Language Arts Books

Matilde Asensi has a great writing style which traps you from beginning to end of the book. This book is very well documented definitely one of my all time favorites.

Seiscientas páginas que se escapan como agua: imposible dejar de leer una vez que se empieza. Con personajes bien definidos, un poco de humor y una increíble dosis de suspenso e intriga, Asensi logra reunir en "El Último Catón" los elementos necesarios para un best-seller. La historia, que se remonta al siglo IV en la cúspide del Imperio Bizantino, no es solamente una ingeniosa y elaborada ficción sino también una revisión de la historia en los orígenes mismos del Cristianismo, visitando a su paso exóticas ciudades del mundo. La trama, observada desde la óptica de una atribulada religiosa de mediana edad, descubre los ocultos pecados de un Vaticano decadente. Excelente lectura.

I can't wait for the English translation so that I can give this book to friends and family to read. Matilde Ascensi is a phenomenal writer and hopefully will be recognized soon worldwide.

MANTIENE EL INTERES DE EL LECTOR A TODO MOMENTO , ES UN LIBRO FASCINANTE QUE NOS MUESTRA ENTRE OTRAS UNA MANERA DE ENTENDER Y COMPRENDER UN CLASICO DE LA LITERATURA COMO LA DIVINA COMEDIA, A PARTE NOS LLEVA A ESE MUNDO FASCINANTE Y MISTERIOSO DEL CRISTIANISMO COMO DE LA IGLESIA CATOLICA CON TODAS SUS INTRIGAS Y MISTERIOS LEELO Y TE ATRAPARA

No, no es Iacobus. No, los templarios no son el hilo conductor. Si, es una excelente novela.

Para no arruinarte la lectura, entrañable lector en potencia, te puedo dar tres elementos para que juzgues si es para ti, o no:

a) Alguien se está robando los fragmentos de la Santa Cruz, la que fuese descubierta por Helena, la madre del Emperador Constantino. ¿Quiénes se la están robando, y por qué?

b) ¿Te acuerdas de la Divina Comedia de Dante? ¿Ese viaje de los infiernos al paraíso? Después de "El Último Catón" vas a querer -en serio- leerlo con tiempo y cuidado, y no por obligación académica, a ver si lees lo mismo que lee Asensi.

c) El personaje principal es una monja, de casi 40 años, con sentido del humor, quejumbrosa y ocasionalmente malhumorada.

No, no es una novelita de 2 horas, pero está plagada de información histórica (muchísima cierta, alguna fantasiosa) que la hace muy entretenida pero, sobre todo, emocionante.

No le doy 5 estrellas por una simple cuestión personal: el "Paraiso" me resultò un cursi y casi infantil. Pero eso es 100% subjetivo. ¡Que lo disfrutes!

P.S. Hay un detalle sutil al final que le de sentido al tìtulo. ¿Serás capaz de deducirlo antes de la ùltima hoja?

I've been a professional animator for over 10 years and I found this to be a valuable resource. It's written by some very talented people over at Animax Entertainment, who have tons of production experience. It offers great organizational tips and tricks for building and animating your characters. It also gives so much insight from the perspective of working on a larger productive team. Sure it's easy to develop your own ways of working when you work by yourself, but the suggestions in this book are a very smart and efficient approach for working on any sized project. They also give you a list of plugins that will help... and even describe how to make them work for you. And the information on how to make use of After Effects is just fantastic. I've adopted so many time-saving ways to work... things I never knew about in all of my years using Flash! I am using this book constantly for reference as I work on my new cartoon project. Thanks guys!

I found very helpful the guides given by the authors. I was trying to figure out how develop a short cartoon animation in a correct way and after I read this book I found the answers. Thanks!

If you're looking for a book that teaches you how to draw in Flash, this is not the book for you. It will, however, teach you the nuts and bolts of animation, the technical information necessary to make animation less time consuming, which is a must-have imo.

This book is a must for everyone who is tired of animating on paper and wishes to digitalize their work completely in Flash or After Effects. The book covers many great aspects including; making shortcuts of your workflow with user made extensions, brilliant tips & tricks and personal advices how to make life easier for the animators.

This book is also amazing for those who already have knowledge of Flash or After Effects, but wish to enhance their skills or take their production to the next level.

After reading this book, my animation workflow and quality improved.

Best recommendations from here.


-Alex Volkov (Flash Animator)

There are many books about cartoon animation in Flash. What sets this book apart from the rest is the approach the authors have taken to make this book much more than just another step-by-step book about drawing and animating characters. Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation is for the animator who needs to stretch beyond the mechanics of the Flash tools and perfect the decision-making process necessary to become a productive animator. One of the biggest questions that is answered in this book is when to use Flash and how to use it most efficiently. The next question is what tasks are beyond Flash's capabilities and when to turn to another software such as After Effects.

The authors assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of Flash and the principles of animation. Because of this, you will find only a few step-by-step examples. What they do cover thoroughly is every phase of the production process for cartoon animation from planning, storyboards and animatics to post-production and delivery. The approach for this book is to examine working examples which can be downloaded from the publisher's website.

If you have ever created a complex character animation including lip synching and facial expressions, then you know that your character must be divided into a large number of individual animated parts. This is why the authors dedicate a whole chapter to organization and using the Flash library system to build character libraries. As you progress through the process from head comps and onward, the authors show when it is best to draw from scratch and when to use Flash symbols. Storyboards and animatics are next in the production process and the book covers several decisions that must be made such as choosing between traditional, hand-drawn storyboards and the digital method in Flash.

Moving from the planning stages to character creation, the authors discuss the technical and organizational issues such as Flash file structures and project architecture. They take a look at several working examples to give the reader a comprehensive overview of this topic. One of the most helpful aspects of this book is how the authors help you decide when Flash is not enough to get the job done and how to expand Flash's capabilities with plug-ins. They discuss several of their favorites, how to find more on the web and when to make your own.

One of the most important decisions that an animator will need to make is the choice between traditional frame by frame animation and tweening. The authors share their four step process for frame by frame animation and then discuss tweening and how to avoid common mistakes.

I mentioned earlier that the authors discuss the use of a dedicated motion graphic software such as After Effects to take your Flash project to a higher level of quality and sophistication. They discuss some of the advantages to using After Effects for editing and composition such as complex camera movements and 3D effects.

Flash has been plagued by one major drawback since its conception a decade ago and that is the extreme "digital" look of the vector artwork created in Flash. The authors share several tips and suggestions for enhancing your Flash project to achieve a more "hand-drawn" appearance to your animation including line styles and color choices. They also cover the digital equivalents for traditionally hand-drawn special effects such as distortion, drag, fade in/out and blurs.

This book was a joint effort of several authors. Tim Jones is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer and head of production at ANIMAX Entertainment. Barry J. Kelly is an Emmy Award-winning editor and artist and is also a member of ANIMAX Entertainment. Allan S. Rosson is animation director at ANIMAX Entertainment and has over twenty years experience as an animator. David Wolfe was an animator at ANIMAX Entertainment and is now with Cartoon Network Studios.

This is a funny little book. In it, Ben Burtt has compiled a lexicon of several languages from the Star Wars movies. Among the languages that you can learn are Jawa, Ewok, Tusken Raider, Hutt, Neimodian, Bocce, Wookie, Droid and Gungan. This is a pretty impressive list. Each species has their own spotlight, and a list of phrases that are in their own language and in Basic (English). These include for example: Smeekeeya whao toupee upee. (Huttese: Smile when you say that.) and Mesa greeting, In peace mesa comen. (Gungan: I come in peace.)
For die-hard Star Wars fans, this is a must to have. Try memorizing it. ;) Burtt writes this with a funny and upbeat tone to it.
In addition, there is a section on how Ben Burtt (The author and sound technition for all the movies.) came up with the various noises that we hear in the films. This is interesting to read.
Lastly, there is a section with the movie script in it, for A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, so you can impersonate Greedo or the Ewoks.
However, I did find some problems with this book. One is the price. It is about $[money], which is a lot for a small book. The novels are less than that.
Secondly, the words are hard to pronounce, and there is no pronounceation guide included. It would make saying the things so much easier.
Third, I would have liked to have seen more languages, so hopefully they will update this with some dilects from Attack of the Clones.
This is a cool little book to have. If you like Star Wars, check it out!

"The Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide" is an unusual concept and one that works surprisingly well. While a guide book, it is written of course for entertainment value and reads quickly. The book is packed with humorous drawings, expressions and cultural suggestions so that one never commits a faux pas, something which could get a traveler killed on the wrong system. One humorous extraction is that there is no word for "please" or "thank you" in Huttese. From the deep core to the outer rim, learn to count and speak basic phrases in Huttese, Bocce, Ewok, Wookiee, Jawa and even Gungan. While the Star Wars universe has no equivalent to a work like "the Klingon Dictionary," this is not only the next best thing, it's more enjoyable. From young children to adults, all Star Wars fans will enjoy this linguistic adventure.

I bought this book chiefly because I am a fan of Sergio Aragones' artwork; I am only a mild fan of Star Wars stuff.

I was not blown away by the quality or humor of the Aragones illustrations herein: there are not a lot of them, and none of them are really very funny. Plus, Aragones did not do the cover art. But if you're one of those people who collect everything Aragones does, then this is a must-have. If you're just looking for some Sergio stuff on Star Wars, I'd recommend a comic that came out a couple of years ago called "Sergio Stomps Star Wars." That should be enough for you; this book doesn't really add anything to that.

As for the section on the translations of various alien phrases to be found in the Star Wars universe, it's strictly for pre-teens. Doubtful you'd spend more than a few minutes with it.

What makes this book a winner, though, is the 43-page gem of an essay by Ben Burtt, the sound prodigy on the Star Wars movies, on the creation, inspiration, and various techniques for his award-winning effects. I wasn't expecting much from this piece, but it turned out to be well-written and completely engrossing. This essay alone (and I'm not aware of its being available from any other source) justifies the price of admission.

Here is a typical excerpt:

"Anyway, the sounds for the Tusken Raiders were inspired by the odd and often chilling donkey braying the crew heard in Tunisia during the location shooting. Donkeys were used to pack the tons of film equipment into the remote locations. Occasionally they would burst into barks and screeches during the shooting and be audible in the background of a take, thus ruining it. But their vocals echoing off the canyon walls proved weird and scary, so they were recorded and sent back to me. I added more to this collection back in the United States and incorporated some other elements of animal breathing and wheezing. Cut and blended together, the result was the speech of the Tusken Raiders." [p.139]

If you find this kind of stuff interesting, you're unlikely to rue purchasing this book.

Regrettably, Burtt's essay was written just the Attack of the Clones came out, so that movie is not discussed.

Also note that this is one of those smallish, subsized paperbacks. Handsomely printed, though.

An amazingly funny and informative little book. It is really a textbook on several different languages from the Star Wars universe, but with all the comedic phrases and cute comics, you will soon forget that.

This book is truly very informative when it comes to alien languages, from huttese to bocce, and even droid-speak! this book will have you saying such phrases as; "Da beesga coo palyeeya pityee bo tenya go kaka juju hoopa!" or "Wua ga ma uma ahuma ooma!" or perhaps if you are like me, "Kavaa kyotopa bu whirlee backa?"

Overall, this is a fantastic book, and if you don't buy it to learn another language, buy it for the supercute family of Aleenas on the front and back! Mee jewz ku, coo ya maya stupas!

This invaluable resource is a necessary guide on the basics of effective communication for anyone planning to travel through the Star Wars universe.
Written in an easy-to-read, humorous style and divided into eleven chapters, part one of this volume covers many commonly used phrases and terms in languages that range from Huttese to Bocce to Droidspeak. It also offers essential cultural advice and protocol rules that you will need to familiarize yourself with in order to increase your chances of survival as you come across numerous different situations in your voyage. All the phrases presented are printed out phonetically, so no bothersome pronunciation guidelines are given or needed.
Part two, "Behind the Sounds," is an engrossing, well written, 43-page account, complete with behind-the-scenes photos, of the author's journey of inspiration and creation of the sound effects and languages of the original trilogy films. Included in his story are fascinating technical details mixed with often hilarious anecdotes such as having spent a whole day recording bear sounds to be used when putting together Chewbacca's speech, and mixing and re-mixing mechanically and electronically generated beeps, chirps and bleeps to give R2-D2 an "emotional" voice.
Printed in an attractive pocket-sized format, this book is thoroughly illustrated in the best Star Wars style with laugh-out-loud drawings by Sergio Aragones of MAD Magazine fame.
As a bonus, an appendix with selected scenes from A New Hope and Return of the Jedi is included to help you practice your alien speech.
Although this book doesn't contain any information on the Star Wars universe subsequent to The Phantom Menace, it is an entertaining, fun and enjoyable way to explore the societies, their languages and activities, of the galaxy far, far away. As the Ewoks would say, this book is "yun yum di goot" (very good).
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

I have used Pimsleur German I, II and II and about to finish Pimsleur German Plus. The courses are great and I reccommend using them all. When followed seriously I found the courses better than private tutors and immersion classes (which I have also tried with limited success) Although I am not yet fully fluent in German I am able to communicate in general. Prior to using Pimsleur I had no background in German at all. However with Pimsleur, I learned only to speak and no grammar or reading whatsoever even when using the reading material. Therefore for those wanting to learn to read and write German I would also reccommed a good grammar book. The Themen Neu 1 and 2 workbooks seem to do the job but make sure you get the version with the English vocabulary and Grammer already in them. There also have a seperate computer based exercises which are also good. Amazon should carry these products also.

I have also tried Pimsleur for French and Mandarin Chinese and they are equally good. I just wish Pimsleur would add more advance courses as they have done for German in these two languages.

I wish Pimsleur would publish the transcripts for the audio lessons. These would be very helpful for review when not being able to repeat outloud (e.g. on a train full of people)It would also be great if Pimsleur had its own grammar and vocabulary books to accompany the audio.

I also wish Pimsleur would publish the courses on minidisc to make them lighter and more portable for travel and walking.

I have found that learning each lesson once is not sufficient. Two times is probably ideal: once in the morning and once at night. I found the pulisher's insturctions of doing only one lesson per day to be useful. However repeating the same lesson on the same day works great. Only when I have finished an entire course have I found it usefull to repeat several lessons in a row (for example on a long drive).

Overall I think Pimsluer has the best German audio learning tools. Anyone who wants to save a lot of time learning should try them. I am greatful they are available.

I generally agree that the Pimsleur series is the best audio course around, but I had to knock off a star. Here are the shortcomings: 1)You don't get very far with the language for the considerable money. Too little return for your investment. 2)Too much time is wasted on repetition of simple pronunciations. I believe much of II is too easy for someone with even one days' previous exposure to German conversation and grammar. 3)It's aggrevating to not have the spelling or conjugation of the verbs with this course. I recommend buying not only buy a bilingual dictionary to supplement this course, but also a grammar book, and 501 German Verbs by Henry Strutz. 4)Most of the voices are easily understood, but the "trainer" has an annoying nasal voice which is difficult to understand. You need speakers with golden voices for maximum comprehension. 5) When you want to review your trouble spots at the end of the course, there is not even the simplest table of contents or index to refer to for figuring out where to return! This is a serious handicap.
I recommend starting with Pimsleur II or even III if you are at all self-taught, so great is the volume-to-volume overlap between lessons. And, as I found on my recent trip to Germany, these tapes only expose you to the ideal hochdeutsch. You can't learn it all here.

By the time you're ready for this (Vol II), you should have a pretty good idea of the Pimsleur format. This CD set compliments the prior set with further practice using the informal ("Du") form and related conjugations and continues usage, comprehension, and vocabulary expansion. There are very few sets of this type available, so the competition is slim, but the Pimsleur German II set is excellent. If you've completed set I, this set is the logical next step. (If you've completed another introductory course, you may wish to purchase the Pimsleur I course, just to make sure that you have the requisite vocabulary and grammar.)

Ok. Pimsleur II won't get you very far, is expensive ..., and is somewhat cumbersome to work with. So the rest of this review will be about how in [the world] did I get to giving it five stars. There are several ways to go about when wanting to learn a language in an audio-only manner. You can get the "Learn in your car" from Penton Overseas. You can get the audio-only course from Living Language. Or you can take Pimsleur. From the lot, Pimsleur would be the ONLY decent answer for the utter beginner, and Pimsleur II will advance you to an intermediate level in the best way. You'll simply remember everything you learned. With the other options, you will find yourself replaying the tapes a couple of times. Does any language course that is a self learning course worth this kind of money? No. That's why we have the next paragraph.

Money. First of all, by all means get it used. It is an audio course that I recommend going through only once. ... . As for used audio cassettes, well, as much as we want to hear the correct pronounciation, we have to remember - this is not Mozart, it is only recorded speech. However even if you don't find it used, you can buy it, and after completing the course, sell it ... As this is suitable for first time learning, and is too much for review purposes (perhaps the other audio-only courses will be better for review). ...

I used the complete Pimsleur course: I - III and German Plus. It gave me exactly what I needed--practice and confidence in conversation. It was all review for me, as I'd studied German before, a considerable amount of study on my own. I found that the cassettes were perfect for my long daily commute. I would listen to two lessons in the morning and listen to the same two in the evening. Although the course didn't really add a lot to my vocabulary and very little to my knowledge of grammar, the conversation practice was great. Especially for those like me, who have studied a lot on their own, conversation can be difficult. Practice is invaluable in breaking down what I call the brain-tongue barrier. (So many times listening to the tapes, I had the answer in my head but just couldn't get it out of my mouth in time!)

Having said that, I would hate for this course to be my introduction to German. I would hate to do this course without knowing some grammar and the principles of German pronunciation. In addition, I find that the words and phrases chosen for special help with pronunciation were not consistent. In effect, some of the simpler words were emphasized like this, but more complex words like "Dolmetscher" were breezed over in conversations. And some of the basics in vocabulary were not covered--for instance, I don't think the complete list of months was covered, and learning all seven days took quite a few lessons!

I thought I never learn all about this crazy language - and now someone makes sense of it for me. Because I come from another country, I want to speak good English. This book helps me when I come to some phrase I do not understand. I now understand more about English then I thought I would ever learn. Thanks to whoever put this together. I thank you!!!

I have used my copy of Grammar For Grownups until it is worn. Now I need a new one. When I went to check it out, I saw that Val Dumond, the author, has a new book out, so I ordered that too! Hey, if you haven't tested your prejudice ratio recently, you have to get this book. Just Words, the Us and Them Thing is all about those ways we separate ourselves from other people with our language. She doesn't preach! She just lays out some ideas for the reader to chew on. And oh my! Have I been chewing!!!

A great book period. It cleared up a lot of questions that I had about grammar. Even though I am young, I pretty much have perfect grammar (for the most part anyway). Well, I want to keep this short so to sum it all up: A GREAT BOOK! A DEFINITE MUST-HAVE.

This is an excellent book! I tried using the Idiot's Guide to Grammer and Style and just wasn't getting "it", so I found a copy of Grammer For Grownups: A Guide to Grammer and Usage for Everyone Who Has to Put Words on Paper Effectively at the library, where I work, and it was a cinch. Very easily written for the average person to understand. A+++

I loved Grammar for Grownups. I must have slept through all my English
classes because I was continually getting things bounced back by my
supervisor or Grammar check. Thanks to this book, I finally feel competent
in my use of grammar and punctuation. For example, I finally understand
where to use a semicolon and the difference between semicolons and colons. I
don't think I'll ever again confuse then with than. The instructions, hints
and practice exercises really worked. The book is practically designed-I'm
able to go through the lessons at my own pace and easily review certain
sections. I keep Grammar for Grownups on my desk as a reference and I have
even torn out certain pages and taped them to my wall.

Even though I got A's on my college essays, I panicked at the thought of
writing a report. I really wanted the new position I was offered, but I
knew that I would be required to write many reports. I was about to turn
down the job when a friend suggested I try Reports and Proposals. By
breaking the process into a few easily understood steps, the authors
provided me with a system for approaching any writing task. The practice
assignments in the book were extremely helpful-and very realistic. The only
comment my new boss had about my first report was "Good Job."

Thanks to Professional Writing Skills, my letters, Emails and memos not only
get the results I want, they get praise. That book taught me how to truly
communicate instead of just recycling empty words, the way so many business
documents do. Thanks to its six-step process for getting started, thinking
about your reader, clarifying your main statement and so on, I don't even
panic when I sit down to write. I just start with the first step. I'm also
grateful for techniques on writing active and concise language, using lists.
and correcting grammar and punctuation errors. One of the best investments
I ever made.

Writing Performance Evaluations was the one part of my job I dreaded. I
never knew what to say, I didn't want to make people mad, I was confused
about objectives-the whole process confused me. But a colleague suggested I
try Writing Performance Documentation and it was as if a curtain had been
lifted. The meaningful examples and helpful feedback showed me what is
meant by objective documentation. I learned what words to stay away from
and the kind of details that are necessary to write helpful observations.
This is one of the few times that I found the examples of how not to do
something as important as those that showed the right way. The section on
writing objectives was equally helpful. Because I now use details and facts
when writing documentation and develop objectives that can be easily
measured or observed, people actually thank me for my evaluations. This book
has made a great deal of different in how I see my job.

Character IS destiny! That mysterious internal mechanism which makes us saint or sinner is the essence of every story. Without a character thinking, planning, estimating and struggling towards her goal, there is no story. You are what you love, what you eat, what you see and what you choose. Red hair is not a coincidence.

Plot, schmot! Character rules and this book will focus your attention on it.

A good story without good characters is an impossibility. Characters are the people that the audience relates to, that the audience connects with to get themselves involved in the story. "Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction" is a guide for writers to develop these characters to be the best they can be, by evaluating the character piece by piece. To make them truly great, author and freelance writer says, a character needs to be consistent, believable, and admirable. "Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction" is highly recommended for any aspiring writer to be and for community library writing/publishing shelves.

Martha Engber's book is insightful and inspiring. Ms. Engber instructs with practical exercises and examples, as well as humor. She suggests creating a Think Log to jot down thoughts prompted by your character's development; what a fun way to emote about the daily challenges or triumphs when in the process of creating a character! There are many important lessons in this book. My favorite is how and why to introduce a character via his or her defining detail because "everyone has a reason for being who they are." Which reminds me why I write: to know myself.

The most intimidating (and essential) part of writing a story is making your characters, however minor, consistent and believable. Setting the groundwork for each character's role in a story is a daunting enough task to make even the most seasoned writer freeze up. Thankfully, Martha Engber has created an easy to follow step-by-step guide on how to painlessly develop characters. She gives organization strategies that help a writer to brainstorm, encouraging us to experiment in order to flesh out the people who will occupy our story. She offers up things like the "one-sentence test" along with other invaluable exercises, tools, and examples of how to create the best possible character for your particular story.

"Growing Great Characters From the Grown Up" is written as if by a close friend offering up some pointers. Its easy style and readability is a huge plus as one will be inclined to refer to it over and over again.

Martha Engber advises the writer: Get to know your characters. How else can you write convincing dialog? How else can you make their responses fit situations in your story? Learn to make readers love or hate your characters. If you know your character, so will your reader, and he'll keep on reading. Martha shows you how.

I found that this is a good guide for teachers of poetry who desire to offer form poetry to students with little exposure to various forms. As one who has researched many forms, I was hoping to find unique forms within this book, which was not the case. It is a good foundational book for students and teachers, but for poets familiar with the more common forms and seeking to expand into new areas of poetic form, it is probably not the best of guides, which is why I have rated it a little lower.

This is a very useful book for quickly looking up various forms of poetry. I teach English and often times it is very nice to have a simple reference book available that explains and shows the varieties of poetry.

This is a wonderful reference book for poets who want to expand their repertoire. Over seventy poetic forms are covered, and each section includes: an explanation of the form, discussion of any variations on the form, at least one literary example, and reference to other prominent examples and/or poets who use the form.

I've used this book for many years as a jumping-off point when in search of inspiration or when playing around with a different poetic form. It's easy to read and can be used by people with a variety of experience, from beginners to professionals, and from school-aged to the time-ripened crowd.

I use this book all the time! I've had it for over 10 years and find myself continually going back to it. Recently I began writing a poem every morning before getting out of bed, and this book is invaluable for helping wake up my brain and start the creative juices flowing. The forms are clearly defined with good examples given, and the sheer number of forms included is inspiring! If one isn't working for me that morning, I simply flip to another. I've used this book with teenagers and with adults in poetry-writing exercises--it works well with all ages.

No adequate superlative exists for this poetry handbook--simply the best on the market. Rarely does a writing handbook work for all age groups, but this solid one does. Even elementary teachers could use some of the poetic forms, such as couplets, haiku, and nonsense poems, for their classes, and, yet, professional writers can dip into this densely rich (yet compact) volume and pull out an appropriate form from the 75+ forms offered.

I have used this handbook for my college creative writing classes since 1998; as writing fads come and go, this poetry handbook endures because it offers a simple, yet interesting, approach to writing poetry: a short history of the form; a brief explanation on how the form works; when appropriate, a sample poem (or verses) showing the form in action; and, in some cases, a diagram for the more complicated forms, such as the sestina and pantoum.

Semester after semester, my students praise this book, and many decide to keep it for their libraries, instead of reselling it to the college bookstore. I keep searching, but I have not been able to find its fiction handbook counterpart. Ron Padgett has done a fine job of compiling the forms, researching their histories, and finding stellar sample poems to show how the forms work. I hope this handbook NEVER goes out of print!

I saw it because a fellow asl student had it the pictures are amazing i loved the book

I purchased this book for my six year old granddaughter because she has been showing an interest in sign. It is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I have seen and the picture associated with each letter is something she can identify with.

Laura Rankin's The Handmade Alphabet portrays the letters of the alphabet along with their manual alphabet counterparts in American Sign Language. Each letter receives one page on which the uppercase letter appears in a black, serif font in the upper-left corner of the page and is accompanied by a realistic illustration of a hand demonstrating the manual alphabet of American Sign Language as well as an object cleverly representing the letter. "G" is demonstrated by a gloved hand; "K" is demonstrated by a baby's hand holding a key ring; "X" shows an x-ray of the hand demonstrating the sign. The illustrations of the hands are done in softly luminous colored pencil on charcoal paper, with exquisite detail. The hands are of different races, sexes, and ages. This book focuses solely on letters, but does offer a key that lists the words for the objects portrayed with each letter. Of course this book will be useful for deaf children or children with deaf parents or friends who are learning the alphabet, but may be useful for other children as well to drive home the concept of abstract symbol systems and the different ways sounds and meaning can be represented.

I found this book in our school library and was stunned by the artwork. I work in a school where the deaf children are mainstreamed into the school. Sign language books are always checked out! This is a big hit with the young students. I give the author an A+ for an excellent book!

The beautiful illustrations - simple yet exquisite, worthy of framing. I first framed some of the pictures and presented them as gifts to some young deaf children with self esteem problems, but it was when I taught hearing adults and did the same thing that I really saw the great impact her illustrations had. It then became a "work of art"

No writer can afford to be without this one! An excellent resource for all the grammatical rules you've forgotten since high school. I keep this beside my computer as I write.

I had an edition in the 1950's when I was in college, then bought the updated 5th edition in the 1960's. I have newer, bulkier books like _Chicago Manual_ of Style but for conciseness, correctness and convenience this little book is still my favorite. My advice, get an older edition if you can find it. My little book can fit in a large pocket, yet it is complete.

John Culleton

Two or three millenia ago, when I first began college, the assigned handbook was the Harbrace, then in the second or third edition. Since then I have ben a military officer, a professional writer, a manager, and a teacher. Through each of these incarnations I have had the Harbrace at my elbow. I have never failed to find exactly the right advice, the right emphasis, and even the right choices to make my writing eminently readable.
Although its style is not didactic, it does present enough examples to keep both the old and the new writer from wandering off into that muddy stuff we se so often in magazines.
Buy one! That and a Strunk and White are all you need.

Harbrace book rocks. The book was read by me and I like it. Theirs a good part when the book talked about how to not split infiitivs and I like that also, however, do'nt by this book if your all ready nice at writing, like me! C' YA.

I found this book to be a wonderful reference when writing anything from a short paper to a forty page research paper. Neither would have been possible without this text. A great buy!

This was perfect for me to read a week before I was to attend the musical. After reading this, I knew all the characters and their motivations and all the story lines. After watching the show, I became interested in reading the book...and probably will...someday!

Well, it's Cliff's Notes. There isn't much to say. But it does quite a fair job of clarifying the splendid cluttered mess that is Hugo's novel, and my ten-year-old copy is much loved. Don't read an abridged "Les Mis"; read the unabridged, with this on hand. It's much more fun.

Well, I first went to see it in NY, Broadway and it fascinated me.So, I decided to order the Lesmis in concert from the DVD store and also got the book. It's really great. It's set during the French Revolution. I incredibly sugest you buy this for it is sure to reach you in your heart

Okay, I was browsing through my library and I stumbled across the Les Miserables cliff notes (I have read the whole thing unabridged 4 times). I picked it up to look it over, and was impressed. I checked it out, and took it to school the next day and gave it to my friend who was reading the abridged version and I gave it to her to read. She liked it much better. She said it was, "Shorter (she's not exactly into long books), more emmotional (eep), and included many things that the abridgement left out. Two of my personal favorite parts- Jean Prouvaire's Last Poem, and Orestes Fasting and Pylades Drunk, which were included in Cliff's Notes. Bravo!

the first time i read the unabridged copy of les mis, i was in high school, and we had just started the book when we all took a hugh trip to ny to see the play on broadway. i was sitting next to me very best friend Tynaries, when intermission ended and eponine came out and sang "on my own", when just as she lie dying in marius' arms at the barricade he kissed her lightly, then i gasped and gripped the arm of my chair. but suddenly, Ty grabbed my hand, gave it a tiny squeeze, then leaned over close to me, kissed my lips softly and whispered, "i'll keep you safe, always...," and handed me a very old hand-kerchief which was the one i had made him in home ec when we were 12, i had embroidered (really badly) his initials on the corner. we've been together since, and that has been almost 7 years, and he wrapped my engagement ring in it the night he proposed. but to get back to the main topic, i just previously picked the clift notes up at a local bookshop and found it to be just as i remembered that night so very long ago in my heart. [i love you Ty, always....]