Roger Books

Herbert Kohl is a specialist for childrens' literature.But this book seem s to be something different.

Based on a classical biology which is prior to the molecular biology,the authors told readers this world is made of many creatures. You can't think it as a matter of course. Because he cited von Uexkull, it does not mean the "objective" world is made of diverse worlds of creatures but the world for human being is a part of worlds.Doing so, the authors guide us to the last chapter "Views of the Oak".At the end, we realize we can't deside even whether the oak is hard or soft, tall or small.Because depending on the relations to the oak, it can be changed.

You can ask yourself why the title of last chapter is different from the title of this book. And enjoy this world view which is quite simillar to the world view of buddism. If children can read it and expand their imagination, how happy they are!

With the exception of the one false sentence about Columbus, this book is very insightful. It provides a fascinating possible portrait of life from the perspective of ticks, spiders, dogs, birds, etc. A great read.

I am very happy to see that this book has been reprinted. I have two copies from the mid-70's, well-thumbed and dog-eared from being read so often. What the authors have to say about the way perception affects the world that we and other animals perceive, and how they say it, is timeless. To be read and enoyed by everyone, from ages 10 and up.

Having been a childhood schoolmate of the author from elementary to high school, we shared personally many of the circumstances and situations Roger recounts with unique clarity of recall and poignance in this compelling work. From the opening paragraph to the closing, the reader, whether or not a native of Appalachia, will quickly find himself enjoying vicariously through each of the "voices" who contributed to this heartwarming anthology, an emotional rollercoaster ride which spans the entire realm of human experience. I truly am honored to have the privilege of being one of those "voices."

I have known Mr Osborne almost all my life. We attended the same school, and grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia. Roger is a very talented writer, and he brings our younger years back to life again. When you read his books, it is like you are back in time and living the years over again. If anyone has not read Roger's books, they should buy them, and once they do, they will not be able to put them down until the last word is read. My books are in a very special place in my house. I have all of Roger's books, and if it is possible that there are more to follow, I will have them to. God Bless Roger.

Roger Osborne's "Voices From Appalachia" preserves the thoughts, hopes, dreams and struggles of the Appalachian people. The book is enlighting, entertaining and blessed with down home stories written from the heart by Roger and other Appalachian writers. "Voices From Appalachia" will live forever in my memory. The stories are about love, sharing, sacrifice, tragedy, grief, and forgiveness. Readers will find great joy in meeting and knowing the people of Appalachia. Roger Osborne is a master storyteller that shows gentle warmth and wit in his writings about growing up in and around mining towns of West Virginia. He documents an Appalachian boy's discovery of varied pleasures, puzzling paradoxes, and inescapable pain of finding his place in the community and the world. I also enjoyed reading Roger Osborne's three other books, "Land Of Yesterday, The Mountains Wept and Pilgrimage To An Appalachian Mining Camp."

Another wonderful Roger the Chapman novel. This one is about an 8 out of 10 as the series goes mystery wise but well worth buying.

In 1447 Bristol, widower Roger the Chapman leaves his two-year-old daughter behind with her grandmother to travel to Hereford. His mother-in-law wants Roger to bring home her cousin, widow Adela, and the woman's son to live with them. Upon completing his trek, Roger learns that Clement Weaver, assumed dead for six years, has also returned home.

Clement's father, ailing Alderman Alfred Weaver, accepts the man as his lost son. However, Alfred's daughter Alison and her spouse Alderman William Burnett refuse to believe that Clement is alive. Their thinking might have to do with the fact she is no longer the beneficiary of her father's vast estate when he dies. Adding to the confusion is the bewildering murder of a fortuneteller. Roger, who has solved some mysteries before, begins to look into whether this is the real Clement or an impostor and who killed the seer.

The eighth Roger the Chapman medieval mystery is a powerful historical who-done-it that keeps the star fresh while providing the audience a clever who-done-it. The story line contains insight into the late fifteenth century, but the plot belongs to the hero. Roger seems so authentic as he still feels guilt and relief with the death of his wife two years ago who died in child birth, but also has emotionally moved forward since THE BROTHERS OF GLASTONBURY. Kate Sedley has written another remarkable tale that her readers will cherish while newcomers will search for the past titles.

Harriet Klausner

"The Weaver's Inheritance" is a follow-up mystery novel to the very first Roger, the Chapman adventure, "Death and the Chapman." However, it is not necessary to have read that novel first, as Kate Sedley does a wonderful job of blending elements of that novel with this one, all the while keeping things fresh and interesting.
To summarize briefly, in "Death and the Chapman," Roger was asked by the wealthy Bristol weaver, Alderman Weaver, to locate his young wayward son, Clement, last seen outside a seedy London tavern. Not only was Roger unable to find young Clement, but all the indications were that Clement had met with a rather nasty end. Things have settled down quite a bit since then -- Alderman Weaver's sole surviving child, his daughter Alison has married another weaver, William Burnett, and the two businesses have merged, with Alison being the natural heir to this very prosperous enterprise. So that when a bedraggled stranger, with a passing resemblance to Clement, turns up claiming to be the long lost Weaver heir, Alison and William are naturally suspicious. The Alderman however is all set to accept this stranger as his long lost son. Aghast at the turn of events, Alison turns to Roger for help: she wants Roger to investigate the man's claims and to prove beyond all doubt that he is not her brother. Roger takes a little persuading but is soon busy calling on those who knew Clement before his disappearance to see if they can shed any light on the matter. But it isn't too long before he realises that in order to discover if the man currently residing in the Weaver household is truly Clement or not, he will have to return to London, to the stews and back into danger: for the best way to discover if this Clement is the true one or not is to discover what happened all those nights ago in London...
The Roger, the Chapman series by Kate Sedley is one of my favourite medieval mystery series, and is almost always, consistently good. Each murder mystery is almost always steeped in an atmosphere of chilling evil, and can be downright scary at times. Another thing I like about this series is that she always frames each Chapman adventure around the political maneuverings of the day -- Edward IV's tenuous hold on the crown, the manner in which the political doings abroad can affect things in England -- all this comes through in each and every Roger Chapman adventure. And of course there is Roger Chapman himself, one of the most unique private inquiry agents of all time: an ex-monk, who chose to become a peddler because he cannot bare to be indoors for more than a couple of days at a stretch, and whose intellect and natural ability to solve puzzles has earned him the respect and friendship of the Duke of Gloucester, no less. One of the strains that runs through each Chapman novel is the prevailing question: will Roger finally settle down and give up his wondering ways? As an avid fan, I can only hope that that day is far in the future, so that we can all enjoy more Roger, the Chapman adventures.
"The Weaver's Inheritance" is definitely a brilliant read, and one that will keep you guessing till the very end. Is the stranger the real Clement or not? Is there something more sinister to this Clement's sudden apperance? And why is Alison so sure that this man is not her brother? This mystery novel is full of twists and turns that will definitely keep any avid mystery fan happily engrossed for quite a while. A truly brilliant read.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (10/06)

Every now and then one happens upon a book that turns out to be very different from what one expected, yet wonderful and charming beyond belief. This was the case with "Weed 'Em and Reap," written by Roger Welsch. Immediately after reading the introduction, I realized that this was not going to be a cookbook for foods from the wild or a book to help me identify them - which was what I expected. It is all of that - to a point - but much more than that. Welsch truly opens one's eyes in respect to the bounty all around us. His descriptions of "weeds" are poetic and very romantic at times. Who would have thought that somebody basically foraging for food would be amazed by the brilliant blue flowers of chicory plant? Welsch's approach to weeds and eating them is respectful and safe. He never fails to caution the reader - but also never scares him or her off. He teaches respect for nature and often suggests using common sense. There is nothing preachy or condescending in his writing. He sounds like somebody I'd love to have as a friend.

Some of my favorite chapters in the book involve digging up poke and buffalo gourd roots - and why you should not attempt that, educating the local weed inspector about the merits of different plants in the yard and making home-made wine from all kinds of fruit. Each of them will teach you a bunch of things that I am sure you did not know about before.

In spite of saying upfront in his introduction that his book is not a cookbook, Welsch provides a few wonderful recipes. Each of them is really simple, but if they taste anything like the greens I prepared following one of his recipes, they should taste spectacular.

Oftentimes funny, sometimes downright silly, Welsch's writings can be enjoyed by everybody. Even if you never decide to eat a "weed," I bet you will never look at the nature around you the same way. Just remember the quote from the very beginning of "Weed 'Em and Reap," written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "A weed is but an unloved flower."

I have had the best time reading this book! I used it as a treat to bribe myself into doing other work.

I am personally prone to finding those plants considered to be weeds and providing a new home for them in my yard. I'm also prone to planting native herbs in my yard, since they are the most likely to survive the local summers and winters without my care -- Beautiful and tough as nails, who can resist that?

Roger, however, takes this a good bit further, into his personal experiences with using wild plants for food in anecdotes, stories and experiences.

My husband is next in line to read it. Upon hearing me snort and giggle with my nose in the book, he would ask what it was I was laughing about, and I'd read a portion aloud. It was great fun and I always recommend great fun. Well, I recommend it to my friends, anyway ...

And it now has a spot in my personal weed library! Definitely, definitely.

There are all kinds of tidbits on edible plants, and this book is also full of funny stories, and even some recipes that have my mouth watering just to read them. I like this book so much I am sending it to a friend who runs a wilderness skills school. Would that some of my textbooks in school had been both as informative and entertaining as this book. Very well done.

This is the FIRST Western Maryland Railway book to own...it is a great introduction to the WM and really continues to provide the definitive story of the Western Maryland. I own the first edition (now out of print) and the newer edition which was updated in the 1990's. Despite having B&W photos (remember it is an older book), this remains my favorite work on the WM. You can read it many times over and never tire of it. Also a companion book, I recommend purchasing "Western Maryland Railway in the Diesel Era." Diesel Era has more detailed discussion of WM operations and features the highest quality photographs of WM that I know of. Between the two, you'll become an expert on the Western Maryland---a true legend of the American railroading industry.

Well written; the book includes many, many different and beautiful WM photos. A good reference as well as a joy to just read and enjoy the pictures. Even the beautiful dust cover pic (a WM steam train passing Confluence station on a lonely winter day against dark blue skies) makes you feel the rumble of the train against the winter silence. Includes additional material beyond 1st edition, this edition covering the WM saga up to 1992. I recommend this book as part of a West Virginia Railroading / Western Maryland Railway reference library. ISBN 0-9620844-4-1 (previously ISBN 0-8310-7139-7)

What a refreshing way to learn! Quite different from the often boring textbook approach so common with marketing books. This semi-autobiography reads like a novel, but teaches direct response advertising through example and life experiences.

Just starting out, in his second project, he acquired over 450,000 customers! (and those are repeat customers at that). He knew what he was doing. Plenty of wise advice in there. You can learn from his mistakes and successes.

I plowed through 1/2 the book in no time. By then I realized that the reading experience would be over too soon. So I shelved the rest of the book for a treat later on. (So technically this review is only for the first 1/2 of the book). This book is like candy. I got to ration it out before it's gone ;-)

I read the book for the first time several years ago. Since then I've kept in on my desk to refer back to for practical advice about starting and running my internet business.

Much of Lyman's wisdom and insight into the mail order business is directly applicable to developing e-commerce sites for business customers: writing copy that stirs the reader to take action, measuring and testing the results of each ad, starting small and growing the business out of the profits it generates are a few of many gems he practiced.

In the book, his passion for doing what he loved, from a place that he loved, with people that he loved was inspirational to me. When I met him in person, he was also a great encouragement to me.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in in "Making a life" while making a living.

Here's the wonderful story of a man who set himself a goal--to live in the country--then figured out a way to earn a GREAT living to support that goal. Lyman Wood is (is he still alive?) a direct marketing/mail order pioneer who spent 60 years or so selling everything from $400 Roto Tillers to PRAYERS by mail. He also worked as an advertising and marketing consultant from his rural home. The stories in this book are inspiring AND instructional. This is a book filled with passion. It's not just biographical, it's "how-to." And best of all, it's FUN to read! I recommend it very highly to would-be entrepreneurs and to those frustrated entrepreneurs who occasionally need a "lift."

The author leads us through the mysteries of health care systemics, unraveling the various "players" and the parts they play. He offers up thought-provoking quesions and provides answers to his question "Where have we failed?".

Where have we failed? by Dr. Howe is a candid and authoritative look at the United States Healthcare system. Dr. Howe's book diabolically analyzes every component or "player" of a system that is fragmentized and in need of an extensive overhaul. This book is written as an easy guide for the novice or the knowledgeable. It is invaluably referenced which makes it an idea study aid for anyone in the healthcare arena, or a curious consumer.

Dr Howe's book is a penetrating commentary on the ills of American healthcare. While every inch the physician, Dr. Howe has an excellent ability to get into the mindset, and describe what drives, each of the major stakeholders in the US healthcare approach. The book is highly recommended for business and academic professionals within healthcare, and for any careful student of healthcare reform issues. His annotated references are themselves worth the price of the book.
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The world of e-reviewing is a tolerant world, and exaggerations have an easy home there. But measured by the role it has played in people's lives, there is little hyperbole in identifying Peterson and Fisher's "Wild America," precisely fifty years old this year, as among the most important books produced in the twentieth century. In the 1950s and 1960s, the book found its way into school libraries all over America, where it has been read with awe and envy by the last three generations of would-be naturalists--read so intensively that many of us, decades later, can quote great passages by heart.
The book is a collaborative account of the biggest 'big year' up to that point ever undertaken in North America; the trip was planned by none other than Roger Tory Peterson, then (and still today, perhaps) the continent's best-known birder, and was intended as an introduction to America's natural history for James Fisher, an equally prominent British naturalist who had never visited this side of the Atlantic. "Wild America" was the result: a priceless document of the continent's natural riches seen through the eyes, the words and the illustrations of two gifted and interesting observers.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Peterson and Fisher's trip, and the book is certain to be celebrated over and over in the press. Those who have not read it should by all means visit their library to borrow a well-worn copy; and those who have should take it in hand again, and be reminded of how important this text was in the birth of North America's birding culture as we know it today.

Let me just quote my favorite line from the book. It is when James Fisher, an Englishman, first sees the Grand Canyon:

"I went down there a few yards. The world ended; began again eight miles away. Between the ends of the world was a chasm."

Now I have never seen the Grand Canyon, but reading about it with such wonder through Mr. Fisher's eyes was extraordinary. It brought tears to my eyes. It goes to show how truly amazing and beautiful America is. I highly recommend this book, not just for the birds these two men see, but also for all the wonderful sights they come encounter. It made me want to retrace their route.

When I found this book at Third Place Books in Seattle in the summer of 2002, I had never heard of it, but, from the authors' reputation as naturalists and ornithologists, it looked like a good read. I discovered the book at the end of my camping journey to three national parks in Washington state and a one-week cruise to Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and the main points of interest in beautiful southeastern Alaska. My jaunt to the natural areas of the Pacific Northwest and the Alexander Archipelago would be lame compared to the 20,000+ miles that Roger Peterson and James Fisher logged in on their comprehensive foray to "Wild America".

The authors embarked on their journey following the coast of the US with intermittent forays to the interior and a brief excursion to Mexico a year before the publication of the molecular structure of DNA as double helix. Rapid developments in our understanding of the molecular basis of life ushered in the molecular era of biology, which has ultimately led to the restructuring and overhauling of the way we teach biology and the way we explain, understand, and appreciate the complexities of life. Just when most students in biology these days are honed to the molecular and cellular basis of life--a reductionist view, so to speak--and less to the holistic and more traditional view of biology, what a refreshing change to learn from and be engrossed by the keen observations of two naturalists on the road and be taken back to an era when biology as natural history was respected as an academic field and an engaging pastime as well!

There are tons of information on birds in this book, but the authors also pay attention to mammals and other fauna, and then there is the flora (peculiar landmark plant species of the West stand out, like the agave, saguaro, ocotillo, Joshua Tree, Monterey cypress, coastal redwood, sequoia, sugar pine, lodgepole pine, and Douglas fir). There are also accounts of long-term inhabitants and indigenous peoples, and their culture and history. The illustrations are superb. The most remarkable part of the book, however, are the wholehearted commentaries on the purpose and values of our national parks and monuments. Since 1953, many of the national monuments they visited are now national parks. Roads have been paved, widened, and increased, and so have concessions and amenities, converting park villages into virtual towns and confronting many visitors with the same urban and suburban evils (traffic, congestion, to name a few) from which they try to escape by visiting national park areas. You can try hard to hope that James Fisher criticizes the way national parks are run, but you don't find that in the book. Notwithstanding this, it is amusing that many facts about the national monuments and parks still apply today and that these places can make the same impressions today, mainly because we try hard to keep these natural treasures intact for future generations. The British naturalist's gratitude to Americans for the designation and preservation of national parks and optimism for their stewardship is a sharp contrast to Edward Abbey's cynical attitude towards the National Park Service and disdain for tourists.

The book concludes with a powerful statement that speaks of Fisher's gratitude to Americans and optimism for "Wild America": "And this is what I have tried to do--to tell of Wild America, and say that never have I seen such wonders or met landlords so worthy of their land. They have had, and still have, the power to ravage it; and instead have made it a garden". Certainly the power of his statement would not have been lost on people who deeply appreciate natural America and care to preserve our astounding natural heritage.

My 2 (almost 3) year old is a little advanced and I owe most of it to Priddy Books. This is just one of the several wipe-clean books he uses and reuses every day. I recommend this and any Priddy Books for Pre-School aged kids.

My son loves these books and half the fun is that he can erase it when he is done and do it again. I would definately buy more of these books and recommend it to others.

This is the most comprehensive wipe clean book from Priddy books. It is filled with pictures of animals, trucks, insects, toys, dinosaurs, and some vegetables. Along with this wonderful pictures, your child can trace, connect dot-to-dot, do word search, count, draw, find differences in two pictures, find a way through a maze, link matching pictures, and do writing practices of numbers, letters, and words. I got numbers, letters, and things that go on top of this book; but I think I should've gotton only this one.

My almost 4 year old loves this book. It has really helped him learn letters, numbers, writing and drawing! He will seek this book out and it keeps his attention. He loves it so much I had to buy new wipe clean pens! As mentioned, it does have the pen holder which is great.

My daughter (4 yrs) love to trace on this book. It's really very helpful for improving hand writing skills. No mess for parents you can wipe easily and reuse it as many times you like.

We have all four of this series and my kids love them.Wipe Clean Numbers (Wipe Clean),
Wipe Clean Things That Go (Wipe Clean),Wipe Clean Letters (Wipe Clean).
They started playing with them with some help at the age 3 and now at ages 4 & 6 they get them off the shelf and trace and erase by themselves. Great pre- writing activity. I highly recommend them. Nice activity for quiet times and the handy handel makes them easy to carry and take around the house or into the car for Dr. appts., resturants, car trips, etc. What I also like is that the pen snaps into a clip and stays secure. Most dry erase activities the pen is loose and of course gets lost.