This book is an ideal choice for very young children, as it portrays a fun and interesting view of Hanukkah that is very much in keeping with a small child's own perceptions of the holiday, namely, candle lighting, dreidel playing and latke eating. The story is simply told and the illustrations are colorful and reminiscent of Eric Carle's work. It is a quick reading book that my two and half year old enjoyed a great deal.

Sammy's First Hanukkah not only introduces preschoolers to Hanukkah in a way that is right on their level, it also reviews numbers and colors as well. A perfect book for the holidays.

I very much enjoyed reading this story to the kids. Sammy keeps yelling out "MOTHER!" It made the story fun to read. And it builds up excitement for the holiday.

This book is very good for children of all ages. It tells the story about Purim in a fun and delightful way.

Alexandra had a terrible first marriage. Her cheating husband accused her of adultery and divorced her so he could marry his lover. Five years after the scandal, Alexandra moves to South Carolina with her aunt and uncle to start rebuilding her life. But no way is she getting married again! She's got big plans for revenge against the ex who ruined her life.

Her scheming father has something else in mind. He wants her to produce an heir to his banking empire, instead...

Enter our rougish hero, Conner Manning, who will do just about anything for the money to save his plantation from destruction, including compromising Alexandra and forcing her into marriage. But Conner, the county's biggest rake, has also made a bet with bud William that he'll have icy Alexandra in his bed within a month. Marriage seemed like the perfect solution when Alexandra's father came with his proposition: Money for marriage, even more for a baby.

These two strong characters clash, even during their intense attraction. Alexandra has to choose between revenge and love, while Conner has to learn what love even means. This was a page-turning read I recommend to all!

Scarlet Bride is a beautiful love story that proves love is sweeter than revenge and more precious than gold. Conner (the hero) was a wonderful combination of a southern gentlmen and a rake. If I couldn't have him in real life, I'm glad Alex (the heroine) captured his heart in Ms. McDaniel's rendition of the majestic old South.

A fun-and-valuable read for girls in upper elementary or middle school, Rimm's See Jane Win for Girls is a self-esteem boosting, self-discovery book that girls enjoy. My 12-year-old daughter enjoyed reading this book to reveiw with me, and she was smiling often, and even laughed out loud.

From Brainpower to Social Smarts (or not!), continuing to tough topics including When Things Change (moving, new school, divorce, etc.) and Family (anger, parents, siblings, and more), Rimm talks about many of the everyday and extraordinary issues facing smart girls today, and offers introspection and ideas for dealing with them, and growing from them.

See Jane Win for Girls is mixed with quotes and questions from young girls, quotes from grown-up girls, and inventories and tips to make the book even more personal for your smart girl.

I'd recommend this book for all gifted young girls, before, during and after those difficult middle school years.

This truly is a wonderful book, full of encouragement for young girls everywhere.
Written in a way that is both entertaining and also with great insight, it's sure to catch any
young readers eye.

I found myself smiling, shaking my head in agreement and truly enjoyed the "I Can" sections.

Tips on self-esteem, improving your social
skills,help with your family, dealing with changes, it's all there.
This is an outstanding book for the entire family to share! Also interactive with the reader, which is always a plus!

Very good read!

This is the only book available that gives a detailed look as the brief Trans-AM 2.5 Challenge series. This short lived race series introduced sedan racing to America and produced many memorable battles between Alfa, Datsun and BMW. This book was invaluable in researching the Trans-AM history for the popular BSedan.com web site. Highly recommended!

This book is incredibly hard to find...and with good reason. It chronicles the early career of John Morton, a sports car racing driver, and the way the money end of the sport works (in the early '70's of course) and how teams are structured and the commitment required to "be good" at racing. I'm on the inside of racing. I crew on a sports car and have worked as a press photographer for over ten years in all types of professional motorsports. I've seen what it's really like. If you want to find out what it's really like....read this book. It has no peer.

...to actually hear Sylvia Plath read her own work. The poems here are wonderful(the selections are taken from radio broadcasts, I think)and not surprisingly, the author's voice adds much more to their enjoyment. And it is an interesting voice: deep, with a slightly stilted, "unplaceable" accent, and a throaty emotional quality. I only wish there was more-more poems, and perhaps even one of her interviews that are sometimes excerpted in documentaries. Nevertheless, a must for Plath readers.

10/10: this the value of Sylvia's voice. Deep into her own private poetry, she talks to her self and let us to listen her. Storm behind the clouds, her voice is the rain and we are the white (or grey) cloud. She is so quiet in this hyperballad, like a postmodern hypertext where the meaning is not all.I wonder why the Poetry, in our days, is only another slave of Establishment.

Children love this book because it shows the real world of 1950s when kids went out to play with nothing but their imagination. No electronic bits for eyes or ears; no battery-run gadgets to drive parents nutty; and no one cared if they were bored. The tales are based on actual adventures of the Kid and Sister and their tribe of friends. This book gives the reader of any age a happy feeling knowing that this is a glimpse of a time that really existed that was better for children.

Children love this book because it shows the real world of 1950 when kids went out to play with nothing but their imagination. No electronic bits for eyes or ears; no battery-run gadgets to drive parents nutty; and no one cared if they were bored. The tales are based on actual adventures of the Kid and Sister and their tribe of friends. This book gives the reader of any age a happy feeling knowing that this is a glimpse of a time that really existed that was better for children.

I am a teacher of 18 years who had to read this book in 1977 as part of my college teacher training and would like to share this book with all teachers. It is as relevant for me today with our scripted phonics and literature-rich reading programs as it was then. Sylia Ashton-Warner does more than portray a method and philosophy to teach reading to New Zealand's Maori children--she paints a vivid, dramatic picture of any classroom. The reader can see the combination of her daily, organized lesson plan superimposed with the actual unpredictable, spontaneous, and social nature of children. Sylvia writes in such a perceptive, humorous way that our sympathy goes out to the Maori children who are expected to learn reading, but are expertly led, not forced.
One of her main points was that the contemporary "Dick and Jane" method of teaching reading was too imposing, stagnant, and foreign to inspire success and a love of learning for her Maori students. She created a new system to do the job of bridging the old, illiterate civilization of the Maoris to contemporary New Zealand. Her method became famous. It is fairly simple and has been used since in a multitude of kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. Children were allowed to give Ms. Ashton-Warner, their teacher, a new word every day. The word was traced, written, practiced, shared, and reviewed the next day. If the word was important enough to the child, it was remembered and therefore called an "organic" word since it came from an important part of the individual child. Children had word cards and every day would locate their own personal word cards amidst the class' collection.
As Ms. Ashton-Warner used this method over time, she was able to categorize important words, and thereby came across universal truths regarding words that made reading easier for her students. The two widest categories she called "sex" and "fear" words, and if a word was easily learned then it fit into one of these categories. Although I personally don't like her use of the word "sex," she explains her conception of it as referring to the human needs of love, acceptance, and survival.
As students became proficient with this first introduction to words, they were "graduated" to more advanced classes in reading and writing, using their own personal word banks, until at last the traditional school books could be used successfully. In addition, Ms. Ashton-Warner wrote and illustrated her own version of basal readers for Maoris, using their own interests and lingo, as another part of transitioning them from their own culture to the literate and modern New Zealand. It is tragic that most of her original works are gone.
In actuality, the book "Teacher" is much more than a description of a pedagogical method. It is a work of art, describing the talent needed to teach. It is a work in psychology, showing one how to cope with the enormous diversity and constant problems of the real classroom. It is a work of teaching methodology, inspiring a teacher to value and inspire the inner thoughts and feelings of a child, and to take those raw materials and create real learning experiences for that child.
I actually read this book once a year. It has become a part of me that allows me to take each day as it comes, to see special inspired moments in a child's day as being a huge, poignant step in their education.

Hard for me to write a short review of this book since I've written a book about Ashton-Warner's contributions to teaching young children.

The point is, Ashton-Warner was a careful observer of the young Maori children she taught. She knew that what she had been trained to do in a college teacher-training program wasn't working, so she really looked to see what the children cared about, and invented ways to teach them based upon their deep interests and respecting their culture, different from her own. She, a left-handed artist, was different from the mainstream, and wanted to be appreciated...and she carried this and other knowledge from her personal life into her teaching. Ashton-Warner wasn't a woman of perfection, but she made a contribution that lasts...This book has changed the lives of many, many teachers -- I know because they have told me.

While Tears in a Bottle delves deep into the controversial issue of abortion, its focus on the emotional and spiritual issues these girls face is what really makes the book memorable. More than just a novel, this book really stays with you and forces the reader to examine society's views on unwanted pregnancy.

In Tears in A Bottle, Sylvia Bambola takes on the difficult and controversial subject of abortion and delivers a riveting story that deals with the deep emotion and challenges that the decision to abort a pregnancy imparts on the lives and families of women in America. Bambola weaves several compelling storylines that bring to life the physical, emotional and spiritual difficulties that often follow an abortion. The author is ambitious in her scope of covering the many sides of abortion, but she consistently delivers in terms of attention to detail as well as with an entertaining, if challenging story. Tears in A Bottle asks the reader to consider the effect of abortion on society and individuals lives and provides an uplifting solution for those struggling with their decision to abort their pregnancy.

For another excellent novel from Bambola, check out A Refiner's Fire.

In town today when buying Easter books for the kids I found Tippi in Africa for my 7 years old. I have been to Africa several times, and now wants to bring my family, but they always say no, they don't want to go to Africa where there are dangerous animals, where there is poverty and the water is not clean. So I found this book the perfect present for my daughter.

We read the book right away when we came home, and what a treasure. The book tells about Tippi's childhood. The daughter of French nature photographers she spends most of her childhood in Africa. And growing up against the wild animals she and her surrondings soon discover that she has a very special ability to speak with the animals.

The book is filled with amazing photographs, and anecdotes from Tippi's childhood. Who can resist starting to dream about Africa after reading this book.

Thanks Tippi for sharing your life with us.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

Excellent. I've got the book today from amazon Germany. Now I want to read Tippi's very unique way to express herself in English.120 extrem beautiful photographs,done by her parents Sylvie and Alain Degre, give us an insight of her unusual childhood, grewing up in Africa. A nice gift for children and adults who want to see the world in it's beauty through children's eyes. Tippi lives now in Paris. I hope, she can save her experiences for life she obtained in Africa, for her future.