MiG Alley To Mu Ghia Pass: Memoirs of A Korean War Ace is the military memoir of Cecil Foster, a young man born into poverty and hardship, and who joined the Army Air Force in 1943 as a private, eventually retiring in 1975 as a lieutenant colonel. Foster served a multitude of tasks during his Air Force career, but perhaps the most outstanding and remarkable part of his autobiographical history was his service as a high-scoring ace pilot in the aerial battles of the Korean War. Foster's record of nine destroyed MiGs earned him 12th place on a list of 38 aces. Each of the aircraft he destroyed was shot down in a section of airspace called "MiG Alley," which runs along the Yalu River that separates North Korea from China. MiG Alley Mu Ghia Pass is an involving, personal look into one of the countless people who have staked their lives to serve and protect the United States of America. Highly recommended for students of military aviation history in general, and the Korean War in particular.

This wonderful guide book allowed me to stroll through the streets of Old Montreal and the entire downtown area, discovering the architecture and history of the many fine old buildings. The two fold-out colour maps were very useful to get around. They are air photographs of the city with buildings and cars and everything in detail. VERY COOL! I really liked the way it pointed out architectural features that I would certainly have missed. The stories about the places it guided me to made me learn more about the city in which I live. I'm reccommending it to all my friends who are planning a visit to me in Montreal. The historical background brought the city into perspective.

This book is another in a series that includes very easy activities for children to do in class. Working with these activities children will be able to discover a different lifestyle than they are used to today. David King has written a book that would be perfect for culminating activites to demonstrate this historical period of time.

As with other David Kirk books the artwork is beautiful. As other reviewer's commented the letters are difficult to recognize however. My 17 month old loves to look at the pictures although she isn't too interested in the alphabet yet. We still have fun reading this book though.

My 18 month old son loves the Miss Spider books!! He is learning his ABC's by my reading Miss Spider's ABC book to him. He also has learned his numbers from the Miss Spider's Tea Party (A Counting Book). He brings me these books to read to him all of the time. He loves them. The illustrations are so vivid and beautiful! I will be buying the Miss Spider books he does not have for Christmas!

On the way to work the other morning I realized that I have this entire book memorized. "Ants await, Bumble Bees blow balloons..."

I purchased this book when my daughter was 5 months old because I was attracted to the beautiful illustrations. My daughter loves the book. She is now 13 months old and says "book" and always grabs "Miss Spiders ABCs". It is her favorite out of about 2 dozen books. She even kisses the spider on the "Red Roses shelter smiling spiders" page. I would recommend this book to all babies and tiny tots as well as all art lovers, bug lovers and anyone with a good sense of humor!

For the basics, this is an excellent writeup and you SHOULD have it. What is NOT covered is LE and object programming. Intrinsic functions are slighted but you can figure them out.

The author is very upfront about not covering the object extensions - I can almost forgive him. But these are the future - our top management is very object/web oriented.

I think there is a slide on the LE coverage. After we went through the Y2K conversion, our programs are loaded with language environment calls. Section 3.13 is a listing only of what should have been a great amount of detail on using LE calls and intrinsic functions.

In defense of the author I did find an example of the function used with a date (on page 384) MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE (1:8) to WS-GREGORIAN which is close to our shop standard MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE (1:14) TO WS-DATE-TIME.

This book is for programmers who learned OS/VS COBOL or COBOL II and are now upgrading to COBOL/390. This is IBM's latest version of COBOL, with an emphasis on open systems and object orientation. There are a lot of new features in COBOL/390 and David Shelby Kirk describes them clearly and thoroughly.

David's book is an exceptional COBOL reference for anyone who works with the COBOL language. He gives practical information on how to make your code Year 2000 compliant along with many suggestions for improving the overall code including help with improving a user's programming efficiency.

Feedback from readers indicates he has a knack for answering specific technical questions via the book that a person using the COBOL language asks as a result of their use.

Olivia R. Carmandi, Publisher

Quite by accident we stumbled upon MISS SPIDER"S TEA PARTY when my granddaughter was five. That book was to be touched,read, and taken to bed a many nights before she fell in love with the next one (MISS SPIDER'S WEDDING). The rhyming does not take away from the message of virtues that can be found in any culture. Holley is her hero because he wears glasses and shows kindness. We have collected all of Mr. Kirk's books and can't wait for future books to be presented. The vividness and texture of the pages held her attention long after we had finished reading a particular page. She clapped and cheered for Holley and wanted explanations of phrases that at that time was beyond her comprehension. Now she reads these books herself and although she has them memorized by heart; she still turns page by page to view the characters and touch the colors. What a wonderful way to start on the pathway of reading for fun.

We have read all of Miss Spider's books, and we love them. The pictures are so beautifully done, and although the words can be a bit out of range for younger children, they are fun to decipher for them to help them understand the meaning of what is going on. It can also expand their vocabulary without realizing it. Each story has a real life message that can be put to use in everyday experiences. We have enjoyed keeping up with the life of Miss Spider, and look forward to reading more about her adventures in the forest.

My 2 year old loves this book. She loves the variety of silly sounds and she is delighted by the pictures. We love reading it to her. Now on to the rest of the Miss Spider series......

As a mother of 6 children, 4 biological and 2 adopted as toddlers, I feel this book presents a powerful message about seeking and finding love and acceptance in non-conventional places. I have been searching for books for our 5 year old adopted daughter that reinforce the fact that her adoptive Mommy and Daddy truly love her and will care for her even though she "grew in her other Mommy's tummy". Because my daughter is Hispanic and my husband and I are not, the subtle issue of the differences between the beetle and the spider were not lost on her. The first time we finished reading "Little Miss Spider" together, she threw her arms around my neck and with tears brimming in her eyes declared, "You're my favorite Mommy forever and ever!" What more could any parent ask for? My biological 11 year old daughter says to tell you that she loves "Little Miss Spider", too!

I am shocked at the first "review" of this book from Sept 1999! This book is not disturbing in any way (except for maybe the big spider eating another bug for dinner). The message of the book is that our mothers "are the creatures who love us the best" whether those mothers look like us or not. I have two children, they both joined our family through adoption. Our youngest was adopted internationally. This book sends the wonderful message that my daughter does not have to look like me to be loved by and welcomed into our family. Children whom joined their families through birth can gain great insight from this book, it is not disturbing at all. Your are reading too much into this book if you believe our children will think they can be cared for by a beatle if they "tire" of us. This book is not about Little Miss Spider choosing other parents, it is about a mother who had love to give and a daughter who needed a mother. For the record, Little Miss Spider DOES find her mother. Just because her mother turned out NOT to be a spider does not mean she did not find her mother. There needs to be more education about adoption with all children (adopted and biological) and this book is a great tool to do so. It is especially helpful and educational if you are looking for a good book addressing international adoption! Enjoy this special book!

My daughter has loved the Miss Spider books practically since birth! The board books and paper versions are really sturdy, and the illustrations are wonderful and bright. This story follows Miss Spider as she appears to be lost, but is found by the "one who loves her the best" even though she physically looks different, and is not her natural mother. Kirk celebrates diversity in all of his stories, and demonstrates how hard it sometimes is to fit in, but how that uniqueness makes you special. Miss Spider is fabulous; I highly recommend the Sunny Patch School book too.

I absolutely love the miss spider books. David Kirk is so talented. Miss Spider's Wedding is my favorite. I love the story of the two spiders falling in love. It is a lesson for young children that you don't have to be popular to be loved. David Kirk use of rhyme is wonderful. I really enjoy reading his book because they flow so well. His artwork in these books is tremendous. I love his use of color. It puts me in a good mood just seeing his pictures. David Kirk has many other Miss Spider books just as good as this one. I recommend them all.

It's another version of the same old story. Spider-girl meets spider-boy. Spider-girl and spider-boy fall in love. Spider-girl's beetle friend thinks spider-boy isn't proportionally correct for spider-girl. So the beetle friend finds evil-spider (she's unaware of the fact that he's evil for she is blinded by his charm) and tells him about spider-girl. Evil-spider tries to seduce spider-girl and becomes enraged when rejected. Evil-spider finds out about spider-boy and tries to eat him. Spider-girl saves spider-boy by whacking evil-spider on the head with a rolling pin. Spider-girl and spider-boy get married and live happily ever after. It's that same old, cliched story that we've all heard one thousand and one times...or maybe not.

So maybe I exaggerated just a bit on the "clichedness" of the tale, but no amount of gratuitous gushing would be enough to convey to you, dear readers, the greatness of Miss Spider's Wedding by David Kirk (Callaway & Kirk Company). What lies within these pages upon pages of rhymed couplets clever enough to put William Shakespeare to shame is the old idea of boy meets girl revamped for the politically correct and easily bored folks of the 1990s. Some of the story seems a bit mature for its target audience of children (let's just say that when evil-spider says, Is she a beauty? Is she rich? / And is she in the mood... my brain leaps to conclusions), but all and all it's a worthwhile tale for all ages. The fantastically drawn and insanely colored pictures illuminating each page, done by the multitalented Kirk, are enough to draw people to buy the book without the poetry. Don't let the little kids in the book stores across the city buy all the copies of this book-go out and get your own. You'll not be sorry.

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This gorgeously illustrated book is only a medium favorite with the kids, but its MY favorite to read aloud.
The illustrations are intricate, gorgeous and as gently satirical and rich as the text. The children can certainly enjoy the basic story of Miss Spider's search for a suitable mate, but only adults will appreciate the tongue in cheek humor as the insect world is revealed to have many social similarities with our own. If the insect world had a "Jane Austen" it would be Miss Spider.
There is a happy ending as usual with children's stories, but there was one page of conflict that the girls (at ages 6 & 7) found "scary"- I was initially surprised, but its true that all the kids I've read this to (ages 5-8) found the big dramatic moment (Miss Spider's suitor turns out to be a little too pushy) a little intense.
The dashing (yet meek and mild) hero soon sets things right, however and the kids all enjoy the pictures of the wedding preparations. This one is not for easily frightened kids, although I originally thought it was unlikely to frighten anyone.

This book is really for adults to enjoy on an entirely different level while children are entertained by the beautiful pictures and happy resolution.

I rarely splurge on a hardcover book, these days, as my youngest reader is 8 years old. I purchased this book, however, because my daughter and I have enjoyed Miss Spider's Tea Party so much over the years. I read Nova's Ark to her third grade all-girl's class today, and it received an "A" ! The girls loved the pictures, and had questions about how the illustrations were done. They loved the plot, and at several points were able to make predictions at every surprising twist and turn. They asked me to leave the book in their classroom so they could re-read it and look over the colorful and whimsical illustrations. While we all missed the clever rhymes of Miss Spider fame, we enjoyed the language and style of Nova. We tried several robot voices as we read out loud. Also, the girls enjoyed seeing all of the clever animals Nova makes while on the planet Zyke. My daughter enjoyed the book out loud more than she has enjoyed perusing it on her own. A great picture book, and worth the investment because it's got eye candy!

What a gorgeous book! It demands that you reach out and touch it, turn the pages, and look, over and over again. Each page has so much visual material that it will take a long time before this book becomes too familiar. You're not necessarily going to catch the diaper on the baby robot the first or second time through, but these touches make it wonderful for children whether they can read or not. In fact, the main problem in reading it aloud is getting them to let you turn the page. I would recommend this book for any child. Two minor caveats: The story is not up to the illustrations, but very few stories could be, and it's enough to give the illustrations meaning; and one page has white text superimposed on a full-page illustration, which makes for hard reading, especially in less than perfect light.

From the very first page of text the reader is sent on an incredible journey with the main character, Nova. Nova is that child that we all can identify with when he says "Is this how my father feels when he's away?". The idea that his Dad will surely find him and finally their reunion and struggle to get back home keep the reader totally engaged. Back at home Nova is greeted as a hero - something all children can identify with.

My 6 year old liked the idea that Nova followed his dream of exploring space. He thought that the illustrations looked exactly as he had imagined outer space to be. He thinks it is great the way Nova brings his spaceships and models to share with the class and the idea that they take field trips. We read this book over and over never tiring of the story and vibrant illustrations.

But you need to have a few comercial plug-ins and this means spend money, instead of this you can learn many tricks other people learn with experience and time. I really don't know if the book isn't good enoght or 3D Studio is very incomplete, filling the holes with expensive IPAS.

First of all, I want to say that I'm from Sweden, so please be indulgence with my language. I've read the magnificant book of 3d Studio & Hollywood Gaming Effects. I used both 3d Studio and 3D max for the tutorials, and I was quite impressed. The book is based on examples and tutorials, made by pros'. The examples in the book are very detailed, and are understandble, even for an amateur like me. And the best thing is that, if you dont understand what they're talking about, just put in the CD-Rom (that comes with the book) find the chapter for the example, and run it. There you have it, step by step, all the exaples in the book on the CD-Rom are explained on the CD-Rom too. A book for both amateurs and proffesionals, that increase the flexibilaty you need to become a graphic artist. And even if you're using 3d Max, the examples in the book - and on the CD-Rom - works properly. Since Max and Studio are based on the same system. The examples in the books are well illustrated, and the layout makes it very easy to find and read. You learn new things every time you browse through the book. And just by watching the exapmles on the CD-Rom, you can load a project - and go through it - see for your self how it's build. And in that way learn some useful hints & tricks. A low cost educational book, that you can get useful hints & tricks from, that you cant get from anywhere else. As I said, my English is bad. I sometimes can't find a way to express my feelings in words. But it is a good book. I rated the book with a 9. Now that, is self explained. Happy rendering, Your Friend In The Jungle Of 3D.

When I first picked this book up I was expecting it to be another book on teaching the beginner how to do simple effects. I could never have been so wrong. Starting at an advanced level, the book assumes you not only have lots of experience with 3D Studio, but some additional software tools as well. Then, it shows you, in detail, how to create certain effects, all of which can be easily adapted to your scenes. Some of the effects include overlaying your animation with video so that it 'fits' together, or extended use of 'Bones Pro' and 'MetaBall Modelers'(which are plug-ins for 3D Studio) to create organic models.

For beginners, I recommend "3D Studio Special Effects/Book and Cd Rom" while this book is more for users with a solid grip on 3D Studio.