This book is excellent! I gave copies as gifts to my sisters and they loved them. Offers a great perspective on life in a light, humorous and furry way.I would recommend this to everyone. Reh is adorable!

What a great idea! Really smart and funny! Buy it if you have a dog and think they have their own personality. Also if you just want a really insightful book on life.

I saw this book in this month's Glamour and just about died when I looked through it at Borders. I bought it for my Mom for Mother's Day, and my friend who is going through a hard time right now. This is a really funny book (like all the SimplyShe books), but it's also really insightful. If you're a dog lover, you must get this- we all know how much dogs de-stress our lives, but if we all thought like them too- we'd all be happy, all the time! This book is really is adorable, and a really great gift.

The book was shipped more faster than I expected. Thanks for your effort.

"What does the future hold for the HR function and for HR practitioners? Many studies have been undertaken to answer this question. However, three of them stand out as being the must comprehensive: (1) the 1995-1996 Hman Resource Planning Society State-of-the-Art Study (R.Eichinger & D.Ulrich); (2) the Penn State Executive Programs Management Skills Assessment-Human Resources, which was conducted between 1985 and 1997 (A.Vicere & R.Prescott); (3) A 21st-Century Vision of Strategic Human Resource Management (W.Rothwell, S.Schechter & S.McLane). A review of tese studies shows that the HR field is on the verge of moving beyond its recently acquired responsibilities for performance consulting and business partnering to assume strategic leadership" (p.26).

In this context, W.J.Rothwell, P.K.Prescott, and M.W.Taylor review these studies as following:

I- 1995-1996 HR Planning Society State-of-the-Art Study.

1. Seven most essential skills for HR executives today:

* Business savvy and acumen

* Leading organizational change initiatives using personal power and indirect influence skills

* Deep and working knowledge of the basic HR technologies

* Global strategic thinking and planning skills

* Change management technology

* Analytical, conceptual, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

* Financial analysis and costing skills

2. Seven most essential skills for HR executives in the future:

* Master global operating skills

* Business and financial savvy

* Strategic, visioning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

* Using information technology

* Deep HR technology savvy

* Change management skills

* Organizational effectiveness

II- Penn State Executive Program Mnagement Skills Assesment-Human Resources (1997)

1. Six general roles of the new HR leaders: Partner, problem solver, model manager, oracle, conduit, and change agent.

2. Most important competencies of the HR leader:

* Is committed to the success of the organization

* Acts consistently in a manner that instills trust

* Is an effective listner

* Exhibits high standards of performance

* Can manage conflict effectively

* Works effectively with other managers outside the HR function

* Recruits and selects high-quality professionals

* Communicates effectively both orally and in writing

* Understands the overall corporate mission

* Develops HR plans that are clearly linked to the mission and strategy of business units

III- A 21st-Century Vision of Strategic Human Resource Management (1995-1996): The results of the study indicate differences between the most important present and future competencies required for success by HR leaders (see pp.29-30, and Appendix 1).

Within this general framework, they write that "taken together, these three studies provide compelling evidence that HR practitioners of the future must demonstrate exemplary leadership skills if they are to be successful. For HR practitioners, it is no longer enough to be a compliance-oriented practitioner, a supportive, or even a performance consultant. Exemplary HR practitioners of the future will be leaders who are capable of demonstrating a new value-added component to their organizations by managing and developing knowledge capital. By comparing the studies (just summarized above), we can see that six key roles for HR leaders have emerged: change agent, HR strategist, business strategist, HR functional aligner, partner to general managers, and problem solver and consultant."

Highly recommended.

Following an initial, probing discussion of the history and present problems plaguing human resource management, the authors present a vision of a new HR function. They carry these ideas forward in terms of six trends: the advance of technology; globalization; cost containment; increasing speed in market change; the increasing importance of knowledge capital; and the overall pace and scope of change. They discuss how to apply insights about these trends to shaping and leading the HR function, specifically in terms of action plans and the requisite leadership competencies to implement these plans. The book contains work sheets for guiding professionals in action planning. Importantly, the results of research underlying the book are included. A worthy contribution to the human resource management field and something of a career heads-up for HR practitioners.

I absolutely love this cookbook. I have tried several recipes and they came out wonderful. I love the fact that is is very simple to understand and yet yields great results. A definite winner!

What I like to do is to take the book out of the library first, glance over and try a recipe. I tried Black & Tan cake on page 82-83 for a Christmas Party last week. What a show stopper! Sweet Maria's made me look really good. I have put this book on my Christmas list. Hope Santa is checking my list twice.

"Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen" by Maria Bruscino Sanchez published by St. Martin's Grifiin Maria Bruscino Sanchez has made her name known in Connecticut, thanks to her baking efforts at Sweet Maria's Bakery as well as winning the Grand Prize at the Connecticut Bakers Association Cake Decorating Contest two years in a row. In "Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen," her second dessert book, Sanchez spills some of the secrets that she has developed over the years. Like many cookbooks, "SMCK" begins with the basics and then uses them as building blocks or layers to create delicious layer, loaf and bundt cakes. For veteran home chefs who are comfortable at the controls of their Kitchen Aide, you'll find intriguing combinations of flavors and ingredients in her 65 recipes while amateurs can accept the hand-holding directions that take you from the first mixing to the final baking. If you're tired of plain old chocolate cake, white cake or yellow cake, flip through the 129 pages here and update your repertoire with the likes of the Elvis cake, the Tiramisu cake and the toasted lemon snowball cake. Your taste buds will thank you. By Mark C. Guncheon

Thank you both - Maria and Kathy - for the wisdome, insight and well-defined exposures of difficult times during a loss of any kind. Whether it's a fierce injury or the untimely grief from loosing someone, children must hike through unexpected tragic events and your healthy outlook embraces this process. This informative book leads parents, or anyone, toward bonding with children may be silently suffering. These talented authors present certain steps - vividly and realistically - by restoring and achieving a nourishment of harmony after any adversity. During my years of researching head injuries, I have uncovered the fact that the second leading group subjected to a head injury are children. Since there is very little research in this area I am thrilled to locate this enormous wealth of help for them. I thoroughly recommend this book to any family struggling with grief or any painful experience. You two ladies have surfaced significantly - comfort and advice - by vocalizing the needs children feel, but may have been overlooked. Thank you for sharing all your research and knowledge.

Thank you both - Maria and Kathy - for the wisdom, insight and well-defined exposures of difficult times during a loss of any kind. Whether it's a fierce injury or the untimely grief from loosing someone, children must hike through unexpected tragic events and your healthy outlook embraces this process. This informative book leads parents, or anyone, toward bonding with children who may be silently suffering. These talented authors present certain steps - vividly and realistically - by restoring and achieving a nourishment of harmony after any adversity. During my years of researching head injuries, I have uncovered the fact that the second leading group subjected to head injuries are children. There is very little research or reading material concerning this trauma so I am thrilled to locate this enormous wealth of help for them. I thoroughly recommend this book to any family struggling with grief or any painful experience. You two ladies have surfaced significantly - comfort and advice - by vocalizing the needs of children; feelings deep inside them which may have been overlooked. Thank you for sharing your research while you continue to make a difference in this world.

This book gave sound examples and concepts regarding the process of grieving. This book has helped me discuss and answer questions about death, to my 4yo daughter. With this books guidance, I know that dealing with the loss of her grandparents will be easier on both of us. If for no other reason than the level of understanding the grieving processes. Additionally, I have been able to use the concepts to help my child deal with a close family friend's distant move. A great "reference" book to have around.

When Hitler swallowed Austria and Czechoslovakia, he got APPROVALS from Britain and France. Poland was the first to resist him - and that is how World War II has started. This is known. The tragic fate of some 6 millions of Polish citizens during WWII is known too. Some 800 years earlier the Kings of Poland granted special priviledges to Jews so as to attract them to Poland and also save them from persecutions elsewhere. Hitler ended 800 years of coexistence of Christian Poles with Poles of Mosesian religous denomination (this is how Polish Jews were known inside Poland) by killing nearly all members of the latter group.

Less is known here in the United States about the sufferings of
non-Jewish citizens of Poland. VERY LITTLE is known about the diabolic JOINT plot of Hitler and Stalin to erase Poland and all its citizens from the surface of the earth. From a historical perspective, this book about Danuta and her life journey provides a wealth of important facts from first hand experience. Stories told me by my father-in-law Ludomir Boncza-Brzostowski confirm elements of the story of Danuta, also from first hand experience. He was among those who at the end of Warsaw 1944 Uprising got to the east side of Vistula so as not to surrender to the Nazis; as described in the book, most of those trying to do so were killed by the Nazi artillery. The command of the Polish Army on the Soviet side was taken away from Gen. Zygmunt Berling by Stalin - precisely because Berling tried to help the Uprising. As vividly desribed in the book, Stalin wanted Warsaw destroyed by Nazi hands.

However, the above description of the book might give a totally false impression ! This is also a FASCINATING book about love and atrocity, friendship and war, adversity and solidarity. Do not be fooled by the awkward book title.

World War II Through Polish Eyes
By
M.B. Szonert

This powerful story depicts the gehenna of one Polish family during the greatest human catastrophe in Poland's history. Young Danuta and her family struggles through the invasion of Poland, the defense of Warsaw, and the German occupation. They suffer tragic losses in Katyñ, Siberia, Auschwitz and dozens of other concentration camps, in Gestapo and NKVD prisons, on Monte Cassino, in the Warsaw Uprising, and on the Western front. Danuta loses her husband and her father but thanks to the tenacious solidarity of the Polish people she survives the war with two small children. She later tries to begin a new life, remarries in the 50ties, and immigrates to the United States.

The book is easy to read thanks to many dialogs and vivid images. What is striking in this story is the attitude of the Polish women - mothers, daughters, and wives. For example, 19-year old Danuta writes to the Auschwitz commander asking him to show a photograph of her newly born son "Jêdruœ" to her husband - an Auschwitz prisoner. In a humanitarian flash, the commander actually releases Danuta's husband from the death camp. It reminds me of my own story when my own photograph (my nickname is also "Jêdruœ") saved the life of my father when he was called to the infamous Pavilion Number 11 in the same concentration camp. Danuta continues her crusade and later fights with the Gestapo to recover the body of her husband, and with NKVD to save her father and brother. Although the women were wise and prudent in those difficult times, the men were often too reckless and were dying unnecessarily.

This work is not only a fascinating story but also a history book. Each episode from Danuta's dramatic life is told in the larger, historical context. Presented with great diligence to assure a balanced approach to difficult issues, the historical context is well annotated and illustrated with documents and photographs. Written with a keen eye and thoroughness, this valuable work brings to light the enormity of the genocide committed on the Polish nation during WWII.
Prof. Andrew Targowski
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

The novel is a spellbinding portrait of a young girl, Danuta, and her family's journey from peacetime Poland to the German and subsequent Soviet occupation. The author provides a balanced blend of historical background along with intense emotional drama. One can sense the intensity of the hardships, suffering and periods of joy and triumphant over ultimate terror, dishevel and human tragedy. Danuta's extreme resourcefulness, perseverance and wit against the German and Soviet occupants allow her and her family to survive eventhough impending danger is always omnipresent. This true account of Danuta's life expounds on actual events such as random transports to concentration camps, Katyn massacre, indiscriminate shootings and beatings, starvation, ect.. The story line includes a microcosm of the brutalities and cruelties exacted upon the Polish population during World War II. This true story is supported with annotations with a bibliography of historical references. The reality of Danuta's life is also supported with copies of letters written by her husband from Auschwitz prison and other documents to further exemplify the harsh and abominable conditions of life in wartime Poland. The story continually returns to an elderly Danuta who is instructing her young grandson on the historical background of Poland's barbaric occupation centered on the conspiracy of the German-Soviet agreements and subsequent betrayal between the two dictators. Poland becomes a battle ground in the quest for power while Polish resistance, including members of Danuta's family, struggles to resist German and Soviet oppression. The apprehension and tension and hope for the end of the German occupation results in the subjugation of Poland by the Soviet apparatus. Danuta's family must adjust to the Soviet regime change which proves to be a desperate struggle to resist total subjugation of Poland. This novel is a recommended reading to better comprehend the human tragedy of Poles during World War II as seen through the eyes of young Danuta.

This guide is essentially all anyone could ask for in a hint book. For players of "The 11th Hour" who need just the slightest nudge, to people who are so turned around they can't tell the kitchen from the library, this is the book for you. The first half contains the whole story, told from the perspective of Carl. Carl gives the reader a more in-depth look at the Stauf house, and provides some useful background information on the events of the previous game, "The 7th Guest." This narrative section will guide the reader in the right direction without giving away the actual solution to the puzzle currently being solved. It also clarifies what is currently happening in the game, in case the reader is having some difficulty following the twisted story line. It gives the various alternate endings an explanation, too, and warns which is the correct one so the reader doesn't spoil the surprise. After the narrative, the book contains the full solutions to the puzzles, the original script to the game, and an interview with the game's inventors. All in all, a wonderfully detailed book that is as thoroughly interesting to read as it is helpful.

If anyone likes mind boggling games (well stradegy games at least), then you'll love the sequal to 7th guest! this book helps you get through all the puzzles and mazes which await you ahead! I love this game and the 7th Guest will always be my favorite game so this game is then my second fav! try it and you'll see for yourself!

Este libro trata de una niña (Nora) a la que se le mueren los padres y se va a vivir con la tia de su papa que es la mas joven, ella tiene un hijo que se llama Dag con el que vive varias aventuras mientras que el la ayuda a descubrir quién y por que se estan comunicando con ella desde el pasado. Este es un libro buenísimo yo lo lei por primera vez a los 11 años, ahora tengo 14 y sigue siendo mi libro favorito.

This is a wonderful book about a pattern of abandonment that goes throurgh the family. Beautifuly written and well described. This is a must read!

This set of short stories reveals a lot about the life of Ana Maria Matute. The short stories are captivating that are easy to read and also have a commical side to them! They have adventures and twist and turns that leave you questioning your own self and the choices you have made. My classmates and I read it for our Spanish 5 AP course. She is a brilliant writer.

Currently I'm a senior in high school preparing for the AP exams in three subjects, one being Spanish Literature. Ana Maria Matute is a great author to use for the test; the spectrum of her works touched every emotional chord in me. The loss of innoncence, jealousy, the cruelty of society, all coexist in her stories. I highly recommend this book to anyone, high school student or not, who wants to explore the realm of spanish literature. Each of her short stories and Fiesta Al Noroeste, which is my favorite, can be applied to anyone and are a joy to read. Matute is one of the best and I personally put her next to Unamuno and Cervantes.

In Ancient Rome: History Of A Civilization That Ruled The World, Anna Maria Liberati (Museum of Roman Civilization, Rome, Italy) has effectively collaborated with freelance journalist and art history expert Fabio Bourbon to lay out a beautifully illustrated and thoroughly "reader friendly" coffeetable artbook showcasing the architecture, politics, culture, art, and artifacts tracing the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. An ideal addition to school and community library collections, the hundreds of full-color images (many of them never previously published and available to the general public) wonderfully enhance an informed and informative text making Ancient Rome especially accessible and recommended to the non-specialist general reader.

This book is not much on narration -- but it isn't really supposed to be. The book is filled with outstanding photographs, prints, drawings, maps, and architectural plans that will be useful to anyone in the business of teaching social studies. This is one of those wonderfully inexpensive oversized hardcover books that makes you feel good just by owning it.

This anthology is a very good mirror in which you can enter to the latinamerican poetry. The great number of authors that appear, and the huge spectrum of time that it's covered by this book makes this anthology a fundamental guide in order to travel through the poetry in spanish language. The selection of the poems of every author is very significative. To sun up, the edge of a lake in which the world must dive.

La presente antología es un espejo bastante bueno para poder internarse en la poética de Latinoamérica. La gran cantidad de autores que aparecen, y el gran espectro de tiempo que cubre la obra hacen que esta antología sea una guía fundamental para recorrer la poesía en lengua castellana. La selección de los poemas que se hace de cada autor es significativa. Se elige lo mejor. En resumen, el borde de un lago al que se debe zambullir el mundo