Full of bright,highly expressive illustrations and loaded with plenty of amusing "the-tah" in-jokes,this is a book that is equally geared to both young and adult readers. A real treat!

For anyone who loves the theatre and is either a kid, or one at heart (and who isn't) PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL is wonderful. Not only is the story great fun in an Aunty Mame-meets-Eloise kind of way, but it is filled with many of the recognizable greats of the Broadway stage. A book to read, to keep, and to give.

Wassertein scores! This winning story is full of incredible illustations and a wonderful story. A four-star hit!

Ages 4-8??? Paleeze! This one is timeless, a true must read for all ages! Who says religion can't be fun.

I have to say that this book is so informative and it isn't just for children...I would give this book 5 stars as it explains just about everything that a child could ask a parent. I believe that it keeps the attention of the child because it is very colorful and it is contemporary.

Wendy Goody and her colleagues have assembled a fun, wonderful learning guide for Catholic children everywhere. A must-have for any Catholic parent or educator.

I work in the field of marketing and have dabbled with Photoshop for a while. I now find myself using it more and more since getting this book. I like that the book breaks things down and makes the program easy for the user to understand yet isnt't so simplistic an avid user would get bored. One of my favorite features of the book is the center section; here there are color photos of color swatches, different blending techniques, layering effects, etc. I refer to this section often, rather than choosing each effect on the menu bar and undoing until I find what I'm looking for. This book has a permanent spot within arms reach of my computer.

This is more than your standard "tips and tricks" book. It gives much more comprehensive coverage of how to use Photoshop for some very specific purposes, from general page layout and design to slicing and optimizing images for the Web. Willard is something of an expert on Web design; I've used her other books on Web design and HTML, but in this book she gives as much focus and coverage to using Photoshop for print design as well as the Web. It's a great all-around resource. The writing is also clear and focused, as I've come to expect from her other books, and she is meticulous about the details. She is a real pro. I'd highly recommend this book for any level of user.

Wendy Willard provides an excellent resource for beginners and experienced Photoshop users. There are so many ways to accomplish the same task, and Wendy provides the most efficient, easiest to understand set of steps for accomplishing all sorts of tasks. Her informal writing style makes it easy to stay focused and grasp concepts after one read. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or brush up on Photoshop skills.

Wendy Palmer has captured what it feels like in your body to be off center and to get re-centered. She has transformed Aikido into much more than a maritial art - a way of being in relationship to others without losing yourself. This is a great book for couples as well as those who too often find themselves thrown by strong emotions and reactions. It will give you a physical sense, rather than just intellectual or analytic, of what it means to hold your own space in the world and in relation to others

Most of us get involved in the repeating "stories" of our interactions and our lives, and stop noticing our deeper connections to ourselves and to the universe.

To me, Wendy Palmer's book offers a doorway to that deeper experience -- through the Aikido practices she teaches, and the ways she describes our interactions.

Surprisingly revealing, the book tells about Wendy Palmer's own life experiences, and suggests ways to touch-in to the more universal connections we often ignore.

One way to seek balance, she suggests, is to focus attention on our vertical connection with earth (grounding) and sky (spirit) so that it becomes as strong as our horizontal connection to our "life stories."

I am prompted to drop you a note thanking you for your new book, "The Practice of Freedom"; it struck a strong, resonant chord in me. I, too, attempt to follow the Tao (for many years)
and practice aikido (for four years). Many of your thoughtful insights are ones I have felt but have been unable to articulate to friends and family regarding the value of aikido to my life.

Recently, I was challenged by the deaths of my parents; my father's 15 year long decline from heart disease and Altsheimer's and my mother's 1 year battle with a horrific brain disease, both dying within 3 months of each other. The aikido principles of entering and blending helped me not only summon up the courage to engage death but also to "dance" with it, to make peace with it, thus enabling my latent compassion and deep love for my parents and, hopefully, giving them a measure of comfort and peace as their lives wound down. I then felt I was able to be the loving caregiver my father never had (which made me rethink Wordworth's line, "The child is father to the man").

By "surrendering" to what was being offered (as you note in your book), I feel my true self, my soul if you will, benefited greatly; I was able to be emotionally and spiritually engaged with my parents during that ultimate transition. Paradoxically, through this engaged experience with death, I now better appreciate my life and my close relationships and have attained a level of serenity.

As you elegantly mention in your book, I see us all as fellow travelers; each a separate universe, yet united in a larger continuum. You acknowledge Mitsugi Saotome in your book and I must mention that when I was researching aikido, before I started practicing, I was fortunate to read "The Principles of Aikido" and "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature" as my theoretical introduction to aikido. Both books, like yours, struck a deep chord. Some day I hope to attend one of his seminars when he comes into my area (Los Angeles).

Thank you again for articulating and validating important themes of spiritual growth that can mean so much to so many people.

This is a wonderful book to use with young childreen as a parent or other caring adult begins to teach them about faith and trust. The illustrations are well done and the text is excellent for a pre-literate child or a beginning reader.

While based on finding a lost cat (Fluffy), this book shows children how their relationship to God is special. Further, it demonstrates how He hears their prayers in ways that they may not expect. A truly wonderful book for children of all faiths.

A wonderfully meloncholy book that is a good starter for parents to teach their children about the power of prayer in faith in God. The best part about the book is that it is almost entirely nondenominational.

Like an exquisite set of old dishes, used day in and day out, these beautiful poems slip up on you unannounced, slide into your consciousness quietly, so that you end up wondering whose idea it really was -- the poet's or the reader's. Artful language and ordinary days get mixed here into something full of stars, glinting with startling images, capering across a suddenly meaningful landscape, sliding so easily into the mind as not to be felt until the shock of recognition sets in. As the poet says at some point, you can eat these poems, drink them, and let them suffuse you own life with the warm satisfaction of a visit to someone else's brilliant kitchen.

I loved this book because I love the way she uses imagery. It appeals to all my senses. I especially liked to poem about finding the ancient remains of a small girl in the Andes, and, on a lighter note, the one about the dog that swam like Esther Williams. I would love to read more poetry by this writer.

Wendy Morton's words are beautiful, funny, quirky and sometimes sad. I love these poems -- "Streaming Flamingoes" is a good place to start reading... a gleaming ode to poetry itself. Morton writes about the sensual act of reading words and links this to food in a most provocative way. "Eat this poem." she writes. Delicious, delicious, I murmur.

This is the second book in the series. Written in text form, it covers book 2 of the graphic art series. It is, if anything, even richer and better written than the first book in the text series. The book covers what happens to the Wolfrider elves after they settle down with the desert elves. After a traumatic encounter with stray humans, the Wolfrider chief decides to see if he can find other elves to unite them against what is clearly becoming a major problem -- human invasion of the elves' homes.

The idea is simple, but mythic. Covering much land, the questing elves run into not-so-hostile trolls and friendly humans of various sorts, forcing them to go against their grain in many ways. As usual, the writing is lush and descriptive, painting evocative pictures with words. Elves are more than capable of bigotry, false assumptions, and violence, as well as fear and hesitation. One elf has to confront his longstanding hatred of humans; another has to confront her terrible fear of the unknown. The conflicts set up in this novel are amazing to watch unfold.

Best of all, the novel stands on its own easily. It expands very much on what happened in the graphic novel, to the point that it doesn't feel like a novelization at all. I would suggest this book wholeheartedly both to people who don't own the graphic novels, and to those wishing to learn more about what happened in the graphic novels.

The Quest Begins is another wonderfull book from elfquest. A Tale of Undying love and unjust hate fill this book. A great book for any Elfquest fan.

Arguably the best of the three Elfquest-based novels yet written, "The Quest Begins" includes all the plot material from issues 6-10 (collected in Book Two, "The Forbidden Grove") while effectively expanding the story, mainly by getting deeper into the emotions of the characters.

Those familiar with the series may want to know that the main improvement this novel provides is the extra insight into Leetah's mind, as she wrestles with the necessity - but also the danger - of leaving her home and heading into the great and mysterious forest, in order (possibly) to save Cutter's life. This is the element missing from the original story, which makes it whole.

the book excellently discusses PS 4 from a pro's perspective. it delves on photography. however, i was disappointed when i saw tht it barely touched on effects. photos and color and all that, yes. hi-tech stuff, no.

This book teaches photographers which of Photoshops many features are most useful for their specific photographic needs. The lessons are clear and concise, and a CD is included which has all the files the authors created and use in the text.

If you know Ansel Adams' Zone System you'll feel comfortable here since they use this as a framework in some of the lessons.

After working through the entire book I feel my knowledge of Photoshop has increased several fold.

There are a lot of Photoshop books out there, but few are oriented toward the serious photographer who uses this program. P4A is written especially for photographers, and it is a good tutorial book. Highly recommended.

This book is too cute, my friend gave it to her mom with her mom & son's pictures. It really is unique & I wish there were other titles as well (picture me with mommy, etc.) One small complaint, the book is really really short. But overall, a very original gift idea for that special grandma!

My daughter is 19mos and this book has been her #1 favorite for many months. She especially likes that she can point out the kitty on each page. The pictures and poem are great...makes grandma feel special. Would be a great gift for grandma!

I wish there was a Picture Me with Grandpa, Dad, etc. The cutouts for the pictures are wonderful. My daughter loves going to Grandmas to read it. The clothing on each page works with a boy or a girl.

A rollicking good read that puts you in the center of the storm from page one, and never quite lets up until the surprising ending. Perfect for fans of fiction that reads like nonfiction, or lovers of documentary films who like to be put right in the middle of the action. Meckel's crisp, unforgiving prose makes you feel wet from all the pounding rain and flooding waters, and her atmospheric settings made even this Florida native shiver from the cold during those long, balmy nights. I look forward to more from author Wendy Lea Meckel's realistic fiction in the future . . .

This one has it all: action, adventure, homespun family life, suspense, mystery, and enough tension to keep you reading at the dinner table - and well through the night! If there was a sequel, I'd buy it today! (Hint, hint!)

If ever a book was written for the big screen, Red River Rising is it. In this, her debut novel, the author encompasses drama, mystery, inner conflict, action, love and humor as well as a lesson for what is truly important in life. In only a little over two hundred pages, the action is condensed for even the most frenzied of readers, while the text manages to maintain attention to every detail. It speaks to the worst kind of tragedy, the loss of a child, and addresses the question we all carry within us, "Could it happen to me?"
When Jerry and Janice Olmsted lose their only child during the flooding of the Red River, it becomes apparent that guilt can overtake any parent. The tendency to blame themselves pushes their relationship to the brink of despair, hampering their efforts to discover what happened to Annie. The story takes us to small town, American farm country, and reminds us of the ideals technology has sometimes taken from us. Weaving within the story is the ever-present theme of the power of nature and man's inability to conquier it. The reader is introduced to images of icy, unforgiving terrain and unstoppable floodwaters. He connects with lovable characters of every lifestyle, as they embark on a quest to uncover what happend to Annie Olmsted. The ending is well worth the read and your heart will hold you spell bound and hell-bent to conclude.