Kelly Brook Books

This is the book to buy for little kids of all ages. The story is so sweet, the words so engaging, the illustrations and the colors so vivid and soothing at the same time. I'm delivering yet another copy to the smartest three-year-old I know in just a little while, and I can already imagine Nick holding this book and reading it to one of his kids. It's a classic, it's a work of art, it's a very wonderful teaching tool, but, best of all, it's got heart, and what more can you hope to show kids? Take a bow, Kel.

This little counting book in charming verse by Kelly Milner Halls is exactly the sort of thing to brighten up a child's day or your own. Kelly gives the little story gentle excitement which will stimulate a child and charm an adult. It is the kind of little morsel I would want to grace a coffee table forever. I also thought the illustrations unusual and darling.

Many will ask just what can one do with a counting book, but Kelly has managed to do something new while staying within comfortable and familiar bounds.

"There are far too many counting books, but this one delights and does the job. With Halls' crisp, peppy rhymes and adorable illustrations by an Atlanta artist, children will be counting before it even dawns on them." Julie Bookman, Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 1, 2000

Just add sound effects of your own (and get your child doing the same) and you'll get an idea of the delight on tap in this terrific read-aloud. Charming and childlike with the kind of warmth that'll have kids begging for re-reads.

"I Bought a Baby Chicken" is a cute story and a subtle counting book. During a family trip to the general store, the narrator sees a little chick and decides to buy it. Her sister picks up two black chicks, her dad likes three striped ones, and before you know it, the whole family - cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents - has gone cuckoo for chickens. "I guess my family's lucky that I didn't want a cow," concludes the narrator, who'd better hope her family doesn't suddenly develop a hankering for friend chicken or buffalo wings. Karen Stormer Brooks' google-eyed illustrations are as silly as the story. (by Claire Martin).

I originally bought this for a class and sold it back at the end of the semester. I soon realized that I wanted a nutrition book for reference purposes and after searching around, ended up buying another copy! I am a nursing student and find myself flipping through the text when I need a nutrition question answered or if I want to calculate nurtitional info. Get this book if you're looking for a solid, easy to understand nutrition text.

This is a really good nutrition book. You may find it useful to keep, if you plan on doing a good job of teaching "nutrition and diet teaching" to a patient. In nursing clinicals you will find yourself responsible for teaching diabetic diets, heart healthy diets, etc... Also you will want to teach why any one of these diets are important for the patient to know and practice. This is the book to help you do it.

I own other nutrition books, and this is my favorite! In nursing school, my nutrition instructor, who was a registered dietitician with many years of experience, said that this was the best nutrition book on the market. Compared to the other books I have seen, I would agree. It is a wealth of information and includes both American and Canadian guidelines. There is a wonderful food composition table appendix included in the book that is very thorough nutritionally. The book covers carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and amino acids, digestion and absorption, metabolism and energy balance, overweight, underweight, and weight control, vitamins, water and minerals, nutrition through lifespan: pregnancy and infancy, childhood and adolescence, later adulthood, and many chapters on nutrition for health care issues such as renal failure, and diabetes mellitus. If I were not a nurse, I would want to own this book just for my own personal reference. I would advise anyone, whether in health care or not, to pick up a copy of this book.

The cost is great especially since I trying to get a complete collection of Southern Living Christmas cookbooks. This cookbook is in great condition even though it is six years old, as was noted on the sellers page. I will continue ording until I complete my collection. I am grateful to the sellers for providing an avenue that allows me to find the missing years that I looking for. Thank you.

I love this book!! I had originally bought this book for the wonderful
christmas decor ideas...great centerpieces, table scapes, wreaths..ect.
I happen to decorate my house in a very "natural", woodsy theme and this book has loads of those...all just beautiful. To top it off, it has wonderful recipes too! Many times you will get a book like this and it will have a few things you love but the majority is so so. Not this one, I can say that I love everything in this book! Great purchase.

Not what I expected. I have most of the other editions and it seems they took the best of the past 25 years and put it all in one book. I hope that 2006 edition is better!!!

This was my first purchase of a Christmas With Southern Living book and I was quite happy with my purchase and am anticipating the 2006!! I took this to my parents one weekend when my sisters were there and they all wanted a copy. I used quite a few of the recipes from the book for my Thanksgiving Dinner and they went over well especially the Butter Coconut Pie--YUMMY. As I am not a seasoned CWSL book buyer I don't have others to compare it to (except for one from the 1990's my sister gave me which I felt was not half as nice as this one)but would give this ***** five stars.

I am a decades-long lover of Southern Living publications. Whether we buy the magazines, the cookbooks, or the home products, many of us count on Southern Living for unsurpassed quality and creativity.

I am extremely disappointed with "Christmas with Southern Living 2005". This edition marks the 25th Anniversary of this regularly phenomenal book. I can hardly believe this belongs in the same category as the volumes from previous years.

Certainly, the color photography remains true to form, wonderfully presented. But it's the sheer lack of creative craft ideas, and the fewer number of quality recipe ideas that mar this normally fantastic book. I was expecting a five-star product for the silver anniversary - what I fear I've received is far below what SL should have offered.

I expect CwSL 2006 to make up for what 2005's edition was lacking - this company will most certainly not let us down again. I'll continue to buy Southern Living books without hesitation - and with excitement! I'm simply disappointed that the 2005 book will find its way to the back of the bookcase.

The scout was funny! I think at times there were moments that seem stupid. I guess that's what making movie's all about! I think you might enjoy it. It's actully better then I thought it be. That just proves never judge a movie by it's cover :)
Enjoy!

It starts out almost as a comedy but it turns dramatic halfway through.Definitely not on my top ten baseball movie lists but it is worth watching at least once.Brandon Frasier does a great job as does Albert brooks. Just seems like they switched writers in the middle of the show.

have you ever noticed that Brendan Fraser is always acting as an idiot? for example: George of the Jungle, Airheads, the Scout, every time he acts downright dumb, but for once it made sense. a scout (Albert Brooks) for the New York Yankees is sent on a grudge trip to mexico after the last player he hired turned out to be a total fluke. there he finds the greatest baseball player that ever lived, Steve Nabraska who choses in the end to play for the Yankees; but before he can play he needs permission from a psychologist that he's not topsy-turvy, which he is, and after his appointment with the doctor he fails, and this is where the movie twists, the dumbness and wildness of Brendan Fraser will have you staring crosseyed at his wackiness.

This film was better than I expected. When I saw Albert Brooks in it I expected to see his usual self absorbed, neurotic, west coast Woddy Allen trip. No so. When I looked at the credits I noticed that for the first time (in recent memory) Brooks didn't write, direct, produce, in short forgo his usual Jerry Lewis routine of running the whole show. And in doing so he (excuse the pun here) hit's a home run! He's just great as baseball scout Al Percole who after failing to bring a winner to the Yankees is relegated to the Chili circuit as "punishment" from the Yankee general manager played wonderfully by Lane Smith. But instead of coming up with heartburn from eating the very questionable food (we see people down there chewing on animal legs at games) he discovers Steve Nebraska the greatest ball player since Babe Ruth played oustandingly by Brendan Fraser. Fraser matches Brooks laugh for laugh and in doing so the two make this a very entertaining movie. Not an easy thing to do considering there is not one love interest in either man's life. The movie rests squarely on the "buddy" formula which works very well here. In fact it's more of a father son relationship instead of a bonding buddy movie. So if you like quirky comedy's with the added benefit of a sports theme you're sure to like this one. So run out and rent.....no better make that buy The Scout. I'm sure you're going to want to "catch" this one again and again!

You don't have to love either Brendan Fraser or Baseball to love this movie! I should know, because I hate baseball, but love Brendan Fraser, and I may just be a tad bit prejudiced when it comes to him.

Although the scout is about Baseball, there isn't much involving the sport except for short blips of Albert Brook looking for his 'King Kong', and the ending sequince when Brendan shows us that he truly is the king of the field. Albert Brook is hilarous as the scout who is hunting for other new protege's for the Yankee's, and Brendan is the young man who he happens to find. In mexico that is. Why he's in Mexico, and how he got there is never really explained. That and if the shrink is really his mom, or just a really concerned lady. Yeah, the story has its holes, but the comedy more than makes up for it.

I won't say anymore, more is less, and in this case its better just to see this movie than hear me explain it.

Let the game begin!

The scout was funny! I think at times there were moments that seem stupid. I guess that's what making movie's all about! I think you might enjoy it. It's actully better then I thought it be. That just proves never judge a movie by it's cover :)
Enjoy!

It starts out almost as a comedy but it turns dramatic halfway through.Definitely not on my top ten baseball movie lists but it is worth watching at least once.Brandon Frasier does a great job as does Albert brooks. Just seems like they switched writers in the middle of the show.

have you ever noticed that Brendan Fraser is always acting as an idiot? for example: George of the Jungle, Airheads, the Scout, every time he acts downright dumb, but for once it made sense. a scout (Albert Brooks) for the New York Yankees is sent on a grudge trip to mexico after the last player he hired turned out to be a total fluke. there he finds the greatest baseball player that ever lived, Steve Nabraska who choses in the end to play for the Yankees; but before he can play he needs permission from a psychologist that he's not topsy-turvy, which he is, and after his appointment with the doctor he fails, and this is where the movie twists, the dumbness and wildness of Brendan Fraser will have you staring crosseyed at his wackiness.

This film was better than I expected. When I saw Albert Brooks in it I expected to see his usual self absorbed, neurotic, west coast Woddy Allen trip. No so. When I looked at the credits I noticed that for the first time (in recent memory) Brooks didn't write, direct, produce, in short forgo his usual Jerry Lewis routine of running the whole show. And in doing so he (excuse the pun here) hit's a home run! He's just great as baseball scout Al Percole who after failing to bring a winner to the Yankees is relegated to the Chili circuit as "punishment" from the Yankee general manager played wonderfully by Lane Smith. But instead of coming up with heartburn from eating the very questionable food (we see people down there chewing on animal legs at games) he discovers Steve Nebraska the greatest ball player since Babe Ruth played oustandingly by Brendan Fraser. Fraser matches Brooks laugh for laugh and in doing so the two make this a very entertaining movie. Not an easy thing to do considering there is not one love interest in either man's life. The movie rests squarely on the "buddy" formula which works very well here. In fact it's more of a father son relationship instead of a bonding buddy movie. So if you like quirky comedy's with the added benefit of a sports theme you're sure to like this one. So run out and rent.....no better make that buy The Scout. I'm sure you're going to want to "catch" this one again and again!

You don't have to love either Brendan Fraser or Baseball to love this movie! I should know, because I hate baseball, but love Brendan Fraser, and I may just be a tad bit prejudiced when it comes to him.

Although the scout is about Baseball, there isn't much involving the sport except for short blips of Albert Brook looking for his 'King Kong', and the ending sequince when Brendan shows us that he truly is the king of the field. Albert Brook is hilarous as the scout who is hunting for other new protege's for the Yankee's, and Brendan is the young man who he happens to find. In mexico that is. Why he's in Mexico, and how he got there is never really explained. That and if the shrink is really his mom, or just a really concerned lady. Yeah, the story has its holes, but the comedy more than makes up for it.

I won't say anymore, more is less, and in this case its better just to see this movie than hear me explain it.

Let the game begin!

pretty good movie actually , was funny and had its moments that almost makes you cry a little .

A lighthearted film about life, love and not allowing even the most difficult of obstacles to get in our way. Two brothers go through life as conjoined twins. None-the-less, they achieve and experience more in life than the average Jane or Joe. When one wants to become a Hollywood actor and the other finds his true love, things get complicated. Should they chance a risky operation to be separated or continue life as it is?

The storyline is not as predictable as one may imagine, the humor, feeling and soundtrack are great. In fact, I am crazy about their version of the song "Summertime" and wish I could find it somewhere! Unfortunately, so far I can't.

My husband and I weren't even planning to watch a movie when when my son asked us to watch this film and we both truly enjoyed it - we hope you do too!

Eight Crazy Nights is the thrid back to back unfunny movie(following Little Nicky and Mr Deeds) that Adam Sandler has made in the past two years. Eight Crazy Nights is full of toiler humor and unfunny one-liners. I may have laughed once or twice if these movie. They should have called Eight Crazy Ways to ruin a comic's carrer.

I have been a fan of the movies Adam Sandler has made to date. Are they cinematic treasures? Heck no! They're nothing more than fun comedies that make me laugh. And with that in mind, I expected nothing less from this movie, even if it is the animated adventures of a Sandler character.

What I got instead was a mish mash of several movie styles that never quite gels. Sure, it made me feel good by films end but I think that has more to do with my feelings towards sappy movies during the holidays than the movie itself (see review of ELF).

The story revolves around Davey (Sandler) who is the town jerk. Having had the chance to make something of his life, he tossed it all aside one fateful night when his parents died on the way to watch him play in a junior league basketball game. Now the town drunk, a run in with the law is about to land him in jail. Until a kindly, tiny voice speaks up.

Whitey (again Sandler) is the town do-gooder. He has worked forever at the town recreation center with kids playing there since the days when Davey was learning his first jump shot. Whitey sees something in Davey that no one else does and takes a chance on him. He has him turned over to his custody and has him help at the center.

But years of bitterness have left Davey hollow inside. He has no use for anyone. He treats everyone with disdain. He even goes so far as to admit that he hates himself. It isn't until he meets Jennifer, the girl of his dreams long ago, again and her son that he begins to even consider coming around.

But as fate would have it, things continue to go from bad to worse until Davey makes the decision to leave town behind and make a run for it. On the night when Whitey hopes to earn the towns respect for the years he has given by receiving an award called the spirit patch, Davey hits the road knowing full well that it won't happen. While Whitey may give more to the town than the people realize, he is one of those faceless people that does it all and receives no praise. And if Davey leaves, it becomes just one more major disappointment in Whitey's life.

Unless a Christmas miracle could take place.

Now, while the plot of this movie seems quite simple that's because...well...it is. Surrounding the story of Davey and Whitey are the small tales of the rest of the townsfolk. The adventures and predicaments that the pair gets involved in as well as musical numbers fill it out as well. And what would a Sandler film be without tons of crude humor? If toilet humor (and in some cases here I mean that literally) offends or disgust you then this movie is not your cup of tea.

While I enjoyed the comedy here as well as the animation and story beneath it all, I found that there was too much mean spirit running throughout for me to embrace it. The joy of the film does not come about until the final moments of the film, long after we have been bombarded with the cruelty over and over again. The ending does raise that warm fuzzy feeling inside but at what cost to get there?

This is one movie that will have a hard time finding an audience. Most people over 12 aren't that interested in animated films. And those over 30 will not find the gross out humor all that great. But there are a few of us twisted people out there who will enjoy this one even if not making it a regular Christmas treat. Watching it once may be enough. But it is definitely for selective tastes.

by dane youssef

OK, folks. Now here is a movie that will put you out of the Haunakah spirit as quickly as Ron Howard's live-action remake of "The Grinch" put people out of the Christmas spirit.

A nasty piece too goofy to even be animated, it's Adam Sandler's first full-fledged animated musical "8 Crazy Nights."

Every year, just about every TV show grinds out a puke-worthy Christmas special where the formula is something like this: Characters have spirit, something bad happens everyone has misfortune. Then... the split-second everyone suddenly obtains the holiday spirit... everyone's problems instantly evaporate. And everything everybody wants... suddenly fall into place...

Apparently, because there's little hype and buzz around Haunakah, Sandler has decided to put some product out there (just like he did with his infamous SNL song "The Hanuakah Song"), but basically with this movie, all he's done is proved that there can be trite, tedious and tiresome holiday "specials" for Hanuakah, too.
Is that a fight WORTH winning?

I've enjoyed a lot of Adam Sandler's flicks, but this one had me annoyed, bored, disgusted and reaching for the remote after the first quarter.

Sandler's obnoxious hateful slacker shtick has finally been beaten into the ground. He's been pushing this since he started making movies. His worst, by far, was "Little Nicky," but this movie is the equivalent of a reindeer turd.

Adam Sandler stars (or rather, voices) as Davey, a delinquent who's gone downhill a life of crime and vandalism ever since early in his youth. He lives in a crummy trailer and is the Scrooge/Grinch of this little upstate town. He does his best at making plenty of enemies and getting on people's "*****" lists instead of Santa's good one. Alcohol and sleeping in don't help his personality much.

Finally, after the town has had enough of his very presence (in my opinion, it took way too long), he gets caught during one of his vandalism through town and is thrown before a judge.

Things look bad for Davey. But just then, when the judge is about to toss him in a State prison, the town's elderly volunteer youth-basketball coach (also voiced by Sandler) steps up and requests the idea of taking Davey under his wing and making him his assistant coach. Davey rudely rolls his eyes at this idea, but realizing it's either this or a decade in the slammer, he quickly signs up.

OK, now see if any of this sounds familiar:

Whitey's dream for the last 35 years has been to win the town highest honor--the annual town patch. Something they give to the town's most respected and beloved citizen.

Davey doesn't think he'll ever make it. There's also a woman who Davey dated as a young preteen who has grown to despise who he is now. She has a kid who seems insecure and shy and needs a good father figure in his life. Davey hits bottom and realizes that...

Well, you can put the rest together, can't you?

But there's no fun along the way.

I felt while watching this---a sense of disappointment and disinterest in everything that was going on. I felt like I should be enjoying this movie a lot more than I was. I could identify with this story. I used to be an excited and open-minded child. But my optimism and eager nature was met with a lot of crushing disappointment when I was little.

Oh, his voice-over is strong enough. As Davey (his usual movie character), Whitey and Eleanor. And SNL/Sandler-movie regulars Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealson and Rob Schnider make their trademark noteworthy points, but it's basically top-notch comedic actors out there reading the phone book.

Davey is supposed to be a hero. At least that's how we're supposed to see him. As an angry kid who's lost touch with himself and attacks everyone who can find happiness--in places he can't. Bitter, angry, hateful and destructive---but underneath, there's a repressed likable guy trying to get out (In case you've ever seen an Adam Sandler movie, I'm not giving anything away).

But me, I saw him as someone I'd run into oncoming traffic to avoid. Even when he goes though his "change of heart," he was still someone I would take a baseball bat to. Davey is the prototypical bully in almost every Hollywood movie. Here, he's supposed to be a hero.

I guess that could work... if Davey wasn't constructed out of cardboard and as funny as the death of your family pet.

As the town bully, he's a dick. As a reformed hero, he's a phony. For some reason, when Davey reformed, I didn't believe it for an instant. He's still an open crusty sore. Sandler is just pulling out the standard cope-out ending.

But he's made a movie that's too profane and nasty for his ideal audience and too simple-minded, scatological and unimaginative for older viewers.

The jokes are mostly just Sandler committing acts of destruction and violent behavior (either physical or emotional). There are some nice songs here and there (some mediocre though), but this movie is no holiday pick-me-up. If you walk into this movie in a seasonal mood, this will certainly take care of that.

What's really unsettling is the artificial reform ending that I think these movies are required to have.

Sandler's remix of "The Haunakah Song" was some of the best part of the movie (and so were a couple of his others). Like I said, there are a handful of funny jokes and catchy songs, but the bad far more than outnumbers the good.

I hope Sandler chooses to evolve his style... at least a little.

Was he ALWAYS like this? Is this just more of the same?

Or am I just out-growing him?


[...]

This movie is great, but having it on 2 disc special edition maked it even better. The special features are the shiznit.

This movie was terrible!

"WARNING SPOLIERS MAY BE POSSIBLE!"

Well it starts out with Davey, a drunk who is crude and mean. Then when he gets into trouble he's doomed to community service with the town migiet Whitney, (No offence to little people out there, that it not my intention to offend anyone). Whitney sounds like Woody Allen on crack, and his fernal twin sister Elenaor isn't any better.

Well Davey does all he can to offend Whitney. That is until his place burns up! So he moves in with Whitney and his sister, and they set some ground rules. Then as the movie goes on, they make a big deal about Davey having little emotion, and when he cries it's all the sudden a big deal! And for some reason the deer in the woods talk, and help Whitney out. What or who is Whitney supposted to be Santa Claus?

I hate the music in it, the voices are annoying, and the characters are mostly unlikable! So warning to parents, keep your children locked up from this totally bad movie!

The Babe is a great baseball movie with a few flaws, mostly in the embellishment of the true facts, but it's miles better than the 1948 movie with William Bendix as the Babe. John Goodman gives his all as he portrays Babe Ruth, a man who enjoyed life a little too much. Other strong performances are given by Kelly McGillis, James Cromwell & Bruce Boxleitner. I recommend this film.

John Goodman's role is so realistic that I thought I was seeing the Babe many times! He is outstanding in his role as Babe Ruth. Hollywoood liberties, sure ...... but an excellent story and a look at an Baseball hero ........... A must for baseball fans.

A highly enjoyable baseball movie. John Goodman give a good potrayal of the famous slugger.From his rookie year with the Boston Red Sox,the New York Yankees,and his retirement from the Boston Braves.Watch how he responds to a bad call from the plate umpire,saying he ought to get his eyes and ears checked.Babe Ruth was a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox,and in his last year with the Boston Braves,but played outfield with the New York Yankess.Now maybe the film exaggerates the antics of Ruth, but Goodman's potrayal makes them beliveable.

Babe Ruth was the original rock star. The man who's name became synonomis with $$$ right from the start, and the fast paced, take no B.S. lifestyle. He was one of the coolest cats around, and this movie shows it all!
Alot of people say that the story is innacurate, and to that I say "AW Banana oil!" This movie is the tops. There's only one other movie about the Babe, and that one had him stepping into a dark dingy bar and ordering a milk! Babe Ruth didn't drink no milk. John Goodmans portrayal, if not completely accurate, is at least a lot of fun, and from what I know (I never met the guy in person-did you?) is pretty spot on.
The Babe partied every night of the week, and usually strolled into the game sometime around the second inning to sock one out of the park. He'd smoke a few cigars in the dugout, and usually had a mug of beer waiting for him at home plate. Nobody told The Babe what to do, because he owned. The guy pretty much paid everybodys salary in the day, and is still pretty much the reason why those jerk off Yankees still have so much dough.
He was an animal on and off the field. Just ask the dames that hung all over him. He had two smoking wives.. one a small town waitress, and the other a sexy Zigfield follie (aint that the dream?)
Yeah he had to overcome some serious struggles in life, but don't we all? The guy exuberated a good time, for the folks, and especially the kids, for whom he had the biggest heart in the world... And he told fart jokes at fancy dinners!

Great lines...
"What do you think of Mary for a name if we have a girl?"
"I think I need a 20 ounce steak, is what I think."

This movie rules. Check it out.

Be advised that after 45 minutes of the movie my 8 year-old son and I gave up. Goodman seems to have been given the license to "go for broke" with a "larger than life" approach, that leaves little for the viewer to consider of Ruth's actual life. With the broadest of strokes, Goodman plays Ruth self-consciously; the mis-en-scenes are without any surprises and Hollywood-predictable.

Too little was shown to give us the sense of Ruth-as-athlete and the milieu of early 20th century baseball, a fascinating story that awaited telling but missed the opportunity here.

This text is a great way to learn a complex subject. It's expensive but the on-line links provide good value. There's tests and study helps and the animations and explanations of the diagrams make learning so much more pleasant than the last time I did Biology 40 years ago. My fellow students agree this text has made the work easier to absorb. It goes into much more detail than first year university students need but it provides us with good basics for future study. Highly recommended.

This book is far too wordy and repetitive and could have been half as thick. It weights over 4 pounds and is very heavy to carry around.

Very often the point of a sentence is lost in the verbiage. Some basic explanations are repeated several times, whilst many more important things are left unexplained.

Many of the pictures appear to have been chosen because they are 'cool' rather than relevant to the text and just sidetrack the reader.

Some of the examples are incredibly stupid. One, at p. 18, under the heading, "Critical Thinking", 2., gives the story of a turkey that learned to equate footsteps with the provision of food. One one day the footsteps led to the turkey having its head chopped off. The text explains that the turkey learned the hard way. In fact the turkey learned nothing, as by then it was dead.

The glossary is inadequate and misses out too many new and important terms.

The answers given to the quizzes do not always agree with the text, for example, Chapter 2 Self Quiz Question 1 asks what charge is carried by an electron. The correct answer, as given at page 24, is "Negative," but the answer list in Appendix III gives it incorrectly as "Positive." Many instructors lift questions and answers from the book for on-line exams. Does the student then give the incorrect answer as per Appendix III to get the point or the correct answer, knowing that it will very likely be graded as "wrong"? Another example is in the quiz to Chapter 5, question 2.

Looking at the list of credits, it lookas if too many people have had a hand in the book and as a result it has been spoilt.

I would not recommend this book.

This book is useful and contains a lot of good information, but could have been half as thick as it is. Everything is summarized more than once, in side-bars and at the ends of chapters, and key points are even repeated more than once in the text itself. The result is patchy text that is difficult to navigate and next to impossible to find information quickly in.

This is the book I had in my college biology course. I find this book to be quite inconsistent. While it has it's bright spots and explains some things very well, it is one of those books where you end up having to hunt for the information. Result? You spend a great deal of time deciphering the book which has the information strewn everywhere in a fashion that's not entirely organized. Not to mention the fact that it stops dead cold in the middle of explaining a concept in order to go into great detail about another related concept. Then suddenly it jolts the reader back to what it was talking about beforehand. A good and elementary example of this is in chapter 2 where they discuss hydrogen bonding. It veers off and on from what the topic is supposed to be. It would be more helpful to cut to the chase and leave the lengthly prose out of the book. As another reviewer pointed out, the fact that the book has so many different authors is just ASKING for the final product to be inconsistent. This book is not worth the 120 dollars they expect you to pay for it.

Extremely basic with inconsistant layout. Entire sections will be printed with a blue background, for example, that look more like a special topics box then text. In several cases the text reuses its stock photos in several unrelated sections. The text illustrates points that clearly do not need illustration (Do you know what water looks like? There is a photo of it if you need it. ) and ignores others (the beta and alpha linkages of glucose) after dicussing them. Good for high school student concepts but unacceptably uncomprehensive for college.

This is a very simple textbook. The content is clearly geared toward the beginner in biology, and the text could even be well-recieved and understood by nonscientists. That said, I think the book functions best (oddly) as material for upperclassmen in biology. The scarcity of detail - intended to make the book easier for the lay reader - actually serves the advanced student nicely by avoiding repitition of concepts already thoroughly covered in other courses. This is a physiology text which covers exactly that: physiology. It gets tiring after several years of schooling in biology to deal with all the overlap between classes (I cannot count the number of times I have had to memorize the reactions of the glycolytic pathway, for example), and this book avoids that. Overall, its a great rundown of the important concepts in human physiology, and would probably make a nice refresher for someone who took physiology in the distant past.

Underlying the broad study of physiology lies several important principles; unless these are appreciated, studying physiology can prove to be difficult, time-consuming, and ultimately an experience you'd rather forget.

Often in the hope of gaining a complete understanding of physiology, students will make the mistake of trying to attack the bigger/detailed texts such as guyton, ganong, and berne& levy. Unfortunately these books (particularly the latter two) are quite advanced and detailed, possessing a lot of minutiae. These books are useful for postgrads in science or for those sitting medical specialty exams. What you need if you're starting out in physiology is a book that clearly emphasises the principles, and avoids swamping you with detail that will quickly erase your appreciation of the big picture (your examiners will reward such perspective, and not the regurgitation of random facts! - the same is true for all areas of study). Sherwood does an amazing job of providing this information at just the right level for the beginner, laying down a solid foundation for further learning. I recommend using this as a primary text and consulting the other heavy weights for the fine print if your course syllabus (or thirst for knowledge!) requires this.

This text was informative for the student just begining their anatomy and physiology education. However I believe it was put to best use when combined with another anatomy text (i.e.Tortora's Principles of Human Anatomy). These two texts are a powerhouse of information. They play well off of eachother. Where Tortora lacks in technical explanation and precise description Sherwood excells. Where Sherwood fails in graphic visual description Tortora more than makes up the difference. As a visual learner it was difficult to fully grasp certain concepts without another text to refer to. I believe for someone who learns best from verbal description this book would be incredibly beneficial. I used this text in a community college, pre-nursing, anatomy and physiology course and although it was helpful, it provided more of a complete picture when combined with the other text (Tortora). Overall I did find it more helpful as a reference resource than a teaching tool.