Beginners Books

I'm in my 20s, and this is still one of my favorite books! The Golly Sisters are delightfully quirky, imaginative, and believable. Two irrepressible performers on the road with their act, May-May and Rose make every day a hilarious adventure. The illustrations perfectly complement the clever stories, adding wonderful subtle detail (the horse's reactions to the sisters' predicaments are priceless!) Read it to your kids or pick it up when you need a good chuckle, this book is a sure winner.

My son and I have been reading "The Golly Sisters" books as part of his nightly first grade home reading. They are very entertaining, easy for a young reader, and wonderful illustrations. He enjoys reading them over and over and as a parent I don't mind listening again.
They are delightful characters who find themselves in such unique and Hilarious situations with their horse and wagon. These are not like other sappy kid books,... very clever!!!!!

My kids are in high school and they still remember the antics of the Golly sisters, siblings with funny adventures and fancy dreams! Along with Amelia Bedelia books, the Golly sisters encouraged my kids to begin reading at a very early age just to relive the antics on their own without Mommy's help. Highly recommend the Golly sisters with a whoop and a holler!

2 women with spunk, humor and caracter go west to make their fortunes. Each chapter is a self-contained story that has good dialogue, character and keeps you laughing. My 6 year old daughter loves these stories.

My seven year old daughter has had this book for a year and loves it. I started reading it to her and now she reads it herself; its one of her favorites. The characters of the two sisters are easy for her to identify with and she finds the stories very funny. Her favorite chapter is about the sisters competing for the princess role in a proposed play, The Princess and the Troll.

My seven year old daughter has had this book for a year and loves it. I started reading it to her and now she reads it herself; its one of her favorites. The characters of the two sisters are easy for her to identify with and she finds the stories very funny. Her favorite chapter is about the sisters competing for the princess role in a proposed play, The Princess and the Troll.

This book is great for your beginner reader. The words are short (3-5 letters) and easy to sound out. The story is also cute and the illustrations are delightful.

This is a great book for cat lovers, or animal lovers who are just beginning to read.

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

This is a wonderful story for children who are just learning to read. The pictures are bright and colorful. The words are easy and there are only 2 or 3 words per page. My daughter reads it over and over.

This is a very good book for information on subjects to make
you understand better what they are and how they are made.
I was amazed at the things that I did not know about foods
and the preparing of them. This book would interest anyone
just beginning to cook or have many years of experience.

If you've cooked from Anne Willan's books, as I have for some 30 years, you get to recognize her culiary voice as spirited, firm but encouraging, and always food-friendly. Her latest, "The Good Cook" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, comes to the rescue of the beginner in the kitchen.

Text and the 250 useful photos show 70 essential techniques to produce 350 easy and delicious recipes. One is her Last Minute Cheese Souffle. The first souffle I ever made was from her old recipe, which called for a roux of potato flour. She has rethought things, omitting any flour, but retaining the short cooking time at high heat, or only 12 minutes at 400F. The beauty of this is a souffle that doesn't make the guests wait and the host fret. Simply bake it while people are congregating at table.

"Food friendly" means she always cooks so that recipes don't overwhelm the natural taste of the ingredients. No fad fashions for her, no "Texas Tuscan," but her chosen-few herbs applied lightly to taste like themselves and no meats or fish made mysterious by "concept" cooking. From Italy, she got the idea to dress a salad of cooked beets and red onion rings with mint. I had not thought to grill radicchio, nor to season it with ground spices like coriander, cumin and chile pepper.

There are dozen of great tips. A cone of tender artichoke leaves inserted into the tougher globe can be filled with sauce. The milk in scalloped potatoes won't curdle durng baking if the spuds are simmered first in milk and then baked in cream. Like her old friend Julia Child, she believes there's a place for cream and butter. Also from a knowledge of food chemisty comes salvation for root vegetables that make a "damp puree" when baked bythemselves. So, to celery root or turnips or parsnips, add potato for its transforming starch. Be creative with tools, such as using needle-nosed pliers to pluck salmon bones. Pork roasted with milk whitens the meat -- and makes gravy the color of caffe latte. No need for make phyllo when she herself uses the store-bought. One recipe calls for 12 phyllo sheets, each laid at a slight angle to the first "like the hours on a clock." I wish I'd thought of the graphic simplicty of that description.
Submitted by Margo Miller, Boston, Massachusetts.

`The Good Cook' by leading culinary educator, Anne Willan is one of a very rare breed of books that can act as a good textbook of cooking methods. While I am sure there are some like yours truly who actually open `The Joy of Cooking' or `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' or `Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' and read it from front to back, but around 99% of all cookbooks are, after an initial scan to get a sense of what's in them, meant to be consulted on a recipe by recipe basis.

Some books such as `Cookwise' and Alton Brown's three books are meant to be read from cover to cover and you can do this by skipping all the recipes and get a good foundation in the science of cooking. But, cooking is not really about Science, it's about learning basic recipes and mastering a fairly wide variety of techniques. Thousands of professional cooks do exceptionally well by following the kind of advice given by Daniel Boulud without ever cracking the covers of Harold McGee's `On Food and Cooking'.

The leading volumes in this important field of culinary textbook aside from Willan's works are the Culinary Institute of America's `The New Professional Chef' and Madeleine Kamman's `The New Making of a Cook'. As the titles of these works indicate, they are especially valuable works in that they have been around for a long time and have gone through major revisions as a result of actually using them in culinary classrooms. To further distinguish these select volumes, I will point out that they are different from the excellent books of techniques by Jacques Pepin and James Peterson, in that these works are reference books of techniques rather than the far more common reference books of recipes.

Willan's book is a careful blend of both recipes and techniques illustrated by excellent supporting photography which could easily be both read and cooked from cover to cover. In fact, while the techniques are excellently presented, this book may not be as good a reference as Pepin's classic, but it is far better than virtually every other work I have seen as a TEXTBOOK! And, my reason for saying this is based on more than Willan's skill as a teacher and the quality of her material. It is also based on the fact that the book is easy to read. It's presentation is not too different from taking lessons in cooking from a very wise and experienced aunt who has a grown and married daughter who is also an accomplished cook. References to recipes contributed from Willan's daughter, Emma, are often used as clever devices for introducing shortcuts and modernization of classics as when Willan presents Emma's take on Coq au Vin which can be done in a single day rather than in the traditional three days. For any who are unfamiliar with Willan's credentials, I will point out that she is the founder and one of the principle instructors at a highly respected cooking school based in France which also gives sessions at the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia.

The book's contents are organized in a very friendly way which ease you into useful techniques very quickly, unlike the CIA text which starts off with a seemingly endless chapter on the details of making excellent classic French stocks. While this follows the CIA course schedule, it is not suited to maintaining your interest when you need to get a meal on the table tonight.

The principle chapters are:

Essential Flavors which deals with basic pantry recipes such as Persillade, vinaigrettes, gremolata, and garlic bread, with techniques on using a chef's knife and a mandoline, plus recipes for basic salads such as potato salad and cole slaw. After a good deal of such immediately useful recipes and techniques is the obligatory section on stocks that is less fussy than the CIA, but quite correct, thank you.

Tips From the Pros is a grab bag of tips on modern mixing equipment, marinates, brines, and frying.

Saucery will cover just about all your everyday needs with more vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, hollandaise, béarnaise, butter sauces, gravies, and pestos.

Eggscetera covers boiled, deviled, curried, stuffed, scrambled, and coddled eggs as well as omelets, crepes, souffles and mousselines.

Fabulous Fish and Seafood is a bit short for a school based on the French coastline, but it does cover the basics for shrimp, mussels, scallops, and generic fin fish.

From the Farmyard covers poultry
Mastering Meats covers roasting, braising, stewing, steaking, grilling, and medallioning (sic).
Perfect Pasta and Rice covers basic dry pasta dishes plus making fresh pasta featuring daughter Emma. You could do much worse than to learn Risotto making from this chapter.

The Vegetable Story covers lots of new knife skills plus blanching, sautéing, salads and grilling.

Pastry Fundamentals covers exactly those things which the average home cook needs to know, such as a standard pastry crust (pate brisee), biscuits (baking powder and butter, not buttermilk) quiches, phyllo dough (how to work with it, not to make it) and savory pies.

This is just about as good a sophomore level textbook you are likely to find on cooking techniques and basic recipes. It not only teaches, it gives the reader a journeyman's lay of the land for French and Italian cuisine. There are no distractions for wine or name-dropping or storied suppliers or dish histories. This is `Just the Facts, Madam' with a wee bit of leavening with family stories, not too different from what you may hear among your favorite aunt's stories.

Not the least feature of the book is the fact that the author gives tips on the proper serving time for dishes, as when she compares a roast (serve immediately) with a braise (improves with age).

If you know everything there is to know about cooking, this book may bore you. For all the rest of us, I strongly recommend this book for everyone interested in improving their cooking.

My son really likes this book a lot. It's really cute and we definitely recommend it.

I was fortunate to happen upon this book--my 21 month old son loves it and asks for it by name every night. It's has the kind of story that keeps kids engaged, and has a fun ending that even parents will enjoy. The rhyming text makes it great fun for kids to complete sentences as we go. Plus, there is the added feature of there being a small duck bystander on nearly every page, which is great fun for children this age to find, over and over...

My daughters are 6 years old and, we just discovered these books. They absolutely love them and, so do I. These are fun and original - they make reading fun for everyone. Thanks to the authors and illustrators. The pictures are adorable, too. It's hard to find books with great stories and pictures but, these have it. Thanks again. We hope to get the entire series.
an appreciative mom

I just completed the fifteen-lesson course and I'm thrilled about it. What a wonderful idea to give so many fundamentals in a simple compact way. I can't find words to describe my enthusiasm. I was very apprehensive at the beginning thinking that it will be "too good to be true"! Believe me, IT IS very very good!!!. I'm surprised myself how confident I feel after studying this Mini-Course. I'm ready now to tackle difficult texts of the Greek language.

I'm a teacher of Latin and Ancient Greek and the last few years I was scheduled to offer Modern Greek. I was lucky enough to come accross the Psyhogeos Program and I was fascinated with its simplicity and clarity. I opted to apply it to my college classes and I was overwhelmed with the results. In two years we completed the study of Greek and every single student was very pleased with what it was accomplished. The Mini-Course I think was the impetus they needed and was responsible for the students' willingness to continue and excel. The rest of the program, since they had mastered the fundamentals of the language, was very easy to complete. Any instructor will find his/her job extremely easy and gratifying following this program. It makes it easier for everyone concerned (student or teacer). I truly believe in this comprehensive course and I highly reccommend it to teachers, in order to make their job easier, or to students who are studying on their own. The Mini-Course (especially) is the best you have ever taken. The rest of the Psyhogeos Program books are excellent as well. Believe me. Years of experience are on the line here....

I was just surfing the Internet and I was so happy to find that the Psyhogeos Mini-Course was on the Amazon.com inventory. I can't praise it enough. I had taken the original course when I was a college student and I progressed so much that my interest to learn the Greek language increased enormously. I was consinsent in following the rest of the Psyhogeos Program and my goal was achieved. I'm fluent now in Greek and I owe it all to this simplified comprehensive program.
I ordered the 2nd edition with the videos, when it came out, for my 14 year-old daughter. She was equally enthusiastic. I'm certain that this new enhanced edition will be even better. I reccommend it to everyone. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars, it truly deserves it.

As an elemenatry librarian I found this book to be very clear and concise about the "holiday". The text is straight forward, clear and to the point. It also presents a starting point for further research about the holiday for older readers. The photos are very clear and there is a "glossary" of sorts that I have used with Kindergarten classes.

Groundhog Day is a good introduction for young children to the holiday. My class will love the photos.

I love this series and this new addition is simply adorable! Perfect for a young reader learning about Groundhog Day.

Deftly written and colorfully illustrated by Brian Lies, Hamlet And The Magnificent Sandcastle is an engaging picture book which is especially recommended for young readers from age 4 to 8, and features the adventures of a pig and his porcupine friend during their trip to the beach. Hamlet is determined to build the best sandcastle ever, yet the water and the weather threaten to tear down his creation, in this simple yet captivating tale. Also very highly recommended is Brian Lies' Hamlet And The Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite...

When the impetuous Hamlet builds a marvelous sandcastle upon the beach, complete with dungeons and secret tunnels, he neglects to pay attention to the time or weather. His cautious friend Quince doses on the beach, only waking when a wave splashes him. As a day of fun turns into a day of danger, Quince rushes to the castle before it crumbles to find his friend. Only cooperation and inventiveness will save these friends from certain disaster.

HAMLET AND THE MAGNIFICENT SANDCASTLE is one of those amusing, memorable tales that children will plead for again and again. Amid the humor of building sandcastles upon the beach, however, lies a message of friendship and cooperation, presented subtly enough within the tale to avoid becoming didactic or boring. With marvelous illustrations and an adorable porcupine, HAMLET AND THE MAGNIFICENT SANDCASTLE comes very highly recommended.

Our family loved "Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite," so it was only natural to get the next installment of Hamlet and Quince's further adventures. Hamlet creates a huge sandcastle, but distracted by his creation, he doesn't realize the tide has come in. Quince does a little flying this time! My children love the action and suspense. This is a title that appeals to the adventurer in everyone.

Harper Collins has a long history of providing students of world languages with dictionaries that, in addition to being reasonably comprehensive, have the cleanest, most transparent design on the market, and combine those features with affordable prices. The new (2001) Beginner's Harper Collins is no exception. Although it is a reference likely meant for first- and second-year students, and therefore is NOT as comprehensive as more advanced learner's dictionaries may be, it seems quite sufficient for that level.

The two-color design makes it easy to distinguish between keywords; each new meaning of the same word is underlined and begins on a new line. Explanations are clear, and provide not just basic meanings of words, but also usage patterns - a feature which is very helpful, and usually NOT found in similar, basic dictionaries. And so the English TO DEPEND is not only translated as Spanish DEPENDER, but also includes prepositional extention (DEPEND ON = DEPENDER DE), with an example (The price depends on the quality = El precio depende de la calidad); additional meanings and prepositional usage are explained through clear examples: You can depend on him = Puedes contar con él; DEPENDING ON in the sense of SEGÚN has not only an example (depending on the weather = según el tiempo que haga) but also a color-highlighted usage note (según has to be followed by a verb in the subjunctive).

The authors had enough common sense (unlike those of some competing dictionaries) to list only the most usual, frequent meanings, leaving out confusing details. And so, commendably, TO REALIZE is simply rendered as DARSE CUENTA, without listing the existing, but misleading verb REALIZAR (correct, although in the sense TO FULFILL and not TO BECOME AWARE OF); an appropriate usage structure is given as well: to realize that = darse quenta de que, plus there is a sentence: Nos dimos cuenta de que algo iba mal.

Usage notes scattered generously on the pages are a very helpful and unique feature; and so the entry for AN EAGLE not only gives ÁGUILA, but also highlights with a blue boxed background: "Although it's a feminine noun, remember that you use el and un with águila." Quite impressive in a BEGINNER'S dictionary!

There is a good and sufficient, although brief intro. on how to use a dictionary, followed by a few useful check exercises. The reference part includes irregular verb charts, as well as sections on telephone, e-mail, traditional correspondence, numbers, dates and telling time, and a list of common false cognates ("falsos amigos"). In the text of the dictionary all irregular verbs are clearly marked with an *, although finding the conjugation may have been made easier if they also had a pattern number listed in the entry, without requiring a second search in the the irregular verb section.

I can't resist mentioning the paper, although it may seem trivial to some readers: unlike so many pocket-size dictionaries, this one is printed on good, smooth, crisp white paper, NOT the yellowish and coarse newsprint which unfortunately is the common fare of most dictionaries in this price range .... Two-color print is another visual asset, although sadly it has not been used to its maximum advantage (e.g., irregular verb forms in the conjugation patterns could have been highlighted in color,increasing the visibility, without any additional printing cost).

Overall, for the first and second year students of Spanish (and equally for the Spanish-speaking students of English as a FL), this is the dictionary of choice, with little competition currently on the market among bilingual dictionaries (beginner's Spanish-only Diccionario Escolar VOX, ISBN 0844279803, ... would be a great companion to this title beginning at 2nd year level). One should note, however, that most serious students of language will outgrow the scope of this vocab by the end of their second year of (college) study.

By far this is the best and easiest dictionary for high school students to use. A self-instructional section at the beginning shows students how to use a billingual dictionary and look for the exact meaning of the word they wish to find. With other dictionaries, students have come up with very bizarre translations, but this dictionary will help them to catch the nuances that go with a language. I have several copies myself and have recommended it to all my students.

The two-color (black and blue) print, high-quality paper, and the not-too-much-on-one-page format of this dictionary are what set it apart from the abundance of other Spanish-English dictionaries available. Because it is a beginner's dictionary, it is not exhaustive (for example, the word "mestizo" is not included as an entry). At the same time, the editors have made an effort to include very practical definitions. Therefore, under "pin" in the English section, you will also find PIN (número de identificación personal), and along with "making out" an address or "making out" a check, you can learn how to express "making out" with somebody.

The dictionary includes a special middle section with verb conjugations, false cognates, and fun word games (in both English and Spanish).

Though perhaps primarily intended as a resource for English speakers learning Spanish, my Mexican students of the English language have found this dicionary to be a helpful tool.

My son (approaching 5) has loved this probably since he was 3. Whether or not he got the "lesson" at the beginning, the artwork is wonderful and the story about making a mess close to every child's heart...Can't wait until the next one by this team comes out in paperback.

My second grade son has been stuggling to learn to read. I bought this book for him after his older sister bought a hedgehog as a pet. The family interest in hedgehogs encouraged him to read this adorable story. He has read it repeatedly. He reads it to his parents, siblings, and any of the family pets that will sit still long enough to listen. :-) I was pleased to see the positive values shown by the main character, Hedgehog. He doesn't lose patience when his friends cause him problems and he is always careful not to hurt their feelings. He never lets on that their help was not helpful at all, and lets them believe they were invaluable to him. This was a great example of friendship. I was also pleased with the fact that Hedgehog, being male, showed that is alright for a boy to like to cook. I want to teach my sons to cook for themselves so they want starve when they are on their own.

This is such an enjoyable book. My daughter has enjoyed it since she was about 3 1/2. We often conclude by going in the kitchen and making the very cake that hedgehog had so much trouble with. The recipe is simple enough for little ones and really does taste delicious - - even without frosting. I highly recommend this book. It's a fun experience for you and your child.