I am a Pre-First Grade teacher. Our district provides a special program for academically bright, yet, developmentally young six year olds. We have been looking for guidance in working with children developing fine and gross motor skills. This book provides step by step directions that require little or no special equipment. The activities are easily adapted to various ages or developmental needs. I am thrilled to have found such an outstanding resource.

This book is a must read for every warmonger and military agressionist.

If you think war is the only way to face dangerous international relations or settle disputes, or if fighting seems normal and desirable to you, you must read this book to get the other perspective.

It'll make you get out of your comfort zone at look at yourself with a longing to be a peacemaker.

A remarkable collection of documents and interpretations giving one an understanding of the revolution from below. By the way, I notice that the original Russian texts of the documents are available at http://www.yale.edu/annals/Steinberg/golosa.htm

Waging Peace in Our Schools is one of the finest books I have to refer people to. Whether they be students, teachers, directors/administrators, or parents. This exquisite volume by Linda Lantieri and Janet Patti includes experiential work behind creating a peacable climate at school, and cogent observations within the context of our society and the process of education. Outstanding as a reference for those working in Equity relations, peer relations, parenting adolescents, non-violence work, et al. I first encountered this volume as an Early Childhood Educator working with Preschool teachers, and found it to be a well met friend in that arena as well. If you are concerned about the plight of violence in our schools, and would like to know what you can do to help; this is also an exquisite primer.

Fabulous! This book is highly informative yet easy to read and understand. It meaningfully chronicles all the stages of a woman's life with both personal accounts and an abundance of up to date clinical information. If you're a woman you should definitely read this book, then pass it on to your daughters, sisters, mothers, any woman you care about.

In this updated edition of the 1986 work we are provided a unique handbook of how to invoke the divine feminine as identified with wisdom. It combines the theory and practice of the celebration of Sophia - whose name literally means "wisdom" - in one useful and handy volume. In this new edition of Wisdom's Feast, the authors combine exercises, liturgies, sermons, study guides, prayers and meditations to create the first book to guide book of rituals for experiencing Sophia in worshipful setting.The work has been popular with women's circle worship and among congregations who wish to extend their worship in gender inclusive ways. Highly recommended for Christians who feel some trepidation toward invoking the feminine divine because of its strong biblical basis and for anyone who wants more than a superficial orientation toward enriching their ceremonial life. Susan Cole, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig developed study and celebration of Sophia after years of research and implementation in women's groups. Cole and Taussig are Methodist ministers; Ronan is an author in the field of image-building. Wisdom's Feast is a comprehensive work with much practical information that includes: An introduction to Sophia. Activities for women's groups, churches and academic settings. Exercises on the most prominent Sophia themes in the Bible. Meditations and sermons. A comparative study of the biblical Sophia and other goddess figures. Studies of Sophia as mother, creator, wisdom and teacher.

This book was so moving. I was literally crying at the end of this book. Rebecca did not deserve all the suffering she went through. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Morman religion and how it all got started. This book made me cry when I learned how Morman husbands treat their many wives, and the things they think they have to do to EARN Heaven.

This was the very first book on Zen I ever read, back in 1985. Since then I have realized that it is a bit preachy and kind of limited, but it still has real depth. Over the years I probably read it 5 times. It is the kind of disjointed story about Marian Mountain's discovery of Zen. I since learned that she was really Marian Derby (she got a divorce which may explain the name change, I don't know) who was an early student of Suzuki Roshi in San Fran in the 1960s. The book also throws in lots of anecdotes about the ancient Masters, too.

I treasure my old worn, yellowed copy. Despite the limitations of language and style, the truth of Zen shines through and can still inform new readers.

P.S. You can buy used copies in various places, including 21northmain.com.

I read this story a couple of days after I read Watermelon (also by Marian Keyes) and I liked it even better. Rachel's Holiday is a perfect choice if you are looking for some quality light reading. Keyes still uses the same technique as in Watermelon, where Rachel talks directly to us and therefor is our only source of information about herself in the first half of the book. Later we get some more information about her trough the metings with others. It is written in the same chatty, humorous tone that makes all of Keyes' novels such a pleasure to read, but this story is a little different and a little more daring.

When we first meet her, she is about to be admitted to the Cloisters, a Irish sort of Betty Ford Clinic. She is in denial. Anyone who has had personal experience with addicts (of one kind or another) will recognize how they may fool you (and sometimes themselves). In the first part of the book, she seems pretty shallow and definitely a bit dense, but she grows as a person through her therapy and her friendships with other recovering addicts. Rachel has not really got a clue about who she is in the beginning and why she is becoming an addict. She develops as a person in and trough the story and grows to become something more than a cartoon figure or a heroine of a cheap weekly magazine story. Keyes has written this story with much fine humor and I laughed out loud many times to the great fun of those who were around me.

Two warnings: Highbrows who do not enjoy light reading should stay away from this book and secondly if you do not like happy endings of any kind, please also stay away from this book.

I picked up this book to read only knowing that is was supposed to be similar to Bridget Jones's Diary. As I read it, I realized that the two books really didn't have much in common, but this book was amazing in its own right.

Rachel's "holiday" is actually a 2-month stay in drug rehab. I really liked the way we only saw her life through Rachel's eyes, until slowly she came to the realization that she did have a problem. Drug addiction is something that so many people can relate to...whether you've been through it yourself or know someone who has. Keyes tackles this issue with wit and sympathy. I felt so sorry for Rachel during her denial and so happy as she began to see herself the way her loved ones did.

Despite its heavy subject, this book is still a light summer beach read. Almost every page contains a laughable scene, and there is an element of romance woven throughout the story. I highly recommend this book, and Keyes's companion piece "Watermelon", whose main subject is Rachel's sister Clare.

Rachel's Holiday is Marian Keyes second vist to the Walsh family in Ireland. This book centres around the middle sister Rachel, who has been living the fast life in New York and accidently overdoses one night. Whilst in her drug hazed state, she decides to practice her poetry, which is mistaken for a suicide note (such is her talent.) She then awakes in hospital and is promtly whisked home to her mammy who takes her straight to Cloisters, the local 'mentallers' dry out clinic.

There begins an extremely funny, insightful, and often touching story of Rachel and her road to recovery. She is convinced that she doesn't belong in Cloisters (her near suicide wasn't INTENTIONAL) and that she will leave the second that she is free to go. As long as she has never beat a family member about the head with a broken bottle or shot up heroin (smoking it is an entirely different matter) she believes that she is world's apart from her fellow in-mates. However, many revelations are in store for Rachel, and her life could change in way she has never imagined. That is, if she allows herself to admit that musical chairs with a few brown cardigan wearers CAN be fun (ish), even without the use of a narcotic of two. Rachel's Holiday is a fantastic read, that is both highly entertaining and extremely thought-provoking. Get it if you can..

Watermelon was a fun book to read -- I finished it in a day. But after reading Keyes's Lucy Sullivan, I was disappointed in Watermelon. Although both books had many of the same elements, I had a hard time relating to Watermelon's Claire. Claire's husband tells her that he is leaving her while she is in the hospital, having just delivered their first child. Claire flies home to her parents and sisters with her new baby and begins to heal. Only Marian Keyes can make a plot like this with laugh out loud humor. This is a book about heartbreak, survival and the importance of loving and supportive family.

I really can't add anything to the rest of the reviews, but I have to add my praise. When you consider that this was Marian Keyes' first novel, it's all the more astounding. Funny, poignant, sexy ' it has it all. Claire is a likeable heroine ' she's not perfect, but she's not a real pain that you have to struggle to like (as is her little sister Rachel in the equally wonderful 'Rachel's Holiday'). Claire stumbles around (and who wouldn't in her place?) but ultimately learns how to deal with life on her own (with her beautiful baby, despite what horrible sister Helen says!) The only marks of 'first novel' are the men ' James turns out to be a horrid, pathetic person and we don't really get any insight early on to this. Adam is a bit too, too, too good to be true ' but that's OK. Keyes' paints a more rounded picture of Claire, her sisters, and her mother. (In 'Lucy Sullivan' and 'Rachel's Holiday' Keyes manages to round out all of her characters better, but the humor and 'romance' gets darker than it is in 'Watermelon'). All in all, Keyes turns out magnificent books ' full of humor, quirky characters, and lessons about life. I highly recommend this book as a starting place ' but don't stop here! I can hardly wait to read Last Chance Saloon.

Having already read LAST CHANCE SALOON and LUCY SULLIVAN IS GETTING MARRIED, I continue to be thrilled at the biting edge of dark humor Marian Keyes brings to chick lit. She lifts these books up from a banal girl-looking-for-guy novel and gives then something more, namely unforgettable characters the reader truly comes to care about.

Who could be more vulnerable than Claire whose husband James tells her on the day she gives birth to their first-born that he is leaving her for another woman in their apartment building? Thus begins Claire's often sad, often comical, but always interesting saga. She grabs her newborn and flies from London to the safe harbor of her parents home in Dublin. There we meet her hilarious mother and father as well as two of her four sisters: the self-involved Helen and the lovably flakey Anna. (Guess Rachel was busy starring in RACHEL'S HOLDIAY and MAGGIE was caught up in her story as told in ANGELS.) The Walsh family is not a model family, but it is one that you'll love being a part of --- the fights, the squabbles, the sisterly ritual of stealing clothes from one another, the tension amidst the camaraderie, the freezer with frozen food and the mother's aversion to home-cooked meals---all make Claire's stay less than peaceful.

Will she ever come to terms with what has happened to her? Can she pull herself up from her quagmire of despair over losing James? Can she be a fit and loving mother to Kate? Will she stop toying with the idea of stealing her sister's boyfriend and just go ahead and do it? Will Claire come to her senses and tell James off for good or will she go back to him?

Claire will steal your heart as her easy, conversational tone speaks to you just as she would to her best friend, in a breezy, self-deprecating style that keeps you eagerly turning the pages.