Audiobook Books

I thought this would be something I would listen to often, but once was enough.

Good life lessons from a Buddist Nun. Soothing and Helpful, people for all walks of life can certainly benefit from listening to this retreat. I have not ever been disappointed by listening to Pema Chodron.

Liked it a lot, but was more impressed with Getting Unstuck by the same author.

This 2 CD set (CD1 runs 1:19 in 11 Tracks/CD2 runs 1:08 in 7 Tracks) complements Pema's "No Time to Lose" commentary on Shantideva's classic on Bodhisattvas including a guided meditation on sharing happiness & the root of happiness at the very end. She begins (similar to her "Practicing Peace in Times of War") by addressing obstructions to happiness--our dysfunctional techniques to achieve it which actually cause unhappiness--"Moths are us," seeking the flame they destroy themselves. She proposes we develop "the courage to be happy" by facing our compulsions, habits, & addictions, using Buddhist precepts (a chart is included) to detox ourselves. Otherwise, our self-protective ego is a "walking target" (i.e. "offended waiting to happen"). "You need to acknowledge boundaries before you can dissolve them" (i.e. recognizing the problem is ½ the solution). We can avoid being irritable & miserable by developing virtue--as means not ends. She provides examples & exercises to accomplish this--e.g. reviewing our possessions to see which ones we are loath to give away & mentally giving away 100's of them. This parallels the standard Buddhist practice of "dedicating the merit" which Pema says connects us with the world--choosing freedom over a "poverty mentality."

This set is a lovely introduction to Pema's Western approach to Tibetan Buddhism (with references to Nagarjuna, Shantideva, & Longchenpa)--especially recommended to those relatively unfamiliar with Pema's works. For those immersed in her works, it can serve as a refresher with a few additional insights & exercises--but not a great deal of new material. But, perhaps the greatest value in her audio & video recordings is the experience of "being with" Pema--the emotional or feeling value often equals or exceeds the intellectual or thinking value.

I had not listened to Pema speak until I bought Getting Unstuck and True Happiness...Found them both to be very uplifting and just great. She uses real life examples and is easy to understand to relate to. Great.

One thing is for sure: Pullman certainly has a gift for imagination, and that is what makes this book as wonderful as it is: mindblowing imagination that still manages to connect itself with real-world philosophy.

My heart pounds every time I read this. I'm simply stunned at the creative plot this has and the wild myriad of settings. It's chilling and beautiful all at once.

This book was pretty good, with some fairly imaginative parts to it, but I wouldn't consider it a classic by any means. Unfortunately, the other two books in the trilogy are not good at all. I would recommend either reading just this book, or not reading any of them. They only get worse from here.

What a very powerful boo,. Very well written. I was not prepared for the cruelty toward children nor for some of the graphic fights, but it was a brilliant book nonetheless.

Philip Pullman has done an excellent job of using a compelling and exciting story to expose the dark truth about an organization that continues murdering and torturing people to this day. Anyone who thinks the hidious actions of the Catholic Church happened only in the middle ages needs to look a little harder. In Central and South America millions of women are held in bondage by the mind control perpetrated by the church, telling them that birth control is a sin, resulting in untold numbers of children being born to women who are already living in poverty. Many of these children die an early death because medical care is not available to them. If this is not murder and torture for these women to see their children suffer, I don't know what is. In addition, for an untold number of years the church swept under the rug the plight of children being molested by priests, who were moved around to keep their incidious actions undisclosed. Is it not torture for a young boy to be raped by a person who he has trusted? Rape robs these children of their dignity and self respect. It was not the church, but the courage of the victims and actions of the courts that exposed what was going on. But what of the children in other countries that do not have the judicial system that the United States has? I applaud Philip Pullman for his resourcefulness.

My interest in the His Dark Materials series stemmed from watching the movie adaptation of the first book, The Golden Compass. And while I was biased because I saw the movie before reading the book, the book turned out to be far better than the movie ever was.

Pullman creates a fantasy world that instantly engages the reader, and keeps them wondering, What will happen (and what CAN happen) in a world like this? The story follows a young girl as she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime through a world full of unique creatures, intricate subplots, and enough mystery to keep the reader wanting more. Some might think that this book is just an extended child's fairy tale, but I disagree. The Golden Compass (along with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) delivers enough fantasy to entertain a child and enough philosophical food for thought to entertain an adult, making it an enticing story worthy of both audiences, large and small. While this book can stand on its own (without books 2 and 3), I highly suggest reading the entire trilogy - it's worth it.

One other item I would like to mention is the story's discussion of Dust, the Authority and religion. While the series does create a very strong distate for religion, this distate stems only so far as the religion defined in the book (the Magisterium). I'm sure many will argue that the His Dark Materials series insults and rebels against Christianity and other modern religions, but they are wrong. This book is a fictional fantasy tale that emphasizes a corrupt religious group solely for the purpose of the main character's difficult quest. Pullman has no intentions of turning readers against religion with his stories. The Golden Compass (along with the other His Dark Materials books) is nothing more than a unique fairy tale crafted up by the amazing and talented mind of Philp Pullman. Any reader who believes the books to be "blasphemous" is merely too insecure with their own religious beliefs to enjoy a good fairy tale.

I bought two sets. Sent one to my 29 year old daughter in New Mexico and one home to my 24 year old son. They both have enjoyed listening to the set. Well worth the money that I paid for it.

Last summer we listened to this series in the car, by borrowing them one by one from the libary. Come Christmas time we decided to buy the set. Both the adults and kids (ages 5&7) enjoyed listening. The readers do a great job, giving differant voices to the characters. We did borrow one book in the "radio style" format. We found the radio style confusing and not as pleasent to listen to.

I ordered this for my middle schooler who has a Learning Disability that prevents her from reading quickly and she has to read and test on many books a quarter to keep her grades up. The teacher said that I could suppliment with books on tape/cd. I love the Chronicles of Narnia myself and thought that she might like them too. She loves them. She would have never been able to get through one of the books by herself but she listens to them without my prompting. That is great.
One thing about this purchase was that in the picture it looked to me like it came with a set of books but it does not. I am not saying that the product was misrepresented I just didn't pay close enough attention. I had a set of books at home anyway so it was no problem.

I didn't expect to like these books; I don't care for fantasy. But these were more than that. I read them to my children years ago, and by the third book, I was hooked, too. We each have different favorites in the series.

C.S. Lewis does an excellent job in turning Biblical truths into epic, mythical stories. A danger of these books is that the stories are so engaging, you might read them instead of the Bible. I'm sure that wasn't Lewis' intention; rather it was to turn children onto Christianity with his understanding of it.

I would definitely recommend this collection for families. The collection is one of my 10 favorite children's books of all time.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

I've wanted to reread the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, back to back, for a long time and just never got around to it. When I found it in audio as a boxed set, I had to have it and it gave me the excuse I needed to revisit my childhood for a little while.

In The Magician's Nephew, we discover the origins of the wonderful land of Narnia and how Aslan the Lion brought it into being. Digory is a young boy tricked by his magician uncle into travelling to another world, where he must rescue his friend Polly who Uncle Andrew trapped there. Thus begins a grand new adventure for Polly and Digory, not all of which is enjoyable, as they jump through various worlds and see the birth of Narnia. Digory knows he caused most of the problems and will not quit until he fixes his mistakes.

It's been so many years since I read any of this series, I can't remember if I read The Magician's Nephew before or not. What a delightful story! Here we have the prequel to one of the most beloved children's books of all time. I enjoyed my foray through worlds with Digory and Polly and especially enjoyed being there when Aslan creates Narnia. I also liked getting to see the origin of the witch and how the division of good and evil in Narnia began.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevency are sent to live with a reclusive professor to protect them during the war. A game of hide and seek leads to a whole new world when the children discover a wooden wardrobe that is a door to Narnia. The game grows serious when they learn they are the answer to a prophecy about two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve bringing peace to the land.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is definitely the most popular book in the series and probably every single person of the past few generations has at least heard the name. This is the story that drew me into the world of Narnia and as such, it will always hold a little corner of my heart with the memories of meeting Aslan, the centaurs, the fauns, all the talking animals, and of course the infamous Pevency children.

In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta is a young orphan taken in as a baby by a fisherman and raised to work the fishing boat. When Shasta finds out his master is going to sell him to someone new, he decides to escape. While trying to figure out what to do, he discovers the horse belonging to the man wanting to buy Shasta is a talking horse from Narnia who also wants to be free. So they run away and early in their journey bump into a young girl Aravis who is also running away with Winn, her own talking horse from Narnia. Aravis and Shasta decide to journey together and find themselves in a whole mess of adventures that lead them to bump into King Edmund, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy and even the great Aslan himself.

The Horse and His Boy is first and foremost a quest novel, at least in my opinion. Here we have young Shasta who escapes his dreary life to go on the adventure of a lifetime, where he finds out there is such more to him than he ever realized. Aravis too, is trying to get away from her fears and she finds the strength to do so with Shasta at her side. She also has a tendency to speak her mind with n fear of consequences, which gets her into trouble on more than one occasion. I loved the horses, who added so much personality to the story, and experience some adventures of their own.

Centuries after Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy left Narnia they are unexpectedly called back from their world. There is a usurper ruling in Narnia and the true king, Prince Caspian calls for aid in defeating his uncle the phony king, so he can take his rightful place on the throne.

Much has changed in Narnia since the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve disappeared. Centuries have passed in Narnia though only a little more than a year in Earth time is gone, and Prince Caspian needs their help to bring Narnia back to the way it is meant to be. I especially liked meeting one of my favorite characters, Reepecheep, in this installment of the saga. Anotehr part of this story I loved was seeing the reactions of High King Peter and his family when they realize Narnia is nothing like they remember it. Their friends are gone and their castles in ruins, but we also get to see them overcome their shock to once more step into the roles prophesized to belong to them. They've all grown up a bit and this has quite an impact on their reactions to their beloved Narnia.

Lucy and Edmund are sucked into a painting, with their cousin Eustace in tow, while visiting Eustace's family. They end up in Narnia on The Voyage of Dawn Treader, King Caspian's ship. Caspian is on a journey to the east and The End of the World in the hopes of finding several knights sent out seven years ago by Caspian's uncle, and they hope to finally reach Aslan's country.

The Voyage of Dawn Treader is actually much slower paced then the majority of the books in this series and as a result seems to take an awfully long time for the adventures to begin. Eustace is a spoiled little rich boy who finds everything he believes challenged on this sea voyage. He has to rise above his faults to become the boy he is meant to be. Anotehr nice touch is we see how much Caspian has grown up since he won the throne of Narnia from his uncle. He is destined to be a great king and here we really see this side of his personality.

Eustace Scrubbs (cousin to the Pevency children) has had a complete personality change after his first experience in Narnia. While trying to help a young girl, Jill, being bullied, they run off through a door in the stone wall and end up in the far east of the world, Aslan's country in Narnia. They have been summoned by Aslan to assist King Caspian in finding his long lost son, missing for 10 years. While on their journey they have four signs to follow that Aslan gave them and manage to mess up three of them. They get into scrape after scrape as they search for Prince Rillian and discover The Silver Chair.

Eustace is back in Narnia, quite by accident, and he has changed so much since his last experience. But then, who wouldn't be changed after what he had to go through in the previous story? We also get to visit with Caspian one last time, in the twilight of his life as king. I have loved Caspian since we met him in his first story so while I was pleased to see he had such a wonderfully blessed life, I was a little heartbroken to see him so close to the end, in agony over the disappearance of his son. I had a hard time deciding what I thought of Rillian initially, but he grew on my after a while, especially once I understood the curse he suffered.

When Shift the ape and Puzzle his donkey friend find a lion skin in the water, the ape decides it would be a great idea to dress Puzzle up in the lion skin and tell everyone Aslan has returned. When Shift gets greedy and makes a deal with the Callormens to sell the talking animals into slavery and cut down all of the dryad's trees, the real Aslan sends Eustace and Jill back to Narnia to help the king put an end to Shift's schemes with The Last Battle.

Patrick Stewart narrates this one and he does a fantastic job. He had me cracking up as he brayed like a donkey and barked like a dog, among other little bits he had to perform. The Last Battle starts a little slowly, as Shift and Puzzle put their plan into motion. But once the scheme starts to work, the pace picks up as we fly down the road into battle preparations and the final war.

For years I've heard about The Chronicles of Narnia as being a Christian allegory and the many references to similarities between Narnia beliefs and Christian beliefs. I also know there are many people who spend significant amounts of time studying the books for these Christian references. When I was little, all those hidden meanings were way over my head and the books were just adventure stories. Now that I'm older and wiser (or like to think I am anyhow), I can view the series with new eyes and pick up on many of the references. The allegorical nature of the series is most evident in The Magician's Nephew (the creation story) and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the rising, crucifixion, and rising again of Jesus Christ) and The Last Battle (the Second Coming of Christ). The Voyage of Dawn Treader also struck me after I looked back on it, as reminding me of Noah and the Ark in some ways.

I loved the opportunity to read Chronicles of Narnia once more and enjoyed the fact that it is now so much more to me than just a fantasy saga.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

This is without a shadow of a doubt the most amazing knowledge available today in this planet. All the science, all the wise, all that is only human does not compare to the nature of our inner being.
I cannot express in words the deep joy I feel when I hear Esther's voice as the non-physical entity known as Abraham (not the one from the Bible though just in case you are wondering). I just know is good because I can feel it, they cannot fool me otherwise. I'm also deeply religious where conversations with God were just the daily norm for our Restoration Prophet. How can I then reject this knowledge? This book is just the beginning, I have been reading these materials for a little over two years and cannot stop reading, I can care less how much it costs, I'll but it no matter what.
If you care about your life experience in this planet, you owe it to yourself to read this material and put it to work for you.
I have never felt so free, so happy and so confident everytime I find an obstacle.... I can't say thank you Jerry, Esther and Abraham enough times, it just gets better and better when I get into that mode.

Love you all,
Efren

This book is a wonderful read,
I believe in magic again, I believe in my fellow human beings again too.
If we could all practice what is in this book we would be so much happier.

This book really works for me. I understand my life and myself better, and truly believe that I am in the process of turning my life around, and that I will turn my life around. I am already getting pleasant results from applying the principles given.

This was a fantastic and eye opening experience. I was looking for something to make me understand myself and the world around me. This truly works if you apply Abraham teachings. This is a must for everyone, especially for someone that is looking for answers.

The name of the book says it all. This is an amazing book...sets out clearly what to do and what not to do to give you the life you want. It is simple to understand and an easy read. It has certainly changed the way I think and feel..as soon as I start to feel 'down' I immediately change my thought pattern. It makes you realise why things have happened in your life and why they have not. It is certainly worth buying and having in your bookshelf so you can refer back to it.
I give it *****

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoy this CD.
The long meditation track on this CD can take you to
a sacred place in your heart.
At least 4 of the other songs are simply outstanding.

It skips, it's mislabled, it misses parts that it claims to include...otherwise the reading is excellent. Perhaps it was my copy...I don't know.

This recording is an awesome presentation of THE ILIAD. Derek Jacobi does
and excellent job. The Iliad is suppose to be heard, not necessarily read. This CD is well worth the price. I listened to half of it on a trip and it was enthralling! jdm

Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad is amazing. I really enjoyed Sir Derek Jacobi's reading presented here on these disks. My only problem with this product is that the book has been abridged. I wanted to purchase this item because I feel that it's important to HEAR the words of Homer spoken. This epic poem has been passed down through the generations by word of mouth, so it's best to HEAR the words spoken. I suggest listening to the audio recordings while reading the book. These audio recordings are wonderful but there's way too much missing. Penguin Books should of shown Robert Fagles translation (and Homer) more respect.

The second chapter for instance is missing the last section often called, "the catalogue of ships." This is the part of the story where Homer lists all the Argenian armies which participated in the Trojan conflict. Okay, sure - it's sort of a boring section of the story. Still, it's an important part of the book! Possibly, one of the most historically significant sections of the story. This entire section has been cut from the audiotapes! The list of ships, which goes on and on, illustrates the vast army which was gathered by Agamemnon for the battle. You need to illustrate the overwhelming force the Trojans were facing to fully comprehend the battle.

Anyway, I enjoyed the recording, but I just wish that Penguin Books would have presented an option to purchase an unabridged version of Robert Fagles translation. Be prepared to read the parts of the book not covered by the tapes. You should also rent some dvd documentaries on the Trojan War. It really helps flesh out the impact of the poem. Homer rocks!

The action is gripping, and the passions of the gods and mortals move us in Fagels's fine translation. You feel as if you knew these people. This performances of Derek Jacoby and Maria Tucci has brought this tale to life.

I know other versions of this story: Gustave Schwab's GODS AND HEROES, which was read to me when I was young and which I read to my daughter; Richard Latimore's translation, in the edition illustrated by Leonard Baskin, a beautiful book. Robert Fagels's translation is simply the best.

Listen to this performance if you want to capture the mad rush and the rich human feelings of it all. I have listened done so six times, many of these while climbing stairs at the gym. Also buy and read the book. As reviewers note, the cuts made in this abridgment are extensive. Reading the book will give you the full picture.

Robert Fagels's translation of THE ODYSSEY is superb as well, and the performance by Ian McKellen is very different from Derek Jacobi's ILIAD, though equally compelling.

I recall asking a bookseller years ago if he had the Jacobi audio narration of The Iliad in his store. His response, "We don't do audio. Bookstores are for books." Fine and dandy. But The Iliad was an oral poem to begin with, and for those who want to hear it, regardless of having read it or not, there is no better place to start. Yes, it is abridged, but the choice of abridgement seems sensible, though I would have preferred the poem in its entirety. Another reviewer refers to Jacobi, a mentor of Kenneth Branaugh, as the greatest living Shakespearean actor. Though there are many fine Shakespearean actors currently performing around the world in dozens of fascinating roles, it is easy to imagine that Jacobi is one of the finest. His reading of Homer's ILIAD is intense and riveting and a must for fans of the poem in English. PS: Check out Jacobi in his most brilliant performance as the lead in I CLAUDIUS (available on DVD and VHS) I, Claudius

N.B. : this Robert Fagles translation/Derek Jacobi narrated audio version is also available on AUDIO CASSETTE The Iliad (Classics on Cassette)

Sir Ian McKellen's very fine narration of Fagles' translation of The Odyssey in an unabridged CD The Odyssey by Homer and audio cassette recordings The Odyssey (Penguin Classics)

Sir Derek Jacobi's narration of Allen Mandelbaum's translation of The Odyssey is available in abridged CD or audio cassette versions The Odyssey

The brilliant actor/director/writer/narrator Simon Callow's unabridged reading of Robert Fagle's new translation of Virgil's Aeneid is another must-have for audio classics fans. The Aeneid

I consider myself to be fairly well informed on health and dietary topics but I did learn many new things from Dr. Hyman. I appreciated his sharing his own experience with mercury poisioning and stress. I am in the process of reading his other book, Ultrametabolism and have recommended his books to friends and family.

Dr. Hyman's Five Forces of Wellness is full of new information as well as reinforcing things we already knew. The presentation never is boring and my husband and I will listen to these tapes again for reinforcement of the ideas. We feel Dr. Hyman has given us the information we need to make the rest of our years healthier and therefore happier. My husband is 80 and I'm 72 and with this easy to follow health plan we hope to be around for quite some time.

This audio book is outstanding. I bought it and made copies for everyone I know because I feel the health and wellness information is SO useful and SO So SO vital. Do yourself a favor and check this out!

absolutely a life changer, i bought a bunch of these for the people i love. it makes tremendous sense and is
consistent with everything i had previously learned...and so much more. it's easy to understand and pretty darn easy to be a healthy person. this is especially important for those who have decent health as prevention is paramount -- but also for people with hard to diagnos symptoms and auto immune syndrome type problems. thank you dr. hyman.

As far as I'm concerned, absolutely anything by Dr. Hyman is a must read. Very informative. this is a compilation of a number of different talks so some of the information is redundant, but all in all, excellent

Dr. Berding has revolutionized not only the NT Greek learning process, but the ongoing process of retention as well. As a pastor, I have a minimal amount of time to devote to staying fresh in my Greek syntax, but I find the study of the Greek NT to be invaluable in various teaching venues. The paradigmatic songs that Dr. Berding has innovated are immensely useful to my personal endeavor to stay competent in Greek.

I first want to say that I am not connected with the author in any way and am not in his classes. I just downloaded the audio version of this with the accompanying PDF of the guide (thanks to Zondervan's great customer service in pointing me to it!)

1. I have taken overall 6 semesters of Attic and Koine Greek and I still find myself having problems remembering these paradigms. To have another sensory way of learning them is very helpful. The more ways the better! The songs cover most of the harder and most common paradigms. One problem is that sometimes the paradigm behind the songs are hard to follow because of the ordering of the words, but in general, the author has done a great job of making the songs accessible.

2. Having said that these songs are catchy and helpful, learning them is no substitute for spending time with the Greek text. The problem with learning a song is that you have to go through the whole thing to find a form and then you have to know the structure of the paradigm behind the song to locate the words proper form. This can be time consuming. So, this CD will not make you proficient at Greek, it will help get a good basis from which to build. Eventually, one should be able to recognize most of these endings and words without singing the songs.

3. Finally, as for the songs themselves, they are catchy but not the sort of thing you would want to listen to outside of studying. The author made them very passable and helpful by sticking to children songs and songs we are familiar with. By doing so, some musical pleasantness was probably sacrificed.

All in all I would highly recommend this CD/text for anybody who wants to refresh on their Greek paradigms and is sick of just sitting there with their text and drilling paradigms into one's head. Also it is great if one commutes.

I am currently taking my first year of Greek with Dr. Berding, and we have been using a pre-publication version of the songs on this CD and the included charts. I can not imagine learning Greek any other way, and honestly feel bad for those who have.
For someone who is in no way inclined to learning languages or grasping linguistical concepts these songs have made learning Greek possible for me. I've not had to memorize a single paradigm yet I and still parse most any verb you throw my way. These songs will stick in your head forever, and nothing could be more helpful in making your way though verbs than the charts that come with this CD.
Basically if you can sing children's songs then you'll be able to learn Greek.

I'm in Dr. Berding's Greek class and his technique is the way to go. I'm horrible when it comes to learning new languages, but Dr. Berding's technique has allowed me to read a large amount of the New Testament after only two semesters. I would recommend this technique to everyone. Dr. Berding has taught me an ancient, dead, foreign language through music. I barely made it through High School Spanish. I'm tone deaf and have absolutely no beat. If this technique works for a guy who's brother punches him in church because he's singing off key and clapping off beat, it'll work for you.

The unabridged CD-Rom read by Victor Garber is quite notable. The reader gives voice to all the characters. He creates a suspenseful climax through variations in his voice. The reader also attributes to the modern fantasy by reading the greatly written science fiction work with belief.

The first book grabs the reader and the sequels are great too. Here's what happens in Bunnicula: Things were never the same after that dark and stormy night when the family arrived home from the movies with a cuddly little bunny they'd found wrapped in a blanket left on a seat in the theater. Since it was a Dracula movies showing, they decided to name the bunny, Bunnicula.
It was Chester, their cat, who first noticed some very strange things about Bunnicula. For instance, the black and white markings on his back looked very much like a cloak and instead of the usual rabbit square buck teeth, he had sharp pointed fangs rather like a vampire's fangs.
Harold, the family dog, wasn't too impressed by these two oddities, but did notice that the rabbit seemed to sleep all day.
Then one morning the family discovered a white tomato and couldn't figure out what had happened to it. It seemed to be drained of its juice. Only Chester noticed the two tiny puncture marks in the tomato.
You'll love these books and their great animal characters. I'm glad the audiobook has the full stories and didn't trim them down.

I loved this product. The stories were fun, innocent, and interesting. Victor Garber's voices were wonderful, and I love listening to him. The best was Howliday Inn, which was packed full of intrigue, fun, interesting characters, and mystery.

Highly recommended for all ages (I am an adult).

Count me among the Victor Garber fans who bought this set of CDs simply to hear Alias' Spydaddy do something others said he did well. Also count me among those who thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The books themselves are well written and seem to be just fun to read. However, Mr. Garber as the narrator just brought them to life as he created a unique voice for each character. A lot of times I didn't know which made me laugh more, the voices or the story itself.

As a 29 year old single person with no kids, I have no reason to listen to these CDs other than the pure enjoyment of them, and I think I will listen to them quite often.

Okay, I'll admit it. I bought these CDs because some of my fellow Victor Garber fans were going on about them. But hey, guess what? I've really enjoyed the stories, too! James and Deborah Howe really thought things through with the first book, and I loved the wonderful silliness of 'bloodless' white vegetables in the kitchen, Bunnicula's 'cloak', 'fangs' and daytime sleepiness, Chester trying to be Van Helsing and failing in hilarious fashion. Poor Harold.... I'd be glad to feed him chocolate cupcakes and give him MTRs anytime!

James has expanded the world of Bunnicula very well in the second and third books. After vampires, what else would you expect but werewolves at Chateau Bow Wow? The fiasco at Toby and Pete's school play had me giggling like nobody's business! He knows how to let the inherent ridiculousness of the situation build up to a great comic crescendo. I promise you I will get hold of the next three books, as I can't wait to see what happens next!

I rmember reading this book as a child, so when I found it again as an adult, I knew I HAD to have it again.

This book is captivating and impossible to put down even now as I approach age 30. As a girl I found it spellbinding, the kind of book that makes your own world and time dissolve around you and casts directly in the life and time of the characters. It is far to rare that an author can weave that kind of story. Elizabeth George Speare certainly has that gift. Don't hesitate to buy this for the children in your life. Also by E. G. Speare be sure and check out The Witch of Blackbird Pond and one of my all-time favorites, Calico Captive. Enjoy and keep a clock nearby as you're surely going to lose track of time while reading this book.

The voice reading Sign of the Beaver was pleasant and easy to listen to. Since I was not listening to the whole book in one sitting, it was difficult to find where on the CD I left off. It would be more efficient to have the track for each chapter labeled on the CD.

As a fourth grade educator, I would never introduce this book to my students as anything else other than an example of popular culture that perpetuates stereotypes of Native Americans. Attean and other Native American characters speak in broken English, giving the reader the impression that these characters are inferior to their White counterparts. The terminology used is highly offensive (squaw)for both Native people and for women. The relationship that Attean has with girls in his tribe as well as with animals is unrealistic and down right inaccurate. Joseph Bruchac and Michael Dorris are two authors which do an excellent job of writing from the Native American perspective.

I have used Sign of the Beaver as a read aloud just about every year I have taught! I teach 4th grade, and have always had great reviews from my students. The text and vocabulary are advanced for some fourth graders, so it is a terrific way to expand their vocabulary and knowledge without having frustrated readers. I have collected a class set over the years, allowing every child to read along. I highly recommend this book!