Classics Books

Every public and school library should have a copy of this excellent resource. The research that Judy Freeman did to create this compendium of quality read aloud books is well worth the investment.

Ever wished you could keep up all the great children's books and pick the best ones to read aloud and recommend to your students? Need inspiration to liven up your lessons on library skills? Looking for more effective ways to collaborate with teachers? This book has it all!

Targeted at grades K - 6, the first 100+ pages include wide-ranging information about children's books and ways to use them. Topics include: how to be a great school librarian, evaluating children's books, read aloud and booktalking suggestions, fun library learning games, storytelling, creative drama, reader's theater, etc.

The next 600 pages contain wonderful annotated read-aloud lists divided by Easy Fiction/Picture books, Fiction, Folk & Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends, Poetry, Nonsense and Language Oriented non-fiction, Biography, and Non-fiction. In addition to standard information (author, summary, etc.) each of the 1,705 annotations includes grade level, related titles, subjects, and a "Germ." "Germs" are small, practical, do-able ideas to interject into lesson plans including ideas for sharing the books with children and incorporating comprehension, creativity, library skills, and cross-curricular ties, etc. Pick one book on the list and turn it into a great lesson plan!

The final 200 pages include a professional bibliography and 3 handy indices: Author/Illustrator Index, Title Index, and the index I find most helpful - the Subject Index including grade level of each book. Subject you can think of is covered - from Aardvarks to Bullying to Hispanic Americans to Zoos!

I cannot recommend a book more highly! It's not just for school librarians - teachers, homeschoolers, parents, and public librarians will also love it! I also recommend previous editions - Books Kids Will Sit Still For and More Books Kids Will Sit Still For - both have different hints on how to be a great librarian and annotated lists of older books. I use all three Judy Freeman's books almost daily to help me work with teachers and plan great library lessons.

I stumbled across this wonderful book while working my way through our library's books about books in search of more wonderful picture books to share with my toddler (who is nearly 19 months). It was mis-shelved in the local branch (took 4 tries for the librarian to find it) and since no one had noticed in the 6 months or so since the book came in, my friendly librarian slapped a due date sticker on it and let me check it out. I found myself immersed in it during the daughter's afternoon nap and checked to see if either of the previous volumes was available to check out. Alas no, although I found a cheap ex-library copy of the previous volume, More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition), which when it arrived looked like it had never been touched. I don't pretend to understand that - I think this is a treasure trove of ideas and books to share with young (and not so young) children. Although it's aimed at elementary educators, there's a huge amount to offer a parent or other caregiver...ideas for activities related to the books as well as related titles.

As the parent of a toddler, I confess that I prefer the overlapping mini-sections by age found in More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition) and Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide Second Edition (Books Kids Will Sit Still for) because it's easier to sift through a couple hundred titles than 800 for books short enough for a toddler to sit through, but that's more of a quibble, especially since the expanded entries offer so many ideas for making (or keeping) books interesting.

How does she do it? Another winner from Judy Freeman! More tips, annotations, bibliographies, storytelling, reader's theater etc.. The amount of material is superb and the format is clear and precise. She is marvelous at what she does and can help any media specialist or teacher sharpen their book skills.
A must buy for all elementary educators!

I've had the pleasure in the past week to read Judy Freeman's Newbery committee experience in her latest "Books Kids will sit still for 3" (c. 2006). She had to take the Librarian Oath, probably with a ceremonial blood letting to seal it, that she and the other members would never tell the secrets of the Committee dealings with the individual books. Ooooooh, that makes me want to be on the Committee even more!

I thought the listings alone in the book would be worth the book's weight in gold (which is substantial, with more than 900 pages), but it pales in comparison with the first 100+ pages of the book in which she shares her passion for reading, books, libraries, and children. What a treat! Reward yourselves soon by allowing time to read this.

Thanks, Judy! You made my day!

Liz Frame
Librarian
San Antonio Christian Elementary School

If you can't afford the Oxford Edition of Shakespeare's complete works than this is the next best edition you can find.

This was the text for my college Shakespeare classes over 20 years ago (different edition of course) I still have it and still use it. A wonderful book for students and those who want not only the complete works but some well written and authoritative information about Shakespeare and the world in which he lived and wrote.

The texts of the plays are well foot-noted and the type is easy on the eyes. Well worth the investment.

While reading reviews of this edition elsewhere on the Web, I came across this review by David Allen White, professor of English @ the U.S. Naval Academy and editor (with Charles Boyce) of Shakespeare A to Z:

"Re-writing Shakespeare is nothing new. The Nahum Tate version of King Lear--with the happy ending--held the stage for nearly a century and a half. The great actors of the romantic age, Kean and Booth and Macready, not only spotlighted the heroes in the tragedies but felt free to beef up their roles. Directors began more than 50 years ago to monkey with the historical settings of the play, often with imaginative and instructive results. Scholars, critics, and directors have ridden various hobbyhorses through the plays for years, introducing us to Freudian Hamlets and Marxist King Lears and feminist Tamings of the Shrew.

"Recent Shakespeare production and scholarship, however, add a perverse twist to this long tradition. We no longer care what the Bard actually wrote. Years of deconstructionist theorizing have taught us that words are needy and we, readers or actors or scholars, have the right, indeed the obligation, to give them the gift of meaning--our meaning, the more bizarre the better.

"For the 23 years that I've taught Shakespeare at the United States Naval Academy, I have always used the same text, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, edited by David Bevington of the University of Chicago. Professor Bevington is an old-school scholar with a distinguished career. The book he edited had many advantages: large print, full character names before each speech, specific indications of settings, modernized spellings, solid introductions that connected the plays to the students' experience of love and politics, morality and order, passion and faith, and comprehensive but not overwhelming notes. Every few years a new edition would appear, and I would open it with interest and a little apprehension. But the changes would be minor--thinner paper (approaching the substance of tissue, a malady afflicting many recent books), hints here and there of encroaching academic perversity in the notes--nothing sufficient to make me seek another text. The 4th edition's introduction to The Tempest caused me to swallow hard: We learn there that Prospero's authority "is problematic to us because he seems so patriarchal, colonialist, even sexist and racist in his arrogating to himself the right and responsibility to control others in the name of Western and Christian values." But this is an imperfect world, and I soldiered on.

"Notified that a 5th Edition would appear this fall, I took time to examine it closely. Many of the introductions remain the same; but new editors and commentators have significantly altered others. Despite the myth of progress that reigns in all the disciplines of modern academia, "new" is often far from "improved." Apparently, Professor Bevington has either ignored the changes or allowed the young scholar-colts to have a romp. In some of the new introductory essays, especially under the guise of new brief histories of stage performance, questionable judgment, to put it mildly, has crept in. For example, the introduction to Othello ends with the following observation:

'In another recent development, Emilia has stood out in several productions as the raissoneur and heroic figure in the play, speaking as she does on behalf of maltreated women, urging Desdemona to stand up for her rights. One recent Chicago production went so far as to rewrite the ending: Othello and Iago both survive unpunished for what they have done, while Desdemona and Emilia lie dead as their innocent victims. This deliberate and provocative overstatement might seem extreme to some viewers, but unquestionably did signal the direction of recent performance history of the profoundly disturbing play.'

"It may be time to stop buying tickets to that great play.

"The current obsession in academia is "queer theory," and the homoerotic is everywhere, not just in Shakespeare studies. But this particular perversity fills the introductions to the new Bevington, especially the introductions to the comedies. Compare the following passages, the first from the introduction to As You Like It in the 4th Edition, essentially a carry-over from earlier editions:

'Rosalind's disguise name, Ganymede, taken from Jove's amorous cupbearer, has homoerotic connotations that are easily misinterpreted today. Shakespeare delicately acknowledges the suggestion, to be sure, both in Phoebe's pursuit of a young lady (but really a boy actor) in male attire, and in Orlando's courtship of "Ganymede" as though addressed to Rosalind. Yet this innocent titillation, found also in Shakespeare's source, is not meant to hint at homosexual attraction as we understand it. On the contrary, the point is that Orlando can speak frankly and personally to "Ganymede" as to a perfect friend, one to whom he can relate in platonically spiritual terms without the distracting note of sexual interest.'

"These are eminently sane and sensible remarks. Now from the Introduction to As You Like It in the 5th Edition:

'Rosalind's disguise name, Ganymede, has connotations that suggest ways in which human sexuality can be partly understood as socially constructed. If Rosalind in disguise as Ganymede wins the affection and eventually the love of Orlando, while her father and the others are equally taken in by the disguise, are maleness and femaleness chiefly matters of sartorial convention and superficial appearance? When Phoebe falls in love with Ganymede, is not her infatuation a way of showing that the roles of the sexes can be put on and off? Theatrically, the device of having a young male actor play Rosalind who then disguises him/herself as a young man adds to the witty confusion of sexual identities by introducing homoerotic possibilities. Not only can the roles of the sexes be put on and off, sexual desire itself is unstable...'

"This is ideology masquerading as interpretation.

"To be sure, the range of possible interpretations of Shakespeare's work is wide, for he encompasses all of humanity and tells profound and mysterious truths about human life. Such inexhaustible expansiveness invites discussion and dispute and differences. At the end of the Introduction to Richard II in this volume, for example, there is a brief but superb account of various interpretations of that rich role by leading actors. Professor Charles Forker of Indiana University provides that account; another old-school scholar, he knows more about that play than any other living soul. Too many of the revised introductions, however, are more interested in advancing the latest academic-political orthodoxy than in discovering and illuminating the natural and conventional moral order so abundantly on display in Shakespeare's works. Nothing is more orthodox--still--among contemporary literary critics than the alleged truth that there is no truth, that all interpretations are valid except the author's own.

"Thus Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream can be presented as "the denizen of a drug culture, with the love potion as the weed he gleefully distributes. The experience of the forest becomes a drug-induced 'high,' for audiences as for the actors. The fairies, sometimes played by adult and hairy males, can exhibit a streak of cruelty." And, indeed, in a recent production at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C., the fairies were hairy males who carried something like miners' lights. So much for lightness and charm and magic. This same Dream introduction gives the game away in words that are echoed in many of the other essays: "These modern interpretations are arguably neither more nor less 'true' to Shakespeare's text than earlier or more 'traditional' versions. What they do demonstrate is the play's remarkable permeability and openness to differing views."

"The new Bevington retails for $90; in good conscience, I cannot ask students to fork over such a sum of cash for a book that is now rife with nonsense. So next fall I'll assign The Riverside Shakespeare, which fortunately is still in its 2nd edition. I fervently hope it is not soon updated.

"Of course, the Bevington volume has come to reflect the universities it serves, where young students pay small fortunes to be taught that there is no enduring meaning or beauty to be found in the poetry of Shakespeare, no tradition worth preserving, no "truth" other than personal whim and innovative foolery. If the price of the new Bevington is petty theft, the tuitions charged by these institutions have become, at least for the study of the humanities, highway robbery.

"I know a father who gave his son the equivalent of a year's tuition and told the lad to go to Europe, to travel, to observe, to learn for as long as the money would hold out. The young man came back after two-and-a-half years, mature and educated, and instantly found a good job. The time has come for imaginative, alternative learning. I talked recently with a very intelligent young woman who loves literature; she is completing her sophomore year at Yale, where she had hoped to pursue an English Literature major. She informed me with sorrow that she was abandoning that plan. Her reason was quite simple: she had already sat through too many classes where lunacy prevailed. She mentioned the possibility of looking at traditional Catholic convents. Could this be the first refreshing drop of a wave of the future? It would not be the first time that civilization was preserved in the convents and the monasteries. Nymph, in thy orisons, be all of Academia's sins remembered."

(Allen, David White, "An Unweeded Garden," The Claremont Institute, http://claremont.org/publications/crb/id.959/article_detail.asp [originally published March 22, 2004])

I guess it's safe to say that, based on his review, Professor Allen'd give this edition 1 star...right?

I purchased this book as a birthday present for a graduating high school student who is a big fan of Shakespeare.
This volume has a lot to offer to both students and casual readers. In addition to very readable text of all the plays and sonnets, the fifth edition provides historical and literary context, including drawings and photos, as well as insightful essays on each of the plays. The essays include background, plot summaries and discussion of major themes and would be very useful to anyone seeing a play, especially for the first time. The helpful glossary is extensive, so the reader doesn't have to look up unfamiliar words or feel intimidated by the language. Professor Bevington's fifth edition of the Complete Works is a gem, authoritative and attractive. The birthday girl thinks so, too-- she gives it an A+.

This is truly a great book. Not only does it contain all of Shakespeare's works but it also has an enormous amount of information. There's a little bit on his life and a bit more about the theater during his time. There are also some great drawings in the beginning of the book.

Drummer Hoff (Stories to Go!)
This book was enjoyed by my daughter when she was 5 and now my grandson is enjoying this version of the book, the pictures are smaller than the first copy we had but still terrific and the rhymes are great. Older kids can finish the end of the rhyme after a few times of reading, little ones like my grandson who is 2-1/2 just like the sound of the story and beautiful award winning illustrations.

If your family is like mine and missed this little gem all these years, now is the time to rush out and get a copy. For more than a year, from the day we found this at a garage sale, Drummer Hoff has been a "must read" when visiting Grandma's house. The color, the repetitive rhythm of the text (that even the 19 month old now recites), and the details that continue to add interest--all make this a fun read-aloud, especially when the adult adds motion and volume to the KaBoom ending.

Though the little ones are far too young to be introduced to heavy subjects like war, it has only been natural to add our own "and only the birds and flowers and bugs are left" to the last two pages, and there will be time enough to discuss the larger story begun here.

Overall, just a great read, illustrated with pictures that will help children far more than some of the cartoonish excesses that are passed off as art in far too much juvenile literature.

I purchased a copy of this book for each of my two grandsons. I had read it to all three of my children and they all loved it - the repetition and the rhymes and the pictures. When my daughter told me that she had taken it out from the library to read to her son, I decided to get each one a copy of the book so they could enjoy it all the time.

Very exciting book for young children! My children and grandchildren love this book!

This was another of my favorites as a child and was happy to find it on AMAZON. As a child, my mom would take us to the library. I would be heartbroken if DH was missing. Now, I read it to my son at bedtime and give all the fine gentlemen appropriate brogues. Aye, Corporal Chowder, 'e brought th' powder.

Not to mention we love the stained glass imagery. A Wonderfully artist and a great quick story.

Although I am not yet through the book, I am very excited to start putting into practice the principals behind with in it. It is an answer to prayer!

This is an excellent product to help people with their finances and establish a budget. Dave Ramsey has a great plan to help people get out of debt and stay out of debt. This should be required reading for all young people entering adulthood.

Dave Ramsey speaks from experience. He is incredibly black and white, and full of faith. I actually did some of the things he recommended in the past when I was younger and had debt, and not only did they work, they gave me an incredible sense of control.

This book is a very approachable method in reviewing and planning your finances. It is intended to be used by implementing a chapter a week, but if you have already accomplished the beginning items, you can move a bit faster...as long as you pay attention to the lessons you are skipping and are sure you understand them.

The characters he uses for illustration purposes are one dimensional, but readers can easily see themselves or those close to them in the characters.

The workbook is NOT BORING, NOT DRY, and easy to understand. It can be used in conjunction with the Financial Peace (or Financial Peace Revised) book, but works well on its own. After reading it, if you are understanding that materialism is good, but not to be worshipped, you can accumulate a good bit of wealth in a reasonable period of time.

The book is very motivating. Anyone can understand it, anyone can use it. You don't have to be broke, up to your eyeballs in debt or bankrupt to appreciate it. In fact, you'll have a leg up on those who are.

If you are looking for a way to plan you future, are facing a promotion and want to be wise with your money, or are just interested in a basic, non-threatening way to learn about home economics and investing, this is the book to read.

Comes with great forms to help you evaluate equity, learn about your household budget (he calls it a 'cashflow' plan), percentages of income should be dedicated to what expenses, etc.,etc.

It helps to see budgets in black and white and be reminded how simple it is supposed to be for us.

Dave Ramsey hits it on the head - I wish I had read it at 18 years old. Personal money management can be tough, but this book (as well as all the Dave Ramsey books) gives very clear, concise instruction on how to manage your life's fortune (or how to create a life's fortune).

He is hysterical and animated - It's easy, fun reading.

Gossamer contains both a delightful story about learning to use one's gifts to ease human suffering and a rich metaphor of the workings of the human psyche. Mysterious creatures of the night, more like angels than faeries, flutter and flicker through the objects of our lives finding fragments from which to form dreams to bestow on us. In this gentle story, a young apprentice dream-giver discovers how to use her gossamer touch to find the right fragments to give healing dreams to an abused and angry eight-year-old boy. Lowry has deftly interwoven the story of the young boy and his elderly foster mother with the story of the young dream-giver and her elderly mentor. While kids will identify with the struggles of the youngsters, grown-ups who work with kids will find inspiration in the work of the dream-givers. "We do such important work," says Thin Elderly. "Sometimes we forget that." Thanks, Ms. Lowry, for a wonderful story that will entertain, enlighten and give new strength to readers of all ages.
Janet Gingold
author of Danger, Long Division

This book pulled me in; I couldn't help but keep turning the pages til I reached the end.

This was an entertaining story. It portrays these creatures that give dreams and their struggles to help people through their dreams and to help them fight off creatures that bring nightmares. It also tells the story of an 8 year old boy abused by his father who also abused her mother and has now gone off to live with an elderly lady. It was a very short book. Very easy to read and pretty interesting. It starts out a little slow for the 1st couple of chapters before you figure out what's going on. Then it's very interesting.

Gossamer was one of the best books that I have ever read! The best part about it was Littlest, the main character in the story. She was entergetic and "happy" from the beginning. Even so, that it also what makes this book not one of my most favorite books. I don't think that the main character changed very much in the book, and she stayed the same. It would be a better book if Littlest changed even a little bit in the book. She was not so dull, but not really that exciting in the book, because of that reason only. If it hadn't been for that reason, I think that Gossamer would be one of my most favorite books of all time.

This is a story by Lois Lowry about three different people living, changing, and their dreams. They experience relationships, hardships, and find ways to understand themselves and do better. In the beginning, they all are facing difficult problems without seeing any solution. In the middle everyone started to help each other and understand the other person's feelings and situation. The power of dreams, through Dream givers and Sinisteeds, start to affect the people. In the end, after much struggle, they all find ways to begin to solve their problems.
Gossamer was a fantastic book for a fifth grade class. This book makes you continue to think a lot, even when you are not reading it. It is well written and lets you understand and feel the emotion of each character. Great descriptions help you visualize the detail. Our discussions were filled with emotions and understanding our own selves. It made you think about your problems and how to solve them more easily. We realized that we get much hope from the power of our dreams and our minds. You cannot put down the book until you are finished. People who are into fantasy, realistic fiction, and basically people in the real world, can have the same feelings. The book that Lois Lowry wrote is heartwarming and everyone will love it.

This is a great book. I bought this book because my husband enjoyed this book when he was a child. He still enjoys this book today and reads it to our 6 year old son.

The lesson we learned from this book is there are always some problems no matter where you go.

I highly recommend this book because it's fun to read, educational, and it never gets old.

My dad was, is, and will always be a huge Dr. Seuss fan. He read this, as well as all the other Seuss classics, to me as a child. I had a devil of a time finding it a few years ago; had to special order it. It has an honored place on my bookshelf.

It taught me two valuable lessons: 1) Tackle your problems instead of running away from them, and 2) The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side.

Those two bits of knowledge have stuck with me for many years and led me through many challenging times. Thank you, Dr. Seuss!

What can I say, Dr Seuss is popular for a good reason. These are fun for all ages. The rhyming, the cute stories, the good morals. These books make reading for homework fun.

This was my favorite Dr. Seuss, and one of the books that stuck with me. I came across it recently while I also happened to be reading Campbell's Transformations of Myth Through Time.

A young man, beset with the travails of life, sets off to find paradise. The premise having been set, this story is actually predominantly about his many encounters and experiences on the road to paradise -- how he gets conned, imperiled, left to the mercy of the elements, enlisted into a battle he has nothing to do with, lost and alone in a crowd, etc. Having risen to the occasion repeatedly, he arrives at (literally) the door to paradise a changed man. In the end, Dr. Seuss leaves open question of what paradise really is.

This is an archetypal Hero's Journey.

And there is another parallel. Campbell often talked about the danger of concretizing the symbols -- for example that there is a physical holy land, the place where your myth takes place, to which you as a human being must physically travel to touch divinity. The alternative is to recognize your myth as metaphoric, and to recognize that the divinity of your God is your own divinity, and to sanctify and make holy the land and the place where you are, etc. 'Solla Sollew' speaks to this theme.

Can't really add much more than what everyone else has already said. I'll just add that this is my very favorite Dr. Seuss book... great story and great illustrations.

This is an excellent novel with a hugely important and significant historical validity. It's a bit slow to get going, but once into the story, you can't put the book down, and it has an amazing ending. I highly recommend it.

One of those rare occasions when my both my partner and I read this book one after the other - she is a PD James fan, Charles Dickens fan - whereas I tend to read those books less dependent on plot and more on philosophical meanderings, or rich in atmosphere, or completely character driven - Fateless or Old Masters say. In The Memory of the Forest has all the elements and so it appeals equally to us both. One of the great moral questions in the novel of course concerns the old dictum "evil thrives when good men do nothing". As such things as racism will always be latent wherever humans gather, it depends on the rule of law and the vigilance of citizens, to maintain civil life. And the life of a Polish village is at the centre of the story - if the village can survive, maybe humanity will too, but at what cost?
A very well written novel.

I love this book. Period. Fully realized characters, gripping plotline, historically significant and cathartic. Definitely a keeper for life.

The story of a young man coming of age, discovering love and lies, ambition and murder in a town that cannot admit its past or face its present. Set in Poland as communism collapses, the rupture of old foundations reveal the townspeople to be what they would forget.While one of the book's larger themes is what the Nazis, and by complicity, the Polish people, did to the Jewish population during the Second World War, it is not "a Holocaust book." Rather it is an absorbing murder and love story; a murder that begins the novel and whose investigation provides its framework, a love story that will leave the reader in tears, reminded what the world should be but is not. It is a rare book, one that impels its reader onward with a gripping narrative but repeatedly brings the reader to a halt to reflect on the beauty and lyricism of its prose.

Those who like to read books about Poland (there must be a few of us out there) will find that Charles Powers' "In the Memory of the Forest" is a pleasant surprise. This book is a real dark horse. It doesn't appear to be widely known (I found it for sale on the used-book cart at my local library) and it's the only novel that Powers ever wrote. But the lesser known works are sometimes the most satisfying reads.

"In the Memory of the Forest" is a murder-mystery set in the small farming village of Jadowia, somewhere to the northeast of Warsaw. The book is skillfully written, with an interesting plot, a few twists here and there, and an ending that's both disturbing and reassuring. Poland's role in the Holocaust is the dark and provocative background for the novel. What I liked most about the book is that Powers (a former journalist who lived in Warsaw for five years) captures the personality of Poland better than other authors who have attempted this same task, e.g., James Michener, Lily Brett. My only complaint is that many of the characters are too clearly cast as "good guys" or "bad guys," without a chance for them to surprise you with the other sides of their personalities. A Polish murder-mystery is a narrow genre, which most people wouldn't be inclined to read. But if you're daring enough to tackle those tricky Polish pronunciations, you'll probably be glad that you read this book.

It's puzzling that Loyola Press choose to print Joseph Bottum's preface to The Keys to the Kingdom. After reading his preface, I almost returned the book to Amazon. Thankfully, I didn't because I loved reading this story.

I disagree with Mr. Bottum on three points:

1- The Keys to the Kingdom was not written by a "hack." Cronin was clearly inspired by an ideal, not money. The fact that Loyola Press reprinted it seventy years later as a "classic" contradicts Mr. Bottum's opinion.

2- The thoughts of the main character may not be "deep," but any philosophy Francis voices is less important than how he lives his life.

3- I did not see the "unique Christian faith" that Bottum claims "shines through" the story. Then again, despite the many examples of less admirable clerics, both Protestant and Catholic, I did not think that Christianity was denigrated.

Many things happen in Father Francis Chisolm's life, he encounters many different kinds of people, and he faces many challenges. However, the most engaging aspect of the book, for me, was the mystery of his character. Was he simply born a good person? What was the source of his goodness? Was his humility a virtue and did it help or hinder him? (I also wonder about the ways various people responded to him, but to say more would spoil the story for you.)

Each of the characters could easily have belonged to any religion. I didn't feel that I was reading Catholic novel. Cronin rarely points out specific ideas that propel the less admirable characters ("do this or be damned" or "have you been saved") and never explains what guides Father Francis, the Fiskes, Mr. Chia, or Lieutenant Shon. I don't know if that makes this a good book or a poor one, but it made me think and wonder.

Joseph Bottum is right in asserting that "When Cronin sets down what he clearly imagines are the profound spiritual revelations of his novel they turn out to be little more than pious uplift, along the lines of "Why can't we all just get along?" and "Aren't all the religions really saying the same thing?" Although described disdainfully, those do seem to be Cronin's ideals. However this is not a naive story and Francis is not a weak person. He is strong and admirable and I admire at his ability to walk through the life he had without losing his love or faith.

While I would like to criticize the fact that Cronin does not apologize for the impulse to send missions to China (or to convert an atheist Scotsman), I can't. This book isn't an attempt to promote a particular doctrine; it's not even about China or missionaries. It's about a good man who should be, and sometimes is, an example others emulate.

It is a sweet story.

This is an excellent book. It will give you a more balanced perspective of what means to be a man of Faith, and how society expects this man to actually be.

In my top list of books. Made me cry when I read it. That's powerful writing.

This book was a bit of a surprise. While it is not the best "Catholic" novel I have read, its many good parts provide much to recommend it. I have been familiar with the story line from the Gregory Peck movie which has been a late-show staple. The book is more intricate and nuanced, like novels used to be. Cronin's characters are well-drawn, seem consistent and grow in your imagination like real people. He has a notion of ecumenism that concervative Catholics might find simple-minded and perhaps offensive, but probably reflects his childhood experience, with which many American Catholics could easily identify, that sometimes God lets himself be found extra ecclesiam.
In sum, a good book. I am glad I read it. I had trouble putting it down at night.

I purchased this book on the cheap not knowing a thing about A.J. Cronin. Reading the back, seeing the "Christian" theme, I decided to give it a try (it was on the clearence table!).

Grabbed from the first few pages, one can't help but feel for poor Francis as he struggles through his emotional and tumultous childhood, discovering his faith and ultimately landing in China to rekindle the flame of a forgotten mission. Through the story he meets various characters: the local militia, outcast roughians, the tender and vulnerable Chinese people, Catholic hiarchy and a few friends...

Francis remains true to Scripture (with one notable exception) and his vocation by being pious, and living in only very minor indulgences. He lives for the God, the mission and for the Chinese people, often to his own detriment, leading the way by his example.

A great read...a treasure that I "just" picked up...

This was an interesting introduction to the subject and gave me some sense of what vedic astrology is about. Like most of these books, it doesn't give you a guide to star gazing, which I think would add to the experience. It also made it obvious to me that the subject is far too involved for one quick book reading. I don't have the time or inclination to learn it in depth, but I would consider getting a software program that did most of the dirty work for me.

I've found this book most useful when I read it with a notebook handy and make outlines of important information. One of the things I very much like about this book is its emphasis on the cultural contexts of jyotish.

There are many books for Beginners in Vedic Astrology which are written more like a cook-book, and where essentially you just take a look at the placement of the planet on your chart and then read what it's supposed to mean. This is not that kind of a book. This book assumes that you are seriously interested in grasping Vedic Astrology and it guides you step-by-step toward developing a solid level of understanding and competence.

The book contains countless correspondencies of planetary influences (grahas), constellations (rashis) and houses (bhavas). These correspondencies go way beyond just interpreting the natal chart, and enable the skilled jyotishi to get insight into the individual, question or particular situation sometimes even without looking at the chart. Understanding of these numerous correspondencies can enable jyotishi to assist the individual in successfully dealing with challenging situation.

Even though this book is "an introduction" to Vedic astrology, it may not be the best choice as the very first book on astrology. For absolute beginners, perhaps a book like Beneath a Vedic Sky may be a better choice to start with.

I wish this was the first book I had read on Astrology. The authors start with a broad overview, touch on the various schools of astrology, and cover the specifics. Highly recommended if you are a beginner, or Just trying to understand Astology for your own personal purouse.You can use this to refer back to again and agin since it has a lot of factual information. There are many insights not found eslewhere in introductory books. After having dabbled quite a bit in Jyotish, I had never come across the beautiful explanation of the Grahas as the "Seizers". There are detailed chapters on Panchanga, nakshatras,Yogas.

For the Really Really Beginner -- I also suggest getting a copy of 'Vedic Astrology Simply Put' - By William Levacy (Available on Amazon).

I am familiar with Robert Svobodas Aghora Books, so, I am able to understand why his insigts are so profound.

As a practitioner and teacher of Vedic astrology, I have a huge collection of Vedic astrology books. If I were to take only one to a desert island, this would be it. For both beginners and advanced astrologers, this book is a treasure trove of both information and guidance on how to approach a Vedic chart. I strongly disagree with the person who thought that this book departed, in any meaningful way, from classical Vedic astrology. This book, in my estimation, is truer to classical Vedic astrology by far than any other book written by an English-speaking author. Bravo!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R34SQ3IXMD8XCL

Fantastic bit of fun that is bright, colourful, clever, simple and appeals to all age groups! A true classic in the making!

This is such a beautiful book. I recommend everyone to add a copy of this book to their library. I picked up this book in the classroom I work in to engage a 3 year old child with autism. She didn't take her eyes off this book and wanted to play with it again and again. I am now getting one for my three year old son. Every child and adult will love this book. It is truly amazing. Never have I seen such wonderful pop up art done.

For 3 years now, I've been a David A. Carter fan. Why 3 years? You put two and two together. He's the author of these three *very* cool pop-up books that are unlike any pop-up books I've ever seen. They are like individual works of art only they're purchasable at any generic bookstore. It's "Pop" art. Get the double entendre? Well, if not, take a look at the pics above.

My first introduction to his work was with the book: "One Red Dot." Since then he's created "600 Black Spots" and "Blue 2." I purchased these in "new" condition for half of their purchase price on Amazon. However, if you're the type of parent who lets their child run amok with their baby books (not a bad thing) this may have to take a backseat for a year or two. I had to be very careful with my daughter when reading this book. Like any one-year-old her first instinct was to grab then ensuingly tear off the colorful fluttering paper. But I did manage to keep the book "relatively" unscathed and usable for my second daughter.

He's written a couple more "traditional" pop up books about bugs but these were the ones that hooked me. Oh and one more thing, one of the pages makes a great sawing noise when the blades scrape against the paper as you open the page. Clever.
'Kathleen Dougherty
http://the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com/

My kids fight to be the one holding this book. They love the search as the pages turn to the next challenge.