Asia Books

This little book teaches kindness, loyalty, and caring through the work of one brave little labrador retriever named Kali. This book is especially good for teachers to use in the classroom to instruct kids about how children in other parts of the world must contend with things like land mines. The book tells an upbeat story in a gentle and instructive manner. The colorful and upbeat illustrations support the text. Oh,and did I mention that you'll fall in love with the little dog Kali along the way!

Where danger lies, heroes lead the way. Sometimes those heroes are dedicated animals. In "Kali Leads the Way" by Nancy West, readers are introduced to one hero with four paws in the land mine strewn countryside of Cambodia.

Kali is a young Labrador Retriever in training to be a humanitarian mine detection dog. Her job is to use her keen sense of smell to detect buried land mines. Her challenge is to overcome her non-work related curiosity. Kali is distracted by butterflies and her trainer decides that she is not yet ready for work. She soon proves herself when her companion work dogs fail to find something that she spots easily...a live mine near the training site. When the monsoon season arrives in Cambodia the other dogs are brought to a nearby city to wait it out. The dogs cannot work in the heavy rain. Kali remains with her trainer to watch over the training grounds. One night, after many rain soaked days, the clouds clear and a knock is heard at the door. A man carries his young son, desperately in need of medical care, and hopes that Kali can lead them over the mountain to the city. Kali is able to focus on her work, and ignore temptation, but will she safely guide the group around a buried mine and the other dangers that lurk in the forest?

This beautifully illustrated book shows the dedicated service dogs like Kali provide. It also gently explains what land mines are and the dangers that farmers and others face having to live with this very real unknown threat. Educators looking to introduce this sad product of war will find this book to be a perfect blend of fact and hopeful outlook. Information on what can be done about land mines is provided at the back of the book.

Nancy West takes a tragic situation and turns it into something we can all hope for. Showing the growth of the dog's sense of duty puts the developing hero in a relatable light. Children will cheer her on as she ignores the monkeys and sticks to her task. Adult readers will be touched by the sense of need and desire for help. Kali is leading the world in showing compassion and taking control, and that's just what we all need more of. Well done!

One problem with adults reviewing a childrens book is that - well- we are not kids. Children look at the world from an entirely different perspective from us older folk. Too often writers "talk down" to children, underestimate their reading skills or beat them over the head with a moral lesson or perhaps with dogs that talk. Kali Leads the Way takes an entirely different approach.

Author Nancy West has successfully tackled a very adult subject and has delivered a convincing story involving war, mines, and Cambodia suitable for young children.It will not scare kids but may open them up for a lot of questions that parents or teachers should be prepared for; Why were the mines planted? Why can dogs smell things we can't? Where is Cambodia?

As a black lab Kali plays perfect host to addrssing some of these questions and Dana Kash's soft watercolors compliment the story without intruding on the text. Although listed as ages "8 and up" I think you can go a bit younger. I lent the book out to a couple of kids in the neighborhood and they thoroughly enjoyed it! Also a perfect book in a classroom setting for teachers to use.

I read this book this semester in Professor Ohnuki-Tierney's class on Political and Cultural Symbolism. A must for any undergraduate student of symbolic or political anthropology. The book traces the use of the cherry blossom as a symbol throughout history, eventually arriving at the tokkotai (kamikaze) pilots of WWII.

EOT does a great job dispelling the myth that tokkotai pilots died for the emperor and committed suicide. Instead, she shows the lives of five young men, all highly intelligent university students fluent in Marxism and Western philosophy. These young men joined the Navy to herald a new age for Japan, they did not believe in the pro rege et patria mori ideology American media has assumed.

Don't watch the History Channel specials on tokkotai pilots. Read this book and learn about the harsh reality of war, the cruelty of government manipulation of symbol, and the brilliance of the Japanese men who lost their lives in WWII.

Exceptional book, I took a class with this professor. The western conception of "suicide pilots" is completly wrong.

From my experiences in reading historical non-fiction, there are generally two types of books. One of these simply tells you what happend, while the others, while also accomplishing the recount, also provide an analysis of perhaps why soemthing happend.

This is a must-read and an incredible in depth look at the japanese culture and the pride they have for their country and history.

A first rate guide...I know because i live in Bali

A rare and wonderful travel guide that goes much deeper than the regular where-to-find-hotels-and-restaurants type. Beautiful layouts of photography and artwork complement short essays on everything from detailed explainations of complex hindu ceremonies to food preparation. The information here is amazingly accurate, and well presented with cross references to basic tourist information. This would be a great book to kill the time while waiting for your ferry in Padangbai, or in the Losmen at night trying to learn more about the miracle of Bali! Enjoy!

Wonderful book covering all aspects of Bali from it's culture right through to the more popular destinations that are so sought after in Bali from the wonderful white beaches of Kuta through to the ancient village of the Bali Aga in Tenganan... what more can I say about this book. It sent shock waves through my head when I first read it. Everytime I read this book I feel that I need to see and explore Bali one day. Therefore just one of the great books ever produced on Bali alone... wonderful photographs and pictures as well as diagrams. Concise with every sections from the well known villages and areas that are off the beaten track. I give it the thumbs up for sure...

"The koto...is a thirteen-string Japanese zither." The traditional koto is about six feet long with thirteen movable bridges placed under its strings. The player sits at the end known as the "head." Nontraditional kotos can vary in length as well as some of the design details. As with many objects and activities in Japanese society, the koto and the playing of it have been used to signify the social class and certain social situations. Varied individuals such as aristocrats, blind male professionals, and female amateurs indicated their status by how they played the instrument. An ethnomusicologist at the U. of Otago in New Zealand, Johnson ranges through the construction and design of the koto, music for it and the performance of this, the koto's place in Japanese culture, and changes in these as Japanese society has changed. Color photographs of different perspectives, including close-ups when called for, accompany the technical, historical, and sociological topics. With the size and quality of a coffee-table art book, this work makes this somewhat specialized subject readily accessible to readers with different interests about Japanese culture and musicology.

The Koto: A Traditional Instrument In Contemporary Japan is a thorough, illustrated history of a traditional stringed Japanese instrument. The text goes into depth on the koto's useage throughout history, techniques for tuning and playing it, its performance today, methods for constructing individual instruments as works of art, and much more. A comprehensive resource covering just about anything and everything there is to know about the haunting melodies that continue to be played on this remarkable instrument, up to the modern day.

Along with Mt. Fuji, Cherry Blossoms, Geisha, and the Shamisen, the Japanese koto is THE symbol of traditional Japan. Other then a couple of advanced musicological studies, and a chapter or two in other books about Japanese music, no other book gives such a complete reference to this all important instrument. Not only does this book include just about every aspect about the history, design, construction, and music theory of the Japanese koto, but it is also a beautiful book with wonderful photos, diagrams, and charts covering the full spectum of knowledge about this instrument. From Yatsuhashi to the most modern "Doremi Popcorn" koto, "The Koto" is also very accessible to the average reader. As a student of the koto, I only dared to dream about a work such as this, and now my dream has come true. My only small complaint (if any) is that for the price, a CD might have been included with a sampling of koto pieces, illustrating the diverse music that the koto has produced over its almost 2,000 year history.

During my 2 weeks in the Beijing area this map was indispensible! It's laminated, so it holds up great. The streets are labeled in pinyin (roman characters). This is perfect, since these days almost every street sign in Beijing is also labeled in pinyin (as well as Chinese characters). Almost every landmark you want to find is on the map in English as well as Chinese.

Subway lines and their stops are indicated (except the brand new line #5). The map makes it very easy to get around Beijing and even includes overlays with major places such as the forbidden city and summer palace.

In looking at maps of Beijing, my criterion was simple: "Does the map show the street where our hotel is located?" This was a challenge: the hotel we chose was a converted mansion on a narrow "hutong," or side street. The Borch map was the only one I could find that did - much, much more detail than any similar map - certainly vastly better than any of the free maps that hotels give out. Note that the current version is updated for the Olympics and does show the new Beijing Metro lines that are about to open.

During my ten day trip to Beijing The Berndtson laminated map of Beijing was indispensable. It is easily readable and has many of the best places to visit highlighted which made planning each day easy. The map not only survived the hundreds of openings and refolding, but is still in excellent shape for many future uses. The only shortcoming is that the map does not cover the outlying areas of Beijing. It covers only the central area out to the "third ring road"

Jim Fahn details Thailand's uneasy embrace of globalization in the '90s with a Thomas Friedman-like awareness. He celebrates Southeast Asia's torrid economic rise, its bloody battles for democracy and its struggles for cultural self-determinism with an unflinching eye on the wrecking ball.

Fahn's personal anecdotes add color to his solid research about a country, its people and a culture he got to know well over many years. Personally, I thought it was refreshing to get information from someone who's actually been on the ground and seen a situation -- rather than from someone who draws their conclusions from someone else's study results. He includes info from a variety of sources, but not at the expense of first-hand knowledge. Also liked the way that he explained how he got some of his stories -- what a reporter has to do in a developing country, where corporate interests sometimes make it dangerous just to report on a problem.

A Land on Fire is a superb book - informative, rich in detail, and readable. It traces Southeast Asia's environmental challenges through a treasure of engaging stories. In the narrative we meet all kinds of people - farmers, fishermen, indigenous leaders, eco tourism operators, loggers, government foresters, journalists, oil riggers. Woven tightly together with journalistic skill, their stories tell us much about the environmental crisis setting upon Southeast Asia.

Thailand is a country I have lived in and know well. From the first page to the last, Fahn shows a profound understanding of the country, a respect for its special qualities, and a passion for preserving its environmental heritage.

I like the book The Last Dragon because it has good illustrations and I like the reality in the drawing. Also I like how the story is written and I love the dragon. Also I like the emotions in the boy. In the illustrations he put in a lot of detail and shadows. I like the food because it makes me hungry. I like the Chinese names. Also I like all the stuff he put in one picture.

The illustrations brought the book to life. My favorite part was when the boy got the dragon. My favorite picture was when the dragon was used in the parade. I give this book five

The Last Dragon was a very good book. It has very good illustrations also, and the story is very good itself. It describes the pictures very well, and the pictures are very realistic. I think that this would be a good book for children 6 and up. It also tells people the history of the Chinese New Year. Also what they do at this time of the year. This was a great book!!

I have always been drawn to the Forbidden cities of the East. I now know that the fascination is shared with many. The Authors Frank and Christine Brignoli have taken me on a Journey to this part of the World thru Visually stimulating pictures and the text of this book enhances the Historical images also. All in all a very exciting book.

I found this book to be ,not only pictorialy enthralling , historically up to date. Great Book for the Traveller or History Buff.

I found myself paging thru this Masterpiece as though I were really there. What a Breathtaking City. I could actually feel the Spirit of the City through the Photographs. I have recommended this Book to all my Friends.

Professors Yamanouchi & Quinn offer a much needed corrective to the five-decade old demonization of the Japanese soldier. This evocative, poetic, and compelling collection of soldiers' letters strikes down the dusty image of Japan's warriors as mindless, unthinking fanatics. In this volume we discover an entirely new and fresh insight into the mind-set and attitudes of young sailors, soldiers, and airmen who died in the service of Japan. The reader cannot help but be impressed by the sensitivity of these young men, by their literary yearnings, by their touching hopes for their families and futures, by the lyrical portraits they paint of even the grim and dangerous settings to which the war brought them. No little debt is owed to the editors for their masterful translation of these letters into useful and understandable American idiom. This is a rare and unforgettable reading experience which illuminates once again the common threads which bind humanity.

Dr. Midori Yamanouchi's translation of this post World War II collection of letters is brilliant. The work is a deeply moving collection of diaries written by young Japanese soldiers who gave their lives in a series of battles going from China, through the Pacific to the skies closer to Japan. Many of them were cultivated young university students, full of life and dreams, reflecting on the beauty of life, the love of their families and the painful duty that was their lot. These are sad voices, the now stilled voices of tragedy. Overall, an insight into war and the human spirit that rivals such western classics as "The Red Badge of Courage" or "All Quiet on the Western Front". Generations often forget the 'sins' of the past. Reading this book - now in English - may just remind us to avoid the trajedy of war at all costs.

One of the best Pacific War stories told by the people who had to be there.
Each story captures your soul and makes you wonder why we even had to fight.
The saddest thing of all is that war still goes on somewhere in this world and that young people are still being killed just like the ones in the book.

This book must be read by as many people as possible, so perhaps we learn something and war will never start again.
I wonder when we, the human beings, will stop fighting and begin talking, negotiating...

There are books like this for the US as well as Germany soldiers. And, they are equally powerful.
It is said: People who never learn from the past will repeat the same mistakes all over again.

Ever since this book was originally published in 1949, four years after the end of the World War II, it has been one of the best sellers in Japan, even to this day.

I am so glad to find these books again. I used to check them out at our local library and they looked pretty old back then (I am almost 37!). I cannot wait to share them with my little girl, I hope she enjoys them as much as I did.

The Little Pear stories are fabulous. My four year old daughter loves them and we read them over and over. They are perfect for this age and older.

These little pear stories are just good clean fun. Not many books are written like this one these days.

Little Pear is a young chineese boy. In this chapter book he has many adventures. In these adventures he learns newthings such as ice fishing and baby sitting.