I was surprised to read the editorial review which regarded this book (and similar books) so poorly. We have 2 of these books (Survival - Could You Be A Frog? and the "Mouse" one of the same series.) My son (5 years old) thinks it's a lot of fun to play the "game" of survival and along the way you learn a lot of interesting facts about the animal. We find the book to be entertaining and challenging. It's a nice change from a regular book and it is very unique! We wish there were more books in the series.

This book provides detailed how-to information on advertising using the following media: print (newspapers, magazines, brochures, outdoor), radio, television, direct mail, as well as gaining free publicity and creating your own look for your letterhead, business cards, etc. Every chapter includes all you need to know, with precise instructions, examples, and templates for planning (scheduling, budgeting, determining the best medium to achieve your goals). It also includes chapters on planning your advertising program. If you want to take advantage of advertising to increase the sales of your business, this is the book you need

This is a well written and engaging look into the importance of the Mandan and Hidatsa Indian villages as a pivotal point in trade systems during the late 1700's through early 1800's. Being located along the Missouri River in present day North Dakota, the Mandan/Hidatsa Indians traded horses, robes and furs to Canadian Fur Companies in return for guns and ammunition. They would then trade these goods for other commodities from various Northern Plains Indian Tribes, who previously may have traded with other tribes or the Spaniards further south. In part one, the authors give a lengthy but excellent and relevant chronological introduction as to the fur trade history of this geographical area. Part two includes five journals (or excerpts) of some of these Northwest Fur Company traders' first hand accounts depicting life as it was: John Macdonell's descriptions of the Indians, geography and trade in the 1790's; David Thompson's narrative describing his harrowing 1797 journey from Fort Assiniboine to the Mandan villages in the dead of winter; Larocque's two narratives, the "Missouri (1804)" and "Yellowstone (1805)" Journals, the latter of which, in the company with Crow Indians, he may possibly have been the first white man to descend the Yellowstone River, pre-dating William Clark by more than a year. The final narrative is of Charles McKenzie's four journeys to the Mandan villages (1804-1806), the first two in company with Larocque's expeditions. This is a fascinating read for fur trade enthusiasts and/or those whose interests are in early western exploration.

I'm 15 and had to critique a book having to do with the Middle Ages. While other people chose The Prince and bigger books I sorta cheated and got this 30 page book with pictures. It had lots of informative facts and little cartoon drawings that helped me better understand the info. It took me 20 minutes to read so it was really easy but I actually learned alot.

Free-Choice Science Education: How We Learn Science Outside Of School is a seminal, college-level collection of discussions on the extent and scope of science learning in America, with particular attention to learning outside the traditional educational system. Under the able editorship of John Falk, essays by different individual authors discuss the absorption of scientific information from such sources as early childhood TV viewing, the value of infrastructure in free-choice science learning, and much more. High-level social and educational issues are thoroughly explored in this intriguing, insightful, thought provoking title.

John Elder, in this Credo Series book, intertwines observations of his three loves of - literature, nature and his family - into a celebration of life itself.

The book's title marks the moment between winter and spring when the tree frogs commence croaking, warning of the last maple tree sap good for distilling into syrup. The Credo Series offers contemporary American writers an opportunity to discuss the fluid and subtle issues of a world in constant change. Elder offers a message of hope; a hope grounded his lineage, literature and the land; how he found balance building a sugarhouse with his sons in the Vermont Woods.

My favorite essay in the collection is "Starting with the Psalms: A Reader's History" where he weaves memories of the 23rd Psalm into a discussion of John Milton's Paradise Lost with a little Annie Dillard, Robert Frost and Gary Snyder thrown in to season the discussion. Grounded in his experience as a professor and writer living in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Elder connects literature with the landscape that inspired it.

Elder is a treasure; a man who seamlessly weaves the dots of his existence into a portrait that honors his observations of his place on earth.

Beautifully enhanced with 175 color illustrations, photographer John Ferror Sims' Handmade In Italy: A Celebration Of Italian Artisans Working In Ceramics, Textiles, Glass, Stone, Metal, And Wood combines an informed and informative text with gloriously reproduced color photography to showcases the best of Italian artistry in paint, sculpture, glassmaking, fabrics, stone, wood, and ceramics. From brocades and velvets, to Venetian mirrors and damask steel blades, Handmade In Italy showcases a collection that is as diverse as it is impressive!

This beautiful picture book is a real treat for any admirer, young or old, of nature and the work of John James Audubon. From first page to last, it is a tribute to an extraordinary man who had a passion for America's wilderness, as well as to the wilderness itself. Robert Burleigh tells the story of the pioneering environmentalist through an imaginary rhyming letter to his father, with accompanying excerpts from Audubon's journals. Wendell Minor, a renowned jacket artist and distinguished picture book illustrator, enlivens the text with some of his finest work, which is complemented by a few of Audubon's original paintings. Mr. Minor portrays the curious woodsman as he rambles through sun-dappled forests, investigates a cormorant's nest on the side of a rocky cliff, and admires the untamed spirit of a temporarily captive hawk. Later on, the story's tone changes from carefree revelry to a heartfelt plea for wilderness preservation, as Audubon mourns the loss of the woodlands and the birds he holds so dear. While holding a dying pigeon in his hands he remarks: "And as I watched it die I knew/The world I love is passing too. And I must paint it all because/We need this memory of what was. . ." These inspiring words are accompanied by some poignant pictures of a flock of now-extinct passenger pigeons--once the most populous bird in the world--streaming across the sky, and a once-mighty forest reduced to stumps. There is a hopeful note in the story, as well: "But listen, now, from every tree/I hear them calling out to me: The crow's ka-kow, the lark's ti-ti/The warbler and the chickadee." In order to preserve nature, we must first appreciate even the smallest aspects of it, from the the mighty bald eagle to the tiny chickadee. The book leaves one with a sense of hope about the conservation movement and a refreshed passion for the outdoors, especially birds, which are so plentiful and so striking in this country. With his paintings Mr. Minor has skillfully captured the personality of the man and the beauty of the birds he loved, and Mr. Burleigh has brought poetic words to help us remember Audubon not just as the vanguard in the American conservation movement, a mere icon of history books, but as a true woodsman who loved this country and its wilderness with his whole heart. INTO THE WOODS makes a lovely gift for any aspiring naturalist of age 8 to a lifelong birder of age 80. Pick up a copy for the child in your life and one for yourself. Also be sure to check out another new picture book, RACHEL: THE STORY OF RACHEL CARSON, which, like INTO THE WOODS, tells the story of a pioneering American environmentalist and is wonderfully illustrated by Wendell Minor.

John Bewick: Engraver On Wood 1760-1795 is the biography by Nigel Tattersfield, one of the first designer-engravers in England to earn a living almost exclusively by illustrating books. Aptly described as "An Appreciation Of His Life Together With A Catalogue Of His Illustrations And Designs", John Bewick: Engraver On Wood 1760-1795 is fully illustrated with black-and-white reproductions of engravings, and researched with thorough and meticulous attention to detail. Enthusiastically recommended reading for students of 18th Century cultural history, bibliophiles, and the non-specialist general reader who appreciates a well crafted and original biography, John Bewick: Engraver On Wood 1760-1975 is a masterful portrait of one man's life, the art of his craft, and the era and nation in which he lived.

If you like science fiction in general and these three authors specifically, this is a great book! It gives an interesting insight to what these authors were like in their spare time and how they interacted with each other.