Nonfiction4Life

In The Magic of Tiny Business, written by Eco Bags Products, Inc. founder Sharon Rowe, we learn "You don't have to go big to make a great living." Speaking from her own experience, Rowe tells would-be entrepreneurs how to build a profitable business without compromising personal values. Women especially like her advice: rather than fantasizing about going into business while fretting about going into debt, start by going tiny.

As a young mother with a newborn child, Rowe was most concerned about putting family first. She wanted a flexible schedule, ample family time, work-free vacations, and financial security. This "less is more" approach also meant she wanted to give back to her community, to the planet. So, despite limited capital and business experience, even in the pre-Internet days before going green was cool, Rowe pioneered the reusable bag movement. In the end, she built a $2.2 million-dollar business of impact from scratch.

The Magic of Tiny Business walks readers step by step through the process. Starting tiny, preparing for upturns and downturns, managing money, and being laser-focused on the essentials are some of the keys to Rowe's success. Listen to the podcast to learn more.

For more than 20 years, Heather Lende has written obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News in the tiny town of Haines, Alaska. Now, in her latest book, Find the Good: Unexpected Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer, the New York Times bestselling author becomes as vulnerable as the grieving she interviews. Weaving together her own life lessons with recollections of the deceased, we get a memoir mixed with humor, sensitivity, and insight.

More than a storyteller, Lende is a “story catcher” who knows the challenge of describing a life with words that both honor the dead and bless the living. But she manages well. Her book can help us all live more gratefully by seeing life through the lens of optimism and finding the good.

00:25   Intro to author Heather Lende from Haines, Alaska

01:25   Obituary writers describe a life in 500-600 words

01:30   Lende’s mantra: “Find the good.”

02:00   Writing our own obituaries, every day

02:25   Unpacking the title, “Find the Good”

03:45   Countering sadness

04:15   Lende’s career begins in 1996

05:45   Characteristics and qualifications of a good obituary writer

07:45   Be a “story catcher”

08:45   Who approves obituaries?

11:00   Lende’s own brush with death changes everything

12:20   Recovery breeds empathy and gratitude

12:45   Wounds, seen and unseen

14:00   Deaths hit close to home

15:00   “I’m just the chronicler of these tragedies,” trying to give families hope

15:40   Using her art to make a difference and move hearts

16:30   Lende faces her own grief with unwed daughter’s pregnancy

17:00   “Draw lines in the sand so you can move them.”

17:45   Wisdom from an elderly Southern lady

19:00   Sometimes the “Big Worry” isn’t a worry at all

19:40   “Practice staggered breathing”

20:25   Life lessons from choir metaphors

22:00   “Writing obituaries is my way of transcending the bad news.”

22:25   The story of Richard Boyce, fisherman lost at sea

24:45   The power of a father’s love

25:20   Story of Russ, the town cemetery gardener

26:00   A long-lost son returns, dies, and gives his home to hospice

27:00   The power of simple greeting cards and the family Bible

28:32   The story of Rene—writing a pre-death obituary for a breast-cancer victim

29:02   What would you do with your remaining days?

30:42   Quantity vs. quality of life

30:59   Everyday blessings

31:20   Life’s two greatest regrets

31:45   Longing for small-town living

32:10   The downsides of small-town living

34:05   Navigating “spiritual boot camp”

35:00   Nurturing the skill of “finding the good”

35:20   Hearts turn to stone, but stones also turn to hearts

36:15   The story of Vic—proof people can change

37:15   How to get a good obituary

37:45   Who will write Lende’s obituary?

38:30   The immediate value of an obituary

39:10   What Lende hopes her readers feel

39:40   How to create small towns anywhere

Great Quotes

"I pretended I was on my deathbed. (I’m fifty-four, have survived being run over by a truck, and I had a headache, which I worried might be a brain tumor, so this was not such a big leap.) I imagined I’d already said good-bye to my husband, children, grandchildren, and all the great-grandchildren I hadn’t even met yet. If indeed all the wisdom I had in my heart was to be summed up in final words and it was difficult to speak more than, say, three, what would I rasp before my soul flew up the chimney? Find the good. I surprised myself with this pretty great notion. Find the good. That’s enough. That’s plenty. I could leave my family with that."

"Awful events are followed by dozens and dozens of good deeds. It’s not that misery loves company, exactly; rather, it’s that suffering, in all its forms, and our response to it, binds us together across dinner tables, neighborhoods, towns and cities, and even time. Bad doings bring out the best in people."

"I have a friend who says we spend the first half of our life building it and the second half preventing it from falling apart. I’d rather be under construction when I die."

“We are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there’s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.”

"The invisible part of a mother’s heart is the strongest and most flexible because it enlarges with each child and grandchild. Rather than divide the heart’s chambers into smaller rooms as the family grows, love multiplies them."

"No matter how many obituaries I write, I will never get used to talking to someone one day and learning that they’ve left town, and the entire planet, the next. It may not shock me the way it does others, but that doesn’t make it any easier. There is no good in missing someone so badly you can’t even hum."

BUY Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer

Other books by Heather Lende:

• BUY If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska
• BUY Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: A True Story of Bad Breaks and Small Miracles

Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

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For more than 20 years, Heather Lende has written obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News in the tiny town of Haines, Alaska. Now, in her latest book, Find the Good: Unexpected Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer, the New York Times bestselling author becomes as vulnerable as the grieving she interviews. Weaving together her own life lessons with recollections of the deceased, we get a memoir mixed with humor, sensitivity, and insight.

More than a storyteller, Lende is a “story catcher” who knows the challenge of describing a life with words that both honor the dead and bless the living. But she manages well. Her book can help us all live more gratefully by seeing life through the lens of optimism and finding the good.

00:25   Intro to author Heather Lende from Haines, Alaska

01:25   Obituary writers describe a life in 500-600 words

01:30   Lende’s mantra: “Find the good.”

02:00   Writing our own obituaries, every day

02:25   Unpacking the title, “Find the Good”

03:45   Countering sadness

04:15   Lende’s career begins in 1996

05:45   Characteristics and qualifications of a good obituary writer

07:45   Be a “story catcher”

08:45   Who approves obituaries?

11:00   Lende’s own brush with death changes everything

12:20   Recovery breeds empathy and gratitude

12:45   Wounds, seen and unseen

14:00   Deaths hit close to home

15:00   “I’m just the chronicler of these tragedies,” trying to give families hope

15:40   Using her art to make a difference and move hearts

16:30   Lende faces her own grief with unwed daughter’s pregnancy

17:00   “Draw lines in the sand so you can move them.”

17:45   Wisdom from an elderly Southern lady

19:00   Sometimes the “Big Worry” isn’t a worry at all

19:40   “Practice staggered breathing”

20:25   Life lessons from choir metaphors

22:00   “Writing obituaries is my way of transcending the bad news.”

22:25   The story of Richard Boyce, fisherman lost at sea

24:45   The power of a father’s love

25:20   Story of Russ, the town cemetery gardener

26:00   A long-lost son returns, dies, and gives his home to hospice

27:00   The power of simple greeting cards and the family Bible

28:32   The story of Rene—writing a pre-death obituary for a breast-cancer victim

29:02   What would you do with your remaining days?

30:42   Quantity vs. quality of life

30:59   Everyday blessings

31:20   Life’s two greatest regrets

31:45   Longing for small-town living

32:10   The downsides of small-town living

34:05   Navigating “spiritual boot camp”

35:00   Nurturing the skill of “finding the good”

35:20   Hearts turn to stone, but stones also turn to hearts

36:15   The story of Vic—proof people can change

37:15   How to get a good obituary

37:45   Who will write Lende’s obituary?

38:30   The immediate value of an obituary

39:10   What Lende hopes her readers feel

39:40   How to create small towns anywhere

Great Quotes

"I pretended I was on my deathbed. (I’m fifty-four, have survived being run over by a truck, and I had a headache, which I worried might be a brain tumor, so this was not such a big leap.) I imagined I’d already said good-bye to my husband, children, grandchildren, and all the great-grandchildren I hadn’t even met yet. If indeed all the wisdom I had in my heart was to be summed up in final words and it was difficult to speak more than, say, three, what would I rasp before my soul flew up the chimney? Find the good. I surprised myself with this pretty great notion. Find the good. That’s enough. That’s plenty. I could leave my family with that."

"Awful events are followed by dozens and dozens of good deeds. It’s not that misery loves company, exactly; rather, it’s that suffering, in all its forms, and our response to it, binds us together across dinner tables, neighborhoods, towns and cities, and even time. Bad doings bring out the best in people."

"I have a friend who says we spend the first half of our life building it and the second half preventing it from falling apart. I’d rather be under construction when I die."

“We are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there’s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.”

"The invisible part of a mother’s heart is the strongest and most flexible because it enlarges with each child and grandchild. Rather than divide the heart’s chambers into smaller rooms as the family grows, love multiplies them."

"No matter how many obituaries I write, I will never get used to talking to someone one day and learning that they’ve left town, and the entire planet, the next. It may not shock me the way it does others, but that doesn’t make it any easier. There is no good in missing someone so badly you can’t even hum."

BUY Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer

Other books by Heather Lende:

• BUY If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska
• BUY Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: A True Story of Bad Breaks and Small Miracles

Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

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SUMMARY: After years of running children’s film festivals, educational innovator and media guru Nicole Dreiske developed “Screen Smart” workshops kids. She includes the program in her new book, The Upside of Digital Devices: How to Make Your Child More Screen Smart, Literate, and Emotionally Intelligent. Aptly nicknamed “The Essential Survival Kit for Parenting in the Digital Age,” Dreiske’s book helps not only parents but also teachers, pediatricians, and other adults train children how to view screens in healthy, safe, and useful ways.

SHOW NOTES

00:26   Who is Nicole Dreiske?

03:00   Why did Dreiske write The Upside of Digital Devices?

04:40   Emotionally charged screen time 

05:15   Teaching healthy screen time using dialogue 

06:15   Explaining the “Screen Smart” program

08:55   Self-awareness is the key to being screen smart

09:15   Learning from a “Screen Smart” primer

11:15   Forming “Screen Smart” playgroups to improve literacy skills

13:35   Using read-aloud skills while watching screens

15:40   Weston Woods creates short videos based on books

16:45   Co-viewing builds bonds of trust

17:10   Using the Pause & Question (P&Q) method

17:20   Developing emotional intelligence

18:20   Handling family movie nights

19:05   Categorizing movies: fun, bad, sad, scary

19:55   Using a 15-second pre-screen orientation

20:30   Building a trusting relationship between child and technology

21:55   Teaching digital manners

22:10   Building a positive feedback loop

23:15   Dealing with fears, protecting from inappropriate content

25:00   Using “navigation buoys”

27:30   Expressing soothing statements as a catch-all

28:50   Helping adults master their own screen time

31:20   Recognizing where the magic happens

32:35   Helping schools benefit from the “Screen Smart” program

33:10   Building sensory and emotional intelligence

33:20   Leverage literacy, inferential reasoning, critical thinking skills

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Relationships are the key to successful screen viewing.
• Screen viewing skills can be likened to read-aloud skills.
• Categorizing movies (fun, bad, sad, scary) creates a conversational springboard.
• Taking an offensive, positive approach to screens empowers children to share feelings, opinions, and questions.
• Pre-screen orientation leverages cognitive skills.

BUY The Upside of Digital Devices: How to Make Your Child More Screen Smart, Literate, and Emotionally Intelligent

Connect with Nonfiction4Life:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Website

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SUMMARY: After years of running children’s film festivals, educational innovator and media guru Nicole Dreiske developed “Screen Smart” workshops kids. She includes the program in her new book, The Upside of Digital Devices: How to Make Your Child More Screen Smart, Literate, and Emotionally Intelligent. Aptly nicknamed “The Essential Survival Kit for Parenting in the Digital Age,” Dreiske’s book helps not only parents but also teachers, pediatricians, and other adults train children how to view screens in healthy, safe, and useful ways.

SHOW NOTES

00:26   Who is Nicole Dreiske?

03:00   Why did Dreiske write The Upside of Digital Devices?

04:40   Emotionally charged screen time 

05:15   Teaching healthy screen time using dialogue 

06:15   Explaining the “Screen Smart” program

08:55   Self-awareness is the key to being screen smart

09:15   Learning from a “Screen Smart” primer

11:15   Forming “Screen Smart” playgroups to improve literacy skills

13:35   Using read-aloud skills while watching screens

15:40   Weston Woods creates short videos based on books

16:45   Co-viewing builds bonds of trust

17:10   Using the Pause & Question (P&Q) method

17:20   Developing emotional intelligence

18:20   Handling family movie nights

19:05   Categorizing movies: fun, bad, sad, scary

19:55   Using a 15-second pre-screen orientation

20:30   Building a trusting relationship between child and technology

21:55   Teaching digital manners

22:10   Building a positive feedback loop

23:15   Dealing with fears, protecting from inappropriate content

25:00   Using “navigation buoys”

27:30   Expressing soothing statements as a catch-all

28:50   Helping adults master their own screen time

31:20   Recognizing where the magic happens

32:35   Helping schools benefit from the “Screen Smart” program

33:10   Building sensory and emotional intelligence

33:20   Leverage literacy, inferential reasoning, critical thinking skills

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Relationships are the key to successful screen viewing.
• Screen viewing skills can be likened to read-aloud skills.
• Categorizing movies (fun, bad, sad, scary) creates a conversational springboard.
• Taking an offensive, positive approach to screens empowers children to share feelings, opinions, and questions.
• Pre-screen orientation leverages cognitive skills.

BUY The Upside of Digital Devices: How to Make Your Child More Screen Smart, Literate, and Emotionally Intelligent

Connect with Nonfiction4Life:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Website

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After decades of doing business, Joel Peterson has distilled his most powerful learnings in The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great. At the core of all strong business relationships, we find trust. According to Peterson, it means "willingly ceding a measure of control to another.... Trust is a leap of faith rooted in optimism."

This deeply held belief in the goodness of others drives us to choose trust over skepticism and negativity. Then we allow trust to become the “lubricant” for accelerating decision-making and for creating durable, flexible agreements.

Trust is also at the center of our strongest personal associations. “But,” says Peterson, “trust doesn’t just happen.” Instead, creating such trust requires an investment.  In other words, “It takes initiation, nurture, evaluation, and repair. Trust is earned. Trust builds over time.” Even when we’ve built good relationships characterized by an abundance of trust, Peterson warns us to not take it for granted.

With illustrative anecdotes, Peterson clarifies each of the 10 Laws of Trust:

1. Start with Personal Integrity
2. Invest in Respect
3. Empower Others
4. Measure What You Want to Achieve
5. Create a Common Dream
6. Keep Everyone Informed
7. Embrace Respectful Conflict
8. Show Humility
9. Strive for Win-Win Negotiations
10. Proceed with Care

Peterson sums up his life of learning to trust and of becoming trustworthy by concluding that trust is worth all the risks it requires. He continues, "Indeed, living life without deeply trusting others is even riskier, a whole lot less satisfying, and much less likely to result in maximizing potential."

Peterson has been on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University since 1992, teaching courses in real estate investment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. He's the Chairman of the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and the Chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways. He’s also the Founding Partner and Chairman of Peterson Partners, a Salt Lake City-based investment management firm with $1 billion under management.

BUY The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great

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After decades of doing business, Joel Peterson has distilled his most powerful learnings in The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great. At the core of all strong business relationships, we find trust. According to Peterson, it means "willingly ceding a measure of control to another.... Trust is a leap of faith rooted in optimism."

This deeply held belief in the goodness of others drives us to choose trust over skepticism and negativity. Then we allow trust to become the “lubricant” for accelerating decision-making and for creating durable, flexible agreements.

Trust is also at the center of our strongest personal associations. “But,” says Peterson, “trust doesn’t just happen.” Instead, creating such trust requires an investment.  In other words, “It takes initiation, nurture, evaluation, and repair. Trust is earned. Trust builds over time.” Even when we’ve built good relationships characterized by an abundance of trust, Peterson warns us to not take it for granted.

With illustrative anecdotes, Peterson clarifies each of the 10 Laws of Trust:

1. Start with Personal Integrity
2. Invest in Respect
3. Empower Others
4. Measure What You Want to Achieve
5. Create a Common Dream
6. Keep Everyone Informed
7. Embrace Respectful Conflict
8. Show Humility
9. Strive for Win-Win Negotiations
10. Proceed with Care

Peterson sums up his life of learning to trust and of becoming trustworthy by concluding that trust is worth all the risks it requires. He continues, "Indeed, living life without deeply trusting others is even riskier, a whole lot less satisfying, and much less likely to result in maximizing potential."

Peterson has been on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University since 1992, teaching courses in real estate investment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. He's the Chairman of the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and the Chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways. He’s also the Founding Partner and Chairman of Peterson Partners, a Salt Lake City-based investment management firm with $1 billion under management.

BUY The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great

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Richard Louv, co-founder of the San Diego-based Children & Nature Network, author Richard Louv adds Vitamin N to his growing list of books encouraging us to get outside. Aimed especially at families eager to share nature with their kids, Louv’s practical guidebook offers "500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community." All are appropriate for Earth Day, but they're also fitting throughout the year.

Through his 2008 landmark book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Louv brought international attention to a backyard crisis. We are unnaturally detached from our natural surroundings. A decade later, this clarion call to parents, policymakers, and pediatricians continues to resonate. Sadly, society still suffers from obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Fortunately, however, Louv’s message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to “Leave No Child Inside.”

City folks inclined to develop an adversarial relationship with nature find Louv's ideas comforting. For instance, dirt can strengthen immune systems; sticks are perhaps the world’s oldest toys; sunshine and water are for our use and pleasure. Louv invites these urbanites to step beyond their world of concrete and hand sanitizer, and, instead, gather courage as they build resilience and new outdoor skills. 

Following Louv’s charge to return to nature, adults report regaining their own sense of wonder. Those stepping outside are feeling a greater sense of work-life balance and freedom from frenzied family schedules. (For more ideas aimed at adults, see The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age by Richard Louv.)  

Just how much "Vitamin N" do we need? Louv believes “Some is good, and more is better.”

BUY Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life

Other titles by Richard Louv:

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (2008) 

The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder (2011)

Read our blog about Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of New York’s Central Park.

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Richard Louv, co-founder of the San Diego-based Children & Nature Network, author Richard Louv adds Vitamin N to his growing list of books encouraging us to get outside. Aimed especially at families eager to share nature with their kids, Louv’s practical guidebook offers "500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community." All are appropriate for Earth Day, but they're also fitting throughout the year.

Through his 2008 landmark book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Louv brought international attention to a backyard crisis. We are unnaturally detached from our natural surroundings. A decade later, this clarion call to parents, policymakers, and pediatricians continues to resonate. Sadly, society still suffers from obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Fortunately, however, Louv’s message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to “Leave No Child Inside.”

City folks inclined to develop an adversarial relationship with nature find Louv's ideas comforting. For instance, dirt can strengthen immune systems; sticks are perhaps the world’s oldest toys; sunshine and water are for our use and pleasure. Louv invites these urbanites to step beyond their world of concrete and hand sanitizer, and, instead, gather courage as they build resilience and new outdoor skills. 

Following Louv’s charge to return to nature, adults report regaining their own sense of wonder. Those stepping outside are feeling a greater sense of work-life balance and freedom from frenzied family schedules. (For more ideas aimed at adults, see The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age by Richard Louv.)  

Just how much "Vitamin N" do we need? Louv believes “Some is good, and more is better.”

BUY Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life

Consider donating to Nonfiction4Life by visiting our Patreon page.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Check out other titles by Richard Louv:

• Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (2008) 
• The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder (2011)

Read our blog about Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of New York’s Central Park.

Listen to Angela Hanscom (Nonfiction4Life Episode 104) talk about her book, Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children, then buy the book.

Connect with us!

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube 
• Website

Special thanks…

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Prestel Publishing curates what “Children Should Know” about art. So far, the “13 Series” includes 20 books about architecture, photography, design, fashion, craft, culture, history, and ethnography. Each volume is filled with colorful double-page spreads, highlighting 13 of the most important, famous, or influential things around a single art topic. For example, in the books, we discover the 13 most famous “Bridges” and “Skyscrapers” and the 13 most influential “Modern Artists” and “Art Materials.”

Although the Prestel “13 Series” is specifically designed to whet children’s appetite for learning more about art, this ever-growing set of photo-rich books appeals to adults as well. As coffee-table books, these can be perused slowly, a few pages at a time. Designed to make each topic accessible, Prestel packs the books with detailed descriptions, representative illustrations, and, at the top of most pages, a timeline to help put the topic in a historical context.

The gorgeous color reproductions are enough to keep any reader engaged for hours, but the books are packed with so much more. Quiz questions sprinkled throughout keep children guessing, and supplemental sources such as book and movie recommendations and suggestions for museums, websites, other places to visit accompany each topic. Finally, tips for projects, a glossary, and “Good-to-Know” sidebars offer something for every reader. The “13 Series” set aims to spark a lifelong interest in the arts.

Prestel Publishing has been part of the Random House Publishing Group since 2008 with its head office in Munich and branches in London and New York.

Brad Finger, contributing author, discusses how his background in art history and love of architecture helped qualify him to write six of the books in the “13 Series” coTitpyedit 11 others. Finger worked 15 years as an editor at World Book Encyclopedia (1991-2006) in Chicago and has spent much of his freelance career working for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Titles by Brad Finger:

BUY 13 Skyscrapers Children Should Know

BUY 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

BUY 13 Photos Children Should Know

BUY 13 Bridges Children Should Know

BUY 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

BUY 13 American Artists Children Should Know

Discover more children's books by Prestel publishing.

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• Facebook
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• Twitter

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