My boys ages 4 and 6&1/2 LOVE this book. The words are simple, fun to read, and build confidence. From a parent's perspective, I don't mind reading this book over and over again. I enjoy it that much! The illustrations depicting bats, funny-looking spiders, and the famous, pretty in pink, Master's fuzzy pink slippers, add the perfect touch to Igor's not-so-good-looking features. From an author to author point of view, I'm truly blown away that the author who wrote this is so young! What a great inspiration! Great job!

Leticia Araujo Perez, author of Making Your Record: Courtroom Guidebook for Attorneys and Law Students,

This is a wonderful book. Igor is a very lovable character and the illustrations are cute. My Kindergartener took the book to bed with him at night!

First of all: Teddy O'Connor is my son so, of course, I may be a tiny bit prejudiced. BUT: This is a very funny book! It started out as a fifth grade writing assignment that sat in his drawer for a few years before he re-wrote it. It's a take-off on the Frankenstine legend, up-dated with Hawaiian shirts, pet guinea pigs and furry slippers. Bill Basso's drawings are full of color and life. Your beginning reader will get a real kick out of this book.

"Becoming (Other)Wise: Enhancing Critical Reading Perspectives" is that rare book on teaching--a work that manages to combine a discussion of pedagogy seamlessly with sensible, practical methodology that the teacher of English can take right into the classroom.

I am a student of Erick Gordon (one of the co-authors of Becoming (Other)wise) at the New York City Lab School. I just wanted to say that the curriculum of the Mockingbird Monologues, based on To Kill a Mockingbird and written by eighth graders is ingenius. The Mockingbird Monologues are a culmination of a year's worth of work which began with reading the book, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes and then later, reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey. While reading these two books, we focused on the idea of empathy- really understanding where a character was coming from- by doing various writing exercises. We also looked at culture now, including advertising and how everything effects everyone by what it is saying and how it is written. We read To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee which welcomed the grade into the official Mockingbird Monologues project. Since then, we have kept an extensive portfolio with twenty or so entries which helped us get into the voice of our randomly assigned character. The portfolio includes work which we have done in English, history, math and music classes, showing how literature can be incorporated into many aspects of life and our education. In history, we read and listened to oral histories from the South after the Civil War and then wrote oral histories in the voice of our individual character as one of our portfolio entries, to get into the voice of our character prior to writing our monologue in the voice of the character. Once everyone had a first draft of their monologue written, we all had a chance to read our piece aloud to our class to get feedback to improve upon our writing. After more individual revising, final drafts were handed in and we got to work forming thirty monologues into a play. The sequencing of our play shadows the style used by Anna Deavere Smith in the play of monologues, Fires in the Mirror, about the Crown Heights riots in August of 1991. Our monologues are in an order based upon how they fit in leading up to and following the trial of a black man for raping a white girl. Some monologues give background about Maycomb, the fictional Alabama town where the book is set, some monologues show the racial tensions in the South and other monologues face the inequalities that make life interesting. The Mockingbird Monologues showcase the techniques that we have learned throughout the year to become a character and then capture an audience as that character.

If you choose to interpret this idea into your curriculum, you will see immediate results. Your students will begin to feel empathy for characters and peers, build skills to write for a specific audience and will forever remember you as an amazing teacher.

Some say this is Muir's finest work. As the only other Muir book I've read (at this writing) is Travels in Alaska, I cannot comment on this, other than to say that I enjoyed this book a great deal.
From almost any vantage point in California, whether near or on a distant horizon, there are mountains. A fact not lost on Muir, whose sense of wonder and love of life endear him to his readers.
"God's glacial-mills grind slowly, but they have been kept in motion long enough in California to grind sufficient soil for a glorious abundance of life ... In so wild and so beautiful a region [was spent my day], every sight and sound inspiring, leading one far out of himself, yet feeding and building up his individuality."
Muir was the consummate man in nature. Anyone who is indifferent to Muir's writing may simply be indifferent to wonderment itself. I have no doubt that if Muir were placed in a room with the great kings and generals and tycoons and empire builders of history, he would appear singularly as a man among men. Unimpressed with their pomp and bluster over rotting empire, he might soon command more attention than they, and many would be happily listening to Muir in spite of their self importance. Why? He would have the most interesting insights, offered poetically and in a most humble and charming way. ... (in fact Muir was sought out by the great politicians and philosophers of his day).
If you like mountains, if you like California, if you like trees and glacier-fed streams, you will like this book.

muir describes the sierras with detail and love. he is one of the few authors who is content just to be in and describe a landscape. and what a description!. he describes the evolution of glaciaral lakes to the hights of mount ritter and the migrations of deer and native peoples. a great book i recoment it to anyone who loves the outdoors.

Must have for Barbie fans! Read aloud for 4-5 yr old. Independent reading for 6 yr old. Too easy for 7 or 8 yr old.

Because of my professional career, I collect quotation books about reading and literacy. And this collection by Bill Bradfield is the best I've found to date. Yes, he's got the standard oldies by folks like Emerson, Erasmus, and Shaw but he's also included up-to-date quotations from the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Malcolm X, and Stephen King. Granted, he included me in the list but I didn't need it -- I already knew what I said. At the price, it's the best bargain in quote books for anyone in education or libraries.

Katz (information science and policy, State U. of New York-Albany) reassures us that the humble reference book will outlast the World Wide Web. His historical tour of the former by category informs general readers and librarians about their development and reflection of the period of publication. Includes a chronology of milestones in resource work history, as well as in the evolution of three national libraries (the Library of Congress, British Library, and Bibliotheque Nationale).

This is a great book for an English novice.

This book was the first book my daughter ever picked up and read entirely on her own. She beamed with pride as she was able to sound out every word. It's simple story and helpful pictures gave her such a sense of accomplishment as she mastered her very first story. This book will have a place of honor on our bookshelf as my little reader speeds onto other more complex books and continues to develop a love for books.

Mr. Whiteside has a simplistic way of writing that makes the information easily understood and very helpful. Anyone who must encounter people on a daily basis for sales purposes will benefit from this book. It provides helpful pictures that make the learning process for his recommended technique simple and easy. Even though I am not in sales, I have found his techniques very helpful in customer service and interactions with my own clients.

The Plain Reader is a collection of articles that once appeared in the magazine "Plain". Its authors are comprised of individuals with varying philosophies on the virtues of a simple life. Some articles are written by Quakers, Amish and Brethren. There are also articles by homesteaders, authors of several books, and others.

Since the authors come from so many different backgrounds, the articles aren't always compatible. For example, several of the articles are extremely anti-technology, anti-electricity, anti-competition, anti-public school education, etc., whereas others espouse the use of some of these things in moderation.

To me, extremism in any direction is the antithesis of simplicity, which, after all, is what this book is supposed to be about. Still, the book is correctly subtitled "Essays on Making a Simple Life" - it is essays by different people, with different backgrounds and different beliefs about what constitutes a simple life. It is an educational read, not only about simplicity, but also about how certain groups view the rest of the world.

This is one of those days when I am feeling terribly blessed because I was able to buy a copy of The Plain Reader Essays on Making a Simple Life - Edited by Scott Savage. This is one of those books if you can find a copy I recommend you buy it. It is out of print, so I think the only places you can find a copy are via used books or small new booksellers who may have a copy stuck away somewhere.

So what makes this book a gem? Well, for one thing it is a series of articles on a variety of topics, written by a lot of simple living folks on subjects that those seeking or living a simple life will really appreciate. One might even say its a great book to have next to your bedside so you can read something short, and encouraging before going to sleep.

A wonderful view of the world without all the gadgets we think are necessary. A great way to live and belong in the world. As a Christian I think we could do without alot of the junk the world thinks we need. Thanks for a great book.