Most books which present collections of art objects treat the subject as that: an object. Emphasis is put on value or history. This book treats stones as a source of inspiration. Rosenblum takes individual objects and explains what he sees in them and how they effected his life as well as his artwork. He infuses the art of collecting stones with the original intent of the Chinese scholars who began the practice. The value he places on the stones are not so much monetary but how they speak to him on an individual basis. This book complements "Worlds Within Worlds", the first book about Rosenblums collection. That book explained technical and historical data, this one humanizes the collection. An excellent book, a great addition to the genre of viewing stones, suiseki, scholar stones, etc.

This is a story that has happened to everyone. A familiar something, or some place goes away one day. There is sadness because a piece of you leaves also. It is then replaced with something new and eventually that goes away too and is replaced with its old face. It is the life process of recycling. This one has a happy ending

This is a very good beginning book on the subject for children. It begins with scientific information about how earthquakes occur, and then goes through what may happen during an earthquake, such as buildings falling down, fires, gas leaks, etc. It goes into further particulars, such as how it feels to be in an earthquake, and what safety measures to take.

The illustrations are very simple, and not especially appealing, but they do help illustrate the points well.

All in all, a good book for children ages 8 -12 who live in earthquake prone areas, especially.

"They Signed the Constitution" by Elizabeth Levy has become an excellent resource for me to use in the classroom. I teach 7th grade social studies, and we spend 1 quarter of the year on government. My colleague and I have used most of this book for the past 3 years to supplement the rest of the material we use. We have also created a worksheet to be used with it. Students take turns reading aloud in class from this book. They find it easy to read and easy to understand, definitely not the dry textbook we're used to reading! I recommend this book for elementary and junior high teachers teaching government, as well as students looking for an easy way to understand part of our early American history.

This 30-page coloring and activity book is an informative one for children who don't happen to live in Israel but want to learn about it.

The book opens with an El Al flight to Israel from who-knows-where. The key point is that the Jewish people are always welcome in Israel, their only homeland.

While the land of Israel is old, the book explains that the state of Israel is very young, having been born in 1948. Kids are asked on the next pages to find out how old Israel is and color in the state's birthday cake.

The book includes an Israeli flag, which kids will like coloring in blue and white.

There are also mazes to the Temple Mount, through an oasis, and a page on Ha Kotel, the Western Wall of the Second Temple.

The book explains that people of all kinds live in Israel, and that while the old city of Jerusalem is an ancient Jewish city, it is also important to Christians and Moslems. Kids are asked to draw the arms--and join the hands--of an Arab man, a Christian nun and an Hasidic man. The Jewish people revere peace and friendship.

Several pages are devoted to the museums, hospitals, universities, industries and products of Israel, and several more to the key cities of Tel Aviv, Tsfat, Beer Sheva and Eilat.
Kids also learn about kibbutzim and archeology.

No activity book about Israel would be complete without a map of the state, a Hebrew alphabet (aleph bet) and a few Hebrew words.

A great addition to any child's library. Alyssa A. Lappen

Scholars' stones are magic objects. They open the mind to the realms of poetry, of religion and mythology, of literature and philosophy, of art. This magic is quite destroyed by this book's massive erudition. It is like a too ambitious teacher of literature who destroys poetry by analysing and disecting it. The illustrations are meager, they are after all of secondary importance - the only satisfying one is on the front cover. This book is recommended for all those who are not interested in the magic of its subject.

Having become interested recently in the art of Chinese scholar's rocks, I found it difficult to find much literature on the topic. What a wonderful delight it was to discover this book! As a catalogue for the collection and a scholarly examination of the many aspects of these stones, my appreciation and knowledge of the art has risen dramatically. The essays are thorough and well-written, and the photos are almost as good as the real thing. Having seen some of these pieces in museums, but knowing very little about them and their histories, it was enlightening to get such vast amounts of information on each piece in the catalogue. I encourage anyone who is interested in these stones to give it a try.