从个人装饰到葬礼仪式，从宫殿装饰到私人奉献，数千年来，玉在中国的社会，文化和政治生活中发挥了重要作用。通过哈佛艺术博物馆备受尊敬的Grenville L. Winthrop收藏品来探索这种受人尊敬的石材的历史——其中包括中国以外古代和古朴玉器的一些**实例——这本书解释了玉器如何以及为什么形成了其特殊的意义。关于一百多件物体的深入条目介绍了最近的考古发现和从保护分析中获得的新信息，而詹妮•索恩（Jenny So）的广泛而有趣的叙述不仅阐明了这种物体的分层含义及其象征，而且还深入探究了这种材料的独特品质以及从事采石和加工玉器的工艺。

This smart and whimsical portrait of the inhabitants of a town reveals the joys of discovering what makes each person unique and extraordinary.

Nico lives in a small coastal town, a place like any other, with ordinary neighbors and friends. But are they really ordinary? As Nico meanders through his town he introduces readers to his friends. There's Josean, who works on the docks and who could be an Olympic rower. Peru recites all different kinds of poetry to his son. Nico's best friend, Telmo, is a skateboarder with a wild imagination. Eva plays a mean jazz guitar and gives lessons so she can pay her rent and go to school. There's Keiko, a potter; Dave, who is really tall; Sara, who owns a bookstore; Claud, a waiter whose real passion is astronomy. Each of these people, twenty-one in all, is depicted in charming, colorful drawings that celebrate quirkiness and individuality. This book encourages young readers to get to know the people around them and discover how everyone is different in their own wonderful way.