I am a senior in college, and an elementary education major with a minor in anthropology- when I found this book, I was estatic. Its beautiful photography is greatly complimented with Maya Angelou's flowing words. Humor, color, and the similarities with the Ndebele girl (Thandi, which means hope) are sure to attract children. They will learn that even though Thandi is across the world, all children share many similaries- a lesson that should be remembered, especially in modern times. I will definately use this in my classroom someday. Never have I seen such a great childrens book that is infused with anthropology and the study of a culture!

I bought this book today and read it with my 10 year old niece. It has exceptionally beautiful photographs of the Ndebele people. It is a story that reminds us that the simple things in life are the most precious. Thandi tells the story of her people and family and her best friend, a chicken. She is a proud and pure hearted child that shares the culture of the Ndebele people with us. This is a lovely story that is a fun, educational, easy to read one that made me feel young at heart again. I'll be needing an additional copy to share with my grandaughter.

As a reading tutor, I have enjoyed sharing this book with my 4th grade students. It examins the differences of people, our different cultures, and is a colorful and enchanting story. My kids, both boys and girls are facinated by this book, and we always continue a dialogue with it. The recognize the author, as one their parents respect, and enjoy talking about it and laughing about the silly chicken.We have talked about trying to paint houses with a chicken feather, and may jsut try to do this during black history month! I adore this book!

The Wumples from Wigwump is a light, fun and interesting story for young readers, describing how sometimes the smallest of good things can bring light to things that seem drab and dull. The author's imaginative use of rhyme makes this book a favorite among children of my friends! I hope that this title and others by Ms. Clarke become more readily available in all parts of the country. An excellent addition to any young reader's library!

A hearty return to good old-fashioned childhood happiness, with a great dose of rhyming silliness. This is the story of the "Wumples", a hapless group of "beings" who emerge from their seemingly dismal life into a world of wonder, friendship, and fun, all through the magic of a tweeting messenger... The moods and expressions of the illustrations match the playful bounce of the rhyming and draw the child well into the Wumple world. Fun to read out loud while pouring over the pictures, with a pleasant message to reinforce kids' playful innocence. Much thought went into the story-telling, and watch for the extra touches and details sprinkled throughout, such as the "Kiera Rose Garden", a reference to the author's niece.

The most striking feature of AFRICAN CANVAS is the close up detail and large pictures of exterior and interior West African mud house design. Some pottery design is also featured. Colors are mostly earth toned because natural pigments are used. A close-up and personal look at this beautiful art form, and a good resource for folks interested in ethnology and in African design.

This book provides readers of all ages with a wonderful look into the life of Kofi, a "magician" from Bonwire. The children I have shared it with love it, and Kofi's magic serves as a reminder for all of us of the power of imagination. The photographs are rich, and the text is soothing. Look no further for a book that will put you in the mood to daydream.

Well i dont have much to say about the book i just wanted to tell you maya angelo that i really like the books u have and i want you to know that i am a new collage student and i will love for you to tell and help me threw out collage by emailing me and letting me know what books i should read and i would really love that i know i sound kinda crazy emailing you threw here but this is the only way i know how i am trying to become a strong black man like you are a strong black women so like i said if u can help me or give me fether information please do so and dont be a stranger. P.S Life seems to love the liver of it. by maya angelo a new friend willie christian please email me back

I saw this book at the home of an artist friend once. These portraits of East African women and their exquisitely painted homes are rare gems indeed. What I also appreciate about this work is that photographer Margaret Courtney-Clarke lavishes such attention and respect to the other cultural aspects of these beautiful people that she could be labeled a sociologist as well.

The publisher, Rizzoli, sows an appropriately generous amount of quality into this book; even the paper is noticeably superior.

My only question is, when will this magnificent work be made available again? I've had it on order at several stores for well over a year now!

Gorgeous photographs that you need a microscope to examine. The total available area per page pair is 19 inches by 9 1/2 inches and most of the photos measure 1 inch by 4 inches. Excuse me?? I don't know and cannot imagine what the editor and publisher were thinking about. Lilliput maybe?? This is not a book of photographs, it is a book of glossy white pages. I bought it as a coffee table book and to share with my son when he gets older but I'm afraid I am going to return it as I can't afford to waste fifteen dollars.

A stunning book of photographs taken in Sossusvlei, Namibia. Having travelled and photographed the same dunes as in the book, I can only offer my highest praises to this very talented photographer. If you have ever wondered why somebody would travel to Namibia to see sand dunes, this book will answer your questions!!

Thank you

Jasper Nell...

The desert is the essence of nothing, Courtney-Clarke writes in the introduction to Places in the Sand, her nostalgic photographic tribute to the Namib Desert. Far from embracing the nihilistic meaning that the word "nothing" normally denotes in our every-day language, the "nothing" of Places in the Sand is full of meaning and substance, of memory and life. Anyone who has spent serious time in the Namib Desert will know and recognize in an instant where the symbiosis of the nothingness of sand, wind and sun have forged this essence.

Places in the Sun emerged from Courtney-Clarke's intimate knowledge of Namibia, the land of her birth, as well as her keen eye as a photographer and photojournalist. Places in the Sand is a memoir in form of "a visual journey through my (Courtney-Clarke's) place."

This is also the title of the first photograph of the book and in a sense its dedication. It shows the sand-swept interior of a house in the desert long since abandoned to the ravages of time and place. But it also hints at life once lived here through the sky-blue, ochre and green colours of the fading paint on the crumbling walls and the open door against which the steady motion of the wind has lodged a tiny mountain of desert sand.

It is hard to pick favourites among the 48 colour and 16 black-and-white illustrations. Sensuous dunes unfold, blown into form by the hot desert wind. Dreamlike roads lead nowhere and fragile cracked earth stretches endlessly toward the shimmering horizon. Earth touches sky in the far distance diffusing the point of their contact like in a Fata Morgana; and abandoned shelters engulfed by sand and time give back to the desert their vibrant structure inch by inch. The ghosts of the lives once lived in the Namib Desert, so it seems, are ever present.

Beige, blue and the many shades of ochre are the predominant colours in Courtney-Clarke's desert photographs. Beige for the white bleached sand under the blazing sky which does not invite one to rest for long; blue for the infinite vastness of the Namibian sky which stretches to the end of the horizon and invites one to ruminate; and ochre for the sand's iron oxide pigments which have given the dunes their deeply rich hues.

There are two black-and-white photographs of the famous Dune 45 on the way to Sossuvlei. The first is taken in the morning and the second in the afternoon light. What is brilliantly illuminated early in the day is transformed into a brooding shadow in the afternoon, giving the dune its distinctly architectural shape.

In fact, many of the photographs seem like architectural compositions. Most of the landscapes, taken on the ground, are presented as small, oblong boxes, approx. 11 x 3 cm in size. This gives the photograph and its subject a distinct contour but also adds depth on the square page which measures approx. 22 x 22 cm. For example, Star Dune of the Namib moves the star point of the dune to the far right of the photograph and thereby arranging sharp fields of light and shadow like a tipsy star fruit.

The huge pointed finger of one face of the dune in Seven-year drought almost seems to take off from the parched earth like the slender tail of the Concorde precipitously alighting from an airfield into the sky.

Courtney-Clarke's dunes also reveal distinct patterns if seen from above. Sand in flight shows several dunes in various stages of formation, straining to grow taller and wider and trailing their wispy tails like the dyes in a silk Ikat fabric from Central Asia.

Perhaps inadvertently, Places in the Sand also contains poignant ecological messages. The tracks in Going somewhere are those of a car navigated most likely in an area not under nature conservation protection. In more delicate desert areas these tracks could last for hundreds of years and if carelessly imposed could destroy fragile desert environments for ever. I have driven on the Long Road to Solitaire in the blazing sun, for ever aware that a breakdown of my bakkie could amount to more than just an annoying inconvenience.

There have been more years of drought than of rain in Namibia's recent history, and the cycle in favour of drought seems to be lengthening with every turn.Thus numerous photographs record stumped or fallen skeleton trees, some still desperately straining for life in the barren sand; or of the odd piece of farm equipment that has long ago ceased to be useful.

After such an abundant display of desolation one's eye nearly jumps with relief onto the page with the small photograph entitled After the rain. Almost rendered like a primitive painting, this is one of the most joyful in the book. The blades of green grass behind the wire fence stand upright, the mountains hover serenely in the distance and the brilliant blue sky seems infinitely benign.

Anyone who has been to Kolmanskop or to the ghost towns in Diamond Area 1 south of Luderitz is intrigued by how wind and sand have conspired to transform, for example, the Mine manager's residence and even Courtney-Clarke's childhood home, Liebig House, on the farm Neu-Heusis at the edge of the Namib Desert (Memories of Neu-Heusis) into testimonies of the past.

However stunning the photographs, Places in the Sand is ultimately about Courtney-Clarke's memories of early years spent in Namibia, on its expansive farmlands and in her beloved desert, near the cool shore of the Atlantic and along the desolate Skeleton Coast to the north...

Many American literature textbooks cover the topic of Transcendentalism with selections from just Emerson and Thoreau. Why they don't include some of the essays of Margaret Fuller is a mystery, especially in our current age of political correctness and emphasis on diversity. She provides a woman's opinion of life in general and of the landscape and people of the Midwest in particular in this, her first published book.


_Summer on the Lakes, in 1843_ is first and foremost a travelogue of Fuller's tour of the Midwest, and we follow her to Chicago and Milwaukee and into rural Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Her trip not only predates her friends' visits to the same area (Emerson first came through by stagecoach in 1850, and Thoreau took the train in 1861) but it also offers more observations about the people and the living conditions out on the prairie. Fuller had more time to spend roaming and adventuring, and she seems to have been more interested in the local culture than the men later were. (Or perhaps Emerson and Thoreau figured that Margaret Fuller had already provided the world with descriptions of the region, so they need not bother.) Midwestern readers should particularly enjoy the historic look at familiar landscapes, written at a time when white settlements were just beginning to congeal and take hold.


Secondarily, Fuller focuses much of her writing on the plight of American Indians and also of women in general. She had read a great deal about the native people and seems disappointed to find that most of the Black Hawk War survivors had already moved west by the time of her visit. She also points a critical eye to the fate of the members of her gender who were helping to eke out a living on the prairie: "The great drawback upon the lives of these settlers, at present, is the unfitness of the women for their new lot." ... All domestic labor "must often be performed, sick or well, by the mother and daughters, to whom a city education has imparted neither the strength nor skill now demanded." (p. 38) And yet, many of the people she meets seem to be happy; and while life is hard and without most amenities, entertainment (even the occasional piano!) and merriment can abound.


The narrative tends to languish when Fuller digresses into long-winded stories of the plights of specific women she either knew personally or heard about second- or even thirdhand. While these plot interruptions get tedious to the casual reader, they are further glimpses of feminine life in the early 19th century. Seen in that light, they can provide interesting diversions to the travelogue.


Original illustrations by Fuller's traveling companion, Sarah Ann Clarke (sister of James Freeman Clarke) augment the text. This edition's introduction by Susan Belasco Smith helps to bring perspective to the trip and the writing. Recommended especially for residents of northern Illinois and to anyone interested in Midwestern history, transcendentalism, or women's studies. [This reviewer was an Illinois resident when these comments were written.]

While originally written to help advanced ESL students, this book offers a comprehensive reading skill review for middle schoolers or junior high students. If a teacher is hoping to prepare students for achievement tests in reading, this book will help