Mr. Hood speaks eloquently from his experience about what is good about the sport of ice hockey, what has gone wrong, and ideas about what we can do to bring it back to what it should be: a FUN game of speed and skill. This should be required reading for all players, young and old, parents of youth hockey players, leaders in youth hockey organizations, coaches, and fans. His words speak to the thoughts and concerns of thousands of parents who are out there today, trying to come to grips with the insanity of spending thousands of dollars a year for their kids to participate in what is now a hypercompetitive year-round sport. Mr. Hood cuts through all the rhetoric and offers up powerful common sense observations that I hope will lead the way to a grass roots effort to return a wonderful sport to what it should be: an opportunity to teach our children about the values of team work, discipline, integrity, sportsmanship, dedication, and perserverance -- that fun comes as a result of accepting and fulfilling responsibility to yourself, your team mates, family, and community. Bravo and thank you Mr. Hood!

Mr. Hood has done it again! This is one of the best hockey books I have ever read, the stories he tells about playing hockey in Canada on the ponds when he was younger is so true, and something now days that most people have never done. He touches on some excellent points like how youh hockey has gotten too serious, and how much it costs! This is a must read!

Everyone should own this book. Many people make assumptions about religion, such as its effect on people's moral behavior for instance, without actually taking the time to find out if their assumptions are true. (As it turns out, level of religiousity including atheism is not a good predictor of whether or not someone will engage in helping behavior, or cheat on an exam, for instance.) Instead of repeating prejudices and inventing wild armchair theories, this book describes actual experiments and other research studies concerning a wide variety of topics concerning religion, in an objective, unbiased fashion. One interesting finding is that religious fundamentalists as a group are the most prejudiced toward all minority groups, while atheists are the least so. Is it the fault of religion? Not that simple! The authors explain that since the scores of mainstream Christians on measures of prejudice turn out to be much more similar to the atheists, and since fundamentalists also score very high on measures of authoritarianism, it's authoritarianism that leads to prejudice. However, these particular subtopics are just a tiny sliver of what this book actually covers.

"The Psychology of Religion" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy" http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

Jumping Jack the Grasshopper is an adorable book about a grasshopper named Jack who is looking for a friend. In the end, Jack leanrns that he doesn't have to be just like someone in order to be their friend...some friends wiggle, fly, and swim. My active 2 year old little boy will actually sit down to read this book as he hops the toy grasshopper "Jack" that comes with the book from page to page on his adventure, and he learns a valuable lesson.

The controversial defender of Atlanta gives his side of the story. Did he inherit a demoralized shell of an army and vainly attempt to restore its fighting spirit after the timid leadership of General Joseph E. Johnston or did he squander the lives of thousands against the fixed defenses of the Yankees? This book is best read in conjunction with Johnston's "Narrative" which it attempts to refute. Whether you agree with Hood's story or not, you will appreciate his passion for the subject.

For all of my time as a Civil War buff, I have thought that Gen. Hood was a scapegoat. I have always thought of him as a truly brave fellow who got in over his head...and was therefore a perfect target for accusation. Many people blame Hood for the disasters at Atlanta, Franklin, Spring Hill, etc, but this tome shows the reader a different side of the story (that other than Jefferson Davis and Joseph Johnston's side). Hood was truly a hero, but much more a fighting man than a scholar. However, he provides an argument against the charge of conspiring to take over the Army of the Tennesee from Joseph Johnston (perhaps his most infamous "act") with a plausible claim. I think that the best way to have a perspective in a debate is to know both sides, and the debate over John Bell Hood is continuing today. So buy this and read up!

One of the Civil War's most intriguing and controversial characters, Confederate General John Bell Hood offers a detailed rebuttal to post-war criticisms of Joseph E. Johnston and others. Much lauded as a combat commander of the famed Texas Brigade under Robert E. Lee, Hood lost use of his left arm at Gettysburg and lost his right leg at Chickamauga. In 1864 he replaced Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennesee before the fall of Atlanta, and late that year led that army on the ill fated invasion of Tennessee, culminating with the devastating defeats at Franklin and Nashville. In Advance and Retreat Hood offers detailed explanations of his controversial decisions. This book is a must read for any student of the Civil War.

Great book for small children - especially those who want to do things themselves and be very independent, but aren't quite there yet.

Great book for small children - teaches them that they can do many things on their own, but may sometimes need a little help. Good for that age where they want to be independent, but not quite ready yet.

Great hockey stories and insight into the evolution of modern professional hockey and backroom stories about what hockey referees go through. I like nonfiction and I officiate hockey so this book was a natural. If you're interested in "old time" hockey from the 1960's which is when Bruce Hood started officiating professional hockey or like to get the inside story on the NHL up until the 80's this is a great book. The quality of writing is a little weak but Hood has some great stories about being a referee, traveling around the country, what players and coaches of his era said and how they acted.

It's obvious Bruce Hood is a referee and not a writer, although he had some help with the book. Some readers might be bored when Hood wanders a little too far into his personal life but some might enjoy that aspect of the book.

I think this had the potential to be a Muppet *Monty Python and the Holy Grail,* but stopped a bit short. It *was* funny, however, and was filled with nice illustrations, so it's definitely not a complete waste of reading. (Besides, it's not very long.) I thought the text was a bit choppy and could have been a bit more fluid, but I'm not used to reading fiction for children and young adults, so that might well be the reason for my opinion. Also, it depended that the reader have a certain level of familiarity with the Muppet characters, which--to be honest--I no longer have. It's just been far too long since I've seen them.

All-in-all, however, I thought it was very cute idea. I even thought it read, at times, like a movie tie-in book and would have made an excellent addition to the Muppet film series. I'm a bit surprised that it wasn't. Still, it's cute and would be an enjoyable read for a Muppet fan.