The Renewal (The Stonemont Series, Band 3)

This is the story of the game-changing collaboration between director Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann, who channelled their inner fears and desires into films that would become the nightmarish narratives and soundtracks of our lives.The 11-year collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann is often called the greatest director-composer partnership in cinema history. Their eight films together include such classic thrillers as Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. In Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, Steven C. Smith delivers an intimate account of how the reserved, but deeply anxious, Hitchcock found his ideal creative partner in the cantankerous, but deeply romantic, Herrmann. Smith draws on four decades of research, including previously unpublished documents and new interviews, to deliver a riveting account of what made the teaming of "Benny and Hitch" so memorable and influential -- and why it came to a bitter end. Their story involves the tumultuous changes in Hollywood from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, as the collapsing studio system gave way to independent, counterculture filmmaking. It also involves the key figures in Hitchcock and Herrmann's inner circle including the director's gifted wife and most valued critic, Alma Reville; Herrmann's beautiful, put-upon spouse, Lucy Anderson; and talent agent-turned-studio mogul Lew Wasserman. Wasserman's negotiations made Hitchcock's greatest filmmaking period possible, but over time Lew's commercial instincts as head of Universal Studios clashed with Herrmann's pure artistic vision.Hitchcock and Herrmann is both a deeply researched historical study and a fast-moving, cinematic narrative -- one that puts readers on the film sets and scoring stages of Hitchcock masterworks. Their collaboration ended in a bitter break; but today Herrmann's pulse-quickening music has become the soundtrack of our own anxious times. The music from their movies is more popular than ever, heard in Quentin Tarantino blockbusters and Lady Gaga music videos. In Smith's expert telling, readers get an an intimate look at two legendary creators who, despite seemingly opposite personalities, found in each other artistic completion.

All children benefit from inclusive education and storytelling. It allows them to identify themselves and the diverse world around them in the bedtime stories they share with their caregivers. To showcase and celebrate inclusivity for children from an early age sets them on a path of genuine discovery, appreciation, and empathy for the rest of their lives. This stories feature opportunities to discuss inclusivity, while providing equitable representations of race, religion, physical ability, family dynamic, LGBTQ+, and geographic location.The story "If I Were A Tree" follows a young boy as he questions what it might be like to live as one of the many different types of trees he discovers at the park - only to realize that being a tree would mean missing out on the unique and special things he loves about himself and being a part of his family.Featuring beautiful watercolor imagery and rhyming text that draws children into the story - this story structure encourages phonemic awareness, helps improve memorization, and develops comprehension of sequencing.