Most Popular Books by Margaret Hodges

Retells the segment from Spenser''s The Faerie Queene, in which George, the Red Cross Knight, slays the dreadful dragon that has been terrorizing the countryside for years and brings peace and joy to the land.

An elegant retelling of a gentle, little-known tale honoring the chivalric virtues of service and sacrifice is all the more beautiful for its understated quality. Beautiful watercolor and colored pencil illustrations were inspired by the 16th-century paintings of Hans Holbein. A visual treat.

There seems no way to save four hundred villagers from imminent and unsuspecting death; then the wise old man high on the mountain knows what he must do.

A boy''s obsession with drawing cats everywhere gets him trouble, until the felines reward their creator.

Traces the lives and accomplishments of the extraordinary Mary Sherwood and her five children who played an important part in bringing great changes in higher education and voting rights for women, opportunities for government service, and awareness of the need to preserve the country''s natural wonders.

This is a lovely version of an eccentric bit of American history. The text describes a man with a different outlook on life-a man who believed that other creatures have just as much right to be on the earth as humans. Johnny Appleseed lived his life true to his philosophy; he carried news between the settled East and the newly settled West and planted groves of apple trees in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Every other page presents a full-page illustration closely related to the text, and the paragraphs on the facing pages are decorated with more beautiful artwork. Johnny Appleseed became a legend and left a legacy that is still remembered and enjoyed. The author says some people thought he was crazy, but this book emphasizes the good he did.

Retells the story of Moses, from his birth and trip in a boat of bulrushes to his bringing of the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai.

Joshua wonders what can be so great about summer camp especially when he is the only new camper in his bunk, has a mean counselor, and does not excel in sports.

On a voyage in the South Seas, an Englishman finds himself shipwrecked in Lilliput, a land of people only six inches high.

The creators of the Caldecott Medal book, Saint George and the Dragon, tell the Arthurian tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney''s first adventure. The Knights of the Round Table were in their glory. When an unknown stranger visits the castle and asks Kin Arthur''s favor, he is allowed to serve in the kitchen for his meat and bread. Little does anyone suspect that he is of noble blood and will soon be knighted by the famous Sir Lancelot. Lush illustrations bring the reader into the book, as Sir Gareth meets adventures and battles to free a princess from the fearsome Red Knight of the Plain. Based on an excerpt from Sir Thomas Malory''s Le Morte D''Arthur and in consultation with both the famous Caxton and Winchester texts, this enduring story of gallant knights in armor, epic battles, and quests fulfilled has broad appeal for young adventurers.

Charley''s choice of Christmas gifts helps him to find the true spirit of the holiday season.

When a poor Irish peddler follows the instructions given to him by Saint Patrick in a dream, his life is greatly changed. Includes background on Saint Patrick and on the origin of the story.

A biography of the fifteenth-century peasant girl who led a French army to victory against the English, witnessed the crowning of King Charles VII, and was later burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Soon after Janelle came home from college, she became a victim of Domestic Violence, at the hands of her new husband Rashad. Through love, faith, friends, family, and the Down & Dirty to 180

A culmination of over a decade of interdisciplinary research into the emergence of Hitler as dictator of Germany, the preconditions, and the ensuing effects on Germany, this book is a direct out-growth of a course on the literature of the Third Reich, which Professor Eskew instituted in the late Seventies at Dillard University in New Orleans.

A young man rejects his wealthy background to lead a life of poverty and good works, always befriending animals.

A lively, richly illustrated family biography of pioneering Boston tattoo artists Edward "Dad" Liberty and his sons Frank, Harold, and Ted. Accompanied by a lush catalogue of historic tattoo flash art. Through the complex, deeply human story of an iconic family of Boston tattooers, Loud, Naked, & in Three Colors forges a deeper understanding of the history of a vernacular art form and the folk who made a living from its subversive attractions. From the 1910s until 1962, when Massachusetts banned tattooing statewide, Edward "Dad" Liberty and his three sons held a near-monopoly on the Boston tattoo scene from their shops in Scollay Square, the city''s gritty entertainment district. Over their lifetimes, the Liberty men accumulated an unmatched collection of hand-painted tattoo flash art, photographs, machines, shop signs, correspondence, ephemera, and family memorabilia. Loud, Naked, & in Three Colors brings together this evocative, sometimes eye-popping material to create a groundbreaking visual and narrative history of tattooing in Boston. It is an appealing work for general readers and tattoo enthusiasts, as well as a definitive resource for tattoo artists and historians of popular culture. Loud, Naked, & in Three Colors presents nearly 700 never before published tattoo designs, known as "flash," passed down through the Liberty family. Painted on sheets, boards, books, window shades, and scraps of repurposed paper, these works represent nearly a dozen tattoo artists who plied needle and ink from the first years of the 20th century through the early 1960s. Highlights include artwork by early Boston tattoo artist and showman Frank Howard, Ed Smith, and tattoo luminary Ben Corday. Also featured are over 70 illustrations of newly-discovered art and artifacts owned by the Libertys and many of the tattooers in their orbit, including Detroit''s Percy Waters; Portland, Oregon''s "Sailor" George Fosdick; Los Angeles'' Ben Corday; Honolulu''s "Long Tom" and "Sailor" Jerry Collins; and Boston''s Fred McKay, James Fraser, Lawrence Davis, Oscar Bouchard, Jack Redcloud, Harvey Chanarkar, and Frank Harrington. Also represented is a host of material from Ted Liberty''s time in Baltimore and later Vancouver, Canada and Harold Liberty''s time in Salem, New Hampshire.

En ces temps lointains où vivaient en Angleterre des monstres et des géants, un noble chevalier s''était lancé dans une grande aventure. La Reine des Fées l''avait envoyé éprouver sa fougue juvénile contre un ennemi mortel, un dragon hideux et effrayant... L''histoire de saint Georges combattant le dragon est rapportée dans La Légende dorée, écrite par Jacques de Voragine, dominicain du XIIIe siècle. Elle est ici très librement adaptée, avec des accents épiques non dénués d''humour, par Margaret Hodges (1911-2005), bibliothécaire américaine et auteur de plus de 40 livres dont une majorité destinée à la jeunesse. Déjà récompensée pour sa version du Petit Chaperon Rouge parue dans la même collection, Trina Schart Hyman a obtenu la Caldecott Medal 1985 pour cette mise en images qui allie classicisme de la maquette, sens du détail et goût pour le merveilleux. Dans le droit fil de l''heroic fantasy si chère au monde anglo-saxon, elle confirme l''extrême diversité des sources et modes d''expression de l''album pour enfants aux Etats-Unis.

"Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644), distinguished by having taken part in the founding of both the Jamestown and the Plymouth colonies, was ''one of a new breed of English yeoman...[who] carried across the seas not only cargoes but ideas...'' Shipwrecked off Bermuda, leader of a short-lived mutiny, Hopkins went on to the Jamestown colony, where he learned lessons that he later put to good use in Plymouth"--from front jacket flap.

Joshua Cobb''s mother told him boarding school would be the making of him, but after the first few weeks Josh felt it might well be his undoing.