"Mother Earth, Father Sky" is one in a series of books that deal with the mythology of ancient civilizations and the role that it played it those cultures. Lavishly illustrated and full of colorful sidebars, these books are eye candy -- but intelligent eye candy, too.

Native American myth is the topic of this one. I own the entire Myth and Mankind series, but somehow this volume is the one that always finds its way off the shelf and into my lap. Fish and ravens, gods and maidens, this book contains the heritage of the people who first inhabited this continent.

This book makes an interesting and worthy read for someone who knows little about Buddhism but is interested in knowing more. Mr Lowenstein outlines the life of the Buddha and the major traditions that have grown out of His teachings in an easy to follow, however very brief, format. The book is easy to read and very well illustrated, I don't think there are many other books that serve the capacity of being a "beginners" guide to Buddhism that are so enjoyable to read. Another helpful aspect in the book is that when Buddhist terms are repeated a reference always follows to help you find the explaination of the word (instead of assuming you have instantly remembered the meaning!) The illustrations really help bring the vitality and differences in Buddhist tradition to light. However I think anyone with more than a little knowledge of Buddhism would find this book somewhat frustrating in it's lack of detail as it really is a basic overview. I would recommend this book to beginners as an excellent source with which to get started understanding Buddhism.