Studios Books

A Dog Walker/Trainer with a lifetime love for photography, this is my favorite kind of book. For sure. I've picked up many, but Sharon Montrose is my favorite. Every photo is so beautiful and I just LOVE how she captures the personality of her furry subjects. That's the true talent in my eyes. Of all of versions of this kind of work I have perused, this is my favorite one. Lightweights (Sharon Montrose) is a close second.

I also am aslo a fan of "If only you knew how much I smell you." (Photos - Valerie Shaff/Text - Roy Blount Jr.)

Quirky and creative pictorial portrayel of man's best friend. Makes the reader feel warm and fuzzy. A great gift book. Arlene Millman, author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY (The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier).

After giving a few copies of Dogtionary as Christmas gifts, I am ordering a few more because the book was such a big hit with my friends. These dog portraits are beautiful and yet so simple. Any dog owner who has struggled to get a good picture of their pet can take inspiration from this book. Sharon Montrose clearly knows and loves her subjects well.

As an amateur photographer and animal lover, I'm on the lookout for dog portraits that are something special - this book has them! The photos are divine and the "meanings" of each subject's name are terrific. You get a real feeling for each dog's personality, something which is missing from so many so-called "great" animal portraits. If you love dogs and want to have a great coffee table book, or give it as a gift, this is the one!

This is the sweetest book I've ever bought. When I picked up this book in the bookstore I sat on the floor in the middle of the aisle and just started glowing as I went through the whole book page by page- It truly captures our sweet canine companions at their best. The photos are amazing and the sayings fit perfectly. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a love for dogs. It will brighten your day and make you laugh out loud. It captures our animals true spirits.

This is one of those must have items when you're facing a trip with your grandkids (that's TWO generations away from your own days on any wild ride) and I must say this guide to the park was enormously helpful even before we got there. Thanks a lot! Our trip was a huge success and Ms. Wiley's book gets a lot of the credit.

I first read an earlier version of this book several years ago, and Kim's sound advice has stayed with me, several trips on.

If you want to learn which rides to stay away from with young children, and what the must sees are, this is the book to read. And don't ignore Kim's most important tip of all. If you're travelling to Disney World with children, make sure you take that afternoon nap.

Catherine Noble
Webmaster
www.mywdwtrip.com

This is a really useful book, tons of tips, saved me a lot $$ and time. The most valuable thing I learn is to rent a multi-family vacation house with my friends, 16 people for $199 a day. We all enjoy the stay at a luxury emerald island resort. check this out: http://www.cyberrentals.com/index.cfm/property/126687

I purchased this book as a guide to help plan a 5 day trip to WDW with my family. We just got back and let me tell you this book saved us a lot of waiting time for the rides, helped us know what to see and where and how to focus our energy. Ms. Wiley is right on the mark in her descriptions of the attractions and her tips about getting around the parks. The book was so helpful, I tore out the sections about each park and took it with us into the park. This version is missing info that wasn't available at the time of printing about some of the newer shows Disney has put in for its 50th anniversary celebration. The Cinderellabration show is wonderful especially if you have a princess lover in your family and the Wishes fireworks display over the castle in the Magic Kingdom. I would highly recommend this book even if you've been to WDW before.

This book is a must read before and during your trip. It has great money saving ideas and is easy to understand. The scare factors are extremely useful if you have children under 10.

If you don't know Phil and Kaja Foglio from -his- work in Dragon Mag's "What's New", from the MythAdventures series (book and/or comic), the Buck Godot stories, their (blush) XXXenophile series, or their work illustrating "Magic, The Gathering" cards (notably Urza's Science Fair Project), shame on you! Go back two spaces and loose a turn. Gas-lamp Fantasy is sort of like what Jules Verne, Mary Shelly and H.G. Wells were writing back in the day. Steam-powered wonders, cobbled-together reanimated monsters, and pneumatic nutcrackers. (who doesn't like nuts?) Add a bit more modern-times feel, fantasmagoric (tm) illustration and color, and more tongue in cheek humor than you can shake a bag of knezels at, and presto! Genius! And the Girl, DON'T forget the girl! Damsels-in-distress, damsels-outta-de-dress, damsels who would shemk me upsidy-like the head with a 3/17 occipital left-leaning heterodyne wrench if I continues! (Yowza!) So stop reading this and BUY it already! Buy the whole series! (Buy two! Gotta keep one set "Mint Condition", dontcha?)

I love the art and the airships definitely need to be looked at. The age of steam and invention captured here is great, but if you're looking for a 'steam punk' setting this is not it. The title is certainly worthy to own, but doesn't have the darker aspects that would go with a true 'steam punk' setting. Otherwise, if you're looking for a great work, look no further!

The art is really the best part of the series. All the bits and bobs and mechanically doodads make for a very pretty comic. (And they serve as good plot devices too!)

I zoomed through the first book too quickly and hadn't yet ordered the rest of the series, which I would say is the only bad part about the book.

The drama is top notch and the fantasy setting keeps it moving forward. You'll find that the plot reveals little secrets along the way that you would never expect. The best comic I've seen from the Foglios in a long time.

This is the first volume in Phil Foglio's ongoing series featuring Agatha Heterodyne and a cast of hundreds. The book collects the first few issues of what was originally a comic book series. The publishing schedule, though, seems to have been troubled for a variety of reasons, and "Girl Genius" now appears in webcomic form (with ensuing regular compilations in print form).

Kaja Foglio, wife and co-creator, describes this as "gaslamp fantasy": crypto-Victorian science and pre-pulp adventures in a world filled with mad scientists, giant steam-powered robots, weird technology, mysterious cults, and cackling villains. A great deal of which is played for laughs, simultaneously embracing and sending up the usual tropes of the genre. The humor throughout balances between sly drollery and slapstick.

One of the major attractions is Foglio's art, which many gamers will well know from his years of penning the "Phil & Dixie" feature in "Dragon" magazine. It's drenched in color and is highly detailed, to the point that you wonder how he ever completes a page. There's almost always 18 different things going on in the background, none of which is ever really relevant, but Foglio apparently really enjoys jamming in the sight gags.

I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, and the Foglios have done a great job in creating an internally consistent alterna-Earth with its own physical and magical laws and history and politics, and they've also introduced seemingly dozens of plot strands. This latter is both good and bad. In later issues, there is some loss of cohesiveness, and the story seems to wander off into side treks, and none of the storylines ever seem to get wrapped up. (It's sort of the "Lost" of the comics world.)

On the other hand, it's got enormous fleets of dirigibles! And scar-faced pseudo-Teutonic bad guys! And talking cats! And endangered heroines in corsets! So, you know, all of the good stuff. Check it out!

My wife and I play the Girl Genius card game, though up until recently I have known little of the background story. One day, curious, I looked it up and found this volume and ordered it. Before I was finished, I was already in love with Agatha. This volume gives little of the flavor of the full story that folds over the next 5+ volumes, but it does give insight into a richly imagined world.

In some ways, it is a very common story. There is a student who seems not particularly good at anything, though the reader is made aware early own that there is more than meets the eye. There is a university where she learns, that seems to be taking part in caring for her and hiding something of a secret. There is a mysterious set of events in her past, and her family's past. She has an "item of power" that is taken and sets gears into motion. She meets a guy she both despises and admires at the same time.

Somehow, though, the Foglios have found an excellent way to balance the "steam-punk", the cliche story line, and the relatively small beginnings of a comic that are meant to hint at things to come in a way to come up with something that feels fresh and, more importantly, fun.

If you are thinking about ordering this volume, by the way, I recommend getting the next couple as well. It reads fast and I assure you that you are going to want more.

Attaboy has turned poetry inside out and back again. I'm additcted to GUSH. The poems are funny, disturbing, though-provoking and all in all, brilliant! I may never sleep again, but I'll never part with my copy of GUSH. I can't wait for his next book!

This book is pure nightmare fuel. From the severed head on the cover to the bizarre photo of the artist with a dead alien fetus, this book pushed me past the threshold of sanity. The anguish ridden lyrics spawned within me a feeling of unholy dread and hysteria. This is what art is all about my friends...You must read this book.

Attaboy's Gush! is a book of poetry and pictures that is so packed with wacky humor stuffing- that you'll need a tall glass of fruity pebble punch just to water yourself down. It's guaranteed to classically condition the average human to smile 24/7. Better than a 3-D movie, this little paperback is so full of loopy alliteration and creative allegory- that it's bound to excite just about anyone. You should buy it- even just to read his insane thoughts on Spring Fever. No need to see him perform live to enjoy this fine piece of literature (I've never seen him talk his talk). And gosh darn it: this thing comes with your own free kool stickeroo! So stop reading my stupid review and buy yourself a copy of this 'lil "must-keep-under-my-pillow-at-all-times" gem right now! You'll thank me in the morning. Enuff said.

Gush is fun. Naughty pictures. Weird. I like. Gush, good it is. Yet, if you like Gush! You must experience Attaboy at his liveliest when he is live, alive, in yo' face with the mad-cap free-wheeling, free-styling spinster of spinning. There is no such thing as the stand-still whilst I regurgitate my poetry about the road less forgotten...no no my capatinnatos...If you buy the book, i suggest buying the tape or if Attaboy infiltrates your nearest vicinity, see him live with Burke or by himself and leave yr brain in the autobuss. He's not a rockstar!

When it comes to genius, Attaboy stands alone. With his book, "Gush" he single handly stars on fire with an amusement of R.E.M. put to paper! Never have I read so many mind-boggling oddities to excite the pants off me. You need to see him perform live, an experience worth selling your children for. He will delve deep into your cerebral cortex, while you chant along with his amazing buffet of life giving secrets. Attaboy and his books, particulary "Gush" will make you a better human.

What a delightful work for the very young. A Mom Duck is searching for her one "lost" duckling and searches the pond, asking the other creatures "have you seen my duckling?" Of course the duckling is not actually lost, and if you and your child look close, the duckling can be found here and there, hidden (as little ducks should be) in various locations. The kids get quite a kick out of this one as it is interactive an they must search for the little "lost" duck. The art work in this one is great and quite appearling. The simple text is repetitive and fun for the child. This is simply a fun read for the small child and a fun read for the adult reader as they help the child find the duckling. Highly recommend.

My boys LOVE animals, especially ducks, so this is a big hit. If you like "Silly Little Goose" by the same author, this one's sure to be popular in your house.

At first I thought this book was going to bomb with my 13 month old. I thought the pictures were complicated and there was not much text. But I was wrong. She loves it. She has memorized where the lost duckling is on every page and she really can't get enough of it. So, surprisingly, I highly recommend this one!

I like Wheres my Duckling, it wass a great book.Children that are just learning to read will really enjo this book. They will be able to tell what is going on in the story by just looking at the pictures.The pictures in the story are very well illustrated. I would recommend this book to early childhood teachers.

This book is filled with lovely pictures of a mother duck as she searches for her baby who wandered off.

The pictures are wonderful. The few repetitive words there are encourage my child to 'read' the book. He also loves finding the duck on every page.

I wish I could find more books like this one- simple, gorgeous pictures, a nice story with a happy ending, a lot of opportunity for other activities while you read. We find the missing duck, count the ducklings, look at the pretty colors, look for other animals and more.

I really liked this book. It was short and extremely funny. I personally loved the hilarious quizzes.

I love the Happy Bunny. It was purchased as a gift so hopefully the recipient will like it as much as I did.

If you are looking for a laugh, this book will provide it! Jim Benton's humor may be offensive to some but as Happy Bunny says, "I know how you feel. I just don't care." This book makes a great gift for pre-teens on up. I love Happy Bunny!

It's soooooo funny. Happy Bunny makes me extra happy and my friends too. Happy Bunny is soooooo funny. Boys are stupid. Boys in my class.... when you see them that's all the proof you need.

This might have been the funniest thing I have ever read...I literally could not stop laughing. Terrific quick read that will leave you relating, comtemplating and pontificating all the while with a smile on your face.....

This is a grate and very useful book. It is very clear and understandable, it have many actually information about movie business which I cant find anywhere else!

I bought this book because I'm getting involved in the movie making business (my expertise is mainly from a product development background). Even though a film can be viewed as a product I needed to understand the complex market in which I'm getting into.

"Marketing to Moviegoers" is an incredible way to get insight on all aspects of the film marketing process: from creative ad campaigns, test screenings, media buying strategies, product placement, merchandising and getting to know the distribution strategies for both big studios and independents.

Rather than a how-to manual, Robert Marich compiles numerous examples and case studies, in an enticing and easy to read format (using indsutry charts and graphics), that allowed me to understand what to expect when producing, promoting and distributing my film in a few days.

I think this book, with its broad coverage of the movie industry and its practices is a great compliment to "The Complete Independent Movie Marketing Handbook", because the latter focuses more on step-by-step recommendations on how to get your movie packaged and sold.

As London bureau chief of The Hollywood Reporter, I covered the whole range of movie marketing strategies, from bad to brilliant. Bob Marich gives those who market movies and those with an interest in the film business a great inside look at how it's done, from market research to promotions and publicity to distribution. He covers major studio releases, movies distributed by indies, and foreign-language films. This is a great read for anyone who cares about how movies reach the ticket buying public.

This book is a must-read for any aspiring or practicing film marketer -- even marketers of non-entertainment products can learn a few tricks here. Thoroughly researched and logically presented with a liberal use of tables, "Marketing to Moviegoers" leaves no stone unturned in its elucidation of the whys and hows of selling a movie to the public. It delves into everything from concept testing and surveys to trailers and projection equipment and even the special challenges posed by foreign-language films. Should be required reading at all film schools.

I have written on films for a decade for VARIETY and have subsequently free-lanced for other publications. I found "Marketing for Moviegoers" a highly comprehensive account of marketing in the industry, of films winding their way to hoped for profitability employing multiple strategies through multimedia and ever expanding technologies. Even the most seasoned professionals in marketing will want to compare notes with this book's wealth of information and anecdotal material. It is definitely a must for neophyte filmmakers or those aspiring to that calling so that they will know exactly what they are getting into.
As the book gives a thorough rundown of the fields of marketing research, media advertising, promotional tie-ins, merchandising, publicity and distribution it carefully notes the opportunities and pitfalls of assorted game plans. Chronicles of standard industry practices are interlaced with boom or bust investment tales. It is especially skillful in coping with the constant changes of new technologies. On the subject of the Internet, for example, the various advances and retreats, strategies and counter strategies are duly recorded.
"Marketing for Moviegoers" bolsters its points with numerous charts and examples of recent movies. While this book's primary appeal will be to those in the trade its inside story of the intense media battle for consumers' dollars should have the attention of some just plain moviegoers.

I never read this book as a child. I only read it when I was buying the Trixie Belden books for my daughter, thinking she would enjoy them. Wrong! But I enjoyed this one. I loved the character of Mary Smith, the farmer's wife. I could read the parts about her over and over. Definitely worth the price of the book! Of course, this is from an adult perspective. Still, I think kids will love her, too. Everyone has a female friend and/or relative just like her--fat and cuddly and verrry talkative!

People don't get half a million dollars everyday, and respond by running away from it. Trixie's friend Jim did just that. His step father had been very cruel to him, so Jim ran away. Just after his house that he was to inherit burnt to the ground leaving him with $500,000. Everyone thought he burnt down with the house, but only Trixie and her friend Honey knew he was alive. So she and Honey set out in their trailer to the place Jim allways talked of going to find a summer job. On the way there they heard word about a missing trailer. Their suspicions arose when a family camping next to them had the exact trailer! As they travel to the area to find Jim they pick up clues on where he'd been. When they finally wind down the case they find Jim working for a farmer along with the Father who stole the trailer. Who was actually only borrowing it from his nieghbor without him knowing. When the nieghbor heard this, he told them that he would be happy to give them the trialer (He was rich). This book was interesting and cliff hanging, that anyone could read.

Even though this book was good, I found it to be a little predictable. There were other trailer thefts going on at the time which Trixie and Honey just happened to be involved with. When they found the thefts hide out (an old barn) they took too much time in their and BINGO the men show up. Trixie and Honey climb into the loft to wait the two men out. The men, like most other thiefs are stupid and don't notice anything. And like most other partners in crime, get into fights all the time. After ten minutes of fighting Honey just happens to sneeze. But just before the men carry the girls off the police pop in (surprise, surprise). And quincidentally that all happened in the same chapter.

This book was also a little unrealistic. The farmer who Jim worked for had a wife that was very, very fat (Named Mary). Mary owned a locket that had all of her children's pictures were in. The farmer had adopted a crow long ago that he found sick and dying. So they took him in, nursed him, and soon he was well. The crow stuck around and even built a nest near to the house. As you might have already guessed the crow stole the locket. Imagine a crow flying out of a house that out of all things, even food, carrying a locket. In the story there was the family who borrowed the trailer who had a little girl about 4 years old. That family had just had a little black dog that passed away, so the little girl calls any little black dog that roams the earth, hers. Honey has a little black dog, and of course the little girl calls it hers. Near the end of the story Honey gives the girl the dog! It's generous but a little unreal.

Even though this book had it's downs it was still a very interesting book. It was fun to read about all the characters and how much they differ. Like the Farmer's wife and Trixie. Trixe hates keeping the trailer clean and cooking. However that's all the farmer's wife does. Or Honey and the little girl that kept Honey's dog. Honey is kind and generous who would allways help someone. But the little girl on the other hand, is greedy and would rather do anything but help someone else.

This book was a joy to read and all in all adventurous. I had a great time reading it, and I know many others will too. The book had it's ups and downs, but it was still really good. Now it's your turn to pick it up and read it!
A. Lindemann

I recommend this book series of Trixie Belden: The Red Trailer Mystery. It's a story of Trixie Belden and her new best friend Honey Wheeler who just moved up the street from Trixie house.This story is about their friend Jim who ran away, but through the process of this mystery these two run into many different problems.
This story takes place on a farm, but then they have to go to save Jim who ran away.While they are on their rescue trip to save Jim they meet a girl their age, who also runs away because of her parents. So now they have to find two people to find. But one of the problems on this trip is that when they try to solve one problem, they just run into another.
I highly recommend this book to everyone because it has great mysteries to be solved. So if you like great mystery books then I would recommend you buy this book series of Trixie Belden.

I recommend this book series of Trixie Belden: The Red Trailer Mystery. It's a story of Trixie Belden and her new best friend Honey Wheeler who just moved up the street from Trixie house.This story is about their friend Jim who ran away, but through the process of this mystery these two run into many different problems.
This story takes place on a farm, but then they have to go to save Jim who ran away.While they are on their rescue trip to save Jim they meet a girl their age, who also runs away because of her parents. So now they have to find two people to find. But one of the problems on this trip is that when they try to solve one problem, they just run into another.
I highly recommend this book to everyone because it has great mysteries to be solved. So if you like great mystery books then I would recommend you buy this book series of Trixie Belden.

Thirteen-year-old Trixie Belden, and her best friend, Honey Wheeler, couldn't have been more upset when their new acquaintance, Jim Frayne, ran away from Sleepyside, in the hopes that he would not be caught by his abusive stepfather. Unfortunately, Jim took off right before Trixie had the chance to tell him that he was the heir to a huge fortune. Now Trixie and Honey, along with Honey's Governess, are on a trailer trip through upstate New York to locate Jim. However, during their trip they meet up with a family in a red trailer, who couldn't look more upset, and when their eleven-year-old daughter runs off through the woods, Trixie and Honey decide to try and find her as well. But when the two girls meet up with a couple of trailer thieves, they have to try and save themselves, protect all trailer owners, get the trailer thieves arrested, and find Jim and the lost little girl before it's too late. If only the two girls had known that their little trailer trip would turn out to be so full of surprises.

I am a longtime reader of the NANCY DREW series, so when I stumbled across the TRIXIE BELDEN series, I knew that I had to give it a try. I read the first book in the series a few months ago, and loved it, so I decided to get the second book in the series. To my surprise, I loved it even more than the first. Julie Campbell is a marvelous storyteller, whose characters couldn't be more fun and exciting to read about. Trixie is an upbeat girl, who is always getting into trouble; while Honey is more shy, but at the same time loves a good mystery. Fans of mysteries will adore Trixie Belden, and find themselves grappling to read the next book in the series.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This book is great for beginers and good for someone a little further along. It gives you most airbrush tricks that you'l need to paint whatever you want to paint.

... this is the one.

Covers the mechanical stuff more briefly than many, and has a nice section on fixing problems, including straightening a bent needle. Gets briskly on to the =use= of the thing, and runs a series of exercises to help you get the hang of techniques, including learning how to draw freehand. This guy is not hung up on anal-compulsive frisket cutting, but recommends a "universal mask" you can make out of a styrene or metal sheet that will do for a lot of work.

Service was great and the book was awesome. Answered every question I had and taught me things I never thought of.

I hate to gush but this is, imho, the single best book on airbrushing that I've seen. It covers technique from beginner to advanced. The instructions are straight forward. I suppose they could seem boring if you're an advanced artist. Since I learn from even a rehash of what I already new, I wasn't bored.

Unlike other reviewers, I wasn't disappointed because it doesn't cover painting motorcycles or helmets. The title is fairly straightforward and a good clue to what the book covers. If you're only interested in painting motorcycles, try How to Custom Paint Graphics here on Amazon.

If on the other hand, you see an airbrush as another tool in expressing yourself through art, get this book. Vero is a master at solidifying visualization. He introduced the use of shields and the book contains a template for his design for one of the most versatile shields around.

When you aren't using it for reference, I recommend putting it on the coffee table. People who drop by my apartment are instantly drawn to the cover which features an illustration of Vero's "Study of a Girl". Instant conversation starter!

Rado Vero is recognized as one of the greatest illustrators who ever lived. Reading his thoughts on airbrush and different ways to create are as invaluable as reading Da Vinci's ideas on creating perspective. It didn't bother me that it was first printed in 1983. Nothing in this book has been outmoded. In fact, many of his ideas, such as use of shields, are now the standard in art schools. I expect it to be equally as valid in 2083.

I have bought multiple copies of this book and given them to friends who are just getting into airbrushing. I expect that I will buy quite a few more before it's over.

Excellent book however as the title states relates mainly to studio applications and technical details. Not really applicable to air brush enthusiasts wanting to style cars or helmets etc.

This is a story about a six-year-old angel named Jacob who arrives in Heaven and discovers that the children angels take care of the pets until their owners die and come to heaven.

This book is written by Amy Nolfo-Wheeler and is a picture book illustrated by N. A. Noel who is famous for her life-like angel pictures and her animals. This is a very sweet book and could help children who experience death of an animal for the first time.

The story is preceded by the lyrics to Fly, a song, written by Jean-Jacques Goldman and Phil Gladston and recorded by Celine Dion, about a bereaved person releasing the spirit of a loved one until they meet again.

Incredible illustrations and wonderful story!! Bought it for my children as I loved the message and thought it would be good in the loss of a pet. Now I find myself in the position of supporting a friend's child as he prepares to die after a 5 yr. battle with cancer. NEVER thought I'd need it for that but was thrilled to find the main character's age (6 yrs old)is the same as this child. I know this book will help him on his journey!

A wonderful book! I give one to everyone I know who is struggling in dealing with this type of loss.

This book was a gift. It was given to me because my son passed away from a terminal genetic muscle defect 11 days after he was born.

The pictures are gorgeous!! I give the pictures 5 stars.

The story is cute and simple. I would recommend this book to be read to children who are dealing with the loss of a pet or the loss of a friend/sibling. It is also a charming book for an adult who has also suffered a loss.

My niece died when my daughter was only 5. She struggled to come to terms with the concept of death, and to understand why her cousin had to die. Even more so, were her questions on what her cousin would do in Heaven. How would she live without her mommy and daddy? In our search to help her to understand a little better, a friend showed us this book. It was just the nudge she needed to move on, and accept that her cousin was not coming back, and was safe and well cared for in Heaven. Now, 3 years later, my daughter still loves this book. She now reads it to her new baby sister, and tells her all about their cousin in Heaven, and how she too, is taking caring of animals. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to deal with a loss.