This book is wonderful, It is a must read, Freidl Bicker-Brandeis is a heroine, and her story is amazing. One look at this book and you will be glad you bought it. Rubin did a great job choosing pictures for this book, and bringing a hard issue of WWII concentration camps to a child level. Very good at illustrating the importance of Art Therapy.

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was an artist of the Bauhaus who was also a Jew, sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and eventually executed at Auschwitz. The story, set against this bleak and oppressive history, is one of love and hope: she teaches children art and helps with "art therapy" in the camp. The importance of her choice in relentlessly pursuing a beautiful and healing expression of the spirit is revealed by the testament of a few who survived. There are numerous examples of the children's art, some of Dicker-Brandeis' art, and photographs that bring the story to life. Interesting, informative, and moving. This is a book to read to children (ages six to nine) or to allow older children to read on their own, and of course it raises questions that will explore the very meaning of humanity.

Most people, children and adults, use certain objects every day: toilets, sinks, pencils, bathtubs and stoves. Familiarity breeds... if not contempt, then the ability to ignore things. These objects have become such common fixtures in our lives that we hardly even notice them (that is, until they break or stop working!!). However, as common as they may be, there was a time not so terribly long ago when they didn't even exist at all. "Toilets, Toasters & Telephones" outlines the history and invention of some of these very common objects that we use ever day.

Beginning with a chapter on bathrooms and the invention of toilets, sinks and bathtubs, Ms. Rubin takes us through the who, when and where of these object's creation. Yes, Virginia, there really was a John Crapper who developed a flushing toilet in 1872. He went on to invent the tank for holding the water and was even promoted to being the royal plumber. At one point he "installed more than thirty toilets in Sandringham Castle for Queen Victoria's son Edward, Prince of Wales. A Book about Crapper was called *Flushed with Pride*".

Throughout the book Ms. Rubin discusses basic design and manufacture principals and history. The toaster, for example, arose out of a need to make toast without a burning fire, and the first ones made by General Electric in 1909 were made of a wire-heating element on a porcelain base (the toaster needed to be unplugged or else the toast would burn). At one point, toaster manufactures (and presumably other manufacturers of household objects) designed their product with "planned obsolescence" in mind. This meant that they would revamp the design each year so that consumers would buy the newest, newfangled toaster and toss out the old one, even if it was working fine. This would in turn make more money for the company. I'm sure this is a practice still in operation today--"hey! This thing broke!! I guess I'd better go buy a NEW one!!"

Intended for younger audiences between 9-12, this is a combination history and social studies book. A number of objects in the pages still exist, but not at all like their first generation prototypes: phones and refrigerators have changed a LOT since their invention, and the chapter on typewriters may very well be the first exposure computer savvy children have to these machines ("where's the hard drive?" one of my students once asked me).

The text is well written and flows very logically from beginning to end. There are some dryly funny moments, like the above-mentioned book, "Flushed with Pride" or early reports of people using the first shower. Generally, though, this is a scholarly work for young children that not only tells about the history of these great inventions, but also encourages children to look at the common with new eyes.

The book is generously illustrated with photos of objects from the past, some of which are hardly recognizable next to their modern counterparts: a clothes iron that required charcoal and a hand bellows, for example. Some of the captions for the illustrations are a little thin on text, making the reader wish there was more explained just how this thing was supposed to work. However, outside of museums of technology, children are not likely to encounter these ancient objects, so it's worth pouring over the photographs of common objects long gone. For teachers, parents or students who wish to go above and beyond and read MORE about these objects and their inventors, there is an extensive bibliography at the back of the book.

Ms. Rubin has clearly done her homework and provided students and adults alike with a book that is both informative and entertaining. Highly recommended!

I know the author quite well, and let me say that this is by far the best book she has ever produced. It is brilliantly written, with pictures that back up the information in indescribable ways. Please, I encourage everyone, kids and adults alike, to read this book!

Collaboratively produced by independent curator and ballet instructor Jill DeVonyar and art historian Richard Kendall, Degas And The Dance is a gorgeous volume filled cover to cover with spectacular color photographs of art and sculpture celebrating the dance, particularly ballet, as created by 19th century artist Edgar Degas. An insightful text provides informative commentary about the man called "the painter of dancers", and his body of work, enriches this vivid presentation of pieces that blend realism with occasional softening or abstracting elements. Degas And The Dance is enthusiastically recommended as being beautiful book just to page through, and a "must" for anyone who appreciates the immortal art of Edgar Degas.

Great book for the 9-14 age group or anyone older looking for a light read. Lots and lots of interesting pictures of Spieberg's childhood, early career and blockbuster movies and behind-the-scene production. Well written and a high quality book.

A review by Amy

This book is about a developmentally delayed girl named Emily. She is starting a new high school and is desperately trying to fit in. Throughout this book, Emily faces many pressures to act a certain way, dress a certain way, and do certain things. For example, her best friend tells her that her clothes are too babyish and that she can't call her mother, mommy because she'd be "uncool". Emily tries very hard to do everything everyone tells her that she needs to do to be cool. But in the end, she lets her true self, shine through and finds new friends that accept her for who she really is.

Throughout this book Emily listens to her best friend and doesn't seem to have her own mind or a sense of herself. I felt like walking in on this book and being one of the characters to give Emily confidence in herself. Also, to teach her to be an individual and to do what she wanted, wear what she wanted, and hang out with whoever she wanted to.

Emily joins a new "regular" high school where there are "regular" kids and she feels a lot of pressure to grow up. For example, she feels like she's not pretty enough and needs to wear makeup. Something that was sort of a theme throughout this whole book was something that Emily read in a magazine. She read this article because she was trying to figure out what guys wanted in girls. She desperately wanted a boyfriend and the article she read was a statement that a boy made for the magazine. It read: ' I like girls who are sincere and honest. If they don't like me for who I am, then they're not worth being with'.

I thought that was a very good statement for the boy to make, but Emily took it the wrong way. She looked past what, in my eyes, was a very obvious point. That point was that guys should like her for who SHE is and THEY should be sincere and honest. Nope, that's not what Emily saw. She was too obsessed with trying and acting like she was sincere and honest. Key word, ACTING.

Another review that I read said that this book changed her life. That is a truly great thing that you can take from this book, but in my case, my life wasn't changed. Maybe that's because I've read many books such as this and this book sort of reaches out to a younger group than mine. Well, that's my opinion.

A Review by Allison

"Why can't I be like other girls?" Emily would often wonder. Emily is a special girl who has trouble doing every day tasks. She is the target of many harsh remarks at her school and just wants people to know that she has feelings like everyone else. When she falls in love with a guy named Hunt, she tries to prove to her parents that she is grown-up enough to wear makeup and more stylish clothes. She and her best friend, Molly, even decide to have a party. Things go horribly wrong- Hunt kisses another girl and Emily gets kissed by her friend, Donny. Where do things go from here?

I thought this book was great in all aspects. The characters that were used were well-developed and the visual descriptions and settings fit together wonderfully. This was a fast read- not because it was a short book but because it was interesting and didn't have useless bits of information. It wasn't a particular difficult book to read but it was interesting and had a good story line. The only thing I didn't like about the book was that the ending seemed too abrupt. The language was easy to understand and descriptive. The story didn't seem like it was TOO happy or TOO sad, it was perfect.

I would recommend reading this book to anyone. It may be more for younger readers but something everyone should read.

A review by Erika

Emily is now a teenager and is able to go to a normal high school. She has never gone to a normal school because she had a disability and had to go to a special school. Emily is now going to experience the life she has always wanted, that's if her parents will let her. In this story Emily has to try to live the life of a teen without the help from her parents. She will also realize who her true friends are.

I liked this story because of the little romance that goes on in it. The author doesn't put it out there until the end but I liked it that way. In the story I like the way Donny becomes her true friend. The sad part is she had to find out the hard way. The only thing I didn't like was the characters Amanda and Molly. Amanda plays the bad guy in this story. She was really mean to Emily. She called her bad names all the time. For example, Emily held a boy/girl party, and Amanda called it a retard party and left. The reason I didn't like Molly was because she was supposedly her best friend but she treated her like she was some hopeless little girl who didn't know how to dress or act around boys. Molly would tell her things that she didn't need to know or she didn't need help with. The character I like was Donny. He noticed every thing she did. Like when she changed her clothes and started to ware makeup, he said she looked pretty. When it comes to the part of her meeting Hunt I thought it was cute. I thought it was cute because she thought he was the cutest thing in the world, but when she gets a job at the Farm Store. She doesn't want him to know she works there because there are other special kids there.

I would recommend this book because of how cute the story line is. The reason I like this book so much is that I like Emily's character. I liked how she looked at things. I would recommend this book to some one between the ages of 11-14. It was a simple book. It was easy to read.

What a wonderful way to teach children about art! And, not only are young readers introduced to two of the most colorful and compelling artists, but they also garner lessons in learning from one another and getting along with others.

Published in association with the Art Institute of Chicago this keepsake volume includes fine quality reproductions of paintings by van Gogh and Gauguin, as well as a brief but instructive biography of each painter.

During the autumn of 1888 these two mercurial artists shared a home in the south of France. Lonely and wanting the company of other painters van Gogh invited Gauguin to share his home in Arles. For some two months the men worked in close proximity to one another.

Disagree? Of course, they.did. In addition to technique and style they probably argued about a number of things. One thing they did agree on was that they could learn from each other.

Regrettably at that time van Gogh was on the brink of his nervous breakdown, and when that occurred Gauguin fled to Paris.

Yet, in many ways their time together was productive and memorable for both artists. "The Yellow House" will surely live in the minds of many young readers!

During the fall of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh invited Paul Gauguin to come live and paint with him in the Yellow House in the south of France. "...he missed the company of other people, especially artists who could discuss painting. He hoped that warm, sunny Arles would attract fellow painters to join him. Together they would form a kind of family of artists, a Studio of the South." Van Gogh and Gauguin were very different in both temperment and style. Van Gogh worked quickly, painting "exactly what he saw with his own eyes", and often completed a painting in just one sitting. He "liked to load his brush with lots of paint and put it on the canvas in dots and dashes... Thick swirls of strong colors expressed his feelings-his love of nature, his joy in painting." Gauguin worked very differently. He painted more slowly, blending his paints on a palette, and spreading the colors "smoothly in careful shapes." He "painted pictures from his imagination-feelings, fantasies, and dreams." Together they worked side by side for two months, discussing art and techniques, and learning much from each other. And even after Gauguin left Arles, they continued to encourage each other through their letters..... Based on actual events, Susan Goldman Rubin has written an elegant and compelling story about the relationship between these two great artists. Her eloquent text is straightforward and informative. But it's Jos. A. Smith's artwork that really makes this book stand out. His evocative illustrations dazzle as they compare and contrast Van Gogh's and Gauguin's styles, techniques, and use of color, and include reproductions of some of the paintings created during that two month period. With biographies at the end to fill in details about both painter's lives and work, The Yellow House is an engaging, fact filled introduction, rich in history and drama, that is sure to intrigue young art lovers 5-10, and send them out looking for more

The Yellow House: Vincent van Gogh & Paul Gauguin Side By Side is a children's color picturebook about the how two legendary artists, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, lived together in a Yellow House the south of France in 1888, and shared ideas about their painting. Yet they set about their artwork in very different ways; for example, Vincent painted what he saw while Paul painted from his memory and imagination. The Yellow House is not only an enjoyable story, but also an excellent introduction to the world of art for young readers. The vibrant color artwork strives to emulate a spark of the creative genius that van Gogh and Gauguin themselves poured into their life's work. The last two pages of The Yellow House consist of short biographies of the famous artists. An ideal gift book selection, The Yellow House is highly recommended gift book for inquisitive and artistic young minds.

This is a wonderful reference book. The information is superbly presented. Where the entry might be unfamiliar it provides a pronunciation key (exceptionally convenient for foreign or archaic words). The entries themselves are well balanced for readability, content, and completeness. And most articles include a bibliography if you wish to research further.

It is also a reference in which you can get delightfully lost. My searches take me in many directions. It's first class cross-referencing makes an in-depth investigation a snap, but sometimes it is better to ramble. And this is the beauty of the book, unlike structured links with Web or CD encyclopedias, in the Columbia Encyclopedia the links are only encumbered by your imagination and curiosity.

If you are not American, (I'm Canadian) don't worry about obsessive jingoism that often pervades American efforts. The Columbia presentation is evenhanded and globally egalitarian in scope and breadth.

If you don't already own this excellent volume it should be on your bookshelf. If you are a teacher it should be in both the school library and your classroom (grades 6-12), and if you are a parent it should be in your home. The Columbia Encyclopedia is truly a rare and valuable information jewel.

The sixth edition of Columbia is a distinct improvement over the fifth (CH, Feb'94), which contained not a few embarrassing geographical inaccuracies. Editor Legasse also edited Concise Columbia Encyclopedia. Hefty indeed, the new Columbia contains some 51,000 entries covering a vast array of topics; it is the largest one-volume general encyclopedia in English. Nearly 40 percent of its content has been revised to reflect the political, social, scientific, and technological developments since the fifth edition. Entirely new are some 1,300 entries covering such topics as the Internet, the Ebola virus, and alternative medicine, to name only a few. Among its 6.5 million words are 700 black-and-white illustrations, 80,000 cross-references, and 40,000 bibliographic citations. Articles range in length from a few lines to several pages, usually written in straightforward style free of jargon. A note for readers explains that "information from one article is generally not repeated in another," although numerous articles are properly cross-referenced to related items. Vladimir Putin, for example, is cross-referenced to Chechnya, which is cross-referenced to Dagastan. Entries are arranged alphabetically in boldface; longer articles are paragraphed with italicized subheadings (unlike the fifth edition) and conclude with brief bibliographies. Like its predecessor, the sixth edition dispenses entirely with photographs and portraits of persons, but includes hundreds of useful maps, tables, and diagrams, many new or revised. Other features include a key to pronunciation and a list of abbreviations. Extending a tradition begun in 1935, this version of Columbia is impressive in its sweep, clarity, and authoritativeness, making it a happy choice among one-volume "first-stop" reference works. Highly recommended for home use or for public, high school, or college libraries. Highly Recommended

I bought the Columbia encyclopedia a little over a year ago and now I feel qualified enough to review it.

I'm never amazed at the amount of information that is presented in this book. It has never failed me or my seventh-grade daughter with any of her school related questions. Whether her questions have to do with the population density of Calcutta (population and area in sq. miles), cell reproduction or plate tectonics, I have yet to find something that she needed and it was not there.

The information is presented in a very succinct manner. There is never too much or too little information for a specific entry - always just enough. The "also see" and bibliography references at the end of many entries are very useful. The binding is great. I was afraid that this huge book after constant use would crack at the hinges, but that is not true. This is one of the bulkiest books I've got and, yet, surprisingly, is also one of the strongest. After more than a year's frequent use, the hinges feel as strong as when I bought it and so do the ledge and spine.

This is not a multimedia information center. There are no pictures, only maps and drawings. When you first open it, you are faced with columns and columns of small font text, though it's nicely laid out.

I do not find any social or political bias in the book, but I may not be sensitive to it. One will not find positive or negative references being made on specific issues, although one may find something to the extend of "some academics feel that..." or "in this century XYZ has fallen out of favor with..." The book does not take sides, its stance is neutral and objective with no flavor. It does not offend and its errors (if any) are ones of omission not commission.

It may be a good idea to visit your local library first to take a closer look at its heftiness, lack of pictures and, perhaps, objectivity prior to purchasing it to see if it's something that suits your family's style. If you decide to buy it without examining it first, I don't believe you will be dissapointed - it's a great book and a best buy.

The book started with the reader learning about Emily, a developmentally delayed child, who only wants to be like other thirteen year old girls her age. You learn about her struggles with trying to be normal. The only downside was you wish she weren't so clueless! This book touched my heart. I recommend it to all teenage girls.

Very touching, vivid story told from a mentally disabled teenage girl's point of view; it's the first of its kind that I've ever read. I love the bond that Emily develops with her new sister-in-law, Phyllis; I liked how Phyllis respected that fact the she was growing up & never talked down to her like so many people make the mistake of doing to mentally disabled people. I'm so glad her parents slowly began to realized that she was growing up & needed more space & independence. The book really delves into the world of the disabled & I like the scenes from the school Emily goes to. What really thrills me is that Emily also learns who can be trusted & who can't; I cheered inside when Emily is able to use her intuition to know not to get into a car with someone she doesn't know well. The book illustrates that yes, the mentally disabled CAN learn the same things others can, they just learn it more slowly & their minds take a little longer to absorb things. I re-read this book right on the heels of a book about Annie Sullivan & Helen Keller; this book is a wonderful addition to the growing proof that more & more handicapped people, whether mental or physical, or leading independent, productive, happy lives.

I found this book very fascinating. It has lots of interesting details on how a lot of everyday products, such as toilets, typewriters, washing machines, etc. were developed. It has lot of trivia and pictures that many people find very entertaining. This would be a great resource for school reports on these kinds of items.

The how and why of everyday objects from typewriters to pens to vaccuum cleaners. Except: Thomas Crapper, a plumber, developed a type of flushing toilet in 1872 that carried his name. He perfected the cistern--the tank that holds the water for flushing. And he made flushing quieter. Women at the turn of the century, sensitive to bodily noises, wanted a "really silent toilet". A book writen about Crapper was called Flushed with Pride. The author wrote "There is no question that Crapper's heart was in the toilet".

First off, this is a KIDS book. Interested in Margaret Bourke-White's work I picked this up from the photography section of our local bookstore, but quickly found the simple declarative sentences absolutely maddening.

As a child's book I rate it 4 to 5 stars. Great photo selection and actually quite a lot of interesting information on Ms. Bourke-White's life. As an adult book maybe one star (and that one for the good selection of photos).

I didn't know who Margaret Bourke-White was until I received this book as a gift. I have always been interested in photography but never considered it as a career until I read this book. The photos that are in the book are very inspirational. Reading about her life and what she went through to make her dream come true was very interesting. I have had this book for two years and still enjoy looking through her photos.