People Books

I've been doing research on nursing home models that are nurturing and affordable, and - as a real estate developer - also financially feasible for the owner/operator. This book is an excellent summary of many of the current ideas in a very readable format. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in nursing homes - for people you care about and from a business perspective.

Anyone who works with our elders and is looking to begin (or continue) their journey towards person directed care needs to read this book! I found it very easy to read, yet full of good, useful and inspiring information. I am sure I will be rabbit ear-ing this book to death!!

I couldn't put down "Old Age in a New Age" until I finished! Beth Baker has written the best book I have read yet (for the ordinary reader who is not part of the medical, nursing institution). This difficult and challenging subject we call "long term care" is hard to understand with its many complexities. I have been reading many books over a period of time and I am amazed at the clarity with which Baker shows the problems even while weaving together the human stories. She keeps the reader engaged and gives us hope. An exceptional writer and journalist, she has provided a book that is easy to read about a difficult and complex subject. But a subject that cannot be ignored even if we want to. The probability is increasing that a nursing home will be the last home for us or our loved ones. We ignore the statistics, hoping, praying we never will reside in a nursing home. In the best sense of the word Baker's book will challenge, it can't help but do that--and hopefully get us to be part of the change we want and need--and for the sake of all future "nursing home residents" we should be grateful to Baker for providing such a signficant book. I think Baker's book can be a tool for change in the nursing home near you. Buy it, read it and pass it on to others so we don't find ourselves one day in a dreadful nursing home. I am going to buy this book in bulk and give it to as many people as I can get to read it...That's how significant a read I think it is!
(Rev. Dr.) Judith O'Neill

Movements occur when people push government and institutions out of the way of progress. "Old Age in a New Age" documents a movement that is currently gathering steam across the nation without marches, protests or boycotts.
It gives me a incredible amount of hope that the bleak future of long term care I envisioned is no longer certain after all.
This book is the product of a few dreamers who act, and make real change happen dispite crusty skepticism and entrenched misunderstanding of what "care" means. Heros walk among us, changing the whole world for thousands of nursing home residents.
It will take a long time for me to digest the implications of this important book.

Notwithstanding my low tolerance for any movement that uses the word "transformative" I still found the book an amazing read.

The book is a readable mix of anecdotal and hard data, knowledgeably presented with compassion and humor. Baker is respectful of the residents and the professionals who care for them, without becoming sentimental or preachy. None of which would persuade me this movement has any real chance of actually transforming the hospital model of nursing homes, especially given my experience with how large systems manage to subvert even the best intended and most well-conceived attempts at reform.

What saves the whole thing, for me anyway, is the realization that Baker is addressing my self-involved generation with a message keyed to our own enlightened self-interest. Unless I want to end up as a drooling urine-soaked "slumper" parked in a wheelchair in some dim hallway near the nurse's station, I better get cracking. Perhaps I'm reading too much beneath her overt cheerfulness about the many successfully transformed homes she discovered. But she managed to scare and encourage me at the same time.

I put the book down with a profound respect for those professionals, residents, and families who are inventing something to replace the broken model. Thanks to this book, I find myself feeling hopeful that our generation will not only insist that we do better, but also that there is a model out there of what that better picture can be.

I strongly recommend this book to everyone who has ever visited a friend or family member in a nursing home, everyone who has ever had to help make such decisions for loved ones, and everyone determined to make their own final years self-reliant, stimulating, and worth living.

I am a huge fan of Derek Jeter's. That's why I chose this book. I gave it five stars because Matt Christopher described every part of Derek's life accurately. I had already read Derek's autobiography and in that book I learned that his Dad made him sign contracts. In these contracts with his father, Derek had to promise to get good grades -- or else he didn't get to play in any All Star games or anything. Later, dude!

This series in general, and the Jeter book in particular, are great for a 5-10 year old sports nut. I read this with our 6 year old, a chapter a night for a couple weeks.

It's well written and moves quickly.

It makes reading fun by being about something a sports fan kid will really enjoy.

And Jeter in particular is a good story because he's such an great role model for kids -- he crosses racial divides, espouses the virtue of hard work, respect and not taking anything for granted.

Highly recommended

It's a grand slam! Baby. If you like nod slam Yeah baseball you are going to love this book. It's called on the Field with Derek Jeter. It's about a boy who has a fantasy to become the greatest short stop for the New York Yankees. His dreams come true. This book is cool and it is for all Ages. You will like this book but baseball Fans will love this book at One point in he book I all most cried I
recommend this book to you because I am a big baseball fan.

On the Field with Derek Jeter

On the Field with Derek Jeter is my favorite book because it is about my favorite player dreaming to be the player he is today! The setting is mostly on the baseball field. This biography is written by Matt Christopher and he has lots of good biographies. Derek Jeter is the main character and there are lots of people that helped him make his dream come true, like his dad! My favorite part is when he is assigned to the Minor Leagues! The book starts when his mom and dad meet. The theme of the book would be Derek Jeter's comes true. The book starts very exciting even thow it is very serious.
And I think anyone who is a baseball fan or a Yankees fan will love this book!
- Natatlie,9

The book I'm reviewing is At the Plate with Derek Jeter by Matt Christopher. I think this book deserves five stars. This book is a Derek Jeter biography. A problem that occurs in this story is when he's in high school. He almost gets cut from the team. This tells you how Derek Jeter became a pro baseball player. I would recommend this book to anybody.

Emerson N.J. fifth grade student

I read this at my bookstore for the children's story time. It went over well with kids, and I even got an "ohh" of delight when I turned the page to reveal the empty bird cage with origami key on the table next to it. Very clever escape for the origami bird :) I predict that this will likely win a Caldecott or other award very soon. Simply done text adds to the feeling that this is a classic zen story. Would be a great addition to any child's library, especially if they have enjoyed books like "Zen Shorts (Collector's Edition) (Zen) (Zen)" Be ready for them to want to try Origami after reading this! There is instructions for an origami bird at the end of the book. It would have been better if they included instructions for all of the animals the Origami Master made in the book, but a good start!

In The Origami Master, it is truly Nathaniel Lachenmeyer who has mastered the art of creating a "new" ancient Japanese folktale. The language, tone and lessons are reminiscent of a beautiful old fable, with artwork that is perfectly matched to the serene, solitary, yet beautiful world the origami master and his new friend inhabit. Adults and children alike will delight in the ending and find warm joy in the gentle moral. A book to surely be enjoyed again and again.

This book will make a great addition to any child's library. It is captivating and carries a great message about importance of freedom in any friendship. Once your child is done reading the book he or she can enjoy practicing making their own origami bird.
Now I will make sure to check out all the other books written by this author which are as I heard also very good.

This is a delightful story about origami and freedom. I bought it to read to my young art students, but will treasure the book forever.

I harbored great resentment towards origami as a child. Essentially I was the kind of kid who'd harbor resentment against any trade, skill, or hobby in which I lacked basic essential skills. And for a kid who couldn't so much as fold a paper airplane without detailed instructions, origami seemed like some kind of cruel joke. Here's a piece a paper... foldity, foldity, foldity, foldity, voila! Instant paper monkey! Yet while I did not like the art itself, I would not have minded reading about origami had there been any picture books written about it. Maybe there were. Maybe my library shelves growing up were full of such stories, but if so they somehow eluded me. One book that hasn't eluded me in the present day, however, is Nathaniel Lachenmeyer's "The Origami Master". Surprisingly funny and visually arresting this book is nothing so much as a small present from a small publisher. Like an origami creation itself, Lachenmeyer and artist Aki Sogabe have produced something small, meticulous, and ultimately charming.

Shima the Origami Master keeps to himself on the side of a tall Japanese mountain . His days are spent peacefully enough, folding origami papers into little creatures of his own making. One day a warbler sitting in a tree happens to see what Shima is doing and that night it folds the papers in much the same manner. This might be cute except for the fact that the warbler is a much better origami artist than the man. Its elephants are "simpler and more beautiful". And when Shima switches to dragons, the next night he finds a far superior version on his table that "looked like it was about to come to life and fly back to its lair." Increasingly frustrated Shima spies on his table the next night only to see the warbler improving on his origami spider design. Determined to get its secrets for himself, Shima traps the bird in a cage and leaves it lots of paper. However the warbler refuses to do anything but pine for its tree. And when the man falls asleep, he awakes to find the warbler gone and an origami key sitting by the cage. Fearful that he has frightened the bird away, Shima goes outside to find it making a nest in his tree and in gratitude he creates an origami nest, "for the friend he had made and almost lost." Instructions for making your own origami bird follow at the end of the book.

I love being surprised by a picture book. If an author can write a story in a mere 32 pages that goes in an unexpected direction then I am floored. And when the man woke to find that the bird escaped its cage by making an origami key, that's when I tipped my hat. Artist Aki Sogabe was also clearly amused by the idea since the key in question is not a dark gray or blue but a bright and vibrant pink. A slightly brighter shade than the cherry blossoms where the warbler makes its home. Right off the bat I was also rather charmed by the cover and title of this book. Without reading the story, anyone in their right mind would take one glance at the illustration and words and think that the "Master" in question would have to be the old man folding a dragon on the table. You don't even notice the small warbler nesting nearby, though it is clear that the bird is the better artist.

It was important to me that the warbler not be some kind of cartoony anthropomorphized creature haunting the man's tree. Fortunately Aki Sogabe must have felt the same way since the pictures here are nothing if not realistic. The publication page says that the illustrations were created with "cut paper and watercolor", which I wouldn't have necessarily have guessed. Sogabe weaves the cut paper elements seamlessly within the pictures. Sometimes an illustrator will utilize mixed media, and the foreign elements will veritably leap off the page (for good or for ill) and draw attention to themselves. When Sogabe chooses to use cut paper, however, you don't even consciously notice. Is the pillow that the man kneels on made of cut paper? What about the little origami pages? Sogabe has made the conscious choice to create a smooth seamless transition between her watercolors and the outside elements, and it works like a charm.

Of course, I was a little surprised to hear that watercolor was Sogabe's preferred painting choice since this book looks like nothing so much as a series of colored woodcuts. The thick lines of the man's thatched home or the bold strokes that make up the warblers body; these all seem to indicate a woodcut or printmaking technique. At the same time, Sogabe's vistas and landscapes where she sets her scenes are remarkably beautiful paintings. She gets the maximum amount of use out of distant hills and overlapping trees. Second and third readings of the book also reveal how elegantly she uses shadows. There is the shadow cast by the table when the man falls asleep and the bird is given its first opportunity to escape. There is the shadow of the man when he hides to find out who has been besting him at his own game. Each shadow highlights an important moment in the story but it's not something you'd necessarily think to look for.

I am happy to say that "The Origami Master" joins my other favorite origami themed picture book "Lissy's Friends" by Grace Lin. Together the two would make for a fabulous storytime or readaloud program (particularly if you wanted to finish the program by making some origami critters of your own with the kids). Deftly told in a lovely format, "The Origami Master" is a great example of a simple story paired with pitch perfect illustrations. A wonderful read and a wonderful find. A must for any collection.

This is an excellent resource. I really enjoy the depth of the subject matter covered by the author.

This is one of the best summaries of AmericanHistory ever written.
NOT Politically Correct- No Liberal revisionism.
Excellent stories about those who made our country great

If you are interested in American history, this is it! Highly detailed, consist of short pieces, which can be read as stand alone articles. You need not read in sequence. Morison ensures that each section is understood by a lay reader. Sheds light on historical events at sociological angle. You will understand what and why people did throughout decades. What they were thinking, and why.

There are some minor factual errors here and there, and some setions may have been written different. Anyway, extremely good reference book.

Each student should have this book!

You can do no better than to learn U.S. history from Morison. This work, part of a what was a single volume spanning origins to 1963, displays extraordinary depth and breadth of scholarship, written with a superb command of the language that makes our history fascinating.

The first volume of this three volume set is exceptional. The breadth of this work is substantial. In fact there is so much ground covered in this work that many truly momentous events are covered in what seems a very short number of pages. Most of us think that the history of the US goes something like "The pilgrims wrote the Mayflower Compact, jumped off the boat, ate thanksgiving turkey, hung some witches, dumped some tea and declared independence." Morison does a fabulous job of filling in the spaces. Morison's style is very engaging as well. It is interesting to note that this volume was published in the 60's so there are frequent mention's of communists themes and when the author mentions native Americans he means people that were born in this country even if they had ancestors from England or other European countries. Highly recommended.

This cookbook is absolutely gorgeous. It is a wonderful guide to the Pacific Northwest for both locals and visitors. The recipes are fabulous (try the Chipotle Chocolate Cake) and very easy to do at home, while still elegant. And the wine pairing suggestions are spot on. Outstanding book that would make a great addition to anyone's cookbook collection - and one that you will actually use.

Braiden has captured the unique flavors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and B.C. with her lively commentary of the distinct ingredients you can find there. Her profiles of people and places make me want to visit each and every destination. If I can't get to that farm or winery, at least I can make the meal myself - and pour a glass of Braiden's hand-picked Northwest wine recommendations to accompany it.

The recipes are easy and delicious, inspiring us to use local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients. So far, our family favorites are the Grilled Asparagus Salad with Prosciutto, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Balsamic Vinaigrette and the Dungeness Crab with Ginger-Cilantro Mayonnaise! Yummy~

This book offers many exceptional recipes however there are two from Chef Maury Bennett in Idaho that are amazing his passion for local fares radiates through his ideas. I would like to see an entire cook book done by him!!

For the wine and food nut, this book is of epic proportion. Vivid and lively pictures combined with the real people and real stories of the Pac NW illustrates the connection between Braiden Rex-Johnson and her subject. The
wine country traveler's guide to the good life in the Pac NW. Bravo!

To counter the damp and dreary days of winter I surround myself with distractions that promise better days to come. At the top of my pile is Braiden Rex-Johnson's Pacific Northwest Wining and Dining. Just looking at the cover of this love letter to NW cuisine warms me. I imagine myself dining al fresco on the patio of this restaurant or a myriad of others. Then I pour over the interior pages, like a gardener pouring over a seed catalogue in winter. I indulge in the descriptions of familiar restaurants and wineries as well as intriguing new ones. I plan our next excursion into Eastern Washington or the Willamette Valley or the always promising Vancouver area, while noting the recipes from these areas that we want to make today and the wines we will want to serve with them. I smile at the quotes from favorite and unfamiliar chefs and feel as though I now know something of what makes them who they are. And then I remember another friend who I want to share this book with and I'm back online to order it. What a perfectly luscious way to wile away the winter days.

Excellent book with that real Paris feel, a feast of classic French cityscapes and architectural heritage, a visual source of art inspiration that is both easy on the eyes and stimulating, recommended .

... then you'll love this one. For the sketches of the Parisian scenes are wonderfully well-drawn. Sometimes you'll be amazed to find out the "spots" that you didn't pay much attention on while you were there. Also, It captured all different moods..... and you feel like you are visiting Paris AGAIN!

A grand book for travelers to Paris or those already in love with the "City of Lights"!

Fabrice Moireau's watercolors and sketches bring the City of Light to life, and vividly captures the atmospheric city with its teeming cafe life, historic buildings, and new constructions. The book is divided into several segments covering the historic center, Northern Paris, Eastern Paris, Southern Paris, Western Paris, and the Gazetteer provides additional information of some of the prominent buildings featured. Moireau's paintings and sketches are accompanied by Mary Kelly's impressions of Paris, and both perspectives provide a wonderfully warm portrait of the City of Light.

A "Paris Sketchbook," captures Paris superbly. Walk again down the streets of Paris, sit in a cafe, or in a paris garden, or wonder again at Paris buildings and architecture. It is all there and captured beautifully my Mary Kelly's precise and spiritual prose, with Fabrice Moireau's water colors of Paris. The pictures and prose combine to be more like a musical piece, one reads and then "hums" like a tune from time to time. If one is looking for that special gift or souvenir of Paris, this is it. Enjoy Paris again and again, or tanalize those who plan a visit to Paris.

In this fast-paced, hectic 21st century world, too few of us pursue lives with meaning and purpose. "PeaceJam" makes you realize you CAN make a difference, one person at a time --- so what are you waiting for? A powerful, moving book.

This is the best book ever! It really helped me see what goes on in our world. I became much more aware. Peace Jam is an awsome program, and you should really read this book! 10000 stars!

This has everything stated above and more! If you're looking for information on conflict resolution, anger management, gender identity issues, gang-related violence, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, or just the hardships of being a teenager in this new millenium, then this is for you. These kids have had unbelievable experiences ranging from horrific to enlightening, like meeting the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Like Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine, this includes the shooting survivor Richard Castaldo, who shares even more of his story through PeaceJam.

I hope you too can purchase this and really enjoy the effect that it has on your life.

"PeaceJam: How Young People Can Make Peace in Their Schools and Communities" by Darcy Gifford is an astounding look behind the lives of 5 American teens in this "Post Columbine High School" world we live in. Even the acknowledged master Michael Moore and his film "Bowling for Columbine" or even Gus van Sant's "Elephant" pale in comparison to the stories of 3 of the 5 teens in this book - the 3 were survivors of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. They survived in varying degrees in the physical sense eg., 9 bullet holes in one young body to the surely depressing psychological state they must have experieced during and after the massacre.

NOt that the other 2 subjects in this book faired that well, either. Jes, a homeless girl trying to come to terms with her alcoholic mother and her abusing boyfriends surely felt the pain of living outside the family norm; and Rudy, the Native American gangbanger whose father died of a cocaine overdose certainly didn't have it very easy or good either. Reading this book makes you wonder what Mr. and Mrs. Klebold and Mr. and Mrs Harris did to their children to make them turn out that way... when Jes and Rudy had pretty horrible young lives in seemingly worse family unit conditions. I couldn't say my prognosis for the health and well-being of young people was in the affirmative, but after reading PeaceJam, my sense of hopefulness returned!

THese five young people transcend racism, sexism, and learn about gender identity issues, transgender issues, indigenous issues, feeding the homeless, racial intolerance, religious intolerance from some of the world's greatest leaders - all Nobel Peace Laureates - like the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jody Williams and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Betty Williams, anti-nuclear proliferation leaader Sir Joseph Rotblat, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Jose Ramos-Horta and Aung San Suu Kyi.

If these 5 young people can so winningly figure out and navigate these deadly waters, you have to ask yourself: Is there any hope for adults, including the ones who have led us into a nasty vicious war that certainly has no guaranteed outcome, or if I may be so bold, a war that it won't win, all the while feeding young bodies into the war grinder? Maybe this book should not only be for youth, youth counselors, school principals, peace studies groups, or just flat out compassionate types. "PeaceJam: How Young People Can Make Peace in Their Schools and Communities"
should be required reading for the president of the USA and his staff. That is, if they aren't so arrogant to do so. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a heart, a brain, and the guts to try to change the world. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Having seen the provocative and emotionally compelling documentary PEACEJAM ( a film that goes deeper into the lives of Columbine High School Massacre survivors Richard Castaldo, Shelby & Shannon Myers than Michael Moore's masterpiece "Bowling for Columbine" does), I didn't think that a book about the same subjects would be worth the money. I was happily surprised to find that the book "PEACEJAM: How Young People Can Make Peace in Their Schools and Communities" offered a more in-depth view on the lives of contemporary teens than I imagined possible.

I read this book and realized that one of the biggest American lies is "We Love Our Children." Really? It seems we love youth as a marketing demographic, as sexual objects, and counter help at fast food restaurants. States and counties across this country continue to cut their educational budgets - please do tell us all how this will help the lives of our young people, Mr. Bush.

PEACEJAM has the courage to examine the blights that face youth around the world: racism, gang-infested schools, drive - by shootings, conflict resolution, gender and transgender issues, bigotry, rape, family traumas, drug and alcohol addiction, how to deal with parents, democracy building, religious intolerance, indigenous issues, poverty, sexism, feminist issues and more. Youth who participate in the PEACEJAM program benefit from the wisdom of the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Dr. Oscar Arias, Jody Williams and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jose Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Bishop Carlos Belo, the father of anti-nuke proliferation Sir Joseph Rotblat, Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams. Nowhere else in the world can one find the words of these Nobel Peace Prize winners affecting so many young people to help change the world in a positive manner.

PEACEJAM is a boon to not only high school students, but also to school administrators, peace studies teachers, history teachers, high school guidance counselors, the parents of high schools students, and most anyone else trying to make sense out of a world bent out of shape by relentlessly warped media messages, instant internet hype, a government gone insane by waging war it cannot win, the lying executive branch of our own government, a lying sheriff's department in Jefferson County, Colorado, vile and violent pop music, and parents who are too busy trying to make up for their absenses in their own homes with cell phones, Lexuses, and other trivial material goods. "PEACEJAM: How Young People Can Make Peace in Their Schools and Communities" reads like an indictment of both the 20th and 21st Centuries. If you read the last few lines in this review and happen to see yourself, BUY THIS BOOK and READ IT UNTIL YOU GET. AND THEN GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE. The future of civilization depends on good things, Martha Stewart, like PEACEJAM.

My son is 5 and absolutely loves this book. It's a story about young boy and how he must help to care for his large Italian family that has come to America in hopes of having their dreams fulfilled. Disappointment of a father leads his young son to think his job is meager. But in the end one little boy does make a difference, for without his light the whole world is a dark place. The book just gives you a warm wonderful feeling when you finish reading it. The illustrations are beautifully drawn and give you the contact to really feel what Peppe and his family are feeling.

A young boy of modest means seeks a job to contribute to the needs of his family. Initially, his father is disappointed in the lowly responsibility that his son fulfills. The young man takes inspiration from his sister's admiration of him and finds that his job as a humble lamplighter blesses others beyond his understanding. The breath-taking illustrations span the entire two-page spread. This is a beautiful story of how everyone has their important role in life and can embrace it with excellence and passion.

There's a whole genre of picture books that examine the working class members of American society throughout history. These stories are usually based on the lives of the relatives and ancestors of the authors. "Peppe the Lamplighter" is no exception. Loosely based on the grandfather of author Elisa Bartone, the book examines one boy's occupation and his struggle be accepted in the eyes of his father.

Peppe lives with his sick father and seven sisters (not including the one in Naples) in the section of New York known as Little Italy. Taking place in what looks to be the 1910s, Peppe moves from store to store, attempting to find work. His father, is too sick to work himself, and all the children in the family must strive to find some kind of money. One day, old Domenico the lamplighter asks Peppe if he would light the lamps for him while he returns to Italy to fetch his wife. Peppe agrees readily and is delighted with the prospect. Delight slowly sours to shame, however, when his father is horrified by the job. Says he, "Did I come to America for my son to light the streetlamps?". As time goes by, Peppe's disenchantment with the job grows until he doesn't light the lamps at all. Only through the discovery of how important his job is to others can Peppe find the strength to return to lighting the lamps of New York City.

The pictures in this book are wonderfully rendered. Here we find the New York City tenements in all their filthy glory. At the same time, we see the strength of the people living in them. The first painting in the book shows Peppe and his family staring at the viewer as if they were posing for a formal family photograph. The light from a single latern lights them all, and illustrator Ted Lewin shows off his talents. In many ways, the book is similar to Chris K. Soentpiet's style (of "Molly Bannaky" fame). Reading this book is to actually find yourself in early New York itself. Crowds come alive and individuals display a wide range of emotions. The best picture in the whole book, to my mind, is the image of Peppe lifting his little sister so that she can light the lamp on the street herself. The light is above them, illuminating their faces with incredibly intensity. The two stare up at it, entranced.

The story itself if good, if not overwhelming. Peppe's father has a somewhat unbelievable change of heart towards the end of the tale. For a man who has harbored so much bitterness towards his son's chosen profession, he seems to come around to it mighty fast when the mood calls for it. Otherwise, it's lovely. Peppe compares the lighting of the lamps to the lighting of candles at Mass, and even goes so far as to say a small prayer for each. Small details like this truly bring the story to life.

The book celebrates one small boy who can, in his sister Assunta's words, "scare the dark away". It is a book about how every human being, if they've a mind to, can bring light into the world in their own humble fashion. Peppe may only be a lamplighter, but even his father recognizes by the end that this honest job gives safety and comfort to others. We should all be so lucky as to have jobs that do half as much.

I purchased this book for my husband for Father's Day (he's Italian American")--I didn't really think that our then 2.5 year old would really care for the book. But he loves it! It's a good story, although at times the messages can be a bit confusing for a very young child--but my son seems to enjoys the illustrations, the sounds of the Italian names, and of course the most elemental aspects of the story.

"Peppe the Lamplighter" combines a story by Elisa Bartone with illustrations by Ted Lewin. The story takes place "[a] long time ago when there was no electricity and the street lamps in Little Italy had to be lit by hand." The hero of the book is Peppe, who lives with his widowed father and sisters in a tenement. Peppe's decision to get a job as a lamplighter leads to conflict between Peppe and his father.

This is a good story that is greatly enhanced by Lewin's superb artwork. Most of the illustrations are two-page spreads that are packed full of energy and emotion. Lewin's realistic style is well-suited to capturing many colorful details: the sausages hanging in the butcher shop, a crowded street scene, the old-fashioned iron stove in Peppe's home, etc. Overall, a memorable celebration of Italian-American history.

This is a wonderful book. I am using it as a resource in leading an ILEAD class at Dartmouth.
Institute for Lifelong Education At Dartmouth

This is the kind of book I want to share with everyone I know. A "where have you been all my life?" book. It speaks to my heart in countless ways.

Two weeks ago I was struggling with the winter blues/cabin fever. It was bitter cold out, and I felt housebound and lonely. I told my partner "I have to get out." He's said "Let's go walk around Green Lake." We bundled up and drove all the way from Kirkland and began to walk. Within 5 minutes we ran into some dear friends, who had also been feeling housebound (she said she'd woken up crying that morning, and her husband had said "Let's walk around Green Lake!"). Three miles flew by, and before we knew it we were hugging goodbye. I drove home feeling a warm sense of contentment.

When we got home, I opened up Personal Village to my bookmark and began to read. It was the chapter that discusses limbic resonance. It was as if it had been written just for me on that day, as it spoke to exactly how I was feeling: I had needed a people fix!

I have spent my whole life looking for, and being a part of, communities, and feeling frustrated when I'm not involved in any that are currently working well for me. This book is inspiring me to put more effort into finding what I want. I have often wished I lived in Paris during the salons. This book is inspiring me to create one!

I am extremely involved in my neighborhood, and I love what Marv says about why there is value in picking up trash and caring about the people and place where we live.

His lists of books, films, and other resources are fantastic.

If you have longed for a greater sense of community in your life, or if you have felt that something is missing, read this book.

Most books about networking, dating, and making friends start at the point of contact: They assume that the user knows where to go to make friends. Thomas starts with the basics, from roaming your neighborhood to meet folks to the handy rule of thumb that it takes 7 visits to a new group for others to feel that you're one of the crowd.

I teach interpersonal communication, and this book has the best pointers I've yet read on how and how much to personally disclose to a new acquaintance, as one tests the waters and works toward building stronger ties and friendship.

Thomas avoids jargon and writes fluently in a down-to-earth, easy to read style. The book is well-organized. The chapter summaries and resources are a plus. Marvin Thomas has performed a much-needed service in offering this book to as a how-to manual for meeting and making friends in our fragmented society.

This is an excellent book. It woke me up to the importance of having people in your life. I am not a particularly outgoing person by nature, but after having read the book, I realized I already had a group of people around me that I can call my "personal village". The book made me realize how lucky I am to have these people in my life and to try harder to maintain these friendships, but also to be open to making connections with new people.

This book is so amazing. I have never written a review of a book. However, this is one that anyone that might be in the midst of "reinventing" their life as I am should read. I will soon be relocating to a new state and city and at the age of 59 that can be a little overwhelming. I am really looking forward to this new start and more than ever since reading this book and using the workbook. I have plans to start a study group after I am settled.

Pirates of the Caribbean Visual Guide is fantastic. It is beautifully illustrated and printed a fine paper. This is a great companion book to Pirates of the Caribbean. DK has always done a fine job with these types of publications. Pirates of the Caribbean and DK is a Treasure Trove. This will make a great Christmas gift.

Okay. So, I am an adult woman who bought this book so I could look at photos of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Jack Davenport as sexy swashbucklers in the privacy of my own home. And,it works. If I can't actually join them in their adventures, I can enjoy looking at them. Plus, the book has lots of fun information and other great photos from the films. If you liked the films and just want to relive them a bit, this is a great book.

Great picture book including everything needed to know about the Pirates of the Caribbean stories. Lots of information included among the pictures, not to mention the pull out poster of the Black Pearl. Great visual and fact guide!

A must have for any Johnny Depp or Pirate fan. The pictures and text are excellent. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a great purchase if you're a POTC fan. Lots of beautiful, detailed, color photographs paired with interesting info about the first two films that you might not find anywhere else. The book is neatly broken down explaining each character independently as well as each of the places the pirates hang out. There is also a very detailed map of the Black Pearl located in the center of the book and not to mention dozens of great photos of Capt. Jack! A great purchase!