What an interesting book! A lot of exquiste images of the mini houses for dolls shown in the book. It is a mirror inflecting the history of dolls and the history of the countries in the past. Why not buy one and sit together with your sons and daughters showing them the miniatures of Amsterdam...:)

I lost 50lbs on the Atkin Diet and I am no longer dependent on caffine for energy! My metabolism shot straight up! I love it!

John Shirley shines once more, in the riveting conclusion of his "A Song Called Youth" trilogy. After being discredited in the United States, the Second Alliance makes its final stand in Europe. About to unleash genocide as it tries to unite Western Europe under its Christian Fundamentalist Fascism, only the New Resistance (NR) stands in its way. And high in Earth orbit, the NR's chief financial sponsor has his own sinister plans for humanity. Again, Shirley delivers the goods with his fine, fast-paced lyrical prose. Without a doubt, his "A Song Called Youth" trilogy is one of the classics of cyberpunk literature.

Easy to read and understand. My bridge teacher uses only books by Shirley Silverman and she is terrific! Our class uses the book all the time when we play foursomes at home....we do allow one another to use the book while we are learning and playing.

Emma has a favorite aunt, her Aunt Sue. When Aunt Sue comes to stay with them, Emma believes it will be great. Only it's not. Aunt Sue has cancer. This book follows Emma as she goes first through hope, then sadness as she comes to accept her Aunt Sue is dying. Through faith and love Emma's family learn to accept the unacceptable-the loss of a loved one.

Okay, okay, to a point I agree with the above editorial reviews that rather unkindly ground this book into the dirt, as Shirley Hughes's 'Enchantment in the Garden' *is* a little clumsy. Most fans of her work are used to her famous 'Alfie and Annie Rose' books, where the small delights of childhood are emplified through her warm, inviting paintings. Therefore some people might be disconcerted that her trademark chubby, rosy-cheeked toddlers are replaced by two young people on the verge of adolesence, with touches of a premature romance between them. However, that should not stop the true beauty or fairytale lover, and if given half a chance, I believe this poignant tale has all the makings of a beloved classic.

Valerie is a young girl who is drastically lonely - she has no friends, her father (who we never see in the book and is only mentioned once) works in the hotel business, and her mother is a 'beautiful American... who breakfasted late, then drove out to meet her friends'. Therefore, on one of her regular walks through the park with her governess, she declares her love and friendship to her favourite stone statue - a youth riding a dolphin - and names him Cherubino. The following day, the statue is gone, leaving only the stone dolphin, but on running away through the hedge garden, Valerie finds none other than a flesh-and-blood Cherubino before her!

After she rescues him from the dark, stale orphanage, Cherubino takes up residence in the gardener's home, where the two children meet by night to discuss all manner of things. Here is when Cherubino reveals he is the son of a sea god, who had been a stone statue for many hundreds of years (unfortunatly, we never learn how this occured or why) before being freed by Valerie. Accompaning Valerie and her family on a visit to the seaside Cherubino is angered by the use of the beach - hotels and villas and automobiles and runs away.

Valerie despairs of ever seeing him again, till by night he returns once more, explaining to her he is going to return to his homeland, making it green and fertile once more, but leaving her with some beautiful parting words: "Sea gods can love humans sometimes, you know...And when we do, we have very long memories." With the promise of one day being together once more, Valerie finds the stone dolphin (now desposited in the untended gardens of the park) and together, they await Cherubino's return.

As you can see, the story is not filled with climaxes and surprises - I did not mean to write out the entire summary in this review, but found I had to because there are no dramatic points to leave the reader hanging with. It is mellow, calm and meandering - a book to be read on a lazy summer day, not as a bed time story. In some way, it is like a fine wine - it grows richer each time you read it, resonancing deeper each time - I myself get more moved at Cherubino's parting with Valerie and his promise for the future. This is the positive way of looking at the story - some may feel frustrated at its pace, the not-quite-realised relationship between between the two children (Hughes leaves their bond mostly unspoken) and I know I did get a little tired of the continual pattern of Cherubino running away or getting taken away - it happens four times!

However, I severely disagree with the editorial reviews that claim Shirley Hughes's illustrations don't match the story - I think they do beautifully. She has spent summers painting in Italy, and everything from her gardens to her beaches, her estates to her oceans, by day or by night evoke all kinds of feelings and atmospheres. I especially love her formal-yet-somehow-wild gardens and the Greek statues whose eyes seem to watch Valerie where-ever she goes, and her vast, moody oceans in which humans seem hopelessly insignificent by comparison.

Basically, the verdict is this: if you read this book critically, it will disappoint, but if you take the wiser approach and read it without bias or strictness - simply letting yourself drift through the words and pictures - you and your kids will love it.

This book presents a good discussion of the major elements of planetary science. The sections on the planets themselves (such as 'Mars: Geology') are introductory, as they have limited space. However, as the articles move to more narrow subjects (such as 'Impact Cratering'), they increase in depth. The articles are written by experts in their fields, and the language is kept a non-technical as is possible for a general work. This is a useful reference for those interested in planetary science, from the high school level and up. It is the reference that I reach for when confronted with a subject that I know little about. It should take the interested individual to an intermediate level of understanding of most topics in this field.

I'm really sorry to see this book out of print because it's one of the most helpful hockey books I've ever come across. Everybody's Hockey Book explains hockey clearly, but doesn't skimp on the details so that even dedicated hockey fans can learn from it. That's the real asset of this book.

This is a very informative book for a beginner like me. I especially like chapter 13, "Sports-specific Training Programs".