K Books

Genre: Travel

Title: 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park

Author: Larry K. and Lorna Collins

How do you prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Japan? Every step is a challenge, from procuring the turkey to making the pumpkin pie. But Larry and Lorna Collins of California thrive on such adventures, and they've written an enthralling account of the joys and frustrations of their "31 Months in Japan."

Larry worked as an engineer on a major theme park project in Osaka. He writes about topics such as unexpected engineering challenges involving dinosaurs and sharks, field-testing the park's rides (and restaurants!), surfing Japanese-style, and the bureaucratic hassles of buying a car. Meanwhile Lorna delighted in the people they met, and she writes with warmth and enthusiasm of cross-cultural experiences shared with new friends. She also devotes a chapter to typhoons and another, perhaps even scarier, to driving in Japan.

This is a super book that radiates joie de vivre. You'll be inspired as you read of life-enriching episodes, and a little overwhelmed as you learn about the many small misunderstandings and irritations of expatriate living. At times humorous, surprising, and moving, "31 Months in Japan" is a must-read for all travelers, armchair and otherwise.


Highly Recommended by Reviewer: Julie Falkner, Allbooks Reviews.

This book accurately captures the experience of the working expat in Japan - coping with culture clashes in the office as well as adjustment pains in a foreign land. Larry and Lorna Collins tell the story of their trip to build Universal Studios Japan - the preparation, the work, the life in Japan and then the return.

As a reader with similar experiences, there were many, "The same thing happened to me" moments as they peeled the onion of Japanese culture, encountering and then digging through stereotypes. The book also provided quite a few "I wish I knew that back then" lessons. The old Japanese hand will also note the odd ironic event here and there, for example, being complimented on using chopsticks is a universal experience.

The mix of good nature and naive wonder experienced by Larry and Lorna come through strong. Perhaps the sincerity is why they made so many connections. Of course the cultural cynic won't be able to finish the book.

Worth the read, and makes me want to return to Japan.

I was utterly charmed by the experiences related from the viewpoint of the author husband and author wife. Not only were the glimpses of the Japanese culture intriguting and fascinating, but I was also awed by the descriptions of the different places visited by the authors. The insights into the actual building of a theme park in a foreign land kept me turning pages.

Having had the opportunity to see the authors at the recent Epicon made it even more interesting as I could imagine them as I read their words.

This is definitely a book for anyone who likes to read about new places and learn more about a different culture from first hand sources.

Thank you for many pleasant reading hours.

Marilyn Meredith, author of Wingbeat, latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series.

From the very first chapter, "31 Months in Japan : The Building of a Theme Park" by Larry K. and Lorna Collins, immerses the reader in a fascinating discovery of Japanese culture and the ingenious secrets that make the magic of a theme park real. This detailed and personal account of the trials and surprises involved in creating Universal Studios Japan is told in a warm familiar voice that many times had me musing that I would have reacted the same way as the narrators.

The Collins embark on their adventure with enthusiasm and open hearts, and this attitude enables them to make meaningful contact with their Japanese hosts, not just in the workplace where they face the challenges of turning dreams of an exciting theme park into smoothly-functioning reality, but also on the busy and often confusing streets of Osaka. If you wish to experience a view of another culture that goes beyond rapid tourist impressions or the surface veneer of international negotiations, this book is for you.

Another wonderful layer of the book is the intriguing behind-the-scenes perspective of the complicated mechanics that make all the parts of a major theme park mesh together to form a magical world of imagination come to life. I was spellbound by the innovative solutions that the team of engineers used to solve the complex problems involved in making giant mechanical dinosaurs and sharks interact with an artificial landscape and waterscape to produce a living theater capable of thrilling visitors again and again.

By the time you finish "31 Months in Japan" you will know the Collins well, and will appreciate having joined them on their rich journey to Japan and back. The theme park they helped create is a testament to how drawing on the strength and vision of many individuals and even different cultures can take a project to admirable and unexpected heights. I strongly recommend this outstanding book.

Reviewed by Kelli Glesige for Reader Views (3/06)

Co-author Larry K. Collins was a project engineer assigned to the construction of the amusement park Universal Studios Japan, and Lorna, his wife was in Document Control. For 31 months, Larry and Lorna lived in Japan during the building of Universal Studios Japan, moving to Osaka in August 1998 from their permanent home in Dana Point, California until the park opened on March 31, 2001. "31 Months in Japan" is the story of the culture shocks the Collins encountered, the wonderful friends they made, and the sharing of their many interesting challenges and adventures, beginning with the first obstacle in May 1998 when they learned their building site was contaminated and the subsequent 18 month clean-up.

"31 Months in Japan" will entice those curious about traveling to or possibly living in Japan. The behind the scenes work that goes on during the construction of a theme park is also covered, so if you are enthralled with all the plans that go into building a theme park from the obtaining of the land until the gates are opened to the public, you will be entertained.

The book is written like a journal, Larry writing about his encounters as a project engineer, working on the Jurassic Park and JAWS water rides, along with the Water World show, then Lorna sharing her experiences with obtaining housing, cooking and working in Japan. They cover the gamut in telling us about Japanese fashions, home furnishings, festivals, holidays, weather, roadways, maps, parking, waste removal system, communal bathing, golf, rituals, work ethic, appropriate social behavior, and obtaining and preparing familiar food.

At the beginning of each chapter, a new Japanese word is introduced with its pronunciation and meaning, and we are then told a story of how that Japanese word relates to an encounter shared by the Collins. By the end of the book, we should have a few Japanese words in our memory.

The differences between America and Japan were eye opening. Larry experienced driving with only ½" between his left front tire and a three foot ditch running along the side of the road. When passing another vehicle, Larry relates there would be only a scant 1/4" space between the two vehicles door-to-door. Also, before purchasing a car in Japan, the Collins learned one must first have an assigned place to park it. A final random thought I found interesting was that American pizza in Japan has corn atop, is drizzled with mayonnaise, and has toppings of seafood and seaweed.

The Collins eagerly and enthusiastically share with us their experiences of Japan. They tell us about Jurassic Mark, Raouf Iskander, the Nihon Cowboy, their Japanese "daughter" Yasuko and Jurassic Jack. The Collins came back changed individuals but only for the better. It is obvious of the great love they felt for the many special friendships solidified by their times in Japan. The Collin's book is a tribute to the great number of colorful personalities that came together to make the building of Universal Studios Japan a success!

This is probably one of the most useful books I have for Greek and overall one of the most comprehensive verb guides for any language I'd studied. Spend the money if you want to learn Greek.

Very well laid out, easy to use format. Each verb in all its forms is on a single page. By viewing all the tenses of the verb on one single page, one can begin to feel comfortable with "how" and "why" a verb means what it means. The forms and patterns become visible, predictable and understandable, as do any exceptions. Quite impressive.

It's a very good book! Now is my best friend!!! Everytime that I need some help with Greek, I ask his help.

This book is an excellent reference for Modern Greek verbs. This book is not for beginners, but is an excellent reference for the serious student.

This is an outstanding reference guide. Easy to use and very helpful with conjugations in all tenses. Definitely recommend for anybody, from the beginner to the advanced student of Modern Greek.

This is the sequel to the authors' Engineering Mathematics. It follows the same programmed instruction approach which is so effective in their earlier book. Students who like this approach and the earlier book should also own this book. It delves into more engineering mathematics topics like Laplace Transforms, 2nd-Order Differential Equations and Complex Numbers. All in all, a good book to study engineering mathematics.

The text is designed to meet the specific needs of engineering students who needs adanced math to complete their degree.The text is written for self-study and is completely self-contained.I think that the Advanced Engineering Mathematics text definitely has all of the math you could expect to use in electrical engineering.The nicest part of the text is the fact that the authors use bite-sized chunks of information.You will not get fancy derivations or cute stories at the beginning of the chapter.If you want all types of physical insight or mathematical modeling,this is not your book. If you are like most engineers and need to make it past this material,then the "cookbook" like feel of the text is exactly what you need.

This book is the sequel to Stroud's excellent "Engineering Mathematics", which focused on the undergraduate engineer and the math that he/she should know by graduation. This book continues on with crystal-clear discussions of numerical methods, linear algebra including the singular value decomposition and its uses, linear programming methods, multiple integration, and partial differential equations, to name a few of the topics covered. Just because the mathematics is more advanced in this book does not mean that it is any less clear than its less advanced predecessor. Stroud continues his tradition of holding your hand and leading you through every question you might have about working various types of math problems. I particularly liked his coverage of partial differential equations and numerical linear algebra topics. That is because it is hard to find advanced math books on these topics that are not written by pure mathematicians. Thus most of those books have a tendency to go overboard on proofs and not focus on the practical matters engineers must know in order to solve problems. The only negative thing I can say about the book is that it references Stroud's other book on engineering math, "Engineering Mathematics", during some of the explanations, possibly putting you at a disadvantage if you don't have it handy. I highly recommend this book as a reference every engineer should own.
NOTE: For some strange reason this review of "Advanced Engineering Mathematics" is appearing under that book and also "Vector Analysis" by the same authors. This is NOT a review of "Vector Analysis", just to clear up any confusion!

The programmed instruction approach is used very effectively by Stroud to make sure the student fully understands exactly what is being taught.

Brilliant!

I'll begin with the one problem I've found in this book (the only reason it doesn't get five stars): in the working of some of the example problems, the author leaves out numerous steps, does some odd algebraic manipulation, and some of the example answers are flat-out wrong (there are a couple in the section on Fourier Transforms). Now to all the great aspects...this book covers an extremely wide array of topics, assuming only an elementary knowledge of calculus and differential equations, addressing (in detail) many techniques frequently utilized by engineers with almost no rigor (great if you're an engineering student wanting to learn applied mathematics, not so good for pure mathematics students). The topics include numerical methods for solving algebraic equations, the Laplace Transform, the Z-Transform, Fourier Series and the Fourier Transform, power series solutions of ODE's, numerical methods for ODE's and PDE's, partial differentiation, analytic solution of PDE's, integral functions, matrix algebra, multiple integration, vector calculus, complex analysis, and linear optimization. The author's pedagogical approach is perfectly-suited to self-instruction, and I have been able to work through the book and most of its problems (for which all answers are provided) relatively quickly. My only problem with the content of the book (other than the aforementioned occassional errors) is in the coverage of multiple integration, where a large amount of work is devoted to line and surface integrals of scalar fields (including determining whether the line integral of a differential in x, y, and z is conservative without any discussion of curl). I just personally think this is the wrong approach for line and surface integrals, which are easiest to understand (IMHO) in the context of vector fields and vector calculus. Overall, I feel this is an excellent book for engineering students, and could even serve as a good starting point for mathematics students as an intro to the methods of harmonic analysis, PDE's, and complex analysis, before jumping into the theory of these fields. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

"The Bachelor of Arts" is the second of a thematic trilogy that begins with "Swami and Friends" and ends with "The English Teacher"--three novels that collectively take their characters from the innocence of youth through the disappointment of love to life's first tragedy. Yet this tale of Chandran, a college graduate unlucky in love, is (as Graham Greene notes in his introduction) "a funny and happy book" at its core--particularly when compared to Narayan's later melancholy, tragic books--yet a closer reading shows us the "shadow [that] had been there from the beginning."

The first part of "Bachelor" is an unexpected treat: a farcical, satirical look at the sillier, exhausting rituals of academic life in colonial India. The opening scene features a debate on whether "historians should be slaughtered first"--and Chandran, a history student himself, is required to argue in the affirmative. From there, our poor student is appointed by his professor as secretary of the school's new Historical Association, an honor that adds to his duties but hardly helps his studies. In between, he frequents the cinema with his best friend and dutifully maps out a grand plan for exam preparation--a plan that is revised daily due to the impossibility of following it.

The debate society, his friends, his academic career--all has been poor preparation for life's setbacks. ("The classroom or the club or the office created friendships. When the circumstances changed the relations, too, snapped.") The giddiness of the novel takes a sharp turn when the circumstances do change: Chandran falls in love at first sight and is rejected, causing him to cast aside the comforts of life and to leave home. The rest of the novel follows our Bachelor of Arts (still a bachelor in life) as he educates himself about the one subject neglected during his collegiate career: himself. It's such a simple and simply told story, but it illustrates beautifully the complexities of finding one's place in the world.

I could identify with the main character as he completed his studies and began moving into the 'real' world. His spiritual journey, though not complete at the books end, was very interesting. The (paraphrased) line "they thought they were the first of their type and the last..", referring to his radical friends from his university days, struck a chord. We all slowly realize that our own well-used mold was indeed not broken after they made us. More followed. Alas, we all take our place in society and make the best of it.

Simply written and easy to read. I recommend it.

I have read and liked R K Narayan's works in the past. I picked this one up just based on the fact that it was written by him. It was not recommended to me by anyone. And honestly i am so glad i did.
The main character is a student just out of undergrad and facing the decision of what ahead. In a very straight and simple manner Narayan portrays the character's struggles with choosing a career and then his foray into love. Its simple and yet extraordinary. BTW for those expecting a dramatic ending, don't. This book just ends. I had to turn the page to realise its finished :-)

The story of Chandran, a final-year student of History, on how love tranforms ambitions, alters goals and changes lives is the theme of this wonderful book.

Written masterfully with just the right amounts of comedy, emotions and twists, and teeming with sarcasm characteristic of Narayan, this book takes a broad look at values and customs. For example, the long scenes wheres discussion about horoscopes and Chandran's disagreement with his mother are all so very close to life in India.

A great book, an excellent read....

A very pleasant and interesting look at the life of a young man in South Asia. Only moderately engaged by his studies at the university, Chandran spends most of his time going to movies, staying out late, drinking at the café, and generally socializing with his friends. With some prodding from his father, he overcomes his laziness sufficiently to graduate, only to find his problems just beginning.

Chandran's predicament should be very familiar to many readers. Bright and charismatic, but lacking any real focus, he has difficulty finding employment. Upon graduation his peer group separates, and he needs to make new friends. And his parents, who are only eager to see him make something of himself, can't help but find fault with his carefree, unproductive lifestyle. What's a Bachelor of Arts to do? His unrequited love for a young girl named Malathi makes for an interesting look at how courting was handled in traditional Indian families not so many decades ago, complete with horoscopes and dowries and class consciousness. But ultimately, isn't it the couples' willingness to commit to each other that matters, and not how they happen to meet? Every bit as fascinating is Chandran's sojourn as an ascetic, which is reminiscent of a Hermann Hesse novel, but with a uniquely critical perspective that only a native Indian could provide.

Narayan's prose has a warm serenity that never fails to evoke small-town South Asia. What his plots lack in excitement and intensity, they make up for in geniality. This particular novel has perhaps a little more excitement than some of the others, and would be a good entry point for young people just discovering Narayan.

A great book for anyone with an interest in American whiskey's past, present, and future. Chapter 8 alone -- a guide to the landscape of what's currently available on the market place -- is more than worth the price of admission. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. I have been getting very interested in bourbon lately and this book answered every question I had and gave me an in-depth background of what bourbon is, how it is made, it's history, the distilleries that make it, and the prominent people associated with it. It is easy and fun to read and now that I have read it I feel like a bourbon expert (but I am far from it).

This book goes through all the history of bourbon from the very beginning up to now. It is a easy read with lots of details, but not so much that the reader gets lost.

Great introduction to bourbon. Cuts through the myths, and contains great tips on tasting and trying new bourbons. Wonderfully informative and very well written

for Mr. Cowdery's bourbon book. A very accessible introduction to the topic but filled with information that will educate the aficionado as well. Extremely well-written and researched. Simply a pleasure to read. I only hope that a sequel is forthcoming that will collect more of his outstanding reviews of bourbons currently on the market. You just can't do any better if you want to learn about America's native spirit.

Highly recommended! I ordered this book last year and use it frequently in my martial arts school. We hold themed "parents night out" nights and discuss all ways to be Bully Free. This book starts with the basics...first and foremost be friendly, be accepting and be aware. I used it as a foundation, also, for a Bully Free Seminar. I also use the book "Bully Free" Bulletin Boards Posters and Banners for activities and we display them in the school. As available a resource such as these books and others found on Amazon.com; why are these not used in the public schools? And if they were available to teachers; would they use them? Bullying is a huge problem even in my small town; but the teachers are so bogged down with teaching the academics, would they find the time?

I really can't say enough good things about this book! It is absolutely chock-full of really useful, practical activities to use in your classroom. A must-have!!

As a teacher, I know that this issue must be addressed in the home and classroom to put an end to it. This is a solid tool for the classroom with tips and strategies for use at the secondary level. However, schools and Parents need to deal with this issue from a proactive standpoint long before middle school. The best all around book on the topic isBully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullyingwith great stories, lessons, strategies...that can be used both at home and in the classroom. Use it with children ages 3-14. I can't recommend it more highly.

I am currently a third-grade teacher, and I have taught many levels of students, from kindergarten to high school. I read this whole book in two days, and it is the best book I have seen on the subject, as a resource for teachers (and for parents).

The book is divided into three major parts: Creating a Positive Classroom, Helping Victims, and helping Bullies. Each section of the book was equally good. Every section is filled with very specific ideas which would work in almost any school situation, of any level. 95% of the ideas and suggestions would be appropriate for Grade 3, without any modification. The book is also filled with reproducable pages which ARE REALLY USEFUL, unlike most reproducables which I have seen for teachers. Not one paragraph of the entire book wasted my time. Every single page is packed with hard-hitting practical ideas. I also liked the many, many suggestions which can be used for journaling ideas. Some examples: "How would you feel--if you were the most popular student, or the least popular student; if you were the new kid in school; if you wore glasses." Also: "When was the last time someone did something really nice for you? What did the person do? How did it make you feel?" Also: "What do you like about yourself? What are you best at? What makes you proud of yourself?" These are just a few of the 200 or so ideas JUST for writing about, which are scattered throughout the book.

On a personal note, in the part dealing with Helping Bullies, I recognized a family member who is a verbal and emotional bully. This book also gave me some excellent ideas for dealing with this adult.

I just wish I had come across this remarkable and helpful book years ago! I can recommend it to teachers of all ages of children (and parents, too).

This is a great book with lots of valuable tips. Great for the classroom. Another book,Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullyingis also highly recommended because it extensively designs environments that are unfriendly to bullies; has detailed lesson plans and original literature and guided discussion questions for children ages 5-12.

Even after thirteen years as faculty member and five as a college administrator in Upstate New York; this was a reminder of the basics. I found this to be an easy read. I read it in a matter of two evenings. I have decided to take it upon myself to purchase this book for many of my friends who are new administrators.

This would be a great book for all new hires.

This is a book that pinpoints specific issues in Higher Education and how to handle them properly as an administrator.

Each chapter of this book discusses a particular difficult issue in higher education administration. Examples include specific "hot-shot" faculty asking for unfair favors, the handling of controversial issues between faculty members and students, negotiation for shared resources across departments, and handling adult bullies, etc. Each chapter begins with a mini-case to illustrate the difficult problem involved. Then it discusses the related issues and how to handle every detail. At the end of each chapter, it presents the solution for the mini-case.

Reading this book enhanced my understanding of academic issues from an administrator's point of view. I had always thought that managing a higher education institution was less challenging than managing a Fortune-500 company. On the surface, it seemed that everything would just go by the book. Now I know that, it is far more complex than going by the book, though knowing "the book" is crucial. Being a college administrator has its own set of challenges: managing faculty members who do not want to be managed. Due to the employment structure (with tenured faculty, faculty who can bring in a vast amount of resources: publication and research grants, etc.), it is not entirely a direct command-and-control situation. In addition, since a university environment is quite decentralized, there are a lot of complicated interpersonal power issues among faculty, graduate assistants, and students. According to the author, one leverage administrators should use is the established mission and goals of the university. If someone's behavior or performance is against these established statements, this would be a valid means for handling the issues properly.

I think that, explicitly communicating the mission, goals, policies, and expected proper professional behavior to all new employees and new students in detail and in writing ahead of time is equally important. This way, at least every party would have the proper information before problems happen. In addition, this book also implicitly tells job seekers what to look for when applying for an administrative position in Higher Education. To me, it is well-articulated mission and goals, as well as well-established policies that are fair to all parties.

Overall, this book shows that the author is knowledgeable and familiar with the subject matter. It should be very helpful to higher education administrators or administrators-to-be.

Gunsalus' work is a realistic and credible portrayal of office politics in higher education. Written primarily for the new administrator who comes out of the ranks of the faculty at a university, the guiding principles are useful for anyone in a higher education mangement role. Gunsalus focuses on topics related to interpersonal relationships, legal issues, academic freedom, and related challenges in the academic workplace. This is a useful, relevant resource for the newcomer to college and university administration.

I've attended a number of chair and dean conferences and read the literature, but this is tops for practical and political advice. It has relevant case studies (a la Harvard Business Review) that are derived from real time war stories.

If you're in a difficult situation or need an outside perspective, this book will help you sort it out, and keep you entertained as well.
For more on my work; see,
New Playwriting Strategies: A Language-Based Approach to Playwriting (A Theatre Arts Book)

Just bought several copies to distribute to my former Ph.D. students, now professor themselves, and my current grad students. Experienced administrators will ask "where was this book x years ago?" and everyone else will benefit now and in the future.

Good advice from the 'Rat Pack' of the mid-20th century - one of the Inklings and his sidekick.

In the opening chapters Dale Ahlquist gives a vivid and rich description of the captivating character that is G K Chesterton. Ahlquist, an admitted Chesterton fan, provides a guide to the world 'through Chesterton's eyes' with the focus on the question - what is really important in life? There are some hard questions asked and some blunt answers given. Not a book for those who feel wish to remain comfortable with atheist, Darwinian, Marxist, Freudian or even scientific beliefs. If you are happy to challenge your beliefs and are willing to ask questions of yourself and others, Ahlquist and Chesterton offer a wide range of ideas to debate. Easy to read, entertaining and challenging.

At six foot four, weighing in at 300 pounds, Chesterton was certainly the biggest writer of the Victorian/ Edwardian era. But why was he always laughing? "I suppose I enjoy myself more than other people because there's such a lot of me having a good time." If that doesn't make you want to read this book, nothing will. But that's only from the Introduction of this 300 page book, the tip, if you will, of the iceberg.

As with Ahlquist's earlier book, The Apostle of Common Sense, this book is collected from TV shows that played on EWTN. However, the reaction I continually had when watching the first series on video was "Ah! Let me write that down!" The great thing about that book (and this one) is that it is written down. Not only that, the book ends with a biography of all the books by Chesterton, with brief and very helpful annotations (notes) on each book. Most of the Chesterton I've read I found out about either from Dale's other book or his notes on books sent out by the American Chesterton Society, of which he is president.

In between these two bookends, as it were, I expected quotes from GKC, but it's more than that, with our host providing what are likely slightly revised transcripts of the shows. So you get a cornucopia of Chesterton, with footnotes of where it came from so you can track down those books, but also Dale's engaging writing. In my view, he is the Boswell if Chesterton is Johnson. It's as if he were introducing us to a particularly zany uncle or grandfather who afterwards we can not wait to visit.

Rock savvy readers will place my title as a spoken aside from "Stairway to Heaven", but this book gives the answer. "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly," quipped GKC. For all his poundage, so did he. Ahlquist invites us to that forgotten realm where easy laughter is part and parcel of common sense.

For the beginner, this was a great introduction to G.K. Chesterton. It gives some of his personal life and background, as well as pieces of his best writing. But Chesterton is much much bigger than one book (he would appreciate the humor in that statement). The author even gives his book a flavor of Chesterton's writing (at least to the amateur reader). But what can you expect from someone who is heading the Chesterton Society. This is a great book and made me want to read more of the original Chesterton. It also makes a great book of common sense philosophy that is a hallmark of G.K. Chesterton.

This book is absolutely remarkable. Although G. K. Chesterton wrote his material almost 100 years ago, his writings are so poignant to anyone living in today's world. Dale Ahlquist informs us of a multitude of very important subjects addressed by Chesterton throughout his life. I can't say enough about it; you just have to read this book!

I have just about every kids yoga book out there. This was a great addition to my library however it is way too expensive!?? I am not sure it is worth $40 although it is a great book.

this book is filled with great ideas and tons of yoga info. i also love Jodi...the author!

I just started teaching toddlers and everything in the book works so well. I have learned so much and my kids are having so much fun! This book is very comprehensive. Jody is passionate about her work with kids! She is a real pro and her work with music and movement is a delight!

Although the title put me off at first normally these kind of books are great in their simple concise explanations so I ordered it anyway.

I have to say it's an excellent book, I normally teach adults yoga and am just branching out into teaching children. However I am finding that I can take information from this book to use in beginners adult classes too as its simple, down to earth, no nonsense explanations of yoga make it a lot easier for students (at whatever age) to understand.

An absolute must if you would like to teach yoga to children.

I thought this book was excellent--I'm using it with my four-year-old, who has learned all 5 yanas and is able to recite them. She loves doing the poses and it really changes her mood when she's grumpy. I only wish there were better pictures. Sometimes it is hard to follow the diirections with no pictures.

Every hobby has one or two definative books. This is it for clowning. Everything I wanted to find out and more. Like any good reference book it started me down the path and I have read several books recommended.

If you are going to get into clowning you need this book.

Having read four customer reviews of this book, I might have had high expectations. Maybe I didn't realize it's true value at first, but after learning various skills, you may want to try others, which didn't catch your interest at first. Then you realize how powerful a tool this book is.

Until now I've focused on juggling and unicycling. The book not only teaches you how to ride a unicycle, -it also provides a lot of amusing variations. Though I knew how to ride before buying this book, it taught me how to ride in a very ridiculous way, seemingly out of control. I've experienced a tremendous effect when acting upon these hints in front of an audience. ...

Just recently I grew interested in the stiltwalking sections and made a pair of wooden tie-on stilts. I'm not exactly an engineer, but following the instructions, all I needed was a saw, some wood, a drill, some glue, some bolts and screws.

Reading the ingenious instructions given sometimes make me laugh out loud, thinking of how it would work in real life. The illustrations are really amusing, and I do enjoy all the hints on starting a clowning business. Lots of detailed information.

Also, the book is packed with numerous jokes and material that can be used for shows. The next stage for me will be learning how to twist balloons into different animal shapes.

I was actually looking for a book on how to put on clowns' make-up for my unicycling. This book is all you need to know about various types of make-up for various clown types, plus so much more. If you're thinking about clowning, either for fun or for money, I highly recommend this book!

My absolute favorite clowning book! If you can only get one clowning book get this one! Covers everything!!! Whenever I am writing clown shows I always go to this book. There are so many skit, gag and prop ideas in this book to build off of. It is truly GOLD!!! In addition to all the skit, gag and prop ideas it also covers make up techiniques as well as costuming. This book stays not on my book shelf or even out on a table but in my truck, so I always have access to it even when I am at work. I think one of the things that really makes this book so special to clowning is the fact that it is not just one author, there are around 10!! Each one writing on their speciality or passion.

I really wish they would come out with a second eddition of this book that would include websites and email address of clown scripts, ideas, gags, etc.

I'm considering setting up as a childrens entertainer, so I purchased a good few books. This is without doubt the best of the bunch.

The book covers lots of aspects of clowning, gives great ideas, and is an easy read.

The only downside is that it does not have space to go as in depth in some areas as I would of liked - but there are plenty of speciality books to do so.

I thought this book was informative, extremely informative for new clowns. You get a history of clowning, pictures of famous clowns, and jokes on most of the pages to use when performing. There is a chapter on how to develop your own clown character which also explains the different types of clowns (Whiteface, Auguste, Tramp and Character), their makeup and their character. Mimes are not excluded either! Topics covered are: clown outfits, props, routines, expression, timing, and working with partners. There are even chapters on balloon art, puppets, juggling, stilt walking, unicycling, and balancing objects. I found the last few chapters very helpful. They gave tips on designing your own business cards so people won't throw them away and how to get bookings and also how much to charge. There is a great Publications and Organization section full of books and suppliers. I would certainly recommend this book to any one who is interested in clowning around! This book has it all!