Very solid fantasy which rapidly draws the reader into the fully realised world that Preiss and Reaves have created for this wonderful novel about dragons, mystical Pearls, political intrigue, and the attempt at justice for the murders of three children. This novel came highly recommended, and I've a story brewing in my head about dragons and humans. The relationship between these two races has always been of chief interest to me in fantasy literature and one of my chief pleasures from this book was the stately and regal relationship the dragons had with the humans and how myth had obscured the memories and must be reinstated. The political world in this book is crucial in this regard.

The comparison to Tolkien is not unjust, although DRAGONWORLD lies much more closer to THE HOBBIT than THE LORD OF THE RINGS. There simply will never be another LR. We do not get a conflict on the cosmic level here that is the central plot of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. If Frodo fails, the entire world is ensnared in the Darkness of Sauron. If the characters in this novel fail, the cold drakes will prevail. Although this is an assumption, it is a very reasonable one: in as highly detailed a world that Preiss and Reaves create, there most be other societies and cultures present in this particular sphere, and it is hinted at by the one of the characters.

DRAGONWORLD deals with two nations plunged in war when their efforts should be concentrated upon their common foe. The authors guide the reader through these predominant terrains: the farmlands and villages of Fandora, the forests and battlefields of Simbala, and the cold land of the Drakes and their lairs. There also is a good scene of the crossing of the Fandoran troops over the Strait of Balomar, a very dangerous episode where one of the characters get to show their metal and grow in character development.

One of Preiss's and Reave's greatest strengths are creating fully developed characters who, without fail, draw you into the book. Another great facet about this book is there are really no true villains in the work. The worst character is Mesor, who cares only about his personal ambition thru Evirae. Evirae, the best candidate for the central villain, comes off as a foolish young woman who comes across not really as wholly evil but as wholly childish. Her ambition for ruling prevents her from being fully human, and generally the reader does not conceptualise her as formidable evil but a spoiled brat who's playing with a very real, hot fire who needs punished. The Darkling, the chief of the coldrakes, is not truly a villain, for in his mind he is acting in his races' best interest. Your sympathies are stretched to what would be a breaking point in writers who were unable to maintain the realism these characters demand, but Preiss and Reave's pull it off beautifully.

Another great element in this book is how each side most come to terms with people on their own side. Throughout the book, Fandorans are at conflict with Fandorans, and Simbalese in conflict with Simbalese. This book deals with a big pet peeve of mine. Because Amsel has a scientific mind and he can do things which are seemingly at odds with the natural world yet in actuality is only taking advantage of the natural laws, the Fandorans call him a sorcerer and a Simbalese spy. This is partially Amsel's fault for isolating himself, and his character is being developed in this fashion throughout the novel. Those who react in ignorance and do not listen can cause much harm, as this novel aptly illustrates.

The political complexities and the ingenuity stands in sharp contrast with the simple way of life of the Fandorans, and both have much to offer to one another. Preiss's and Reave's usage of the political world in this book is crucial as it supplies much of the tension in the book from the Simbalese end. Hawkwind, the Monarch of Simbala, most constantly deal with the fact that he was a miner who defeated the Kuln* and that he is a commoner who has risen to power by Ephirion's hand, the former monarch. Much of the novel is Hawkwind trying to manage the war effort as well as dealing with these attempted overthrows, and with the help of Ceria, his lover and a Rayan (who is also looked down upon by the Royal Family in particular and Simbala in general), he makes a fascinating monarch indeed, and a fully competent one at that. Because of their skills as writers, Preiss and Reaves have you cheering and hoping and then turning those hopes on their ear and bringing you into another character's situation and hoping they will make it through safe.

As for my own favorite scene, there is a beautiful commentary on art where the soldiers of Fandora must use iron sculptures for weapons. The owner does not want to allow the soldiers to take them. I won't spoil the scene for you. It's a wonderful comment on art and the power and beauty it holds.

Another favorite scene of mine is the voting process in which the Royal Family must decide on how they will react to the invasion of the Fandoran Troops. Great scene, so watch out for it.

As for the ending, it is rather good and keeps you turning the page and the book ends setting up the sequel, which, as far as I know, Preiss and Reaves have not delivered. Le Guin has just this year published an anthology of novellas about Earth-sea (TALES FROM EARTH-SEA) and a new novel (THE OTHER WIND) in that particular series, so never rule out the possibility of letting these excellent writers revealing more of this world to us in the future.

*Kuln: Cave demons that are sadly unexploited, as they sound very interesting and could have made for wonderful characters as villains.

I found this book in my school library (in 7th grade? I can't remember) and just LOVED. It was the first true fantasy book of great size that I've read. Like the other reviewer, it was the illustraed version I read. The book invokes fantastic images of the wrold it's in. It's been almost 5 years since I've read it, and still I can call to mind some of the various events in it. A boy dies of a tragic accident. Blame is put on a country across the sea and their flying ships. A journey is made. Huge trees that contain whole homes. Mysterious jewels and a dragon they are connected too. Some evil plots by a woman with extremely long nails. And the coldrakes (well, not dragons anyways) that are lead by a half dragon/half coldrake (I think) that is the cause of much trouble. The book is superb, and if I could buy it from my old school's librarien I would. (The same person who bought the 1st editition Belgariad paperback that I read at that same Library.) You'll love it if you can find it! (and please remember that I can barely remember what happened in it!)

This book wraps one into it's story like a dream. I HIGHLY recommend it to all who love daydreams and dragons. If you have a child or the child within needs a release, get this book. I was looking for a part two, hoping to read how Amsel and the the story continues. If you find one let me know :-)

When I put down this book and looked up, I was surprised to see I was not in the Pacific Grove/Monterey area. This book takes you, almost physically, to the Monterey penninsula. The descriptions just make you want to pack a bag and go visit (well, except for murders, attacks, suicide and witchcraft). I particularly enjoyed "Reunion" and "Borscht in the Bay". In fact, I look forward to finding out what kind of trouble "Woody" gets involved in next...and I would sure like one of those burgers from The Grill.

This book is great and I'm buying another copy for my sister. The stories are well-crafted, written in a variety of genres, and each writer captures a little of the essence of the Monterey Peninsula.
I found the lead story, "Reunion", a romantic fantasy by Walter Gourlay, to be especially moving and poignant, not only because I was around during the period (1943) in which the story is set, and I remember the old tunes, but because of the air of eerie mystery surrounding the two lovers.

The children's story by Mike Tyrrel is absolutely wonderful. I will read it to my grandchildren. I hope he writes more stories like this.
Byron Merritt's science-fiction spoof is hilarious, especially his sleuth's extra-terrestrial partner, a gelatinous blob in a coffee cup.
Mark Angel's scuba divers, Lele Dahle's tragic account of growing up in Carmel Valley, Chris Kemp's story of weird witchery, Francis Rossi's attempted murder, Ken Jones' Russian sub, Pat Hanson's hot tubs that talk, and Shaheen Schmidt's place to heal--each story has its own charm. Together they make a delightful volume to read and give as a gift.
The clever cover by local artist Dan Koffman captures the ambience of Cannery Row and is a fit introduction to the collection.

The authors of Monterey Shorts let their imaginations go wild with amazing characters and marvelously creative plot twists.  Monte-Ray Gunn by Byron Merritt is a science fiction comedy of the craziest kind set in the year 3000!  The Monterey Intergalactic Aquarium? A black blob that lives in a coffee cup?  A Xenophobic cop that acts, and talks, like a Sam Spade character?  A murder?  Chuckle away.  I did.  In A Flash of Red Frances Rossi creates a more serious mood as she shares the healing process of a woman who has experienced every woman's worst fear through a parable set in Pacific Grove ... where 'things' are not always as they seem.  Shaheen Schmidt's A Place to Heal presents the Peninsula as most of us know it, a refuge where relationships matter more than competing in the corporate rat race.  Mike Tyrrel views the world from a charming perspective in Dot's Dad Visits Dinosaur Town where adults are timid and unsure, and children comfort and know all the correct answers. In Borscht in the Bay, Ken Jones' engaging cast of characters (mysterious visitors, a seasoned and frustrated cop, a lovable busybody...) play a soft-peddled game of cat and mouse around beautiful Pacific Grove. I want to read more about the adventures of these characters!    Mark Angel entices the reader to take a deep breath and go under the ocean waves with his divers in Mortuary Beach where his cleverly crafted story entertains and instructs on the high and low points of this challenging sport.  Isn't hot tubbing supposed to be relaxing?  Not if the hot tubs could tell your secrets!  Pat Hanson's imaginative tale in If the Tubs Could Talk gives a voice to hot tubs at a local spa!  The supernatural theme really takes off in Chris Kemp's Resurrected where family members with special powers deal with relationship challenges we ordinary folks face!  Lele Dahle exquisitely crafts a story that shares the impact of a childhood friendship and a loss of innocence with the reader.  In the lead story, "Reunion", by Walter E. Gourlay, a university professor returns to 1943 and finds his lost love waiting for him at the Soldier's Club at Fort Ord. A romantic time-travel - or is it a ghost story with metaphysical overtones of lost love and wasted lives? This beautifully written story kept me riveted until its startling end This collection says 'good bye' to boring, worn out formulas that we've all read a million times! A great gift that offers a story to please every taste

 

This is one of the first Thai cookbooks I purchased. Since then I have purchased several others, but I keep coming back to this one as my starting point for creating an Asian menu. As most other reviewers have stated, the directions are clear and the ingredient list is manageable. Young offers some helpful tips along the way to make it easier.

Some of the humor sprinkled throughout the book is an unexpected surprise. I love the spicy chili sauce recipe where the last step is "call the fire department".

If I had one quibble with this book, it would be that more photographs of the completed recipes would be helpful. Even so it is not a major issue.

All in all a good investment if you want to learn how to cook Thai food. And if you are like me, living in an area that is devoid of neighborhood Thai restaurants, it is a necessity for those of us who need our Thai "fix" on a regular basis.

Every recipe is an eye-popping wow of a winner! I love Thai cuisine and had no idea how to make it. All the ingredients are nicely described in the opening chapter "Thai Cooking: Hot and Lively." Here in the Washington, DC area, I easily found them all except lime leaves. You do want a wok, I think, though a frying pan is possible.

Back in the kitchen, the recipes are organized by main ingredient (with an index of English and Thai names), and side bars describe the dishes and their preparation in brief. The steps in each recipe are well described and easy to follow. After a few recipes, I started to find the steps similar, even predictable. Some steps can be done in different orders to make kitchen cleanup easier.

It really is simple. Now I feel comfortable substituting this or that vegetable or meat. The authors sometimes offer such tips. This book taught me to cook in the Thai style! Thank you!

Like many others, I've wanted to learn to cook Thai for some time now but have always been intimidated by what I thought was going to be complex, high energy cooking...Boy was I wrong. This book has enabled me to indulge my passion for cooking while still allowing me to make healthy food choices. Thanks Wanda! [When can we expect another book? I've made almost everything in this cookbook (some more than once).]

Farwell's title is somewhat misleading, as "Queen Victoria's Little Wars" includes substantial sections on the Crimean war, Indian Mutiny & Boer wars: the largest wars of Victoria's reign. Filled with anecdote, the book makes diverting reading, but contains little in the way of analysis and tends to give the impression that British military activities were more independent of the civil power than was the case. The wars in New Zealand which, proportionate to the numbers of combatants the British faced, required more soldiers than any other colonial wars, receive scant attention. Absent entirely is mention of British military activities in Australia, possibly because such activities were more genocidal than honourable in nature. Incursions into Central America are also unexamined. Highly entertaining, the book is ideal as a brief introduction to both well and lesser known aspects of Imperial history.

Let me start by saying Farwell is one of my favorite military historians. His modern writing style makes for an easy and enjoyable read and his books are full of interesting and often humorous anecdotes. But the subject of this book really deserves more space than this book offered. I will grant that the problem is partially due to lack of documentation, i.e. many of the Victorian conflicts were so small and so obscure that no official history has ever been written. Regimental histories offer the British point of view while their opponents often didn't have a written language let alone official historians for their side of the story. So primary sources are indeed lacking.

Nevertheless, this is the first book I have found that goes into any sort of detail regarding the many wars on the Northwestern Fontier, the conflicts in Burma, the Ashanti rebellions, and the many wars of the British East India Company. At least two 600+ page volumes of Sir John Fortescue's monumental "History of the British Army" cover approximately this same period of time but they are nearly impossible to obtain. So those who are interested in Victorian military history will be pleased even though they are left wanting more.

But in the limited space Farwell does a magnificent job. One begins to see the participants as real people with eccentric personalities, personal failings, heroic exploits, and depth of character. Battles I had never heard of (and aren't even mentioned in Chandler's Dictionary of Battles) come to life as Farwell describes the adventures on the fringes of the British Empire; Conflicts that were almost as unknown to contemporary Britons as they went about their mundane lives back in England as they are to us today.

One major drawback of this edition is the editing. The index is often useless since the page numbers (I'm guessing) must reflect an earlier edition and were not updated. There are also some textual errors, such as the wrong date being given for the British attack on Jakarta, which a good editor should have caught. But I bought this book to read while sitting by the fireplace and drinking India Pale Ale, not as source material for a doctoral degree.

This is a fascinating book, and will be enjoyed both by students of the Victorian era military, as well as casual readers of history in general. What binds the various mutinies/insurrections/battles/etc. that span the sixty years of the widest span of British imperialism is the subperb writing style of Mr. Farwell, who has a sense of humor and irony, and looks at each conflict from the standpoint of the British army and the government (and royal) policies that directed it, as well as that of its native protagonists, the vast majority of whom simply wanted to govern themselves without foreign influence. The bravery of both sides is noted, and although the British were outmanned in most of these theaters of conflict, the assets that saw them through time and time again was the esprit de corps of its troops and the leadership of its generals. Those generals that didn't quite make the grade are duly noted and criticized. Even if you are familiar with some of the events in this book, it is still recommended for the continuity of characters and British character that Mr. Farwell brings to each chapter. I couldn't put it down.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the civil rights struggle of the 60's. It is a very readable and detailed account of the murder of Medgar Evers by Byron de la Beckwith. This is one of those books I thought I would leaf through, but I got so absorbed that I read it in one sitting.

This book is definitely not what you would call fun to read, but it is a stirring and important document. The author commits a few infelicities of language (for which I would have deducted the quarter-star if I could) but keeps the narrative tension high and sheds a lot of light for this Yankee girl on the kind of culture that made a man like Medger Evers loyal to the state of Mississippi even though it was a state that would allow his murderer to go unpunished for decades. It doesn't gloss over the warts of those on the side of the angels, and although it doesn't fully explain the psychology of the assassin, perhaps no one can.

I picked up Ghosts of Mississippi several years ago but tucked it away for a rainy day. De la Beckwith's death earlier this week (and a California rain storm) prompted me to dust it off. I now regret not having read it years ago. Maryanne Vollers' work is, in short, a masterpiece. Her amazing investigative skills and craftmanship left me wanting to read more. Logging on today to write this review, I was thrilled to see that Vollers has a new book out (Ice Bound). This time I won't wait!

*Hilarious* is the only word to describe this picture book which is a take off of the classic "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

When an "old lady" comes to Thanksgiving dinner she swallows a pumpkin pie--whole. To wash down the pie (which was really too dry) she gulps some cider which "rumbles and mumbles and grumbles" inside her. Then to the horror of the adults and the delight of the children she gobbles the entire Thanksgiving feast!

The illustrations cap off the delightful text and add even more fantastic humor as the old lady grows in proportion with each outlandish bite.

A must read for story time--kids will be giggling more with every turn of the page. And you'll be "thankful" you don't have such a relative. Or do you?

Karma Wilson

My children enjoyed this book emensely! Wonderful illustrations ! A new "Thanksgiving read" tradition!

My children and I live this story. It became more fantastical as it went on and when Judy's illustrations display the woman as a Thansgiving parade balloon, it got raves of laughter from the kids! The details of the pictures add to the story. The dead mouse was fun to look for on each page!

I love Donna Jo Napoli's fairy tale retellings, so of course I had to read this one too. But The Prince of the Pond was quite different--and, unfortunately, inferior--to Zel or The Magic Circle. For a start, the target audience was much younger than for the other books--third grade and up, I'd say. Also, Prince of the Pond had a light, slightly humorous tone, which did not fit well with the bittersweet ending. Pin's speech problems got to annoying me, and it was never explained why he couldn't say "thh" and "rrr" and "ssss" but other frogs could. And I didn't like the drawings much at all, which, I think, detracted from my enjoyment of the story. One of the biggest problems, though, was the biology lesson. At times it seemed like the author's chief purpose was to impart scientific information about frogs. These "educational" parts tended to get in the way of the real story. They were especially jarring because the book was narrated by a frog, and it seemed quite odd that a frog should know all this, and even more odd that she should talk about it all the time. They use words like "metamorphosis", and there are sentences like "Our goggle-like eyelids kept out the water but still let us see the underwater world." And, "Your stomach acids will dissolve his [a crayfish's] hard shell." (Frogs should just take these things for granted. I mean, humans don't go around saying things like, "It is cold today, but luckily I am warm-blooded.") This, combined with the very simple writing style, often gave the feeling of an elementary school reader. Despite these problems, the story was engaging and quick-moving, and I cared about the characters enough so that I was happy to find out there was a sequel--Jimmy, the Pickpocket of the Palace. Overall--3.5/5

My ten year old and I loved this book and could not stop reading it. I was touched by the metaphor for life, cold blooded frogs learn to love and be a family. How deeply Pin loved his wife and family. How patient Jade was with his speech difficulties with his giant frog tongue. What fun it was to learn about the life of the pond and frogs in a way that was incidental to the story. This story was a powerful package of life, love, and facts of pond life, and how making room in your heart for love leads to extraordinary events. The drawings were a wonderful preview of what might happen next.

My 6-year-old daughter and I couldn't wait to get into bed every night to read what was going to happen to Pin and Jade. We would talk about it during the day and dive into bed at night to start our adventure. She loved the way Pin talked. Just thinking about it can set her off giggling. We also learned so much. Just the other day she asked me if I had known something about frogs that we learned in the book. The bittersweet ending was a little bit difficult for her, but after Charlotte's Web it was a breeze. And how thrilled she was to find out that the adventure continues in Jimmy, The Pickpocket of the Palace!

In the crepuscular post-September 11 world I find myself in, I thought I would go and read some of the classics of travel in the Middle East back when the going was good. Byron's OXIANA looked promising, so I curled up with it for a few enchanting days.

Byron was no lover of pre-packaged tourist sights. He begins by slurring Venice, where he begins his journey. Later, he slams the Taj Mahal and the Alhambra as examples of what he did NOT want to see in the Middle East. At first, I was not sure where the book was going: Byron comes across at first as one of those hypereducated upper class twits who pop in and out of Evelyn Waugh's novels. Fortunately, it turns out to be just one of the author's favorite personas he assumes from time to time.

Over half a century ago, he saw clearly what would happen to Palestine when the British pulled out, namely, that the Jews and Arabs would be at each other's throats. As he reaches Iran we finally begin to see what Byron is really after: He travels from one old mosque or ruin to another. Although none of places he describes in such loving detail are known to me, it was easy to see that here was a man who wanted to be one of the first to see some marvel of architecture and capture it in photographs and in prose before the forces of time would destroy it utterly.

In the process of going from place to place, he describes the Europeans and locals he meets with humor and shrewdness. The Middle East was not the easiest place to travel in the 1930s, and Byron ran into some almost insurmountable obstacles which he typically surmounts. One such is his arrival in Aghanistan's high country too late in the season. He backtracks to Persia and waits six months until he could return in the spring.

I highly recommend ROAD TO OXIANA to all who wish the world was safe and innocent enough for us to pursue our own Oxianas, wherever they may be.

The Road to Oxiana was popular when it was first issued, but gradually dropped out of sight, only to be revived when Bruce Chatwin and others rediscovered it. Chatwin in particular was heavily influenced by this book. It is the story of Robert Byron's efforts to see large brick burial towers located in Persia. Or at least that it was what Byron said he was looking for. The book is more a depiction of his misadventures -- he was suspected of being a spy by most who met him, although there was no truth to this. The style of this book is highly innovative; rather than presenting a straight narrative, it is (or appears to be) a collection of diary entries, newspaper stories, anecdotes, and cultural analysis. This makes the book sound themeless, but Byron's personality holds it together. This book should be on a short list of the best travel books in the English language.

I first read Byron's best travel book in 1982 whilst in the midst of an epic year long trip myself. I now have about 4 copies of the book and an original signed copy with Byron's pictures in it(which are equally brilliant as his prose).His book kindled in me a desire to see all that he had seen and to further explore Islamic architecture and archaeology. After numerous forays into the Near East and a Masters in Near Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures--I am still searching. One can't really appreciate Byron's description of the Sheikh Lutfallah Mosque in Isfahan unless you actually have been there--standing under the immense dome in subdued yellow light. I had that priviledge last year and Byron's description does justice to the magnificent structure. Byron's eye for detail is unmatched in most other travel books and his humour is endless. I had the luck to find "Four Loyalties" by his travelling companion--Christopher Sykes in a book sale in Dubai, UAE. Sykes paints a wonderful portrait of Byron. It's a pity that Byron died so young as I think he is one of the better travel writers--definitely my favourite. Unfortunately, as Bruce Chatwin pointed out in one introduction to "The Road to Oxiana" that you won't be able to drink green tea and eat mulberries under the shade of a plane tree in Istalif, Afghanistan. Those halcyon days that Byron and Sykes experienced and later by Levi and Chatwin are the stuff of legends. "The Road to Oxiana" is a good starting point. Go there now. Good reading.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very lively history, not at all dry. I thought the book was balanced in its view and not "pro-British" at all as some other readers have suggested. It made the soldiers' lives much more vivid than books that merely chart the major wars and minor disputes.

This is an elegant and informative book on the old Indian army and the Raj in India. Like the author's previous works on the British Victorian army of the period and its social and military characteristics this book covers some of the same ground, but expands greatly on the history of the Raj's army.

Spanning the post Mutiny years from 1857 until the choatic formation of India in 1947, the author presents many fascinating details about army life in India. What becomes apparent is how overall beneficial the British Raj was to India's social development and growth. A hopeless patch-work of petty Mogul Princes and backward religions before the establishment of the Raj in the 18th century, the British were able to transform this mass into something resembling a wokable nation. What is apparent also is that despite their arrogance, British officers really made the Indian army work. Without them the Seapoy was never really as effective.

The Indian army was basically intended for service within the Empire. When employed in conventional warfare outside of India in the First and Second World Wars its performance often varied. Requiring specialized foods as well as officers who could speak the myraid languages, sustained heavy casualties limited its use. The sections of the book about the so-called martial races of India is interesting. After the Mutiny the British preferred to employ Northern Indians who were mostly moslem, as opposed to the Hindu's in the South of Madras and Bombay who were deemed untrustworthy and too smart by half for soldiering! The Rasjputs, Pathans and Sikhs would all become the martial races upon which the British drew for manpower in India. The Sikhs in particualr, with their bizarre religion, have much to thank the British for. Without them it is doubtful that they would have survived as a religion in India. They flourished as merchants, urban dwellers and soldiers, the latter always considered an honorable profession for the warlike Sikhs. We might have fewer taxi cab drivers today if the British had not sustained their existence.

The last part of the book talks about the nightmare of Independence in India where Ghandi, Jinneh and Nehru were totally uncaring of the amount of trouble they caused as the British tried to dis-engage from the sub-continent without a religeous blood-bath. ... This book helps us to see a more accurate view of [Ghandi] and and his followers. ... I urge people from both of those countries [India and Pakistan] to read this book and learn about their past as part of the Raj, which helped to make them what they are today. All in all, a most excellent and revealing book on the subject.

The book is good introduction source to the subject. The author has written several reputable books. Gurkhas by the same author is also highly recommended.

I checked this book out after my 3 yr old preschoolers had done a theme week on space at school. My son looked at it before I had read it and the first thing he told me is "there is no moon in this book". Every picture of "space" shows the earth in a larger than life format (doesn't the earth look tiny from outer space??), yet not once is there a hint of the moon or stars or anything resembling "space", especially in the eyes of a child.

Aside from that annoyance, this book still has the great illustrations of other Byron Barton books. My guys' favorite picture is the shuttle blasting off. They also enjoy the pictures of activities that take place inside the shuttle - eating, sleeping, working and most of all, floating upside down! Now THAT's what we expect in a book about astronauts!

Typical Byron Barton cartoon-illustrations with his typical simple text. This time around he uses phrases "I want to'" followed by various actions of astronauts who fly a space shuttle into space to do various astronaut tasks: working, eating, sleeping, etc. Simple text, adored by my son.

Barton's books are a staple in our family. There is just something about the illustrations that my children love. The words, although simple, still capture the and hold the attention of my four year old.

Female astronauts and people of various ethnicity's are represented.

Regarding the age recommendation that some reviewers are discussing, I want to add that since infancy, my son has loved Barton's books, whether they are board versions or regular paper versions. This book is loved by my less than one year-old son, and continues to enthrall my now 4 year-old son, who does have a fascination with space and astronauts. I would recommend this book for babies who don't rip regular paper books, and for 4 year-olds and maybe 5 year-olds who especially love space. If the older child is *not* especially interested in all things space they may be bored with the simple text.

"I Want to Be an Astronaut" is another good entry in the series of young children's books by Byron Barton. This one opens, "I want to be an astronaut, a member of the crew." Such simple text is combined with Barton's distinctive illustrations. Bright, solid colors and heavy outlines combine to create figures that have an iconic feel; his pictures make me think of a sort of modern variation on Mayan hieroglyphics.

In the book we see the space shuttle taking off; astronauts working, eating, and sleeping in zero gravity; a cutaway view of the shuttle; etc. Nice touches include a view of earth from space and the portrayal of a multi-ethnic shuttle crew. Recommended for small kids.