Vans Books

This book provides good materials on how to use ITIL with a focus on software/application development lifecycle.

For companies building their own apps, this is a must read.

At first when I looked at the title of this text I didn't feel that it would have anything to offer. Like most people I flicked through the pages to get a feel for the layout before I started to read.

It wasn't until I read the first few pages that I truly understood that the purpose of this book is not to supplement the ITIL framework; it is to provide a missing element that is not defined in the core Service Support and Service Delivery of ITIL.

The developement of software services in an ITIL or ISO 20000 environment is neatly packaged in this book as the primary topics are addressed. These topics include application management and the specifics of changes related to software and how software development resources need to be managed through a project management framework.

I read this book when I was 13 and tried to find it again for years. This is still the best biography of JBK ever written. It's tasteful, warm, witty and touching. It was written at the happiest time of Jacqueline Kennedy's life and it really shows. Also, it's the only biography that was written in part with JBK's cooperation. If you collect Kennedy books, you must have this one.

This book is great. I give it two thumbs up. The book actually takes you into the life of Americas first lady. The book expresses jackies thaughts and feelings toward the Kennedy family. The book also gives Jackie credit for her intelligence and talks about her education and where she received her education from. This is a part of Jackie you have never seen before. The style that the author uses to write this book is also quite impressive. So many books that have been written in regrds of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy do not give facts about her individual self as this book has done. Most books over Jacqueline tell us only about her life with Mr. Kennedy and her life after his death, but this book gives us information about her life and who she was apart from the Kennedys.

I loved James ever since the first episode of DC. The book was also really great.

I have to say that I loved this book. And that's not only because they gave my website a A+. There are tons of pictures. and the writing was really good too.

An award-winning science teacher and science fair judge, Janice VanCleave took copious notes about criteria shared among the very best exhibits. This book details the winners by explaining how and why to replicate results, without spoiling the journey of discovery inherent to each project. Its beauty is in harnessing the enthusiastic yet un-focused student to pinpoint a broad area of interest, creating a project using the Scientific Method applicable to a dozen Earth Science specific topics.
The entire book is a winner, helping students design a project using the Scientific Method but also to communicate those results in a clearly visual manner on 3-sided Foam-Core Project Board. Presentation is critical: a brilliant project may be wasted if its intricacies completely escape the viewer. Ms VanCleave shows how to navigate the 'marketing' portion of the board in addition to keeping a strictly scientific approach to recording data.
Recommend this book to fifth grade children and up. It is worth every penny, especially if you have more than one child in school at a time.

I really admire this interesting book.
It has not only inspired me but it has given me
the impression that this is the book that I would
like to put to use!

Any girl who grew up in small-town America can find at least some of her story in "The Jitterbug Girl" by Donna Van Straten Remmert.

This is an excerpt from her night as prom queen.
"David Peotter is 6'4" tall. This is great as a basketball player, but it's not great for a guy whose queen is 5'2" tall. When we danced our solo dance to 'Stranger in Paradise,' my face was pushed smack-dab into his armpit. Lots of cameras were flashing, and all I could think is that with my face in the king's armpit, pictures for posterity won't show who the king
chose to be his queen. I tipped away from David's armpit and then I gazed up at him romantically. This was a good pose for the pictures, but David felt
so self-conscious about me gazing up at him that he looked off to the side instead of looking down at me.

"I just thought of something. Maybe he was looking off to the side where Bonnie was sitting. By the way, remember Jimmy Eick, the kid who got us into the fairgrounds without paying? He was Bonnie's date to the prom and little does he know that Bonnie is in love with Peotter. And little does Bonnie know that Patsy has a huge crush on Jimmy Eick."

"Jitterbug Girl" details the maturing of Van Straten through her first date, to school events, to driving, to virtually every experience teens encounter in their trip from childhood to young adult. This is her story, but she grew up in such an ordinary way that it becomes every girl's story."

Reviewed by PJ Pierce
Just as I suspected. Donna Van Straten has taken me through the gamut of emotions in The Jitterbug Girl: Class of '55. And the same fluid readability of her first novel, The Littlest Big Kid, comes through again in this one.

In this second installment, Van Straten regales the reader with hilarious slices of her teenage years during the early 1950's in Black Creek, Wisconsin. All the while the author slips in reflections of more serious truths hidden within the niceties of Wisconsin small-town society. Her first-person narrative, complete with the genuine teenage slang of that day, rings true, especially for any American who lived through that innocent decade. The author says she discovered her first-person style while writing The Littlest Big Kid. After first attempting to tell her story from an adult perspective, Van Straten says (in an interview) that the kid inside her started telling HER version of the stories. "I decided to let her take over, telling things with her words and from her perspective. The advantage of telling things as if I'm still a kid is that it gets the analytical and inhibited side of my adult personality out of the way."

From her teenage point of view, Van Straten reflects on the world as she is experiencing it. She relays her thoughts to me, the omnipresent reader, as if we are conversing. "I'm beginning to think that women run the world," 16-year-old Donna tells me after getting her first real job. "It doesn't seem like they do, but it's still true. For instance, I tell Marie Wagner and Edna Eick that I can make life easier for them by working in the grocery store, so they tell Babe to hire me. Babe had told me that he didn't need me, but after they talk to him, he calls to say that I can start work tomorrow. See what I mean? We may not get the credit, but we actually do run the world. It's because we figure things out faster than men."

Babe allows his new hireling to give cookies to the Black Creek kids who come in the store with their parents, but not to the ragged and transient gypsy kids. "I want to fight for (the gypsy kids') rights, but I can't figure a way to do it," she tells me. "All day long I think about how it isn't fair that these poor kids can't have a cookie like every other kid in town. It's not their fault that they're gypsies, is it?"

Throughout her childhood and teenage years, the author finds herself analyzing ethical situations such as how to tread the thin line between her boss and the gypsy children. And she continues to question the teachings of her Catholic religion. When the polio epidemic causes the Seymour Fair to be cancelled for fear of spreading germs, Donna and all of her six siblings have to begin taking a daily "polio" nap. Afraid of impending boredom, the 15-year-old decides to read the whole Bible to wile away the time in bed. "Catholics don't have to (read the Bible), but I'm going to,' she explains to me, the reader. "I want to try making sense of the stories by myself, without Father Scholton telling me what to think.

When her father tells her that it's not important for girls to get a college education, she list nine reasons she would rather be a boy, including "boys don't have periods, boys get chosen to be leaders more than girls do, and boys get to go to college. She could think of only three reasons for being a girl: "1) I like wearing girls' clothes, 2) I like wearing makeup, and 3) I like not paying for things on a date. "I'm racking my brain for other reasons," she concludes, "and I just can't think what they might be."

Skillfully and gradually, Van Straten helps us see the ironies of the `50's decade. But because those ironies come to us through a teenager's eyes, we can smile at the innocence and absurdities.

It is a big day in the Van Straten household when their father brings home their first television set. But the arrival of the contraption sparks a disagreement between her father and mother over whether to watch the news or "I Love Lucy." And an even bigger argument ensues when Lucy uses the word "pregnant" in front of all of America, including the seven Van Straten siblings. Mr. Van Straten contends that neither Lucy nor his wife should use that word in front of kids. "Hogwash!" Mother snaps. Her face is red like she's about to explode. "I'll say pregnant whenever I want to. Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant! If Lucy can say it on television, I can say it in front of my own children." Apparently even Lucille Ball was instrumental in corrupting the youth of America - thus preparing them for the upheaval of the 1960s.

And so we follow this feisty, inquisitive teenager to the brink of her college years. "By the way," she says to me just before I come to the last line of the book. "Have you heard about this new kind of music called rock `n roll? It's unbelievably groovy, especially Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock." Every time I hear it on the radio, I feel ready to get out into the world and be somebody. Daddy, meanwhile, says rock `n roll is the worst noise he's ever heard and that if it catches on around here, it'll be a bad influence on kids. He's such an old fuddy-dud!"

This small-format lavishly-illustrated book accomplishes everything it attempts. The posters are reproduced nicely, although in postcard size. To readers with questions about the actual canine work of a race, this book explains quite a lot. Siberian huskies are the stars of "the last great race," and there are many modern-day improvements to their lot - food-warmers, airlifted straw drops (for their sleeping comfort) and more. The Van Zyles' dogs are varied and gorgeous. Jon Van Zyle is a handsome bearded man who appears - with great success - in some of the posters. Jona Van Zyle offers a wealth of information. The drawings are romantic and even heroic - without being kitschy. For example, the piercing blue eyes of a Siberian husky are actually hauntingly beautiful in real life - and a Van Zyle painting might confirms that. A great look at beautiful, hardworking dogs by two people who love them.

Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories, Alaskan artist Jon Van Zyle has captured the twenty-five years of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race year by year with his commemorative posters celebrating the triumph, heroes, historic tales, and spirit of this classic dog sledding event. With true-life Iditarod stories by Jona Van Zyle, this 64-page book is a fitting memorial testament and celebration of human and canine endurance, courage, perseverance, and accomplishment, as well as "must" reading for anyone who has ever thrilled to an Iditarod event.

A warm survey of many classic texts and why each are worth reading. I enjoyed it very much.

I compiled my own reading list after reading this book, and so far have found Van Doren's opinions to be right on the money. Everything he's recommended has been worth the time I invested. It is also a great way to get some diversity in learning. Most of us raised in the US don't really get a first-rate liberal education- Van Doren's book offers a way to do it on your own. I highly recommend it for anyone who really wants to broaden their horizens.

A rollicking retelling of the classic Brer Rabbit stories. In this adaptation of the Joel Chandler Harris stories, children and their lucky parents can watch the wily Brer Rabbit outsmart time and time again his predatory neighbors and prove that brains really are better than brawn. The difficult dialect of the Chandler Harris originals has been updated and simplified for modern readers, and these beautiful volumes (there are three books in the series) are brilliantly illustrated by award-winning artist Barry Moser. This book is a must-have; I can't imagine why it isn't a best-seller.

A rollicking retelling of the classic Brer Rabbit stories. In this adaptation of the Joel Chandler Harris stories, children and their lucky parents can watch the wily Brer Rabbit outsmart time and time again his predatory neighbors and prove that brains really are better than brawn. The difficult dialect of the Chandler Harris originals has been updated and simplified for modern readers, and these beautiful volumes (there are three books in the series) are brilliantly illustrated by award-winning artist Barry Moser. This book is a must-have; I can't imagine why it isn't a best-seller.

Having read aloud this series (Jump, Jump on Over, and Jump Again) six or seven years ago to my (then) Kindergarten and second grade children, I asked them recently "what were your favorite books when you were little?" And this book series came up as hands-down "read-aloud" winner. I remember that they were a joy to read aloud, and the children laughed and laughed. They were so sad when the last book was finished that I ended up buying and reading them Julius Lester's book as well. Beyond that, the stories are culturally important literature. Parents can feel good knowing that children are being exposed to a uniquely American folktale series.

Five favorite narratives from the Uncle Remus series have been released in a stunning edition, Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit.

Vigorously whimsical illustrations by master wood engraver Barry Moser decorate the folio size sheets. Happily for all Brer Rabbit continues to outwit Brer Fox, and Brer Terrapin again winds up the winner. Earmarked for all ages.

While many knitters associate fisherman sweaters with the Aran Isles and Guernsey (one of the Channel Isles), the knitters of the Netherlands make similar sweaters to Guernseys in many wonderful patterns based solely on knit and purl, with occasional cables and lace (yarn-over) designs.

The basic structure of the Dutch fisherman's sweater is a patterned or textured yoke with a plain knit body. The structure is a tube with drop shoulder sleeves, similar to Norwegian sweaters. Color is not used, instead, indigo dye or natural wool is used.

The sweaters bear a strong resemblence to British sweaters, due to a strong trade route between the Dutch and British trading Dutch cured herring for sweaters in the Shetlands. Since the Shetland knitters came from Norway originally, this accounts for the similar construction.

This book has many stitch patterns, the method to construct an authentic fisherman's sweater the Dutch way, and many photos of Dutch fishermen and children wearing the garments in vintage photos as well. A rare book, well worth adding to any serious knitter's library.

Although we live in New Zealand I have married into a Dutch family. I kept borrowing this book from our local library and was lucky enough to spot it when it was put in a withdrawn library books sale. I couldn't believe my luck!

This is not a fancy book, which adds to it's charm as the jumpers were designed to be practical and solid and warm. The history and photos alongside the patterns, and the instructions which make it possible to create a jumper all of your own makes this one of my favourite knitting books to leaf through.

I also particularly like the way the patterns are placed in their geographical settings. I eventually plan to design and knit my children jumpers out of this book, when they are a little bigger so they don't grow straight out of them. While the tiny place their Oma grew up in is not in the book there are enough hints at the styles for that area to make me feel confident I can do something that is representative of that location.

It is an absolute gem of a book.