This book is great. It has showed me many new areas of the city to explore. And I have lived here all my life!! Hikes are rated from easy to very difficult making it a good book for everyone... regardless of their fitness level. If you live in the area BUY IT!!!

I watched the movie, Il Postino, a few days ago. Curious about the movie's inspiration, I read Burning Patience and found myself intrigued by the several departures from the movie. Of course, the book is fuller and more complete, as the politics of the Allende years and the beliefs of Pablo Neruda take an equal footing with Neruda's wonderful poetry. The dignity of the simple person in the face of uncontrollable events is an inspiration.

I highly recommend the book!

I purchased this book for my 8.5 year old daughter who has enjoyed cooking at my side and has an interest in learning to cook. This cookbook provides a wonderful introduction to the world of culinary arts, beginning with an understanding of basic food ingredients, cooking and baking tools and terms and continues with advise on safety and menu planning.

The level is probably best suited to children from 10 - 14, however, with some guidance and supervision my 8 year old can prepare most of the recipes.

Recipes include all the basics from Vegetable soup to Chili to Banana Nut Bread, Brownies, Pies and Punch. All recipes inlcude an equipment list along with the ingredient list and clear, easy to follow step-by-step instructions with important safety tips like "wearing oven mits, remove the cookie sheet from the oven."

We've tried several of the recipes and have not been disappointed. This junior version of the classic compares well. I expect that my daughter will one day take this cookbook off to college.

I bought this book for Father's Day for my dad. Needless to say I couldn't put it down. It is insightful, indearing, and helped me to see things from my dad's or any father's point of view. I learned things that I've always wanted to know about my dad. Like how although men like to show they're tough, a child brings out feelings and wonder that they never knew was inside of them. The story of the secret handshake was the best, now my daughter and I have one, thanks to the author. I highly recommend this book for any father or parent. It awakened my soul to the wonderment of parenthood and childhood. Thank You Joe Kita...I learned so much.

This book was excellent! The author writes about one of her own waiting experiences, but generalizes her learning so that the reader can easily apply it to their own experience. While you may not be ready to move through all the waiting stages as you read the book, it is helpful to know what the stages should be...then you can set future goals for yourself and recognize your growth.

Patience Essah's book is a landmark work on a seldom-studied area of American history: the question of slavery in Delaware. While books on slavery in larger states abound, and books on slavery nation-wide are myriad, neither truly addresses this issue in the First State, Delaware. What makes the subject so important, and what Essah illustrates so well, is that slavery in Delaware is slavery at the margin. Just south of the Mason-Dixon line, Delaware seemed more often to be drawn to Philadelphia than Baltimore or Richmond. As a state torn between these two powerful poles of attraction, Delaware featured the liveliest debate over slavery of any state in the Union. The Quaker and Methodist influences coupled with soil depletion served to make the preservation of slavery in Delaware precarious, and the political climate surrounding the peculiar institution, galvanic. Essah adequately portrays the struggle for emancipation in Delaware and gets to the heart of the anti-slavery struggle. The only criticism one could make is that she does not address the organization and methods of the pro-slavery forces as well as she does for the anti-slavery groups. A closer look at that side of the issue would lend greater understanding to the epic struggle between the forces of slavery and freedom in Delaware. All in all, a good book, and the best one available on the subject.

Lady Adelaide Cadogans book written about 1870 contains the rules for 24 games translated from the original French. A facisimile was published in 1968 by Leslie Frewin Publishers Ltd. in association with John Hunter and Abacus AG. The elegent and colourful plates of hand drawn cards make this a must for patience/solitaire lovers.

"The Magic of Patience" has a moral theme that entertains as it teaches my 3 and 4 year olds. A buffalo, monkey and sprite interact to show how paitence, instead of anger, can bring about harmony and goodwill.

I think I would give this wonderful picture book five stars even if the text was tripe because the illustrations are so lovely but fortunately the text is equally good. Two fisherman brothers, one an idealistic dreamer and the other a materialistic schemer accidentally pull up a baby mermaid in their nets along with their catch of fish. Both brothers see dollar signs, one hoping for riches and fame, the other wishing for a carefree life of exploration and discovery. They decide to sell her as a curiosity and make their fortune. The dreamy brother falls in love with the adorable merbaby and his conscience won't let him sell her into a miserable life on land. In the end kindness is rewarded. The story also reveals an age old enmity between the sea folk and the land folk because of the way land folk plunder and abuse the gifts of the sea. It has a good message about ecology and respect for other beings rather than dominance and destruction. The large double spread illustrations have an atmospheric sea-green wash and are as sure to enchant as a mermaid's voice.

Next Please is one of my favorite recent children's books. A group of broken toys anxiously await going into the doctor's office to be fixed. The toys sit outside the doctor's office lined up one by one in chairs. As the door opens the toys go in one at a time. Each toy comes out a few minutes later happy and as good as new. This is a wonderful story if you have a little one at home waiting for his or her first visit to the doctor. The illustrations are a marvel to behold.

Preston McClear, author The Boy Under the Bed