Frogs and the Ballet, written by Donald Elliot, is a fun, witty and yet serious book of ballet. Detailed illustrations by Clinton Arrowood create a book that all lovers of ballet can enjoy. Whether they are a professional, or a first year student, or whether they take ballet at all.

What a lovely book! It comically brings to life the ballet positions and steps using expressive frogs and humorous phrases to do so. The creative art is a fresh look at classical ballet, and all readers will come away with a new view of dance! This fantasia-like book is a must have for anyone who loves ballet!

I loved this book! As a musician, the entertaining characterizations were very accurate to real-life attitudes! The book is educational, but above all, it is exciting and very "alive". Each instrument-playing alligator has a different tone. The illustrations are very detailed and accurate. Among many children's books that distinguish musical instruments, this one is the most unique and really stands out. How often do YOU see elegantly dressed musical alligators?

I bought this collection to replace a set of Aubudon tapes that I'd lost a few years ago, and have found that I much preferred my old tapes to this collection. While the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs is very comprehensive and has great depth and variety, I am unable to use it to identify a couple of fairly common bird songs I hear in my back yard. With only the bird name and no other description provided on the cds, all of the songs and calls start to run together. What I particularly liked about my previous tapes was the additional song and habitat descriptions provided around the calls. The Stokes companion booklet provides some of this information, but my purpose in purchasing an audio guide was to listen, not to read. For an experienced birder or someone who knows what they are listening for in the field, this will probably be a helpful guide. For someone just starting out, a collection of fewer songs and more description would be a better bet.

This booklet and CD collection is quite helpful when you return from the field after birdwatching. The songs and calls represented give a wide range of the common sounds you will hear. Alarm, breeding , and colony calls are all included (for species to which they all apply). It also does such a fantastic job of showing some less common calls that you may have never known belonged to a certain bird! After only owning it five days, it has already proved useful on several occasions and answered questions about bird calls that I've had for years. The text gives clear explanations of what the calls are used for and the circumstances in which they were recorded. The CD version is convenient for quick location and is organized for ease of use. We highly recommend it! The sound quality is terrific!

Since I've owned this set I have listened to it at least 100 times!

This incredible CD set and accompanying pamphlet are simple and easy to use. Each bird is identified prior to playing the song. Most birds have several songs played, either multiple birds singing the same song, or different types of songs that a particular bird uses.

For example the Blue Jay features typical calls, immitation of Hawks, etc.

If you are a birder then you simply must have this CD set!

The title of this book comes from Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, as Donald Elliott attempts to invite us into the world of opera the way the Lambs do for the world of Shakespeare. Lamb's Tales from Great Operas takes the name literally and is illustrated with all manner of absurd and comic ink drawings of muttons performing opera, to great effect. Arrowood's illustrations are fabulous, and Elliott always explains the scene each drawing derives from. We are introduced to seventeen operas: two from the 18th century, eleven from the 19th century, and four from the 20th century. The text is unfailingly charming, and would be suitable for both lovers of opera or the curious and sympathetic uninitiated.