Hitty Her First Hundred Years was inspired by a real doll. This doll is currently displayed in the Stockbridge Mass. Library Museum. Many readers have wished they could have their own special doll like Hitty. From 1830 til today doll artists have attempted to make their version of this doll. Some of the most famous names in doll making have attempted to capture her spirit.

I have a photo of this orinial Hitty doll posted on my wood doll web page:

If you compare the original doll with the illustrations in the book, you must note how well Dorothy Lathrop captured the sweet, Mona Lisa type smile of this doll.

"hitty" is much more than a book; for a child, it is a very unique experience. It is written with skill and class, and Hitty's adventures blended with whimsical illustrations make this a classic of children's literature. One of the more distinguished (and deserving) Newbery Medal books. A compulsively readable, thoroughly delightful book.

I attended a three-room school in a village outside of Kansas City, Missouri in the early 1940's. Our school library was housed in a three-shelf bookcase, about three feet wide, at the back of the "middle" room. One of the books in that bookcase was "Hitty: Her First Hundred Years." I loved that book, and I must have read it a dozen times, but I never owned a copy of it, and I don't think I have seen it since I left grade school. How nice to find it has been republished. I'm ordering a copy to read aloud to my granddaughter!

This book is a heart-warming account of life and times at a wildlife rehabilitation center. Cindi 's stories are touching and bring us closer to the animals she cares for each day. Interlaced with great humor and facts, I reccommend this book for everyone.

Cindy has done a marvelous job of bringing her
love of wildlife to all of us who share
that love. Told in her own unique, personal
and touching style; this is a book
to be enjoyed simply "Because They
Matter". It's about wildlife rehabilitation at
the personal level. Read it!!

This exchange of letters between two friends is a real encouragemnt to slow down and look at what happens in our gardens, yards and all of nature, during the course of a year. The fact that one writer is disabled is a plus for this book. Her viewpoint is vital to the slowing down process. The memories these two women share about gardens are inspiring, expecially to those who are keeping garden journals or should be! It will help the reader to be more observant.

Shows nature both from its natural side as also the vividness of imagination.

I read this book in connection with graduate coursework under Seyfarth at the University of Pennsylvania. Cheney and Seyfarth describe a fascinating line of research on primates, mainly but not solely their own work on vervet monkeys. The goal is to form an account of the mind of the nonhuman primate -- how much do they understand about themselves, about other minds, and about the world?

I think that these are questions that fascinate almost all of us. What would it be like to be very nearly as intelligent as a human being, but to lack language (not merely a means of communication but also a way of formulating knowledge -- therefore a modality of knowing)? It is, of course, impossible ever to understand as a monkey understands or to feel as a monkey feels, but there is no better way to learn what a monkey can know or feel than Cheney and Seyfarth's engaging book.

Dorothy Sterling describes the Outer Lands (The Cape, Long Island, Nantucket, etc.) very eloquently, using understandable, interesting language. She adds charming local folklore and local sights, as well as maps and drawings that contribute so much to the book. This book is great for leasure reading as well as a textbook for a marine biology class.

For the past several years, I have been looking for environmental literature to incorporate into a college course level class I'm designing tentatively called "Nature, Animals and Humans: the New Paradigm." When I picked up a copy of "To Honor the Earth: Reflections on Living in Harmony with Nature," by Dorothy Maclean and Kathleen T. Carr, I realized I had finally found a dramatically evocative and useful core textbook, not only for the college course, but for high school and middle school curriculum as well. Although this gorgeous book was published nine years ago, its words grow more timely and powerful as we perceive more clearly and respond more actively to the warnings Nature is currently giving us about the deterioration of our planet's health. The last chapter, "The Promise of Ccoperation," is extremely healing and can help readers of all ages deal effectively with the despair they feel while witnessing the destruction of natural systems. It shows them the avenues of spirit and action that can lead them to trust themselves to make a difference.

This is the best book on meteorites ever written. Lots of pictures and easy to read. I guarantee it!!!

This is the book for anyone interested in Meteorites, Meteoritics, History of Meteoritics, and hunting for and identifying Meteorites. Richard Norton has written a very readable book which does not require a scientific background to fully understand the subjects. The Parts of the book are: "Falls, Finds and Craters", "What is a Meteorite?", "Meteorite Hunters", and "Origins". Each part can be read separately and stands alone. I started reading with the section about the pioneer meteorite hunter H.H. Nininger to whom Meteoritics owes so much. When in doubt as to the meaning of a scientific term, Mr. Norton has helpfully attached a Glossary. If you want to verify, test, or etch a meteorite, turn to the Appendices for instructions. For more written sources on Meteoritics, see the book's "References" section. Dorothy Norton has illustrated beautifully in a manner which is most helpful for understanding the text. The book, in addition to being a delight to read, (once I started reading I could not put it down), does a real service to the advancement of Meteoritics.

Here's the book you'll need to take along, as meteorites are much easier to find when you know their characteristics and the places where they stand out from other rocks. I've held onto my own copy of Rocks From Space for some time, although I have not gone out hunting for meteorites yet, because this is the book that entices me to make time for it. There are a lot of good quality photographs printed here on slick magazine paper, and some are in color. The book is what it's supposed to be, but if I was going to improve it for someone planning to pack it for a hike across the Utah salt flats, I would suggest that the next edition be on a lighter weight paper. This guide fills you in on the famous meteors (In the sky) and meteorites (Striking the earth) which fell in earth's recorded history. These are great fun to learn about, as there's nothing like a surprise from outer space to brighten up everyone's day. And while meteorites can even impress us as being pretty weird in the modern era, wait until you read about the one that fell in Alsace, France in 1492. It drew so much curiosity and awe that even King Maximilian of Germany came to see it. Many people took souvenir pieces from it over the centuries, but its last 122 pounds are protected by being in a local museum. Another fall Norton records came in 1992, when a car belonging to a young lady was struck. Excited collectors soon made generous offers for both the car and the meteorite. Not too long ago an old meteorite from Mars was sliced open to reveal what many scientists suspect is evidence of past life on that planet. The possibility was considered strong enough that it prompted President Clinton to go on national television to announce it; so if you use this book, you may even help confirm one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

While a book by Deborah Grace Winer reads as smoothly as a beach novel, it also offers enough information for the reader to come away knowing and caring about the subject. "On The Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields", is no different, except her song lyrics tell as much about Ms. Fields as does the book. This was a savvy, sexy lady, a 1920's well-bred lady who could get away with writing-- "I've never mussed the crease in your blue serge pants. I never get the chance. This is a fine romance." Reading the lyrics themselves is one of the best things about this book. As familiar as they are, many hidden gems of wit and craftsmanwhip are discovered. Learning the stories about these songs came to be written, and why, and with whom, is all gravy. The meat is in the perfection: Could you get more precise about a relationship than, "Close As Pages In A Book"? More poignant than "Remind Me"? Fields was the only female lyricist who reached the plateau right up front with all those guys -- Hart, Hammerstein, Mercer, Porter. Her songs are catchy, colloquial, and cut to the bone. Dorothy Fields wrote with 18 collaborators, but her biggest hits came with Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, and Cy Coleman. For the 1973 Broadway show, "SeeSaw", music by Cy Coleman, Ms. Fields wrote in, "Nobody Does It Like Me": "If there's a wrong way to do it, A right way to screw it up, Nobody does it like me." The song is perfect for the character singing it, but not for Ms. Fields. When she had a lyric to write, Dorothy Fields didn't screw it up. Nobody wrote it like her, right on the money. -Elizabeth Ahlfors

When the Smithsonian issued a recording in honor of Dorothy Fields, the 22 selections that boasted her lyrics included "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "I'm in the Mood For Love," "Never Gonna Dance," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Big Spender," and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." Even those few titles reveal (1) how many familiar lyrics she wrote, (2) how long a time period she was artistically active, (3) for how many media she wrote. Her first datable work is from1926, her last from 1973. A remarkable woman in what was after all a man's craft.

Equally fascinating were her co-workers: Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, Arthur Schwartz, Sigmund Romberg. And they are all here in Deborah Grace Winer's (Schirmer Books, 1997).

I did enjoy this book immensely and found it easy reading. What I missed was a sense of the personality around which this book is centered. Read about Dorothy Parker, for example, and you have a sense of what drove this artist. No such feeling comes from this book, in which the author has taken an objective view of the life and times of Fields and made little attempt to get "under the skin," so to speak. Perhaps I ask for the impossible since the author was not privy to any personal writings of her subject. But there are always friends who could have been mined for such information. Dorothy also tends to get a little lost for pages at a time as the personalities of other luminaries of the time are discussed. As fascinating as they all are, our interest wanders too often from the main character.

Still I give this book 5 stars for what it does and not subtract for what I personally think it lacks. The illustrations are quite good, by the way, and the inclusion of many of her lyrics is a good thing.

This book did an excellent job labeling and organizing plants in the southwest area. For those who do not know much about the plants in this area, or about plants in general, then this book is a good starters guide in this field. The information given about these plants are simple to understand but also in depth for those looking for more factual references. The pictures are accurate and well drawn, so these plants are easier identified. The authors of this book did a vantastic job describing with clarity and in depth descritpions of the wide-range of plants covering this area.