....This set of audio tapes was a disappointment to me. I had wanted a set of bird songs to accompany my new Peterson Eastern Birds field guide, 4th edition.( Previously, I had owned the 2nd edition and its excellent, page-coordinated, accompanying tapes and had used them for years.) I bought this new set of audio tapes blind, so to speak, because they were shrink-wrapped with no real description visible. No one in any of the retail stores I consulted knew anything about them nor was willing to break into the shrink-wrapping.
....Birding by Ear, Eastern/Central is actually a 3-tape short course in identifying bird calls. It is essentially useless for field identification. To make use of this set of tapes, one would have to sit down and listen and listen and listen to interminable commentary by a sonorous male voice introducing bird calls in clusters that are of minimal use because they are grouped by similarity, which often doesn't translate into geography or habitat. The second side of the third tape is a "review" that is actually a test.... one must listen to a series of unidentified songs and try to remember what they are, after having spent the hours required to listen to the other 5 sides of the tapes.
.... The up side of this set of tapes is that the bird song recordings are excellent. They include both the song and the call. (But they are useless in the field in this format.)

If you live in North America east of the Mississipi and want to identify birds by ear, read on...

This audio set is a very well thought out and produced tutorial for introducing beginning "ear" birders to the world of birding by ear. The audio quality is excellent with several renditions of each song and call. The pace is well suited to the target audience - only after repeated listening will you want to skip ahead through sections. The groupings of similar songs seem well designed, and reflect situations in the field that pose problems. Each song is described verbally, with an onomatopoetic description. I wish the CD were coded so that sub-tracks could be accessed directly without the introductory descriptions, but the design of this set isn't as encyclopedia of song, rather as short course in learning how to identify song.

Buy this and the "More birding by ear", listen to them for 10 - 30 minutes a day (great drive time listening), and master the art of birding by ear!

Great learning tool for the novice and a great reminder for the seasoned veteran.

Mr. Revere and I is about Paul Revere told from the perspective of his horse Sherry. Sherry goes through three owners, the last her favorite. She expierences what it is like to be the horse of a Patriot. We enjoyed reading this book because it includes humor, facts, and sometimes even suspense. That is why we recommend this book to other kids.

I teach 8th grade US history and recommend this book to my kids, who range in reading levels. It tells the story of Paul Reevere and the Sons of Liberty from the HORSE'S viewpoint. It is a delightful and very accurate depiction of this most important time in our history. This book can spark the imagination and interest young and old!

I had to read this book for reading in school and I loved'd it. Im in 5th grade and it was still great fun. I am recameding this to you. READ IT. on a 1 to 5 chart, it was a 10. off the charts.

The Tough Winter
By: Lawson, Robert
Reviewed by: D Kim

This story is about a group of animals living near a forest and a lovely house. The rabbit elder, Uncle Analdas predicts that there is a harsh and tough winter coming up. Everyone thinks that he is just getting older, but soon everyone realizes that he is right. They ry to gather materials as soon as they can although it's hard and they know that they might not see spring because they will die of hunger. The main character, a young little rabbit is the grandson of Uncle Analdas. He knows how harsh the winter is and he ponders if he could ever see spring again.
I iked this book because it shows the result of something if you are not ready. "It was a welcome treat, since the last scrap of hay had been consumed that morning for breakfast." " That fire burned up every scrap of food, even most of what we had stored away." Soon eveyone is dying and everyone is skin and bones. All the animals in the hill wished that they had listened to Uncle Analdas. Now Georgie's best friend lives with him beacuse his food store was burned down and he has nowhere to go.
I also disliked this book because it shows how grumpy a person can be. Uncle Analdas was a very old and grumpy rabbit. He aways thought of the negative things and never the positive things. On groundhog day, when the groundhog saw his shadow, the old rabbit got very mad. He stamped on the ground and yelled at it. He stormed back to his home didn't talk to anyone for a while.
My favorite part was when told the young animals a story. He told the story next to the warm soothing fire. He told them of a wonderful land where there was plentiful food and the people were very kind. Everyone, even Uncle Analdas listened in awe. It was like dreamland but father said that it was very far aaway....

When Uncle Analdas, the old, old rabbit, predicted that a tough winter was coming, all the Hill animals said he was just getting old and gloomy. But as usual, Uncle Analdas was right. Thanksgiving brought ice, a major food shortage, and the beginning of a hard season. And then, when the Folks went away to Bluegrasss country for the winter, and left a neglectful caretaker and a mean dog in charge, every dweller on the Hill knew that Uncle Analdas' prophcey was coming true in more than one way! The story of how the various animals survive the winter...is well-written, and compliments Lawson's illustrations well. A great followup to Rabbit Hill, and a good prequel to Edward, Hoppy and Joe :-)

Fans of Robert Lawson's intricate, humorous children's book illustrations (Ferdinand, Adam of the Road) should know that he wrote as well. And boy, could he write! The Tough Winter was first published in the fifties, but it's still fresh as paint. The Hill is a small collection of homesteads in rural Connecticut but through Little Georgie the rabbit's eyes, it's a huge country, with dangerous obstacles (dogs)and delightful neighbors. Lawson fills almost every page with amusing drawings. The plot gets down to business immediately. The text is timeless; we're reading it to both our youngest and our jaded oldest children. It's a great read-aloud book. Fans should keep their eyes open for the other in this series, "Rabbit Hill", equally good.

People have to remember the book was published in 1940. The language and ideas are typical of that era. To say it is racist, or to say that it shouldn't be republished is to deny the nations history. I feel the book is a powerful teaching tool for young people to illustrate how America has changed and how far we have come. People who do not appreciate the book have their eyes shut to history.

A wonderful sketch of the past. Both the drawings and the words bring a glimpse of his forebears. A lovely book.

I was born in '44 and my mother read this book to me time and again while showing me the drawings. I later endeavoured to read it myself. The book is not racist! It is an accurate depiction of the way things were and it tells, and tells well. the stories of the lives of the people in the book. It tells of the warmth of the love they had for each other, but without saying so. It tells of the fineness of character and the nobility of honor that they possessed, but, again, without saying so. It is a book that at age fifty seven I cannot read without weeping nor without feeling intense pride and admiration for all those in the stories. The stories awakened in me a curiosity and reverence for the stories of the lives of my own ancestors.....and I hope it does the same for each of you. What they went through! What suffering and privation! And how well they lived their lives. It is a book to give each of us pause to think and consider and reflect on the entire business of living our lives and on what standards of life and morals and principles we should chose to live by. But, simply put, it is a book of stories about ancestors and stories of what they did and stories of how they lived their lives and who they knew and how those they knew lived too. And from those simple stories may be learned the most important lessons in life. Thank you and I hope you come to love They Were Strong and Good as I do. It may be sold as a "children's" book but it should be in the library, and in the heart, of every adult.

I first read this book when I was about seven years old (longer ago than I care to remember). I just re-discovered it while rambling through the children's section of the library. Robert Lawson's love of animals and the outdoors is evident in not only his story, but in his illustrations. The characters truly "come to life". In all of Mr. Lawson's books, he was able to bring life and color to the animals who are frequently the focus and narrators of his tales. If you enjoyed this book, its sequel "The Tough Winter" is also worth a look as well. I can't wait to read "Rabbit Hill" to my nephew - I know he'll love it! Great CLASSIC children's book!

Rabbit Hill is a fiction book about a family of many rabbits and their animal friends. The rabbit's names are Little Georgie, Mama, Papa, and Little Georgie's little brothers and sisters. Unfortunatly the rabbits and the other animals live in the backyard of people who are not kind to animals. The people put guns and gases down the animal's dens. Finally, the word is spread that new folks are coming. Every animal is happy except Mama, who is still nervous. To find out if Mama ever does trust the new folks, and if the new folks are nice to all the animals, you should read the book.

Lawson gives the animals personalitys, which reflect human traits. Rabbit Hill is filled with many adventures and some great subtle morals for kids. Recommended for kids from 8 to 14, adults will enjoy it too. The illustrations are supurb. When new folks move in, the animals all wonder how they will be treated by the new tennants. Disaster and tradgedy strike, but with help of the new folks, the ending will bring a tear to your eyes. I first read this book as a child, and have ordered it for my children and grand children.

This CD lives up to the high quality standards of the Peterson Field Guide series and is a marvelous introduction to bird songs. I have taught ornithology courses for a number of years and this is the CD I recommend to my students.

To anyone just discovering the joys of birding, visual identification of birds can be overwhelming with over 650 species found in North America alone. If visual identification is difficult, audio identification can be nearly impossible.

BACKYARD BIRD SONG comes to the rescue by focusing the listener's attention on 28 of the most common backyard birds. Learning these songs and calls will boost your confidence and enable you to identify nearly all of the birds you hear on a daily basis. The recordings are grouped into categories of similar sounds such as "sing-songers" and "whistlers." This clustering facilitates comparisons of potentially confusing bird vocalizations.

The CD's one down side is that you cannot go directly to the song of a given bird. You are limited to selecting a song grouping and then waiting for the desired bird.

I own this book and have read it a few times and each time I am impressed by the clarity with which it is written. It explains the concepts of relativity in words. It avoids (technical) calculations and formulas, not for the usual 'commercial' reasons, but because the author shows he can do without. And ask yourself: how many authors are capable of doing that?

The strength of the book is its compactness: the author forces you to think things through, before moving on to the next chapter. I think this little book is great to own next to a more advanced textbook because it really adds value, for a small price.

Buy this book for its content only: it contains no fancy graphics or other 'eye catchers'.

This is a great book which details the struggle that non-profit groups, individuals and countries undertook in order to ban landmines.

While it tells the story of the International Campaign To Ban Landmines who won a Nobel prize for their work, this book also chronicles the stories of other such as the landmines survivors whose needs were almost ignored by those trying to help them.

The other thing about this book that's interesting is that you can see the techniques these people used to pass a humanitarian law on the international level.

All in all a good read.

This was a book that really built my love of America and my love of history when I was a child. As I got older, I became disillusioned by some of the phrases -- Give me liberty or give me death? I don't think so. My country right or wrong? uh-huh. Remember the Maine? Thanks Hearst. Still, it gave me a context for further development and Lawson's words and illustrations have stuck with me for 40 years. I think it's a valuable book and I'm really glad I was able to find a copy for my kids.

I bought this book for my daughter. I read it first. It is a good introduction for children to medieval English life, somewhat unrealistic in spots, but nonetheless nicely written. It is just a simple story about a boy, whose faithful dog is stolen, and in his search for the dog, his father Roger the Minstrel loses him. Adam's adventures and misadventures help him learn courage, self-reliance, gratitude,as well as generosity. He learns the value of work, perserverance and friendship. It is a little slow in places, but the story is more about a boy growing up than it is about a boy looking for his dog. The illustrations by Robert Lawson are beautiful and really capture the spirit of the book. In general it's a very good book.

So many of today's children know little of true hardship and deprivation. It's good to let them read about what life was like when one traveled on horseback or on foot rather than by wagon or car, when one used candles rather than electric lights, and when one was warmed by a campfire or fire in a hearth rather than by central heat. The detail provided in "Adam of the Road" about the way that young Adam supported himself on a daily basis makes history come alive for the reader. Adam's existence was hand-to-mouth, gritty, and portrayed quite realistically.

SYNOPSIS: Adam Quartermayne, a minstrel's son, travels all over southern England from June, 1294 to April, 1295, first accompanying his father, Roger, and then in search of his dog Nick--and then in search of his father. In the process Adam grows up and becomes more resourceful and self-reliant. Both Roger and his son are honest and believe in working to earn their keep. Adam learns the hard way that most others of the traveling-minstrel profession are unscrupulous. A minstrel named Jankin gambles with Roger and wins Bayard, a retired workhorse, from Roger. When Jankin abuses the animal and makes it lame, he steals Adam's beloved red spaniel for the dog's companionship and for the tricks the dog can perform.

IMPRESSIONS: "Adam of the Road" can certainly serve to teach many positive messages to young readers. Adam's perseverence in the face of discouragement, his courage and positive attitude in the face of failure and disappointment, and his ability to adapt to change are wonderful values that it's important for children to learn to recognize and incorporate into their own characters.

If you like action, drama and romance (well not much romance) then you will like "Adam of the Road." The story begins at St.Albans abbey in the June of 1294. When Adam Quartermayne, the son of Roger, the minstrel of Lord De Lisle, gets picks him up at the abbey by his father the adventure begins. Adam's father loses their horse, Bayard, to another minstrel Jankin. Jankin rides Bayard so hard that Bayard becomes lame and Jankin does not want Bayard anymore. In the middle of the night, Jankin steals Nick, Adam's cocker spaniel, and heads out before Adam awakes. Then the case begins taking Adam all over England. I won't tell you anymore about the book other than it is a great book and you should read it!!!!