This book was very cute. Not only are Yaccarinos illustrations colorful and bright but the story is very sweet. My 6 year old daughter (a pug owner)loves the book and I must admit I do too. The story has interested my daughter so much she is reading the book (with help)over and over.

I bought this book for my husband for Christmas (we have no kids -- but we do have a Pug!), and we both fell in love with it. Yaccarino has a great storytelling ability, and the illustrations were priceless. A good book for any pug-owner to have, and a great story for kids to read and learn about being who they are.

Can you stand another 5 star review of "Unlovable?" Well, it certainly deserves it! Dan Yaccarino has consistantly been my 6 year old son's favorite illustrator and writer. We own many of his fabulous books. When I spotted this book peaking fron the edge of the shelf at a local bookstore, I recognized instantly that the artwork was that of Mr. Yaccarino. I hadn't intended to buy "Unlovable" at that time, but after a quick read to myself, couldn't resist surprising my son with it. The story is touching and teaches an important lesson about accepting yourself for who you are. The true test of a good book however, is not just whether I like it or my son likes it, but if we both like it. This one is a winner by all accounts. My next dog is definitely going to be a pug!

About half of this book is very Microsoft-specific (HTML applications, behaviors, etc.) However, the sections on XSL and interacting with the XML DOM are outstanding and contain much better explanations and examples than I've seen in any "pure" XSL book! I consider myself an XSL expert, but I still learned a great deal from this book. It's enabled me to write simpler, more concise and more efficient transformations. You can skip the Microsoft-specific stuff if you want and this book is still a great value.

This book is great! The chapters are well laid out and are easy to understand. It helped me learn a great deal about incorporating DHTML, XML and Web Scripting into my web applications. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to further expand their knowledge about web applications. The Web is the future and this book will lead you there!

I was interested in this book to provide the components for building web applications. The book provides all the information in an easy to read manner so that I can create an application utilizing current web technology. The technical information provides information about Advanced IE functionality, DHTML, XML, ASP, and Web Scripting which allows me to write applications using the examples in this book. The example code was very useful which allowed me to integrate the sample code into new applications. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to integrate all these technologies in their applications.

Just buy it. There are so many good ideas in here everyone who reads it will benefit.

This is perhaps one of the best technical football books I have read. Great diagrams and detailed explanation in a simple form make for a good read and easy installation instructions. A must for any offensive coordinator.

I ran the wing t offense for 10 years with great effectiveness forcing teams to play eight man fronts. I always felt I could not pass because you need talent thrower and speedy receivers to pass. So I forced my teams to continue running the football even with eight man fronts. Kind of chopping down a tree with a sledge hammer. Then I read this book. Not only do you not need a good thrower or speedy receivers, but if you want something that is going to confuse the defense. Then do not look any further. This book will completely change your offensive attitude towards the pass. I no longer pass with fear. The book is easy to understand and is a great reference for both offensive and defensive coordinators. It goes with any offensive philosophy. Mine is wing T and I have not change my philosophy it just enhance it. If you pass this book by you are making a big mistake. I now have defense playing 6 and 7 men fronts which is a lot easier to run on. No matter how much of committment you choose to use in your passing game: a lot or once in a while, this book will give that edge over today's defenses.

I have used this book with my 7th graders for the last two years and I have had good results with my students. I stopped another book we were reading as a class right after September 11, 2001 and had my classes read this book. There are many great lessons in this book. The two boys are from different cultures, have different Gods, and different cultural beliefs. I used these topics to lead many interesting discussions not only about the book, but how our culture and other cultures see each other and have different ways of working out our differences. I HIGHLY recommend this book as a teacher.

I got this book after grocery shopping. I was looking in the multicultural section because I desperately needed a book for a project in school. I looked at it and I didn't really think it would be that great but it was so good that an hour later I was asking my mom to get me a new book! The ending wasn't that great but otherwise it was the best book! All of the charactors actions were surprising. I highly recomend this book!

I got this book at a reading festival that my school had. As sson as we left the festival, I started reading this book. I couldn't get my hands off it. When I finished it, 5 days later, I read it over again. Not only if this an adventure book, but it is also very inspiring.

One of the things people think about, particularly at this time of the year, is what to get friends and family as a gift. Why not get them a good book. I like to think that any book that I've reviewed in this column might be a good book for somebody, but they might not be a good book for everyone. This week, however, I'm featuring a book that would be enjoyable by all the people on your gift list.
This week's book is Country Boy: Adventures of an Untroubled Childhood by Dan Prusi. People have been writing about their childhood for centuries. These books usually fall into two categories, troubled and untroubled childhoods. Lately, troubled childhood seems to be more popular, but that wasn't always the case. People who read Prusi's book might be reminded of any number of other novels and autobiographies on the same subject. Many people will recall Mark Twain writing about Tom Sawyer. Tom had many successors.
How should one describe Prusi's description of his childhood? It seems to me one can safely quote the publisher on this. They say, "Country Boy, Adventures from an Untroubled Childhood is a true story about the wonders of childhood and the love and companionship provided by a large closely knit family. Set in the iron mining area of rural Upper Michigan in the 1950's and 1960's, it is the story of a young's boys adventures, misadventures and the role his family played in shaping his childhood and his entire life. From the boy's first kiss to the shame of running afoul of the law at age ten, to the inventiveness of children trying to entertain themselves, it is the story that the average reader can both relate to, and delight in."
In this book you get to know not only Dan Prusi, but his family and friends. From his parents and seven sisters to his cousins and other neighborhood chums. Although he only lived in Bellevue, which was a location about half way between Palmer and Negaunee, until he was thirteen years old, the memories has stayed with him since then. They are particularly important because Bellevue location no long exist. It was taken over by the Empire Mine who owned all of the land. The memories, though, remain as strong as ever.
Prusi seems to have had a happy and loving childhood. Not everyone is as fortunate, but we all have pleasant memories of something. I think that reading this book will trigger fond memories in those who read it. For instance, in his Christmas chapter he mentions receiving one year a "book" of lifesaver rolls which he ate rather quickly. He didn't eat lifesavers for a while after that. I remember those lifesaver books myself. I think I got one for Christmas myself, but hadn't Thought of it in years. Other people will have other memories, I'm sure.
After he left Bellevue he graduated from Negaunee High School in 1971. According to the publisher, "The father of three grown children, he now resides in Cedar Valley Township near Floodwood, Minnesota with Serilee, his wife of twenty-eight years. An avid outdoorsman and amateur naturalist, he lives on a Seventy-seven acre property that he manages for wildlife."
This is his first published book. He tells me that there may be another one soon. I'm sure, when it comes, it will be interesting. Many people are told by their friends or relatives that they ought to write a book. Even though it sometimes seems that everyone is writing a book most people don't ever get up the nerve to actually write one. Prusi did, and we all benefit from it. Even those who aren't familiar about the life style he writes about will know people similar to those described in this book. This people will make happy to have read it, and that is no small accomplishment.
Prusi thoughtfully includes some pictures from his family album so we can see what the people we have been reading about actually look like. I'm sure the people pictured never thought that they would end up as characters in Prusi's reminiscences. I don't think, though, that they would mind the kindly way he described them, or the pleasures their lives will give to other people.

Andrew Grgurich ' The Mining Journal, Marquette, Michigan

Here is a book that is sure to bring a smile to your face. It may even bring back some of your own childhood memories! The book relates the adventures of a 50's era country boy with his family members and friends. This is a fun read and I highly recommend it!

Anybody who's ever been a kid can find something to smile about in this lively memoir. The author's stories about growing up in a small town, surrounded by a loving family make for a lighthearted, thoughtful read. Prusi's vivid descriptions and fondly-recalled anecdotes give the reader a real sense of a time (the 1950s) and place (the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) that can feel pretty far removed from our hectic lives, and provide a reminder of the simple pleasures of childhood. Country Boy will help you see the world through a child's eyes again.

I am glad it was a book. I would have missed too much while in a state of uncontrollable laughter, if it had been a movie. At that time, I could not wait to order, A Cowboy Never Lies 2. Truly one of the best books I have read in a long time. I enjoyed it so much, I also ordered it in cassette, so my father could listen to it.

I read about Mr. Burnetts escapades in "A Cowboy Never Lies" laughing all the way through, put it aside for about 2 months then read it again so as to make sure I caught all of his zany escapades. My 14 year old son kept asking what book I was laughing about. [Usually he doesn't give a hoot about what I'm reading] I told him he could read my book when I was done with it. Later that evening I couldn't find my book so I headed to my sons bedroom to ask him if he had seen it; but only had to get to his door and hear his howl of laughter to know I wouldn't get my book back 'til he was done with it. I fooled him tho....I went out and got "A Cowboy Never Lies II". He knows I have it, and is bugging me to finish it so he can get started reveling in Dans' sidesplitting fun.

Yeah, I wuz alive 'n sorta moved around the fringes of Dan's circle, even entered a coupla events justa see if I wuz as tough as I thought I wuz. We-e-elll, I wuzn't, but his crowd wuz. Man! Until I saw em do it, I didn't think there wuz such a thing as a cowboy what could eat rawhide fer breakfus', drink a quart a beer fer lunch 'n eat ten pounds a rodeo dirt fer a full course dinner, then be ready ta dance 'n drink 'til sunrise, includin a lil scuffle outside tha dance hall! Now the story-telling enhancements to the truth are like salt, pepper and tobasco on yer favorite food and Dan has definitely perfected the flavoring without distorting the truths...much, anyway. If ya don't wanta laugh while reading this, I can only wish ya luck. Consider it a challenge, cuz it shore will be. --- Mike Danford

I would trust Naomi Judd if I didn't trust another person in the whole world! Her book is beautiful, her songs are beautiful, her daughters are beautiful, her life is beautiful! Thank you, Naomi! In a world where so many people are invested in "taking," you are definitely a "giver." You enrich our lives in so many ways.

This book for "all ages" is a timeless tale about our connections with our ancestors. A spin-off from a best-selling Naomi Judd song, Judd's Guardian Angels reminds us that we belong no matter where we are. The hardback book also includes a cd of the song that inspired the book.
The book begins with a forward from Naomi Judd that describes how the song and the book came to be. It is then followed by a short and simple rhyming story. The story revolves around the phrase, "And if you look real close you'll see our eyes are just the same." A young girl takes comfort in the photograph of her great-grandparents and feels a special closeness to them, even though she had never met them. She believes they're watching over her and that she is never alone because of that.
Probably one of the most charming aspects of the book are the illustrations. I may be a little biased, however, since Dan Andreasen is one of my favorite illustrators. He breathes life into characters that may otherwise seem flat and ordinary.
The beautiful watercolor paintings inside this book almost make it feel like an art gallery. Andreasen's token soft character expressions and wonderful colors make the story complete and add a sense of awe to the book.
As a whole, the book is wonderful and great to read aloud to kids and grownups alike. Its simple text allows the reader to grow on his or her own, filling in the spaces with their own personal experience. It is a true tribute to family and a great buy for the holidays.

"Where you come from is as important as where you're going," so says and sings Naomi Judd through the eyes of a child in this charming story inspired by reflections on her great-grandparents. The book is written for children ages 4-8. The song on the companion CD is for anyone. Included in the book are beautiful paintings by Dan Andreasen which capture and enhance the quality of this gift of family love, and those special places and memories stored in the heart. It is an enchanting book, and yes, love can build a bridge across time.

I have not read this book, but the TV show (starring same Octopus and airing on the cable channel Nickelodeon) is wonderful. It is very gentle and promotes good values. Most importantly, it is not drawn in that weird "hurky-jerky" style that so many cartoons are drawn in today. My kids love the show, and will probably love this book after it arrives. PS to the previous reviewer, a CD of music from the show is available on the nickjr.com website. An interesting note: Fred Savage (from the Wonder Years) is the voice of Oswald, and other notables are: Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley as the Penguin, Lorraine Newman, Mac Davis, and Tony Orlando as other characters. The show is great, check it out!!

The illustration style and plot is well done. I only wish I could have some of that quaint music from the TV series included herein.

My children love the show and so I bought this book for them. They love it. It is repeative as Oswald keeps meeting more and more neighbors in Big City. This type of repeative reading is good for young children. Funny sounds and friendly characters adds to the charm of this tale of how Oswald meets all of his friends.

I've been developing Eclipse plugins for a year and a half. During that time I took a course from IBM on Eclipse plugin development, taught by one of the authors of this book. Much of the material in that class is contained in this book, and more. If you can't take the $1000 class, this is the way to go to learn Eclipse plugin development.

I wish I'd had this information months ago. Within 10 minutes of getting the book, I was able to solve a programming problem that had been puzzling me for weeks.

If you just want to develop projects using the Eclipse IDE, then Eclipse in Action is a good introduction. But if plugin development is what you want to do, this is the book to have. Even if you are using Eclipse only as an IDE, this book will get you up to speed. The exercises are great for that. This book will serve both purposes.

You've downloaded Eclipse. You've coded with the Java IDE. You've loved the refactoring and incremental compilation. Now you have an idea for a new cool plug-in that you think everyone will love.

If this describes you, you need this book.

I've been developing Eclipse plug-ins commercially for over a year. Previously, I had to teach myself by reading and/or searching:

1) Articles on Eclipse.org
2) The online help
3) The newsgroup
4) The source code to Eclipse itself

--not necessarily in that order.

Now I just turn to this book. It almost always answers my questions quickly and succinctly. Even with over a year of Eclipse background gained by teaching myself, I continually feel amazed at how quickly and how much this book has increased the depth of my understanding about how to write Eclipse plug-ins.

It is obvious when reading this book that (as professional teachers/trainers) the authors of this book have already taught this information many times and know what tends to trip people up. Their writing style flows with the ease of great familiarity with and confidence about their material. And their code examples work.

I not only reviewed a pre-published version of this book, but this book proved very valuable in developing a commercially available and award winning Eclipse Plug-In. The text is clear, the examples are well thought out, and there are plenty of "real world" exercises. The combination of all three of these elements prepares you to use Eclipse to its fullest and to extend it in the best way possible.

The true test for a technical book is how well does the book prepare you when you need to put the knowledge into practice. I have finished reading many technical books believing I understood the topic only to discover when I had to put that knowledge to work, the book did not provide the whole story. After reading The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse and writing a plug-in based on that knowledge, I can say that this book aces that test.

"Life is Unfair!" is a novelization by Tom Mason and Dan Danko of the first two episodes of the Fox television series "Malcolm in the Middle." The authors do a very nice job of taking that initial pair of teleplays for "The Pilot" (by series creator Linwood Boomer) and "Krelboyne Picnic" (by Michael Glouberman & Andrew Orenstein) and turning them into a seamless whole. Thus we are introduced to Malcolm, who is horrified to learn that he is not simply weird but a certifiable genius. This means being untimely ripped from his relatively normal classroom and being sent to the class for the "gifted" students, which is just a way of hiding the fact that everybody in the Krelboyne class is a nerd a freak or possibly both. Malcolm gets off to a bad start with his new classmates and the prospect of a talent show in front of all the parents does not make our hero any happier. Besides, we have not even mentioned Malcolm's parents and his brothers, who are all apparently conspiring to make things even worse.

There has also been a definite effort to clean-up things a bit for the juvenille reader in this first "Malcolm in the Middle" book. For example, we no longer have the litany of past offenses for which Francis was banished to the Marlin Academy in Alabama and Lois greets Ms. Miller wearing a bit more than she actually did in the pilot. Such things are to be expected I suppose. However, . . . I do . . . not think . . . that Stevie . . . ever spoke . . . in bursts . . . of only . . . one word . . . I think . . . he always . . . does two . . . words at . . . a time . . . Although I . . . may be . . . wrong about . . . that. Ultimately this book is an interesting trade off. On the one hand, Mason and Danko have provided a more realistic version of the television show, but on the other hand it is the manic zaniness of this collective of crazed individuals that makes the show so compelling (just think of the opening of the episode shown after the Super Bowl where Hal and Dewey try to get a spider out of the house only to succeed in pitching it out the front door and right into Lois's open mouth). However, there is really no way to capture such inspired lunacy on the printed page, which means the authors made the right choice. Then again, maybe the show has become more surreal as time goes bye and maybe this is something we must remember.

Life is Unfair is Based on the "Pilot" and "Krelboyne Picnic" episodes of the Hit TV Show Malcolm in the Middle. You can re-live both episodes just from reading the book, which is why I loved it! Experience the humilation and humor Malcolm goes through, just from reading the book. I love the series! (Maybe becuase I am a big fan of the Show)The reading level isn't too hard, so it is a "kick-back-and-relax-while-you-read" kind of book. It is not confusing so you don't have to think while you read. I'd recommend this book as well as the other books in the series. Defintly check out the "Water Park" book in the series. (#2) You can surely re-live that episode easily too! It had cool and funny moments just like the show! You so will not regret reading this book. Every moment is worth it and there are no dull moments! Check this book out!

Jordan

Based on the "Pilot" and "Krelboyne Picnic" episodes, you can re-live both episodes just from reading the book, which is why i loved it! Experience the humilation and humor Malcolm goes through, just from reading the book! I am 14, and i love the series! (well maybe cuz im a big fan of the show but ya know...). The reading level is very easy, so it is a "kick-back-and-relax-while-you-read" kind of book. It is not confsuing so you don't have to think while you read. I'd recommend this book as well as the other books in the series. Definitley check out the "Water Park" book in the series. (#2) You can surely re-live that episode easily!! :)