With Paintbrush and Shovel is certainly a unique book. The beautiful paintings of wild flowers - 238 in all- really look more like high quality photography, they are so exquisitely detailed. The story that goes with the paintings tells an unknown story about work done by WPA women during the depression. One of the projects fostered by Roosevelt, the WPA gave work to unskilled African-American women and it was these women that cleaned up this willderness and brought the wild-flowers to Bessie Marshall to be reproduced in watercolor. The book is well-worth owning.

The wildflower paintings in this book are absolutely unbelievably beautifully detailed. When you see them you will not believe the artist could so accurately paint the tiny delicate features of each flower and could so accurately recreate the wonderful colors. If you like, forget about the wonderful story documenting the WPA project in the 1930s to create a wildflower park and document the flowers with paintings. But, if you are an artist or a wildflower lover or both you must check this out just for the wonderful paintings.

Additionally, the printers spared no expense. They used high quality paper and achieved exquisite reproduction of the paintings. I'm sure they were fearful they would be totally out classed if they did not.

This book provides a rare glimpes into the WPA projects especially designed by women. The book also illustrates the history of the park and chronicles the work of a diverse group of women who established a botanical preserve in a City Park during the 30's. The project, of national significance, was part of the WPA that provided work for African Americans and White Women during the depression. How intersting to read that the park provided an income for these deprived women, who created a wildflower/bird preserve for a small city. The beautiful botanical illustrations by B. Marshall are exquisite and the story to follow only enhances the charm of this well documented history.

I teach fourth grade and use this book as a basis for my Friday creative writing lessons. My students love it and can't wait for language class that day. If I forget they are quick to remind me it is poetry day!

This book is great for both teachers and students. It includes everything you need to teach, write, and enjoy poetry. I teach 6th grade and would love to have a class set of this book! Great reference!

When my third-grader came home with homework to "write a poem," this was the best book I found to teach the tools needed to write a poem.

I have to say this is truly my favorite cookbook for baking! I purchased it in 1996 and am still using it to this day in 1999. The recipes and techniques allow you to make fat-free cakes/baked goods that taste as if they have tons of fat in them, simply with the use of fruit purees (mostly prune puree and prune baby food as well as pear baby food) I know it sounds unusual, but it works! I truly hope that the author (Donna Rodnitzky) will write further books on fat-free baking. I'll be the first in line to buy them.

This cookbook offers an unusual approach towards lowering fat content in baked goods, by using pureed fruits instead of fattening butter or shortening. I was originally skeptical, but after trying a few recipes, found little difference in flavor or quality from standard butter/shortening based recipes. Overall excellent, surprise your guests!

Donna Clayton does it again. A well crafted book that will delight every reader.

Ethan Kimball is adopting a daughter . . . that is, he's adopting a daughter if he can find a wife right away. Abby Ritter is an American in a foreign country who is suddenly out of a job. Playing the role of a wife for a few days for a good cause seems like the answer to a prayer, and being little Sona's nanny even easier. Everything is going just right for Ethan and Abby until they fall in love . . .

Donna Clayton consistently writes romances that go straight to the readers' heart and Adopted Dad is no exception!

I like this children's book because it uses fantasy (which appeals to a child's imagination) to bring up very real issues. The book is very readable. Each chapter is a different episode in Rascal's life, and can easily be read as a bedtime story-one chapter each night. Or a child with basic reading skills can sit down and read the book alone. If you are looking for a book that will keep the interest of a child you care for, and will teach morality in a Biblical and fun way, this is the book for you!

Rascal is a cute raccoon, that has the ability to teach your children good moral values, while they enjoy his antics at Devil's Den State Park. Your children are sure to enjoy this book, either reading it for themselves or having Mom and Dad read it to them. Then they can have the fun of coloring Rascal to personalize their own book. I have personally sent these to all of my nieces and nephews and give them as birthday gifts to young children. I guarantee you won't be disappointed

This book is no ordinary pronunciation book. It's "the" Book. It goes beyond teaching vowel and consonant sounds. It's about the way americans speak. For the first time I've been working with sound transitions and blendings. It feels great to notice the changes in my pronunciation.At the same time, I improve my vocabulary and learn great idiomatic expressions, up-to-date ones. As the author points out the main problems each native speaker might have, it is easier for us, students, to identify our weak points and this way, dedicate more time and effort to improve them.

It's an excellent book for ESL teachers, students and speakers who want to improve their speech abilities, working with reduction of English accent. The section with useful expressions is really helpful. You practice the consonants and vowels and learn idiomatic expressions at the same time. Also, the author has an idea of the weak points that students from different languages may present. Knowing the sounds that are most difficult for Portuguese speakers helps a lot in my teaching and in my self-improvement.

This is a great book for students of Anatomy and Physiology having trouble comprehending the information in regular college textbooks. This is book helped me understand concepts that were hard to understand in regular textbooks. I am a massage student and used this book along with Anatomy and Physiology Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations (Vol 1) (Vol 2) (ISBN: 0971999619)(ISBN: 0971999627),which is sold also on amazon.com and got A's in my A and P classes.

Any book that describes cells as "private clubs" and that "molecules better be well dressed to get in" and that ribosomes are the "bouncers who keep them out" should get six-stars in my opinion.

Brilliant writing, clever imagery, and excellent use of humor. I have no interest in much of this stuff but I couldn't put the book down. A must read for any nursing/science student.

The fact that it has great coloring illustrations is just a bonus. It's the information that's important to me. The book is impeccably researched, beautifully drawn, and well-designed. My hat is off to the creators of the book, who took a hard subject and made it look easy.

I was in the store and saw that there were notecards too! I bought 3 sets and gave them to my gardening buddies. They loved them! It made a perfect gift!

What a great idea! The cover is what caught my eye in the bookstore, but the content won me over. I bought several to give to the children of my friends. Not only do the children have fun by coloring the really cool illustrations, but they actually learn something about plants and wildlife and how early Native Americans live from the land. I highly recommend this book for any child that loves to color.

I am impressed with this authors work. Ms. Swanson has the skills and spiritual imagination to take you on this fictional 'Christian' journey through the spiritual world around us. Her work is similar if not better than another favorite author of mine, Frank Perretti. If you like Frank Perretti's work you will love all of this authors works as well.
I definitely recommend Angel World Trilogy and Rachel's Daughter to all those who love who reading good wholesome and exciting material.

We are currently reading "Angel World Trilogy" by Donna Swanson in our elementary/high school class. We wanted to share with your readers how excited the students and staff at our school are about this book. We are reading it aloud to students aged 6-16 years. They are enjoying the stories, especially all the characters! Our 1st and 2nd graders don't want us to stop after just reading 1 chapter a day. The author's humor and wit captures all of our attention. It's a great book to read aloud because the dialogue is funny, action-packed and thought provoking. We are reminded of "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Hobbit" as we discuss "Angel World Triology". We are a Christian school and love to find literature that does not have offensive language or questionable values. The students and staff are glad for the map and hope there will be sequels written in the future. It would also be fun to have coloring books made with pictures of all the characters and places. How about a comic book of the stories? Angel World Trilogy could become the Christian's version of Harry Potter or Pokemon? We are looking for more from Ms. Swanson! Thank you! Melynda Leak, owner and director of Williamsport Day School, A Christian Montessori School, B.S. in Early Childhood Education and Master's in Educational Psychology with an endorsement in gifted education