Nonfiction Books

Shipping took longer than expected but the book was in new condition as was stated

As a young adult I had read articles on the book. I knew the story. I saw the movie made from the book. However, I had never read the book itself.
The experience of reading the words of Anne as she lived for two year in hiding with her family, and others in hiding, was entirely different than just knowing the story. Reading another persons personal words as they were living the life that inspired them to write is a most intimate experience.
In my adult life I am glad to have had the experience of actually reading Anne Frank's words. I recommend the reading of this book to young and mature persons who wish to understand what transpired in our world history on an intimate level.

I've read this book ten times and it never gets old. Every young adult should read this!

I have finally, at the age of 33, gotten around to reading Anne Frank's diary. There is little point in adding another glowing review. Everything has been said. But after reading some of the negative reviews, I feel compelled to respond. It seems there are two primary criticisms (Three if you count the ridiculous idea that the diary is a forgery, which I won't dignify). The first is that Anne doesn't talk a lot about the war or the holocaust. To this, I can only say, that's all for the better. She was a thirteen year girl living in total isolation from the rest of the world. She really had no special expertise or light to shed on these subjects. There are many excellent history books on both of these subjects. The second criticism is simply that the book is boring. She talks too much about her day to day life, her thoughts, her feelings, and so on. To this I can only say, what part of "Diary of a Young Girl" is ambiguous? The annex was her entire world. What do you expect her to write about?

What a few don't seem to understand is that this is not a "book about World War II", or even about the holocaust. If that is what she had written about, the diary wouldn't even be a footnote in history. This is the story of one young girl, in her own voice, trying to figure out what it means to live, to grow, and to be human in the most depraved and inhumane circumstances. She wrote about her hopes, her dreams, her fears, and occasionally about peeling potatoes. But the thing that some people don't see is that even when writing about the most mundane topics, she was actually writing about people, about how they endure and falter, about how they come together and how they fall apart. And despite the enormous injustice she endured, she always made the case for optimism, for hope in humanity, and for love of life. I don't know that I can agree with her, having adopted a more cynical outlook, but that just increases my admiration for her and my shame in myself for not living the gift of live to the fullest.

The other thing that stands out is the maturity of the writing. After reading just the first entry, I was blown away by the eloquence and clarity of Anne's writing. I could hardly believe that I was reading the prose of a 13 year old girl. She does write a lot about the trials and tribulations of being a teenage girl, but the voice of the writing does not feel childish at all, except perhaps in its optimism. The world lost a great talent and a brilliant soul to those murderous barbarians.

This is a difficult book to digest, and two days after finishing, I'm still haunted by it. Anne's optimism, faith, and courage inspired me throughout, but made the knowledge of what would come at the end all the more a bitter pill to swallow. All that we can do is to honor her by making sure her story and the story of millions of holocaust victims are never forgotten and never happen again. So far, we're not doing so well with that.

And there, I've done it. I've written a review. I didn't intend to, but I did. So go out and read it, if you haven't.

I knew that the Diary of Anne Frank was the second most purchased book in the world, the Bible being the first, but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to read it.
In our eighth grade class, our teacher is big on the Holocaust. And when she first mentioned that we would be learning about it, I was excited; to a point. I know that most kids my age think 'ooh blood and guts and gore' and think it's cool or funny or a joke. They all watch horror movies that almost make them immune to real life experiences that involve real horror or real tragedy.
So before we started learning about it, I wanted to know more in depth about how it was like to be a teen during the Holocaust. So, I summed up the guts and checked it out at the library. When I started reading it, I couldn't stop. Anne and I are so similar. She's always happy-go-lucky despite the terrible circumstances; she's very curious, careless, and sometimes a trouble maker. And even though I'm not Jewish, I think it's extremely easy to worm your way into her shoes. You learn so much, and it's really emotional, knowing that Anne Frank, this person you've grown attatched to, and her family, everyone except her father Otto Frank, has been killed. Slaughtered innocently by the Nazis, a cult led by Hitler that cornered them just because of their religion or their looks.
I think that if anyone wants to learn about the Holocaust, this is a must read; it's an amazing journey that might not end so happily, but Anne never ceased to hope. It has such vivid details of everything that sometimes it's hard to believe that something like the concentration camps and Hitler and everything existed. The fact that it's in diary form makes it all the better.
This non-fiction diary is amazing, and I think everyone, at some point, should read it.

This book is magnificent! It is one of my favorite children's books. I made a recording of me reading the book and the children in the class always walks around singing the the book as a song. It is a book they will always remember. It is at the top of my list of recommended reading!

This book was another accidental find in our library, a present from our library-sale loving friend. I love reading this story to my daughter (22 months at the time of this review), and I enjoy its rhythm and its illustrations. The story is a little long for a toddler, Anna usually loses interests after the letters fall off the tree, but she enjoys saying out of the blue, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! ... Enough room? when she is playing with something else. Those little wheels in her head are obviosly turning :)

This is a regular addition to our bedtime reading collection for our two sons (ages 5 and 4). The book is colorful, fast and fun to read.

Both of my kids already know their ABCs but that doesn't prevent them from enjoying this book and giggling like mad as they read these lines:

"Skit skat skoodle doot. Flip flop flee..."

"mamas and papas and uncles and aunts..."

The older niece (5) has recently stopped liking this book, and will leave the room when I read it. Not sure what's up with that, she used to like it well enough. Her little sister, though, will stand by her desire to have it read when *normally* she caves to Big Sister Pressure.

This book has a very bouncy rhythm and tune (if you know the tune), and very colorful illustrations. It's just fun to read, and it's quick, too.

I definitely recommend it to young kids, especially any in the age where they're learning about letters.

What a FUN book! My two-year-old son loves this book and I love to read it to him. The words have a great cadence and I find myself singing each page! The pictures are very primitive which is nice (no sensory overload) and it helps young children to learn their alphabet. The story is super cute and the author uses great imagery. Although the illustrations are primitive, you can imagine these letters racing up the coconut tree! It's a wonderful book for any child's collection!

It tends to ramble in the philosophical arena, but I found his writing well researched and the questions thoughtful and thought provoking. I would recommend it for a book club or philosphy group.

I was continuously amused and enlightened about many things in this book; suffice it to say I dog-eared quite a few pages as I wanted to go back to re-read certain passages for the perspective, perhaps for the phrasing, or for the knowledge.

Humans certainly have the desire and the ability to bend nature, but a good lesson learned in this book is to let nature be itself, even as you make it do your bidding!

In style and substance this is one of the best books I've read in recent years, as well as one of the most enjoyable. It also broadened my perspective in several areas. I highly recommend.

Mr Pollan had a great idea for a book--evolution of 4 different species of well know plants from the plant's perspective as influenced by humans. There's about 30 pages of good information to this end. The rest is horribly long and painful unrelated tangents that he clearly enjoys writing about, but have absolutely nothing to do with the subject. For instance, in covering apples he talks for freggen ever about John Chapaman, aka Johnny Appleseed. Who cares about Appleseed's sexual frustrations with a potential 10 year old bride??? Who cares about his love of sleeping in hollowed out logs, or on the snow if sleeping in the log would disturb some insects??? If you're ridiculously bored and don't mind reading about random garbage you might like this book. If you're looking for enlightenment on this subject or like a well executed book, don't even think about this one.

In "The Botany of Desire", author and gardener Michael Pollan turns the tables on our view of domesticated species by presenting a would-be "plant's eye view of the world". His premise is that humans may have a more reciprocal relationship with domesticated plants than we like to believe. Perhaps the plants use us to propagate themselves as we use them to satisfy our desires. To explore this idea, Pollan recounts the horticultural histories and the human desires that created them for 4 domesticated plant species: the apple, which satisfies our desire for sweetness, the tulip, cultivated for its beauty, marijuana, for intoxication, and the potato, which gives us control. A fruit, a flower, a drug, and a staple food.

Pollan dedicates a section of the book to each of the 4 plants. The histories of the species are not comprehensive but focus on key events which affected its "artificial selection" and made the plants what they are today. For example, the history of the apple focuses on the introduction of seedlings onto the American frontier by Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman in the early 19th century, spawning an explosion of edible species from what were originally trees planted to make applejack. The section on the tulip predictably talks about "Tulipmania" in 1630s Holland, usually cited as the first "bubble" of the modern global economy, but also addresses the "Tulip Era" in Constantinople, funny and failed attempts to make the tulip useful, and the unending quest for a black tulip.

Likewise, the section on marijuana focuses on the tremendous advances in horticulture spawned by the War on Drugs that forced growers indoors in the 1980s. The discussion of the potato is particularly timely, as it talks about the genetically modified NewLeaf potato, which includes genes from Bt bacterium whose toxin is lethal to the Colorado potato beetle. This potato is designed to rescue the agricultural industry from its toxic and unsustainable strategy of pesticides and fertilizers. It's also designed to prolong the viability of monoculture, around which much of the agricultural industry in built but which is historically and currently problematic.

An interesting aspect of the evolution of these domesticated species is that three of four of them are cloned species, not planted from seeds or allowed to reproduce sexually. They're in trouble for lack of genetic diversity. They've been over-domesticated. So we shall see if Michael Pollan's thesis that the plants have put us in their service as much as we have them holds up. It seems we've made them quite vulnerable. But that premise provides an interesting entry into the subject of horticulture. Michael Pollan is opinionated, and everyone will not agree with his view of marijuana or NewLeaf potatoes, but I do think readers will see his point. "The Botany of Desire" is thought-provoking and timely.

It's just hilarious and great. I had it when I was young and I bought it now because I just htought it was be funny. I was not disappointed.

It hasn't really helped my daughter with potty training and she's no completely interested in it.

Again, it is not a childrens book. It is a joke for a friend, that I bought it.

I grew up with this book.
It was never a funny book but rather a serious one. I liked it that way.

My parents were never afraid of the subject of poops, and why should we be? This book is to remind people of the very natural and obvious fact about our body that people tend to ignore.

Unfortunately, this book is not for everyone. This book is only for those who are honest and open.

This is a good book for parents to practice talking about facts about our body. If you couldn't do this book, you will fail to provide sex and drug education to your children also. If you believe that you can skip and ignore those subjects raising your kids, you may skip this book as well.

My 2 year old daughter loves animals and when she was only really talking for a couple months, 50% of her vocabulary was probably the names of the different animals. Thus, it was no big surprise that she LOVES this book. I got it because my pediatrician talked to me about potty training at our 2 year check-up, though dd showed absolutely no interest in potty training at all and I wasn't even going to bother until she pressed me (I actually prefer the convenience of diapers). The doctor said that the first step was to get some books to familiarize her with the topic and to just start talking about our body functions more with dd. Well, I started with this book since it was so well reviewed and it has remained her favorite book for 4 months running now. Granted, she's not potty trained at ALL. Not even close. I haven't even bought a potty. But she still adores this book and goes around at random times saying, "An elephant makes a biiiiiiiiiggggg poop!"

I find that the message is subtle, but very clear as to what is appropriate for us humans to do when we go to the bathroom, but interspersed with the different practices of animals. The illustration is actually very nice, though it took me a few dozen readings just to get past the weirdness of looking at animal poop and humans squatting on a toilet.

The true parent test (aside from whether it helps your child poop in the toilet - but like I said, we're not there yet) is whether you'll mind reading it a hundred times a day. And actually, this is one of my more favorite books. I let a few of my lawyer friends read it too and they liked it as well. I highly recommend it!

As a young slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls worked in the McKee house with his mother, who regularly reminded him of the harsh conditions she had experienced as a field slave and the brutal treatment of other slaves in Beaufort. These lessons deepened Robert's hatred of slavery and his longing for freedom. When Robert was twelve, Henry McKee hired Robert out in Charleston for various jobs, including waiter, lamplighter, and stevedore. Robert's reputation as a hard worker with excellent technical abilities led to a position sailing a merchant schooner along the Georgia and Carolina coasts.

Over time, Robert married and had two children, but because the legal system required Robert to turn almost all his wages over to McKee, the dream of buying his family's freedom remained elusive. With the start of the Civil War, Robert found new work as a deckhand, and later pilot, on a large Confederate transport ship named the Planter. Robert ingeniously used this opportunity to strengthen his navigational skills, gain the confidence of the white officers, and learn the assorted coded whistle signals for passing by the check points in Charleston Harbor. With this training intact and family members on board, Robert and his crew commandeered the Planter across the harbor in May of 1862, delivered the ship to the Federal Navy, and celebrated their newfound freedom.

The book's carefully-written text and stunning illustrations pay tribute to a courageous man who became one of the biggest heroes of the Civil War. The book also emphasizes Robert Smalls' subsequent work fighting for social justice while serving in the South Carolina state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. Smalls wound up spending most of his life advocating for the end of institutionalized discrimination and the right for blacks to vote, hold office, attend public school, and join the military. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., known for his environmental activism, has made another valuable contribution by putting the inspiring story of Robert Smalls into the spotlight and making it accessible to young readers.

I received my fresh copy of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s new book, Robert Smalls: The Boat Thief, in the mail today. I was thrilled to read it.

My comments and criticisms do not take away from the reality that Kennedy has essentially got the basic story right, but the flaws in the book and the story as told, reduces the power of the fuller story as I will show in this review.

Overall, I'm delighted this book is in print and I'd recommend it for reading for grades 4th-6th, with the below-listed reservations.

In full-disclosure, I have been seriously researching the Robert Smalls story for eight years so some of my critiques might seem a little picks. You be the judge.

First, on the positive side, it is beautifully illustrated. Patrick Faricy did an excellent job. There are roughly 15 illustrations, mostly in color.

But there are several downsides to this book that need to be corrected if it is published in a second edition.

First, the publisher's web site says the book is intended for an audience of ages 8-12. That would be grades one through fifth. I'd disagree. It is more appropriate for grades 4th - 6th.

Are words like "audacious, stereotypes, precariousness, astern, archipelagos, fusillade" aimed at the lower elementary grades?

The story might appeal to grades 1-5 but the language reading level is way beyond what the average 1st through 3rd grader could comprehend.

Compared to other resources on Smalls aimed at children (i.e., Seven Miles to Freedom, Halfmann; and Robert Smalls Sails to Freedom, Brown) Kennedy's book is clearly better aimed at upper elementary grades.

Second, the author quotes Smalls as saying, "damned sight" (p. 21). Not only is the quote not historically true, why add an expletive into the narrative if it's aimed at the lower elementary ages?

Third, there are several inaccurate facts or statements in the book.

The author says that Robert (as a young boy) watched "slaves being whipped in the streets" in Beaufort. The truth is Robert only told of seeing one whipping in his youth at Beaufort. It was at the arsenal yard. The exaggeration is not needed to make the author's point.

Kennedy states that Robert was married to Hannah Jones in 1858 (p.3). In fact he was married on December 24, 1856 in Beaufort [see Billingsley p. 45]. Thus the author also gets the year of their first child - Elizabeth - wrong. His text implies it would have been 1859. In fact, she was born February 12, 1858. The correct date of marriage is important because the incorrect 1858-date is oft-repeated in secondary literature about Smalls.

Again, perhaps too picky, but the author states (p. 6) that the evening before the escape the black crew loaded the Planter with "six guns". To be accurate there were two guns already on the boat and so the crew would have only loaded four. Does it change the essence of the story? No? Is it more historically faithful? Yes.

Kennedy says that the ship's white officers were "court-marshalled, fined and imprisoned" (p. 16). In fact, only one prison sentence was meted out by the justice system, and yet all the convictions of the white crew were over-turned before an official prison sentence was served. In other words, they essentially got off scott-free under the Confederate justice courts.

Fourth, there are omissions that would have made the story richer. For example, Kennedy does not inform the reader that Lydia (Robert's mother) and Robert were from the Gullah culture in the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

Fifth, Kennedy mis-states the nature of regarding Smalls's promotion to Captain (pp. 21-24) . The biggest problem is that author suggests that Smalls was an official Captain of the U.S. Navy, as the Captain of the Planter. This might be hair-splitting but to due justice to the true story Smalls never got his fair-due as an official (i.e., on paper and documented) Captain of the Planter or for the U.S. Navy.

Smalls was black and denied that official designation and honor. Does that take anything away from the essential story either? No. But the more complete picture reveals how Smalls continued to serve with honor and distinction without having the appropriate and deserved respect of his peers and government.

Another correction to be noted is that Kennedy says that the action involving Smalls's 'promotion' to Captain took place in May 1863 (p.21). That is incorrect. It was in December 1863.

Perhaps being a little too picky, Kennedy could have added that the name of the McKee plantation Lydia worked on was called Ashdale, and that Robert was known as a house servant called 'Swonga'. Not major omissions but would have added some color and an opportunity for a teacher to expand on these facts in the classroom.

I apologize for being so nit-picky but since I love this story so much and desire for the entire truth to be known about the Smalls Civil War escape, I feel it is important to bring these points to one's attention.

I still plan on buying several copies and donating them to the elementary school libraries in my county in middle Tennessee.

If I Ran for President does a fantastic job of explaining the election process to kids! I am a former first grade teacher and I would definitely use this book with that age group. However, it has such great concepts it could be used for much older children as well. When I read this book to my own kids (8 and 4) it always leads to some discussions about politics. My 8 year old actually asks me questions about the election, now. Also, I love the way this book ends, it is a perfect lead in to Catherine Stier's other exceptional book, If I Were President. That book could even be used with younger children because it does a fantastic job of educating children about some of the responsibilities a president has, but does it with a humorous touch that would keep their attention. I don't think you can go wrong with a book by Catherine Stier and I hope we see more from her!

Yes, we have been checking out a lot of books about elections and voting since we are right in the middle of a presidential election year, and I have alot of opinions about the quality of books that are out there for children. I really liked "Grace for President" (I reviewed that one as well). I felt that Doreen Cronin's book, "Duck for President" was written more to poke fun at the process than explain it to kids so that they can understand how things are really supposed to work. But this book, I LOVE!

This book takes a very complex subject about our election process (which itself is confusing, even to adults) in the United States and breaks it down in to easily understood concepts that run from the beginning stages of announcing your candidacy through actually winning the election and being sworn in to office. Kids learn about the two party system (yes, the Libertarians are left out), the electoral college, primaries, campaigning, and campaign promises. I loved that the author chose not to dumb down the information, but instead used words that kids understand to explain how elections work. It is an excellent factual book, and the story is engaging enough for children that it will keep their attention while they learn about serious, important subject matter. It is an excellent primer that should be a requirement to be used by teachers who are doing an introduction to our country's election system. Maybe the author could send a copy to Hilary Clinton so that she too, can underand it doesn't matter what the poular vote says, it is the electoral college that counts! Just kidding to all you Hilary fans out there--no need to comment! FIVE BIG STARS to Catherine Stier for tackling a complex, complicated subject and making it enjoyable for children to learn.

fui de los primeros que obtuvieron el libro cuando salio a la venta, como regalo.
Yo esperaba realmente que esta autora revelara un verdadero"secreto" de los mis terios de la humanidad, pero al leerlo mi desilucion fue creciendo, la autora solo muestra principios mentales y tecnicas aplicadas YA CONOCIDAS por autores anteriores, me da risa como segun ella revela tecnicas de FENG SHUI!!!! como nunca antes conocidas (jajajaja).
Creo que a este libro le pusieron asi solo para dar un golpe publicitario y darle sensacionalismo solo para incrementar las ventas de este mismo.

Este libro no es muy bueno, ni mucho menos novedoso.La tecnica del cheque es muy conocida(lo que hizo Jim Carry).
La verdad el secreto no es mas que la aplicacion del principio de atraccion, pero ahy un libro que es mucho mucho mejor que este, y que en el se basan TODOS pero todos los libros de esta materia es "EL KIBALYON" libro de los egipcios que revela no solo el principio de atraccion sino muchos mas.

El Secreto (The Secret)Es muy interesante aparte de los consejos de vida k te da te hace recordar y valorar las cosas buenas sobre todo ser agradecidos por lo k tenemos, me gusto mucho .

Que descubrir en ti mismo el poder que tienes para hacer que las cosas cambien,...........

Les recomiendo la versión AUDIO MP3 de Piense y Hágase Rico Piense y hagase rico

La escritora australiana Rhonda Byrne logró reunir a grandes maestros, filósofos, escritores, científicos, etc. que comprenden y aplican en sus vidas los principios de la Ley de la Atracción. Estos personajes destacados comparten con nosotros sus conocimientos y experiencias sobre el tema en forma por demás amena e instructiva. La Sra. Byrne incluye, además, pensamientos brillantes que tomó de grandes escritores que vivieron durante los siglos 18, 19 y 20 quienes, afortunadamente, dejaron su obra, o gran parte de ella, escrita en libros que aún se pueden encontrar en algunas tiendas. Robert Collier, Prentice Mulford, Charles Haanel y Charles Fillmore son los nombres de algunos de los pioneros de la citada ley que mas sirvieron de sustento para estructurar El Secreto, sin embargo también podemos encontrar citas de Budha, Henry Ford, Shakespeare, Emerson, etc. Es realmente excepcional el trabajo realizado para la elaboración de este documento que ha servido y servirá para que muchas personas aprendan cuestiones que tienen que ver con la utilización de sus propios recursos personales así como recursos del Universo para lograr una vida mas plena.-

I followed McCullough's 1776 and John Adams to Joseph Ellis' remarkable compilation of stories centered around the exploits of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Burr, Hamilton and Madison. The political intrigue, posturing, and backstabbing that takes place in these stories is rendered more fascinating in that it takes place in the shadow of America's newly won independence. The traits displayed in these stories compliment the sheer genius of these men, and leave the reader with multidimensional founding fathers as opposed to the cardboard heroes we were taught to worship in elelmentary school. Washington the land speculator, Burr the murderer, Hamilton the monarch in the making, the two faced Jefferson, and the honorable Adams. This history is simply missing from our history books. These stories are incredibly worthwhile and they detail with which they are presented is remarkable. Forget the history buff, this is a must read for everyone. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

There is a great tendency to deify the "founding fathers" these days. As if by invoking the phrase "founding fathers", you can gain their approval. Founding Brothers explains very well that the American Revolution didn't happen for us. It happened because the folks who carried it out did it for themselves. Their biggest motivation was the idea that they could get away with it. After that they had to make up the rest as they went along. It was ok: the rewards for succeeding would be the Northwest Territories. It is a good thing this happened before socialism, or it would have been described as socialism by the British and the French Monarchy.

The primary difference between Hamilton and Burr was that Hamilton could balance a check book.

There were also differences between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Thomas Jefferson was good at venerating freedom and Farmers, yet lived as a slave holder and a Planter. Some say he would have freed his slaves if the price of land ever appreciated enough. Land didn't appreciate much, because there was so much new land in the northwest territory and louisiana purchase. John Adams worked for a living and as a yeoman farmer. John Adams could also balance a checkbook.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of tales about a number of the founding fathers, and their relations with each other. The opening vignette has to do with the Burr- Hamilton duel and in the course of this Ellis tells the personal history of each of the protagonists. I learned more about Burr than I learned in grade school or for that matter graduate- school , and this grandson of Jonathan Edwards was revealed to be a far more competent and two- faced politician than even the traditional stereotype of him as traitor, suggests. Hamilton too is shown to be a bit different than I had imagined, and was in fact on a downhill course politically when the duel took place. Ellis does a wonderful job in filling in the historical background and significance.
I also greatly enjoyed the piece on Washington's farewell including the 'realistic' description of how Washington actually looked. Nonetheless Ellis affirms his greatness, and his clear role as natural leader and first great American hero.
The final vignette has to do with the twelve- year correspondance of Adams and Jefferson. What is wonderful here is the way Ellis traces the whole story of their long relationship, their working together in the most critical moments and on the most critical documents of the Revolution, their falling out over their struggle for the Presidency, their coming to 'make- up' through the services of Benjamin Rush and through a letter of condolence written by Abigail Adams to Jefferson at the loss of his young daughter. Ellis describes how each of the great men uses the Letters to justify his own view of the Revolution. No matter how times one reads about it one cannot help be moved by the story of their dying five hours from each other on July 4, 1826, at the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration.
For any lover of American history this work is simply a very great pleasure to read.

Ellis brings to well-crafted life the fragile nature of the American experiment in the first years after the revolution and the Constitution. He uses six short stories or incidents to frame this so-fragile balance between war and peace, Federalist and Republican, the very success or ignominious death of the American experiment:

--The Burr/Hamilton duel (in which Burr, the sitting VP shot and killed Hamilton.

--The compromise dinner (one of many clandestine efforts at the time) between Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison to log-roll a compromise to get federal debt assumption and the location of the future capital agreed to the satisfaction of all.

--One none-event as such, "The Silence" over slavery, which debate was postponed by the Constitutional Convention, but reopened by Quakers, and quickly silenced again by honest and moral men of both pro-slavery and anti-slavery dispositions as detrimental to the continuation of the American experiment.

--Washington's Farewell Address, which established the free and willing succession of power in a vast republic, a thing to be marveled at (see: Revolution, French).

--The collaboration between first Adams and Jefferson as Revolutionary partners, than John and Abigail versus Jefferson and Madison as enemies in the bitter partisan struggle of the two president's terms (1796-1808).

--And finally, the reconciliation between the last two standing of this greatest generation, this "band of brothers" (yes, the phrase used by Jefferson and Adams) in their 15-year correspondence concluding with death on July 4, 1826 within five hours on the 50th anniversary of the celebration of their rise to aristocracy!

Ellis is a good storyteller, and I wept silently reading the final events in realization of the 180 years since how much we how to these great men and their leadership and sacrifice for the greatest experiment in human government.

OK so I read this book for school and had to write about each chapter. After trying to get through the Preface, I discovered this:
-one, Ellis feels the need to blather on needlessly. This book could have been easily been half the length had the author known the value of good editing

-two, apparently he has never heard of organized writing. You do not talk about one thing, talk about another and then repeatedly go back and forth. It makes this even more confusing to follow along.

-three, hey random interesting facts are cool, but they belong somewhere else, not stuck in the middle of sentence that has a completely different topic.

- four, is this guy a mind reader with a time machine? How does he know what all these guys are thinking at random points in their life? Primary documents will only take you so far. Anything i saw with this kind of tone i did not write about considering it did not look very reliable

Don't get me wrong the book has it moments. The topics for each chapter are very interesting and under normal circumstances would have been enjoyable to learn about. Just tell me when they republish this thing, reworked and edited.

I ordered the Scholastic Children's Dictionary for my third grader. When it arrived, he wanted to look at it, and couldn't put it down. It was interesting to him and well illulstrated.

A CLEAR AND DEFINITE UNDERSTANDING DICTIONARY. EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND TO LOOK UP WORDS TO
FIND THEIR MEANING.

This an excellent book for young people. The print is large,bold and the illustration are realistic and colorful. It's a fun book for children to use. The guidelines that are given are most helpful in teaching a young person how to correctly use a dictionary. I especially like the illustrations of the alphabet used in Sign Language. This is a great way for young people to expand their knowledge.

I purchased a number of dictionaries to be used by all the students in a small school. The entries included pronunciation, syllabication, and multiple definitions. They are visually pleasing and thorough enough for third and fourth graders.

I bought this book along with the children's encyclopedia for my seven year old daughter and a few of the words that we were looking for weren't present in this dictionary.

Mu niece wanted a copy of this book because she's taking a spanish course in school. I browsed through it, and I think it's going to be extremely useful.

I have 5 or 6 Spanish dictionaries and this has become #1. It has the most words for everyday usage and it is easy to tote around. I was tired of not finding the word I was looking for in the other dictionaries, and that's how this one became my favorite (it usually had the word I was looking for).

Just for kicks, if anyone wants the most heavy-duty Spanish dictionary try Harper Collins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary. It's about 4" thick and weighs about 15 lbs and it has everything you could ever possibly need as far as a Spanish dictionary goes. I love it but it's too darned big to use on a regular basis. I use it to find the words that the other dictionaries don't cover (or cover well enough). Bueno suerte!

This dictionary is excellent for students learning the basic vocabulary of the Spanish language. However, the dictionary does not contain any slang terms or expressions.

It is one of the best dictionaries I have ever used, since I don't use my native language often enough, I forget some words, so now I am able to look them up and see the right word/spelling/use.