A retiree's memories in delightful rhyme with wisdom for all.

This warm and special little book is the ideal Christmas gift for persons of all ages! The senior citizen will relate to each verse. The young will be delighted that this is poety that has meter and rhyme! It sings with memories and wisdom.

As a senior citizen, Gates writes reflective poetry that touches upon the diverse subjects of life, subh as love, family, outdoors, holidays and life-changing events. She creates an anthology from the view of retired life. Enjoyable for all ages.

I was thrilled to find Peters book on our local library shelf. As a reader from Winnetka, Illinois, I felt moved and touched by Peters ability to capture the true essence of living here on the NORTH SHORE in the heart of the Mid West! I enjoyed every short story and found it difficult to put the book down without thinking about how one young mind could have experienced or imagined so much emotion in his life time! Although many stories are emotional, he never leaves us feeling sad!

Peter what a wonder collection of stories, we are all proud of you! It has been my honor reading your incredible stories.

I first bought this book mostly because I was curious about Orner outside of the classes he teaches at my university. The short stories in this book are all touching, some haunting. Each makes you feel a little guilty for moving on to the next. "Sitting Theodore" was my personal favorite. I hope he writes more books and continues to teach into senility and decrepitude.

Aside from being a great author, he's a great instructor as well. Hell yes, Orner. Go on with your bad self!

Agreeing with all of the previous reviewers as to the high quality of this collection of stories, I'll just add that rarely have I read a contemporary work so beautifully worded that it is truly a literary gem. Peter Orner has written an amazing book, and it is a must read.

This is a life-changing book. It looks like a children's book but do not be confused, it is for all.

The situations in this book about life and reacting to the daily events of life are written with an unbelievable warmth and simplicity! Why didn't I see it that way before?...It's message is so obviously true!

I cannot think of a better book to give anyone. It is a true uplifter and teacher.

Thank you, Jerry and Esther for sharing this wonderful message with the rest of us!!

This is must reading for anyone who can read. I loved it and plan on reading it many times. Everyone I've given it to (you never get it back) has loved it and plan on giving it to their children and grandchildren as I have. No sex in this book. Just great lessons in life.

I was recommended this book when I discovered all about awareness, energy and the power of love. This is a GREAT book. I've loaned it out several times with rave reviews coming back to me. My daughter couldn't put it down and did a GREAT project on it for school! A MUST read!

This is a new hobby for me and I found the Book beautifully illustrated and easy to understand. The author covers a variety of subjects related to drying flowers such as tips on how to display the attractively and creatively after drying. She also has some chapters on how containers, from old boxes to odd-shaped baskets can serve as a base for your dried floral arrangement. She also included many names of flowers that can be successfully dried as well as a suggested timetable since flowers have different moisture content. One problem I had was finding Silica Jel in large quantities locally. If would have been helpful to have this info included in book. I did find a source in California however.

(This is an adult review! Couldn't find where to write it except here!)

It's always a challenge to find the perfect birthday present for my artist/gardening wife. This year I found a winner in "Sensational Dried Flowers" by Esther Davis.

My wife was always disappointed when she tried to dry flowers in the traditional manner. They ended up with faded colors and shriveled blossoms.

It was hard to believe that the beautiful flowers pictured in the book were actually dried and not fresh from a florist or the garden. But with the help of the simple but thorough directions in Ms. Davis's book, we were thrilled when our first attempt with a Zinnia looked like it had indeed come fresh from the garden!

The arrangements by Ms. Davis are beautifully done, and have given us many great ideas. We highly recommend "Sensational Dried Flowers" whether you are an artist, a gardener, or just want to create some beauty you can be proud of in your own home or as gifts for friends.

(I am 71 years old (going on 52) if it really matters.

I am not your typical crafty husband. I can easily pass by the craft section of the store without feelings of remorse. However, while waiting for my wife, I picked up this book and started looking through it. It only took a few moments of looking at the tools of the trade page to get me interested. Pliers, clother pins, and glue guns...I could really get interested in something that started off with these items. I purchased the book and asked my wife where we could buy Silica gel at 9:30 in the evening. I found the examples and pictorial instructions most helpful and my results actually looked like the pictures. I can not claim to have produced the arrangements as glorious as those pictured in Ms. Davis' book, but I was very proud of them and found them to last much longer than expected. I would recommend this book to the expert and the novice. It has something for each category. I even went to meet Ms. Davis at a book signing. Her techniques in flower drying are most remarkable.

I am a writer who is currently at work on a book on my living through colon cancer. I was diagnosed at age 47 with Duke's C-3 colon cancer. Because of the early onset of my disease, I was three years too young to be considered for routine colon cancer screening, which doctors are supposed to offer to patients when they reach age 50. I was lucky. Even with one year of chemotherapy (due to minor lymph node involvement) medical textbooks and doctors said my chances of surviving five years (a five year colon cancer survivor is considered "cured") were about 35 percent. Now, seven years later, I can say that Esther Sternberg's work validates some key elements of the survival strategy I developed for myself that links health and wellness and emotions.

Sternberg flies in the face of conventional medical wisdom by providing proof that stress can make you sick. She provides evidence that the immune system can be trained, citing the work of Bob Ader and Nick Cohen. And she offers evidence that nerve chemicals or hormones can affect immune-cell function in a physiological way.

This is ironic considering that when you ask a psychiatrist or even a psychopharmachologist how the latest generation of SSRI anti-depression/anti-anxiety drugs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa etc.) work, the answer is that they are not exactly sure.

The medical establishment in the US tends to hive off the debate about health and emotions (the mind-body connection) to the area of alternative medicine. New age healing and some of the Eastern approaches tend to overlook the scientific connection. Sternberg taps history and science to frame the issue and if it were simpled down to the level of a mass market audience her book would be a best seller.

Brilliant scientific exploration of the mind-body connection expressed in compelling, animated realism. I enjoyed this delightful learning experience. Dr. Sternberg not only demonstrates outstanding knowledge and expertise in the field of psychoneuroimmonology, but she does so through the eyes of a sensitive, caring human being. A true inspiration to read many times over. Especially recommended for anyone who is looking for a way to enhance their health and well-being....

Dr. Esther Sternberg from the outset tells us that she wrote this book "out of a question" that "seemed ostracized from the rest of the scientific community." Clearly, it seems that the information in "The Body Within" is a daring challenge to present new brain-immune connection information to the lay public, and is determined to not let it stagnate only among the doctoral elite. I found all 11 chapters fascinating and richly detailed, gloriously free of slanted opinions and filled with highly intelligent questions. All 250 pages inform, with its interesting anecdotes and illustrations, and my gratitude goes out to Dr. Sternberg for ensuring that some of us, even though we do not have a "Ph.D" attached to our name, are nonetheless able to grasp concepts as the workings of the brain, the immune system and the role of various hormones and neurotransmitters.

"The Balance Within" is solidly founded in irrefutable facts "collected from rigorously performed experiments." It is a real treat to read about such things as Chapter 5, "It's a Two-Way Street: The Immune System Talks to the Brain and the Brain Talks Back" and Chapters 6 and 7, "When the Brain-Immune Communication Breaks Down" and "Can Stress Make you Sick?" I could easily spoil the conclusions of this book, which I dare not out of pure respect for Dr. Sternberg, especially when she so adeptly investigates such ideas as "Can Believing Make You Well?" Gradually the walls between the public and the scientific community are crumbling down, allowing us to make up our own minds and deciding what is right for our own bodies. This book is groundbreaking, indispensable and should not be out of your hands for another second. You may encounter resistance at first, as the author put it, "Whenever a new field comes into being, it comes up against the older dogmas. So the resistance that we felt was real and steeped in traditions going as far back as Galileo, Copernicus, and beyond...Whenever one tries to change prevailing opinion, resistance is inevitable..." Esther, I want to party with you, sister. A little less I talk, a little more I listen. I'm taking a page from your book!

The first thing that struck me about this book was the beautiful edition - the illustrations really set the tone for the eclectic recipes they accompany. The recipes themselves obviously draw on a wide and varied background in cooking (and travel?)- bringing together ingredients and techniques from various European, Asian and American styles of cooking. I loved the Goat Cheese Napoleons, the Cucumber Wheels with Crabmeat and Sushi Rice, and scored major brownie points with my husband with the Cardamom Pears. Although this is not a beginners cookbook, the instructions are very clear and precise and I would encourage anyone with a sense of adventure as far as good food is concerned to dive into these recipes.

We have enjoyed Esther's imaginative and delicious cuisine for many years. Each of her meals is a journey of delight: a prolonged, languid excursion through a series of courses, each fresh and original and of modest proportion. "Birds of a Different Feather" reveals how these repasts are built. The "meat" courses are primarily poultry, though fish and seafood, also take a bow; appetizers, soups, salads, grains, deserts all are presented, so you can mix and match for a multi-course meal. The dishes are invariably inventive, but neither strange nor difficult. Besides revealing the secrets of Esther's cooking, her book is a visual banquet as well, illustrated with fanciful watercolors by Jane Angelhart and printed on paper sturdy enough to withstand splashes of clarified butter, celery root soup, ginger and honey sauce, kumquats, tomatillos, pistachio filling, and grand marnier apricot sabayon. You will love this book, and the pleasure it helps you provide to the people at your table.

For those of us who love to eat well, but struggle in the kitchen, this book is a godsend. Many cookbooks assume too much or the recipes are misleading or both. Here is a master chef who cares about your result. She provides advice and encouragement within a beautifully illustrated book. In the aknowledgements Gerhard says, "cooking is my way of expressing affection, of drawing people closer and seeing them happy." Her book makes this wonderful sentiment available to us all.

A very interesting biography of a Muslim girl's conversion to Christianity. Very inspiring and humbling story. Recommended for Christian people, those week in faith will not believe this truly remarkable story.

This is an amazing book and I would recommend it to all Christians, and perhaps more importantly, to anyone else who is open-minded about the claims of the Christian faith. The book describes how a Muslim girl, Gulshan Esther, is miraculously healed of a severe physical disability by Jesus when He appears before her. The book also details Gulshan's rejection by her own family when she becomes a Christian, and her great courage and determination to serve Jesus and tell His people what He did for her. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

For the reviewer below, Susan Mathew, who wanted to know Gulshan Esther's contact details, here is her address and telephone number:

This is a wonderful story of a muslim girl who is miraculously healed from her life long sickness by the special touch of jesus.Rather than rejoicing with her, she was forsaken by all at home. But God through his wonderful ways is using her as a powerful testimony around the world. This is the best gift for a muslim friend of yours.

They should translate this book into English. Have been searching for an English translation to give to an American child. I read it as a kid in Spanish and remember it well. It was the basis of some really good Japanese Anime cartoon long ago as well. The cartoon was pretty good. Anyway, reading the book as an adult is also kind of cool to see what the Italian ideals an values were in the late 1800s, though not directly the point of the book, one gets a very nice picture of what life was like in old Turin. Makes an awesome present for a 10-12 year old.

Everyone should read this book. Katie, I hope you get to read it, even if in Spanish. I'd love to hear from you. I am at rolando1202@yahoo.com.

Este libro me fue regalado por mi abuela cuando era muy joven. La inspiracion del maestro y sus historias han sido algo que me ha inspirado toda la vida. Lo recomiendo al joven que empieza en su camino y al viejo que recuerda su jornada. A pesar de ser algo del siglo pasado, la historia transcende el tiempo.

I like this book of Esther because it is all what God knew what was going to happen. My first favorite part is when the king crowned Esther Queen of Persia. That was God's plan. Later, a man named Haman wanted all the Jews killed. God wanted Esther to save her people. My second favorite part is when Esther shows up to the king uninvited. Esther had the courage to do that. But, will Esther save her people in time? Read this book to find out.

Esther's Uncle Mordecai is the gate keeper.He raised Esther from a baby. My favorite part of the story is when Esther becomes queen of Persia. My favorite part of the story is when he laughed. When he was done laughing, he said "Esther, you are now queen of ersia". I like the book Esther because it is taken from the Bible. The comments are the same as in the Bible. If you really like the Bible story, I insist that you read this book!

Esther was an ok book. It is easy to read. It was about
this girl named Esther and how she became a queen and
saved her people. I recommend this book to anyone.

I gor this book because I am a multiple and I wanted to know other people's experience so I wouldn't feel so isolated. Several friends had read it and recommended it to me.

I did find a few excerpt from the text very helpful in understanding other people's view of this condition. However, as a multiple, I found the book boring and stale. Same things over and over. This book may be great for someone recently diagnosed or for a singleton wanting to understand, but it's not the best choice and it certainly is not that good of a choice if you're well into your understanding.

When I read this book, it was like a lightning from the
clear skies. It explained so many things about myself,
others, and consciousness in general. Also, it told me
so much about how much abuse there is in the world, and
how much prejudice there is against people who are different
from some narrowly accepted norms. If one reads this book
with the heart, it can teach so incredibly much about love
and compassion which are so lacking in our world. I recommend
this book to anyone, whether MPD or not MPD.

If you are a multiple or a multiple's SO, this would be a great book for your collection. While it may not give any valuable tips to make life as a multiple easier, it is a collection of over 140 multiples' thoughts on a variety of matters--many of which may match your own. By reading this, you will learn that many of the things that are hard for you are hard for other multiples as well... and after all, misery loves company.