Boards Books

A very moving book. I knew Joel from a distance, all we would say is "Hi" to each other. Nothing more. Reading this book should be a school requirement. It does not get any better. What a fascinating man he was. He will be MISSED!

Who ever suspected Joel Siegel led such an interesting life? I couldn't believe all of the experiences he wrote about and the funny insights into his family. He included a chapter on Yiddish words which was informative and amusing. Of course throughout the book was the touching message to his son.

A man, approaching fatherhood late in life finds that he has cancer. What can he give his very young son that would impact the child's life. This book is Joel Siegel's legacy to his young son.

It could have been overly-sentimmental or morbid. Instead it is funny, profound, and deeply moving. Those of us who have faced the same eventuality that Joel Siegel has faced, will find great wisdom here, and solace.

The only quibble I have with the book, is that there are a few chapters that seem to have been added to flesh out the size of the book. A chapter on Yiddish phrases, for example, seems a bit "fluffy," though quite funny.

In all, a wonderful legacy for Dylan... and us all.

This book is a treasure in the fact that a man who has a young son (who should have been his grandson) at that age realizes that he may not be around to share all of these stories and this valuable insight to Dylan in person, and he put in print the things he would have told him (maybe) had he been a young father. The last twenty-five (27) years were a trial for him, as they were for me, as a divorced woman with a son the same age at the time of the divorce. You feel that you've just got to be there to see that son grown, then get on with your life.

He is funny. The Jewish jokes were okay, and the one he had Bobby Kennedy tell about the price of meat was okay, but this whole book is written in the joking way he thinks. Serious times about lowering the flag to half-mast on the UCLA campus the day JFK was assassinated. He was there when brother Bobby died and heard the shots. He and Dylan's mother lived in an area of New York where they were able to watch the Twin Towers burn on 9-11. This is history he passes down to his son in intimate terms.

He writes fondly "some of my best memories of my father are of him laughing while he and I watched TV. We didn't go to movies much; most families didn't in the early '50s." My sister Evelyn took me to my first movie about that time (before she ran off and eloped, ending up spending the rest of her life up North) and I marveled at the beauty and splendor of Tennessee Theater. I don't remember the movie, but I will never forget how I felt looking up at the mural on the interior dome. In the middle and later Fifties, I went to many movies there and even sang in a local talent show on that stage. It was no big deal.

As a film critic, he explains that movies are a fraud and goes into detail about how they are made. But, those he chose for viewing with Dylan were a varied and motlely group, not my choices at all. He tells how old he was when he saw them and how he felt. He dishes the dirt about some of the big movie stars. The index is full of big names. You think of one, he has met him or her and has a funny anecdote to share. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, I can understand why he would want to explain to his son what is happening and why. Since he is such a funny man, I guess he would choose the Marx brothers' films. I did enjoy Groucho on the t.v. game show!

Of course, he wants 'I Love Lucy' and 'The Honeymooners' to be available for Dylan to enjoy and share a few laughs. His remembrance of live t.v. in Los Angeles, 'Time for Beanie,' brought back memories of 'Your Startime' hosted by Bob Lobertini for me as I was one of his regulars, and later he had a 'Popeye' show in Nashville where I took my sons. He told them on the air that he and I had appeared on t.v. together in Knoxville; that was stretching it -- he was the star, I the adorer.

During the 1958 Winter/Spring, one of my best friends was the young Jewish usher, Joe Feldman, at the Tennessee Theater. I had moved to the YWCA to finish high school and, that Easter, he took me to eat Easter dinner at the S&W Cafeteria on Gay Street. I still have his senior picture from Young High School.

Dylan is a darling child and so much like Ken Young when he was younger. I sincerely hope they will share many good times as he grows up -- and away. That time will come before you know it.

There are no athiests in foxholes or in an oncologist's office. Siegel, an entertainment critic for ABC's GMA, faced a terminal illness, and created this story of his first 58 years of life. (He passed away on June 29, 2007 at the age of 63).

At the age of 54, Siegel became a father for the first time and learned that he had cancer. In "Lessons for Dylan," Siegel shares all the things he wants his son to know, in case he is not around to tell him, things about his family history and Jewish heritage, life's pleasures and disappointments, the challenges of growing up (at any age), and, most important, who his father is and what Joel values. As Joel and Rabbi Larry Rafael discussed, Joel wants his son to be normal (but not average).

Siegel was born in East Los Angeles in 1943. His Romanian Jewish grandmother survived the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in March 1911. (Her father banned her from going that day.) His father, a Levite, was an electrician, and he got the first African American and the first Mexican American into his local IBEW union. In 1965, Joel delivered a bag containing $800 in cash to a minister named Martin Luther King at a UCLA luncheon. ("Dr. King, I've come with dessert.") He ended up spending the Summer working for King. Siegel says he invented the names of several Baskin Robbins flavors, including German Chocolate Cake (my favorite) and Pralines and Cream. Siegel was nominated for a Tony Award for his work on a musical about Jackie Robinson. Siegel was a joke writer Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and witnessed Kennedy's assassination in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He is co-founder (with Gene Wilder) and president of Gilda's Club, a non-profit support facility for cancer patients.

Only Siegel can make the story of his chemo sessions and a colostomy funny. Siegel candidly writes about the end of his marriage (his third) to Dylan's mother and the experience of having cancer. The famous ad man and partier Jerry Della Femina bought pot for Siegel during his chemotherapy. Siegel also shares great stories from show biz (featuring Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich, Paul Newman, Brad Pitt, Stevie Wonder, all four Beatles, and more); lays out the History of the Jewish People in Four Jokes ("Why make trouble?"); and offers fatherly advice on sex ("ask your mother"), work, what to cook for Rosh Hashanah (recipes included), and a list of movies he would like to see with his son.

One of his letters:
Dear Dylan,
One day you might remember--maybe triggered by a photograph, or a sense memory of a texture or a color--the soft, grey cashmere sweater I bought for you for your second birthday. As an adult you may wonder, "What kind of schmuck buys a cashmere sweater for a two year-old boy?"

The answer is: A schmuck who tempts fate.

Being in a go club that sees many beginners I feel fairly qualified when I say this book will not help you improve rank until you are 15kyu (AGA/KGS) and really waiting until you are in the single-digit kyu range will give you the best rank improvement per time spent reading... I first read at 13kyu and was stretching. I re-read at 5kyu and got much more out of it. If I had to pick a perfect rank to read it at I'd say 7kyu.

All that said, the writing style is superior to every other go book I've seen and there may be merit in reading this without the goal of rank improvement. I suggest playing games between chapters - I've seen players overdo the styles and corrections the book discusses after reading half or all of it in one sitting. With other intermediate go books (such as Tesuji or Life & Death) it is not damaging to read it all in one sitting.

This book is well known in the GO community and I strongly recommend it.

This book is an endless source of information. As you get better at go, you get more and more out of it. When I first started playing, I learned little from the book but I did learn valueble basic tactics such as the net and the ladder and so forth. Later, I learned useful tesujis and opening strategies. After putting the book down for about 3 months, and as my skill increased, I went over it again and found more useful info including a generaly good attitude towards go.

I suggest this book to anyone who wants to keep playing go. It may not be useful at the time you get it, but keep skimming through and I gaurantee you will find useful information along the way.

I personally find this book very useful (at least for myself, but I believe as well for many of you guys). It is especially true if you read it the second and the third time. When I review my own game, I can find out a lot of mistakes which Kageyama has mentioned in the book. (Like forget to struggle to go ahead) There is a Go competition during summer, and I have just finished this book the third time. Some of the tesuji in the book is very useful.

I guess it will be good to learn the basic rule of the Go game and then play for a while. (may be a hundred game), then start reading this book. Then you can get the most out of it. (I believe Kageyama himself has suggested us to play for many games to get the feeling first. He mentioned player usually meet barrier at around 11-13kyu, 5-6kyu and 1-2kyu. So I guess if one train up to around 15kyu and then start reading this book, it will be very useful. And then review the book once a while. Get the fundamental idea in your mindset. And you will find Go even more interesting

Kageyama packs the book full of useful instruction, given in a chatty style with the occasional self-deprecating humour. While not a book for the absolute beginner, he surprises many readers by starting with ladders. But he shows that they are excellent training for reading (calculating) ability which also builds self-confidence during a game.

The book also covers strategic principles, typical endgame play (and a common mistake by handicap takers), josekis (corner openings).

Of course, in such a game full of complex possibilities, books can't solve everything. For example, I presume it requires experience way beyond his book to know whether a move is "proper" or "slack".

With his no-nonsense style, and quick wit, Toshiro Kageyama takes you thorugh 'the basics' of Good Go. Go, like mathematics, is a language (one of its many names is literally translated as 'handtalk'). Here, Kageyama is teaching us how to spell.

We are provided with easy-to-follow instruction and guided problems in chapters on Life and Death, Ladders (including spiral ladders); Territory and Spheres of Influence; How to study Joseki; Good Shape and Bad; Endgame Pointers; and my favorite, Tesuji (snap-backs and the like).

Kageyama also gives us a general feel for how the stones 'move' on the board, and the direction of play. These Lessons, and his writing style, combine with anecdotes from his professional career and television appearances to make this a wholly enjoyable book.

More on his style: The effect of Kageyama's writing is as if he's right there with you; very conversational. He will encourage and support, but he will also slap your hand if you are not paying attention. Make no mistake, his sole intention is that you express yourself, get better, and have fun along the way.

Beginners around 20 kyu and below:
You may want to concentrate on learning the alphabet, so to speak. But you should know that this book has some very simple 'words'. As soon as you feel comfortable playing on a 19x19 board, then find this book.

Shadows on the sea was a great book to read. It is about a girl named Jill Winters who goes up to her grandmother's cottage in Winterhaven, Maine. She soon finds out that her mother has to pass through the dangerous waters of the atlantic to visit her brother. The Atlantic is filled with dangerous "u-boats" or german submarines. Jill also finds out that in the town of Winterhaven there a germans hiding adn waiting to attack. Will she save the town of Winterhaven or not?

Shadows on the sea was a great World War II book to read. It gives you the real life of an actual person who lived in the world at that time. It was very suspenpensful with all the action. It gives you a taste of what it felt like in the war. In my perspective I would have been terrified if I was Jill. Hopefully there is a sequal to this book. Another book similar to this is Private Peacful.I would recommend this book to anyone!!!!!!

My 11-yr-old daughter, 5th grade advanced reader, was assigned to do a report on an Historical Fiction book regarding its symbolism. I gave my daughter this book and she enjoyed it very much and is doing her report on it. I was worried that it would not have much symbolism in it but I read it myself and found that it is chocked full of symbolism. She only had to come up with 8 symbols, but there are many, many more in this book. I'm very happy about that.

This book changed the way i think now of all life i am so happy i decided to read this book from my school library. Its packed with action the beginning is sort of boring but keep reading it gets so much better.

decpite the fact im a boy and this is about a girl i boght it at my school fair.and i truly loved it.im a history geek and this was very accurate to what civailains went through.i do know that this would 99.9 of the time this would not happen.although the gerry's did send sabouters (who were cought.)overall this is a very good book and a nice way to show school kids what civalians went through during the war.

Shadows on the Sea takes place in Maine during World War II, and it is the year of 1942.
This is an intriguing book about a girl named Jill Winters. Her dad, Drew Winters, is a famous singer. When her Uncle Cliff gets sick, her mother needs to go see him and Jill's father arranges for Jill to go by herself, by train, to Maine, to see her Nana. Ever since Jill's mother went to see her Uncle Cliff, Jill has been listening to the radio to hear if a German U-boat torpedoed the ship her mother went on.
On the train, Jill meets a rich girl named Wendy and she and Jill become friends. From there the story begins. The two remain friends for a time then Jill meets a boy called Quarry and he introduces the girls to a group called the Crystals. You have to be voted in to the Crystals and Jill was voted in because her father was famous. Wendy wasn't and, so, Jill and Wendy's friendship broke up. Jill and Quarry remained friends though. Then Jill found Sarge, her Nana's cat eating a pigeon, she found a flask attached to the pigeons leg, and in it was a piece of paper with "sonnabend IV" written on it. Jill told Quarry about it. This is the mystery part; from there you will start staying up at night to read. This book is good for people that are interested in World War II and are ages 9 and up. I really enjoyed this book; it is historical fiction. If you are not a fan of reading, this book will get you reading. If you are looking for books to read, Joan Hiatt Harlow is the author of this book and many more great books.

My 2 year old son got this as a gift. Of course, being two he's already tore off half the tabs, but so what! He still loves it! It definitely won't last until his sister is old enough to enjoy it but we've already gotten our money's worth in the short time we've had it. I plan to buy another copy soon.

My 5 year old grandson loves the moving parts in the book and like to pretend while he looks at it. Enjoys it alot.

Another big vote for this book. As a small red plane pilot, I've given out two of these books to friends kids, with very positive results. 90% of the activities are amazingly accurate, from "chocks away" to refueling.

I agree that it is a little fragile, as some of the cardboard effects are a bit ambitious, but worth it for the detailed appreciation of flying.

Captain Brian says "take off!"

I am writing in response to the reviewer who said that the book is especially great for boys. (let's not gender-type!) This is our daughter's favorite book. She is 13 1/2 months now and it has been her absolute favorite since we started reading it to her when she was just a few months old and we just ordered a second copy because hers is so tattered from use. Highly recommended for girls as well! :)

My two-year-old son loves this book but he has already destroyed more than fifty percent of it after two months of use.

This book has many interesting features, from radio sets connected by string, to "radar blips" on a screen in a cockpit, little planes "flying" through the sky, to a steering wheel that changes the view out windscreen as you "come in for a landing--and that isn't even half of the activities in the book.

The problem is that it requires a high degree of fine motor skill to operate many of the activities. The "radar blips" were difficult for me to spin, for example, and the steering wheel kept getting stuck until mommy tore it in one of her many attempts to "Fix it!" under pressure. My son also removed all of the little "flying airplanes" in less than a week of play.

Don't get me wrong--my son still LOVES this book, despite the fact that it is now falling apart! He has a blast using the things that still work, and explaining to me how the things that are broken used to work.

I would recommend waiting until a child is at least four before buying this book for them unless they are very careful players or there will be parental help all the time it is in use.

And, I would like to add that the girls in my son's playgroup loved this book as well--it is DEFINITELY not just for boys!

We really like the Mama side of the book, it's very sweet, but the Papa side doesn't feel as touching and we don't relate to it much. Glad we checked it out from the library before buying it.

This flip book is two books in one. I fell in love with this cute story of a mother and a father's love. We give this to every pregnant person we know. It's a GREAT GIFT and our son still loves to look and read it at two years old. I even bought a back up copy since ours was "well loved".

My husband and I joke (and despair) about how hard it is to find a good book about the relationship between parent and child to read to our 15 month old son. Too many books concentrate on only one parental relationship - usually mother and child - or present very gender-biased views of the parent's role (eg, "Mommy makes the cookies while Daddy plays sports").

This is not the case with this beautiful book. We bought it on a whim at the San Diego Zoo and now it is one of our - and our son's - favorite books. My husband and I are pleased to read messages about nurturing papa animals and wise mama animals. I'm also happy that there is a picture of a nursing cub since we're still nursing. My son likes looking at the realistically painted pictures of the parent and baby animals. The board book is sturdy enough to withstand his rough love and gnawing. He also likes that he gets two bedtime stories in one book when we flip the book over to read the other side!

I like this book so much that I plan to make it a staple baby shower gift for the new babies in my life. Highly recommended!

The illustrations in this book are positively stunning, in contrast to many other children's board books. I can't help but notice how beautifully and expertly they were painted. With each turn of the page, the color palette moodily changes, from vibrant golds to muted blues, all the while being treated to beautiful and elegant words. An absolute joy to look at and read, I highly recommend this book for any child's library.

This is already one of one-year-old son's favorite books (and mine too!), and will probably be a cherished item to keep in his memory box.

My 2 y/o daughter loves this book! We read it at her doctor's office and came home and ordered it from Amazon. We read it almost every night! I plan on ordering more to give as gifts for either birthdays or Welcome Home baby gifts!

Mr Maxtone Graham's work is a pure piece of art for all people with a love for classic liners and their times. It revives a (regrettably) lost way of life. A true bible.

I have two copies of this book and keep one on our boat in Ft Pierce, FL for guests to read and one at home for ME to re-read. Although we have cruised on the blue-water fleet numerous times, I love to read about the pre-jet crossings of a (seemingly) romantic and for the most part, by-gone era. When you read this book, it is so evocative tht you can close your eyes and almost imagine that you are there on a chilly quai in New York City about to depart for the great cities of Europe on one of the great liners. An absolute MUST READ for any ocean liner fan. I re-read this one often in the wee hours of the morning.

I devoured this book and you will too. John Maxtone-Graham is one of a kind, a marine historian who is urbane, erudite, and literate. He has written an absorbing book, filled with fun, details, anecdotes, and marine dreams. Here's to Big Ships and big dreams - That toast has a kind of 1920's ring to it. But I loved it. You will too.

I had the pleasure of meeting John Maxtone-Graham aboard the SS Norway in 1985. He autographed a copy of "The Only Way to Cross" and I have read it at least 3 times. I'll never tire of his detailed accounts of the ships and the people that made that era.

What I found really wonderful about the book was not only learning about the best parts of transatlantic travel but the worst as well. The section on Steerage as well as on the Boiler rooms show you every side of what life was like aboard the grandest ships to ever ply the oceans of the world.

If you buy only one book in your life buy this one!

This is a must read for any Oceanliner or ship fan. It will transport you back to the days when the steamship was truly the only way to cross. After reading this book you'll realize that those floating barge-hotels that Carnival and the other Megalines call ships will never be Luxury liners! Long live the SS Norway!

I definitely recommend this board book... it is simple and to the point with one shape per page. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the pull out tabs are annoying for my 19 month old since it takes a little tugging for the tabs to come out... she gets frustrated at times and ends up crying. Had I realized that this would be the case, I would have never introduced her to the tabs. In any case, I still recommend this book.

We keep this one in the car. My grandson loves sliding the different shapes & he's only a one year old. Small enough for little hands, but very sturdy cardboard.

My first experience with this book occurred 6 years ago. It is not only great for babies, but for toddlers, and more durable than other similar "lift-the-flap" books. It is concept and word appropriate text for very small children. Since then, I have purchased it for numerous friends for baby showers. My own children have loved this book so much we had to go buy a 2nd copy. It is a great book to use for children between 6 - 24 months, especially great to tuck into the "church" bag or other places and activities where children need to sit quietly when they need something to capture their attention. We also have the other books in the series (which are also very well put together - Shapes, Opposites, Numbers), but this is my personal favorite.

My son likes it for the pull out tabs that reveal a drawing of an object that illustrates the shape drawn on the page. The shapes included are: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, heart and diamond. While the illustrations are as simple and straightforward as the limited vocabulary used in this book, they are still beautifully drawn. Rather that use solid colors for the shapes, each one has a subtle gradient to give it more pop. The real world objects are drawn in greater detail than the shapes so that they stand out. The illustrations included are: a tricycle, a quilt, a watermelon, a triangle instrument, a valentine and a kite.

I like that the book throws in some words that my son doesn't know straight away to give him something new to work on. He has learned "quilt" and "valentine" while reading this book to me.

My 15 month old son loves to pull the shapes and enjoys this colorful book. It is very interactive and sturdy for a busy boy. Some of the slide books we have didn't last long but this one is certainly well made. Highly recommend.

Varina has always thought of herself as a normal teenager until her Uncle Jim gets attacked and when a strange boy tries to convince her that she's in danger. Varina willing goes with Chase when she almost gets attacked. Now Chase is trying to convince Varina that she is a scientific experiment or in other words, a clone and that an evil scientist wants them and the other clones distroyed. Varina doesn't believe that she is a clone but she is still willing to help find the others to warn them before the evil scientist can get them first.

I liked this book. It was just soo cool. I like the way the awesome writer L.J. Singleton makes this wonderful piece of fiction seem a reality.

The events in this story sound like it could really, really happen.

Of course it would be amazing if they did. It deals with action, a hint of romance (it's not THAT bad. This book is for kids and YAs. The romance here is like Brock from Pokemon crushing on Nurse Joy or something.), and, of course, adventure.

What a FANTASTIC new series! Besides being well-written, and a real page-turner, it is totally intriguing because it COULD happen! WOW! I couldn't put it down. L.J. Singleton has created a compelling cast of characters who are in big trouble. I can't wait to read the next book and find out what happens. I highly recommend this book!

Varina has been living a fairly normal life with her Uncle Jim, but then she comes home one day to find the house trashed and her uncle seriously injured in the study. Then things get worse. A stranger called Chase tries to ell her that she is a clone - one of five - but she doesn't want oto believe him. Because her uncle wanted her to, Varina helps Chase track down the other three clones. As they search they are hunted by Dr.Victor and his companion Geneva - both want to test them and then destroy them.

I found this novel both gripping and well written. Varina is the kind of character who gets under your skin and makes you pay attention. The stroy of this novel is strong and I found myself on the edge of my seat each time a new snippet of information came through.

Cloning is a hot topic for novels at the moment - Replica is the best known series, but it has come up in other novels like "Starsplit" by Kathryn Lasky. The scariest thing about these novels is that you can picture it happening somewhere out there. This series is similar to some extent to the Replica series, but this is more challenging and more interesting - after twenty-odd novels Replica is getting just a little bit boring. Regeneration is both using an old idea and making it original.

You have got to try this book and make a decision for yourself - but I don't think you will regret picking this novel up.

I met Linda Joy Singleton at a Literary Writing Conference my school held a few months ago. I had a little class with Mrs. Singleton. She was very nice and taught us a lot about writing and publishing books. "Regeneration" is an awesome book with a fun, mysterious, and creative story that you are sure to love. The five books in the series are so good that it takes you a while to find another type of book as entertaning. I would recomend this book to anyone. ~Diandra M. Age: 14

My two-year-old and I really love this book. After I initially took off the shrink wrap, I thought the smells were a little hard to take; however, after the book "aired out" for a couple of days, the smells were not so strong and were very pleasant. The pictures are fun with the ladybugs, butterflies, beetles, etc. A great little book!

I got this for my 2 toddlers and they love this book. The smells are very strong and they have nice big pictures. The smells really do smell like the real thing. It is a short story so a busy toddler's mind can consontrate long enough. I enjoyed this book.

This is a very nice book. Good pictures and very potent smells. I would have given it 5 stars if 2 of the smells didn't smell VERY much the same. The smell is put on the page not with stickers (like I am used to when I was little some 30 years ago) but with a texured surface that is only visable when you look at it from an angle. Very large areas of smell make it easy to get a good whiff. I am hoping this new way of smell application also lasts much longer than the old way!!? Happy sniffing!

Santa brought my little 2 yr old daughter this book for X-mas! She loves this book and so do I as it is a delight to smell fresh cut grass and fresh cedar wood in the dead of winter here! Am even getting a copy of this book for my 90 yr old grandmother who lives in a nursing home. How she would love to revisit these "warm weather day" smells!

My son who is 11 months loves this book and he loves to smell (and lick!) the different items. It has simple text in the form of questions ("Does the rose smell sweet?") alongside with real-life photos.

The smells are: Rose, Lavendar, Pine, Grass, Mint.

It has lasted for a few months of abuse so far except for the last page (Mint) which the scent has faded.

I would definitly recommend this book and I look forward to owning the others in the scratch and sniff series.

My daughter has loved this book since before she was a year old. She learned some of her first signs from the book and loves to see the pictures of the children signing. She picks this book out often when she wants to read.

We have all the DVD's as it was a suggestion of a friend. They have been great! We got the book as a gift and I thought it wouldn't be very useful and put it on my daughter's bookshelf. Wouldn't you know she reads it every night? She loves turning the pages and showing that she knows the signs. I think it's also a great introduction to the written word.

I got this book and the video that goes with it in hopes of using some of the signs with my pre-verbal grandson. He's not using any of the signs yet, but he and his 3-year-old sister love both the book and the video. In fact I bought it for them to watch when they stay with me, but they wanted to take it home with them.

The pictures and descriptions make it easy to reproduce the signs for the parent and child.

Love the book it is an easy way for children to learn sign!! Thanks for the wonderful products!!