This is a heartwarming story of the power of children to warm and open broken hearts. A good story to read to children every Christmas.

This is a beautiful story. The author did a reading/slide show of this book at our school several years ago. When the lights came on, there wasn't a dry eye among the parents (and some of the kids)in attendance. I still get choked up when I read this to my children. Its truly a beautiful story. I've bought 6 copies through the years for friends & family when they have children. A must read at Christmas time.

I still read this book to my children every year and they are 14 & 18 years old. This is a wonderful book about the meaning of Christmas, and renewal of a human spirit. A widow with a small boy asks the town woodcarver to make a duplicate of the nativity set she had lost. Her little boy wants to watch the carver at work, and as he works, the little boy describes how each piece is supposed to look. From happy sheep,and a proud cow, to the important angel, smiling baby, and loving Mary, Thomas describes each of the figures, and the woodcarver captures the qualities. I have alump in my throat by the end every time I read it. You will cherish this book, I guarantee.

I just returned from the Pekin area. I finished reading "Lynch Law" this past winter. I enjoyed detail the writer used in describing the area. I felt like I knew the area when I drove arrived in the Pekin area. I found the book to be acruate in its lay out of the towns and area. I plan to reread the book now that I have been in the area. I enjoyed the mixture of history and mystery.

One of the most realistic writings of midwestern history that I've ever read. The author made you feel like you were right there during the trial and lynching. What an exciting book! We are expecting great things from this author!

My third grade students love studying this book as part of a social studies unit on immigration. It opens their eyes to another culture of immigrants, and the joy beyond the hardship in the new land. The illustrations are grippingly beautiful,making the ocean voyage come to life. I loved this book in English and am thrilled to have it available for my bilingual students in Spanish.

This book is an outstanding resource for the health care professional looking to improve their knowledge and clinical understanding while surfing the internet. Trying to update our personal home libraries is becoming too expensive and using the internet to perform research is the future of health care.

Hester Lynch lived a life of quiet determination, married to an older man who treated her with little respect or regard. She still managed to provide a home that attracted the great Samuel Johnson. And yet, during this time she lived in the shadow of those with whom she developed friendships until the death of her husband.
Then she traveled and met a young Italian whom she married. This union brought her reproach from those she considered her friends, including Johnson.
This book is a well edited presentation of Hester's own writing.
While Boswell's work about Johnson is better known, Lynch Piozzi's is every bit as insightful, perhaps more so from having spent much more time and been the recipient of many conversations of a personal nature.

A quick and intersting read from Clifford.

While reading this book to my 5 year old daughter, she asked me near the end, "Daddy, why are there drops of water coming from your eyes?" The beautiful and touching message of love and healing in this story is one even more appreciated by parents than the young audience for whom the book is designed. This is a Christmas treasure that I look forward to sharing with my children over and over again as they grow. Highly recommended.

I picked up this book while browsing in the children's section of my favorite book store. After reading several pages, I had to shut the book and march up to the checkout, wiping my eyes a bit. I waited until I was at home to finish the book, so if I howled out loud, I wouldn't embarress myself. The true meaning of Christmas shines through this book, with a love story on the side, and some gentle humor. My children relate to the young hero in the book, and the illustrations are lovely. I now give this book as a great Christmas gift! You'll enjoy it.

THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY is a charming book about the nature of patience and grace. Jonathan Toomey is a very sad and gloomy man. His wife and child died very young and he has never gotten over his grief. Children call him Mr. Gloomy, for they fail to see the beauty beneath. One day a young widow and her son show up, asking Toomey to make a nativity scence for them, replacing one they lost when they recently moved to town. Mr. Toomey agrees. His life is forever changed by the act.

The book is beautifully illustrated and has become a modern Christmas classic.

This book is wonderful, it creates a tale that holds a childs interest right through to the end and leaves them feeling happy. I have read it to my own 12 and 10 year old as well as a class full of second and third graders, all of them loved it!

Catkin, the small kitten that can be held in the palm of a hand was an innocent cat just trying to help his owner/friend out! Oneday when he was out with his owner he left for a second to chase a butterfly. Little did he know that at that very same moment his friend had been captured with the dreaded little people. Now Catkin is on a mission to find, and save his beloved friend! The question is, will Catkin ever see her again? You will just have to see by buying the book, I strongly incourage this book to be bought! My all time favorite! Especially for the little ones(good bedtime story)

Catkin is the smallest kitten in the litter of cats belonging to the Wise Woman, who names him for the tiny catkins growing outside her window. She takes him to the home of a farmer and his wife to watch over their new-born daughter Carrie, but little does anyone know how great this tiny cat will soon become.

Carrie and Catkin are inseparable until one day Catkin is distracted by a butterfly and leaves the baby to her sleep, and in his absence the child is taken away by the Lord and Lady of the Little People and their followers, leaving a changeling in her place. The farmer and his wife are devastated, and the Wise Woman sends Catkin to the underground world of the Little People to win the child back, giving him some valuable advice - never reveal his name to the fairies, for with the knowledge of his name they could bind him to them forever.

The real beauty of this exceptional story is twofold: first, that although it reads like a traditional fairytale, it is completely original. Yet despite this, it turns to real folktale elements and styles to blend into the narrative, making it vaugely familiar - ideas such as the hollow hills of the fairies, the changeling baby, the power of a simple name, the threefold riddle competition, and the nature of the waters of the two powerful trees - the willow for forgetfulness, and the hazel for wisdom. Added to this is the perfect melding of all these components, for instance the Wise Woman advices Catkin to drink only from the hazel tree waters to obtain great wisdom, whilst Carrie has already drunk from the willow waters and forgotten her home. These two elements are echoed as the answers to the the first two riddles that the Lord asks of Catkin, and Catkin's own name as the answer to the third, tying in the warning that the kitten must never utter his own name. I'm explaining this very clumsily, but my point is that all themes and story lines come full circle, creating a perfect whole. It is simply beautifully crafted storytelling.

The second part that makes this story so wonderful is P. J. Lynch's exceptional watercolours. If you are a fan of Alan Lee (best known for his Tolkien illustrations) than nothing will delight more than Lynch's images of green hill and dark cave, the sun-lit visions of Carrie and Catkin, and the green tinted shades of the Lord and Lady of the Little People. Only two small quibbles come to mind - when the faerys first appear the text describes the Lord as riding on a pony, but the picture shows him walking hand in hand with the Lady, and in one scene baby Carrie's head looks far too big for her body. But don't take any notice of these, for the painting and skill are exceptional - make sure you look out for this artist's other books.

My highest recommendation - all ages and both genders will adore this story and its ideals of courage, sacrifice and love. The pictures delight, and the echoes of it stay with you for a very long time.

The most accurate thing that can be said about Ott's effort is that this book is a veritable compendium of Catholic theology.

Ott gives significant attention to dogmas which are considered de fide, those matters that Catholics must believe. Good examples of these things in the book are the divinity of Christ, the Trinity etc. However, Ott does not ignore other doctrine which is not de fide but must command the religious assent of all Catholics. The treatment of these subjects is equally comprehensive.

If you are considering doing any scholarly work in the field of Catholic doctrine, this book is a must. If you are teaching Catholic doctrine to others, this resource is valuable as a tool for checking to make sure that your teaching is orthodox.

Ott does not stop at providing scriptural citations for Catholic doctrine. His most impressive effort is citation to Church history and texts from early fathers which clearly support the doctrine.

The next step would be to get ahold of those source documents. This book is comprehensive. The casual reader should probably not expect to be able to glide through its pages from front to back. I tried it and never quite made it through.

However, it is one of the best resources I have in my home library. A serious student of Christian apologetics and Catholic apologetics in particular must buy this book.

Ludwig Ott's work is an extremely useful reference tool for anyone wanting to know what the Church teaches. The book not only lists the teachings of the Church, but also lists whether the teaching has been declared dogma. In addition, it lists from which scriptural text a teaching has been derived and what various fathers and councils have said. We learn of the major heretics who denied various teachings and what their denials were based upon. Contrary to what an earlier reviewer claimed, the book does state (although very briefly) which teachings upon which any given dogma is based. Even speculative theology is touched upon. Ott's work has proven to be consistently useful to me in apologetics, systematic theology, and history. I believe it will be useful to nearly anyone interested in these subjects.

This book is a wonderfully precise and concise summary of the Church's dogmatic theology, and with due respect to a previous reviewer, it is not a bit out-of-date. It is not intended to be an expanded or detailed discussion of theological problems, so of course it is recommended that people also read the works of orthodox theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthazaar, Henri de Lubac, and (especially) John Paul II; and they should also examine the beautiful teachings of Vatican II. Nevertheless, the dogmas summarized in the _Fundamentals_ are timeless.

What makes this volume so valuable is its precision and clarity: one can easily look up a particular doctrine of the Church and see what status it has---that is, how formally it has been defined by the Church. Moreover, for every point of doctrine it states with exact precision which opinions are consonant with Church teaching, which are tolerated, and which are contrary. These are things that are beyond the scope of, say, the new Universal Catechism. However, all well-informed Catholics ought to know them.

The _Fundamentals_ is highly recommended, and I urge all Catholics who want to know their faith well to get the book along with the new Universal Catechism.

I remember this book from middle school. I told people the story, and everyone thought I made it up! I'm glad to see that it's in print, and not just a figment of my imagination. If you love fairy tales, you'll like this book. A little strange, but worth the read.

From one irritated, uninvited guest comes the gift of baldness. From one poorly worded wish comes out of control hair. Add one prince determined to find the solution. Mix in Melisande's need to rescue her island home. How does it turn out? It adds up to an enchanting tale that delights both young and old. I've used the book in elementary classes as well as college classes--both were mesmerized.

...Nesbit writes beautifully and is clever and unpredictable enough that without going over the kids' heads, the reading adult can enjoy it too. The illustrations are excellent; I just wish the hardcover version was available!

As a farm kid and a veterinary student, I found this book to be extremely realistic and funny. I enjoyed his stories recalling veterinary school and farm calls. Dr. Lucas tells it how it is. It is a good eye opener for people interested in large animal veterinary medicine and the life one has because of it. If you come from a farm you will certainly enjoy this book.

James Lucas is a seasoned veterinarian playing his trade in southern Iowa for more than 36 years. He kept notes of his experiences with the people and animals he encountered throughout his career. In Birth In A Chicken House, Lucas draws upon those personal reminiscences to spin out his humorous true-life tales that will engage the reader's rapt attention from first page to last. Highly recommended reading for anyone who loves a good yarn well told, Birth In A Chicken House provides perceptive and very funny descriptions of the animals and culture, the beauty and history of a rural farming community, and the dedicated veterinarian that served their needs.

Birth in a Chicken House is a great read for anyone who has experienced life in a rural setting, and it's a must read for anyone in the 50s' plus era. As you read the stories, it's as if Dr. Lucas is sitting across the table from you telling a story. He writes it just like it happened. I found myself laughing out loud many, many times as he related his personal accounts of people and animals...I think almost everyone can identify with his experiences. The short story format makes it a great book for busy people to pick up for a few minutes and read a story. However, once you start reading it, you'll probably not want to put it down.