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This smaller, quieter version of Stevenson's poetry helped me finally, actually read all the Garden poetry. True, the illustrations are spare, but delightfully accurate. My children (7 and 10) were not as mesmerized by this book as they are by others with fanciful graphics, illustrations and larger type to accompany the poetry.
Still, this small book found its way into my purse to be used for waiting moments, e.g. at the orthodontist, doctor, and also to my bedside, where it's shear diminutive size did not dissuade me from reading "for only a minute or two." And within Stevenson's words and language lie the ferment of creative pictures. I liked to have my children close their eyes while I read short poems to 'force' them to use only their mind's eye.
I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures, moods, and images Stevenson conjures and at long last can understand why his poetry remains so classic.
Isles uses an arsenal of utterly frivolous flowers, borders, insects, birds, kings and queens, fairies, and more to expand upon the imagination exhibited in Stevenson's poems. The children in these pictures are depicted as being in charge, being at one with their environment, and being delighted to be alive.
Some of the illustrations hint at the influence of artists more famed than Isles (Henri Rousseau appears to be a special favorite of hers--see the illustration for "The Unseen Playmate," in which a boy lies down in weeds that might have sprung from the edge of Rousseau's painting "The Dream"). Using both primary colors and pastels, Isles creates a world within the world of Stevenson's verse. The marriage of the two is a happy one.
You can't forget about the little toy soldiers (a poem) at your feet because when you are sick for days, you can imagine all kinds of things in your mind. The curtains billow like sails, the bedpost is your anchor. I sat there in bed and just floated away with the fun of having someone to share my illness. It seemed like a had a friend right there with me.
I loved the pictures too. The little kids are old fashioned and it made me laugh because the boys wore silly clothes, but they fit the time period, my mom said.
I love this book and keep it by my bed when I need to be relaxed.
Hayley Cohen
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A mysterious pirate shows up at an inn owned by Jim Hawkin's mother. The pirate is killed by a gang of rogues, but Jim finds a treasure map belonging to the pirate. Jim then embarks on a journey to far away island to find the treasure. Of course, nobody can be trusted - especially the cook, Long John Silver. With his peg leg and parrot, Silver is the stereotypical pirate. Once the island is reached, sides are chosen - the mutinous pirates against the ship's crew. Jim goes on a journey within a journey on the island, going from one side to another, as the treasure is hunted for.
Everyone should read this book at some point. It's especially good for young boys, due to the fact that the main character (Jim) is a young boy. It's well crafted, and easy to read. And it's hard to put down once you get going. What else can you ask for?
It starts out with a struggling family who owns an inn. One day, an adventurous seaman, known as the "cap'n" comes to their inn. Once the pirate dies, the inn owners son, Jim, starts to check out the cap'n's chest that was in his room. Jim discovers a map that leads to Captain Flint's buried treasure. This brings along many adventures, and laughs!
Jim and the town doctor and the town squire set out to find this buried treasure. During the trip to Treasure Island, Jim makes the startling discovery that the people working and sailing the ship are planning to overthrow the captain and his men. Once there, Jim, the captain, the doctor and the squire sneak off to the other side of the island. This leads everyone to war as Jim meets a castaway that had been on the island for three years. This man helps Jim and the other men to saftey, while the leader of the pirates, Long John Silver, continues to hunt for the treasure.
Jim and the castaway take control of the pirates ship and are soon looking for treasure themselves. Jim, wandering about on his own, falls into the clutches of the enemy. This creates commotion as the castaway and the other men try to free him, but cannot. The pirates are soon out looking for the treasure again with Jim and make it to where the treaure should be. To their surprise, it is gone!
The doctor and squire kill the other pirates, except for Silver, and take him and Jim to the castaways cave. The castaway, having been on the island for three years, had found the treasure and carried it all to a hidden cave by the coast. Inside the cave was also meat that the castaway had hunted for. Jim and the others make it to the cave and move the treasure onto the boat.Then they sail away and everyone lives happily ever after (except the pirates).
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to do unhealthy meals such as biscuits and sausage gravy on anything but the rare occasion, I went
hunting for a cookbook devoted specifically to breakfast foods. I didn't exactly find the shelves
overflowing with such cookbooks - but fortunately, this was one of them. Compared to the other
sparse offerings available in the bookstore, this one was the definite winner. Not necessarily due to
the number of recipes, because this cookbook isn't exactly overflowing with them, but because of
what looked like quality past what others I saw. As stated by the book jacket, they are not your
traditional breakfasts in any manner - each recipe has unusual ingredients for the type of food, each
is fancier than what you're used to - and plenty of them aren't that much harder to make.
So, deciding that even a single recipe that was good would be worth it, I purchased the book. It
ended up being a while until I made anything from it - not from not wanting to, mind you, just that it
took some time to actually be willing to get up and make breakfast. Finally, one morning, we got up a
bit earlier, and decided to make something for breakfast. Finally, instead of looking in the book and
thinking "I need to make this someday", I actually did it. And the recipe was not only simple to follow,
but the breakfast was most definately worth it.
There is a large variety of recipes in the book, many that I would never think to make for breakfast.
Heck, there are some that I probably will never make, as they're not my style. But that's ok, because
there are plenty more that I definately will have to make some morning. The recipes are not just your
casual weekend breakfast fare, either - very few dishes seem like they would not be appropriate for
serving to company - or even a fancy breakfast. I am very, very happy with this book, as everything
made so far has been downright delicious. Sometimes I feel I can't decide what to make for breakfast,
they all look so incredibly good.
At the beginning of the book, there's even a little description of their Inn, their attitude toward
breakfast (as a "forgotten" meal), and a short description of the area the Inn is located in. At the end
is a selection of menus for special events, such as a Bridal breakfast, sunrise picnic, a brunch buffet,
or a hands-on breakfast for kids. They have lists of things that can be done two days in advance,
and one day in advance, to make it easier to make the food on the morning of the event.
Yet this is not even really a quibble with the book. What you will come away with when you read this is this feeling: Praise God for the incredible work He has done and is doing.
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There are better ways of spending [money] than buying this book ... including having drinks with a timid supervisor who could use your personal encouragement.
This book empowers the reader to be creative in seeking solutions to everyday problems. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a jump-start in looking outside the box make his/her workplace a more productive environment.
HARD by Robert J. Kriegel . . . it is packed with ideas that will help you stop working so hard--and start working better.
Kriegel, author of the equally excellent IF IT AIN'T BROKE . . . BREAK IT, contends that it is not a badge of honor to work 100 hours per week . . . rather, he points out that it's the innovators, visionaries and new-thinkers who love their work who rise to the top.
I particularly liked his 90 Percent Rule, which says that a relaxed atmosphere produces better results than a tense one . . . he then described his experiments with over 150 salespeople . . . those who made less calls had at least 20 percent better results, largely because they felt more relaxed and were able to listen better.
There were many memorable passages; among them:
* In my programs, I always ask, "How many of you get your best
ideas--barn burners, lightbulbs, the aha's--while at work?" No one ever raises their hand. "Which room in your house do you get your best ideas in?" I ask, The response is always the bathroom or bedroom. "Why is that?" "Because no on bothers me and I get time to think" is the usual response.
* Ray Evernham, with driver Jeff Gordon, used this flip-of-the-rules strategy in NASCAR racing to win the Winston Cup Championship several times. Evernham says, "If conventional wisdom say the corner is the best place to pass, we practice passing on the other end of the track, because nobody is expecting to get passed there."
* Whether it is a book or a proposal, many people have difficulty starting a writing project. That first step seems like an insurmountable hurdle. The first line seems impossible to get right.
One way to get yourself going is to begin at the end or the middle. I have started out writing my last three books with those chapters that I am most excited and clear about. I will often begin writing a chapter, not necessarily at what I think should be the beginning, but with a great story or example that I enjoy relating and that clearly illustrates the point I want to make. Once started, momentum builds and the rest
becomes much easier, whether you have to go forward of backward
of both.