lives with animals. Jane Drake and Ann Love explore the ties that humans and their pets have formed. With fun and fascinating facts, they address Dog People and Cat People. (Why does a cat wind around her owner''s legs? She''s rubbing her owner with glands on her face to say "you''re mine.") They also introduce us to more unusual pets. There''s Polly the parrot, who lived through the Klondike Gold Rush to be 126 years old by belting back whiskey, swearing, and biting gold miners. And, of course, there are fish and reptiles, rodents and horses, all of whom can be beloved pets. As useful as it is fun, Talking Tails is a must for children who have or want a pet.

Praise for 3rd edition: ''Experienced practitioners and students will find a host of new ideas to help them create interesting environments and starting points to promote young children''s learning.'' - Early Years Update, April 2009 ''Planning for Children''s Play and Learning includes practical guidance and ideas on creating stimulating learning environments indoors and outdoors, planning exciting learning experiences.'' - Early Years Update, September 2009 This new edition of Planning for Children’s Play and Learning has been fully updated to reflect the revised Early Years Foundation Stage and in line with current policy and practice. It recognises the importance of play as a context for teaching, learning and assessment and links theory with practical examples to show practitioners how they can best support the children in their care. With new material on learning stories, language development, ICT and the home learning environment, the book includes practical guidance and ideas on: • creating stimulating learning environments indoors and out • planning exciting focus activities and experiences • responding to children’s individual interests and supporting personalised learning • sound observational practice and how to assess children’s learning and development within the EYFS framework • developing genuine partnerships with parents and learning links with home. Incorporating ‘Key Points for Good Practice’ within each chapter, and direct links to the EYFS, this is a key text for all practitioners working with children in the later stages of the EYFS. It is also ideal for students pursuing Qualified Teacher Status in the Early Years and EYT Status, and for those enrolled in courses in Early Childhood Studies and Foundation Degrees in Early Years.

Every time our society takes steps forward, segregation becomes illegal, child labor is exposed, and companies that poison our air are called to account. Behind those steps are people who identified problems, worked together, and created change. Lifelong environmental activists, Jane Drake and Ann Love present the nine steps to social change and much more. From fascinating accounts about the founding of organizations such as Amnesty International, Pollution Probe, and Greenpeace to the nuts and bolts of how to run an effective meeting or write a petition, to words of inspiration, Yes You Can! Your Guide to Changing the World is great reading and encouragement for every person who wants to make the world a better place.

First Published in 2004. This book presents practitioners with exciting ways in which to deliver the foundation stage curriculum to young children through play in well-planned areas of provision. The author promotes good early years practice in accordance with ''Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage'', drawing on her own experience as a nursery teacher. Ideas are workable and material is organised in an accessible way making the book an easy-to-use book for all busy practitioners and students.

In this book in the Family Fun series, kids can learn all about the night sky with fun games, stories, information and more...

Discusses the importance of nature, the threats to various animal and plant species, and what young people can do to help protect the environment.

"There has been a proliferation of proposals for bilateral free trade areas in East Asia in recent times. These initiatives fly in the face of the long-standing support of key players in the region such as Japan for the MFN-based non-discriminatory trading system and the commitment to non-discriminatory trade liberalisation and reform within APEC. As China establishes its role in the WTO, its interests are very much in an open global trading system. The paper argues that the core interests of East Asian economies remain in non-discriminatory global trading arrangements and prosecuting those interests within the Doha Round of trade negotiations. It suggests that a way forward in sorting out the trade-distorting and protectionist effects of free trade agreements would be for East Asian economies to take a lead in negotiations on strengthening WTO rules on preferential trade arrangements. In terms of global economic welfare, the only good preferential arrangement is one that disappears in time. The paper makes specific recommendations for re-vamping the rule on preferential trade arrangements with that objective in mind"--P. 1.

Fully reflecting the content of the Foundation Stage''s Early Learning Goals (DfEE 1999), this text is written for all practitioners working in Early Years settings, as well as those pursuing Qualified Teacher Status for the 3-5 year age group.

This book in the America at Work series introduces the people, machines and environmental concerns involved in fishing.

Discusses various kinds of farming, including livestock farming.

This book in the America at Work series introduces the people, machines and environmental concerns involved in fishing.