I met one of the contributors (Micha) and heard him speak. I bought the book from him and read it. It was really great. It talks about the stuff that teens deal with.

If you need a book that deals with stuff that teens are going through, this is the book. It contains solid advice from motivational speakers from around the world. I suggest you read this book.

As a co-author to this book, I must admit I am biased. But, I would not have gotten involved if I did not think this is a book every teen must have. With a collection of youth speakers from across the United States, it is a collection of hilarious and touching stories from a variety of very different authors. This is the original in a series of four and it truly helps teens get the power to do what is positive. If you have any questions, just email me!

What a refreshing book. How often do you read a story to your children and find a tear in your own eye? The artwork is exceptional and compliments the story so well. It's hard not to be drawn into the story even after you've read it several times. In an era where possesions seem so important it's refreshing for young and old to be reminded of what's really valuable.

Tessa's Treasures is a High quality book in every way. The pictures are paintings with astounding clarity, and capture realistic expressions and scenes with deep emotion. The writing is real--it feels like you're in their house. The content is appropriate and perfect for launching into a discussion regarding "cherishing others", and how important relationships are to us. To go a step further, the construction of the book is top rate, the binding will not fall apart, nor will the pages rip easily. If you are looking for a great book to read to kids that will help you discuss important life lessons, this is definitely one you should add to your library.

This book is a splendid mixture of great pictures to entertain the kids and a moral story to keep them interested. I found that my sisters have thoroughly enjoyed it and it keeps them occupied wondering what is going to happen next. I would reccomend this book to anyone looking for a children's story. It is a great combination of a good story with fun pictures. I happen to know the author personally and I know that he geers his stories towards the younger generation but still manages to keep it interesting for us old folks. I strongly suggest this book to anyone interested.

Howard-Brook and Gwyther unpack what Revelation really means. Studying the book in its original context - remember, Revelation was written for the first century, not for us! - the authors still connect the concerns of John of Patmos' day to our own. They see Revelation's message of faithful resistance to the surrounding patriotic culture and how John warned the early Christians to resist it and preach the good news instead. And they uncover what the "beast" really is in modern society. A thoughtful and passionate understanding of this fantastic book's true message to both its time and our own.

Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther have written an excellent commentary on Revelation. Like most mainstream scholars they believe that John of Patmos was writing about the Roman empire of his day. What I found especially unique about this book, was its very fascinating account of the imperial court and imperial worship. The authors make a very good case that Revelation's message to its Asian Minor audience was not to compromise with the deadly - both to soul and body - Roman imperial culture.

Furthermore, the authors also discuss applications of Revelation to current social justice issues. I really learned a lot form this book. I also used Unveiling Empire to teach an adult education class at my church. The class seemed fairly well received, and part of the reason was due to this book.

Every truly great read has an exciting ending. The last chapter is where it all comes together.

Yet most who daily read the most popular book in the world, have never comprehended the last chapter, the Book of Revelation.

"Becoming Empire" identifies hundreds of 'hyper-links' in the text of Revelation to the preceding books of holy scriptures. The veil lifts, and the reader begins to see and hear not fictions of starwars, but God moving through history and pointing to the here and now.

Today is the battle, and God's children are in the front lines. The whole Bible, understood, is their map to victory.

I love Vincent. Not only will children love it, but so will the entire fAmily. To All Art teAchers, this book is A must hAve. To All Elementary teAchers, this book is A must hAve. To Anyone who loves to reAd, this book will wArm your heArt.

To the author, I implore you to continue to write more about Vincent. What A lovely chAracter.

this book is a joy to read for both young and old alike. the artwork is beautiful, colorful and inspirational. the story is educational, warm, witty and entertaining. vincent will creep into your heart. once you meet him, you will desire to walk through more paintings and more books with him. this is a real treat, a charming book. the idea is genius; the product is perfection!

Very good book. There was a cute story and the graphics so detailed (very colorful).....

I loved I

"Genious" is spelled "g-e-n-i-u-s". Then again, I'd wouldn't expect much more out of a St. Mary's graduate. As for Anthony Pena, I haven't read his book, but I'm sure it's good...

I've been in the gaming industry for years, and this is one of the finest books I have read to date. Although it's one of the few books I've read in my lifetime, it has inspired me to take my game playing to a new level. Anthony Pena is a genious! He is the Tony Robbins of the 21st Century!

Summary - Willy was a wimp . He was always getting beat up . Willy hated it . One day when he was sitting at home reading a comic , he found a article about how to get big scary muscles . Willy got straight to work . First he did some running , then some weight lifting , and over the past weeks Willy got bigger and taller and stronger , until he was the size of a gorilla . One day when Willy was going for a walk , he saw Milly getting beat up . Willy ran to go save Milly . Willy had become a hero . And from that day on Willy never got beat up again . I think it is a good childrens book , for any ages bewteen 3 - 7 I give it 10 out of 10

Willy the wimp is a childrens picture book written by Anthony Browne. It is an extremely funny book. Anthony browne writes and illustrates his own work. Each border has a different shape and size. The text is very simple and easy to follow. This book is similar to Willy the Champ, its sequel. This outrageously funny story is great for kids. by Adam Thomlinson

Willy the wimp is a great book for kids, Anthony Browne is the auther and illustrator. Anthony writes a lot of good kids books. I enjoyed his book willy the wimp because with each illustration he had a different boarder or background. The book is written for kids around eight years old, I can1t compare Willy the wimp with any other book. His print is big and bold.

Congrats to the author of this handy book. I wish it was little bit smaller to carry in the pockets of our ski jackets!
Mr. Hudaverdi reviews many problems and unexpected situations in skiing. He comes up with handy, cheap, sometimes funny
solutions and suggestions for many obstacles as well as surprises of skiing.
Although his book didn't get five stars from me for grammatical reasons, it is an interesting one,
especially for guys (not ladies) who want to be creative and attractive to the snow bunnies !

This book gives very valuable advice for all kinds of skiers. It gives hints
of how to make yourself happy with many technical easy to do tips that made
me aq much happy skier. I learned how to be more comfortable in my ski boots
that i had so many problems with, what color glasses make me see better in
blizzards, how to keep warm in the cold , how to avoid sweating in hot
days,howto prevent my glasses from fogging in case no other remedy is
around,in other words all the things that give problems to the skiers are
solved with easy to do tricks and tips. It does not teach you how to ski but
it does much more important things for you so you enjoy your skiing better.
It is easy entertaining reading. highly recommended.I will tell all my ski
friends.

Mr. Hudaverdi's book is a welcome freshness of Mammoth breeze amongst a group of boring, ho-hum, me-too skiing books. This one deftly prepares both the novice and the expert skier to the unforeseen elements of nature and the hassles of equipment. How do you protect your nose from the sun and wind? Have you ever tried a square patch of carpet in your boots? Can you turn your ski helmet into a hog-lover's dream? Mr. Hudaverdi's writing style is quirky and home-brewed, the formatting is amateurish, but the tricks and tips are priceless.

Anthony Bailey's somewhat misleadingly titled Vermeer not-quite-biography is meticulously researched, lovingly detailed, and suffused with a powerful affection and appreciation for both Vermeer's painting and Dutch history. It is only ever less than fascinating when dealing with the old master himself.

So little is known of Vermeer as to leave his biographers only slightly better off than those of Shakespeare, imagining that this document indicated this mood, this painting signifies that political opinion...such supposition is not terribly interesting to the lay reader.

But in his detailed recreation of 17th century Delft and his lush and delicate descriptions of the major canvases, Bailey makes up for the limitations of his subject. This period of Dutch history is so rich it seems almost a shame to spend so much of the text on a figure about whom so little is known, and Bailey recounts it beautifully.

An excellent book, then, unless one really wants a biography of Vermeer.

Anthony Bailey is the ideal author to write about Vermeer: like his subject's paintings his prose is quiet, calm, introspective, and serene. He illuminates Vermeer and his work, but as in the paintings discussed the light is gentle, and golden, never harsh - like a good poet, Bailey leaves plenty of room for the reader to reflect on his/her reality as he describes his subject.

It's wonderful to think of Vermeer painting his silence-drenched, calm and mysterious images amid the noise and tumult of his house filled with eleven children. Perhaps his paintings were a world of perfect order and quiet that he could retreat to when his messy and noisy surroundings became overwhelming. I also liked Bailey's point that perhaps Vermeer painted so few images because almost all of his best work had sunlight streaming through a window, and the Dutch climate doesn't offer too many sunny days to paint from!

The book opened with a bit more 15th and 16th century Dutch history than I would have cared for, but hold tight, once he switches his focus to Vermeer's paintings the book takes flight, and you will never look at the paintings in the same way again. The black and white reproductions don't do the paintings justice however - I'd recommend having a book of color reproductions of the paintings (there are only 37 known Vermeers!) next to you as Bailey gently helps you see these familiar images in wonderfully new ways.

I'm certainly no expert on the non-fiction genre and definitely no expert on art history but I do know a well-researched and enjoyable piece of work when I come across it. I came in the backdoor on this one having become fascinated by Vermeer after reading Tracy Chevalier's Girl With A Pearl Earring. I followed that one up with Susan Vreeland's Girl In Hyacinth Blue and then came across Anthony Bailey's book. What a wonderful way to continue my journey into this author's own portrait of this master painter and what a surprise to find that it contains black and white and some color pictures of Vermeer's paintings as well.

While very little is known about Vermeer's life, through the genius of Bailey, you come away from this book feeling you know the man. What we do know is that he lived in the mid 17th century, was a Reformed Protestant until he married the Catholic Catharina Bolnes and fathered 11 children as well as 35 masterpieces. At a time when painters were in abundance in Delft and industry was striving, the picture of Vermeer is still that of a struggling artist trying to feed and clothe a large family. It is a wonder, Bailey points out, that amidst all the noise and commotion that must have gone on in his house and the financial problems that must have weighed heavily on his shoulders, that he was still able to paint such masterpieces that put the beholder at ease merely by their stillness. Vermeer was never an "all-inclusive artist" notes Bailey and none of his paintings incorporate a single flower. He favored the use of the "local colours" of yellow, white and blue. Bailey also notes that he was "fond of rendering the effects of sunlight and sometimes succeeded to the point of complete illusion."

The author mentions the trademarks found in Vermeer's paintings -- the white wine jug, the map on the wall, the bowl of fruit on a carpeted table, finials in the form of a lion's head at the back of the chair and, my personal favorite, the black and white floor tiles that helped the artist establish perspective. He also explains Vermeer's possible use of the camera obscura to focus his view. There were so many interesting things presented by the author, one of which was the different way Vermeer signed his name. Bailey shows five different signatures all playing around with the V and M in Vermeer's name. Another thing I found engrossing was how Vermeer put things into his paintings and then painted them out. We can only see this now because of modern X-ray and infrared equipment.

I could go on and on about all I learned after reading this book but some of the more interesting parts occur after Vermeer's death and have to do with Hitler's possession of some of these masterpieces as well as Van Meegeren's forgeries of Vermeer's works in the 1900's. Of the 35 known Vermeer works, one painting, The Concert, is still missing, having been stolen in 1990.

I culminated my fascination of Vermeer with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week to see the Delft/Vermeer exhibit. Having just read Bailey's book, I felt quite knowledgeable not only concerning Vermeer but all things Delft in general. Upon exiting the exhibit, I walked directly into the gift shop where Anthony Bailey's book was not only on sale but being purchased by all those around me. So not only do I congratulate this author on a work well done, but also on the best timing possible for publication that one could imagine.

I'll end this review with my favorite lines from the book -- those that sum up Vermeer's life in the eyes of Anthony Bailey. "He remains in some respects, the missing man in some of his own paintings: the person who has just left the room, or who is expected at any moment. He is impatient to be found, to be seen, but while he waits, he paints stillness."

Anthony Bailey has made Johannes Vermeer come alive for me with interesting stories, things that might have been and a wonderfully descriptive Delft region by which Vermeer was obviously inspired. To me he is no longer lost, but found on the pages written by Bailey.

This book is a fairly low-level introduction to the theory of mechanical waves and vibrations. Granted, it is relatively old (published in the 60s), but the physics is still true. For the most part, the writing is clear, concise, and fairly accessible to anyone with a moderate mathematics and physics/engineering background. However, there are better books. For instance, the Bekefi and Barret book entitled "Electromagnetic Vibrations, Waves, Radiation," even though it deals with electromagnetic waves rather than mechanical waves, is much more sophisticated and contains far more material than does this book.

Chances are, if you are reading this review, you are a student of physics who needs this book for a class. You are not alone.

Oscillatory function is at the root of all natural phenomena. Comprehending this behavior as a mathematically pure process is a basis through which countless aspects of the sciences and the arts can be explained, described, and even creatively elaborated upon. The effects of the physical manifestation of waves, and the inevitable complexities resulting from their interaction with the environment, are essential considerations as well.

The pages of this work are information-dense, providing physical, geometric, and mathematical descriptions of vibrations. Introducing the sine-wave, vectors and complex-exponentials as the fundamentals of periodic motion, the topics then progress to combining vibrations, masses and springs, harmonic and torsional oscillation, forced vibrations, coupled oscillators, Fourier analysis, orthogonal functions, energy transporting, decay of free vibrations, nuclear and optical resonance, diffraction and inference patterns to briefly name but a few. Physical considerations and methods are discussed in detail as well, and exercises at the end of each chapter indicate what the reader is expected to have extracted from each section [selected answers are provided].

The text within each section is written in an extremely clear, systematic and enthusiastic manner and speaks to an intelligent, inquisitive beginner of the subject matter. The numerous excellent black-and-white illustrations diagrams and photographs supplement the written descriptions admirably. The typefaces and even the feel of the paper of the book are high quality and elegant.

This is an introductory work regarding oscillatory analysis, however some mathematical knowledge is assumed by implication. Within the first 15 pages alone are equations which include derivatives, vectors, polar coordinates, complex numbers, and infinite series. It is probably best treated as a supplementary work to an on-going effort in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Essentially a good foundation in calculus should be sufficient. Given such background so as to understand the crucial mathematics, this work provides an incredible array and range of topics. The preface indicates that this series, by MIT Press, was established to assist in the educational process specifically, and it was tested and evaluated with this objective. As such this book is inherently a supplementary work, and prepares the reader for further research in and comprehension of an incredible range of subjects. Quantum physics, music, human movement, engineering disciplines, the natural sciences, astronomy and more have oscillation as a common thread and basis of understanding. The mechanics of the vibrational processes underlying all of these are elaborated upon to an amazing level of detail and precision within this work.

This book gets my highest recommendation for the focused subject matter it so eloquently and successfully discusses.