H Books

simply,highly recommended.
the fact that part of the book [herb descriptions] is published on the internet, says something about the proper intentions of the writers!
clear,practical,full of information, not easily to be found elsewhere.

What a terrific resource this book is! This book is a comprehensive compendium of facts regarding herbal solutions. It is written in an easy to read style. To often today folks reach for the next "best" pharmaceutical when often a less expensive, less dangerous and sometimes more efficient solution can be found in nature. This book is a good guide for those willing to step outside of western medical mind-set.

YES, THIS BOOK DOES COVER THE NEEDED SUBJECTS THAT I AM INTRESTED IN.

Very informative. Well organized and easy to locate info depending on herb or illness.

Alan Tillotson is an experienced herbalist and independent thinker whose One Earth Herbal Sourcebook is useful for professionals and educated consumers alike. Trained extensively in Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine in Nepal, Tillotson draws upon a sophisticated herbal repertoire in dealing with MS, opthalmologic conditions, hepatitis C, diabetes and allergic rhinitis. He uses the best of Chinese, Ayurvedic and western herbs in protocols that are practical and effective. Written with humor and intelligence, the book is over 600 pages of useful herbal and nutritional advice. This is one of the better books of herbal medicine I own.

The _Oxford American Dictionary_ , edited by Dr. Eugene Ehrlich, et al., is the best paperback American English dictionary. Even though the reissue edition of this dictionary is almost twenty years old, I consider it to be the best because it has excellent usage notes sprinkled among the usual definitions of words. Here is an entry with a note on usage: "hope*ful*ly (hohp'-ful-lee) 'adv.' 1. in a hopeful way. 2. it is to be hoped, 'hopefully, we shall be there by one o'clock.' > Many people regard the second use as unacceptable."

According to the editors, this dictionary "contains words and phrases likely to be met in reading and everyday life, including a number of slang, informal, and technical words and phrases." Many proper nouns, common foreign words, and abbreviations are defined, too. I suggest its purchase to university students for classroom use because this dictionary is small enough to be carried in a backpack. Students of English as a foreign language find its pronunciation guides easy to use. Others find it quite handy to keep nearby, in offices and homes, as a quick reference when writing or reading.

Highly recommended!

One of my favorite lexicons is Oxford Ameican Dictionary by Ehlich, Flexner, Carruth and Hawkins. As a matter of fact, I have been browsing for its publisher Avon Publishers of Bard, a division of Hearst Corporation of NY but could not locate it anywhere. I am so pleased with the entire format of the work that I am now looking for a replacement copy, a hardcover, if it is at all available. If only someone out there could advise where it might be found in and around Toronto, Ontario.

I am not a native speaker of North American English, and as such have relied extensively on OAD for all the help I can get -- particularly in the area of pronunciation. The system is uniquely logical, makes a lot of sense and is easy to master. I've recommended it to so many who are in my position. I would be thoroughly disappointed if I learned that the publication had been discontinued.

I like this dictionary, and use it often, but I have one complaint worth raising: THE PRINTING. Some of the pages seem to have been printed with too much ink, so "o" and "e" both look like solid black circles, and bolded "i" looks like bolded "l". Not a helpful trait in a dictionary!

Granted, I purchased this book because of its carriability, it is not the worst dictionary in the world. It contains a hefty amount of words compared to other compact dictionaries. But, what I traded for succinct entries is what I like about dictionaries: learning the unique history and etymology of a word. Otherwise, this dictionary got me through college.

Need a small, lucid dictionary for looking up words and checking pronunciations? The Oxford American Dictionary (OAD) may be precisely what you need. Then again, it may not; it depends on what you value in a dictionary.

It is important, first, to note that there are essentially two types of dictionaries. Hardcover dictionaries are often large, cumbersome, and not at all portable. Their seemingly excessive size is spent on comprehensive definitions and large numbers of listed words. Paperback dictionaries tend to be much smaller, and are also called 'pocket' dictionaries because they, unlike hardcover dictionaries, can go wherever you go. Because of their smallness, paperback dictionaries contain fewer definitions than hardcovers, and are often forced to go without etymologies, or word histories.

The OAD is a pocket-sized, paperback dictionary. As such, it has certain limitations as well as strengths. Below I provide what are, in my opinion, the positive and negative aspects of this dictionary, followed by some additional commentary.

Pros:
-Highly portable
Although you would need cavernous pockets indeed for the OAD to be a true 'pocket' dictionary, it is compact enough to carry in a suitcase or book bag. The OAD is printed, too, on paper difficult to rip but also lightweight.

-Succinct definitions
One advantage of diminutive dictionaries is that in order to help reduce their size, editors reduce the length of their definitions. Brief, pithy definitions of words are easier and quicker to read than the longer definitions found in larger dictionaries.

-Useful usage advice
Although a dictionary is no substitute for such guides as Strunk and White's _The Elements of Style_ and Bernstein's _The Careful Writer_, the OAD is not afraid to let its prescriptive voice be heard. For example, after defining the word 'inflammable' (meaning 'able to be set on fire'), it is stated that the word 'means the same as ''flammable''; its opposite is ''noninflammable''. Careful writers prefer ''inflammable''.'

-Simplified pronunciation scheme
Most dictionaries, in showing how a word is pronounced, use symbols called 'diacritical marks'. Understanding them requires a special chart, which, though included in the dictionary, is itself confusing enough for many users to skip reading pronunciations altogether. Although this lax act saves people from temporary mental strain, they're punished in the long run by, for example, being caught pronouncing the word 'nuclear' as if it were spelled 'nucular'.

But I digress. The OAD does not use diacritical marks, and instead employs a simplified scheme that is easier to use without an explanatory chart, though one is still provided.

-Eugene Ehrlich is awesome
I didn't say this review was unbiased! One of the OAD's editors, Eugene Ehrlich, is the distinguished author of several excellent nonfiction books, including _Amo, Amas, Amat, and More_ (a Latin phrasebook) and _The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate_ (a delightful sort of dignified rant about dictionary editors who perpetuate what Ehrlich deems poor usage, and much more).

Cons:
-Somewhat outdated
The OAD was published in 1980, and to some degree, it shows. Recently coined words, such as 'newbie', 'microsleep', and 'web' in the sense of the World Wide Web, are not present.

Don't be misled, however, into thinking that a dictionary absolutely must be up-to-date. If that were true, dictionary-makers would sell fewer dictionaries and software-makers, such as Microsoft, would be far less successful.

-Small, ergo not very comprehensive
This is to be expected in a pocket-sized dictionary. If you're going to own a small dictionary, own a large one, too. If possible, go to a real-life, physical bookstore and compare the hardcover dictionaries there. Consider factors such as print size (you'll want the text to be readable without a monocle), page size (you'll want large, but also thick, pages), definitions (do they make sense? are they detailed enough?), and illustrations (do you want quality? quantity? color?).

-Fairly flimsy cover
Books are unlike leather in that they don't improve with wear. Paperback books are not also called 'softcovers' for nothing, and the OAD is no exception. After just a year of regular use, my own copy's cover is bent, torn, and scuffed at every edge. The pages, too, are beginning to warp at one corner in the manner of ancient floorboards.

Not all paperback books have such ephemeral covers. My 'softcover' edition of Seamus Heaney's 'Beowulf' translation is thick, semirigid, and is not going to tear in half any time soon. If only the OAD were printed similarly!

-Paucity of etymologies
Large, hardcover dictionaries invariably feature a plenitude of etymologies, or word histories. They're informative, entertaining, and important if you want to better understand a word--and the English language in general.

Besides reducing the length of definitions and reducing the number of definitions themselves, editors must pluck out countless etymologies in order to make a compact dictionary. The OAD has undergone this treatment, but fortunately, the few word histories it contains are fascinating ones.

-No illustrations
Some dictionaries are ostentatious, overflowing with rich color illustrations; some are utilitarian, with monochrome drawings throughout; and some are irksome, with nothing but words.

Commentary:
Again, I recommend that you never use a paperback dictionary (such as the OAD) without a hardcover one in your possession as well. Hardcover dictionaries are satisfyingly comprehensive, but also unwieldy and expensive. That is probably why paperback dictionaries came into being.

As you can see from the five stars, I unabashedly recommend that you purchase the Oxford American Dictionary. But one last caveat: avoid the 'reprint', the 'mass market paperback'--the one with a red cover. Buy the one with a yellow cover, which is a bit more expensive, but also larger and printed on higher-quality paper, making it much easier to read. If you're considering buying this dictionary and using it with any frequency, you will not regret it.

Penguin is a book that contains photographs by Frans Lanting and text and commentary by Christine Eckstrom. Lanting is one of the world's best known nature photographers and a number of his photographs are instantly recognizable. The book contains exquisite photographs of the many varieties of penguins in both Antarctica and lower South America. There are large penguins, small penguins, beautiful penguins, ugly penguins (or at least penguins that only a mother could love), and chicks of quite a few species. Some of the photographs are portraits, others show action. Many of the photographs contained in this book are already rather familiar and popular, especially the cover photo of a mother and father penguin with a small penguin chick. We see in these photographs why Lanting is a master nature photographer and why so many of his photographs are featured in magazines such as National Geographic.

Everyone will enjoy this coffee table book. Nature lovers will enjoy the majesty of these great birds. Photographers will find inspiration. Certainly after viewing the photographs in this book one may want to travel to the remoter areas of the world to see these creatures, but for those of us who would find the trip to be too cold and cost prohibitive, this book will serve us just fine.

Known for his exquisite images and extraordinary fortitude, Frans Lanting will travel to the ends of the Earth, weather the most extreme conditions and still persist in making the most beautiful and creative photographs of his subject imaginable. Over the course of a decade, he traveled to the Falklands, South Georgia, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica, and the Southern Ocean, where his subject was penguins. In "Penguin", Lanting exhibits his photographs from these expeditions, in which he aspires to evoke the personalities of the individual birds and convey some sense of the experiences that their lives entail. "Penguin" features photographs of a wide variety of penguin species, from the diminutive to the imposing: Emperor, King, Gentoo, Galápagos, Rockhopper, Macaroni, Magellanic, Adélie, and Chinstrap, representing all four main clans of penguin species. The book is organized into three large sections: Coming to Land, Going to Sea, and Living on Ice, which each consist of an preface by Lanting introducing us to the featured penguins and explaining a little about their lives, followed by many color photographs of penguins doing what the sections' title implies. There are also several smaller sections containing an introduction, an essay about photographing the penguins, and an image index. Most of the images in this book are at least full page. Many span two pages. Some images are accompanied by captions, but more detailed captions are found, alongside thumbnails of the images, in the image index. This is a little awkward, but it does allow images to be printed full page without having to leave room for captions. The reproduction quality of the photographs in "Penguin" is not on the level of fine art books, but it is very good for a book in this price range. Recommended for penguin lovers and Frans Lanting fans.

This book is top-notch and amazing, just like anything else you would expect from Frans Lanting. You can just imagine the hardwork the man goes into just get these photos you see, not to mention the ones you don't see. This book made me feel a connection to penguins I didn't have before. You look at the book and you can see how similar these animals really are to people, their behaviors and family and emotions are so human-like, it is scary and quite emotional sometimes. Amazing book.

"Penguins" by Frans Lanting is one of the most beautiful nature books I have ever seen. In it he details the lives of various species of penguins through his brilliant photographs and a modicum of text. Make no mistake; this is a book of pictures: it does have a small amount of informative text, but the main attraction is the incredible color photographs. The photos are arranged artfully, but my one nitpick would be the captioning: each photo has a very abbreviated caption (though not always on the same page,) but to find out more detail about a given picture, you must flip to the back of the book and cross-reference the photo in the image index, a feature that I found annoying.

Overall this book is great, and I appreciated that Lanting did not devote the book to the more commonly known King and Emperor penguins, but also detailed the lives of other less well known species like the Rockhopper, Gentoo, and Macaroni penguins. For those interested, Lanting includes a section on penguin and Antarctic conservation in the back of the book. This is a great and visually stunning book, and I recommend it without reservation.

No, neither have I but you'll find them in Frans Lanting's beautiful paperback of penguin photos, along with the emperor, gentoo, king, magellanic, chinstrap, adelie and rockhopper, all in dazzling color. As he says in the books short introduction it is not a natural history of these amazing birds but a personal photographic interpretation shot over a ten-year period. The birds are shown in all weather conditions, as huge groups, ten or so and as individuals in very detailed close-ups. Naturally the close-ups of parents with chicks are the most appealing photos in the book.

Many of the photos have captions and rather strangely there are twenty-four pages at the back of the book with thumbnails of all the photos and detailed captions, I would have thought it better to use these pages for more photos and have a caption (where needed) on each page. Apart from this I think it is a lovely book of penguin photographs and excellent value too.

In this magical book, courage comes from inside. There are no battles with phasers or light sabers or even old-fashioned swords. The battles the characters win come from within. Some of the expressions of courage in this book are very surprising - tests of inner will, caring and generosity top the list.

A really nice selection of characters make up the team in this book who are working to recharge the Cave of Courage so that mankind will have enough courage for the next one hundred years. I think anyone reading this book will end up loving trolls. They have wonderful traits and spirits. The leprechaun and dwarf are good characters too. And we finally get to meet Mother Nature in this installment of the series. Well, sort of - she's a rainbow in this book.

In this story the fairies are not facing monsters. The fairies and other magical beings have to face their own faults and personality defects (greed, fear, etc...) and overcome stereotypes and prejudices. I didn't expect a book about fairies to be quite so philosophical and relevant. This is a very clever children's book that adults might do well to read and take notice of.

This book is not so much about battle-bravery courage as it is about stepping out of a comfort zone to work together effectively. If this was an adult-geared book, it would be about surviving and getting along in the workplace. I think my kids really learned--or were at least inspired--from this, as far as getting along, being kind, and accepting others for who they are.

My daughter learned to write haiku poetry from one of the books in this series. Spiderwort and the Princess of Haiku (The Fairy Chronicles)
I am so proud of her.

She wrote this haiku about Periwinkle and the Cave of Courage:
"The fairies found more
than courage when they traveled
through a shrinking door."

She wrote this one too:
"Haiku is easy
when you know the secret of
counting syllables."

This book has a really fun mix of magical characters and the adventure through the cave really held my daughter's interest.

I went to a birthday party last week. We got to ride on a pony and played games. We got a book to take home and this is my book.
It takes courage to go into a cave. There is a treasure in the cave but they don't take it out. Cinnabar rides on a snake to get a key.That takes courage. The brownies help the fairies.
Annie gave her prize to everyone in the end. I like this book.

As a student at Yale Law School planning to go into estate planning, I found this book very helpful. Highly recommended for anyone who needs to plan their estate or for law students taking estate tax or planning courses. This book is easy to understand, well organized, and provides a good amount of detailed information, not just vague ideas. Highly recommended.

This book provides an easy to understand overview of estate planning plus easy to understand detail on many special circumstances. It is very easy to understand which estate planning techniques are right for you, and there are many examples that illustrate how the techniques work. Approximately half of this book is relevant to everyone. The other half gives clear, common sense explantions of advanced planning techniques that are typically reserved for those fortunate enough to be planning a high net worth estate (lets say $1M+). The advanced techniques are not for do it yourselfers, but the book gives you a good understanding of the issues and lets you converse intelligently with an attorney.

Now in a newly updated and expanded seventh edition, Plan Your Estate is a resource provided by attorneys Denis Clifford and Cora Jordan which is packed from cover to cover with everything anyone needs to know to ensure their worldly goods are promptly willed to loved ones. Written in no-nonsense terms that the non-specialist general reader can readily grasp, individual chapters clearly address wills, how to avoid probate, living trusts, property-control trusts, naming guardians for children and leaving property to children, estate taxes, living wills, how to reduce estate taxes, and much, much more. Especially recommended for individuals who own a business or who have children from a former marriage, Plan Your Estate is a "must-have", "do-it-yourself" legal resource, which is applicable to all American states except for Louisiana. Even those who prefer to let a professional handle the whole process of estate planning would be well served to read Plan Your Estate cover to cover, before stepping into an attorney's office where time is money and the clock is running.

Great for law students taking an estate planning course or an estate and gift tax course. Also good for people wanting to learn about estate planning in general. I would recommend this book.

This book is a must buy resource for persons interested in estate planning. Whether you are planning to do-it-yourself or use a lawyer, it is good to know what your options are. I am much better informed after reading this book.

I have given two sets of these books away as gifts. I just hope the recipients appreciate them and take good care of them.

Milne's classic children's books are perfectly illustrated by Shepard's clever line drawings. The originals are so superior to the Disney version that they are in a different league altogether. All children should hear the Pooh stories read by a loving adult. And the adult can enjoy Milne's sly humor on a separate plane from the child's appreciation.

The Winnie the Pooh stories are some of the best writing you will ever read. AA Milne has quite possibly the best writing style ever. Unfortunately, the last two books aren't Winnie the Pooh books. They are books of poems (and I really dislike poetry). Some will love that, but I was hoping for more Pooh.

I bought this for my niece, who will be three in January. Still a little old for her, but my sister and brother-in-law are very excited about reading aloud to her!

These books were purchased for grandchildren. I grew up having these read to me, read them all over & over to my own five, and now to the grandchildren.

A. A. Milne uses wonderful language, humor, suspense, making these books and their wisdom last into adulthood - we all have favorite quotes often used to fit specific situations. To this family, they represent the very best childhood literature.

My brother and I read this book every morning. It has shown us how to have a more honorable life for God. There is a reason we are here on earth. The Prayer of Jabez for Teens is like our strategy for life. This book offers great opportunities to receive the life God has for you. We sincerely enjoyed it and think you will too.

I didn't enjoy this book because it talked about how to please yourself. The book was suppose to be about bettering yourself but you seek God everything will be added to you.matt.6:33

I Really Like This Book It Is Good For Teens And Adults.
And Very Inspriational.

This book is much like the original but written for younger folks and has different examples. It is the story of a very old prayer that has the same roots as the Lord's Prayer but it is nice to get a new prayer now and then!

THE AMAZING PRAYER

Since hearing about Jabez, I walk around with a different composure, in a different mood. God wants to accomplish great things through us; he's just waiting for us to ask. Jabez's cry was that God would bless him so that he could bless others, change his generation, and change the world. God is trying to make you live like you never have before. God wants to inspire your life, so you can inspire someone else's life so they could live holy and peacefully.

I was just blown away by the simple truth in Jabez's prayer. It's challenging, and it really has touched me. I'm not much of a reader, but I became absorbed with this book and have immediately experienced the power of prayer. His experience has taught me to live expectantly, to be aware that God is at work around me and in me. It's okay to ask god for blessings because through it we're going to be able to reach more people/young people around the world are leading the way in prayer. They're seeing God do miracles.
(Yes this is a good book if you like stories about finding ways to get closer to God)

the effects of inhibition and cellular localization of succinate dehydrogenase

I used it as I studied agromy and gave me a strong ground on this subject. I will probably buy it for my personal library, since I always borrowed it from University Of Chile Library.

Lehninger's book remains the best single text in biochemistry, at least in English. A fine book for undergraduates, it is also the one volume that you may keep on your shelf for years to come, and the best biochem text for those whose primary specialty is not biochemistry (e.g. medicine, p-chem, microbio). No text is ever a substitute for the journals if you work in the field, but this book gives a sense of the whole discipline that is beneficial for anyone who may become too narrowly fixed on one topic. Its clear writing is also a blessing, both for those using English as a second language, and for native speakers with some affection for their own language

This book is good, with many charts and diagrams. But it is also true that this book is a little bit difficult for a beginner in biochemistry.

I am student of Agronomy, Ljubljana - Slovenia. This subject is one of the most terrible in our 2nd year, but when I bought this book it was like I found a treasure. I passed the exam at first time and with a good mark. This is the best book I was ever studying from. I wish you to do more books like this one is. My best and kindest regards. All the best in the future, to everyone at the book and to all the readers.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Glenn at a number of seminars and look forward to taking the Developing Capable People workshop so that I may lead parenting classes for our school district (check the research on test score improvement in school districts providing families with these skills). My only "complaint" is that I did not have access to this material while raising my own children. I DO raise 32 a year and have used the seven steps for developing capable people as the basis of my philosophy for teaching. Over the last 19 years there have been but a handful who did not respond to methods suggested in this book - two were diagnosed as having severe psychological disorders. It is NOT a cookie cutter solution to raising children, nor is there any inference that parents don't DO for their children. It is about HOW we do for them - it is a guide to help you hear yourself and THINK about how and what you communicate to your children. I don't subscribe to any philosophy that is extreme in either direction, and I never felt that message related in this book. What is HAS done is remind me that my job is to help a child see himself/herself as capable - to develop intrinsic motivation. It is a HUGE job today when so many young people see themselves as lacking in academic skills. While their parents undoubtedly love them, they are often ill equipped to effect change. This book provides such a well written, easily understood narrative that one cannot help but come away with a better sense of "how to" and a set of skills that will be useful, even if only a few steps are implemented. It is a book I give to every new parent as a gift, one that I will continue to purchase with my own money for ANY parent who struggles and is concerned about his/her child's well being.

If I were emperess of the world, it would be required reading before taking a new baby home from the hospital (and certainly one for young single mothers choosing to raise their babies). I'm willing to step out and even suggest it be made mandatory for all educators too! Don't miss this book! I am about to purchase my 50th plus copy.

The first 25 pages or so make the case that today's families are more dispersed and isolated than they were pre-WWII, that our nation's growing affluence has led to self-indulgence, and that technological advances have dramatically increased isolation within nuclear families.

The result of this shift is "American children at the onset of puberty (who) face and incredible smorgasbord of opportunities with a deficiency in capabilities. Self-confidence, self-validation, self-discipline, good judgment, and a sense of responsibility are all lacking..."

The authors state that there are "four critical factors that demand our attention" networks, meaningful roles, on-the-job training for life, and parenting resources. Parenting resources is scarcely addressed at all, and networking is given just a couple of pages.

The bulk of the book is about how to provide meaningful roles and on-the-job training for life by providing an apprenticeship in thinking and problem solving. The authors discuss how to understand and strenthen a child's perceptions/thought processes, how to communicate effectively with your children, and how to strengthen various life skills in a meaningful, real-life way.

For me, this book is a real paradigm shift. I've read many books focused on a single aspect of this book - books about affluenza, family meetings, social skills, natural consequences, anxiety, parenting, even books about RDI (Relationship Development Intervention for Autistic Children, which is VERY MUCH in sync with this book), and so on. This book ties all of those facets together and shows how they are related and why they are important to equipping kids to deal productively and effectively with life in the real world.

As I read, I realized that I often step in for my children in the name of expedience - pouring juice for them because I don't want them to spill it, choosing clothes for my daughter because what she chooses doesn't always match, regluing the notes on music flashcards I was making because my 3 year old slapped them on in a very crooked fashion. Now I am considering the unspoken messages of "you're incompetent" that my words and actions unwittingly send my kids. I am consciously trying to take advantage of real, meaningful situations that come up to help my kids perceive themselves as capable.

And that is just one small gem in this book.

The most helpful part of the book is the examples of families putting the author's ideas into practice in specific situations. I personally am having difficulty putting some of the theory into practice - I would have loved examples of how parents can coach elementary aged kids through a massive screaming fight, for example.

All in all, one of my favorite books about raising children.

The bottom line on this book is that you should stop doing everything for your children. Coddling can cripple a child for life. That's a pretty easy premise to accept. However, some of the promises made by this book are not so easy to accept. The authors seem to imply that parents who follow their time-tested strategies can bring all children around. They act as if all children are cut from the same mold and will behave reasonably when treated reasonably. Unfortunately, this isn't necessarily so. On the other hand, regular family dinners and meetings probably won't hurt, either.

I was given this book by my mother when my daughter was 2 and my son was 10. We were beginning to have problems with my son and my daughter was just a challenge, period. I fell in love with the book from the first page. They said they would solve my problems, and they did.

As the authors say, its more work the older your kids are, and its true. My son dragged his feet but eventually became the model child. My daughter became the angel I always knew she was. I kept a cheat sheet with me at all times with the questions to ask and the steps to take for the first few months. It was difficult to remember all the key words and phrases off the top of your head. After that it was a natural thing to do.

My kids are now, 22 and 15. My son is a wonderful, mature, loving, well rounded man. Your basic, responsible adult who thinks before he acts and behaves more "grown up" than many grown ups I know. My daughter is more mature than me! She is growing up in a tough world, as are all our kids, and she is handling it with grace and poise. I had some friends ask me recently what I use for discipline with her as they were looking for knew ideas. I thought for a moment and realized that I dont have to discipline her at all! She is the model teenager. She communicates with us, does her homework without complaint, cleans her room when asked, does chores and is willing to discuss anything with us. I told the other moms that it was due to Self Reliance. I believe that with all my heart.

I think my kids started out as good kids, as most do, I had good clay to mold. But, I knew nothing of raising kids, not good parenting role models to fall back on. I had used P.E.T. prior to this and found it to be effective. However, Self Reliance became the backbone of my parenting and we raised some fine people that will make a difference in the world.

I have also used these techniques with the adults in my life. I used it in my marriage (he caught on after a while), I use it in my business and personal life with great results. They translate to all things and have had them used on me also to good affect too. You know you are being "Relianced", but, it helps you come around to what you need to see to.

This book was recommended reading for a behavior management class that I took for my Master's Program. At the time I was teaching, but had no children. This book totally changed the way I approached discipline in the classroom. Since I wasn't a parent at the time,I would often lend out this book to parents of students and very often never got it back. I just kept buying more copies because I really felt that this book was something that all parents should keep and refer back to through the years.

I am now buying another copy for myself and my husband. We have 4 young children and I'm feeling I need a "refresher course" and I'm hoping my husband will read it so that we can be on the same page when we are discipling the kids. You might consider buying two copies, one to keep on your nightstand, and another to lend out to your friends. It's really that great!

Summary: A comical story of what first appears to be a threatening dragon who the setting's people want to slay. The dragon, however, is of no threat. When St. George is sent to "take care of it" the dragon cowers. When faced with this threat he sullenly, but humorously, replies ". . . Say he can write if he likes, but I can't give him an interview. I am not seeing anybody at present" (page not numbered). The three end fast friends and an uncertain threat is no longer a bother.
The author creates a believable character of a harmless dragon. What usually is portrayed as evil and dangerous, the persona of the dragon generates into a believable story. The twist of the dragon being afraid of St. George adds to the imaginable meaning the writer wants to evolve. Carefully setting the story, the author helps establish the voice of the characters. It evolves into a theme that proves that "things aren't always as they appear."

this is a great kids book. and even i love anything that rhymes. thank you so much.

The original "St. George and the Dragon" story is a frightening tale. Depending on which version you read, the townspeople give the scaly, stinking, vicious, dragon tribute of two sheep per day, and, when they invariably run out of sheep, they begin feeding it their own children. The King is obviously horrified, but what can he do? However, when the lottery selects his own daughter, who should appear but Sir George, (later the patron Saint of England) just in time for the king, if not for the subjects. The daughter worries for his safety, but the knight spears the dragon in its one vulnerable spot, then in a gallant display, borrows the daughter's girdle to drag the wounded dragon down to the town. For his own tribute, George asks only that the citizens become baptized; after this, he cuts off the dragon's head. Not a good ending for the dragon, but then, he wasn't a very nice dragon.

Like others before him, Kenneth Grahame modified this bloody tale for the consumption of the very young, and turned it completely on its head. This dragon would rather sleep than slay, purr than prey, and his true nature is discovered by a tow-headed young boy who gradually becomes friends with the pacifist, poetry-loving beast ("why I wouldn't hurt a fly."). Lay low, he advises him. Naturally, though, St. George arrives, and everyone acts as expected--except for the dragon. He simply refuses to attend his own demise:

"Well, tell him [St. George] to go away," said the dragon. "I'm sure he's not nice. Say he can write if he likes. But I won't see him." The boy, however, understands the underlying social pressures (which echo those of the British class system during Grahame's time) and replies: "But you've got to," said the boy. "You've got to fight him, you know, because he's St. George and you're the dragon."

The dragon, the knight, and the young boy, a person with neither power nor social distinction, make a plan. The plan is simple: Fake it. And so, like one of Vince McMahon's TV "wrestling" matches, St. George and the Dragon have it out, with flames and fury, and, as St. George just barely pierces the dragon in a pre-arranged safe spot. The townspeople, who have brought picnics for the presumed slaughter, were satisfied with the spectacle: "And all the others were happy because there had been a fight, and-well, they didn't need any other reason."

The original story, one of several short studies published in Grahame's "Dream Days" (1898, ten years before Grahame's most famous and beloved work, "The Wind in the Willows") may be found at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=GraDrea.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=7&division=div1. Grahame wrote "The Reluctant Dragon" long at times, and one sees his concerns with religion and nature so evident in the river adventure scene of Wind in the Willows. Inga Moore takes out most of the slower, descriptive narrative (which might be enjoyed by older readers), and focuses instead on the dragon/boy/St. George relationships and the exciting battle. Compare the following excerpts (the first is Grahame's); this is great abridgement except for the inexplicable deletion of the last sentence, a very funny, modernist touch by Graham:

1. Then a cloud of smoke obscured the mouth of the cave, and out of the midst of it the dragon himself, shining, sea-blue, magnificent, pranced splendidly forth; and everybody said, "Oo-oo-oo!" as if he had been a mighty rocket! His scales were glittering, his long spiky tail lashed his sides, his claws tore up the turf and sent it flying high over his back, and smoke and fire incessantly jetted from his angry nostrils. "Oh, well done, dragon!" cried the Boy, excitedly. "Didn't think he had it in him!" he added to himself.
2. Then a cloud of smoke billowed from the mouth of the cave, and out of the midst of it the dragon himself, shining, sea-blue, magnificent, pranced splendidly forth; and everybody said, "Oo-oo-oo!" His scales were glittering, his long spiky tail lashed his sides, his claws tore up the turf and sent it flying high over his back, and smoke and fire jetted from his nostrils. "Oh, well done, dragon!" cried the Boy, excitedly. "Didn't think he had it in him!" he added to himself.

Moore also displays great taste and talent in her beautiful colored pencil and ink drawings. She draws landscapes and houses in a traditional style with meticulous shading and detail, trees show the undertones of illustration from a 1912 publication. The friendly, easygoing dragon is drawn showing an easy confidence and an engaging smile, but he's actor enough to look ferocious when required. He's drawn in one of the most striking shades of blue since the ceramic in the movie "Diva." Overall, Inga Moore honors the original Grahame story while making the story and pictures maximally entertaining for young children. Publisher Candlewick has done it again; this is an extraordinary book.

Fanciful and charming. I enjoyed reading it to my nephew and he loved it too. The artwork is lovely also. I'm looking forward to reading it again, with or without my nephew.

I bought this book for my future child (due Feb 2006) as part of my growing library. I read it through and thought it was cute, if a bit antiquated (what do you expect for a book that was written over 100 years ago?) Basically, a young boy befriends a dragon. When the townsfolk realize the dragon exists, they call upon a champion to vanquish him, blaming the dragon for crimes that he didn't commit. The boy talks to the champion about his friend and they all agree to stage a fight, rather than fight to the death. Once the play fight is over (the champion only gives the dragon a small flesh wound), it is agreed by all that the dragon will not harm anyone and the townsfolk will stop telling lies about the dragon. Nice moral story.

My only problem with the book is that it has been "sensitively abridged". I'm not sure what that means for "The Reluctant Dragon", but my "sensitively abridged" copy of "The Wind in the Willows" (also by Kenneth Graham) edits out silly things like "splashes of whitewash all over his black fur". If the book has to be so politically correct that it can't even refer to the color of an animal's fur, I'm not sure that I really want to associate with the edition. I'd be curious to compare this edition of "The Reluctant Dragon" with the original text now.