A Big Quiet House

By Heather Forest

Book Overview

Constructing Neoliberalism presents a rich analysis of the shift to neoliberal economic policies in four Anglo-American democracies - Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand - over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. This period witnessed a dramatic shift away from traditional post-war consensus policies of active state economic intervention, public ownership, and full employment toward those informed by an ideological commitment to deregulation, privatization, entrepreneurialism, and freer trade. Jonathan Swarts argues that this transformation was not simply a marginal adjustment in existing economic policies, but rather the result of political elites seeking to reshape what he calls their societies' "political-economic imaginaries." Swarts demonstrates that this shift cut across traditional party lines, and that in all four cases, the result was a new set of intersubjective norms about appropriate economic policies, the role of the state in the economy, the expectations and aspirations of citizens, and the very nature of an advanced industrial democracy in a globalizing world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874836042
• ISBN13: 9780874836042
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: August House Publishers, Incorporated
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Charming and lyrical in the finest oral tradition

This is one of my favourite folktales, and Forest's adaptation, with Greenstein's witty illustrations, adds to the amusement and truth behind this classic story.In an twist from versions I've heard before, it is a village wise woman that the father in the story consults, rather than the traditional male rabbi/sage. She is just as wise as that rabbi ever was, though, leading us straight to a happy ending your kids (mine are 6 and 8) will enjoy over and over.Forest has chosen a loose, semi-rhyming scheme which is soothing but never predictable or "doggerel-ish." And the ending, though it IS predictable, is delightful when it comes, as this beleaguered "baalabos" (homeowner) is finally able to get some rest.

Wonderful Illustrations Give New Life To An Old Tale!

With children's books, more often than not it is the illustrations that bring the story to life. I have heard this story many times, in many formats but the illustrations in this edition are wonderful, vibrant, and with a wonderful woodcut quality. The illustrations give this old and somewhat tired story a new life! They are so wonderful that they would be perfect by themselves without the story line, framed as decorations for a child's bedroom-or any other part of the house for that matter.If quality illustrations, and not the typical run of the mill canned cutesy drawings, are what you value when picking a child's book than this one is for you!