I highly recommend this book for all ages. The activities in the back of the book is a wonderful idea for children to get more involved. The CD is a great compliment to the book. This story shows that dreams can come true if you work hard enough to achieve them. I loved it.

In this book an interesting and unique activities guide is included for parents and educators. These activities incorporate math, science, social studies, music, language arts, character education, art, reading and English. In addition to James' interactive CD that will engage children in visual stimulation leading to facts about eagles, the activities guide has twelve unique exercises. Each activity is fun, adaptable, and promotes the joy of learning. It is a wonderful addition to the Character Counts program endorsed by many schools.

This book is an absolute most for everyone, whether you are two or ninety two. This book really makes you think about the plight of the American Eagle and many of our other wonderful wild life that is facing or has faced the possibility of being on the endangered species list. Ms. Moorer thank you so much for this wonderful story, and opening our eyes to whats going on around us. Mr. Rogers, thank you so much for your fantastic song and your assistance in helping get this magnificent creature off the endangered species list. My daughter really loves this story and I highly reccmmend it to anyone who loves to read to their children.

I received my first orchid as a gift, not knowing what to do with it a went out and bought this book. I have since accumulated about a half dozen different orchids. This book is an excellant beginners book. It walks you through what to expect with each general orchid type and many 'how to' details to get you started. The only reason I went looking for another book was that I bought a new dendrobium and this Ortho book did not have the information on that specific type of dendrobium due to the vast genus of dendrobiums.
I would recomend this book to anyone interested in starting out with orchids. It has lasted me years, without needing another reference.

The book contains about 92 pages. 13 pages are on general growing instructions (light, temperature, humidity, and air circulation). This section includes an excellent tip on how to measure light using a photometer in a camera, and they include a handy chart for converting camera aperature "f-stops" into "footcandles" of light. They also include more handy charts like the ideal light ranges for 19 genera, adjusting day length, and ideal night temperature ranges. 24 pages on buying orchids, potting orchids, fertilizing, dividing, and propagation. 6 pages on problems and disease. 8 pages on orchid botany and breeding. 36 pages on 18 common orchid genera. Each genera is described in about 12 paragraphs with comments about specific growing needs, species and hybrids, tips for success, and about 5 photographs of representative plants. 1 page on orchid suppliers and a 4 page index.

When I bought my first orchid, I purchased it with an excellent book called "Easy Orchids" by Mimi Luebbermann. The Luebbermann book got me through the first several months (and the first 6 orchids). The Ortho book adds to the excellent information that you obtained with Luebbermann. Ortho gives you that vital information necessary to take your orchid addiction ... er, I mean, your orchid hobby to the next level (and another 6 orchids).

Ortho's All About Orchids contains excellent information for the beginner. It is a must have book for the first time orchid grower.

As a beginning orchid grower with no experience and no previous knowledge, I found this book very helpful and inspiring. There are lots and lots of good photos of healthy orchids, as well as photos of not so healthy orchids in case you're not sure what you're looking at. The chapters are relatively short, and it's easy to find a certain section when you need it. I also really liked that this book includes some pronunciation guides in the sections about certain species of orchids, since I had never talked to anyone about orchids, and would otherwise have no idea how to pronounce "phalaenopsis." I definitely recommend this book to beginning hobby growers.

Like a morally upright but humorless grandmother, Mr. Darwin's Shooter is easier to admire than to love. The book seems pointlessly erudite - if you don't know much about Pilgrim's Progress, or the meaning of words like "scrogs," you'll sense early on that you are missing out on some of the book's richness. An author with more empathy for his readers might have worked harder to help those readers make sense of the unfamiliar references.

The book's style contributes to its obscure feel. Presumably McDonald mimicked the prose he encountered when he read diaries and other materials written contemporaneously with the book's events. As a result readers must endure sentences such as "The gent was braving himself in FitzRoy's eyes as one who would not speak out loud, but hold, as a guest aboard must bravely, to naval lore in a flogging." For a book written at the end of the twentieth century, that sounds phony. It may be an achievement to write a book this way (and an accomplishment to read it), but I read books for enjoyment and illumination and found that the pseudo-archaic style interfered with both.

Heaven help the reader who doesn't know before opening the book that Darwin was aboard the Beagle not as a naturalist but as a gentleman's companion; that the captain of the ship was probably clinically depressed; that Darwin waited many years to publish because he feared the reaction he would get; and so forth. The book is completely consistent with these facts, but had I not read a lot of Stephen Jay Gould before tackling Mr. Darwin's Shooter, I suspect I'd have come away from the book rather confused. On the one hand, it is generally commendable when a book raises questions in the mind of the reader. On the other hand, when the questions raised are simple matters of historical record rather than philosophical queries, the author has not written a successful historical novel.

This book represented to me, above everything else, the story of a man that we've never heard of before, who played a major role in helping Charles Darwin formulate his theory of Evolution by Natrual Selection. This book is about Syms Covington, field assistant to Darwin during and shortly after the voyage of the beagle. His realization of the theory's implications is an epiphany that McDonald scripts brilliantly, as Covington is torn between pride in his role, anger for lack of recognition, and fear because of the conflict with his faith. This thread looms again and again, building suspense as we wait with Covington for "The Origin" to be published-or, really, unleashed upon the world. It is this emotional conflict that is a key element of this book. On the down side, it gets off to a slow start and, unfortunately in my mind, there isn't enough interaction between Covington and Darwin...the day-to-day stuff of tromping in paradise collecting ad infinitum, prepairing specimens, measuring, etc. However, that may have been intended or necessary because of their backgrounds: darwin was from the aristocracy and covington was a commoner. That comes across in the book, but I think that it could have been explored much more.

I have both a personal and professional interest in natural history and view Darwin as one of my scientific heros. I've just added little known syms covington to that list...as written, he was truly an engaging character and with remarkable depth.

We always see Darwin as this bearded, even owlish face, peering out of the 19th Century. With the fictionalization of an obscure associate, an unlettered but not unintelligent sailor who helped the master with his collections of species during the voyage of the Beagle, McDonald has enlarged our image of Darwin and the times in which he flourished. Not only is it a tremendous read, a great tour-de-force of story-telling, but it provides many cogent commentaries on the theory and its impact on ordinary, God-fearing folk. This is really great historical writing.

... too much of the book was dedicated to general photographic concepts (exposure, filtration, etc.) rather than specifically large format photography. As I've been shooting 35mm & MF stuff for years, I'm already acquainted with Photography 101 and was looking for a comprehensive reference specifically for LF photography.

If you're an experienced photographer looking for a book specifically for LF, consider passing on this one. If you're just getting into photography in general and LF photography in particular, this book would be outstanding!

Information on large format photography is not easily available. Good books are hard to find. I bought this book for the Kodak brand name associated with it. I am pretty disappointed.

The book gives you a rough idea about movements. Then it veers off to some very technical issues, in much more details than most photographers ever care to know. I am still looking for a book that will tell me the about various models available in the market, practial tips, various lenses I'd need for architecture and product shots, about using 6x9 or 6x12 backs with a 4x5 camera and so on.

Also, not a single colour photograph. Not good.

This is a classic work and a great refernce manual for anybody who is serious about learning the view camera. It may not be as comprehensive as some books, but it is all the more accessible for it and it covers all the basic techniques.

Highly recommended.

The one star rating means nothing but I had to put a rating--I haven't read the book and have no intention. If you're looking for a book that has anything to do with screen idol Errol Flynn, you're going to be disappointed as I was. From what I read on the back blurb this is about some kind of secret agent with the code name Flynn.