This book was very interesting. It all started with Edward not being able to read. His father would always read him a story on Christmas Eve. Edward wanted to read really bad. This story tells how Edward goes from being doubted, to actually being able to read. It brings about a conflict with the losing of Santa's glasses. I think that that was the opportunity that Edward needed to learn how to read. His parents woke him up on Christmas morning. They wanted to read the book to him. He ended up reading it to them. I would definitely recommend this to any kid that wants a good story to read.

Edward cannot read. He almost can...but not quite. His teacher tells his parents that there are many tests he can take that will find what the problems are. However, his mother insists on "No tests...just patience."
It is Christmas Eve and Edward struggles to read his favorite Christmas story when he hears a noise. He runs downstairs to find a large, old book. "It must be Santa's!" he thought.
Santa comes back for the book, which happens to be his "Book of Names," but looses his glasses, and needs Edward to go along with him to help him read the names. Edward struggles at first, but Santa helps him. In the end, Edward does fine reading and Santa returns him home, thanks him, and rewards him with a new book.
On Christmas day, Edward reads his new book to his two happy parents.
I believe that this story is really inspiring. Edward gains self esteem, self confidence, and he saves Christmas! This book seems to be an instant classic. The story is good and the illustrations are beautiful. People of all ages will enjoy reading about Edward's memorable Christmas.

I cried as I read this book for the first time - it is an endearing story about Edward, who is having difficulty learning to read. His teacher suggests he undergo more "tests", but his parents insist "no...more patience". When Santa delivers gifts to Edward's house on Christmas Eve, it happens that he can't read his book of names of boys and girls. Christmas is at stake and Edward must step up to the plate and read the names for Santa. Edward goes with Santa in his sleigh and saves the day by reading aloud the names in Santa's book. He gains his self-esteem and self-confidence in reading, and saves Christmas too!
This is one of the best Christmas books I have read and I ... hope it becomes a classic. This author has written two other books about Edward, just as charming: "Edward and the Pirates" and "Edward in the Jungle".

This is just plain fun--or not so plain, but amazingly enjoyable for something so filled with new and surprising information. Kastan writes well, seemingly knows everything that has been written on this vast topic, and makes it accessible and exciting.

Shakespeare as we read him! This is wonderful! hard to believe so much information could be made so available and fun to read. Well written and a good looking book--and the price is right!

this is informative, wittily written, and filled with surprises about how Shakespeare became "Shakespeare"; it is also a beautifully produced book, as one would expect from Cambridge.
The paperback makes a great gift for anyone interested in Shakespeare or in the history of the book, even as that history moves into the digital era. A great buy and a must for any college or good high school library.

The book Thor is one of my favorites...assuming there are not two. The synopsis above does not seem to describe at all the book I and the reviewers have read. The book I so enjoyed described a loyal dog's silent, lonely, heroic struggle to protect his family from an enemy within which he had no chance of defeating. It's truly a wonderful book, in some ways in the spirit of Watership Down or Tailchaiser's Song. The book described in the synopsis, however, seems to be the story of a beloved pet in real life. Very confusing...if you find the suspense tale entitled Thor, on which I believe the movie "Bad Moon" (and equally bad movie, but not the author's fault) was based, pick it up. It's a wonderfully engaging one or two night read that will keep you up til dawn. I hope the author gives those of us who enjoyed the book so much another night or two of pleasure...it's a stretch, but if Bruice Willis continues to get into Die Hard situations, why not Thor? Thrilling, heartwrenching read. Poor kitty.

reviewer o.c., ca. certainly never saw or read the book. as a shepherd trainer and owner i would have to describe this a combinatin of poetry and fine art. genuinely touching. a remarkable epitaph to a dog that was loved and is missed.

Thor was one of my favorite books! When the secret of the family's uncle came out was very scary! When a wild animal keeps coming and kills the young cat that thor actually loves he is sent to the pound and the owner crys as he is taken away. It certainly made me cry after a dignified dog was thrown into the pound!

This one contains the classic Bolo against Bolo; Wriiten by no other than David Weber. Simply captivating, obsorbing and exciting! Imagine a Bolo Novel by Weber? Buy it, read it, write a review. Enjoy!

This is probably the best bolo book, why? Supose you had a friend or mother who could recite poetry, play wargames, explore the meanings of the univers and kick out megatons of damage!! that is a bolo and in this book you will see that even a "dead" bolo can figure out a way to get the job done. An interesting point in this book is that in all but one of the stories the bolo is either massively damaged or modified to the point of being considered combat ineffective and not all stories are happy. the technical readout in the back is a great bonus. A must for any bolo fan, and anyone who believes in the power of the heart be it a Bolo, a human, or a dog gone pup.

This is undoubtedly the best collection of Bolo storied collected to date. Only four stories, half of themm are stories you'd find in the other anthologies. The other two shine like the sun. Little Red Hen is the story of the pioneering attempts of humanity to create a complete AI that feels emotions, and they have succeeded. I will not tell you what the main happenings in the story are because you have to read it to comprehend how masterfully it is constructed. Towards the end I actually found myself CRYING. Impossible, i tried to think to myself. It's got to be onions or mabye i stepped an a tack, but inside i knew exactly what i was crying for: LRH unit 1313 , bolo mk. 21,I(special). Miles to go is another example of the line of distinction blurring. Thee main Bolo in this story is an experimental mk 23, eighty years old. However, she packs a huge suurprise: he former Commander was a psychotronics tech and , for lack of better words, souped up the crud out of her. She is the first Bolo to mount a brain box, an integral part of more modern bolos. Her new Commander, however han one major failing: he is in love with her. Nice problem. Read tese two if you like just about any sci-fi- you wont be dissapointed

You sit sometimes and think for hours about how to do something in Visual Basic that is so darn easy to do in the pure Win32 API. It still does not come. More Jolt. Nope still nothing. Then you read this book and holy moly there it is!

I think that pretty much covers what this book is about. For someone like me that started programming Windows with Windows 2.0 and am an old hand at the actual C level API this book brings some of the tricks of the trade to the Visual Basic programmer. Between this book and "Advanced Visual Basic 6" by Matthew Curland a programmer of VB will find plenty of ammunition to shut down those "VB is a whimpy language" attack chihuahuas.

If you are a better than average VB programmer and need some new tricks to keep interest up or if you are any level programmer that needs a little spice to go with your code get this book and play with the code inside.

This book also does something else all books should do. The authors included the source code for ALL the examples and annotated the code to the max. Thus the "Annotated Archives" title, eh. Other peoples' code is a valuable tool for programmers and there is plenty of it in this book.

This book is the best example book I've ever read! A lot of examples, all are explained and the Code is very useful: Create flat toolbars with the Toolbar Control, do floating or docking Toolbars, or display designer menus! Congrats!

When it comes to references and "secrets of" books, there are so many choices that it makes finding a decent book nearly impossible. I am delighted to have stumbled onto "Visual Basic Annotated Archives." Whether you need to learn how to write an ActiveX DLL or simply wish to look at snippets of clever code, this is the one to consider. I heard that one of the authors (Kent) is a teacher... it shows in his writing style, which is very easy to follow.

An outstanding book for the watercolor enthusiast. Dewey's chapters cover materials, subject matter and technique that even the advanced watercolorist can learn from. The book is a handy item to help both the practicing artist and teacher. Not so much a step by step study, but rather information that can be applied to the artists individual style and subject matter.

a comprehensive, knowledgeable, concise survey of watercolor technique and the art theory necessary to watercolor painting. some essential techniques, such as wet-on-wet washes, receive a one-page treatment that encapsulates all text, illustrations, and photos for that topic; others are repeated as themes throughout the discussion. the demonstration paintings are simple and inviting for a beginner to imitate, yet all of them -- my favorites are niagra falls, the japanese arch and the still life on a rug -- are masterfully composed and build from value sketches and compositional studies to show how to think a painting through. the section on color theory is the most coherent and pointed i have ever seen. the sections on materials (paints, brushes, papers, by type and by brand) are excellent too. a marvellous book, a classic of its kind.

David Dewey's straight forward and concise writing makes this among the best Watercolor references available today. I own over 100 watercolor books and this is one of the four I reference continually.

This is an excellent book, both for reading and as a resource. Hulse gives an incredible amount of information in an easy to understand format. This book is invaluable in helping to understand the connections between various cultures and their methods.

This book and its companion: "The Eastern Mysteries" provide a wonderful compendium of cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary information. They make it possible to understand the deep connections between all peoples of the world.

Definitely a "must-have," whether novice or expert.

What a SHOCK to open both of Sibley's Eastern and Western Field Guides and find Alberta transposed with British Columbia on the endpaper map at the back of each book. I opened a book at the back to read the bio and look at Sibley's photo and glanced at the map and I stared and stared, not believing my eyes. I checked all the provinces and states to make sure that was the only error. Other than that, these books are great, with super illustrations and I appreciate the range maps on the pages with the birds.

The Sibley Guide to Birds, as most mention, is a great guide but too heavy to tote into the field...this field guide solves that problem.

Yes, the illustrations are smaller, but just as useable. Yes, some of the illustrations in the original guide have been deleted, but the guide you take with is better than the one at home. (You should have the original at home anyway!)

I find that the addition of Status, Habitat and Behavior in the text more than makes up for fewer illustrations.

Well made and sturdy...buy it!

I started birdwatching a year and a half ago and the Sibley Guide to Birds was the first guide I purchased. Although I had been told it was for "expert" birders, I just thought the illustrations were much clearer than any other guide. It was a joy to look at, at home on my couch. But I never wanted to take it with me in the field because it's too darn heavy.

So the Sibley FIELD Guide is the exactly the guide I've been wishing for. The illustrations are just as clear, even though they've been scaled down, and the format is a managable size and weight. The original guide had many variations, by region, sex, age, etc., and I think they had to drop a few of these, but at my level of birdwatching I don't miss them. The guide DOES still show male and female, first year, etc. I took this guide with me to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, last weekend, and I saw and ID'ed 45 species. Not bad for an amateur!

Expert birders will already be familiar with Sibley and can make up their own minds, so I would like to say to beginning birdwatchers, give this guide a shot. I really think the illustrations are the best and most helpful.

When I first read this book I didn't exactly know what it meant. After I finished I did. It is really sad that kids my age or older or younger have to do more work than I could do in two years. It's not fair that they are being denied a childhood. They never will have the chance to fall out of a tree, or get grass stains on the new pair of jeans that they will never have. If you don't find this sad you need to find a heart, picutre yourself doing all the work. I don't think we could do it.

It was a stuinning book that truly opened my eyes

I saw a story about the man who wrote and photographed this book on 60 Minutes. It was so intersting, I bought the book. The book opens your eyes to child slave labor in third world countries. It's heart breaking to see these children being abused in this manner. The photos are a reality check, and the text will make you weep.

A well written book that managed to hold my attention. Good, understandable technical explanations and fascinating tales of organizational intrigue. Important lessons for anyone taking part in complex development projects. The acchievements described are quite mindboggling. As I have been personally involved in naval command and control development, and am a naval technology freak, I found this book extremely interesting.
A bit long for a casual read, but easily lends to skipping around.

When Computers Went To Sea is an outstanding book because it takes us back almost 60 years (October, 1944) to define the problem to be solved and traces how this definition evolved to the threats our nation and our world face today. There's an important story here for all of us as we think about current questions like the 7/11/01, Page 1, Wall Street Journal article on Risk Assessment - Plans for a Small Ship Pose Big Questions for the U.S. Navy.

NTDS was a successful early (starting in the 1950s) large-scale digital computer hardware and software development project. How could NTDS be so successful in a hostile environment when so many comparable military and commercial development projects experienced major problems? This book also tells that story very well, with important lessons for all who manage large software and hardware developments.

Some readers unfamiliar with NTDS and the Navy ships and people involved may find the book a bit difficult to read because it is filled with well researched and documented names and facts. However, the important stories and lessons are written in a way we can all understand and appreciate as we learn more about the roles Alan Turing and Seymour Cray, and many other well-recognized people, played in this important part of our history.

I bought this book because I thought it might help our grown children understand what I did in the Navy. Now I will have to buy another copy for them because I'm sure not going to give them mine!

Today's high bandwidth technologists have nothing over the NTDS architects who masterminded the solution to the very complex engineering problems presented by warfare: real time data acquisition and weapons assignment. (The penalty for error is death of comrades in battle.)

The story is told with all the warts and struggles, which ring true: inter-departments squabbles, jousting with Congress and contractors, resistance of the fleet commanders. It's all there.

The complexity of engineering project management with multiple contractors, tough cost and schedule constraints remain the same in the new millennium. A good addition to the reading list for any business school.

I confess to being biased. My father, Captain Joseph Stoutenburgh, USN Ret., is a principal in the book. When I was 6 years old I did not understand why Dad was gone for weeks at a time. Now I know he was altering forever the nature of tactical warfare and in turn the geopolitical reach of the United States.