Michigan Books

We love this book with the way it teaches the history of Michigan to children of all ages. We buy it often as a baby gift for families with ties to Michigan who now live in other states. We want their children to know more about their parent's roots here in the beautiful state of Michigan!

I am a Pre-K teacher and we did a study of Michigan. I chose this book because I was familiar with it when I taught higher grades. I wasn't sure how the younger kids would repond but they really enjoyed it. Our students love this book. I do a trivia game with them every week and they can still remember what they learned. What I love about the book is that it presents the facts in a fun manner and they love the colorful and detailed pictures. I feel that this is an awesome book for any age!

Amazing illustrations...great poetry...interesting facts. You'll find all three in this alphabet book about Michigan. Great to read aloud and great to read alone (again and again)....I highly recommend this book (and future books in the series) to all elementary school teachers. My second graders hurried to grab this book after I read it aloud. Unique and such a high-quality book! BUY IT!

Like all of the Sleeping Bear Press books this one is also fabulous! I used this book for a literature lesson with a Michigan unit. The kids love the poems and I like the facts that go along with them. This is a delightful story that any child (especially a Michigan child) will enjoy.

"M is for Michigan" makes a wonderful coffee table book, in my opinion. I don't have young children in the home anymore, but someday hope to have grandchildren and will greatly enjoy reading this lovely book to them. While we were in Whitehall, Michigan my mother bought a copy for herself as she loves well-written children's books. Later I went back to the same store and bought one of my own. I do refer to it from time to time and although I don't have a coffee table I keep it on display on my living room bookshelf!

Florence Nightingale greatly influenced modern nursing, to focus on the needs of the patient and establish nursing as a profession requiring assessment skills as well as caring presence. This brief, well-written & clearly understandable book is a must for the personal library of any nurse or nursing student. It is amazing to realize how advanced Nightingale's thinking was in her era; her lessons remain essential today and provide a basis for understanding why we do the things we do. A great read for anyone interested in nursing!

I received the book within a few days of the order and it was in perferct condition.

A book for true Nightingales! I enjoyed this book a great deal, some parts had me laughing out loud. It is an excellent gift book for nurses!

This makes a wonderful gift for a nursing student who is graduating, a nurse who is retiring or one who is being promoted. It is fascinating reading from a historical aspect will be relevant until the end of time.

Nursing is a vocation; not "just a job." Miss Nightingale knew this, and this book reflects this philosophy. Nursing-schools, many years ago, designed the curriculum--and educated the aspiring nurses--with this in mind. Sadly, many present-day nurses (and nursing-schools) have lost this ideal...and the state of affairs in nursing bears this out.

If you're seriously considering nursing--or are a nurse who is "burned out," read this book. It will enlighten and edify you.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Seasons of the EmmaLee by Mike Lindley. His creative approach to weaving the story together from the perspective of two different generations is creative and captivating. I would highly recommend this book. If you have traveled to Northern Michigan, it will bring back wonderful memories. If not, you will be very tempted to add this destination to your list of things to do.

This book really was captivating. The story comes to life quickly and keeps your attention until the last page. The actual writing of the author is very impressive; fliping back and forth from today to 50 years ago. I am awaiting the sequel!

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of The Seasons of the EmmaLee. The two stories, one past and one present, were weaved together brilliantly and kept me equally engaged. This book has it all - romance, murder, suspense, history and travel. I applaud Mr. Lindley on his first novel and hope that he follows this with a second.

The Seasons of the EmmaLee by Michael Lindley will keep the reader engrossed from the first page thru the last. The reader will find themselves captured in a well written novel of mystery, murder and suspense. Two stories told concurrently intrigues the reader with clues concerning those involved in the EmmaLee's past and present. Strong and weak charactors evolve as the pages turn. The reader may find themselves relating to those charactors as real people by books end.

This book is a good read and never formulated. There are never any loose ends. Readers who enjoy boating will also enjoy the read. Tip of the hat to author Michael Lindley and here is hoping that there are more books coming from this author soon.

I enjoyed reading Michael Lindley's first effort in the publishing arena. He spun together a story that was both fast-paced and captivating. At points where the next turn seems obvious, he quickly re-immerses the reader in another twist that keeps the pages rolling by.

Ultimately, he brought the story to a conclusion that left me fulfilled and looking forward to his next effort.

A great Spring Break read!

Most Americans know about the abuses of government power that resulted in Waco and Ruby Ridge. Most people do not get quite as excited about less drastic and dramatic abuses of power, including violations of our Bill of Rights that have become so frequent that we no longer notice them. Most Americans should know about the deaths of Rollie Rohm and Tom Crosslin at Rainbow Farm but do not because of an accident of timing; the events at Rainbow Farm unfolded just days before 9/11. Journalist Dean Kuipers examines with an insightful and critical eye the lives and motivations of hemp activist and unapologetic capitalist Tom Crosslin, his gentle lover Rollie Rohm, and their associates from many different walks of libertarian life, ranging from Tommy Chong to Merle Haggard to the Michigan Militia. Kuipers brings to life the stories of these drug reform and property rights activists who were most definitely breaking the law, but who by no stretch of the imagination were the perils to society that the law enforcement bureaucracy believed them to be.

Kuipers also applies his analytical and descriptive abilities to the Michiana Rust Belt towns and cities that Crosslin and Rohm called home, including Elkhart, Indiana, the RV Capitol of the World--the hometown of this reviewer. Kuipers' perceptions of this depressogenic area ring true in more ways than I want to count.
--Christine A. Whittington

It isn't explicitly in the Bill of Rights, but it ought to be: The Right to Be Let Alone. The story of two martyrs who died pursuing this right is told in _Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke_ (Bloomsbury) by Dean Kuipers. The story of Tom Crosslin and his partner Rollie Rohm never got all the attention it deserved, since the dramatic climax happened on the Labor Day weekend just before 9/11. Kuipers brings it back, a detailed and intelligent look at the way the War on Drugs has been waged within our borders. You don't have to be in favor of legalization of drugs or even decriminalization of marijuana to realize that this sad battle which reflects badly on all participants never should have happened.

Tom met Rollie, a handsome seventeen-year-old, in 1990. Rollie had been married and had a son whom he adored, but it was love at first sight when he and Tom met. With Rollie, Tom purchased 34 acres of farmland in rural southwest Michigan, and they named it Rainbow Farm. Tom's construction crew and odd-job men became a sort of commune for the farm, a place of remove, where Tom and Rollie and their work crews and friends could have cookouts and parties and not worry about bothering or being bothered by those around them. They were eager for a lot of different types of people to show up at Rainbow Farm, have fun, and be left alone. "This is a place about alternative lifestyles," Tom liked to say. "Being gay is just one of 'em. Smoking pot is just one of 'em. There's a bunch more, and this is a place where people can be free." They started having pot festivals, refusing to allow harder drugs, and refusing to let people sell pot, but encouraging sharing. The local prosecutor didn't like it, and fired with the possibility of claiming the valuable land as assets for the cops, he was eventually able to charge Tom and Rollie with manufacturing drugs. They Rollie knew that they would be losing the farm if they went to trial, and having said sad goodbyes to many who had come to hang out there over the years, they forced a last stand. Tom got assault rifles and let any potential invaders know that the farm was mined and booby trapped (but it was not). He set the buildings of the farm on fire, and fired at police. The FBI was called in, and no one found a way to break the siege, which inevitably led to Tom's and Rollie's deaths.

Tom and Rollie do not turn out to be flawless heroes; Rollie may have just been going along with Tom's plans, but Tom's plans did include the weapons, and firing at police and a helicopter. Their persecutors, however, should not have been hounding him over the years for a relatively harmless weed which drug warriors can't differentiate from truly harmful substances. Rainbow Farm sounds as if it was a happy and useful place, and the world is worse off without it. Tom and Rollie were, before the persecution took hold, philanthropists, Republicans, and prosperous businessmen. This is a story vividly told, and valuable, but sadly, this is just one of thousands of stories of wasted lives and wasted legal efforts as the persecution of marijuana users continues.

Thank you, Dean Kuipers, for writing "Burning Rainbow Farm". It is one of the saddest books I have ever read. I live on a small farm in Maryland, and my closest friends and I can relate to the murders of these young free men, who only wanted to be left alone to burn one, and live in peace.
Whatever happened to the American right, to left alone?
I highly recommend this book to anyone that believes freedom, is free.

The chaos and seemingly unneccessary killing of these two pot activists would've been enshrined in the pantheon of strange, over-government reactions -- think Wacco, Ruby Ridge, etc. -- had 9-11 not upturned the political landscape. Thankfully, Dean Kuipers didn't forget, and returned to his childhood area to pen a masterful, well-paced story that is not sentimental or overly judgmental but instead keenly observed with smart reportage and an almost noirish writing style.
You may not respect or even like the protagonists, and Kuipers does not
give them the kit-glove treatment as he shows they defied an insecure prosector in oh so many ways and fired shells at the SWAT folks. You do
come away scratching your head -- and this is where the book transcends its liberatarian, quasi-militia ganja promotion -- about how marijuana,
as with so numerous issues, came to be viewed so differently by the feds than from the constituency they serve.
While I wish the book would've been shorter and that the scene/fact-setting info. was better integrated into the more brisk, novelistic portrayal, overall Kuipers does what so many other non fiction writers can't: he keeps you interested, has a knack for using the right phrase to fit the genre, and leads you expertly down the farm road to an horrifically inevitable bloodbath.
Make no mistake: this is a book to curl up with, whether you believe weed is God's medication and a relaxant for overwrought world or a gateway to crack-ho death. How the gov't can make itself king and over-step the people's authority -- confiscating property, independence, your livelihood, even your soul -- is disturbingly and fascinatingly retold by a writer who has his chops down.
Highly recommend, and this isn't my normal fare.

The story told within the pages of this book is one of the most compelling stories I have ever read. I could not put this book down! It reads like an episode of 48 Hours Mystery. Dean Kuipers starts off by telling you basically what happened on Labor Day weekend, 2001. Then goes back in time and not only fills you in on the history of the two main characters, Tom and Rollie, but also introduces you to a myriad of other very interesting people, all very real with their own stories to tell. Not only that, it also gives you an over view of just about every aspect of the movement to legalize cannabis, especially as it relates to the state of Michigan. His retelling of these events is exceptional, considering he culled all the information from interviews and documents collected over a 4-year period.

It is, which is obvious to people who are familiar with this story, about the rise and fall of Rainbow Farm, and the death of the two main owners and operators of the farm. For those unfamiliar with the story, Rainbow farm was a site for cannabis activism and related festivals in the latter half of the 1990's. It is about that, but also about so much more. It is about property rights, the War on Drugs, intolerance, persecution, zealous prosecution, and the mistakes that some of us make in the face of those things. It is also a window into the culture of the last 30 to 35 years and how that has changed. Mr. Kuipers manages to convey all of this, without getting bogged down with too much info on the history of the Hemp movement and all that goes with that. His style is very easy to follow and kept my interest all the way through.

This book would be a great companion to Smoke and Mirrors - The War on Drugs and The Politics of Failure by Dan Baum. That book sort of ends, where this one takes up, although I would say that this is more of a close up view whereas Baum's book is a wider angle. Both books reveal the ridiculousness of the laws in our country concerning Cannabis and how enforcement of those laws is out of control. I recommend this book to everyone, whether you are a Cannabis activist, a casual observer, or just a registered voter that would like to read a balanced view of how our tax dollars are wasted on mostly non-violent users and people who would probably like to grow a little, in the privacy of their own homes for medicinal and light recreational uses.

This book is great. My father in laws dad was Emil Luebke and he saved his house but almost died in the fire. We are from Rogers City. The story that is told has been told down our family and is very much what was told. We really enjoyed this book and would encourage anyone to read it, specially if your interested in Michigan history.

This is an excellent book based on the Metz fire. My father-in-laws dad is Emil and the stories in this book have been told to him many times. He said this is a keepsake for his family and beyond. We have read many things on this fire, but this is the most interesting. My husband lived in the farm house Emil saved during the fire. This is truly a great gift to all readers of Michigan history.

Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (2/06)

"Devil in the North Woods" is a fictionalized account of the 1908 wildfire that swept through northeastern Michigan, wiping out an entire town. The author uses public documents, as well as the experiences of one survivor of the fire, and merges them into a beautiful story of fear, loss, and redemption. Young Henry Hardies narrates the story, and by having a 10-year old boy lead us through the fire, the reader is treated to a refreshing voice of innocence that an adult narrator would not have been able to provide. The reader is introduced to Henry, his family, and the people of Metz, Michigan. In this community, the threat of wildfires is very real, and a fear that these people live with almost on a day-to-day basis. On October 15, 1908, their worst fears come true as a fire quickly spins out of control. The town scrambles to decide how big a threat the fire it, but by the time they realize it will hit their community, it is too late.

After a somewhat slow start, the story quickly picks up the pace, reading more like a suspense novel than a historical one. The book becomes impossible to put down once the fire hits town. You are given a nearly minute-by-minute account of what is happening in the town, and in the Hardy family, during the fire, as well as its aftermath. The detail is so realistic and believable that it is easy to imagine yourself in this situation right alongside the characters in the book.

Sadly, the town loses 43 people, 4 of whom are Hardy family members. The town of Metz is obliterated and there is not much left to salvage. But the people of Metz are stronger than the fire that tried to destroy them. They are determined to move past the destruction and rebuild their community, as well as their lives. This is more than the story of an out-of-control wildfire; it is the story of everyday heroes and the way they reclaim their lives after tragedy.

Devil in the North Woods is a work of historical fiction, based on modern reports and oral histories of a terrible 1908 wildfire in Michigan. Ten-year-old Henry Hardies survived the fire that claimed his mother and three younger sisters; in real life, Hardess told personal stories that his own children have handed down to this day. Devil in the North Woods vividly recreates the terrible blaze from start to finish, the toll it took, and the trials of human beings forced to recover from the devastating losses it inflicted. Though Devil in the North Woods tells the story of man vs. nature, its core is emotional and human-centered.

"Devil in the North Woods" by Walt Shiel is a real barn burner. I kept trying to put out the fire. Walt's style kept me immersed in the story and fully engaged until way too late each night. I enjoyed the read and the education.

I purchased this book for my brother's 60th birthday- having grown up in Detroit- thought it would be a great walk down memory lane. He called me when he received the gift and absolutely gushed- loved every entry. Now, i may have to buy a copy for ME. thanks

My mom wanted this book for Christmas. I read some parts of it and found it very intersting. So many people that I recall from my childhood. Good book.

Wow - What a great book! I bought it as a gift but will have to get a copy for my personal library. It was wonderful to read about the television personalities from my youth along with the other Detroit notables that this book covers. It even had the words to some of the commercial jingles that we used to sing along with. Having moved away from Detroit several years ago, I had often wondered what happened to a lot of the people I grew up watching on TV and this book answered those questions. If you were a Detroit kid in the 50's or 60's, I highly recommend that you get a copy of this book and take a stroll back to your childhood.

You need to be a fan of Detroit television or TV history to enjoy the specialized From Soupy To Nuts! A History Of Detroit Television, but such an audience will relish this cruise through Detroit television shows and background. Black and white photos accompany spotlight biographies on some of the most famous show personalities of the past, from Robin Seymour, host of 'Swingin Time', to news show personalities such as American Black Journal. A recommended specialty pick for broadcasting and Detroit-specific collections.

This is a MUST READ for anyone who lived in Detroit in the 50's and 60's. Nostalgia reigns as the authors comprehensively share information on television favorites such as Bill Kennedy, Captain Jolly and Poopdeck Paul, Milky the Clown and more. Loved it.

At the end of this book, author Andy Hamilton reassures Konitz that it will become a classic of jazz literature. I guess Hamilton was speaking at least half tongue-in-cheek, but, for what it's worth, I also think he's probably right.

As it's been said elsewhere, the author's editorial prowess is phenomenal, and the proof is that the book is extremely easy to read, while, at the same time, it is packed with information and insight. Hamilton has also been able to engage Konitz in some interesting discussions, like his views on several musicians - Anthony Braxton, most memorably - or his assessment of his own playing, and on the actual physical and psychological aspects of the process of improvising music.

This is pretty close to my ideal book on a jazz musician, where the subject has the chance to tell his story while speaking freely to a knowledgeable counterpart.

Highly recommended.

I found this book to be one of the most clear, informative and honest books in jazz literature that I have ever read.
Lee comes across as a candid, humble man, a servant to his art.
Through the conversational and well researched style that the writer Andy Hamilton adopts, Lee Konitz offers many realistic, straightforward insights into his life and study: and the lives of those around him.
As a jazz musician myself, this book opens many doors of perception.
It cuts through the myth and hyperbole that often surround the lives of the truly great ones in this wonderful artform.
Highly recommended!

In this book of lively conversations on the improviser's art, Lee Konitz talks about all aspects of his music, from his beginnings (as a student of the clarinet, during the late 1930s) to the early years of the new century, and he does so with great candour. There's lots about the Cool School of playing and Konitz's musical mentor, the blind pianist Lennie Tristano. Tristano's music ran on a parallel track to bebop, but because it wasn't such a hot, sweaty affair it's been dismissed as a pallid version of the real thing, cerebral and abstract, disconnected from feelings, a music to be analysed by beard-strokers rather than enjoyed by foot-tappers. Konitz dismisses these false distinctions and emphasises both the vitality and originality of Tristano's music - points supported by several musician-contributors to the book.

The criticisms and comments that Konitz offers are frank, thoughtful and well-argued. Several of the chapters cover specific decades in his career. Others include: Formative Influences; Working with Tristano; Early Collaborators; The Art of Improvisation; The Instrument; The Material. Embedded within each of the chapters is a series of brief interviews with musicians, most of whom have worked on the bandstand with Konitz or recorded with him, including John Zorn, Phil Woods, Mike Zwerin, George Russell, Clare Fischer, Sal Mosca, Alan Broadbent, Sonny Rollins, Rufus Reid, Ornette Coleman, Harold Danko, Wayne Shorter, Paul Bley, John Tchicai, Greg Osby, Martial Solal and Evan Parker. Although this is fundamentally a book of interviews, Andy Hamilton provides scene-setting introductions to each of the chapters, explanatory links between subsections, and brief comments that help the reader better to contextualise the interview material. His contributions are considerable, but they're done with such a light touch the attention remains firmly on Konitz throughout.

Although Konitz broke with the Tristano school, Tristano's foremost `disciple', tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, remained in a strong creative partnership with him until the late 1970s. Marsh is undoubtedly the saxophonist whom Konitz admires most, and Konitz's aesthetic, sound and approach to improvisation owe perhaps more to Marsh than any other player. He contrasts Marsh's approach with that of several other major players, including Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, whose solos relied to some degree on pre-prepared material. Throughout the book, there's much useful discussion about the philosophy of music-making.

Konitz is a great talker, with lots of interesting things to say about his own music and the music of Marsh, Tristano, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Parker, Coltrane, Charles Mingus and a host of others, and the book is peppered with valuable comments about `the jazz life'.

This is clearly one of the best books about jazz I ever red. I'd put it next to P.Pettinger's "How My Heart Sings", J Szwed's "Space Is The Place" or E.Jost's "Free Jazz".
Pretty differently, here author chooses an original, extensive interview format, augmented by short essays written with the complete approval -and corrections, is said- of Mr.Konitz himself. Many great insight and analisys of this great, epocal musician are offered for a good work of comprehension of the complexity of Lee Konitz music and his belonging to jazz tendencies such Cool Jazz and Tristano's and others, his relations to many major jazz figures.

Despite Lee Konitz's illustrious career, there had not been a book-length treatment of his music and life until Andy Hamilton's book appeared. There have been numerous published interviews with him, but none is as informative, thorough, or enlightening as this book. Considering that Mr. Konitz is much better known in other countries than in the U.S., it is no wonder that an Englishman decided to write a book on him. One of the things that I liked about the book is that the artist got involved in the process, for example, proofreading the text himself. This lends a high degree of authenticity to the book. In addition to the interviews with Mr. Konitz, there are a number of shorter interviews with other musicians, which are also intriguing. This is an exciting and enjoyable book and I highly recommend it.

Outstanding book. It shows us how we let our environment get downgraded and is an important weapon for preventing further damage. Amazon price was good and service great.

Mirage is a work of science and passion. The writer has focused on that most important, scarce, and necessary resource: fresh water. She explores the political decisions and the business decisions that have affected the water supply in Florida and the rest of the East Coast of the United States. Her research is extensive; her prose is crisp; and her cause is sanity in the management of growth. I recommend this book for any reader who has an interest in science, nature, or business.

A very thoughtful, well-written book that delves into the science, history and politics of water in Florida and manages to do so in an interesting and readable manner. Cynthia Barnett clearly indentifies the problems and offers reasonable solutions without becoming judgemental or dogmatic. A must read for anyone living in the State of Florida or planning to do so and highly recommended for everyone else!

Discussions of America's water problems usually are limited to the West, so it's eye-opening to view a title which is the first to call attention to the disappearance of fresh water from Florida to the Great Lakes. From the high demands of newly-sprawling Florida subdivisions to freshwater aquifers which are disappearing elsewhere, MIRAGE blends investigative journalism with environmental and science history to prove an essential survey of problems and solutions. A 'must' not just for Eastern U.S. libraries, but for any collection on environmental issues and challenges.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Perhaps you're like me. You live in a water rich region of the U.S., on top of one of the nation's most productive aquifers and a stone's throw from the Great Lakes -- one of the world's great reservoirs of fresh water.

Water scarcity is not your problem, right? Let all those fools moving to Florida, Texas, California and Nevada worry whether FEMA will have to roll into towns during the next drought and pass out bottled water. You can still turn on your grass sprinkler and catch fish in the local pond without worry.

If that's where you are when it comes to water, Cynthia Barnett has news for you -- someday Las Vegas and Miami will be coming for your water, too. And they'll set their sights on draining your fish pond dry.

If you're already in Florida and can't understand why water bills are going up in a subdivision surrounded by water-soaked scenery, Barnett has some tough love for you, too.

Reading Mirage will open your eyes. Barnett's writing is so (pardon the pun) fluid that even the most unsophisticated novice will come away with the ability to confidently explain why bottled "spring" water may actually be less safe to drink than what comes out of your kitchen tap.

The book is a must read for Floridians. It uses the state -- an extreme example of water policy gone bad -- to instruct readers in the basics tenents of environmental protection and why it matters to everyone. Why should Floridians care if Atlanta suburbanites water their lawns? Because in a drought the rivers that begin in Georgia won't have enough water to feed Florida's bays down stream. And without the perfect freshwater/saltwater balance at the outlet to the Gulf of Mexico, valuable shellfish are completely wiped out. Suddenly there's an economic problem, too.

The most important lesson of Mirage is that water scarcity is a national problem. Consider the water wealthy Great Lakes. Even residents of the upper Midwest can't relax. Barnett shows how southern lawmakers, becoming more powerful by the day thanks to population shifts and redistricting, have been plotting to pipe, truck and barge Lakes region freshwater south. Others have already tried to export it beyond the U.S. You'd think the Lakes have plenty of water to share, but as Florida has proven, even the most water-rich region can see its eco-system wrecked once the water starts getting pumped out.

The most instructive chapter in the book is called "Priceless." Barnett demonstrates that perhaps the best strategy to protect water is to price it right, to make it really worth something to us. But Americans so far refuse to accept the notion of drinking water for anything but a dirt cheap price. Consider the story of Tuscon, Ariz. After a drought, the city council tried to add the cost of finding future water reserves into consumers' bills. Within a year every council member was voted out of office.

But as Barnett shows, Americans can't pretend forever that water is a right and should be nearly free. We have to be taught to conserve. We're doing better in some ways. But Mirage proves we still have a lot of work to do.

I purchased this as a gift for my brother. The book has plenty of pictures and information, and I thought it was easy to follow and understand. My brother agrees, and said it is exactly what he wanted in a field guide.

Stan Tekiela provides compact, informative books in his Field Guide series. I have purchased 5 of them (Wildflowers, Trees, Birds, Frogs/Amphibians and Mammals of Michigan) and use them weekly. I just wish he would produce more. They are easy to carry in pockets, backpacks, etc. and contain most of the species. Great work!

I am an herbalist and needed a good reference guide to make sure that I was finding the correct species of trees for my studies. This book is easy to use, concise, and well photographed. I like how it includes photos of the leaves, bark, fruit, and flowers of the trees. I also like the discussions of where they grow as well as what kind of terrain they prefer.

I live in Michigan and already own the Birds of Michigan Guide by Stan Tekeila. So, when I saw the Trees Guide of Michigan by the same author, I decided to give it a try.

We moved to an area in Michigan with some nice old trees in our yard that I had no idea what they were. After I received the book, a few days ago, I went outside to check out some trees. I found out what they were immediately. I had a Bur Oak and another was Witch Hazel. I took a leaf from each and put it right in the book so I wouldn't forget.

The Trees of Michigan Field Guide is really handy to use. There is a photo on one page with additional little photos of the bark, cone and so on. Then the other page gives hints about the particular tree so that you can identify it. One interesting fact is how long each tree might live. The Bur Oak should live between 150 and 250 years! I am pretty sure it was here when the Indians lived in this area. It is pretty huge.

This is a fine little book and I would highly recommend it.

This is a user friendly guide for amateurs. Its pocket-sized format makes it easy to take along. The pictures and discriptions are well done and make identification easy. I recommend it for youth and adults.

That's the question. Can you read this book, and come away not wanting to act to protect these creatures? Many books are thought-provoking. This one made me feel that I need to ACT. DeBruyn's diary-style writings make it possible to appreciate the necessity of wisely sharing the habitat with the native residents, not depriving them of it. The author's data and observations also dispell many myths about black bear behavior. If we can accept the truth, can we then act as responsible stewards of our world?

This is an excellent read that I highly recommend to any animal lover or for the individual who has ever had doubts that any animal lacks human feelings and responses.

Not only is it a great scientific read about the biology and habits of bears, but also takes the whole experience to a higher level. Terry D. BeBruyn takes you out in the forests of Michigan and lets you experience life through three different generations of bears. It is a touching read where one will experience good and bad days and the whole concept of being adopted into a non-human family. It will make you laugh and cry as you experience life through a bear's eyes.

WALKING WITH BEARS IS A GREAT STORY OF ONE MANS LOVE FOR THE BLACK BEAR. TERRY DEBRUYN MAKES YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU ARE WITH HIM IN THE WOODS AS HE WALKS WITH THE BEARS. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK. I HOPE ONE DAY I CAN BEGIN A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BEARS AROUND MY HOME AS THE AUTHOR DID. I RECOMMEND ANYONE WHO LOVES BEARS SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!

I have purchased 3 copies of this book for bear biologist firends. Debruyn gives a wonderful look into the private lives of black bears. I found myself comparing what he discovered with what I see working with black bears in west Texas. The book is written by someone who is dedicated to their research. There is a wealth of information on biology and ecology of black bears that is presented in a wonderful read. I read it cover to cover, then read it again.

Bonnie R. McKinney West Texas Black Bear Study

If you're at all interested in the natural world around us, and concerned about how much we take for granted in this day and age, this is a sobering and fascinating look at black bears. The author tracks the lives of a family of bears (mainly 3 generations worth) over the course of a year to discuss their behaviors and their seasonal variation. Almost as a by product of this you learn a lot about bears, and the actions and motivations of potentially dangerous wild animals as a whole. I feel a lot safer being outdoors having read some of the explanations for the motivations of aggressive behavior, especially towards humans. I would say more about the book itself but I think it is best left as a surprise. Suffice it to say if you've wondered about bears or the upbringing of offspring in animals, this is a superb book. It's my first book on bears so there may be some others out there which others would suggest first, but I don't see how one could go wrong with this one.