This book is a terrible representation of the Navajo Indians. None of the information that is in this book is a valid representation of their traditions. The information that we are teaching to our children from this book is false and very stereotypical. It should be taken out of every school.

An Indian boy asks his Grandfather to tell him about the night he was born, and the Grandfather ties another knot in the counting rope. The night was windy, and when the boy was born, they thought he might die. The Grandfather took him outside and two blue horses came by and gave him their strength. The boy lived, but lives in darkness. He begs begs for a promise that his Grandfather will always be with him, to which the Grandfather replies, "I love you, boy; that is better than a promise!" A gentle story of love, blindness, and some pretty illustrations make for a memorable book.

this is a book that has more intensity and insight with each new reading. it is the story of a physically handicapped child who with the support of his grandfather takes on a difficult challege and competes to his highest potential. the story integates overcoming challenges, uncondition parental love, hard work, and aging while finishing with a realistic outcome. the reader will be moved with pride and hope.

hello, i am on my 3rd year of french(texas) i have to say that i have had the hardest time this year because of this text book. it lacks in grammer and i feel i dont learn very much. with the exception of cultural information...which is interesting, but i am interested in pursuing french as a possible career option, and i feel that this book is not preparing me for a future in fluent french speaking.

Bonjour! I am in my first year of French, and I have found Allez, Viens to be one of the most thorough foreign-language textbooks that I have ever studied with. Cultural notes and useful expressions are highlighted to grab the students's attention, and each chapter studies a different francophone (French-speaking) country. I would highly recommend this book.

Allez Viens is a well planned, comprehensive text book. I was exposed to it in my first year of teaching French and plan to use it until the end of my career.

I read the book, "A Seperate Peace", by John Knowles and it was pretty good. It involves two main boys going through high school during World War II. One of the boys,Phineas, is superior at everything involving sports. The other main character is Gene Forrester. He is great at school but not in sports. These boys are roomed together in their prepatory school named Devon and are best friends. Gene starts thinking that Phineas, a.k.a Finny, is trying to hold back him from doing so great at school so he can be the best at everything. So Gene starts hating Finny and ends up creating a horrible accident that ruins Finny's life forever. It shows that there is always some darkness in the back of Gene's mind but never once was there in Finny's. Gene goes to tell Phineas that he created the accident but Finny doesn't belive him. So Gene drops it and hopes Finny won't try to remember what actually happened that one day and remember the truth. Another character in the book is a boy named Leper Lelliper who is always looking to find the best things in life he can look at slowly and not rush anything. He decides to go look at and take pictures of a beaver dam then go and work on the railroads to help the WWII fighters get through the town. But in his childish life he becomes to be the first person in his and Gene's and Finny's class to enlist in the army. After doing this everybody's life takes a turn. Brinker Hadley, the class president, drops out of all extra curricular activites and becomes lazy. Gene starts working at sports and pitys Finny every chance he can. Phineas starts trying to get his life back in order and trys to do all the things he did before the accident. But then one day Gene recieves a letter from Leper asking for help. The army has done something to Leper and tooken something away from him he can never get back. Gene goes to visit him but can't take it and goes back to Devon, never speaking of what happened. Then one night Brinker Hadley and a bunch of other boys awaken Finny and Gene to take them to a trail. A trial that would change Finny's life and Gene's life forever. The whole story is told by Gene Forrester in a flashback fifteen years ago. The story shows great symbolism with tree. And always has great themes, such as:private war versus public war, Gene's view of life vs. Finny's view of life, and a life of conformity vs. a life of freedom.

This book is the story of John Lathrop, an early English non-conformist, and his fight for religious freedom.

Accounts of people like William Tyndale, John Wycliff and other similar champions of Christianity and freedom are hard to come by these days. Foxe's Book of Martyrs and other similar works contain thumbnail sketches of these champions of religious liberty that had so much to do with the establishment of America. There are extensive scholarly works on some of these figures. But it is difficult to find a popular work that has sufficient depth to really understand the struggles that these people went through to establish religious liberty as a tenet of Western Civilization.

This book fills in this gap. It is the story of an English Minister who is forced into exile because his conscience will not allow him to agree completely with his church.

It is historical and derived from primary sources, but is told in a conversational style much like that of Alan Eckert in his early American historical works. This form of writing flows smoother and is more appealing to someone looking for a good story in addition to learning more information on historical figures and periods.

As an American, I found it particularly interesting as it documented the history of a representative figure who fled the Old World for the New to find religious liberty.

I recommend it for adolescents and adults who would appreciate learning more of this early American immigrant and the causes that led to so many similar immigrants coming to America. The genealogy list of descendants of John Lathrop notes that over half of the 43 Presidents of the United States were (and are since GWB is also related) related to this man.

I have been an avid user of automotive manuals for some time now. I perform all repairs on the vehicals that I own. I have used Chilton's, Haynes, and vaarious other manuals, and they all are about the same. This manual is a little more informative then the others. I really like the way that this manual was organized.

I read this book when I was in my last year of high school and it helped me to keep a healthy perspective vis a vis education. I ended up being a healthy sceptic of all "authoritative knowledge" "taught" me by my teachers. It also encouraged me to "learn" on my own even after I was done with formal schooling. Must read for people who feel unduly constrained by the educational system.

Being an education major I was assigned this book for a class project. It is an interesting day by day journal of author John Holt's experience as a teacher in a Colorado private school. Holt's insights are honest and convey what some of the major problems are with todays students. The book's strength comes from the way Holt sees through the eyes of children who desperately want to please the adults who teach them but, out of fear hold back their talents for learning. Although the book is sixteen years old it remains a strong indictment of our modern educational system. I strongly recommend this read for anyone entering the field of education.

This book with its simple format and language has opened my eyes to possibilities and perspectives that I simply never thought of. As an educator, I think everyone in the world of education should read. From policy-makers to administrators to teachers to school psychologists, and very specially, parents, we all owe it to our children and to ourselves to become informed and critical about the efficiency (or the lack thereof) of our educational system. Especially at times, such as now, when our children seem to be failing more than ever. Holt's observations, although limited to private schools, provide one with a solid view of what is happening in the world of teaching accross the board. Holt makes and answers questions that are not only relevant to his subject but vital to the development of better teaching. Holt's idea that we don't know enough about student-teacher relationships could not be more accurate. I know this because I am an educator. I agree with Holt when he says that it is time that we look beyond ourselves and our own interest and begin looking at students with respect. As an insider, I couldn't help blushing while reading the reasons that Holt gives for children's failure in school. I was only able to nod my head positively when he said that teachers aren't listening to their students because they are only listening to what they want to hear. Another reason children fail, according to Holt, is that they are not being intellectually challenged enough at school. The conclusion made by Holt makes plenty of sense. Teachers definitely need to make every effort to free their teaching from ambiguity, confusion and self-contradiction. Besides teachers, the pointing finger also points to standardized exams. Standardized exams, I agree with the author, do not make our children more knowledgeable. Holt's final verdict is clear and pungent: Students are failing because adults-teachers, administrators, parents, policy-makers, etc.-are not doing their jobs. Although not a pleasant thing to hear (especially for those of us who have chosen to dedicate our lives to the education of our young), I am personally grateful to Mr. Holt for taking a bold stand to face us with our demons.

This book should be required reading for all education students. It won't show you how to be a good teacher, but it will show you how to be a bad one. John Holt's careful and honest examination of the utter dysfunction that typifies classrooms to this very day, had it been digested by the education Establishment, might have helped save countless lives. It is often treated as axiomatic that what teachers do to students, whether it is facilitating, teaching, socializing, or conditioning, is ultimately for the students' benefit. Alas, many of our children learn the hard way that this is not the case; most often, teachers do far more harm than good. It is a tragedy of immense proportion that these people cloak their monstrous misdeeds behind a public perception of teaching as a noble, selfless, underpaid profession. Most teachers are despicable villians trapped in their own closed minds, petty fascists who relish their authority over helpless children and who secretly (or not-so-secretly) regard learning with fear and contempt. Holt's notes on his own experience as a teacher will remind those of you who forgot, or, possibly, enlighten those of you who were duped. This atrocity must be stopped. But please, don't hurt the teachers. They're victims too.

Discovering Fossil Fishes written by John G. Maisey is a book covering fish fossilization through out history. Spanning more the one-half billion years fishes are older than dinosaurs and have links to the tetrapods on land.

This book is highly illustrated with art work one nearly half of the pages with the dialog on the other half of the book. Fishes have a unique evolutionary history that stretches back in time, they are incredibly ancient and include the ancestors of all the limbed vertebrates living on the land.

I found the book to be highly readable and easy to follow as this book could be read and understood by those twelve years old or older. There are color illustrations along with fossilized pictures comparing both. This gives the reader a good approximation as to what the fossil would look like in life.

From their ancient ancestors, the craniates, fishes evolved not once, in a single lineage, but multiple times, filling countless biological niches. Given their long evolutionary history, itis not surprising that so many species of fishes exist today; one new fish species evolving every 18,000 years, or about 55.5 species evolving per one million years. The sum total of fishy diversity through time is far greater than now, and the evolutionary history of fishes is a vast and comples subject.

But, the author wrote this book with the layreader in mind and the prose are simple but very effective. as more fossil fishes are uncovered we will know better what the ancient world looked like and come to discover more of our own ancestors.

Maisey is a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. With this work he has brought the evolution of the fishes to the popular science reader. My only major complaint about this book is in format. I would like to have seen it arranged by geological period as apposed to taxonomic group. I also think that a more visual group of cladograms arranging all the fishes would have been in order. Many cladograms are included but they only show small snippets of the relationships between fishes and you have to piece a larger picture together throughout the book. The illustrations are excellent and you will have a hard time finding so many images of fossil fish, if you are just interested in seeing images of fossils then this will be great for you. I also liked how he discussed the development of major morphological features. While a person of specialized interest might be aware of these, having them all in one place is convenient.

If you have a developing interest in fishes or in vertebrate paleontology than this book would be good to have. It would also be a nice compliment to any library including material on natural history.

I came across this book while finishing my MSc at Guelph. The book soon made its rounds among all the ichthyology students and faculty. It is well written, lavishly illustrated and nicely designed. Seeing this volume going for so cheap surprises me. I paid 5 times more for mine. Any student involved with fish taxonomy, evolution and general biology MUST get this book. I found the lateral views a bit goofy but the paintings of creatures in motion in their habitat are superb. People who are interested in early life on our planet should also consider having a look at this one. BRAVO Dr. Maisey!

Through much of the book, Holt drives around the northern plains and for the most part gripes a lot about the places he visits and the people he finds there. Some of his fishing vignettes are nice, but others are little more than listings of the colors found on the fish.

Holt's perspectives and attitudes are unusual. For example, he literally sees blue light streaming from areas of the land. This is intriguing but was not explained. In addition, he seems to like and respect long-term residents of the northern plains and he has unkind things to say about more recent arrivals such as "yuppies". Yet at the start of his journey he reports that he traded in his fancy import car for a suburban so he can blend in better. So who is he and how does he fit in this land? He sounds more like the persons he apparently despises. I didn't learn much about this region from reading this book.

The quality of his writing is variable throughout the book. Some very excellent sections, others that feel unedited, without direction and void of interesting content. For better books about the west try Rick Bass, Jack Turner, J Raban, Tim Egan, Ivan Doig.

If your idea of a great family vacation is to travel to the great outdoors and spend your whole time in overcrowded campsights, ski resorts or tourist towns, then you may want to take a pass on "Coyote Nowhere." Author John Holt won't mind since he doesn't like your kind anyway. Holt spends most of the book extolling the virtures of the pristine and empty West while lamenting that so much of it is being ruined by housing developments, strip mines and golf courses. Of course, economic development is always a double edged sword, but Holt confines his comments to merely ranting impotently against it.

That said, Holt captures some great images and moments in his book. Most of these are his descriptions of the land and the joys of getting back to nature. As a storyteller, he doesn't have the touch of a Bill Bryson, and his narrative wanders unfocussed at times and not in chronological order. Nevertheless, he creates a strong sense of place that is worthwhile for anyone interested in his subject matter.

I have been waiting thirty years to see the west. Mr holt paints a vivid picture of the area that he most loves . I am sorry that he feels invaded but he should see what the same people have done to the eastern end of long island.I am coming to see his west even though i'll be driving with the wrong licence plates. If I run in to him we can have a drink, and share our frustrations

This guy is a psycho-boomer looney. His book serves best as kindling.

The New York Times called this book "astonishly cogent," and I agree. This is one of the most insightful and thought-provoking books I've ever read. Sadly, 30 years later almost nothing has changed. While the ACLU fights for the voting rights of convicted felons, a 17-year-old "child," no matter how sensible or informed, cannot cast a ballot in the United States. Millions of children are shipped off to school every day, where they are mostly taught to do as they're told (no matter how arbitrary or pointless) and above all, conform--lessons which will serve them all too well for decades to come. The transparency of Holt's writing should also be an example to authors everywhere. It is a tragedy that this book is out of print, and Holt no longer with us. The world desperately needs more like him.

This is my favorite book of the many Holt has written. It does not cover any aspects of learning/educational issues as do his other books. Instead it addresses the matter of looking at children as whole individuals who should be treated respectably, as any adult would want to be.

Our culture too readily encourages parents, and adults in general, to use their voice in a excessively authorative manner which only serves to bully and demean children. No one would want to be spoken to or treated in such a condensending manner. This book will open your eyes to the damage we are doing to our beloved kids when we accept the cultural standard way of parenting. Highly recommended!