Western Books

Showing the indomitable spirit, while being respectful of other cultures, Griffin paints a great picture of the Ol' West. Full of lots of action, and a wide pallet of great characters from all walks of life, this reads like a classic pulp western from bygone days. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

It's hard to find a good old-fashioned western anymore. Most of those on the paperback stands are sex-in-the-west stuff. "Border Raiders" is for those of us who want the emphasis on more traditional action, and it delivers. It starts off almost leisurely, with a scene of the ranger/hero at home before the start of his mission (tracking down renegade Comanches and rustlers). The action builds gradually and, once started, gathers momentum like an avalanche. The band of rangers has real challenges to overcome in this outing.

I enjoyed this book because Mr. Griffin showed us that it took many types of people to tame the West. In this book, he's remained true to history by including cowboys who were former slaves or of Mexican heritage, as well as having women and girls helping out in time of need.

I can't wait for the next book in this series!

Once again I was captivated by the adventures of Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk. The author, James Griffin, has written another action-packed western novel with just the right amount of Western adventure to keep my interest and without the use of overly graphic violence to make this short novel an excellent read. It is a welcoming relief to be able to read a book that does not contain overly graphic sex, violence or profanity. I highly recommend this book to fans of Western novels.

Once again, James Griffin has given us a fast-paced, action-packed tale of frontier Texas. This time, Ranger Jim Blawcyzk must help a company of Rangers track down white rustlers and renegade Comanches in the Nueces Strip. The action comes fast and furious, and holds the reader's attention from beginning to end. And, as in Trouble Rides the Texas Pacific, there's not a curse word nor overly graphic scene to be found. A great story in the style of the traditional Western.

David Brentridge was the only Brentridge heir left alive that knew about the family secret. Many men and even a woman sought out the rumored gold hidden on Brentridge property. None had ever breached the security of faithful work hands, the pool of poison, or the gun of David Brentridge himself.

Recent deaths led David to believe that his enemy Will Janely, was on the lookout to get his grimy hand on the gold. David was right in suspecting Will; but he never would have guessed who actually rode away that day with the small fortune leaving David for dead.

That one day put life in motion for David. He knew he must marry to sire a child of his own to pass on the family secret to. The only problem was, he didn't know where to find her as she has up and disappeared. In the end David got what he wanted all along; he was willing to pay the price in gold, too bad it also cost a leg.

Mr. Lambert has written a western that is a wickedly detailed , weirdly worded book of pure excitement. The characters exploded from the pages coming right to life. This story was very detailed, so much so that it distracted me from the story time to time. With that aside this is definitely a 4 heart worthy series that I will be sure to follow.

Did David find Consuela again? Are they living happily ever after? Did he produce a heir and a spare like he hoped? Does the secret live on? Did he find another opening in the treasure room? Is there more treasure or another darker, deeper mystery? Who pulled him out of that tunnel? What was amiss in the treasure room that he couldn't put his finger on? Oh yes, inquiring minds want to know. When is W. Lambert III going to write the next book in the series to answer all these questions....Or has W. Lambert III already written it? Where can I get it?

Love the book. Just what I needed on a sunny Sunday afternoon drifting on the lake ... relaxing. Perfect!

I could not put this book down. W. Lambert has written this twisted and twisting plot excellently. During the "hunt" scenes I am reminded of the short story "The Most Dangerous Game." While gold may be what everyone is after, both the prey and game turn out to be humans.
Every detail in the book is strategically placed and timed to result in a shocking and revealing ending. This book is raw--human raw. We see the characters for who they are and not who they pretend to be--with a few surprises. Death is present many times during the story; each depiction is realistic and relevant.
I cannot wait for the next book by W. Lambert

When author Christopher Dane, whose 1981 book RIDERS OF THE DRAGON presaged the Heaven's Gate suicides and arrival of comet Hale-Bopp, recommends THE BRENTRIDGE GOLD -- "Great! Fantastic! Unusual! A book I wish I'd written!" -- I sit up and take notice. Nor was I disappointed.

A sci-fi fan and a western afficionado, I found THE BRENTRIDGE GOLD, subtle enough in its plotline to satisfy readers of both genres. In fact, if you aren't a die-hard fan of the Ancient Astronaut theories, you might very well be misled into believing Lambert has written a western with just a very interesting and very unique storyline. However, if you are a true believer, there's enough insinuation of things "above and beyond" (including "Pakal, The Maya Astronaut" on the cover) to get the juices and the ah-yes-there-you-have-it! thought process working overtime.

Lambert, not new to the book scene provided some now classical reads in the eighties (ENCORES IN FADE; MICHAEL THE MASTER; ASSIGNMENT GREY AREA), and it's great to have him back from retirement [or from wherever else -- (cue "The Twilight Zone Theme") do,do do,do -- he's been], especially with a book that I predict will become a cult classic in its own right.

Don't miss this one if you like your westerns with a twist you're not likely to find in your typical run-of-the-mill cowboy novel, or your sci-fi really out of the ordinary! And since the books presents itself as merely the first in "The Pleiades Portals Series" of books, be sure not to miss it, because of predicted upcoming-more-of-the-same!

While I usually won't read Westerns, the idea of one involving "Ancient Astronauts" intrigued me, because I love science fiction! The science fiction and adventure elements keep sneaking into the narrative, along with hints of possible supernatural activity. Still, author W. Lambert III stays tightly focused on the Western-style hero, David Brentridge.

In fact, David takes up most of the ink in this book. We often see only him, or just him with brief appearances from the other characters. Fortunately, Lambert makes David a unique and fascinating character who slowly reveals more and more about himself and his family through his actions, dialogue, and thoughts.

The people who keep crossing David's path in one way or another might want the Brentridge gold, and he rarely can decide which of them to trust. Lambert even holds back from the readers why the gold involves so many secrets, far beyond any obvious fortune, but he gives us fascinating hints and glimpses through David and an ancient shaman. He also gives a fast-paced, unpredictable read.

When you get Bright Balkan Morning you are likely to open it up and then leaf through it, looking at the photographs. After a few minutes of this you'll remove the CD from the inside back cover and put it on. Then you continue looking at the photos while listening to the sounds.

That in itself is a rich and satisfying experience. But don't stop there. Read the text!

It tells of Roma (aka Gypsy) musicians who have cornered the market on live music in polyglot Greek Macedonia. While they are at the bottom of the social order, anyone who wishes a proper wedding, festival, or party of any kind hires these musicians. The musicians generally perform in trios, one playing a bass drum while the other two play the zurna - a double-reed woodwind found throughout Eurasia and Africa. Their repertoire is drawn from the peoples who live in the area, or passed through at one time, and is sometimes more Oriental, sometimes more European - whatever the customer wants.

Keil and Keil give detailed accounts of several performances - a baptism, a wedding, and a saint's day festival - tell the life stories of a dozen or so musicians & family, and recount the broad history of the Roma in the Mediterranean as well as presenting a more focused account of their sojourn in Greek Macedonia. Blau's photographs range from intimate portraits, to dancers in full party whirl, through street scenes jumbled or measured, to serene landscapes. Some of his shots are so strikingly composed - the cover image, for example - that the effect is both subjective (Blau's aesthetic) and objective (we're looking at things, out there, in the world). Steven Feld's soundscapes give us the living flow of sound. Not only do we hear the twin zurnas flying through drum rhythms, but dancing feet, shouts of joy and exertion, motors churning, sheep braying, and Stevie Wonder piped in through a tinny sound system.

Bright Balkan Morning is a milestone. See it, hear it, read it. Take pleasure in it.

This book is, in a word, extraordinary; so is the accompanying CD recording, which gives in addition to music of the Macedonian Romany people, a slice of their life in cafes and markets. One hears their daily activities, the sale of pita, and various wares, as well as juke boxes and street sounds as the Mahala awakens.

Mahala, for those unaware, is the village ghetto to which Rom people are generally confined, although the anthropologists who compiled this book do not seem to know that it is Arabic for ghetto, and the same word used in North Africa and other Middle Eastern Muslim nations to describe the Jewish and Christian ghettos in which those dhimmi groups are similarly confined. Dhimmis are the non-Muslim minorities in Muslim lands, and their treatment (and in Muslim nation remains) generally described and defined by the Islamic laws of jihad.

Unlike most other recent books about the Rom, this one contains a massive amount of research on the lives and music of these people, as they live it; but what I like the most are the oral histories that provide readers with a real sense of the hardships suffered by the Rom in Greek Macedonia. While the book mentions the great and disastrous Turkish invasion of Greece in 1922, it does not note the great massacre of an estimated 150,000 Christian Greeks and Armenians in Smyrna on the Aegean coast that year. This undoubtedly included some Rom, as the town was then (as now) central on the Turkish coast.

But without knowing it, the authors have demonstrated some of the ill effects of Muslim rule, for they do discuss, via oral histories, the great liberation experienced by Greek Roma in 1924, when Turks were repatriated to Turkey and 1 million Greeks from Turkey to Greece. The latter may have lost some territory, but she gained liberation from Muslim oppression.

As Greeks from Turkey poured into Greece, the town fathers in Jumaya, for example, and presumably everywhere else the Roma then lived in Greece, began to allow the Roma to go to school with Greeks. Beforehand, the Turks had imposed separation on non-Muslim peoples. But with Turks gone, Greeks exiled the old cast system too, thereby relinquishing the system that had helped imprison Greek Roma in lives without equal education. Now, suddenly, the Rom could attend the same school as everyone else.

There are many wonderful features of this book, including the photographs and the music CD at its end. But make no mistake, the oral histories are the best feature, making this one of the best books on the Rom I have read to date.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

In the rich and wonderful BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia (Wesleyan University Press. Includes a CD), Charles and Angeliki Vellou Keil write of how, since the earliest days of Byzantium, commentators have remarked, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, on the power of the Romani people to "steal your heart." With its stunning photographs by Dick Blau and its evocative CD produced by Steven Feld, this book is just one more instance of stolen hearts. The Romani, who are sometimes called gypsies, have stolen the authors' hearts and are well on their way to stealing my heart as well.

I urge you to buy this book. I say so as someone who almost never reads anything published by an academic press. I am definitely not an anthropologist or a social scientist of any kind. What I know about the raw and the cooked doesn't get very far beyond my kitchen, but I couldn't put BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING down. This book ought to be that rare thing: an academic book with popular appeal.

The easiest way into the riches of BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING are Blau's black-and-white photographs of the Romani playing their instruments for weddings, wrestling matches, and the little parades that apparently form wherever they go. When the dances started up, I have a feeling that Blau joined in, for these pictures just pulled me along. I could smell the perfume in the grandmother's handkerchief as she held it out to Blau and, through him, to me, as we all danced together. I could see the textures of the road when I took my place in the wedding parade; I could almost hear the sound of the zurna (a kind of outdoor oboe) being played in my ear.

Of course Steven Feld's CD brings the actual sounds to life. The CD begins oh so slyly by introducing Romani music emerging from the ambient sounds of twentieth-century Macedonia. The Romani are, if nothing else, great survivors of history's cultural wars, and you can hear so many diverse musical strains-from the Muslim to the techno pop. Eerily enough, the rhythm of the dauli (a two-headed bass drum) being played sounds exactly like the bass-drum pounding at a high-school football pep rally.

I wasn't as happy with the book's writing style, but then the authors seem to be wrestling with shaping this heartfelt information of theirs into all the requirements of academic publishing, and that struggle oddly mirrors the lives of the Romani. This sometimes awkward prose becomes just one more instance of the dance the Romani inspire everywhere they go as they blend in and out of the moment's culture.

--R. M. Ryan
Duncans Mills, CA

Last night I planned to read this book for just a few minutes before going to sleep. Hours later, instead of sleeping I was transformed into the world of the Balkan Roma musicians and their incredible culture! I simply couldn't put this amazing book down. I love the stories and interviews with the old musicians, the informative history of the Roma people and their culture, the full-of-life photos, and the CD with soundscapes. All these pieces combine to give the reader a great view of a people and their heritage, and one that has been largely overlooked in the past. I found the work ethic of the musicians described in this book to be very inspirational. To be able to play all kinds of requests for days on end is really something to admire. Musicians of any genre could learn a whole lot from reading about the musicians in this book. Years ago, these authors turned me on to the subculture of polka in the USA (and made a polkaholic out of me) with their super "Polka Happiness" book. They have clearly done it again - informed the world about an incredibly rich culture that was largely hidden from view.

This book responds to my interest in the social context of folk music and dance. The focus was on the lives of the people who make the music, in this case the Roma of Jumaya (Iriklia) in Greek Macedonia. The writers give you quite a rounded view, describing how the music is performed, at what kinds of events, how people relate to the music and each other, how the musicians see themselves and their occupation and how making a living as a Roma musician fits into Greek society. There is also a strong sense of history and how things have changed over time in many ways - the history of Roma in Greece and other Balkan countries, the specific history of Roma in Jumaya, and the stories of individual musicians and their families. The consistently positive way that the writers approach their subject is also refreshing - they describe how Roma have used music to survive and, in some cases, prosper, and how in doing so they have contributed to the multi-layered fabric of Greek-Macedonian ethnic identities.

What is especially interesting to me is the authors' view of how multi-ethnic society works in Greek Macedonia as compared to Bulgaria or Former Yugoslavia, and how the strategy of Roma musicians is different in these different countries. In Greek Macedonia the musicians play the music of all ethnic groups in order to maximize their flexibility and income. During multi-ethnic celebrations the musicians follow a strict policy of playing everyone's requests in the order requested, so that no one feels that they have priority. There is a fascinating description of an ethnically mixed wedding where the families have to adjust their various wedding traditions to accommodate each other, making it up as they go along to some extent.

The authors compare and contrast this with the approach taken by Roma musicians in other areas of the Balkans. In Kosovo in the 1980s the Roma musicians are said to have purposely selected music from traditions from other than Serbian and Albanian in order to avoid conflicts. In Bulgaria the wedding band tradition is described as leading to a new pan-Balkan "fusion" style which borrows from many cultures but still feels Bulgarian. Ultimately the motivation behind each strategy is the need of musicians to make a living.

The book is interesting reading from a North American perspective as well. Keil contrasts the multi-ethnic consciousness of Greeks, where the same person may have several types of ethnic and national identities simultaneously, with the concept of "multiculturalism" which he describes as slices of a pizza in which there are lots of ethnicities but everyone is either one thing or another. This raise the question of what is really going on in such immigrant nations as Canada and the United States.

The accompanying CD is a potpourri of sounds, including music of various types, and there is a section of the book describing the contents of the CD. Some of the track titles are Market Day in Jumaya, Afternoon at a Mahala Café, At Home in the Mahala, New Year's Party in Serres, Taverna Party at Nikisiani. The combination of the text, the many high quality black and white photos and the soundscape are successful in putting you into the experience, as much as this is possible. There was also a nice balance between Angeliki Keil's straight-forward and very readable reporting of the lives of the musicians and Charles Keil's more theoretical musings about ethnicity, the music and the role of the musicians. My only complaint about the book is its weight - it's printed on very heavy, glossy stock, no doubt adding to the quality of photographic reproductions, but it is so big and heavy that you pretty well have to read it sitting up. An alternate title could be, "Your Big Fat Roma Music Book."

The Canadian and the Skeena are both prominently featured in a Railway Map Guide for Western Canada recently published by Way of the Rail Publishing company founded by VIA's Vancouver based activity coordinator Chris Hanus.

The full-colour oblique perspective map includes charts of cities and towns, a speed table to determine the speed of a train and an interpretation of railway signals and signs. "In my job as an activity coordinator, I saw first-hand that our rail passenger guests wanted to know the names of the awe-inspiring peaks, canyons, water falls, and other scenic highlights along the route," explains Chris.

The map guide has received rave reviews and Chris is already working on future publications, including a scenic railway guidebook which would include the entire VIA network. The Railway Map Guide for Western Canada is available through Amazon.com and on board the Canadian.

The Canadian and the Skeena are both prominently featured in a Railway Map Guide for Western Canada recently published by Way of the Rail Publishing company founded by VIA's Vancouver based activity coordinator Chris Hanus.

The full-colour oblique perspective map includes charts of cities and towns, a speed table to determine the speed of a train and an interpretation of railway signals and signs. "In my job as an activity coordinator, I saw first-hand that our rail passenger guests wanted to know the names of the awe-inspiring peaks, canyons, water falls, and other scenic highlights along the route," explains Chris.

The map guide has received rave reviews and Chris is already working on future publications, including a scenic railway guidebook which would include the entire VIA network. The Railway Map Guide for Western Canada is available through Amazon.com and on board the Canadian.

The Canadian and the Skeena are both prominently featured in a Railway Map Guide for Western Canada recently published by Way of the Rail Publishing company founded by VIA's Vancouver based activity coordinator Chris Hanus.

The full-colour oblique perspective map includes charts of cities and towns, a speed table to determine the speed of a train and an interpretation of railway signals and signs. "In my job as an activity coordinator, I saw first-hand that our rail passenger guests wanted to know the names of the awe-inspiring peaks, canyons, water falls, and other scenic highlights along the route," explains Chris.

The map guide has received rave reviews and Chris is already working on future publications, including a scenic railway guidebook which would include the entire VIA network. The Railway Map Guide for Western Canada is available through Amazon.com and on board the Canadian.

This award-winning guide features a visually striking topographic rendition of the western mountains, via the integration of GIS, 3D visualisation and graphic design software. The main side depicts the passenger railway lines between British Columbia and Alberta and the reverse focuses on northern BC between Prince Rupert and Prince George, with two pannels devoted to mileage charts along the rail lines. The 32 x 19" map is sold in a sturdy hardcopy foldout format measuring 9.5 x 4', easily handled by the map-unfolding challenged.

Cartographically, the most intriguing component is the terrain representation which uses the free 'GTOPO30' elevation data (1 km resolution) and features a hillshaded oblique perspective combined with hypsometric tints, in natural greens through yellows to browns. The illumination is from the east, and the perspective resembles Tanaka's orthographic relief method, described using GIS software by Kennelly and Kimerling (2002). This approach pits enhanced visual appeal against some topographic concealment in steep terrain compared to conventional hillshading (see website).

The website gives further information on the map guide's construction involving the combination of Arc/Info, World Construction Set and Photoshop software, with final layout in Adobe Illustrator. Minor criticisms concern the ancillary information: the neatline is divided in a seemingly redundant one-inch grid numbered 1-19 vertically, and A-Z then A1-E1 horizontally (since it is 32" wide). The lack of a scale bar is perhaps justifiable given the mileage charts on one side, and the guide's function as a topological perspective.

It is a fine cartographic work, with sales already in the thousands, and this where railways are used more for freight than public transportation! Main roads and ferries are included to enable this attractive guide as a road map of western Canada for both tourists and trainspotters.

An activities coordinator for VIA Rail's flagship train, the Canadian, Hanus provides a topographical rendering of the western Canadian countryside with names of the scenic highlights. The hardcover map folds out to 36 x 20 inches, and includes railway museums and tourist lines, as well as ideal photo locations.

This is a really great cookbook. It is well organized, has fabulous photos, and the recipes are very easy to follow. Both the recipes and the accompanying anecdotes are written in an exceptionally user friendly style, making this a cookbook that you will want to actually sit down and read! This is one I find myself coming back to, time after time, for easy preparation and terrific results!

Brendan writes exceptionally well. I like his style; it's very upbeat with a joie de vivre feeling. Comfortable punctuation makes the writing flow nicely. It's concise and unambiguous without being the least bit pedantic.
The anecdotes, biographical sketches, introductions to place, and mini-tutorial lead-ins are most enjoyable. (Man, would I have loved some of Michel's 150-pound halibut!) The complementary
information provided about the people and their environments makes the recipes that much more appreciated. I am very much enjoying the book and the learning experience. It's like a travelogue. I have never really "read" a cookbook before. But then, this is not an ordinary cookbook.

Some 35 years ago Brendan O'Farrell, an international business man, and Michel Deville, a French Master Chef, became the best of friends who shared an appreciation for good service and great food. They opened a restaurant (La Table de Michael) in Sain-Remy de Provence near Avignon in the South of France in the spring of 2005. Now having successfully collaborated as restauranteurs, they have combined their love of the culinary arts to publish a compendium of savory recipes laid out with careful step-by-step instructions so clear and concise as to be able to transform ordinary kitchen cooks into accomplished chefs of French cuisine. Wonderfully illustrated throughout with finished dishes, the recipes comprising "Brothers In The Kitchen" range from Tri-Color Salad; to New Orleans Style Gumbo; to Roast Sirloin Encrusted in English Mustard; to Jumbo Prawns Flambe with Pernod; to Spinach with Swiss Cheese Sauce; to Mint Chocolate Delight. Enhanced with the inclusion of wonderful anecdotes and stories, "Brothers In The Kitchen" begins with thematically appropriate advice about how to get started in the kitchen, matching wines with foods, stocks and savors, and goes on to include sage counsel respecting menus, special restaurants and restaurateurs, conversion tables for cooking, and more. "Brothers In The Kitchen" is enthusiastically recommended as a core addition to any gourmet quality kitchen cookbook collection!

It is unusual to be completely satisfied once you actually delve into a cookbook and try to produce the "plat".
Brothers in the Kitchen works!
It is clear that much attention was put into clarifying the recipes to make them easy to follow, each with a photograph.
The accompanying essays are light and engaging.
I have ordered several to give as holiday gifts... if not for cooking to impress, to make a beautiful coffee table addition.

This book was a pleasure to read & the pictures made my mouth water. The recipes are designed to be successfully followed by both the seasoned chef & the newly initiated, with pretty impressive results. I tried the "Death by Chocolate" and was ready to go to heaven! Anyone who yearns for a taste of Provence, whether it be at the dinner table or in a favorite reading nook, will be deeply satisfied. Also, unlike some other books of this genre, I think that men would especially enjoy its particular combination of culinary craftmanship, staightforward writing & entertaining stories.

It's a textbook. That being said, it is filled with extra material, like case examples, a CD-ROM, etc. I didn't look at any of that because my business law class went at such a slow pace we only looked at about 10 of the chapters. If you are buying this for a class, you should come away with a lot of good information from this book without feeling it is too much of a boring chore to read through.

Very fast delivery, thanks I was in a hurry and you have made me very happy.

This is an excellent text at various levels of interest, desire, talent and time. The text is arranged that given the time, the Instructor can dig deeper and deeper into thorny topics. Additionally, curious students can rely on numerous web sources for enhanced views and greater depth.

Further, there are additional sources for the Instructor available through test banks and outlines. This is my favorite text to teach from. It is neither dry with enough cases to stir the imagination of the younger students nor MTV'd and contains sufficient current cases to give older students and retired students pause to consider. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

This is an excellent text. It incorporates the law, as well as
legal research methodologies. For instance, a standard chapter
contains an outline, common law sources,constitutional,
statutory and administrative laws/rule-making. The work cites
computerized legal research in WESTLAW and LEXIS. Relevant
international legal citations are listed. The applicable
United States Code is cited by Title and specific paragraph.
In some cases, individual state legal codes are cited. There
are exhaustic sets of historical and statutory notes, cross
references and federal practice notes. Each chapter has a
comprehensive case study with a brief synopsis, cited case
and final disposition. There are teaching suggestions at the
end of the instructor's manual together with discussion
questions, research assignments and an explanation of footnotes.
In addition, there is an exhaustive section on essay question
answers.

Here is a model answer:
Stare decisis is a doctrine that prescribes following earlier
judicial decisions in deciding a current case if the facts and
questions are similar. Courts attempt to be consistent with their
own prior decisions and with the decisions of courts superior
to them. Stare decisis is important because part of the function
of law is to maintain stability. If the application of the law
was unpredictable, there would be no consistent rules to follow
and no stability.

The volume has detailed coverage of the following areas:
o Business Ethics o Int'l Business Law
o Employee Rights o Employment law
o Occupational safety o Accounting and the law
o Securities o Mergers and acquisitions
o Insurance o Real Estate
o Financial institutions o Unfair competition
o Advertising o Environmental law
o Health Care o Sports and entertainment
o Hospitality management o Communications
o Government contracts o Legal representation of business

There are significant software support systems; namely,
o Legal Clerk Research Software System
o Computerized Instructor's Manual
o Computerized Questions/Answers
o Case problems on diskette
o CD
o Lecture Builder Software
o Westest
o A Classroom Management System
o WESTrain
o Transparency Masters
o Sample Moot Court and much much more

This text is an excellent purchase for collegiate law students.

I am using this textbook in several of my classes, and let me just say- it has everything I could have hoped for. The chapters are laid out well, many cases are cited, and the student is given actual cases to figure out, with the citations given at the end so he can find the actual outcome. I've found this to be among the best textbooks. It is so good, in fact that I've reccomended it to several of my friends who are going into business for themselves. This covers nearly everything they'll need to know regarding contracts, secured transactions, warranties, etc.
Love the law!

I love this book and I'm so glad I found it again.I had one when my son was little (18 now!) and we lost it so I was thrilled to find it on Amazon since I have a toddler once again!It's so sweet and the little rhyming page is adorable.Who doesn't love Kermit?

We tried for a long time to get our daughter to give up the bottle at nap time. Since she never took a pacifier or had a special toy or blanket, this was very hard for her to give up as it was her only "comfort" for nap times. She loved this book, having me read it to her again and again. We followed saying bye, bye to the bottle just like they did in the book - making an event of boxing them up and saying bye, bye. She felt very proud making the decision that she was a big girl and it made what had been a such a hard thing, much easier!

I bought this book for my daughter who is 191/2 months old. She was still taking a nightime bottle. The day this book came we read it several times. The next day I asked her if she was ready to say "Bye Bye Bottle" and she said she was. We packed up the bottles as Kermit does in the book and said bye bye to each one. She has not had a bottle in almost three weeks!

For a long time "Bye Bye Diapers" was my favorite Muppet Babies story (I could recite it in at least three languages) but this book has grown on me until it threatens to overtake that tale.

"Bottle" features Kermit, who--although Ms. Piggy would no doubt argue the point--has always been the leader of the late Jim Henson's muppets. Kermit loves his bottle, and although the motivation seems a bit shallow, he has an epithany of sorts midway through the book and decides to try drinking from a glass. Realistically, it would be wise proceed slowly, perhaps moving up to a sippy cup, but of course Kermit is a dreamer and, by the end of the story, imagines that soon he will be drinking from any cup he chooses. Don't each of us have these kinds of simple, distilled dreams? When I think of my own personal quest to become a top-ranked reviewer at ..............--how impossible that seems at times, particularly since my reviews don't seem to get published--the story of the little frog who dares to dream of drinking like a grownup never fails to inspire me to charge on toward that distant horizon!

I bought this book and read it to my 26 month old daughter. She only took a bottle at night and I told her she was a big girl now and she needed to say bye bye to the bottle. I read her this book twice and handed her a bottle of water instead of milk and she looked at me and I said bye bye bottle. She said bye bye and has never had one since that night. It was so easy I wish I had done it long ago. Now she even sleeps all night!

I can't believe I found it! This was one of my favorite books from when I was in kindergarten. I remember it well. I'm buying it for my 6-year-old daughter tonight.

"Way out west in Cactus County there was a horse named Calico. She wasn't very pretty...but she was very smart. She was the smartest fastest horse in all of Cactus County." She could run like "greased lightning", and she could smell like a bloodhound. "Her nose was so keen she could track a bee through a blizzard." She was owned by a cowboy named Hank, and "...she would go to the end of the trail for Hank. They had a language all their own and understood each other perfectly." Life was good and happy for everyone who lived in Cactus County, no locks, no fences, and no sheriff or jail. But across the Cactus River were the Badlands where the villains of this story lived. And the meanest, sneakiest, absolutely worst bad man of them all was Stewy Stinker. He was so mean, "he would hold up Santa Claus on Christmas Eve if he had a chance." So sit back and get comfortable and see what happened when Stewy Stinker and his nasty gang came to town..... First published in 1941, Calico The Wonder Horse is as fresh and entertaining today, as it was over fifty years ago. This is an old fashioned, action packed, rootin' tootin' western that has it all...cattle rustling, hold-ups, a stampede and kidnapping, a wild and thrilling stagecoach chase, and through it all, Calico comes to the rescue, outsmarts the bad guys and saves the day. Virginia Lee Burton's clever, witty text is dramatic, engaging and full of wild west colloquialisms that will have both kids and adults laughing and cheering at all the fun. Her marvelous comic strip illustrations are expressive and full of detail and beg to be pored over and explored. Put it all together and you have the makings of a timeless classic to share with friends, family and future generations. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Calico The Wonder Horse is a masterpiece and a MUST for every home library.

The illustrations of this Wild West comedy saga are just as good as the lively and creative prose. Easy to read in one sitting as a great "before bed" story. The adventure and humor will keep even those with short attention spans listening intently. The ending is perfect!

My 2 1/2 year old daughter and I love this book! Best of all, and unlike many of our other favorites, the hero (Calico) is female whose merit is based on her intellect and problem-solving skills. I really like that subliminal message. I'll admit that at first I was a little put off by the artsy "comic book" format, but it grows on you, and I appreciate it more each time I read it. This book and Mike Mulligan are must-have Burton books.

I am a big fan of Virginia Lee Burton and Calico the Wonder Horse is another example of her great illustrations and story lines. The story is action packed; you laugh, you cry, and you want the good guy to win and live happily ever after. What is interesting about this book is that the color of the pages correspond with the action of the story. It is an all around good read for you and your child.

An outstanding resource for the home chef. Every recipe receives raves from the diners. A must on your shelf.

It is extremely easy to offer guests ( or yourself) a magnificent meal that looks like you are a great chef with very little work. Easy techniques and ingredients allow you to enjoy cooking. You will reach for this book repeatedly!

What a great cookbook! I use it frequently, particularly for the roast chicken (my family's personal favorite), shrimp salsa, the marinades and salad dressings, the chocolate truffle brownies, and an UNBELIEVABLY sinful chocolate cake! The format is attractive, the recipes are easy to follow, and the results have been uniformly consistent. If you enjoy flavorful, creative cuisine, this is for you!

I have many cookbooks, but this is one of my favorites. Every recipe that I made from this book has turned out well, which is, I think, a sign of a good cookbook. I particularly like the notes at the bottom of the recipe that tell you how far ahead and through what step you can make the dish. This is a big plus when entertaining. All of the dishes that I have made from this book have been crowd pleasers.

From salsa to chicken to rack of lamb to corn cakes to lasanga -- these recipes are fantastic. The flavors will remind you of dining out at a gourmet restaurant, although many of the dishes have a laid-back flair. One thing to remember, especially if you are a beginner cook, most of these recipes take some time to put together. If you start at 6, you may be sitting down to eat at 10! The time is well worth it -- you tastebuds, and your dinner companions, will thank you! The author also makes excellent wine suggestions.

these audio books are great, the music and voices make the stories. Parents who have kids that love dogs must get these. Way more entertaining than TV.

Hank the cow dog is an amazingly funny book at first I thought that it was a really bad book but after a few minutes it turned into the best book i've ever read!
It's a really witty book and a very exciting one at that.A great Texan adventure about a dog and his amazingly funny ,exciting adventures. Definetly a book which is hard to put down! A rolercoaster which never ends. (...)

For readers of any age the Hank The Cow Dog series is one of the best. It will hold the attention of older struggling readers with lower abilities. Parents reading to their children will enjoy the books as much as the kids do. With wit and humor the adventures of Hank keep us turing the pages. I have not read every book in the series but I will.

Amazon should make a complete set of these available.

In this book Hank goes to his sister's house in town. A dog named Rambo in town is bullying his sister. Hank helps fight Rambo off once but Rambo comes again and Hank runs away. Hank has an idea to get his friend dog-pound Ralph to help him stop Rambo. Hank and Ralph run to town with the dog-catcher after them. If you want to find out what Hank's idea is and if it works read the story.

Every "Hank" book is the same, and every one a pleasure. I read them aloud to my 5th graders, to my kids and to myself. We all enjoy ourselves, sometimes laughing out loud. Hank is arrogant enough to laugh at, and his entourage provides a perfect backdrop for his inevitable comeupance. One thumb, way up!