The recognition of animal pain and stress, once controversial, is now acknowledged by legislation in many countries, but there is no formal recognition of animals' ability to feel pleasure. Pleasurable Kingdom is the first book for lay-readers to present new evidence that animals--like humans--enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous, grim struggle for survival and the avoidance of pain. Instead it suggests...

"Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious" is Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic examination of what makes something funny. From the father of psychoanalysis we get an interesting argument that at the heart of humor is the need to satisfy ones unconscious desires. Freud explains through numerous examples how jokes allow us a release from our inhibitions and provide significant satisfaction of the desire for pleasure. Building upon his earlier work, The...

"A friendship blossoms when 16-year-old Carly interviews feisty 93-year-old Leah for her local history project and Leah shares her fascinating life's story-of a girl whose rich imagination rescues her from a grim reality, and an unlikely boy who changes everything The boy sat in the branches of the fifth tree on the left, his scuffed boots dangling. Leah turned her eyes up. His face was heavily freckled, his eyes large, brown and almond-shaped. His...

"Do I look like God? Where can I see Him? Wanting to connect more with God, a child asks his mother these questions and more in this rhyming verse book. In answer, Mother's tender and patient responses model God's love. At the story's end, Mother has answered all of the questions, letting the child have a true connection with God. The purity of children and the spirituality of all cultures radiate in this touching story."-- "Mama, I want to see God....