Thumbelina is not normal girl she is about the size of your thumb, but don't let her height mistake you she can do alot of things other people can't do. Like she can fit into small spaces that you can't. So if you like books that are about people doing extremely different things that you don't think that can do then this is the book right for you to read. This book will amaze your eyes with the colorful pictures inside, and with the amazing things Thumbelina can do.

Hans Christian Andersen's story of Thumbeline is so endearing that it's no wonder that so many authors have written their own versions of it and so many illustrators have had a go at making tiny Thumbeline come to life. This version, translated by Anthea Bell and illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger is brimming with charm, rustic folk sensibilities, kindness and compassion spiked with just the right amount of perilous adventure to make it interesting, and a lovely magical feel. The story is well told in satisfyingly descriptive language. The illustrations are superb! Zwerger does a wonderful job with all of the animal characters that Thumbeline encounters and manages to infuse them with emotion and intelligence as well as country charm. Little red-haired Thumbeline is delicate and sweet in several lovely costumes with a peasant feel to them. You know the tale...a woman tells a witch that she wants a "tiny child" and the magic gives her exactly what she wishes for, a tiny child no bigger than her thumb. Thumbeline is born from the heart of a tulip. She's so beautiful and sweet that every small suitor in the neighborhood wants her hand in marriage, including a toad, a mole and a June beetle. They are not interested in the fact that she does not want to marry them! She gets help from other wee folk in the woodland community and makes a good friend when she saves the life of a swallow. The story ends happily for Thumbeline. It may be desirable to point out to your young ones that not every unattached female needs to find a husband, especially very young ones like Thumbeline, and that kidnapping and force are not true ways to get a girl to marry you! Children are smart enough to know that but it's still a good idea to talk over the odd concepts that a child may be thinking about after you read this story. I love this old-fashioned story and this re-telling adds beautifully to its charm and therefore justifies its conception.

The familiar Hans Christian Andersen story of Thumbelina has received the royal treatment from Susan Jeffers. Her large, lovely pictures make this seem like you are stepping into the story for the first time. Thumbelina is so dainty and sweet that it's no wonder the toad wishes to marry her but poor Thumbelina has a harrowing time escaping from her warty suitor. Share a trumpet vine blossom with Thumbelina, a pair of hummingbirds and a fat bumble bee or take a ride with her on the back of a gallant swallow. This whole story is enchanting from start to finish and the pictures are a delight!

As a physician who is studying and doing acupuncture, I find this a good basic introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is heavily illustrated, which helps the reader to understand some very difficult concepts, which are alien to the Western mind, especially for medical personnel. I can highly recommend it for someone who is interested in becoming familiar with Acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine.

This book was loaned to me by a fellow physician and I had a hard time giving it back. It's a great resource for information that covers a little of everything in Chinese Medicine. I practice acupuncture and have found much of the information useful for preparing lectures, not only for the general public, but for other physicians as well. It's a versatile book good not only for it's comprehensive content, but also as a coffee table book as the illustrations are great. Would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the vast offerings of Chinese Medicine.

Like other books on homeopathy, this book is best used together with a comprehensive materia medica. It's important to keep in mind that the listed remedies are suggestions only and may or may not fit the individual patient's symptom picture. Having said that, this book covers a wider range of ailments than most books on veterinary homeopathy. The introduction to homeopathy section, however, is very brief and there is little information on taking a case and selecting the correct remedy, so this is not the best book for someone new to homeopathy (check out books by Dr. Don Hamilton or Dr. Christopher Day first).
In addition to the guide to canine ailments, there are descriptions of thirteen constitutional types, excerpts from readers' letters, and some interesting essays on veterinary homeopathy including one on homeopathic alternatives to vaccinations.

I actualy refer to the german original (12th edition) published in Stuttgart in 1998, supposing the english version has the same content.

This book has helped me and my chows overcome quite a few problems when I didn't feel comfortable with the sometimes "radical" solutions offered by my vet. A short introduction to the subject helps the newcomer to orientate himself - the rest is built up according to body regions, making it easy to find what you are looking for. A glossary of substances and a separate section on selected examples end this serious, yet simple reference work. I recommend it !

Hans Morgenthau is the "Iching" of all international relations authors. He sets the precedents for all future relations with his analysis of the political environment throughout the world. He discusses the status quo, imperialism, neo-realism, moralism, diplomacy, disarmament, international governments, universalism, etc... This book is definitely a must read for any student intending on success in international relations.

This book was a "standard" for any International Relations Major in the 1970's or 80's, despite the fact that the first printing was in 1948. Don't expect this book to go into an in depth analysis of any current facts, because it doesn't. But the six rules of Political Realisim seem to apply as well today (in 1998) as they did when I originally read it, in 1985. If you are in college taking international relations courses, and haven't read this book, buy it and read it yourself, trust me, it will help you make sense of everything else, and it might just impress a professor or two.

Forget about this book if it matters for you to have happy endings at movies; but ignore it at your own peril. Morgenthau has captured the essence of political realism many times over in this book. His calm, controlled and authoritative exposition of the power relations between states makes "Politics Among Nations" one of the best "non-fiction" publications of the century. For the academically minded it is an easy read, for a student of political realism a must.

You often wonder how people can 'give up' a beautiful child. This book has numerous letters from mothers who struggled with the decision to place their child, out of true love placed their child, and then suffered from the guilt of placing their child. There are truly some very moving letters in this book. You can just feel the level of guilt in these mother for 'abandoning' their children and sending them around the world. To really appreciate the mothers choices you really also need to read 'The Koreans'. This book explains the Korean Confucian culture and it helps you understand why these mothers did what they did. Happy reading.

I bought this book for my Korean-born son who is now age 19. The letters in "I Wish for You a Beautiful Life" were written by birth mothers who had their babies in Ae Ran Won, a home for unwed mothers in Seoul and then gave them up for adoption. The letters written by these birth mothers and the records kept by Ae Ran Won will provide a link for Korean Adoptees to find their birth mothers later in life. This is not the case for my son as he was abandoned near a Police Box in Seoul in December 1982 at the age of 15 months. There is very little hope for abandoned children to find their birth mothers/families. That is why I feel this book can be so helpful for abandoned children. Since they can never know for certain, this book can provide some knowledge of background circumstances (cultural and personal) for unwed Korean birth mothers in general. Then, perhaps, these children can feel some measure of comfort in knowing that they were not "rejected" but will indeed be loved forever by their birth mothers. I read the book from cover to cover before presenting it to my son. I had to make three attempts to read it as I was overcome with tears each time. My son was touched to receive it and promised that he would read it during a quiet time when he can reflect on his emotions.

As an adoptive mother of a Korean daughter, I have heard many people ask, "How can those mothers 'give up their children'?" The letters collected for this book have been written by Korean mothers who loved their children so much as to offer their children a loving and supportive environment. These women did not "give up their children." They made a difficult, compassionate, loving decision for their children. This collection of letters is a helpful resource for answering the questions of inquisitive, less than polite, friends, acquaintances and even family members. Even more, it has given me, the other mother of my child, a small window in which to understand her biological mother.

I bought this book hoping for an explanation and in-depth analysis of the nuances of testing NT systems. What I got was a boilerplate Y2K book with the standard information you would find on every website or other book (Assess, Analyze, Remediate, Retire, etc.) The "NT" portion of the book simply repeats the Y2K status of NT Server, SQL Server, etc. But the information is months old! NT4SP4 is listed as a new release. No mention of NT4SP5. Some of the testing guidelines are incredibly simplistic (1-send messages 2- roll over the clock on your Exchange server 3- send more messages). The book also has standard Y2K compliance information (check the website instead) for many products such as Groupwise and Lotus Notes. If you are looking for a general, simplistic approach to Y2K compliance information of major products that is 6 months old, this is the book for you. I'm returning mine. If you want a technical reference for NT Systems, check out the Microsoft Y2K CD from Technet. It's not great, but it's better than this (and it's up to date).

This book has a compilation of great resources... It helped me to understand the Y2K problem solving concepts in a great manner.

This book gave me some real world information to use in my job. With Y2k around the corner, this book is a must! It validated all the work we've done to this point and gave us some extra pointers for other areas in applications that we had not explored.

I'm about half way through it and already it has profoundly changed my view of the world around me. This book transcends architecture and touches on spirituality, politics, society and culture. A stirring manifesto for the convergence of several aspects of the global condition. Reading it has sparked a wave of creativity in my own line of work (financial analyst/software developer). Why is architecture important? Because it deals with the design of systems. Physical systems, biological, computer and natural systems. Architecture is life. I beleive Mr. Koolhaas understands this by evidence of his writings. Bravo!

The book's designer, Bruce Mau, has as much to do with its impact as the famed architect author, Rem Koolhaas. This is a "drop-in-anytime" book. Open any page, and let yourself go on the main story, squint at the working drawings, cruise the side margins gleaned from a multitude of literary and professional sources. I compare it to a rich Web site... you enter anywhere and link to new topics and images in a surprising and stimulating way. As a personal challenge, I attacked the book in the most plebeian fashion- from cover to cover, an effort spanning several months, hence true desert island satisfaction. Certain of the stories have been reviewed by others as fairy tales, and I did read them as such. Imagine my surprise reading other architectural histories to find they were virtually true! The graphically-assisted view of project relationships is welcome to any project planner. After a dose of Koolhaas' generic city, you will see your world through new eyes. Despite its uncomfortable bulk, S M L XL contains enormous energy and insights, and is not for the architect or urban planner only. Also, despite its enormous bulk, it is well bound and will not disintegrate as you lug it all over in the significant amount of time it will take you to finish it! Compliments to Monacelli for publishing it, and risking our tolerance for a behemoth edition.

This is a dense manifesto of ideas. It might be termed a printed hypertext, with a continuous glossary of terms being defined by Koolhaas this could serve as an alternative dictionary. The book is too broad for simply architecture, urban planning theory &c. which it professes to having as its infrastructure. It deals with all design issues, from the content of OMAs projects, to the beautifully printed and assembled object that is the book itself. Attempt to read as a linear narrative at your own risk.

I haven't read this book in over 10 years (it is next on my "reread list"), but it impacted me greatly. I disagree with Kung on several points, specifically that atheists tend towards nihilism, or that atheism IS nihilism. Kung seems to think that by destroying nihilism (as a valid philosophical conclusion) he has also destroyed atheism, which is a patently silly idea and one of the few dogmatic positions that Kung has.

What I got out of the book is that Kung thinks that God probably exists. I disagree with this conclusion because I feel that Kung actually shows that God probably does not, which is where I stand on the matter.

(I sincerely hope that I am not thinking of a similar book by a different author haha that would be embarrassing).

UPDATE: When I originally read this book in the late 1980s, I also read about 5 books on the same subject by authors from all colors of the religious spectrum. I have recently re-read the book, as I said I would above and I confess that I did in fact have this book confused with another similar book, but only on the point I made in the first paragraph (about nihilism).

I must let the second paragraph stand. I did remember correctly that although Kung showed why all of the philosophical arguments for the existance of god fail, he later does a meta-analysis of the arguments where he says that although individually they fail, taken together they show that there is probably a god. Like I mentioned before I think Kung drew the wrong conclusion from this line of reasoning, for I think that he actually show that there is probably not. Regardless of where I stand on the issue, I believe that the very last sentence of this book should have read: "So, DOES God exist? Most likely not."

The book is not nearly as accessable as I remembered. In fact, without a background in philosophy, this book might not make much sense, although a first year philosophy student would make short work of it and even a "philosophy for idiots" type book would probably be sufficient.

This is a very thorough, comprehensive book. It is at times prolix - but this usually only serves to help you remember most of what he says. He does not however say that atheists tend towards nihilism. He is very liberal and completely unbiased, being careful to always give both sides of the argument even when one side seems rediculous. Perhaps mr mcduffie was reading the wrong book. If you want to acquire a thorough understanding of the evolution of modern thought, the basic histroy of the theology of the church and the arguments for and against God, i do not know of a better book to read than this one.

This is probaly the best book I have ever read. The scholarship is peerless. Important thinkers from Nietzsche to Einstein are explicated.It is an exhuative anlysis combining theology, psychology and theology. After reading it and understanding it one has a new context and breadth of understanding to exameine the question proposed. Agnostic, believer alike will benefit from this book that every intellectual should read.

Revoyr's writing is fantastic. She places the reader in Nancy's shoes, effectively forcing the reader to experience the rough teenage emotions that she's subjected to. The book seems to lag at points, but at other times the pace is almost too fast to keep up with. Intense and realistic (in the sense that not everything in life can be fast-paced) are good adjectives to describe the book. In my opinion, Revoyr dealt with the issue of racism more than the issue or homosexuality which surprised me. It was definately a well-written novel that deserves to be read at least once.

1997 was an exceptional year for first novels, and Nina Revoyr's "The Necessary Hunger" is right at the top. This gem of a "coming of age" novel holds it's own and deserves to be in the company of J. D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" and Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." The story line involves Nancy Takahiro's reflection on her high school basketball team going into the play-offs during her senior year in 1987. My hat off to Ms. Revoyr for such a unique accomplishment and sensitive story. You won't want the book to end.

I just finished reading this book which I couldn't put down for 3 days. If you read purely to be amused and entertained, I wouldn't say this is the book for you. But if you read, to understand more clearly different lives, and cultures or just to get you thinking, this is perfect. Although intially dissapointed with the ending, I still can't stop thinking about the book so I know it did it's job as far as getting in my head.

This is a simple book about life. It's not about specifically geared towards only lesbians or basketball players.

As a straight woman, I found myself relating with Nancy so much. I felt her love, pain, and happiness. The writing was purely genius in that sense. Maybe I wished there was more drama or more of a happy ending, but I think that would have taken away from the simple yet intense theme that Revoyr got across. Overall, I think it's the best thing I've read in quite a while

With a book like this, many readers cheat themselves by assuming that they already know what it's about, because they heard the outline of the story before, and therefore they have no need to really read it. A lot like the way some people treat the Bible, or at least large parts of the Bible. Anyway, I recently re-read this book to one of my daughters, and can report that upon close consideration, this book is really a retrospective Calvinistic explanation for how old Dr. Boekman finds a successor for his surgical practice, following Dr. Boekman's disappointment in his only son, who never liked medicine and who in fact found a reason to run away from Holland to resettle in England to pursue a business career. The rich descriptions of Dutch history and culture form the context for this drama.

Consequently, Dr. Boekman's whole outlook on life, exemplified by his perpetual frown, descends into depression as he humorlessly goes about his surgical practice, all the while increasing his fame which radiates from Amsterdam far out into the provinces, symbolized by the transportation and communication pathway of the frozen canals, over which all ages and classes of people happily skate through what used to be extremely cold winter months in Holland. These canals have not frozen solid on a regular basis for many decades.

These frozen canals in turn exemplify Dr. Boekman's frozen heart, which ultimately gets melted as a result of the importuning of Raff Brinker's son, young Hans, who cajoles old Dr. Boekman into taking a look at old Raff, who has been an invalid since suffering a closed head trauma while working out on the dikes during a fierce storm.

Dr. Boekman ends up surgically unblocking the "brainfreeze" suffered by Raff Brinker, who comes back to life "talking like an Amsterdam lawyer" which is a complete turn around from his invalid state where he appeared to be a distant, angry, barely controllable hulk crouching in his house by the fire, and casting a gloom of social obloquy which tainted not only his children, but his very cottage, in the eyes of most of the other respectable members of Dutch society, as they skated by on their local frozen canal.

By the end of the book, the connection achieved by Hans Brinker between his remote father and the remote surgeon seems to have spread, or networked, and young Hans is a rising surgeon practicing with Dr. Boekman, and happily married, while Dr. Boekman's biological son returns, or is redeemed back from England to practice a bustling business trade also in Amsterdam. The silver skates and the races on the canals are mainly a way for Hans to prove something to himself, that he can set his mind to what he wishes to achieve, and against all odds achieve it. The fact that all of this works to bring reconciliation and happiness back into people who are disconnected and frozen, rather than constituting a sappy, Dickensian series of unlikely coincidences, instead creates more of an echo of predestination than merely a "happy ending."

But then again, this is only one explanation of what we have here in this classic book.

I thought it was a wounderful story for the whole family to read.

Is this the greatest book ever? Maybe, maybe not. Shakespeare had some good ones. Either way, this merits the five stars I've given it. Delve into one of the greatest stories ever told, and learn all about Holland. By the time you're done, you'll want to go ice skating.

So strap on your wooden skates and squeek across the ice of Ole Holland. Who gets the silver skates? Who is the greatest hero? Is hidden fortune just under the peat moss?

Dat hangt er van af . . .