This is truly the best book I've ever read on childbirth. It is full of real stories of real women giving birth-the good bad and ugly. It is very inspiring. NOT your typical "breathe, play cards and study Lamaze book!" Full of practical advice as well as detailed information written in plain english for midwives. Full of pictures, art and wisdom. Pati Faul

This is true!!! I read this book when I was pregnant with my first child in 1991, and it changed my life. I am now a doula with an BS in nursing on track to be a midwife by 2001. The 3 people, 3 fellow nursing students, who I have given copies of this book to, to help them with their birth experiences, are also persuing careers in the OB-GYN 'field'. The 10 women that I have loaned this book to have all come back to me to confide that they too believe that there are purely physical totally sacred things that we humans must acknowledge. During their birth experience they trusted them selves because they 'just knew, the same as the women at the farm just knew'. Every woman I have ever spoken to who had a powerful, positive birthing experience admits that they read this book before the birth and now have this book in their permanent library. Please understand that there are many people who have never read, seen or heard of 'Spritual Midwifery'. The majority of mothers that I know have not read this book,BUT the ones who have are deeply empowered and committed to empowering more birthing mothers. OH, and get used to over coming the language-generation-gap while reading this book, it will be good practice for when you have teenagers!

Twenty three years ago, while expecting my first child, I came across Ina May Gaskin's book. I read it cover to cover and was fascinating. When I'd asked my mother what labour was like she said "If it was that bad, would I have had six?" Ummm ... not very enlightening. This book gave me a good, clear eyed look at what to expect in labour, what it feels like and how to approach what would be an unfamiliar and potentially frightening experience.

I realize that good genes probably helped, but I credit this book for allowing me to relax enough to have two virtually painless labours.

I unexpectedly find myself pregnant again, and while, as a diabetic grandmother I doubt I'm a good candidate for home birth this time, I intend to carry the lessons into the higher tech environment more appropriate to my age and health.

Birth is a physical manifestation of spiritual practice. Ina May knows that and communicates it vividly!

I am preparing test of GRE

I hate studying for verbal exams, but this book made it much more pallitable. They have great hints, word origins, and games along with the usual example sentences that really help you to fix the words into your memory. Much more helpful to me than other verbal aids available.

I went overboard in purchasing GRE study guides. This book was my favorite. A really good way to bone up on the kind of words the test makers like. I scored in the 97th percentile on verbal, and I feel this book helped me get there.

This is a great book for all sci-fi fans. The characters are as real as humans, and the story is very engaging. I picked this book up by chance at the library and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very entertaining.

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of books I have owned, very few books make it to my 'keepers' shelf. Elsewhere is one of the few. It is absolutely one of the best collections of fantasy I have ever read and I reread it over and over again.

Particular favorites of mine are Pooka's Bridge by Gillian FitzGerald; The Judgement of St. Yves by Evangeline Walton, Sweetly the Waves Call to Me by Pat Murphy; and The Tree's Wife by Janet Yolen.

I can not say enough about this collection. Every year or so I make a vow to get rid of all my clutter and donate all my books to the thrift store. For Elsewhere to survive these numerous purges again and again is the highest compliment I can pay to it.

I love great writing, folktales, fairy tales, and mythology. This collection mixes all these elements up for some fascinating reading. If you like Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's fairy tale retelling anthology series, you'll love this book, too. There are at least two more books in the series, and I can't wait to dive into them!

I bought this book six weeks in advance of taking the GMAT. This book is great for getting you familiar with the test and showing common testing pitfalls. I felt like I needed the most help with the Verbal section and this book helped me to decipher what the GMAT question was really asking me instead of what I thought it was asking me. My unofficial results show an OUTSTANDING grade.

I thought that a few of the answers might have been erroneous, and then I confirmed it. There's a few errors in the math section (i.e. pg 109 prob 10...x can equal 1 or -1). But other than that, this is a great book...quick and thorough...doesn't waste time...review is the best I've read. It explains how the test is scored better than the other books too which I think is vital. If you only have time for one book, use this one.

I used this book as the capstone to a self-taught GMAT course. It provided adequate review of the quantitative and verbal concepts on the exam, challenging practice problems, and good answer explanations. The AWA section was also helpful.

In addition, I used Kaplan's CD and the GMAT PowerPrep software, both were also excellent.

Birds are beautiful and the world of birds is fascinating. It's only fitting then that this is an Eyewitness Book, because that series of books is well known for beautiful illustrations and fascinating, innovative and educational presentations on the various topics that they publish. This book uses annotated photographs rather than drawings and it's size (like an oversized novel) allows between two to three birds per page, making the photos large enough for easy identification. The descriptions that accompany each bird speak to behavior, habitat, what it's nest looks like and sometimes a general remark on some unusual or an interesting trait. The geographic distribution of the bird is also shown by way of a small map. A reviewer below is right. The use of an illustration showing the size of the bird in relation to the book is brilliant! I can't think of a better way of getting a feel for the size of something you've never seen, than comparing it with something that you are holding in your hand.

The only quibble with the book is the method of organising the birds. The book is divided into Passerines and Non Passerines which doesn't mean much and doesn't help either, since both of those groups include a wide variety of bird types. Picture this: a bird catches your eye, "Hey that's an owl, I wonder what kind?" You can spend a bit of time going through the 3 step identification key before you find the owls. To be fair though, that really only means that this is not a field guide. It can't be, it's 'Birds of The World' afterall. Enjoy it for what it is - A beautifully illustrated, educational, introduction to the wonderful world of birds.

This book by the successful Eyewitness Books makes identifying birds on the backyard fence, those birds sitting on the wire over your recently-washed car, birds in the woods and jungles easy to identify. The highly graphical lay-out and the simply written text welcomes the reader to the world of the feathered flyers that live in every climate on earth. Even though this volume is not as comprehensive and inclusive as the books by the Audubon Society or the Peterson guides, it contains outstanding pictures of more than 800 species. The entire range of bird families is presented in an easy-to-read format with fabulous closeup pictures of each bird. Just enough information is presented. An especially cunning feature shows an outline of each bird next to an outline of the book to convey a sense of size. Sections in the front of the book introduce the reader to the anatomy of birds, techniques for watching birds in the garden or woods, identifying flight patterns, and much more. If you are a causal bird-watcher of any age or merely like to look at birds from your cozy arm chair in from of the fire, you must have this book in your personal library.

I discovered this book by accident, and I am glad that I did.

Borderland is about a world like ours in which the Elves and their magic have returned to earth. Magic and technology both work sporadically in Bordertown (which lies at the heart of the Borderlands) where teenagers runaway to hang out in rock and roll clubs where fairie dust is a drug and music is magic.

The book is the first in an anthology series featuring such talents as Emma Bull and Charles de Lint.

After losing some of my interest in works of fantasy, this book reignited a spark in me like gasoline on a bbq pit. I haven't felt this way about a work of fantasy since Conan or Fahfrd and Greymouser. These books are nearly impossible to get ahold of but Essential Bordertwon is a new one coming out soon.

I cannot recommend this book and this series highly enough.

I'm no longer a teenager, but I still really enjoyed this book, which consists of four novellas. All deal with the Borderland, a place where elves & humans coexist uneasily, where technology & magic are both unreliable, & where lots of down-on-their-luck youths gather to play great music & attempt to live their dreams. Very original, excellently written, & I think that almost everyone will find something to identify with. I particularly liked the examination of the issues that 'halfies' (those who are half-elf, half-human) face. This is another of Terri Windling's fine projects, & it's a shame that this series is so hard to get hold of!

Charles Dickens has been one of my favorite authors since I was forced to read him in high school. I had not picked up one of his stories since, but upon reading that David Copperfield was Dicken's personal favorite book he had authored, I decided to try him again. I was not disappointed. Dicken's creates an incredible cast of characters and paints a vivid portrait of 19th-century England. Aside from fulfulling those crucial elements of writing a novel, Dickens tells a terrific story. The initial serialization of the story into 19 monthly parts required Dickens to create many dramatic buildups and twists and turns that kept the audience buying the next installment. When it is all put together the novel is an unexpected roller coaster that has many climbs, dives, loop-the-loops, and sharp curves. In the end everything of course comes together beautifully and the characters all get their just desserts. This is yet another clinic by Dickens in how to write a well organized, though unpredictable, novel that maintains the interest of a reader through approx. 900 pages of writing. It is a wonderful experience that all lovers of good fiction should at least attempt.

David Copperfield, Dickens' favorite child, is an experience. Forget what your high school teacher or college professor told you. Forget all the terribly bad film representations of this book. Forget the glib one-liner reviews about Dickens people being caricatures instead of characters. READ this book. This book is one of the few Real Books in this world.

The great storm scene alone will thunder forever in your memories. You will encounter with Copperfield:
• the evil, chilling Uriah Heep,
• the mental and physical destruction of his mother by a Puritanical,untilitarian step-father,
• the always in-debt Mr. Mawcawber who somehow transcends his economic and egocentric needs into something noble,
• the betrayal of Copperfield by his best friend and Copperfield's shattered emotions by this betrayal,
• the ruination of another close friend's reputation, and her step-by-step climb back out of the mire,
• Copperfield's own passionate step into marriage while too young with an irresponsible, yet innocent child-woman, her death,
• Copperfield's own rise from poverty and orphanhood into worldly success but empty life until mature love rescues him.

Dickens has a real gift for creating people that irritate you, yet gradually you come to love them - just like folks in real life. If you never have read Dickens, come meet David Copperfield. You'll find that your impressions of David from the brief snippets by critics, teachers, reviewers, professors and know-it-alls completely different than the Real Thing.

This is my favourite novel by Dickens and one of my all time favourites.Some of his best known characters are here:the ever optimistic Mr Micawber,the stout hearted Aunt Betsy,the slimy toad Uriah Heep,the troubled Steerforth,faithful Pegotty, honest Ham,the nasty Murdstones, and so on.Even Jip the dog is brought to life with real character.No one has created such characters as Dickens.They are a sheer delight.Dickens has a wonderful sense of humour, which shines in this book.He also has a very readable style of writing.He can be overly sentimental, but this was expected by 19th century readers.Agnes, David Copperfield's second wife and true love is just too good to be believed.We can forgive Dickens these irritations, because he gives us the most memorable characters in literature.Also, there is a great deal of sympathy and affection for ordinary human beings and their foibles in his work.This is a novel which can be read over and over again during a whole lifetime, giving much pleasure with each reading.

This book teaches a lot abou morals. Just becuase someone is alittle different from everyone else, doesn't mean they should be treated badly. Everyone is different in their own seperate way. Some people just show and others hide their feelings. People have differences, and no one is the same. Some of us just have to learn to accept it. And some have to realize we all are the same in some ways to.

The ugly duckling is a duck who is the same as everyone else, yet is also different. He just wants to be accepted. He doesn't know how to make people like him. People were not accepting him becuase he was not good enough. Everyone seems to be 'not good enough' at one time or another. Yet other people do not realize this.

I like this book because it explains how life goes. Some people aren't accepted because of their looks, other epople jsut need to learn to accept people for who they are. Not what they are not. You need to learn to look past the "bad" qualities and see the good qualities.

Our class liked it when the ugly duckling turned into a swan. Everyone learned that it doesn't matter if you don't look like everyone else. You should like who you are. We learned about the differences between swans and ducks. Our class learned that when you are young you have to learn about a lot of different things. We think that kids could learn about different things from reading this story such as animals, other stories to read, and feelings.

Like most parents, you want your child's home library to include standard fairy tales. Jerry Pinkney's "The Ugly Duckling" combines incredibly detailed ilustrations with a nice balance of both strong and muted colors AND a wonderful re-telling of the generations-old standard tale. In this verson, however, people are woven into the story in a way that I haven't seen before, and I like that very much. It's easy to see why this book was selected as a 1999 Caldecott Honor Book. Pinkney's a very gifted illustrator, and he really has to be given credit for his well-constructed text as well as the gorgeous pictures. Authors who write and then illustrate their own stories are somewhat rare, and as an adult, I appreciate the incredible mix of talent and hard work this represents. My children, of course, just love the pictures; they'll grow to appreciate good writing as they get older.

page 26
"There is no excuse for spelling errors in your essay!"

Okay, authors, so please take your own advice - it's "Seuss" not "Suess" (page 19), "Dave Barry" not "Dave Berry" (page 9). These are the authors' mistakes, not from the students' essays. Good ideas - Sloppy editing = Lost credibility.

This book helped me come up with essays that ultimately led to my acceptance at all 12 schools to which I applied (two of which are IVY league schools and all of which are ranked by US News at within the top 50 Doctoral Universities in the Nation)! I honestly don't think I would have had a chance had it not been for this book!

This book helped me come up with essays that ultimately led to my acceptance at all 12 schools to which I applied (two of which are IVY league schools and all of which are ranked by US News at within the top 50 Doctoral Universities in the Nation)! I honestly don't think I would have had a chance had it not been for this book!

A nice collection of artists, with some great examples of what they can do. But....
Paper stock is poor and some prints are a bit blurry.

This is a great artbook, featuring many famous furry artists. I love the art, and look at it regularly. If you're a fan of Michele Light, I recommend it.

This book started my physical collection of furry publishings, and still remains the best singal pice I have. Not only is it perfectaly published, but contains excellent examples of anthropomorphic artwork. Its my personal bible.