This book is all about the process of incarnation of the baby's soul in the early years, and how you as a parent/carer can help or hinder the process. THe book is based on Rudolf Steiner's philospohy,but does not assume any knowledge of Steiner's work. It is a gem for me as a first time mother anxious to do whatever I can to make the incarnation process easier for my baby. There are so few sensible books on this subject, and it is full of practical advice on feeding, sleeping, rythm, colour, sound etc. A must for any parent with spiritual awareness, and still very helpful for those who just want some non-mainstream sensible practical advice.

This is no ordinary childcare guide for new parents! It is based on 10 years of research and work conducted at the Gabriel Baby Centre in Melbourne. It follows the soul life of tiny babies through early childhood and contains a lot of practical advice, thoughtful insight and some activities and songs that recognizes the unique spiritual reality of each human being. It is beautifully written and uplifting to read. Long after your child is up and running around, you will continue to be awed by the mystery the whole process of birth and life offers to you as a parent. Highly recommended!

I first received this book from a friend who is a Waldorf School Teacher. It is full of practical advice on baby care together with "unconventional" information about child development and is a must for parents or caregivers open enough to consider that man (and hence babies!) originate in the spiritual world.

Regine Pernoud, the most respected twentieth-century biographer of Joan of Arc, noted that everyone can find a reason to love this saint. This book helps children begin to understand why she still haunts us 500 years after her death. I bought a copy of this book for my three-year-old son to introduce him to Joan of Arc's story, and it has been a pleasure for both of us. Now that it is available in an affordable paperback edition, a lot of parents will want to add it to their child's library.

Angela Barrett's illustrations are striking and memorable. In particular, I like the painting of the English bombarding Orleans, as it shows what a siege was like in those days. The cover picture (displayed above) shows Joan on her horse surrounded by the hopeful residents of Orleans who wanted to touch the maiden that God sent to liberate them. Without being heavy-handed, the fire engulfing the banner hints at Joan's ultimate fate, and her face reminds us that she was in many ways a child. This was a true incident, and Joan was said to have been masterful in guiding her horse to water to douse the flame. There is also an outstanding two-page illustration of Charles' coronation, in which Joan is shown standing in a position of honor as befits the liberator of the kingdom. The depiction of angels visiting the imprisoned Joan while she was on trial at Rouen captures the spirit of her faith in God and certainty in her quest. Remember that this uneducated peasant girl held her own for two months in a contest of wits with masters from the University of Paris. The illustrations alone make this book worth having.

Any biographer of Joan of Arc must find a way to explain the inexplicable. Josephine Poole's text is good, beginning with the simple statement that this is a true story. Ms. Poole offers Joan's story more-or-less at surface value. As is appropriate for her audience of children, she simply relates that Joan was a country girl working in a field when she heard voices that filled her with overwhelming happiness. The author includes some details of Joan's story that one could quibble with, but overall the text is solid as biography. I was frankly glad that she did not go into details of Joan's terrible death, concluding instead that a saint, like a star, lives forever. Indeed, Joan of Arc will always live in the hearts of all of us who love her.

Perhaps my son's actions speak loudest about the value of this book. We never go on a trip without "Joan of Arc," and I have heard him tell his friends, in his own way, that Joan of Arc tried to warn Classidas to go home, but that she ended up having to shoot and was sorry when he died. This book has helped my son begin to love St. Joan, and that is the strongest recommendation for it that I know how to make.

I had read this book before, and I loved it. Children will fall in love with this book. This book tells about the heroic story of Joan of Arc, the French maid that helped France win a war against England, and died a heroin. I think children will think she is a saint, and she is a great role model for children. Here children can learn from Joan, about bravery, courage, and patriotism. My favorite quote is, "A saint is like a star. A star and a saint shine forever." Parents, you children will like this book. Plus they learn a little history too on a level they can understand.

I bought this book in my position as church librarian, seeking stories for preteens about people whose lives were changed by God. There are very few books for kids like that out there that don't send a heavy fundamentalist message. There's also the old joke that Noah's wife was Joan of ARK. I needed to set that piece of ignorance straight, too. So I found an excellent book about St. Joan in this illustrated copy. The text is preteen level with historical information like a timeline of Joan's life and map of medieval France, along with the text of Joan's life. This is a nice volume and I would recommend it if you wish to buy it for medieval history, religion, feminist issues, French history or all of the above. The illustrations are well designed and in soft colors, to express the femininity and grace of Joan.

I love it when a book makes me stop in my tracks and think, "Wait a minute, that makes sense. Why haven't I ever thought to look at things that way?"

This book incorporates not only the premise that problems arise within a family system but also within the context of cultural assumptions. Our society values earning and power, thus the Golden Rule (She/he who has the gold, rules). Though each marriage partner has individual problems, these problems arise from the patterns of relating we learn from our parents and our families of origin. Until we understand them, we recreate them in our own marriages. This book, along with David Schnarch's book, Passionate Marriage, will really get your brain churning!

This extraordinary book is about much more than negotiation. It is really about the nature of marriage. Through her successful family therapy practice and her own personal growth, the author has achieved tremendous insights into the assumptions that Americans bring to marriage, how these assumptions can cause problems for us, and how we can rethink our assumptions in order to make our marriages work, or work better.

Carter shows how the traditional model of marriage has not changed fast enough to successfully support the other ways that society has changed. The traditional model is one breadwinner and one homemaker in a heterosexual first marriage. This is how most of us were raised, and perhaps more importantly, it is the model that society, for the most part, is currently set up to support and value. While many young people today intend to share expenses and responsibilities equally with their partners, when we get married, especially if we have children, we tend to unconsciously fall back into thinking according to the traditional model. There's nothing wrong with both partners choosing a traditional marriage; the problem is that many of us do not make fully conscious choices about marriage. Instead, we unwittingly buy into a model that does not in fact (usually) serve either party well.

What's particularly brilliant about the way that Carter explores these issues is that she shows the reader why it matters and how it can change. The book includes useful stories about real people's marriages, and the emphasis is on what was making these people unhappy, what was keeping them from seeing all of their options, how they learned to consider and embrace new options, and whether and how their marriages changed. Because the stories are selected so well and integrated so nicely with the broader exploration of social issues, the book is easy to read and the relatively complex social issues are made very accessible.

The book does not say that money always equals power, but points out that the two are generally equated in American society. It also points out that without autonomy, people do not generally feel equal -- because they really aren't equal in the sense of having the same options. Autonomy--being able to stand on one's own--is so linked with money, not just emotionally, but in reality, that it is important for us to understand the implications of who makes how much money and how the money is shared.

The book also makes it clear that there are two kinds of power, "power over and power to." The book does not advocate that anyone use power over another person, whether that power is in the form of money, affection, or anything else. It does show us why people sometimes do that, and how to think about and deal with people who come from that perspective. It also shows us how people can learn to use the "power to" make themselves happier. Many women are uncomfortable with any type of power, including the power to be happy and even to protect ourselves. This book helps us understand why it is a bad idea to pretend that there are no power issues or power struggles in a relationship, and why it is a good idea to learn more about these dynamics. But its focus is by no means how to win a power struggle. Rather, it shows us how a better understanding of these dynamics can help us negotiate a win-win marriage.

It also, by the way, describes how to negotiate a win-win divorce, with emphasis on how to best support and nurture children during and after divorce.

The book also emphasizes the importance of looking at the family as a system, and shows how our experiences in our families of origin play a shockingly large role in our relationships with our spouses. It includes very helpful examples of how people have reconnected with their "impossible" parents in order to learn more about themselves and the family themes that have shaped their expectations and assumptions (which are often hidden).

In short, this is a book about how to be happier. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to be happier in a committed relationship.

A great book for those who want to make changes in their marriage/relationships. The main issue that she puts forth is that money=power. That equation changes the way that people communicate and negotiate in relationship. Examples abound as well as helpful ways to boost your negotiating power.(the main one being - get and keep a job even if its only part time!) This book could change alot of relationships for the better.

Huck Finn, I could take or leave. Conn Yankee is among my favorit e classics. Joan of Arc---better than other interpretations of
warrior women. I recommend this collection and "Damsel in the Rough" by Ann M. Tempesta.

for fans who wish there were another Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, you will find Mark Twain's 'joan of arc' just as beautifully written as his more famous 'prince an the pauper' and 'connecticut yankee'. for catholics, 'joan of arc' is even more of a must read, a stunning proof how this great saint has captured the hearts of so many, regardless of their skepticism or creed. Library of America editions are beautifully bound, lightweight, and readable. here they contain the two most famous of his non-mississippi writings with a gem most of us never knew existed. a keepsake for the decades.

This collection contains my 2 childhood and all-time Twain favorites - Prince & Pauper, and Connecticut Yankee - and added the magical ingredient of a historical romance I never knew Twain had written - Joan of Arc. Now that I have read this as well, I see that it may be even better than the other two!

The wry sense of humor characteristic of Twain definitely is most in evidence in CT Yankee. All 3 of these works deliver Twain's wide understanding of human nature in different times and sociological conditions, and his admiration of human nobility and greatness of heart in adversity. Joan of Arc unquestionably is the most inspiring of these tales, being the story of the greatest hero (or heroine). The Prince and the Pauper, however, remains a jewel of an adventure story, which any child can identify with, and learn from.

It is a collection to keep forever, and re-read frequently.

It is a very good choice for those who want to learn French.

These tapes are an excellent addtion to(and really a necessity for anyone who uses)the corresponding textbook, HORIZONS. They are fun and interesting in subjest matter. The only drawback to them is that they do not list the vocabulary words from the textbook, that the student might hear each word spoken individually.

This book is a superb textbook for anyone who wishes to study French on their own or for faculty seeking a well written, interesting and asthetically stimulating text for their introductory courses. While I am on the faculty at my college, I signed up for the French I class for fun. The course was cancelled but I was able to teach myself the material, so complete is this book when used with tapes and workbook. It surpasses all of the "teach yourself" books. Excellent!

I know both Maren and Joan and they are probably the most spirital people I know. I have often called Joan a "twentieth century mystic". This resource fills a wonderful place for those of us who use the lectionary and who believe that the Church should be more grounded in its spirituality. Thanks friends!

This book provides excellent material for worship planners, as well as a Bible Study lesson for small groups based upon the scripture reading. The Bible Study lessons can be used independently - like gettings two books in one.

This is a wonderful book that needs to be on every pastor's shelf. It has amazing resources for worship, Bible study and personal devotion. There are resources here that take risks--you will find prayers and resources about topics that are too often taboo in our churches. The writing is beautiful and clear. The uses are many. This is my favorite book for use in my work, I have often gifted copies to colleagues and would quickly replace mine if lost.

The most amazing thing about this book is that within the first few sentences of each story, you find yourself completely immersed in these peoples lives. Some of the characters are familiar, perhaps people you used to know but you've lost touch with over the years. Others are people you know you would have never spent time with, but are fascinated by their experiences. Silber is skilled at describing ordinary experiences in eloquent and sometimes very funny ways. I highly recommend this book of short stories to anyone who has stopped to relect about how their lives could have been if....

In My Other Life gets at the truth of people's lives. The stories are trying to do something new and wonderful. They don't have the cliches associated with so much fiction, instead they resemble the way we all come to understand how our lives have become what they are. No great dramatic events...just quiet realizations about what we really are. Silber is really truthful in her writing, and reveals how characters are thinking and feeling so that they seem really alive. A reader can learn a lot about living from this book.

In her collection of short stories, Joan Silber probes the complexities of emotion that are trigerred by relationships as they change with time. A central theme of each of the stories is the changes in peoples lives as they grow older: The different people that we become despite remaining the same person with, perhaps, the same issues. In one story, a woman artist struggles with her passivity in having allowed herself to fall into a relationship turned marriage of immigration convenience. Years later, unable to extricate herself from a unsatisfying marriage to a besotted Englsihman, she resigns herself to a life she could have avoided had she marshalled the courage an uncle of hers evinced many years earlier when he finally unloaded his inveterately obnoxious wife. In another story, a hipster restauranteaur in Manhattan's trendy Lower East Side struggles with the tragic death of a mentaly fragile family member and, in yet another, a now Yuppie realtor on Manhattan's Upper West Side recounts his hippie days working in a downtown restaurant. This is a book for the reader who wants to delve into psychodynamics and enjoys the downtowmn Manhattan life. Ms. Silber may strike a chord in your own life, as she did with me. I highly recommend this book.

Gisi Fleischmann's pre-Holocaust life was unexceptional, but the woman, it turned out, was not. Strong both in moral principle and in determination to act, effective both as an inspiration to others and as a doer, Fleischmann set her whole being to the task of saving Jewish lives--in exchange, inevitably, for her own. The story of her activities and those of her Slovakian colleagues has been kept alive in memory through the exhaustive research of Joan Campion. Based on archival materials and on interviews with surviving family members and friends, the book describes the real-life nightmare in a way that is the more disturbing for being low-keyed. Our only consolation is our recognition that here was a heroine.

Notes, bibliography, archival and interview sources, and index are included.

There are a hundred ways to tell the story of the Holocaust. Books have been written on the history, sociology, psychology and political conditions that contributed to the Nazi efforts to exterminate the Jews of Europe. The most moving books on the Holocaust, however, often concentrate on the fate of a family or an individual. "The Diary of Anne Frank" comes immediately to mind. Joan Campion has chosen that personal approach to tell the story of Gisi Fleischmann and her efforts to save Slovakian Jews. The resulting book brings back to life a strong, courageous woman. She appears to have been quite an ordinary woman who showed great bravery and intelligence in dealing with extraordinary challenges. In their efforts to destroy millions of innocent people, the Nazis also destroyed potential. We can never know what art, music, literature and scientific discoveries were lost in the death camps. But thanks to Joan Campion, another of Hitler's victims will be remembered, and he is denied another posthumous victory.

Over the years, when friends and I have discussed the Holocaust and the way in which the courageous acts of certain individuals made a difference in thousands of lives, names such as that of Raoul Wallenberg would inevitably be mentioned. I would bring up the name Gisi Fleischmann, because I had had the good fortune to read "In the Lion's Mouth," and to learn of her all-but-unknown efforts to call international attention to the plight of Slovakian Jews in the latter years of World War II.

Joan Campion's fluid narrative deftly guides the reader through the series of audacious negotiations and plans undertaken by Fleischmann and her colleagues to stave off the impending "Final Solution." The story's drama is heightened by Fleischmann's devotion to the work of saving as many people as possible- especially children -while being torn with anxiety for the safety of her own family.

There are people still living to whom Gisi Fleischmann did, indeed, make a difference. How wonderful that, thanks to Campion's efforts, her story is once again available in a world language!

I am a huge Joan Crawford fan who is always looking for a great biography to read on her. Joan Crawford: A Biography By Bob Thomas is good and well written. it covers the basics & lets you in on the private life of Joan Crawford. But my only complaint was that it didn't spend enough time giving you the intimate details on what it was like for Joan to make cetain movies & her relationship w/ her co-stars. things any classic movie buff/fan wants to hear. it fills in the blanks & closes some gaps but i didn't feel like i was there or that i learned something new. i'm still looking for the difinative bio on Joan Crawford...any suggestions?

My favorite will always be Christina's book "Mommie Dearest", but this book gave a much more detailed background of Joan's childhood and early years in Hollywood, as well as her last years. I am surprised that someone so famous would have nothing to do but sit in her apartment all day and answer letters. You'd think someone like that would have so many friends and always have something planned every night.

I don't think someone that famous- and this refers to Joan in the 1950s and 60s- had to worry about being a "has-been". She already had an Oscar and everyone knew her name. She will ALWAYS be famous. A good comparison would probably be John Travolta. He has made some great classics ("Grease"), but his last couple of movies have been bombs. So what. He'll always be around.

I think Joan was a great friend to her peers, there's no doubt. Her treatment towards her children was horrific. This was no secret in Hollywood, either. Christina was no crybaby who wrote her book because she was disinherited. If someone brought it up to Joan to lighten up, they were asked to leave the house or told to mind their own business. No wonder Christopher kept running away!! And where's the logic in punishment with physcial harm because he tried to run away? That would just make him want to leave MORE.

I definitely recommend this, it's the best Joan biography to date.

I have been reading hollywood biographies for about 30 years, almost exclusively, and Joan is one of my favorites. This bio is the best I've ever read about her.