Education Books

I don't get it. My three-and-a-half-year-old son doesn't like it. It lacks the sweetness and focus of "Corduroy" or "The Snowy Day." It changes scene too often (and not in a good way, like Harold and the Purple Crayon). And the characters are unkind to each other until the very end. I bought this book based on good reviews, but without having read it myself. My mistake. I think this is not a great book for little kids to read, and I won't read it again with my son. Very disappointing.

these are the best books - charming in story and illustration - im so glad to be able to share them with my child!

I am now 21 years old and I can still remember the opening line to this tape. The Lyle books are wonderful for children and this tape is a great way to put your child to sleep. The Lyle books are truly one of my greatest childhood memories!

I just purchased this title for my 4 year old daughter, and she (and I) really love it!!! The title of the book doesn't really grab you but it's a sweet story about how the neighbor Mr Grumps really doesn't like Lyle, has him banished to the zoo, and then Lyle ends up saving Mr Grumps. I really like the characters in this series because they remind me of real life people that your kids will have to deal with at some point or another. My daughter was totally engaged.

A picture book with more backstory than you could possibly imagine. For many, the delightful "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" is a perennial favorite. I, myself, had never read it before. When first we see Lyle, he's standing in the center of Central Park (this is most definitely a New York based book) feeding the ducks. Occupying a swank apartment (you should see his bathroom!) with the Primm family, Lyle is everyone's favorite crocodile. He's polite, helpful, and wonderful at double dutch. The ever dour Mr. Grumps next door has problems with the beloved Lyle. Mr. Grumps continually threatens to send Lyle away, but it isn't until an unfortunate department store incident that Mr. Grumps makes good his threats. In the end, however, all turns out for the best and Lyle is reunited with his loving family.

There's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief involved in this tale. Apparently it is not a particularly odd thing to live with a crocodile. I was especially taken with Mrs. Primm's relationship with the lovely reptile. The two do their shopping together and take a turn about the ice skating rink. (...) Mr. Grumps refuses to even speak with Lyle until a fortunate accident towards the book's finale. And in the end, it's just a lovely book. The writing is superb. The illustrations adorable and evocative all at once. The book has CLASSIC writ large all over it. If you've any wit or intelligence about you (and you wish to pass such virtues onto your darling children) pick up the wonderful "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" immediately.

Book is outstanding for working with elementary students.
It arrived in perfect condition and in a timely manner.

This is a cool book that all teachers should read to their classe. You can learn about the Chatter-Box, The Playground Bully, The Homework gnome, and my favorite Ti-2 the Pencil-Grinder. He finds; he grinds and sells the pencil shaving to the great chefs of Pennsylvania. Funny!

These are good stories about the classroom at the end of the hall. I enjoyed the characters like the Homework Gnome and Dilly-Dally, the Doodles. It's easy to read and not preachy at all.

Hurrah for another Douglas Evans book about the Classroom at the End of the Hall! These stories are even better than the first. this was the best book I've read this year. My favorite story was The Homework Gnome because I hate homework like Hari. I also thought the Chatterbox was very funny.

Our teacher read us Classroom at the End of the Hall by Douglas Evans which is the prequel to this book. I thought it was very funny, but Math Rashes is even funnier. The students in this book sound like students in my fifth-grade class. I like the Chatterbox, The Pencil Grinder and the Homework Gnome. All teachers should definately read this book their class!

As a fan of general semantics, I enjoyed this. What is 2 apples plus 3 oranges? The author uses simple questions like this to illustrate use and misuse of numbers. Most maths teaching ignores the meaning of numbers, but this short book shows lucidly how an understanding of the process of abstraction can help us avoid using numbers irrationally. Recommended, though I suggest reading in conjunction with Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Reality (the most readable book on general semantics).

Edward MacNeal (1994) an airline business consultant, introduces Mathsemantics (Science of Mathematical semantics) as an extensional (factual evaluating) language for proper evaluating. Showing via job application tests taht maths incompetence often results from semantic mis-understandings; like any language, requiring familiarity.
What Jean Piaget (1926) found in children. Alfred Korzybski (1933) showed persisted via an education in Aristotle's (c. 350 B.C.) 'intensional' ('subject-predicate', false-to-facts 'universalizing') linguistic structure ('logic'), reversing the empirical evaluating order (event-perceiving-insight-formulating), consequently allowing 'identifying' 'meanings' (words) with perceivings, etc.
Whilst our mathematical education mostly fails to solve these semantic problems, involved in applying numbers to events. For example, we may expect that calculations have only one answer, despite measuring involves approximating (rounding-up, etc) involving estimates (probabilities). Further Greeks like Parmenides (c. 480 B.C.) did not accept zero as a number, 'reasoning': "non-being could not be, because it was a logical impossibility". Thus unsurprisingly, many tend to round-up to 1 rather than 0!
Infact Kurt Godel (1940) found no mathematical system can be complete-nor-consistent. As Korzybski (1933, 1936) asserted: "map is not the territory...is not all the territory...is self-reflexive (speak of map of map, etc)".
Korzybski (1933) asserted that by extensionalizing to events, we find context. However MacNeal continues that units (unity) entail convenient 'categories' representing events despite that a name tells us nothing-about-nor-is-the-thing. MacNeal argues that we cannot do without 'addition', suggesting that we can 'add' different changing things under combined units: "2 apples + 5 oranges = 7 fruit".
Yet MacNeal the General Semanticist (Korzybski (1933), Science of values, hence evaluating), avoids the fact that events, abstracting processes, etc., are not 'additive', involving Korzybski's (1933) non-elementalistic, functional (non-linear-asymmetry-non-additive), more-or-less emergent wholes. As Korzybski (1933) argued water, having new emergent characteristics, is not the 'sum' of an oxygen atom 'plus' two hydrogen atoms.
Therefore,

C = A + B

becomes,

C = f (A, B)

Let alone that 'classifying' entails 'identifying'.

I teach British literature and love Scott, Austen, Wodehouse, and Hardy. I thouroughly enjoy the murders mysteries of Rex Stout and Dorothy Sayers. So why am I reviewing a book about math? Because it is one of the finest books I have ever read.

This book bridges the gap between the right and left brains. While its subject matter includes some advanced concepts, they are expressed so articulately that they are accessible to virtually everyone.

This is not a book for educators or students alone. Everyone should read it.

The author is "an expert" - someone who knows something and can explain it to and/or use it for those who can't - or just don't - on their own.

I am a high school math teacher and community college and high school computer teacher. MacNeal THRILLED me with his insight into something that may be part of the problem with education the way we do it. Look for his connection of Piaget's work on the development of children's and adults' abilities through necessary stages with the Chinese language and with the teaching of math.

I have had more successes with some of my students because of MacNeal and his book.

This is one of my favorite books of its kind. It deserves a place on the shelf next to Paulos's _Innumeracy_. _Mathsemantics_ is a highly readable, insightful, conversational, anecdotal, fascinating discussion of the ways people apply (or fail to apply, or misapply) mathematical thinking to real world situations, and why they have trouble mixing math and language.

Our book study just completed Miracles Do Happen. It was incredible to see God open hearts and minds to Jesus' healing power. It's written in a simple style but it packs a punch in terms of presenting the Gospel. The son of a friend of our group was diagnosed with a recurrence of a brain tumor, and just like in the book, Sister Briege showed up in our town and was able to pray with him and his family. His prognosis is now quite favorable, praise God. If you want to hear the story of how Jesus still cares about His people, how Jesus is still in the healing business and you need a reason to have hope in Christ, this book is the best choice I've ever seen.

This is a great inspiration to me, though I am not catholic.
Her words are uplifting and healing.

"Miracles Do Happen" is an excellent testimony to the power of faith. Briege Mckenna developed sever arthritis as a young adult, which confined her to a wheel chair. When attending a Catholic Charismatic prayer services, she was miraculously healed. Allegedly, she received a private revelation, in which God asked her to be a healer to others. She debated whether the message was really from God, as she was a member of a contemplative community, but after a period of discernment and a series of signs, she lost all doubt.

"Miracles do Happen" is an autobiography of Sr. Briege's healing ministry. She prays for people and many have been healed of spiritual and physical pains and diseases. The book is full of stories and photos of people, whom she has encountered during her journey and many of whom were healed by prayers. It is easy to be skeptical of spiritual healers today, but unlike many charlatans in the field, Sr. Briege does not accept money or promote products or methodology for financial gains. The book is great for renewing faith in prayer, and offers much guidance and learning to discern God's voice in your life through prayer. Sr.Briege herself spends an estimated two-three hours in prayer each day, and write about the types of Christian spiritual practices which have been spiritually edifying for her.

This is a simple book about the role that prayer and faith has played in her life, and in the lives of others whom she has had the fortune to know, during her religious life and is not bogged down in theological explanations or issues related to debatable doctrines. It is written simply as an intimate conversation, as often is the case of works from saints, and when one reads it one has to wonder if they are living in a very special life time of a woman who might be recognized as a saint in the future.

This is a wonderful book. We often need to remind ourselves about the present of our Lord Jesus Christ in our daily lives, and Sr. McKenna has done a wonderful job of doing so. Buy, read and believe...

This is the story of how Sister Breige McKenna became a healer of human bodies and human souls. She herself had a instantaneous healing from Rhematoid Arthritis. Because of this book I sought out her phone number and upon hearing a healing prayer over the phone, I was healed spiritually. I have never been the same and I thank God for it! Buy this, you won't regret it!!!

This is a helpful informative book, especially helpful for new teachers.
However, I would also recommend it for experienced teachers for some new ideas.

This book is simple and clear in focus and structure. It has great strategies and suggestions for implementation in classrooms of various grade levels. This is a great resource if you are looking to improve your classroom community and overall communication skills of your students.

Wonderful, applicable strategies to build community in every classroom! In every school building! Great resource full of ideas.

I am a 6th grade teacher moving to 2nd grade this year. This book was a HUGE help in preparing me to organize my morning meeting. It is an easy read and has lots of helpful tips. I can't wait to start school this year and start my morning meetings!
If you are an elementary teacher, buy this book! You won't regret it!The Morning Meeting Book (Strategies for Teachers, 1)

This resource is an excellent buy. After cutting morning meeting out of my classroom routines, I realized that it's not what I should have done. I wish that I had this book in the beginning of the year to help me with the morning meeting. There are so many wonderful ideas and activities in this book. If you get this book, I would also highly recommend Morning Meeting, Afternoon Wrap-up by Donna Whyte. That is also an excellent resource. The two together will give you what you need for your morning meeting.

Easily the best book ever written on managing complex software projects. Even more relevant today than when it was written, it has been my project management companion for years.

I read many object oriented and agile books published recently. In a Mymocks book store near Townhall, this book is wrapped. It raised my curiosity since it is such an old book. I ordered a used book from Amazon.com and it is still cheaper than the discount book seller in Australia.

Half way through, I realized that Agile process is not a new thing, it exists before it was called Agile, just like AJAX exists before it was called AJAX. Do you know how Martin Fowler called Java POJO? Martin learnt from a joke in this book.

It is book on Agile practice even it never mentioned Agile in the book.

Half-way through this book I decided I wanted to burn every copy of the book. If other people read this book, then they'll all know how to manage object-oriented software projects too!

I swear that Booch was spying on several of the so called "projects" that I was a developer on. It is simply amazing to me how many times the so-called "Harvard School of Business" techniques are used to manage an OO project! I have learned through the school of hard knocks what Booch has written about in this book (wish I had discovered it sooner, a couple of pointy haired bosses could have used it!). Anyway, Booch breaks OO management into seven chapters: First Principles, Products and Process, The Macro Process, The Micro Process, The Development Team, Management and Planning, and Special Topics. I especially found interesting his descriptions on how NOT to run an OO project (oh, and he gives plenty of examples on HOW to run one too!). Booch covers OOA, artifacts, OOD, methodolgies (a biggy with me even on a one person project), evolution (gosh! who would have thought you could have cyclical development???). Identification of classes, objects, symantecs, relationships, etc. He then tackles the team environment: roles and responsibilities (especially the manager's responsibilities!), resource allocation, and tools (this book is not a plug for Rational Rose BTW). Finally: managing risk, planning and scheduling, staffing, costing (a tough one), Quality Assurance (this is not testing!), and he talks some about projects in crisis and what to do. The last chapter is kind of a catch-all containing: User-centric, Data-centric, and Computation-centric systems discussions, along with Distributed, Legacy, Information Management, and Real Time Systems. The appendicies contain: a summary of recommended practices (for those wanting to create a methodology), and rules of thumb. There is a great index, bibliography and glossary to tie up the package nicely. Booch has a terrific writing style presenting what would normally be a dry subject! Definitely for the computer Project Manager's shelf!

I had no hesitation to give 5 stars here. The book is really very good. Honestly, what do you expect with such a book ? To learn valable advices, to understand them, and to have fun while reading. Such a book exists : this one ! How many time I asked to myself "Yes ! What a good idea ... and so simple" or "Of course ! That's it". I really read it like a novel. You can bring it with you for your hollidays (like me), without the feeling to get boring with professional stuff !

On Solid Ground is a comprehensive guide for teachers who would like to implement a reading workshop in their classrooms. I found this book to be a very valuable resource. The book also includes an appendix full of reproducible sheets that support instruction and organization.

I just "happened" upon this book a few years ago, and since I first opened the cover, I have been amazed at how it "talks" to the reader. I was drowning in the beginning of my Reading Recovery year, and this book helped me to put teaching reading into not only a global perspectative but into plain language. Since that time, I have re-read this book every summer before I head back into the "regular classroom" in hopes that I will be renewed and refreshed when beginning with my new students. I have referred many teachers to this book and would recommend it as a MUST have in the Professional library of every teacher. NO you dont need to borrow a copy from someone. You need to buy one(and I didnt get paid to say that!) LOL You need to be able to mark it up and refer back to it all year long. My copy is now tattered and torn but what a wealth of information Ms Taberski has given me.

I am a first year teacher working in an elementary urban education classroom. I found this book to be a happy marriage between theory and practice. It is clear you are reading a book by a veteran teacher, not simply someone who theorizes about education. There are so many aspects to this book that I found useful. Taberski's chapter on assessing student needs and organization of classroom space were most helpful. Read this book and if you have a chance check out Sharon taberski at one of her workshops - she is an inspiration to us all. Be sure to check out the appendices at the end of the book - great reproducibles there!

I am an elementary school teacher who has been out of the field for 12 years. I found this book invaluable in updating my knowlege and skills in the teaching of reading. Her approach makes so much sense and her techniques and ideas are appropriate and easy to use.

After teaching for 22 years as a special ed. teacher, I read Sharon's book. It changed how I teach forever. Using Sharon's ideas, I decreased the amount of talking I do, increased the amount of reading my students do and saw tremendous change in even my most disabled students. One 4th grade student made 4 years growth in the first six months after I began to use Sharon's strategies and returned to her regular class. All students made significant improvements. I highly recommend her book and her ideas to every teacher of young children. You won't be sorry.

I am a pediatrician and have copies of this book in my exam rooms. It is the book most commonly commented on by parents as being a wonderful children's book.

THE ONLY ONE CLUB by, Jane Naliboff
Reviewed by, Joshua


The Only One Club by, Jane Naliboff is an exciting children's book. I liked this book because its about a little girl name Jennifer who is Jewish and everybody isn't. So she goes home and makes The Only One Club because she feels left out. In addition she made the club badge and I liked that.


The plot is interesting. Then Jennifer was happy now that she made a club but nobody was in it. So, everyone asked to be in it and she said, "no." I really didn't like that part.


The setting is at her house and classroom. That's not really exciting but the classroom is a little.
This book doesn't have any slang so that's why it's a good children's book.


The best part was at the end when Jennifer gave everyone a club badge. She then at the very end gave her teacher a badge too. So now, nobody was left out. Now everybody was happy even though they were different.


This was a great book overall but I didn't like the theme of the book. But I liked the very end when the teacher got the badge. This book is fun for kids 5-8. This story is good for kids who are left out in school. This story teaches kids a lesson not to leave other kids out.

The Only One Club explores our innate desires to be part of a group, all while we wish to celebrate our individuality.

Jennifer is in first grade and all the children are making Christmas decorations. When Jennifer wants to make Hanukah decorations her teacher encourages her in her project and allows her to proudly display her art. When she goes home that night she decides to start the "Only One Club" of which she is the only member.

"I want to be in it, too," Steven whined. "I must be the only one of something."

Soon all the children want to be in the club and start wearing badges to proclaim their individuality.

The Only One Club is a lovely book to teach children about diversity in a school setting. The art creates a multicultural setting and the true-to-life dialogue is creative and comforting.

~The Rebecca Review

Differences in race, religion, politics, ideas and lifestyles have given birth to such an enormous amount of negative media these days. In the newspapers we read and the news programs we watch, we are suffocated by it all. What an absolute pleasure to read such a positive expression of being different. Jane Naliboff creates a beautiful story wonderfully written which should be required reading for all!

Engagingly written by Jane Nailboff and nicely illustrated by Jeff Hopkins, The Only One Club is the story of a young girl named Jennifer, who is the only Jewish student in her first-grade class. When the other first graders are making Christmas decorations, the teacher tells jennifer that she can make Hanukah decorations instead, and be the first to hang them on the classroom windows. Happy to be singled out, Jennifer creates "The Only One Club". When her classmates want to join her exclusive club, she resists at first - then realizes each of her friends is also "the only one" at something, and makes badges for everyone, celebrating each person's unique qualities. The friendly illustrations emphasize an upbeat and positive message about the value of differences and the importance of tolerance and acceptance.

Parents, Educators, Youth and Child Workers, Legislators, etc., would benefit greatly from the wisdom in this book. This tells what is on kids' minds today, danger signals, prevention, communication, friendships. This book tells why it is important to educate children about sex, to not "micro-manage" children in school, how standardized testing fails our children, the value of healthy/mentoring adult friendships, and the critical task of setting examples for children in our behaviors - acting like adults, responsibility, discovery, and relationships in particular.
This book is incredibly well-organized and well-written on top of all the valuable information it imparts.

When my children were babies and toddlers, I found overwhelming amounts of information about their needs and care-- magazines, books, TV shows. Now that they are 15 and 9, I can't find much worth reading to help me with their needs. I found that this book was very helpful. The author interviewed many teenagers and profiled 12 of them in this book. The book is an interesting glimpse into their lives, and the lives of their families, and the unique problems they each face. Although this is not a "self-help" book, with prescriptions for how to solve the problems parents face, the final chapter summarizes the author's findings from the interviews and gives advice to parents. This summary should be copied and posted where every parent of a teenager will see it frequently because it's a very complete summary of things that teenagers need from their parents.

I am also starting to work my way through the books listed in the bibliography. It appears to be a great resource for further reading about adolescents.

Finally, I wanted to explain the reason I awarded only 4 stars. I felt that the book focussed too much on teenagers who have some kind of "problem": poverty, drugs, neglect, etc. Although the book was useful for all parents of older children and teens, I think it would have been better for me if there had been a few more middle-class kids who are doing well in school in the book. That's the kind of kids that I am dealing with, and they still have problems. I suspect that's the kind of kid a lot of... customers are raising too.

While waiting for clients to show up to see a house, I picked up this book and started reading. Having a new middle schooler, I found that I could not put this down because I could see him in so many of the situations. As soon as I got home, I went on-line and ordered it right away. I will be reading every page of this book. Very engrossing. You feel that you know each individual as you read about them. Also easy reading. As the mother of a three year old, I have many interuptions and it is nice to have a book that can be read in short spurts. This is a must read for anyone with children entering into those adolescent years!

As a mother of a 14 year old child, I was so grateful to read that my vision was comparable to the author's. This book is all about provisioning up your child. It is easy to love a baby, unconditionally, but much harder when your child is in the teenage years and ready to challenge you. I liked the subtle messages that the author sent - give your child chores to do, give them a sense of self, love them unconditionally, and most of all, be a part of their lives. My heart went out to the children in this book who, in my estimation, are not going to make it.

I felt like I was reading "MY Last Best Shot" as I read through this book. I have three sons, ages 10, 12, & 13, and this book was lent to me by my middle son's teacher. I liked it so much I bought my own copy. Every chapter opened my eyes to something else I didn't know about or have not been doing with my sons. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with children near or at the pre-teen age level, particularly parents who find most parenting books boring, patronizing or unrealistic.

There are a lot of books about gifted children, but none as helpful as this one. I use this book as a reference. It can help with everything from dealing with schools to the emotional side of giftedness. The advice is practical and can be used instantly. Anyone who has just learned their child is gifted should start here. It may not be as useful to those who have already read the other literature out there.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

I learned about this book in Beestar online GT program. I had been very nervous before, because I did not know how to raise my gifted child. He is obviously smarter and very different from his peers. A great thing I learned from this guide is about communication - an important factor both in parenting and educating the gifted child. The author's great ideas are good not only for parents communicating with gifted kids, but also for parents communicating with the teachers. I was able to teach my son how to communicate effectively following this guide. It would not have been so successful without this book. Now my son is smarter than ever and more important to me, he is happy and confident... In short, if you have a gifted child, buy and read this book before anything else. It is truly a wonderful guide.

This book has been great at calming my fears as the parent of a gifted child. It talks about expectations for your child as well as how to handle certain challenging situations both at home and at school. Definite must have.

This is by far the most comprehensive book about gifted children that I have seen. It covers a broad range of topics, yet still manages to be quite detailed and "meaty". An entire 19 page chapter is devoted to the characteristics of gifted children. In addition to the usual checklist, the chapter also looks at Dabrowski's overexcitabilities, the gifted child's sense of humor, imagination, etc. The authors embrace an open and flexible definition of giftedness, and offer alternatives to the "one test" model of selection.

A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children is a guidebook brimming full of practical suggestions on how to raise a gifted child. If you buy just one book on gifted children, this should be it. I recommend it to both veteran "gifted parents" and those with young children who are just starting to explore the world of giftedness. Whether your child is moderately, highly, or profoundly gifted, this book will have meaningful information and helpful suggestions for you.

Chapter five deals with establishing discipline and teaching self management, while chapter eight is all about acquaintances, friends, and peers. Chapter 11, complexities of successful parenting, features a list of six responsibilities for parents:

1.accept and appreciate the child's uniqueness
2.help the child like herself and relate well to others
3.help the child develop a relationship and sense of belonging within the family
4.nurture the development of values
5.teach the child self-motivation, self-management, and self discipline
6.help the child discover his passions, and commit to letting him explore

This chapter also contains sensible advice on how to avoid parental pitfalls such as enmeshment, adultizing the gifted child, or over empowering the gifted child. Parents are encouraged to care for themselves and be sure that they are modeling healthy attitudes and behaviors.

If the inquisitive reader wants to explore further, the back of the book is filled with an impressive number of endnotes and references to published studies and other works pertaining to child development and giftedness. The authors, Webb, Gore, Amend, and DeVries, are all well respected members of the gifted education community. They have many years of combined experience as teachers, counselors, and parents of gifted children. Their collective wisdom shared here is a real treasure.