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Practical and accessible information that anyone can understand and apply. Mr. Freshman illustates his points in a way that makes his points clear even to a beginner. It's a must-read for anyone who is looking to venture into this area.

Sam Freshman has an amazing ability to communicate so much with an economy of words even the "freshman" real estate buff can appreciate. His book and his wisdom are worth every penny and more.

Throw out all the your get rich quick guides! This book explains in simple and easy to understand language the preparation, execution, and practices that must be taken to become successful in the field. I truly believe this book, if properly followed, can make anybody who reads it substantial amounts of money.

Samuel Freshman's "Principles of Real Estate Syndication" covers the syndication process and all related issues from A to Z. The book is extremely informative and a must for anyone who wants to get into the syndication business... and even for those who already are. It is clearly written and concise... the exhibits are especially helpful.

Whether you're an experienced real estate investor, an aspiring real estate investor or simply interested in learning how to generate wealth through the art of real estate syndication, this book is a must-read. The author of this book, Samuel K. Freshman, is speaking from experience when he sets out the blue print for making money through real estate investment and syndication. His no-nonsense, non-hyped and practical writing style and advise makes this book an easy and interesting read. If you are serious about making money in real estate, read this book.

I really like this book. I wish that it shows how to measure/ create something with symmetry (curvy cast iron fences). Great idea for really good price.

I bought this about a year ago because of the airplane on the cover...I decorated my son's room in airplanes and was looking for a mural. I was so impressed with how easy it was to do the airplane, and I was enchanted with the author's other characters, that I also did some of the pond characters over my garden tub, for my son as well! When I get more time, I plan on using other chapters to create murals for my daughter. My mother was so impressed, I am buying her the book as a surprise gift. I highly recommend this book! If you can draw, you can paint these murals!

What a great book! I haven't done any murals yet, but plan to within the month. I imagine it will be relatively easy to do with the guidance of this book. It has great mural ideas, detailed supply lists and recommendations, and it shows how to do some of the smallers elements of each mural step by step. I feel much more confident going into mural painting with this book.

Lots of great ideas in here, with step-by-step instructions about how they are accomplished. I think one still has to have a little skill beforehand, but it is a great guide.

I liked the way this book gave me lots of ideas and how-to tips, and also left it open to add my own adaptions. I will definitely use some of the projects in my granddaughter's rooms when we redecorate them.

It is an inspiring book writen by a teacher who deeply respects children's ideas and knows how to stimulate their creativity. She focuses on six basic media (no new techniques).

Easy to read with a lot of helpful hints. Straight forward approach including developmental stages.

This book stands out as a resource for art teachers because it is more than just ideas and directions for projects and crafts. The author shares her experiences and lessons-learned from 25 years of teaching art. As a newly hired art teacher for a private school, charged with creating my own curriculum, this book has become my jewel.
Ms. Beal presents a clearly focused method for teaching art to children with specific information about the developmental stages and abilities of elementary-aged children. She describes lessons and different types of media as they enable children to experience art. Her emphasis is on the experience, not the finished product. By controlling the environment through order and clearly defined limits, children can experience a process and master a technique without becoming confused or frustrated. She focuses on giving children the tools to make art a form of self-expression from the child outward, rather than from the adult in to the child. From her method of teaching, children understand basic concepts and learn that art has many layers -- art class is not just a bunch of arbitrary crafts or projects. This book has geat potential for adaptation to the Montessori classroom because of its hands-on approach and has children involved in every phase of art from the selection of materials to cleaning up.
I already have a fair amount of experience with art and with some teaching, but this book is really good for grounding -- it makes art and art lessons relevant, age-appropriate, logical, and positive. You get the sense that real learning and creativity happen in her classroom, rather than the chaotic, messy, nagging, direction-oriented approach that many of us envision in home or school art classes.

Going into my first year as an art teacher after many years of not working in the education field, I was nerved up and needed some inspiration and reinforcement of theories, ideas, and concepts I had learned in school so many years before. The book was very readable and enjoyable. The concepts were clear and the anecdotes were very real. The students really came to life and her encouragement and demand for true quality showed in the examples in the book.
The only drawback to this book was that the author obviously came from a school district with much funding and she was lucky enough to have her own art room to present her ideas and use her very creative time savers. As an "art on the cart" teacher in a district with very tight funding, many things did not directly translate. However, the ideas in the book have inspired me to develop time savers and short cuts all my own.
I have found myself flipping though the book several times and rereading sections about materials I am not as familiar with. This was one book that I am very glad to have purchased.

This book made me think...the author has a wonderful way of viewing the art of teaching art. As a new art teacher, reading it has been very thought provoking and I am already applying some of her strategies in my class.

Alabama moon is a very adventurous tale with lots of facts about the woods. And its so good I got up in the morning and read it until it was bedtime. I rate it 5 stars, my favorite book yet (even better then the golden compass and man was that gooooood.)

This book is abselutely action-packed, full of adventure and shocking endings (made me cry when I read the shocking ending.) Some parts just makes you want to say "OOHH DDAARRNNIITT! But it's still the best book I have read in my whole entire life! This book is so great, I would give it 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars!

My 11 year-old is a reluctant reader, but every now and then a book comes along that keeps his interest even when it is not "reading time". This is one of those books. Moon Blake is a compelling character, having grown up in the woods with his reclusive father. And his story is captivating. He just wants to be left alone to go to Alaska, but he's picked up and taken to a boys home instead. I love how the story evolves, how you see Moon change his ideas of the world, and how he deals with the abusive constable who won't leave him alone.

A terrific book you won't be able to put down.

This book tells the journey of Moon Blake, who have always lived with his father. But when his father died, he must find a way to escape the outside civilziation and find his home. This novel has an exciting plot, wonderful research, and is a great read. By reading this book, one could also learn the meaning of friendship.

This book begs for a sequel and soon, too. We--we readers--have to know what happened to Moon and to Hal...What happens to them as they grow, mature, and face their young adult high school and college days? And when they grow up, get married and have families of their own...As they approach old age...Will they, can they, escape (overcome) the events described here in the formative days of their youth. Rarely has a book cried out for a sequel more than this one.

In fact, Mr. Key may have his own cottage industry here, a book on their continuing relationship (Moon and Hal) and/or single books on each boy.
Mark Twain did it and did it well with Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Mr. Key has the same oportunity here. Here's hoping he's up to the opportunity--not the "task," but the "opportunity."

Orginally written as a book for teens and a little older, Alabama Moon has touched all and stirred the slumbering chords of all generations as it deals with youth, growing, up, family, love and lack thereof.

Outstanding. Don't miss it.

After getting another book, I found I wanted to ensure diversity in my book collection of reference materials. Saw this book, flipped through it in the book store and decided to get it. That simple. It has great information in it and bullets out just what I want to know. I also have the Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats : Your A-Z Guide to Over 200 Conditions, Herbs, Vitamins, and Supplements by Shawn Messonnier. Both of these books complement each other and provide what I need to know for taking care of my animals. Often, the herbs recommended correlate to the ones I'm taking (or that people take). I certainly don't mind sharing with my best friend and loyal companion.
My quest initially started because my 7 YO schnoodle suddenly experienced a slipped disk and couldn't walk (essentially hind leg paralysis, both hind legs). I was completely distraught at the prospect of surgery on the little guy. After learning a local chiropractor (ours as it turns out) would take a look at him, I took him in. I consider it CAM - complementary alternative medicine. I kept him on steroids, and pain management, and the chiro adjusted him. By the next morning he was able to walk out of his cage (where the meds had clearly made him sick all night). I decided then and there that there is no question in my mind that there is something to be said for alternative therapies. No one can convince me otherwise. This dog dragged himself around for two days, and the vets told me they saw no improvement when they had him. I continue with touch therapy and supplements to his diet. But I will never forget this extraordinary and valuable lesson. Our families are valuable treasures and we are entrusted with good stewardship of our K9 companions. This book helps make that job a bit easier.

I recently ordered several books about dogs and how to maintain their health. This book was the BEST one of the bunch. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants the best for their animal companion(s). After reading this book I ordered several more to give as christmas presents.

I especially loved the chapter on the healthiest foods to feed your dog. It has changed the way I feed my own dogs and they absolutely LOVE their new way of eating. Who knew that the healthy foods that humans eat is exactly what is the healthiest foods for our own dogs. I know that I wasn't aware of that fact until I read this book.

I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who shares their life with a dog.

Excellent book Well Written. Great format, great philosophy well researched.
All dog lovers should read and have this in their library. High marks !


Soleng K. Tom MD
Palo Alto, California

Since buying this book it has become my best friend, it has helped me and especially my animal friends time and time again. Many of my dog loving friends also own this book now because of the info i have shared with them from this book . A definate must have if you are searching for alternative health care.

Fabulous book!! It is packed with information, but easy to understand and apply. I found the book to be very balanced and subjective in it's approach and advice. For example, it fairly presents the pros/cons of different diet approaches, without specifically recommending a "one size fits all" solution. All chapters of the book are valuable, but the section on diet and nutrition is particularly outstanding! Since reading the book, I have adopted a diet of home-cooked meals for my german-shepherd-mutt that is virtually 100% vegetarian! Seeing the way she responded to the new diet has converted many of my friends into believers who were total skeptics of a vegetarian diet. Although my dog was always healthy and happy, the changes are unbelievable in terms of her temperament, appearance and personality.

Regardless of whether you're looking to change your dog's diet (as I did), this is a valuable book and must-have for every serious dog owner!

I had knit several typical sock patterns with success, and I loved the finished product, but the sock bug had not hit me. I found typical patterns to be kind of boring and I also had a little bit of trouble with consistency in the sizing.

Cat's patterns are wonderful and extremely well written. I love her new increases (though the mother/grandmother stitch hint did nothing for me) and the master patterns and numbers are excellent. I will use this book forever and probably never get tired of it.

I used to think socks were boring and took a long time. Now with Cat's patterns, I realize how captivating and quick socks can be!

One more time Cat Bordhi takes knitting to a new level. With her new looks at how to construct sock gussets she has changed the way socks have always been made. The book is written for many levels of knitters and the more adventuresome can use these ideas for a jumping off point for endless possibilities for making socks for everyone from babies to men. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn how to make socks with these new methods. I can't wait for book II!

Cat Bordhi has a brain I envy. She's taken something that's been done for generations in pretty much the same few ways and broken it apart to examine it, put the pieces together in new ways and said "Why not?" The socks she offers are beautiful and innovative in the extreme. Directions are detailed and clear.

One star off because of the paging back and forth required to follow some patterns, plus the tendancy to larger guages, which a lot of sock knitters, including me, aren't enamoured of.

Das Buch ist eine Fundgrube von Ideen, wie man Socken mit verschiedensten Abnahmen machen kann. Die Anleitungen sind sehr gut erklärt und natürlich kann man sie mit Rundnadeln stricken!

I'm an expert knitter (30+ years) and I've created my own patterns and taught knitting. I've mastered the art of knitting back backwards and I've created several of my own cast-ons when I found other cast-ons too constrictive or too complex.

And yet I was starting to think that there was something wrong with me that I found this book confusing and overly complicated. I'm so glad to know there are other people who feel this way. The "choose your own adventure" aspect - where page 51 tells you to turn to page 9 and you get to page 9 and it tells you to look for box 10 - is unnecessarily complicated and, frankly, lazy. Make the instructions clearer - even if it means making the book longer.

The second, and almost as annoying, aspect of this book is the way she makes up terms. What the heck? Is there something wrong with "SSK" and "K2tog"? I don't see the point, unless you're teaching a rank beginner with this book, and if you are, she's going to go off to other books and patterns and come back to you: "What?? Help! I don't understand!"

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I'm a process person, not a product person. But while the ideas in this book might be wonderful, the execution is so flawed as to make the book virtually worthless. I've had it for almost two weeks and I still haven't cast on a sock from it. This is unheard of for me: I've been known to cast on an interesting pattern on the way home from the knitting shop.

This book is very poorly written. It also does not adequately discuss estimating materials.

This book is a good reference for anyone who is currently designing or building a luxury home, but for a general education on construction interiors, this is not the book. There are many references to the latest products, which include both color and feature description that will be quickly outdated. Most of the discussion centers around materials that would be used in an affluent home rather than your typical family residence, and product descriptions focus on the unique product, not the typical. Dimensions for comfortable clearance and layout hints are useful for residential layout, but the commercial references are very limited.

I read this book for clues on how to become a stay at home mom. I purchased quite a few books and found this one to be most helpful. She not only tells you how to do it, she gives great examples of what she did that worked and what didn't work!

This book is a must have for any woman transitioning from "work outside the home" to "stay at home". It is chock full of wisdom and great ideas! This is no "wash & reuse your plastic baggies" kind of book. It has fantastic practical helps on everything from helping your grocery budget to making your own play-dough and non-toxic cleaning products. I have read and re-read this book many times.

I don't really think this book gives much depth on the art of living on less. I would recommend The Tightwad Gazette if you want to learn to live on one income and look for this one at the library, there is really very little advice that isn't obvious.

This is a fabulous book on this subject. It is now slightly dated but still a great book to spur ideas. I would recommend it!

I found this book used at the bookstore and traded some unwanted books to get it, and that was the best "purchase" I have made in a long time. Other reviewers who say that she does focus heavily on food are correct, but for me that was great, because I do spend a lot on food and it seemed like a good place to start.

She shares general tips as well about places that commonly eat up our money, so it is a good book to get started with because it is focused in one direction and also has a lot of springboards for other areas of your life where you can save. Her tips never seemed like they went too far or would make me feel deprived, in fact a lot of her tips are based around developing more awareness of where your money is going, and she has a lot of ideas that I found very helpful.

So this is a great book to get started with, especially a used copy (I have an older edition and am finding it helpful even though some of the prices are outdated), and then when you have squeezed the usefulness out of this book, go for the Tightwad Gazette next. The Tightwad Gazette is a bit overwhelming for beginners, so I do recommend this book first. I have gotten a lot out of it.

The book arrived in a timely fashion as noted in the order. I am completely satisfied.

Barb Schwarz is a Realtor who began staging homes in the seventies. Her courses are VERY expensive and do not give you the basics you need to start your business from zero. In order for her course to help you at all, you must have some previous knowledge of the staging industry. Once you have completed her course you are on your own, where other courses provide you with a 'business in a box' complete with your own web site. With Barb you get one page on the internet and that is it. The Schwarz school of staging does not seem to stay current with what is happening in the staging business so you have to research for yourself to see what is changing in the world of staging everyday.

Very disappointing. After 3 or so chapters of nothing but the author talking about herself and the promotion of her "staging certification", I have had enough. I counldn't take it anymore and did not read the rest of this book.

Book only has 8 poorly reproduced photos showing lack of design training. Author claims the business is not a design business, but a real estate business. That's what you say when you don't know much about design. Text is printed in light grey making it really hard to read. Filled with redundant and excessive claims to fame that are unsubstantiated and highly exaggerated. Constant use of misleading terminology leading to a shallow designation with no accountability for talent. Author's clear intent is propaganda for her high priced seminars. Would not recommend this book.

I found this book lacking in the kind of specifics I was looking to get. It felt like the author simply pulled out several articles written at different times and handed to a secretary to stick in a manuscript and title each article as a chapter. What else could explain the constant mentioning over and over again one's so-called credentials. One only needs to be filled in on the author's background once, not constantly throughout the book.

I really believe this is where the series begins to get a lot of its juice and lets the plot go full-speed. Excellent pacing and marvelous emotion and thoughts, as well as all the necessary action and quirkiness. I wouldn't say it's my favorite, and I have absolutely loved the series up to this point, but as far as plot-writing goes, this is where the books take off.

Slippery Slope is a good book. I would recommend it if you like books that are mysteries. This book is the 10th one in the Series of Unfortunate Events written by Lemony Snicket. I think the book would only make sense to you if you've read the other books in the series. The characters and events that happened in the other books are important to know before you read The Slippery Slope. The story seemed too predictable for me. The book is 337 pages long and didn't have a lot of action so it moved too slow.

My favorite book is The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket. It is a mystery about good vs. evil. My favorite character is sunny. She is a little baby who loves to bite and is always helping them get out of trouble with her very sharp teeth.
The author's writing style is smart because she makes them get out of traps in smart ways and she leaves lot's of suspense.
I love this book because at the end of each chapter you can't put it down; you want to keep reading. The further you get' the better the book gets. That is why I like the The Slippery Slope and other series of unfortunate Events books. Recommended to all readers.

The Slippery Slope is "Book the Tenth" in the Series of Unfortunate Events featuring the Baudelaire orphans. Count Olaf has kidnapped the youngest orphan, Sunny, and Violet and Klaus must try to find a way to save themselves as well as catch up to Olaf and reclaim their sister. But they find themselves alone and without resources in the cold and scary Mortmain Mountains. To make matters worse, they are not sure to where Olaf has escaped. First they are attacked by snow gnats that sting for no reason, then they run into the horrible Carmelita who made their lives so miserable when they attended Prefrock Prepatory School. But all is not bad as they meet a mystery friend that comes to their aid and turns out to be an unexpected ally. But will the new friendship be enough to overcome Olaf and his evil henchman who grow in number with every installment in the series?

After a stretch of books that dragged, the tenth book finally picks the pace back up. It is clear that the plot is beginning to reach a climax and the story excites the reader to continue. The beginnings of the overall theme are finally coming together and mysteries are being revealed. However, just as it is for the Baudelaire children, the more mysteries that are solved, the more mysteries that evolve.

This series remains a highly imaginative and well written series. Unfortunately it dipped in the middle, but it seems to be making a comeback that will hopefully continue right through "Book the Thirteenth."

SLIPPERY SLOPE is the tenth of the thirteen volume A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. As an adult reader who came to this series recently (I saw the film version of the first three volumes, which seriously piqued my curiosity) I have had some complaints about the earlier volumes. As an adult reader, I found that the earlier volumes often moved too slowly and were too repetitive. I tried to get past that because, after all, it's a children's book, and some of the clever double entendre found in Sunny's "baby talk" in the earlier books was well worth it. Moreover, the underlying mystery had captured my imagination, and I found myself searching for clues in the books to see if I could figure some answers out myself.

However, in this book, finally the story begins to move at a faster pace. New characters are introduced, we learn some answers (finally!) to the mysteries that have been haunting us since the first book, and Sunny's growth from a small baby into a little girl makes her the most charming of the Baudelaires. Yes the series was slow on occasion - the 4th and 5th books especially spring to mind - but the developing story is worth the wait. And if you're reading this to a child, you're going to be entertained as much as they are.