Educational Books

I love this series, being an Aussie and all, it's nice to be able to share a part of my first reading experiences with my American kidz!
Unfortunately this amazon provider was extremely slow on shipping (ony coz it was free) I ended up finding that barnes and noble were soo much faster I have two now but am happily going to give this copy to another young reader as a gift:)

I had great expectations for this book, since my (3-year-old) son loves Slinky Malinki so much that he can recite virtually the entire book. Our family found this one rather disappointing. There is very little story, and the word choice is not nearly as colorful as in Slinky Malinki. Still, my son does enjoy this one, although I suspect it won't hold his attention as long as Slinky, since it's so much simpler. Now that I know this is one of Lynley Dodd's early books, I understand that better. It's probably best for a slightly younger child (right around 2) who loves dogs.

I got this to read to my three year old. It is the first in a series. This is a fun quick book to read. My daughter likes it. She enjoys guessing which dog is next. The characters come in and out of the story in the same sequence. I think it is a cute book and I will buy more in the series.

Lynley Dodd is a FANTASTIC author. I own a ton of her books. I love them, children love them. The characters are characters you instantly fall in love with. The vocabulary Dodd uses is creative and intelligent, and leads to great conversations with kids. The books rhyme and remind me of Dr. Seuss without the nonsense words.

You won't be disappointed with Dodd's books.

I love this book. I won this book as a readathon prize 20 years ago when I was seven. I think the target audience for this book is probably more likely to be kids aged 3-6. It was a definite favorite of my little brother's - he learnt the words off by heart before he could read. It is also a favorite of my nieces and nephews, and I have just ordered one for my baby who is due any day now. The really fantastic thing about this book is that it is actually a fun read for adults too - If my nieces ask me to read them a book I always grab a Hairy Maclary. They are just the right length, and have enough of a storyline to keep you entertained as well.

This is one of those books that I could read every night and not get sick of. In fact, over the past three years I HAVE read it every night for weeks at a time and still love the flow of the text.

My favorite lines include, "And she gazed at the sky, the sea, the land, The waves and the caves and the golden sand. She gazed and gazed, amazed by it all, And she said to the whale, 'I feel so small.'" The word "small" is in a smaller font than the rest of the text and is so appropriate for the two page spread that includes the tiny snail (barely visible) amidst a scene of snowy mountains, forests, bears, bald eagles, the sea.

Perfect for teaching the concept that it doesn't matter how big or small you are, you ARE important and CAN be successful. As the snail sets off on his mission (I won't spoil it), the text reads "'I must not fail,' said the tiny snail." GREAT lesson!

Can you tell that we love this book?!?!?

I read 3 books every night to my almost-4 year old daughter (I love to read and share this love with her) and this is one of our very favorites. It is beautifully written, marvelously illustrated and just so very sweet. My husband loves to read it too. A book for children that makes even parents dream about travelling adventures on the back of the whale! Most highly recommended.

My 27 month old son and I really enjoy Julia Donaldson's books and this book is among our favorites. It was the first of her books that we read and we liked it so much that we thought to purchase her other books without looking at other reviews and we have not been disappointed. She is a great children's book author and knows how to keep her stories interesting and just the right length for their attention span(I started this book with my son when he was under two and instead of reading the printed text which would be too long for a two year old, I described each page since the illustrations tell the story themselves-I was able to keep his interest by adding a little bit of detail each time we read it.) The illustrations are wonderful and I feel like my son got exposed to the great vastness of this world by simply going on an adventure with the snail and the whale:-)

The story of a snail that wants to see the world and the whale that gives her a ride. Very nice story and the rhymes and the cadence make it fun to read out loud.

Again wonderful illustrations and a great story. Easy to paraphrase for a younger child and then to be reading exactly as written for the three year old.

I like the thoroughness of this devotional it really gives you the meal you crave when you seek to know gods word and develop a deeper understanding of his word.

This is an excellent book. Our Life Group of 12 people are going through the Bible in a year using this Bible. We are all enjoying reading it and discussing it. Thank you.

It is an awesome way to read the bible entirely through. My problem is you do not have any in stock and the backorder will not be available until the end of September. Everywhere I have checked does not have any available so it must be a good bible.

My husband has this same bible in a different version and purchased the NIV for me. Now I know why he loves it so much! It explains to you what you're going to read in big-picture views, then gives a devotional on how to relate it to your life, then gives you insight into one thing, then has a couple chapters to read. I was afraid it would be too much to read in one day but it's very easy to read and especially helpful with the big picture and devotional at the beginning -- really makes it more understandable. I had read the two-year bible which had you read a little old testament, a little new testament, a little psalms and proverbs each day. I found myself confused following so many different story lines. This one goes through the bible front to back which is much easier to follow. I highly recommend it.

I was given this book as a Christmas gift back in 1987. Somewhere down the line I lost it while traveling. I have been trying for years to obtain another copy and finally, because of Amazon, I have. This book is what really got me diligently studying the bible and sparked my growth in my walk with Christ. I like the structure of the book and the small commentaries before each day's lesson. The publisher should really consider publishing this book again.

Since I was given this book I have brought several one year bibles for people, they are great gifts. The value of such a gift is beyond measure.

I love this book! I purchased it for my friend who was looking for a book of animals that had actual pictures, not art. It's perfect. The realization of the book is awesome.

I got this book for my 15 month old grandchild and it is her favorite book. Every page has several animal photos and she wants to "read" it again and again and make all the noises!

I really only got this book as an 'extra' purchase, to qualify for free shipping. However it has become an unexpected hit with my 16 month old who can now identify most of the animals from the pictures, and she will ask for this book over and over and over again.
The book includes some rather obscure animals, which probably wouldn't be on my 'introductory list' of animals for a young child. My list would probably run "lion, tiger, bear, cat, dog" (which are also included)... rather than the "gosling, chinchilla, parakeet, egret and kookaburra" which you'll also find in this book. My husband and I have both learned a few new animals as well!
All in all and great buy that keeps my daughter entertained for hours.

This is my 10-month old twins' FAVORITE book in the world (and we have LOTS of baby/children's books). I think they like the close up pictures, the size, and the fact that some animals seem to be looking right at them. Highly recommended.

These books are a great deal for hours of fun! My little guys looks at the pictures over and over and doesn't ever seem to get tired of hearing the names of all the pictures. These books have been great for his vocabulary as he tries to say all the words too!

According to the text, the suffering we receive in this life is a result of sins committed in a previous life. The text also states that we are not permitted to remember our previous lives because it would "dazzle" us. It wouldn't dazzle me. How can a person understand the consequences of their evil deeds if they're not permitted to remember the deed that brought about the punishment in the first place? If I could remember my sins, then I could accept the punishment. Otherwise, I am to assume that the God is dealing out punishment at random without rhyme or reason. I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. Religion was created to provide hope to those that couldn't accept the fact that we don't live forever. It was also created to control the people and to keep them calm. When we die, we rot. There is no afterlife, there is no spirit brother, there is no God. I wish there were. It would certainly give me purpose to my life, but there isn't. That's why we can't find the God. Because he doesn't exist in the first place. I gave the book three starts because it made for good fiction.

THIS IS A GREAT DESK REFERENCE GUIDE FOR TERMS REGARDING SPIRITUAL WORK. IT ALSO IS A QUICK REFERENCE FOR FAMOUS SPIRITUALISTS NAMES, PLACES, AND SUCH.

If you're curious as to the purpose of our very existence as human beings, I highly recommend you read this book. It is a question and answer format that makes sense of the human experience.

This is the one of the most comforting book I've ever read in my life. I found out more about Spiritual life and God's promises through Jesus. It's a real step ahead of our time, and very clarifying book for the ones who are really serious about spiritual evolution. You will not be able to stop reading this book!

Amazon, are you listening? I originally read this book in French and really loved it. It is a wonderful book for those searching for the meaning of life, spiritual truth etc...and is a very serious, credible work by someone whose main line of work was scientific study and medicine, Allan Kardec.

I was so thrilled that I ordered copies in English for friends and was disappointed to find out that this copy is the original English translation dating from the late 1800s!! The book is still worth a read, but why suffer needlessly? The language is difficult, and the typeset is even worse. Great news: a new, modern American English version does exist, and frankly, it is a huge mystery to me as to why it is not being sold here. FYI: I bought my modern copies fon the Allan Kardec Education Society's website...

This book is awesome! If you have a child that receives special education services you NEED this book!! This book is full of the answers I have been looking for, for the last 4 years.I have read it twice and will read it again. This is an easy read it is broken down into 5 sections that everyone can understand. My favorite is section #3 The Parent as Expert. I used this section along with the others to get my son ESY services and 1:1 reading remediation.

Here is my success story, thanks to the knowledge I gained from this book......

I read section 3 while attending the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy 2 day Boot Camp .When I got home I looked through my son's file and found 2 woodcock reading mastery test. I immediately requested a meeting with the school and requested that they give him another one this year, and give me the results before our Annual Review Meeting in May.

Well, I got the results and used power point as the book suggested and designed a graph using the Standard Scores from the test. I was not sure what cluster score they used to determine regression so I did one for each of them. In our Annual Review meeting they started talking about how well my son has done and how much progress he has made this year.( I knew what was coming next because it is the same thing they have said for the last 3 years, almost verbatim) Well before they said he did not qualify for Extended School Year Services (ESY) I asked them to explain how it all worked and what cluster score they used to make these determinations; so they explained it to me. I then pulled out my graph and said " well I had to put it in a graph because I am such a visual person and this data is so confusing and It just looks like a bunch of numbers etc etc....but what you explained to me is that we use this cluster and when I plugged in that Standard Score he has really show significant regression not progress like you were just saying. They said, "well now that we see it like that we see what you are saying, it has never been presented with that sort of twist to us before."

Well, he will be receiving ESY this year,using an Orton-Gillingham based program. I just got the Notice of Conference Decision copy in the mail and I found this statement quite amusing....

" The school presented data that indicated (child's name)did not qualify for extended year services. Mrs. Graves presented data that showed (child's name) has not made significant gains in reading during this school year and is thus further delayed by his grade placement than he was last year. The committee agreed to accept this conclusion and provide summer services."

Knowledge is truly power, This book along with the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and advocacy Boot Camp helped me get my son the help he has needed for the past 4 years!

As if being confronted with the diagnosis of a learning or developmental disability in your child wasn't stressful enough, upon diagnosis and classification, a parent is thrown into the ocean that is special education and the bureaucratic nightmare that goes along with it. This book is a treasure trove of strategies - everything from managing your paperwork to managing your emotions with respect to special education is covered. "The best way to avoid due process is to assume and prepare for due process" and "treat your relationship with the school personnel as a marriage with no possibility of divorce" are two of the most powerful "Wrightisms" I came away with and have served us well in advocating for our children with autism.

If you have the opportunity to attend a Wrightslaw boot camp in your area, bypass the purchase of this book and wait until you attend the conference - this book is often included in the conference fees.

Very simplistic language makes this a good primer for parents new to special education. For those with some experience, I found this book to be too rudimentary. However, I will lend it to parents of children just diagnosed.

This book is a wonderful asset for parents who are advocating for their kids. Many times I have let my emotions control my dealings with the school and this book explains why that is detrimental to your childs education.

FETA will help you understand why it is so critical to control your emotions and use them as a source of energy.

Chapter 5 explains obstacles that parents encounter (misinformation, school culture, etc) and how to overcome. It gives examples of several personality types and strategies for dealing with them.

Chapter 6 is about resolving conflicts with the school. It acknowledges the frustration many parents feel and gives you excellent advice on the best way to handle yourself. It describes common reasons for conflict and recommends solutions.

The other chapters are just as wonderful. I cannot say enough good about this book. It has saved me from much embarrassment with my child's school - since I am a bit outspoken (understatement!)

The book also discusses the importance of record keeping. It details how to create a file for your child, obtain confidential school records under the FERPA act, the importance of effective letter writing ("Letter to the Stranger") and it even has sample letters in the appendix.

I have an autistic son and this book has been my savior. It is a must have for anyone entering into the "world" of special needs. I have many other books but I constantly refer to this book in the end. It walks you step-by-step on how to write letters requesting information from your child's school and provides templates for many other well written letters you may need to use.

This book is not a complicated read..it reads fast and is easily understandable. I bought the Wrights Law book also and was able to read this book and refer to the Law book at the same time. As you delve into the special education system you will want to get books that help you write more complex IEP goals..but trust me you will be digging into your stack of books reaching for this book over and over again

I read these books and decided to donate this set to each of the four high schools in our area from our Federated Republican Women's Club Literacy Program. This is a set I suggest you buy for your family library. Written by William Bennett, former Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues, it is our country's history in a brief and non boring form. It is a great starting point for anyone wanting to familiarize himself with events from our country's past. It's readable history written by a patriot.

Mr. Bennett has a gift for making history come alive. It is very interesting and enjoyable to read.

Hi I highly recommend reading these american history books to ANYONE! The books are well written naratives of the United States unique and special place in history. While not bashing America as the great satan they at the same time the remain accurate in pointing out this nations flaws, which for the most part seem to consistently get righted. Evil flourishes when good men do nothing. ENJOY!!!

This series of texts should be required reading for all American children of high school age.
The writing is first class and the entire presentation flows in a professional, polished way. An excellent read.

I just finished Volume 1 and am amazed at the history I was never taught in public school. It gives a balanced view of facts and tells stories in an engaging way and shows the good while not hiding the poor choices that we made as a nation becoming. The characters were presented as real people wise and not so wise. We do live in the greatest nation on earth and can learn much from the deeds and misdeeds of those who gave much that we can enjoy the liberties of today. May we never forget and always be. Thank you Mr. Bennett. Looking forward to beginning Volume II.

This book was of great help, particularly when our pups began to dehydrate after birth. There were only 2 things it did not prepare us for, having smaller than normal litters and the mother's nervous behavior affecting her care of such a small litter. According to the emergency vet on holiday call, there are breed specific behaviors which play into the mother's care and can interfere. My only wish was that I could have found a book more specific to my breed. As a general instruction manual, it was of great help. The two little pups are dear and are doing well now, 2 weeks later.

We just had a litter and everything went great. There are nine healthy pups. We had to do the slinging thing with one pup, and with the illustrations and directions it worked and the pup is healthy. We didn't loose one!!!

I bought this book to help me get through breeding my two Yorkies. It was comprehensive and easy for the non-vet to understand. If I had a question, it had the answer.

Excellent book. My dog just delivered 8 healthy puppies. I had read the book several weeks earlier and kept reffering to it as the whelping approached. It directed me all through the process and I learned many things that helped me avoid what would have been costly mistakes.

This is the best of the dog breeding books I bought when wanting to learn specifics about breeding my bitch. It gives time lines, what to expect when and also info on what to expect from the stud. I found this book to be very practical as it answered most of my breeding questions.

Every public and school library should have a copy of this excellent resource. The research that Judy Freeman did to create this compendium of quality read aloud books is well worth the investment.

Ever wished you could keep up all the great children's books and pick the best ones to read aloud and recommend to your students? Need inspiration to liven up your lessons on library skills? Looking for more effective ways to collaborate with teachers? This book has it all!

Targeted at grades K - 6, the first 100+ pages include wide-ranging information about children's books and ways to use them. Topics include: how to be a great school librarian, evaluating children's books, read aloud and booktalking suggestions, fun library learning games, storytelling, creative drama, reader's theater, etc.

The next 600 pages contain wonderful annotated read-aloud lists divided by Easy Fiction/Picture books, Fiction, Folk & Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends, Poetry, Nonsense and Language Oriented non-fiction, Biography, and Non-fiction. In addition to standard information (author, summary, etc.) each of the 1,705 annotations includes grade level, related titles, subjects, and a "Germ." "Germs" are small, practical, do-able ideas to interject into lesson plans including ideas for sharing the books with children and incorporating comprehension, creativity, library skills, and cross-curricular ties, etc. Pick one book on the list and turn it into a great lesson plan!

The final 200 pages include a professional bibliography and 3 handy indices: Author/Illustrator Index, Title Index, and the index I find most helpful - the Subject Index including grade level of each book. Subject you can think of is covered - from Aardvarks to Bullying to Hispanic Americans to Zoos!

I cannot recommend a book more highly! It's not just for school librarians - teachers, homeschoolers, parents, and public librarians will also love it! I also recommend previous editions - Books Kids Will Sit Still For and More Books Kids Will Sit Still For - both have different hints on how to be a great librarian and annotated lists of older books. I use all three Judy Freeman's books almost daily to help me work with teachers and plan great library lessons.

I stumbled across this wonderful book while working my way through our library's books about books in search of more wonderful picture books to share with my toddler (who is nearly 19 months). It was mis-shelved in the local branch (took 4 tries for the librarian to find it) and since no one had noticed in the 6 months or so since the book came in, my friendly librarian slapped a due date sticker on it and let me check it out. I found myself immersed in it during the daughter's afternoon nap and checked to see if either of the previous volumes was available to check out. Alas no, although I found a cheap ex-library copy of the previous volume, More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition), which when it arrived looked like it had never been touched. I don't pretend to understand that - I think this is a treasure trove of ideas and books to share with young (and not so young) children. Although it's aimed at elementary educators, there's a huge amount to offer a parent or other caregiver...ideas for activities related to the books as well as related titles.

As the parent of a toddler, I confess that I prefer the overlapping mini-sections by age found in More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition) and Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide Second Edition (Books Kids Will Sit Still for) because it's easier to sift through a couple hundred titles than 800 for books short enough for a toddler to sit through, but that's more of a quibble, especially since the expanded entries offer so many ideas for making (or keeping) books interesting.

How does she do it? Another winner from Judy Freeman! More tips, annotations, bibliographies, storytelling, reader's theater etc.. The amount of material is superb and the format is clear and precise. She is marvelous at what she does and can help any media specialist or teacher sharpen their book skills.
A must buy for all elementary educators!

I've had the pleasure in the past week to read Judy Freeman's Newbery committee experience in her latest "Books Kids will sit still for 3" (c. 2006). She had to take the Librarian Oath, probably with a ceremonial blood letting to seal it, that she and the other members would never tell the secrets of the Committee dealings with the individual books. Ooooooh, that makes me want to be on the Committee even more!

I thought the listings alone in the book would be worth the book's weight in gold (which is substantial, with more than 900 pages), but it pales in comparison with the first 100+ pages of the book in which she shares her passion for reading, books, libraries, and children. What a treat! Reward yourselves soon by allowing time to read this.

Thanks, Judy! You made my day!

Liz Frame
Librarian
San Antonio Christian Elementary School

I agree with all of the other raving reviews on this book. The book is well organized, the parrots are organized by continent (Africa, Austrailia, Asia, and S. America) and the author draws similarities between the types of birds from each area. As the title would suggest this book focuses on behavior and gives well defined characteristics of each type of bird, while emphasizing that they are generalizations and that each bird might be different. The author reiterates that the owner should not buy a bird with preconcieved ideas of what they will be like, but love each bird for thier individual personality. All over excellent information and the author is clearly an expert in the area.

This book is well written and extremely informative. A must have for any parrot owner. It is one of those books you can read and then re-read and learn something new each time. It's great as a reference book.

The techniques it suggests are simple and logical and can be applied to any species. It also would be a great book to read to help you choose which type of parrot would be best for your personal circumstances, especially if you are thinking about getting one of the larger parrots.

Together with the other parrot-thematic books from the same author it is the hardware of information I have used. I have an african grey for three years now and at the beginning I made a search for every available information about the topic.

So it happens that this books I liked most as they are easy to understand, easy to read and enjoyable illustrated.

African Grey is a parrot which needs time and you have to keep in mind that he may outlive you by years. So what you teach him now will be remembered in 60years when your children will keep him a company.
It is a responsibility but a nice one:)

Yes, I can recommend to you.

For the person interested in different species of pet birds,their care and personalities, this book offers a generic overview. As an experienced bird "person" I was looking for a more in-depth description of a specfic species. I almost put it down without finishing until I paged to the individual stories of the different parrots. I enjoyed reading the stories of the different birds, their experiences, histories and especially how the newer owners understood and created a more fulfilling environment (love,care and concern)for them. I learned new methods of dealing with birds and appreciate any new method for understanding bird behavior. I would recommend this book for the beginner/intermediate bird lover but for the very experienced bird lover, they would do better to find a publication that discribes just one species. However, they would miss the wonderful stories in this book!

This book really gives you a good introduction to the various kinds of parrots that are available. It describes their habits and tendencies so that it makes it easier to choose a new parrot or understand your current friend.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for their first parrot or for an addition to their family.