This book is appropriate for all ages. The illustrations are outstanding, vivid, creative, and cause children to notice every little detail. The illustrations and text are brilliantly enhanced by a special C.D. by the storyteller. This text brings the boy Jack of Jack in the Beanstalk fame into American culture. He arrived in America in colonial times and those who settled in Appalachia kept his memory alive through oral tradition. This book puts Jack in the same league as "Johnny Appleseed", "Paul Bunyun", and "Pecos Bill".

I found this volume perfectly presented. The warmly and colorfully told tales are matched by the rich and humorous illustrations. The style of the illustrations as well as the actual production of the book remind of classic books we grew up with. The audio CD add another layer of authenticity.

I bought this book for my grandchildren and loved it as did my grandchildren. Hicks is a famous appalachian story teller and although the stories are somewhat familiar, Hicks gives them his own twist. The best part and what makes the book are the illustrations-somewhat in the style of Thomas Hart Benton and very well suited and expressive of what are essentially country stories. Owen Smith, the illustrator has done many New Yorker magazine covers- let's hope he illustrates many more children's books.

If your heartstrings don't stretch a bit in response to some story in Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul, you need to check your pulse. Then you need to go plant something...

Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul is a collection of 101 short stories and vignettes. Each piece is about three pages long, a format that is convenient for those of us who's free-time comes in little snippets. The stories share a common theme: Despair + a Garden + God's Grace = Wisdom and Peace.

Chicken Soup books seem to really polarize readers. A reader either really likes them and buy copies for all their friends, or dislikes them and would not buy one on a bet.

Let me assure the first type of reader that Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul is just as good the other Chicken Soup books. One of my concerns was that the quality of the writing would be inferior to the earlier books, that all the good material had already been skimmed. That concern was baseless. Evil is newsworthy because it is rare. Dignity, humanity, honesty and sacrifice ARE the human condition. There is no shortage of inspirational stories, just a shortage of publishers who think they are worthy of the readers' attention. Chicken Soup is still skimming the cream.

Book reviews are supposed to help the reader decide "Do I buy this book?" That is not much of an issue with this book. Chicken Soup addicts will buy this book. The question on the table is: "Do I buy this book for the cynical friend who thinks they are 'sappy', or 'maudlin'?" I think the answer is a qualified "Yes."

These stories do not strike a quick resonance with cynics. It is not because cynics have never felt despair. Rather, it is because cynics are afraid of the pain of revisiting those times. Cynics need to ease into these stories the way you might ease into a hot-tub. So buy them a copy and highlight a few stories like:

*A Veteran's Garden, page 25 "The Marines sent me overseas. But it took gardening to bring me home."

*Girls like Roses, page 109, "...twenty-four bucks! That's a lot of money. Even for a girl named Michelle."

*Brian, page 192, "Brian is seven. He's a dreamer and drives his teacher crazy. She is as stiff as taffy in December."

A truly good book evokes cozy images and sensations from the past. And this is a very good book, one that teaches us to stop and consider how wisely we spend on this earth.

Among my personal favorites was Nona's Garden by Paul Silici. I could almost smell the delectably heavy garlic, beef and tomatoes slowly steaming in my grandmother's kitchen, and felt a tug on my heartstrings when she shared the story of her grandmother's lessions in life. Planting Day filled me with hope for the younger generation when I saw that sixteen-year-old Beth Pollack had written such an insightful essay. It was good to learn in Pat Stone's A Bedside Story that I'm not the only person who talks to their plants.

There's something for everyone in CS for the Gardener's Soul.

Please tell me where I could find the sound track for the audio book of Louis L'Amour called Pistolero. My aged aunt loves the music and I would like to provide her with a copy of it while I still can.
Thank you kindly,
Sandra Fischer