We all love "Barn Sneeze." Happy Trails hosts disabled children and their healthy siblings for a day of fun petting farm animals. The book was read to a group of five to ten year olds and appreciated by all, including volunteer adults. The bold, beautiful and colorful illustrations kept children riveted, page after page. The sight of each animal sneezing caused children to smile, but the text - Quack-choo, Baa-choo - caused major giggling. "Barn Sneeze" is a funny, happy book - perfect for babies, pre-school and elementary aged children. Because today's younsters are exposed to many frightening incidents, it is especially refreshing to find a book that sets up a problem in a humorous manner, finds a solution and celebrates the simple joy of animals living in a small barn, being cared for by a sweet little girl named Sue.

"Barn Sneeze" is an adorable and playful book that young children will love. Both the reader and the readee are active participants in this wonderful journey involving a barnyard, the animals and their sounds. I am truly baffled by the first reviewer from School Library Journal. Her comments reflect something other than a true appreciation for this beautiful book. Karen Winnick's exquisite illustrations display her magical talent as an artist. She possesses an intuitive eye for color and her animals express movement and feeling! I loved how one sneeze led to one animal and to another, like a link on chain that connects us all. "Barn Sneeze" is a magical and lively book that is a must read for the very young people in our lives, who love animals and their sounds.

Hallie

My 3 year old grandaughter loved this book. In fact she has memorized it and walks around reciting it. What a clever and imaginative book. Karen Winnick has another winner.

Karen's poems has opened the door to more understanding of each I Ching hexagram for me. Each poem stands on its own and I often read them to my students. She gives powerful images and emotions to the meaning of each hexagram. I have consulted the I Ching since I was 16 years old (over 30 years now) and her book sings to me. One of her poems will be in my upcoming book: I Ching For Teens (Fall 2001, Inner Traditons & Bear and Co.,). Her book could accompany any I Ching consultation.
This book of poems shows that there are many ways to convey, read and translate the I Ching while still holding on to its message of hope, compassion, personal integrity and cosmic truth.
Thank you Karen for adding to the meaning of the I Ching with your poetry...

My first contact with Karen Holden was through seeing her visual art. Upon first seeing those paintings, I was struck by the intensity of feeling that she could express with brush and canvas. Wanting to live with some of her artwork, I arranged to meet with her. My first few meetings with her were as artist and client. Over time we became friends, and through that friendship, I came to realize how much Karen put her soul into her art.

In her BOOK OF CHANGES, I can see that same deep personal interaction between Karen and her poetry as I saw between Karen and her art. Poetry, in all its forms, is, arguably, the most personal way of expression possible. When a poet shares his or her poetry with us, he or she is sharing something of the self. This is certainly true here.

In Karen's introduction she quotes Lao Tzu as follows: "A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever he wants." She goes on to state: This is my goal -- to be led into this work and be enriched by it." I think that she has not only enriched herself, she has enriched all of us.

Each verse of Karen's poetry is paired with one of the sixty-four hexagrams of the "I Ching." The "I Ching" can be read as a philosophical text, or one can consult it much as the ancient Greeks consulted the Oracle. Karen's poems have sprung from her years of interaction with the "I Ching" and, in their own way, have added another dimension. I think that we can see this from the following short poem from the book:

I CHING #55: FENG: "Abundance" -- "If Clarity is within, and Movement without, one has greatness and abundance."

Karen's poetic pairing with #55"

"IS ENOUGH"

"birds sit on the tree -----outside my window

like the last persimmons ----- of winter ----- beautiful fruit"

Quoting one poem (and one of the shortest at that) out of sixty-four is, of course, unfair to the book. After all, things taken out of context lose something that can be achieved only by putting them back into context. To do this one must read the entire book, including the Introduction. Read, contemplate, and meditate if you want the full impact.

Karen Holden's poetry is a treasure of insight and courage. Her imagery lingers in the mind, and every page makes life seem richer.

The Builder's Revolution is a must read for everybody in the building industry. It is clear that any person or company..no matter how small or big, that does not adopt or enhance the the technology and systems described by Keith in this book cannot be sure of survival in the new millennium.

You can say that the building industry has been slow to change and adopt technology.... but the Internet is very different and will be (and already is) a significant enabler for any party (either from within or outside) the industry to change the traditional rules of the game. This will lead to disatrous results for those who are not reacting on a procative basis now!!!

A great read.... I look forward to the next one

The housing industry is witnessing dramatic changes in our customers, cultures, and business environment. Builders welcome change; they are quick to adapt. We all know that. In fact, builders are always at the forefront of some of the most inventive technologies available today. But the changes brought on by the Information Revolution are so earthshaking and revolutionary they will have a remarkably broad effect on every aspect of the building industry, from marketing and designing homes to actually building them. In the face of these changes, builders need three things: the confidence to change in response to new challenges; the tools to reorganize their companies; and a vision of the opportunity that's out there waiting for all who choose to embrace it.

It's times like these that I think we need a guide, a visionary, someone with enough foresight to predict the changes and lead the way for all builders, by demonstrating how to incorporate the Information Revolution's changes and use them to manage ourselves to sure profitability. The building industry has found a true visionary in Keith T. Brown.

Keith Brown presents one of the shrewdest critiques of market trends and one of the most accurate predictions available of how integrated computers and on-line services will be incorporated into the running of our day-to-day business. This book is a must-read. In fact, after reading it, I know you'll agree with me that there's no doubt that Keith T. Brown has his well-tuned ear to the ground... both at the job site, where he's experienced firsthand the problems builders face, and in the high-tech world, where he's sought solutions.

Using a lively presentation style, peppered with instructive anecdotes that make it clear Keith is a job site veteran, The Builder's Revolution lays out where the building industry is today and more importantly where those of us who want to succeed should be going. Best of all, Keith tells us just how to get there. The solutions offered here are practical and field tes! ted.

If you're interested in surviving the brave new world of the Information Revolution, I recommend-no I urge you-to read this book. I assure you it will be some of the most productive time you've ever spent preparing your business for the coming decades of change. Let's face it, if we builders don't re-tool, we most assuredly will be left in the sawdust of our own making.

"I just finished reading The Builder's Revolution and was impressed by Keith T. Brown's comprehensive knowledge of our industry as it is and can be. As well, Keith's vision and contributions are most definitely a supreme guiding light. The book was excellent..."

Part instruction, part reference, part journal, part connection, A Caregiver's Journey offers readers knowledge about how to manage a difficult time and even find a moment to smile. The stories of real-life experiences provide a link to others who have cared for an ill friend or family member -- showing that no one needs to feel alone in this experience. Well written, informative chapters deal with everything from healthcare issues to care for yourself, the caregiver. And the list of dozens of organizations formed to support caregivers is invaluable. This book puts so many answers in one place in an attempt to make life easier...and Ms. Twichell's personal experience makes her the perfect author on the subject.

It takes a true caregiver to enlighten others about caregiving. Karen Twichell speaks from her heart to ours--for aren't we all caregivers to the world? Personal experiences have tuaght Karen the ins and outs of a subject on a need-to-know basis.

This book provides a wealth of sound, compassionate, and well organized information on a difficult subject, caring for a loved one facing a major medical challenge. Ms. Twichell is able to provide extraordinary guidance based on the best of all teachers....real life. Her knowledge of the frustration, pain, and personal trauma faced by the caregiver provides insight that is very useful. The information can surely help those facing the unknown but so important task of caring for a loved one fighting for good health.

Love the book, represented well, quick efficient seller, I was very surprised on how fast I recieved my order.

This book contains instructions for 12 log cabin variations, antique & contemporary. The diagrams, charts, and yardage requirements are as good as they get! There is even a black and white line drawing of each quilt so you can experiment with your own color combinations. Very well done, a nice book for a beginner or experienced quilter.

This is a Great Book..Quick Delivery...To me she's a A+++++++

In Karen's Witch she thinks that her neighbor is a witch. She thinks up wierd things that she thinks her neighbor does.She tries to get in her neighbor's house.She gets in trouble for going in her neighbor's house.

Since the beginning of The Baby-sitters Club series, six-year-old Karen Brewer has always been afraid of her next-door neighbor, Mrs. Porter, who she calls Morbidda Destiny. She believes the old woman is an evil witch who flies around on her broom at night and casts spells on everyone. During her weekend stay with her father, Karen vows to expose the witch, even though she's forbidden to spy on the neighbors, especially Morbidda. Of course, Karen doesn't obey rules, which consequently allows her to overhear Morbidda discussing an upcoming witch meeting with her black cat, Midnight. With the help of her best friend (Hannie Papadakis), Karen sets out to sabotage the meeting and save Stoneybrook from a coven of witches.

"Karen's Witch" is the first book in the Baby-sitters Little Sister series, a spin-off of The Baby-sitters Club series. These books are geared more for younger readers (age 7 - 9) and follows one imaginative little girl, Karen Brewer, Kristy Thomas's younger stepsister.

Karen gets carried away sometimes. In this book, Karen thinks that her next door neighbor is a witch. If you read it, you will feel the same way. I would give it five stars.

Other than the longest, first, and book titling short story being my least favorite, "Black Glass: Short Fictions" is varied and filled with surprises. I'm glad I got past "Black Glass" and kept reading. I would much preferred to have the volume titled after another story, "Lily Red." Karen Joy Fowler is able to capture our imaginations quickly, develop the story, give us enough twists and leave us satisfied but wanting more. Many of these stories have a science fiction flare. Lily Red was perhaps my favorite. I could see it developed into a haunting romantic film script. Lily is stopped by a police officer, directed to "Mattie's," a little bed and breakfast, where everyone asks her if she's come to see "the caves." The police officer turns out to be an American Indian named Henry who is quite older than his appearance of 33 years. The torrid love story of Henry and Lily in the cave comes as somewhat of a surprise, and then more twists of reality occur. I did not care for "Black Glass" because of the issue of drugs, but appreciate the way Fowler twists language and traditional story structure to reflect a hallucinogenic experience. It was quite individually done. "The View from Venus: A Case Study" was an excellent exploration of the conundrum of romance. My second favorite story was "The Brew" which connects the magical traditions of the past, witches and unicorns, to the real story of friendship in present day. Mr. McBean is such a drunken and delightfully crotchety character that he scares us and makes us curious at the same time. He begs to be put on the stage. I honestly don't know what to make of "Game Night at the Fox & Goose," but I liked it. The story seemed to leave off just as it was beginning, leaving my mind to suggest how it might have worked out. Fowler's language is hardly lyrical, but is rooted in the conversational patterns and idioms of the present. This volume offers plenty of material for oral literary performance; and the often used first person enhances the stories when read aloud. I might have wished for a bit more of a spiritual level, a couple stories of faith and joy, but as is, these stories are fresh, well written, and greatly entertaining.

As wonderful as Fowler's novels are, her short stories pack an even bigger punch. The blurb on the inside front cover wants you to notice that there are stories here about Gulliver's Travels, Carry Nation and the Lone Ranger and Tonto, but don't let the publisher's name-dropping turn you off; Fowler doesn't need to invoke names of legend or other fictions to tell her stories. She's got wit and intelligence and a total lack of mercy when it comes to her characters.

Take a story like "Duplicity," where a pair of women are captured by what might or might not be aliens, who manage to slowly and chillingly turn the captives against each other. Or a story like "The Elizabeth Complex," a multi-faceted meditation on women and their fathers. Or the way Fowler uses history to paint unpleasant pictures of our own present, as she does with "Shimabara." Fowler is as much at ease with stark and unsanitized childhood remembrance ("Go Back," "The Brew") as she is with ironic reflections on radical Berkely ("Letters From Home," "The View From Venus: A Case Study"). Her stories are funniest when they are biting, her characters cut deepest when they are smiling, and she is never, ever, one hundred percent reliable.

This is a great collection. I await more.

Fowler is probably best known for the novel Sarah Canary (also highly recommended), but it's in her short fiction that this writer's unique and impressive talents shine brightest. All the stories in this collection are outstanding, displaying Fowler's characteristic intelligence, wit, and instinct for organic story structure. If you're daunted by the length and complexity of the title story, skip forward and start with "Contention" -- in just a few pages, this tale of domestic disgruntlement and tabloid sensationalism packs in more sharp humor, observation, imagination and political acuity than most novels. The "Reader's Circle" edition of this book includes an interview with Fowler as well as some less-than-insightful "discussion topics."

This book is a true joy to read and share. My four year-old loves it so much, he quotes it every time we bake (i.e., "cookies all for me!") and then we laugh together. We always end up agreeing that, just as the pig in the book discovered, good food is much better when shared. This one will be passed down to my children's children -- of that I am certain.

This book is excellent for preschool through kindergarten, or special ed classrooms. Skills that are learned from the book include: rhyme/rhythm, counting 1 to 20, measuring and cooking.(There are two pages devoted to measurement, as well as a recipe for the cake.) The best thing about this book is that the pig learns to share, because he sees the value in sharing with his friends. This is an excellent book to help one teach this value.

My 2-year-old son memorized this book, learned to count to twenty, AND learned the basics of baking a cake. We even made the cake described in the book, and it tastes great. The illustrations are hilarious, and I love the lesson about sharing. (Will piggy decide to share his cake with friends??) In fact, I love the book as much as my son -- a rare and happy circumstance.

This book is set about 200 years after the events described in the diaries of Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki (and tale of Genji), however, this memoir reveals a world fossilised, doing it's very best to imitate the 'elegant' world shown in Lady Murasaki's masterwork Tale of Genji. What comes across is a very conservative society, and if you weren't told the dates of the events taking place you would believe they were set in the 10th or 11th century.

The writer of this memoir is a very independant and sensual woman - who took her lovers regardless of the consequences. The second half of the memoir details her travels around Japan's sacred shrines as a nun later in life. Lady Nijo constantly finds on her travels that the world outside Hein-Kyoto has changed since the days the poems she learnt at court as description of Japan's famous sights were written. Some of the old 'famous' sights have gone and she finds new ones to fill their hole.

If you've an interest in these old Japanese diaries and memoirs, this should be added to your list. It's a later, and lesser known book, but worth the effort of reading.

This book is important for many reasons. In terms of literature, it gives a glimps into the world of a court lady in a time when the court is disintegrating (late Kamakura Japan), showing the vibrant spirit of a woman looking back over her years. As a work of historical value, it shows one view of Japan before it plunges into the longest successive strugle the country ever faced: the Northern and Souther Courts period of the mid 14th century. A must read for those who want a look into what Japan became after the hayday of the Heian courts.

The author has captured the true essence of life by mearlyliving and recording life to the best of her ablitity.It was writtenand tranalated beutifully without gory explicit details that many authors today feel is nessacary.But I now know is not.This book has every aspect of love,loss,happiness,life with all of it quirks.IT is a must read for anyone.Steeped in respect,and deeply rich in tradtion.It is now on my list of favorites!

Along with Shirley Ottos' Oncology Nursing, the Core Curriculum, with it's concise outline format helped me study for and pass my OCN exam. The 'core' will accompany me on my unit for quick, easy reference.

I used this book, and the Study Guide for The Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing textbook, as well as the OCN 3 exam booklets from ONS, and did really well on the OCN Exam that I took in Washington D.C., April 17, 2002. This book helped me so much on being able to pass that test. It is set up exactly like the OCN Test Blueprint. I would study and work my way through each chapter and then test myself in the study guide book, and then I would test myself on one of the OCN Exam booklets, and then I would go through the book again.

Truly this is your bible for passing the National Oncology Certification Test. This and the Q and A study guide and some practice tests directly from ONS were all I used to take the test this fall. All of us at my work place who used these same materials passed. You really don't need anything else. The only problem is the book is presented in an outline form which makes for difficult reading for pleasure's sake alone but good for studying. Also a good reference book.