The Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh...in his 100 Acre Wood Eden...are celebrations of friendship and loyalty. Maurice Sendak's WHERE the WILD THINGS Are, startlingly glimpses into fun; adventure and beckoning unknown dangers inhabiting the seemingly guileless imagination of children. THE VELVETEEN RABBIT might be thought to complement these major modern works of CHILDREN MYTHOLOGY. "How Toys become Real..." is subtitle and theme of this superbly crafted fable about LOVE: its promise; pain and overwhemling power to miraculously transform. Like all great fairy-tales, cuentoes and parables, the story is Once-upon-a-Time simple. It can be read to any child over three, and read by any child eight or older(3.5 g/e). It is told from point of view of a "really splendid, fat and bunchy Velveteen Rabbit...with coat spotted brown and white...real thread whiskers...and ears lined with pink sateen." The toy rabbit "quests" the love of his playmate master(BOY)that can...according to Mentor and friend THE SKIN HORSE...grant REALITY.
"When a child loves you for a long, long time...not just to play with...but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL."

Adorning this story is the wonderous art of illustrator Donna Green. In this 1995/98 edition, the "picture book" is illuminated with beautiful oil, acrylic, and lush pastel paintings that glow, and shimmer Life-like and LOVE-like. It is beautiful art work intrinsically conveying Margery Williams' mythical message to the young and young-at heart. (10 Stars)

Daughter Anna (now 19 years old) loved this book. It was her favorite above all others. As we sorted through some old kid things for give-away purposes, we stumbled upon this old, well worn copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit." She insisted we keep the book for HER children.

This was her book that Mama (me!) had to read to her again and again and again. As soon as the last word was read on the last page, it was "Mama, please read it again!"

(how I miss those days, by the way!)

The book also has a powerful message about Love that children understand and cherish.

This is a wonderful book. No child should be without their own copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit."

This is a heartwarming story about a toy rabbit filled with sawdust that wants to be real. He realizes what the meaning of "real" is when his owner, a young boy, gives him the answer for which he searches. My wife bought this book for me last month. I missed it as a child. I've learned the lesson in this book in traditional ways, by trial and error. I would have loved to have this treasure as a child and thank my beautiful wife, Lori, for giving it to me, now. Only real love has any meaning or longevity, at all. I ask you readers to not pass up this gem of a book. It is a must for children and adults alike.

I often give this book out as a gift whenever a person younger than me asks for my advice on money. I always present this book to them saying "if you read it and do as it says, it will work magic." It really contains excellent, time tested advice, and would make a good gift for someone in their early 20s who is on their own for the first time, and struggling.

The book is a series of parables about money written in the 1920s by George Clason. They were written as individual essays of a few thousand words, but the theme throughout them is consistent -- save 10% of your money, give 10% away, use 10% to reduce your debt load, and live on the remaining 70%.

The stories in the book are entertaining; they are reminiscent of some of the parables in the Bible, such as the Prodigal Son or the story of the Workers in the Vineyard. I think this is intentional on the part of the author; certainly readers in the 1920s had an appreciation for "old fashioned stories with a moral" that people today seem to have lost. I enjoy the book greatly, though, and any thoughtful person who reads the book should find it interesting, especially if they are trying to get their finances in order.

I first read "Richest Man in Bablyon bac in 1975. At first I was taken back by it's compact size and story book style. This book should be read by everyone from grade school to the college level students, employees, executives and the self employed. In todays's society, where people spend most if not all of what they make, this book is mre valuable than ever. Other books I would recommend are; "The Millionaire next Door" by Dr. Stanley et all, "More Wealth without Risk" and "Financial Self-Defense" by Charles Givens. Great book. A must read for anyone seeking financial independence,

I am continually amazed at how a book so small can contain so much content and be so powerful. This book should be mandatory reading beginning at the grade school level through college and should be given as a gift right along with a diploma.

I took the advice of acde1034@yahoo.com who recommended 'The Millionaire next Door" and "More Weath without Risk" and bought and have read both. Both of these books are in the same status as "The Richest Man in Bablyon" and should also be required reading by anyone who is serious about their financial future. I am now giving "Richest Man in Bablyon" as a accessory gift to a cash gift at weddings and graduations.

The Mitford Series is a collection of incredibly simple books about small town life. Told from the point of view of a preacher in a mythical town in the hills of North Carolina. Everybody knows everybody else, and not much happens. These are the perfect books to curl up with for some summer porch or beach reading.

Like life the plots are winding and not necessarily purposeful but by the end of the stories your can think back and realize how things developed to an inevitable conclusion. You basically follow a 60 year old preacher through his travails. Since he is a Christian man there is quite bit of bible quotation, but otherwise the story is not about his church so much as his efforts to keep life in order and cope with being a single man, past his youth yet surrounded by a small town that loves him - sometimes too closely.

One warning..this is very much a "sweet" book. It challenged me to forgo my natural skepticism. I put this in the category of a read that won't tax the reader all but may instead impart a little smile.

Also be aware that a stong Christian message plays throughout much of the dialogue and thinking.

It had been over a year since I read the first Mitford book, so I figured it was time to take another visit. I will admit I wasn't too excited about reading Mitford #2 because I knew there wouldn't be much action in the story. However, after about 50 pages or so in A Light in the Window, I realized what I was missing. I was finally home once again...

This second installment is chock-full of happenings. We have recent widower, Edith Mallory, setting her eyes (and hands) on Father Tim; a mysterious Irish cousin who comes to stay in the rectory for questionable reasons; and we meet a new character, Buck Leeper, the hardened, unpleasant building supervisor hired to build Mitford's new nursing home. But the most important part of this book is Father Tim's growing feelings toward his neighbor, Cynthia, and his struggle to accept them, be happy, and let nature take its course. And naturally, Cynthia has a word or two to say about that!

I enjoyed A Light in the Window much better than the first one. I found myself reading this novel until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't get enough of the characters or heartwarming storylines. No action, no plot twists, no shocking endings -- but I simply didn't care. Jan Karon has a way of telling a story that makes all those other page-turning qualities seem unimportant. Mitford is a home away from home, a fictitious account of REAL life, and a place where I will look forward to visiting in the books to come.

In this second book centering around Father Tim, his congregation, and his neighbors in the small town of Mitford, Jan Karon delivers more of the same uplifting stories, grounded in practical Christian beliefs.

Father Tim is beginning to lose his heart to his next-door neighbor, Cynthia, whose down to earth intelligence, coupled with her sincere enthusiasm, make him feel as if he has come home. The path to love is rocky, though, and planted with obstacles, including the ferocious widow Edith, who is determined to sink her claws permanently into Tim, through such methods as good cooking and deliberate entrapment.

Tim's struggles of the heart are interspersed with his continued adventures as pastor and citizen of Mitford, including the growing pains of his foster son Dooley, and the unexpected arrival and protracted stay of his reclusive Irish cousin.

Throughout the book, Karon sends a hopeful, uplifting message without becoming syrupy. She incorporates a decidedly realistic portrayal of the confusion and uncertainty of new love with a subtle but unmistakable moral message that will do more for Christianity than a hundred sermons.

"Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" literally had me writhing. At least my toes curled and I kept saying, "Ouch," as chapter after chapter critiqued yet another one of my cherished writing habits ('Tom Swifties' for one). I have two suggestions for potential readers: (1) bypass "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" completely if you have a delicate ego; (2) if you do read it, stock up on several different colors of magic markers and keep your manuscript nearby. It will soon be streaming with color.

Renni Browne and Dave King also explain why self-editing, "is probably the only kind of editing your manuscript will ever get." Many publishing houses have eliminated the tedious step of editing a promising manuscript to bring it up to its full potential. If they like it coming in the door, the manuscript is published 'as is'!

I'm sorry, Renni and Dave. I had to use an exclamation point to end that last sentence. Your book explains why I've been struggling through so many bloated fantasy novels, lately. The editors who used to take a red pencil to them are now gone missing, probably in the interests of 'cost cutting'. And if there is anyone out there who still believes fantasy novels do get edited, read "Rhapsody: Child of Blood" by Elizabeth Haydon.

"Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" is not just for the unpublished. The authors take examples of bad dialogue mechanics or second-hand reporting right out of the classics and show us how to rectify them. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and P.D. James all take their lumps in this book, and once you've seen how Renni and Dave improve these authors' paragraphs, you will probably agree with them (I did). You also get to practice on "The Great Gatsby" yourself in one of the exercises that follows the chapter on "Dialogue Mechanics".

Each chapter except the last in "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" has a checklist that you can take to your own manuscript. I used all eleven of the checklists on mine, and all I can say is, thank God for the 'cut and paste feature' in word processors. This novel of mine originally started out on a typewriter, and I would have been forced to commit hara-kiri if I'd read this book before 'cut and paste' was invented.

Seriously, this is a most helpful book for would-be 'published' authors of fiction. I'll give it five stars for now, but I'm going to hack in to Amazon.com and up its rating to seventeen stars if I actually do get published. Right now, I've got a few more changes to make to my manuscript....

A lot of succesful published authors could learn from this book. It's written by two gifted editors who worked for major publishing houses and edited writers like Erica Jong and Sol Stein. I'm a professional writer (nonfiction)and writing teacher with a master's in language arts and I learned more about writing fiction from this text than any other source. It can't give you what you don't have in the way of ideas or talent, but it can make your writing much better and help you avoid the kinds of 'errors' (or weaknesses, shortcomings, and distractions where the author gets in the way of the story) that authors like Jane Smily, Le Carre,and Ruth Rendell DON'T make but that some popular writers I've really enjoyed (like Mary Higgins Clark and Ridley Pearson) DO sometimes make. Applying Browne and King's techniques has made my fiction so much stronger and given me answers to questions I've had for years about how to show characters' emotions without 'telling,' how to handle attributions and 'beats,' and other points of craft that can be learned. This is a wonderfully written, succinct, even brilliant book from people who really know what they're talking about. If my novel gets published it will be in large part because of the editing and final polish I was able to give it after studying this book. The first two editors and one agent I have approached want to read more chapters, and I think that's because of the improvements SELF EDITING showed me how to make.

After you've written the best story you possibly can and you're ready to send it to an agent- read this book and go back to the drawing board. Don't let the comic book illustrations fool you, this is a serious writing tool. The examples and techniques given by Renni Browne and Dave King in SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS are priceless. It will highlight the amateur mistakes unwittingly made by many first-time authors, which are screaming red flags to agents and an acquisitions editor. Your manuscript will then gain that extra mark of professionalism. The distinction between a first draft and a story they want to see published. I found the chapter on characterization and exposition most beneficial. I learn something new about my growth as a writer and areas I can excel each time I read it. I consider it to be as valuable a reference as my dictionary or thesaurus. I hope to see more collaborative efforts from professionals in the field of editing and publishing for the benefit of writers in the future that are as easy to understand and readily applicable.

I have read this book several times and it just gets better. If you like the mystical, the spiritual, or just need to be uplifted this is the book for you. As you follow the adventures in the life of Hafid, you too will learn the art of self acceptance and living life to it's fullest. You will lean, as he did, that life is what you make of it. You will find yourself taking the lessons of the 10 scrolls and joyfully incorporating them into your life. I just can't express how beautiful and motivating this little book is. When you add to it the fact that it is also a wonderful story, well what more could you want in any book?

Mandino does a brilliant job of giving dignity and respect to the ancient profession of selling, which has been maligned and misunderstood by all too many people. Mandino's extended parable seems simple and direct, but the story turns out to be deceptively profound, for the author uses several clever plot twists to teach readers the ten key principles that will empower them to become successful in sales and in life.

The book will surprise you...and delight you.

It's short enough to read in an hour or two, but the message will stay with you for a lifetime. The Greatest Salesman in the world is proof that big things come in small packages.

I remember having to read this book as an assignment for a JROTC leadership class; 'The Greatest Salesman In The World' is the first book that I can remember that truly impressed me. Og Mandino has written this classic in a language and style that is easily understood by anyone who opens it's covers. Even though the title contains the word salesman, the book contains profound statements that can be applied to any part of life. If people lived their lives by the messages contained within this gem of a book, life would be so much happier for everyone involved. I highly recommend that all people read this book and add it to their libraries.

I love reading this book aloud to my now 14 month old daughter because it's alot of fun. She's owned it since she was 9 months, and, at first, would simply listen to me read. Now she points, tries to make animal noises, and has me read it several times in a row. It is currently one of her favorites. I would put it in the same category as other predictable/cumulative books such as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie," and "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom." Unlike these books, however, there is more street language than the ritualized formal speech of these other books. Some other reviewers are critical of the use of "go" instead of "say" and "went" instead of "said." I'm not convinced that it is not proper to refer to animals making their respective noises in this manner. Visually, the use of color, the sharp outlines, simple backgrounds and humor (check out the vet's ponytail)are outstanding. I would recommend this as a great read-aloud story.

I got this book for my son, who is 2 years old. He requests it eagerly, and enjoys saying "silly DOG" each time George belts out the wrong sound. This is the type of kids book that will have your child repeating with you, and adding things on his own interactively. It is a fun book with cute illustrations and punchline. As a mom who loves to read fun books, I recommend it for all parents with young kids.

This book is chosen by both our 4 yr old and our almost-2 yr old *all the time* for reading (and we have 4 shelves of kids books). The 4 yr old laughs with the "No, no -- dogs don't say 'quack'" and the 2 yr old loves any book with animal sounds -- whether they are the correct ones for the animal or not. Fun reading and the twists still make us laugh each time we read it.

I enjoyed reading about the life of George Dawson, a man whose life has spanned three centuries. However, the mere fact that he has lived so long does not necessarily a feature book make. Aside from Mr. Dawson's rail travels and working on the Mississippi, Mr. Dawson had not done much else until he took up reading at 98. He can't comment much on events of the 20th century because he couldn't read, and what he could remember was scant. The reader is presented with a view of a genuinely kind man whose outlook on life is basically positive and warm. Yet, I often could not distinguish if I was listening to Mr. Dawson, or his "co-author", Richard Glaubman. It would have been far more interesting to detail Mr. Dawson's years since he began to read. The book speaks of the large numbers of letters written to Mr. Dawson, congratulating him on his beginning his literacy venture so late in life. Why not write more about his classroom experience and how that must have transformed him recently?... or the interaction with those who now wish him well? Perhaps a second book should be in order because that is where the REAL interest in Mr. Dawson lies.

This book is about the life of George Dawson, a remarkable 101-year-old man who is the grandson of slaves. Born in 1898, he tells of what life was like in Texas before integration. He turned away racial hatred by his gentle manner and kept his dignity during the most trying circumstances. He did manual labor from the time he was 4 until he was 90, and at age 98 he began to look for new challenges and so decided to go to Adult Education classes and learn to read. When he was growing up, he was always working,and as the oldest son he was depended upon to contribute financially to his family. His younger brothers and sisters went to school, but he never had a chance until someone knocked on his door and offered him the chance to learn to read. His quiet dignity shines through the pages as his story is told to co-author, Richard Glaubman. Glaubman is an elementary school teacher from Washington who became fascinated with a newspaper article he read about Dawson in a Seattle paper. The two became good friends over the course of the writing of this book and it is told in a narrative style of two friends chatting about the past. Some of the most interesting stories involve Dawson's early years and the times in his 20's when he traveled around the country just to satisfy his wanderlust. This is a wonderful book and in the course of reading it I felt as if I'd gotten to know a very special person

and if you don't believe it, then you need to read this book!

Mr. Dawson has led an amazing life. Born in 1898, he has seen it all. The grandson of freed slaves, he was taught to be a good man, a man of integrity and he learned it well. He married (4 times! and outlived them all!), had 7 children and put them all through school, all graduated college even though he never learned how to read.

Then one day, at the age of 98, he was offered the chance to learn and he seized it. A hard worker all his life, he attacked his new goal with the same attitude. He's now a full time student.

This book is the incredible story of his rich, not in money, but in more important things like love, pride in one's self, and life. The reason for Mr. Dawson's long life? I don't think it was anything as special as eating a certain way, or exercise per say, but it was love. Mr. Dawson loves life and it shines through every part of his life. There are wonderful life lessons are here for everyone; young, old, black, white, man or woman. A must read!

The Spanish Civil War was the defining moment of the 1930s for most European intellectuals. The impact of Franco's attempted coup was comparable to the effect of Pearl Harbour on Americans. For the first time, an illegal Fascist attempt to seize power had been stopped in its tracks by an armed working class. For many intellectuals (like the poet W.H. Auden), the brutality and cynicism often displayed of both sides caused them to swear off politics permanently. Orwell was not one of those - however, it opened his eyes to the dangers of Stalinist Communism as well as Fascism. One can see the seeds of '1984' and 'Animal Farm' in the account of the suppression of the Catalan 'Trotskyists'(so-called) by the Communist-controlled state. This experience made Orwell what he became - a socialist who thought that state-control might solve the problems of poverty, but who feared the tyranny such state-control would bring in its wake. Orwell never seemed to decide which he believed in the more - socialism or intellectual liberty, something which made him describe himself once as a 'Tory Anarchist'. He never came up with a solution to what could be called the key problem of the 20th century, however it is the way he posed the problem that is important. As someone who is the only author in English read by every dissident behind the old Iron Curtain, his place as a defender of freedom is secure. In another sense, this is a great book about the experience of men at war - to me it is as good as any of the memoirs that have come out of Vietnam or World War II like William Herr's 'Despatches' or William Manchester's 'Goodbye, Darkness'. It can be appreciated without understanding the political background at all. Probably among the greatest of Orwell's longer works - its ranks alongside 'Animal Farm' and possibly ahead of '1984'.

I was surprised when I heard about this title and couldn't find it at any of my bookstores..I didn't find it until I went to Blackwell's( Book heaven) in Oxford on a trip. Orwell is one of the great writers and "Homage To Catatonia" needs to get more attention.

The book shows Orwell gong to Spain as a journalist but than being drawn into the Republican fight against the fascists and joins the republican side. At the time the warfare is light and Orwell almost describes fighting as a joke but as time goes on the war goes to the streets and a regime of terror is released.

I won't go in big detail but the main reason this book should be read is to show the not so glorious side of the republicans( the anarchists and communists often fighted on their own side) and the faults that led to Franco's winning. Last of all for Orwell's writing and to see where he got his ideas which would lead him to his later masterpieces. I will conclude this review by repeating what Timothy Garton Ash said "Anyone who wants to understand the twentieth century will still have to read Orwell"

Although the book published the year before this one, _The Road to Wigan Pier_, is a more in-depth gauge of Orwell's politics, I still feel closer to _Homage to Catalonia_, a truly fascinating account of his months in the Spanish Civil War and an unwitting allegory for right vs. left, freedom vs. slavery, and other "big ideas."

It was with this book that I realized that Orwell was more than the apparently cynical curmudgeon who wrote _Animal Farm_ and _1984_. In fact, he was even more than an important political thinker. In all his writings, but especially _Homage to Catalonia_, one gets a sense of complete honesty and decency, completely unfeigned, that is impossible not to admire. His unflinching portrayal of all that was good and bad in revolutionary Spain makes this book one of those rare documents that can give you a slightly different way of looking a the world. I don't mean a conversion to radical socialism, but a sense that there is genuine wisdom in Orwell's uncomplicated, sincere way of looking at the world. His style, for me, disarms the most clever intellectual sophistry of those who are really nothing more than overeducated windbags.

I don't always agree with Orwell, and I don't think he was by any mans the smartest Brit of the century. But I always admire what he says, and the way he says it, right or wrong.

In a word: invaluable.

This is actually a presentation on de Tocqueville's life and times, centered on a general analysis of Democracy in America, but including much background on his family's history, his political career and accomplishments and a look at the historical context of France, Europe and the US in the mid 19th Century. The themes of DiA are reviewed with many quotes from the book and from commentaries by de Tocqueville's contemporaries. He is presented in all his glory: his hits (the brilliant insights into social character, the nature of democracy and his devastatingly astute, timeless analysis of our American identity) and his misses (his advocacy of war and his surprisingly traditionalist views of society's class structure). An occasional cheesy French accent in some of the characterizations is the only flaw. This is a _great_ commute tape, I look forward to "reading" more in this series on other great writers!

Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville is by far an in depth view of America as seen by the traveling Frenchman. It is written so well that even today almost one hundred and fifty years later it is still apropos.

The translation flows very easily and is not distracting. De Tocqueville has a wonderful writing style that could pass today even though it was written long ago... so well readable and quotable that you get the picture of American life, morals, and an astute view of politics all rolled into one.

You get a view and meaning of American civilization, for America herself, and also for Europe. You can tell from reading. that this view is ever-present in De Tocqueville's mind as if he is a comparative sociologist. Yet reading this book you get the impression that De Tocqueville had generations of readers in mind.

As De Tocqueville noted, "It is not force alone, but rather good laws, which make a new govenment secure. After the battle comes the lawgiver. The one destroys; the other builds up. Each has its function." So true even for todays war. After you defeat your enemy you have to build up the infratructure just as Marshall and Truman both realized.

Reading this book you see the skillful eye of the author noticing and recording what he sees and he is impressed. I found this book to be of great import for the observations of America and hope that our educators use this book for teaching our children about the great country we live in.

De Tocqueville is every bit as brilliant and insightful as he has been said to be. The book is as relevant now as when written and is a must read for every american who is serious about understanding his country. What one realizes in reading the book is how novel and radical was the american experiment in creating a state that was both a republic and a democracy. De Toqueville's research was amazing, as well, he read the laws and constitutions of the various states, he didn't just observe the manifestation of american government and society. His assessments of the plusses and minuses of our government forms was incredibly astute and it is interesting to reflect on the changes that took place in the government after his time and how accurately he foresaw the advantages and disadvantages of those changes, as well. Given the short period of time that he spent in this country and the distances that he travelled one stands in awe of his work. His writing style is, of course, dated but one gets accustomed to it and learns to follow the rhythm.