Rainbow The Books

COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!
Bob Rosenthal's compilation has captured Passaic from infancy through adulthood, from the aroma of sweet Italian sausage and Polish kielbasa to arroz con gandules and pernil. The ethnicity of Passaic as it grew to one of New Jersey's most prominent and productive cities is captured here by 28 authors who have each "walked the walk" down Main Ave. or climbed the 100 steps. A virtual reality trip down memory lane which sends the reader into a "I remember when" like state of mind. Truly a great read.

Passaic is my home town, so I had to read this book. The written memories took me back home, with names of people, as well as streets & events. The tears stung my eyes. My 34 y/o daughter, who was 3 y/o when we left, read the book & told me she wants to go back to Passaic to see what she missed out on. What better tribute to Bob Rosenthal & his chapter authors! Looking forward to a sequel! In the meantime, I'm reading it again.

Couldn't put it down. Bob Rosenthal has accomplished what few others have. He's assembled a multitude of former and present Passaic residents, asked them to become authors, and write about their fondest(and perhaps not so fondest)memories of Passaic. You can hear the city buses and smell the ethnic foods wafting from the open windows as you take this journey back through the years and experience life in Passaic. An enjoyable read.

The book contains the stories of individuals who grew up in a multiethnic community in northern New Jersey. These fascinating memories span the years from 1915 to 2000. The stories will delight everyone and will spark the reader to reminisce about their past with a renewed interest . I highly recommend everyone read Climbing the Rainbow: 28 Glimpses of Growing Up in Passaic by Bob Rosenthal(Compiler)

Outstanding photography

I sent this book as a gift to my brother, who is a printer. He thought that pains had been taken with the photography to produce such fine prints. He compared it to another book of Restoration painters that he had once bought at the Guggenheim, having been thrilled with the original exhibition, but said that the Restoration photography had been careless and therefore did not print well, whereas the Hermitage collection exhibited outstanding photography. I didn't buy books that were available in St. Petersburg at the Hermitage because they didn't look good, but these were both beautiful and plentiful. I can't comment on the accompanying text, as I didn't read it.

I had very high expectations from "Paintings" when I ordered it, and they were all met! The volume contains beautiful fine quality, mainly full-page reproductions from the famous collection. "Paintings" is a beautifully designed, very substantial size volume which also offers Colin Eisler's very informative yet not imposing style of writing with which she guides us through the many periods of western art and the history behind Catherine the Great's collection. I, a Russian, can only appreciate the thoroughness with which the Hermitage collection is compiled in the "Paintings." I bought it along with "Paintings in the Louvre," both volumes are of the same format as if in the same series and will always be our priceless source for admiring some of the world's most treasured canvases.

Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.

I sent this book to my mother after we toured the Hermitage this summer. She loved it. Lots of narrative, which she may not take time to read, but the pictures are great.

A beautiful, visual book. The story is short and sweet. The colors are vibrant and the rainbow intriguing. Our grandchildren ages 2, 3 and 4 enjoy the book and so do I. Our little one with visual impairment (age 4) can enjoy "Duckie's Rainbow" because of the large size of the book.

Both of my kids (almost-4 and almost-2) like this book, and have since we got it over a year ago. It's a very quick read, which leaves plenty of time to sit and look at the pictures and talk about colors.

This book was given to my 7 month old son by his grandparents and he already shows great interest in it! It has wonderful, bright colors and beautiful artwork. The duck is sweet and friendly looking and the bright colors and storyline will draw kids in. I think this is a wonderful book!!!

Duckie's rainbow is as delicious a visual treat for the adult as it is entertaining and fun for the child. The duck itself has such charm and charisma and my 15 month old takes true delight in identifying it on each page.It's really good for learning/teaching colors but in a totally fresh way and the surprise rainbow at the end of the book is a fantastic grand finale. Frances Barry is a real artist.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!! This was the first book I ever read on my own. My mom bought it for me because i treated my cat like Dolores does. It is very entertaining, expecially for young girls who love animals. I still read this book!!!!

My 5 year old laughed hysterically when I read this story to her. I even read it to her class at school and they all laughed as well. A very enjoyable read. One of my daughter's favorites!

My daughter, when I was teaching her how to read, fell absolutely in love with this book. So she decided she wanted to learn to read that one. But however, she memorized it and could probably recite it by heart if she wanted to. Infact, she basically could. As I sat there watching her "read" this book, I noticed she turned the pages far too early. Now she's a junior in high school and is taking an oral interpretation class in which she needed a children's book to read. And she just had to have this book. In her words, "Why should I choose an inferior book when I can choose the best book ever written?"

This is a story about a young girl, Dolores, that gets a kitty, Duncan. Dolores is so excited about her kitty that she smoothers it with attention, along with dresses. The cat is annoyed with all of her attention and favors Dolores' sister instead. Dolores is jealous and decides to ignore Duncan and play by herself instead. While Dolores focuses her attention elsewhere Duncan realizes that Dolores can really be a fun and loveable girl. Plus, Dolores finds out what it takes to win Duncan's love and attention!

This is one of my all time favorites. A beautiful, tender book about a small boy going through the five stages of grief. A book that reaches out to you and comforts you.

This is absolutely the best book out there for a young child who has lost a parent. Written by Lucille Cliffton in simple rhyme, it goes through the 5 stages of grief. As the last stage of grief is acceptance, it ends with "and no matter what happens when people die, love doesn't stop and neither will I." The illustrations of this young African American boy and his mother are charcoal line drawings ~~ beautifully illustrating the profound loss this child has suffered, affirming the loss and yet reassuring the reader that acceptance and peace will come.

I read this book the first year I was in the pastorate, some 14 years ago or so. It has been the perfect book to help my younger staff people understand the process of grief. This book has never failed to bring up the emotions of loss which every staff member has suffered. The five stages of grief, is a universal understanding which has helped every adult I have worked with, to understand how they are "normal" in their feelings.

Further, every staff person I have worked with, has bought this book. We use it more for adults, than for children. (Though it is very good for children.) The reason why, is because the verse is very sharp and connects with the soul of people. The adult empathizes with the little boy. This, in turn, connects the adult with the universal nature of grief.

I could spend hours upon hours of counseling grief without this book. With this book, most of my parishoners who have suffered loss, work through the stages with heads up and eyes open... tears and all. All have moved through the stages without fixating very long in any of them.

Lucille Clifton, is simply a genius. Ann Grifalconi (illustrator) brings the genius to Clifton's wise and calming verse with her warm charcoal illustrations. Thank you, ladies.

This is a simply written book about a little boy who goes through the five stages of grief after the death of his father. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the book still brings tears to my eyes everytime I read it. Lucille Clifton is an excellent author who uses simplicity with great beauty. This book is good for young children 3-5 who are trying to understand and deal with grief. I would definitely recommend this with no hesitation!

The Rainbow Fairies are very colorful, but Jack Frost has sent them away and without them Fairyland will be grey forever. Rachel and Kirsty have found Fern and my daughter can't wait to find out what happens in the next book, Sky the Blue Fairy!

My daughter loves this series of books - the biggest problem we have is that she won't stop after one chapter. She's 5, so we do most of the reading, she'll read a paragraph or two, but we do that's it for now. It won't be long before she'll be re-reading them herself. She and her sister love playing fairies now, it's been great for her developing her imagination and her creative play has flourished lately.

We started with book 1 of the Rainbow Fairies and are now on the Weather Fairies Series. I highly recommend these books.

Fern the Green Fairy is book #4 in a terrific read-to-me chapter book series. I think 4- to 6-year-old girls are the target audience. In the series, two girls vacationing on "Rainspell Island" discover a black pot at the end of a rainbow. Through each book, they find a "rainbow fairy" and return her to the pot. Once all 7 are found, color will return to "Fairyland." A wonderful mix of two girls' determination and imagination.

These books are just right for my 6-year old girl. She loves the magic (the 2 human girls can turn into fairies and fly!), the puzzle of finding the color feathers, and also the friendship of the girls and fairies working together. I enjoy reading them too, that's important, they aren't boring to me!

This is a great book with useful medical information about the transplant process as well as a heart warming account of the struggles of waiting for an organ donor and receiving a liver transplant. I could hardly put the book down after I started reading. Emotions and events are described so well that you feel you are part of the family and therefore part of the journey.

I recently read this book and found it to be a particularly moving experience, expressing a remarkable commitment between mother and son and family. Even though the topic illness is liver failure and liver transplant, I felt that thoughtfully reading The Gift of Life 2 would be very helpful to a family coping with any serious illness.
Sincerely,
Susan K. Farley

I was amazed and touched by this book. Well-written, thought-provoking and heart rending....you feel the triumph and tribulations of this family and their journey with each page!! You will definitely think very strongly about writing a living will and becoming an organ donor.

As the mother of a multiorgan transplant daughter, we were very fortunate to be under the care of Debbie Weppler and the transplant team at the University of Miami. My daughter recovered from a very difficult transplant by following Debbie Weppler's advice. If you or a loved one is facing a transplant, read this book so you will know what to expect. It will be a tremendous help for you and guide you through the process.

If you love wine and entertaining as I do, this is a great book. The beginning has a great section on understanding wines and the recipes I've found to be great and love how she matches them up with wine for great entertaining! If you love wine and entertaining and building your knowledge, this is a great book!

A real Immer fan, here Andrea is over the top with what many of us really need, how to match great food with great wine. Immer is well trained and experienced with both, and here she combines her normal passion for her subject matter along with clarity and creativity.

This work encourages one to experiment with important contrasts, looking for earthiness vs. spiciness, and the acidity and richness of wine with the food.

This she accomplishes with great text along with Tasting Charts featuring "Matching Food ... with Wine Styles to Try." There one will find unusual combos which we would not normally even attempt, but here are great recommendations to venture out into the world of wine and find new combos.

Even the tougher combos, e.g. Sweet and sour are covered, as she provides a great chart on this mathcing, getting one such as myself to try stuff like Dry Muscat and Viognier which I never would have attempted on my own.

This book is like "Wine Water Wings" which allows one to venture out into deeper wine water to find that ultimate taste explosion with excellent food.

Will become a great companion!

I loved this book, I bought it because I was going to do a wine tasting for friends and I wanted to provide tasty snacks that would also compliment the various wines. This book guided me in a total understanding of how to pair wines with food and she takes a lot of the complication out of it. I am no longer fearing the wine list in a restaurant!!!

With this book Immer provides still more useful information for people interested in making wine part of the dinner table. Quite an accomplishment, considering her "Great Wines Made Simple" was for me the most useful wine volume ever encountered. Here, Immer moves beyond the beverage and provides the reader with her accessible theories about how food flavors connect to wine flavors. For someone like me, someone interested in home entertaining and striving to give a guest a memorable dining experience, this book moves past anything else I've read concerning the wine arena.

Unlike other authors who provide esoteric descriptions of wines-- descriptions they don't seem to realize may vary according to the individual inclinations of the taster-- Immer acknowledges the variety of preferences amongst diners. She does not come from an attitude of "informing" readers of her Vast Knowledge; rather she lends teaching tools that enable readers to form their own intelligent opinions of what works and does not work for their particular tastes. A natural educator, she alternates between easily-digested theories, theories often summarized in simple chart form, and hands-on, effective experiments. Her experiments are the most pragmatic kind: tastings. In this way, she promotes an understanding of flavor combinations in a way that is most visceral-- through the mouth.

Her theories make sense, and they work-- I know because I've tried them! Her reading inspired me to spend way too much on sample wines and test them with various foods. Because she is not merely presenting a list of try-this-wine-with-that-cheese, pair-Wine-A-with-Recipe-X, but rather because she is giving us readers categorical theories about why some wine styles connect to certain types of foods, we can develop our own menus based on what foods we are interested in and what wines please our palates. In this way, her book can sit on the shelf beside such theory-driven volumes as "Culinary Artistry," Peterson's "Sauces," Gold's cookbooks, and Schneider's "A New Way To Cook." Immer puts the reader in the creative position rather than calling for imitation with an encyclopedia of recipes.

What is still more appealing about her approach is that she is dedicated to making wine a part of everyday dining. She acknowledges good flavor combinations at every level of cost, time, and creativity. Her enthusiasm for her subject is contagious. It might tempt a reader to obtain her third book, the "Wine Buying Guide." But while Immer's "Wine Buying" guide is fine, it is an example of the "old guard" of wine information: a guide that lets the reader get lost in the forest for all the trees. For me, "Great Tastes" provides a far superior way of thinking, because it empowers me to make choices based on the information on the wine label rather than in a wine guide.

This story is simply, but beautifully written with touching illustrations provided by the author's son. It's told with love and humor and contains a message that applies to us all. I shared it with my 3rd grade students, and they loved it! They could easily relate to the characters in the book, and it generated a great discussion.

Don't let the simplicity of this book fool you. It's beautifully written from the heart with a very deep and loving message. Ms. Garrett's own son did the wonderful illustrations, which makes the book's significance that much more special. A wonderful life lesson for every parent and child!

Every parent and child can relate to this story! A simple, easy to read book with an important message about how our emotions can affect our behaviors and sometimes lead us to make bad choices. It teaches children and adults alike that if something or someone makes you feel bad, don't let it ruin your day. In this book both Benjamin and his mom learn the importance of talking about what's bothering them instead of letting the "UGLIES" take over, and to let God and their love for each other guide them everyday.

I received this book as a gift, and my family loves it! It's a quick easy read that stresses responsible behavior, anger management and God's love. The mother / son partnership that wrote and illustrated this book give it a personal, loving touch that is easily apparent to the reader. A perfect bedtime book for any young child.

This is the second series of "Rainbow Magic" fairy books written by Daisy Meadows, picking up where the seven-part Rainbow Fairies series left off. These books are innocent and engaging, focusing on two young girls, Kirsty and Rachel, who meet while on vacation with their parents, and are drawn into the magical world of the fairies, who are in conflict with the mischievous Jack Frost. The structure of this series is nearly identical to the first: the girls are given a quest in which they must help seven fairies (each with sparkles aplenty and cute, super-girly outfits and princess-y names such as Hayley, Heather, Iris, Amber and Iris... ) who have been bothered by Jack and his goblin helpers. In each book they complete one part of the quest and meet one new fairy.

It is important to know going in that these books are interconnected -- each individual volume ties in with the others, so you will want to start with book #1, then go on to #2, etc. The plots are not very complicated, but they do make reference to each other, and the idea is to read them all together.

The other thing to know is that these books are not very scary or troubling - there is action, but no violence and not much real danger (the goblins are easily beaten, and not very frightening) so if you are looking for longer narratives for young kids to read, but don't want anything disturbing, this series is good option. One criticism is that the books are pretty WASP-y, and while a couple of the fairies might be seen as Asian, basically the entire series takes place in an all-white, middle-class world, populated with thin, blonde girls and a few brunettes. Other than that, though, this is a good series for families looking for light, engaging, age-appropriate stories. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

I have a [...] granddaughter. She loves to be read to. Her attention spane for these books are outstanding. She loves these books and will sit and listen through the whole book and will want more, and she remembers what the book is all about. She especially loves the goblin and the adventures that Kristi and Rachel get to do. I thought the goblin would be scary to her, but no, she giggles when things happen to him.

We've been struggling for a way to get my daughter to read now that she's run out of Junie B. Jones books. The Weather Fairies books have done the trick. She seems to enjoy reading again for the first time in half a year or more.

I have to say I haven't read any of the Weather Fairies myself but I caught my twelve-year-old son reading the series because his sister had obviously liked it. He said he wanted to read more, too.

My daughter loves this series of books - the biggest problem we have is that she won't stop after one chapter. She's 5, so we're reading them to her now, but soon she'll be re-reading them herself. We started with book 1 of the Rainbow Fairies and are now on the Weather Fairies Series. I highly recommend them!