Excellent "autobiography" describing the life-cycle, metamorphosis, and design features of a monarch butterfly. Superb color photography and drawings shows fine detail. The story line of Monica and her human friend Joe gives the book life, excitement, and anticipation of what will come next. It is clearly written and easily understandable to 9-12 year-olds; but adults will enjoy it as well.

After finishing this book, you may want to read more about these marvelous butterflies! An earlier book by the same author Jules H. Poirer, "From Darkness to Light to Flight: Monarch - the Miracle Butterfly" has additional detail more appropriate for adults.

This book about the town of Lincoln, N.H. had me, a transplant to Lincoln, feeling very proud to be a citizen of this town. As I read about people I've known or known of, I felt extra proud. I found myself fighting back tears many times as I read this novel while on vacation, relaxing among family.
As he described events that took place generations ago in places I've been in,on streets I've walked down, the author made the event actually happen to me. It was very powerful.

I thought this was a very informational and interesting book. It gives a very unbias opinion of the history of the Navajo Indians up to 1970. It is a little old but is still a very good book for students and for anyone interested in the history of the Navajo Indians.

This is the official machzor of thr Conservative machzor. It presents the services for both Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kipur together in a single volume. The main body of the text is mostly traditional, and people who went to Orthodox and Conservative synagogues will be familiar with it. However, there are a number of important modifications. In keeping in line with Conservaive theology, references to the Temple and animal sacrifices have been modified: The text recalls the glory of the ancient Temple service, but stresses that in our day it is ethical living, following the will of God, and repentance that bring salvation, not animal sacrifice.

It has less Ashkenazic piyuttim than other machzorim: it is not so huge and encyclopedic like Orthodox works, yet it is much more comprehensive than Reform or Reconstructionist works. A nice touch is that it includes a selection of religious poetry from the Sephardic rite, as well as some nice prayers from some ancient machzorim. There are a number of welcome egalitarian changes as well.

These Maigret stories are full cast productions by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from the mid-1970's. Dramatized by Frederick Spoerly, " Maigret and the Reluctant Witness" also includes "Maigret Hesitates" and "Maigret in Society." Fans of Georges Simenon's Chief Inspector Maigret can join Maigret aided by Sgt. Lukor and Inspector LaPlant as he conducts his investigation. Enjoyable listening from a world famous mystery writer.

Georges Simenon's Maigret Bides His Time provides an unabridged Jules Maigret mystery telling of a detective plagued by jewelry store heists - in the daylight. The Parisian inspector has his hands full, and Clifford Norgate's background in Shakespearean drama brings the underlying drama to life in this mystery.

The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" of the opera, and extremely informative and educational. I particularly like the size; these guides are not cumbersome and fit right into my shirt pocket. The ladies will find sufficient room in their pocketbooks.

The story narrative with the music examples is excellent. I prefer it to a libretto; indeed, it's a much easier way to follow the essence of the story. The essay is magnificent; very well written, not pedantic, and extremely insightful and comprehensible. I congratulate Burton Fisher for a job very well done and Amazon for making these handy, information-laden booklets available. The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is a wonderful contribution to opera education and opera appreciation.

My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary.

Heinz Dinter, Ph.D.

Here, you have a piano-vocal score of Massenet's opera, Manon. Shirmer, like always, publishes easily accessible scores appropriate for a singer studying a role or the work or a rehearsal pianist hired to play the orchestral reduction. The price is quite normal, as scores go, and you shall find accurate markings and index.

Treasure's book while providing some biographical detail of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Louis XIV's one and only chief Minister, takes a much broader sweep through the political, religious and social dynamics of mid-seventeenth century France and provides insight into the practical limits to royal authority; tempered often by power struggles between competing elites, Parlements, and local customs and rights. This book provides an excellent single volume account of this tumultuous period in the history of early modern France to both students and general readers, who will gain an understanding of how devolved royal power could be, as opposed to the the monolithic state so often portrayed in film. The book's excellent endnotes and bibliography will be of particular use to the student; as will the detailed chapters on the oft neglected Fronde, likewise Section IV concerning the culmination of the Thirty Years War. Overall a welcome addition to the libraries of serious students and francophiles alike. I suggest Francois Bluche's biography of Louis XIV as a suitable complement to Treasure's Mazarin.

This book is very useful in every facet of fresh water fishing, from fish physiology and habits to tackle selection. A must for every fresh water fisherman.

This book is equal as good as "McClane's Field Guide to Saltwater Fishes of North America."