Vans Books

My son was going through a phase of seeing monsters everywhere... He loves this book... 2 years after and if he is scared I read this book and it helps a lot... He took it to school and show it to his friends

My 8 year old actually enjoyed reading this book to me. Amanda is worried that there is a monster in her room at night. With a little help from her family she gets over it. He especially liked the part about the monster trap. Recommended for ages 5-8 years and K-2nd grade. It is written at a 2nd grade reading level. My library has it recommended as a 1-2nd grade reader.

My two+ year old has spent months carrying this book around, having it read to her a hundred times a day and talking about it. She even sleeps with it. She loves the Amanda Pig! We will definitely work on getting her the entire Amanda Pig series. The BOO SHOOO TO YOU segment seems to really resonate with her and we hear (and say) it quite often. You can't have more fun for less than $5!

Nice series of books. Easy to read with cute and fun stories.

Author and Vietnam veteran Gerald A. Slyke, has written a soul inspiring memoir with his début book "Angels Never lie". The writing style takes the reader on a gentle spiritual journey as the author explores his personal awakening. He shares his encounters with the presence of angels in his life and much more. The book is not preachy, or is it out to sell us any new kind of dogma; its only message seems to be the belief in angels and the power of love in our lives. It is a message that is embraced throughout the book.

Van Slyke also adds several personal stories of angel encounters that were shared with him in his angel store in Arizona. It is a nice mixture of his spiritual adventures and others. He talks about angels in the modern day age and shows us that he is not alone in his beliefs.

The book comes across as an honest and almost understated story of how the author changed and evolved emotionally and spiritually. Events and people come into his life at the right time (God's time?) and it changes his life. He recounts some of his experiences where his dreams gave him a knowing that things were going to happen.

The author does a wonderful job of making this book very readable and enjoyable and at the same time making it inspirational. You cannot come away from reading his book without having some questions about life, about God or even about what is real or not. You will be changed; perhaps, you may even question your perceptions about your own religious beliefs. It is that kind of life story; and words like powerful and awe inspiring comes to mind!

This is a "good-feeling-story" to read that is uplifting! You may even feel an urgent need to write the author, or go visit his angel store to discuss what you just read. I know I came away wanting more of the stories and wanting to talk to author.

If you are looking for a gift for a friend, family member, or a loved one, or someone who may be ill or dying - then this book is that perfect offering for their soul's hunger. I personally recommend this book to all readers. The American Authors Association of America gives this book its highest rating of FIVE STARS and also nominates it for one of its prestigious annual book awards.

Angels Never Lie" gives readers concrete, engaging stories that touch all of our souls. Gerald beautifully describes living spiritually alive and open and trusting the guidance that comes in many forms spanning from serious to extremely funny commentaries. Thank you for moving me deeply. Patricia Gallagher Marchant Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This book is wonderful. It's message is for EVERYONE - a message of inspiration for men and women alike. Hopefully more and more men will be drawn in and know that it's time for them to step forward. Angels are for everyone - male & female, young and old alike.

This book is humorous and inspiring. We are all here for each other and Gerald helps us realize this.

Fascinating, I no longer doubt myself.Most books on the subjct are written by women. This one is written from a man's standpoint. The author has a lot of guts---

Thank God there are others out there who are not afraid of the truth, not afraid of telling others of the spirit world.

This is the fourth copy I have bought....both of my brothers are artists and I gave them this book for a birthday present - very happy with it. I also got one for myself and one for a friend - this is an excellent book and was in excellent condition every time!

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN AN ART LOVER SINCE I WAS A KID. PART OF THE ENJOYMENT OF ART IS HAVING AN INTERPRETATION TO GO ALONG WITH WHAT YOU ARE SEEING. THIS BOOK WILL EXPLAIN WHY EXPERTS VIEW CERTAIN WORKS OF ART AND PROCLAIM THEM "GREAT". IT TEACHES PRINCIPLES OF ART FROM PAST AND PRESENT PERSPECTIVES IN A UNIQUE, 3-DIMENSIONAL WAY. IT ALSO INCLUDES INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES SUCH AS A MOBLILE YOU CAN BUILD AND EVEN CHARACTERS THAT YOU CAN PLACE IN THE PAINTING TO UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS SUCH AS VANISHING POINT AND HORIZON LINE. EVERYONE WHO HAS SEEN MY COPY HAS BECOME ENGROSSED IN IT. EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY LIKED ART!

A beautifully designed pop-up book that's a MUST for any collector. Very educational and interactive.

I am one of the artlessly clueless. This book, and the others in the series, have all been wonderful fun, which is why they are also wonderful learning tools for beginners. Low stress, major payback, and marvelously intelligent all the way through. They won't make you an expert, but you'll have a good time and be better for it, too.

I first read this book in 1975 and have never forgotten it. The first chapter: "The Courage to Accept Acceptance" is only twelve pages and it is life-changing.

"It is fairly easy to believe in God's love in general but it is very difficult to believe in God's love for me personally. Why me?"

He goes on to explain just why I should believe in God's love for me in a way that I had simply never heard before and certainly didn't understand. The author makes it not only understandable, but believable. Try it yourself.

There are two books that have LITERALLY changed my life: the first is "Awareness" by Anthony de Mello, and the second is this one. No person, book or other source has ever been able to explain the nature of God's love to me before I read this wonderful spiritual masterpiece. The main topic of the book is prayer, and it does teach new ways of praying. More importantly, I think, is the way it drives home God's total acceptance of each of us, and the nature of His Son. I've read many MANY books on Christian spirituality, and this book has had perhaps the most profound effect on me. If you never read another spiritual book, READ THIS ONE!!!

Will be a spiritual classic. A must for people on a serious spiritual journey. From a Christian and Scriptural perspective. Too bad it is hard to find. Needs a better title.

I am in my sixtees and at my age I have read a lot of books about the essentials of the spiritual life from the point of view of the cristianism looking for the meaning of my life and my function in the post-modern world.AS BREAD THAT IS BROKEN has the transparency, the profundity and the optimism that we need not only for survive but for living with joy, hope and peace...mostly loving each-other.

as i am an admirer of atelier van lieshout, the book is very interesting, amazing - you can read and look in it, whenever you have a couple of minutes, re-read it, re-look at it, there is always something new you can explore

Great artist, great book. Nice format. It actually includes a manual and plans to build fiberglass structures according to Joep Van Lieshout's desings. You also get a detailed step-by-step guide to pickle pork meat. His conception of art, installation, color and life are all equally interesting. Get it if you can.

brilliant vision. impact realization. one doesn't know whether it is a joke or to take it all dead seriously. the power lies in this double edge.

(horizontal format paperback) A nice range of photographs and essays describe the activities and products of Lieshout and his camp. Includes photographs, plans, and do it yourself type instruction for sexy camper units, toilet fixtures, kitchen furnishings, skinning and perserving pork, and weapons- BRING ON THE APOCALYPSE!

The book "Babe Ruth One of Baseball's Greatest" is a spectacular 5 star book. It tells of George Ruth from age 7 till his death. It depicths him at St.Marys school, where he first learned Baseball. It's where he won his first Championship and the academy game. At that game a Baltimore Baseball scout saw him pitch and was amazed, he reported about George to the owner of the Baltimore Oriels. One afternoon George and his friend Rod were having a catch. George was pitching, Rod was catching when they saw a man walking with the brothers who run the school. They called George in, the man was the Baltimore Oriels manager and he wanted George to play for them. This is where he got the name Babe since he was so young. Thus the career of Babe Ruth began. If you love Baseball and it's heroes you'll love this book.

It was a really great book. I learned a lot about Babe Ruth. A lot I didn't know - all about him growing up and what his childhood was like.
It was really informative and I really enjoyed reading it.

I read this book a couple years ago, but haven't forgot it. It's great if you like learning about sports heros or baseball. I remember most baseball stuff. I even remember that 1 month after his first wife died in an apartment fire, Babe Ruth married again. I learned that from this book. Would you like to learn more? Then buy this book!!!

I remember this reading this book in 7th grade and i will never forget it. It was writen with pride and dignity you felt that the great BAMBINO was a hero and he was to most people. I really recommend this book to baseball lovers and people who are interested with this topic. Oh Guernsey Van Riper and Seymour Fleishman did a excellent job writting and illustrating this book.

Thanks Jerry! I've been a fan for years. This is the kind of humor that can be visited time and again without getting old. (Do not keep a copy in the bathroom without a seat belt.) I recognize so many of the characters depicted in these pages and many of them are me. (Going to have to work on that.) As a frustrated cartoonist (no talent) and self proclamed humorist (no laughing) it is to Jerry's alter that I bring my offerings. Just don't raise prices. I give these books to people I know well. I don't loan my collection anymore, because they never come back. (I'f your reading this Leonard, I know where you live.) And a warning; be very careful which ones you show to your wife. The last time it cost me flowers and a long dry spell (get it). I'f you've never purchaced a cartoon book before (I can only imagine your kind of person) now is your chance to hit one out of the park. If you like to put on a Snoopy suite and your wife gets a rolled up news paper and play "bad doggie", you'll like this book.

I have his previous books and believe them to be unique and worth having in any personal library. This new book is exactly like the others. If you liked his Neighborhood books, you'll like this one. Its more of the same, which is exactly what I was looking for.

In my humble opinion, Jerry Van Amerongen is a comic genius. His "The Neighborhood" and "Ballard Street" panels take everyday phrases and/or situations and he turns them into absurdity when combined with his detailed, exaggerated drawings. During my day-to-day activities I am constantly reminded of his cartoons and I can't say that about any other cartoonist. Jerry (along with Gary Larson) completely changed the nature of the comics because before them the drawing was secondary to the humor of the panel or strip whereas they made the picture an integral part of it. Today, there are many comic panels that are of this type, but Ballard Street is still unique. My only criticism is that Jerry now focuses almost exclusively on dumpy old people in his panels, whereas in his old "The Neighborhood" panels he frequently used animals (particulary chickens which are really absurd creatures!) or inanimate objects which would seem to allow more creative possiblities. Anyway, enjoy!

J Amerongen entertains us by divulging the home life, and inner musings of the folks who go through life being totally ignored. They have hum drum jobs, and share their boredom with a boring spouse. One man enjoys talking to his weeds, while Jocelyn posts household hints on her front window. Aaron sits stunned in his office as he realizes an original thought just passed through his brain. Others engage in a battle of wits with their dogs. They generally lose. Some find their world too stressful and drive up to the drive in therapy window for help.

Strange humor? You bet, but to me its the most hilarious stuff in the world. I was very disappointed when I bought the book, though, because at 144 pages I thought, "Oh no, I can read this at one sitting." My solution? I limited my reading of it to 6 pages a day. That way I could keep laughing for over three weeks.

I read JvA's Ballard Street daily newspaper cartoon in the LA Times for years, but then moved to humorless Atlanta. This book was a godsend, and I hope JvA comes out with a new one every other month. I'll buy them all.

This book is unbelievably well-researched. Ed describes the complete history of one of American's great fly-fishing rivers; yet he never loses sight that what made the Beaverkill special was many of its anglers, whom he brings to life. Like all great history books, The Beaverkill is much more than a telling of facts and events. I don't see how anyone could have written a better book about my favorite river. Everytime I stand in its water I feel that I'm standing in history and that I'm part of something so, so special, thanks to Ed.

Ed's book details the life and struggle of this famous trout stream since colonial times. It has not been easy! Intersting reading, especially for those that fish the region.

The Beaverkill is a "must" for all who fish this river and for those who are simply interested in its and the area's history. The book is a fascinating account and "easy read".

a very good book, about a river, itshistory, and the people around it. very well written, and very good pictures

"Beethoven" by Barry Cooper is much more than I had hoped when I ordered the book. I have been a lover of Beethoven's music for years. I always liked the movie "Immortal Beloved" and wondered how true to life the story was. As it turns out, the movie is only loosely based on Beethoven's life. There are many ficticious episodes in the movie (the writers raked his name through the mud!) and it perpetuates many ill-conceived rumors and stories. As is often the case, reality is even better than fiction. This book reveals Beethoven a the upstanding, devout and charitable personality one who is familiar with his music would expect to find.

Beethoven's life makes for an amazing and entertaining story - especially in juxtuposition to the music that he lived to create. This book super-analyzes the significant pieces from his career - almost to a fault. If you are very learned in musical and compositional theory, this analysis will be a strong point. If, however, you have less knowledge of musical form, this book can get a little difficult at times. This did not reduce my enjoyment by much (I still rated it 5-stars) because the book is so strong in every aspect. This is THE book to read if you want to learn about Beethoven.

As a Beethoven fan I was initially attracted to the cover of this book, until I discovered its contents. The amount and quality of information is outstanding and Barry Cooper doesn't spare any words to guide us through the life, creative process and personality of this incredible composer. In a nutshell, a book not to be missed by any classical music enthusiast.

This surprisingly engaging and informative biography of Beethoven is written as a continuous narrative history, and is certainly a work that any Beethoven enthusiast would wish to have in the library. At some 400 pages of small text, the work is a carefully researched and highly detailed piece which presents a comprehensive portrait of this musical genius. Beethoven "comes alive" in the work, and one forgets that the work is describing a person who passed away some two centuries ago.

The work integrates Beethoven's personal life with a critical look at his musical work. This approach allows us to not only understand the entire opus of collected works, but to place individual pieces into the unfolding context of Beethoven's life. There is no sparing of details, but the book is nevertheless able to convey these details in a manner that doesn't require us to be musical experts to understand the descriptions. We also find in the text some eminently interesting details, such Beethoven's estimation of George Frederic Handel as the greatest of composers, a preference for Streicher pianos, and Beethoven's wrestling with the "finale problem" that kept his "Symphony in C," now sometimes nicknamed "Symphony 0," permanently unfinished. But these are just interesting notes in a symphony of words which Cooper has put together for us: the entire work is an immense musical play which we observe with great interest and pleasure.

The book also provides some very helpful informational addenda which serve as continuing reference for our Beethoven studies. These include a comprehensive "calendar" of Beethoven's life from 1770 to 1827 (including for each entry the year, Beethoven's current age, the event, and contemporary musicians and musical events), a comprehensive listing of Beethoven's works (including WoO, Hess, and opus numbers as appropriate), and a small personality glossary describing key people in Beethoven's life.

The book is an easy recommend to the Beethoven enthusiast, the music student, or the Beethoven scholar. The work easily stands on its own as a solid piece of historical scholarship, but when coupled with a good collection of Beethoven recordings (say, the Deutsche Grammophon "Complete Beethoven Edition" CD-ROM series), the work serves as a continuing reference for anyone wishing to know more about Beethoven's music.

The work of great artists is inexhaustible. In Beethoven's case, his music remains a stunning achievement. His achievement as a composer, together with the nature of his character, his deafness, his thwarted love affairs, and his relationships to his musical predecessors and successors, has led to a fascination with him and to a literature that is likely to be written and rewritten as long as people listen to his music. As is Beethoven's music, and is is history, Beethoven's life and character, and the means by which one is to understand them, are open to a multitude of approaches.

In his Preface, Cooper writes (at x) that "surprisingly little is known for certain about Beethoven." He points out that some studies, such as Maynard Solomon's fine biography that appeared shortly before Cooper's own, featured a psychoanalytical approach to Beethoven that attempted a fuller explanation of Beethoven's character than those that had been attempted by other writers at the cost of questionable psychological theory and speculation in the face of a scarcity of evidence. Cooper endeavors to write a biography that holds closer to the known facts about Beethoven's life and to emphasize those facts that may shed life on his activities as a composer.

Cooper also spends a great deal of his book analysing the music itself. There are lengthy accounts of the origins of the symphonies, concertos, quartets, sonatas,songs, masses, of Fidelio, of the folksongs and other parts of Beethoven's output. There are generous musical analyses and quotations. I was particularly impressed with Cooper's attention to some of Beethoven's work that is not as well known as it deserves to be, such as the Opus 7 piano sonata, the Creatures of Prometheus Ballet, and the oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. These works are analyzed insightfully and lovingly.

As Cooper acknowledges, his study is perhaps less detailed than is Solomon's on Beethoven's life. His book does, however, offer its own perspective on Beethoven. Broadly speaking, Cooper is more sympathetic to certain aspects of Beethoven's actions than has been the case with many other writers. Unlike Solomon, Cooper takes Beethoven's side, for the most, part, in his dispute with his sister-in-law over the custody of Karl, Beethoven's nephew. Also, he disputes Solomon's account that Beethoven frequented prostitutes. In both these matters, I am not sure that Cooper has the better of the evidence. The portrayal endeavors to see Beethoven favorably without making him something different than a human being with fallibilities.

I also found interesting Cooper's discussion of Beethoven's religious views. Beethoven's views on such matters, as is the case with the views of any thinking person on these matters, were highly personal and difficult for a third party, such as a biographer writing 250 years after the fact, to ascertain and expound. Cooper acknowledges that Beethoven was not for most of his life a practicing Christian but finds him a devout believer in God as the source of human morality. Solomon's account emphasizes more Beethoven's predilection towards the Enlightenment. A difficult question, and I suspect that Beethoven had components of both views in him.

Too many recent biographers feel a need to deprecate their subjects. This is definitely not Cooper's approach to Beethoven. (For that matter, it was not Solomon's approach either.) Cooper writes of Beethoven that "despite much sniping from twentieth-century critics, his reputation as a giant among composers remains intact as we enter the twenty-first century." (Preface x)

This book is not hero-worship but it presents an inspiring and historically plausible account of a composer and a man who is worthy to be revered for his vision, attainments and character. This book will be treasured by those who love Beethoven's music. May it encourage the reader to become acquainted or reaquainted with these works of the human spirit.

I feel like I'm a fly on the wall in Beethovens apartment...well, one of his many apartments. Can't get any closer than this too someone who lived that many years ago. I also find it hard to believe that a man like Rossini would spend two years in the same city as Beethoven and not meet him. I'm willing to bet that the moment Rossini stepped from his carriage in the city of music he grabbed the first passerby and said "Where do I find Beethoven?"

Schindler met Beethoven in 1814, when Beethoven was 44 and the author was an impressionable 19 year old. Schindler became an almost constant companion of the composer, and was witness to a number of fascinating occurrences that no other biographer, such as Ries, had access to. Schindler gives us examples of Beethoven's strongly emotional nature, in such a way that I felt I could have recognized the composer should I have passed by him on abusy street. Inclusion of this information is what made this biography most appealing to me. One of my favourite sections is an appendix entitled "Beethoven's Daily Routine" which describes, among other things, how Beethoven would count out 60 beans for his cup of coffee.

However, Schindler is not a transparent witness. Rather, he feels compelled to "protect" Beethoven from "his many enemies", for whom there is no historical basis. A sense of Schindler acting as guardian comes through strongly in the writing. The most striking example of this attitude is Schindler's description of the meeting between Beethoven and Rossini, a meeting which historically never took place!

Fortunately, this excellent Dover edition is thoroughly annotated - there are as many editor's notes as there are pages in the text! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a contemporary account of the life of the great composer, and who would enjoy witnessing the profound effect that he had on at least one of his associates.

I have enjoyed this book very much. It written by someone that knew Beethoven ,and it offers you a lot of information about Beethoven's life, it is accurate. When there are two differents versions of the same event, the authors explains and describe them.
A very objective book and enjoyable.

Great book

Strange that the first reviewer says that the meeting between Beethoven and Rossini never took place. Rossini and Beethoven would have disagreed! They met in the spring of 1822 when Rossini was in Vienna for the premiere of his opera Zelmira. Rossini has left an account of the meeting