I began reading this book to my son when he was four. We started with the basics of how to set up the board and how the pieces move. Starting Chess helped peak my son's interest and learning in the game. He has now progressed to thinking about strategy and combinations as a result of Harriet Castor's excellent method for conveying the fundamentals found in book.

As an Usborne book, I knew this would probably be a great tool to teach the game since the company designs interactive reading to compete with television and video games. The puzzles and great graphics throughout helped to stimulate my son's (and now my younger daughter's) interest. They are both really enjoying the game, and we play often.

Highly recommended!

PS "Chess For Children" by Ted Nottingham is an excellent follow on book to continue developing young kid's passion for Chess.

I've been reading this book to two kids in the family, ages 7 and 9, and they love it. Also we have a 3-year-old who likes the pictures and has slept with this book under his arm--what other endorsement do you need?

The drawings are fun, with lots of animated characters. Chess notation is described but not required for learning the moves (drawings are shown instead). The book covers all the basics for each piece, discusses exchanges (and points per piece), special moves (castling, en passant), opening moves and tricks, and endgames. Plus there's some chess history and simple puzzles. High recommended.

Originally found this in the library. I knew some chess, but wanted to get back to the basics. The color art and thinness of the book (not a lot of long explanations to bog me down) attracted me to it, and I got quite a lot out of the simple, to-the-point concepts and explanations. I am now referring it to a friend of mine who is visually-impaired and wants to learn chess. The large print is good for his reading, and the simple explanations help him to understand chess without drowning in complicated teaching.

This inexpensive little book is excellent for any beginning rider, containing much information, nice illustrations. It is a little gem that any horse lovin' kid would like and would learn from.

I teach horseback riding year round and in summer camp. This little book is perfect for children. The drawings and explanations are accurate, clear, and easy to understand. While the book pictures children and ponies, adults who are just learning the basics of riding will find it informative and fun to read.

A complete revision of this popular best-seller that covers Beaufort, Myrtle Beach, New Bern, Savannah, the Sea Islands, Hilton Head, Brunswick and the Golden Isles, Okefenokee Swamp, the Outer Banks, Charleston, Cape Hatteras and all the places in-between.

This book is so adorable. I have a 2 year old who loves to touch and feel everything in the book and the fact that it's a board book keeps the wear and tear down to a minimum. I'd recommend it for very young children of ALL religious faiths. The message is very simple and positive.

A basic book for anyone that requires to make decisions and quantitative modelling in Forest Production.

Aside from the wonderfully told stories, this book is an exceptional example of bookmaking, from the white on white end pages to the frieze-like illustrations by the Dillons that tell the story along the top of the page. A great choice for a gift book.

Jaime de Angulo was a truly Californian character -- wanderer, poet, wastrel, anthropologist, linguist, and wild man; and near the end of his life he started retelling to his children the stories he'd learned from years of field work (and just hanging around) with the Pit River Indians of northern California. Out of those stories came this enchanting book, a semi-novel for children and wise adults, a series of stories both hilarious and profound told and experienced during a family's journey to visit relatives by the ocean. De Angulo's luminous vision gives us as intimate a picture of a Native American vision of life as any book I can think of. That this classic is not better known is a mystery....

This is the document of a poet consecrating himself to memory. His attempt to maintain perspective; his aesthetic self objectification that is repeatedly shattered when he looks into society; his Catholocism, his ennui, his mistress, his mother...all these cast a definitely "intimate" hue to the pages that are essential for any reader wishing to come to terms with Baudelaire's psyche: to see why his self-destruction was inseparable from his creations. For they were both necessary symptoms of his sensibility - an immaculately modern sensibility. The fragmented nature of the writings prevents the work from actually being a "work" - it is more like an authentic gesture, an unpremeditated act of self revelation. A fascinating and ultimately harrowing document from a poet - nothing more.

Forget for the moment the established theory that the center of the Earth is a ball of fire, and enjoy this wonderful adventure written over a century ago that offered an alternative view. I'm a big fan of Journey To The Center Of The Earth. I've read the book and seen the movie countless times, and still never tire of it. Alien Voices attempts to tell the story in a way that would suit a modern audience, while still retaining the spirit of the original. Long, descriptive passages can be circumvented in the aural medium with a few lines of dialogue or sound effects, and tighten the pace. Projecting the fascination of the unknown and portraying science in a highly positive way is indeed very Verne, and in this Alien Voices get it exactly right. Leonard Nimoy is an unsurpassably brilliant actor who brings the crotchety and irascible Professor Lidenbrock to life with panache. This is one man whose voice is perfectly suited to audio. John DeLancie unfortunately overdoes his part way too much for my liking, being too soppy and emotive as Axel. Still, that's the way Axel was written, so I can't say he got it wrong! The acting all round is competant, though it's mostly Nimoy and DeLancie who we hear, and they are seasoned professionals in film and t.v anyway. Put this on the headphones, and the sound quality becomes most evident, and you'll soon be taken away into the past. A worthy interpretation, for the most part, certainly to be congratulated for being far truer to the novel than the nonetheless highly enjoyable 1959 film.

Reading this book is an amazing adventure, as evidenced by a century of avid readers. I picked it up on a lark and decided to read the first five or ten pages to see if it was my type. It was easy to read, enjoy and visualize, and I quickly finished it.

The story revolves around a young man and his uncle, who is a scientist. They discover a route to the center of the earth (hence the title), and the novel is about their journey. Once you get 100 pages into this book, you aren't able to stop. The things they find boggle the mind, but seem so real.

100 years from now, people will still be enjoying Jules Verne, because he captures the imagination of the young explorer.

So, what is so special about going to the center of the earth. Its fun and its a possibility!

'A Journey to the Center of the Earth', is a narration by Axel who takes a trip to the center of the earth with his uncle, a famous mineralogist. They start their journey from a mountain in Iceland and end up.....

Although, this idea is impossible(?) but the author has given such proofs that while reading the book, you actually start thinking that just may be it is possible. And come to think of it, there is yet another world miles under our feet!

The story is narrated in very simple way with very few scientific details and terminologies used unlike '20,000 leagues under the sea' by the same author, where he used so many of complex marine terms that a person not familiar with them get frustrated.

A good adventure book just like rest from Jules Verne. Stronly recommended to those who have taste for such adventures like going to the earth's center or going around the world in 80 days (with no air travel).

While I have enjoyed previous Howard Norman works, particularly The Museum Guard, I cannot say the same for THE HAUNTING OF L.
Though the premise of the book is promising: an exploration of the turn-of-the century phenomenon known as "spirit photography" which evidently enjoyed a short-lived vogue, by the time I got to the end, I felt no sympathy nor antipathy towards any of the three principal characters.

These three people all seem to have their own selfish motivations and desires in mind when tromping on each others' emotions. While I didn't come away hating any one in particular, I didn't feel they deserved any compassion either. They lived to pursue their heart's desires no matter the outcome. Maybe that is justly the moral of this story: reap what you sow.

Some of the critics' reviews I have read cite THE HAUNTING OF L as the third in Norman's trilogy that is preceded by THE BIRD ARTIST and THE MUSEUM GUARD. Though it might have been the author's intention to do just that, THE HAUNTING OF L is sadly a badly played "note" in what is otherwise a beautifully-written trio of stories.

If you're new to his work, you'll likely find the book readable. However, if you're familiar with the author's style, you'll more likely find this work lacking in resonance.

While I certainly wouldn't want to read Howard Norman's books every day of the week, I do enjoy him as a change of pace. As anyone familiar with Norman knows, life in his world is bleak and fierce, men are meek and women are bold and mysterious happenings are simply the everyday stuff of life. Norman's novels are stories of love, murder, madness and, strangely enough, the redemptive power of art.

While the characters in Norman's books are usually quite low-key (the exception being some of the female characters), his plots border on the outlandish. No, they're not science fiction or fantasy, they're more plain illogical and downright strange. If you can't accept something like this, then Norman's books, good as they are, simply wouldn't be for you.

"The Haunting of L" is no exception. Set in Halifax and on Hudson Bay, the cold described so lyrically in the book seems to literally permeate each page of the story.

"The Haunting of L" takes place in 1927 and basically revolves around three characters: the narrator, Peter Duvett, and an unhappily married couple, Kala Murie and
Vienna Linn.

Kala is the strange one of this trio right from the start. She is a disciple of a spiritualist who has a deep and abiding belief in "spirit photographs," a belief he passes on to Kala. Vienna, who is not so believing, still manages to find a way to profit from these strange and rather ghoulish "spirit photos."

While we know very well why Kala and Vienna are on the northern edge of Manitoba, we aren't so sure about Peter. He's sort of a ghost of a character himself, paling beside both Kala and Vienna. Complications arise when Vienna must deliver an assortment of "very special" photographs to his English benefactor, Radin Heur. Not to be beaten, Vienna "arranges" for the much needed photos. But does the end ever justify the means?

Without giving away the plot, I will just say that this book, while well-written and entertaining, simply asks far too much of the reader. There is a little too much authorial intrusion and it spoils what could have been so much better. While I enjoyed reading "The Haunting of L," I did come away from it less than satisfied and it will be awhile before I return to Howard Norman again. Though I will return.

We picked this book for our Book Club and it has proved to be one of our all time favorites. Harold Norman is an excellent writer and the story will keep you on the edge of your seat. I am now looking forward to reading his other 2 novels. Do not pass this one up.