I have all the previous books in this series and would recommend them to everyone. I also have both scotties and westies, and Wells and Jeffers capture the spirit, expressions and body language of these dogs perfectly. The stories are very cute and have been very popular with the children I have tested them on. McDuff is an adorable character and I hope to have new volumes soon!

Each time a McDuff book comes out, I worry that it's the last of the series as I wonder where the story could possibly go next. I was therefore so thrilled and amazed to find McDuff Goes to School last week. What a brilliant twist that he learns French! I am not a parent or teacher -- I just appreciate the beauty of children's books. This is a great way to introduce a foreign language to very young kids by using a character and context that's engaging. It also sends a message that just because someone doesn't understand your language, doesn't mean they are stupid. Okay, I confess I am also a Westie mum so I find the McDuff books so damn cute I want to cry.

Being the owner of a Scottie, a Westie and a Cairn as well as an avid art collector of breed-related items, I am so impressed with the capturing of the expressions of the Scottie (Marie) and the Westie (McDuff) in this book. The artist really knows the breeds and the author as well. They both capture the wonderful spirit and essence of the beloved dogs. A great story that children of all ages will love - even this 39 year old kid. Bravo!

The photos included in Sklenar's first published collection of his work represent nearly 30 years of output, and what the photographer calls the "the weigh stations" of his life: Prague, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Thompson, Mexico, and Gallup. What the photos show, according to Sklenar, is that "life is the same everywhere, people suffer and are happy in much the same way." His assessment is correct. However, the extraordinary gift he has for revealing the extraordinary cannot go without mention. -- Belinda Acosta, for The Austin Chronicle.

Opening this book you step into the world and life of photographer Milan Sklenar. He shows the viewer the places he has been, and the faces he has seen. The range of faces and emotions - fear, hope, despair, joy, boredom, suspicion - are matched by the diversity of locations - Mexico, New York, Thompson, Los Angeles, Montreal, Prague. Although each viewer will undoubtably bring his own experiences to the book and form his own interpretations, no one will be unmoved by these powerful images.

Over 100 photos of this Czech-American artist are presented for the first time in Milan Sklenar: Photographs, a volume which captures urban and street life in stark black and white photos. The artist lived in the streets - his photos of street life in different cultural settings from Mexico to Montreal provide intriguing contrasts and similarities.

This is an excellent book for anyone who is attempting to find their Polish ancestors here in the USA or abroad. Rosemary gives you all the resources you need, and then some,to begin tracing down those elusive Polish immigrant relatives. She even has sample letters in Polish to use in writing for family record; such as baptismal, marriage, and death records using both religious and civilan sources. She even provides the addresses.
Rosemary gives lists of Polish names and what they may translate to in English. A list of the months in Polish also is a great help in determining which month a date means. Another wonderful asesst is a guide to translating church records, as all of the Catholic parish registers were written in Latin. Rosemary also makes mention of Jewish and Protestant records. Get this book and refer to it often, it is a treasure !

I found this book to be highly informative and loaded with how to's and where to go's. This author's recommendation lead me to purchase a book that was used as a reference for her work. I would not be without this book as an aid for searching your Polish "roots".

Polish Roots is exactly the book I have needed while researching my Polish ancestry. Rosemarie Chorzempa explains family history research for Polish descendants, with emphasis on Polish family, Polish history, and Polish research, both in North America and Europe. She clearly and concisely answered the questions I've encountered, explaining why my Polish grandparents' papers said they came from Germany/Prussia/Borussia (there was no "Poland" in the nineteenth century!), Polish customs and names (with English translations), and where and how to go for more information, in civil, church, and historical records. If you are interested in learning more about your Polish ancestry, buy this book!

This book should be on every expectant parents list!

It is beautifully illustrated and written in simple language, yet it carries a powerful message. Reading is a wonderful way of sharing a part of our busy lives with our children, and it only "costs twenty minutes and a library card". Rosemary Wells also includes a two-page message to parents at the end of the book that tells us how and why we should should reserve a special time and place for reading activities with our children.

The message in this book will stay with you long after you finish it...It can serve as a daily reminder and as a daily source of encouragement as we lure our children into the magical world of reading.

A truly wonderful book....

Cris

My Mommy read this book to me for a bedtime story. It's cute! I like the pictures and I like the part where the Mother bunny reads all the little stories to her little bunny. I think it's a good story for little children. My cousin Andrew, who is two years old, would really like it a lot.

My kids brought me this book in the library. Since then, I've given it at baby showers and as wedding presents. It is more of a reminder to parents what our duty and responsibility to our children is. Besides, the kids love it too. Mine had it memorized and quote it to me when I tell them I'm too busy to read right now.

I loved this book when I was a kid!! I have many fond memories of it. My mother refuses to let me have my copy (she claims its hers--goes to show you she liked it as much as me!), so I came here, in search of buying a copy for a friend's child and I am shocked and upset to find that it is out of print! How could they do that?! They need to start reprinting it again. It would be such a shame for so many children to miss this funny and poignant book.

Rosemary Wells is my favorite children's author and this is my favorite of all her books (except now that she has written a book with a protangonist named Emily I may have to change my mind). Few books make a frustrated older sibling feel understood as well as this one -- A Baby Sister for Frances is another that comes to mind -- while reminding them that being the older one is an important job. Every pair of siblings should have this one read to them.

Stanley and his consistently befuddled sister Rhoda are memorable. This book will make you laugh at any age. It's hilarious! I read it to my younger sister, every kid I babysat while I was in high school and even took it with me to college for a little light reading.

There's good news, bad news and, finally, some more good news.

This is an excellent book, especially for a first book. A well-conceived world where Asimov's Axiom - "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - is given a wonderful twist. The geography, the culture and the people are skillfully developed. Best of all, there is a woman protagonist who is simply delightful, and who brings a life devoted to the acquisition of knowledge to a quest tale. The sequel, "The Outskirter's Secret," is even better and begins to give you glimpses of the true nature of the world in which these tales are told.

The bad news is that the tale is only half told. Fans of Kirstein and her heroine have been waiting years to see what happens next. It was starting look like the story would never be finished.

The new good news is that a third book - "The Steerswomans Road" - is coming out later this year.

With any luck, the publisher will re-publish the first two books, which appear to be out of print, and allow Kirstein's story to reach a broader audience.

This is a terrific introduction to a well-crafted world. Strongly recommended.

A female, swashbuckling scholar. Wizardry based on science; so much more interesting and exciting than mysticism. Please urge this author to continue developing this series! We need more of the world and characters she creates. Truly original and exciting.

Rosemary Kirstein has given us a story that will unfold with precision and enjoyment. This is a book for those who do not need a lot of whizz bang socery, but solid characters etched with humour and humanity. It is written in a style similar to Terry Goodkind, yet the story is not as drawn out. Rowan is a gatherer of information that is happily and deliberately given out to any who would ask of it, in a land where the population has no education, only wizards who would keep their secrets as their power base.

It is a riveting tale and I look forward to a second book from Rosemary Kirstein's clever pen.

Ok so i was sitting in my kid's pediatricians office waiting (as usual) and reading one of the books in the room to my child. it was one of the Max books by Rosemary Wells. So, i'm sitting there looking at the book thinking...gosh! this art work looks soooo familiar! what it is about this book...then an old story comes to mind that i can barely recall. but it kept bugging me and in moments I recall this book i had as a kid about a bunny or something (looked a lot like the Max charactor in the authors more recent books) that got a magic bag for xmas. I couldn't rmember the title though. it's been on my mind on and off since then and I just found the authors name a minute ago on amazon while looking for kids books and decided i was going to investigate and surely find out if she is connected to that old favorite of mine. i could have whooped out loud when I finally spotted "morrie's Disappearing bag" on the list! i'd found it! now I HAVE to buy it for my two littlw ones! I love this book! it's so cute! funny thing is...my little boys name is max! not that this book is about max the bunny.....anyway, i highly recommend this cute book!

As a kid this (along with Noisy Nora) was my favourite book and I still think it's one of my all time greats. It has moved house and country with me innumerable times.
It's a sweet story about Christmas, feeling left out by older kids, triumphing by winning attention and causing trouble, and learning to love a bear, but it's never saccharine or preachy.
It's a must have for every house that ever has a small child visit (and also for those who like to see bears triumph over more gimmicky gifts).

I have a big box of children's Christmas books that I keep in the garage most of the year, and bring out in late November, but even though this book tells a Christmas story, it has never gone in the Christmas box. My kids wouldn't give it up. It continues to be read all year. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this book. It's kind of a silly little story about a little bunny, the youngest in his family, the one who is overlooked, who discovers an unnoticed present under the Christmas tree -- a bag that can make anyone who crawls into it disappear. But there's just something delightful and fun about it. We especially like the fact that only what's completely in the bag disappears, and Morris doesn't ever quite manage to get his whole body in the bag, so in each picture a little piece of him (tips of ears, or cottony tail) are sticking out. It's fun to find Morris in each picture. In fact, overall, this is probably the most fun Christmas book I've ever seen.

I got this book for my 7th grade son who is studying Medieval times at school. When I scanned the first few pages and found references to the Spartans at Thermopylae (I'm a Greek history buff), I started reading in earnest--and didn't stop. The author creates characters that are achingly real, involved in compelling situations that breathe life into ancient history. This is the best kind of historical novel; one that builds a realistic world that reveals culture and creates a "feel" so that you can understand it.

The people in this book seem very alive. They act consistently with the natures the author has created for them, and they are people one would want to know. Their way of speaking, customs, clothing, food, names--everything is couched in an impressive amount of historical detail that is soaked up by the reader without apparent effort.

I enjoyed this "juvenile" book thoroughly. I would have devoured Ms Sutcliff's books if I had found them younger, and--since the best children's books can hold their own with the best adult books--I will enjoy devouring them now!

Good books need lots of great reviews to persuade converts. =) I picked this up as Celtic/medieval literature for a college class and wondered whether this "juvenile" book would contain enough depth, but found myself immediately intrigued. Sutcliff's writing is consistently true to the era she portrays, and is often poetic, as well. The characters are refreshingly real; I care more about their development as individuals than how the battles will turn out. So far, I'm totally happy to rate this book 5 stars. I can't wait to finish it!

As I was reading The Shining Company I was thinking this is the best adventure book I ever read. I also couldn't keep my eyes off it and a number of times my teacher kept telling me to put the book down and pay attention. At first I didn't want to read it but I did and it got better and better until I couldn't stop reading it. It's also the first Rosemary Sutcliff I've ever read and I will probably read more.

There are all sorts of pilgrims making their tours. Chaucer knew this, of course, and his crew is composed of all from the reverent to the venal. Some of his pilgrims, like the Wife of Bath, were journeying just for the fun of it, but none of his pilgrims were confessed skeptics, out to see what they could see and write a book about the experience. That is what Rosemary Mahoney has done in _The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground_ (Houghton Mifflin), not just once but within six of the most celebrated pilgrimages, and not just Christian pilgrimages, but a Hindu one, too. She has a fine eye for detail, an attraction to odd people, and a smooth way of telling a story, so that the armchair pilgrim gets to go vicariously on these jaunts with little risk except perhaps laughing at people who ought to be solemn, and questioning the purpose of pilgrimages and of worship itself.

Every year in May, there is an Anglican National Pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Walsingham, an English village. The procession is attended not only by pilgrims, but by protesters. Methodists, Presbyterians, and others who think that the procession is too close to Catholicism shout down the parade and put up signs like "This procession & mass denies the Word of God which forbids it." Lourdes is very Catholic and very kitschy. Mahoney's first physically demanding pilgrimage was to the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain via walking El Camino de Santiago, hundreds of miles across northern Spain. Mahoney's view of the pilgrims here, as she hobbles with crippling tendonitis, is the most cynical; as befits a "new" ancient route, the pilgrims on it are New-Agey secular seekers, taking the hike during some free months in between jobs, to find a spouse, to heal a karma, or to lose weight. Mahoney's Hindu pilgrimage was to Varanasi, the ancient city on the Ganges where the very best cremations happen and where reverent Hindus go to bathe in the fetid waters. In the Holy Land, she is amused by how different churches insist that they own, say, the authentic place where the water-into-wine miracle. The struggle for authenticity has manifested itself in different religions or different branches of one religion trying to claim possession of particular sacred sites, and Mahoney notes, "Everyone was fighting to own a piece of the man who lived for peace and said, _Own nothing_." The final pilgrimage is to Saint Patrick's Purgatory on Station Island in the middle of Lough Derg, a rigorous pilgrimage including sleep deprivation, cold, midges, and mind-numbing recitations of rigid prayers, perhaps in anticipation of purgatory's entertainments.

Mahoney is a wonderful guide to these strange locales, practices, and people. She examines her own beliefs throughout, and contrasts them with those of her mother, a staunch Catholic. Conversations with her mother are remembered frequently throughout the book. There is serious introspection here, and serious inquiry into a form of human activity that has many participants, but she has conducted the research with irrepressible humor. At the end of the Camino trip, she reflects that although she was still unsure why she had walked all that way, "... I felt I had accomplished something strange and monumental." Yes, and that can be said of her book as well.

This writer has put a voice to all the questions, doubts, and uncertainties of which my belief system is composed. Her honesty about herself, her reactions to the many pilgrims she has met in her travels, her adventurousness and acceptance of differences reflect my own yearnings for what I should have done. I was thrilled by her 0bservations and revelations on each journey, but I was overwhelmed by her journal of her time in Varanesi. Her immersion into the life of this place, without "going native", her ability to not be revolted by the seeming desparation of the life around her,her quiet strength and assurance are excitng and moving and inspiring. The two young boys who become her guides and friends are extremely moving. She and they give what feels to be the truest account of the nature of faith that I have read. The myriad questions that all seekers have are not answered or resolved, but they are illuminated in such a way that those who share them may feel affirmed in the knowledge that it is the search and the questions which are important. Everyone's answers will be different, which is as it should be in the examination of such universal questions. This book is a treasure.

I was afraid this book was going to be very pious and all about religion. But it's one of the most entertaining and exciting things I've read in a long time. Mahoney is a very funny writer, with kind of a deadpan, wry sense of humor and really nice take on life and human relationships. She is very brave and adventurous, rowing a boat across the sea of galilee all by herself, walking 500 miles across spain on the Camino de Santiago, and spending three days on St, Patrick's purgatory in Ireland praying and fasting while barefoot the whole time. I think what I loved most about this book was the way the writer portrays the people she meets. It's very vivid and clear. You almost feel like you're right there beside her. The scene where she takes the holy bath at Lourdes in France is really funny, and a lot of what happens to her in India is a riot. Even though the writer is on a search of pilgrimages, she is always a little bit skeptical, which adds to the humor of the book. But most of all you can tell that she cares about people and wants to find out about their lives and why they are on these pilgrimages just as much as she wants to find out about her own spirituality. I learned a lot about the history of religious places that I didn't know before from reading this book. I really didn't want it to end because it was so fun to read.

From it's unexpected opening, Southern Song kept me turning the "pages"! Rosemary Laurey has gifted readers with true-to-life characters, infused with compassion and fired with passion--for their work and for each other. Ms. Laurey exhibits an understanding of teenage alcoholism and of the extraordinary lives of special needs students. I highly recommend Southern Song, not only to teachers, but to anyone who wants a fast-paced, emotionally-satisfying read!

Love Ms. Laurey's earthy style. I couldn't put Southern Song down - literally read it in one sitting. Emotional and well researched.

Rosemary Laurey has penned a warm, witty tale of love and the redemption found in forgiveness. SOUTHERN SONG is the story of two people who find each other amidst some very tumultuous times in their lives. Sarah is a wonderfully warm character full of human frailties that you would recognize in your own female friends while Mike is a terrific blend of masculine charm and humor. SOUTHERN SONG is a book that will stick with you long after you have placed it on your keeper shelf.

-Lisa Hamilton, CompuServe Romance Reviews