Papers Books

Any rainy day, sunny day or boring day is a good time to use this book. My kids, especially my son, love to sit down with a pile of paper and scissors and see how many of these patterns they can cut out. When they are done with the patterns they try making some of their own. A good boredom buster, however as a storyteller I find it is a great way to recap the story I tell by cutting out the pattern that goes with the story. When I am done the kids are fascinated when I unfold the pattern and I get lots of oohs and aahs.

The book is an introduction to paper cutting. While some of the templates are more advanced, most are not. Good place to start to learn about paper cutting and realize you can do it. Not such a good book to help you continue learning paper cutting

Grandma's Magic Scissors is a wondrous book, chock full of ideas for children to create all sorts of cutouts with just a pair of scissors. Easy reading and enjoyable for adults who watch as their children become creative and use their imaginations.

Grandma's Magic Scissors: Paper Cut-ting From A-Z by Linda S. Day (a.k.a. Grandma) is a fun and creative instructional compendium of do-it-yourself projects for creating intricate, beautiful pieces of art with just a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a pair of scissors. Providing young (and not so young!) readers with a "user friendly" introduction to the inexpensive, fun and artistic pastime of fancy paper cutting, Grandma's Magic Scissors carefully guides the reader through cutting out such designs as The Monkeys and the Crocodile; Praying Parents; and Little Red Hen and Chicks, to Mice; Three Billy Goats Gruff; and Hearts with Bunnies. A wonderful resource for rainy days and other homebound occasions (with a bit of judicious adult supervision), Grandma's Magic Scissors is very strongly recommended for all children, but most especially those with an artistic interest searching for an entertaining and creatively inspiring guide through the decorative art of paper cutting and design.

I have both paper doll books (Princess Diana and Prince Charles Fashion Paper Dolls in Full Color; and Diana, Princess of Wales, Paper Doll: The Charity Auction Dresses [Paper Doll Series]) by Tom Tierney. I love his artistry and his attention to detail. I got the Charity Auction paper doll book as a gift and searched for more finding the first paper doll book that also included Prince Charles. I added both books to my scrapbook on Diana - I still love looking at these pages. They are both excellent as are all the paper doll books he produces. I also have books by Tom Tierney on Pope John Paul II, Jackie Kennedy Onasis, and one with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. I would encourage anyone interested in collecting, using the books for school reports, or finding your favorite subject in paper dolls, to look for this artist. He does excellent work.

This is one of the most beautiful sets of paper dolls I have, well drawn with great attention to detail and short historical notes on each dress inside the back cover. There are a lot of costumes in this book, about thirty, and two beautiful dolls. It covers fashion from 1890 to 1919, with dresses from great designers like Worth and Paquin. Tom Tierney's paper dolls are wonderful, and this is one of his best.

Anyone who loves fashion history will enjoy this book. The illustrations are evocative of the lives of fashionable women 100 years ago.
I especially liked the dolls themselves, clad in faithful depictions of the underwear of the era.
The selection of costumes is superb. It is clear to see the development of women's dress from 1899 until 1919, from heavily corseted hourglass figures laden with ruffles, lace and embroidery, to the fantasies of the early teens and finally the simplification of dress leading up to the 1920-s.

This is a wonderful paper doll book. Book gives a bit of history regarding the dresses in the book. Illustrations are excellent.

This was my firt paper airplane book and I have since bought quite a few. It is my favorite and I still refrence it for new ideas. Its designs are more varied than books with designs by just one author. The written portion is also very clever. It makes me hope for another Internations Paper Airplane Contest.

Scientific American is one of America's most well known popular science journals. Part of its appeal is its periodic contests in different fields of science and technology. One of these is a paper airplane contest held annually. The top entires are summarized in this book, one of the better paper airplane books out there. The models range across different size ranges and have a variety of looks. The difficulty in building these models range from light to very difficult, and hence provide hours of entertainment for those willing to use their hands to build some stuff. Some require "cheating" in the form of scissors and tape, but the results are incredible looking models that do really fly. Overall, I recommend this book.

My dad had this book at home and since we were living on the top floor I had endless opportunities to experiment and litter the neighbourhood with planes made from this book's design. An evergreen favourite is Sakoda's Origami Supersonic Jet.
The first part of the book consists of a superbly eclectic history of the paper airplane with many ideas that will lead may a child of any age into endless hours of dreamy fun.
I found this book again this year in a Seattle bookshop and it brought back many happy memories!

In a world of hi-technology, electronics, computers and robotics, it's amazing such a book is still in print. This book has been a great inspiration for me through the years as it has thought me alot, not only about folding paper airplanes. It teaches us all that though we may have super-computers today, it's the creativity that matters afterall, because the best idea could possibly be the simplest.

This is a fair and thorough account of history of the violin and its masters. The late Mr. Schwartz left a legacy to be praised for decades: all due gratitude for his delegent and extensive research and his stellar authourship.

Chapters on early masters are especially impressive, with more than sufficient information and fair analysis on each artist. The simplistic, yet comprehensive and highly informative writing style of Mr. Schwartz make it a more enjoyable reading; anyone, even with minimal knowledge on violin, will find it accessible and pleasant to read. Not a single line in this book is boring, or pedantic; a personal tribute/annecdote at the end of each chapter on modern violinists, is often moving with the author's candour and endearing admiration for the artist.

Comprehensive book that covers every major virtuoso from Corelli to Zukerman by a knowlegeable Russian violin scholar who lived when the great russian music was being composed.

This is the most complete book about violinists I have ever read. This is the book that will "fill in the gaps" of any missing knowledge you may have concerning the great violin soloists of the past.

(This is the paperback edition)

I'll say it again, this is essential reading for any violin lover!!!

Comprehensive book that covers every major virtuoso from Corelli to Zukerman by a knowlegeable Russian violin scholar who lived when the great russian music was being composed.

This is the most complete book about violinists I have ever read. This is the book that will "fill in the gaps" of any missing knowledge you may have concerning the great violin soloists of the past.

(This is the hardcover edition)

I'll say it again, this is essential reading for any violin lover!!!

This is a fair and thorough account of history of the violin and its masters. The late Mr. Schwartz left a work to be praised for decades: all due gratitude for his delegent and extensive research and his stellar authourship.

Chapters on early masters are especially impressive, with more than sufficient information and fair analysis on each artist. The simplistic, yet comprehensive and highly informative writing style of Mr. Schwartz make it a more enjoyable reading; anyone, even with minimal knowledge on violin, will find it accessible and pleasant to read. Not a single line in this book is boring, or pedantic; a personal tribute/annecdote at the end of each chapter on modern violinists, is often moving with the author's candour and endearing admiration for the artist.

This book tells how to confront the harasser. If the harassment continues, the legal steps are covered. For an employer, it provides information on policies, complaint procedures, training sessions and monitoring to prevent harassment.
NOLO Press is noted for making legal information accessible to ordinary people. This topic is something that every supervisor and employer needs to be briefed on.

As an employment attorney and human resource consultant who trains organizations on harassment policy, I use this book as a great reference material. I often suggest it to supervisors who want to know more about how to deal with this complex and difficult problem....

I found the book to be pretty straightforward and easy to read. It gives all the pertinent information on the subject from the law to how to stop sexual harassment to your legal remedies. One of the best features is that provides an array of case studies that clear up a lot of the gray areas. I used the book to help me develop a training on the subject, I recommend it to anyone who needs more info on the subject.

Every business with employees that does not have a sexual harassment policy in place needs to buy this book now.

Actions the authors say employers need to implement regarding sexual harassment include: Do whatever it takes to understand the law, the issues, and keep current; put in place a zero tolerance sexual harassment prevention policy that prohibits specific behaviors of verbal harassment, non-verbal tactics, and physical harassment; take action to stop sexual harassment that does occur and prevent reoccurrence and reprisals.

This is Hass at his finest. In this work he deftly moves within and around human experience with a Rilkean penetration and tautness of line. In my view, Hass' later work labors because it attempts to emulate the vogue chattiness of current free verse poetry and doesn't adhere to the intensity he achieves in Praise.

There is not disappointing poem in this book, something that many "great" poets haven't achieved in their volumes. All of these poems deserve to be reread often and serious poets should study this book to learn exactly how Hass creates his magic.

This book is as good as poetry gets. By all means, buy it.

I can't imagine having not read this beautiful volume of poems. Haas is a master. His poems are holygraphic. You end up being inside them! What he does with time and space is unequaled in all of poetry. No, I'm not his mother! I'm just a totally awed reader who thinks great poetry is one of the hardest things in the world to write. Praise be to Praise!

Once upon a time, I was a naive college freshman who felt that contemporary poetry just wasn't for me: I felt that I didn't "get" modern poetry and that I just couldn't relate to it. Then, one day, I read Robert Hass's poem "Meditation at Lagunitas," and I was like, "Oh!"

After that, there was no turning back.

My favorite poems in this sublime collection, besides "Meditation at Lagunitas," are "Heroic Simile" and "Against Botticelli." All three are poems in which Hass masterfully combines intellectual rigor, lucid expression, wistful romanticism, muted sensuality, and an almost Euclidean reverence for form, structure, symmetry, and recursion.

Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass has created lyrical mastery- with a decidely Californian touch- in 1979's "Praise", the writers second volume of poetry. The book is most certainly a wildly rich, fufilling journey into what may be an admirable ideal structure. Hass uses lilting, engrossing language, wisping by like a breeze but with all of the intensity of the view through which he looks upon his powerful and immense subject matter. Of particular note is "Meditation at Lagunitas", a beautiful soliloquoy that may be the finest and most languid of our American poetic voices.

This is an easy-to-read book about being caught inside on a nasty day. My 1st grader read this book to the family on a cold, nasty February Saturday morning. It was a great "text-to-text" connection to have a book about being trapped inside on a weekend morning--we could totally identify. And later, the book inspired my kids to make their own couch-cushions fort instead of complaining about being bored!

The Henry and Mudge books are such a wonderful series. The charming water color and ink pictures--and the realistic kid adventures--create an engaging experience for early readers. The author does an almost magical job relaying the fears, temptations and ambitions of childhood. Also, many kids can identify with Henry's passionate love for his big dog, Mudge. Plus, this series will appeal to both boys and girls.

The series is at the 1st grade reading level. This book is a "chapter" book (not a "baby" book) with 3 Chapters, and about 40 pages of half text, half artwork. (Just to give you an idea of the reading level, the Henry and Mudge books are easier than Magic Tree House, but harder than the advanced Bob books.)

Note: you might want to purchase Henry And Mudge First Book before this book or with this book. It introduces the characters used in the rest of the series.

Enjoy!
P. Gould, co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family (Fork and Spoon Field Guides) (Fork and Spoon Field Guides)

I really like this book--how the parents think that Henry is important enough for their time and energy, how they eat pizza, how the dog just chews a boot and is a sweet, goofy dog. Rylant captures "real" family life and the importance of our kids, and I thank her for that.

I love the story line. A family working together on a yukky weekend minus the TV to do something fun. I esp. loved the picture of mom sitting at the table reading the paper while dad and son were building the castle in the basement. My kindergartener loved it! We will definitely read more of these books!

Our names are Luisa, Casey, Tom, Joshua, Tim, Megan, Alex, and Janae. We read Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend. Here is our summary of the book: Henry and Mudge got up one Saturday Morning in February and looked outside. The weather was disgusting. They couldn't go outside and there was nothing to do. Everything was boring to Henry and Mudge. They were so bored that Henry and Mudge went to sleep on the couch with Dad. Henry's mother had the idea to make a castle out of the big refrigerator and stove boxes. Henry, Mom, and Dad started making the castle. Mom drew, Dad cut, Henry stapled, and Mudge chewed an old boot. The family woke up the next morning and started to work on the castle. Mom read the newspaper and drank coffee. Henry and his father finished the castle. They showed it to Mom. It looked nice. It looked like a real castle. Mom, Dad, Henry, and Mudge had a good weekend!

I first read this one in 1982 and have returned to it time and again. I, like a couple of other reviewers, cannot understand why this book has not recieved more attention. It is well written, funny, informative and just simply fun to read. It is a collection of tales, stories, or what have you, of the western portion of our country. The author has wonderful insight and certainly knows his subject. I cannot think of a page of this work I did not absolutely enjoy. Highly recommend this one.

I first read this book in the mid-1980s, and have been a huge fan of it ever since. It was out of print from a long time after the original publisher, North Point Press, went out of business. I am delighted that it is now available once more. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the American West.

This is a wide-ranging book that deals with many aspect of the American West in general and the desert areas in particular. Schultheis is a gifted writer, and has a knack not only for telling a good tale but also for turning a wonderful line. He is highly attuned to the remarkable and the humorous in almost every situation, and the book is a marvelous blend of the unexpected, the reflective, and the funny.

My favorite moment might be an occasion he recounts of visiting a store in Navajo territory. While in the store, an elderly Navajo stumbles up to him and says, apropos of nothing, "Hey, I hear that Elvis died," in a tone that almost suggests the Schultheis and The King were lifelong pals. After replying, that yes, Elvis had died and that he had evidently been pretty sick, the Navajo, ignoring what Schultheis had said, continues, "Yeah, Elvis and Hitler, two of your greatest leaders, dead." (I am quoting this story from memory, so don't call me to task for specific inaccuracies.)

This is a book filled with many wonderful and marvelous moments. I would heartily urge anyone with an interest in literature about the American West or the desert to read it as soon as possible.

A cousin tipped me off to this little known masterpiece, which consists of a short, well-written series of anecdotes and tales about the West. An expert in verbal imagery, Schultheis takes you gambling at Native American pow-wow, canyon ratting in Utah, meeting a jack rabbit who lures motorcyclists to their doom, and other esoteric topics with equal aplomb.

His best tale, and the one you won't forget, is the last in order, a fictional episode during the next great Western drought, when the xerothermic climate brings disaster west of the Mississippi.

Schultheis is very readable, and each essay is thought-provoking. I predict you will enjoy this wonderful book. As the previous reviewer cautions, however, loan it out at your own risk.

Rob's imagery and cutting edge mind put him up there with the best - I like him better than the proverbial Ed Abbey (Rob's a little more cerebral). I'm an avid reader of anything to do with the desert Southwest (and West), as well as a desert rat myself, and I was hard put to find anything I'd read to date that was this good. You won't be disappointed with this book - buy an extra for your friends, because they'll "borrow" it and never return it (I've now bought 3 of them and can't find my latest copy...hmmm, now that I think of it, I suspect it went to Hawaii with a friend...)

Arthur Machen, master of the macabre, created something a little bit different in this book. Coming from a childhood background that left him lonely and prone to living in imaginative worlds himself, the main character here is exactly the same. Lucien Taylor, unable to attend Oxford because of a lack of money, "lives" in his father's library. He is particularly attracted to ancient history and magic and hopes to become a writer. This hope is crushed, however, and, with the help of Annie Morgan, a woman who loves him, he escapes into an imaginary world of ancient times. There he remains, totally self-absorbed (to the chagrin of Annie), until he is jolted back to reality after receiving a small legacy. He then becomes an opium addict, which causes his death. Machen captures the moods of his characters perfectly, and this is the best of his books.

Arthur Machen, one of the 20th Century's most talented writers of supernatural horror fiction, wrote Hill of Dreams, his autobiographic novel, in 1922. The novel concerns a gifted young writer, Lucien Taylor, whose calling to write great (not just good) works of literature dooms him to self-destruction.

The novel follows Lucien's life from boyhood until his mid-twenties. Lucien grows up in a rural village in Wales near the ruins of an ancient Roman fortress (Machen himself grew up in Caerleon, Wales near the ruins of the Roman citadel, Isca Silurum). While exploring these ruins, Lucien undergoes a mystical awakening and becomes fascinated with ancient Roman culture, paganism and the supernatural. His imagination is so captured, it is only a matter of time until he starts to write fiction with supernatural and pagan themes.

While still in his teens, Lucien sends a manuscript to a publishing firm. The publisher rejects the manuscript. A few months later, Lucien purchases a newly-published novel which contains entire chapters lifted from his "rejected" manuscript. Saddened and angered, Lucien again wanders to the Roman ruins. There, he happens to meet a neighbor girl and has a sexual encounter which he associates with the fauns and nymphs of Roman mythology.

Lucien's imagination is so active that the border between reality and fantasy is sometimes blurred. In an effort to reach new heights of imagination and expression, Lucien begins to induce mystic experiences and trances. He dabbles in the occult, engages in masochistic rituals and starves himself to induce visions. His neighbors and relatives notice the changes in Lucien and encourage him to eat, to get plenty of rest, to give up writing and to pursue a real occupation.

Unexpectedly, Lucien receives an inheritance which enables him to move to London and devote himself to writing full time. By this time, Lucien is caught in a downward spiral of increasingly disturbing visions, induced by a number of unhealthy methods. He manages to completely erase the border between fantasy and reality, but ironically, he has so disabled himself that he can no longer write coherently.

Machen's story reads almost like poetry and is told in an artful, subtle fashion. The imagery of the first chapter is indescribably beautiful. The final four chapters, detailing his character's descent into insanity, are vivid and horrific. Machen describes the final sensations of a dying brain so vividly and in such detail that I cannot help but wonder how close Machen came to the same fate. Hill of Dreams is among the finest portrayals of the self-destructive artist, ranking with Coleridge's Kubla Khan, Mann's Doctor Faustus and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantasique. Through repeated allusions to Poe, Coleridge and DeQuincey, Machen pays tribute to other great writers who have tried the same path to greatness. Although Machen has achieved cult icon status (due, in part, to his role in the creation of the Angel of Mons legend), he is underrated as an author. I am greatly impressed with all of his works that I've read thus far. Hill of Dreams is the most impressive of his works.

Arthur Machen is better known for his "horror" tales such as "The Great God Pan". However, there is more to Machen that that. Machen believed in a quality of literature (and life) that cannot be pinned down - a sort of magic.

When he first came to London from rural Wales in the late 1800s, he was involved in fin-de-siecle "magic" circles - such as The Order of the Golden Dawn. He translated "fantastic" tales and in works like "The Great God Pan" created his own vision of them. However, like Harold Bloom today, he was perhaps at his best when he wrote about literature, and he did this is three forms: directly, in "Hieroglyphics", autobiographically in "Far Off Things" and "Things Near and Far", and in a fictionalized manner in "The Hill of Dreams".

The Hill of Dreams is about a young writer from the country who goes to London and wanders its streets looking for inspiration, but finds himself caught up in the city's past and becomes alienated from those around him. It is like a Peter Ackroyd novel set from 100 years ago. There is also a magic there that is all Machen's own.

Machen is a writer worth getting to know, particularly in the books mentioned above. In the end, though, "The Hill of Dreams" is his masterpiece.

"The Hill of Dreams" is arguably Machen's finest work, and that is saying something. While there is definitely a story and most especially interesting characterization, the star feature of this jewel of a novel is Machen's rich descriptive prose, virtually prose poetry. It possesses exactly the dreamlike quality the story demands, and becomes a dream itself, a vision of rural beauty, into which the reader may enter. The lush prose, which seems to be supporting the story as a river supports and carries a boat, is eventually seen to have been a necessary tool, and all the elements of story-telling come together at the finale to round off a work of terrible beauty.

This book is very good in that it gives the buyer several options to use in buying a new car, and explans all the methods in detail. I ended up paying dealer invoice for my new car.

This book was by far the most valuable one I purchased while I was car hunting. I would reccommend it to anyone who has either no experience or overwhelming exeperience with buying cars, and to read it before they buy their next one. A little dated, but a short read with nothing but the facts you need.

My sister bought this book and saved several hundred dollars at a dealership in Canada and then suggested I buy this book. I bought a Saturn, no haggling, BUT I did learn A LOT about buying a car. There were a few things that I was able to save money on even though it was a Saturn. I have suggested this book to a clerk at Geico and even the person I am dealing with by e-mail in the Customer service dept. at SATURN. The book answers a lot of common sense questions and lets you know about things I NEVER would have thought to ask about. If you are going to buy a car...buy this book first and study it!!!

This is an excellent book - very easy to read and understand. I was amazed at the tricks that salesmen pull and found the advice very helpful. I lent this book to a friend buying a new car and he saved $200 off what he thought was going to be his best deal.