Nonfiction Books

I was taught with this book and I bought it to study over the summer. It's great for learning spanish. The order some subjects come up is a bit odd, but it's a great textbook. I suggest buying one of the used copies (which are generally in really good condition) to save around $70

En Espanol is a great way to learn spanish. Its chapters are set up in an easy, logical order. There are lots of review exercises and the set-up is appealing. Not only do you learn basic vocab, there are sections on culture and history. The pages are bright and are geared toward middle/high school aged kids. At the end of every chapter there is a vocab list compiling all the new words from the chapter. It also contains a Spanish/English, English/Spanish dictionary in the back for easy reference. En Espanol makes learning spanish fun and easy.

This is the same book used by our public school district. We are in one of the leading districts in the nation. The only negative I have is the price. I found it new at Walmart>Books>Textbooks for a lower price. Even they are higher than the publisher's price. Buy it here if you have confidence in your seller. I won't!

I teach Spanish and the reason I hate this book is because it introduces
concepts and then gives little or no practice. The order in which
things are introduced is a confusing at times. There is way too much
eye candy and not enough attention to working out the kinks.
Other superior products are available at a much more reasonable price.

I would highly recommend any of the books in this series by Cheri Meiners. My just-turned-5-year-old son asks for them at storytime, and the writing is just right for pre-K and kindergarten children. Truthful without being preachy, the series shows children and family members from many different ethnic groups in the colorful illustrations, and each book addresses issues which are developmentally critical to this particular age group: sharing, taking turns, being afraid, listening, respecting others, helping out at home, etc. These books have given us a starting point to discuss problems at school or interacting with others, and have helped my son to have more empathy for his peers....I am hopeful that this quality will serve him well as he continues on to kindergarten and elementary school. It is exciting to hear him use ideas from this series to problem solve.

We have a five year old heading to kindergarten this fall and we wanted to sharpen her focusing skills. This is a great book for helping kids understand the reasons for and benefits of listening. It has beautiful, simple illustrations and clear, concise messages perfectly suited for young children. My daughter loves the pictures and loves me to read this to her.

My son is 6 years old and I bought 4 books in this series. He is able to read the book with some assistance and relate to the book! In the back there are great ideas on how to pose questions to your child. My son does poorly with abstract questions but with this book, he not only learns but the visual (which is fantastic) helps him respond better. I will be buying all the books in this series! It is so well worth it to teach your child important words...he now speaks about being polite,kind, showing respect, helping, sharing etc....LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son truly love this book and this book has helped enhanced his listening skill. Worth every penny!

I think this one is our favorite. The little boy looks so intently at his teacher. He learns how to pay attention even when there are distractions. These books are cleverly written and I just love the illustrations. Nice representation of all ethnic groups.

All the books in the 'Learning to Get Along' series are fantastic. They teach vital social skills (paying attention, sharing, respecting others property, etc) to children in a way that they can understand.

You can't go wrong with any of these books!

I was somewhat disappointed in the degree of usage the shows. There is a lot more writing in the book than was advertised. Other than that, I am satisfied with the purchase.

Every CD in this set is excellent, and since they were taped on site at sessions in Cape Breton you feel like Pema is right there in the room with you. Pema's words along with her wonderfully soothing voice will truly heal the aches and pains of living. It's not just the simplicity but the honesty that makes owning everything Pema worthwhile. If I had known about her years ago, I would have lived differently, if not more easily. Now, because of Pema, there are no regrets, just today. This set is very good therapy.

I put Pema in my walkman (yes, I'm old) and listen to her on my long walks with the dog. I can listen to them over and over and enjoy them. She's easy to listen to and imparts information without preaching.

these are wonderful recordings of pema chodron presenting teachings and wisdom about meditation, open heart, and tonglen. she is clear, wise and funny. i've played these over and over and they have helped me so much in my own practice. highly recommended.

This is a very nice collection of three of Pema Chodron's CD's. She is an excellent teacher--compassionate, thoughtful, and very user-friendly. Listening to these CD's has helped open my heart and mind during stressful moments in life when taking a moment to pause and stay with an uncomfortable emotion is the more difficult but, beneficial mode of operation.

Have you seen that ad on TV - "Your mind controls you, but do you control your mind?" Pema Chocdron shows you how to stop the incessant noise and criticism of your mind by finding a space where ideas are allowed, but teh spontaneous reaction to those ideas is not. By becoming compassionate towards others, you become more compassionate towards yourself, and learn to laugh at yourself and feel less alone by realizing "others feel like this too".

Buy this - it helps.

Just started using this program and have two comments. The process is very slow but it provides very good verbal break down of each word so it's easy to hear and understand.

I like the recording very much. But without any written material, it's very difficult to figure out the pronunciation and spelling of words. It's not a complete course without written material but can be used to supplement other learning methods.

I am working my way through the CD's in my car and so far they are just what I needed. I may end up purchasing the next inthe series after I finish these.

This CD set is a great way to receive a simple exposure to the musicality (?) of the Italian language. The Italian language has a flow to it, like music. It is to Spanish what an Irish brogue is to English, if that helps. This CD set will not make you an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But it will get your ears and tongue accustomed to Italian, which is a good thing. I bought it and used it to get my feet wet in Italian and have since gone on to speak the language with mild fluency. It's great for the morning commute, in the car, listening to Italian. It goes at a good pace and tests your short-term memory along the way. There is no background music or sound effects, either.

I thought this was a great program. It focused on practical things first like saying "I don't understand" and "I speak English" and finished up with "I'll have dinner/drinks with you at nine o'clock". I liked the format, often the narrator asked you in English to say things and then you had a chance to do it in Italian before the speaker gave you the response so you weren't just using repetition.

As other reviewers have noted, it would be nice to have a booklet with the words for review... I spent two lessons not sure I was hearing a certain verb correctly. I have had a lot of Spanish lessons so found a lot of similarities between Italian and Spanish and the format of their sentences and conjugation of verbs so perhaps the CDs were good for me because I wasn't exactly starting from scratch.

I have since purchased the Italian I course to further work on my Italian. It should be noted that the 5 CDs (i.e. first 10 lessons) in the Basic Italian are also the first 5 CDs out of the 16 CDs in the Italian I. So if you think you'd like to learn past the "I'll go out to dinner with you", you might want to just buy Italian I and skip the Basic Italian.

I have been an acting teacher for nine years and an co-author of my own acting book "Finally..Monologues That Work" and the one thing children love the most in class is the games! Games and more games. They can't get enough. 101 Drama Games For Children gives us variety. It is a great source for teachers who teach acting or in the classroom. It keeps the children interested, helps them learn and they have so much fun. Who could ask for more.

This book focuses a lot on the younger crowd, but can be enjoyed by students of any age! I'm an elementary drama teacher. Great buy!

I teach a summer drama class for grades 1-6, and it has a lot of really great games for all of the age groups, I do however wish there were a few more for the younger groups, but many can be adapted.

While not directly about "Drama", this book offers great games to get children thinking fast and exercising their creative muscles. I am having a lot of fun using it in an introductory drama class for 1st to 3rd grade chilren. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for ideas to use creative play groups more than for teaching specific dramatic techniques. It's about the fun of imagination!

You will use this book over and over. I teach gifted upper elementary and middle school drama students. This book is one of my favorites - it is likely to be one of yours too.

great service....by the way this is an excellent book to learn french...the first year this book was used for french one, the class that used it has been the schools bests french class so far and scored in the top 10 nationally, and the only school in california to do so.. my son scored 13th nationally...not bad....they still used french 1 book at the beginning of the year.... so didn't get through it all first year..

This is an excellent first bible for school-age children. This is not a bible story book, rather a full text of the bible. My first and second graders take turns reading from this bible, with occasional help from mom. They are able to understand what they are reading and this is really giving us an opportunity to discuss the bible. They are proud to have out-grown their bible story books and have a bible that more closely resembles that of mom and dad.

I teach Sunday School at church. When the kids saw the NIV Discoverer's Bible, they didn't hesitate to open it, and even glanced through it without me asking them to.

It is very kid friendly. It's not intimadating as the adult pew Bibles for the kids.

This is a great Bible for kids (and parents to read with them!)
The letters are larger, making it easy for those without lots of reading experience to see the words clearly. It's also been revised in such a manner as to use more understandable words in some cases, but IS the entire Bible, not simply paraphrased or only a group of key Bible stories. The kids love the brilliant pictures also. Our church buys these for any Sunday School kids going into the third grade each year, and they are treasured. Highly recommended!!!

A Real and complete bible. The print is large enough for my 2nd grader to read without much struggling. Some more difficult words are simplified but the text remains whole. It is suitable for my 5th grader as well. The quality is really good. This is going to last a long time.A Great Buy!!

This is a good bible for children. The font is large enough for easy reading,there are pictures and the front cover is colourful making ita very attractive bible. My daughter truly enjoys her first bible.
Couple shortfalls are that the words of Christ are not in red (which would be good for the reader to visually identify Christ's words) and the verses should be separated and not all joined together as is the case in the adult version of this bible.

This book is one of my favorite to read to my baby girl, not that she gets to eat sushi quite yet, but its entertaining with its bright colors and whimsical rhymes. Meso soup in a sippy cup? Hmm sounds tasty :D
Get it, read it, and enjoy the wonders that is Sushi!

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!

I purchased this book for my daughter so she can read that anything is possible if you truly believe no matter who you are. We are now Big Grace fans !!!

I got the book as a gift for my grand daughter who likes to draw. The vivid colors and expressions on the characters faces should keep her interested for a while. The story line is an added bonus.

Do you need a book that confronts racism, appreciates theater, and shatters stereotypes on a primary level? If so, Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman, is the book for you. Not only does this book cover the above topics, but is also highlights on key items for younger readers, such as reading about individual achievements and moral dilemmas.
Grace, a first grade African American female, has an imagination with no boundaries. Grace loves to act out stories that she is told. At school, Grace's heart runs with excitement when her teacher announces that the class is going to do the play Peter Pan. Everyone wants to be Peter Pan, which highlights the enthusiasm for theater among these students. However, as Grace wants to be Peter Pan, her classmates tell her first that she can't because she is not a male. The second reason her classmates say is that she can't be Peter Pan is because she is black. Here lies the racism in this book.
The teacher allows each student to take home lines and memorize them to try out for roles. The best would get Peter Pan. In the mean time, Grace's grandmother takes her to a Romeo and Juliet ballet that features a black Juliet. This inspires Grace to go home and learn those lines as best as she can so that she will be the best one in the class. When it is time to try out, Grace is by far the best Peter Pan and the class votes to let her fill this role. This is where the shattering of stereotypes comes into play.
Past the social issues, Amazing Grace also fulfills the requirements that the Temple textbook states are good children's literature. First, children's literature must speak to the child. Children, especially that would read Amazing Grace, are extremely egocentric. Therefore, they want to read about the potential for individual achievement. Any child that is repressed for any reason could identify with Grace. There are a lot of things that Peter Pan was not, not just simply black. African American students could truly identify with Grace, having to deal with their differences that are spawned by their skin color and culture.
The last noticeable characteristic of good children's literature apparent in Amazing Grace is the presence of in depth thought, especially on morals. This book spawns thought on all the social issues mentioned above. This book would most certainly cause students to re- evaluate their thoughts and stances on racism, stereotypes, and maybe even theater. So many times, students think that what their parents believe is what they have to believe. However, educating students can help not only in letting them make their own decisions, but also educating their parents as well.
Finally, this book is an excellent book for teachers because there are many activities that can be done to accompany the reading. Perhaps this would be a great book to lead into their own class play. Another idea is to place this in a unit on racism and segregation in the upper elementary levels. Also, a teacher could do dress up day and the students could be whatever they want to be. All stereotypes are shattered for the day and each student can be free to be who they are. Amazing Grace may be one of the most influential books that I have ever read on racism and the way that Grace and her family handle this issue is admirable.

I liked this story because Grace can be Peter Pan if she put her mind to it. My favorite part is after the ballet. I would recommend this book to a friend because its about your imaginery. The book is amazing.

By: S.J.
Los Angeles
Age 5

This is a great story with a great message. It tells children there are no limits to what they can be. It tells children not to be deterred by sterotypes or opinions. You can be anything you set your mind to. I bought copies for both my son and my niece.