Jill Krementz is a premier photographer and her series of "A Very Young..." books show off her beautiful style. This book about a real young equestrian is beautifully photographed in black and white and wonderfully written. The text is written in the voice of the young girl of the photos as it follows her through a horse show season. The text is simple but not sappy. This is a very appropriate book for ages 5 to 10 and will be a treasured addition to any young person's library. I treasure my "Very Young" books even now in adulthood.

This is one of the first books I can remember buying as a young girl. I am now 28 years old, and the book is still on my shelf. I will keep it forever, and hopefully pass it on to another young horse lover someday. It is beautifully illustrated and well written. I only wish for a sequel or more information about Vivi or her family and their love of riding.

As a young horse owner and rider myself - I absolutely adored this book as a young girl. So much so that I actually wrote to Vivi Malloy (how I figured out where to send the letter I can't remember!!) and was THRILLED when she wrote back! I still have my book and cannot wait to pass it along to my baby girl when she is older.

All of the Very Young books are the best - it's a shame they are out of print. I'm so glad that I still have 3 of them!

I am very partial to this book because it was one of my favorites when I was a little girl. I do believe this book is an absolute must-have for any young girl who takes part in the performing arts, particularly ballet. A VERY YOUNG DANCER is about a beautiful little girl named Stephanie who is a student at the prestigious American School of Ballet. We see her learning technique with her fellow students under the direction of David Howard. Eventually, we see her live the dream of many little would-ballerinas as Stephanie is chosen for the part of Mary (or Clara in many versions) in the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. I think the most important aspect of this book is the message--hard work, determination, and a good attitude are essential for making dreams come true.

I received this book as a Christmas gift around 1980, I believe. I cannot tell you how much this book meant to me as a girl. I must have read it about 200 times. My mother recently moved and was going through all our childhood things and found the book packed away. She gave it to me. I was so delighted because I thought I'd lost the book years ago. I sat down immediately and read it again. And yep...its still as good as it ever was.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. A Very Young Dancer was one of her picks.

This is a story of a girl, Stephanie, who has the starring girl's role in The Nutcracker at age 10. The book is full of wonderful photographs that show ballet as it is experienced by the dancers. The story is written as though by Stephanie, so you see the world from her perspective.

My daughter loved this story so much, that she would beg me to keep reading. I would keep going until my voice was so hoarse I could not continue. And I loved the story, too.

Almost all little girls become interested in ballet at some point. This book is a wonderful way to encourage and expand on that interest while your child is too young to actually begin training. The material in this book can help sustain an interest in ballet later on, either as a dancer or as a fan. It will certainly encourage everyone who reads it to see The Nutcracker performed again this holiday season.

Although the story is focused on Stephanie, she also dances with eleven year old Stephen in The Nutcracker. Other male figures include Shaun O'Brien who plays Drosselmeyer and Stephanie's teacher, David Richardson. So boys who are interested in ballet will also find role models here.

Overcome your misconceptions that being a child star is bad for children with this heart-warming book about learning, growing up, beauty, and sharing with others.

This is a wonderful book about gymnastics. It has lots of pictures. It's about a 10 year old gymnast who has aspirations to be in the olympics. It shows how she trains. The pictures are in black & white. Not only does it contains pictures of her, but also other gymnasts are here also. Nadia, Bart Conner & Kurt Thomas and more.

First published in 1978, it's a little dated-but it shows gymnastics as it once was. Very nice!

I got this book when I was 10 years old. Every once in a while I take it out again and look at it. While it may be "dated" in some sense such as going to see Nadia and Olga, and the equipment - note the WOODEN Balance Beam! :) It is still a good narrative of what a gymnast goes through. The fact that younger gymnasts may not know who Nadia and Olga are is quite amazing and perhaps this is a good read for those tikes who think that gymnastics started with Shannon Miller! :) A great read for older gymnasts looking back on the "good old days" and young gymnasts who never knew that there was anything but spring floors and padded beams.

Jill Krementz' "A Very Young Gymnast" is one of the best of her "Very Young" books. It follows a real young girl through her training schedule and to an international gymnast demonstration. The spunky young gymnast is beautifully photographed in black and white and the text is written in her voice. It is in simple but not condescending language and so this book will be treasured for years to come. It is especially geared toward the 5 to 10 year old range but will be treasured into adulthood. I highly recommend this for any young person but specifically for the aspiring gymnast.

Krementz beautifully captures the spirit of all her subjects. My faves, Ricky Jay and David Mamet. These portraits are wonderful in that they are not "studio," but the writers in their own element. Natural light is preferred to flash, and one gets a good sense of the variants of Jewishness inherent in the writers. Also importantly, Krementz does not include or exclude based on politics: Liberals and conservatives alike are in this book. Refreshing, in this PC age.

Once more Jill Krementz does not disappoint! Like her book THE WRITERS DESK, THE JEWISH WRITER is a wonderful collection of Krementz's mesmerizing photographs each a story unto itself. A volume to return to again and again to delight in the images of E.L. Doctrow, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Grace Paley, et al! A treasure trove for lovers of literature ...a wonderful reference in addition to a visual delight! If you are like me and passionate about books and reading this is a must-have addition to your library.

My late grandparents gave me this book, brand new, in 1979. I was 8 years old and was involved in skating, too! I read it constantly back then. I came across it again two days ago, 23 years later. The book is about a 10 year old skater named Katherine Healy from Brooklyn Heights. At 10, she has already been very successful as a figure and free skater. She talks about her day-to-day experiences, from how her school schedule is rearranged to accomodate her skating schedule and how skating takes up a significant amount of time in her life. She talks about ice shows, exhibitions, ballet classes to help skating, costuming, testing, and especially, skating for fun! She is very ambitious but clearly loves skating and she has a wonderful and loving family who supports her. Her father is a lawyer and she is an only child - her mother devotes a lot of time to Katherine's skating career as well, which is important to note! :) The pictures are beautiful and the story is told to a child from a child which is great. I'm 32 and I liked reading it again. If there were any drawbacks, it would be that Katherine talks about practicing 'school figures' and the difficulty that she sometimes has with them. The reader gets the impression that this is the only part of skating that Katherine doesn't love - practicing school figures. The best part is that figure skating has been revised so that these school figures are no longer a necessary part of advancing through the skating ranks. So many skaters had a negative response to them that they have been eliminated from requirements of testing (I am almost positive about this). Now that I have my own daughter, who is a gymnast, I want to get her the 'Very Young Gymnast' book, which is how I came across this site. I hope she'll treasure it as much as I loved this book 'A very young skater'. It really is a collectible.

Katherine Healy is the young skater in this book written by Jill Krementz. Katherine is ten and already a successful skater. She talks about her skating lessons, her school figure lessons, and her idol, John Curry. The privileged Katherine attends a summer class taught by the wonderful Curry, and is invited by this important personage to be in Superskates, a big skating show held once a year in Madison Square Garden. Follow Katherine as she leads you through her exciting life filled with new skates, pretty dresses, ballet lessons, skating competitions, skating shows, wonderful coaches, and best of all, a loving and supportive family. This book is priceless.

This book gives first person stories about different kids with different disabilites. Each chapter focused on a child with a disability - covering many - blindness, paralysis, even Brittle bone disease. This is a good book for a young person facing a challenge, or for finding out more about how it feels!

As a long-time child therapist I have used many books and other methods to help children cope with this most painful of losses. This book heals young people with its reality, with the variety of experiences and feelings presented, with its loving approach to the feelings they have felt but feared no one else had ever felt. This book is invaluable.

PARENTS ARE UNDER STRESS GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE. THEY USUALLY HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM ( LAWYER, FRIEND, FAMILY, CO-EMPLOYEES] children do not have a support system nor age and wisdom to help them. this book allows parents to step back and objectively hear the childs voice at different ages advise how they felt and what parents can do.

This board book, full of realistic photos of a day in park, was the favorite of my toddler daughter for at least a year! In images that might seem dull to an adult, it charts a trip to the part shared by Lily and her mom, with simple activtites like swings and sandbox to fill Lily's afternoon.

As a Christian who is very curious to learn about Judaism, this book served as a fine introductory lesson. Herman Wouk researched this field exhaustively and relied on the expert knowledge of ordained rabbis on matters of religious law, and I think he tried to avoid overwhelming or intimidating a newcomer to this field of study with excessive details or exposition. In its directness and lucidity it has the same qualities as his other works, and after having read The Winds of War & War and Remembrance twice each, I could not resist the opportunity to delve into this book. As Wouk noted, many top quality writers have almost a conversational style - and he certainly does. Wouk's dry sense of humor is very effective. This is worthwhile not only to read through in a few sittings, but also for reference on specific topics. I also appreciated the author's attempts to explain his methods of transliteration from Hebrew, and suggestions on their English pronounciation.

I hope to use this book in doing further study. Recommended.

A formidable book, written for everyone, from the pious Chassidim who seems to know all about Judaism to the secular Wall Street Jewish Banker who is far from his faith but feels every now and then the sweet but stern internal calling of his demanding heritage

The best chapters,in my opinion, are related to the experiences related to the secular Jewish people when they got involved in the Jewish religious rituals at the synagogue or at home during childhood, "one feels like he is telling ones own experiences when he was a Jewish kid' so unexplained and uneasy situations at that time become hilarious

Generally speaking, Wouk, who is observant, tried to be very open avoiding dogma and intended to convey to the Jewish reader the precious value of his 4000 years heritage and a way to learn how to feel proud about it.

Wouk did not forget the non-Jewish reader either, he wrote this book with simple concepts and language so anyone interested about Judaism can get a good basic introduction through these pages

Herman Wouk blends Jewish history, Jewish practice, and personal experience in a wonderful tour for Judaism, appropriate for nonJews, Jews, and even those who think they know it all.

While his discussions of Shabbat, Hanukah, and other observances are fine reading, Wouk reaches his peak when discussing his own and his family's experiences--his grandfather, whom he obviously admired a great deal, his father, who spent an immense sum of money (for the times) to buy the honor of reading the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur afternoon. Wonderful images of a time in Judaism gone by.

I do not find it limiting that Wouk writes from an Orthodox perspective (he assumes, for example, that only a man would wear a tallit, which is the Orthodox practice, but not the Conservative). Wouk was what he was, and I do not think he should have modified his book to an egalitarian perspective to satisfy the wolves of political correctness.

Well worth an annual read and a place on your shelf.