This book provides easy to follow instructions for making: 1. Yugoslavia: five dolls 2. Philippines and Greece: yo-yo 3. New Zealand: thunderbolt 4. New Mexico: bull roared 5. Austria: tumbling man 6. West Indies: twirling yo-yo 7. PreColumbian Americas: spear-the-fish game 8. Portugal: balancing fisherman 9. Israel: Haman knocker 10. Venezuela: corn cob donkey 11. China: flip ball 12. France: the hangman's noose 13. Japan: daruma dollas 14. Finland: prisoner's lock 15. Java: shadow puppet 16. Uganda: thumb piano 17. United Arab Republic: sagat player 18. USSR: Russian bear 19. Poland: pecking bird

Absolutely wonderful.

The morning after I finished reading Fools and Jesters of the English Court by John Southworth, I eagerly abandoned my bed and headed over to the Medieval Galleries at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art. I was anxious to test my newfound knowledge and see how many authentic English fools I could identify in the tapestries and stained glass. I knew the best clues would not be as obvious as the traditional jester's cap of bells. Now I know better than that. For casual English history buffs like me, Fools and Jesters of the English Court is an intriguing read, throwing an intensely revealing spotlight on these performers of old and their sometimes complex roles in medieval English society. However, for as many clever and shrewd "fools" who held unique positions of influence over their royal companions, there were just as many whose lives and minds were starkly simple by contrast. Southworth's book is a thorough education in this highly specific slice of England's history and will not be a quick, easy read for anyone not already possessing a related degree. However, for the rest of us, it is worth taking moments away to refer to the English royal family tree or to take the occasional grounding glance at a historical time line to get the best overall understanding of the material. Even without this effort, though, there are many anecdotes throughout that provide a satisfying look backwards at personalities that seldom make it through the filter of historical repetition -- of significant dates; of shocking statistics of battles and plagues; of scandal and brutality attributed to kings and queens.

I think that adults as well as older children will enjoy these stories. (Well, I know I did!) And a great collection it is too, with some of the tales being very creepy, some humourous, and a couple a bit wistful and sad. The really interesting thing about this book is that the illustrations (very well done and mysterious in themselves) were painted first, with the stories written afterwards to fit the images. A word of warning--if you've ever felt guilty about treating a younger sibling badly when you were a child, DON'T read the last story!

I enjoyed this book. I have looked it over many times, treated myself to many of the luxuries, and learn to eat without fats and still feel full. Thank-you

Framing the Word is an invaluable collection of essays bringing together critics from Europe and the Caribbean. It examines the new and exciting literature of Caribbean women writers. I found this book particularly thought-provokng, apart from being a rare and important resource. To date, Caribbean women's literature has enjoyed little critical attention despite the quality of their writing. The essays in this book begin to redress this gap. Students and lay readers alike will find these essays particularly enriching.

This is the story of 16 year-old Francesca James and her younger sister Mary Kate. Their mother, Lillian, has been an alcoholic for five years, and their father, Gordon, is constantly away on business; therefore, the running of the household and the upbringing of 10-year-old Mary Kate rests on Francesca's shoulders. They have become quite isolated from others in the community because of her mother's drinking, and people's reaction to it. Francesca begins dating Bix, a classmate, and he, her next-door neighbor, who is also a school-mate, and Mary Kate, convince her to go to an Alateen meeting; despite her initial resistance, she soon realized her need for the support of the group.

When her parents find out that she is a member of Alateen, they are furious, thinking that she is spreading lies about her mother, and giving out personal family information. But Alateen helps Francesca and Mary Kate change their thinking about both their parents, and ultimately changes their mother's thinking, too - she finally realizes that she is sick and needs help, and contacts AA.

All in all, it is a GREAT story with a positive, upbeat ending.

An outstanding catalogue of a significant collection overlooked by the earlier specialists who catalogued the Wright collection (and labeled the box containing them "small woodblock prints). Ms. Mirviss brings her vast knowledge and expertise as well as her unfailing artistic eye to this often confusing genre. Stunning illustrations of previously unpublished or rarely seen works enhance the richness and pleasure of this catalogue and complement the text.

This book provided a fun way to get kids to read alond and practice their reading skills. Not only were they learning to read with expression but they were also having fun. The stories are comical and enjoyable for the readers as well as the audience!

Two voices share compassion and humor in relating their concerns for the education of young women. The prime mover of the English Revolution advises his daughter on how to deal with her husband when he comes home drunk, with his friends, and needed reserve in expressing her emotions in church; Phoebe Taylor describes her own uncertainties in the depression of 1910 and on raising daughters 3 centuries later. Her mentor is a college professor of psychology, as wise as the Marquis. Great period reading with delightful illustrations.

This book shows a wonderful range of clearly stated frequentist and emergentist views of functional linguistics. I heartily recommend this...

Quoting the publisher's blurb for this book:

A mainstay of functional linguistics has been the claim that linguistic elements and patterns that are frequently used in discourse become conventionalized as grammar. This book addresses the two issues that are basic to this claim: first, the question of what types of elements are frequently used in discourse and second, the question of how frequency of use affects cognitive representations.

Reporting on evidence from natural conversation, diachronic change, variability, child language acquisition and psycholinguistic experimentation the original articles in this book support two major principles. First, the content of people's interactions consists of a preponderance of subjective, evaluative statements, dominated by the use of pronouns, copulas and intransitive clauses. Second, the frequency with which certain items and strings of items are used has a profound influence on the way language is broken up into chunks in memory storage, the way such chunks are related to other stored material and the ease with which they are accessed to produce new utterances...