What a delightful book! Each tale is told in the space of one or two pages with economy and grace. The beautiful illustrations complement the stories - the color and design is bold and arresting. This is one of those marvelous books that the adults will want to read over and over - and that the children will clamor to hear again.

Patricia Hruby Powell's Blossom Tales is a wonderful picturebook anthology filled with short one-page or two-page folk stories from around the world; each story involving a flower in one way or another. The superbly presented color illustrations by Sarah Dillard add life and vigor to these classic folklore and fairytale stories. Blossom Tales is a wonderful multicultural anthology for young readers, filled with variety, color, and life.

A collection of 14 folktales from across the globe, BLOSSOM TALES relates wondrous legends about flowers. These tales relate the origin of flowers, or how and why they are used as they are. Always respectful of the culture they describe, the tales are filled with magic and whimsy.

Author Patricia Hruby Powell is an award-winning storyteller and community arts specialist, bringing her love of drama and storytelling to the written page in this collection that children will ask to be read again and again. This is illustrator Sarah Dillard's first children's book, but the beauty of the illustrations will leave readers hoping to see more of her marvelous talent.

Dragons, dwarves, soldiers and fairies bring a touch of the unexpected to BLOSSOM TALES, resulting in tales that will delight young readers with its evocative stories. Parents will enjoy the flow of the narrative that makes for perfect reading aloud before bedtime. A collection that will delight flower lovers of all ages, BLOSSOM TALES comes very highly recommended.

Don't be misled by the title which indicates the central area of research. This book will be useful throughout the remaining grasslands in Texas and neighboring states. For someone who lives in central Texas and who has been looking for an accurate guidebook to native grasses, this book has been a godsend. Dr. Powell and his illustrator, Patricia Manning, have made a book which is scholarly, reliable, attractive, readable and detailed without being overwhelming. Grasses are hard to identify. What better than to know that if I go to "6 mi. below Redford...NW slopes of Wildhorse Mts.... Dog Canyon Flats... Pecos River crossing on Pandale Road" I'll find what I'm looking for. Lots of experts seem to find it hard to communicate with the bungling amateur. Dr. Powell and his collaborator, in contrast, are helpful and clear. Highly recommended.

i wan to buy this book please. i can to buy this books trough the dollar check. thanks.

"A Small Gathering of Bones" offers one of the most genuine renderings of Gay life in the Caribbean in print. It shows with refreshing accuracy the spaces Gay men have created within Jamaican society as well as their challenges. Powell's writing creates surprising and intimate textures of male life. "Small Gathering" gives the lie to many stereotypes of Gay life in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

This is one of those books that can change your life. It was given to me by a dear friend , and I turned to it when my life made no sense. It helped me make sense of my life then, and it still makes wonderful sense today; 20+ years later. I have "passed it on" to many people and will probably do so as long as it's in print. I hope that this one will stay in my library, but if not, I know it will serve a purpose for someone that I care about - A great book to help you help yourself.....

For many years, I wondered why some people abruptly shifted their eyes away from my eyes. I also wondered how it would be possible for me to acquire the charisma that I admire in many public people.

This book is the answer.

People who shift their eyes from my eyes fear that if I notice who they are, and if I don't like who they are, they won't be accepted, because, to them, that is all that they have. I learned that those people have a self-concept that is based upon anticipating what others will think of them.

And to become as charismatic as those I most admire, I've learned that by first accepting everything about myself, I am free to emulate them, without losing myself.

This little book has so much information for anyone who desires to be their best.

Read this book to become more than comfortable in your own skin.

Any person who desires to understand himself in regard to personal growth and relationship with others must read this book. I have read and reread this book and use it to counsel others. Powell deals with the topic of human growth and development with acute precision and accuracy that informs a picture of the well-integrated, whole individual. He communicates this person in the honor of the image of God, not in a preachy tone but such as to reflect the dignity of humankind and his own vast understanding in religion and classical studies. He also touches at the nerve of why individuals mask themselves from others and the care and caution that we as counselors need to take in dealing with these people. His catalog of games and roles is so descriptive that even emotionally healthy persons can identify the weakend emotional tendencies that characterize their life. The principles in this book can be communicated to adolescent and adult alike. Simply indispensable.

Anyone with a love of West Indian literature should real ME DYING TRIAL. Likewise, those with an interest in the gay and lesbian literature that has been coming from Caribbean writers over the past decade. ME DYING TRIAL is the first novel of Jamaican-born Patricia Powell who was only in her 20s when the book was published. It is an amazing accomplishment for a young writer. ME DYING TRIAL traces the life of Gwennie, a bright but unhappy Jamaican woman who has many children, an abusive husband, and a great deal of ambition. We feel we know her intimately and two of her children - Rudi and Peppy - are certainly memorable long after the book is finished as is Ma Cora, the woman who helps to raise Peppy. This is a novel about survival, about the complexities of family, about expectations, about hurt and loss. For those reading of the Caribbean for the first time, it gives a real flavor and feeling for the West Indies. And for those interested in finding characters to identify with in literature who feel slightly out of step with their families, ME DYING TRIAL has a lot to offer. The book may never be a classic, but it is well-written in gorgeously rendered dialect, and it was written by a brave and intelligent young woman.

A big shiny crisp apple, minus the worm, for Ms. Powell for having the courage to reveal the reason for America's teacher shortage. Written with honesty, wit, and poignancy, Ms. Powells' story is told in the "We have to laugh to keep from crying" tone well-known to teachers. Using varieties of apples and apple recipes as metaphors for the categories of students, parents, co-workers, and administrators that all educators will recognize, Ms. Powell relates her story in episodic style, interweaving the optimism and idealism of a teacher with the reality of teaching. I can attest to the fact that her experiences with cowardly, inept, unethical, cruel administrators is not unique. While Americans pay lip-service to the importance of education, a thread on anti-intellectualism runs through the fabric of America culture, manifested in placing the blame for all of society's ills on teachers. Demoralized sheep in teachers' clothing willingly act as doormats in exchange for job security until they can finally retire, while unethical educrats go to any length to protect their lucrative positions and self-perceived importance. Superintendents as CEOs, principals as middle managers, and teachers as blue-collar workers [produce] assembly-line students as products, destroying all humanity and joy in the educational process, thereby guaranteeing an endless supply of minimum wage workers and cannon fodder... Her stories and her message are lucid, and all too true. We must hope that this book will serve to inspire other educators to reveal the truth about education; we must heed the advice of this "brilliant eccentric," and demand school reform before education, and democracy, is destroyed in America. As Thomas Jefferson said, "A nation that expects to be ignorant and free...expects what never was and never will be." I recommend this book to all educators,including administrators.

What a fun read! I know the story is about the real life experiences of teachers, and I identify, but this book is really funny! If you want to laugh, read it! I think only teachers can appreciate how true it is! I was there, too! I remember much of what happened, and it is accurate. I love the way the author used the different APPLE chapters and wove the story through them. It is positive and a real page-turner. I dare you to try to put it down! Most tell me they are reading it in one sitting! You will see why! Congratulations to Mrs. Powell!

This book is long overdue. I feel "Rotten Apples" is for everyone not just for teachers. This book is about JUSTICE. Patti Powell takes you on a realistic journey through the unfairness of our jobs, our education, our childhoods and life in general. The great thing about this book is, It's hilarious as well as extremely truthful. Anyone who has ever been bullied, must read this wonderful book.

I could not finish the novel it was so painfully poor. The author seems to revel in flowery but wholly needless descriptive writing. Also, the number of historical inaccuracies is whopping. I received the book as a gift, and I am not sure what I did to deserve this.

I consider this novel to be well-written. The plot is exceptionally original.

The novel revolves around characters who have been so wounded and so traumized they are unable to truly communicate and connect with one another.

Some well kept secrets began to unravel, and lives began to change, following the night the main character, Lowe, a Chinese man's small shop is burned down and with it the death of a mysterious man named Cecil.

This is a serious story of desperate connections, the kind of unconventional connections or couplings that happen between people when a life has been hard or traumatic. The challenge here is for the reader to stretch a little and trust the author to tell a difficult and compelling story, a story definitely beyond our usual mainstream, quick-fix way of thinking. Yes, Lowe has a distant and remote way of loving those around him, but he cares about his world, past and present, and it is the twisted and difficult integrating of those worlds that Patricia Powell attempts here. For this reader, her story is a huge success. This psychologically intense story might not be light enough for the beach, but for a stormy weekend inside, it's perfect.