Beginners Books

This is a great book - I recommend it for beginning to intermediate users. It provides both a working knowledge, as well as some social information as well. Good for the student that already thinks they know it all but doesn't.

Excellent book. Current and up to date. This book was required reading for a three unit class that I am currently taking. I was surprised at how current the information is. Buy this book if you would like to learn more about the Internet.

If you are looking for a GREAT introduction to the World Wide Web and the Internet, then this is the book for you! No other book on the market compares in content. It is informative and has great examples and exercises. Even those who have been using this Internet for years will find that this book will serve to round out your understanding as well as give you some excellent tips for using the Internet in new ways! Don't take my word for it, check it out!

All three books in the Bunny Planet series are classics. We discovered them when my son just turned two and a year later he still requests them often, even though he has them memorized.

The Island Light is a fabulous book for children and their adults. The story is simple and very moving. The characters are appealing, real and fully revealed. The illustrations are out of this world. Have a hanky ready. Be prepared to be uplifted.

This book, which my 14 year old son still enjoys as much as he did at age two, reaches deep deep down into the place inside all of us where we most want to be with our parents: safe, warm, cozy, together. It never fails to choke me up; it never fails to comfort my children. The other books in the 3 book series evoke the same feelings, too.

I bought this book for my daughter when she was 2 and we read it over and over again to learn about season of fall. She & I both love it! The illustrations are the best and the rhyming makes it so much fun to read and to listen to. I love this book! It is also a great educational tool for children to teach them about the changing of seasons and the fun things you can look forward to with each season.

THis book is so wonderful. It really captures that great feeling you have as a kid playing around in the fall. It's got something for kids who are still playing in the fall and for adults who remember jumping in leaves and watching fall happen around you.
My niece and several friend's kids love the book.
I recommend this for all ages. There is something for everyone!

Jimmy Pickering's "It's Fall" is a wonderfully fun book that both adults and children will find entertaining and a joy to read. Adults (with or without kids) will love the richly textured playful illustrations and kids will love the chance to enjoy a cute turn of phrase and the oft-silly art.

Pickering has a way with the whimsical -- must be his experience in creating greeting cards at Hallmark or theme park attractions at Disney and Universal.

The story in "It's Fall" centers around two characters -- Sally and Sam. Sally the little girl and Sam her faithful dog are adorable and incredibly accessible. They journey through the autumn season, reveling in all the joys and delights to be found in that time of year -- jumping in leaves, eating pumpkin pie, going for a hay ride...

Not enough can be said about the quality of the illustrations. There's something both fresh and retro about the art. It harkens back to styles found in the 40s and 50s illustration while also having the unsettling ability to look extremely 3D.

Pickering's first book, "Somethin' Pumpkin," is a wonderful Halloweeny tour through Things You Can Do With A Pumpkin, but with this line of seasons books, Jimmy delivers an even more accessible series of fun illustrations and quaint story that appeals to small children.

Sam and Sally are ready-made animated characters, as are their environments. One can only assume "It's Summer" and "It's Spring" can't be far behind and it doesn't take a genius to imagine a Peanuts-style line of animated TV specials featuring Sally and Sam. I for one can hardly wait...

We checked this book out so many times at the library, we bought copies for us and to give as birthday gifts. Sweet story about cooperation of making cake and celebrating! I love Helen Oxenbury's soft watercolor illustrations - another great choice is "Going on a Bear Hunt"

It is funny that the description of this book online says the main character is a boy, when in fact the author leaves the gender to be decided by the reader. My children (3 boys & 1 girl) love this book, and no one ever says anything about boy or girl. We have given this book many times as a birthday gift and have always had rave reviews for it. Highly reccommed for every house with children!

It's interesting that some reviewers identify the child as aboy, when the author has in fact written and illustratied this storyto be gender-neutral. The child (and animals, for that matter) can be either male or female -- and that was the author's intention, as described in a note in the book. When the main characters in so many children's books are male for no reason other than the fact that Male is the default gender in our world, how nice for girls to be able to see themselves in the main character of this story (and how nice for parents to not have to change names and pronouns to provide a more balanced perspective when reading to our children).

I had previously purchased It's Fall by the same author and since we just loved reading it every fall I was so excited to see that the author had written the same type of a book for winter, summer & spring. This book is not only cute, educational and great to read, it also has the cutest illustrations I've ever seen. I don't know who loves it more- me or my two kids. I highly recommend it for a great fun winter read!

It's Winter by Jimmy Pickering is a season-themed picture book with a distinctively zany art style that effectively uses simple, stylized colors and shapes. A girl and her dog discover the wonders of the snowy season in this joyful, rhyming book for beginning readers. It's Winter is an ideal and entertaining addition to family, school, and community library picture book collections for young readers. Also highly recommended is Jimmy Pickering's companion title: ...

It's a wonderful treat to discover a children's book that has that magical combination of richly whimsical illustration with a fun-to-read story. A book that is easily a classic right off the press.

Jimmy Pickering's newest book "It's Winter" is one in a series of four children's books about the seasons. Accompanying it is "It's Fall" and one can assume that the other two seasons can't be far behind.

A delightful collection will be on your shelves once all four seasons are out, because Sally and Sam, the lead characters in the series of books, take delight in what's special about each of the seasons. Sally, an adorable little girl, and her loyal dog Sam and too adorable not to love. They take a "best of winter" journey through the season, making snow angels, drinking hot cocoa and hanging holiday lights.

Little children will love reliving what's great about the season while grown-ups will enjoy Pickering's whimsical illustration style, so textured and stylized the art begs to be enjoyed again and again.

When you're finished with"It's Winter" and the accompanying "It's Fall" and you're waiting for the other two seasons to be published, check out Pickering's "Somethin' Pumpkin," another whimsical, funnily-creepy book about Halloween. Pickering is a master of creating unique worlds and once you've fallen in love with one of his books, you simply can't wait for the next. Jimmy is one of those rare creators who has the genius of making things original and unique -- and what a treat that is!

I was a musician in Japan and bought this book in Nagoya. After 6 mos I returned to the States and took Japanese I in college and got the highest grade in the class. This book is very clear. You learn the proper sentence structure and a lot of usable vocabulary.

I first saw this book in my public library and fell in love with it, I had to buy it. A great book for beginners who are dedicated... and who already know how to pronounce most of the alphabet.

The book has the best sytyle to learn Grammar i have seen yet, THe book is old and vocabulary outdated, it refers to Russia and the USSR. You are given ample oppertunity to learn the grammer from each section and how to use it in everyday life. There is multipule dialogs that contian what you may need to say if you got to a resteraunt or hotel, ask for help, basic things. (curently, living in japan)

I have been teaching and practicing this artform (Chinese Brush Painting) for about 5 years and have found this among the very best of the available books on the subject. Ms. Frame takes us through the basics, with descriptions of the materials and brushstrokes that one can actually follow and put into practice -all the time keeping true to the tradition. She then takes us beyond the basics with lovely projects incorporating colour along with the ink. I would highly recommend this book along with Ning Yeh's instruction books and videos for anyone seriously interested in learning the techniques of this beautiful artform.

I have done ink brush painting for over 20 years in Japan, China and now in Alabama. Japanese Ink Painting is a clear, beautifully illustrated approach for all experienced or new to the art. It is a valuable resource to everyne who desires to utilize a brush with ink, watercolor, or any medium and be sucessful with it.

Informative, explanatory, detailed and with beautiful images! Definitely a good buy if you would like to start sumi-e.

I borrowed this book from the library for my son, and since then we haven't been able to put it down. I had to finish the book last night by myself because I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. This is a GREAT book, and I am seriously thinking about getting a copy for our home.

i am 9 years old and i thought jimmy dabble was lots of fun, especially the way jimmy talks with the farm animals. jimmy's grandmother is great. she's so different from jimmy's parents and i really like her. and beebo was a real surprise. i'm going to bring the book to school and show it to my class. i want to be a writer when i'm older, and i'd love to be able to write like mr vischer. i hope there will be other jimmy dabble books, just like harry potter...

Yes, adults will love this as much as they loved reading HARRY POTTER. Get lost in your own childhood all over again. The illustrations could not be more charming. Here, unlike HARRY POTTER, you are able to easily visualize the characters. While POTTER is extremely visually written, JIMMY DABBLE is both visually written and perfectly illustrated. Get this today. You and your children will love this and crave more and more. Jimmy Dabble is born!

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. In this book, when Josefina and her father journey up to the mountains to visit one of the rancho's shepherds and his grandson, they discover a recent illness has left him blind. In spite of Josefina's pleading, her father decides to retire the shepherd. But, on their way home, Josefina and her father are caught in a sudden storm, and he is injured. Can Josefina save the day?

The final chapter of this book looks at shepherding in 1824, and gives directions for making a mini rug (it looks quite fun and easy, and my daughter and I are going to make one). As always, Jean-Paul Tibbles has produced some excellent illustrations that add a great deal to this already excellent book. My daughter and I both highly enjoyed this book, and we recommend it to you.

"Josefina's Song" is the third Josefina short story that was published, but it is set just before the book "Josefina Saves the Day". In "Josefina's Song", Josefina is allowed to join her Papa on a trip to the local mountains. They are going to visit the shepherd and his son who spend most of the year with the herd of sheep on the more abundant grazing land found in the mountains. When they arrive at their camp, they realize that the shepherd has become blind from a fever, and his nine year old son watches the sheep. Even though the shepherd proves himself capable around the camp, Papa is still worried for his safety. Papa offers to house them comfortably in town, but Josefina boldly speaks up for them, jeopardizing her own trip to Santa Fe that same summer. On their way home, a summer storm hits and Papa is injured when his frightened horse rears at lightning and bolts. Brave Josefina leads her Papa on her own horse back to the shepards camp, until men from home discover the runaway horse and rescue them in the morning. During the night, Josefina sings in her beautiful voice to the shepherd's flute playing. When she runs out of songs she knows, she sings her feelings about her journey, her outspokenness, the storm, Papa's accident and about the care the shepherd gives them. The next day, the abilities of the shepherd and his son are re-evaluated.

I was looking for a Beginners Meditation DVD for a gift. I knew Salle's voice from the Global Prayer Project (from the Celestine Prophecy with James Redfield) and specifically went looking to see if Salle had done any beginners mediation DVDs.
The Joy of Mediation is definitely a Joy to mediate too.

As a newcomer to meditation I found this Audio CD wonderful to say the least. The four meditations are easy to follow, fun and most enjoyable. The author has a very soothing and calming voice which enhances the nice music accompanied on the CD. Being as stressed as I was, this CD has helped me to relax in my daily life, because whenever I feel stresses I remember the breathing exercises from the CD and it makes me relax. Thank you, Salle, for a fine experience, I would recommend this CD to others, I would also buy any new editions. Warm wishes, John

I bought this as a cassette tape years ago at a time when I was having trouble sleeping, and just bought the cd. It works so well for me that I've never actually gotten to the end of it. Salle Merrill Redfield has such a soothing voice that even the introduction is relaxing. She takes you through a toe-to-head focus on relaxing your body, then takes you through four 15-minute meditations. The music is soft with out being too much or overly corny, and the sound effects (ocean waves are one) are equally subtle but effective. I haven't fit meditation into my life much but this tape I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to explore meditation, or who just needs a tool during stressful times to relax, reflect, or sleep.