My book is old and literally falling apart because whenever I reach for it to get a recipe, I end up down nostalgia lane as I get lost (again) in the lives of this incredibly beautiful family. It is my very favorite cookbook, and I have a large collection of very good cookbooks. The recipes are true vintage soul food at its finest. It will help establish you as a cook who takes second place to NOBODY. You hear me?

I truly loved the book. It was difficult to focus on the recipes without reading the autobiography of an affluent Africian American family. I learned to make those down-home mouth-watering dishes like "Big Mama" or Granny. It was truly an experience given the reason my older brother purchased the book for me in 1978 (Hardback). He said he needed to help a brother out since I could not cook. The recipes were delicious and very easy to follow.

The autobiography helps us to understand that in spite of what we hear and often see -- there was and still is many, many A-A who achieved a dream inspite of societal dictates.

Since 1978, I have purchased several paperback copies. The first paperback editions did not keep the autobiography and recipes separate. I am going to purchase the latest edition of the paperback for myself SINCE the hardback grew feet and disappeared to one of my loving family members home. Maybe that is their way of learning to cook incognito.

I came across this book over 12 years ago while searching for a book on southern cooking. I was trying to duplicate a friend's recipe for Southern Fried Chicken (she would not divulge the ingredients in her granny's recipe to anyone)! When I saw this book with its wonderful recipes and family remembrances I knew this was it. The first recipe I tried was the fried chicken, ofcourse - and - it was even better than my friend's. What a lovely book. The family remembrances are so touching. My copy was lost several years ago and I hope that the publisher will re-issue the mass market paper back again.

I can't believe I have finally found this wonderful book again. It was my absolute favorite as a child-I never got over those kittens! I was heartbroken not to have it for my older daughter and so pleased that I am able to get it for my second and third little girls. I am decorating their room by matting and framing the pages and will read it to them as much as they'll let me. Truly, it is a wonderful book for teaching kids about color mixing but the old fashioned illustrations are timeless and just so sweet. I am buying many copies: for us, our daughters' preschool, and to save for my granchildren-in case it ever goes away again. Why Good Night Moon and Run Away Bunny have staying power and the Color Kittens didn't is just beyond me. Buy it!

I remember this as one of the books that inspired me to become an artist. The wonderful adventures of the two curious kittens playing with mixed colors has stayed with me since my childhood. I may just buy this book again and remember all the wonderful memories it gave to me.

This was my favorite book as a small child. Now my nephiews and nieces will grow up with it, too. Every time I think about it, I get a warm, fuzzy feeling. I remember cuddling up with my grandma and reading this book for hours on end... :)

"The Man Who Planted Trees" is a wonderful short story about the fictional life of a man who singlehandedly restores a valley to life by becoming the Johnny Appleseed of Trees. More importantly, its about a man who, having suffered the loss of his wwife and only child, chooses to live a simple life in anonymous service with little but his own resources and his love for trees. The short-term effect is almost unnoticeable; long-term its staggering.

The wood engravings that accompany the text stand out and mirror the book's theme of asutere simplicity quite beautifully. Its a wonderful book for children, nature enthusiasts, gardeners and those looking for hope that follwoing one's heart and living out of love, rather than fear, can ultimately make a difference.

The Man Who Planted Trees is the tale of Elzeard Bouffier, a man who, after his son and wife die, spends his life reforesting miles of barren land in southern France. Bouffier's planting of thousands and thousands of trees results in many wondrous things occurring, including water again flowing in brooks that had been dry for many years. The brooks are fed by rains and snows that are conserved by the forest that Bouffier planted. The harsh, barren land is now pleasant and full of life.

Written by Jean Giono, this popular story of inspiration and hope was originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness." The story's opening paragraph is as follows:

"For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain that there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake."

The Man Who Planted Trees has left a "visible mark upon the earth" having been translated into several languages. In the "Afterword" of the Chelsea Green Publishing Company's edition, Norma L. Goodrich wrote that Giono donated his story. According to Goodrich, "Giono believed he left his mark on earth when he wrote Elzeard Bouffier's story because he gave it away for the good of others, heedless of payment: 'It was one of my stories of which I am the proudest. It does not bring me in one single penny and that is why it has accomplished what it was written for.'"

This special edition is very informative. Not only does it contain Giono's inspirational story, which is complemented beautifully by Michael McCurdy's wood engraving illustrations and Goodrich's informative "Afterword" about Giono, but it also contains considerable information about how wood and paper can be conserved in the section "The WoodWise Consumer." Goodrich writes about Giono's effort to have people respect trees.

"Giono later wrote an American admirer of the tale that his purpose in creating Bouffier 'was to make people love the tree, or more precisely, to make them love planting trees.' Within a few years the story of Elzeard Bouffier swept around the world and was translated into at least a dozen languages. It has long since inspired reforestation efforts, worldwide."

The Man Who Planted Trees is not only a wonderful story, it will inspire you and your children to care for the natural world.

-Reviewed by N. Glenn Perrett

Jean Giono's inspiring story of the "man who planted trees" reached me some days ago as a birthday gift from my two sons.They thought it an appropriate gift for me probably because I am now engaged in an effort to grow trees in some land which I bought as a barren waste land. I found the book extremely inspiring.The interesting thing is that there indeed are unsung heroes and heroines in many parts of the world who do do such inspiring work without thought of reward.Some months back I read in Indian newspapers about a poor couple in the Karnatak state of India who decided to plant trees to assuage their sorrow in being childless.As they had no land of their own they decided to plant trees on the roadside.And ended up with magnificent avenue trees on miles and miles of the road near their village. There still seems to be hope for mankind!

Jean Armour Polly has been on the Internet for a long time, and she has a good idea of what's happened on the Internet and what sort of information is out there, especially web sites of interest to children. Each edition of this book gets better, and in a few years we might think of this Net-mom guide like a Betty Crocker cookbook, except that she's a real person not an icon from a corporate PR department.

This edition is 744 pages plus a CD-ROM with an electronic version of her book. It's actually not as good as the print version (which stays open on your desk or your knees and is very legible). I was unable to use the search mechanism to fine 'Parrots' or 'Paraguay' which are two subjects in the book. I finally found the online entry by browsing the tabs and files of the e-book.

But back to the print versionk: each annotation is written so that kids can understand it, but they are not sappy or condesceding. As a parent, I think they set the right tone for a family book. Following the main A-Z section is one on countries of the world, and after that the "Introduction" to parenting and families and about 50 pages of reviews of sites for parents including topics like babies, health, death, travel, and information about software filters.

Accuracy is important, and Polly keeps track of URL changes which she notes on her Net-mom web page, and you can also get on her mailing list for updates and other news.

In the back of the book, completely separate from the text, are the ads.for services and products from Disney, an Internet training course (samples on the CD-ROM), an Internet filter company, and a book on the topic by Donna Rice Hughes.

Recommended highly.

"The Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages" helps us navigate the net in an understandable and friendly way. I believe the Internet is user-oriented; the media changes according to how and what we retrieve from it. This book has many enlightening tips for us to use. These tips reduce some of the fear and danger associated with cruising the web.

If you are not sure where to start, go to the "10 special don't-miss hot list", or "The Best Of the Rest of The Book", and use the book as a net dictionary depending on the subject you want to learn about. It also has a huge reference of countries, Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

For parents, "Parenting and Families" section, is a wealth of information, and is a "must read" section. FAQ's on net connections, information on virus, spams, hoaxes, child safety, and protecting kids, are some of the most interesting articles I found. Also, see the age to age characteristics on using computers and the net. It is obvious, the author cares for children and their development.

The book is NOT just a list of sites with descriptions of places to see on the web, but it is a product of Polly's wisdom, consideration, and tremendous research. "Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages" shows us how we can use the digital media as an important & interactive resource for children and families.

Highly recommended.

The Internet offers an immense wealth of information on a growing range of topics. Websites spring up every day to offer the world of online users something new or re-packaged to digest! Many Internet directories do a good job of providing links and an assortment of helpful information.

The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages directory is geared towards kids and those families who don't want to be hit by an onslaught of social problems and so-called adult materials online. This directory provides Website information about a variety of sites that offer important educational topics such as math, history, geography, other academic subjects, and a number of other interesting topics that will create a deep-rooted interest in searching online.

Readers young and old(er) alike will be able to access information online about animals, art, buried treasures, computers, food, foreign countries, history, insects, interesting facts, the Internet, kings and queens, music, scouting, ships and shipwrecks, space missions, sports history, toys, transportation, weather, and much much more!

The author and her staff provide a good summary description of each site mentioned in the book and they creatively relate topics of interest and increase the desire of their readers to dig deeper in their online researching. I even learned a few things myself and I don't even have a wife and kids! The accompanying CD features an electronic version of the book and some trial online safety software!

As with all child-age educational materials, parents should become seriously and creatively involved with the upbringing of their kids. They need to know what they are being taught today as fact and fiction. They should oversee the online research process to protect their children from various online traps, including errant information posted online as fact. Some of the topics discussed in this book are open for debate and differing opinions do exist. Nonetheless, this is a great kid and family guide and a good starting point for online learning and discovery!

I have been involved with the development of embedded real-time systems since 1969 and have written a good number of kernels in that time. After swapping notes with the author, he convinced me to try uC/OS-II rather than doing another "roll my own". I'm glad he did. The book is extremely well written, clearly explaining the key concepts and his implementation. The software itself is very functional. I plan to use it in several applications I have on the boards. I would highly recommend this book to anyone contemplating an embedded system project.

I had never used a real-time kernel. I bought MicroC/OS-II and Embedded Systems building Blocks to get started. The books are very well written. The kernel works great. And in a couple of days I was up and running my first application based on the MicroC/OS-II kernel.

No need to shop for another kernel, no need to shop for other books to explain how a kernel works. This book is the answer to all your questions about "What is a real-time kernel? And how does it work?"

I highly recommend this book to beginners as well as experienced embedded programmers.

I read this book when I needed to understand embedded real-time operating systems. The writing was clear, concise, and well-organized, a rare gem among technical literature of this type. Jean Labrosse used just enough repetition to emphasize important concepts without being anoying.

My project required an RTOS with more features than the MicroC/OS kernel had to offer but, having read this book, I was in a good position to understand the RTOS I did choose. The fundamental concepts were the same and the notation that Jean Labrosse used in his book to describe RTOS components came in handy when designing my own software system architecture.

I began reading "On the Night of the Seventh Moon" when I was 12 years old. My sister, 2 years old at the time, tore out the last few chapters of the book. I searched for 15 years before finally finding a hard cover copy in a used book store almost 8 years ago. I have kept it in a safe place ever since and have re-read it several times. Very well written, the characters come to life and evoke a wide range of emotion in the reader. The content is appropriate for young readers without seeming "adolescent" to adults. It is without a doubt the most romantic story I've ever read and one of my most cherished possesions. I'm glad to see it back in print...just in case.

I have been in love with Victoria Holt's novels since my mother introduced me to her. I have read all of her books under her all of her pseudonyms,and and find her a thoroughly wonderful author. I feel that anyone who wants to read a good book, that will keep them interested beyond the first page should read all of her books. I have read each of her books at least three times and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys to read, 13 year old from Galesburg Illinois

This is a wonderful story, told by a masterful writer. The mystery of the forest, and the question of wether you can dream up a perfect relationship, is what makes this book good. One of my favorite characters was Maximillian's old nanny! Isn't she sweet! This book takes you through the whole spectrum of human emotions. It is a must read for anyone who likes Victoria Holt!

Young boys like this too. I think too often we steer boys away from books with girl protagonists, and that attitude stays with them. A 3 to 5 year old boy might delight in the rhymes just as much as a girl of that age. Seeing girls often develop language skills earlier, the use of books such as these with well-controlled, thoughtful use of language is useful for boys too! I loved Madeline (I'm over 40) and thought the illustrations aren't groovy - it's tough in the computer age! - they are quite whimsically delightful.

Kids I know like this book.

I missed the Madeline books completely when I was a child, so my daughter and I discovered them together. It's an education seeing Madeline through her eyes. In Madeline, my daughter, who is somewhat shy and leery of new experiences, has a heroine who is smart, spunky, and completely in control of every situation.

I like Madeline the character a lot more than I like the books. I've found that very few writers can write wonderful verse, and I don't include Bemelmans in that august company. Some of his rhymes flow nicely together, such as the opening lines of the first book:

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. Some of his rhymes are jarring:

and soon after Dr. Cohn came, he rushed out to the phone, and he dialed : DANton-ten-six --

'Nurse,' he said, 'it's an appendix!' Everybody had to cry --

not a single eye was dry. . . . Madeline woke up two hours

later, in a room with flowers.

Still, the story isn't bad. A brave little girl is rushed to the hospital, has her appendix out, then shows off her scar. She makes it so exciting that all the other girls want their appendix out, too. Even my daughter wanted to have an appendix scar, until I explained just what that would entail.

A short children's story about a young girl who lives with eleven other girls in a home in Paris and who has to go to the hospital to have her appendix removed. It was a 1940 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children. This book, and others in the Madeline series, have become classics in children literature and every serious student of children literature should have it on their shelves. Children love these books.

You will laugh, cry and be confused when you read this book. This book can teach you that what you think is good is not always good.

There is a boy named Peter Pan. He sprinkles fairy dust in Wendy and her two brothers. Then he shows them how to fly. He takes them to Neverland and shows them to the Lost Boys who live there. Wendy becomes their mother. She makes up rules, like any other mother would do. The boys have to follow these rules. Everything was fine until Captain Hook came with his crew to where the boys and Wendy were. While Wendy and the boys were at the lagoon, where they go every day after dinner, they see a girl named Tiger Lily, princess of her tribe. She was captured by Smee, one of Captain Hook's men. Then Peter saved her. A few days later Wendy and the boys were on their way to Wendy's house when they too were all captured by Captain Hook. Then Peter saves them. Then the lost boys, Wendy and her brothers go home. All except for Peter.

It is mostly about what the people in the book think is right with childhood. The kids in the book think that if you grow up it is bad, but in our case it is actually good.

Peter Pan is a violent book not really made for children under the age of 10 but people 10 and up can read it. It is violent because of the language that is spoken and the idea that killing could be fun. Also, the vocabulary is very difficult for children under 10 to understand. Even if you're older it is difficult to understand.

Overall, it is a good book but watch out for the violent ideas if you are reading it to little children.

This is an utterly charming work. It has been retold myriad times, but nobody else has done it as well as the original teller, J. M. Barrie.

It's difficult to know what to say about a book like this... everybody knows the story. But I guess that unless you've read this book (not just seen a movie or read a retelling), you don't really know the character Peter Pan, and without knowing the character, you don't really know the story. So read it.

By the way, if you enjoy this, you probably would also like "Sentimental Tommy" and its sequel "Tommy and Grizel", both by Barrie. There are differences (for one thing they're not fantasy), but there are also compelling similarities. Anybody who found Peter Pan a deep and slightly bittersweet book would be sure to enjoy them.

-Stephen

When talking of literature, people tend to look solely at books they read today but forget what they used to read, namely the ones we read as children. It is a common misunderstanding that children's literature is to be read by children and children only, but when we come to think of it, which one of us are not children, at least in our hearts?

One of the best books any child, young or old, can read is Barrie's Peter Pan. Although written in the past century, it has something for any generation at any time. Its humorous views at the world from a child's mind left me rolling over the floor, laughing; the exciting storyline kept me busy with reading until the end; and the serious undertone made me think of whether the world wouldn't be a better place if we realised that deep down, however deep, we are in fact all children. So if YOU are a child, which you most certainly are, get yourself a copy and enjoy your ongoing childhood.

For anyone who enjoyed "The Greatest Generation" (and it seems thousands did)"Sing a Bawdy Song" compliments it well. Just as Brokaw begins his book with a chapter about "Ordinary People", Noema Ayers's book tells the moving story of an ordinary family during an extraordinary time in America's history--the years prior to and during World War II. Ayers's novel relates the story of the Bretten family as they develop pride and a strong work ethic during the Depression years. Interwoven in the story are humor, grief, romance and the dark secret of a child conceived in deception and lust.

The historical research is obvious and well done. It includes such topics as the Menominee Indian tribe in Wisconsin, The Nash Motor Company and the Los Angeles flood of 1938.

An added delight are the many old time favorite songs, such as "Roll Out the Barrel" and wonderful family photos.

For anyone who grew up in the era, or had a family member who did, the book is a definite treat.

The book Sing Me A Bawdy Song tells the story of a strong willed mother who devoted her life to rearing four children in a loving family relationship despite difficult conditions imposed by the poverty of the Great Depression and the sacrifices of World War II. Compounding her many problems was an absentee husband whose job required him to be away from home for months at a time. Long periods of separation fostered her doubts as to his fidelity especially when his first lover re-enters his life. A well written, easy to read novel which will capture your heart and possibly water your eyes. Those who lived during these times will find much to trigger their memories.

Sing Me A Bawdy Song is a heart warming book about an American family living in Los Angeles in the 1930's. Being a homemaker, I felt a deep compassion for Emma, the mother of four young children. Her love and dedication for her family was very beautiful. But, this book is not only appealing to women, my husband enjoyed the book as much as I did. Sing Me A Bawdy Song was one of the best written books that I have read in a long time. I hope that Noema Jean Ayers continues to write. I feel she is a treasure to all readers.

This engaging story gives you a view of how Jean fritz felt and lived in China during the war.Her move to the USA was exciting for her as she encounted many 'mishaps and troubles' along the way.You should reallly read this book, if you are interested in biographies and foreign countries, such as China.I give this book 5 stars as she describes well in detail about her life and inner thoughts during the early 1920's.I am reading this book as an literature assignment and felt that this book was the one.Jean Fritz is a great author!

We loved this book because we were able to do an author study on Jean Fritz. We have read many of her books. The fifth grade curriculum requires us to study American History. Reading books by Jean Fritz has allowed my students and I to approach history with an open mind. Getting away from the text books has been enjoyable for all of us. Learning through literature is very effective and we have grasped many historical concepts by reading these books.

" Homesick: My Own Story" was a real eye-opener for me. I first read it when I was in seventh grade and I still remember what it was like: Looking through Jean's eyes I saw China in a rough time; I learned where the Yangtse River was and about the junks that floated upon it; and how people would get rides in rickshaws pulled by men eager for the money. I broiled through all of her worries and troubles, grinned in happy times, and cried when everything seemed hopeless. I liken this book to "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry. "Homesick..." did not have as much action the way through as that story, but it certainly holds the same endearing qualities as "Number the Stars". This book read very fluently and I came to know much about something I had never been told about. I recommend "Homesick: My Own Story" to anyone interested in different cultures and a personable young lady who would rather have the name Marjorie instead of Jean