BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION, AND HOMESCHOOLING
Home of Barb's People Builders

Education is our business!
We supply the literature, workbooks, and teaching
materials you need in all subjects, preschool through high school.

Want to know the person behind this website? Check out her writing on Squidoo.

Price codes and discount policy
Prices are subject to change at any time.
Please check availability by email before calling.
Order by title, catalog number,
 and complete price with code letter.

How to find what you need on this site.

Need it now? Try our ebooks.
 

 

Click the link above to see our wide variety of ebooks available on this site for immediate download with no shipping fees. Use your credit card and pay on the ebookdestination site.

 

What's New? / Articles / Catalog / Blogs
To Make a Purchase Order
Frequently Asked Questions / Links
Used Books / Sale / Bargain Books
See our Facebook only weekly specials.
 Important Contact Information
Upcoming Events
We accept PayPal and school purchase orders.
 

See our many products you can personalize: greeting cards, keychains, magnets, hats, T-shirts, aprons, postcards, and more at our Zazzle store.
See our Facebook only weekly specials. Click "Like" at the top when you get there so you don't miss any. 

Search    

THOMAS LOCKER
HIS LIFE AND WORKS

Thomas Locker began his life in 1937. He has always loved painting and nature, and has used his painting to express his love for nature. He began to exhibit his art work  in 1964 at the Banter Gallery in New York City, and since then he has had more than 50 exhibitions internationally. It was 1982 before he began to write and illustrate children's books, and his pictures have added beauty to over 30 of them. As you can see by the cover art below, a book illustrated by Thomas Locker is an art exhibit in itself. Not only will young readers be exposed to fine art, but they will also be exposed to many of the author's insights on art and the natural world.

Here are the titles I try to carry, but some have gone out of print. :

 

 

The Boy who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker. A Dial Pied Piper book. ©1987. Later printing, softcover. Jan is a devious and mischievous little boy who lived in Holland, where his small town was protected from the sea by the dikes that held it back. Jan had a reputation similar to that of the boy who cried wolf in the old fable, so people had learned not to take his "emergencies" too seriously. One day, after getting excused from church to visit and read to a blind man, he spends the day in mischief instead, never visiting the man at all, and eating the pie he was supposed to take to him.  His activities made him tired, so he wandered over to the dike and noticed a hole where the ocean was leaking through. Even he knew that if the sea should break through the dike it could destroy the town and all who lived there. So he tried to get help, but no one paid attention to him. When he got got back to the dike, the leak was a bit bigger and since no one had followed him, he wrapped his handkerchief around his finger and stuck it in the hole to hold back the sea until help came. He was lying there through a storm and was shivering and nearly delirious by the time help arrived, but he saved the town and became a hero. And he also became a better boy.

 Condition: New. ISBN: 0140546138. Unpaginated. $6.29-D  Out of stock

Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker. Harcourt, Inc Voyager Books. First paperback printing, 2003. This book is a poetic essay illustrated by Locker's gorgeous paintings of cloud formations and sky. At the end are some questions and answers about clouds and a picture diagram of the different types of clouds in the sky, labeled. The inside back cover has some directions for making your own "cloud" and also an idea for creative writing.

Condition: New. ISBN: 0152045961. Unpaginated. $5.40-D

Grandfather's Christmas Tree by Keith Strand. Illustrated by  Locker. HB-63743. $5.40-D Out of stock and out of print.

Home: A Journey through America, by Thomas Locker. Harcourt, Inc Voyager Books. Paperback, later printing. This picture book is a splendid mix of art and literature . The magnificent paintings are by Thomas Locker, as is one of the poems, but the other poetry and prose selections are by writers as varied as Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, John Muir, Pat Mora, Willa Cather, Jane Yolen, Abraham Lincoln, Merle Good, and more. Each literary selection is enhanced by one of Locker's landscape paintings illustrating a scene from the author's home territory. From San Francisco to Walden Pond, we are treated to a small tour of America as seen through Locker's eyes. We see the Pacific Ocean, Yosemite Falls, the southwest desert, the Midwestern prairie, Chicago (in the fog, of course), the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, Comanche country in Texas, a tree-lined street in North Carolina, Spencer County, Illinois, Amish country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Hudson Valley of New York, and Walden Pond. At the end of the book is a map of the United States showing the locations pictured and written about as each author described his or her hometown. Next to the map is a list of the authors with their year and place of birth.

Condition: New. ISBN: 0152024522.  Unpaginated. BTH-464. $5.40-D

 

 

The Mare on the Hill by Thomas Locker. A Penguin Puffin book, paper, ©1995, later printing. Two children and a stallion patiently woo a white, but wild mare, whom they are finally able to tame just before the mare's foal is born. The story line provides opportunities for Locker's brush to capture a variety of  magnificent rural landscapes. As always, the paintings provide a feast for the eyes.

Condition: New.  ISBN: 0140553398. Unpaginated. $6.29-D Out of stock

The Mare on the Hill by Thomas Locker. A Penguin Puffin book, paper, ©1995, fourth printing. Two children and a stallion patiently woo a white, but wild mare, whom they are finally able to tame just before the mare's foal is born. The story line provides opportunities for Locker's brush to capture a variety of  magnificent rural landscapes. As always, the paintings provide a feast for the eyes.

Condition: Used.  Cover is moderately worn and corners are a bit dog-eared. . Unpaginated. BTH-461.$3.50-U

 

 Miranda's Smile by Thomas Locker. Dial Books, 1994. Hard cover, first edtion. VG/VG-. Boards have light wear on edges and open corners. Dust jacket has small closed tear near spine on back and some wrinkles near the top of the jacket back. Dust jacket has in tact price at top. Burnt orange end papers and pages are near fine. This warm story about the affection between the artist's daughter and her father as he paints her portrait is enhanced throughout with full page paintings that remind one of the eighteenth and nineteenth century masters. Having this book in your home is sure to help your children cultivate a taste for fine art. BTH-5368. $12.00-U

 

Sailing with the Wind by Thomas Locker. Dial, first edition, 1986. NF/VG. Light wear to dust jacket, which is clipped on bottom of front flap and protected in Brodart sleeve. Boards have very light wear. In this book, young Elizabeth accompanies her Uncle Jack in his sailboat down the river to the ocean she has never seen -- the farthest she's ever been from home -- in fulfillment of a promise made years ago. Locker's gorgeous paintings bring out the beauty of the river and the sky, as his words paint a picture of the warm relationship between Elizabeth and her Uncle Jack, whom she only sees every couple of years when he returns from his ship voyages and visits her family. BTH-5537. $15.00-U

Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art by Thomas Locker with Candace Christiansen. HarperCollins, 1995. The author himself says of this book in his Author's Note, " Sky Tree invites adults and children to experience the life of a tree and its relationship to the sky in several different ways. Through storytelling, art appreciation, and scientific exploration, Sky Tree attempts to reach both the heart and mind." It does. As each season progresses and changes, the reader sees a full-page color painting of the tree against the sky. On the facing page are a sentence or two describing the picture and at the bottom a question to help the reader interact with the picture. At the back of the book is a section where the author or Ms. Christiansen gives answers to the questions at the bottoms of the pages. The author is referred to in the third person in this section. This book can cross the curriculum from art to science and can suit all ages interested in art, trees, or seasons. Unpaginated. BTH-3226. $6.29-D Out of Stock

The Ugly Duckling as told by Marianna Mayer. Illustrated by Thomas Locker. Macmillan, HC, First Edition, 1987. VG/G+. Dust Jacket is price-clipped and has creases and small tears around the edges. ISBN: 0027651304. $29.95-U

 

Water Dance by Thomas Locker. Harcourt Voyager Book, paperback. ©1997, later printing. This is an illustrated poem on the water cycle. At the end of the book is a scientific explanation of what is happening in each picture beside a thumbnail of each picture that appeared earlier. This is a great science/literature tie-in. Condition: New. ISBN: 0152163964  Unpaginated. BTH-466. $5.40-D

Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker. Penguin, 1993. Unpaginated. Two boys like to sit on the summer evenings and watch a nearby river flow by them. They wondered where it began. Since they knew how much their grandfather loved the river, they decided to ask him to take them on a camping trip to find the river's beginning. He agrees, and young readers follow them along the river. Each double page spread has a gorgeous painting of whatever river view they are seeing. BTH-2809. $6.29-D

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

************************************************************************************************

We're in the Pacific Time Zone
Our normal office hours when we answer the phone are 10: 30 AM - 4 PM Monday - Friday.
We answer email and ship at other times, but normally take Sundays off.
 

We prefer you ask your questions about products and availability by e-mail, since that gives us more time to prepare a thoughtful answer and keeps us from playing phone tag. Please remember to put our email address in your address book if you have a spam filter or you won't ever get your answer unless you also leave a phone number. We cannot usually tell you immediately over the phone if a book is here. We have to walk two blocks to check the warehouse, so I usually have to call you back or email you anyway.  We do check our e-mail frequently throughout the day when we are at home. If we should be out, and you leave a message on our answering machine, we sometimes cannot hear the phone number clearly to return your call. Those are some reasons why we recommend you email us first. If you want us to call you, please leave your phone number and time zone.
When you do email us, please do not leave the subject blank or just say "Hi" or "Hello" as the subject. We delete those before opening because a lot of spam messages look like that. 
We have supplied a subject line in the link provided above that will guarantee your mail will be opened fast.
Or call (800)925-8587 (not before 10 AM or after 10 PM Pacific Time)


About Us / Upcoming Events
Back to Home Page /
Privacy Statement (updated in April, 2007)
Articles / Catalog / Awards
Contact Information
Links to our Favorite Sites / Frequently Asked Questions