Nonfiction Books

The product is a wonderful value and saved our vacation. Please note that this is an introductory course and is not comprehensive by any means. We were told that most everyone in Germany spoke English but found many uncomfortable to do so. This product gave me enough German to convey my wants and desires. The lessons are easy to follow and teach by hearing and speaking. I was able to review all the material in two weeks and got many compliments on how well I sopke the language. This product would be helped greatly by some written material for back up. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase and heartily recommend it to any beginner.

Would not recommend this for beginners
As there are no books
I took 2 years in high school
and two years in College
so, I know the grammatical side
and how to spell

I have been amazed that I have been able to learn the language so fast. I truly think this is an excellent program.

I bought this box set for my boyfriend who is serving at a German army base. He says it has been helpful and he sleeps with the cds playing in his ears. Luckily, most Germans speak English but they appreciate your effort to speak German.

Fairly solid grounding in beginning German; strong on pronunciation but short on vocabulary. And possessed of some very strange interchanges. You ask Frau Meyer if she wants some wine. She does. Then you ask her if she also wants a beer, as apparently she's either an alcoholic or you're trying to get her looped. So while you learn a little bit of German very well, it doesn't quite build enough vocabulary to have a conversation much beyond "I know a little German but I don't speak it well." And you'll sound like you're kidding when you say it with such good pronunciation, rendering the phrase almost useless.

I loved these as a kid now they are done for adults. I got them all and when I was laid up with foot surgery has fun with them. they varried by numbers. number sequences, symbols, letters, not for little kids..a big kid toy.

I ordered it for my 8 y/o son, who was able to do quite a few of the puzzles. I found my 17 y/o daughter burried in the book intently working one of the more detailed puzzles.

This book takes the classic to a higher and more interesting level. My six year old loves how the images take shape without him being able to tell what the picture is before completing the dots. FYI: Be sure to use a wide tip marker for best results.

My three boys ages 11, 9 and 7 enjoy this dot to dot book immensley. They like puzzles and game books but have always found dot to dot unchallenging as they can tell what the picture will be before they attempt it. They have had fun doing these dot to dots cause they are always surprised at the detailed outcome.
Yikes! I meant to rate this book with FIVE STARS. (oops!)

I never outgrew my love of doing dot-to-dot puzzles, but I did outgrow the simple dot-to-dot books which are aimed at young children and seemingly were the only ones being made. So it was with great excitement that I came across David Kalvitis's excellent book on Amazon. This is what I have long been hoping to find: a dot-to-dot book that is actually enjoyable (and challenging) for adults!

The puzzles in this book, unlike the kiddie dot-to-dot puzzles of the past, have several adult-worthy features:

1.) The solution to most of the puzzles isn't immediately obvious. You won't be connecting 25 dots to complete a kite or a ball in this book! Instead, puzzles can include 200 to 300 (or more!) dots, in which many have to be connected in order to reveal what the final image might be.

2.) The act of simply connecting the dots is often a challenge! Many dots are spaced far apart and require long, straight lines zigzagging all around the page, which isn't as easy as it might seem. Your arm will get tired, but you will also get a nice sense of satisfaction after completing the more elaborate puzzles.

3.) Kalvitis includes several variations, including puzzles where you must connect several subsets of dots, puzzles where you start and stop your line, "fields of dots," and even dotless puzzles. This prevents monotony from ever setting in (along with the variety in the pictures themselves).

Older children would probably enjoy this book too, but the difficulty level would most likely frustrate younger kids. That's OK though... as I've already noted, there are plenty of simple dot-to-dot books already available for them. For everyone else, I highly recommend this one!

Very clever - the story, the characters' names - all of it. Perfect for a grade school student! I bought it for my seven year old and it got a big thumbs up from both him and his dad.

Very cute story and a nice way of using word play to describe geometric vocabulary. Great for an introduction to the concept and as a review for older children.

This 32 page children's book tells how Sir Cumference, his wife the Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius solve the problems of the king's table. King Arthur and his knights needed to have a council, but there was a problem with the table around which they met. It began as too long; after that was fixed, the table had too few sides, and other tables produced more objections. Geo of Metry makes tables in several shapes before a round table solves all the problems. The illustrations are great, with medieval pageantry and geometric explanations. A few other characters from Camelot appear, such as Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain.

This is a great book to introduce geometry to the young, making it fun and easy. Shapes and measurements are explained in the quest for the perfect council table for the king and his knights. When the round table is finally found to be the perfect shape, the king names certain measurements after Sir Cumference, Radius, and the Lady Di from Ameter. Very cute!

My kids (9 and 6) , who are homeschooled, loved this story and it resulted in them being able to instantly recall the proper names of geometric elements and classes (e.g., radius, circumference, obtuse, acute). This is probably due to the clever visual and contextual associations provided. We bought another book in the series right afterward with the same results. Plan to get them all.

My daughter has always had a problem learning Math but reading this book (along with the others in this series) has helped her immensely! The books themselves are a bit young for her but the concepts in them (Pi, Geometry, etc) are explained in a way I think she needed.

I would recommend these to anyone who has a child with problems in math concepts.

This story gave me tears of sadness and tears of joy. While it is heartbreaking to learn of all the abuse Sheila has endured, it is
heartwarming to know that SOMEONE took the time and effort to encourage her and to reach out to her. This book is a wonderful testament to the power of love and the human spirit.

I'm half-way through this book and I LOVE it so far!! I'm in school to become a teacher and we're reading this book. It has opened my eyes!!!

My second book by Torey Hayden, but definitely not my last.

ONE CHILD is the story of Sheila, a young girl who was abandoned on the side of a highway by her mother. Now the charge of her drunken father, Sheila is wild, sometimes crazy, and never cries.

What follows after her arrival in Ms. Hayden's classroom (following an incident that is truly chilling) is the relationship that grows, in a short period of time, between Sheila and Torey.

A very good but emotional read. I highly recommend it, and also recommend picking up a copy of The Tiger's Child, which is the continuation of Sheila's story.

At age six, Sheila had already endured a lifetime of horrors. Her mother abandoned her on a highway at age four; her alcoholic father neglected and traumatized her. Thus, it was scarcely a shock to anyone when the coarse, hate-filled child attacked a three-year-old boy, nearly burning him to death.

At such a tender age, Sheila's fate seemed inevitable - a lifetime in a psychiatric ward. Yet while the state awaited placement, they decided to put her in Hayden's special needs classroom.

Initially skeptical of a child with such a background, Hayden nonetheless did her best. Quickly, she glimpsed an intensely intelligent child, who longed for love and acceptance.

This wasn't to say it was an easy job. Nor was there any fairy-tale ending. Often, Sheila went into uncontrollable rages, damaging property, once even throttling pet gerbils when she perceived she had been wronged. Yet after glimpsing the inner Sheila, Torey Hayden refused to give up on her.

Then one day, several months after Sheila arrived in Hayden's classroom, the teacher received a call -- the psychiatric hospital was ready for Sheila. Despite having made a breakthrough with the child, would Sheila's life really be taken away before she had a chance to start it?

As always, Hayden's stories about the children with whom she has worked are deeply moving and memorable. By no means does she attempt to portray herself as a miracle worker; she freely admits her mistakes along with her triumphs as she merely dedicates her life to helping turn young lives around.

Readers interested in learning more about Sheila may be interested in the sequel, The Tiger's Child, which picks up when the girl is 13 and recently reunited with Hayden.

I heard about this book during am assembly and needed a book to read for my english project so i chose this book. Im not a huge fan of non fiction but this book was just amazing!! the writing style the author had made me want to read it more and more and it made me be like woah i cant believe this actually could have happened. I recommend this book to anyone!

Uno de los mejores libros que he tenido el placer de leer. Querido potential buyer, te deseo paz, harmonía y felicidad verdadera. Este libro posiblemente te ayude a conseguirlo, si estás preparado/a.

Should be read slowly, savouring every line of it. This book will remain forever in the shelves of your own life.

This is an outstanding book and easier to grasp than "The Power of Now". Its a desert Island keeper and has helped me immensly in understanding my mind/thought/emotion/pattern dance and how to create happier moments, a happier life. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

We would truly have a New Earth if humanity would understand the transformation that is taking place as we evolve out of unconsciousnes. Eckhart Tolle does an excellent job to express in a clear, practical way what all this entails.

If you ever think your job is hard, or you feel like complaining about the traffic or the weather or that your Internet connection is slow, just stop. Stop and consider the ordeal and misery suffered by the 28 men on Ernest Shackleton's 1914-16 Antartic expedition.

Nothing will seem so bad then.

The Shackleton expedition is probably the greatest survival story ever. After their ship became trapped in ice, the men were forced to spend a winter aboard in the cold and darkness of Antarctic winter. Then their ship was crushed, and they were forced to drag their belongings across the ice by foot. Then things got bad.

They tried to pull their lifeboats across the ice to open water, but found it impossible. Food supplies dwindled and they survived by eating penguins and seals. The ice floes split beneath their feet. They were constantly cold and wet. Then things got worse.

They finally reached the ocean and survived a torcherous six-day ride across raging seas, with little sleep or drinking water, reaching a barren island with their throats parched with thirst. One man had frostbite on his toes. Then, six of them took an even more impossible voyage, a 16-day sail to reach help on South Georgia Island. But even when they got there, they weren't done -- they still had to climb a mountain range.

The Shackleton story has been told many times. This version, by Jennifer Armstrong, is aimed at youth readers, but anyone would enjoy it. The story here is enhanced by nice use of pictures. If you like this, you can move on to the longer, more detailed, books on the expedition.

This is the book that first got me interested in the misadventures of Shackleton and his crew. And I like to think this is what could get kids interested in a better-than-fiction adventure.

The events of the disaster are tackled in rather a heroic light, which should appeal to children. Besides, Shackleton and his men were certainly heroes. The book covers all the basics in an easy-but-remarkably-written expository text. Yet it reads almost like a story in parts, with lots of room for factoids, and that should attract both types of kids--those looking for a good story and those looking for facts. It's a great balance, and allows for a surprisingly emotional view of the situation.

The format is wonderful, too-- who doesn't like to look at pictures? It's almost remisiscent of a magazine, which adds to the appeal.

Great information, a great survival adventures, and perfectly packaged.

Wonderful, wonderful job.

The years of disaster

The book shipwreck at the bottom of the world was a very interesting book the book had a good sense of the true story. When the book started off it showed that there was stuff like that, that actually happened. This book was a if not the best book i have read.
The book was very good and I highly recommend it for good readers
When you read it, it seems like it is very hard to follow but it is not hard once it gets going.

This book exposes the hardships and courage needed to endure two years in the Antarctic with none of the technological advances that we have available to us now. The author does an excellent job of introducing us to the captain and some of the crew. She draws us into their world as their adventure slowly changed into a heroic tale of survival. I used it with sixth graders and found lots of material to tie it into the California Language Arts Standards. Great book for adults and middle and upper school students.

This amazing story was made all the better for me with the pictures that were included in the book. I read parts of this book to sixth graders, and they loved seeing the pictures as I read the text. The straight forward story was great to read too. I've read other accounts of this adventure and thoroughly enjoyed this one the most.

This curriculum covers everything in a naturally progressive way and is divided into subjects. It is not so full of work that you have no time left for supplimenting materials you choose for your child's particular needs.

It is missing to things however. Exams would make it easier for the evaluator to determine progress, which although many homeschooling parents disapprove of, will help satisfy state's requirements. It would also be practical if the book came with a built in planner at the beginning, with more information as to how the book was intended to be used.

I bought this for my 3rd grader. I also use it as a booster for my gifted 2nd grader. It is fun, clearly printed, and colorful. My kids don't feel fun doing it, not an "assignment".

These are great books as a supplement for any homeschooled child or traditionally schooled child. The bright drawings and colored pages truly help kids to keep at it and not get so bored with the work. Trust me, I've gone through my fair share of educational books and the plain black and white ones are never chosen over the colored artistic workbooks.

If you're juggling a few children at different ages (I have one school ager and two toddlers) this book is a great find. We can tear out pages to take them on errands. Very little preparation is required, just review the directions and assist child when needed. The areas your child is struggling with will be pretty glaring, so you can make quick review lessons to takle the problem areas. Having a worksheet based curriculum allows time for bible and life-skill lessons, as well as reading time with books of your choice. My child looks forward to his worksheets. The short and flexible lessons allow him to absorb the important stuff without feeling overwhelmed (he has adhd). It's also great for his confidence to get such immediate feedback.

This book is really worth the money. It covers all the things and it is a thick book--over 500 pages. I bought it at costco for $8.49 and really wished I bought more. If I can not find it in costco in the future, I would buy it at Amazon.

This is a light, easy-to-read small book summarizing the important ideas for young creative writers.

The author gives published examples of most of his creative writing recommendations. The book is short but was well worth the price of the paperback version ($5 retail).

Although the target seems to be young writers, I found many interesting quotes and passages to digest and underline.

And although I think of this book as a little 'lightweight' I keep going back to browse through it.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Have you ever read a book that you hated so much that you never wanted to set eyes on it again? Well I have and I want to tell you a little about it so that you don't have to go through the misery of reading it, like what I had to go through. The book I am talking about is called Live Writing, the book was written by a man named Ralph Fletcher. It is about how to write inspiringly. The author uses something called a "tool box" to explain how to create great writing. The whole book is filled with tips and short stories that a writer should add into their "tool box". Though Ralph Fletcher did have a purpose in writing this book (to help children write well), he didn't make his point well, while writing the book. This book had no point at all in it, and is a big waste of time to read.

Live Writing doesn't exactly have characters in it except in the short story in the end, or you could include the quotes in and it that appear throughout the endless pages of waste. The author himself is the narrator of the whole book, so he is a character in himself. Throughout the book Fletcher mentions characters in his poems and people who had given him his inspiration for example Carolyn Coman he talks about her and her books and how she is one of his favorite writers, but otherwise there weren't many characters. The fact of there not being many characters, makes the book worse already.

While I was reading the book Live Writing I couldn't concentrate one bit on what I was reading, because of all the dullness that the book was filled with. Also while reading the book, I came to realize something else I didn't like about the book and that was the style in which it was written in. There was no variety in the writing and there was absolutely no suspense of a sort. In the book Ralph Fletcher try's to make writing fun but he doesn't succeed in doing that. If he made his book more fun and adventures then it would be an al together better book. Live Writing was and is the worst book I have ever read and this is why I would recommend it to no one in the world. This is also why you should never waste your time like I did just to read this terrible book.

The book Live Writing is a basic "toolbox" for young writers. It shows different methods on how to enhance your writing, by giving you tips on grammar, topics,organization, starting out, etc. It also is an ideas index for writers in progress. For example the author talks about how he was trying to write poems, but his baby kid wouldn't stop crying and screaming, so instead of getting frustrated and giving up he decided to write poems about his baby crying. He also gives various ideas on how to make writing more interesting or to "juice it up and give it electricity".

There are no characters in this book, only short poems and stories about various people showing his "more interesting" writing methods. They also have surveys on young writers about writing stories. For example, the author asked a fifth grader what the hardest part of writing a story is, and he said the beginning, so there is a chapter about how to write a beginning. Also, at the end there is a short story displaying all of the author's strategies on writing.

Live Writing is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. The language and verbs he used to try to make his book more interesting made it even more obvious that he was trying too hard at catching our attention. What I don't understand is why his intended audience was young adults, the writing seems like it was intended for 3 year olds. Even then at some level it must be a bore to read. Reading it was the worst experience, I don't know which made me fall asleep faster, the topics on chapters or the cheesy lingo. You can tell the author wanted to help young adults write better, but it didn't help me or my classmates. In short, this book was the worst book I've ever had to read.

I read excerpts of this book to my at-risk secondary students and they really enjoyed hearing about how to make their writing more full of life. It really brought the writing process to their level and helped them internalize the importance of writing.

Ralph Fletcher has written a trio of fantastic books for young writers. "A Writer's Notebook" is about gathering material; "How Writers Work" is about the process of writing; and "Live Writing" is about craft, or how to write well. Most importantly, these three books are written directly to kids, in a warm and personal rather than "textbook" manner. I don't know of any other author who writes books on writing for kids, and this genre is so needed! Plus all of Fletcher's books are very engaging and well-written.

Fletcher selects what he feels are the most important aspects of craft for this book. My notes on some of them follow:
Characters
· Characters are the most important part of a story.
· The plot should grow out of the characters, and not the other way around.
· Characters must first be born in your mind.
· Build characters from people you know.
· Give physical descriptions of your characters.
· Characters should be complex, containing both good and bad.
· Write letters to and from your characters, asking them questions!
Voice
· Best way to develop it is through your writer's notebook.
· Think of writing as chatting on paper.
· Always have a particular audience in mind.
· Be honest!
· Writing is trying to get readers to see something as you do.
Conflict
· Types of.
· Don't wait long to develop it.
· Don't solve it too quickly.
· Don't end a story too abruptly or predictably.
Time
· Writing time isn't the same as real time.
· Slow down "hot spots."
· Skip over unimportant time quickly.
· Narrow the time frame to key points.
· Flashbacks are usually needed; they represent memories, what makes a character tick.

My son and I love this book. He hasn't had sushi yet, but I love it and want him to eventually try some. Like with Hola Japaleno I love the pronunciation guide in the back and the pictures are very cute.

I was excited to see a book about a topic like sushi available for the young set, and after reading the great reviews, I ordered it and looked forward to its arrival. But... I was underwhelmed. The artwork is interesting, but the cadence is very uneven. Three stars for a great, fun topic, but not four or five because it was less clever and less of a fluid read than I expected. Catchy idea more than catchy overall. That said, because it is unique and is fun to look at, and because there were one or two pages that were great fun, "Hot, hot, hot," I would purchase it again.

We own the Dim Sum book by the same author, and the Sushi book is not as great. The pictures are still wonderful, but the words don't flow as easily, and the last line of the book ends on the back cover. That's a little confusing for my 22-month-old. With the Dim Sum book, there is a strong rhythm and an easy rhyme, which makes my child speak the last word on every page. Not so in the Sushi book.

My husband loves sushi, so I had to get this for our little girl. It's such a cute board book!

This book is so cute. My baby loves having it read to her. The story is sing-songy and rhyming -- it's fun to read. It's a clever book in a world of ho-hum children's literature.

This is a book we give as a gift for new babies and their families. It is a beautiful book with colorful illustrations and meaningful text. It is definitely a "keepsake".

RSW/Mechanicsburg,Pa.

My 1 yr old son enjoys having this read to him; however, my tongue doesn't. I find this book miserable to read. Unlike other books which tend to have more rhyme and rhythm, this one just has waaaaaaay too many adjectives and I find myself stumbling over the long sentences. Sometimes I even leave a few words out!

You may argue that it's the message that really counts (albiet this book tends to be a little mushy about it), but at the end of day, after having had my patience tried more times than I'd like to think, having to plow through this book is the last thing I want to do.

The illustrations are wonderful and my son DOES enjoy the book, and so I give it three stars for that.

This is a lovely gift for a new baby (forget the layette items, people get too many anyway!) - this and On the Night You Were Born are the books I send to all the new people I know. The sentiment in this book is perfect. In the prose-like text of this book, the little one is welcomed by the earth - the pictures are bold and fun to look at. I love it.

This wonderful book has become a personal tradition in my family. I give a copy to the parents for each new baby born. What better way to welcome the newest additions.

My daughter loves this book and so do I! A great book to introduce the concept that we are one with the earth and all her creatures, as well as teach about all the scientific aspects of gravity, oxygen, stars...I highly recommend it! A really great gift too!