B Books

As a long-time PR professional and M.A. graduate in mass communication, I've read a number of publications highlighting best practices. Mark Weiner's book, Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian's Guide to Marketing and Communication (J-B International Association of Business Communicators), is by far one of the industry's most powerfully informative.

Public relations professionals tend to be measurement agnostic -- an unfortunate occurrence for practitioners who answer to P&L-savvy organizational leaders. Weiner's book addresses this issue, detailing practical analysis techniques that both improve the impact of communication programs, and reliably measure the effects of those programs.

For example, Chapter 1 details research, initiated by AT&T, which measured the interaction and effect of public relations within the marketing mix. The study revealed a surprising finding: public relations generated as many new customers as mass-market advertising -- at a fraction of the cost. Further, positive news about AT&T enhanced the effects of other marketing mix components. Such findings offer practitioners a powerful argument when competing for finite budgeting dollars.

In summary, I highly recommend this book for practitioners committed to powerful PR. For communication professionals, the book is a literary workhorse.

I have been in marketing communications and public relations for years, and shortly will have a doctoral degree in public relations, and I have to say, I have never read a more concise and valuable book for public relations. There are things in this book that years in public relations did not teach me, and every public relations professional, whether executive or new practitioner, should read this book.

Too many practitioners get into public relations and think it's about writing press releases, getting media coverage, and planning publicity. In this book, Mark Weiner goes beyond the alleged "secrets" of good PR to provide the kind of holistic strategic perspective of public relations that most organizations overlook. And yet, his information is extremely practical and accessible to even the most neophyte practitioner.

Mark Weiner is one of the most talented and intelligent public relations executives in the world, and this book is testament to his simple genius.

This is the only professional business book I have used in my university teaching...and it's the first book I recommend for anyone interested in succeeding in public relations.

Mark Weiner brings a refreshing and much needed viewpoint to the public relations field with his in-depth book about the need to measure results and the value it creates. He provides the public relations professional with insights to help place him or her directly on the playing field as a strategic business advisor to corporate leadership. Mr. Weiner shows how PR professionals can be "change agents" by identifying mutually agreed upon objectives, measuring the results of PR efforts to accomplish those objectives and then making recommendations to improve overall corporate performance.

As Mr. Weiner points out, proving value can be a great challenge, but he shares several steps to make it a relatively simple undertaking. PR professionals will benefit from Mr. Weiner's perspective on how PR measurement demonstrates proof of performance and can result in bigger budgets to work with, earned respect for the profession and opportunities for personal advancement.

This book is a valuable resource as Mr. Weiner provides cost-effective tips on measurement strategies based on three types of "PR-ROI" which should create an "aha" moment for many PR professionals. In addition to covering the unintentional and intentional mistakes that can occur during the measurement process, Mr. Weiner has a wealth of information for the PR professional who wants to become a strategic thinker and have a place at the corporate decision making table.

Mark Weiner's book is a "must read" for PR, marketing and any communications professional working today. It's chock full of great examples as well as great advice. Mark's research background gives him a unique vantage point -- one we can all learn from. And, his experiences represent real life, not an academic approach. I highly recommend it and keep it on my desk as a resource.

Although hardly the "contrarian" of his book's title, Mark Weiner correctly identifies two problems common to public relations practitioners: They fail to set objectives, and then they fail to measure what they have accomplished. Weiner explains an uncomplicated way to correct these tendencies. He tells PR managers and their clients why taking a scientific approach can improve the professionalism of PR campaigns and gain respect for them in the marketing world. He uses examples from his own experience to buttress his arguments about the benefits of PR. Occasionally, the book is repetitive, but it is eminently practical. We recommend it to corporate communicators, PR consultants and their clients.

The Way of the Wilderking was a great ending to the series. I hope there will be another series that goes with the trilogy.

As I read the final installment to my 10 year old boy, I think we have enjoyed each book more than the last. The characters and culture have really grown on both of us, and we're getting a little sad that it will be over soon...the books are entertaining, moving, and inspiring; who could ask for anything more than that in any book, let alone a book written for kids?

This series is enthralling for my 10 year old daughter (who reads at a 8th grade level). It has adventure, danger, excitement and folklore to capture and maintain interest.

Well done series. All three books are strong. Character development is good. Likeable, sympathetic characters.

Read these out loud with my 9 yo and the teenagers who thought they were too old for that; but their music was shut-off and magazine pages stopped turning the first night and after that just joined us. ;)

I would recommend for 9 and up to read on their own. We just chose to read them together.

When fear of God has left the land,
To be replaced by fear of man;
When Corenwalders free and true
Enslave themselves and others too,
When mercy and justice disappear,
When life is cheap and gold is dear,
When freedom's flame has burned to ember
And Corenwalders can't remember
What are truths and what are lies,
Then will the Wilderking arise.
~from The Wilderking Chant



Corenwald is in trouble. Six years have passed since Aidan first went to Tambluff in service of King Darrow. Those six years have not been kind to the king. He's grown increasingly paranoid and he's made bad moves. Prince Steren has served his father well, soothing and advising him, but now even he is losing influence and the country appears to be in real danger because of the king's foolish behavior.

And yet, The Way of the Wilderking, the final book in the Wilderking Trilogy, is not a dark and depressing book. In fact, it opens with a hilarious scene and the comedy, much like the Energizer Bunny, keeps going and going and going. I thought these books couldn't get any funnier. After all, how many funny feechie feasts, feechie sings, and feechie contests can one swamp produce?

Ha! I forgot the old saying, "You can take the feechie out of the swamp but you can't take the swamp out of the feechie." Fortunately for feechie fans everywhere, Dr. Rogers thought to take the feechie out of the swamp. What do you get when mix Dobro Turtlebane with a civilizer city? One disaster following another, in finest feechie fashion.

Rogers, as anyone would expect, does a fine job with the writing in this book. The prose is great, the scenes are well painted, and the descriptions are clear. As he did with The Secret of the Swamp King, the author once again weaves in a bit of a mystery for his readers. The difference is that in The Secret of the Swamp King, the mystery, when solved, brought some heartache, while in this final book the solving of the mystery brings Rogers' account of Corenwalder history to a satisfying and happy conclusion.

There are some hard things on the way to that happy conclusion, though. There is war, for one thing, and with war comes death. The role thrust upon Aidan is also a hard thing--a heavy burden. There are some deep lessons in this book, too--forgiveness, sacrificial love, reconciliation, humility, obedience, fighting against a false humility--all of these things were touched upon. They weren't dwelt upon, I think they could have been brought a little more to the fore even, but they were there in the lives of the characters as they went about the business of the story.

Altogether a great read. I have to give it five stars. I can't imagine giving that gallant and goofy Dobro anything less than five stars for his wonderful performance in this book. I would love to quote several of his lines for you--there are so many to choose from. He is not only funny, he is sweet and chivalrous and adorable in so many ways. (Stinky, too, of course, but that goes without saying.) I won't quote, him, though. I don't want to spoil the fun for you so I'll leave you to catch his show for yourself. He is unforgettable--truly one of the greatest characters every created.

Over the Andes and through the jungle to ineptness we go. A quite humorous account of science gone jumbled. But not all is lost here.

In 1923 eight scientists plus the author venture through the South American mountains and rainforests to make further discoveries in their respective fields of study. Touted as, "The most perfectly equipped expedition that has ever started to explore South America", it quickly unfolds into a blundering journey with many problems and mishaps.

Thanks to MacCreagh's sense of humor and wit we see how every imaginable incident went from bad to worse. One by one these scientists quit the expedition to forsake the author and one other to travel up the remote Uaupes and Tiquie Rivers meeting face to face with hostile natives. What transpires is a remarkable short term study into the culture of these indigenous peoples.
Entertaining read.

I am enjoying this travel account very much. It's like Bertie Wooster goes to the jungle.

Mr MacCreagh has maganed to write an outstanding book based on a rather unsuccessful expedition. It is the tale of an expedition of eight eminent scientist in the Amazon, who were put together not for their ability in the outdoors, but for their scientific knowledge.

The author is a helper/manager of the expedition. He manages to describe the expedition from its beginning in the Bolivia highlands out to the Amazon plains and to its disintegration. It is quite clear that the scientist were not sure what to expect, and so had not prepared accordingly. Huge volumes of luggage went unused and were a huge burden. Egos and discomfort made the scientist into bickering children and inept explorers. The author masks their names because apparently these were well known figures of their time.

There is a bit of scientific content in the book, but clearly the main reason to read it is for the good humor of the author in describing the situations they get themselves in. One learns more about people and how they behave when taken to extremes than one does about the Amazon.

When your read of other expeditions and how well they were conducted, then you read Gordon MacCreagh's humorous account of a mistake-ridden expedition into the Amazon, and you may wonder how this could happen. Clearly, the leader of MacCreagh's expedition was no Roy Chapman Andrews. Too many mistakes with both men and equipment. It is a humorous, often hilarious account of how not to conduct an expedition into the Amazon -- or anywhere else. I found it to be much better than Peter Fleming's "Amazon Adventure" and somewhat better than Arthur O. Friel's "River of Seven Stars," which has not been reprinted. MacCreagh's sense of humor and keen observations are what place this book at the top of my list of exploration/expedition books. I found it difficult to keep from sharing portions of this book with family and friends...

I can't believe you can get this book used! I own three copies and I don't even loan it out. This is a terrific expedition book and a wonderful book about being human. My family was thrilled to know that this book was being re-issued. Like one of the other reviewers, I was brought up knowing who the various scientists were because my father had worked with a colleague. It gave us plesure to know the names, some of whom were quite well known even today. It was also nice to know that at least for the eminent icthyolgist and the eminent entomologist the work that they produced from this expedition was very useful. I have recommmened this book countless times, and get copies for friends I really like.

The result of Evans and Avis's five-year collaboration is an extraordinary book, The Women who Broke all the Rules, containing stories based on ideas, motivations, and behaviors of 100 selected female representatives of the Torchbearer Generation (individuals born between 1945 and 1955). By utilizing an effective interview questionnaire, designed by the authors and provided in the Appendix, as well as by conducting extensive face-to-face interviews, Evans and Avis have accomplished a difficult task. They have successfully managed to combine four decades of thousands of childhood, adolescent, and adult memories into an enticing exploration of American social history.

Pleasantly surprising, these 100 Torchbearers are not easily recognized public figures, superstars, or celebrities. Instead, they may be readily distinguished as any one of our own trusted wives, older sisters, younger sisters, cousins, aunts, friends, and colleagues who have had to "reconcile their 1950s childhoods with their more liberated adult selves." Whether married, divorced, remarried, childless, with children, or invested in any other combination of personal realities, the self-made female heroes in this book are cleverly discussed within the concepts of "old rules" (e.g, "Your families' values, beliefs, and practices should be yours") or "new truths" (e.g., "Honor your traditions but act on what you think is right"). Understandable, engaging, and thought-provoking, this fine piece of work presents significant "choices" to think about and discuss with friends, lovers, or family members.

What an incredibly well researched and well written book. For all of us who have struggled with living in a world different than the one we were brought up to live in, it really hits home and validates all those conflicting feelings that we have about who we are and what our roles are in today's world. And for the men who were raised by the same parents who raised us, and don't understand our struggle and why we aren't just like 'mom' this is a must read. And every marriage counselor who works with 'boomer' couples should read it, too.

As the daughter of a true Torchbearer, I deeply appreciate the candor, humor, and professionalism with which this book analyzes these women's lives. So many books have been written in the "spirit" of celebrating all women and their achievements, but they seem to be long on sentiment and theory and short on real research. Evans and Avis carefully structured their research to include women's persepctives about all areas of their lives but also leave the reader a great deal of room to understand and infer what s/he will. I also agree that most Torchbearers do not take enough credit for their culture-changing actions and attitudes, and I truly look forward to the day when (hopefully) my daughter and I can watch a "History of Women's Empowerment" program, and I can say to her that her grandmother was a woman who broke all the rules. More than any other I have ever read (and, as a psych major, I have read many), this book explains my mother as a member of this generation in a way I never could understand before. Plus, I now know that she really was part of a movement that, not unlike the civil rights movement, was part personal and part political. It brought Bell Hook home to me for the first time, without quoting her once.

I think this book is a must-read for all daughters AND SONS of Torchbearer mothers.

Just a hint, though, to those TB's rushing immediately to Amazon.com: You raised these kids, you know they won't read it if YOU suggest it : ) ha ha

One final note: I came to Amazon.com today for the first time ever (although I have previously used many e-commerce sites) expressly to buy 10 copies of this book to mail to my other 20-something girlfriends. Hey gen-x'ers: it's really THAT good!

REVIEW: The authors of WOMEN WHO BROKE ALL THE RULES illustrate the lives of women born during the baby boom era (1945-1955). A captivating story, read in a single sitting, about women who challenged existing social strictures by forging into professional fields previously closed to them. Most important for my generation to appreciate is the fact that they had to do so without the benefit of role models and mentors, which they now have become to those of us born in the 1960's. To hear how these ordinary yet exceptional women triumphed after immense struggles and conflicts they encountered in their lives, left me with a great sense of appreciation for what they went through personally, as well as,what they accomplished for women who have followed. This book should be required reading for both high schools and universities so that generations coming after the baby boom era can be reminded that the innumerable opportunities that exist today for women must not be taken for granted. Dr. Susan Evans and Dr. Joan Avis portray the lives of these women within the context of "Old Rules"--existing social constructs, and "New Truths"- the discoveries made when breaking the "Old Rules." This method perfectly illustrates the broad social impact of their individual acts of courage and their trail blazing spirits. The actions of these women literally forced society to think and act differently. I recommend and applaud this book and thank the women of the baby boom generation.

Evans and Avis have started to reconstruct the last chapters of Simone DeBeauvoir's book "The Second Sex." When I first read DeBeauvoir's book in 1973 I was dazzled by her essays, particularly 'Situation and Character' and the 'Formative Years.' Still, I recall being disappointed by the chapter on the 'Independent Woman.' It puzzled me that she didn't seem to have much to say that was new, fresh or interesting, and I was hungry for that examination. Perhaps too, my American sensibility expected a kind of formula on how to proceed. In retrospect, I have reconciled that women had neither succeeded nor failed on a public stage long enough for DeBeauvoir to have invoked a deeper analysis. This book makes an important contribution in beginning to record and analyze stories from this transitional group that the authors so accurately call the torchbearer generation. I think other readers would enjoy this book as much as I did.

While the loss of both legs gets your attention, the way Allen has chosen to live his life since is the real story, making him a true American Hero. This book illistrates his courage and struggles openly as he shares the unabashed truth of his entire life with no holds barred.
I had the rare privledge of introducing Allen to a group of 200 stout hearted men where he highlighted his book "Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior". He was an inspiration for all in attendance who learned he is indeed a healing warrior and patriot.
You are in for a real treat... an inspiring, must read.

I've had the privilege of knowing Allen and his family for some years. While I knew the stories behind his long and fruitful journey, in reading this book, I was still moved by the intensity of the pain that he met head on with steady determination. His testiment to Christ is clear. For those who will come to know him through this wondrerful book, his capacity to place himself in others' thoughts, sentiments and needs is also clear. So too is his wit throughout it all. Read this book for the journey to the sure, certain peace that we all seek. While his journey is unique, as is all of ours, his approach and commitment to the journey through his embrace of God and fellow man is universal. Allen's story is for the ages.

I read this book at a very important time in my life, when I needed to learn from a man of courage, faith, and selflessness. Allen Clark is all that, and this book moved me greatly. His open heart, quick wit, and trust in the Lord will inspire all who read it. It's not a book about Vietnam. It's a book about a man's journey through life under extraordinary circumstances who is lifted up by his faith and becomes a disciple we should all emulate.

Allen's book tells the story of a remarkable journey taken by an even more remarkable man. In the face of adversity, he summons the courage to face each situation head on, learns from it, strengthens his faith, and moves on to the next challenge. I highly recommend this book.

Allen Clark's book is a very poignant and compelling recounting of an American patriot's answering his country's call to arms. Set during the timultuous 60's when America was mired in those unpopular and far-off jungles and ricepaddies known as Vietnam, "Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior" tells the story of a scrapy Texas kid who yearned to get into the Military Academy at West Point, how he graduated and became an elite Combat Special Forces Officer and then volunteered to go into battle overseas; how he was wounded and knocked down by the enemy and then how he was picked back up and learned to walk yet once again via the Guiding Hand of GOD. This is indeed a timeless story of one soldier's ability to triumph and overcome some of the most haunting and hurtful exeriences of war; A war fought first against the enemy without and then fought again against the enemy within. As a Vietnam veteran who knows both Allen Clark and some of the soldiers mentioned herein, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who may need to encounter firsthand the very essence of HOPE, COURAGE, FAITH and LOVE.

Attention Michael Pachis and others who purchased this book in 2006: I am the book's author and when I saw your comments, I contacted my publisher. If you purchased a copy recently and received it in 3-hole punch format, send me an email and I'll put you in touch with the publisher. They have a small number of perfect bound copies they can send you instead. Use the email address on the right side on my personal web site (kensall.com) home page. I hope this helps.
(I gave this 5 stars simply to not impact the book's current rating.)

This is an excellent book to understand, develop and code XML. However, in the parsing discussions (chp 7-10) an understanding of OOP and Java programming are almost required. Other than that, it is an excellent text.

I want to warn customers that the publisher has gone to a "print on demand" publishing model and this book is not delivered as a paperback, but as eleven hundred three hole punched loose leaf pages! This leaves you with the task of finding a binder after paying 40$ for the book! Since it is book size (8 x 10) it awkawardly fits into a standard 8.5 x 11 binder, not very convenient for reading or transporting, and you need the binder to be 3.5" thick to fit the book in the binder.

I gave it five stars for content, but this new method of publishing gets zero stars.

This book is not an "how to" guide, nor does it claim to be one. I mean by this that if you are, say a Java programmer looking for a book that concretely shows you how to integrate xml with Java then you would be better off with one of the so many Java/XML books on the market.

However, if in your work or your studies you feel that you need to gain a more thorough understanding of the W3C specifications related to XML, then this is the book to buy.

All the W3C specs are available for free on the web. The trouble is, W3C documents are designed to provide a precise definition of a standards, they are not designed to be especially intelligible by mere mortals (however technologically enclined). Some are quite readable, others far less.

Firstly, I really like that this book present all the relevant specifications and working drafts in perspective. Secondly, I found that it does a remarkably good job at translating these specifications (without simplifying them) in understandable terms.

In my work, I am interested in gaining as thorough as possible a view of XMl technologies and this book helps me greatly. I also like the fact that it present a well-organized bibliography at the end of each chapter (sadly many computer books from Wrox, O'reilly, Que an like don't have a bibiography as if to say "everything inside this book comes straight from the author's mind. DO not look any further).

I have reviewed for myself around twenty XML books. I found this book to be one of my top favorite. I recommend it especially for:
- CS students or programmer with a theoretical bent.
- anybody who wants to get a thorough overview of W3C standards.

Where to start? With the concise history of where XML came from and why each design decision was made and how the evolution of specifications took place over the years, or the thorough explanation of all the XML specifications, or the programming and parsing aspects of XML and metadata, or the cool XML timeline poster towards the end of the book? This book has much to offer any person interested in finding out what XML is and why and how it has changed our world.

Kenneth B. Sall, the author of this book, organized this book in a fashion where each section could be studied on its own, and if there are references to the previous sections, they are appropriately mentioned. This way, one does not need to sit down and cover this 1000+ page book cover to cover to realize that the topic of conversation is. The stage is set at the beginning by the author commenting on the fact that XML can describe everything under the sun, even the kitchen sink:

"XML: ... maybe it's everything but the kitchen sink? Say, have you heard the one about the XML Kitchen Sink Language? ..."

I have been working with XML for sometime now, and I am still amazed at how it has grown and expanded in to our everyday lives in the past few years. One can spend months coming up to speed with the specifications and the XML "realm", and that's not enough. This book does not even cover, in a great detail at least, the Web services realm. That alone is a couple of thousand page book. The background topics are essential to any reader: basic XML syntax, DTD, Canonical XML, Namespaces and XML Schema. Once you have these topics covered and well understood, you can jump around to any other part of the book, displaying XML data for example or XML programming API's.

One can spend a couple of hours trying to figure out how these specifications fit in, but the author hs already done the job with a very useful picture inside the cover page. What's your forte? Cascading Style Sheets to convert XML data into a PDF document for example, or an XHTML document to display on a web site? XHTML is also covered in length, if you do not know that is and what it offers over the plain old HTML.
My favorite topics were probably the authors explanation of the XML parsing and the available API's and resources. SAX, DOM, JAXP and JDOM are covered in great detail.
* SAX - the API that started it all. Minimal and light-weight. Fast and event driven.
* DOM - Memory intensive, complex, but very powerful. It's a tree based model, and the tree represents the whole document.
* JDOM - java specific. Can be used with either DOM or SAX.
* JAXP - java specific again, but easier to use than JDOM.
There are also a number of C++ XML parsers that the author touches on such as the Apache Xerces, C++ SAX and many others, but the main topics revolve around the four most popular parsers mentioned. These sections are mostly tutorials and how-to's. Each parser is used in an example and example is analyzed piece by piece. DOM is covered in more detail due to the number of levels (DOM level 1-3) that it has. Since DOM is more powerful and more complicated, the topic is a bit more advanced and would require more attention from a novice. If you read thru the SAX chapter and understand it well, DOM would not be that much of hurtle, but make sure that you read understand SAX first. Java centric API's including XML-RPC, JAXB, JDOM, JAXM are covered by the author to depict how XML can be used and how it would benefit the application - and developers in-turn. The icing on the cake is when K. B. Sall outlines the differences between SAX, DOM, JDOM and JSAX. He talks about each of the technologies in detail, tell you what the advantage and disadvantage of each one is, and then it compares them against each other. By the time you are done reading these sections, you would become an expert in XML parsing and programming.

XLink and XPointer. How can one leave without these two core technologies and tools? They are truly remarkable; easy to use, light weight and easy to learn. Well, they are well covered - as you would expect from this book. One thing about these topics is that they could be very abstract and need examples, and we got lots of those. The example depict the efficacy of how one can use XLink to create complex connections between sets of resources, even though you do not have a write access to those resources. This is very handy and resourceful technique is you need to build an e-commerce site. With XPointer, one can locate individual XML elements, set of elements or even a range of XML data between two points. The ability to specify "range" of elements is where the true power of XPointer is revealed.

The references, the related resources for each topic, simple to complicated examples and a CD filled with goodies, source code used throughout the book and the W3C specifications at your fingertips outline the some of the other benefits of Kenneth B. Sall's "XML Family of Specifications" book.

I found this book to be a fun read, one that is uplifting and enjoyable. The characters have a significant realism about them and the situations are extraordinarily honest. I appreciated the religious aspects without feeling like the point of the book was to convert everyone to the faith. I highly recommend it to any who teens and adults alike who are interested in a positive read and/or a brief trip down one's own high school memory lane.

You'll love this book, it has everyone in it and you'll really get into the story. Read the sequal it's to die for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very cute, fun read. Since the book is in many characters perspectives, I think everyone can relate to at least one of them.

At the end, you can't help but feel happy. I'm excited to read the sequel.

I had the privilege and honor to read "Yearbook" before it was available in stores, and enjoyed every minute I spent reading it! As a published LDS young adult novelist myself, I was amazed at Allyson's incredible skill and talent. The book follows many characters, both students and adults, yet she created and weaved their stories together so well that she made it look easy! I was definitely impressed at how wonderful and well-written this novel is. It's hard for me to believe it's her first novel! The dialogue is "true teen talk," and the story lines for each character are creative, yet at the same time, very true to life. Allyson is definitely an author to follow and read. I loved this book, and am looking forward to Book 2 in the trilogy! I hope it's going to be coming out soon! :)

I loved this book, and so did my high school age daughter. The "About the Author" info says Condie is a former high school teacher and that comes through in the writing. My daughter and her cross-country-running friends all agreed the characters and dialogue were believable and the story a page-turner. A wholesome and engaging read for young adults--and parents!

P. Glechlich

As a mother and professional working with young kids, I always like to look outside the box for special literature and art for children. And it has paid off over the years in how much more expanded their minds became. I loved the fun rhyme in this small book. The words splashed and played, and made you want to recite them aloud! I look for such books because rhyme, alliteration, and so forth, are very good developers of the whole brain, allowing right and left hemispheres to communicate and strengthen their synchronicity together. I wish major publishers weren't so afraid to do this type of thing more often. I much prefer books like this to books published by major publishers with movie and TV-character tie-ins! The drawings were lovely, and made you want to look closely amidst the ocean to see something no one else sees. A nice relief from a screaming, loud, video game world.

This little book packs a wallop: beautifully written lines and elegant pen drawings ebb and flow like the ocean, and perfectly capture the idea that the ocean waves are like thousands of wild horses. The author suggests reading it aloud, then having your child read it out loud as well--when spoken aloud the rhythmic verses really do resemble the sea. Definitely recommended.

In Betsy B. Lee's book, a little girl plays at the shore, imagining that 10,000 WHITE HORSES take her up and over the roaring waves. She giggles as they race up her back, nagging her to play. The girl tries to float on the white horses and doesn't give up as her mother lovingly watches from the shore.
Lee's book teaches children to try, try again using rhyming, playful text. Catharine E. Varnedoe, from Savannah, Georgia, sketched the charming illustrations that add a visual flair to the wonderfully written children's storybook.

10,000 WHITE HORSES would make a wonderful addition to any library, classroom, or day care center, and comes highly recommended by this reviewer.

What a fun, vivid story full of summer fun and memories. Children ask to hear this rhythmic story again and again. The illustrator did a great job of making the images leap off the page while hiding the horses in a unique way that adds to the reading experience by encouraging kids to seek and find the frolicking foals among the ocean foam. The writing style and tempo provide a great educational style that allows children and adults to not only read the words but to also feel the excitement of a day at the ocean. For those who love horses, live near the ocean or visit the ocean, this one is sure to gallop into your heart.
Review by JoAnna Carey, Author of Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life

Picture a clear blue sky along the coastal beach, miles and miles of the mighty ocean offering up her latest show just for you. A spectacular panoramic view of breathtaking waves of imagination, will give you memories to last a lifetime.

In this poetic story a young girl experiences some of that feeling during her outing at the beach. Having missed the first wave, is dunked by the second one, and then finally catches the third.

While on her floater, from the white caps of the roaring sea waves arise 10,000 White Horses, some unique guest members of the aquatic world. Running along the waves, pushing and shoving, as they playfully race for the shore. For one heart pounding moment upon reaching the sandy beach they jump through darkness and disintegrate back into the sea.

10,000 White Horses is a great adventure and a way to introduce young children to the wonders of nature, gaining a deep appreciation for these cosmically remarkable creatures.

This is an excellent starter book for both English and Spanish speaking children and an instrumental teaching tool for teachers and parents.

Reviewed by Betsie

Well please, I got just what they said. The book is well written, easy to apply-thanks.

The book, "Twelve Essential Skills for Great Preaching" is an excellent book for student ministers, lay persons and even seasoned ministers. We can all learn some valuable tips and "essential skills" on how to improve our preaching and by so doing remove boredom from our congregations and encourage and motivate all audiences in strengthening their faith in the Gospel of jesus Christ. This book will assist us to enliven our messages and communicate far better with our community of believers.

With a desire to provide a "skills development approach" for training in the art and science of preaching, Dr. Wayne McDill pens a volume that aims to "identify and strengthen the specific skills needed for more effective sermon preparation" (ix). McDill serves as professor of preaching at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He has over forty years of experience as a pastor, denominational leader,
and a teacher of homiletics and is the author of numerous books, including Evangelism in a Tangled World, Becoming Who You Are, Making Friends for Christ, and The Message.

McDill contends that there are twelve essential skills to help preachers provide more and better content in their sermons. While he observes that God calls and His preachers, we have the responsibility to develop these specific skills through "discipline, hard work, and a commitment to clear thinking and Bible-based sermons" (15). He notes that:

This book is designed with a self-improvement format, a do-it-yourself approach which will let you concentrate on your own skills, at your own pace, and in the areas you see need to be strengthened (7).

Summary

McDill presents the first skill for great preaching in that the preacher must "get the text in view" by way of observation (17). With this skill, he desires to "recogniz[e] and not[e] details in the wording of the text and their significance for its meaning" through the means of structural diagramming via inductive Bible study (43). The second skill is "seeing what is there [through] recognizing and noting details in the wording of the text and their significance in the meaning (42).

The next skill is in "asking the right questions ... for the best research to interpret the writer's meaning" -- also known as hermeneutics (59, 61). The challenge here lies in trying to know what someone's intentions are when they are so far removed by historical, literary, and theological distance (63-64). One these questions are answered, the preacher moves to the next step which is "naming the textual idea" (80). Here, the preacher discovers "the writer's idea in the text and designat[es] it with precise terminology" (83). Once accomplished, the next step is to touch human needs by "tracing from theological concepts in the text to corresponding needs in contemporary hearers" (102).

After this step is executed in the interpretation stages, the time comes to bridge from text to sermon (121) followed by the writing of the sermon divisions which "clearly state the teachings of the text on its subject" (139). Next is the step of planning the sermon design which determines "the arrangement of sermon materials for the most effective communication" (159) followed by the development of sermon ideas which will aid in the "understanding, acceptance, and response of the hearer" (182). The next step in this area of understanding and acceptance is in "exploring natural analogies ... for illustrating sermon ideas" for, as McDill notes, "a concept does not impact our thinking unless we can see it" (203). Along this line of thinking, the next skill deals with "drawing pictures, telling stories" in an imaginative and creative way to bring biblical and contemporary stories to life in the mind of the listener (223).

Finally, the culminates all the steps thus far into this final step which aims to "[conform] every aspect of sermon design to the aim of a faith response in the hearer" (244) for it is the "only appropriate response to God and His Word" (258).

Critical Evaluation

As stated earlier, McDill's purpose in writing this book consists of "identify[ing] and strengthen[ing] the specific skills needed for more effective sermon preparation" (ix). By focusing on the content of the sermon, he succeeds for the most part in making a user-friendly volume that deserves a place on every pastor's bookshelf.

What immediately strikes the reader's cursory glance of this work is the layout. McDill deserves praise for achieving his goal of presenting a "self-improvement format [and] a do-it-yourself approach" (7). Each chapter contains a sentence that clearly and succinctly tells the "skill [McDill hopes] to develop with this exercise" (83). Each chapter also contains easily identifiable headings and subheadings, a box or boxes containing key definitions, guidelines for each exercise, a chapter summary, study questions, and examples of how to implement each exercise. He helps the preacher in his studies who is pressed for time. McDill's layout allows the preacher a quick reference guide as needed.

Another appealing aspect of this work is its practical nature. This is not a theoretical book on homiletical philosophy but a basic `how-to' manual for preachers to work their own pace (11). He notes that "just because you think you understand something doesn't mean you can do it. Practice is the only way to master a skill, even in sermon preparation" (4). McDill takes the preacher step-by-step through each of the skills he presents. As mentioned just previously, each chapter contains a segment guiding the reader through an exercise for each skill (32, 52, 73, 90, 114, 131, 146, 171, 193, 215, 235, 257). In these segments, the author certainly practices what he preaches in that not only does he tell the reader what each skill entails, he also helps the reader apply it step-by-step from the ground up . This portion is so helpful for the young preacher finding himself overwhelmed with the thought of sermon preparation. McDill figuratively takes the young preacher by the hand and guides him carefully through each process.

A highly commended chapter ib this work is Chapter Ten, "Exploring Natural Analogies" (201). A `natural analogy' takes a "relationship, circumstance, event, or other factor" in the natural realm and parallels it with a theological concept (207). McDill notes that an "incarnational (in human form) principle must guide us today as se seek, through preaching, to be channels of God's ongoing revelation" (203-204). He rightly notes that we must "look for analogies that will help your hearer understand the idea" (211) and are grounded in our respective "arenas of life" (216). This skill is vital in connecting with our contemporary audiences and is the same style of preaching that Jesus often used with the common people with His use of parables, which took a common situation, event, or person's position and used it to instill a heavenly truth.

Two weaknesses are found in this work. The most noticeable is the title. This reviewer finds the title a bit presumptuous, as if acquiring and applying these twelve skills will automatically make one's preaching `great.' For McDill, great content equals great preaching and clearly his focus is on fleshing out the content of the Scriptures in "the skills necessary to sermon preparation" (10). The title implies this would be a more comprehensive approach to sermon preparation and delivery in the whole realm of preaching. Instead, he minimizes the effect of delivery in favor of content alone.

The delivery style is not the critical factor in what we recognize as great preaching. Great delivery without effective content is often only "sound and fury, signifying nothing." On the other hand, striking content is of real interest to the hearer, even if the delivery is weak. (10).

Yet again, the title of the book implies preaching and delivery is part of the preaching process. Plus, the Scriptural accounts of the preachers and prophets indicate that the content and the way they communicated that content was part of the message. The Apostle Paul notes that:

My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5, ESV).

The point here that Paul makes is that content alone does not a message make, but it is how the message crafts the speaker's heart and thus persuades passionately through the Spirit. McDill seems to miss this point completely. A better title would be "The 12 Essential Skills for Great Sermon Preparation."

Conclusion

After reading this work in its entirety, I would highly recommend this work to someone looking for a manual on sermon preparation. Even though the title is misleading, once the preacher enters into the contents of the book and sees the helpful way McDill fleshes out these various skills, he will be thankful for having such a wonderful volume in his hands.

I would recommend using this volume as a tune-up to specific areas of your preaching preparation that need work rather than trying to work from the beginning to the end of this book, for that would take a large amount of time. Absorbing this book little-by-little, however, will certainly transform your sermon preparation and your congregation will thank you all the more for this transformation.

I must admit as a recent Bible college graduate I was intimidated by the task of expository preaching. However, as I finished each chapter I thought to myself, "I can do that." Soon I was through the entire book confident I could preach an effective expository sermon on any passage of Scripture.
McDill takes you through from text to sermon and everything in between showing exactly how to do everything. I readily admit that my preaching has changed since reading this book. It has added depth and meaning and my sermons are not just an exegetical speech but messages that connects with the hearts and spirits of the congregation.
This book is a must-read for the expository preacher!

McDill has captured the essence of expository Preaching. No other preaching method I have studied is as God honoring and powerful. It teaches you how to preach God's Word and not your own or anyone elses. At the same time it helps you to use your own life experiences to illustrate the points you pull directly out of God's Word. It takes the best of Inductive study methods and couples them with the art of expository preaching.

This is an excellent translation of an amazing account. Favata and Fernandez give an accurate and interesting rendition of Cabeza de Vaca's words. Their notes aid in understanding and appreciation of the story. I highly recommend this translation to anyone interested in Cabeza de Vaca himself, the time period, or just a good read.

This is a startling yet interesting tale of Cabeza de Vaca's journey through the southern U.S. These men suffered greatly through their journey and yet accomplished what they set out to do in the end.

Truly a remarkable story of survival of the fittest.

Highly recommended.

Although this is a short narrative, the book presents the best description of early North American life I have read so far. The book is Cabeza de Vaca's autobiographical account of his participation in a failed Spanish expedition to colonize Florida in the early 1500's. Through a series of events, the members of the expedition end up traveling along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico into Texas and then overland into Sonora, Mexico. Only four members of the expedition returned to Spanish civilization, but they had earned the respect of many of the Indian tribes.

The Account not only presents details of the journey but also presents general historical aspects of North American Indians and Spanish colonization in the 1500's. Cabeza de Vaca has performed a great service in documenting the practices of food-gathering, agriculture, slavery, trade, and spirituality among the Southwestern Indians. His narrative also highlights the the perils of 1500's exploration and the harsh attitudes of Spanish colonists towards Indians.

The translators also deserve credit for their work. Using clear modern English, they have made The Account easy to read. They have also supplemented their translation with translation notes and histroical notes that are very useful, particularly in identifying locations in the text. Moreover, they have also included an introduction that places The Account and Cabeza de Vaca into a historical context.

In summary, The Account is not only a great narrative of the personal history of Cabeza de Vaca's travels across North America but also an important document about early Spanish colonization and Native American culture. I strongly recommend this book for all readers.

Texas history begins n 1528, when a hurricane sank a Spanish ship off the coast of Galveston Island. Four survivors washed up naked on the shore, including Governor Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and the black man, Estebano, who had been the slave of one of the drowned men. Thus begins one of the most remarkable adventures in history. This book is Cabeza de Vaca's first person account of his experience. He and his men first became the slaves of hostile coastal Indians who tortured them, but ultimately, after several years in captivity, escaped to go with other more sympathetic inland Indians. He describes the many Native American tribes he encountered, as well as their customs and how they lived. Most of them starved when not eking out subsistence on cactus fruit and nuts. The Indians had never seen a bearded face before and most were in awe of the Spaniards. They believed he had healing powers and demanded that he heal their sick. Cabeza de Vaca was a very pious man and called upon his god to help him. He prayed for patients, made the sign of the cross on their bodies, and extorted the promise that they would henceforth follow the true God. The sick Indians swore that they had been cured and Cabeza de Vaca became recognized as a powerful shaman, eagerly greeted by the Western Tribes who begged for his blessing. Cabeza de Vaca was North America's first lay missionary. Nine years after the shipwreck, he encountered quite by accident another group of Spaniards exploring New Mexico (and capturing Indians to enslave). Because Cabeza de Vaca insisted upon humane treatment toward the Indians, the cruel Spaniards imprisoned the crazy (and perhaps dangerous) naked man and took him to Mexico City. After living among the Indians for nine years, Cabeza de Vaca felt uncomfortable wearing clothes and could not sleep on a bed.

This is an extraordinary story, full of wonder, horror and faith. It is a work of literature. Those with an interest in Texas history, Native Americans, or the Spanish conquest of America will find this easy-flowing translation extremely compelling reading.

If you thought that the only thing that the Spanish explorers did was pick up gold and enslave the natives, this book is for you. Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca was truly a modern man in the way he thought about people and things. Given only his wits having lost his clothes & food, he survives in a strange land for 10 years and walks out a reviered man among the natives. I had no idea anyone had done this. Our only regret is that he did not write more of his adventures and the socialogy & language of the people he lived with. Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca had more than the usual dose of Duty, Honor and Country about him, and he kept all three when adversity struck.