This book is about a mischivious monkey whose always trying to play tricks on other animals. It has pictures that let the reader fully understand the book.

Contrary to a previous review, this book is NOT about a mischievous monkey who is always playing tricks.

It's about Monkey-Monkey, who wants help building a new home -- but when Hyena offers to help, Monkey-Monkey suspects a trick and turns him down. So Hyena dresses up as a Beautiful Creature, and promises to help Monkey-Monkey in exchange for a big pot of stew. When Monkey-Monkey makes the stew, Hyena returns disguised as an Ugly Monster and eats it all up. Then he comes back as a Beautiful Creature, but there is no stew, so he will not help. This happens again, until Monkey-Monkey sees through the trick, and plays a clever trick using a disguise of his own, and wins out over Hyena in the end.

This is a Step 2 reading book, for grades 1 - 3, but the story is written so that even pre-K audiences will immediately know that it is Hyena in disguise. It's a great book for a kindergartner or first grader with good reading skills, and my kindergartner reads it over and over. We finally bought it so the library could have their copy back.

Mr. Brewster weaves a great tale of a man whose life completely falls apart. Its written very well and moves along nicely. I finished the book in a matter of hours.

Moral Injustice weaves a wicked web of mystery, suspense and non-stop action in an effort to tell the tale of one man's undeserved misfortune. Taking District Attorney Leonardo Spigazzi from the edge of hopelessness with the unexplained, grotesque murder of his wife and son, to the other extreme of being able to extract his own personal justice against the murderer himself, and all points in between. It's in the end that the dilemma of Spigazzi's situation leaves the reader hanging on to the very last line to finally figure out what actually happened, and although it's not a 'happy ending,' it does end appropriately and magnificently. Mr. Brewster's dialogue is superb. Period. Especially the interrogation scene between the suspect, James Mission, and the two homicide detectives Frazier and Greene. It clips along beautifully, and slowly builds into an unexpected, yet wonderful climatic moment. Shortly thereafter, Leonardo Spigazzi finds himself back at the scene of the crime, in which the author intertwines realities that ultimately brings Spigazzi to a moment of truth and decision. That section was one of my favorites. I look forward to Mr. Brewster's next book.

I've had the pleasure of hiking into the San Gabriel Mountains with Paul MacCready. I've gone to lectures at Caltech where MacCready was in the audience and I've looked on his [ever present] notebooks with wonder. More With Less is a good read and a quick read, but it left me wanting a full-fledged biography of Paul MacCready AND a more complete volume on efficiency in this high tech world. Despite this, I enjoyed Paul Ciotti's take on both subjects. As an introduction to both subjects, More With Less does a very good job. If you are looking for a more detailed book on either subject, my guess is that you'll be disappointed.

I had hoped "More with Less" would be an in-depth biography of Dr. Paul MacCready, former National Soaring Champion, designer of the Gossamer Albatross and Gossamer Condor, and engineer extraordinaire. It's not. The book focusses on MacCready only as a central figure in the evolution of efficient flight. The author spends far more time talking about other people and things (like the southern California hang-gliding scene in the 70s) than he does tracing MacCready's life. There is very little here for hungry little glider pilots like me that want to read in depth about MacCready's adventures in the beautiful Orlik sailplane, his contest successes, etc. That is the bad news. The good news is that the author weaves a fascinating tale of the people and machines (albeit with little technical detail) involved in this corner of the flying world. The author describes the people in the book candidly, warts and all. Not knowing any of these people I can't vouch for his accuracy, but he paints far more interesting portraits than the "hero engineer" so often presented in this kind of book, and it is this aspect that makes the book so interesting to read. The illustrations are terribly reproduced, mislabled in at least one case, and there are far too few of them! I know from seeing two of Paul MacCready's slide shows that there are many great photographs in existence that could have and should have been used in this book. That aside, anyone interested in flying machines that do more with less, and the people who design, build, and fly them, will enjoy reading this book.

While this book is uplifting, it tends to glorify and whitewash history. I certainly wish life were so gentle and beautiful, like carefully-chosen memories. But life is not. I wish Mr. Venable would have been more realistic, is what I am trying to say. Life WAS hard back then, and backbreaking, and depressing at times, just like life is now. Not everyone dealt with the stressors as well as others. Good times and bad times blended and merged. I enjoyed the read, don't get me wrong. I just prefer more realism and grit, to the misty fogs and dreamy landscapes he projects.

Sam Venable may not be a familliar name to some readers. To those of us who own and treasure his books, he is a trusted guide into the backwoods and hollers of Southern Appalachia. Most of his literature concentrates on his ability to tell a tale, and in this medium he is a modern master in a league with Patrick McMannus or Garison Keelor. However, this book is a departure from some of his other books. In "Mountain Hands", Sam Venable and Paul Efird have produced a labor of love that depicts the hard life, and gentle times of the craftsmen of southern Appalachia. It is an unvarnished and genuine glimpse into the homes and hearts of forty people who keep the embers of mountain craftsmanship glowing. The photographs (Ultra High Quality Black and White), enrich the text with a warmth and charm born of a love of the craft. The subjects are as varied as Doll making, Fly Tying, Grave Digging and Fiddle and Mandolin making. One theme runs true in each and every story, a respectfull and honest glimpse into the craftsman as well as the craft. This is an excellent that can be read chapter by chapter over a period of weeks, or devoured in one sitting as I did.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, this is one book worth purchasing in hard cover so your children and grandchildren can treasure it as much as I am sure you will.

I'm not sure what to make of this little book. It is certainly printed well, a requirement for an art book. The closeups of the Murano glass are beautiful. I wish the smaller photographs of the same glass objects in the back of the book were bigger. I got no real impression as to what the glass actually looked like. There must be bigger, more comprehensive books on Murano glass, if you cannot take a trip to the J. Paul Getty Museum, where these treasures are, or in the best of all possible worlds, go to Venice and Murano and see glass until you cannot look at another object.

The poem "Murano" though beautiful is not my favorite Doty poem. Written for his deceased poet friend Lynda Hull, the poem contrasts the permanence of Murano glass with the stench and death often associated with Venice. "Is this what becomes of art, the hard-won permanence outside of time? A struck match-head of a city, ungodly lonely in its patina of fumes and ash? Gorgeous scrap heap where no one lives, or hardly anyone."

There is no need to combine pictures and poetry. One usually dominates the other. First class poetry does not need to be illustrated. (I certainly think Mr. Doty is a first class poet; his poems often bring me much pleasure. I'm also of the opinion that poetry should be read, rather than explicated. The good poet always says what we cannot explain very well.) Fine art does not require commentary. Books like this are difficult to pull off and seldom satisfy completely. This one is no exception.

I believe that Mark Doty is one of the world's best poets, and have bought most of his books and memoirs. I bought this for my former wife as a birthday gift. She is not a poetry fan, but loves this book. She keeps it on the table in her waitng room with some other reading materials and tells me she has had eight or ten patients ask where they could buy the book. A treaure trove of stunning photographs and words side by side. Being a published poet, I would call Doty's words beautiful musings on the island of Murano, glassmaking and life. A little gem!

There are 5 locations (farm, store, park, town, and home) fromwhich 20 words are translated from English to Spanish by the pull of atab. I was disappointed that the basic words like colors or body parts were not chosen as part of the 100 words. On the left side of each page is a full picture of the location; on the right side is the 20 words with a picture of each directly above the written word. The individual pictures do not directly match the same object on the opposite page; often the object is flipped or is seen from a different angle. I did appreciate the back two pages which gave a summary of all the words listed, including the English word, the Spanish word, and the Spanish pronunciation. I also liked the sturdy tabs which seem like they will last a long time.

I am a spanish teacher and I strongly recommnend this book for beginners students (K-2nd grade). It is very interesting for the child to see the object in English and then pull the tab and find the word in spanish. The prononunciation guide is very helpful.

This book is in some ways exactly what it looks like, a survey, to borrow an occupation the narrator held, of life in a police state. However, what Klima does in these connected tales is deceptively difficult. He has written in a style which remains free of ponderousness, which starts with the narrator's attitude and is reflected in the sentences and word choices.

This could not have been easy, and one can think of how pregnant each line could have been. Instead, there is a deft comic touch which helps wring events for their melancholy and, at times, frightening juices. Each story poses a problem for the narrator. As the book proceeds we are invited to watch as he fumbles for some meaning to what happens, while at the same time we know he actively resists the notion that a definite reason can be found to explain why anything happens. We float as he floats, and digress in our own thoughts when he digresses. For this reader, the book became more grave than comic with the last tale, partly due to its content, partly to the picture Klima has built up effectively.

Indeed, the comedy is quietly presented as perhaps the only way to defend oneself against the daily assaults of life under such a regime, and not a completely reliable defense at that. Therein lies the melancholy of this work, which is a good introduction to Klima's art.

One word must be said about the proofreading of the Penguin softcover edition. Perhaps that company simply purchased the text from _Granta_ and decided not to bother with checking if words were repeated needlessly, if the past tense of a word should have been supplied instead of a present, and so on. Errors like that occur much too often (and in so short a book), and are a disservice to the author and the reader.

The sextet of stories presented in this volume are all variations on the theme of work; the "golden trades" of the title represent the employment choices made by the artists of Czechoslovakia in the last decade of communism. This is indeed "mature communism" in its death throes, its last gasp, for as the narrator approaches each of his trades - archeology assistant, courier, engine driver among them - we expect to find a man beaten-down by a society; instead, the artist is triumphantly liberated through the very simplicity of his work. Klima masterfully portrays a man (perhaps himself) at relative peace with his predicament, a man who regrets the course that his country has taken but who nonetheless is able to connect with his fellow man - indeed, with the world - through his everyday jobs. There is the engine driver who blissfully rushes along in his locamotive, flying past the flat-footed police; there is the courier who travels around Prague with nothing more than a leather satchel slung over his shoulder and, in perhaps the best story, there is the surveyor's assistant who achieves an enduring sense of freedom in the lines, angles and boundaries of the countryside. Ivan Klima presents tales of a man forced by the State to wear the clothes of a trade, but a man who retains his artist's soul.

This book is a cute description of how a father attempts to coach his son's little league team while trying to a) not show favoritism to his son, who insists on copying a major leaguer's batting stance that makes him strike out; b) deal with outfielders who would rather collect worms and eat ice cream than play ball; c) decide whether to fire his drill sargeant assitant coach; d) handle rabid mothers determined that their son's team should win; and e) become the season champ without losing his mind!

This book is a quick read, and has some insightful comments on the behavior of adults who are supposed to be the 'responsible' ones in the world of Little League. It's not a masterpiece, that's for sure, but I got more than a few chuckles. If anyone has ever played t-ball as a child, or watched his younger sibling's Little League game, then that person will certainly be able to identify with this book.

This book is fantastic. It deals with the life of a little league manager and the trials and tribulations it brings. I normally love this guy's business writing, but this stuff is amazing. It gave me a good chuckle. Play ball with Paul!

This is the first parenting book I have read and once I got into it--about the 2nd chapter--I found it very helpful. My 18-month old was beginning to be independent, opinionated, unruly and occasionally tempermental. I had previously considered this to be bad behavior but Dr. Warren's book helped me understand what was behind the behavior--frustration, exhaustion, etc.--as well as understand how many emotional shifts a toddler goes through in a rapid-fire manner. Once I could sense what my daughter was actually communicating with her behavior, I could respond, rather than react. He covers a wide variety of toddler behavior and how to respond positively. Something he said that really hit home was not to worry about how you're perceived as a parent because the "image" can become the focus, rather than what is really best for the child's growth. A parent should strive for effectiveness, rather than perfection.

Good reading to add to the stack of parenting books one reads. Easy to get through and to the point. Very encouraging was the Effective Parent vs. the Perfect Parent chapter. A great reminder that the best you can do IS the best you can do, so do it!

This book is good,but it's not great.It only contains 3 stories,which of have no Moriarity in them.I was kind of disappointed in this book,as it did'nt contain enough good stories in it.This book is great for kids,however.It's a good way to introduce kids to Sherlock Holmes.

This book is a great way to introduce children to Sherlock Holmes. It's easy to understand, and the pictures are superb! Will definatly keep their interest.