Books by Rachel Federman

The National Parks Traveler's Companion: A Journal Featuring Bucket Lists, Writing Prompts, and Passport Stamp Logs

by Potter Gift, Rachel Federman

Record your trips to the national parks and beyond with this illustrated journal with checklists, popular trails, recreational recommendations, and room to place your passport stamp for all 63 parks.

This indispensable and handy field journal allows you to note all the “who, what, when, and wheres” at each of the 63 national parks, with checklists of local wildlife to look out for and popular hikes, trails, and activities to try. Use the twelve blank pages in the back of the journal to record what you see and do on trips of your own choosing—historic monuments, regional parks, and more.

This journal includes colorful illustrations of wildlife and flora throughout, a synthetic cover for protection from water and dirt, and an elastic bellyband to hold the diary closed. With room to capture 75 total destinations, travelers will cherish this keepsake journal as a record of time well spent outdoors.

The Mindful Gardener: A Journal (New York Botanical Garden)

by The New York Botanical Garden, Rachel Federman

Through writing exercises, inspirational quotes, and simple tutorials, this guided journal for gardeners helps users transform terms like "living in the moment," "meditation," and "mindfulness" from mere buzzwords into helpful everyday practices that will help them de-stress, reconnect, and handle whatever challenges the day brings.

Meditations for Gardeners provides the user with a series of simple journaling prompts designed to nurture a positive, calming framework to approach the day. Each of the writing prompts provides is grounded in nature and the garden, offering the user space to examine one's garden and one’s self and to ponder some of the basic tenets of mindfulness. The journal can be completed at whatever pace the user prefers to work at (daily, weekly, etc) and features inspirational quotes sprinkled throughout, as well as introductory material on the practice of mindfulness and a list of resources for further reading.

The Backyard Chicken Keeper's Bible: Discover Chicken Breeds, Behavior, Coops, Eggs, and More

by Jessica Ford, Rachel Federman, Sonya Patel Ellis

The Backyard Chicken Keeper’s Bible is anexhaustively researched, clearly written, and profusely full-color illustrated book and the essential volume on backyard chicken keeping.

Chickens are many things: a source of meat and eggs, amusing images in pop culture, lovable pets, and a source of comfort at the end of a hard day. Whether you’re considering joining the growing flock of backyard chicken keepers or simply inspired by leafing through images of gorgeous hens and roosters, this book is a must. A majority of the 150 most-populated US cities allow backyard chickens, and during the pandemic, the backyard chicken trend surged. Online searches for chick supplies were off the charts, with local hatcheries recording a 500 percent increase in demand, as people look to reduce environmental impact, improve food traceability, connect with nature, or simply relish the pure joy of chicken company.

Environmental and homestead writers Jessica Ford, Rachel Federman, and Sonya Patel Ellis pack this book with everything you need to fully embrace a new chicken-keeping lifestyle. A sumptuous aesthetic is paired with practical tips on identifying backyard breeds and supporting good chicken health, ranging from basic brooding to common ailments. Learn what the best backyard breed is for you and the equipment needed to start your own home flock. Discover the soft cuddliness of a Bantam Silkie, the superb egg-sitting skills of a Plymouth Rock, the best method for constructing a chicken run, and how to keep your chickens happy and thriving—all in this beautiful, illustrated gift book.

The Backyard Stargazer's Bible: Discover Constellations, Galaxies, Nebulae, Meteorites, and More

by Rachel Federman, Ian Ridpath, Mary McIntyre

A comprehensive and eye-catching resource for backyard stargazers of all levels packed with absolutely everything you need to follow the progress of constellations, night sky events, and celestial facts.

Foreword by Dr. Stephen Maran

A sumptuous aesthetic is paired with practical tips from experts on charting lunar phases and celestial events, notable astronomical anniversaries and facts, the best equipment for stargazing and particular events for your location complete with maps, and much more, packaged into a beautiful, illustrative gift book.

Never miss a night sky event wherever you are in the world, go meteor‑spotting, and track phases of the moon, constellations, and planetary events. Discover Dark Sky Sites and what we can learn from reducing light pollution. Get to know the Moon’s features and phases, constellations, comets, planetary bodies, eclipses, conjunctions, and more. Find out what you can see with the naked eye and the wider canvas of a telescope. With The Backyard Stargazer’s Bible, you'll embrace the magnificent splendor of the rich tapestry of the skies above.

Also available:
The Beekeeper’s Bible
The Botanical Bible
The Backyard Birdwatcher’s Bible
The Backyard Chicken Keeper’s Bible

Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet

by Rachel Federman

This book showcases a lesser-known aspect of Maurice Sendak's oeuvre--his set designs for operas and ballets.

Maurice Sendak is well-known for his acclaimed children's books, but he was also an avid music lover and designed a number of opera and ballet productions, among them Mozart's Magic Flute, Janácek's Cunning Little Vixen, Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, and an opera composed by Oliver Knussen based on Where the Wild Things Are. This book brings together nearly one hundred and fifty drawings from among the more than nine hundred in the Morgan Library & Museum's collection, including preliminary sketches, storyboards, finished watercolors, and painted dioramas. The essays discuss the importance of music and movement to Sendak, the artworks that inspired his stage designs, and the historical and biographical contexts that formed them. The book reveals the breadth of Sendak's visual work for opera and ballet and highlights his keen sense of humor, his love of art history, and his ability to tell striking stories through his art.

Copublished by the Morgan Library & Museum and DelMonico Books

Trash Animals The Animal Weirdos We Secretly Love

by Rachel Federman

Celebrating our imperfections, with trash pandas, rebel raccoons, rescue pigeons, and more!

Move over Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub, there's a new mammal in town. "Pumpkin the Raccoon" has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, "Starfish the Opossum" 130,000, and "Gizmo the Skunk" 35,000 and counting. Instead of shooing them away as pests, the Internet-savvy are welcoming these creatures--once seen as the weirdos, the jaded, the unloved. According to the New York Times, it has surpassed a zeitgeist phenomenon; it's now a social movement. Move over cute, fluffy animals of yesteryear--this is the era of the eccentric outsider, the jaded rogue. Trash animals are making their way into the headlines ... and into our hearts.

Featuring:

* Trash Animals--Who Are They? Meet and greet opossums, skunks, bats, raccoons, squirrels, pigeons, rats, badgers, and more

* In the News. Meet the Vermin-fluencers. We're used to seeing them in the trash, but these days you're more likely to see them in your Instagram feed. From profiles of Celebrity Vermin to Newsworthy Stunts like subway-riding pigeons and skunks performing handstands

* Discover Your Spirit Trash Animal Quiz

* Literary Animal Outsiders

* Wildlife Protectors

* Trash Animal Trading Cards

* Fun Facts

Full of charming full-color illustrations and plenty of mischief throughout, Trash Animals includes everything you could ever want to know about these lovable rogues!