I remember as a child tryng to dig a hole to the other side of the world. It made me wish that I had read this book as a child. It would have sent my imagination reeling.

This book is highly educational, as well. The child learns about geysers and other things she would encounter while taking on such an endeavor. I was worried that the girl who read this would have a difficult time remembering the elements of the story because it had so many scientific facts in it, but she didn't have a problem at all.

It's a very good book indeed.

This is a short picture book, which is narrated by C3-P0. The pictures are vivid and colorful. Most of them look as if they were taken straight from the Phantom Menace film footage, giving them an 'in the action' feel.

As an added bonus, this book also contains foil stickers of various droids/robots. My son loved pulling them off and sticking them to his clothes and bed posts. Reminds me of when I was four playing with my Star Wars figures and the likes. I will definitely be getting the remainder of the books in this series.

Excellent for kids and parents too!

The topics covered in the book are too varied to adequately cover here. The overarching theme in each chapter, however, is this: Think about the consequences of current penal practices in the US. Moreover, think about all of the potential consequences, not just those readily apparent. For example, one chapter focuses on the denial of welfare benefits to persons convicted of drug offenses. For many former inmates, this means they cannot receive public assistance when released and are attempting to re-establish their lives in the free world. For some, it may mean that they cannot rejoin their families without jeopardizing their families' benefits (especially housing assistance). Regardless of your opinions on welfare and those who ought to be entitled to it, this chapter does make you question whether our national penal policies achieve their goals or do more harm than good. All of the chapters in the book take a similar approach to the topic at hand and stimulate thinking in the same manner.

The worst thing I can say about this book is that some of the chapters focusing on women, especially the one by Chesney-Lind, seem to advocate treating women differently than men. Though it is not explicitly stated in the book, some of the passages regarding women could be interpreted to advocate treating women better than men (i.e. not incarcerating women with children as frequently or for as long as men). If you are a feminist like me, who thinks equal treatment must mean equal treatment, not better treatment, you may struggle with some of what is implied here. That, however, should not deter you from reading it. In fact, it may inspire some much-needed thought and dialogue in this area.

Overall, I recommend this book without reservation. Instructors looking for material for corrections courses this fall should definitely consider this piece. An individual student may not find all of it relevant, but the individual chapters can stand alone to provide a different perspective on many corrections topics. Students studying corrections should also keep this book in mind, both for academic enrichment and for reference on specific topics.

My favorite chapter is by Meda Chesney-Lind, "Imprisoning Women: The Unintended Victims of Mass Imprisonment." As an enormous portion of American society which generally can be considered non-threatening to anyone who is not afraid of being called a heterosexist male chauvinist pig, women have typically conformed to whatever behavior has been most socially acceptable, and the crimes mentioned most often in this book ought to be considered more pathetic than anything else. The factors (I'll stop listing these when I get to the word "random") which seem out of place in any society which would consider itself liberal include the following:

"get tough" sentencing policies (p. 79)

"vengeful equity" (p. 80)

the number of women incarcerated in prisons and jails in the United States is now about ten times greater than the number of women incarcerated in all of Western Europe. (p. 81)

far higher rates of physical and sexual abuse (p. 83)

the criminalization of girls' survival strategies, such as running away from home (p. 84)

working in retail may actually increase their involvement in certain property crimes, much like women's employment in bar and entertainment outlets often increases women's likelihood of getting involved in prostitution and drug abuse. (p. 85)

because they made so little money, 20 percent of the active women dealers reported twenty or more drug deals per day. (pp. 85-86)

women's deteriorating economic conditions (p. 86)

increased penalties (mandatory sentences) for drug offenses (p. 88)

Many women are being returned to prison not for new offenses but for technical parole violations because they fail to pass random drug tests. (p. 90)

My seven-year-old son jumped at this book. I liked that it was pretty easy for him to understand (except that the author repeatedly mentioned "mass" without ever defining the word). The pictures are wonderfully whimsical, while still contributing forcefully to what is being discussed in the text. Overall, I would say that this is a great book for children - funny and informative at the same time.

This book is full of hard science. But it is presented in easy words that a child of 4-8 can understand. The bright illustrations are full of motion and lend understanding and excitement to the subject.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WORLD!!!

`The Klingon Way` is a fascinating look into the heart of the Klingon soul. Set up as a proverb list with relevaent cultural and historical facts surrounding them; this work expounds wisdom and knowledge applicable not only for the attainment of an honorable death but of an honorable life. Although drawing a bit heavily on previously stated maxims, it is still a great work worthy of owning. Having M Dorn and R Dawson, as Lt. Cmdr. Worf and Lt. Torres, respectively, narrating this is just the icing on the cake. Highly recommended