Historians working in the classical liberal tradition believe that individual decision-making and individual rights matter in the making of history. History written in the classical liberal tradition emerged largely in the nineteenth century, when the field of history was first professionalized in Europe and the Americas. Professional historical research was then imbued with liberal values, which included rigorous attention to the sources, historicist suspicion of an ultimate mover, an hon...

Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln both considered small business the backbone of American democracy and free enterprise. In Beyond the Broker State, Jonathan Bean considers the impact of this ideology on American politics from the Great Depression to the creation of the Small Business Administration during the Eisenhower administration. Bean’s analysis of public policy toward small business during this period challenges the long-accepted definition of politics as the interplay ...

On some nights, a snug bedroom is a hard place to fall asleep. On some nights, it's better to get away from slumbering, snoring family members and curl up alone with one's thoughts in the cool night air, under wide-open skies. In this charming bedtime fantasy, a sleepless city girl does just that, finding her surprising way to a serene rooftop version of a backyard campout.With captivating ink-and-watercolor illustrations and a simple, lyrical text, newcomer Jonathan Bean has creat...

Perfect for the little builders in your life, this warm-hearted and unique picture book is all about “building a house and turning it into a home” (Publishers Weekly), inspired by award-winning author-illustrator Jonathan Bean’s own childhood.In this can’t-miss book for kids who love tools, trucks, and all things construction-related, readers join a girl and her family as they pack up their old house in town and set out to build a new one in the country. M...

A must-have for all homeschooling families, this charming and funny picture book explores the special rhythms and routines of home education, inspired by award-winning author-illustrator Jonathan Bean’s own childhood.For young Jonathan and his sisters, home and school are one of the same. Mom is their teacher, and Dad is the best substitute a kid could ask for. From math, science, and field trips, to recess, show-and-tell, and art, an average school day with this l...

An excited and frustrated boy watches hopefully as wintry weather develops slowly into a "big snow."While "helping" his mother with holiday housecleaning, a boy keeps a watchful eye on the progress of a winter storm. He's hoping for a big snow. A really big snow. Inside, he is underfoot, turning sheet-changing and tub-scrubbing into imaginary whiteouts. Outside, flakes are flying. But over the course of a long day (for Mom) the clouds seem slow on deliveri...

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director, proclaimed the Small Business Administration a "billion-dollar waste—a rathole," and set out to abolish the agency. His scathing critique was but the latest attack on an agency better known as the "Small Scandal Administration." Loans to criminals, government contracts for minority "fronts," the classification of American Motors as a small business, Whitewater, and other scandals—the Small Business Administration has lurched from one embarra...

Emmy was a good girl. At least she tried very hard to be good. She did her homework without being told. She ate all her vegetables, even the slimy ones. And she never talked back to her nanny, Miss Barmy, although it was almost impossible to keep quiet, some days.She really was a little too good. Which is why she liked to sit by the Rat. The Rat was not good at all . . .Hilarious, inventive, and irresistably rodent-friendly, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

In Kate Hoefler’s realistic and poetic picture book debut about the wide open West, the myth of rowdy, rough-riding cowboys and cowgirls is remade. A timely and multifaceted portrayal reveals a lifestyle that is as diverse as it contrary to what we've come to expect.What does it mean to be a real cowboy?A Gentle Bedtime Story: With quiet, lyrical text that is perfect for reading aloud, this story shows cowboys who sing lullabies to the cattle under th...

In the irresistible sequel to Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, Emmy, Joe, and Ratty rescue other children Miss Barmy has preyed uponEmmy Addison is an ordinary girl -- almost. If you don't count the fact that her parents are rich (very), her best friend is a boy (and a soccer star), and she can talk to rodents (and they talk back), she's very ordinary indeed. But she hasn't been that way for long . . .It was only a few weeks ago that Emmy and h...

From Mokie and Bik:Mokie and Bik lived on a boat called Bullfrog. They lived in it, on it, all around it—monkeying up ladders and down ropes, over the wheelhouse and across the cabin floor."Twins!" their mother shouted, because the lines of her Art jiggled and jarred when Mokie and Bik played bumpboats. "Get out from underfoot!"So Bik bumped Mokie out the door—splat!—into nanny Ruby's bucket as she was sploshing the deck."Twins!" shouted Ruby. "Get...

Emmy was not an ordinary girl. She could talk to rodents. She could shrink to the size of a rodent. And just a few weeks ago, she had even become a rodent to defeat her evil former nanny, Miss Barmy.Emmy's parents, unaware of their daughter's other life, ship her off to visit two elderly aunts in Schenectady. Emmy figures her life will be ordinary at last, if rather boring. But she didn't count on her friend Ratty, whose search for his long-lost Ratmom brings him m...