The author of Gugu¡¯s House uses her colorful imagination as well as her personal experiences as the basis for the plot and illustrations in this book. A curious little girl named Kukamba, who is the narrator and a main character, learns an intriguing lesson about the importance of art in the community from her grandmother, Gugu. Gugu¡¯s bright personality develops through her creation of art in everything that surrounds her. Stock based her character on the story of a woman who shares this same love of artwork with Gugu. Gugu instills this same value and appreciation in her granddaughter, who also possesses a vivid imagination. On a rainy day, Kukamba emerges to find that the water washes the beautiful masterpieces away. Gugu, who is also the town¡¯s inspirational storyteller, quickly reminds Kukamba that there are amazing and wonderful things to see in all of the nature that surrounds her. She takes the young girl to view the bright colors and wildlife that come with the rain. Kukamba is enlightened and immediately returns to create new masterpieces with her prime motivator, Gugu.
Stock wrote the text in a happy and upbeat fashion that compliments the mood of the characters. Stock¡¯s vibrant illustrations of Gugu and Kukamba¡¯s artwork as well as those of the lush vegetation coincide with the liveliness of the story. Children and adults of all ages will enjoy reading and learning from this entertaining book.
Stock, Catherine. Gugu¡¯s House. New York: Clarion Books, 2001.

The author contends that the media discovery in the 1990s of rural militia and even the Oklahoma City bombing should not be too surprising because they follow in a long line of rural radicalism. She considers rural radicalism as a distinct phenomenon because of the nature of rural life itself. Rural residents, especially the common folk, often endure difficult and even harsh lives. Urbanization, modernization, consumerism, and the rise of huge business interests and bureaucratic government have impacted or have been felt to unduly impact rural residents. Rural people have generally turned inward toward their local communities for support in the face of difficulties. But at different periods in our history these small communities have erupted, often extra-legally, to contend with these various hated forces.

The author distinguishes between producer radicalism and vigilantism. The former category is much concerned with economic issues from unfair land laws and practices, distant and unresponsive legislatures, burdensome taxation, judicial favoring of creditors, and monopolistic businesses, especially railroads. The Populists of the late 1800s are the prime example of producer radicals. Vigilantism shares some of these same concerns, but is slanted towards external forces or people who are seen to be a threat to a closed way of life. In some cases, as in pre-revolutionary North Carolina, vigilantes have operated against criminal elements in the absence of effective law enforcement but have been far more likely to identify and inflict harm on scapegoats along racial, ethnic, religious, and political lines. The KKK is perhaps the foremost example of a vigilante group.

The author trys to convince that producer radicalism and vigilantism are two sides of the same coin. This reviewer does not find that the case is made. The Populists had legitimate complaints and found responsible ways of expressing them. They did not hate the federal government, even advocating for the nationalization of some industries. Some of their platform was adopted during the Progressive Era. Vigilantes in lieu of operating from any careful analysis of their situation seem to cling to wild conspiracy theories usually involving the federal government and then proceed to select vulnerable victims to assuage their frustrations. These are not the virtuous citizens of producer radicalism.

The book is a very good survey of the various rural radical groups through our nation's history. While I do not agree with a central tenet of the book, maybe others would. In any event the book is quite worthwhile.

This is a sweet little book. The illustrations are beautiful watercolors with lots of detail that will appeal to young inquisitive eyes. (I know because I tested it on my favorite three year old.) The story is a simple one of a trip to market and a more interesting trip back to the village. A story of wanting, of responsibility, and of reward. I think books that share even a glimpse of another culture to our American children are very valuable. This book could raise many important questions in children who have no concept of being so poor you must walk everywhere you go. It offers that glimpse without being harsh in anyway. As I said, its sweet and yet one notices our main characters have no shoes for their feet. The writing is beautiful and reads well out loud. It is a simple enough story that most third graders can read it for themselves. Its also informative for adults. Now I know why the Haitian jitney is called a Tap-Tap. Tap-Tap gets a high recommendation.

When Jenny was little, and her father first told her about the woods humming she didn't really understand, but after he explaned, and gave her the cicada that he had kept for 17 years, she understood a little more. I think this is a very good book, and it shows how families follow a tradition.
I also liked this book, because it taught me something that I never knew before, and I think that it is a really cool thing. I would recommend this book for children ages 3-8. This was a wondeful book, and I hope that many people can enjoy it.

I received this book as a gift from a family member. I felt that the book was very inappropriate for little children. It had dark, scary looking pictures in it and I felt it focused too much on how a child can feel overlooked by the attention given to a new baby. Instead of reasurring, I felt it would scare a younger child. It (the book) also focused on how the little girl in the story had her own "room" or womb to have babies in and I felt that it focused too much on that aspect of the story as well. If you have a child under 6 don't get this book!

Jeannie has done a wonderful job helping children come to terms with how life will change when a new sibling is born. She uses appropriate terminology for children, and conveys the sense of wonder most of us feel about having a baby in their own private, special "room". The illustrations enhance her story wonderfully

It comes as no surprise that a "reporter", who's regularly and tyrannically solicited on the financial viewing public as the...(I'm not making this up for those who may not be familiar with her disparaging nickname)..."MONEY HONEY", offers disgracefully basic advice so simple, that it's just as empty and hollow as her on-air "sincerity" and demeanor! This anchor and, suddenly, for reasons so mysterious they'll never be divulged, this "author", has always illegitimately trudged further in her artificial career by relying more on her purportedly good looks and youth, rather than on actual establishment--behind her nightmarishly cosmetic front--in business and investment fields, which she and, in cahoots with her, CNBC, unrelentingly and oppressively insist on.

Potential readers will be-according to CNBC's plan of tyrannizing her "looks" over substance on unsuspectingly naive people-duped into parting with their cash on this sup-par accident because Bartiromo looks doubtfully "hot", as, and this is unfortunate, she's apparently seen to an alarmingly severe demographic of lost souls who watch CNBC. For an author's credibility, it's miserable when your only grudging claim to legitimacy are pressured sales which stem from mislead wrongdoers feeling tragically and insidiously "in love" with her. She's not qualified, even if you don't repugnantly easily examine the painfully appalling holes in reasoning in her "book".

This can be proven by checking her credentials to find that, shockingly and shabbily, her majored subject in university was ONLY JOURNALISM. With those brittle "qualifications", it appears that CNBC's standards are so lowered that they'll defraud for a base journalist to already be able to cover a specific area of expertise, which, as per her credentials, she is NOT educated in. In the interest of "fair disclosure" (a mantra CNBC's been wearing down since the Enron and WCOM scandals broke, in a hardened bid to distance themselves from the liability of hatefully pushing those companies before the scandals were unmasked) Bartiromo did MINOR in economics. She doesn't hold an esteemed degree of any kind, be it BD, MBA, MD or PHD, to justify her inexcusably limited exposure to business education. If you investigate the suspect activities she's involved in outside of her PR crusade on CNBC, you can gather for yourself that her "career", unfortunately like most positions in the white-collar world, is furthered along by hypocritically [associating with] co-workers and people in higher hierarchy to connive with them. This is proven by her objectionably virulent presence in all things from presenting the Columbus Day Parade for the past five years to misconducting "Principal of the Day" stints at NYC schools, shirking her job. For annoyingly more incrimination, before coming to CNBC, she unworthily worked as a PRODUCER at CNN's business news!!!!

Now the reprehensibly lightweight "content". It's [wrong] for this to be marketed by Bartiromo's antagonism as a guide to how people can sift through financial information to have the best sense of how a stock will perform. Recalling CNBC's feloniously eroding viewership by 50% from early 2000's monstrous "irrational exuberance" fanaticism, ruthless shortcomings in predicting this 3-year BEAR market's end, and heavy bias in forging fake bear trap rallies as being an actual bottom and always procuring prejudicially bullish fund managers and analysts to misdirect viewers on their programs, that falsehood from Bartiromo amounts to shameless blasphemy. The ensuing catastrophically contraband "advice" is so humiliatingly basic that A) you don't need training to implement it, or, B) you already know it!!!! One needs at least a fundamental initiation to performance history, forward looking statements, quarterly updates, seasonal patterns of strength and weakness, company research and TA to just start to have an understanding of taking stock. It's bloody desecration for Bartiromo to profane that understanding the market simply takes "doing your homework"!!!! Analysis is unrelentingly freely available on certain investment-related websites, and the plot of selling different Web sites contained in this book as "information", is so condemnably laughable that anyone with the minutest exposure to the internet could find them.

Another shrewd equivocation is the sensationalistic claim that Bartiromo "analyzes" what the relevant information is to separate the "noise from the investment nuggets". On-air, Bartiromo's questions to CEOs, analysts and managers are so disorganized, superficially bypassing and evilest of all, always manipulated in a definitively bullish-partisan direction, that there's no plausibility she can impersonate this. The braindead inessentials that are disguised as "information" are so amateurishly bottom-feeding, they're the equivalent to basic common sense, like not believing all you hear on TV, and doing your own research. DUH, Bartiromo!!!!

Another disquieting aspect is who she "talks to" to procure her "advice"----all the worst self-interested and unjustly one-sided stigmas in modern trading, namely CEOs, analysts....and then money managers to appallingly complete this list of the meanest in a rogue's gallery. Because these unprincipled job titles have a resentful self-interest in longing stocks, the "advice" will be unquestionably skewed into an unethically bullish exaggeration by ALL those operatives, since CEOs will be fired for not increasing their company's stock price, analysts are in cahoots with CEOs due to the perks bribed by CEOs and money managers are extorted to only hold stock in one direction, always buying, because of the suffocative way funds are established, mostly outlawing selling. This is an impropriety also with reporters of markets---as CNBC itself is culpably implicated in having a hostile self-interest for unreasonably extremist bullishness. They relentlessly dictate false bullish bias, due to their employees benefiting from manipulating the impression of the market's course in this way, from viewership increasing (good for their pay) to their own stock options from G.E. increasing (good since the majority of their funds are oppressed to long markets).

This book is so contaminated with exclusively the most prejudiced, and harshly planned in that direction, radical buy-everything sickness---an unforgivable sin in a 3-year bear run---that it reflects on the self-interested rogue's gallery that were "interviewed". As for Bartiromo's only other, single, questionably redemptive quality---her "looks"---I detest to find her pretty in any way.

Unfortunately, the title of this book is not reflective of its contents. I do respect Maria as a reporter and a personable and good one, however when you choose such a title , readers are expecting concrete strategies to make money in this difficult market, which this book does not address. If you are fascinated by Maria's life story and the people she interacts with this may be a good read to fulfill your curiosity. If ,however you are interested in actual real life making money strategies try: "the Stcock Trader " by OZ and "Generate thousands in cash on your stocks without selling them " by Elias. Both contain actual real life examples.

Anyone individual investor who is interested in buying and selling individual stocks will benefit from reading this book. Almost anyone who watches CNBC will find this book will improve their ability to interpret what is broadcast there.

Ms. Bartiromo is an almost ever-present television reporter who is most often seen from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on CNBC. She is aided in this book by Catherine Fredman who helped with Direct from Dell and Only the Paranoid Survive.

As the authors point out, there is no college course on how to use information to make investing decisions. Prior to this book, your best sources were the books by Mr. O'Neil about how to use the information in Investors' Business Daily as part of an investing program. Like those books, this one is also aimed at the individual investor who is making buy and sell decisions about individual stocks. The book is best at helping you assess the possible relevance and credibility of the information that an individual investor can readily access. The book's scope stops short of connecting those judgments into a stock picking or selling discipline.

The best part of the book is the commentary about how to interpret what newsmakers and analysts have to say. Much of this information is presented without such comments in newspapers and on television. If the CEO doesn't answer the question, for example, you should assume there's a problem other than with her or his hearing. There's a good explanation of why sell-side analysts don't put out "sell" recommendations.

The book is well written with clear examples, and has many good suggestions. One of the best is to develop an investment calendar to help you keep track of important events concerning the stocks you own or are considering.

The key focus of the book is on how to tell what to pay attention to, and what to ignore. "You're looking for any important news that changes the sotry, any red flags that signal a shift in fundamentals." The problem that many people have is that "it's all too easy to fall in love with a stock." You should "be suspicious." Once you have the information, "step back and think." "I bounce it off my common sense." The analogy is used to making the kind of buying decisions you do in other parts of your life (for cars and so forth).

For those who are curious about Ms. Bartiromo's on-air work, there is a lot of information about how she develops her stories. Her favorite question to start with is, "What's happening?"

The book has some weak points. First, it could have used a section or subsections that related the material more specifically to those who just own mutual funds. Second, the book almost totally ignores valuation issues about stocks (that would have been helpful when the NASDAQ was at 5000 before falling under 2000 during 2000-2001). Third, technical indicators should get more attention.

After you finish this book, you should ask yourself whether or not you are a good candidate to buy and own individual stocks. Only about 10 percent of the professionals can beat the market averages. Other than for the challenge, do you want to take the risk that you can? You have the choice of buying indexed mutual funds that will match the markets. See Common Sense on Mutual Funds for more details.

What's happening?