Missouri Books

The Big Rivers is an excellent book. It takes the older elementary student through the water cycle using the big flood of '93 as a living example. I recommend this book for every library. Teachers this book is a great non-fiction book for use as supplemental reading for any environmental education curriculum.

An "indispensable book for bikers, hikers, walkers, joggers and families who want to enjoy Missouri's trails." Shawn E. Richardson's book Biking Missouri's Rail-Trails follows an identical format to Shawn E. Richardson's other two books Biking Ohio's Rail-Trails and Biking Wisconsin's Rail-Trails. This colorful paperback book includes detailed maps, photos, and a description to each trail. Trail lengths range from 1 mile to 235 miles and include information about trail surface (smooth crushed limestone, asphalt), trail use (biking, roller blading, horses, wheelchair, hiking), parking, and points of interest. Shawn E. Richardson provides informaion about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and their involvement with Missouri's Rail-Trails. If you live in Missouri, or plan to visit Missouri, this book is a must for any cyclist!

Excellent source of information. The authors have obviously put an incredible amount of time and effort into research for this book. The writing style follows what I would call a "typical" scientific format: In other words the book is not one for casual reading. The amature as well as professional ornithologist can obtain very precise information about state records for every bird to ever enter (or think about entering) Missouri. This book is definiiely "solid" science with very little, if any, speculation about distrubution or abundance of each species of bird to grace the state with its presence. I feel this book would make a respectable addition to any collection of literature dedicated to ornithology.

Bitter Fruit surveys the experiences of Afro-American women in World War II, contrasting sharply with the largely white surveys of women of the times. Photos, essays, fiction and poetry by and about black women's roles provide quite a different image of experiences, and offers works from some eighty writers on the topic. An important observational collection about black experiences during the war.

An effective state legislator is one who is aware of and reflects a district's thinking and concerns and maintains good communications with organized groups represeting that district, according to this author. The author followed 12 state legislators in search of what made them effective legislators and has produced this book as a result of his research.

The book analyzes previous research and theories regarding legislative representation. Michael A. Smith concludes there is no universal definition of how to define representation, noting that even legislators are dynamically redefining how they consider their own styles of representation as circumstances change.

This book provides great insight based on actual observations. Michael A. Smith discusses how legislators from lower or moderate income urban areas tended to be the strongest advocates for their districts and often take the lead in advancing causes that help their constituents. Legislators from wealthier districts who face tougher reelection campaigns tend to more passively wait for constituents to bring issues to them before advocating such issues. Legislators who wish to run for office tend to be outspoken advocates. Legislators with little or no ambition for higher office tend to try to come across as more level-headed.

While the author concludes there is no "grand theory" on describing how legislators behanve, these observations and categorizaitons are very useful. It is helpful to read disucssions of theory with actual observations.

This North Carolina poet writes powerful poetry with a clear sense of place and highly compressed imagery. If Janet Frame and Fred Chappell collaborated, the poetry might come out like this.I highly recommend it.Indeed, I am ordering a new copy because I keep lending mine to friends and can't seem to get it back!

I was a little skeptical at first because I thought everything that could have been written about the Younger Brothers has already been done. A few pages into the book told me this was not the case!!
Mr Koblas has done an excellent job in his research and of shedding new light on an already well-known subject.
Not only does he offer an excellent biography of Cole Younger but provides an in-depth description of the what the times were like and what factors (political, social and economical) were involved in shaping the later years of the Younger Brothers.
Can't go wrong with this one! - Roger Ashton

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT SOME OF THE FORMER PLAYERS FOR THE ST LOUIS CARDINALS. AMONG THE PLAYERS INTERVIEWED ARE JACK CLARK, RICK WISE, DICK GROTE AND TED SIMMONS. EACH PLAYER IS GIVEN 4-6 PAGES COVERAGE. THEY TELL US A BIT ABOUT THEIR CAREER WITH THE CARDS AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOW. I AM NOT EVEN A CARDS FAN BUT FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE INTERESTING AND NOSTALGIC. I RECOMMEND IT FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS.

The study of Peruvian flora have been the theme for several complex and broad studies as well as expeditions since Bentham & Hooker and Ruiz & Pavon in the eighteen century, untill McBride in 1936. Dozens of outstanding botanists have made contributions to the knowledge of this flora which is still incomplete: McBride, Weberbauer, Weddell, Ferreyra, Cuatrecasas, Smith and Gentry among others. The outcome of this is a huge amount of information and classification which is always not so easy to deal with.

The merit of this book is try to compile all the knowledge of the peruvian plants in a catalogue sorted by families, genera, location, synonimia, and holotype information (mainly herbaria availability). Actually the Brako's effort is the best one until now, to ordering all the information about peruvian flora, becoming as an excellent tool for herbarium and plant material management and as a good support for researchers not only of peruvian flora, but South American flora too.

This contribution is not only this at all. The authors Brako and Zarucchi gift us with a short overview study about peruvian flora, its distribution and composition by Alwyn Gentry, which is an excellent material for all of us who are related with teaching and education.

Surely, The Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru, is not that kind of book who someone expect to read complete, but the kind who everyone interested of peruvian flora would like to have. Its objetive is not make a full description of peruvian plants, families and orders, neither give us excellent pictures and illustrations. Its objetive is make the complete checklist about what we know now. And certainly, it does.

Catfish, Fiddles, Mules, And More: Missouri's State Symbols by John C. Fisher is part of the "Missouri Heritage Readers" series and a truly fascinating introduction to Missouri's state symbols and the history behind each of them. Black-and-white photographs nicely illustrate this detailed and involving "tour through time". A highly accessible and recommended addition to Americana shelves in general and Missouri Regional History collections in particular, Catfish, Fiddles, Mules, And More also serves as an excellent template for the creation of other state symbol books.