Education Books

As industry analysts articulate the "vision" of the intranet becoming a unified platform for delivery of information services. Eric Greenberg has made it possible to develop a strategic architecture or roadmap to making it a reality.

Peter G. Daniels R&D, Network Strategic Planning

Excellent book!

I think that NAF is a very valuable book to read. I certainly learned a lot about the integration of networks and applications.

Everyone who works in the enterprise software business, be it as an administrator or developer, can gain a lot of insight and specific information by reading this book and thinking about it.

END

I highly recommend this book to Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE's), Cisco CCIE's, and Network/IT professionals in general, new and old. Network Application Frameworks is a welcome change. With every page, Greenberg caters to the reader's every need, providing a comprehensive collection of information in a concise easy-to-read format and with an entertaining style. If you need to understand Microsoft technologies, networking, and distributed systems in general, this book is as good as it gets.

Greenberg has put together an extremely readable account of the technologies that matter in the developing of applications for the emerging Networked Age. (You think "emerging" is wrong, and that we're already "there"? Just wait -- you ain't seen nothing yet. China, India, all of Africa have yet to join!)

It's not necessarily the kind of book you'll wish to read from cover to cover, but as an "e-business technical architect" at a Big-5 I have found NAF:DA to be an excellent resource into which to dip from time to time. Very highly recommended.

This book is an invaluable comprehensive guide to network design, distributed computing, and overall client/server architecture including security. Highly readable, it clearly explains important network design and distributed computing technologies-- how they work, what their key design constraints are, and how they compare. It is suitable for both beginners and advanced professionals looking for answers to difficult questions. If there's one book Microsoft or Cisco certified professionals, network designers, Information System (IS/IT) professionals, or application architects should buy this year, in my opinion this one is it.

This book transformed the way we teach reasearch at our school. Our students can't wait to dig deeply into subjects and share what they've learned with others. We've truly become a community of learners and the tools and encouragement in this book helped to make that happen. I re-read it every year.

Nonfiction Matters by Stephanie Harvey is a great book that not only gives teachers great ideas on how to teach nonfiction writing, but also on how to learn along with the students by inquiring about real things in life anyone of them might have an interest in.
I recommend this book to any teacher who is willing to take the challenge and transform her / his classroom into what every classroom in the world should be. Teachers will find new incentives to motivate their students along with simple economic ideas that will get their students writing passionate, interesting nonfiction papers everyone will want to read.

Every middle-grade teacher should own this book! It is such a relief to find a book by an author who clearly knows how to engage students in authentic, "real world" material. Not only is this book enjoyable to read, but it actually shows you how to jump in and make nonfiction reading work for your students--or your children--wherever they may be on the ability spectrum.

I think it can be difficult to teach things which we intuitively do well, and many teachers are good readers. This book is marvelous, because it refuses to advocate a painful, repetitive break-down of dull practice skills. Instead, it shows teachers and parents how to explicitly address skills within a meaningful context. That is so critical! For example, the book talks about readers making connections, and recognizing types of connections, including text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. Making connections is not a new idea for reading teachers, but these categories are great for making non-fiction accessible.

The ideas and strategies in the book are motivating and inspiring, if overwhelming. The author's journey is really that of a continuing learner, and it was so valuable to me to read about her overflowing ideas and philosophies and strategies, as well as the way she handled roadblocks with colleagues and students.

I love that this author has the courage to present teaching as a "messy" art and science. It doesn't pretend there is one right answer or one right method or one right kind of student or teacher. It recognizes the complexity of so many variables coming together--ability, interest, personality--and acknowledges and addresses these variables, instead of pretending they don't exist.

This is a book for thinking, reflective teachers, and it's good.

I just had this book assigned to me for my upcoming course in Materials for Teaching Reading. The semester hasn't even started yet, and I have devoured this book. Stephanie Harvey has done an incredible job of breaking down the process of reading, writing, and researching nonfiction in such a way that I really feel prepared to go out and start teaching it. Not only am I prepared, I am EXCITED! I can't wait to implement what I have learned in my future classes, as well as in my own life journey of continued learning and research. Not only is there great information, the book is written in a very readable, interesting manner, a good example of good nonfiction writing.

When I was in school, we were told to write papers, but were never really taught *how* to develop one. We were told *what* to do -- make an outline, write the paper, and revise it -- but that didn't help me figure out *how* to do any of these things.

Now my daughter is in third grade and I'm trying to help her learn how to write. Our first use of the book helped us capture and explore what she learned on a museum trip. I was really impressed with the resulting report. It was focused, full of real content, and had a delightful narrative style. We even used wondering questions to help us focus further inquiry.

This book is a must-have for anyone interested in life-long learning.

As much as other reviewers were raving about this book, I thought I would like it just as much. I really thought it was a mediocre work of writing. It consisted of haphazardly organized observations about empire, presented with very little sense of coherence. The observations were often superficial and rarely put into context. It's like reading a collection of notes from a conference on globalization, mixed with a few writing exercises from a creative writing class.

This book would make good reading material for a coffee house. Read it where you don't care if you're interrupted. Read it where you'll get more insight out of the conversations it sparks with strangers and acquaintances.

I don't recommend reading this book unless you have at least a couple of semesters of Spanish on your high school or college transcript. The author writes a lot of the fictional (?) dialogue in a mixture of Spanish and English, and she doesn't always provide enough context clues to figure out the Spanish if you don't already have some education in the language. (Fortunately, I did.) The Spanish-English mixture really wasn't necessary for the book; it was more distracting than helpful, and at times it seemed to stereotype the speakers a little bit.

It would be difficult to add to the depth of insight other reviewers have already provided. Chellis' insight and passion are reinvigorating planetary healing on multiple levels. The best gage for this is the example of her own life. Read everything she writes. A modern visionary with a powerful and compelling voice.

What impact has three hundred years of Western imperialism had on the way we treat each other -- and the Earth -- today?

How is today's global economy simply our latest expression of colonization?

How can our personal woundings become doorways to self-healing and form the basis of a commitment to sustainable planetary culture?

In her new book, Off the Map (An Expedition Deep Into Imperialism, the Global Economy, and Other Earthly Whereabouts, Pulitzer-nominated author and psychologist Dr. Chellis Glendinning explores these themes with a directness, clarity and emotional intensity that awakens the reader to profound insight about the nature of today's world.

In a lyrical braiding of three stories, she weaves the threads of her personal story of sexual abuse in a European-American (and Anglophile) family in the 1950s, the history of the last three hundred years of Western imperialism and a present-day horseback ride through the recently colonized Chicano world of northern New Mexico, where she currently resides.

Glendinning sees Off the Map as a continuation of her past work. "My focus is always the relationship between the personal and the political," she notes. "This book is an effort to make clear that everyone on the Earth is still experiencing the legacies of the classical age of empire, that corporate globalization is just the latest expression of Western imperialism and that, ultimately, it cannot work."

Throughout the book, we follow Glendinning's story of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, through her healing to the reclamation of her essential self and her reconnection to the power of land and nature. We also follow the story of the land-based Chicano peoples of northern New Mexico, a story that goes to the heart of the unspoken wound of imperial systems: the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.

Glendinning, a highly respected eco-psychologist, received a Pulitzer nomination for her book When Technology Wounds (William Morrow). Other earlier works include My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery From Western Civilization (Shambhala) and Waking Up in the Nuclear Age (William Morrow). Off the Map is a compelling look at the unexamined implications of our rapidly expanding global economy and, as such, should cause a great stir among economists, sociologists and all those concerned about the future of humanity -- and all of life -- on Earth.

To the thorough reviews below I'll just add:

It's nice to see someone in my field working for rather than against the social forces that oppose the conformity and imperialism that show up nowadays as well-marketed, hyperconvenient, quick-fix "psychotherapy" (or is that psycho therapy?). Listening to the soul of the world, Chellis Glendinning hears in it an anguish echoing her own--and acts bravely and actively on behalf of both.

There's an annoying idea at my school (Pacifica) that all such activism = acting out, a kind of puerile and heroic impulsiveness--whereas working the imaginal, perhaps from within a well-lighted office on convenient days, should be enough. The example of the author's way of being indicates otherwise. We certainly need to monitor our activism, lest it become just another kind of colonizing arrogance so characteristic of our empire-driven civilization; at the same time, to say and do nothing except in private is not enlightened or soulful, it is cowardly.

Good work, Dr. Glendinning!

Off The Maps: An Expedition Deep Into Empire And The Global Economy by psychologist, social activist, poet, and a pioneer in the field of ecopsychology Chellis Glendinning offers a unique look at globalization -- the modern-day alternative to the economic empires of European and Western history. Using maps as allegory, Off The Maps peers between the lines at the individual hopes and lives of workers and the working class at home and abroad as they struggle beneath the crushing spread of politically imperialistic, homogeneous mass-culture invasive, free-trade oriented, international corporation dominated, western-style consumerism. Off The Maps is a welcome and timely contribution which is very highly recommended for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in international politics and economics.

One Size Fits Few by Susan Ohanian contains more citations than I've ever seen in a single reading! One can't accuse this author of not doing her research before writing this book. Virtually every statement she makes is backed up by a reference to a well known public figure or educator.

Throughout the book, the author makes numerous cases against the use of educational standards. At the heart of these multifarious denouncements is the recurring theme that standards are dehumanizing. At one point she reminds us of some essential life skills that are usually ignored when standards are created: "The great words of teaching are the one syllable ones: read, write, teach, learn, work, skill, care, help, hope, trust, faith, love. And the greatest of these, of course, is love." (p.127)

Although the author is not in favor of senseless educational standards, we can infer that in order for successful learning to take place, we must answer to some "higher" "standards," those which recur universally within the context of being a good human being. As a long time educator, those are the standards I must strive to have my students attain.

The book is outstandingly well written and thought provoking. Its 7 chapters are divided among 3 sections. The chapters include Ohanian's observations and views, recounted in the form of anecdotes; each under its own title. The language is simple and down to earth. One can start reading this book from any page and still gain wit, wisdom, and fact.

Susan Ohanian's book is a must read for any teacher or parent who is concerned about the current standards madness. With humor and insight, gained from actual teaching experience, she exposes standards as a dehumanizing experiment in social darwinism. Using examples from her work as a teacher, she shows how students do not easily fit into the little boxes that "standardistos" would have them fit into. Her final conclusion, that we should just trust teachers, is quite subversive. I really enjoyed reading this book.

By the end of this book, all school reformers assuming that standardization of the curriculum improves quality will...
... recognize and understand the detrimental impact of educational standards.
... use the proofreader's deletion mark to eliminate standardization.

The title of a section in chapter 7 is "If You're Sure You Know The Solution, You Are Part Of The Problem." How true of many of the "school reformers" today who think THEY have all of the answers when THEY are not even in the classrooms! As is often the case with "education reform," those who are in the classrooms on a daily basis (teachers and students) are excluded from the debate - their voices lost in the sea of sound bites coming from those Ohanian refers to as "corporate-politico-infotainment standardistos."

As Ohanian so concisely demonstrates in this book, the idea for education standards comes to us from the business world. What those "corporate standardistos" fail to realize is a simple (and yet major) difference between a classroom and a business office. In a business setting, if you have an employee that is slowing down production, lagging behind, refusing to do the work required, having problems working as a team player, and displaying a lack of concentration or focus, what do you think happens to that employee? The obvious answer is the reason a public school classroom is not like a business, has never been like a business, and will never be like a business. The moral here is STOP trying to "reform" schools like you would a business.

The current buzzword in "education reform" is accountability. I happen to agree that we need more accountability. We need to hold governors, school board members, legislators, and school superintendents accountable for failing our children by forcing through agendas laced with standardization and testing disguised as school reform.

It is long past time that the two groups most directly involved in teaching and learning are given a voice in the school reform debate. The voices of teachers and students need to be heard and respected.

One Size Fits Few by Susan Ohanian contains more citations than I've ever seen in a single reading! One can't accuse this author of not doing her research before writing this book. Virtually every statement she makes is backed up by a reference to a well known public figure or educator.

Throughout the book, the author makes numerous cases against the use of educational standards. At the heart of these multifarious denouncements is the recurring theme that standards are dehumanizing. At one point she reminds us of some essential life skills that are usually ignored when standards are created: "The great words of teaching are the one syllable ones: read, write, teach, learn, work, skill, care, help, hope, trust, faith, love. And the greatest of these, of course, is love." (p.127)

Although the author is not in favor of senseless educational standards, we can infer that in order for successful learning to take place, we must answer to some "higher" "standards," those which recur universally within the context of being a good human being. As a long time educator, those are the standards I must strive to have my students attain.

The book is outstandingly well written and thought provoking. Its 7 chapters are divided among 3 sections. The chapters include Ohanian's observations and views, recounted in the form of anecdotes; each under its own title. The language is simple and down to earth. One can start reading this book from any page and still gain wit, wisdom, and fact.

"One Size Fits Few" is for all those frustrated teachers who see standadized tests as unfair and a complete waste of time. It's a book that full stories, arguments, and analysis that will provide teachers, parents, politicians, and education activists with ways to talk against the current standards craze. Like she says at the start of her book: "What the education world needs is a few strong administrators and teachers and parents to join together, proclaiming, 'Enough is enough'--people who know how to say, 'We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to this any more.'"

I think that this book was really very good. The characters kept me interested in reading more because they didn't seem fictional at all. I'm not much of a reader, but I read this book so fast because I could relate to almost everything that was going on. Understanding what the characters actions is so easy because you can see exactly what they are going through.

I love this book. The main character, Colton Trammel, is written with wonderful depth. The author shows him with all his faults-- not too bright, sometimes cocky and insensitive-- but he's written as such a real, heartfelt character that I grew to care about him almost as if he were a real person. The female characters are also presented in full dimension-- the horrible Grace who doesn't realize she's horrible; sad Dori; and Corinne, who is more like Colton than either of them realize.

Besides the terrific voice and characterizations, there is great humor and a gripping pace to this novel. I can't wait to read more books by A.M. Jenkins.

Although I own 5 copies of this book, I haven't read it yet. Why? Because the boys in my 9th grade English class keep it checked out of my classroom constantly. As soon as a boy returns a copy, the next young man on the waiting list checks it out. I have never seen teenage boys respond to a book like this. Back in August when school started, I only had one copy, but I have purchased 4 additional copies since then. During SSR time, a boy started reading it because I insisted he read something. He would have preferred to put his head down on his desk - absolutely not allowed. He said, "But, Miss, I HATE to read!" I told him that's OK, just stare at the book until the bell rings. That way if the principal had dropped in to make sure we were doing SSR, I wouldn't get in trouble. When the bell rang 15 minutes later, the young man begged me to let take the book home to finish it. He returned it the next morning and started to recommend it to others. Not one boy has yet to read the first 2 pages and not finish the book. Most of my students have read the book in no more than 2 days. Some said that they stayed up all night to finish it because it was so good. No female students have expressed any interest in the book...maybe because the cover has a picture of a baseball on it. As far as I'm concerned, this book works magic on boys. Every boy who has read it in my classes has gone on to read several more books. What more could a teacher ask for? (FYI - My school is in a low socio-economic area, high poverty rate, almost every student is on free/reduced lunch, gang related crime, urban area, etc.)

I absolutely loved this book. It was your everyday life as a teenager in your typical high school. It includes all of the negative things that go on in high school too, so that makes the book a little restrictive for kids younger than 8th grade. But I still liked it. It covered everything from relationships to falling into peer pressure to constantly harassing people. Colt, the main character, is very rude, and really sucks at school work. He is really only good at baseball. But that makes him a bully to everyone around him that he considers, "lower than him". But as he starts to get a taste of what he's been dealing out to everyone when a new girl moves to their school and doesn't take any crap from him. She just sends it right back his way. What made the book so good was when he finally realized how mean he really was to everyone, and he matures. It is kind of eye opening though, because I know there are probably people like that in my school, and I realized that the situations in this book really do happen. But I give you this warning... there are many cuss words, and bad conversations. But it makes up for all of that in the end, I think.

Colt Trammel is trying to make sense of his high school world. His classes are like gibberish, his girlfriend Grace freaks after he tells her he loves her, and his lab partner is a new girl with green hair, for Pete's sake. The only time Colt knows what's going on is when he's playing baseball.

A.M. Jenkins is a master at drawing readers right into the characters. Colt is not a simple jock stereotype. His love for Grace makes him vulnerable, and the failures he experiences in his classes make him feel perpetually stupid.

Colt's struggle with the romantic poets from his English class becomes crucial when his grades drop below what is acceptable for playing athletes. He finds a tutor in Chloe, formerly of the green hair. Jenkins writes their tutoring sessions with humor. Anyone who has struggled to understand classic poems will especially enjoy these parts of the books.

It is also nice to see in a book the boy's side of a painful dating relationship. Readers will sympathize with this supposed tough guy as he pines for Grace, who doesn't treat him well.

Jenkins gives us a three-dimensional character in Colt, who is likable despite some bad choices that will have the reader cringing. OUT OF ORDER is a realistic book, and readers will want to see more of what happens to Colt.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

This approach to evangelism is thought provoking and challenging as you read of ideas to live beyond yourself and love others unconditionally.

This is such a wonderful tool and will give you concrete ways to reach out for Christ. They are EASY and not intimidating. This is one of my top reads.

If you have ever been turned off by hearing or presenting evangelistic "pitches" and memorized scripts but you still have a heart to share God's love with those around you - this book will change your life! We used the books and message kit to go through this study as a church and (like other churches I know that have done the same) it has changed our whole attitude and level of excitement about outreach and has led us to some incredible loving acts of service in our community. I look forward to how God will use this study as we put it into practice more and more in our lives! - Pastor Gerry

This is a book that will change your life and the life of many people around you. Jump-in into this five-week journey, full of adventure and excitement, and you'll discover the true power of loving one another.

Sjorgen here weaves together doing missions and showing unconditional love in a remarkable, unique fashion. Using the outline of Acts 1:8, he describes showing love outward towards God (Jerusalem), family and friends (Judea), community (Samaria), and the world in general (ends of the earth). I love the emphasis of this book and its sense of God's activity "flowing" from us to the world around us. Too often as Christians we become inward-focused, dwelling upon our own community of faith or our own ministry endeavor. Here Sjorgen encourages us to move outward as the love and grace of God flows outward.

This title is an inspiring one - you won't be disappointed!

I was moved to tears time and time again as I poured over the pages of this most honest recount of God's miraculous intervention in the establishment of a very special university. Mrs. Kim's attention to every detail and her gift of obviously having pondered each moment in her heart as Mary did, has enabled her to write a testimony that draws in readers to stand before the wonder of the Living God. Like a bright beacon of hope, the true stories in this book will warm your soul and gently nudge you to realize again that there is a loving God who hears and answers even our smallest prayers.

Who said miracles do not happen in modern times? Who said Moses' opening of the Red Sea is only a story in the Old Testament? This book is truly a living testimony of God's miracle that still happens in our daily lives, a living witness that there is miracle wherever there is God's will.

Once I started reading this book, I could not stop. When I finally reached the back cover of the book, I realized that my eyes were swollen with tears and my mind was full of joy; my God is truly the living God who is with me all the time!

This is a book that tells us a true Handong story. Whenever I read this book, I wish to give to my American friends as a gift. and now I can. Thank Phyllis Kim for telling us a real story and thank God for telling us your story.

You will need a box of tissue to read this book! This book has deeply moved me because I got to see God at work in 21st cent. through Dr. Young Kil Kim and his wife. Their courageous obedience to God's calling has arose countless stories of trails, tribulations and triump. Once you start this book, you won't be able to put it down. I highly, hightly recommend this book to others!
Simply amazing!

This book gives vivid testimony of how God led Young Ae Kim and her husband through suffering and showed His grace. Each moment and day of their lives, they witnessed and lived through God. Many challenges never led them to failure but to victory which was only possible through God's grace.
If anyone wants to know what grace awakening is all about and live through God's grace, this book is a MUST have.

I found this book, and the CD it came with, to be very helpful. I would definitely recommend buying it.

this is just what I need- very novice at pro se litigation,this is a great help with the basics of law,research and a limited intro to drafting documents

As an online paralegal student at the Washington Online Learning Institute, (WOLI) for short, I bought this book towards the end of my certificate program. It was quite useful in putting a lot of information in perspective. I had a course in career preparation at WOLI and this book reinforced and expanded upon that information so the combination of knowledge from WOLI and this book was really powerful. This book is basic, but it is accurate and very useful for someone entering the field. I ended up with a job just two weeks after graduating and this book helped for sure. So I would recommend it. I think it is interesting that Amazon bundles this book with the Statsky paralegal book because we used the Statsky book in three courses at WOLI. So I would recommend both books, actually. This is a good book for a person who is serious about entering the paralegal field, but keep in mind you should really get certified if you want to be truly successful. The days of just learning on the job are pretty much over, especially in terms of advancement in a law firm, which is a valid point made in this book. Recommended.

I really enjoy the "Dummie's" line, I actually have a collection of them. I think that they are extremely informative and well written. They break down stuff that people might deem as "common" knowledge, but you'd be suprised how ignorant some are on the topics. I will continue to buy their line and look forward to many new and interesting topics to read about.

I originally purchased this book for my friend, who was considering pursuing a paralegal certificate to help with a career change. Before giving it to him, I managed to read this book in its entirety. With only my brief academic background in law (Business Law I&II, and Law of the Workplace) I found this book to be an enjoyable, easy read, and full of useful information and insight into the paralegal industry. (Not to mention a CD full of bonus material.)

I also found it intriguing that this book was written by the founders of The Center for Legal Studies, providers of paralegal courses in many of this country's junior colleges. (The same course, as it were, that my friend will be taking in the coming months.) While I don't know how good it will be as preparation for the course, I'm relatively certain that the two have some interrelated elements that may prove useful.

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 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.

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!

"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.

Cay has really outdone herself in this little jewel. It provides the most wonderful framework for a mom/teacher to build upon in regard to topics and the picture books that support those topics. Cay's years of research, reading, weeding and pruning allow her to present a wonderful finished product to the reader, a product worthy of much time and attention.

Thank you Cay, for making my job easier! I can envision my eldest asking for my dog-eared, marked and well-loved copy one day. She'll be busy educating my grandchildren and this book will be part of her preparation.

She's written another book that inspires, informs and helps parents create a reading atmosphere in their children's lives. Picture Perfect Childhood is a lovely book that incorporates essays about the value of picture books as well as many comprehensive book lists that will make easy a parent's job of choosing books. My favorite parts; the month-by-month list (I recently sat with March open while I reserved the books online at my library and purchased a few here), the spanning the world list and the Teaching Virtues Through Books.

Picture Perfect Childhood will be a valued and much used resource in any home where there are parents who are passionate about their children becoming readers.

Although I have read and enjoyed Cay Gibson's other books, A Picture Perfect Childhood exceeded my expectations. Without a doubt I can say that this the best and most helpful book I have purchased in a while.

A Picture Perfect Childhood is a book for anyone who loves children or even just art and books. It is not only a wonderful resource for finding picture books on a variety of topics or reading wonderful picture books month-by-month, but it is a wonderful presentation of the utility of picture books in a child's life... and even later on. Both the pictures (the art in the best picture books is truly beautiful) and the content in picture books are discussed in general. Mrs. Gibson included an assortment of lists as well; my favorite is Petit Fours for Mom.

This book is particularly helpful for those of us with special needs children. I find excellent picture books extremely helpful in teaching a special needs child as well as pleasing to me. The latter point is not a trivial one; I make better use of a book or resource when I enjoy using it.

This book is now at the top of my list of presents to give a new baby. This book along with one of the picture books recommended would be a wonderful start to a life of reading and joy.

I just got Cay's book in the mail. I speed read it just to get an over view. Now I am reading it slowly, savoring all the wisdom that the author has. We are a family of book lovers, but this book explains why picture books should be used for the whole family. The selection of books she has is wonderful, especially the list of picture books with recipes. The first day I ordered a dozen of her recommendations from the library. Great list for all types of families. Now I'll order more for my daughter and her children.

There are only a few books that I know I'll love even before I see them - and this was definitely one. Picture book afficionado Cay Gibson serves up a delicious array of picture books of all sorts to discover and savor for yourself from your local library (and hopefully start a collection of your own as well).

I'm a big fan of picture books - especially the beautifully illustrated ones that are wonderfully in fashion at present (my habits run along the lines of prominently displaying them in our house to inspire reading, purchasing picture books to coordinate with our homeschool studies - particular in history and science, and even, occasionally, reading picture books aloud to unsuspecting dinner guests) and I'm delighted to have this great place to start to discover many more titles.

The substance of this book is comprised of essays on the value of picture books and how to incorporate them into your lives along with numerous creative and inspiring book lists. Here is a sampling of the booklists you'll find:

List for Teenaged Readers and Reluctant Readers

Children's Hour (A Twelve Month Historical Timeline along with supplementary reading in subjects like science, art, music and language arts)

Teaching Virtues Through Books

Spanning the Globe

Let's Get Cooking with Literature (Picture Books about Cooking and Recipes)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Black History Month

Gardening Treasures

Immigration Booklist

Pioneers and Westward Movement

World War II

Christmas Booklist

This is the sort of book (further enhanced by spacious margins and room for additional notes) that I can readily imagine dragging to the library and to book sales and keeping track of which favorites we've read and which ones we own. A very welcome addition to our home library and one that also looks to be useful in making purchasing recommendations to our public library.

Though this book was written by a Catholic homeschool mom (and includes a number of fine, specifically Catholic titles), its scope is quite broad and would be of interest to many parents, teachers and librarians.