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This is a delightful living book. An opportunity to learn a lot about Monet, his work and his life while enjoying a beautifully told story.

Fabulous book about places I have visited and loved -- I actually
know Michelle who owns the Hotel Esmerelda (she will autograph my
copy of book), and have spent many happy hours in the bookstore
around the corner (never go to Paris without visiting it), and
of course, Monet's art and home are the pinnacle. A wonderful
and inspirational book for all!

I absolutely LOVED this book when I was younger. So, if you're having doubts about your child liking it, I wouldn't...I had the doll of Linnea and I carried it around with me everywhere...and I also brought the book everywhere I could as well.

Linnea, a young Swedish girl has developed quite a friendship with the elderly Mr. Bloom, her upstairs neighbor. Mr. Bloom is a retired gardener who is the proud owner of a lovely book about the great French artist, Claude Monet. After hours and hours of studying Monet and his life, the pair begin the ultimate adventure: a trip to Paris, and where it all began! Linnea and Mr. Bloom visit the Marmottan museum to observe the many paintings of Monet. They study his artwork and how the genius painted. They learn about other Impressionist artists--many who were great friends of Monet. Eventually the young child and elderly gentleman make the ultimate trek to Giverny, where Monet lived and painted.
This book could almost be a 'fun' textbook. The artwork, both of the author's and of Monet's is absolutely exquisite. Becoming familiar with Monet's life and his paintings become a marvelous art history lesson. As an adult, I not enjoyed reading this lovely book but I learned a lot. In fact, a few days after reading LINNEA in Monet's Garden I was watching a Sex in the City episode where Charlotte was showing a group of people one of Monet's 'lily' murals. Being familiar with that painting because of this book was an exciting moment for me!

In 1988 I begged my Principal(I was a teacher in the Salinas valley) to purchase a set of this book.I taught in the "middle of nowhere " that now holds a good chunk of my heart. This was the time of teaching through literature sets, wholly in love with language, and inspiring children by creating together environments to make meaning and to find "context" for learning.It was a time to motivate lives. Toni Ungs, my then Principal, turned to me and replied, no, that I would be the "only teacher" on site who would use the set. And so it goes in teaching, yet another opportunity denied by those thinking within their prodigious logic systems.
So... I bought the set out of pocket as I do most everything, a teacher tale for another time I spend thousands each year to do what matters. This book is just a delight for students. A young, girl, Linnea and her elder neighbor embark on a trip together to see Monet's Gardens.They live in Europe and this book offers a glimpse into another world for the children. Both share a love of the actual plants/flowers/gardens Monet painted, the artist, the paintings and after planning their trip together we in turn share their gentle journey as they go see the L'Orangrie/Paris and head to the gardens. Since I've had the pleasure of those places and share the love of Monet...it's a book that I share every spring with my classes. I choose to teach Monet in the spring when "what so soon will wake and grow , utterly unlike the snow" thoughts crowd my imagination. I am fortunate in that we have a TV and I bought a DVD player to share the DVD of this book.(among other things) The DVD's as good if not better than the book. I have a pop out book of his garden and a book from a Monet Retrospective I went to in New York in my teens to supplement the images and students seem as captivated as the rest of us in these experiments in light. The notion of a "series", of the way light, time, weather affect the same image are very fascinating things for my students.Then we paint. Of course I embed this in my talking of Paris, reading Madeline, trying to teach a bit of the French, and our sharing baguettes, cheese, Napoleons and a petit four or two. My first grade enjoys my attempts at cultural contexts and bringing into their lives a notion of great artists. I can confess here on this site, I suppose, that it's heady stuff to bring Monet, Picasso and the world of art to students.First grade allows you the kind of "you heard it here first" honor. I'm all the more brilliant in their eyes for it. Of course it connects them to much larger contexts and from time to time these are revealed in the year when my class screams out "Monet" at an assembly or "Beethoven, "Ode to Joy" "or somehow lets the school collective know we are up to something in room 10. And that something includes learning about a little girl that ventures to a hotel with her neighbor and picnics on the grounds of Monet's gardens and sees for herself the beauty of his creation from the world of nature. Now that's a sweet confession to share with Amazon readers. Choose this book for a child, you'll be glad you did.

We recently purchased a house with a large yard that is rough in several places. Since I am a beginning gardener I find this book a great help in guiding my efforts to enhance and plant our yard. I love that it includes construction help as well as information on plants and flowers.

Over a thousand inspirational photos accompany these step-by-step outdoor landscape ideas, which appear in a new updated edition of a classic coverage. From swimming pool options and decks and patios to handling slopes and tricky problem areas, STEP BY STEP LANDSCAPING comes packed with both building and planting tips and will be an excellent pick for homeowners who want to transform their outdoors environments.

This is a yummy book with many wonderful ideas and rooms and I am absolutely stumped at the other (negative) reviews here. Hey, if you don't like traditional, don't buy the book. It's traditional! It's mega traditional with its beautiful symmetry and richness. Some of us still like that by the way and you need not have a French background, nor does it matter where you come from, to have good taste and love traditional. While his taste is a bit too fussy even for me, I still love looking through the book and always get new ideas. Get a life and go buy a contemporary design book if you don't liked traditional traditional.

Certainly, this is about individual style. It is that character which pervades Mr. Faudree's work. We all take from our cache of knowledge, and Mr. Faudree has chosen from French, Spanish, and English styles.

I don't see more clutter than in English Country or French opulence. I do think the rooms appear a bit too "clean" -- not lived it. I believe the photographer is the problem and not Mr. Faudree. That said, with my collection of over two hundred interior design books, from Billy Baldwin to Faudree, this deserves its place on the shelves along with the rest.

If you have enjoyed Charles Faudree's beautiful rooms in Traditional Home Magazine over the years, as I have, you will love this book. It is absolutely loaded with wonderful rich-colored pictures/photos. It is divided into sections by the room (kitchen, bedroom, etc...) and each section begins with the author's commentary about these rooms and how he chose the design/pieces. Next follows the gorgeous pictures/photos with wonderfully descriptive captions that give the origin of the piece, fabric or wallpaper. This is one of those books you will pick up again and again...and you will most likely see something great you missed the time before. After pouring through this book, I immediately ordered Faudree's other book, "Country French Living". After just one time through this beautiful book, I came away with three or four ideas that I was able to immediately implement in my own home. One suggestion: when you sit down to enjoy this book, do so with paper and pen close by. The pictures are so detailed that I was able to read the titles of many of the wonderful books Faudree has displayed throughout his home. I recognized some I have collected but jotted down 6 or 7 titles that I had never seen or had seen but wasn't sure if I should buy. Also, if you love animals (dogs and cats) this book will definitely make you smile. Almost every page has a snoozing, pampered pet curled up for an afternoon nap. This book contains a wealth of information, but putting that aside...it is a feast for the eyes!

I like this book, and keep it on my coffee table for others to enjoy. The only reason that I haven't given it 5 stars is because the kitchens section wasn't anything particularly inspiring.

Profusely illustrated with dreamy, close focus photographs, this book seems to sweep the reader right into each French Country room. This style of interior design is a little too fussy for my taste, but I enjoyed the authors' ability to take me on a tour of these homes as if I were on a mini-vacation.

This book is easy to read and has very helpful information that you can use. It contains things that you may not think about. I think if just about covers all items you would use in starting a business or just doing for yourself or helping friends with their home.

When you really want specifics on a topic, you just need a book by this author and you'll find yourself immersed in the kind of details and guidance you were hoping to get. Not one to mince words, Jennings lays it all out with precision, yet keeping the information interesting and practical and sometimes a little humorous. She's got plenty of forms, plenty of decorating training (dealing with the professional ways to arrange a client's furniture), and even more guidance on how to move a client's possessions, plus all the set up, promotional and business side of things. An excellent read.

If you're looking to do interior redesign AND home staging simultaneously, I highly recommend both books by this author as they are easy to read, provide outstanding guidance, give you information on additional helpful tools and are flat out the best you'll find on the subject. I am a teacher and always on the hunt for tidbits and gems I can pass on to my own students. I got far more than I bargained for which pleases me greatly. The information is really to the point, very detailed, very precise. Both manuals are large and packed to the brim -- no fluff like some others. Get both by this author. This is a no-brainer.

Jennings has a number of excellent books for the interior redesign and home staging business that fit together and build upon each other into a cohesive whole so that anyone can start and build a business from the ground floor up. This is her basic manual, which is filled to the brim with great advice and guidance, and she also has an advanced book called "Advanced Redesign", along with a couple more books geared for the home staging market. This book, however, shows you how to start up and set up your business, how to get clients, how to do consultations and price your services, how to market and promote it properly, and a good deal of excellent training on the design end of the business - the kind of stuff you won't get from others. For instance, at the end of the book she literally shows you the most common furniture arrangements used by professional designers. In most situations, one of these should be suitable for a typical room a person would work in. She makes the process easy to understand and gives readers the tools and examples to understand what to do, but also why they work so well.

The other books she has written show you how to add related products and services to your business to get the most out of your business that you can get. Since most people want to make profits from their business venture, the book gives you an excellent picture of how to go about doing just that, all in a clear, concise step-by-step analysis. All the books by this author are excellent and well worth the investment.

The furniture arrangement configurations in the back of the book are powerful examples of how to arrange furniture no matter what the shape or size of the room. This is worth the price of the book alone. In a nutshell, I can see the most common ways furniture should be arranged. All I have to do is select one and I should have a winning combination for any room I have to tackle. This is reassuring because I don't want to get to a client's home and not have an answer for their problems. And that's one huge gem at the end of the book, which I haven't found in any book out there.

From start to finish I found this book to be very practical, very thorough and very useful. It focuses on the single topic of starting a redesign business and doesn't get sidetracked. It also doesn't try to cover the subject with broad generalities and filler, like other books I've read. So it delivers exactly what it promises with the kind of details and thoroughness you would expect to get.

All the standard stuff about setting up a business is there, but it relates all that to a redesign business specifically. The author goes indepth on how to interview a client, how to start a project, questions you'll need to ask and the whole step by step process, including taking before and after pictures, collecting the fee and so forth. There are a generous supply of photos showing how it really is to be a redesigner (not studio pictures that are not the norm). So it accurately depicts the life of a redesigner and what we all face no matter where we live and work.

The author's style is easy to follow and conversational, which helped me stay interested throughout, even in the marketing sections that typically are less fun than the design parts. I mean, I'm a creative person, and it's harder for me to concentrate on the business side, but I know that's where I need to improve my knowledge and skill.

I enjoyed this book immensely and appreciate the tools and visual aids the author recommends. It's an excellent read.

Informative and readable. Obviously a labor of love. I give it 5 stars even though the Tom Caspar-inspired design I've settled on didn't come from this book.

A very complete workbench guide with just enough history, lots of technical info, and with high quality pictures and drawings.

Very fine expository writing for those interested in the history of and current state-of-the-art woodworking benches and accessories. Enclosed plans are a nice plus. The resource section is excellent. Well researched, well written, photography is exceptional.

EIM

Seeing various ways to lay out workbenches is nice and this book fulfills that mission.

For me this is a coffee table book. Alot of history and research about workbenches from the middle ages on up till now. Not much information or diagrams on building benches.

A really beautiful book. One of the best I have seen. I live in Mexico and will be using many ideas.

While I was in the process of planning and building my next casa in Baja, this book provided mucho inspiration. The Spanish Colonial, and Hacienda designs, the avalanche of colors and gardens provided me the basis of making mi casa as Mexico as I could.
Yes, the binding is weak, but the book remains as an Essential. I now have 2 copies, one very worn out copy.

i've been to colonial mexico, and i've seen more exciting stuff than what's on this book. also, the pages come appart easily

If you love the bold, life-affirming colors of Mexican houses and interiors but not necessarily the traditional architecture and furnishings of the mexican tradition, this is the book for you! I ordered several books on Mexican interiors and details and this was the best. It gave me great ideas for using bold, bright color in my house without turning it into a hacienda. The book is beautifully designed and the color just blows off the pages. It has in it everything I love about Mexico that is bright, lively, joyous, and enlivening and nothing that is stodgy. As An artist, I found the book irresistable.

I have always loved everything about Mexico, especially their use of color. When I bought my new house I wanted to bring that freedom and joy into my home.

This book was a wonderful guide. Almost every page reminded me to let go and celebrate. There are so many visual feasts and ideas. If you are timid about colors this book will definitely give you a new lease on life.

I loved this whole series!!! It is too bad that the first book Big Stone Gap and the third book (which is the best in my opinion) are not available for download. The story of Ave Marie is very heart warming and makes me yearn for my little hometown in the hills of West Virginia. It is what small town life is all about. If you have not experienced small town life, read these books!!! I loved all four of them and was very sad when I had finished all four books.

As always, Adriana Trigiani does an excellent job at absorbing you in to the family's world and taking you along for the ride. Love it!

This book was a fantastic ending to a great series of BOOKS-
I hope the author writes more soon!

This book was excellent. It really held my interest and I couldn't put it down. It made me cry and laugh. Can't wait for the sequel !

HOME TO BIG STONE GAP by Adrianna Trigiani Ms. Trigiani makes her characters come alive. All in this series are wonderful. You get to know Ave Marie from her single days to mother-in-law. Her thoughts come alive and allow you to relate to her on a personal level. Her happy times, her insecurity, her anger; they are all reflected in her speech and thoughts. Her descriptions of the people and setting are vivid and so real. Great book!

This well-written resource helps woman seeking opportunities to bring in an income while staying home. The author profiles a wide spectrum of options for both the highly educated and uneducated women. She offers tips on the transition from workplace to home and prepares ladies for some of the problems they might encounter with a home business. She also discusses the nasty topic of taxes and bookkeeping. The book also contains wisdom about recognizing work-at-home scams.

This is not a polemic against daycare or feminism but rather a handbook for those considering a change to "home work" for a variety of reasons.

It is written from a Christian perspective and supports a conservative Christian view of family structure, but it would nevertheless be helpful to non-Christians looking for ideas as well as Christians.

I highly recommend this resource to families who need to add additional income to the household but want to keep one parent in the home.