Educational Books

Greeks use a lot of idioms in everyday speech.
This book has the most common ones. This is not slang and it is not vulgar language. It helped me.

This book covers a wide range of material and is nice for the intermediate to advanced student. For the beginning student, the first 40 pages are valuable as they deal with many everyday situations. The thing about idioms is that you can say what you want without them most of the time. For the price, however, it's not bad to pick up if you're interested.

Modern Greek Idiom And Phrase Book is the best book for learning spoken Greek. The book has tons of weird phrases that even my grandparents have forgotten. It brought a smile to their face to re-encounter all kinds of expressions that are seldomly used along with many useful phrases and words. If you want to learn Greek, buy this book; you'll love it. It even has readings to incorporate what you have learned. The book's split into 3 sections: Everyday Conversations, Idioms & Grammar, and at the end, there's a Greek-English dictionary.

When I started teaching myself modern Greek about a year ago, I really struggled with the grammar. I bought several books which offered contrasting methods, and got nowhere. I wondered if I would ever really get it.

Like Eliza Doolittle, this book did it for me! The way Prof. Tsirpanlis presents Greek grammar is so clear and simple that it all just clicked! I now feel confidant that I will be able to master basic Greek grammar.

If you're mainly interested in a phrase book, I would recommend the one by Lonely Planet, which offers a more extensive and up-to-date listing of common terms. But if you want to be able to read and really understand Greek, and feel confidant conversing in Greek, this book is absolutely the best.

I remember my librairian reading this and the other west wind books at my elementary school library around 1971-73. Even though we were the children of the Flintstones, Fat Albert, Sesame Street, and the Electric Company, we had a great love for these gentle and moving stories. In particular, my favorite of the west wind tales appear in this book, "The Most beautiful Thing In the World." This was where the animals gathered in a rush to see "the most beautiful thing in the world" which was in a nearby field. What was it? Read this book and you'll see.

My dad read all of Thornton W. Burgess books to me as a child and now I read them to my daughter she loves them and I still love them myself. You cant go wrong reading any of his work. Wish there were more books like this today.

After 40 year, I just reread the series. By todays standards, the books are a little old fashioned, but manners & obedience never go out of style. Besides, kids learn alot about how different wild animals live.

My dad read all of Thornton W. Burgess books to me as a child and now I read them to my daughter she loves them and I still love them myself. You cant go wrong reading any of his work. Wish there were more books like this today.

I don't know much about motorcycles but my husband is really into them and he likes this color book; it's a way for him to relax and stay busy at the same time.

My son loves this book which he got from his grandpa for Christmas. He is 5 and autistic and LOVES motorcycles. This keeps him engaged for at least an hour. I now need to purchase another one because he has colored his first one already. I do wish the writing was bigger and a little easier to read to younger children, but otherwise a great coloring book for those kids who love motorcycles.

My Daughter wanted to buy this book for my husbands birthday. He is the Service Manager at the local motorcycle dealer in town. My husband and the owner of the store were astounded by the details of not just the bikes in general, but in which the drawings portrayed for each paticular make of bike. My husband very much liked the idea of the briefs under the drawing about the particular bike displayed. Infact my husband likes this book so much he is keeping it as a collectors item. He made perfectly clear that he had no intentions of making one mark in such a beautiful work of art. Thankyou so much for such a wonderful gift for a very special person. Sincerely, Eileen A. Caprio

Okay, liseten up ladys...this book tot me how to ski!!! My friends are very proud of me and my mom says, "Dude, your one coolest kid and your my favorite kid ever!!!!" Best book ever go out and get it!!!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RQETS04P3XNIH Review: MR. PLANEMAKER'S FLYING MACHINE

Except for those with a phobia, flying has always been the stuff of dreams among all ages and, in this age of technological wonders, flying in space has become an integral part of this dreamland. As well as being the stuff of daring do, flying is full of mystery and laden with symbolic escapism, lifting us above the daily grind of adulthood and the growing fears of childhood, and human pettinesses, from gossip to bullying, which detracts all age groups from the joy of living.

In Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine, Shelagh Watkins takes us on a flight of fancy, both metaphorical and literal, through these dreams, fears and joys. We are taken rolling and looping in skies through clouds of bereavement, sibling antagonism, and human spitefulness, into a brighter but mysterious world of computer systems, then onward and upward into the heavens and among the planets themselves. Closure of the stormy sky issues, through which child heroes Emmelisa and Dell have struggled, is eventually approached in the final pursuit of Mr. Planemaker's physics-defying Trail of Light, during which we are constantly surprised.

While all this may sound a bit heavy for kids to read or for a bed-time story, and while it is thought provoking for adults, the yarn is a compulsive tale for kids, spun around daily routines and banalities mixed with fantasy elements and outrageous characters. The unashamedly corny names for the latter will bring a chuckle even to the sworn pun-hater like me. Who has not known a school brat like Mayja Troublemaker and someone with as little spark as her uncle Verry Boringman?

The escape route from these pains in the neck emerges gradually via a series of encounters, first at a strange house being worked on by Anne R Keytect, Bill Dare, Joy Nair and Dek Orator of Dream Homes Inc, then on to Whiz Kid Computer Maintenance in Virtual Realty. Mr. Wizard Kidd leads us further into Hardwareland where many of the workings of computer operating systems are revealed to us with greater insight than many a manual, though in this case the user interface smacks more of magic than of a keyboard.

In the CPU building things rapidly progress toward the (virtual) reality of the Planemaker's Flying Machine PH1. Then, at an ever increasing rate we head with Emmelisa for space itself, with the help of valet Sue Tassistant, coordinator Mish Oncontrol, and master pilot/instructor Astrow Naught. Thereafter, on a solar system tour, some of the strands of the story are tied up, in ways readers must find for themselves or I will spoil the climax.

So, in the end, what does it all mean? I am not sure that I know, or even that Shelagh Watkins does, though surely Cosmos Planemaker the magical family cat knows, if anyone does. What I do know is that this is a refreshing and unusual kids' story which I, as a hard-nosed scientist -- albeit with magic as a hobby -- had to read to the end, and that it will likewise enthrall children readers and bed-time story tellers alike. So buy it, lie back, and enjoy it with, or even without the kids.
Professor John C. Brown Astronomer Royal for Scotland Dept. of Physics and Astronomy University of Glasgow Scotland, U.K.

Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine (Paperback)

This book is well-written and imaginative. Everyone needs it. Why? Because it is fun!

Shelagh Watkins has created a tale of incredible breadth, beauty and detail. The knowledge and research that went into this fascinating tale leave one feeling quite humble. Here we have the story of Emmelisa and Dell the young heroes and their two main mentors, Mr. A Leon Spaceman and Cosmos the cat. This book is an absolute must as it quite uniquely manages to educate, entertain and instill strong moral values, all at the same time. The story moves at a tremendous pace and the only problem the reader will experience is knowing how and when to put the book down before the amazing conclusion. I look forward eagerly to more offerings from this remarkable author.

Anyone who has ever harboured a desire to become an astronaut ought to read this wonderful book and climb aboard the space mission.
Emmelisa and Dell are the first kids to venture into space.
After tinkering with an old computer and encountering some mysterious characters, they are catapulted into this intriguing adventure, in which they train to become astronauts. Then they embark on an exciting voyage to follow their father's trail of light.
The story is spell-binding, compelling and magical. The plot is unusual, clever and well thought out.
I was very impressed with the author's research and knowledge of her subject and her use of technical terms, which will educate her readers. She also has great emotional insight, as the children have to deal with great changes in their lives, but it leaves them stronger and the story ends on a note of hope.
This talented new author is a welcome find. She pays great attention to detail and her pages are alight with adventure.
I highly recommend this inspiring and most original novel.

Sabine Muir author of 'Matthew and the Highland Rescue'

Clear and easy to understand book! Get a copy of it if you have been struggling to incorporate technology in meaningful ways in your curriculum. You will be happy you did.

A colleague lent me his copy of this book when I told him I was interested in having my students put together multimedia projects in my language arts class. I found this book to be straight forward and practical. Great tips about how to have your students develop their own multimedia projects that meet content and technology standards. I've read other books on this subject and quite frankly found them to be exhausting to read. Way too much stuff that didn't seem necessary. Besids being well written, the book is also reasonably priced!

I'm a middle school teacher who has been reluctant to use computers with my students. After reading the book by Green and Brown, I took the challenge of having my students do computer-based projects. Their book made the entire process so easy! I can't believe I was so hesitant. I highly recommend this book to all K-12 teachers who want to incorporate computer-based projects with their students.

This is a great book for teachers on how to set up multimedia projects with your students. It was well written and provided practical ideas on how to organize projects, manage students, and how to grade the projects. I highly recommend this book for all teachers.

I deeply encourage you to learn about the multiple intelligences. Gardeners concepts are shared by teachers, educators, naturalists, facilitators and business owners worldwide and profoundly impactful. The implications of his work, and that of Project Zero deserve the highest honors.

Gardner is a witty author with strikingly brilliant mind and admirable reverence toward the human divinity. In his book, Gardner manifests the notion of intelligence, as a bio-psychological potential, a computational capacity and a mental chemistry set and subsequently sheds lights on the commonly misconceived concept of intelligence as a one-dimensional human potential, characterized by the g or IQ metrics.

With his eloquent style, Gardner articulates the social, educational and psychological impacts of the multiple-intelligence theory rendering speculation on how intelligence shows its multifaceted attributes in various forms such as Mathematical-Logical, Kinesthetic, Musical, IntEr-personal, IntrA-personal, Linguistic, Spatial, Naturalistic and Existentialist abilities.

Upon reading the book, I found some interesting answers to my life-long inquiries regarding to the intelligence such as;

1. Why individuals with strong abilities in certain areas of mathematics, such as algebra or probability theory do not necessarily indicate strengths in other areas of mathematical sciences such as geometry or topology?

2. How the society can take advantage of the MI theory to bridge between the ethical values and individuals' capacities.

3. How a creative educator can achieve the "understanding" by exercising various avenues, such as foundational, quantitative, aesthetic, logical and existential methods to stir and incite the human intellect.

Gardner makes no effort to back up his hypothesis through psychometric experiments and I believe he has done this deliberately. More specifically, he believes any effort to benchmark the performances of individuals against these metrics would create a new version of human labeling, a concept that he certainly refrains to delve and investigate. Instead of putting effort in benchmarking these abilities in human minds, he believes efforts need to be made to identify, enhance and exercise the abilities that help the individuals to thrive in the areas that they have been blessed with, irrespective of society norms.


Chapter 1 of the book contains the highlights of his theory and covers various forms of intelligence. The introduction of the existential intelligence as a form of computational capacity is rather unpersuasive, knowing the fact that it is defined as an attribute (intelligence of big questions) and not as a mental ability. Favorite quote of this chapter;
"Having strong intelligence does not mean that one necessarily acts intelligently".

Chapter 2 of the book covers the semantics of the intelligence. An interesting topic in this chapter is the profile of the intelligence in which Gardner discusses how the intensity, diversity and locality of these potentials in an individual can result in spot-light or laser characteristics.

Chapter 3 provides a chronologic view of intelligence. Gardner tries to provide a simplified and standardized conception of the intelligence development across the life span of a human being. He also discusses the framework for the analysis and examination of the human intellect. This chapter is quite dry and lacks ardor. In my opinion, putting framework around something that has no boundary is rather counterintuitive.

Chapter 4 is the prelude of the educational impact of the intelligence. The very interesting topic in this section is the subject of "Multiple Representation of the Key Concepts". Resorting to the notion of multiple-intelligences, Gardner believes that there are numerous ways that an educator can approach a topic in pursuit of understanding. This methodology also helps students to think about a problem in a variety of ways, triggering the thought process in the most diverse form.

Chapter 5 is a pool of questions that individuals have asked Gardner regarding to his theories. Of special interest in this section is the topic of memory and its different faculties such as procedural memory, propositional memory, semantic memory, short and long-term memories. I believe this topic deserved more elaboration, or at minimum more references.
Favorite quote from this chapter:
"I often encounter the greatest resistance to this perspective when I speak to mathematicians or logicians. To these individuals, thinking is critical thinking, wherever you encounter it; if one knows how to be logical, one should be able to apply logic everywhere (And if you don't, life is hopeless !)".

Chapters 6 to 10 have heavy weights toward education. Of special interest is the chapter 8 and the topic on multiple entry point toward disciplinary understanding.
Gardner discusses how an informed educator can use various entry points, such as narrational, logical, quantitative, foundational, aesthetic, experimental and collaborative methods in approaching the topic. The examples given in this section are extremely valuable for all educators.

As you progress toward the end chapters, the modality of manuscript transitions toward ethics. To some extent, the progression of the thought process in this book is analogous to Gardner's perspective toward the subject; in his early life his motivation toward intelligence was mainly driven and influenced by cognitive sciences and psychometric studies, whereas his recent research and interest have roots in social impacts, ethics and humanity.

In summary, this book is an instant classic on the topic of multiple-intelligences, a must have book for the fireside at home.

Howard Gardner summarizes his mulitple intelligences theory first introduced in his 1983 book Frames of Mind. Gardner introduces a provisional acceptance of a ninth intelligence (Existential Intelligence--pondering deep, life questions) to add to the eight intelligences already established. Gardner updates his theory's relevance to education and to other arenas in society.

It was in 1983 that Howard Gardner first decided to challenge the established view of a monolithic intelligence with the book Frames of Mind. In that book, Gardner posited that there are (at least) seven relatively seperate and autonomous intelligences. And 25 years later, this theory is still setting the education world ablaze.

The discipline of psychology, however, has been a bit less enthusiastic. They, much more than educators, demand hard evidence in order for a theory claiming to be scientific is accepted as such. Is Garnder's theory testable? If so, has it undergone such testing? Can these intelligences (including 'musical' and 'naturalistic') be measured by objective standards? If not, is it an adequate substitute to the reigning model of 'general intelligence' which, with all its flaws, IS measurable in such a way?

In this book, Gardner sets out to expand upon his 25 year old theory and, in so doing, answer some of the preceeding questions. Some will be disappointed and some will be encouraged by his answers.

The first section of the book devotes itself largely to questions of MI Theory's methodological standing.

Several chapters - particularly towards the beginning of the book - seek to answer objections to MI theory. As to the question of whether the theory can be called scientific, Gardner reluctantly answers a "no." He writes MI theory "intermediary status" between a philosophy and a predictive science. He suggests, though, that it can be put in a similar category with plate tectonics and evolution, in the sense that neither theory is a predictive sceince in a falsifiable sense (which is mistaken, as both are tested by retrodictions and, in evolution's case, also by predictions). Further, Gardner admits that designing assessments for these intelligences has proved to be more than challenging and that he has given up the search for ways to assess them.

There is, though, a chapter devoted to detailing a promising new study put together by Project Spectrum, to test elementary schoolers on these seperate intelligences. They were tested (a) to see if the intelligences are interrelated or autonomous by investigating whether high scores in any one area correlate with high scores in any other. The reports are that the intelligences are, by in large, seperate - as Gardner predicted they would be. They also tested to see whether the student's strengths on the tests were echoed by parent and teacher reports gotten independently. (There was correlation, but not so much as to be conclusive).

The section that will be most useful to my fellow educators, however, will be the second section. For roughly 80 pages, Gardner expounds on his theory and its possible uses in the field of education.

Gardner is quite famous for his 'value free' stance here. He suggests that there are many, many uses for MI theory in education. He tries both in this book and elsewuere to refrain from too much prescription, acknowledging that educators probably know better than he how to apply the work of a cognitive psychologist to schools.

However, he is passionate about two things educationally in this book. First, he is very displeased at the 'high stakes testing' mentality that has been developed of late. Like the concept of 'general intelligence,' Gardner sees this as being a very 'one-size-fits-all' way of assessing, and probably mis-assessing, knowledge.

Gardner is also very passionate about making sure that we see the 'ends' of schooling as pluralistic. Consistent with the idea of Multiple Intelligences, we must strike a balance between making sure that everyone recieve a common education and making sure that everyone is able to pursue their own strengths, interests, and proclivities to the extent possible.

It is hard to disagree with much that Gardner says, particularly in this and the next section (where he takes a look at MI theory's applicability betyond education). Even as one who is a bit skeptical of whether MI theory can ever be a scientific one (and whether there might be bettter models of Intelligence, like that of Robert Sternberg), it is difficult not to come away with much admiration for Gardner. He obviously cares about education and comes to his conclusions out of balanced and rigorous thought.

This should be read by educators and those interested in the psychology of intelligence alike.

We love this book so much at our house that we have multiples of it. We have worn through several copies and each child wants their own. Very cute, durable and fun.

My 17 month old son has been reading this book since he got it at a book swap last Christmas. He reads it so much that it started to fall apart. I did not have the heart to throw it out so it is now in a ziploc to go in his box - so he can know that for a full year he had to read this book every night.

My 7 mo old son loves to see the little animals pop out, this is a great book for babies!

I haven't read this one yet, but I have read Tap! Tap! Who's There? to my 6 month old daughter. If it's as good as that one, then it's a must have. I'm going to buy the whole series. The books are so cute and charming. You really can't miss.

Initially I was disappointed that this tape was so short but it has worked out well since I am starting to know it by heart. My kids listen to it again and again. I would say the recording is done by native speakers which is important to me. The vocabulary is appropriate for the intended age level and the book is nice on it's own. I wish this were one of a series: we'd buy more.

We used this book and cassette in my French class for 4th - 6th graders. They loved the choosing rhymes(eenie, meenie,minie, mo). They were a great introduction to pronounciation and intonation. Fun and practical.

The introduction calls it a journey. What a wonderful journey it is! You hear the farm animals, beautiful children's voices that bring you to the most pleasant places where you'd want your child to be -- playing along with these kids. There are plenty of games and rhymes to teach children about different things, ie. parts of the body. Love the way they do numbers. The illustrated book is beautiful. It is not simply a good foreign music tape, but one that would be just as fun for the native speaker.

For my six years old daughter who has just begun to learn french, this casette -and also the beautiful book- was an excellent help by introducing her to this language. She have learned many very usefull words very quickly and she had fun.

My visit to the Dinosaurs is a book I would reccommend to any kid. This book is a very good book that has lots of pictures and teaches you a lot about dinosaurs. This book takes you through a dinosaur museum as you follow a young boy and his Father and sister. They give you cool facts that you might not have known about Dinosaurs. they show you all kinds of dinosaurs, small, tall, short and long. They tell you how you find Dinasours and other exciting facts. this book in my mind is deffenently one of my favorite children books.

Both of my sons enjoy this book...over and over and over. Anything about dinosaurs is popular, but this book even provides good educational information.

My 5 year old son really enjoyed this book. It has good content at a reasonable length that held his attention. The art work is also good. It is simply a good book!

Aliki's 'My Visit to the Dinosaurs' is an exciting and scientifically accurate adventure through the dinosaur hall of a museum of natural history. Children from pre-school up will enjoy their tour through this fascinating world through the eyes of a child. The supplemental audo cassettte is well recorded and easy to follow, an excellent way for your little one to learn how to read and increase their vocabulary. Occasional comments by Prof. Franklin Branley, former Director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City are an added treat.

I bought this book to become more informed on NCLB for my political campaign. Within the span of 134 pages, the authors give an overview of educational programs from the LBJ days up until about 2006, a few years after Congress passed the NCLB law. Teachers and educational administrators must be more harried than ever with all the extra work they have to do to be compliant, create subgroups and improve from year to year. Definitely recommended if you want to educate yourself on NCLB.

I bought this book for a research paper I was writing about No Child Left Behind, and I wanted to gain more understanding about what the act was. Overall, it was a very informative book, and if you know nothing about NCLB, this is probably a good book to read.

It's not often that I read a book on something like No Child Left Behind that I can get through in one sitting. Usually, I read a chapter, and then push it aside for a week, and then try to read another. But this thing was so straightforward and clear, that I sped right through it. The authors are surprisingly fair for such a controversial subject. In fact, I would have liked to see them take more of a point of view and offer their own insights on the law, but they really stayed pretty arm's length the whole way through.

My favorite parts were their explanation of the history and politics of the law, and their explanation of how the public feels about it. In fact, they've got this interesting argument-- that's new to me-- that No Child Left Behind looks more like a Democratic law passed by Lyndon Johnson than a Republican law pushed by George Bush. But I also found the explanations of spending, and scientific research, and the highly-qualified teacher provision really helpful. All in all, a book I'd recommend to anyone who's studying education or is thinking about becoming a teacher.

Along with millions of other teachers, 've spent the last five years talking about and trying to understand No Child Left Behind. It was hard to figure out what the politicians were thinking, or to sort through all the competing claims about AYP, testing, highly qualified teachers, spending, supplemental services, and the rest of it. Cutting through the confusion, the authors have offered a clear, straightforward explanation. They explain the law's history, its major parts, and provide a really helpful summary of public opinion and the politics of making the law work.

I feel like I finally have a sense of what the folks in D.C. were thinking. In fact, after the explanation of the history that led to NCLB and the reasoning for it, I'm almost a little sympathetic to them. I finally understand why we've all been so confused about what the law requires and how its testing systems is supposed to work. (Turns out, it's not that we're confused so much as it's the law that's confused-- this is how they designed it!). I still think NCLB was a mistake, and the authors do a good job of explaining the criticisms of the law, but I finally feel like I really understand it. And, after reading this book, I'm happy to report that NCLB strikes me as a lot less scary. It makes more sense and seems more manageable. And, strangely enough, I've got more respect for all the different people involved in shaping it.

As for readability, I was impressed. The book is clear, jargon-free, and easy to read. Not what I'd expect from a couple of Washington DC policy people. I wish more books in our field read like this.