Titles Books

this is possibly the best children's version of this story i've come across. the pictures are beautiful with attention paid to detail. the illustrations are kind of reminiscent of classical art... whatever era that is, but you get the idea from the front cover. there's a lot to look at in any case. the storytelling isn't bad either. the author knows how to put a decent sentence together.

this story is probably what i would (in this day and age) consider to be a 'classically told' fairy tale. a must read.

This classic fairytale is vouluptuously illustrated in this version of the 12 wayward princesses that wear out their shoes dancing away the night in secret and the clever persistent man who finally follows them and wins a bride. Th eillustrations really are amazing and win the 5 star rating for this edition.

I ordered this for my 5 year old grandaughter. She read it 5 times the day she received it. It is beautifully presented. A delite to see.

Wonderfully written and illustrated

I was familar with this book as a child and bought it for my 7 year old daughter. It took he a moment to wrap her mind around it not being Barbie-related but once we read it and she got lost in the incredible artwork there was no going back. This is a keeper to pass down. The story is dear but the artwork is what gets you talking with your child. Every adult at her party was looking through it with interest. A definite for a children's library.

This is probably the best book available on the history and chronology of events of the world. It's truly amazing how anyone could write such a thing and when that anyone was Isaac Asimov, who was busy writing hundreds of other things, you have to wonder how could he do it. His chronology shows just what human beings are about ---WAR! War through the ages. One after the other and often ata the same time. I highly recommend this book

Amazing book. I hardly ever give a book five stars. This is a great "timeline" book, in words, of history that goes well as a tertiary source when reading other books on history. I have the hardcover which is as big as a dictionary and sturdy too. Highly recommended.

This was the 4th copy of the book that I have bought. I gave the other three away as gifts. An excellent read, and can be put down and picked up again without losing anything. I finally learned why the Armenians hate the Turks, the genesis of the Spanish Civil War, how long Rome was a republic, and so much more that I was curious about but never took the time to research. It filled in many of the holes in my knowledge of history, and also provided a time line for events. I teach, and am continually astounded by students' lack of knowledge of context in studying history. Should be required reading for all high School students.

I have more I. Asimov books than any other. Although I constantly weed through my books and give many to the library, I will never give up my books written by Isaac Asimov. Chronology of the World, like every other Asimov book, is extremely well written. It is also obvious that he did a lot of research.

I normally read books quickly (I read every day and devour books) however I have taken well over two months to read this masterpiece.

Every time I read it I find myself looking back, forward and at the index, re-reading bits and pieces, to pick up threads that are mentioned throughout the book.

The book takes the format of grouping by years, the periods decreasing as time advances. Various countries, areas, groupings are written about with the historical, scientific, artistic, geographical, etc features of the period mentioned in varying degrees of detail. Thus you get a bit of cross talk but it is anything but repetitive.

When the period in question is finished you end up with a fairly easy to understand patchwork of what was happening in the world in the various areas during the period in question.

The good doctor's writing is easy and "chatty", anything but dull or condescending, and as I said earlier, leaves you looking here and there for other bits and pieces that have sprung to mind.

I love history and this is a book I would recommend to ANYONE who wants to start studying in that area. It would be a wonderful stepping stone to help anyone specialise in areas.

I can't recommend it highly enough. If you need sleep - don't buy it.

Rabbi Harold Kushner is best known for his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, but this work is in my judgment his greatest contribution to the philosophy of the spiritual life, Kushner's pièce de résistance. Using my favorite Hebrew Bible text, Ecclesiastes, as a springboard, Rabbi Kushner writes about the "ultimate thirst of our souls": the need for "meaning," for "the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter." Rabbi Kushner offers readers his wisdom -- born out of years of study, struggle and life experience -- about how to live a life that matters.

READ this BOOK! Rabbi Kushner hits on so many relevant and pertinent topics that you will be amazed how you see yourself in the anedotes and examples used to illustrate Kushner's point. Rabbi Kushner uses the Old Testament story of Ecclesiastes to illustrate how man's search for happiness is eternal and not unique. I could not believe how similar Ecclesiaste's view on life and search for happiness are so similar to my own. I found myself stopping on many occasions and telling my wife "READ THIS!"
I have been on a self-help book crusade for the past several months. Reading a bunch of these books have helped in finding some understanding to the search for happiness I have been after. After each book, I can say one or two of the points explained in the book have made sense and have some good practical applications to dealing with everyday situations that arise in my life. Kushner's book is by the far the best. He gives you straightforward and understandable examples of the negative behavior that conflict in man's search for happiness.
From the opening pages Kushner had me! He hits the nail on the head when he says the lines "If you ask anybody what is more imporant - work or family? - without a doubt they answer family. But then ask them how much time they spend away from family by putting work ahead of family and making work more important than family obligations." (paraphrased) He has many of these observations that help the reader get some insight into how destructive these behaviors are towards our supposed goal of happiness. I highly, highly recommend this book - READ this BOOK!

A great book and one the everyone should read at some time in their lives!

Thanks again for getting me the book so fast and in such good condition!

Gary

A thoughtful, spiritual examination of why fame and fortune do not produce happiness, and why "average" and "successful" people often feel emptiness in their lives. Many brief anecdotes are used to illustrate the author's observations, which are linked to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Read by the author. You will read (or listen to) this more than once!

Kushner is a sage and this book is a classic. As always Kushner's knits together wonderful stories, quotes, and historical observations that are always on the mark and move his thoughts forward. The disease that plagues our age is overconsumption and Kushner invites the reader to step away from the table of materialism and instead search out the things that really matter.

Pip is a 15 year old boy that drinks and does drugs that you can usually either find at a cemetary or smoking behind a deli. Life at home isn't to great for him, his father is an alcoholic that is usually angry and his mother pops pills. His little brother looks up to him, even though Pip does not want him to, his little brother doesn't understand what really goes on. Pip has to keep good watch of him because he is exposed to alcohol and drugs and doesnt want his brother to get into those kinds of things even though he doesnt get a hold of them. In the book Pip has to death with trying to not get kicked out of school, family issues, forced counseling, drugs and alcohol addictions. This book is excelant because it talks about problems most teen-agers have and are trying to deal with.
-By Kayla

All parents of teenage boys should read this book. It is a remarkable porthole into their minds. Although written by a woman, both my son and I agree that it taps into this young man's psychy. Very good story, well written, informative.

When you get into High School, there is a lot of pressure. Sometimes people ask you to do things you don't want to do, like drinking and doing drugs, but you go and do them because you think it's cool. If you decide to go along with it, you may regret it when you look back. In Bottled Up, the main character, Pip, is stuck in a place where he thinks everything's okay, doing drugs and drinking underage is fine. When he finally gets hit by reality, his principal finds out and threatens him by saying if he goes to counseling and his classes, he won't tell his father, Pip has to make a huge decision. His father is the kind of dad that likes to drink a lot and hits his children. Pip figures that if his father finds out, it might be the last thing that ever happens to him. He agrees to go to the 'stupid' counseling and tries to find out who he really is. A good reason to read Bottled Up is that it captures you attention, where the reader could get through this book in a matter of hours without putting it down. It makes the person reading the book feel as though they are really there, right with Pip every time something dramatic happens. Another good reason to read Bottled up is that no matter if the reader is a teen or an adult, this book can still be related to their life. If they are an adult, the reader might being seeing things from a different view, being a parent. The best reason to read Bottled Up is whether the reader is a male or female, the book is still fitting. Even though Pip is a guy, girls still go through the things he does. Whatever age and sex the reader is, the book can still be related to. In conclusion, this is a great book for all teenagers in High School and parents. It focuses in on the trouble of being a teen when you start heading the wrong way. This book shows that no matter how far you go down the wrong path, you can always turn back.


-Sarah Burd
Block 3

Pip is desperate to leave behind his life, and all of his problems. He does this by getting high, drinking and cutting classes. He feels his family, including an alcoholic dad, a doormat mom, and a needy little brother, dont understand. Hes busted by his principal and is given the choice to either take counciling, or be expelled. Pip must turn his life around for the sake of himself, and his brother.

Bottled Up is a great, relatable book for any average teenager. Pip struggles with his alcoholic father at home and overbearing teachers at school. He is responsible for his little brother as well as keeping his grades up and making sure his drugs and alcohol use under the radar.
It's a good read.

This book is an easy to follow and easy to read book. It is filled with so much common sense that just "clicks" in your mind -- As if you already knew this and why aren't you doing this. It is a great reality check on being happy and not waiting until life has passed you by. Enjoy the journey.

I loved this book. I actually bought it for a friend, started reading it when it arrived, kept it for myself and bought several more copies for my friends. It's a book everyone should read from time to time. It's a really simple lesson we all forget to enjoy the 'now'. Many of the statements are wonderful and I find myself thinking about them often when hearing about people's everyday troubles or worries. Love the book and would recommend it to all. Read it and scatter happiness.

I loved this book, it was the most freeing book ever! I saw Robert Holden on the Oprah Show. I really wonder if she actually read it, because she didnt touch on the true the essense of his message. Which was profoundly, "we need to stop 'trying' to fix ourselves". This is the missing link to benefiting from using the Law of Attraction to enhance your life.

If you read this book and really get the message, you will not try to fix yourself or anyone else, again.

I am very happy to have this book as part of my collection. Robert Holden reminds us, among many things, that pleasure is happiness of the body, satisfaction is happiness of the world, and joy is happiness of the spirit. I love what he says about Joy:

"This is the happiness that goes with you wherever you go. Whereas physical pleasure and life satisfaction are born and then die, joy is eternal and timeless- it is happiness now. This joy is inward, it is deeply intimate, a part of the fabric of your soul, and it is the amazing grace of your spirit. As such, it is constant.

This joy is natural. It is 100 percent unconditional, non-judgmental, and free. Wherever you go, there It is. It is not empty, It is full. It is loving. It has consciousness. You can relate to It. You can ask It for guidance. You can ask It to shine Its Light upon your problems. You can sing to It, pray to It, and dance with It. You can meditate on It. You can draw with It, write with It, and heal with It. You can ask It to bless your relationships, your life, your career, everything. Let It be!" - Robert Holden Ph.D. p.137, Happiness Now

In Happiness Now, Holden offers a wealth of inspiring information and practices to help us to understand, embrace and feel happiness. Curled up on the couch, delighting in each page, the light of insight filled my head and heart many times. This is a very enjoyable and edifying read.

Never can know too much about how to improve on life.... This book was a welcome addition to my learning process.

My 3-year-old loves this book and so do I. I've been reading it to her for over a year and it's always been a favorite. It has great illustrations and a clever, original story.

Jan Brett's story, "The Hat", is a real wonderous book! This book is a wonderful well-written story! With breath-taking pictures, and a beautiful story line, this book will have you smiling all the way through it!
In the story, a little hedgehog named Hedgie finds a stocking on the ground. Thinking it is a stylish winter cap, he wears it on his head, but it gets stuck on his sharp pointy quills! He goes around to show off his newfound hat, but gets laughed at by the animals each time. Poor miserable Hedgie goes off to be by himself. When the "hat's" owner retrieves it back from Hedgie, a wonderous and helarious thing happens! You'll have to read the book to find out!
The realistic pictures and side drawngs complete this wonderful picture book. For ages 6 and up, this book is another one of Brett's adored picture books that will have you reading it over and over again!

Love Jan Brett... This one actually has two stories going, one in the main pages and one in the insets along the side, then they come together in the end. Fabulous!

I love Jan Brett's work: A modern day Shirley Hughes, I think. 'The Hat' is as beautiful and charming stories as any of her stories - and with wintertime feel-good-factor.

Get The Mitten instead, if you don't own it yet. This one is a little on the tedious side. You can see exactly where it's going from the very beginning and it doesn't have the peek-a-boo/sneeze joke in it that my daughter loves so much in The Mitten. To be honest, this is one of those books we have in our bookcase for variety and one of those ones where I skip parts just to get to the end of it.

Here's another book that I purchased because I loved the cover art. (I wish we had a poster with that illustration on it!) There is something very cheerful about the smiling Sun and a ring of happy animals celebrating it. This is a beautiful, "feel good" book inside and out, in both text and illustration, in message. I was surprised to discover that the back cover had a recipe for Sun Bread, which I am tempted to try--even with my limited cooking abilities! LOL I thought the recipe note was brilliant and ever so funny: "This bread, alas, won't make you fly. But it is heavenly--light and high!" Could happiness be as simple as a warm loaf of good bread? :D

I like the book's message on how one really should take responsibility for one's own happiness as the little baker does in this tale. This book is worth sharing and reading aloud.

I have become a huge fan of Elisa Kleven's work, and I recommend this book as a remedy for rain and / or wintry days, for family time, and for in-school story time. Another great story is "The Lion and the Little Red Bird."

This is just a charming book. the art is amazing, there is so much to see, so much to discover on each page. And the recipe on the back makes a WONDERFUL loaf of bread (or circle of bread really! LOL)

This is another book we origanlly borrowed from the library and HAD TO HAVE for our private collection!!
Elisa Kleven is wonderful!!

i got this book from our library for my 3 yr old daughter who absolutely loves to mix flour water salt yeast and sugar for her "bread". She loves the illustrations as there are always little things to find within the pages; but not so many things that the story becomes cluttered....just nicely detailed. She also loves the story; it has a good feeling about it and leaves her feeling happy when we are done reading it. the recipe on the back cover for sun bread is a great way for child/parent/teacher, etc... to make; just to round out the lesson being taught. Excellent book and a must for your child's library and/or classroom library.

This is absolutely the best piece of children's writing I've ever read. The rhyme and meter are strong and playful. Kleven teases us with internal rhymes and alliterations. My three year old and I read this all the time.

The basic story line is that, on a cloudy day, a canine baker whips up a magic sun bread recipe that brings out the sun and everyone's joy. The book does to the reader what the bread did to the characters.

My three-year-old daughter and I made the recipe on the back cover, and I have to say it's a disappointment: dry and heavy. I'd halve the butter and maybe beat the egg whites for a lighter texture, but the idea is still great. The mold for the bread is cool too, and it looks happy in the oven.

A definite must-read-to-your-kids.

I love fairy tales, and this story is a most excellent example of the genre. It follows two children on their journeys through Fairyland and their interactions with various fantastic people and creatures. I loved the pure innocence of the story and found it very captivating. The narration was also very excellent and energetic, making this story a very good listen.

While The Golden Key may not be my all-time favorite book, it certainly has a strong connection to the book that I treasure most of all (well, second to the Bible). You see, George MacDonald, author of The Golden Key, was in fact the mentor of Lewis Carroll, who wrote my favorite non-Biblical book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. That's a very powerful and indeed shocking connection if you ask me. But you can kind of see it if you look closely. I mean, the kids in the Golden Key grow both old and young. Alice in Wonderland grows big and small. Kinda similar there.

Yet, I did not know about the relationship between the two books until AFTER I had finished The Golden Key and decided to do some research on its origin. I simply read The Golden Key like I would any other book, and developed some commentary on the work as a whole that I would now like to communicate:

First, the book is very short. I finished it in two days. And because its so short, events move incredibly fast to make room for heavy amounts of whimsical feeling and fantastical description.

But again I have to go back to the Alice thing. I noticed how SO many sentences in the story turned the reader upside down and made him say, "huh?" It was as if the Fairy World did everything it could to stay all out of whack. Whether it was to make speech that could be heard without ears, or to make the oldest people in the world look like little kids, the topsy-turvy nature of everything couldn't help but instill an amazing sense of awe. Truly, The Golden Key opens eyes to such incredible abstract possibilities of the imagination, and perhaps even life itself.

The out of whack sense of awe, while wonderful in this book, developed into full maturity in the Alice books. While The Golden Key merely mentions things that make no sense, the Alice books actually attempt to explain the senselessness of senseless things.

I hope I will always have a special place in my heart for MacDonald's prototype of Alice in Wonderland. Oh, if we only knew how much the imagination behind The Golden Key has really changed the world. I think we would all be very surprised.

I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my 20-year-old daughter. It was one of her favorite books as a child and she frequently checked it out of our local library until it disappeared from the shelf there, never to be seen again. She was very excited when she saw that she had her own copy and she took the book back to college with her after Christmas break. Although I haven't actually read the book myself, I can tell you that my daughter thinks it is great!

This book is like a drink of the freshest, clearest water on the brightest, bluest spring day you can imagine. It was lovely every step of the way, somehow beautifully sad and wonderful at the same time. With the aid of the creatures of fairyland, mistreated Tangle and adventuresome Mossy go on an enchanting journey which takes them straight through to a wisdom and sense of wonderment that is somehow greater than that found in adulthood (or childhood). George MacDonald truly had an eye for the worlds of fairy, and an unsurpassed talent for expressing beauty in all things. The stories are not always meant to be understood, but deep in that inner place in one's heart, they make sense.

An earlier reviewer mentioned the difficulty of understanding the imagery of the story and another suggested (perhaps rightly) that the golden key represents Christ. C.S. Lewis believed it represented "the talent for loving", and having read the book numerous times, especially to nephews and nieces, I agree. Without giving away too much, notice the differences between Mossy's and Tangle's journey after their separation (physical death), especially how they saw the Old Man of the Sea. One might need to have read more of MacDonald's works (especially Unspoken Sermons) to get at his view of how love affects our ability to "see". His "At the Back of the North Wind" contains another wonderful example when North Wind explains to Diamond why she had to appear as a dreadful wolf to an old woman.

This fable tells about the lazy animals who did not want to help the hen. They let her do all the work, but did not do a thing themselves. Then at the end when the hen reaps of the fruit of her labor, all of a sudden they want to share in that fruit. However, the hen gets it all to herself and they get nothing.

This version is a classic one. The story and illustrations are very inviting for any child. I love the classic moral of the story too.

I purchased this book for my children and did it bring back memories! I had it read to me when I was little. So the story line is cute and teaches a valuable lesson with the moral the lazy cat, dog, and mouse do not get the snack. All of my children from 2-6 love this story, it never grows old.

Her ability to cook empowers this little red hen to motivate her housemates. Help me with some of the housework if you want cake. A final illustration shows all the animals working, sweeping and dusting!

After reading the story as it is written, follow along with Heather Forest's Little Red Hen from the album, Sing me a Story. End on that final illustration with her words, "Sharing the work makes working fun."

Different versions may use different characters. This one uses the traditional Dog, Cat, Mouse.

I love this book! The children loved it and the story emphasizes cooperation. I work with preschoolers and have used the audio tape as well as a flannel board.

This book has been a life changer for me. Another great book is- No Soul Left Behind. Hope you enjoy these book as much as I did.

This is one of those books that, once you pick it up, you can't put it down. It is filled with entertaining and intriguing stories. You read of one person after another whose present life circumstances are connected with the cause of those experiences in various past lives.

Reincarnation is a topic close to my heart. A dream about a past life first brought me to Edgar Cayce. Where else could I find an explanation for the challenges in my present life presented in the dream except in Cayce's understand of how previous incarnations influence our present life?

Gina Cerminara thoroughly researched Cayce's trance readings given for many individuals for many types of life challenges. Cayce gave two types of readings. The first type were mainly to diagnose and suggest cures for diseases. The second type offered solutions and suggestions for dealing with life problems based on astrological impulses and the karmic results of past lives. These were the life readings.

Cerminara not only researched the Cayce life readings, she also grouped the lessons learned from these readings into categories. They are organized under chapter headings such as "Some Types of Physical Karma," "Infidelity and Divorce," and "Personality Dynamics."

I referred to a selection in her chapter on the "Mockery of Karma" in my book, When We Were Gods: Insights on Atlantis, Past Lives, Angelic Beings of Light and Spiritual Awakening, in which hypnotherapy sessions for weight control revealed a previous lifetime in which I had ridiculed my obese husband of an arranged marriage. In Many Mansions, Cerminara refers to a Cayce reading for a young woman afflicted with obesity attributed to a previous lifetime. The young woman had been a beauty and an athlete but she had derided people who were overweight. She was now "meeting herself" by having to suffer with the very characteristic she had scorned in others.

I like that Cerminara categorizes different types of karma as being either retributive, such as the karma of mockery, and continuitive, in which a person becomes accustomed to a certain attitude to life over a series of lifetimes. I too had an experience of continuitive karma because I had had a number of lifetimes in which, because of starvation or a bony body type, I had actually wished to be fatter. This attitude led to my present lifetime in which I gained weight easily but lived in a society in which a fleshy body is not preferred.

Many Mansions is a great book. It is many people's first introduction to Cayce. There's a lot to learn about the subject of reincarnation. For me, probably the best result is compassion for humanity's weaknesses and foibles.

It's a great book. Very highly recommended for anyone interested in Edgar Cayce, reincarnation, or the mystery of life.

By Carol Chapman, award-winning photographer of the ONLY Edgar Cayce calendar Divine in Nature: With Quotes from Edgar Cayce and author of When We Were Gods: Insights on Atlantis, Past Lives, Angelic Beings of Light and Spiritual Awakening.

I admire this man and wish his work would have been known to more people.

A fabulous book, extremely well written. This is one of the few books that has impacted my way of thinking. After reading this I find it easier to accept a lot of depressing things I see in this world.

I liked the book well enough, but I think Cerminara added too much of her own thoughts on the subject of reincarnation, almost reshaping the message Cayce brought to us through his "channeling". I would have liked to have read more of Cayce's words and less of Cerminara's "interpretations" of Cayce's readings.