Games Books

this book will help to create a connection and fasination for kids with the environment and give them much needed connection to health and exercise too.

I bought this book as a resource for my church's Preschool/Kindergarten Religious Exploration class. Each Sunday we have a class of 3-6 year olds for an hour. We break the time into short segnments and like to include some kinetic activities. They have together time, a spiritual message, a craft, a song, and then we use to play a game together. The games started getting a bit wild and sometimes too competative, so I thought a quieter physical activity like yoga might be a good fit. This book makes the positions so fun and easy: each child can be sucessful at thier own level. It has suggestions of how to use the poses, ways of advancing through the positions, a section sort of like a "teachers guide" so people unfamiliar with yoga (such as myself) can use it with confidence. The kids love doing Yoga and looking at the pictures to see how to do things. They are fully absorbed in trying to achieve the poses and talking about what a flower (or star or whatever the pose is modled on)feels like or sees or thinks. The book is very well done, thought provoking and affirming. I am fully delighted with it!! This is a wonderful adition to a young child's life.

As an educator, I found this book to be delightful, colorful and easy to understand. I would suggest this book even to adults trying Yoga for the first time. First of all, the layout and pictures were easy on the eye and I can see how this may attract young readers to its content, without an adult. The language and tone of the book was enjoyable. I think this is a good introduction to anyone beginning Yoga and I would recommend it very highly. Peace, Kind Essence (Karen thompson)

I bought a whole slew of yoga for kids books and this is by far the best one. All of the others repeat the information from this book, but in a less clear way and without the great pictures. This is the one to get.

A beautifully illustrated book. Accurate and colorful. My class of preschoolers related to it wonderfully, using it as a guide for their own Yoga poses. They invented several and we took pictures to add to this stunning book. This Yoga work interested and calmed some of my more challenging students. Well worth the investment of money and time. Highly recommend.

If you're looking for an intelligent, well thought out and organized guide to using tarot cards, this is the best I've ever found. It is not, strictly speaking, a traditional, Waite-deck, 'fortune-telling' approach. Originally published under the title, 'Choice Centered Tarot', this allows one to use the tarot as a guide to reflection, choice-making and everyday living. It can be used for creative projects and busting out of mental ruts. It is also easy to read, use and understand, and it's fun.

This is an older edition of the book now known as "Everyday Tarot", but since this is what I have, this is the review you get ;)

I read tarot on the side, but not that often. Still, I have enough experience to have more than the basics down, and I really liked the angle this particular author took. The book is very much a psychological approach to Tarot, with a strong emphasis on what the individual symbols mean to each reader and querent. Rather than being dogmatic about what each card means or doesn't mean, Fairfield encourages the reader to really think about the symbolism, even to the point of thinking very carefully about the colors in a deck before purchasing it. She advocates an approach to tarot that has a lot of preparation rooted in personalization rather than superstition.

I also like her comparison of divination to sitting in a hot air balloon. You can see a lot more than just the immediate surroundings, and get a much better perspective on what's going on. It's a very open-ended approach, one that allows a lot more freedom of personal interpretation and perception.

The meanings she gives for the individual cards are her own, admittedly, but she gives a lot of detail-and the preceding information provides the context within which she reads. Her section on designing and using spreads is also valuable.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's an incredibly useful tool for Tarot readers of any experience level, and would be a definite help in creating a more thoughtful, conscious approach to reading, rather than just going by whatever the book says.

I've been reading for over 30 years, and this is *still* my absolute favorite tarot book. I like the different approach she takes to it, addressing symbolism and numerology, rather than just the meanings of the cards. I'm thinking about starting to teach classes and, if people can still get it, this is the book I'll use.

"The only limit to the ways the Tarot can be used is your own imagination. Each life event, each emotional interaction, each inner awareness, presents us with an opportunity to understand ourselves and our Universe better. Every new problem or question is a challenge; with each challenge we discover new ways of using the Tarot." - From the book

Author Gail Fairfield advocates a choice-centered approach to Tarot, which encourages Tarot readers and querents ("readees" as she calls them) to use the cards for making better life decisions. In her book Everyday Tarot, Fairfield explains the structure of a Tarot deck, the development of number (such as "Two-ness"), the four suits, designing a layout (card spread) and more.

An excellent book for both Tarot beginners and experienced readers, Everyday Tarot provides an overview of the Major and Minor Arcana. According to Fairfield, every card is neutral in value, i.e. neither good nor bad in and of itself. However, the meaning of the card can be stretched along the entire spectrum of positive or negative. She likens cards to rain: rain is neutral, but too much can cause a disastrous flood and too little can cause a drought. Determining whether a card is to be interpreted positively or negatively depends largely on a querent's personality, question, and spread position.

Regarding reversals, Fairfield doesn't feel that the basic card meaning is affected, although the way an individual experiences the concept may change quite a bit. Upright cards indicate that an individual is experiencing the concept in a public, clear, objective or obvious way. Reversals, however, indicate that an individual is experiencing the concept in a more subtle, private, subjective, internal way.

For each suit and card, the author provides General/Neutral meanings as well as Positive, Negative, Upright, and reversed.

Arguable the most intriguing part of Everyday Tarot is the development of number throughout the Minor Arcana. Fairfield groups all the Minors in sets of three, except the 10's and Kings. These groups describe four different cycles-each having a particular level. She explains that every triad contains THIS, THAT, and THE OTHER. THIS refers to something new that is established, THAT challenges, confronts, changes or expands THIS and THE OTHER resolves and integrates the interaction between THIS and THAT. For example, Aces start the first cycle of three (the conceptual level) and are THIS, while Two-ness solidifies or confirms the direction of the Ace (THAT). Three-ness (THE OTHER) then unifies the aggressive energy of the One/Ace with the stabilizing energy of the Two. (The way she explains these groupings and cycles are easier than it sounds.)

The 10's are described as "hesitating" and aren't included in the triads or cycles. The Kings represent a completion point, and thus are outside of the triads as well.

Everyday Tarot also includes information on the reading process, choosing a Tarot deck based on symbols, ways to use the cards, and expanding your reading skills.

Personally, I found a lot of new, helpful information in this book. For example, I hadn't considered numerical values all that much when performing Tarot readings, but Fairfield's methods are so sensible and accessible, that I've started employing her system. I am also enjoying exploring reversals as internalized versions of cards as opposed to interpreting them merely as blocks, hindrances, or opposites of upright meanings. Everyday Tarot has also provided me additional insight regarding the suit of Wands. Fairfield considers Wands the suit of "Self", representing personal growth, awareness, and personal direction. It's the suit asking, "Who am I and where am I going?"

I've highlighted my copy of Everyday Tarot to death, and refer to it often. Overall, it's probably the best Tarot book that I've read thus far. Fairfield writes in the engaging style of a fellow reader as opposed to some high-minded "expert" pontificating in brittle prose. Her explanations are clear, her organization is tight, and her methods are empowering to both the reader and the querent. At 153 pages, it's not a huge book, but it's packed with immediately useful information and new ways of looking at-and using-the Tarot.

Gail Fairfield's "Choice Centered Tarot" is one of my top 5 tarot books. Rather than a lot of superstitious fatalism, Fairfield offers us a worldview that embraces taking personal responsibility for our choices in the present moment in order to CREATE our futures. The tarot is presented as a tool for gaining insights into those choices so we can be more informed and conscious. The section on choosing a deck based on how certain facets of humanity are depicted in the card images is very helpful and thought-provoking. The section on designing your own layouts is deeply empowering! When I first read "Choice Centered Tarot" in the 1980s, it made a huge impact on my tarot work AND on my personal philosophy of life. It still does. Get it and use it!!!

I have coached girls soccer for 8 years and I still found a few nuggets inside. I am really using the stuff on social issues and diet for teem girls.

Easy to read and understand. Good pictures. Very helpful if you have never coached before or just want to improve your knowledge of coaching.

New coaches will learn everything they need to know. In addition to the drills and strategies, you'll also learn how to motivate kids, how to deal with their parents, and much more.

This book is all it claims to be. Clear, useful, full of great advice and fun training games and drills. Not a book about the author, but a real accent on the girls themselves. Brilliant.

It's been a bible for me for two years and I've recommended it to all my fellow coaches (who all want to know my 'secrets'!!)

Thanks John!

This is a must have book for soccer coaches, especially coaches of girls soccer. I also recommend it for coaches of boys since 98% of the material translates over. The book not only details performing specific skills, tactics and team management, but also covers team and individual motivation and correction styles. This is where the book becomes a little more specific to females then males, which is a good thing because there are a lot of male coaches that coach all girl teams, and they need to understand what motivates boys doesn't work with most girls. While boys tend to be motivated by accomplishment, girls are motivated by relationships. Understanding that will be rewarding and help you bond with your players and develop them as a team.

Read this book and you will dramatically improve your coaching!

Cindy Sabulis' Dolls Of The 1960s And 1970s (162-5, pairs pages packed with color photos of the dolls and most often their boxes with identification tips and values ranges. This will prove an invaluable guide for any avid doll collector needing a complete reference to makers and dolls of these eras.

Cindy has done it again - This is a FABULOUS guide to all those dolls we played with back then! Cindy has indexed this book by all of the popular (and not-so-popular) doll manufacturers in order by year of release. Everything is full color, with approximate secondary market values! Vinyl dolls from the 60's and 70's are rapidly growing in value on the collector's market and buyers have the BEST opportunity now to scour, ID and sell - this is one book you do not want to be without at doll shows! I enjoyed reacquainting myself with most all of the dolls displayed. Thanks, Cindy!

This is a terrific book with tons of bright and detailed photos. Contains a lot of the popular dolls from this period- along with some that are not so popular (which is nice for identifying). Contains dolls such as Liddle Kiddles, Dolly Darling, Crissy, Flatsy, Playpal, Thumbelina, Barbie, Darcy, Tammy, and so many more. It is a pleasure to read so you will find yourself coming back to look at it even when you don't have a doll to identify.

I saw this book sticking out on a shelf in the library. Though I don't have a doll interest I decided to check it out. I've checked it out at least five times since then.
The book is so colorful and beautifully laid out. The woman has a sense of humor about the bizarre items of the past, some of which would never pass today like the doll Flatsy. Another item of this book was Growing Hair Cher where a person could make Cher's hair go up and down with a key.
I've shown this to other people and it always manages to get a couple of laughs.

This book is great. I am very pleased with it. It has lots of dolls to look at/look up. The dolls are catagorized by manufactorer but if you can't find your doll that way the index is extremely easy to use. It has helped me a lot in my doll collecting and it has also helped add some dolls to my want list. All in all wonderful book, worth buying.

I hate the term `Packaging Yourself' that is on the cover, but besides that I think this is a well written and important book. We are all different; how we discover what makes us unique and how we express that to a college is an important part of the application process.

The 2004 movie Spanglish, starring Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman and Paz Vega, starts with a scene in a college admissions office. Admissions officers sit around a table going through applications. Uninspired to continue reading after looking at a sentence or two, one officer puts down the essay in her hands and moves to the next one. She does this a couple of times till she reaches an essay with a unique beginning. The applicant writes about the most influential person in her life -- her mother, a Mexican immigrant who works as a housekeeper. The officer is enticed enough to continue reading. She's hooked.

THE COLLEGE HOOK is a book I wish I had available to me when I prepared for college admissions in my high school days. It's definitely a valuable guide for those applying to college.

In order to increase your chances of admission to the college of your choice, college consultant Pam Proctor designed the book to help you learn how to define your special achievements - your hook - (even if you think you don't have any). After that, she teaches you how to package that information (your college application) and sell yourself (your interview) during the college application process.

Pam Proctor provides all types of tips to help the college applicant - inspiring anecdotes of students' experiences, clear sample essays, letters and selected references and more. THE COLLEGE HOOK is worth its price to learn how to stand out as a college applicant.

Fafa Demasio

Finally a college admission aid that succinctly defines it! Easy to use,well organized,and timely. As a father having faced college admission with three kids and facing it with a fourth the information is a god-send.The format and style will even encourage your kid's participation. Jim . Georgia.

Gaining admittance into the college of your choice is no easy task. With THE COLLEGE HOOK, written by Pam Proctor, the president of College Application Consultants, Inc., I have to say that your odds are greatly improved!

The book is broken down into four main parts: Discovering Your Hook, The Top Ten College Hooks, Packaging Your Hook, and Selling Your Hook. Each main category is then broken down into smaller, more-manageable sections, such as Hooks That Worked, The Resume Power Play, and Acing the Interview.

I know you're asking yourself: "What in the world, exactly, is the college hook?" According to Ms. Proctor, it's pretty simple: it's "that one special interest that will cause admissions officials to salivate over an application and significantly increase the odds of getting into a favorite college."

Basically, colleges are looking for that unique "something" that makes you you - that "something" that will make their college a better college, and will make them sorry if they don't accept you! But to find your hook, you have to find the strengths and weaknesses in yourself, and that's not always an easy task. But THE COLLEGE HOOK stresses the importance of doing just that, and The Top Ten College Hooks (including Athletic, International, Music, Political, Technology, Humanitarian, Science, Writing, Drama, and Multicultural) go a long way in helping you figure out your personal hook before you begin the college admissions process.

This is a must-read for teens getting ready to begin sending out those college applications. From writing an interesting, professional resume to acing your admissions interview, everything about the application process is covered.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

This is, without a doubt, a well-crafted book, well-organized, well-written, full of lots of practical and useful tips. There's a couple of aspects of it, however, that detract considerably from its usefulness in my situation.

The first one is major: the anecdotes she relates, which are meant to be inspiring, are in my view actually discouraging to the teens who might read this book. Example? The girl who just couldn't figure out her "hook", then thought back, and it suddenly struck her, oh YEAH, that's right, I was a Broadway star in 9th grade, praised in reviews in the New York Times, featured on the cast album in two solos, etc. I mean, come on. My daughter, who is a top student with great test scores and great extracurriculars, is freaking out that she might not get into Yale because "everyone who gets in is a published novelist or something." The examples in this book perpetuate that myth, and make it seem like only those sorts of people will stand a chance. I bought this book for her, but luckily read it first, and now I'm not going to give it to her to read, because it will just exacerbate her concerns.

Secondly, I'd assumed that the book was focused on the college application process, which it sort of is, but much of the germane advice (good tips all) pertains to the student's whole high school career, and what they can do to position themselves. This is a book for parents of such kids, who can help encourage and enable activities and events that will help once the senior year application process begins.

This is a wonderful book that's fully of humor and humanity. It's a title I've recommended to my friends and family as a (true!) story that hits close to home for any intellegent person looking for their soul mate. The book has resulted in a lot discussions about relationships and the many dating moments that we've all experienced trying to find the right one. Cathy - don't give up!

"Comeback Season" made me vaguely uncomfortable at first, for which I blame this simple fact: I'm a man. I don't read books about dating, especially women dating, not even if they have a catchy football angle. And to be utterly truthful, the last time I did any reading about football, I was thumbing idly through a year-old Sports Illustrated while waiting to get a cavity filled. So one would not think that I would even countenance reading a book such as this.

However, after hearing a radio interview with the author, I was moved to check it out, in part because I, like Ms. Day at the beginning of her book, am 37, educated, and single, and I would be hard pressed to think of a single acquaintance of my own age who is stil, well, single. Like Ms. Day, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what's wrong with me, not out of unhealthy self-absorbtion, but genuine concern.

The difference between me and the author is that she decided to take action to change her life. And then she wrote this book. I assume you've read the synopsis already, so I won't dwell on the plotline, other than to say it is by turns funny and profoundly thought-provoking, a performance-art journal and a diary of 3 a.m. despair. It showed me a situation quite similar to my own, but from the perspective of a member of the opposite sex. And, no, guys, you'll find no feminist rants here, no man-hating or man-baiting. The most refreshing thing about the book, considering its subject matter, is its almost total lack of ideological or gender-based rancor and its refusal to indulge in victimology. Like her earlier novel, this memoir is peopled by fully-realized human beings, both women and men, who are by turns weak and courageous, despicable and generous; no heroes or heroines, nor blameless victims, nor mustache-twirling villains. Nor are there quick and easy self-help solutions: Cathy does not get a makeover, a new wardrobe, and a frontal lobotomy and immediately find the love of her life; nor does she halfheartedly embrace a bitter compromise. Instead, she finds her own core and an unknown strength of character with the help of her loving family and friends and the virtues she's learned from her sports heroes. She comes to terms with the past decisions she's made, and finds grace and meaning in her present life, without earth-shattering calamity, divine revelation, or Oprah. Rather, she finds that the simple, sometimes hackneyed, often maligned influences in our lives - football, family, friends, silly 70's rock songs - can lead us to our better, greater selves.

What a wonderful book this is. Cathy Day's search and struggle to find "the right one", like the fight of the Indianapolis Colts, is told so honestly, and in such beautiful prose, that it's impossible not to be beguiled by this book. The portraits of men, friends, and family members are precise and perfectly rendered. I'm not given to reading about dating, but this book is about so much more than that: it's about the desire and the need to--to steal a line from an old coach--"make something happen" in life.

Comeback Season is NOT just another memoir about dating in the modern world. Cathy Day is a far cry from the stereotypical single woman from television and movies. She prefers beer over cosmopolitans, doesn't have a closet full of designer shoes, and isn't obsessed with her weight. In a society that tells singles that they have to change themselves in order to find love, Day chooses a refreshing alternative: Accept who you are, and get yourself out on the playing field.

In Comeback Season, Day authentically chronicles the shady ways of serial daters, and the mystery of the guy who wants to be with you for a few months and then just suddenly doesn't. She blows the cover on certain dating services and websites that prey on people made vulnerable by their loneliness. Perhaps the most insightful is her attack on the notion that people are single either because they choose to be, or because they have some deep-seated personality flaw. Day argues that our world has grown increasingly isolating, and encourages us to stop blaming the individual and examine the social causes behind the rapid growth of the single population.

Day strikes the perfect combination of dry wit and vulnerability that adds humor, warmth, and complexity to a subject that is often relegated to the self-help section of literature. This is not a self-help book. It is fantastic writing and a surprisingly compelling story that is difficult to put down once you start. And yes, you can know absolutely nothing about football and still enjoy every reference to the NFL.

Cathy Day's Comeback Season: How I Learned to Play the Game of Love concerns a topic near and dear to my heart: dating. The book take place during the year that culminated in the Colts going to the Superbowl. If I'm spoiling this for you by revealing that they win at the end of the book, congratulations. You're even more clueless about football than I am.

Day, however, is not clueless about football. She loves the game the way I loved basketball more than a decade ago. She sees the characters, the narrative, the tragic moments and the euphoric triumphs in sports, and she writes about it so beautifully that even my eyes don't glaze over during the football passages.

But the Colts are not the real story, here. At age 37, Day is tired of being single and she's going to let the Colts inspire her in her hunt for love. To aid her in game, she uses some funny conceits. She transcribes, word-for-word, the best of the halftime locker room pep talks from the sports movies she loves. And she imagines some very funny interviews between herself and a sports interviewer about how her season of finding someone to love is going. Breaking up the story with descriptions of games, the movie excerpts, and these interviews isn't just entertaining, it's necessary. Her account is personal, it's honest, she's earnest and vulnerable in this quest for love. For those of us who identify with her story, it's necessary to give us some relief. I can't figure out what seemed whiny to the editorial reviewer above. Day is honest about how important finding a relationship has become to her, and mystified by how hard it is to find one. Her tone is unsparing but not self-pitying.

I'm not going to tell you how the book ends. If you're curious, read it. It's well worth it.

I had a long list of books I promised myself I would read upon finishing school. One was "The Corporate Rat Race". This book has challenged me in many ways - from both a career and a personal perspective. There is much to be taken from this book that applies to more than just corporate life. I am glad that I read it.

A friend recommended The Corporate Rat Race to me and at first blush I admit I was not particularly interested in the book's subject matter. Within the first couple of paragraphs Paul had me hooked and I had a hard time putting it down. The Corporate Rat Race is an informative, quick and fun (did I just say 'fun' about a book found in the business section?!) read about the evolution of corporate America and business ethics in today's world. The principles discussed here are as another reviewer put it, "easy to understand and apply." This sets The Corporate Rat Race apart from its competitors in the same genre. I highly recommend.

Mr. Ulasien took a very practical and applicable view point of a hot topic among Corporate America workers today. Not only did the title catch my attention, but the book totally captivated me. It was obvious that the author spent many hours researching the evolution of Corporate America, and how the rat race came to be. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his and others' experiences, and I personally related to several scenarios. This is must read book!

Based on his many years of experience in the Corporate Rat Race, Paul Ulasien has provided practical and timely advice on how to survive in today's workforce. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and cannot decide which part of it I like best: the trip down "history lane", reading the real-life examples and recognizing myself and co-workers, or the "words of wisdom" and humor interjected throughout. This book is a must for anyone who wants to bring renewed attention to their personal situation and make sound decisions on how to survive in Corporate America!

Paul did an excellent job in breaking down the corporate challenges facing today's worker in an easy to understand format. The author's use of examples and real world scenarios made it easy for the reader to relate and gave you a feeling of being there. Having come from corporate America I now have a better understanding of the "why" things have become as they are. I have recommended this book to friends and co-workers and it has been well received. Looking forward to his next book.

My daughter was given this book by her Aunt and Uncle, and what a wonderful surprise the book turned out to be! Quite clever, and very funny..... Though my one year old daughter is a bit young for the book, I've had more fun reading through it and wishing I was 10 years old again!

A lot of time and effort obviously went into this delightful activity book. Looking forward to Creative Aventures Part II....?!

We bought this book for our grandkids, and are ordering another copy for a friend. It is a big bright book filled with wonderful things for kids to do, things that really call on their creative juices. I think the thing that makes this book stand out is that children really get to know Courtney and her family and friends, especially when she was a little girl. It's like having Courtney to play with, and kids seem to love it.

Compiled and illustrated by Courtney Watkins, Courtney's Creative Adventures is a fun and exciting book packed from cover to cover with creative activities for young people. Color drawings and photographs illustrate suggestions for entertainments ranging from scavenger hunts, to creating puppets, to simple games shared with friends, and much, much more. Courtney's Creative adventures is enthusiastically recommended as being a great counter to summer vacation doldrums, holiday blues, and an excellent "anytime" antidote to boredom!

I always watch out for Courtney whenever she appears on the "The View"; a few months ago I ordered her book for my family and I can honestly say it's fantastic. I have never seen kids respond so quickly and so enthusiastically to a book. It's colorful, eye-catching and really fun (for all of us). She shows kids how to turn ordinary household items into magical creations. Plus, unlike other books of this kind that require your own personal laboratory, or a few hundred yards of gossamer ribbon, these projects can actually be completed by normal people with normal resources and a moderate income. Anyone with kids who have "seen this" and "done that" should get this book ASAP.

I am incredibly impressed and charmed by Ms. Watkins! What a talent and personality. This book is a treasure for both parents and children. I feel it opens the creative minds of children, crawls into their heads and really gets at what makes them excited and tick. It also helps parents bond and laugh with their kids aside from sitting in front of the TELEVISION! There is also so much information packed into this book that it is worth 3x's the price.

I can't wait to see more Courtney Watkins books!

I am really enjoying this book. It is full of information and covers just about every aspect of ceramics you can think of. I am teaching a youth ceramics class this summer and am looking forward to having this as a reference!

This is a great book for anyone who wants to work with clay. It is clearly written with prospective and actual studio potters in mind.

The book originally came out in 1992, and is now in its fourth edition. And, after mentioning some safety issues, it has plenty of instructional material on how to shape clay, and what tools to use. There are sections on hand building: pinching, coil building, and slab building. Then there's plenty about the technique of "throwing" clay on a potter's wheel, with nice sequences of photos. This takes plenty of skill and practice! As the author says, the wheel is very sensuous, rhythmic, and hypnotic. Peterson is always warning us to treat clay properly: if you attack it in one way and then hit it from another direction in the same place, you may find cracks there in firing, induced by the strains you imposed on it. It's simply wrong to overwork clay.

Still, many potters and artists like to produce many objects with the same overall shape. And that means making and using molds made from plaster, and making casting slips, so Peterson shows us quite a bit about these. After this comes a discussion of decoration. This involves artistry and visualization.

There is a good discussion of types of clays, and explanations of what earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain are. We're shown different types of clay bodies, including terra sigillata and raku (a process which requires a clay body that has some dirt mixed in with it to make it porous enough to avoid thermal shock). And there is a wonderful chapter on glazes. Following that, there is plenty about kilns and firing, including using cones, inconel tubes, and pyrometers to measure temperature.

A technical section explains how to do calculations on glazes, and there are charts of coefficients of expansion, data on frits, color charts of clay and glaze combinations, and much more.

There is a historical overview, which includes a discussion of the studio potter movement and the contributions to it from Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. And we see some of the work of Maria Martinez and Lucy Lewis in Pueblo Indian ceramics. There is also an excellent portfolio of interesting works. I especially like some of the low-fire ones.

This is a very useful resource and I highly recommend it.

This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc.

Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues:

First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work.

The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book.

For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into.

[This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.]

This book is an excellent reference for different levels of clay/ceramics work. It is a beautiful "coffee table book" as well.
It came in perfect condition.

If you are just learning, or are stuck in a rut, this book is a great reference for potters of all skill levels.

The Crucible of Freya (and it's online introductory module, The Wizard's Amulet) are both excellent products. They are geared toward new DM's and take the time to explain the new 3rd edition rules and proper ways these rules should be used. This is a very refreshing way to read a module for new and old players alike as it reinforces what you know (or just think you know).
Highlights: A simple but well planned adventure centered around the retrieval of a holy relic. The villians are nasty, more than a challenge for the 1st and 2nd level characters the module is designed for, but the website has free advice on how to tailor the adventure for more powerful characters.
Numerous NPC's are introduced with quirky backgrounds and personalities that the players may or may not meet. I have adapted the entire module to my Forgotten Realms campaign and plopped it in the north, a few hundred miles from Waterdeep.
The writers stress that although the module is very difficult for low level characters, they did this on purpose as the best memories often derive from the most demanding challenges. And a resourceful DM can still save the PC's butts from the fire without them knowing.
Definitely worth giving a try, and the best thing is, the more popularity Necromancy Games gets, the more money they acquire, and the better their products will be in the future.

I must say that originally I was skeptical of a non-Wizard's company providing materials for the Dungeons and Dragons game, but when I opened and perused a copy of the Crucible of Freya, that changed. The quality of the cover and the cover illustration grabbed my attention. I purchased it immediately and took it home to digest. The graphics are top notch, the plot and story are excellent and the overall presentation of the module is very good. It centers around the activities of one of "1st Edition" Dungeons and Dragons best known villians: Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead. It is great to see that first edition feel. This company knows how to write good adventures and knows how to package them to make them a complete product. There are several good maps, several NPC's presented to help adventurers and a complete location that DM's can base further adventures in. The best thing about Necromancer Games is their customer support. If you purchase their products, you can visit their web site and download additional material for each adventure, really giving you your money's worth. I think that the D20 Open License might be the best thing for DnD and that Necromancer Games will be leading the way in providing additional resources for all Dnd players.

This module is intended as an introduction to AD&D for new players and DMs. I have not yet played or DMed it, and there will be spoilers below:

The production quality is uneven. Nice glossy, colorful cover and back which you can see above. The maps are amateurish in look, and the text is easy to read with good use of whitespace.

There's a lot of fleshing out the adventure and the area surrounding the adventure. What I really like is that there are areas that will likely [terminate] a low level party if they go exploring, but most of those offer a way out or a way to solve the problem (even if it's just to run, a healthy thing to learn to do for players). No coddling of the players here.. I like it. Though there is one way for the DM to help out the players, but it's through a natural part of the module, not fudging a die roll because the players are in over their heads. The village and NPCs are well fleshed out, with good characters having some not so good qualities at times, and at times the PCs and the NPCs will conflict even if on the same side. Because the players can give in to the NPC wishes or do what they think is best, it gives the illusion of choice to the players in an otherwise simple adventure. The actual encounters mostly involve one monster (humanoid actually) race, unless the party explores where it shouldn't, and as such it can be fairly repetitive. There's a secret area in the module that they can find, with a surprising twist if a fight doesn't actually occur, which shows that there isn't always a happy ending. There's little in the way of puzzles, and no 'usual' dungeon. The players can greatly affect the difficulty of one of the main battle depending on what they do...

>Overall, this is a good first adventure with plenty of opportunity for roleplay, conflict and battle. Almost every possibility is spelled out for the DM, and there are numerous ways to continue on from the end of the adventure. Recommended.

This module is quite well done. It is somewhat better than the modules that WotC has been putting out. Also, the downloadable mini-adventure is pretty good.

One strength of this module is in its notes to the DM. The hints provided about how to run an encounter are the kind that are normally hard to express, but when expressed properly are valuable pearls of wisdom. There are also good descriptions of where xp are derived, suggestions of a bonus, additional story ideas,... I recommended the module to a friend of mine who wanted to learn to be DM and she was immensely pleased.

The module is a little bit difficult for beginning players, however. Some of the encounters could easily destroy a party if the DM wants them to. Therefore, this module is especially suited to a beginner DM in a group of experienced players. Experienced players often are not happy sitting around while the DM reads a long-winded block of text describing a room. In this module, text that is to be read to players is mercifully short. It is also clearly set out from the other text in "scrolls" so that you can access it quickly. Very nice layout.

There is a problem associated with the module that almost prevents me from giving it a 5 star rating. The authors of the module made mistakes with the 3e rules. For example, a sorcerer wears armor and has the spell mage armor. The authors erroneously believe that mage armor and armor stack. That is not the case, according to the DMG. (I decided it was unfair to dock a star since the character was downloaded rather than printed in the module.)

I bought this adventure while looking for something to add to my new 3rd edition campaing. I found it great reading and better than anything put out by WOTC (with the exception of the new system) to date. Then to find out that there is another 23 page online down load for free, as well as several other DM and player maps, this just blew me away. and all for a smaller price than the new WOTC releases. I have since purchased every d20 product in the sword and sorcery line and have not once been disapointed. A thing I can't say for any other gaming company that I have tried yet.