Beginning with text and photograph headers presented in the old manual typewriter fonts, Francois Riviere successfully transports her readers back to the Devon countryside of Agatha Christie's childhood. Early family pictures are interspersed with gorgeous color photos of the south of England, each one representing an event or memory which provided Christie with the germ of her intricate plots. Ms. Riviere provides a rare treat for devoted fans and casual readers alike: the personal life and environment of an author who guarded her privacy and was able, like her books, to keep us guessing. The Devonshire home of Greenway, not visible from the road but glimpsed by boat from the river Dart, is described in detail with ample color photos, as is the Burgh Hotel, the setting for "Evil Under The Sun" and "Then There Were None". Her relationships with both husbands, her daughter and friends are good reading; they provide the bones. The real meat in this book is the author's ability to invoke a past which we already feel we know so well, make it come alive and provide the visual counterpart. Actually seeing the physical locations which sparked her imagination and translated into complex narratives is an opportunity not to be missed by anyone who has enjoyed being transported to that very special time and place where Christie lived and then created in print for posterity. Ms. Riviere also provides a detailed color map of Devon which includes Agatha's special "haunts" and a list of hotels and road directions in the areas most frequented by her and her characters. It is a singular offering for mystery fans to truly "walk in the author's footsteps": along the beach in Torquay, boating on the River Dart, tramping through the heather atop Dartmoor, staying at the Haytor Hotel where she wrote her first book. The book is a pleasure in itself but also a definite Must Read for anyone familiar with Agatha Christie's work or interested in the formation of a Mystery author.

Valor and Lace, edited by Mauriel Phillips Joslyn, is an anthology of eleven short histories of women that lived during the War Between the States and contributed to the side of the South during that conflict. Each of the anthologies is readable and most are well researched. As with any book containing material from several authors, there are some chapters that are better researched and written than others. However, in general the book is concise and presents various aspects of the Southern woman's life during the War. The title and subtitle (The Roles of Confederate Women 1861-1865) are somewhat misleading. The book does not present a comprehensive history of women in general during the war but rather presents the reader with eleven specific cases of extraordinary women who felt the need to commit themselves to the cause for which they believed, be it the Southern cause for independence or the moral cause to care for the wounded, regardless of their political affiliation. While it would be erroneous for the reader to assume this is a true picture of every Southern woman, it is an appropriate portrayal of certain aspects of life both at home and on or near the battlefield and the role that some women played during the Civil War. This reveiwer recommends the book to any student of the War as well as to those readers interested in the social roles of women during that period of American history.

While this blowup starfish book is entertaining in the bathtub for my 9 month old, I was extremely disappointed with the message of the story. Stella, the starfish, admires her friend Freddy, the fish, saying "I wish I were a fish. Then I could swim fast like you. She says of her friend Ophelia, the octopus, "I wish I were an octopus. Then I could carry things like you." She says of her friend Charlie, the crab,"I wish I were a crab. Then I could walk sideways like you." In the end all of her friends wished they were as "pretty" as Stella because "You're a Star." The message of wishing that you are something else, better, prettier, etc. bombards our children everyday. How sad that it is now starting with books intended for babies and pre-schoolers. When my daughter can understand the words in this book and their meaning, it will no longer be in our home.

The book is cute, and it does float. But after only the first bath, the colors have run. I was looking forward to adding other titles from the series, but I'll be looking for other options.