My just 2 year old loves this book! It is easy for him to carry while he is on the go - and it goes everywhere!! He loves trucks and this is great for him!

I purchased this book for our 2 year old, thinking he would enjoy it in a year or so. To my surprise, he loves it now! Be prepared to read this book numerous times at each sitting, and to make enthusiastic machine sounds!

We had to purchase another copy because our 2 1/2 year old son has read and played with the first copy so much he has destroyed it. Yet it is still his favorite. It is a great book for little boys. The pictures are terrific. He now knows his construction equipment when we are out and about.

Este livro é uma magnífica recompilação de estudos de René Guénon sobre simbolismo, realizada com extrema dedicação por seu seguidor Michel Vâlsan, publicada originalmente em 1962, pela Gallimard, na França. - Mas, afinal, o que é um símbolo ? - Segundo a tradição, os símbolos fazem a intermediação entre o mundo espiritual e o mundo manifestado, onde nos encontramos presentemente. Pode-se depreender, por isso, a importância verdadeiramente transcendental que os símbolos representam para todas as formas tradicionais sem exceção, desde o Hinduísmo até o Islã, passando pelo Budismo, Taoísmo, Judaísmo, Cristianismo e todas as demais doutrinas autênticas. É importante assinalar que a obra não se destina exclusivamente a estudiosos ou acadêmicos, mas a todos que tenham interesse sobre o assunto. Guénon demonstra grande domínio e maestria, sem ser obscuro ou impenetrável, muito pelo contrário. Ao todo, são nada menos que 75 estudos/capítulos distribuídos em 8 partes/temas, abrangendo um amplo leque que contempla vários aspectos tradicionais de praticamente todas as religiões e doutrinas hoje existentes. René Guénon nos fala dos símbolos de "Centro e do Mundo", nas tradições antigas ( como os Druídas, por exemplo ), dedicando a este tema 10 estudos, entre eles, "As flores simbólicas", "Os Guardiães da Terra Santa", "O Zodíaco e os pontos cardeais", e "A letra G e a swastika". Outro tema geral abordado é o "Simbolismo Construtivo", com 11 estudos específicos, entre eles "Lapsit exillis", "Pedra negra e pedra cúbica", "Pedra bruta e pedra talhada", "O domo e a roda", "A porta estreita" e outros. Sobre o simbolismo axial, temos "A árvore do mundo", "O simbolismo da escada, " A passagem das águas", "Laços e nós"; sobre o simbolismo do coração, temos "O coração e o cérebro", "O olho que tudo vê" e outros. O Instituto René Guénon de Estudos Tradicionais há vários anos vem lecionando sobre temas tradicionais, e seu curso básico "Olhar Oriental", assim como os demais, são inteiramente fundamentados sobre a obra magistral de René Guénon. "Símbolos Fundamentais da Ciência Sagrada" é um livro importantíssimo e indispensável a quem tem verdadeiro interesse pelo assunto, de importância capital para todas as religiões e doutrinas. LUIZ PONUAL IRGET

This book is a magnificent recompilation of studies of René Guénon about symbolism, accomplished with extreme dedication by his follower Michel Vâlsan, published originally in 1962, by Gallimard, in France. - But, actually, what is a symbol? - According to the tradition, the symbols make the intermediation between the spiritual world and the manifested world, where we are at present. It can be inferred then the transcendental role that the symbols represent for all the traditional forms without exception, from the Hinduism to Islam, including the Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and all the other authentic doctrines. It is important to mark that the work is not destined exclusively to studious or academics, but to all that have interest on the subject. Guénon demonstrates great domain and mastery, without being obscure or impenetrable. These are nothing less than 75 chapters distributed in 8 thematic parts, embracing a wide approach that contemplates several traditional aspects of practically all the religions and doctrines today existent. René Guénon in tells us of the symbols of " The Center and of the World ", in the ancient traditions (like Druids, for instance), dedicating to this theme 10 studies, among them, "The symbolic flowers", "The Guardians of the Holy Land", "The Zodiac and the cardinal points", and "The letter G and the swastika". Another general theme is the construtive symbolism, with 11 specific studies, among them "Lapsit exillis", "Black Stone and cubic stone", "The dome and the wheel", "The narrow door". About the axial symbolism, we have "The tree of the world", "The symbolism of the stairway", "The passage of the waters"; about the symbolism of the heart, we have "The heart and the brain", "The eye that sees everything" and much more. "Fundamental Symbols: the Universal Language of Sacred Science" is a very important and indispensable book to anyone who has true interest for this subject, of capital importance for all the religions and doctrines. Luiz Pontual IRGET

Este livro é uma magnífica recompilação de estudos de René Guénon sobre simbolismo, realizada com extrema dedicação por seu seguidor Michel Vâlsan, publicada originalmente em 1962, pela Gallimard, na França. - Mas, afinal, o que é um símbolo ? - Segundo a tradição, os símbolos fazem a intermediação entre o mundo espiritual e o mundo manifestado, onde nos encontramos presentemente. Pode-se depreender, por isso, a importância verdadeiramente transcendental que os símbolos representam para todas as formas tradicionais sem exceção, desde o Hinduísmo até o Islã, passando pelo Budismo, Taoísmo, Judaísmo, Cristianismo e todas as demais doutrinas autênticas. É importante assinalar que a obra não se destina exclusivamente a estudiosos ou acadêmicos, mas a todos que tenham interesse sobre o assunto. Guénon demonstra grande domínio e maestria, sem ser obscuro ou impenetrável, muito pelo contrário. Ao todo, são nada menos que 75 estudos/capítulos distribuídos em 8 partes/temas, abrangendo um amplo leque que contempla vários aspectos tradicionais de praticamente todas as religiões e doutrinas hoje existentes. René Guénon nos fala dos símbolos de "Centro e do Mundo", nas tradições antigas ( como os Druídas, por exemplo ), dedicando a este tema 10 estudos, entre eles, "As flores simbólicas", "Os Guardiães da Terra Santa", "O Zodíaco e os pontos cardeais", e "A letra G e a swastika". Outro tema geral abordado é o "Simbolismo Construtivo", com 11 estudos específicos, entre eles "Lapsit exillis", "Pedra negra e pedra cúbica", "Pedra bruta e pedra talhada", "O domo e a roda", "A porta estreita" e outros. Sobre o simbolismo axial, temos "A árvore do mundo", "O simbolismo da escada, " A passagem das águas", "Laços e nós"; sobre o simbolismo do coração, temos "O coração e o cérebro", "O olho que tudo vê" e outros. O Instituto René Guénon de Estudos Tradicionais há vários anos vem lecionando sobre temas tradicionais, e seu curso básico "Olhar Oriental", assim como os demais, são inteiramente fundamentados sobre a obra magistral de René Guénon. "Símbolos Fundamentais da Ciência Sagrada" é um livro importantíssimo e indispensável a quem tem verdadeiro interesse pelo assunto, de importância capital para todas as religiões e doutrinas.

LUIZ PONUAL IRGET

Minnie Vautrin was a lady with compassion. She devoted her life in bringing education to Chinese women and girls in 1920s to 30s. She was well remembered not only by the people of Nanking but also by all Chinese people. During the Rape of Nanking committed by the invading of Japansese military in 1937, she personally protected over ten thousand women and girls in her campus. This book showed her courage. It was a remarkable story of the female over the male, the weak over the strong, the peace over violence. However, over the past sixty years, not many Americans know of this woman of humanity. Last year, I had the good fortune to attend her memorial at Shephard, Michigan with a small group of friends and her relatives. I delivered a brief paper on behalf of the citizens of Nanking for their respect and love to her. Dr Bates, another international team members son of 1937 delivered the grave site prayer.
As Americans, you should not miss this woman of the greatest generation. In December 13 2002, a statue will be set up in Naking to honor this American to China.

I first heard of the Rape of Nanking back in the year 1998 when I came across Iris Chang's _Rape of Nanking_ Since then I have read every book that I came across on the subject. Dr. Hu's book tells us of Minnie Vautrin an extraordinary woman who spent most of her life in China trying to help the Chinese people through education in religion. The book goes on to tell how Miss Vautrin risked her life day after day protecting thousands of Chinese women who seeked sanctuary at Miss Vautrin's college, Ginling.
Dr. Hu does a wonderful job giving the reader a backdrop of information, so the reader knows Japan and China's relationship with each other and the circumstances that led up to the Rape of Nanking. Dr. Hu also gives very detailed information in a short section about the history of American missionaries going to China. Wonderful book and an extraordinary woman.

Author Hua-ling Hu presents the deeply moving biography of an American educator/missionary who remained in Nanking to help thousands of women and children facing death. I could not set down the book until I finished it, then I started again in order to gain a keen appreciation for the thorough historical scholarship using sources that have not been available until Hu brought them to our eyes. This book should be read by historians, by missionaries, by anyone interested in fascinating biographies -- it is a compelling story with exceptional historical scholarship as the backdrop.

The Old Master who collected Chinese wisdom in Tao Te Ching some 2,500 years ago wrote pithily:
"The sage never has a mind of his own;
He considers the minds of the common people to be his mind."

Today, he would not change a word for the sage: the sheng-jen in Beijing. True, modern China, a colossus of 1.2 billion people, is fronted by Shanghai and other booming, skyscrapered, fiber-opticked, globally connected metropolises. But beyond the urban fronts, reality is 900 million peasants--75% of the total population--living a rural, feudal life with Marxist trappings. What gives the Beijing mandarin insomnia is not rhetorical exchanges with America like we saw earlier in 2001. No, it's much more the primal fear bad weather and bad crops might visit hunger upon the 900 million--if the peasants go hungry, the government goes down and chaos surely follows. Chaos, for the Chinese mind, being anathema (off the Tao, hindering wu-wei).

The Rice-Sprout Song by Eileen Chang (1920-95), first published in 1955, deftly evokes rural Chinese life in the early days of the Maoist Revolution. Though well known to Chinese readers everywhere, Chang's work has only recently been in print again for English readers. In 1998, three years after her death, the University of California reissued this novel and a companion work, The Rouge of the North.

Chang, a giant in Chinese literature, wrote and lived a self-proclaimed aesthetic of desolation, especially after immigrating to the United States in the mid-Fifties. A Garbo-esque recluse, Chang was found dead in a barren Hollywood, California, studio apartment. Her will asked that her body be "cremated instantly, the ashes scattered in any desolate spot, over a fairly wide area, if on land." If Chang, as she said, was haunted by thoughts of desolation, then The Rice-Sprout Song shows a corollary to her artistic hunger: Her writing transcends any simple, obvious political interpretation of her material. Neither pro-Mao nor anti-Mao, but a literary meditation on peasant lives caught up in the ironies of political will and human need when hunger stalks the countryside.

The Rice-Sprout Song gets underway with a common family event: a wedding. Gold Flower of T'an Village will marry Plenty Own Chou of neighboring Chou Village. This might not be a joyous occasion for Chang begins to summon the isolation and loneliness of village life: "Sunlight lay across the street like an old yellow dog, barring the way. The sun had grown old here." Yes, even that universal restorer of the spirit--the sun--can be menacing. That all is not right when the festive wedding occasion arrives is shown by note of the "inferior food" that of necessity is served. Big Uncle complains that he cannot see the rice in his bowl of watery gruel. This jho mush--anything but solid rice--becomes one thematic particular for hunger that haunts this novel.

If Chang were less an artist, the reader's easy-to-hate nemesis would be Comrade Wong, the kan pu of T'an Village, the local representative of the Party. For it is Comrade Wong's unenviable task to carry out a political action showing support for the People's Liberation Army in their fight on the Korean front: a gift the peasants cannot afford: half a pig and forty catties of rice cakes from each family. But before this leads to the tragic end to The Rice-Sprout Song, we follow, in flashback, Wong as he finds the love of his life, Shah Ming. He loses her in the vagaries of fighting for the PLA. When at last he sees her again, she waves from a window in the facade of a collapsed building on the battlefield. Inside the building, Wong sees only rubble and overhead, at the window, nothing. He knows his hallucination proved Shah Ming was saying good-bye from beyond. For Comrade Wong, fate gave him nothing but the Party.

We also see dramatic irony when Comrade Ku, the city intellectual, comes to live in T'an Village, to learn the ways of the peasants. His goal of a movie script about village life suffers from writer's block; he habitually sneaks off to another town to buy food to eat on the sly. And when Big Aunt, who spouts Communist rhetoric that is appallingly upbeat, breaks down in a fit of anger. She says they are all empty-bellied and she doesn't care if she is reported. And when Moon Scent, the wife of Gold Root, returns from working three years as a maid in Shanghai. A force to be reckoned with, Moon Scent, in an act of righteous anger, gives this tragedy its capstone.

Essential reading that shares the texture, the heritage, and the yearnings of nearly a billion of our fellow earthlings, search out this reissue of The Rice-Sprout Song. As one t'ai chi ch'uan teacher said, "Perfect doesn't exist. Near-perfect does." The Rice-Sprout Song is a "near-perfect" evocation of the common people in the timeless Middle Kingdom.

I am like The Rice Sprout Song.Eileen chang is the greatest writer of China.

Rice Sprout Song is possibly the best work of literature I have ever read. It was first recommended to me as descriptive of the collectivization era shortly after the 1949 Revolution in China, a classic tale between the state and the individual. It is a spellbinding, troubling work, and is almost impossible to believe that it was Eileen Chang's first work in English. The language she uses is sparse, beautiful and conveys greatest impact after the last page is read, and the cover closed. It is more than an interesting story about conflict between the state and the individual. It is an unsettling story of physical starvation and the death of hope and love.

Eileen Chang has created a vivid and poignant portrait of a young who is trapped in a traditional, patriachal system. Yindi, a lower-class girl, is forced into an unhappy marriage. Her husband is ineffectual and somewhat infantile. Blind and addicted to opium, he can not defend Yindi and himself. Yindi's mother-in-law, Old Mistress, is also a victim of the system herself. She turns her power onto everyone in the house. In reality, after her death, none of her sons gets a dime. In the end, Yindi mistakens her madness as her power. Her insanity escalates as China goes through drastic changes. Chang's prose is captivating; it keeps spinning the fascinating, complex of Yindi. The descriptions are vividly drawn. Chang wrote this novel in English (no translation).

In Ding Ling's "Miss Sophia's Diary," in the entry of March 28, the main character, Sophia, makes an honest assessment of her life as a woman: "....why I've felt such bitter despair for so long. Only I know how many tears I've shed....Rather than calling this diary a record of my life, it's more accurate to regard it as the sum of all my tears." In a way, Eileen(Ai-Ling)Chang's Rouge of the North is the sum of Yindi's tears. From a lower class, Yindi is fated to be doomed in a patriarchal system. As a woman, she does not have much choice in deciding whom she's going to marry. Her only shred of freedom is shown when she fantasizes about marrying Young Liu. However, she knows, for more practical reasons, that marrying Young Liu is out of the question. He is poor and unassertive. Her brother and sister-in-law quickly arrange her marriage with a richer family. Little does she know, her new husband is blind and somewhat an invalid, who lies in bed and gets high on opium. The second part, a big bulk of it, devotes to Yindi's life at the Yao's residence. At her new husband's residence, Yindi has to deal with her controlling mother-in-law, Big Mistress, who, after the death of her husband, practically takes over the household. Furthermore, Yindi is more like a babysitter to her husband than she is a wife to him. He refuses to talk about their future or where they're standing as far as family inheritance is concerned. Along with a demanding mother-in-law, Yindi also has to face the other sisters-in-law. They ridicule her of her child-like husband and her sex life. However, later on, Yindi finds out that Third Mistress (or third sister-in-law) is as unhappy as she is. Third Mistress eventually laments to Yindi that Third Master is never home. He is always at a "singsong" house or an opium den. He usually comes home in the wee hour of the night. On top of that, Third Mistress has to concoct all sorts of stories to save him from his mother, Old Mistress. Through out this part of the novel, we also learn that Third Master and Yindi have sexual attraction for each other. Whether or not they carry that relationship further, I am not quite sure. That part of the relationship is rather ambiguous. However, readers can definitely feel the sexual tension or attraction between them. In any cases, it seems that Yindi revels in that kind of tension. She needs attention. Another interesting element in the novel is how Chang creates that competitive sense among these women. They all want to protect each other; unfortunately, they also feel to have the need to stab each other's back. It is like a vicious cycle. In the final part, Yindi gives birth to a boy,Yensheng, which itself is a blessing and a celebration. The birth of a girl would probably not only diminish Yindi's status but also devastate her. Yengsheng also becomes an opium addict. As a child, he has chronic asthma. They breath opium into him to relieve his asthmatic symptoms. Also at this point of the novel, as China is going through drastic changes, so does the Yao family. Old Mistress dies. China is at war with the Japanese. The family wealths are divided among the men, of course. Most of these men are senior members of the family. With the possibility that Yensheng may be inherited the future estate, Yindi's power is spinning out of control. The family is falling apart. Third Master is getting old and being pounded by debt collectors. I think Third Mistress kills herself (I am not sure). Consequently, in the end, we see Yindi gradually becoming powerful, in a mad sense. Eileen (Ai-Ling) Chang has created a brilliant portrait of a young girl going mad because of the patriarchal, recyclic system, in which women are regarded as merely a reproductive opportunity. Whether one sees Yindi as a coward or a victim, one thing is certainly true, she does not have a choice. Like Flaubert's Madame Bovary or any of Austen's female characters, regardless of their status and intelligence, marriage and death are the only two options. The viable option is obvious. After reading The Rouge of the North, one either senses the triumphant of Yindi's perseverance or sees her as a mad concubine who chooses to compromise her dignity for power. Whatever view the readers adopt, one thing is certain, Eileen Chang has written a poignant masterpiece of an incredible woman who perseveres through the confinement by her society.

** Also read Su Tong's Raise the Red Lanterns (also a film by Zhang Yimou) and anything works by Ding Ling **

This book is good,too.I am like it.

I think this book is very,very good. It was a great book about China also a good book for childrens around the world. This book is about a girl named Yeh-Shen that was a orpahan. She had to work for her stepmother and her stepsister. Yeh-Shen had a fish that she did not know that it was magic fish. The fish's name is goldeyes. Yeh-Shen stepsister found out that Yeh-Shen had a friend that was a fish. The stepsister want and told her mother. The stepmother told Yeh-Shen to get some wood from the far side of the land. At the end of the story Yeh-Shen married the king.

In almost every culture, parents tell children a story that resembles the European Cinderella. Scholars have collected more than 500 versions of the story. In the past couple of decades a lot of these multicultural variations on Cinderella have been turned into children's picture books. The familiar story gives kids a great introduction to people of the world. Several of these books are very good, but two are exceptional. One is John Steptoe's "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," an African version of the story. The other is this one.

"Yeh-Shen," a Chinese version of the tale almost a thousand years older than the earliest known European version, contains many familiar details - a poor over-worked girl, a wicked stepmother and stepsister, a magical helper, a king in search of a wife, and a lost shoe. But while Cinderella is simply handed gifts from her fairy godmother, Yeh-Shen earns her wishes through kindness to a magic fish. This one change makes a big difference in the ethical tone of the book. It also makes the reader feel much more sympathetic toward Yeh-Shen, who seems to deserve every bit of good fortune she gets.

The illustrations greatly add to the book's charm. Ed Young's style is striking and unique. There's a misty, ethereal quality to his art that makes everything look as if it were taking place in a dream - which is just perfect for the book.

This is the oldest known version of Cinderella. It dates back to 9BC China. Having taught a unit on the history of Cinderella to my class every year around Holiday time, I'm pleased to finally have a copy of the book -- the copy from the Minneapolis Public Library is missing -- because it teaches children that not every version is about pumpkin coaches and glass slippers. Beautifully illustrated by Ed Young, the theme of the fish/fairy godmother character plays throughout the book.

Enjoy this version, along with Shirley Chimo's Egyptian and Korean Cinderellas, The Turkey Girl, The Rough Face Girl, Sootface, and of course, the old classic versions.

This book is an excellent addition to your multicultural children's collection!

This title is absolutely worth every penny. Though weighing in at only 143 pages, it is deceptively meaty and educational. The 106 selected photos (47 color and 49 B/W) are crisp, beautiful, and plentiful, and the inclusion of a maps and a glossary were also helpful. The mosaics selected for illustration are heartbreakingly sublime, and even those ravaged by time are hardly less beautiful for it. Chapters are (in order) Intro, Greek Period, Roman Italy, Roman North-West, Roman Africa, Wall and Vault Mounts, and Context and Meaning. In a book of this length each chapter is necessarily short, but the examples chosen to illustrate each section are well-chosen to guide further study in selected areas.

I really appreciate scholarly works like this book. I've been trying to find a good book on the history of mosaics that is - in-print - and this is it! Excellent documentation! Not too - dry - of a read either. A big thanks to Roger Ling for the enlightenment. Beautiful photographs, wish there were a-whole-lot more.

It is soo good !! I tried the eggs curry from Indonesia it is so yummy !! Also the have menu suggestions so that was real helpfull since I do a lot of parties !!!

This book is incredible. First, the photography is excellent, beautifully portraying most of the recipes. The book begins with a complete listing of all of the ingredients used. It is about 6 pages of pertinent information, including pictures for some of the most obscure ingredients. The recipes cover a thorough range of the basic recipes that you may be looking for. I am Indian and am thrilled with the list. Just about every recipe is critical, they appear back-to-back and have several pictures. I will probably cook every recipe in the Indian section. That section alone makes it worth the purchase. However, it covers seven other asian cuisines in a very similar manner. It also offers enticing "melting pot" menus, mixing the cuisines. You will get the recipes you want, that you can make, with a little commentary and exquisite pictures. This is one of the best cook books I have ever seen.

All recipes are well described and illustrated. Everything is clear and easy to understand.

The "Two Women of China" of this novel's subtitle are one and the same: Mulberry is a Chinese woman who has witnessed the major upheavals of twentieth-century China before fleeing to the United States in the 1960s, while the defiant, "Americanized" Peach is her "liberated" alterego borne of a traumatic past.

Nieh presents Mulberry/Peach's story in four sections. In the first part, while China is suffering from the final attacks of the Japanese invaders at the end of World War II, Mulberry is a teenage runaway stranded with other refugees on a boat caught in the rapids of the Yangtse River. A few years later, she is trapped in Peking with her fiance and his dying mother as the Communists surround the city. In the late 1950s, Mulberry is imprisoned in an attic in Taiwan, hiding from the authorities who are seeking her husband on embezzlement charges. And, in the final section, she has emigrated to the United States, where she is being pursued by the INS and haunted by her other identity, Peach.

Mulberry's plight is, at best, bleak, but Nieh manages to balance an astonishing sense of humor with the description of the calamities and isolation faced by her protagonist. Hauntingly written and beautifully translated, the novel can be read on many levels: historical and cultural allegory, political satire, a treatise on the immigrant's schizophrenic experience, a commentary on Eastern and Western sexual mores and gender identity. As a bonus, Sau-ling Cynthia Wong's discerning afterword amplifies these and other themes and provides useful background for understanding the novel, but (fortunately) "Mulberry and Peach" will be immediately accessible to any reader.

This qualifies as one of the most remarkable novels I have ever read. The title character Peach, in declaring her freedom, careens on as wild and uninhibited a course as any character in literature much in contrast to her meek and terrified now subaltern Mulberry. Try to buy the version which has an afterword by the translator: read this as you're reading the novel as the comments are interesting, informative, and enlightening. The novel's form, its literary roots, its themes all evade any fixed classification--no one can lay claim to any advocacy unless it is on its plea for the individual's integrity in the face of the attempts by societies, historical forces, and governments to quantify and stratify our lives. But even that claim cannot come close to revealing the complexity and exquisite craft of the work itself. Only on a second reading do I start to discover how much a treasure of telling detail "Mulberry and Peach" is. For you analytical types, there are multiple levels of allegory threading through the work. The caveat to "not overinterpret" seems not to apply. Such compelling writing deserves to become better known, more widely read and reread, and extensively broadcast to college literature classes around the world. Let's get it back in print, and then keep it in print. Although I am given to enthusiasms, I'm not given to hyperbole--I say, this is the work of a most masterful author. Please, someone, translate more of her work!

Hua-Ling Nieh's writing is tantamount to dreaming a song/story, it does not directly appeal to the senses but rather, enters the reader's mind subconsciously. A fascinating portrayal of a woman surviving post World War II turmoil in China, it blatantly and delicately explores the impact of the cultural, lingual, political, and social upheaval that is part of revolution. Mulberry herself undergoes a complete dissociation of her 'hated', 'weaker' Chinese self and morphs into Peach, the 'liberated', 'strong' American self. A wonderful story of survival, mental illness, and cultural transplantation, something many Americans do not appreciate. Should appeal to anyone interested in Chinese or Chinese/American history, feminism, or mental illness in literature.

This book probably the BEST snake book I owned. Large of photo (I mean: really BIG photo!!, double pages). This book give you a very comprehensive section about the anatomy, how they hunt, habitats,and senses ...
It written in a very short informative way ....
I really love this book !! This book is "A MUST" for all snake lovers ...

This is a wonderful book, full of captivating pictures and beautifully written explanatory chapters. A serpent enthusiast myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its excellent visuals guide you through the first few chapters which discuss several aspects of snakes themselves. The majority of the rest of the book looks at many different types of snakes..a page or two devoted to a certain individual species. I was impressed at the variety it covered, from boas to pythons to colubreds to venomous species. I applaud the author...this book will entertain beginners to professionals. This is a must for anyone who is interested in these amazing legless creatures.
--Lauren

This book starts out by giving a very comprehensive section about the anatomy, hunting, evolution, habitats,and senses of the snake. Each of these topics were given two pages, of which were filled with interesting information. I keep snakes, but I still found myself learning things. After this, the book goes into a section that tells about many interesting species of snakes in a great format including color pictures. While the book doesn't feature as many species as I would have liked to have seen, the ones it does show are well chosen(for the most part). After this section, the book goes into a huge directory of genuses and species of almost all the snakes in the world(including some rare subspecies). This section of the book is invaluable for a herpitoligest or just someone looking up the latin name of a snake. Overall the book is great for average person and person who knows alot about snakes alike. I think the book could have been better if he had featured more species of snakes, but the book is fine as it is.