When 4th grader Alex Schwartz first met his cello, his eyes lit up with wonder and a smile appeared on his face as bright as the potential his new cello teacher saw within him. The cello positively impacted all aspects of his development including focus, fine motor and gross motor skills.Through the transformative power of music, Alex's voice sings through his cello in songs of joy, determination and strength. Up Bow, Down Bow shares the beauty of his ongoing musical journ...

Few of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published in her lifetime. Her posthumous fame is largely due to the efforts of her editors and supporters Thomas W. Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.In the foreword to this second collection, published in 1891, Mabel Loomis Todd wrote: “The eagerness with which the first volume of Emily Dickinson’s poems has been read shows very clearly that all our alleged modern artificiality does not prevent a prompt appreciation of the qualities of directness...

This collection arguably contains some of the most charming lyrics ever written in English. The childlike simplicity and trust of these artless verses are unique.Blake’s poems can be enjoyed, not only for their historical importance in an age which was fiercely proud of its genius and its traditions, but also for their simple and beautiful expression of “two contrary states of the human soul.”Songs of Innocence was originally a complete collection of twenty-three poems, fir...

Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.Dickinson’s poems are all short; few...