Original Books

Speed,beauty,and poise on the road! That's what the Chrysler 300 meant to many people. Robert C. Ackerson has written a wonderful history of this beautiful brute. He has combed the files of many folks to create a comprehensive and accurate history of the 300. From its birth to its end,the author kept me involved and feeling like I was behind the wheel. Quite a feat with only pictures and print.This is perhaps the ultimate 300 book with a wealth of photos and detail. The only thing I would have added were some more contempory road tests.If you enjoy cars with class and power, add this book to your collection while it is still available. It deserves all 5 Stars!

Wow, thanks Mark, I got the CD so fast, and this is such a great one! FUNNY! Have a great day!!

Original descriptions of reptile and amphibian species of North America are listed for every recognized species and subspecies at the time of publication.

What does this mean in English? And why is it important?

In the early days of Western exploration, many people were out collecting new animals and plants. Different anatomists and other scientists described the new species; however sometimes they were described more than once.

Taxonomy is the discipline which attempts to assign one name to each species and so taxonomists need to know which was the FIRST original description to give the describer proper credit.

Occasionally, an older description is found to be valid and species may be added or removed, so the list gets updated from time to time. The most current list is always available on my website.

The Original Descriptions were the only part of my work on Translations of the names of the reptiles and amphibians of North America which were printed. The work is available online on my website as well.

The cover is blue cardstock with a reproduction of a drawing I did of a leopard frog. The inner pages are white with line after line of times roman type. I think this book is very helpful for those who need the information at their fingertips; however I personally use my online list as it is easier to search and more up to date.

Who needs this book? If you are a bibliophile or herpetologist with a comprehensive library, it's a must-have. For everyone else, it depends on your interest level in herpetology and/or your desire to collect a complete series of my works!

This is a wonderful story. I love sharing this book with my elementary school students, as well as my own.

Don Shepperd is a Farmer. He became a Farmer in his early teens long before he graduated from the Air Force Academy, long before he flew 247 missions through the flak strewn Vietnam skies, and really long before he became a general and Director of the Air National Guard. Now, 54 years after he became a Farmer, you can catch him on CNN expertizing on things military.
To be a Farmer with a capitol F, you have to have attended or graduated from Wheat Ridge High School located, of all places, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. And the students were known as the Farmers. In fact, to this day the banner reads "Welcome to Wheat Ridge High School Home of the Farmers." Google it up. You will see it is a school of high achievers. And, as you will find in Shepperd's book, Wheat Ridge is as bucolic as its name. It is an area of snow-capped mountains and meadows, cattle and ranches, country roads and golden Aspens.
Farmer Don Shepperd is the editor of the marvelous vignettes found in "The Class of 58 Writes a Book." Each is an original story written by one of the Farmers from the WRHS class of 58. The book has intriguing titles such as "Daddy, Daddy;" "Monkey Girl;" "White Egg, Brown Egg" (which has nothing to do with chickens); "The Slacker Moves On;" "The Kid Who Didn't Fit;" and "Later Life Bag Woman." These true life accounts run the gamut from school achievements and failures to later life achievements and failures.
"58" is one of those rare books that can be opened any place to short but riveting true life tales that run from two to four pages and are packed with events at once hilarious, mysterious, and always poignant.
As they start their years they build tree houses, play Red Rover and Dodge Ball, skate on winter ponds, hide in school lockers that fall over, and many other true life experiences. Then on to triumph and failure in sports, cross-country races on balding tires, hormones rage as they jockey their spiffed up jalopies up and down the main street of Wheat Ridge that had no mayor, no police, no city hall.
Wheat Ridge graduates go on to become CEOs, generals, philosophers, teachers, stoners, nurses, rock star spies in Russia, and into every facet of life imaginable.
Every reader can identify with events and thoughts in this book. As they finish each narrative they will most likely pause as similar events and emotions from their own teen years bubble up. Images will form and for a few moments nostalgia will develop. Whether it is for their own experiences or for a place they have never been coupled with a longing for people they have never met. Maybe both.
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Mark Berent is the author of the five-book Vietnam airwar historical fiction series "Rolling Thunder." See www.markberent.com

This is the latest book I have purchased by Ann Benson. She is one of the best instructions and illustrations for beading techniques I have encountered. I have many of her books, and have purchased many of her kits offered on her website. Her choice of colors are subtle in a time when everything is so bold. Her style is more European. I can't reccommend this book more highly.
Joan

I saw this book advertised on line, and as I do a lot of techniques with
different mediums, it looked really interesting. So interesting that I went for a 2 hour bus ride(each way)in order to purchase the Dura- Lar to try the techniques out. The photos are great and there are lots of ideas that I want to use for Artist Trading Cards, Inchies, Twinchies and just regular greeting cards. I see endless possibilities. Time to stop talking and get on with a project!

In "The Clown-Arounds go on Vacation" by Joanna Cole, A family of clowns goes on vacation. The map they follow has legs. Their car has a mouse face and tail. They run into trouble at every turn, but they eventually make it to Uncle Waldo's Hotel.

Our favorite 2 pages are when they come to a "fork in the road" and stop for lunch, but the fast food is too fast. Great picture of the fries and hamburgers running around the table.

There is also a page where they sing the ABC song and ask you to find something that begins with each letter on that page. This page of the story provides an entertaining way of reviewing the alphabet.

I highly recommend this book.

A fantastic look at 1886 Chicago. A Chicago peopled by characters directly out of Chicago's past: Marshall Field, Medill, Palmer, et. al. Wonderful songs and great illustrations by the great Chicago artist Carlos Cortez. A funny, but sharp and ironic text, driven by some great music, which is printed with the book. This is not just a play preceded by some brilliant essays by Leming- it is a parable going to the heart of the American experience, then and now. A tale of robber barons and the reds who made their crimes public. Brilliant,and all of it with a cabaret edge. The play has been performed in Chicago. Saw it, under Leming's direction and think it an american classic. I've send the six copies I bought to friends here and in europe. A fantastic piece of literature-, and one of the great American parables in play form.

I am not a very experienced paper craft artist, but this book made me actually try some new techniques.
My wife is a scrapbooker and we constanly review books for our site, Scrapbook Radio.

The first night she got this book she tried a couple of ideas on heat embossing slide mounts with new colors and textures. The samples she made were so good that it inspired me to read the book and try 2 slide mount inking ideas myself.

I only mention the techniques we tried here, but there are several other techniques in "Collage Cards" including new and different ways of using paper clay, pearl-ex powder, embossing powder, inks, stamps, etc. The book samples using each of these elements in several different ways.

In case you were wondering, my samples didn't turn out very well - mostly, I think, because my color choices and color mixing don't work. The techniques from the book worked, but my skills didn't!
The ONLY downfall to this book is that they don't describe some techniques in great detail so you either have to...have some experience with these ideas already or just kinda flounder and test your way through until you get it right. If you are looking for an advanced book or new ideas on using the elements listed above, then "Collage Cards" will have something new for you to use.

IF you are looking for a great way to get advanced texture techniques in your scrapbooking and paper crafting I totally suggest this book.