Science Nature Books

I loved it. Nothing was bad. I liked it when Jack and Jim became friends.

This book is about two main charactor, named Jack and Annie, and every day they ask if they can go out side to play, but they actually go out to this tree house that is full of books, and they find a book they like well in this book they found a book with tornadoes in and they decided to wish to go into that book and it took them
there and in the story Annie becomes a teacher who work in a wooden place that had one room and they called it a school. So these funny looking shapes start to appear in sky made out of clouds that looked like
cones and then they started coming down to the floor. If you like old histoy, school and/or tornadoes than I would sujest that you read this book.

This book is about two main charactor, named Jack and Annie, and every day they ask if they can go out side to play, but they actually go out to this tree house that is full of books, and they find a book they like well in this book they found a book with tornadoes in and they decided to wish to go into that book and it took them
there and in the story Annie becomes a teacher who work in a wooden place that had one room and they called it a school. So these funny looking shapes start to appear in sky made out of clouds that looked like
cones and then they started coming dow to the floor

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

The book Twisters on Tuesday features magic, danger and history. The magic is the tree house. I bet you're saying huh? Read the book to find out about this magical adventure.
The main characters of the story are Annie, Jake,Ted and Morgen. Annie is Jake's sister. She likes danger and Jake likes to study.
Ted is a featured charactar in this book. He starts out as a human and changes, into a dog and the story's plot is how Annie and Jake help him. I recommend this book to people who like magic and history in their books.
- Moises

A book that the primary children will love with great illustrations and information about the sea.

I used to watch the series on PBS when I was younger! It's great to see my daughter getting into this now! She loves the series of books and DVD's I purchased for her and just can't get enough of them!

My 8 year old loves The Magic School Bus series of books (he does not like the show). He read this to me for reading but we also use them for science. In this book we look at the bottom of the ocean and each of its phases - shore, intertidal zone, continental shelf, continental slope, deep ocean, trench, mountain, island, reef. It has just enough ridiculous to make it fun. Recommended for ages 6-9 years and reading level 3rd grade.

The magical Ms. Frizzle takes her class to the ocean in "The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor." The bus transforms itself as needed, from a submarine to a surfboard and the class clothing changes with it from scuba gear to Ms. Frizzle's beachball sandels. The bus travels the continental shelf to the deep ocean floor and on to tropical coral reefs, with numerous excursions for children to examine the details.

The illustrations are filled with facts, labeled wildlife and wise-cracking children. The information is easy to swallow as well as interesting and the humor relies on lame sarcasm and a silly lifeguard -- kids should love it.

These books are very complex. A lot of little "notations" accros the pages. My daughter is a little overwhelmed by it. More suitable for an 8 or 9 year old

I bought a copy for all my g'kids. I love rocks and loved reading the book with them. Everybody does need a rock and kids need to be shown how to appreciate finding the right one.

I just got a FREE copy with my Cheerios box! I LOVE this book! I laughed with my 10 year old as we read it, and I will make my 13 year old son read it and we shall reflect on our rock hunting days of old in our beloved Tennessee creeks... :) I want a hardback of this book!

Thank You Byrd Baylor. I teach a class of adults in recovery. This book has a wonderful message. Everybody in the class chose a rock that appealed to them, a discussion presented inspiring feedback, that was meaningful. Nature has a way of touching our hearts. Nature has a way of growing our spirit.

I bought this book for use in an early childhood classroom for 3 to 5 year old children, and the children and I just love it! It's a relaxing story to use and lends itself well to a variety of themes and activities. I wish I had this one when my own children were small. They would have LOVED it!

I teach 6th grade and one of the things we learn about is rocks. I bought this book based on the reviews, but after reading it I felt compelled to write one too. I try to get my students excited about rock collecting. This book is so simple, yet so inspiring. It begins by saying "I'm sorry for kids who only have tricycles, bicycles, horses, elephants, goldfish, three-room playhouses, fire engines, wind-up dragons and things like that - if they don't have a rock for a friend." It then goes on to list 10 simple rules for finding your rock...not just any rock. A rock that you will keep forever. The rules include where to find your rock and remember "You should choose your rock when everything is quiet. Don't let dogs bark at you or bees buzz at you." The book concedes, "Don't get a rock that is too big. You'll always be sorry. It won't fit in your right hand and it won't fit in your pocket. A rock as big as an apple is too big. A rock as big as a horse is MUCH too big." This is the perfect book to get your rock collectors started and excited about geology.

I have probably recommended Hoffer's 'True Believer' more than any other book I've ever read. His thoughts are, at the same time deeply insightful, chilling and ring of underlying truths about human nature. Hoffer dissects, as under a microscope, the essential nature of the fanatic i.e. the searcher, dissatisfied with himself, who always longs for self-completion and seizes it--avidly--in the form of intense belief. As such, he is not amenable to logic. He is blind to reality and can only feel the 'truth' of the great cause that he has immersed himself in.

Logic means nothing, belief and conviction mean everything. He lusts for the total committment and sometimes the self-immolation that comes from blind belief. Hoffer has the profound insight that 'True Believers', no matter their political or religious stripe; no matter their lethal animosities, are essentially the same people. They are the same people, two sides of the same coin, and as such, are totally and sometimes devastatingly interchangeable. Hitler claimed, in "Mein Kampf" that his primary source of converts was fanatical Communists. He had no use for the more lukewarm Social and Christian Democrats. They were, by nature, fence sitters. According to Hoffer: 'You cannot convince a true believer; only convert him.'

Hitler, a man who understood the power and weakness of the True Believer as much as anyone, eschewed logic and reason. Instead he promoted the sheer emotionalism of sheer 'belonging', faith and consolidarity with a mass movement--loss of individuality--that the true believer and fanatic could totally immerse himself in.

The Christian-Killing Saul, on the road to Damascus, becomes an instant, devout and fanatical convert to the religion he had been persecuting. He became Paul, the defender of the Resurrected Christ. "What is the Opposite of a fanatical Religionist?" Hoffer asks us. "Atheist?" "No." answers Hoffer. "The atheist and religionist are fellows in fanatical faith." The opposite states Hoffer is the gentle agnostic.

Much of the grief and death of the Twentieth Century, and now extending into the Twenty-First century, is the product of 'True Believers.' Communism, Fascism, Naziism, Radical Islam--all demonstrably false and failed philosophies that have generated tsunammis of faith and fanatism. Entire peoples have been sacrificed on their altars. The more demonstrably fictitious is a belief, a faith, the more ferventaly its admirers cling to it. Reason is nothing. Belief is everything and, there, lies the continuing tragedy of the human race.

Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

This book was recommended by Mark Levin on his radio program. I was interested and so ordered it through Amazon and finished reading it a few weeks back.

First, my hats off to Mr. Hoffer. A self-educated man who witnessed the evils of the 20's, 30's, and 40's and came to the conclussion that those decades were not aberations.

There have always been mass movements and they all tend to share the same characteristics. Also, they share the same type of leaders - those who preach while safely in the rear - and the followers who perform the dirty work.

This years - 2008 - political election gives a prime example of a mass movement with the slogans of hope and change.

On a side note, I just finished the novel Gai-Jin by James Clavell. It is interesting how the use of a mass movement is used in this novel.

I recommend this book to anyone trying to understand lemming-like behavior. Beware - it is for the serious reader.

A very short book that demands introspection and thought from the reader.

Although written 50+ years ago I walked away with a much better understanding of current events, especially the radical Islamic movement and environmentalist.

This book may validate your preconceived notions about those movements you disagree with, but it will also directly challenge those you may support. Hoffer does not take sides and you quickly learn that radicals, regardless of their political/religious beliefs, have more in common with each other than they do with the public in general.

Should be essential reading for kids entering college. If nothing else, it would provide them with a neutral starting point.

I cannot recommend this book often enough to family and friends who are perplexed by the current state of world affairs. Hoffer directs the attention of the reader away from the particular grievance that every demagogue and his followers have had since the dawn of history, and instead helps us to understand the dynamic at work.

More learned scholars than I have written about this in other reviews. All I would like to add is this: The moral of this book is that, whenever a politician, preacher or other leader addresses a crowd in tones intended to whip up rage and hatred, be suspicious (even if he or she is "on your side.") In other words: It's not Osama or Mao or The Grand Inquisitor or Stalin that's the problem (nor Islam, Communism, Christianity or Socialism)--it's the way they manipulate masses of people in order to gain power.

This wisdom is paralleled by mystic teachings in the holy Jewish text known as the Zohar or Kabbalah. In it, we learn that all evil behavior eminates from the Godly attribute of Justice. In other words--when the Lord seeks to right injustice, it is holy. When people seek to do so, what often results is a mob exacting revenge.

I am thinking of this book a great deal as election rhetoric whips up to a feverish pitch and some individuals urge their supporters to revile "unpatriotic" Americans who hold different views. God only knows (if what Hoffer writes is prophetic) what such dangerous inspiration may lead to.

Hoffer focuses on the active phase of mass movements, the one dominated by the true believer. Frustration seems to be inherent in this personality type. He cautions that although mass movements share many traits this does not imply that they're equally toxic or beneficent. The work tries to understand and explain, not pass judgment.

Their appeal derives from the promise in their materialistic, religious, nationalist or mixed natures. Intense, infectious emotion is required as fuel. Hoffer analyses the causes of the desire for change: discontent alone is not enough. Other factors are needed to activate it, like a sense of power and the ability to spread a vision of hope.

Faith in a cause is to a large degree a replacement for the individual's lost self-confidence. The movement offers a substitute for individual hope. Furthermore, movements are interchangeable to a surprising extent. As he puts it; "A Saul turning into a Paul is neither a rarity nor a miracle." The reason is that they attract the same mentality.

Antidotes include arrangements that discourage atomistic individualism or offers opportunities for action or new beginnings, like emigration. Creative expression is a potent protector: even the poor that are creatively involved are immune, as are the abjectly poor and members of close-knit family, tribal or religious groups.

Potential converts are the disaffected. Hoffer identifies them as misfits, outcasts, minorities, adolescents, the ambitious, the obsessed, the impotent in mind or body, certain categories of the poor, the extremely selfish, the bored and the sinners.

He explains the burden of freedom, how it aggravates frustration in certain individuals. The followers exchange their individual responsibility for the sense of redemption that the movement offers. Those who feel like failures value equality and fraternity much more than freedom. This illuminates Russia's regression into totalitarianism.

Another striking insight is that that visions, dreams and utopian hopes are powerful weapons; people will die for delusions. Craving/desire is what causes the reckless self-sacrifice.

Movements always target the family; Hoffer provides proof by quoting from inter alia the New Testament. Disruption of the family makes the person more dependent on the movement. Movements attract and retain followers due to the refuge they offer from the boredom, barrenness, anxiety and lack of meaning in the individual's life.

There are various species of misfit - the permanent misfit finds peace only in a total separation from the self. The extraordinarily selfish are likely to be the most fanatical champions of selflessness. Oddly, spinsters & middle aged women have played a crucial role in the birth of mass movements. Emotions like remorse and grievance appear to lead people in the same direction. Fervent enthusiasm helps to suppress a guilty conscience.

United action and self-sacrifice are the elements that determine the vigor of a movement. Both sublimate the blemished self. Ways of persuading people to fight and die for the cause include:

(a) separating them from the real self by means of assimilation into the collective
(b) creating a make-believe self or a collective show
(c) making them hate the present and worship the future; the present is not only portrayed as miserable but is deliberately made so
(d) separating them from reality with the wall of dogma. Observation & experience are rejected in favor of doctrine which provides certitude. It is believed in, not understood.
(e) Keeping them in a state of fanaticism by inflaming passions & breaking down the will, thus transforming them into automatons. Constant fanning of the flames prevents the attainment of inner balance. Reason is ineffective in trying to free a fanatic from these mental chains.

Hoffer's view of how different political persuasions view past, present and future is an interesting aside: The conservative is like the skeptic, echoing the thoughts of Ecclesiastes about nothing new under the sun whilst the liberal (Hoffer means the Classical Liberal, not today's leftist types) considers the present the legitimate offspring of the past, a springboard towards a better future.

On the other hand, both the reactionary and the radical hate the present. They differ only in their opinion on human nature's potential for change. The radical is convinced that human nature is perfectible whilst the reactionary believes the opposite.

Fanatics occupy the same space on the political spectrum which is circular, not linear. The real difference is between the fanatics and the moderates of all ideologies. It is the temperament, not the ideological content that is crucial: fanatics often move from one form of extremism to another: communism, fascism, xenophobic nationalism, religious intolerance. Sinisterism by Bruce Walker offers more insight into this phenomenon.

The unifying agents are hatred, imitation, brainwashing (although Hoffer believes that the power of propaganda is overrated and that it merely justifies & articulates opinions already present in the minds of recipients), leadership, action and suspicion.

His observations on the impulse to convert are most arresting. The missionary zeal emanates from a profound uncertainty, an aching inner void. Proselytizing is a search for something instead of a gift, a quest to confirm that the fanatic's faith is indeed the absolute truth.

Three personality types are influential in mass movements: (a) men of words (b) fanatics (c) men of action. The first prepares the ground, the second initiates/dominates the active phase and the 3rd consolidates. Hoffer remarks that the first, whether they be journalists, academics or priests, thirst for recognition & a status above the rest of mankind. They are often the first victims of what they have unleashed. The fanatic thrives on chaos & destruction. The man of action rescues the movement from the recklessness of the fanatic; when he assumes control the active phase comes to an end.

In conclusion, Hoffer discusses good & bad movements, the sterility of the active phase and some factors that determine its length, plus useful mass movements. The book concludes with notes arranged by chapter, a portrait and brief biography of the author.

Love this book makes wonder why we travel so many millions of miles into deep space when so much of the ocean remains a mystery. Would recommend this as a present to almost anyone its that compelling.

This book is amazing! The photos are mind-blowingly detailed and beautiful. Aliens do live on this planet--they are deep under the ocean.

Unbelievable pictures. I never thought that such creatures even existed. The image and print quality are excellent and the concept itself is breathtaking.

I read this book from cover to cover and was completely enraptured by the images and descriptions of the various species. What incredible beauty lies in our ocean depths! I became fascinated with this stuff after watching one of the Blue Planet episodes. I also bought a copy and sent it to my brother. What an awesome book!

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Where would you find these?

(1) Gorgon's head
(2) Fangtooth
(3) Pigbutt worm
(4) Black medusa
(5) Radiolarians

Possible answers: In outer space? On the Earth's surface? In a horror movie? On a farm? In an electronics store?

Correct answer: these are the names of creatures found in the abyss. (Technically, the abyss is a particular zone of the oceans extending 3000 to 6000 meters in depth. This term is also used to designate the deep oceans overall.)

You will find photographs of the five creatures indicated above and the pictures of many more deep ocean creatures in this stunningly beautiful book by Claire Nouvian, a journalist, producer, and film director who has travelled the world for more than a decade, filming wildlife for French and international television.

The book has photographs with captions (its main feature) interweaved with text. The contents of the book is divided into two parts:

(I) Life in the water column (meaning life in the water above the seafloor)
(II) Life at the bottom (meaning life on the seafloor or just above it).

The colour photographs are, in a word--astonishing. All the creatures (that look like they're not of this planet) imaged are marvels of evolution and adaptation. Rare and unidentified abyss-dwellers are even photographed.

Each photograph has a caption made up of several pieces of information: (1) the abyss-dweller's scientific name (2) its descriptive name (not all photographs have this) (3) its size (4) the depth at which it's found and (5) known information about the creature. As an example, I will give an actual example of such a caption for the creature found on the book's jacket cover (displayed above by Amazon):

(1) Teuthowenia pellucida
(2) Googly-eyed glass squid
(3) SIZE 20 centimeters
(4) DEPTH larvae and juveniles 0-900 meters, adults 1600-2500 meters
(5) Three sentences of known information about this abyss-dweller.

The number of pictures in this book is almost 210.

In the copy of the book I have, at the beginning the reader is alerted that there are "four computer-generated illustrations." When these illustrations are actually encountered, the caption for these illustrations states "computer-generated image."

The text that's interweaved with the photographs consists mainly of two-page essays that begins most chapters, factoids, and quotations.

There are a total of fifteen succinct essays indicated in the table of contents. Each is written by a researcher at a prominent research facility. Examples of such facilities include the USA's Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, France's French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

There is also an excellent five page introductory essay (not indicated in the table of contents). Be sure to carefully read this so as to orient yourself to the rest of the book.

Quotations from prominent people permeate throughout. One of my favourites was uttered by Jacques Cousteau in 1976:

"Under the sea, it seems my every gaze is as stolen from some forbidden world; and it triggers an emotional shock that never flags, no matter how many times I dive."

Revealing factoids also abound throughout the book. Here's an interesting fact:

At 150 meters depth, 99% of sunlight has been absorbed by water. Below 1000 meters, it's total, inky blackness for all.

(It is from this factoid that I came up with the title of this review.)

Based on the photographs and text, this book deserves a solid 5-STAR RATING.

Unfortunately, there are some problems with the book. The majority are minor (for example, the first two pictures found at the very beginning of this book have their captions on the credits page--the very last page), but the major problems primarily deal with the table of contents and index. (Note also that the credits page is not indicated in the table of contents.)

The table of contents is incomplete. For example, why isn't the introductory essay's (see above) title not mentioned in the table of contents? This introductory essay has four sub-sections. Why weren't these sub-section titles not mentioned? I feel that a ground-breaking book of this type should have a detailed table of contents.

The index is also incomplete. All it does is give the scientific names of the known species in this book and what page to find them on. That's it!! Why wasn't, for example, all the important information found in the fifteen chapter essays and the introductory essay appropriately indexed? Again, a grounding-breaking book of this type should have, I feel, a detailed index.

What is Nouvian's function with respect to this book? If you look at the book's cover, it seems that she is the author. She is NOT. If you look at the credits page, she is in charge of "photographic research." Amazon thinks she is the editor, but according to the credits page, she is not. Very confusing.

Based on these major and minor problems, this book should perhaps be given a 3-STAR RATING.

Finally, my final rating is an average of the two RATINGS given above.

In conclusion, this is a mesmerizing book giving us a glimpse into an alien world--the abyss.

(published 2007; preface; introduction; 20 chapters; main narrative 245 pages; appendix; glossary; index; bibliography; acknowledgements; credits)

<>

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This book has tremendous scope for young children through their parents. The projects look fun, interesting and challenging.

What a wonderful, ingenious book. I am shocked this book isn't more widely known, particularly in homeschooling circles (at least, the ones I moved in), where the wealth of creative ideas for making construction toys out of common, inexpensive, everyday materials would seem right up most homeschoolers' alleys. These materials can be used to make simple, elegant, and incredibly appealing projects.

There is also an excellent discussion of structures, both in nature and man-made, of buildings, of bridges and towers and so on.

It is all absolutely fascinating and I'm going to plan a class for the spring using this book as the spine.

Well worth the money. An amazing resource.

This book is very detailed and interesting for those kids who like to know how things are constructed. It is a good book for children and parents to look at together and discuss. It also has some cool projects for both to try.

I LOVE this book! I have recommended it to tons of people and have even based some of my DI kids workshops on some of the ideas~ everyone who sees the book cant believe all the great ideas and projects inside it!

I especially like how it repurposes some regular household items.

LOTS of fun!

my son really enjoys this book, he always has something new to show me. this book is great for kids 9 and up.

This book will change the way you look at your impact on the world. Whether you consider the environment to be an important issue or not, it is well worth your time to read this short yet powerful book. The world is changing, fast, and it is becoming impossible to reasonably deny that fact. News reports are consistent: the world is warming faster than expected, and the results are found everywhere we look. More powerful hurricanes, ancient glaciers melting, ice caps shriveling, animals extinct and behaviors changing, more powerful storms and floods, longer droughts, incredible fire seasons. These are the signs of a changing climate.

In her Field Notes, Elizabeth Kolbert carefully walks the uninitiated through the spin and bias commonly found when discussing climate change, and sticks with the facts. Though she begins with anecdotal evidence, the claims stack one upon another to create a neat picture, one which clearly shows the many different impacts the warming climate has already made. She quickly reviews other data, from studies which cover a broader scope, but it's the anecdotes--people watching ancient glaciers in their backyards melting away--that will leave an impact and understanding. We are already experiencing the effects of global warming, and those effects will only become more pronounced as we continue down this dangerous path.

My one complaint with this book is that it leaves you with little guidance on what the reader can do to help. What steps can we each take to lessen our impact on the planet?

While "Top 10" lists of steps to lower your CO2 emissions are common online and in print, it takes more than a switch to CFLs or a hybrid car to really make a difference. It takes a conscious effort to reduce, conserve, reuse. Energy efficiency is more than switching one inefficient device for a more efficient one. These steps help, but more is necessary to reduce, if not reverse, the damage that will be done over the coming decades. It's time to consider alternatives. Instead of air conditioning in the spring or fall, why not open a window and use a ceiling or desk fan? Instead of buying that hybrid car you've been eying, why not keep your current car and start bicycling for all trips within 3-4 miles? Turn off your computers at night! Keep your tires inflated to the proper PSI, and your engine properly tuned! Buy less meat (the average American eats far too much as it is) and buy more local produce. These are some real steps, among many more, that you can take to reduce your negative impact on the environment. We do not have to turn back the industrial clock 100 years to reduce our impact on the environment...we only need to be more efficient in how we use the new technologies of the last century. In time, new developments such as renewable energy will catch up with the problem of global warming, but it's up to us to ensure the impact of our current lifestyle does not leave an unnecessary burden for future generations.

This book came to us in very good condition and earlier than we expected. Thanks!!

My grandson mentioned this fascinating and informative book which was a must read for incoming freshman last year at Tulane. I was so impressed when I read it that I have been giving and recommending it for high school graduation gifts.

This is another famous book on global warming. It is not as lightweight as Al Gore's book, which is basically a rock video put down on paper. This book is a series of stories and vigenttes. It certainly reads easily. Kolbert is a talented writer, and has produced a very easy to read book.

But this is not really a subject where we need more easy to read books. Kolbert's underlying assumptions are the same as Al Gore's. First, global warming is an absolute fact, it is caused by human CO2 emissions and, if we do not stop it, life as we know it will come to an end. Second, the reason that we do not act to stop this danger is that people are idiots, who can not understand science. So, if we talk real slow, and have lots of pictures, maybe we can teach these idiots to save themselves.

Kolbert does not go to Gore's coffee-table extremes. While she does not have any honest to goodness footnotes, she does actually cite us to eight pages of sources at the end. If Gore's book is basically a comic book, her book is about the level one would expect in a middle-brow monthly magazine. It is serious, but not very.

Here is the problem, Al and Ms. Kolbert. Many of us are not persuaded that the world is coming to an end. Many of us would like to see hard, well-reasoned science on the subject. Many of us would like to see the thoughts of skeptics taken seriously instead of brushed aside or mocked. This book does none of those things. It basically tells a bunch of stories, and makes no effort to make a serious, sustained and logical argument. It is possible that Gore and Kolbert are right, but it is going to take a much more serious scientific argument to persuade me.

I am less persuaded then I might be, because, even with my scanty knowledge on the issue, I can see her consciously tilting the evidence her way. Example. At one point, she talks about Greenland. She gives us a very short history of Greenland, noting that there were Norse settlers there for 400 years, who "scraped" out a living and then just kind of disappeared for reasons that Kolbert does not attempt to explain. These Norse settlements were founded at the height of the Medieval Warming -- when conditions were fairly nice -- and they died out due to the Little Ice Age, when it got so cold they could not survive. Kolbert knows that, because she refers to both the Medieval Warming and the Little Ice Age at other parts of the book. BUT she also knows that these non-people caused climatic changes undercut her argument. Global warming skeptics say that the current warming is consistent with the prior pattern of natural change, and the Medieval Warming is Exhibit A. Thus, by carefully not mentioning the real reason why the Norse settlements died out Kolbert has on her thumb on the scale. This does not inspire much confidence.

Climate change is THE issue of our time. Any book that raises public consciousness about it is a good thing. To its credit, "Field Notes From a Catastrophe" does help the cause by educating lay readers about the basics of climate change. However, it never really makes the transition from a series of New Yorker articles to a full-blown book. It consists mostly of human interest stories about climate researchers and the impact of global warming in places like Alaska and Iceland. These vignettes would be easily digestible on a subway or in a doctor's waiting room, but we expect more from a book. The reading non-science-educated public (which includes me) can handle more than this.

One good chapter tells how scientists discovered that carbon dioxide levels can raise or lower the global temperature equilibrium. There's another good chapter on the incredible mendacity and short-sightedness of the Bush Administration (may it rest in peace forever). Every American should read these sections, since America is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world and the greatest obstacle to international action. The rest of the book, however, is little more than disposable science journalism.

Great resource for young children! My 3-year-old is into skeletons, and the digestive process, so this book was good for his little curious mind. Obviously, some of the concepts are a little advanced, but he'll get there one day! I even learned a lot! Some of the pages in my book were a little off-print, but my fault for not exchanging it.

I got this book for my 6 year old son. I have a few books about the body and I have found that most are not descriptive enough when going through the body systems. They were fine when my son was younger, but now he asks many more questions and I find myself having a harder time explaining how the body works. So, I got this book along with a real working stethascope for children. Every night he loves reading through a few pages at time of this book. He really enjoys telling others what he has learned the night before... Sometimes the infomation is a little too descript, and other times not enough. But, overall, it is an excellent book to help your child understand the wonders of the human body. I would highly recommend this for children 5 years old and up.

I bought this book for my 9 year old daughter who loves science. She enjoys it because it is easy to read, but still very informative. She will use some of the information for her science project at school this year. She saw the book at a friend's house, and I personally thought it was a little advanced for the 4 year old boy who owned it.

My three year old twins love this book!

Highly recommend it!

I bought this book based on the reader reviews here since I don't live in an English-speaking country. I took a quick look before giving it to my daughter, but I was rather disturbed. There are a lot of pictures of bugs - like mites which feed off our skin and things like that. I wasn't expecting that in a human anatomy book. I was also disturbed by the internal photos of things like the esophogus - blech. Then on one page there is a picture of leaches. Having an intense phobia of leaches, I practically threw the book. Anyway, I've hidden it away and I don't know if I'm actually going to give it to her. I think I might just wait to buy her one when I'm back in the States and can thumb through the books before buying.

There is something for everyone in this book. It can be difficult to find a non-fiction story, particularly an autobiography, told in a way that will fascinate the very young. This book does just that - but fascinates the more mature reader as well - including grade school students and adults. The story of Mr. Bentley is told in a very charming way with warm and pleasing pictures, and easy to read and follow text. You could learn quite a bit just by reading the story line. But as an added bonus, there were side bars that added even more historical information - so you could go back and read that yourself if your little one was not quite ready to hear that level of detail. These captions were not intrusive - the way I personally find the Magic School Bus captions to be - but rather side bars that you could read (or not read) at your own discretion. One of the nice things about Mr. Bentley's autobiography - is that you can learn some history, you can learn some science, and you can also simply enjoy the story of a man who was passionate about what he did.

The illustrations are simply beautiful-they always are on Caldecott Medal Books-and the story of "the snowflake man" is just as beautiful. I work as an instructional aide at an elementary school and used this book as an extension activity when the children made snowmen in art, studied snowstorms in science, and made predictions about how much snow we would get in math.
The children are intrigued by the story. Most of them had not heard of Snowflake Bentley and were surprised that it was a true story. The photos and drawings really pull them into the story and the fact that he invented a new way to photograph snowflakes, after a great deal of trial and error, really sends a wonderful message about never giving up. His parents helped by purchasing the expensive telescope/camera he needed to make himself an expert on snowflakes, and he gave his photos and information to universities and anyone else that wanted it.

A great story about commitment, perseverance, and real passion. Highly recommended!

When I see a book that has won the Caldecott Medal, I am usually wondering as I go in, what is so special about it? And here, in this case, being slightly unimpressed, it reminds me of the Oscars or the Emmys...what one man says is outstanding might not always be to my (or someone else's) taste.
This is a very good book, no doubt about that, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian (my favorite parts are the woodcut snowflakes), but it lacks the personal touch, the warmth of the other bio about "Snowflake Bentley" ~ "My Brother Loved Snowflakes," by Mary Bahr and illustrated by Laura Jacobsen.
The woodcut illustrations are well-done, but are not as much "fun" as the smooth, wonderfully colorful pastels and stencils of Ms. Jacobsen, and the story is told more matter-of-factly than the other book.
Even tho' I am pleased to have both in my library, having been a huge fan of Mr. Bentley for many years, I would go to the second tome more often than the first, if I were to ever pick them up for light reading...and to introduce my new Grandson to the wonders of Nature, especially the beauty of snow and ice and other microscopic sights.
Yes, as I sit and reflect on the fact that one is a so-called award winner and one is not, I have to say that, unlike other critics and "experts," I will continue to trust my own instincts ~ and my own heart.

This is an excellent book for all ages of children. It will catch their attention because of the subject matter and how well it is written. For teachers it is a great read aloud book.

Last week when PK-4 came to the library for story time, I had picked out "Snow Friends" to read. Because the weather had been cold, I had the little ones put their hands aside their faces, concentrate on snow, and say, Believe, believe, believe. We said that a few times, then went on with the story. Well, it happened, three days later, in north Louisiana where we get snow once every two or three years, just a little dusting. But it snowed and one child told his teacher that they believed and it happened.

Willie Bentley was that way about snow. He was born in 1865 in Vermont, "in the heart of the snowbelt, where the annual snowfall is about 120 inches." As a boy he was fascinated with snow flakes, especially after his mother gave him an old microscope. "I found that snowflakes were masterpieces of design. No one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted...just that much beauty was gone...."

When he was fifteen he drew over 100 snow crystals each year for three winters, dismayed at the number he was losing. When he was seventeen his parents bought him a camera, even as his father pooh-poohed his foolishness. Its lens could magnify up to 3600 times the size of the snowflake. It took two years finally to photograph a snowflake, but it was the beginning of a historic record. (Do you know that it was Bentley who documented and proved that each snowflake is uniquely different, something every school child knows.)

Over the years he finally earned recognition for his photographs. Colleges bought copies for their collections, artists and designers bought his photographs for inspiration. As "the Snowflake Man,' he became world-renowned. When he was sixty-six other scientists--as Willie could be called--raised enough money to publish his book, "Snow Crystals," even now the first source people consult to learn about snow.

Yes, neighbors initially laughed at a teen who wanted to take pictures of snow in Vermont. However, his life's work and reputation proved them misguided. After his death they erected a statue in his honor in the center of town. Forty years after that, they established a museum to honor "Snowflake Bentley."

You, too, might giggle at the thought of a man so enamored of snow. I call it focus. Often the great contributors to making our world better or more beautiful are those who eschew scorn or laughter and keep right on working. There is an awe-filled lesson in these pages.

Caldecott Gold 1999: Jacqueline Briggs Martin, writer; Mary Azarian, illustrator

To see his book, click on this title: Snow Crystals by W. A. Bentley

Highly recommended study guide. Filled with clear details and pictures to help understand Biology. If your taking an IB Biology class, this guideis a must for all your tests. For me, this guide is nearly a replacement of my teachers confusing notes. Shipping was fast, and book is great, nothing more you can ask for.

A useful and short review to prepare for the IB Higher and Standard Level Biology Exams.