I did not like it. It is a bad story. Wolfs are not bad like in the story. Peter doesnt listen to his grandpa, so it is a bad example.

If you are familiar with the Prokofiev symphony, this book makes a good companion to the music. It puts into visual images the story of Peter and the Wolf. What I like most about the book is that, in the end, the duck lives. The ending varies somewhat depending on the version of the recording or book. In this book, it's a happy ending, which is better for younger readers.

We use the book by itself sometimes. Other times, my child will read along while we listen to the symphony.

Our children, 3 year old twins, love the music of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. In searching for an age appropriate book to show them the musical instruments that play each of the characters, we found this one illustrated by Ian Beck. Not only are the illustrations lovely, the colors and clothing of Peter, the hunters and the grandfather are interesting to a child. Also, each page shows the instrument played for that part of the story (find it in the box around the text), and in the back a page illustrates each instrument. We cannot recommend this lovely book enough to parents of young children discovering the beauty of music!

With such a catchy title, one should expect a book filled with practical, detailed, perhaps even step-by-step, instructions (or even suggestions) on how one could achieve the goal of "Learning Faster and Remembering More". Instead, the book is more a digest or summary of the "latest" findings in cognitive/brain-physiology research. Each chapter (usually 5-10 pages) tries to address a specific aspect of mental function. Each chapter usually begins with a short exercise to illustrate the point that is about to be made in the body of the chapter. The body of each chapter then explains the topic at some length in layman's terms and ends with a biblio.

Unfortunately, the book is badly in need of depth. Perhaps it is to be expected for a relatively small book with an ambitious breadth of topics. It is an entertaining and quick read, but cannot seriously claim to teach quicker learning or better memory. A more appropriate title might be "Interesting Tidbits about Our Brain". I suppose the main idea one comes away with upon completing the book would be this: your brain thrives on mental exercise, keep challenging it at every stage of your life.

I came across this book while developing my "Brains and Brawn Workout" program. Next time you're working out, pause to consider ways to exercise your brain, as well. Like other parts of the body, the brain definitely falls into the "use it or lose it" category as scientific evidence continues to prove. In fact, it is celebrated as "the most sophisticated learning machine the world has ever known."

This book by Gamon & Bragdon, published by BrainWaves Books, offers recent discoveries, practical applications, performance tests and skill-building exercises to make sure your mental capacity stays in the same tip-top shape as your physique. Easily applicable facts and a touch of humor combine to enlighten and explain ways to heighten your own genetic mental capacity. Whether it's learning tricks for remembering names and other career/social building data, or discovering how caffeine, cramming, nicotine and sleep affect one's academic skills, this fun to read book will give you something to think about (even if it's while you're on the StairMaster!).

Three sections divide the book: The Developing Brain (the third trimester through high school), The Maturing Years (from college to retirement) and The Experienced Mind (maintaining treasured qualities of life). The authors declare it as "a sourcebook of current scientific information with practical advice on how to speed and consolidate learning and recall, to build competence, confidence and mental productivity for oneself and for others." Everyone can garner benefits from their expertise without ever feeling the drag of a medical textbook.

This book is a handy, easy to read collection of fascinating topics about the life-long process of learning and remembering. The authors address complex neuroscience topics and translate them into digestible nuggets of valuable practical information for us, the curious consumers of health information. The book covers three main eras of life: the developing years, the maturing years, and the experienced mind. I found fun exercises, and helpful hints for myself, my family, and my friends in this book. The book includes wonderful drawings and terrific sidebars of sophisticated science, easy to read and digest. The book has a handy glossary and a helpful index. Reading this book was encouraging and empowering as I celebrate my 50th birthday. I recommend it to new parents, teachers, yuppies, seniors, everyone interested in learning and remembering. It was even fun just to carry it around because everyone asked me to tell them how to 'Learn Faster & Remember More'.

This text is used as a college textbook in my Bible and Theology Batchelor of Science program. As such, I expect a college level text to be challenging reading. However, even for the best reader this book is tedious, unless reserved strictly for use as a resource. Unfortunately to use it as a resource, a good index is necessary. This book has only an index of names and an index of authors available, making the indices hardly worthwhile.

It does have some great charts as sidebar content but without an index to them they may be missed. Illustrations are in black and white or blue and white. Color photos are reserved for the book jacket only.

The book, while maintaining a fairly conservative theological approach holds rather closely to a JEDP theory regarding the formulation of the Old Testament. This may be confusing to some who were taught to believe that Moses wrote the books of the law. No alternative theory is given that I could find.

If you are purchasing this book for a resource, there may be one which is better indexed and more visually appealing. If for casual reading or basic instruction in Old Testament history or literature, please choose something written for this purpose. You will not be satisfied by this book. My readability score for this book is zero!

This is a wonderful text for the student of the Old Testament. The authors are very detailed in their descriptions of each Old Testament book. Not only do they provide a fairly lengthy section in each chapter about the historical setting of the book, but they also provide a review of the message, certain criticisms, theology, date and composition, and certain scholarly events surrounding the text (i.e. hypothesis, theories about the text, etc.). Moreover, the book is filled with photographs, maps, charts, and many other visual aids. The authors have also provided the reader with geographical aids via descriptions, maps, etc. Another important element about this book is the authors' handling of Hebrew poetry. The authors give a description of what Hebrew poetry is, how it works, how to read it, and what its purpose was in context. So as you can see this is a very detailed book. If you are wanting a text that focuses solely on the Old Testament, is detailed and very descriptive, then I don't believe you will find a better text than this one.

Old Testament Survey quotes the New Revised Standard Version in order to take advantage of the most recent biblical scholarship. While previously scholars thought there was a first, second and third Isaiah OTS makes a stong case for the unity of Isaiah (chapter 22). OTS follows the general modern consensus that Ecclesiastes was written 700 years after King Solomon died and thus was not written by Solomon. The comments are interesting and accompanied by photos and maps. If you enjoy this book you may also like THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. Many of the mysteries and riddles of Proverbs are explored with some surprising new answers. Among them is the identity of King Solomon's ghostwriter who was one of the "officials of Hezekiah" mentioned in Proverbs 25.1. Six translations of Proverbs in parallel aid understanding and numerous drawings and photos give you a sense of the culture of the time.

hello, sandra dorsey here... i have read this book...and although i did enjoy it very much...i have this to say...i think of the song called "the little drummer boy"...alls he had to give Jesus was him playin the drums for him...and playin his best for him..(as thats all ALOT of us can give..the very best of ourselves in every way we can..(meanin not everyone can afford to tithe..and or give 10 pecent of what we dont have) futher, for years ive been searchin/seeking for a church to belong..ive been all over, to ALL denominations..and found..they ALL about money..the people are clanish/clickish..mostly the ones that have the money...they cold people as well.. concious of their faults, failings, etc ? NOPE..cause when ya bring that up to church goers/christians, etc..they flat deny it..and carry on w/ their ways/attitudes, etc...calling the person TRYING to fit in/belong/fellowship..a troublemaker... the books best part..was in the front on the tours...loved that... most comical part..was shirley mcclaine .."lives"

i rate it a "3"

sandra dorsey

If you're looking for a great start to the study of End-Times prophecy, look no further than David Lewis' book "Prophecy 2000". It covers quite a bit of the usual subjects, but in a very thorough manner. Just take a look at some of the subjects from the back cover - the US in prophecy - "New Age" deceptions - Is Russia the "Magog" of the North? - and many others. There are many unique views in this book, including pictures of the effort to recreate the Levitical priesthood by the Jews - pictures that have never been published in any other book. I think that those interested in how fast we are really rushing to Armageddon should buy and read this book.

I found this book very entertaining, insightful, and informative. I would recommend it for anybody searching for the truth about what is happening in the world today and how it corresponds with God's plan. After reading this book I feel I have a much better understanding of the behind the scenes events of the world today. Thank you David Allen Lewis and God bless you always.

As a realist, Baldwin holds that state actors can successfully assert international influence and power by using economic means, even when the actual results are a failure in economic terms. This broadened potential for success arises from the often-underestimated utility of non-economic, security-based outcomes, such as signaling other nations about strategic intentions and commitments. Thus, by his argument, we should judge the U.S. sanctions against Iraq or Cuba as successes, not as the failures they are commonly held to be.

He writes that "mutually beneficial exchange relationships . . . should be viewed in terms of power" (xi). For Baldwin, we should see economics not as a voluntary market structure that freely distributes goods, but should instead see the market as "an instrument of politics" (3). Any time that economics is used as an instrument of international politics, he calls it "economic statecraft," which Baldwin defines as "governmental influence attempts relying primarily on resources that have a reasonable semblance of a market price in terms of money" (30).

Although he sees economic statecraft as relying upon economic resources, the desired results should not necessarily be viewed in economic terms. He instead conceptualizes the results of economic statecraft quite broadly, as being "influence attempts," which means that they try to influence the behavior of other states in any way, economic or otherwise. It is this contention around which the importance of Baldwin's entire argument hinges, for it is this broadening of the intended results of economic statecraft to include all "influence attempts" that leads him to conclude that "the utility of economic techniques of statecraft has been systematically underestimated because of inadequacies in the analytical frameworks used to make such estimates" (58).

What does Baldwin have in mind when he emphasizes non-economic types of influence? When we think of economic sanctions, one key tool of economic statecraft, he reminds us that "the particular state with which trade is embargoed may or may not be the primary target of the influence attempt" (17). Here he draws our attention to the broader strategic context of international relations, by reminding us of the importance of onlookers in strategic interaction between two states. Analysts commonly use the concept of "signaling" to describe the mutual perceptions among participants and onlookers in a particular strategic interaction. "Economic sanctions may be effective not because of their economic impact, which may be nil, but rather because of the signal they send about the intentions of the state imposing the sanctions" (24). These signals can have a variety of effects, both positive and negative, that will structure future strategic calculations and interactions. Economic sanctions "may trigger a sense of shame, impose a sense of isolation from the world community, signal a willingness to use more radical measures, or simply provoke reexamination of policy stances in the target country" (63). The strength of Baldwin's argument here is that it breaks ground into areas that liberal accounts cannot tread by virtue of their reliance upon the imperatives of voluntary exchange implicit in the market. By going past this limitation, Baldwin shows how state agents can structure world power by manipulating the choices, capabilities and payoffs that other actors possess, and thereby shape the matrix of incentives.

Baldwin manages to capture much of the dynamics of sanctions policies in modern international relations. He extracts the theory of statecraft and most clearly defines the role of economics. Finally he considers cases of sanctions and provides a compelling explanation of success or failure. A must read for all students of economics and international relations.

The subtitle of Prof. Park's book is "A historical Essay on the Nature and Meaning of Light." That promise is faithfully kept in a thorough, erudite, and entertaining narrative. Park, a physicist, seems equally at home as historian, philosopher and classicist. Paying meticulous attention to the nuances of thought and language, he traces mankind's twenty-five century struggle to understand the phenomena of light and vision, beginning with Empedocles in Greek antiquity and ending in the quantum-mechanical era of Planck, Einstein and Bohr.

With scholarly patience, Park dissects and illuminates the struggles of early investigators to get a grip on the baffling mysteries of light and its interaction with the human eye. This often requires the author to pick bits of sense out of mounds of nonsense. He points out, for example, that even the wildly mistaken hypothesis of visual rays emanating from the eye led to some correct conclusions about geometric optics. Park also underscores the fact that taking the next step puts even the most accomplished scientists at risk. For example, Newton's particle interpretation of light incorrectly called for an increase of speed on passing from air to a denser material and (due to his influence and prestige) delayed acceptance of the wave interpretation pioneered by Huygens and conclusively demonstrated by Young. In an ironic twist, particles of light returned with a vengeance as thoroughly modern quantized photons.

Aside from some minor errors and omissions in figures, the only factual problems I encountered came on page 165, where convergence point P in Figure 6.5 is incorrectly called the focal point of the lens (this would be true only for incoming rays parallel with the optical axis), and the inverted real aerial image formed by the lens is misidentified as a virtual image.

Perhaps the most distinctive quality of "The Fire Within the Eye" is Park's astute and encyclopedic grasp of historical context. One senses that he is telling only a fraction of what he knows about the lives and times of the philosophers and scientists who populate the book.

A must read for everyone interested in Light. It explains everything - dual nature of light, polarization, diffraction, interference, colours, light as vibration of the fifth dimension, etc. Is useful both for the layman and the expert reader. The book's simplicity is its biggest advantage. From simplicity arises elegance.

Overall a good book, because it covers most topics related to planning and budgeting.

Some chapters need serious updating. For instance Chapter 32: "Computer applications in Budgeting, 'Microcomputer' Overview and needs assessment.." is totally out of date with respect to software applications in budgeting (Who still uses the term "Microcomputer" ?.
I have found this to be unnacceptable for a book with this price tag.

As a new financial manager I was searching for a book which will show me to prepare a budget and understand a budget process. No doubt understanding budget is the most immportant role in this field and this book I found was most helpful. I strongly recommend this to all finaltial professionals.

This is a useful study of an important subject -- how military forces in developed countries are changing as a result of broader social and political change. The book draws on research by academics, professional military and others working as the 'Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society'. US academic Charles Moskos sets out the overall thesis which is that social and political changes since the end of the cold war are fundamentally recasting how military forces recruit and train their people, operate in military contingencies and relate to their national governments. Moskos sets out eleven major areas which the other contributers use as a framework for reviewing specific military forces. Areas include such issues as preceived threats, public attitudes to the military, the dominant type of military profession in a force, the role of women and civilian employees and so on.

This 'eleven-point framework is both a strength and a weakness. While it enables some useful points of comparision between different national forces, it forces the individual country studies into a rigid structure where areas of difference are underplayed and too much attention is afforded to issues that may not be important to individual countries.

Overall, the book succeeds in showing that armed forces are indeed changing into organisations quite different from their cold war predecessors. But many broader (and more important) issues are not addressed: is this trend a good or bad thing? Are forces changing too slowly or too quickly? How should military forces train their leaders to handle these changes? And most important, what impact does this have on the capacities of countries to defend their national interests? While 'The Postmodern Military' usefully sets out the foundations for this important debate, it does not attempt to provide any of the answers to these critical broader questions.

Definitely interesting book. In this book Moskos outlines his paradigm for the postmodern military along the lines of 5 organizational changes and a number of emerging trends for the military. The book is written from a sociological perspective and examines the emergence of these postmodern trends in different militaries around the world. This is definitely an insightful and fascinating book and so is its examination of other nations. Definitely a read for military sociologists and officers alike.

Birders are an odd, if endearing lot, and nowhere is this more apparent (and freely admitted) than in Pete Dunne's Tales of a Low-rent Birder. Since my interest in birding is only casual, the stories that took birding propensities to extremes, such as the hypothetical SVAT team (think SWAT for birds) composed of 4 quirky members who can't agree on anything and spend their lives tracking down bird sightings, and The Legend of Jesse Mew, a play on the guru followed by his adoring disciples thing, were a bit much for me. However, his story of finding, following and eventually pulling on a kit string that wound its way across a bird sanctuary (and thereby causing the entire bird population to take wing when the kite rose into the air) was amusing, as was his story of birding with Roger Tory Peterson. I also enjoyed his attempt to see the world through a peregrine falcon's eyes in "Peregrine Going South for the First Time," and his brief profiles of 4 birders who, though very different people, all share the ability to "see" as told in "A Gift of Vision."

However, none of these stories really hit home for me, meaning I didn't find myself reading eagerly with great interest (as I did with Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman, or The Rites of Autumn by Dano O'Brien), or wishing for more once a story ended. In fact I kept putting the book aside with a feeling of vague dissatisfaction. Avid birders may have another story to tell, but for me this book was a disappointment.

An original writing style and a true love of birds and birdwatching make this one a standout. With sections on eagles, hawks, bluebills and even birdwatchers themselves, this one is a delight for the fellow birdlover.

Am very pleased with this book. Refer to it quite often whilst writing C/C++ for AIX. It is aging fast though. Was written for AIX 3.2, current version is 4.3 (Jan-2000). Treat it as a solid "backgrounder" but prepare for all sorts of changes in the newer AIX's. Would definately purchase the update if author felt like creating one.