This is one of my 5 year old son's favorite books. I've bought several children's Bible stories books for him, but none have kept his interest as much as this one. He really enjoys answering the two questions at the end of each short story. The stories also each end with "A Little Prayer" and "A Bible Verse For You To Say". My son loves saying the Bible verse that goes along with the story. He now likes to get my Bible and we look up the verse and confirm that it matches his storybook.

I highly recommend this book as a tool for parents who are teaching young children about Jesus.

This unusual,lively work of scholarship explains the changing use (and appearance) of the alphabet--in U.S. pedagogy and also in American fiction--between the late seventeenth century and today. The initial presentation of the alphabet to young readers, Crain argues, says much about American notions of pleasure and privacy on the one hand, morality and good citizenship on the other. Separate chapters first consider early American primers, hornbooks, and alphabet books, proceeding then to images of reading and letters in Susan Warner's best-selling novel _A Wide, Wide World_ and Nathaniel Hawthorne's _The Scarlet Letter_, which (Crain notes) is, among other things, the letter "A"'s most notorious appearance in classic American fiction. An epilogue extends the discussion to our own day, considering the guest appearance of alphabet-letters as "sponsors" on _Sesame Street_ as well as the use of letters in the contemporary paintings of Edward Ruscha. Equally valuable as a learned resource on early reading pedagogy in the U.S. and as an insightful and crucial contribution to cultural studies and literary criticism, _The Story of A_ is also beautifully designed--copiously illustrated with pictures of hornbooks, "cross-rows," and later images. The icons from the _New England Primer_, Crain points out, combine sober religious emblems with robustly secular images from tavern signs; while those from nineteenth-century alphabet books suggest by contrast a moralizing, middle-class takeover of the alphabet that still may permeate stuffy American attitudes about literacy. Few books this original are this solid, mature, and well-researched. _The Story of A_ offers a very useful synthesis of learned scholarship and sophisticated, theoretically informed interpretation. The book has changed my thinking about literacy and pedagogy, but not by polemics--simply by its definition of compelling American contexts (literary and social) that I had never noticed before. One final merit: this preserves in its energetic and lively style something of the exuberance of its variegated and colorful source-materials.

Very Goo

The story concerns a massive bonfire in which the people of the world, convinced that their modern society has reached a state of near perfection,
determine to burn up all the outdated old knowledge from Man's dark past :

Once upon a time - but whether in the time past or time to come, is a matter of little or no moment- this wide world had become
so overburthened with an accumulation of worn-out trumpery, that the inhabitants determined to rid themselves of it by a general
bonfire. The site fixed upon, at the representation of the insurance companies, and as being as central a spot as any other on the
globe, was one of the broadest prairies of the West, where no human habitation would be endangered by the flames, and where
a vast assemblage of spectators might commodiously admire the show. Having a taste for sights of this kind, and imagining,
likewise, that the illumination of the bonfire might reveal some profundity or moral truth, heretofore hidden in mist or darkness,
I made it convenient to journey thither and be present.

As our narrator watches, into the flames go all of literature and art, the titles and insignias of rank, the decorations and medals bestowed upon
soldiers, the weapons, the fashionable clothing, the liquor and tobacco, the clerical vestments and the church buildings entire, all the accretions of
Western civilization, until even the Bible is added :

[A]s the final sacrifice of human error, what else remained to be thrown upon the embers of that awful pile, except the Book,
which, though a celestial revelation to past ages, was but a voice from a lower sphere, as regarded the present race of man?
It was done! Upon the blazing heap of falsehood and worn-out truth- things that the earth had never needed, or had ceased to need,
or had grown childishly weary of- fell the ponderous church Bible, the great old volume, that had lain so long on the cushion
of the pulpit, and whence the pastor's solemn voice had given holy utterance on so many a Sabbath day.

And so, purified in the flame, and rid of all of the hoary old thoughts that had been holding mankind back for so long, the reformers prepare to face
their perfect future. The former executioners, who have cast into the fire the implements used by the various nations for administering capital
punishment, commiserate about how they will no longer have any work, now that Man is perfect, but a stranger interrupts their reverie :

'The best counsel for all of us is,' remarked the hangman, 'that- as soon as we have finished the last drop of liquor- I help you,
my three friends, to a comfortable end upon the nearest tree, and then hang myself on the same bough. This is no world for us
any longer.'

'Poh, poh, my good fellows!' said a dark-complexioned personage, who now joined the group- his complexion was indeed
fearfully dark, and his eyes glowed with a redder light than that of the bonfire- 'Be not so cast down, my dear friends;
you shall see good days yet. There is one thing that these wiseacres have forgotten to throw into the fire, and without which
all the rest of the conflagration is just nothing at all; yes- though they had burnt the earth itself to a cinder.'

'And what may that be?' eagerly demanded the last murderer.

'What but the human heart itself!' said the dark-visaged stranger, with a portentous grin. 'And unless they hit upon some method
of purifying that foul cavern, forth from it will reissue all the shapes of wrong and misery-the same old shapes, or worse ones-
which they have taken such a vast deal of trouble to consume to ashes. I have stood by, this live-long night, and laughed in my
sleeve at the whole business. Oh, take my word for it, it will be the old world yet!'

This brief conversation supplied me with a theme for lengthened thought. How sad a truth- if true it were- that Man's age-long
endeavor for perfection had served only to render him the mockery of the Evil Principle, from the fatal circumstance of an error
at the very root of the matter! The heart-the heart- there was the little yet boundless sphere, wherein existed the original wrong,
of which the crime and misery of this outward world were merely types. Purify that inward sphere; and the many shapes of evil
that haunt the outward, and which now seem almost our only realities, will turn to shadowy phantoms, and vanish of their own
accord. But if we go no deeper than the Intellect, and strive, with merely that feeble instrument, to discern and rectify what is
wrong, our whole accomplishment will be a dream; so unsubstantial, that it matters little whether the bonfire, which I have so
faithfully described, were what we choose to call a real event, and a flame that would scorch the finger- or only a phosphoric
radiance, and a parable of my own brain!

For good reason does he call this tale a '"parable", for in just a few pages Hawthorne presents several of the central themes that unify his work,
ideas which form the very core of the conservative critique : that Man's sinfulness is an immutable part of his character; that rationalists, reformers,
and progressives delude themselves with their utopian notions of the perfectibility of Man; that in their delusion they do incalculable damage to the
culture, while leaving human nature untouched; and that, no matter the "progress" they make, evil lurks, waiting to rear its ugly head and shatter
their dreams.

GRADE : A+

I read this book many years ago when I was 12 or thirteen. My eldest grandson, Evan, has started to show an interest in Greek Mythology at age 11 and I wanted to share this book and my memories of it with him. My particular favourite was Europa and the Bull which I hope my memory serves me correctly is included in this book.

(Grandfather's Chair) Hawthorne takes an interesting look at Colonial America by following the history of a chair beginning with the first settlers of America. Used as an elementary grade reader in the mid 1800's, this book is interesting to children as well as adults. Written in the 1800's, the historical stories seem to be less tainted by the passage of time and traditional history. Grandfather tells stories to the children about the owners of the chair as it is passed through the ages from those who first left English pursecusion up to the time of American independance. Some of the stories include John Smith, John Eliot (translator of the Indian Bilble), Pine Tree Shillings (American coinage), French & Indian War, Liberty Tree, Stamp Act, Hutchinson Mob, Boston Tea Part, and Declaration of Independance. Not your traditional approach to Colonial History. I have used this book in a 3rd & 4th grade Social Studies class with great interest from the students as well as the parents. This is a "must read" book.

Years back I decided to convert from Espicopal to Catholic. This book was given to me as a gift. Only recently did I finally open this book and I'm sorry I didn't sooner. In my experiences, the Catholic faith has never been so well compiled and explained. I've been moved by the spirit throughout the readings and come closer to my faith through understanding. I am extremely greatful to the authors for such a wonderful publication. Praise be to God!

I have read all three of these books. I wish they would have had them in one complete novel when I was looking for them. These books show John Sauls amazing ability to write books.

I've listened to this tape seven times so far. Of all of NB's tapes, this is my favorite.

The simple reasons for this are b/c Branden explains a few points that are crucial towards being in a long term loving relationship that will last:

(1) Love yourself first. Some people don't quite get this point but it's true. If you don't exhibit high self esteem and someone with high self esteem comes along, you won't feel comfortable with them. NB believes you will either try to end it through arguing or that you will do other self sabotaging methods to get back to your comfort zone;

(2) If you can make time for a career job, then you must be able to make time for a loving relationship;

(3) The hardest part of any relationship is to face conflicts and not run away even when you're scared of the future with that person; and

(4) The most promising thing you can say of you loved one is that you would like to be like them if you were of the opposite sex; the worse thing you can say is that you would not want to be them if you were of the opposite sex.

Get this tape; even if you have to search for it at the library or a used bookstore.

Excellent Book! I am only sorry that Mr. Branden does not update it and release a reprint. I have used this workbook for years, and have recommended it to others. It is a classic workibook using the question/answer format to getting to know yourself. The questions are insightful, and the book is relentless in its approach. Its thoroughness is its best attribute. This is a classic, and I heartily recommend it to anyone wanting to explore how they became who they are.