This book is extremely interesting -- not at all in the style of most mysteries, it offers a surprisingly introspective look at the key characters. The beginning is rather bizarre. Get through it, and you will really enjoy the rest.

Like all of Thomas's books, this one presents the reader with a world where just beneath the surface of ordinary reality danger and betrayal lurk just waiting for the hapless figures he creates to step in whatever new qucksand he has perpared. This book is vintage Thomas with believable characters, great dialogue, memorable lines, a convoluted but engrossing plot - full of surprises and ultimate satisfactions.

I just can't believe that most of his books are out of print. This stuff is great reading. There is nothing else like it.

This book is one of the most curious political thrillers that I've read. It's a byzantine kind of world in which the hero doesn't really want to be involved, but he gets dragged into successively stranger and deeper situations--yet none seem contrived. Its Elmore Leonard with a political twist. Says one character of a bad guy, "he's called Hallmark. He's who they send when they want to send their very best."

I'm one of three teachers for 2nd & 3rd graders and I teach the "Christian Youth Praising Christ" class for our church. I just love this Praise Bible, the stories are short, accurate & to the point. The pictures are very colorful (just what children like) and our children are learning to pray with the help of the "praise prayers" shown after each bible story. Our children really enjoyed the bible stories & the pictures. I highly recommend this bible to all children.

First came The Beginner's Bible in 1989 that sold more than 2.5 million copies, also illustrated by Dennas Davis. It was a break through for children with illustrations and fast paced text. Now, The Praise Bible, also illustrated by Dennas Davis, combines a fun illustration style taking kids into the 21st century, with fast paced and biblically accurate story text.

The part we like best, is how each story is summarized at the end in a contemporary scene, that applies the truth of the story in a way that children understand. And, it helps children have a positive attitude about the Bible, since each story is up-beat and ends with a focus on thankfulness to God.

Anyone who opens up The Praise Bible to the story about "The Seed and the Soil" will immediatly see how the illustrator is able to teach the story so well with his fantastic art work - and then when the art is combined with the story - it truly is a master piece.

I highly recommend it for children from ages 3 to 7, and believe it is also simple enough for even college professors to understand!

This is my 7-year olds indispensable Scriptures. He loves it. Your child will too. The bright, vibrant artwork of Dennas Davis coupled with Mack's retelling of favorite Bible stories is wonderful. For children raised on VeggieTales and Nickleodeon, this is their Bible!

I highly recommend this to Christian families! The devotions are short but have a lot of impact. I do these with my 3 year old son every morning and he is able to share the salvation story all on his own. I know it will be a book that he can use over and over again as he grows and each time gain something new. Super book!

Over the past year we have used this book for family devotions after our evening meal. I have used it with my daughters between the ages of 4 and 8. It's especially good with children who are familiar with all the Sunday School Bible stories and want something a bit different. The book covers unusual passages and unusual subjects with a 3-day theme, e.g. Palm trees in the Bible. It frequently provokes interesting discussion. I'm now looking for another book like it!

I have used this with my daughters (4-8yrs old) and found it very good for a simple family devotional. It uses 3-day themes and remains interesting and unusual even to children who are familiar with Sunday School Bible stories. It doesn't avoid difficult passages or different subjects, yet just draws simple lessons from them. It doesn't contain any cultural references, so could be used in any country, and doesn't assume any worldliness on the part of the children. I'm now looking for another book like it!

I just recently purchased this book,i found it to be realistic and very helpful,i have read several parenting books and i think this is one of the best i have read so far.

I recently reviewed several parenting books for a thesis paper to see how the advice stacked up against the all research articles on parenting that I could find. I read the books first and found myself really liking this one due to its readability and grounding in research. Also, it has sound philosophical teachings and specific advice that is appropriate to every age and stage. It combines the fields of Child Development and Psychology with morality and good common sense to lend the reader a practical guide. It leaves plenty of room for readers to fashion our parenting philosophy combining the information given with our own intuition, experience and views. Anyway, I also reviewed three other more popular books (bestsellers), some of which cited research of their own. What I found when I compared the advice given in these books with the findings of popular current studies on parenting is that Lickona's book was the most detailed, most grounded in research, least repetitive book of the four, AND it was very well-supported with the current findings I encountered. Hooray! If only the chapter on babies were more detailed (including more information on the most healthy philosophies for feeding, sleeping, etc.), I'd be even more thrilled. (I have a 4-month-old.) However, as a mother and scholar, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to raise moral, thinking children. I would also recommend it to teachers.

I received this book some time ago thinking it was just another "others doing a better job than me" book. I recently starting reading it and found it very good for providing a sound approach to raising my own children.

This book is a valuable reference for adults trying to explain to a child, what happens during the calling hours and funeral ritual. It also is a good book for a child who has lost a grandparent to read as well. It hits many aspects of loss, to include the phases of grief as well as the some common funeral rituals. The trip to and from grandpa's home allowed reflection and reminiscing by the family. In doing that the child was able to learn more about grandma and to share her own times with her grandmother. . The story also shows, well , the different phases of grief among family members, ie the tears of the grandfather and the mother. There were tender moments. One such moment took place with the child and her grandfather when he spoke of his wife's love of fishing. The child was a comfort to her grandfather. The child at one point was given the choice to attend the funeral and her decision to attend was honored. This inclusion in the decision makes the funeral less scary for a child. The child was a part of the process and was able to experience the feelings of loss, as well as the ritual, the ability to reminisce and to celebrate the life of the person who passed. This book was written very simply and in a matter of fact manner. The illustrations were soft and non threatening. I have added this book to our Hospice library and feel that it will be a good resource for our community.

The day that grandma died we drove all night and all afternoon. On the way mom told stories about how grandma traped a ratcoon in the garbage can. She bought a new garbage can with a lid and fead that rascull scraps of food every day after supper.

This is a story of a little girl whose grandmother has died and she has to travel with her family for the funeral. It takes her through the stages of wondering what it is like to go to the funeral home and to see her parents and grandfather going through some of the grief. It is a very realistic approach to way Americans approach the process of grief. This includes the funeral home, the cemetery, and even a consolation breakfast.

This book allows the child to see death as a real part of life and allows for the discussion of death with children. They will see how even when people are sad they can still laugh, remember, and talk about the person who died. It helps the healing process.

Excellent book for young children.

This is an excellent book! It is a fun way for children to learn about science with activities involving the sense of smell.

I am a 6th grade teacher and I read an experiment from this book to my class one day to give them an idea with their science fair projects. The class was fascinated! They beg me to read from the book 20 minutes a day, and they are always telling me about the experiments they do at home after hearing about the experiments in class. They are always talking about experiments of odors in and out of the classroom. Parents call and tell me how much fun they have learning from their children about the science of odors and the sense of smell. I would recommend this book to anyone, even if they were not doing a science fair project!

My child was never interested in science until I bought him this book. Now I can't get him to stop doing experiments! This brilliant book by the Rybolts has been educational and sparked a new love for learning in my son. Its also been fun for me to learn along with him. This book is one of a kind!

Anne Knoll's The Secret Life Of Thomas Bradford is an imaginative and entertaining novel for young adults about an odd-eyed white cat who considers himself to be a king, and a self-centered young man with a similar illusion. Neither cat nor man will let anyone or anything stop him on his quest for glory! Humorous and sometimes poignant, The Secret Life Of Thomas Bradford will especially resonate for anyone who shares their household with a furry feline king or queen. Entertaining and especially recommended for young cat lovers and feline fanciers!

I try to read my children's books as often as I can although doing so is not always what you would call a literary adventure. This was not the case in "The Secret Life of Thomas Bradford." Not only was this one of the best children's books I've read, it was one of the best BOOKS I've read in a long time (including some of the so-called bestsellers). "TB" was imaginative and adventurous, so much so I felt compelled to write a review. I plan to buy extra copies to give as gifts and to donate to the school library. I see Ms. Knoll writes gothic romances (just like Marcy). I hope she writes another children's book, she has a true gift. Also, wouldn't this make a lovely full-length cartoon? Quick! Somebody call Disney and Nickelodeon!

Storyline is the adventures of Thomas (the cat) who runs away from an unhappy home. I liked it because Thomas told the story which made me laugh, cry and be happy at the end.

Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop have managed to bring this awesome display of nature and the man who studies it to life! This book would be a wonderful addition to any household, library or school, as it describes the work of a dedicated scientist who has committed his life to understanding what we as humans can gain from the lives of garter snakes. Dr. Mason obviously loves his work and loves passing along his knowledge to others, young and old. "The Snake Scientist" is an accurate picture of an almost undescribable phenomenom.

This book about the adventures of Bob Mason, an Oregon State University scientist who studies snakes all over the world, is a must-read for any child (grades four to seven would be great) who loves science or nature - and a good gift idea for any parent who would like to steer their kids in that direction. Easy to read, great photography, compelling stories about snakes, science, the growth of a young boy who just started out watching nature shows on TV and turned that interest into a career as a world-class zoologist. Excellent choice!

A fabulous book, replete with color photographs of the snakes. Kids will gravitate to the pictures first, and then the text will engage them in Dr. Mason's research. His comments are child-oriented, yet will not insult the older readers in the audience. Bob's stories of his childhood and career path are an added bonus to this book....and may even encourage more budding "Snake Scientists"! Well done!

I don't really read a long book that's about 220 pages, but I can't believe I did it so fast. Any way this book is the bomb. The main character was Terry Masters who had to choose from football, one of the sports he is a star in. Or soccer. Aperently he picked soccer. And so he had somebody that took the spotlite. I think you should really read it.

I just read the book Soccer Duel and I think it is a great book. This book (Soccer duel) is about a kid that stars on the basketball, football, and baseball teams, but when he tries out for the soccer team he discovers that he will not be the star. When he tries to be the star he gets benched because he is not being a team player. Terry takes the place of Henrik (the star sweeper) when Henrik gets hurt and the team wins.

I think this is a great book because it never has a part when the author interrupts the action. The book has a lot of action, for example, very close soccer games. There are flashbacks of football games, too. Overall I like the book because of the story. It is very exciting and enjoyable. There are a few parts that I feel could have been better. Sometimes I got confused because there wasn't enough information in certain parts especially in the middle. In other parts there was too much information which made me bored, but I finished the book and it's terrific. I loved the book and I hope you read this book.

It was a story with a lot of conflict in it . It is a good book to get started off with. It is a great sports book.

"You can't know a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins," is the best quote I can come up with to sum up the impact of "Soon Will Come the Light".

Thomas McKean has presented in this book the one thing that I always wished for, but few books could offer---the ability to walk in my children with autism's shoes for a while and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of what their world looks and feels like.

McKean's writing reveals loving, gentle, brilliant man with autism, and his book is a stereotype buster. He shows us that people with autism have worth and wisdom to share with the world. He teaches us both through his inspiring gifts as a poet, and with his "no holds barred" personal thoughts on many of the current intervention trends in autism, such as auditory integration.

Even better, Thomas' book shows us who he is, a precious human being who walked away from life in an institution and bravely learned to coexist and compensate for the often harrowing sensory issues that come with a diagnosis of autism.

This book is a must read. It is a story of survival, courage, and the strong realization that people with autism have much to contribute to this world.

Mr. McKean is to be applauded for this timeless contribution to literature on autism. I will hold this book dear for a very long time to come.

Liane Gentry Skye
author
Turn Around, Bright Eyes-Snapshots from a Voyage out of Autism's Silence

As a teacher of students with Autism, I found this book to be very insightful. To be able to view Autism through the eyes of a person living with Autism was very helpful to me. I found his sections on sensory issues to be very informative. I loved his works of poetry at the end.

Thomas McKean gives great advice and valuable insight for parents of autistic children. He understands how parents try so hard to be helpful for their children, and sometimes fall short for lack of understanding. Thomas gives an insider's view of what autism feels like as a child and as an adult.

Thomas was a student of "The Child Whisperer" author Matt Pasquinilli. Mr. Pasquinilli has worked with children and adults challenged by austism and aspergers syndrome, and speaks about it in his book. Get "The Child Whisperer" for some great advice that compliments Thomas McKean's "Soon will come the Light."