Vera B. Williams has had a special place in my heart ever since I read her books as a child. With Music, she follows such classics as Cherries and Cherry Pits and A Chair For My Mother. Her recognizable illustrations and simple yet captivating style will enchant children and parents alike. This is a charmer that you won't dread reading as often as it will be requested. I like Cherries and Cherry Pits and A Chair For My Mother better, if only because they seemed a bit more original, but anything by Williams is worth checking out.

An enjoyable read of about two dozen short stories of the supernatural. Many are folktales passed down from generation to generation of supposed true occurances, some with eyewitness accounts and historical data of southwest Virginia. My favorite was "A Very Sensitive Child."

My almost-4-yr.-old and his nursery class love this book. The words detail a meal of bugs and "puddle ink" to drink, but the pictures really capture all the fun of pond exploration. It's a quick read, yet the children go back to it by themselves to look at the illustrations more carefully.

Whisman does a credible job in presenting the results of her dissertation and she doesn't claim more than is reasonable based on the somewhat limited size of her sample (about 35 gay men and about 35 lesbians). The interview excerpts are interesting, and they got me thinking about how or why women or men choose to be gay. My book group (about 10 lesbians) didn't like the book as much as I did, but I know what it means to write a dissertation and how limited the scope of it usually is (Whisman's research was not funded by a large institution). We would have been more interested in a psychological rather than a political analysis of the data on choice. This is not to discount the importance of the notion of choice from a political perspective . . . but most of us are experienced enough to know that we have to negotiate our way between heterosexual feminists and male homosexuals. On the other hand, the book did stimulate a good discussion of the issues that Whisman raises.

I found this to be a sweet touching book. My 6 year old daughter enjoys the story and it allows us to discuss values such as generosity and perserverance. It is important for children to look at themselves as contributing members of their families. This book also talks about the importance of community. These issues are rarely discussed in children's books today. Readers should be aware there is a fire in the story (no one is hurt), but younger children might be upset by it.

Weather Experiments by Vera Webster is a great reference book for children. The bold text and simple language allows all children to access the ideas within. The book contains simple experiments with easy step by step instructions. The pictures clearly show the concept that Vera is trying to portray. However, this book is only a dip into the information about weather. The concepts are short, and there are a lot of them. Children may find what they are interested in using this book, but would need to do further reading to fully understand the concept. Some of the experiments also need parental or teacher support to understand the concept that the experiment shows. In all, this is a good book that will introduce children to basic weather concepts, using easy language that even reluctant readers will enjoy.

The author paints a compelling picture with words. Unfortunately, it's a picture of excess and pretension. There's very little actual story here. Rather, there are layers upon layers of words, thick as an over-painted canvas, dressed up as storytelling.

We're never given a reason to care about any of these characters, except that the author seems to be trying to command us to do so through the sheer force of her will. There are long, long passages of beautiful description piled on so thickly that the reader begins to feel claustrophobic under the weight of them. The characters trudge through deserts and palaces saying pretty things and speaking in elaborate if awkward dialogue that means nothing. One gets the feeling that they are mouthpieces for the author, but the author has nothing to say other than "Please buy my book."

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All over the Internet long-time fantasy readers complain about novels that are cookie-cutter product, each the same as the last, with the same elements, told in the same bland style.

Well, here at last in a new writer who is experimenting with a different style, and with different material. Nazarian describes DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE as a collage novel; what it really is is a series of short stories, with some of the same characters wandering through.

Her style sometimes falters, as if reaching for an effect her skills haven't quite defined, but that's a minor flaw when you compare it to the rich vivid detail of her imagery, the humor, the pathos, the faint trace-elements from mythologies outside the same old Western venue. There is strong potential here; the sequence from the storyteller's point of view shows evidence of brilliance.

Readers who like something strange and new should take a risk on this book, and support an emerging writer who is trying to break the mold. Go on, take a chance, I dare you to foretell just where this tale is going. If you shrug and pass, you cannot blame publishers for squashing new voices and putting out yet more bland by-the-numbers product: vote with your wallet.

I found Vera Nazarian's book to be a wonderful journey into foreign lands. It reinvents the old-time fantasy reminisent of a time before Tolkien and Tolkien wannabees. She creates a world rich in myth and culture. The places of the Compass Rose are places I wish to visit again and again. Her stories and characters take the reader by surprise. I highly recommend this book.

I won't restate what has been said by other amazon reviewers of this book - this book was a waste of my time and money. I had so enjoyed St. James' original Simplify Your Life book and was looking forward to reading this book. However, page after page proved to be annoying and genearlly useless. This book IS NOT about simplifying your life. If I had know I was going to be reading a How To Raise Your Kids book, I would have picked one by someone who knew something about it.

On top of the other reviewers' comments that St. James' suggestions are too simplistic and sometimes even harmful, I would add that if I had the money to implement all of her "simple" suggestions, I would move out of the country and greatly simplify my life. Her suggestions to single parents to "buy used" and steer cleer of impulse purchases are patronizing and sorely out of touch. Further, her assumptions about "male" and "female" traits and roles are not relevant to the lives of anyone I know.

St. James should stick with material she knows.

Children grow up so fast. The book gave me a perspective on what is more important in life. What I liked about the book is that she talked about how to make daily routines less stressful and gave suggestions on simple parenting strategies and discipline strategies.

"I've heard from many parents who've reported that the best step they've taken to simplify their lives with kids is to get rid of the television altogether. While this is a plan I heartily recommend for simplying anyone's life, I realize it's not a desirable option for many families." So writes Elaine St. James, one of her 100 practical and wise ideas for improving your family life. Through a family vote at a weekly family meeting, seven years ago we took the step of removing TV from our family life, a simple step that has greatly improved the quality of our family life together.

"Simplify Your Life With Kids" is a how-to idea book organized under 14 main headings including, The Daily Routine, The Workload, The Plugged-in Family, Simple Discipline Strategies, Conflict, At School. One area she overlooks completely is family spirituality through prayer, devotion, worship and celebration. I still highly recommend this book for the busy parent looking for creative ways to improve your home and deepen your joy as a family.

Also recommended: The Family Cloister: Benedictine Wisdom for the Home, by David Robinson (New York: Crossroad, 2000, 192pp., trade paperback)

I found this book very useful and after getting to lesson 4 I am able to hold simple conversations with my Swedish colleagues. I see that a teacher is critical of this book, but as a student I am finding it useful, firstly because it addresses usual situations you might find yourself in, like the vocabulary used when visiting someone, having something to eat, etc. and is discusses the grammar in small digestible chunks. I learnt German some years ago and the books I had then were nowhere near as good. I also have looked at some 'Teach Yourself' books German/Swedish and find them very clumsey. I don't mind at all if there are different dialects on the tapes because that is exactly how you are confronted with the language when you start speaking to Swedish people and additionally it trains the ear. So far so good - I have been able to write my first small letters to my Swedish step daughter and I thinks thats not bad going.

So, ya wanna learn Swedish? Then thank your stars for Vera Crogan's "Swedish: A Complete Course for Beginners". This book is custom-made for people just like yourself who have always wanted to learn Swedish, but never quite found the appropriate study guide to use. The book contains 18 lessons, each broken up into 8 parts: a dialogue, the vocabulary to the dialogue, a true or false test, things you need to know about grammar and culture, important words and expressions, language patterns, exercises, and further dialogues testing your comprehension. The book is very easy to get through. You can go at your own pace, and you can also use the book as a grammar reference once you've advanced to a higher level. With this book, you're bound to advance quickly if you're serious about learning Swedish!

I started learning swedish one year ago with this book, and I found it very useful: funny, clear, interesting. It was everytime simple in teaching grammar - not like some others TY's books...- through shorts sections, rich of images - that's markedly useful for a non-english born people as I am - and full of interesting informations about people and everyday life in Sweden. After the eigth chapter I took a trip to Stockholm, and I could cope with many situations; after finishing the course, I could get started in reading swedish books - with a good dictionary, however...- and I could came back to Stockholm and speaking to everyone without great problems. Yes, if you can have a teacher, it will work faster and better, of course. But if you can't, as I couldn't, so TY Swedish will be the best way for a beginner. Be aware that swedish pronounce is unique in the world, so the cassette version might be necessary. I checked my pronounce by Garmarna's songs...

Where the Lilies Bloom was a story set in a rural mountain community. Two stars are left out of my rating because I felt it was very shallow at times. Some things struck me as unrealistic. For an example, in the beginning of the book, the protagonist's sister, Devola, was portrayed as a girl with nothing to her. The protagonist, Mary Call, was four years younger than Devola, but Devola was irresponsible and had her head in the clouds. However, at the end of the book, Devola suddenly underwent an immense change, took charge, and became clearheaded.

Despite the book's shortcomings, three stars are merited because I really admired Mary Call's determination and spirit and the way she never gave up. She was not afraid to stand up for herself or for her family. If I had read this book two years ago, I think I would have liked it much more.

I am reading, "Where the lilies bloom" at school, and I think it is one of the best books I have ever read. I have read some reviews by people on here who have read this book also and hated it. I don't see how they could hate it. It's about four really poor children whose father eventually dies, and their mother already dead. They have to struggle to keep their father's death a secret, and stop their dreamy 18 year old sister from marrying a so-called "villain". I think this book is really well written, and I hope others who read it share as much enthusiasm as I do. Thanks!

This is a must read book. Mary Call is a fighter against all odds...against Luther Call, against the state that wants to split up her family, against death, against poverty, against uncertainty. In the long run she learns the beauty of the gentleness of her more "simple minded" sister. This book makes you think about life and death and poverty and innocence and love. It is a wonderful picture of rural Appalachian life and of the struggles of growing up poor anywhere.

For girls, it teaches "can-do" through Mary Call's example of strength against adversity. May also have appeal to people interested in "wildcrafting" (herbs, roots).