I WOULD LIKE TO THANK CALLY HALL PERSONALY FOR SUCH A EXCELLENT WORK ON GEMSTONES. THE WORK CANNOT BE DESCRIBED IN WORDS. I AM A JEWELLER AS WELL AS GEMOLOGIST, GOT QUIET IMPRESSED WITH SUCH PIECE OF ART.

Where to begin? Photos, interesting facts, chemical compositions, broad range of stones!!!! The perfect reference for jewelers, libraries, hobbyists, homeschoolers- and to all you crystal/light workers, here is an awesome way to get a view of the crystals mentioned in the text-only guidebooks. See the Rocks & Minerals guide also.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS AND THIS BOOK HAS TERRIFIC PICTURES AND VERY CLEAR AND CONCISE DESCRIPTIONS. EVERYTHING THAT I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SUBJECT IS ANSWERED IN THIS BOOK. THERE'S A VISUAL GUIDE TO OVER 130 GEMSTONE VARIETIES AND A COLOR KEY FOR EVERY GEMSTONE. THERE ARE SO MANY INTERESTING BITS OF INFORMATION HERE THAT THE READER GETS A COURSE IN HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SCIENCE AND FOLKLORE. FOR INSTANCE, THE CUSTOM OF WEARING BIRTHSTONE JEWELRY STARTED IN 18TH CENTURY POLAND; THE MASK OF TUTANKHAMEN WAS MADE OF LAPIS FROM AFGHANISTAN AND THE BEAUTIFUL PINK MORGANITE WAS NAMED AFTER J.P. MORGAN. THIS IS A SUPER REFERENCE BOOK!

Alles, das ich über das Buch sagen kann, ist, daß ich es liebte, und ich glaube, daß es sehr wert Leseversuch es ist.

Chances are if your thinking on buying this book in German, you've probably already read the Englsih version, so I won't bog you down with any lengthy opinion on the story itself except to say it is a modern classic, full of mystery and suspense that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

Foreign language versions of English novels are notoriously difficult to translate, largely due to the high number of English words which have no exact translation in say, German or French. But on the whole, this was an exceptionally translated peice, with no major blunders sticking out (the Spanish version is full of them) The most obvious chnage is of "Hermione" to "Hermine" Perhaps Hermione would feel strange to pronounce to a native German speaker, not sure on that one.

A lot of people will tell you Spanish and French are far easier to learn than German. I found German more fun to learn, most people who say it is a difficult, technical language do not know that English and German belong in the same group of languages (Germanic) French, Spanish and Italian are in a completely different group (Romantic) So to brush up on language skills, or just to have fun reading a novel in another language, HP is probably the most fun and easy to understand novel on the market.

This translation of Harry Potter pulled even this native speaker of English along almost as well as the original book, and I would recommend it for anyone who's had a couple of years of German as a skill and vocabulary builder. If you're struggling with Goethe or Thomas Mann, you need something that will show you that German can be fun to read, and this book will do the trick nicely. I suppose once could carp at a few things here and there, but this translation is so superior to the French translation that I wouldn't waste my time doing that, except to mention that Hermione's name has for some reason been changed to Hermine. If you get stuck, at least the trot's readily available!

I received this book as a Secret Santa gift, and although I'm slightly out of its targeted age range, I still adore it. The artwork has thick lines so one can color well, and the many pages of pictures insure most characters are depicted. I recommend this book not only to those purchasing a gift for a small child but for any Harry Potter-lover.

This coloring book is very well illustrated. I love the pictures and scenes. Very fun for kids to color, and decorate their room.

This book is cool it comes with markers to color it in with.It also show different cool [pictures of Harry Potter and all his friends and enemys.(Snape)

This is a book I first checked out from the library in college. I must tell you, for anyone who wants to become a writer, this is the most fascinating book. After I read this baby at least five times, and the University of Iowa library was screaming to get it back, I must have checked it out at least 4 more times. Now that I can, I have my own copy. This book will explain to you--from the inside--how Charles Dickens planned and constructed his novels. Remember the famous Hemingway quote: "Fiction is architecture, not interior decorating." This book contains the blueprints for dozens of now-famous novels. curmudgeon99@earthlink.net

My first reaction to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter a l'ecole des sorciers was speechlessness. I had no idea that any book could be so wonderful. I'll admit that I found the first few chapters a bit dull. They were necessary, though, because they explained Harry's background and brought you up to the current state of affairs. The rest of the book made up for any lack of excitement in the preceding chapters. After I finished the book for the fourth time, I went out and bought the second installment in the series, then the third etc. I give this book five stars, and my personal recommendation to anyone looking for a good read.

It gives kids something constructive to do in their spare time, instead of playing video games all day long. It also helps kids to develope better creativity skills by having them pick how the finished product will look.

This music is beautifully written for piano. It sounds exactly like the soundtrack. You could even play along with the soundtrack if you wanted to. It includes Diagon Alley, Family Portrait, Harry's Wonderous World, Hedwig's Theme, Quidditch, Voldemort, Fluffy's Harp, and Hogwart's Forever. Harry's Wonderous World is really fun to play and challenging. This book also comes with some pictures in the front, which I thought was kind of neat. But well, I love the soundtrack to death and playing it on the piano makes it seem even more magical to me. You will not regret buying this!!

I thought this books was really great! I am a college graduate with a degree in English, and am hoping to one day be a physician. I have read everything from Dickens to J.R.R. Tolkien to CS Lewis and yes they are great authors. ...to imply that an adult who reads childrens books does not have the comprehension to understand more complex story lines is absurd. I started reading children's literature again when I started college as a form of stress relief. I wanted books that have great plot, but are a simpler to read that "adult classics". Children's books, especially the Harry Potter stories have an intricate way of letting the reader's imagination run loose. These books, even though they are simple, are extremely well written. Great plot, great characters, great everything! I recommended these books to all my college friends and family members, and they loved them too! ...if you keep to the stringent idea that a book should only be read by the specified age guidelines, you are missing out on some of the greatest authors that include Lloyd Alexander, CS Lewis, Roald Dahl...I could go on

JK Rowling has exquisite talent using the English language to weave a fabulous tale within the genre of fantasy. As a parent, former elementary teacher and current professor, I recommend this book to all with the reminder that it is not reality - it is fantasy! Take joy and fly on the imaginary flight Rowling offers us as Harry soars above evil characters unwilling to look within themselves. Our hero strives to keep happiness, joy, and unconditional acceptance of others as the norm for his life. My 9 year old son, who is thoroughly bored with the basal reading of one story per week in class, had given up on reading. He said he hated it! Then, I brought home Harry Potter, began reading it aloud and stopped at a particularly climactic point. What happened next? Well, hours later on my way to bed, my son was nose deep in the book! Several nearly sleepless nights later, he finished the first and begged for more. Do I think these books are evil? Absolutely not. And, yes, we are church goers; my husband is in ministry! We are all anxiously awaiting book four. Just hope it comes out after I've graded all of my papers! I predict generations of fame for JK Rowling in these neo classics akin to CS Lewis.

I am a 22 year old student studying to become a Primary school teacher.

My Great Aunt told me to go out and buy these books she thought that they were fabulous. She had originally bought them for my 9 year old cousin and had started reading them to see if they were appropriate. Needless to say my cousin doesn't have them.

I got the first and just loved it, as soon as I finished I raced to the book store and bought the next 2. I just could not put them down (and still can't). I am reading them for the third time. My boyfriend started reading the first one and couldn't wait for me to finish reading the next so he could (he had picked them up because he had read everything else in the house and was desperate). We both are anxiously awaiting the rest of the series.

I will definately be reading these to my classes when I get to teach. They are full of life, imagination, suspense and generally good fun. I just love Harry, Ron and Hermoine. Go team!

Harry Potter thought he had a fairly normal life (aside from living with his aunt and uncle who hated him), but he was very wrong. On his 11th birthday he learned that he was a wizard and had been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Suddenly, Harry is plunged into an entirely new world of magic. At Hogwarts Harry has friends for the first time in his life. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are his best friends at the school and they are the ones who help Harry through all of his troubles. From the very beginning though, Harry is slightly aware of something strange going on at Hogwarts. Harry pieces together the mystery slowly throughout the school year in while he isn't busy working on schoolwork or Quidditch (a magical game played on broomsticks).
My favorite part about this book was the world that J.K. Rowling created. While it would have been easy for her to just set the story in a school where the kids learn magic, she didn't. Things like Diagon Alley, which is where all of the students go to get school supplies, allow her to add so much more to the magic world just through descriptions of things Harry sees. Quidditch also makes the world seem much more real.
I originally read this book because I needed a young adult book for class, but I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would. I can't remember the last time I actually read much outside of school, but after reading this book I read the other three and am now anxiously awaiting the fifth book. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. It's obvious that it was aimed at younger readers, but I found I enjoyed it as much at 17 as my sister did at 11.

Although I realize that due to the overwhelming volume of review responses there is little chance my offering will be read, I enjoyed the book too much to be able to resist. It is an absolutely marvelous story, the best new book since who-knows-when and easily topping even the works of "adult" literature with which it shares the best-seller list.

It is a geography of the imagination, which will remain long after the ephemeral chronicles of the time have withered and blown away. Having a classic structure and classic protagonist doesn't do it any harm, either.

Harry Potter is a more-or-less archetypal sort of hero. Parents mysteriously killed, raised in menial domestic situation by aunt and uncle, possesing a strange mark and even stranger powers- that type of the hero can be picked up everywhere from early fairy tales and legends to "Star Wars". And the story's plot- the education of the remarkable young man- is equally precedented.

But the wonders J.K. Rowling works with her classic form! Her story is a perfect blend of theme, plot, and character, action, humor, drama, deeper meaning, and sheer imaginative revelry. She has combined her ingredients, and said the magic words, and has caught the reading world in the resulting enchantment.

Harry Potter has lived a dismal life with his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. He sleeps in a closet and has never had a birthday party or Christmas presents. Even worse, he has to endure life with his horrible spoiled cousin, Dudley. Then on Harry's eleventh birthday, things change when a letter arrives, (by owl), inviting him to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Suddenly Harry finds himself among friends, learning about potion-making and magic-wand waving and broomstick riding. There're chocolate frogs and Every Flavor Beans and a three-headed dog and Quidditch-a game better than soccer. Also, Hagrid, a lovable gamekeeper who befriends Harry; Hermione Granger, a witch who's read all the school books and knows all the rules; and there's Ron Weasly, Harry's best friend who has quite a legacy of his own to fill. Hogwarts treats him well, even with the abomidable Malfoy's mean tricks or Professor Snape's obvious hatred of Harry. The soon Harry finds himself in the middle of a mystery at Hogwarts, and together with his two new friends, embarks on adventures he never dreamed possible.

The book is engaging with its imagery, humor, plot twists and real-life child problems. The book doesn't only appeal to children but adults as well. She's a master on fantasy. She really can, with no difficulty at all, think herself back to 11 years old. You will love the whimsical descriptions, humorous quotes and the fun characters. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

If you enjoy books filled with adventure, fantasy, humor, and mystery, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is a book you can't miss to read. Rowling does a wonderful job describing the characters and environments. By the end of the book you feel as if you could walk through Hogwarts School as if it was your home for a year. The plot is always twisting, making you shocked
throughout the book, and leaving the conclusion a complete surprise. The character developement is done so well that the characters feelings matter as if they were really a friend of yours. If you aren't a very good reader and you haven't read the series yet, I can only say that they my find that their perspective of reading will change afer you read this magic filled book.

In the beginning, as a boy, Harry is sent to his last living family, because his parents were killed. On his eleventh birthday a giant man called Hagrid comes and explains that Harry is a wizard. He soon gets used to living in Hogwarts, and he makes a lot of new friends. Harry and his friends discover that someone is after a magic stone. Harry finds out that one of his teachers is after the stone. Harry makes it through the traps guarding the stone. In the end he stops the person and finally gets to see Voldemort, the dark lord.
I chose to read this book because I love things that concern fairy tales. Also because it sold very good when it came out. When the book first came out I saw on the news that there were already people in line to buy the book the day before. After that I couldn't buy the book for another few weeks. Then one day when I came home my mom came to me and gave the book to me. A few months afterwards one of my relatives from London sent me the British version because she owns a bookstore.
My favorite part was when Harry went to his first Quidditch match. I liked this part because it was my first time I read about a Quidditch match. I liked the excitement of the match. I also liked the part when Harry first learns how to play the game. I liked how they explained the game balls, and how they talked about how the game was played.

Do you wish you were in a magical world? Well if you do Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is an enjoyable book to read.Harry lives with a family that hates him until one day a wizard named Hagrid comes and tells him that Harry's a wizard. Harry being flabbergasted and not knowing the truth goes with Hagrid. Harry's life is then filled with magic, adnenture, danger, fun and friends. This is the first of 4 Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. This book kept my attention through the entire book, and I had trouble putting it down.