I'm a 16 year old girl and I still love these books. Crickle Crack was a good one, dealing with problems in today's society. A squirrel is told to stay away from the crickle crack tree and he doesn't listen. The blossoms bring poor squeakers trouble when he eats them. The books are really timeless.

I grew up reading the Serendipity Series written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robin James. Even today, almost 20 years later, this series stands out among the best. As a 5th grade teacher, I am continuously on the look-out for quality books that will instill character within my students. These stories offer young people excellent advice without being too "preachy". As anyone can see, I am a strong advocate of these writings. This story in particular approaches the subject of drug abuse in a very discreet way.

Deep Sky Wonders is a collection of issues spanning several decades of the late Walter Scott Houston's monthly column in Sky and Telescope magazine. The noted astronomer and author Stephen James O'Meara organized Houston's writings by subject matter and further by month of optimal viewing for better readability. O'Meara also only edited the text for consistency in a couple places, so it remains Houston's work. I think he did an excellent job in the compilation. A section on any given constellation or deep sky object may contain excerpts from many of Houston's articles, yet O'Meara managed to make the transitions seamless and got the flow right.

I read this book over about a month and it was a most enjoyable experience. Houston's writing is superb, which is not surprising considering he held degrees in English. Also, his love and enthusiasm for amateur astronomy comes through better than in any work I've read so far barring perhaps Burnham's wonderful Celestial Handbook. Houston knows the sky and was an active observer right up to his death in 1993.

Both beginning and veteran observers will enjoy using this work to plan observing sessions, to check what interesting or challenging objects are up during a session, or to read in a comfortable setting on a night of no observing. I plan to take this book with me on every observing session. Highly recommended!

Walter Scott "Scotty" Houston is a name many astronomers know well. Author of the Sky & Telescope Deep Sky Wonders column from 1946 until his death in December of 1993. He was a passionate amateur astronomer to the end of his long life. Houston's last column appeared in Sky & Telescope in July 1994 issue, and since that time, amateurs have had to scour back issues to excavate Houston's gold mine of observational knowledge. Enter Stephen James O'Meara. O'Meara has been on the staff of Sky & Telescope magazine since the late 70's, and was editor of Houston's column from 1990 until his death. O'Meara began the compilation by working with photocopies of the nearly 550 individual columns spanning Houston's career. He sorted, organized, and collated each of the works and produced a chapter for each month of the year, into which he inserted Houston's colorful prose, descriptive history, and observational commentary. O'Meara begins each section with some light annotation, but most of the words in this book are Houston's, and as a collection, they jell beautifully into a seasonal observer's guide that challenge Burnham's for the sheer elegance and depth of feeling that emanates from the pages. Upon receiving the book, I quickly turned my attention to a few of my favorite deep sky objects and marveled at the timelessness of Houston's descriptive prose. Before I knew it I had been reading for over an hour and could have spent several more lost in the beauty of Houston's finely knit web of description, quotes from other authorities, and the words of his readers. An example from his description of NGC2403, a little known but beautiful galaxy in Camelopardis:

"My 4-inch Clark refractor shows it as a lovely gem. I logged it as an "ocean of turbulence and detail" as seen with a 10-inch reflector under dark Kansas skies in the 1950's. In 1992 I saw it with a 20-inch telescope from the Florida Keys - a view that transformed it into a hurricane of cosmic chaos." (pp 28-29)

O'Meara's compilation of Houston's works has quickly taken its place as one of my favorite cloudy night books. It is also a valuable resource for planning observing sessions. It's organization by month lends itself well to selecting some prime targets for easy observing, with a generous does of difficult challenges for the more adventurous. This book is destined to be an instant classic.

Dragolin is a fantastic book! A modern day Little Engine That Could, it is a pleasure to read time and again. As with all of the Serendipity Books by Steven Cosgrove, the story ends with a good moral, this one being: believe in yourself and all things are possible. And never give up! The illustrations are wonderful, the expressions on Dragolin, the young dragon who can't breathe fire's face, are priceless. A wonderful story for all! Look for other books in the Serendipity series, they are a great collection that will have young children reading constantly!

This book is about a little dragon who can not make fire. With the advice of an armidillo the little dragon believes that he can make fire and does! This is a wonderfull story and a must for Cosgrove story lovers!

This is a great book for both adults and children. Little Jenny is very charming and her story is one that we can all relate to. The pictures are done with great care and the printing is done very nicely.

Wonderful book for children curious about becoming an adult.

Fanny is a cat with three legs. Yet despite her handicap she holds her head high and does not allow her handicap to lessen the quality of her life. The other animals on the farm where she lives do not want anything to do with Fanny. This all changed when a little puppy named Ruby came along and they became the best of friends. The other animals soon realized she was just like them in the ways that count the most. This story teaches an invaluable lesson.

Fanny is a farm cat who is missing a leg. The other animals on the farm avoid her, not wanting to embarass her. A good children's book dealing with people with disabilities.

The long-awaited field guide to the diverse reptile populations of East Africa. This book was everything I expected it to be and more. Comprehensive listings, excellent photography and detailed information on habitat/distribution, natural history, conservation status etc. I can't say enough good things about this book, the list of authors should speak for themselves! ;-)

No serious herper's library is complete without this book...

I was hoping to be able to buy this book before my trip to Kenya in August 01. Unfortunately, it wasn't yet published at that time. I thought I could pick up a decent field guide in Nairobi, but I was wrong. The best I could find there was a short paperback with fuzzy photos, anecdotes, and very incomplete list of species. Nonetheless, I had a great trip and identified some nice herps.
In December I saw that this Field Guide was out, so I bought it and found it to be outstanding. A nice fat book jam packed with beautiful and useful photos, great descriptions, habitat and range info, and natural history. There is so much precise and credible information in this book it is amazing. So much work must have gone into producing this thing! The species coverage is vast. For example, there is complete info on over thirty species of chameleon. The identification keys are also practical and simple. The writing is straightfoward -- minimal superscientist jargon -- but also precise and complete and consistent. Good sections on how to find herps, how to use the book, dealing with snakebite, etc.
I am very glad I bought this book. The authors have my admiration for this achievement.

I remember this book very well from my childhood! It was great with all the magic of unicorns and excitment of the storyline! Fifteen years later I still have my original copy of it as torn and tattered as it is!

I loved this story when I was a child and I will be thrilled to share it with my children. The illustrations are wonderful. All of the Serendipity books are treasures.

All the Serendipity books are great! I fully recommend them to parents across the nation!

If you're having trouble disciplining your child to do chores, this book may have an answer for you. Hucklebug is a young bug who runs away from home to escape his chores, but he soon learns that he's getting more than he bargained for. Enchanting, colorful, and full of smiles.

The Jane's School Safety Handbook is a MUST for anyone interested in school safety. There is a wealth of practical, easy to understand information packed into this small book. Written by some of the best national experts in the field, this comprehensive book outlines what to do -- from planning to recovery, and includes many helpful checklists and sample letters.

A unique feature of this handbook is a section of case studies that clearly demonstrate that a crisis can happen to anyone. These real-life experiences "highlight the limitations of profiling and the importance of comprehensive crisis planning, prevention, response and recovery plans." As a school distict crisis-responder, I found this book to be most helpful. It is appropriate for both beginners and those experienced in crisis/emergency response. Don't wait for a crisis to happen before you read this book.

I read this today and I completely agree. This is a great resource and should be used by everyone involved with keeping our children safe.

"The Jane's School Safety Handbook is one of the finest resource guides available on safe school planning, and it will be a catalyst for schools meeting the mandate of California Senate Bill #187--The Safe School Planning Process. We are putting them in every school in the Los Angeles Unified School District."

--Willie F. Crittendon, Administrator for School Operations and Safety, Los Angeles Unified School District

I learned more about artchitecture from this book than during my 4 years at the University of Minn. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is new to the field and working on becoming an Architect. I called Stephen Kieran at his frim and he even answered some questions for me.

The guy is a true professional.

I read this book and I was amazed. These guys are very talented to the level of Frank Lloyd Wright. If you share a love for architecture buy this book.

It also makes a great coffee table book and a good gift.