Steve Gaffney has captured the essence of communication and he shows, in simple terms, how to effectively deal with the most common problems that affect our professional and personal relationships. His vivid examples and practical suggestions come together in an easy-to-read book full of helpful information. I would recommend it to anyone who regularly communicates with others!

This book is awesome!
We'd have a lot less problems in this world if everyone read this and implemented the simple steps Steven points out.
The book will help you in all facets of your life!

What makes this book GREAT is the specfic examples, stories, and tips that Steven Gaffney provides.

It is good to describe principles and theories and to relate why it is essential to be honest and have great character, but this book brings these important elements to life with real storIes and examples and practical advice and ideas.

The "notice" versus "imagine" concept is so simple (now that I've read it), but it is so overlooked in everyday communication and relationships.

Loved the story about Mike Tyson. Steven got himself into a real pickle with his encounter with Tyson. We can all learn from this example of what not to do.

An easy read with solid content.

This story was a favorite of mine as a child, and now I have the oppourtunity to read it to my own kids.

Louis recives a tadpole in a jar for his birthday one year from his eccentric uncle in Scotland, who happens to live near Loch Ness. Louis named his tadpole Alphonse, fed him cheeseburgers, taught him to fetch, do other tricks, and Alphonse becomes a great pet. However, he has grown too big for the apartment in which Louis and his parents live and Louis must think of something to help Alphonse have a place to live or he'll have to go to the zoo!

With the help of the local librarian, and Alphonse, Louis comes up with a plan to raise money to buy the parking lot near his building for a big swiming pool for Alphonse, and all the neighborhood kids to swim and play in.

A happy ending, just in time for Louis's next birthday, and another mysterious present from Uncle McAlister! Great for kids ages four to seven.

Louis' Uncle McAllister lives in Scotland and every year sends Louis the best birthday present. And this year was no different, a tadpole, Louis names Alphonse. But it soon becomes apparent that Alphonse is not your normal, everyday tadpole and definitely not turning into a frog. He soon outgrows his jar, then the kitchen sink, and bathtub. Louis sneaks him into the school swimming pool during summer vacation, and that works out just fine until fall when school opens. In a panic Louis consults Miss Seevers, the librarian. Librarians always have all the answers, and Miss Seevers doesn't let him down. With a phone call to Scotland, a little research, and a lot of ingenuity, Louis and Miss Severs find a clever solution and happily-ever-after ending to their problem..... First published twenty-five years ago, Steven Kellogg's creative classic, The Mysterious Tadpole, is as fresh and entertaining today as it was back in 1977. Mr Kellogg has given his new illustrations a bold and bright facelift, and tweaked the text a bit, but the engaging and fun-filled story with its hilarious twist at the end, is still sure to capture the imagination and warm your heart. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, The Mysterious Tadpole is a timeless treasure to share with friends and family now, and future generations in the years to come.

I've been a Steven Kellogg fan for a long time, and this is one of the books that won me over.

Imagine being a small boy, say 6 or 7, and having an uncle from Scotland bring you an unusual tadpole for your birthday...then it doesn't turn into a frog!

The Mysterious Tadpole is a fun romp through life with a pet that grows and grows and keeps on growing.

The story is engaging, the illustrations are brilliant, and children and adults both love reading this book.

Give is a try!

5 stars all the way!

Alan Holyoak

I love this book. I got it as a Christmas gift and I use it all the time. The photographs are gorgeous and each recipe is illustrated. I like that the recipes are relatively simple and require few ingredients. I also enjoy the descriptions and definitions of terms and regions in Italy.

I have a lot of Italian-Cooking-Books but this is by far the BEST ! The recipe are easy to follow, no fency ingredients (the most I have in my Pantry) and the fotos make you cook them all at once ! When I still lived in Germany I traveled a lot to Italy, this are all very authentic Recipes. A good Glas of Wine with this Dishes and you feel like in Italy ! ENJOY !!!

This book is simply gorgeous. It's recipes are simple but elegant. I recently purchased it and have made several recipes including the panzella (incredible), and only takes 25 min. to do and the prosuitto wrapped asparagus with mozzerella, (amazing) don't forget to sprinkle with paprikah. Most recipes use fresh ingredients, a mainstay of italian cooking, and they are easy yet impressive. This book is a must for all who enjoy cooking and for those who do not, it has wonderful descriptions of the regional origination of each recipe and beautiful accompanying pictures. You can travel to italy without even leaving your kitchen.

That's Scott's first question. His second: What are your dreams? Have they come true, or are they stagnant? Scott shows us that most of us are kept from living out our dreams by six chains:

Mediocrity
Fear of failure
Avoiding criticism
Lack of vision
Lack of knowledge
Lack of resources

All of these chains can be broken and replaced by seven booster engines that will ignite your dreams into reality.

What makes this book better than other motivational books? First, Scott gives you assignments at the end of each chapter. Second, they take time. You can't rush through the book. Third, you may have to face some tough facts about yourself. But looking at yourself honestly is vital to making your dreams live.

Most people don't act on their dreams. That's too bad. But just reading this book will take you part of the way to achieving your dreams. The exercises will take you even farther. But first, you've got to buy the book. So buy it. Now. Take the first step.

For long time now I had been hunting for some book which would help me in overcoming criticsm at work and home. I found none for sometime and finally bought this one. The topics on Critiscm and how to cope with it are alone worth the money and to my astonishing knowledge I did find that particular paragraph of how to cope with critiscm seems to passing around as mails within my friends circle. That's really great.

-Guna

There are those books you read and put on the shelf, and there are those books that you re-read, highlight, recommend to friends, quote, and keep on top of your desk to remind you of what the author said. This is one such book. As a business owner Steve has given me great insight as to how to go beyond what I would count as success to the dream level. This book gives step-by-step guidelines to "shoot for the moon" and achieve far more than you expect. Hands down, the best book I have read in the last 12 months.

All For Animals: Tips And Inspiration For Living A More Compassionate Life by Karen Lee Stevens (founder of All For Animals, a pro-animal organization based in Santa Barbara, California) is a straightforward, detailed, "pet owner friendly" guide to living a life kind to animals. Stevens' informed advice ranges from purchasing household products and cosmetics that have not been animal tested, to spaying and neutering to curb pet overpopulation, to making healthier food choices. All For Animals is a must-read guide and reference for every animal lover, and a very useful consumer information resource for the shopper who wants to know which brand-name companies have a cruelty-free track record.

This book truly has a "sleeper" effect. It comes off as unassuming and just generally pleasant, and when I finished reading it I sort of shrugged and thought, "Well, what a nice little book."

Ha! The truth is, this book is quietly but steadily reshaping my life. I guard against being strident towards others and generally despise "confrontation," but All for Animals has helped me learn that in the past I've been completely silent where this wasn't necessary. This book has suggested to me a peaceable yet strong way to express myself to others in the context of hurt toward animals. I suspect this is because it has given me a whole new way to talk to myself on the subject.

For instance: this week at work I found myself getting up and walking around my cubicle and engaging myself in a conversation with a fellow who was talking about killing chickens for research and tossing off casual remarks like "Well, if you have to kill an animal, why not a chicken?"

We had a spirited yet amicable discussion. In the end, the fact that I've been a mostly a vegetarian since I was a teenager wasn't sufficient ammunition against the fact I was wearing leather shoes. But because the discussion was kept at a friendly level, what I took away from it wasn't animosity against this other person, but self-examination about those leather shoes. Had I not read this "nice little book," I know I would have overheard my coworker and thought, momentarily, "Gosh, that's not right," but brushed it off and not got up and talked with him. And was I beating myself over the head about wearing leather? No, not at all: I was just calmly (but steadily) wondering about it.

Karen Lee Stevens has something special to offer in a world that stampedes to become polarized and politicized around animals as an "issue." The deep beauty of this book is its ability to reach out to the human species with warmth and subtle depth and say: I understand that you can't do everything all at once, just try this one little thing and see if you like it. I am eager to see Ms. Stevens continue and expand upon the gifts she has to offer, and I challenge savvy booksellers to place this title not just among the animal-related offerings but in the (human)self-improvement category as well.

Wondering how you can help animals? The new book "All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life" by Karen Lee Stevens helps answer that question. This book is full of simple, easy ways to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle. For example, buy household and personal care products that haven't been tested on animals, have a meat-free meal, attend an animal-free circus, voice your opinions against dissection of animals in the classroom and show your support for animal protection legislation."All for Animals" includes interesting animal rescue stories written by people who share what they learned from these encounters and the profound emotional rewards they received. In all these instances, the animals were saved from lonely, painful lives and introduced into environments where they were loved and well cared for. "All for Animals" also includes a reading list for those interested in learning more about animal issues, a list of on-line resources, and a list of companies that don't test their products on animals. "All for Animals" isn't preachy, overly sentimental, or graphic to shock you to into living a more humane, compassionate life. It simply offers information on how to be more animal-friendly in ways that makes sense. You'll learn to love and appreciate your companion animals more deeply as well as respect the rights of all animals to a peaceful existence.

Our class liked this book. We thought it was hilarious and gave a wonderful picture of how much a million really is. The kid tower was very imaginative and was an excellent example of a million, billion, and trillion. David M. Schwartz has a fantastic imagination. This book is great for little kids, because it shows there are numbers greater than a hundred. It's language is easy for kids to understand, and it contains many amazing facts.
However, older students dislike it, because it was too fictional. We felt it didn't explain these concepts well enough for us. Overall, we wouldn't recommend it for grades higher than fourth grade.

This picture book is a great pairing of engaging children's literature, detailed illustrations and a deep math concept. I love the way that Schwartz and Kellogg bring this book to life!
I love Kellogg's illustrating! I would just love to jump right into the pages and be a part of all the action. His characters are drawn with such unique faces. And each page is filled with numerous details and endless nooks and cranies. Each page begs to be explored over and over.
If you have never enjoyed a book illustrated by Steven Kellogg now is the time!
The writing in this particular book is also very well done. The little facts about the number 1 million are really interesting. For instance it would take a fish bowl the size of a city harbor to hold a million goldfish!
This book really helps kids and adults understand a very abstract concept. How many of us really have a good grasp on how much a million really is? This book definitely puts it in perspective!
Read it once and you'll have to read it again and again!

I really enjoyed this book and I like the way David M. Schwartz used kids as an example of measurement. I thought the story was cute and I think young kids will really enjoy this. This is a story that I read a lot when I was in elementary. The story shows a very creative out look on counting and makes a million look like a humongous number. I think kids can really learn from that and even makes it kind of fun to learn. Sometimes I even like to read this book over because it really is a fun book to read. The illustrations are also very good and I think they definitely add to the creativity of this book. I really enjoyed looking at them.

This novel is one of the best I have read. Alex Haley and Stevens express a kind of compassion from a grandmother/mother that no one could do better. It's a very emotional book, and touches everyone that has ever experienced a good book. Once you start it, you can't put it down!

Reading this book is like cozying up with a warm blanket. The authors provide so much detail that you feel like YOUR grandmother is sitting in front of you, recounting the tales. The book spans the decades, from the early 1900s to the late 1970s and throws in a bit of history/current events to place the family's hostory in context. Great book!

This book made you feel apart of it. I loved it! I loved the history, the story, the emotions and how it wove a story of a loving family working their way through life. This is a must read.

Very intriguing novel. I'm looking forward to Greenberg's next book. However, being a Catholic, I found Mr Greenberg's use of Jesus Christ as an expletive on just about every other page, very offensive. In case he decides to write another novel, I wish he'd take my review into consideration and refrain from using the Lord's name in vain.

Dr. Greenberg's first novel is very exciting. I was eager to finish one page to get to the next but had to savor each page of well written characters, scenes and emotion. If you like a good thriller with complexity and depth, you will enjoy Adam's Will.

I was looking for a good thriller/mystery and I found it in Steven Greenburg's first novel Adam's Will. I was captivated from the first to the last page and I contribute this to the author's passion for the written word. Mr. Greenburg developed and excellent and exciting plot with several unexpected and startling twists that will keep you guessing at one of America's most puzzling mysteries. If you haven't read Adam's Will, go get it and enjoy a fresh and electrifying experience!

For 25 years Industrial Light and Magic has woven magic into countless films, either subtle images through 'invisible' effects such as matte paintings or through eye-popping visuals that stand out vividly against the film backdrop. ILM has made it's mark on history, for not only have they been and still are the premiere effects house in Hollywood, they have innovated and invented more technology than any other studio, additionally they have won awards for the processing and compositing technology they have created. ILM had to be the best at special effects, because their flagship title - STAR WARS - demanded the best, because that's what Lucas wanted.

'Into the Digital Realm' isn't so much an abandonment of ILM of the traditional methods of special effects, rather a point of departure for the new technology and all of things that led up to it. Indeed, ILM's work on 'The Hunt For Red October' submarine work involved flying the submerged vessels from wires in a smoky room - effects do not get any more traditional than that. Released in 96, the book doesn't mention that Phantom Menace or even that the film is in production. It does have some revised images from the Star Wars special edition. As with the previous tome, this one is packed with hundreds of color photos, plus the same beautiful gate fold images.

If the center piece for the previous book was Star Wars, Digital Realms' focus is obviously Jurassic Park, because it was the first film to use CG on so large a scale, even more than Terminator 2, which ILM also did. Jurassic Park was also the test bed and showcase piece that convinced Lucas that computers had finally matured enough to bring what he had in mind to the screen for the new Star Wars films. More is the pity, because I came to loathe most of the aliens in the Phantom Menace. Digital Realm clearly explains in easy to understand terms how effects - both new and old - are accomplished, be it something as simple as making it appear as if buildings are actually much taller than they or having a velociraptor walk _behind_ a plant situated in the foreground. I have both of these wonderful books, and I strongly recommend them to anyone who is curious about ILM's history and the process of how effects are made.

An extraordinary book about an extraordinary company. You will know all you want to know about special effects wizardry. The book is well published, even watching its pictures is joyful.

If you want to know about special effects, this is the book. Simple as that.

Iridescent Soul: The Story, The Music

Animals, Arts and Music, Inspiration, Nature and Animals, Spirituality

Iridescent Soul
The Story The Music
M. L Stevens

Stevens has created a truly unique experience with his book Iridescent Soul. The story is told from the perspective of an aging mother hummingbird, allowing readers to experience life through her eyes. The book begins with the voyage of yearly migration, then carries readers through the pains of childbearing to the enlightenment of motherhood. Stevens tells the story in fascinating details that will capture the attention of readers and give them a true sense of what life is like for this tiny little bird.

The book includes a CD brimming with music that will enrich the story for readers. The tone and rhythm of the music will convey to readers what words cannot. Lyrics to each song are included in appropriate places throughout the book, guiding readers and allowing them to further enjoy the meaning of the music. Stevens does an excellent job of allowing the music to "speak for itself" and add to the splendor of the story.

The climax to the story comes when the mother hummingbird makes a connection with an "upright creature" who lives in the house on which the bird has been nesting. The upright creature is an expectant human mother. She has a very touching interaction with the mother hummingbird. Stevens describes it in a way that conveys a sense of compassion for all living beasts, not just mothers and hummingbirds.

Though readers may need a page or two to adjust to seeing the world through the eyes of the hummingbird, this captivating story will capture readers and keep them hooked through to the end. Stevens's insightful writing in Iridescent Soul has enough description to allow readers to connect with the bird, but it is not so detailed that it slows the story. This is a great read for any mother or expectant mother, or anyone seeking a connection between the human world and the animal world. ...

I am no writer. I read. I read a great deal. I have read many books. Some like this, maybe a little unsure with it's footing. But this has a magic of it's own. Maybe not completely origional but wonderful.

If you are looking for something just easy to read with a view. I think it well worth a look.

Iridescent Soul by M. L Stevens reminds us that the most important things in life are not big by conventional standards. The hummingbird is an effective metaphor of the always precarious, but vital and inspiring rhythms of the universe. Melding the spirit of the bird with the spirit of the family brings us back to the unity of the universe, too often forgotten in a world that values busy-ness and obliterates soul.

Combining text, music and photography results in a powerful unity of presentation, bringing to life the gentle spirit that ties us to the natural world. It makes us remember that all things are connected and that the plastic superior view that we so often take from "above" the natural world is pathetic and shallow.

The hummingbird's constant search for food, leaving the nest 40 times a day for food, and shelter for herself and her egg, are not just physical acts but spiritual ones as well. The strong progression between the humans, the pet dogs and the wild bird solidifies the connection between one and all, and renews for us Walt Whitman's, "A mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels."

The sensitive, powerful message conveyed very effectively by the music of word, song, and photography is inspirational. Iridescent Soul is a statement about the constant connection between the individual and the universe, a book about the unity of physical and spiritual love. It is a book well worth reading, and seeing, and hearing...