Useful and informative, but Norton was a bit slap-dash in its production. The "newly-drawn plans" were disappointing and nowhere near the standard in architectural publishing; whoever was responsible shouldn't have been.

I really love David Adler. I was thrilled to find out that this book was in the making. But when I finally got my hands on it I was furious to find that there were no color plates in the entire book. All photographs are archival. The Richard Crane mansion in Ipswich is a tremendous house, and I appreciate the old view from the beach, but how does that compare to the view now that all of the landscape has come to maturation. Not including color plates and more contemporary shots was a cruel tease to play.

growing up in Lake Forest, IL...I, too saw these beautiful country estates -- but never knew the common theme was David Adler. Such a wealth of information and history that I have to thank Mr. Salny for. We are talking an era of architecture that included not only the design of a building, but also the design of the gardens, the interiors, etc. A fabulous book -- beautiful and inspiring in so many ways!

After readind this book to my son, only once, I felt very sad about what happened. Maybe because my son is only 4, his reaction to this book was a lot of sadness, rather than liking the story, or learning about Baseball. I had to spend quite a bit of time explaining to him we (mom and dad) will not die and go to heaven just yet. He was so concerned we would not be around, and started asking so many questions about DEATH. My whole purpose of buying this book was to teach him about the sport, since he is getting so interested in it, and the experience was not even close to it. It is a good book to have and read about Lou Gehrig's history, but not for a 4 year old who just wants to understand and learn more about Baseball.

Like in "The Pride of the Yankees," telling the life of Lou Gehrig always seems to end with his famous speech at Yankee Stadium where he assured the world he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." But in "Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man," author David A. Adler continues to follow Gehrig through his finals months facing the debilitating disease of the central nervous system that would claim his life. This book sketches out Gehrig's entire life, from how he played baseball against the wishes of his mother . Most juvenile biographies of Gehrig do not spend time with dealing with the sports legend on his actual death bed, but this book wants to the man's baseball career with the way he faced death. Baseball fans have always been moved by the tragic irony that the "Iron Horse" was robbed on the use of his strong body and have been impressed by the eloquence of his speech that day at Yankee Stadium, but have largely ignored the qualities of strength and dignity which defined Gehrig on the playing field did not desert him in his final days.

The illustrations by Terry Widener are a stylized version of American primitive art, which is quite appropriate for telling the story of Gehrig. However, I must comment that in the painting of Gehrig greeting Ruth crossing home plate after hitting a home run, the Bambino's bottom is a lot bigger than his top, which is the exact opposite of his iconic image. The first time I looked at the picture I could only figure out which figure was which because we all know Ruth batted third and Gehrig fourth. Widener is clearly captivated by the baggy uniforms but he also pays attention to details: one of the few times we see a number on a Yankee it is 8, which was Bill Dickey's number during the 30's (before it became Yogi Berra's), and he has includes the Baseball Centennial patch on the 1939 uniforms. I especially like the painting where Gehrig replaces Wally Pipp: the view is from the dugout and obscures Gehrig's head and shoulders, instead focusing on the powerful legs and the emergence into the sunlight field, and, of course, baseball immortality. Also, Gehrig's death is eloquently represented by a two-page spread of Yankee Stadium on a rainy day.

This book is the sad story of Lou Gehrig, a true hero of New York. The up-beat drawings of the 1920's and 30's, really bring out the vibrant text.

In "The Number on My Grandfather's Arm" a young girl tells the story of her grandfather. He's a quiet, thoughtful man, and obviously kind, but he has the strange habit of always wearing a long sleeved shirt, even during the heat of the summer.

One night when her parents go out for the evening and grandpa is washing up the dishes, the girl notices a large set of numbers tattooed on his forearm. When she asks him what they are, he quickly covers the numbers up. "It's time you told her", the girl's mother says, coming into the kitchen.

Grandpa leads her to the living room and carefully begins to tell her the story of where those numbers came from. He explains about Hitler: "he was a wild man. He waved his arms and shouted about the Jews. And, when he shouted, thousands of people shouted, too." He tells her how the Jews were beaten, sometimes killed, forced to wear yellow stars, and-- most monstrous of all-- how they were shipped off to concentration camps and labled as "enemies of the state." With tears in his eyes, he tells her how the Jews were often tortured, beaten or killed. "'I was one of the lucky ones,' Grandpa said. 'I survived.'" In the end, the little girl tells her grandfather that it is the Nazis who should be ashamed of what happened, not him, and he re-rolls his sleeves up to go back and take care of those dinner dishes.

"The Number on My Grandfather's Arm" is a powerful story, made all the more so because it is illustrated with B&W photographs not only of the girl and her grandfather, but of Hitler and of the persecuted Jews. One very powerful photo is of a disheveled, clearly hungry man with his fingers laced through a chain-link fence and a yellow star sewn to his jacket. For an adult, it is a haunting image and for a child I imagine it would provoke many questions.

The book is short and sparsely illustrated, but will undoubtedly pose many questions for the young reader than it will answer, chief among them "how did this happen?" (a question a good many scholars and academics are STILL asking today). Mr. Adler does not answer this Big Question for us, presumably leaving it up to the parents/families of the reader to explain in their own way man's cruelty to other men and how an atrocity like the Holocaust could happen in the first place. The history of the persecution of the Jews and WWII is very short and simplified in this short book, but this is to be expected considering that the book is written for very young children.

If I have any criticism about the book it is with the illustrations. For a work of this magnitude-- that is, one that will inevitably ask more questions than it answers and is clearly about the Big Issues-- I would have expected more photographs and for them to be in color. The story, while well written, seems much more sparse and almost dated by the use of the B&W photos. Still, it's an important work and one that is highly recommended for sparking discussion about this terrible and pivotal period in world history.

This is a 27-page picture book. A grandfather explains tohisgranddaughter how he received the tattooed number on his arm duringhis internment at Auschwitz. True story of a Polish holocaust survivor. Brief but good description of the holocaust and treatment of the Jews. Photographs illustrate this book, some from WWII.

It is important to monitor the word choice that the author uses when you are reading this book to a younger audience. They do not understand how you can die from a paper weight being thrown at them or harsh things like whipping or beating. Such vocabulary can be abrasive for you children. Overall the book is beneficial for African American History month.

This is a great book for young readers. I used it to introduce second graders to Harriet Tubman and the times in which she lived. David Adler uses simple sentences to explain complex issues including slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and other issues surrounding this time in American history. I highly recommend all the David Adler Picture Books for young readers to get their first glimse into the lives of important people in history.

This Book explains the life of Thomas Jefferson. It starts out explaining how his father died when he was very young, leaving him the man of the house and with a lot of responsibilities. The book also explains how Jefferson always loved reading and decided that it would be good to go to college for law. He was the person who wrote the declaration of independence and was the secretary of state for George Washington. He also served two years as president himself and established the University of Virginia. The book also tells how upset Jefferson was when he lost his wife and daughter.
I liked this book because it told about Jefferson's life in a way that wouldn't bore children. It was really colorful and it was fairly easy to read. It is a book that children could pick up and really get into where as other biographies might just be boring and something children would only read when they had too.
I think that the message this author is trying to send out is just what an important person Jefferson was. It seems that he really wants children to be able to get into books with biographical context and not find the subject to be dull and boring. The book also has the pictures that really jump out at you which children really love.

Adler does a superb job in the "A Picture book of..." series. The book has lots of biographical information but presented in such a manner that young students will not be bored. Great illustrations on each page give little ones lots to look at while listening. The book concludes with a timeline of important dates. Good resource material for grades K-3 as an initial introduction to key people in US history.

Want to show your kids or students just how fun math can be? Students of all ages will thoroughly enjoy finding the answers to these crzay riddles by doing the math problems, then turning the calculator upside down to read the answer. This is a great item to keep in the car with a calculator to keep kids busy while on a long trip or running errands. You'll wish there were more of these books when you finish the final riddle.

Cam Jansen fans you will not be disppointed. This is another good Cam Jansen mystery. Cam and her family are picking up her Aunt Mary from the airport after her trip to France. At the same time they are having a suprise party. Of course everything does not go as planned. Aunt Mary can't find her bag, the suprise party is about to be ruined, and a little girl from the flight is missing. Aunt Mary knows that she was on the plane, but the little girl can not be found anywhere. Cam uses her detective skills to figure out where the missing girl has gone. A hint - your first guess may not be right. Mine wasn't! Cam Jansen books are excellent for beginning readers and also for parents who read alot of stories (like I do) to children. The fact that the main character is a girl is lost on children because her name is "Cam" so even my boys like her books. I can't wait until the next one comes out!

A great deal of children write letters to Santa Claus. Well, now the cats are getting involved. They ask Santa what they want for Christmas. Some complain that they need a new computer because theirs is ruined because they thought the mouse was a toy. Others ask for the dog to be removed from the house. Cute!

Avon Books has produced another gem in its "Growing Up" series this time focusing on a minority religious group that has had an overwhelming impact on American and European cultures. Growing Up Jewish tells the story from the perspective of twenty-five Jewish writers who share with us their early memories of coming of age in America. Each author celebrates their heritage through fictional stories, essays and autobiographies. Why, one might ask, do we need another book about Jewish life in America? After all, isn't there an abundance of material on the subject? Haven't they assimilated themselves into the American landscape to the point of being no different from their gentile counter-parts? Although the above question are pertinent they miss the point. A people ceases to exist when the stories and memories are forgotten from one generation to another. Growing Up gives the reader a snapshot of these rich memories of young people as immigrants, conflicts with their religious practices from the old country, prejudices from their gentile communities and other challenges which calls into question what it means to be Jewish in America. The sharing of these stories brings with it clarity for some and even more questions for others. This is a must read book for those wanting to re-aquaint themselves with their Jewish heritage as well as a great literary resource of the finest Jewish writers in America. Keeping memories alive is even more important as we enter an age where memory is denied ( the Holocaust never happened), assimilation has dulled cultural and religious recall and antisemitism once again rears its ugly head.

Don't bother to buy this book. David Adler merely collectsfacts about the life of Abraham Lincoln and connects them together. Alist of facts do not a story make! Lincoln was a fascinating man, with a sense of humor and a strong will and an honest character who seems to have truly cared for others. None of this comes out in Adler's books. Not even listed as facts in his boring way. I gave the book one star because the artist shouldn't be punished for illustrating the wrong book. But the people in the pictures are barely identifiable. Buy another biography, like Abraham Lincoln, which won a Caldicot award and has been around for decades. I doubt Adler's book will last that long.

My four year olds really liked this book and Adler's book on George Washington. We have looked at some of the other books in the series, and the subject matter in some others seems too old for preschoolers. My preschoolers were interested in the Lincoln and Washington books because they liked hearing about presidents and (because they are boys!) wars. But one caution about the Lincoln book: be prepared to talk about Lincoln getting shot (there's an illustration of this happening). Also, the book discusses slavery and depicts a slave auction. The pictures are as innocuous as possible, and my children were not upset, but you should plan in advance for how you are going to introduce this piece of history in an age appropriate way.

This book tells all about Abraham Lincoln and his adventures in the Civil War. This was a great book and I hope you enjoy it.