In this next book in the Angelina Ballerina series, Angelina finds herself pursued by her cousin Henry, who wants to dance just like her. She is overjoyed when an adult ballet asks her and Henry to dance in one of their performances. However, her joy turns bitter, when the other dancers become enamored of Henry, and Angelina finds herself in the background. However, when Angelina decides to soldier on, she finds that things can go her way anyway.

As with the other books, my daughter and I loved this story, and Helen Craig's charming illustrations. A quick read, this book also has a wonderful lesson. We both highly recommend this book.

We're slowly working our way through the Angelina Ballerina books, based on the fanatic love of several of my daughter's friends for Angelina. Angelina loves to dance, and gets the opportunity to be in a real ballet as a magic fairy. One slight problem is that Angelina's cousin Harry, who looks very silly dancing, is also in the ballet as an elf. When Harry gets a line, Angelina must deal with her feelings of jealousy.

This is a relatively short book, with some great artwork, that parents won't mind reading multiple times. Like some of the other Angelina books, a part of the story is about Angelina dealing with her feelings, and happily, it all works out in the end.

This was a great book! I especially liked it because I am very much interested in ballet. This book was about a mouse named Angelina and her being invited to perform in a "grown up" ballet. She got a good part just like she wanted, but became upset when her couin Henry got a part and got more attention then her. She felt better though when the star of the ballet gave ger a flower. I think that this book is very good for both children and adults because you can learn a good lesson from it that you can be jelous, but it often doesn't pay to be.

I got hooked on Kerr's novels years ago. I always find that the time between volumes is too long. Often I go back and re-read at least two or three previous volumes so I know where the new book fits in. But that's not all bad; they're great to read again and again! My one criticism is the lack of a list of complete character IDs and a timeline. Because Kerr uses lots of flashback, it's difficult sometimes to remember how the characters fit into the overall story. I read the latest (?) release: "The Red Wyvren" and was somewhat disappointed that she didn't make more progress in the most recent timeframe, but chose to emphasize a much earlier time. Does this mean that another volume will be released soon? I hope so.

Katherine Kerr's superb descriptions and well-thought out story will always leave you hungering for more. You join all of Kerr's exquisite characters through their lives, whether it be in a far past life or their life 20 years ago. They make you wonder... what's going to happen to the characters next? The plot will make you gasp, shudder, and stay up until four thirty in the morning just... reading. I promise you -- buy this, and you won't regret it. I certainly didn't. This will make a GREAT addition to ANY book collection... even if you don't HAVE a book collection, get this one, I tell you! It's a MUST have!

This was my first book written by Katharine Kerr that I've *currently* read. Right now.. I'm clicking on almost every Kerr book on Amazon.com and putting them in my shopping cart -- does that tell you anything?

To my knowledge there is not other book like this one in print. It's a 1300+ page book that contains poems from all over the world from ancient Sumeria to the present. You will find poetry from the Bronze age; odes from the Ottoman empire; Latin American and Native American verses, and more from just about every country that has ever produced a poet. There is religious poetry from India and Asia, translations from Sanskrit and from medieval Russian. Vietnamese, Icelandic and Finnish poets are all represented.

The book is bulky yet with a scope so immensely broad it still has to be a sampler. Major English poets like Alexander Pope end up with half a page while, strangely, Victor Hugo gets three-and-a-half pages.

This is a book not just for those who love poetry, but for those who want a taste of history and culture. It's fascinating to go through these old texts and get a glimmer of the interests and feelings of people in different lands at different times throughout history.

Now for the clinkers. A work like this requires a large number of translators, and some of them have been a little too free in their conversions to English.

A poem of Martial (40-104AD) reads thusly: "Ted's studio burnt down, with all his poems./ Have the muses hung their heads?/ You, bet, for it was criminal neglect/ not also to have sautéed Ted."

Hipponax (around 540BC) supposedly said, "Big Daddy/ no scrumptious feast of partridge and hare/ no sesame pancakes/ no fritters drenched/ in honey."

And that most frequently translated of all classical poets Horace (65 -8BC) is accused of coming up with the lines "Dazzled though he be, poor dope, by the golden looks/ Your locks fetched up out of a bottle of Clairol.."

Fun is fun, but I want a serious book of trustworthy translations when I buy an expensive anthology like this. Still, it is a remarkable book, and one of the most important additions to my library.

I noticed, in this mostly excellent anthology of world poetry, that a single word, "weird" has been spelled incorrectly as "wierd."

This would be unmentionably minor. However, the misspelling is in a translation of the old English poem The Wanderer.

"Weird" (spelled something like wyrd in the original, perhaps) is the single most important word in the entire poem. This is because the Wanderer himself, the speaker of the poem, is "weird", "set apart in thought."

Today, the word refers to oddballs. But it appears that in old English the word referred to a man's soul, his "wyrd." "Weird" may have meant "great of soul" and, perhaps, able to reflect as does The Wanderer on a long life.

Today, a society that is unconsciously other-directed does not encourage the chap who does this and instead we are supposed to get direction from our mates.

Therefore, it is possible that collectively and as a group (where lowest common denominators tend to emerge) the editors were tone-deaf to the word, and the need to preserve its exceptional spelling (which modern dictionaries confirm.)

The editors, in a world-multicultural spirit, may have thought that the word, "weird" needed to conform to a generally-accepted, trumping rule of modern English orthography whose relative antiquity is shown by its rhyme: "i before e, except after c."

In so doing, they exhibit how a group of people, anxious to be be Politically Correct, are more apt in the French fashion to be dirigiste, and to make and to follow abstract, general rules. This *mission civilisatrice* is considered in such circles somewhat superior to a system, whether of law, or orthography, with many exceptions...as found in English spelling, or on those English and American juries permitted, in increasingly rare circumstances, to show mercy or severity, and ignore the black letter of the law.

Now, I have no brief against Political Correctness. I have seen first-hand (as a minor participant in its enforcement on a network at Princeton) how it spares feelings previously violated and gives voice to the voiceless.

But all social systems have besetting sins. The besetting sin of the older systems was the prime of place given to dead, white males.

The besetting sin of the modern system is that the lowest common denominator, here, the tone-deafness, is silently given equal time to an older sensitivity to the music of the Wanderer.

Many neo-conservative conscientious objectors to Political Correctness may be not so much paleo-conservative as anxious about the position of the indvidual author and reader in a *dirigiste* system, in which abstract rules trump local custom. Paradoxically, one of the goals of Political Correctness happens to be respect for local custom.

I am reminded in far more serious venues of how the feminist critique of the use of sex as power becomes, in the corporation and the academe, the syntactical and relatively mindless application of rules. The feminist narrates how a woman has a right to a job free of unwanted advances, even by future justices of the Supreme Court. The narrative becomes a rule in which the very mention of our sexual being becomes a terminating offense.

And in the same way, a marvelous exception to a rule that's hard enough to remember in itself, an exception self-reflexively weird and an echo of ancient times, becomes barbarously forgotten.

Where is the horse? Where is the rider? Where is my car?

This is the best,most readable,comprehensive anthology of its type I have discovered. The selections are great with fine translations.The single column typography is very appealing.It is a hefty tome,over 1300 pages,so that I need a lecturn at times.The entries are chronological so that Chinese Poetry is in various periods rather than being all together.I wish I could read these poems in the original languages,but since I cannot,this volume will do nicely.Savor the poems, give a copy to a sensitive,dear friend.Well worth the price,new or used.

I'm not sure who this book is aimed at. People who have no OO experience will struggle to come to terms with the concepts; people with a lot of OO experience will find the whole thing too simplistic. Probably it will work best for people who have some limited experience of one or maybe two OO projects and who are looking for input for their next project.

I gave 4 stars to this book because of its quality.
Nevertheless I think it is obsolete because it was written before "UML" was defined.
I think they should write a new edition that is "UML compliant"

In this book the knowledge of a large group of experts is combined, to help the novice to understand what objects are and how to perform the different steps to reach the final desired application. Unfortunately the order is a bit strange, but in the different chapters requirements, checks and tips are provided how to handle the different activities. Besides this book also explains methodologies not developed by Yourdon or by Software AG (the company that sponsored the writing of this book) and clearly explains the benefits and disadvantages in an objective way.

Angelina's Halloween is a nice Halloween book for 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds, with just the right mix of scariness and other Halloween fun.

Angelina is very annoyed that her little sister insists on tagging along beside (or behind) her wherever they go, but she handles her little sister in several different ways, all of them good. The story includes trick-or-treating, a Halloween parade, and other Halloween traditions also.

The illustrations are like those in the other Angelina books: nicely drawn, cutesy, and cluttered with images. There's a lot to see on each page. Often my son just likes to explore the illustrations, naming the items on each page, and asking questions.

Angelina's Halloween is one of many good Halloween storytime (or bedtime) books for preschool aged children. I recommend it.

ken32

In this next book in the Angelina Ballerina series, Angelina and her friend Alice design beautiful Halloween costumes for themselves. However, Angelina begins to find her little sister's tagging along behind her, trying to copy her, quite tiring. But trouble arrives later in the evening, and Angelina learns another lesson.

Once again, this book continues the tradition of excellence set by the other books. Katherine Holabird's writing is interesting and entertaining, while Helen Craig's illustrations just add so much more icing onto the cake. My daughter loves this series, and, frankly, so do I. We both recommend this book to you.

I bought this book for my 2 1/2 year old daughter a week ago. She has requested it at nap time, and bed time, and in between, every day. She can now say most of the words along with me! At first I was worried that she would be scared, but she loves every bit of it. I love how Angelina handles her little sister in all the situations from being angry to being scared. It reminds me of my own older sister. I love the story and the illustrations and would recommend this book to anyone.

Why is it that people are so dependent on their cars? Why have all other forms of transportation been neglected? Does this dependency on cars lead to anything damaging and if so, how can that be changed? Alvord attends to these issues in her book and she suggests that the dependency should just be abandoned.

Katie Alvord begins her book with by explaining what divorcing your car means. She compares the relationship people have with cars to marriages and divorcing a car is much like divorcing a spouse. Then, she describes how this marriage or dependency between people and cars was formed, starting from when the car was introduced into society and finishing with the conditions of the present. In the next section of the book, Alvord discusses reasons why we should divorce our cars. That is, why we should consider trying to live a car-lite or even car-free life. In the final section of her book, she goes into detail on how living a car-lite or car-free life is possible. She addresses how individuals, communities, and societies can accomplish the goal of becoming car-free.

The main argument that Alvord makes is that anyone and everyone can go car-free or at least car-lite and they should in order to improve the condition of this world. This can be done by using other modes of transportation such as walking, biking, buses, trains, or car-share programs. She suggests that people gradually move in to a car-free lifestyle by first trying a car-lite lifestyle. This consists of using the car less or as little as possible, maybe for long trips only. Alvord even states that going car-free may not be possible for some so a car-lite lifestyle is the best idea in those situations which might include people living in rural areas. Alvord backs up her car-free argument by providing multiple reasons as to why people should use cars less. They cause overcrowded streets, health problems, indirect and direct pollution, and they are very expensive.

Divorce Your Car is a very good and convincing book. It not only makes and case for abandoning cars but it explains how this can be done. Alvord addresses each issue of her car-free idea in depth. She gives the reader history, evidence, and the how to. Another very impressive aspect of the book is that it is not preachy or condescending. It simply tells you the facts and what your options are. In approaching the argument this way, I think more people will be open to the idea of attempting a car-free or car-lite lifestyle.

Katie Alvord, the author of Divorce your Car states that the intention of the this book is to demonstrate both the pressing need to drive less and the many opportunities we have to do so. The book is set up into three parts. The first part attempts to explore some of the factors that explain how we as a society have become so dependent on automobiles. The second part gives reasons why the separation from the vehicle is so important. The third part closes the book illustrating some of the possible alternatives to being so car dependent.
The first part the author described how factors such as government policy, industry practices, and mass media have turned the automobile from a "how-to" technology into a "have-to" technology. A quote from the book to sum up the trend automobiles have taken is from the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith in 1907 when he referred to automobiles as, "a luxury which is apt to degenerate into a nuisance."
I totally agree here with how she explained how that exact thing happened. When automobiles were first introduced they were seen as the invention for freedom. They led to huge advancements in labor force and manufacturing. The huge surge in automobile interest was not encouraged just by the usefulness of it alone. At the time cars were marketed as the great escape, a tool to gain freedom. They weren't however the only form of transportation. There were non-internal combustion engines providing transportation. These forms were soon eradicated by the automobile industry. The government did also use city planning to create freeways and a car in every garage and gas burning busses replaced systems of streets and the electric railcars. These structural changes now made it easier to move around, but only if you have a car.
The second part was very predictable. It does hit on several levels though. It goes over the negative environmental aspects from all the cars driving at once. The smog and global warming issues were her main topics. Alvord then brings up several other aspects such as the oil industry and their tendency for spills, and the cost of gas to the individual driver. This choice of topics is very persuasive. Its focuses on the manufacture, the facilitating industry, drivers in general, and then drivers individually. This leaves nothing out. It hits the driver on all levels.
The third part generally goes over the positive side of divorcing your car. In a generally overweight society obsessed with dieting starting off by giving the positives of exercising more. Then the author gives an optimistic answer to several problems stating that if you can't stop using the car for good you can do it in steps.
Overall I think that the book was well written and interesting. It describes the problem from beginning to possible solution. As being without a car for the last couple of months I can see some of the benefits but I am not sold on the idea of going without for good. Unless society in general changes its just easier to own a car. The one issue not brought up was time. Driving saves time period. Traffic jams do take up time but the busses will have to go through the same jams. I have so little free time between school, work and homework that the 20 minutes or so driving saves just going back and forth to the grocery, outweighs the negative aspects for right now.

In the book, Divorce Your Car!, Katie Alvord talks about how our increased auto-dependence has led many of us to give up alternate modes of transportation. She stresses that a car is like a marriage; once you have one, you feel obligated to use it. Not only are cars useful and convenient (as in we can go almost anywhere within a shorter amount of time), they also provide psychological benefits. Cars are status symbols, and in many ways, they outwardly reflect our wealth and personalities. However, this does not mean that cars should consume our lives. In fact, a car being referred to as a marriage is not necessarily a good thing. In the US, 50% of marriages end in divorce. Marriages can go wrong for several reasons, and this is why Katie Alvord compares a car to marriage.
Driving a car can obviously be very beneficial, but at the same time, it can also be very destructive. The worst part is that cars kill thousands of people each year, many of them children. Secondly, the environment is becoming more polluted, leading to global warming. But besides the physical effects, driving can be emotionally draining as well. As more and more people use cars, traffic and congestion is becoming a huge problem. Driving can be a very frustrating experience, mainly during rush hour and when there are road constructions. If people spend too much time cooped up in a car, their frustration and anger may come out while they are driving. Therefore, these negative effects along with others, are what made Katie Alvord decide to divorce her car.
It is clear throughout the book that Katie Alvord is in favor of divorcing a car. She constantly argues that the negative effects of driving outweigh the positive effects. Divorce Your Car! is thus a guide to help people find alternate ways to get places. These alternate modes of transportation such as walking, biking, and using trains and buses, will then effectively reduce our auto-dependence. It is evident that the author put a lot of time and effort into writing this book. I really enjoyed Divorce Your Car! because I also feel that people unnecessarily use their cars at times. I have to admit that I drive to save time, even if the place I'm going to is only a 10-minute walk. But there are many reasons why I have to drive, one being that places are so far away from each other. I am willing though to change my ways and get some exercise in the process. Katie Alvord does a great job in convincing readers that "divorcing a car can be fun, healthy, money-saving, and helpful to the planet" (Alvord, back cover). I find this book to be incredibly useful and I'm sure that others will feel the same.

I tried recipes from this book and they are awefull. Funky combinations that do not work. Some of the recipes are very basic and may appeal to people who do not like exotic or fancy food. For better recipes and recipes that offer more variety, flavor and flair, I like the American Diabetes Association Diabets Cookbook and Joslin's Diabetic Gourmet Cookbook.

I bought the first edition of this book in the early eighties to use the recipe exchanges along with "Eat and Stay Slim" by Better Homes and Gardens. I still use it to this day and whenever I serve meatloaf or chicken a la king from it I get compliments and folks want the recipes! Many of the recipes are easy to make and the kids love them.

This book provides such a wealth of information to anyone who is new to the world of a diabetic. It answered so many questions that I had and didn't know where to go for the answers.

With all the new products on the market, this updated version takes the pain out of grocery shopping in the supermarket skills section.

I bought three copies....One for my mom, one for a friend and one for myself and we all agree...Bon Appetit!

I have not read the book yet, but I am very disappointed that she has not photos! Having read Joye Poole's book that lots of tremendous photos and Cynthia Moss's book that at least some black & white photos, I thought this book would have some also. As a photographer and elephant lover, I expected them.

Katy Payne is a wonderful writer with a tremendous talent for integrating life with her research. This book is about elephants, about Katy, about the men and women and societies that she meets in a wonderful pilgrimage. You experience her joys, her sorrows, her love for elephants, her research breakthroughs and the distress of the wildlife situation, especially within Zimbabwe. Katy also has a beautiful talent for gracefully understanding how other societies function and for developing a culturally sensitive learning posture. This is a great book. For those reviewers who want "more pictures," there are thousands in this book that Katy brings to your mind when you READ it. I learned a tremendous amount about elephant behavior/communication, wildlife biology and the lifestyle of a wildlife biologist in this book. Wonderful, wonderful work! Thank you Katy!

FANTASTIC book. Can't believe it's on sale when I bought it for full-price! Definitely the thing for anyone who likes non-fiction. It's totally poignant and fascinating - not an easy combination.

In this next book in the Angelina Ballerina series, Angelina has spent the winter saving up her money for when the fair arrives in town. Disaster strikes (in Angelina's eyes) when she is forced to take her little cousin Henry along. She proceeds take her annoying little cousin on all of the rides that she loves, but he finds frightening. However, when Henry disappears, Angelina learns a lesson about others.

My daughter and I do love the Angelina books. Katherine Holabird and Helen Craig make a formidable team! If you have a child (a girl especially), then we do recommend this book to you.

This is the first Angelina book I recieved and I believe that it is the best in the series of Angelina books. It has everything a terrific children's book should have. The characters were obviously created with great attention to details and are utterly charming. The fabulous watercolor illustrations were enriching to me as a child when I read Angelina at the Fair due to the pastel color choices. This book also has a perfect balance of intrigue, suspense, and adventure. Every little girl should have the opportunity to read this book.

This is a wonderful book. I have read it to my 3 year old daughter dozens of times. It has a scary element to the story, which she loves. But, not too scary for a 3 year old. The pictures are interesting as well as the story line. Angelina at the Fair is fun.

This book was ok...but definitely not what she could really do. Compared ot Daggerspell, this one didn't really outshine the rest. As I read each one, it got better and better, therefore I expected this one to be the best so far. But the Red Wyvern was like the climax...I hope the rest of the books don't turn out to be like this one.

This is the second book in the Dragon Mage series, which chronicles the fortunes of the inhabitants of Deverry and those of the Northlands and Westlands in various centuries.
I found this sequel to The Red Wyvern slightly unsatisfying, but still an absolute charm of a novel, with the kind of detail a fantasy trainspotter like me thrives upon. Kerr does feudal villages and castles and fantasy/history exceedingly well; her characters are multidimensional and challenging - particularly the women, which I believe is deliberate: the men tend to be more distant - romantic figures or even caricatures - which I suppose might annoy you if you are a man. But this is quite unashamedly a book from a woman's point of view: for instance, when the men go to war the action of the novel tends to stay with the women left behind. This works very well indeed: it's not a feminist treatise, just an honest authorial perspective.
In The Black Raven, we meet my favourite Lillorigga again, this time on the horns of a different dreadful dilemma, torn between her good, honest, loving, considerate, brave, strong, boring husband-to-be and the not altogether natural charisma and charms of the importunate Prince Maryn; working with dangerous magic to unravel a deadly curse on the Prince at the expense of her health and not entirely free of the spectre of her evil dead mother.
But it's Niffa who takes my fancy in this one. Just coming into the awareness of her psychic abilities and hounded by Raena, the misguided sorceress with little conscience and too much power for her own - or anybody else's - good, Niffa mourns her murdered husband and is comforted by the family ferrets, unaware that her pain and persecution is a repetition of that of Lillorigga and her mother, doomed to continue, cycle upon cycle, in different incarnations, until, presumably, the battle between the supernatural forces which blights the lives of the inhabitants of Deverry and, centuries later, Cerr Cawnen, is resolved.

As a fan of this Katharine Kerr series in its entirety I found this book to be a must read, and one that I could not put down. Her style of writing has remained as easy to read and all engrossing as when she first began the series. This last series though has tended to focus on fewer time-line scenarios than her previous books. While in after-thought I find this a little tedious (the book mainly revolving around the Llilorigga-Maryn, and Rhodry-Raena story-lines) you can tell that the story is coming to some grand conclusion which makes it worth the read!If you have read the series from the beginning it is a little disappointing compared to the excitement of the initial Daggerspell series, but we are still comparing greatness to not-so-exciting greatness! Its not a book to be read out of sequence, start with Daggerspell and from there you can't go wrong!