This is one of the most hilarious, yet intelligent and moving shows one can ever read. Even without hearing Mr. Sondheim's delightfully flowing melodies one can still find enjoyment in Mr. Laurent's book and Sondheim's lyrics.

"Awake & Singing: 7 Classic Plays from the American Jewish Repertoire," edited by Ellen Schiff, is a superbly conceived and executed anthology. The 7 plays in this volume were produced between 1920 and 1960, and explore many facets of the Jewish-American experience. Love and loss, war, anti-Semitism, class conflict, political debate, legal quandaries, economic struggle, family relationships, theological questions: it's all here in 636 pages of electrifying theatrical genius. The plays are as follows:

"Welcome Stranger," by Aaron Hoffman: a comedy about a businessman's fight against anti-Semitism; features a particularly engaging hero. "Counsellor-at-Law," by Elmer Rice: a fast-moving play that takes place in the New York law offices of its main character. "Awake and Sing!", by Clifford Odets: The story of a working-class family in New York City; full of colorful syntax and expressions. "Morning Star," by Sylvia Regan: a very moving play that follows a New York City family over the course of two decades; historical events like the Triangle factory fire are skillfully woven into the story. "Home of the Brave," by Arthur Laurents: the story of a Jewish-American soldier and his unit in combat in the Pacific theater during World War II; features some really harrowing scenes. "The Cold Wind and the Warm," by S.N. Behrman: A story of love, loss, and friendship; biblical law plays a key plot point. And finally, "The Tenth Man," by Paddy Chayefsky: A story of supernatural possession that takes place entirely in an orthodox synagogue on Long Island; a marvelous blend of dark comedy and creepy horror.

I've never seen any of these plays performed. But for the most part, the plays in this volume make excellent reading texts. "Awake & Singing" is one of those great anthologies that I would recommend for classroom use, for reading groups, and for the individual reader. Especially recommended if you're interested in 20th century American drama or the Jewish-American experience.

I had this book as I was growing up only 14 short years ago and still remember it as a wonderful book and an enjoyable companion to all of the other Babar books. An excellent addition to any child's collection and one they will be sure to treasure and remember for years to come.

... and finds it a lot of fun, in or out of the bathtub. It's really stood up to lots of gnawing and playing, too. A good buy.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Babar's Fair was one of her picks. That was especially poignant to me because the book entered our family as a gift to our daughter's older sister, so it is now finishing its second decade with us.

Babar is the king of the elephants, and his capital city is Celesteville (named after Queen Celeste). He decides to hold a celebration in honor of the anniversary of the city's founding. This time there will be a big fair which all of the animals will participate in. Each animal will have its own booth to show things from its own country. The kangaroos, giraffes, lions, birds, rhinos, and camels all exhibit.

Then there are some imaginative activities involving diving suits for all of the animals, a water slide for hippos, a kangaroo puppet show, and some wonderful shopping.

My daughter was fascinated by the idea of animals acting like people, and putting on their own fair. It made her feel closer to animals. She also loves the gentleness and consideration of King Babar and Queen Celeste. The young elephants always get into mischief. In this case, Alexander is bumped into by a hippo coming off the water slide after his own tenth trip down the slide. My daughter also loved all of the names like Doctor Capoulosse, Podular the sculptor, Ramatur the rhinoceros, and Xilophon the monkey.

In many ways, the elephants live in a modern-day Garden of Eden. It's good for children to have this sense of peacefulness. You can also use this book to talk about other kinds of fairs, and to encourage your child to want to visit one. You can visit 4-H fairs in the summer, county fairs in the fall, the International Pavillions at Epcot Center in Orlando all year round, and even a real world's fair every so often.

Another fun activity is to put on your own fair with your child and other friends at home.

Overcome your stalled thinking about the potential for your child to understand complex, peaceful interactions by building on the concepts in this wonderful book!

This book was given to my daughter as a gift,
where it was originally purchased in Europe.
My daughter loves this book and wanted it read
constantly to her! This book helps her see
and hear the french language, while using
beautiful artwork and an easy-to-learn format!
This book is great also, because it is narrow,
and great for a child's small hands to hold
and carry. Furthermore, the letters are nice
and big, which also helps children to learn
their alphabet. WONDERFUL!

... The children of the two mighty rulers play and have so much fun that they forget their differences. They forget they are supposed to hate one another. Buy this book and you will reap your investment 100-fold. Enjoy!

I am an Elementary School Librarian and I LOVE this calendar! It has great illustrations from many well-loved children's books. I also like that it notes the birthdays of authors and illustrators. This calendar is a great resource for librarians and teachers. Also, it's a lot of fun with bright and beautiful illustrations for anyone! The calendar grid is also a nice size with plenty of room to note appointments or whatever.

Sociology and MAS systems are the place where hard a soft sciences converge and this is well illustrated in excellent articles in the book.

This is an amazing collection, as most collections on the science of consciousness are, for the exitement the topic arises.
It is at times a bit too technical, like in E. Jones or Steriade's chapters on thalamic neurobiology. Other chapter are too abstract or "dated" (or is it classical?). But there are also jewels, like the clearest introduction to Edelman and Tononis, Crick and Kotchs, and Jeffrey Grays theories of consicousness. This last chapter was specially interesting, as Grays model of the contents of consicousness was used to study schitzofrenia. Gazzaniga and his interpreter seem more plausible solutions to some major troubles in consicousness theorizing every time I read him. Chapters on language and development are also there and great, as well as one on vision, by no other than H.Hubel, along with T. Weasel, one of the most influential neuroscientists of vision. Philosophical introductions by Patricia Churchland and D. Chalmers and other unmentioned contributions were also quite good.
The cream is however, found on the comment sessions after each paper and the general session at the end of the book. Debates at that level are seldom recorded, and are extremely interesting and though-provoking.
A must-have for serious researchers and thinkers on consciousness.