Quality Time Books

This was my first Magic Tree house book and I was really impressed. The story was well-done, and the concept of the tree house time machine reminded me of when I was a kid with a tree house in the woods with books strewn across its floor. In a way, many of us did or do have a tree house time machine to carry us away on wings of imagination, and I guess that's one of the reasons why these books are so popular. Osborne is a skillful writer, and I liked that she was realistic about the medieval culture that the siblings visited while still remaining a children's fantasy. Many young adult books set in medieval times shy away from the fact that civilization smelled horrible in those days and life was lived unhygienically by today's standards. A modern person entering the culture would be shocked by the smell, and most time-travel books ignore this, even the adult ones. But it adds to the suspension of disbelief that in this story, Jack and Annie notice such things.
I also learned things about Shakespeare and his era from this book, even though I've taken classes on the Bard in both highschool and college. Osborne includes facts in an unpatronizing way that really supplements the story. The extra facts listed in the back of the book are a great added bonus, and I'd be willing to bet that most kids read and remember them as well as the story.
I'll be ordering more of these great books next time my kid brings home the old Scholastic form for sure!

J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

Mary Pope Osborne has found a way to make it enjoyable for young people to read. There is a series of her books which will keep the student spell bound for the next chapter book.

Stage Fright on a Summer Night happened in England, which is where I live. Jack and Annie got to see Shakespeare, which I like alot. They did one of my favorite shows, which is Midsummer Night's Dream. I really liked this book alot because it was the 15th one I read this summer. Magic Tree House books are great because they teach you about all different places, people and things. They are great adventures!

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

I could write the same review for every "Magic Tree House" book. We were introduced to the series when my oldest son was 5, and just starting to read. We got the #1 book (the Dinosaur one) on audio when he was learning to read independently. Then he started to read the book along with the audio. Now, at 7, he is bound and determined to read every book in the series, in order, of course. He just finished this one. The words are fairly simple, so the series is great for kids ready to tackle chapter books - they won't get frustrated by having too many words they cannot sound out. They are all ten chaper books, with a little larger type and good line/paragraph spacing, making it easy for kids to keep their place. They all tell a little slice of history in a very interesting way. Everyone in the family learns something everytime.

This book is so well written, funny, and has truly helped me to question my fear and dare again to be the person i most want to be. i yearn less for a partner to complete me and now am more curious about the ways i can draw out of myself the qualities i so often seek in others.

I enjoyed Tama's writing style and honesty. This story is inspirational to people who are stopped by 'shoulds' and judgment in their lives. She shows us how to trust our inner voice during times of change, how to remain constant and sacrifice the superfluous for what matters most. She is an example of making a difference in this world by having the courage to follow her true path.

Tama Kieves was a successful Harvard grad/lawyer who walked away from her office with a view and high paying job to do what she most wanted to do. When she made her choice to jump in with both feet, she lowered her expenses and took a waitress job to sustain herself while she followed her dream.

She believes that people can and should be able to make a living doing whatever they are naturally gifted at and love to do. She wrote this book and when it didn't get picked up by a publisher, she self published it and then a major company approached her and bought it.

I have read a lot of self help and "Do what you love.." type books and I have to say that this one is awesome. I couldn't put it down. There is so much good advice on just about every page, and the thing is, it's all stuff she knows because she's experienced it.

I wish I had known that the secret to life is doing what you love to do when I first started working. But then, how would we know what we love if we didn't do all those things that we didn't/don't love in the first place?

This is a great book that I highly recommend and would give as gifts.

I loved this book! I finished it feeling inspired to pursue my own dreams of creating a life that my heart is telling me I want to pursue. If you are trying to take a leap of faith into a career or path that scares you and excites you, and if you are tired of trying to figure it out with resources that ask you to endlessly list your interests, talents and abilities to no avail, I'd say buy this book! I'd also recommend Your Heart's Desire by Sonia Choquette if you are having trouble figuring out what it is exactly that you want.

Tama J. Kieves is more than an author. At heart, she is a poet. And it really shows in "This Time I Dance!" This book is not only informative, but it is also a pure pleasure to read. From start to finish, it is packed with lush descriptions and magical metaphors that elevate this work of non-fiction to a work of art. "This Time I Dance" will not only inspire you to discover your passion in life and give you some practical suggestions for living your dream, but the pure artistry of its words will start your heart dancing before you even put the book down! This is a book you are going to treasure!

Steven Lane Taylor, Author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat: A Guide For Living Life In The Divine Flow

This book really illustrates the problem we have in this country. Most people are busy paying on 300K + houses, paying SUV bills and are starved for time to live life the way it is to be lived. My hope is that people will use this book to fight corporate greed and gain a real life.

This book is not repetitive like others book in genres similar. This has many wonderfully written topics on time and our lack there of it in the United States. Different issues can arise due to lack of time. Some others also cross compare other countries who have more time and leisure, yet still have a great economy with more relaxed workers. Defienntly worth the time to read and may give you ideas on starting a movement to bring about more time for us.

For years I've thought of Europe as like the grandfather... sitting on the porch, watching America in action. He sits there, somewhat envious, reminiscing about the days when he used to be the top dog himself. But the envy is shortlived; in truth, he would never trade places with us, for he knows that the true cost of being able to call yourself #1 is far too high.
Money and power, after all, aren't everything.
In Take Back Your Time, de Graaf looks at a culture that is all about the material short term and cannot see beyond. It's a book that reminds us that it's OUR time, that this is a commodity that we CHOOSE to trade for things like money, status and comfort. I use the word 'remind' loosely--in truth, it's almost a new concept, for many. We hear stories of millionaires on their deathbed who would give everything to have one more year, yet other millionaires will do 15 hours tomorrow rather than think about it. Our culture is basically designed to HAVE TO work like this: the economy would go bust if we put anything before money. You could argue it's always been that way, but not to this extreme: every year we trade more hours so as to buy bigger houses, better cars, more gadgets, etc. This is a book that all of America needs to read. If only we had the time.

This is something that needs to be forwarded around. We need to spread the word.

MSNBC had the nerve to do a news story saying people in the US have the lowest productivity in the first world, but as this book points out, people in the US work an average of 9 more weeks than other first world countries. People who put in 10 and 12 hour work days as we do and don't take vacations are exhausted, and have terrible health and productivity as a result of it.

European countries such as the United Kingdom where they eat more sugar and fat than we do, are thinner and in better health because they are not working themselves to death as we are.

One of my favorite quotes from this book, is "Time is a family value."

The Mother Manifesto is is a co production of Take Back Your Time and MomsRising
The Motherhood Manifesto: What America's Moms Want - and What To Do About It

With this book, John de Graaf provides an opportunity to sit down with talented writers and perceptive thinkers, and hear their views on one of society's most pressing problems - time poverty. As we race to produce more stuff - stuff that is poisoning our environment - we lose the time we need to take care of ourselves and our families, particularly those most in need of care, the very young, the very old, and even our pets. As this book shows, Americans' single-minded focus on production comes at the expense of other areas of life that desperately need our time and attention. Children growing up in institutionalized care, pets being dumped at shelters, citizens relinquishing their right to vote, obesity becoming epidemic as fast food replaces home cooking, landfills overflowing with the items we frenetically produce; the list goes on. In addition to viewing the problem from several interesting and diverse perspectives, the book includes essays on possible solutions and provides ways for readers to get involved. Everyone should find the time to read this important and engaging book.

My children love these books I didn't know if they would like them because they don't have alot of pictures. They just can't get enough

waited for a month to receive the book.

This book is fabulous.
One of the reasons I like it is because it talked about fires, earthquake and natural disaster. Another reason is because it was near our city! The last reason I liked it is because they lost their city but still had hope. I learned some exellent facts. I learned the fire burned 28,000 buildings! They had half a millon people there. The earthquake was called "The Great Shake". It was one of the biggest earthquakes ever! I would recommend this book for three reasons. The characters are fun. Jack likes the realistic and Annie likes the magic. The second reason is the excitement and learning wonderful facts.
Earthquake in the Early Morning is a excellent book.

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

I like this book because it is interesting.
It keeps you wondering whats going to happen next.
It is also very funny.
So you might want to read this book.

At last!!!! Harriet Schecthter's inspirational book "Conquering Chaos at Work" is here and it's a gem, providing practical, no nonsense solutions to those organizational challenges that frustrate us daily at work.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" fills a gaping void in previous organizational literature by not only addressing and resolving where our personal attempts to get organized may have failed, but also providing vital suggestions and systems to encourage and help the organizationally impaired people around us who may impact negatively on our own effectivess.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" is a must for anyone who aspires to becoming more effective at work and at life.

Do yourself and your organization a big favour and pop one in your shopping trolley now!!!!

A lot of books about organizing only deal with time management. In this book, the author deals with other types of disorganization. I had to laugh when I read the part about the deceptive chaos creating boss. I now think of that former boss as only a guy with nothing more than a clean desk and a leather Day-Timer. On the surface, he looked organized, in reality, he was never prepared for many of the meetings.

At last!!!! Harriet Schecthter's inspirational book "Conquering Chaos at Work" is here and it's a gem, providing practical, no nonsense solutions to those organizational challenges that frustrate us daily at work.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" fills a gaping void in previous organizational literature by not only addressing and resolving where our personal attempts to get organized may have failed, but also providing vital suggestions and systems to encourage and help the organizationally impaired people around us who may impact negatively on our own effectivess.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" is a must for anyone who aspires to becoming more effective at work and at life.

Do yourself and your organization a big favour and pop one in your shopping trolley now!!!!

Harriet Schechter's Conquering Chaos at Work is fun to read and very comprehensive. It covers different types of chaos creators and provides methods to deal effectively with these habits, whether they exist in ourselves or other people. In describing the way that people can contribute to unnecessary disorganization, the book does more than describe general behavior and various tips to overcome these tendencies - she gives interesting case histories as well. This is part of what makes it fun to read! It has just the right balance of substance and light-heartedness. I highly recommend it as an easy read that is well worth referring to again and again.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best organizing books I have read in quite some time! From the very beginning, the author defines CHAOS to make sure the reader understands exactly what she is talking about; the rest of the book is common-sense organizing written in a humorous style. A very easy read.

If I had to choose one specific topic I liked most in CHAOS, it would be the fact that most of our disorganized lives come from outside sources, and this book teaches us exactly how to resolve that chaos. Put that way, it seems very simple doesn't it?

Help is on the way. Ms. Schechter provides a Chaos Questionnaire, and gives the reader permission to skip to problematic topics first without reading the book cover to cover. Anytime I read this, I am relieved, because this is truly a time saver that we all welcome.

Conquering Chaos at Work targets time and paper management that we all face, reminding us that we are not alone in our efforts to organize our workday, constantly resolving challenges that others create. No wonder we all have such a problem getting things together. After reading this book, you will be able to identify, classify, and conquer the chaos creators in your own life; and if you can smile and heave a sigh of relief along the way, all the better!

to truly live a meaningful life it is time to downshift. pick this up and read Simple Life and create purpose and meaning - why not add the four-hour work week to the mix. you can do this. you can live better. simply. beautifully. -beth
Simple Grace: Living a Meaningful Life

The author consulted with readers trying to slow down the hectic paces of their professional lives. He helped them cut back on work and downshift by offering real-life anecdotes. The tone of this book is serious; the advice seems solid.

Jack Drake has provided an easy to read, road mapped dialogue that is very important in today's work scenario. He recognizes the need to communicate with the thirty somethings and emphasize the importance of personal, as opposed to material, life. Well Done! The self help format should allow everyone to evaluate their individual needs. There is life after work!!

Having accomplished my own downshifting more than ten years ago I can attest that John Drake has developed a solid grasp of the needs and concerns of those thinking about a change/reduction in their work schedule. Very insightful and helpful thinking.

If you are on the fence, Downshifting will get you to move. Great psychological and spiritual insights to help live a more peace filled life.

If you've got too many demands and not enough time, this book will help you conquor the chaos - it's the next best thing to having Mary Poppins move in. The authors give real advice on making the most of your time. Any of their suggestions can be incorporated into your life, no matter what your income level might be.

These authors have got it right. For over 30 years I lived in a very hectic world trying to balance family, work, hobbies, friends... In a large energy utility I was a mentor and coach to many, and now teach in a business school- and act as a consultant to industry. I continue to be in touch with a great number of folks of all ages. While the advice, and reflections of the working world I have given in the past seemed sound, and were generally consistent with many of the principles outlined in this book, those I coached, and I would be better off if I had the book then... but it is never too late- several of them will be receiving a Christmas gift early... Thank you Kurt et al.

It's a problem almost everyone faces today, how do you balance work, home, pleasure, church, and other obligations so you are not completely overwhelmed? "Beyond Juggling: Rebalancing Your Busy Life" provides a realistic approach to getting your life under control.

The authors provide five alternatives to trying to juggle multiple commitments: Alternating, Outsourcing, Bundling, Techflexing and Simplifying. Each one of these alternatives is examined in detail with a description of what it is and is not, an aptitude test to determine if it is an appropriate option for you, and descriptions of the trade-offs for each option.

The last part of the book contains a self-assessment that helps you determine the strategy that you are currently using, the ones that best fit your personal style, what will work now with your present career and life-stage and what will be needed in your future as your needs and circumstances change.

This is simply the best book on balancing your life obligations that I have read to date. Immediately useful, highly practical, it is a highly recommended read for anyone seeking balance in life.

There are lots of books out there just waiting to organize your life and tell you what to do. Problem is, once you finish reading the book, it's impossible to put everything into practice. I really enjoyed Beyond Juggling because it went past that. It gave real, workable solutions to fit work and personal life. I work at a Fortune 500 company and find it difficult in the early part of my career to take the advice of most books. I can't "get off the treadmill" or work flextime until I've build up some organizational credibility. The great thing about the book was that I found solutions that worked for me. It wasn't preachy by telling me I should, of course, put family first. I know that already. Rather they listed great strategies that have really helped me to help balance everything that's important to me.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves work, and loves their life, but doesn't necessarily want the two to be one and the same!

Beyond Juggling was useful to me, a mother of young children, planning to reenter the workforce. I knew I didn't want the long hours and constant intensity of my previous job, but nor did I want a boring, low-stress, low-expectation job. The authors lay out the pros and cons of five strategies to keep your work and life in balance. I learned that I shouldn't work at home (what the authors call techflexing) since I need--and enjoy--the motivation of interacting with coworkers. On the other hand, my preference to concentrate on one thing at a time makes me good at alternating, a strategy of "intense work periods followed by breaks to recharge." The authors' suggestion that alternaters choose occupations that have natural peaks and valleys, such as tax accounting helped me focus my job search.
In addition to helping readers recognize and use balancing strategies that fit their personalities, Beyond Juggling shows how to incorporate other balancing strategies on a smaller scale. My need for spontaneity makes bundling, "packing multiple purposes into a single event or activity," a poor choice for me generally, but forming an investment club may be the perfect way for me to stay in touch with both my friends and my portfolio once I go back to work.
Since I love to give advice, I relished the appendix, "How Managers Can Use This Book," a whole arsenal of tools to get the best from your employees, not just the most. A wise manager may just give this book to his team members, and prevent burnout before it happens.

This book takes the mystery out of cutting hair. As other reviews have noted, it is especially good for learning how to cut your children's hair. Doing so will save you a ton of money in the long run. There are many photos and plenty of simple instructions that make it easy for anyone to learn. Who knows - this may inspire you to become a stylist yourself!

The Four Most Common Haircuts That Anyone Can Master

I was given this book as a gift. It turns out that it was a very money saving tool. This book is very easy to follow. I especially was interested in the chapter on using hair clippers.

The pages of this book lay flat, which makes it much easier to follow the instructions while actually using the clippers. It repeats the important steps on each page, so that you are not constantly turning back pages. The print is large enough to see while it sits on the counter.

I started out using the larger guard as recommended , to get the feel of how much hair was being removed. This gave me the confidence to go to the next smaller size, etc. until I accomplished my finished cut. I now use the clippers with ease, and my family members are very satisfied.



Kathleen Scozzari

I used the instructions to cut my husband's hair and he loves it! The binding on the book is so helpful so you can refer to instructions while cutting.
I have several friends who are stay at home moms and also home school. This book gives great instructions on how to save a little extra money while spiffing the kids up!

This book is wonderful! It is easy to follow and has very good instruction. I found it really helpful because my son was very afraid of the "barber shop" and with this we are able to give him a great hair cut at home.

I bought this book a couple years ago because we have four boys and my husband had always cut their hair. They were getting old enough that they wanted it to look a little more professional, so it was either spend a bunch at a barber or learn how to do it differently.

This book was a huge help. My husband was able to learn new ways of cutting so that the boys were happy with the results, and they didn't look as if they'd gotten their hair done in the middle of the kitchen, which is an important thing for teens;-).

Viggiano's helpful step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations make the book very easy to use It's organized logically, and the tips included make it possible for virtually anyone to achieve good results.

I estimate that by doing all the haircuts for each of the boys for 18 years, we've saved almost $9000 (calculating one $10 haircut per boy per month for 18 years). And for the ones who are over 18, and still getting haircuts at home, the savings keep climbing.

Lisa's book will not only rescue a lot of people from bad haircuts, it will also help you save a lot of money. I highly recommend it!

A breakthrough new way of thinking!

Meanwhile JIT/Lean can not be implemented for highly variable product offer and variable demand larger than +/- 20% (when smoothing your p-schedule is not feasible anymore), the author describes a new path that can be followed (push-pull). The new 21st century's main objective is to compete - on speed. Reducing the lead times does not stop in manufacturing and the author gives a comprehensible overview how to proceed - including as well the softfactors making things work or fail.

Meanwhile JIT/Lean and the kanban-philosophy aims to reduce waste and the outcome is reduction in lead times and WIP (and improvment of quality), the QRM way targets the reduction of lead time. Many thinking from JIT/Lean can be used as well for QRM as cell manufacturing for flow, lotsize reduction/ setup (SMED) and preventive maintenance (machine availability) etc. Considering JIT/Lean systems are pull-systems, QRM-principles provide a robust framework as well for production systems where the variability of the product scope is broader and the customization is higher. Applying these tecniques will not only reduce your lead-times and increase your quality and service level, but as well simplify and improve your production system (sales and operations planning) and therefore finally improve your service level for deliveries. Reducing WIP goes hand-in-hand with the reduction of lead-times and a therefore a reduction of the binding capital (inventories/ WACC). Rajan Suri will even provide in his books the pitfalls of traditional management accounting and gives you strong arguments how to sell a company wide project to apply this new thinking.

This book is written for beginners as well as for experts in manufacturing and for further insights, the book Factory Physics (Hopp/Spearman) is strongly recomended. Reading and applying Japanese
tecniques as SMED, TPM and ZQC etc, were very useful to me to understand what tools do exist and can be used for QRM as well. Excellent software-packages for QRM are available, but I do strongly recommend to understand the fundamental and basic equations of QRM about manufacturing interactions, before applying this new tecniques (queuing theory etc.) - this will help you to analyse what improvements and where have to be targeted.

Meanwhile SCM-books do not provide the tools to improve operations in many companies, QRM provides you the required knowledge how to trim every single chain element in the supply chain and even provides a simple way to measure the performance of your suppliers (quality, cost and especially the delivery performance). This is the way to go for many companies, whether small or large scale - wherever JIT/Lean can not be applied or the company's culture might not be capable of adopting the Japanese way!

QRM is a manufacturing strategy that focuses on speed throughout the manufacturing process. All efforts are focused on lead-time reduction. Unlike other lean manufacturing clones, QRM distinguishes itself with some unique approaches. While I'm not willing to accept everything the author is pushing, I certainly found some valuable insights.
The author does an excellent job of explaining the concepts, providing enough detail and examples to ensure the reader does not go away confused.
I thought this was a really good book and would recommend it to anyone involved in manufacturing, but even more so to anyone involved with engineer-to-order or make-to-order manufacturing.

This book was great! I couldn't put it down. The author is able to pull together the best of Lean, Kanban, JIT etc... and apply them in a methodology that truly works for a diverse manufacturing plant. We make hundreds if not thousands of different products, some only once and some are repeats but always in small batches. It was really great to read a manufacturing book that will help a plant like ours. Some really great stuff in this book!

As a former manager of strategic planning, now returned to the manufacturing side, I consider this book to be one of the most important I have read over the past several years. What I am seeing in manufacturing is that the cookie cutter products, high tech or not, are moving to either Asia or Mexico. The remaining products are being sold to customers who require a high level of customization on a very short lead time. The author has developed a system to accomplish this. He focuses not just on the nuts and bolts of the shop floor, but also on streamlining the support systems needed to achieve this level of service. If you are in high level manufacturing or corporate management, you need to read this book. If you are at a lower level, you will still be exposed to many ideas which you can incorporate into improving your service, to both internal and external customers, and reducing your lead times. I think it ranks right up there with The Goal as one of the most important business books written in the era of modern manufacturing.

It was hard to put this book down when I first read it. As a manufacturing manager, it almost seemed as if Prof. Suri had spent time in my plant. Most of the topics he addresses in QRM are relevant to the issues I was struggling with. He writes about reducing lead time in all aspects of operations, even product development. His concept of POLCA to create a pull system for low volume, high mix manufacturing is innovative.

I recommend this highly to anyone who is trying to understand a manufacturing operation and how to improve it. It is easy to read and understand with concepts that work.

This is a great version of the story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier -- always one of my favorite stories as a kid. My son, age 7, loves this book and we read it over and over. The illustrations are excellent and I recommend it. My son found it in his school library but when we went to buy our own copy, it was out of print. So we had to buy it used but it was well worth the effort to have our own copy.

This book tells the classic tale of the one-legged tin soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina. The soldier suffers a series of misadventures, including being placed at the helm of a doomed paper boat, being chased by a rat, and swallowed by a fish. It's a wonderful tale that will hold older children spellbound. The illustrations are delightful. All told, the book has about 2000 words.

I taught 1st grade for 4 years and all of the teachers in my grade passed this book around at Christmas to read to our class. I cried everytime I read it. It has a wonderful message and my kids in my classroom always loved it! I have now (finally) purchased my own copy of this book to read to my little girl. It is a classic and I know she will love it as much as I do. Every home should have this book to read at Christmastime.

This is a really good book. It has all the characteristic's that made the original a cherished and remembered fairy tale. It is a great gift for any young child, and can be enjoyed by adults too. It maintains the feel of the original tale, but is more like a poem. The art work on each page is beautiful, and the pictures are totally devine. I would recomend buying this for a different and fully enjoyable version of the original.

A little boy had a set of tin soldiers that were made from a melted spoon. One soldier was missing a leg because there was not enough metal left over from the melted spoon.

Tossed aside by the boy, the one-legged soldier sees a paper cut out figure of a ballerina. She is poised on one leg and he feels an instant bond. He has found another one-legged toy and believes this to be love.

The steadfast tin soldier has a series of mishaps. He falls off the window sill into a stream. From there, he is transported to a rat infested sewer. He is swallowed by a fish and through an unlikely stroke of luck, winds up back in the boy's playroom with the other toys and the ballerina.

The ending is what gets to me every single time. A gust of wind lifts the paper ballerina up and she flutters into the fire place, winding up a charred heap of ashes. Devastated, the tin soldier joins her. The remaining metal that was once the tin soldier is a charred piece of heart shaped metal.

I still think this is a very sad story. The photographs really emphasize the feeling this story evokes.