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This book was purchased for a 10 year old who has been taken from his parents and has ADHD. Needless to say, he has some issues. To my surprise, this book was well received and he actually shared some of his personal entries with me. (I am grandmother to his cousins.)
Highly recommended.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

I am so excited that these books have come out. They are colorful, creative, and very engaging for a young person. The ideas are practical, and they work! Thank you for taking time to help out kids who need the tools to manage themselves! Especially in a drug-free manner!
God bless you, Dr. Culbert!!!

one "of the most important" haggadot.... teaching that the traditional "celebration of Passover has led to complacency in dangerous times, like the Holocaust, that lulled us into a sense of freedom we did not have" (Mr. Steingroot's review comes from his book KEEPING PASSOVER.)

"a wonderfully innovative haggadah"

"Children friendly.... [and yet] the Preface is an education in itself.... It can be studied at any time of the year, and it will provide a number of concepts of how the entire body of knowledge of Judaism should or could be studied". [Mr. Marshall's review belongs to the public domain.]

I bought it for my boyfriend who is from Belize and he loved it. Beautiful pictures.

BELIZE: LAND OF THE FREE BY THE CARIB SEA by Thor Janson is without question one of the most beautiful photographic books I own. I have not visited Belize yet but as I look at the stunning images in Janson's book It has me dreaming of a mid-winter get away to this little country flanked by the Caribbean Sea. The book includes an excellent introductory text which takes the reader all the way from pre-historic times up to the present day and describes in detail all the different cultural groups which make up the rich fabric of contemporary Belezian society. The bulk of the book is comprised of photo layouts including extraordinary shots of wild animals such as jaguars and manatees, ancient Mayan ruins, cultural events (such as the wild Belize City carnaval), peaceful rural scenes, beautiful children, rainforests, savannahs, and pine forests, and plenty of charming, happy, smiling faces giving the impression that Belize must be a very warm, inviting place to visit, indeed. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and this excellent book by Thor Janson contains more than 150 extraordinary photos which combined give the reader a real "feel" of what life is like in the diminutive, peaceful nation of Belize.

A few months ago I visited Belize with my mom and we had a super great time. It is the most beautiful rainforest and the ocean reef is one of the biggest in the world. The book Belize shows all the natural beauty of the country as well as the many cultural groups including Mayan Indians, Creole, and Garifuna people which is a new culture formed of the mixture of African and American Indian people. The book Belize is full of beautiful color photographs and really gives you a good idea of what the country is like.

This is a very good read. The book tells the story as to how the press in the USA covered the Holocaust. In doing so it explodes a lot of myths concerning the alleged lack of knowledge about what was happening to the Jews. Newspaper after newspaper from The New York Times on down had articles about the persecutions and murders. Yet they were never emphasized properly and were often relegated to the back pages. Rarely did they ever make the front pages. It was almost as if the nation preferred not to know. Many factors contributed to this; anit-Semitism, isolationism, American skepticism. The American government also contributed to down playing the news. The three most prominent villains in this were: Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long ( anativist), Assistant Secrteary of War John J. McCloy (who said that if the USA bombed Auschwitz the nazis would be "even more vindictive") and Congressman Sol F. Bloom who headed the House Foreign Affairs Committee (and was referred to by Stephen Wise as "the State Departments House Jew"). There were reporters who did their jobs well who constantly emphasized that anti-Semitism was a "raison d'etre" of National Socialism however they were in the minority. This book along with David S. Wyman's "The Abandonment of the Jews" are the two best books on the subject. William D. Rubinstein's "The Myth of Rescue" is a poorly written book that contradicts itself over and over again and is a book for peopel who think that FDR could do no wrong.

This book gives great insight into the way in which the American press treated the holocaust. While often overlooked, the press handled the holocaust in a manner that many Americans would be ashamed of today. This book is unique in that no other book i know of has delved as deeply into this area. In addition, Dr. Lipstadt is a truely unique and knowledgable expert on the holocaust.

This book should be required reading for all jounalism college majors who intend to "tell the whole truth." If the present doesn't reveal the truth then history will.
Ms. Lipstadt did an incredible job of researching and tying together huge numbers of old newspaper articles and putting them together to tell the whole story chonologically and coherently. She showed the hypocricy of the press in calling for "something" to be done (after they could no longer deny atrocities were happening) then fomenting opposition to allowing anymore refugees into this country. They could have cited, "there are almost half a million immigration visas available, bring them in."
She also shows the hypocricy of the British press who also called for "something" to be done, then when the war was over and surviving Jews were trying to get into British Mandate Palestine, there was no cry from the press, "We didn't do anything then, but now we should not hinder them in immigrating to their homeland." Of all nations, the Brits are the most culpable because they had control over The Land, and instead of allowing walking miracles to start new lives, they hindered them with all their might,preventing surviving Jews from coming in before and during the war, then sending them to Cyprus after the war; shooting them down as they tried to swim ashore after their ships had been fired upon sunk, and the French sent those survivors on "The Exodus," back to camps in Germany. With every cell in my body I want to cry out, "How could you??"
Thank you, Ms. Lipstadt for gathering painful information and putting it into such a gripping account.

The Big Clean encompases a lot of things, inculding the most important bit of info--how to get started. Easy to use and easy to follow, this book has helped me start slow in the cleaning process and has given me hope that I can be as organized as anyone else.

The Big Clean is filled with lots of good information about cleaning and de-cluttering. It's also a very easy plan to follow--just pick one room or closet per time and go from top to bottom. I liked the easy to use, bulleted approach and the humor the author used throughout. It's helped me to understand how to tackle cleaning and how to keep my home clean once I've done the bigger jobs.

One reason I love this book enough to write a review is because I actually made some money because of it. The writer goes into detail about how to sell clothes on consigment. I never understood what consigment was nor how it worked. Once I finished the book, I rounded up all my old clothes, found a consigment shop and actually made some money off my "old junk". Being a shopoholic who spends way more than she should, this book helped me feel better about my purchases. Now I can wear something once, then sell it if I don't like it.

I also enjoyed the money saving tips as well as the declutting tips. The cleaning aspect is very detailed and infomative but I might just be a bit too lazy to do it all!!! But I loved the way the writer broke everything down into small, managable tasks.

This is a very nice book. I like how easy it is to get the concepts.

Big-Block Magic is recently published, 2006, and comes at a great time. Just when my creative thoughts were wondering what to do for lap and king sized quilts, Ms. Johnson-Srebro provides the answer. This book gives seven patterns and each pattern has three sizes provided therein - lap, wall and queen/king sized!

Along with the "how to read" the charts section, each quilt pattern has a "No-Fail" tip with it. The Basics section is a good review for the long-time quilter or a good place to start for the newbie. In this section, there are also "No-fail" tips along with "My Favorite Things". I love this as you never have too many tips and even if you new the tip, it may present a slightly different approach and give you a new idea. And once you have created your lap, wall or queen/king quilt, each pattern has two quilting designs for you to give your quilt the final touch.

Each pattern has easy to follow graphics of each step needed to create the quilt. It is all color-coordinated--the yardage and cutting charts to the actual sewing steps so you know exactly what piece goes where.

There is even a pillowcase pattern in standard, queen and king and an accent pillow pattern with NO ZIPPER NEEDED to provide your quilt a coordinated extra. This is a very simple but elegant accent pillow and one that everyone should try at least one. Who knows? You may want to make several more once you see how easy it is to make accent pillows.

The final pages have a photo gallery and the very last page is a resource listing and information about the stencils. You get all of this for a very reasonable price. This is one book that should be in every quilter's collection.

The instructions are very easy to follow and she has included great tips to help make your quilts look sharp. The patterns are very attractive and up-to-date!

I read this book and loved it. It not only tells about the oppression suffered by black males, but it gives hope and shows a path free from despair.

This was a great book!

I did not read this book, but I read an excerpt from this classic 1968 autobiography in the January/February 1999 issue of New Man magazine by Strang Communications. Mr. Skinner grew up in Harlem, as a leader of a street gang, but when he heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, he went on to become an urban evangelist. His wisdom shown in this little excerpt convicted me. He knew who he was. He did not need all of society to accept him. He knew where his relationship with Jesus Christ placed him - as an heir to God! He is now with the Lord, and I bet he's getting more respect now than any man ever had during his/her life on Earth.

This book was revolutionary in aiding me in my Christian growth and is a must read! Tom Skinner's life declares the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as he describes first hand how Christ changed him from a gang leader to Evangelist. As a contemporary of Billy Graham, his ministry reached Black urban America with an astounding impact. This book has been out of print for a while, so if you can find one available, purchase it.

Tom has gone to be with the Lord, but his work and the lives he touched is still evident. Words can not say enough about this man and most of all the Lord he served!

Having grown up back in a day when we were taught Antebellum life was a monolithic experience for African Americans, books like this - opening an entirely new door on that era - always fascinate me even though by now, I know better. For example, who knew that some slaves hired themselves out on steamboats for a few weeks or months with no intention of escaping, but simply as respite from the hardships of plantation life?

The title is obviously a play on Mark Twain's nostalgic memoir. Though Buchanan does find some similarities between Twain's liberating experience of the Great River and the opportunities afforded African Americans by the western rivers - for example, mind broadening mobility, communication networks, accumulation of assets by both slave and free persons through labor or trade, and of course, escape routes for fugitives - he notes the dark side absent from steamboat nostalgia is the fact that the horrible "Second Middle Passage" broke up families and transported thousands of slaves in deplorable conditions into the Deep South.

Whether exploring the lives and culture of steamboat workers, free black travelers, abolitionists or scoundrels, the author draws upon the experiences and observations of many individuals through a variety of primary and secondary sources (including slave narratives and travel accounts) demonstrating how multifarious and uncategorizable the experiences of these men and women were. Even many of the laws and customs attempting to control black movement were circumvented in this fluid economy.

Buchanan's writing is concise, and his narrative flows smoothly. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in maritime history as well as those interested in African American Studies.

Thomas Buchanan follows David Cecelski's study of North Carolina's black maritime sailors with this excellent study of black steamboat workers on the Mississippi. Buchanan describes the culture in which the free black and enslaved steamboat crewmen lived, their importance to the southern antebellum economy, as well as, their impact on the institution of slavery. It is in this area that Buchanan an important contribution to our understanding of African American resistance to slavery.

John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger's book on runaway slaves is the most extensive treatments of the subject. Unfortunately, they give short shrift to the importance of the Mississippi River and the steamboat trade as a means of escaping slavery. Buchanan corrects this omission by arguing that African Americans, both free and slave, were a vital part of the steamboat industry's labor force. Runaway slaves from throughout the South often made their escape by blending in with other black steamboat workers and riding steamboats out of slavery. Although aware of the problem, and although numerous measures were enacted to stop it, Southerners were never able to completely stop the flow of slaves escaping by riverboat.

In addition to this book, Buchanan has written two articles on this subject. I recommend all them to anyone interested in the study of African American antebellum life.

Buchanan weaves the compelling narratives of slave, free black, and white workers and passengers on Mississippi steamboats with extensive archival information.

He shows how the river network and steamboat work allowed them to craft multiple ways to resist slavery, poor labor conditions, and the separation of families.

This is a history book with broad appeal to non-historians as well.

This is an excellent review of the response of Calvin to A. Pighius and the debates of the 1540's concerning the Will of Man, and Predestination. This work covers many areas not covered in other English Translations of Calvin's works, and is very informative concerning Calvin's treatment of the relation between grace and free will.

First written in 1543, The Bondage And Liberation Of The Will: A Defence Of The Orthodox Doctrine Of Human Choice Against Pighius is an English translation by G. I. Davies of one of John Calvin's profound theological works concerning the relationship between grace and free will. Astutely edited with meticulous notes by A. N. S. Lane (Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Christian Doctrine at the London Bible College), The Bondage And Liberation Of The Will is an historically important and influential treatise of religious and historical significance, and one which is very strongly recommended for Christian Studies theological reference and resource shelves.

This is an excellent debate on free will and predestiantion. it is extremely scholaraly and Calvin is more nuanced and complex than Luther. this book centers around Augustinian thought, as both Rome and the Reformers claimed him as their champion on this issue. Calvin showed conclusively, that Augustine sided with the reformers and solidified the reformation as something not novel, but as a spokesman for Augustine on the treatment of the will and the sinful state of man. The Reformation, it has been said, was the victory of Augustine's thoughts on salvation over Augustine's thoughts of the church.

Even having grown up in the USSR, and having some experience with my family and their stories of survival of WW2 and Stalin era, I still found the bok incredible and moving. so did my college-age kids! I would suggest it to more people who are interested in the topic 100%

The book is a basic read for anyone interested in the Holocaust, WWII, Soviet life, and Soviet literature. The Garrard's reveal the quality of Grossman's writings and his personal sacrifices in seeing his opus, Life and Fate, published after being smuggled from the USSR. Accounts in the book of Stalingrad, Nazi crimes in Berdichev, and Grossman's slow literary descent into obscurity will be little read by a complacent Western public more interested in Star Wars than in the trauma that real wars have produced in this century. I was moved by the book and enlightened about the enduring spirit of mankind in the face of repression. Highly recommended!!

I am greatly impressed with this book. I'm an emigrant from the former USSR, Jew myself, and I thought that I know everything about our life, about the war and the suffering of Soviet Jews from Nazi and from the Soviet Communists. But I discovered so many new facts that I never new. I am amazed how deep the authors understoon the reality of Soviet life. I lived in Belorus for years and didn't even hear anything about mass graves of Jews that are everywhere in this country. We were never told about it! I wish this book will be translated into Russian and Ukranian languages. I remember, that Soviet people can hardly knew who's is Vasily Grossman, one of the greatest writers of the century.