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Book reviews for "Balabkins,_Nicholas_W." sorted by average review score:

The Haunted Castle: An Interactive Adventure Book
Published in Hardcover by DK Publishing (September, 1997)
Authors: Leo Hatras, Miriam Farbey, Nicholas Turpin, and Leo Hartas
Amazon base price: $14.95
Average review score:

...and my kids only 6
Every time we walk into our neighborhood bookstore, my son runs over to find "Haunted Castle." I guess it started when the book originally caught my eye, and so I picked it up. I'm an artist, and the drawings are so detailed and intruiging that it drew me in immediately. To top it off, there's a game to be played throughout the book that both my son and I found extremely innovative. In it, Johnny and Jodie have to find their Uncle Barnaby, and so the journey takes you through the many twists, characters, and wonderful drawings where in the end you really don't know if you're going to actually find him. Because my son is not at the reading level the book displays, it's a great way to spend some quality time together without the TV on! I would reccomend "Haunted Castle" to you if you're one to appreciate tallented illustration, great ideas in writing, and enjoy sharing story time with your children.

This book tells many stories with amazing illustrations
Haunted Castle is a book that lets you choose your own path through a terrifying castle. Every time you read the book, the story changes because of the decicions you make. The richly detailed illustrations will keep you entertained for hours and every time you look at an illustration you notice something new. Some of the first rate drawings include a graveyard full of restless spirits, a mad scientist's laboratory, a sunken pirate ship, and a dungeon. Once you finaly find your way out of the castle, there is a surprise that explains the whole mystery!


The House of Special Purpose: An Intimate Portrait of the Last Days of the Russian Imperial Family: Compiled from the Papers of Their English Tutor,
Published in Hardcover by Stein & Day Pub (July, 1975)
Author: John Courtenay Trewin
Amazon base price: $10.00
Used price: $5.99
Collectible price: $7.00
Average review score:

A fascinating view of the family of the last tsar
"The House of Special Purpose" is compiled from the papers of Charles Sydney Gibbes (or Gibbs), English tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II. J. C. Trewin did an excellent job of going through Gibbs' papers and combining them with published sources to form a fascinating narrative. The photographs, too, are well-chosen. The Russian revolution happens a third of the way through the book; however, Gibbs was with the family in their captivity in Siberia, and has interesting anecdotes and dimensions to add. One complaint is the lack of a proper bibliography. While "House of Special Purpose" was mostly based on unpublished sources, it would be nice to know at a glance what other sources Trewin consulted. (Sometimes sources are given in footnotes at the bottom of the page; other times they are not.) Similarly, an index might have been nice. However, these are both stylistic complaints. This is an interesting book, highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the last tsar. It is, as other reviewers have said, a shame that it is out of print and hard to find.

A Fine Little Book!
This is a wonderful book that describes the last days of Czar Nicholas II and his family. The emphasis is on the children --- son Alexis and daughters Anastasia, Maria, Tatyana, and Olga.

The book is based on the recollections of the children's tutor, Pierre Gilliard, who accompanied them in exile for a time. It is filled with photographs, letters, and other memorobilia from Monsieur Gilliard's collection. These provide a delightful side to the tragic story of the last days of the Romanovs.

It is a pity that this wonderful book is out of print.


Human Body (The Nature Company Eco-System Explorers , No 4)
Published in Hardcover by Time Life (June, 1999)
Authors: Joanna Turner, Nicholas Harris, and Time-Life Books
Amazon base price: $11.95
Used price: $2.34
Average review score:

Excellent!
Great for my kids! Helps to explain the basics in the structure of the human body with a great deal of fun. Highly recommended!

A wonderful teaching tool!
As a high school health teacher, I am always looking for a quality text to utilize in my classroom. This book is just that. The pictures are clear and free from confusion. The text is concise and easily understood. I recommend this to parents and teachers alike. Even my brother in medical school uses a copy. It is useful for all ages.


Illustrated Negotiator's Glossary
Published in Paperback by Born Negotiator Publishing Group, Inc. (25 July, 2001)
Authors: Donald A. Wiesner and Nicholas A. Glaskowsky Jr
Amazon base price: $14.95
Average review score:

Refresher
I've read other neogtiations books but I like the easy reference and quick read this book has to offer. The book is a welcome guide and refresher no matter how long you've been negotiating. I'm in the midst of negotiating with several business partners for my company and I find myself flipping through the book as a check.

Doug Klaiber
Sr. Director Business Development
Taqua Systems, Inc.

Refreshing Guide
I've read other negotiations books but I like the easy reference this book has to offer. I've found it to be a good quick read and refresher no matter how much experience you have negotiating. I'm in the midst of negotiations with several potential business partners prospects for my company and I find myself flipping through the book as a check.

Doug Klaiber
Sr.Director Business Development
Taqua Systems, Inc.


The in Crowd (Terror Academy)
Published in Paperback by Berkley Pub Group (June, 1994)
Author: Nicholas Pine
Amazon base price: $3.50
Used price: $1.00
Collectible price: $10.00
Average review score:

Fantastic Story
This book is great! It makes you feel like your there watching everything happen. Teens who like horror stories are sure to get a kick out of this book.

A Must Have
The book is awesome! I highly recommend this book for those teens who enjoy thrillers.


Integrating Mind & Body: NLP for Better Golf - Putting
Published in Audio Cassette by Peak Performance Psychology for Golfers (01 January, 1998)
Author: Nicholas M. Rosa
Amazon base price: $19.95
Collectible price: $39.95
Average review score:

I did not believe it, now I do!
I have to admit I was a serious skeptic when I ordered this tape. I was a 1 handicap and my driver was holding me back from taking that next step up. I started with the driver tape and listened to it...Nothing. I then had occasion to visit my inlaws and one evening with nothing to do I layed in bed, and turned the lights down and listened to the tape. No kidding, I got a funny surreal feeling while listening to this tape. This was two years ago. I am now a +1 and the driver is my favorite and most trustworthy club. After seeing these results I bought the putting tape and I do believe it has made me a more confident and better putter. This tape is not magic. I put hard work into my game and much of the results can be attributed to that, however, I believe that if you listen to these tapes properly they do help. Properly is the key. I have found that I can listen to them over and over and most of the time it goes in one ear and out the other, however with the right setting (quiet and relaxed with no distractions) I find myself in a half sleep listening to the tape and when is is finished I can definatly tell this listening has affected me. Hope this helps.

A secret weapon
This is a tremendous aid for your game.

The 27 minute tape produces a calm and confident state of mind. When you play you only need to use the 'trigger gesture' and it will produce confidence in putting.

After listening this tape I broke 80 for the first time. I don't hesitate to recommend this secret weapon to every golfer.


An Introduction to Judaism
Published in Hardcover by Cambridge University Press (May, 2000)
Author: Nicholas de Lange
Amazon base price: $55.00
Average review score:

A COMPELLING CHRONICLE
In his book, "An Introduction to Judaism", Dr. Nicholas de Lange provided a quick insight into the religion and its followers. I observed that he designed this book for people who have little or no time to invest on voluminous texts. The numerous illustrations he used to demystify ancient concepts like Zionism and Diaspora are of great value; although that anybody who is familiar with his earlier works, like the "Atlas of the Jewish World and Jews", would not be too amazed.
This is one book that will enlighten anyone who has interest in Jewish history and demography. It is a well-researched piece. Beautifully summarized! Another compelling chronicle.

Interesting, Readable, and Encompassing
This book addresses almost the entire gamut of Jewish history, ideas, thoughts, issues, and concepts and does it in a most engaging manner. By necessity individual concepts are allowed no more than a few paragraphs. This makes for a quick read. The book seems to be written as a college text. However, even the most knowledgable will feel they have learned something new. The author approaches topics that have been the subject of controversy in an uncritical and even handed manner so that all but the most rigid will be able to at least identify with both sides of an issue. Fot the most part the author does not interject his own opinion. Where he does do this is often in a place where he finds opportunity to bring in fresh thoughts.


Iowa Accleration Scale Manual
Published in Paperback by Great Potential Pr., Inc. (February, 1999)
Authors: Susan, Ph.D. Assouline, Nicholas, Phd Colangelo, Ann, Phd Lupkowski-Shoplik, Jonathan, Ba Lipscomb, Susan G. Assouline, and Connie Belin
Amazon base price: $30.00
Average review score:

Use with Care on Multilple Skips
While I would recommend that every teacher working with gifted students be familiar with and have within their toolkit the IAS, I do have some very specific concerns about it. First, it is designed only to deal with children requiring a single grade skip. Much research shows that many highly to profoundly gifted children, those that will benefit most from grade skipping, may require many grade skips during their school career. The questions on the IAS are designed to deal with only children considering their first skip. Though it could be used for additional skips, the section on developmental factors becomes less useful the more out of grade level the child becomes. The IAS also seems to be focused on skipping a single grade at a time, there do not seem to be any guidelines for skipping multiple grades.

Another concern I have is with the IAS is their absolute denial of skips when a sibling in the same grade or the receiving grade is involved. While this is certainly an issue that must be addressed carefully, because denying a grade skip where one is called for can be extremely damaging, the cut and dried "never do this" approach seems to me to be wrong. I think that directing people to take special care in these instances instead of just rejecting the skip out of hand would be more appropriate. Also, the IAS does not address at all the issue of a child skipping past a sibling, another issue that can arise with multiple grade skips.

Though it certainly doesn't take all the emotion out of the decision to whole grade accelerate a child, the IAS does give some framework, based on good research, to the process. I would recommend that every school district have the use of the IAS as part of its procedures for whole grade acceleration. Grade acceleration is one research proven, inexpensive way of meeting the needs of gifted kids. It is good to have a way to begin to quantify this difficult decision.

An excellent tool for educators and parents
This scale turns a subjective decision - grade acceleration - into an objective decision: "Exceptional candidate, good candidate, marginal candidate, or whole-grade acceleration is not recommended (but that means that single-subject acceleration, mentoring, enrichment or other alternatives should be considered).

The scale is thorough, and gives weight (more or less) to every factor that any parent, teacher or administrator has every considered, including size and motor coordination (which it finds a minor issue), behavior, social participation, both inside and outside school activities (separately counted - having outside activities that aren't affected helps a lot), even attendance, motivation, self-concept and attitude towards learning. All these items are considered together. And given the most weight is the ability and achievement tests, particularly in and out of grade level achievement tests.

The book concludes with 2 student analysis (one gets a two grade skip, and the footnotes mention that the skip actually took place 3 years ago and is very successful), the other does not get a mid-year skip he didn't want, but is recommended for an end-of-year skip review), and then 11 pages of great research citations on why whole-grade acceleration is a good and effective educational alternative, and another 8 pages of references.

When a school purchases this book, and uses this scale to make quantitative a decision process that used to be purely emotional, I think we will see far more appropriate use of whole-grade acceleration, and far more comfortable folks involved, from the parents to the district personnel to the student themselves.


The Isle of Avalon Sacred Mysteries of Arthur and Glastonbury
Published in Paperback by Green Magic (01 August, 2001)
Author: Nicholas R. Mann
Amazon base price: $11.87
List price: $16.95 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Virtual Glastonbury!
I've just come back from Glastonbury, and having read this book first helped a great deal. I'm reading it again, and am feeling so enlightened. If you love Avalon, you must have this book.

A Worthwhile Read
Anyone interested in the background behind the mysts of Avalon will enjoy this book. I found it well-researched, fairly easy to read, and quite informative. A great collection to my library.


Jack Russell Terriers
Published in School & Library Binding by TFH Publications (June, 1994)
Author: Anna Katherine Nicholas
Amazon base price: $9.95
Used price: $1.30
Collectible price: $8.99
Buy one from zShops for: $7.99
Average review score:

OUTSTANDING!
This is a wonderful, wonderful book. The information is probably THE most accurate of any Russell book I've read so far (and I've gone through quite a few with my first JRT!). Author is very descriptive and covers everything from breeding to old age in depth. Adorable pictures.

This book was very informative.
I loved this book. It gave a lot of information about the breed and the pictures were so cute! It gave me all I needed to know about the breed's history, habits, its trainability and physical features. For anyone who is thinking about purchasing a Jack Russell Terrier, I encourage them to buy this book. Even if you don't want to buy a Jack Russell Terrier, it is still a great book to read and gather information about Jack Russell Terriers.


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