Spunky the Monkey is everything a children's book should be. Pleasing pictures, attention holding story, a bit of whimsy, and not boring for mom or dad. My three year old goes bananas over it.

This was a great book. I recommend it to anyone interested in the time period or not interested. It was the first non-fiction WWII book I read and it got me "hooked" on the time period.

I am the founder and artistic director of a community theater group, Green Room Players, that has been in existence since 1993 in Franklin County, Massachusetts, and have directed musicals each year, including Babes in Arms, Snoopy! , A Wonderful Life, Barnum, South Pacific, and Grease.

Of all the books I have read on musical theater production, Staging Musical Theatre by Dr. Elaine Novak (with contributions from her daughter, Deborah Novak, an actress of stage, TV and film) has been by far the most helpful to me. It is written in simple and easy-to-comprehend language, and covers practically every aspect of theater production.

In a very organized and straightforward manner, the Novaks have discussed selecting the musical; analyzing the book, lyrics and score; interpreting the musical; holding auditions; casting; rehearsals; blocking; and polishing. Included are specimen time tables that are very helpful to a beginning director. There are also suggestions for exercises, games and improvisations to get actors acquainted with each other and with the director. The book also addresses potential problems -- such as kissing, slapping, asides, the vocal solos, curtain calls, pit dress, and even duties of the offstage crew -- and rounds out its invaluable stock of information with scenes for practice, an appendix containing lists and descriptions of well-known musicals and various types of musicals, an extensive bibliography on any aspect of play production, and a 6-page glossary of theatrical terms.

I strongly recommend Staging Musical Theatre as a textbook for beginning and prerequisite courses in academic programs in theater. I also highly recommend it for all who are involved with play production -- especially amateur, community, and school theater directors, producers, choreographers, and actors.

Ruby L. Agnir, M.A. Founding and Artistic Director GREEN ROOM PLAYERS 55 Cleveland St. Greenfield, MA 01301 e-mail: rubyleah@juno.com webpage: www.agnir.net/greenroom

I have bought many philatelic books over the last 15 years and still rate this little paperback as the best value among all the introductions to Stamp Collecting on my bookshelf. If you are looking for a book about stamps you can stick in a purse or briefcase and read during short breaks, this is an excellent choice. Adams covers almost every topic of importance to the beginning or intermediate collector. You will find sections devoted to philatelic terms, how and where to find stamps, the technical aspects of collecting, how to safely store your collection, equipment and tools that collectors use, how to value your stamps, stamps as an investment, societies and publications, stamp production processes, etc. Because the book was published in 1992, it lacks any information related to the Internet. Nevertheless, it provides a wealth of information that is still up-to-date and relevant. Open any page and start reading. You will find the book jammed full of sections you will want to refer to again and again...

I RECENTLY READED: THE STAR CREEK PAPERS AND WAS NOT SURPRISE OF THINGS THAT WENT ON BACK IN THE DAY, FROM READING HISTORY, I'M 47 YEARS YOUNG AND ALSO THE GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF ISOM WILSON, MY FATHER MOTHER WAS OPHELIA WILSON, ONE OF ISOM DAUGHTER, I STAY WITH HER FAR ABOUT TEN YEARS AND SHE WAS A STRONG BLACK WOMAN, THAT I LOVED AND I WISH THAT SHE WAS STILL HERE IN MY LIFE, I OFTEN WONDER OF HER. BUT WHO GIVE PEOPLE THE RIGHT TO DO SUCH THINGS TO OTHERS, THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN THAT JUDGES ONES PATH.I RATE THIS BOOK A 10 AND SHOULD BE IN SCHOOLS ACROSS THE USA, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE HATE START. SANDRA MANNING BOLTON

The authors really have spent a lot of energy compiling the most complete collection of tables, figures, and graphs pertaining to violent crime. But the Crem de la Crim (ha ha) is the Appendix, which gives great detail concerning each data source used. This is a researchers dream come true.

Having been born and raised in North Adams, I have been impacted by Manning's ability to paint "word pictures" of memories of my past. I felt as if I were standing with him during his interviews with North Adams residents. I eagerly await his sequel.

This book is amazing in how it helped me play the game. When I first played the game, I thought "What is this? Why is it so slow?" After achieving all the secret characters, I decided to see if I missed anything by looking at this book at my local book store. I first turned the page to my favorite character, Kairi, and found tons of stuff I didn't even know he could do. The book has colored pictures which adds a nice touch. It tells you each character's momentary combos which is very helpful. It tells you all of the meteor tag team moves which is a good thing so you don't have to go through a guess and check method of finding tag partners. The book also shows you several tag combos (not meteor tag team moves) that looks cool while doing major damage. It gives you all the secrets. Finally, the most helpful thing I found in this book was how it gives excellent strategies on how to use every character and the amazing, super cool combos that you would think never could've happen judging by the speed of the game.

Once again, this book is a must buy if you have the game. Without this book, the game is just a slow lifeless game that seems as if it were rushed through just to meet the launch of the PS2.

Designed for business owners and novice entrepreneurs, Robert Gorman's Streetwise: Get Your Business Online offers a clear, cogent, "reader friendly" guide for conceptualizing, designing, and building an effective business website by anyone regardless of whether or not they have any previous familiarity with the internet or computer science -- and in less than 30 days. Gorman takes the reader through the step-by-step process of developing an online business plan; getting listed in popular search engines and directories; choosing the right domain name; making money from on online website, and much, much more. Effective, erudite, practical, easy-to-apply, the time spent reading Streetwise: Get Your Business Online will prove invaluable in avoiding wasted effort, time, money, and energy in creating and operating an effective, competitive, commercially successful website presence.