Let me start by going backwards. In the appendix, the authors testify that this book is about the "greenest" on the market. With soy-based inks and nearly 100 percent of the paper content comprised of post- and pre-consumer waste, the book is a monument to sustainable production. Although they bemoan the "well traveled pulp" cover, no dioxins were co-produced alongside the book. To prove the book really is this cool, they painstaking tracked the web of connections involved in its production as far back as possible.

After discussing every facet of the book, from guts and cover to printing, the only thing they were unable to determine was where half the cover's paper was produced. In all, this post-production analysis was stunning. The delicate web of causes and effects that entered into the books production should serve as a model to all those who would conceive the production of any product. Ideally, we should strive for this kind holistic understanding of production, consumption, and disposal before products every leave the design table.

The actual content of the book is just as salient. What happens when millions of ordinary people like you and me go about our ordinary business, using lots of stuff? What ecological "wakes" do they leave behind, rippling outward across the world? This is the premise of the book, which is rather unassuming and commonsensical. The answers, however, are anything but mundane and commonsensical. The true stories of how things are made might leave you feeling overwhelmed or depressed. You might think twice about throwing that lump of sugar into your coffee -- and not only because it could add a few extra pounds and put you at greater risk of heart disease. You do so also in efforts to help restore the habitat of the Florida Everglades.

Did the profound disconnect sink in yet? Not to worry, another 9 generic commodities with their own unique global "ripples" await you after picking up this book. They include you morning coffee, the newspaper, your T-shirts, shoes, that computer, the bike (and the car), those French fries, the hamburger that preceded them, and also the cola which will wash it all down. Although the imaginary North American whose daily consumptive routine this book tracks might not be you, do not then assume that these issues do not therefore concern you. The fact is, the consolidated effects of this consumption are harming much more than the Florida Everglades. They could potentially end all human reproduction. Perhaps you should read that last sentence again.

We need to educate ourselves about this net ecological "wake" before the rooster tail of acid rain, rainforest destruction, ozone depletion, water depletion, air pollution, forest annihilation, energy exhaustion, pesticide inundation, sweatshop labor promotion, species extinction, waste production, monoculturalization, spiritual declination, heavy metal pollution creation, VOC smog accretion, and desertification leave us all wet and shivering in the cold.

"Well, what am I supposed to do bury my car?" you wonder. The book also offers hope. Consumption, whether we like it or not, is in end inescapable. Thus by understanding our impacts, seeking alternative solutions, educating the friends and the general public, and at the same time altering some our most unhealthy consumer habits, we can help move things in the right direction. If you are looking for more in-depth suggestions along these lines, check out "The Better World Handbook" (2001). It is my personal eco-bible. You can also get further eco-tips from the Northwest Environmental Watch website.

~A Top 10 glObal Eye-Opener~

I didn't know this book would be such a nice read...
After receiving it, I read it all in one sitting. The book chronicles a day in the life of a typical person (an American). Although it is about an American, I believe there is not much difference between any ordinary person in any developed country on earth. The impacts of this person's consumption of products, her actions are all examined from an environment viewpoint. Some people may think that the book is too amateur but that's precisely why it's such a good read. It's easy to understand but leaves a lasting impression on you. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in knowing more about how our everyday actions affect the world we live in.

I've never found another book like this one. It makes it extremely easy to understand, breathtakingly clear, how our choices to consume various products cause a chain of events which harm the environment. Do you know what was done to a river in Canada to produce the six-pack of aluminum cans you just bought? What part of the earth did your coffee come from, and what scary things were done to produce it? The authors never hector or nag, they just describe the origin of things you probably use every day, and let you contemplate them for yourself. The book is a quick and easy read, suitable for adults and teens alike. If I were a high school teacher or college instructor, this book would be mandatory reading for my classes.

For a toddler's book about shapes, this book packs a lot! There are bright colors, a clever discovery story in which our rabbit hero finds packages inside packages, and words that are fun to say (e.g., "Whoosh" and "Curly-wurly"). There's even some droll humor as Rabbit is described as "rabbit-shaped!" Along the way, kids will see examples of a rectangle, an oval, a circle, a square, as well as a tube and other interesting shapes. Nice bright colors and a warm, soft-looking bunny make this 21-page book a winner!

I bought six of the paperback rabbit books for my 22 month old
daughter and she loves them. The little rabbits are so cute
and the author is very creative in the way he integrates learning
concepts into the plot of the stories. These books are definite
winners at a reasonable price.

A beautiful concept book with a very likable character. The text and illustrations go well together, making the whole book comprehensible for young readers eager to learn.

My copy of this book is worn out. It's hard to explain it's charm, perhaps it's the way it covers so much ground so quickly and fluidly (without leaving everything as an exercise for the reader). A particular emphasis on quadratics: residues, forms, class field - not surprising since the author himself won the Fields Medal for his work binary quadratic forms in 1970 and previously in 1966 proved a long-standing conjecture of Carl Gauss: The only imaginary quadratic fields with unique factorization are d = -1, -2, -3, -7, -11, -19, -43, -67 and -163.

This book packs in as many concepts as number theory books five times its length (divisibility, arithmetical functions, congruences, quadratic residues and forms and fields, and diophantine equations and approximations) and is still (surprisingly) very clear. There are even exercises to keep you busy.

I enjoyed this book very much, I recommend it to anyone interested in the Paranormal!!!

This is a great book to read on a rainy evening, not least because it is not necessarily fictional. The stories are simplified and well presented, with several plausible cases. I myself happen to believe in ghosts, but even someone who doesn't will find these stories believable. It kind of makes you wonder what is beyond death...

A must have for your little one. The easy text and tactile experience make it fun to read and touch everytime.This is my one year olds favorite book,or I should say used to be his favorite book. After much love and a lot of page turning, we have destroyed our beloved bunny book.So- I'm buying a new copy to replace the old-and I'm buying all my friends one too.-A great gift!!

My daughter adores this book (18 mo. old). We got it when she was a few months old, and the pages are still holding up fairly well (only minor taping needed). The verse is soothing, and the characters bright and engaging. She loves feeling the different textures. Highly recommend for your young one, or as a gift.

This is a great book for those who are interested in the technical information about the US Navy battleships. In great detail the book covers the evolution of the battleships from the early monitors of the post Civil War period to the cancelled Montana Class during WWII. Although a bit outdated since it was printed during the period when the Iowa Class was being reactivated, the seventeen chapters greatly explain each class of battleships as well as differences among the sister ships. Technical information regarding design, design proposals, dimensions, types of guns/calibers, machinery, armor, internal hull arraignment, etc. are included. This book is not for the novice, but for those naval historian/architectures or those who simply enjoy reading/studying the technical aspects of the book is a must have.

The only reason I did not give this book a 10 rating is that its publication pre-dates the inactivation of the IOWA Class Battleships. A later revision to include all the modernizations of the 1980's will boost this book up that last notch. Norman Friedman is generally considered the last word in technical publications. The only work of his that I have read that dealt a little more with the human aspect was his excellent treatise on Desert Storm. But we're talking Battleships here. About the only technical detail the author left out was precisely how many rivets were driven in each ship. But then, only an ex-riveter like me would really want to know that. If you want to know what kind of bureacratic requirements were involved along with the technical requirements and the state-of-the-art capabilities at the times of conception, design and construction of U.S. Battleships, then this is the book for you. No serious student of Naval Architecture or Naval history should be without this book on their shelf within easy reach. Richard A. Landgraff DREADNAUGHT CONSULTING

This book is beautifully illustrated. The outdoor scenes are very realistic. A clue is given as to what type of animal lives under the rock, log, etc., and then the reader lifts the flap to reveal the animal. Very fun and educational.

This book is about a hamster who accidently dirties the new page of his book. He tries all sorts of things to get the page clean, and of course nothing works. The illustrations are charming, and there is absolutely no text. You can describe what is going on or have the child tell what they see. My daughter "read" it when she was in first grade, and now as a senior in high school, she is still looking in the library for it, just one more time.

Once again Alan Baker has written a book with beautiful pictures that fit in with the text. The text is simple enough for young readers, yet still informative enough to be educational at the same time. All together this makes for a book which can be enjoyed by children, while teaching them in an unconfusing manner.

The illustrations in this book are top notch -- vivid colors, with excellent detail on the rabbit. There are no backgrounds, but that's okay, because that's not what the book is about. One of the fun things about this book is onomatopoeia: it helps to get the parent involved.

Not suprisingly, a book about colors also has a social message, and in this case it is well done: it doesn't hit you over the head like other children's books. It's also a bit of a surprise because there's no hint of it until the last page.

Overall a fun book to share.

Out of all the books at the day care center I worked at, this by far was the favorite and most requested book of the kids. I don't know why, but whether the unit for the week was colors, animals, or Easter this book had to be read several times during story time and was often read just for fun. Surprisingly, none of we teachers ever tired of reading the book. The copy of the book at the center was read so many times that the back cover literally fell off. The book uses a white rabbit to illustrate how by mixing primary colors, secondary colors are made. Not only that but the book helps introduce children to "sensations" that colors can cause; for example white rabbit thinks dunking in blue will feel cool and that red is sizzling. A wonderful little book.

This is a great book for little ones. It is my baby's favorite book at this time. He is almost 13 months old and I can sit and read him this book over and over again and he is interested each time. He tries to read it himself! It's a cute book with great pictures and not too many words so you can turn the pages quickly keeping your child's interest and still read the whole story. I haven't read the other little rabbit books yet, but intend to get them all.