Nonfiction Books

My 8 year old son spends hours reading this book. He's always finding something new to share with me regarding something in the book.

The book was a hardback, clean and in good condition. I recieved it before the promised date.

George's Pond: Created in the Beloved Tradition of Charlotte's Web

West's Time Machine

Being a children's writer and educator, I often recommend reading to my son and my students. This book mesmerized my students for hours. They kept quoting unusual things held within its pages. There were many amazing things on every page that allow the reader to come back latter and experience it all again. Its loads of fun for all who dare to turn the next page. Perfect for any age.

My son just loved this book. He was so happy to get it. I find him sitting with it all the time. The pictures are very vivid and the descriptions are easy for a child to read.

I got it for my friend's 10 years old daughter for Christmas, and right away my 2.5 and 6 years old kids got into this book and were amaized by the pictures and fun facts. I would recommend this book for any age, I guess.

This is definately one of the easiest ways to learn spanish.To be encourage to make mistakes was nice for a change,to learn new things it is okay to screw up when you are trying to pronunciate words.Will definately work my way thru for professional and personal use.

There are no Spanish programs on the market that compare to this. The structure of this course, this ease with which one may learn to construct original sentences, the 'guessing' being removed by the English speaking instructor, the superb native Spanish speaker's voice, make this the top car Spanish course on the market.

I love this course. The audio is easy to understand and the course book is a great addition. Oral participation is critical for pronunciation but I also need the book for a visual image of the language. This is my fourth experience with a CD course and it's by far my favorite. Learning Spanish "Behind the Wheel" is the way to go.

I bought these CDs based on the recommendations here and was not disappointed. I've borrowed some other courses from the library but this is the best for a number of reasons. The CDs stand alone, they are ideal for listening to in the car because you do not need to follow along in a book. The CDs consist mostly of a series of phrases and sentences spoken first in English and then in Spanish. All of the instructions are in English. This system works well because every time you hear a phrase you know exactly what it means. What I like best is that the material progreseses without ever going too fast so that you start by learning a few words and phrases then by building on the words you know and adding more words you end up getting to form more sophisticated sentences. I have been able to use my Spanish in conversations with Spanish speaking people and have been able to hold down my end of a simple conversation. I found that listening to each CD twice worked well for me. Having completed all 8 CDs I have moved on to the second 8 CD series which is also working out well for me.

Here's a comparison of Behind the Wheel Spanish (BTWS) and Learn in Your Car Spanish (LIYCS).

Cocst:
LICYS costs $32.97 and BTWS costs 43.47 as of 5/08.

Packaging:
I give LIYCS 5 stars for contruction. CD's are all pressed like commercially made cds. It comes w/ sturdy cd case, cd of mp3/pdf of booklets (though some of the tracks are 96 kbps rather than 128 kbps), dvd covering some popular tourist areas, and 3 booklets w/ transcript. Booklets pretty convenient to carry and have plenty of space for u to jot down notes. Though it says 9 CD's on the cover, the page actually has 2 extra bonus cd's for a total of 11 cd's. There's one bonus cd for Level 2 and another one for Level 3 that provides more examples.

I give BTWS 1 star for construction. CD's are CD-r's that have been burned and have a white sticker in front which is b/w and printed using a laser printer. Several of the tracks skipped and the first package that I got had CD #8 that didn't have any data on it...it was a blank CD-R. Amazon promptly shipped me a replacement the next day. Included is a book which has like 8 chapters w/ material that are separate from the audio cd. At the end of the book is a few pages in size 6 font that tries to squeeze all the transcriptions from the 8 cd's into a dozen pages. It also has transcriptions from Spanish II and Spanish III courses.

Content:
LIYCS gets 4 stars. It's mostly a traditional tape that covers all the contents of Spanish language. However, I found it boring 2/2 to the repetition. Typical example would be: "We pay in cash"...followed by "Pagamos al contado" twice. No variation in speed. Contrast this with BTWS, where the English narrator would mix things up and ask something unexpected, like: "So learner, how would you say "'We pay in cash?'". LIYCS seems more difficult by the last CD than BTWS. LIYCS also divide each cd until more tracks than BTWS. For example, BTWS has some tracks that are 20 minutes. One good thing about LIYCS is that you could easily go to a certain cd to learn more about preterit because there's a table of contents. On the other hand, the transcription in BTWS doesn't have any table of contents.

BTWS gets 4.5 stars. The packaging sucks, but the content is more entertaining. Easier to stay engaged. However, it's annoying that the english speaker calls you "learner"..lol. "Learner, please.." In terms of content, BTWS seems to cover less material. Maybe that's why they have Level II and III, which are sold separately. I started off w/ 3 cd's from BTWS and then switched to LIYCS cuz LICYS seemed to cover more material. I'll update this section once I get back to BTWS.

Overall:
I'd buy BTWS if i'm a complete novice. Once I'm done w/ that, I'd consider LIYCS to get more vocab or consider BTWS Level II. To be honest, I'd go w/ BTWS since it keeps me more engaged and is more entertaining. They're supposed to come out w/ an updated version in August 2008. Hopefully by then it'll correct the deficiencies and be more professional. In the mean time, since I have both, and I previously had some high school spanish, going through LIYCS is easier cuz I can skip around easily and target the areas that I've forgotten, like preterite, imperfect, etc. You can't go wrong either either product.

This book is based on the Kumon Method that introduces math concepts in an incremental, step-by-step approach, allowing children to grasp new skills little by little with less challenge or frustration.

The practice helped my child develop an understanding of multiplication up to 5x10. It introduces the concept of multiplication by first reviewing numbers and addition, and then gradually shifting towards multiplication timetables.

I would like it better if some real-life examples of multiplication are included, so children know why they learn multiplication and how the knowledge is used. Otherwise, I don't know whether they really get it or not. The instructions and worksheets only deal with pure numbers. To make up this, I let my child use Beestar weekly math online. It has interesting word problems that build the insight. My child understands multiplications better when using both programs together. Overall, this is a fair book for very young children to start multiplying.

This book is excellent homework companion. It is not very good at explaining the multiplication concept, but it has enough exercises that kids will memorize the facts also connect the dots pages add some fun.

I showed this to my small children, older nieces, sister, mother, friends, and grandmother. It appealed to all of them. I bought the deluxe book of flower fairies, the complete flower fairy book and the paper doll book. I needed them for art reference books.

The difference in the first two is:
The deluxe book has a history of the author, her sketches and inspirations, timeline, her prosesses, lots of botanical notes. very collectiors edition, silver leaf and all.

The complete book has fairy's has a 1 page intro of the author then goes straight into images and poems. each has the seasons collections, but the complete has; in addition, the fairies of the garden, trees, wayside and a flower fairy alphabet.

I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my sister, who loves Barker's illustrations. It arrived even more quickly than scheduled, in great condition.

Cicely Mary Barker's eight little flower fairies books were published between 1923 and 1985 making her a household name, especially in Great Britain. Published at the height of the "fairy-mania" that swept England during the early decades of the 20th century they captured in sweetly beautiful images and verse the wonder that many people felt about these elusive tiny creatures. Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973) was predominately a self taught artist who during her lifetime suffered from ill-health and physical fragility, thus she escaped into the world of the imagination and make believe. Her unselfconscious, delicate and jewel like watercolors were influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, fellow women illustrator Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) and her love of England's many gardens.

Her inspiration for the flower fairies came from the lush English countryside and observing young children at her local village kindergarten where her sister worked as a teacher. Her fairies are delicately and truthfully observed depictions of these young children in naturalistic poses and postures, standing on or clinging to botanically correct and beautifully rendered flowers. Being no bigger than 20cm tall they live and sleep in their birth flower taking care of their respective tree or plant, as the tree or plant grows so they grow in wisdom and power too. Fairies were most popular in the late Victorian and the Edwardian ages but they continued to hold sway over the imaginations of countless children (primarily girls) up into the early modern era... and beyond.

This enchanting and wondrous volume is a collection of all eight flower fairies books including: flower fairies of the spring, summer, autumn and winter and the flower fairies of the alphabet, trees, garden and wayside. As some of the most timeless depictions of the world of faery Cicely Mary Barker captured the innocence and naivety of childhood in exquisitely rendered illustrations and simple verse. While some may see these fairies as "safe" and "tame" depictions of the primal and elemental forces of nature, in my mind they capture the spirit of a bygone era when peoples mores and values were just plain different to ours, if not in some ways better. As such her little fairies lack the cynicism, artificiality and worldliness of the modern age and will continue to hold sway over the minds of generations of fairy lovers to come and will bring out the child within in anyone willing to let themselves go.

Sixty Five years ago, when I was a little girl, I sat at my fathers feet looking at a book that had marvelous pictures of beautiful fairys, so stunning were their bright colors and silky wings that it completely took my breath away for never could I have pictured anything quite so awsome as these tiny little creatures, that I was sure were hiding beneath the petals of flowers in mothers garden, that I had yet to see. I kept this memory all my life sharing it with my children, when they were little, and now my grandchildren. Imagine my astonishment to once again see these beautiful little people again. Take a trip back to childhood and enjoy this beautiful book, share it with your children but keep it for the child that is you.

Beautiful book - I am painting a mural for my daughter's room and wanted to get all the images possible so I bought all the books by this author thinking I was getting a menagerie. But I wasted $ on shipping both ways when I had to send them back upon seeing the smaller tree, flowers, and seasons books were all put together in one place. Just wanted others to know that this large hardback pretty much has it all.

This is the first Francine Rivers book I have read. From the very beginning I could hardly put the book down. The book so explores so many feelings that I am sure we all have had at one time or another (joy, guilt, sorrow, longing, fear, pain, happiness, friendship, love, a sense of not belonging, acceptance, etc.). In parts of the book my heart would ache for Cady and Fagan. But the thing that touched me most was the true compassion that Cady, a 10 year old, could feel for the pain of others as if she were experiencing that pain herself. I, too, was brought to tears as I read some areas of the book. At times I felt as if my heart would burst as I thought about my own experience with the Lord and the ever abidding love God has for me.
In the end Francine wrapped the entire story up in such a beautiful and warm "bundle".

This book was an assignment in a book review with some lady friends. I found it to be intriguing with twists and uncertainties. The setting in the appallacian mts was quaint with dialect from the late 1800s and the superstitions of the community. Christ's death for the sin of man is the message in this story of a conflicted little girl and her search for the sin eater. I have loaned my copy out to 5 friends and they all enjoyed the book.

I loved this movie; of course, the book is even better. Nevertheless, this is a stirring movie that will leave you crying both tears of relief and joy in the end as misunderstandings are finally made clear. Basically, a daughter is reunited with her estranged mother through a series of events. All I can is that you've got to watch this movie. By the way, the beginning is a little confusing, but it will all make sense at the end. Or, if you read the book you'll understand exactly what's happening at the beginning of the movie.

I consider myself to be a pretty big fan of Francine Rivers, but this novel left me wanting. The plot moves painfully slowly with very little explanation of customs or character. It really was just painful for me to read, though I had to finish just to see if it got better...it didn't. There are a few minor characters who make it more interesting, but generally, I would say don't waste your time on this one.

Although somewhat predictable it was non-the-less enjoyable. I read it through during a long drive and a day at the beach. Any fan of Francine Rivers will not be disappointed! I'm looking forward to watching the Michael Landon Jr. produced movie of this book out on video soon.

This is probably the best book I have read on classroom management--EVER! Not only is it well-written, it is timeless, useable, accessible and friendly. The author readily includes her own classroom successes and failures, which helps me to identify with her journey. She also give practical, ready to implement steps and routines. Is classroom managment difficult? YES! Is is do-able--YES YES YES if you follow the guidelines given here by Ms. Charney. Combine this with a Responsive Classroom workshop, or at least books from the RC library, and you are on your way to loving your job again!

I am very happy with the price as well as the fast shipping. My University campus book store wanted twice the amount of money for this book; worst of all, it was used. Amazon had it for half the money; best of all, it was brand new. :) I am a happy camper...

For my professional goal I joined a study group in which we all purchased this book. The manner of speaking and presenting rules and consequences teach children that they can choose how to act. It reinforces responsibility, kindness and cooperative learning. I am now teaching sixth grade three years later. The strategies produce active learning and a desire to make the right decision. Combine this book with "The First Six Weeks" and you will be all set for the school year!

A terrific book that should be in every teachers' and parents' library. Clear directions, plenty of space for notes. Good bibliography.

This book is fantastic. It offers plenty of wonderful tips and situations for constructing a healthy behavior management plan within your classroom. A definite must have.

A friend showed me her copy of this book and I immediately ordered four copies. Every quilter should have a copy and I would love to see every child have one too. (It's a great gift!) What a beautiful family story! One thing I really like is that the illustrations are of real people.

Great Book, but it came with a wrinkled front cover which makes it impossible for me to use in my presentations.
:(

This book is wonderful for the many reasons listed. I first found it at the library in hardback and my daughter and I love it. When I ordered the paperback for her own copy, we realized that the paperback ends 5 or 6 pages short. It fails to discuss Patricia's own family.

What a beautiful family story. Our children need to know their heritage and family history and this is a beautiful way to share the events of the past with them. Patricia Polacco is a master at connecting us to our families!

For a long time I searched for information about Russian quilt history. I gave up when I went to St. Petersburg, Russia and could only find new publications on how to make a modern quilt. I was very glad to see in this book the quilt made by a Russian lady. I was glad to find that it was made of fabrics of used garments of loved ones. It affirmed my conviction that women everywhere will make something beautiful of whatever they have. Russia is a very large and cold nation there must be other quilts stories. I would like to hear the stories and see the quilts.

As is typical of all books about banking and economics, this book requires a strong interest on the part of the reader or it would not be considered enjoyable reading. For anyone wanting to understand the U.S. banking sytem and the Federal Reserve System this book should be required reading. Murray Rothbard did not have the writing talent of G. Edward Griffin, but he gets his point across in a much shorter book and was no doubt one of the most enlightened economists of the twentieth century.

The problem of inflation is in fact astounding - how we make the general public understand is a daunting task and how we overcome the issue of inflation is unsurmountable in my belief. The book touches everything related to creation, circulation, history and legislation behind money and central banking -- specifically "The Fed". While I agree with most of the information in the book, the case against fed is not convincing enough, not convincing enough for the general public to raise this issue with their government representatives, or in some manner even comprehend the problem of inflation and reserve banking. Only when this problem is understood by every lay man in simple terms, annihilation of central banking, inflation and reserve banking will be possible. Rothbard's simple solution is highly improbable - a solution to this problem means revolution and it takes a leader (not the puppets you have now) to challenge the system of central banking. Rothbard's solution to return to gold standard raises several questions -- will the American people still enjoy the prosperity that they enjoyed in a fiat currency system? Will the US still be a super power after the fiat currency system is forgone? What if the government needs to inflate money for genuine reasons? I have enjoyed reading the book, while I stand for returning to gold standard, I firmly believe I never see this in my lifetime. Good read!!

Rothbard clearly and concisely explains the historical origins and workings of the Federal Reserve in a way that most people can easily understand, even without a background in economics. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to study the foundation of the American monetary system and the system's ramifications for "ordinary" citizens.

Rothbard gives an astonishing perspective on the history of monetary policy. After reading the book I felt enlightened, angry, and helpless. Ignorance is bliss, so we are lucky that the Fed is one of the most secretive organizations in the world.

While I have no doubt that the Fed and other central banks can and do create inflation, Rothbard's introduction to money is so simplistic and so misleading that it stopped me cold in my tracks. If his conclusions are based on the foundation laid in the introduction, the whole argument is worthless. Rothbard's argument in the introduction is that only the Fed is permitted to print Federal Reserve Notes (correct) and that these notes are the only money in existence. This last statement is a grave error, Rothbard is confusing money with legal tender. The notes are the only form of legal tender in circulation but there are many other forms of money in circulation as well: bank deposits, mortgage loans and any other form of credit increases the money in circulation -- not the legal tender but money as perceived by markets. If we are to believe "Irrational Exuberance," even stock certificates act as money because they create the "wealth effect." All this is ignored by Rothbard in his introduction to money.

The purpose of Rothbard's introduction is to show that the ordinary citizen cannot create money and therefore cannot create inflation and the logical conclusion he arrives at is that only the Fed can create inflation. This is nonsense. Any society can create money. In jail they use cigarettes as money. Before the Fed was created money existed in many forms including sea shells and animal pelts.

Inflation is the setting to right of the unbalance between the supply of money (too abundant) and the supply of goods and services (too scarce). But the market does not care if that money is a piece of paper printed by the Fed, gold, the wealth effect of stocks or the bubbly prices of real estate.

I must conclude that Rothbard twisted economics into the service of politics.

I bought this for my nieces, ages 9 and 6. The book was very easy to understand, and the 9 year old had them both playing in minutes! There are several versions of the game, and they were playing them all! Highly recommend this book!

My 6-yr old daughter started playing at school - the games have changed since I played as a kid - and she was excited to have one of her own. She really enjoys following the directions to new games that are shown in the book.

These books by Klutz are the best ever! I got this for an 8-year girl and she loved it. I want to play with her; it will surely bring back memories of childhood.

Loved this as a child. My 7 yr. old came home from school with some yarn. They were learning cat's cradle at school. Looked high and low for a Chinese Jump Rope. Finally found this one along with a great book with some other ideas that I had not seen before. Love the Chinese Jump Rope.

This is a great gift for young girls. Not a game that is well known today but was popular when I was young. My neighbor's little girl has had a blast playing this and has shared it with her friends at school.

I grew up having this book read to me, and now I can share it with my daughter. I just love the illustrations and the story is so funny - my daughter laughs out loud when I read certain parts. I highly recommend this book.

Though it is a little wordy and long for a 2 year olds attention span, the rhymes are funny and entertaining; a key for a mom who reads each book many, MANY times!

This is one of my favorite children's books ever, one that I remember reading when I was a child (probably twenty years ago!). It's told in a rhyming format (like a Dr. Seuss book) and full of cute, silly conversation among jungle animals regarding an elephant who is about to sneeze. This is silly fun that's great for kids who are being read to (plenty of opportunity for voices during storytelling) or for children who are just past the beginning stages of being able to read themselves.

I read and LOVED this book as a child. Now, I read and LOVE this book as an adult. It's a silly, descriptive, story that children really enjoy. I have a three-year old nephew who adores this book and asks his parents to read it to him every night (even though he's already memorized it!). I just bought it for my twin baby nieces and know that as soon as they can talk, they'll be following suit! It's the kind of book that you won't mind hearing 940382094 times and that you'll keep forever. Buy the book now and enjoy it for a lifetime!

A wonderful book to read aloud to kids. It is one of our favorite family books.