Camels Books

First of all. The most telling information in this book was that some people stop reading it in the middle because they know that if they finish it they will quit smoking. Or they were given the book and didn't read it for a long time and wished after reading it that they had read it right away.

I have been smoking a pack or more a day for 10 years. I have tried to quit several times either on my own or with the patch. I always failed. Now I know why. This is the easy way. I have only had a couple of bad days and when I say bad, I mean, I though about buying cigs for a bit on the way home from work and then laughed and just didn't do it.

One more great suggestion in this book is to after quitting, go to a party or somewhere that you usually smoke at. I didn't wait until after my final cigarette. I just went to a party and didn't smoke and I noticed how uncomfortable that made the "smokers". I didn't brag or even talk about quitting. (I had said a month ago that I was quitting before my 50th birthday). I just had a great time without smoking and I truly didn't miss it. I think that helped me most of all to get to that final cigarette and keep it final.

This is the book for you if you are finally ready like I was!

I highly recommend this book to anyone that is thinking of quitting smoking. I quit many moons ago for 8 years and did the "will power" way. I was miserable, I changed my life completely to stay away from all my triggers, was grumpy and almost lost my best friend. Oh, and gained 20 lbs. I had been smoking again for about 8 years (yes, ridiculous!) and tried several times to quit (will power, hypnosis, anti-depressants, you name it) but eventually started back up again. I can't even describe how different it is this time quitting with the guidance of this book. I have no doubt I'm done for good and feel fabulous!

I also bought a copy for all my close friends that still smoke and the 1 that has finished the book has also quit and feels great about it.

My Hubby and I both quit after reading this book. We had tried hypnosis, gum, patches, Wellbutrin, Chantix, herbs etc in the past.
I did not know that stopping smoking could be so easy and I can say with
confidence I will never smoke again.

Think maybe you're different? That YOUR smoking addiction is unique, and that's why other people can quit, but you can't? And that nobody but you can understand that?

Uh huh - been there. Done that. That's why I smoked every day for 46 years.

The day after reading Allen Carr's book, I quit and stayed quit. Nuf said.

Get it the book and do what he says, simple as it is! It works!

Purchased this book for myself. I liked it so well I bought 3 more to give to my smoking friends. It took me awhile to read it; I would read small sections at a time (the book actually deals with that same head game we smokers play). But once I resolved to actually read it, by the time I was finished with the book, I was finished with cigarettes. This book cost under $15 and it worked for me. All the other "Quit Smoking" gimmicks and drugs cost way more than that. This book was written by a 5 pack a day smoker. There is no excuse or "reason" for smoking that he hasn't thought of already. He pretty much nails every one of them on the head. If you truly want to get away from this habit, purchase this book. It was the best money I've spent in ages.

"Pole to Pole" was the second of former Python Michael Palins great travels around the world after the groundbreaking series "Around the World in 80 days", and is equally exciting, thrilling, and entertaining.

This time the team travels along 30 degrees east longtitude from the North Pole through Scandinavia, Russia and the Soviet Union, Africa, (and forced by fate South America) to the South Pole, this being the route covering most land. As with 80 days, and his subsequent travels, "Pole to Pole" is filled with a great, warm spirit of enthusiasm, interest, and real, honest, good humour. Palin guides us, the viewers, through the many different countries and cultures with his usual witty and insightful commentary, and does what the travel industry calls 'the Palin effect' (that you want to go where Palin has gone) great honour.

Describing Palins travel programmes in one word is impossible, but if I had to choose or be beaten to death with a shoe, I'd describe them as inspiring. Truly, utterly, completely, magnificently, and really inspiring. And there cannot possibly be any other quality in a travel programme that is better than that.

The extra material on the DVDs are, as with all the other series, abundant. Lots of clips and segments that didn't make it to the final cut and a half hour interview with Michael Palin.

Highest possible recommendation.

This travel documentary is exceptional, showcasing great landscapes and
various cultures with an element of uncertainty. But what makes it
inspirational is Michael Palin with his spirit of adventure, great sense
of humor and ability to connect with local people.

Palin's journey shows us how people across different ethnicities and
cultures have one thing in common - the 30 degree longitude (as he
travels along this route from North Pole to South Pole). It gives us a
sense of how in spite of our differences in race, religion and culture
we still share the same planet.

We can learn the political, social and economic situations unfolding in
those countries during early nineties. The world has changed a lot since
Palin's journey but his adventures will always be relevant regardless of
time.

This vicarious experience inspires me to embark on a real adventure.

What can one say about Mr. Palin and his enlighting series of discovery and adventure. Pole to Pole and Around The World In 80 Days were the eye opening quests that brought a new look at adventure and the world around us. I first saw these at University and just new I wanted to see the world as Mr. Palin has. Which I now have. He takes the journeys beyond the documentary range of The National Geographic. His, take things as they come and if it can go wrong it mostly likely will, coupled with his wonderful sense of humor. Can only lead one to smile and laugh. His style taught me the value of adventure and that all folks are just folks. Give respect and most of the time you get respect in return. Thanks to this gentleman the world is a little closer. Enjoy Pole to Pole and go see for yourself. It's all an adventure. Thank you Mr. Palin

MICHAEL PALIN`S DOCUMENTARIES ARE ALL A PART OF MY COLLECTION. ALTHOUGH THIS IS I BELIEVE THE EARLIEST OF HIS FOUR EFFORTS(SAHARA,AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS AND HIMALAYA ARE THE OTHER THREE)THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE, HUMOR, AND PURE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PEOPLE, CULTURES AND COUNTRIES HE TRAVERSES IS SIMPLY STATED, EXCEPTIONAL. NONE BETTER. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND A MUST HAVE. THANK YOU MICHAEL FOR YOU TALENT AND YOUR PERSPECTIVES.

After the success of Around the World in Eighty Days, Michael Palin embarked on a highly successful career as an adventure tourist. Each of his journeys has a hook: circumnavigating the Pacific Rim, going across the Sahara Desert, or in this case making the journey from the north pole to the south pole following as best as possible longitude 30 degrees.

Along the way, from snow to savannah, from Norway to Nairobi, the charm of Palin's travels comes from the unassuming way he interacts with the people he meets on route. His personality carries the relatively unstructured travalog along on a sea of well-meaning interest and curiosity. He tells us when he's tired, anxious, and bored. We are touched by the genuine friendships he makes, however fleetingly, and the partings are often touching. In Pole to Pole the meat of the journey is Africa and we travel from relatively cosmopolitan Egypt to what in politically incorrect days was referred to as Darkest Africa. Even in 1991 witchdoctors outnumbered the western kind, and random violence was never far from view. Indeed, at one point Palin stays with a European estate owner in Zambia and his family and after the visit is concluded we learn from the voice-over that they were slaughtered six months later.

I spent a few formative years in southern Africa and it was shocking to me to see how little had changed since last I saw it. If anything, most of the change was for the worse: the old trains and buses simply have grown older, the disorder greater. Only in South Africa did time seem to have moved on. For the casual viewer the sheer range of experience in Africa should be fascinating, even though we get the merest glimpse. How can one capture a continent in just a few minutes of video? Like many people, I suspect, my favorite moments were of Palin sitting on top of the slow train creaking its way through Sudan, talking with those who can't afford to travel any other way, and seeming perfectly at home. Somehow Palin makes us forget how unlikely it all is: a well-paid BBC personality squatting among the illiterate and impoverished, interacting with them as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps no other TV presenter could really pull it off convincingly.

In the end the "hook" seems a little forced: Palin flies in to the north pole and he flies in to the south pole. It's not really much of an epic journey but it was more hazardous than it might seem: when he made the trip to the South Pole there was inadequate navigation and infrastructure and it would have been all too easy for him to have perished due to half-baked preparation and execution on the part of those tasked with ferrying him around. Fortunately all survived and went on to make several other telejourneys to various parts of the world; journeys which are now slowly being remastered onto DVD and released by the BBC. If you don't have the chance to travel much beyond the usual tourist haunts, by all means pick up a copy of Palin's travels and experience the sights, sounds, and people you will otherwise never know of.

Extraordinary spiritual and personal journey. The author brilliantly transported me to a world totally unknown to me and I was hooked. The author allows the reader to witness the loving and nurturing relationship she developed with Mother Theresa.. It was an honor to be a part of the lives of these two woman, if only for a brief time.

Lorna Kelley's book had a profound effect on my life when I was early in my sobriety. I heard her speaking , and went out and bought this book. She is an inspired speaker and writer and her valuable life lessons and story of transformation make her one of the best authors I have ever encountered. I agree that this book needs to be made into a movie and I think she has to write another soon!

This is a lovely read of a beautiful journey, one from British schoolgirl to Sotheby's auctioneer to volunteer in Calcutta, India. Her tale puts a face on a spiritual quest for Jesus which is inspiring, uplifting, and encouraging. Great story-telling and a wonderful and rare insight into Mother Theresa and her world. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

This is one of the best books I have read in many years. It was inspiring, sad, funny and has changed my life. What a gift Lorna has given to many.

I was very touched by this true story of an intelligent person struggling to come to terms with her past, her family, grief, alcoholism, the material world and all the ills of everyday life. Beautifully and artfully written. The writer is no saint but, after one reads this book, her pure heart in unquestioned. Her sainthood (if I may use the word) is in her humanity and divine inclination to do good. She is like you and I struggling to exist and make a difference in this tragic world. In spite of all the material conforts and easy life, she is the poorer of the poor. I highly recommend this book to anybody looking for a good read to inspire both the heart and the spirit. God bless you Lorna! I just wish there were more books like yours out there!

Never before have I heard the Christmas story through the first person narrative of a camel, and it made for such a fun read. Carol Heyer's illustrations are so vibrant and full of life. This adds to the charm of the telling of the Birth of Christ. Humphrey's dialogue is that of a disgruntled camel who just acquired a blanket, somewhat by force. Humphrey believes that he is carrying more than his load of who knows what, to who knows where. In the end, Humphrey is changed by the love that surrounds the Christ Child, so changed, that he gives his newest prize posession as a gift. Both the story and illustrations are moving...the makings of a classic.

This is a delightful book. The illustrations are beautiful and the message is thought provoking for all ages.

This book arrived in excellent condition. I gave it as a gift to my nephew.

This book is just beautiful. The art work is fantastic, and the story is cute.

There's a little bit of Humphrey in all of us: that ever-so-slightly-complainy inner voice, full of wishful thinking. You're in love with his perfectly goofy face by the middle of the book -- and by the end, he's family.

Humphrey's entertaining and beautifully illustrated journey to the manger of baby Jesus rings loud and clear with the true spirit of Christmas, without ever straying toward the cloying or sappy. Read it to your kids and make room on the shelf -- Humphrey's a keeper.

This is one of the best pop-up books I've seen. I found illustrations absolutely gorgeous and the pop-ups extremely detailed, but delicate. My daughter (3 years old) loves the book. The story is not long and is fun and easy to read. The the pop-ups though is another story, they kept both my daughter and I captivated for ages.
This book is a must for young readers.

My kids, ages three and five, absolutely love the book and listen to the whole thing beginning to end with no problem. They love the story and the pictures both.

The story is very sweet; Raggedy Ann and Andy set off to rescue a doll and also end up rescuing a little boy, all with the help of a good fairy, of course.

The pop-ups are delicate enough that I wouldn't leave the book lying around the house in case my one year old might find it. But an older child can be taught to open and close the pages with care.

"One day Raggedy Ann and Andy were walking in the deep, deep woods when they met their friend, the Camel with the wrinkled knees..." is not a quote from this book despite its appearance at the top of this page.

No, this book is far better written than that and is a great bit of foundation to lay for children who will one day, sooner than their parents think, be reading real literature. Furthermore, Moerbeek's pop-up interpretations of the original pictures are stunning little masterpieces, sure to delight for years to come.

True, it doesn't offer the knock-your-socks-off prose of The Pop Up Mickey Mouse (see), being sweet and nostalgic rather than sharp and scrappy. But it is still quite a good read with its engaging characters and wry humor. And though most of the jokes will admittedly be lost on the little ones, they do keep it fun for the adult doing the actual reading.

The original text appears to have been edited a bit - probably for brevity's sake - but the story does seem to be fairly well intact (though the ultimate explanation of how the mischief-maker flew away is now missing and must be inferred from the pictures).

Despite the editing, reading this book aloud will take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes and kids jaded by too much TV may not have the patience to sit through it. However, my own daughter asks for it frequently, and seems to think it is time well spent. I must say I agree with her completely.

This is one of the best pop-ups in my collection. Very detailed, and fun, pop-ups, and the art work is very much in keeping with the original Raggedy Ann books. A must for young and old collectors.

THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE! THE COMPLEXITY OF THE POP UPS WAS AMAZING. THE GIRLS AGES 4 AND 6 LOVED IT. WE ARE KEEPING IT AWAY FROM THE 1 YEAR OLD. I WOULD RECCOMEND IT FOR ALL CHILDREN'S LIBRARIES.

Mr. Strand writes poems that are brief and books that are brief. What Mr. Strand lacks in length, however, he makes up for in power. "A Piece of the Storm," an eleven line work from his last collection, Blizzard of One, is one of the best poems of the last 10 years. I was hoping to find something of that level in this collection and I did.

"2002" is another top tier poem. It is a meditation on death but with a twist. It begins: "I am not thinking of Death, but Death is thinking of me./He leans back in his chair, rubs his hands, strokes/his beard, and says, `I'm thinking of Strand...'". Normally, I find a poet using his own name in a poem incredibly narcissistic, but here it gives grounding to a poem of fantasy. Plus, it seems to invite the reader to substitute their own name. From there, the poem follows Death's thoughts until it reaches this chilling closing: "...O let it be soon. Let it be soon." I love it.

As is often the case, even with poets I enjoy, the rest of the book is uneven. There are some other jewels here, including "Mother and Son" and "Poem After the Seven Last Words," a sequence of stanzas built around the last words of Christ on the Cross. What I like about this poem is how there is a subtlety and universality about it. Still, some of the poems are quite poor, including "2032," the companion to "2002." But I am will to work my way through some poems I don't like to find something like "2002."

This was my first experience reading a full collection by Mark Strand but I am very impressed, which shouldn't be surprising giving the awards and honors that Strand has received.

To me, this collection is full of poems that are the narrator trying to find his place in the world. There are many poems that look into what it is to be a writer, but that is not the only place in the world that the narrator is looking for.

What I note the most in these poems, as a poet, is the great use of dialogue and strong use of the actual line.

This collection could have a wide audience and hope many will consider reading it!.

The best poems teem with humor, moments of wonder, mystery, and sublime beauty; and one piece -- "Poem after the seven last words" -- can only be described as a work of genius. While some of the poems contained in "Man and Camel" come up short, there are others -- such as "Mirror" -- that are truly exceptional. The book as a whole is not quiet the masterpiece that is "Blizzard of One," but in its finest moments it is certainly the Pulitzer Prize winners' equal, and might even be better. In the best pieces there is an economy at work in the words, a sparseness and deceptive simplicity. Everything is deliberate, nothing unconsidered. There is also a purposeful ambiguity. The intent of these poems is not to answer or explain but to invoke, astonish, and confront with undeniable beauty and grief.

This is the eleventh poetry collection by Mark Strand and provides light masterpieces of spiritual meditations and social conditions. Poems are all free verse and vary immensely in theme and approach - but all are hard-hitting comments: "Something was wrong/screams could be heard/in the morning dark/it was cold." Mark Strand's reflections always make you think: MAN AND CAMEL is no exception.

Strand is a magnificent poet. His ideas and images are brilliant and the arrangement of the poems makes one flow into the other and it is impossible to stop reading. Tight and concise, lyrical and thought provoking, interesting and entertaining. He won a well-deserved Pulitzer a few years ago, and these poems are additional evidence as to why.

Favorites include "Black Sea," "Marsyas," "Mother and Son," and "Mirror."

Kidding Kangaroo loved to play jokes on Clever Camel while she was working. In the end she built a trap for Kangaroo. The DANGER sign sounds like a bare feet sign. I love to read bare feet signs like Kangaroo loved to read the DANGER sign.

I love this book. It helps children see the problems with too many practical jokes. I believe they will draw their own conclusion that helping others is a better way to go. Like all the other Sweet Pickle books, it allows children to feel they are getting to know new characters in Sweet Pickle. It gives them friends they will remember for years.

I love this book. It helps children see the problems with too many practical jokes. I believe they will draw their own conclusion that helping others is a better way to go. Like all the other Sweet Pickle books, it allows children to feel they are getting to know new characters in Sweet Pickle. It gives them friends they will remember for years.

This was the first book of the series that my mother gave me. It is the first book I read all by myself and I am in love with it. I have a son now, and would love to start him off on the same series. They are great!

This book was introduced to me by our pastor's wife. It follows the journey of a begrudging camel and his lack of enthusiasm to do as God's angels asked him and take gifts to the new baby King. Just when Hoshmakaka can't seem to bear anymore, he takes one last piece of straw and that brings him to his knees in front of the Baby Jesus and he forgets his burdens. This is a beautifully told and illustrated story that delights my four year old and brings tears to my eyes as I realize the parallel for our everyday lives.

A proud camel is selected to accompany the Magi described in Matthew to carry gifts for Jesus. He tries to get out of the journey (he has other commitments), but is convinced otherwise by some sand-blowing voices. As his journey continues, so does his burden, as gifts are added to his back. A young child even adds a straw for the baby's bed, that, well, I don't want to spoil the ending ("Will this straw cause me to fall?").

We used this book as the basis for our church's family Christmas Eve service. The children participated in a recreation of the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke, and then settled in for a reading of this great book. During the story, we had two people in a camel costume come through the aisles, as "presents" were loaded onto baskets on the "camel's" back. It was a great success, and helped bring alive the oft-repeated Bible stories.

Thury has a great skill of weaving in enough adult humor to keep the attention of even the most holiday-weary parent (this camel complains of his joints, gout and sciatica, which all parents and granparents can relate to after weeks of holiday shopping, eating and "assembly-required" efforts). My seven year old has requested it again and again. Original, enchanting and a great twist on both the Christmas story and "the straw that broke the camel's back." Or did it? The pictures are outstanding.

This is such a wonderful book! Every year I look for a special book to share with my family, this year it will be The Last Straw. It is a humorous tale that also teaches a valuable lesson about humility. The Last Straw is right up there with Santa Calls and The Red Ranger Came Calling. I highly recommend this book!

I love this book. I read it to my Sunday school class every year (preschool & kindergarteners) -- I still get teared up when the camel arrives at the manger...it is so touching and awe inspiring! The children are completely entranced by the story -- no one stirs as we read the story -- even the 3 year olds will be still with their little jaws open.

Together we wonder... will the old camel make it to the manger? Will the camel accept the little boys gift at the end of the journey?

It should be on every child's bookshelf at Christmastime. It is the spirit of the season.

I loved this book - it made me realize that a woman can be a mother and STILL maintain her sense of humor. The situations these women find themselves in are sometimes unfortunate, always embarrasing and never planned. But they all manage to survive it with a chuckle or two to share with the rest of us. It gives me hope. Definitely required reading if you are like me and trying to read everything possible to prepare for motherhood.

Everyone has their traveling stories - the tales of hopeless airline snarls, getting lost with a little one and no time to spare on a road trip, or taking on the super-human effort of packing everyone in your family up for a vacation only to find out that the hotel never actually noted your reservation and doesn't, in fact, have a room for you. Those are the kinds of stories you'll laugh at in about five years. Or maybe ten.

With this delightful anthology, you get the laughs without the personal disasters and expense. How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel is packed with stories that will ring true for anyone who has ever negotiated unfriendly traveling conditions, or companions. Have you ever found yourself playing Toddler Jukebox, non-stop, on a four hour roadtrip? Elrena Evans has, and informs you that you can sing "ABCB Spider" exactly 488 times. Ever found yourself identifying with Holly Korbey's husband when he suggested to his toddler that the reason behind the rain on the day of the Great Airplane Trip, two days before Christmas, was because God was laughing at Mommy so hard he was crying? The excellent essays include stories of all the travel extremes, from knotty airline travls during holidays to a week's vacation with three little ones to the beach, to a mommy-pilot taking her daughter on her first plane ride (as co-pilot, no less), to traveling Europe with a cranky teenager who refuses to speak English or pull out a map when lost - a sure givaway to the tourist status.

This book will give you a light dose of humor - and perspective, if you've been lucky enough to avoid such traveling misadventures. The best stories are the ones that everyone has experienced in some form or another, and this book won't disappoint.

Received this "How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel" as a gift and practically wet myself reading the stories. Some were seriously hilarious, some were ew-w-w, some were really quite touching.

This is the perfect book to take along on a trip, when you want only short easy things to read. And, maybe, reading about someone else's misadventures will make whatever problems you're facing seem minor in comparison.

Anyway, I always think that books make great gifts and this one would be perfect for mothers of small children. After receiving and reading it, I bought another copy for a friend. She immediately bought another copy for another friend.

It's that kind of book.

I used to read a story from this book as I lulled my little girl to sleep and more often than not I woke her up as my body couldn't contain the laughter from these stories.
As a new parent reading becomes difficult if not impossible and these stories are short and fun.
Waiting for a sequel of stories ..

Paul Bowles, is extraordinary beyond words. This simple book, has been written beautifully. The Stories shared are extremely insightful, where by attention has been made to every aspect of every character who is approached in this book.
The most secretive inhibitions are spoken of, hateful racist thoughts towards the Spanish Jew's to the so called "witch craft" practiced by Moroccan women, prostitution's ironic recurrent presence, and of course intoxications intensity of the moment.
It is by all means a thought provoking book, that surely deserves attention.

There are two things that set this collection of short stories apart from other Beat movement literature. First, everyone of these stories, regardless of actual plot, includes the use of kif (marijuana). Secondly, this is one of the few true Beat works that is set outside of the American continent. In fact, it is more a collection of folk tales inspired by a merge of Jewish, Moslem, and European cultures. It was not unknown for the Beats to travel to such exotic places as Morocco. William Burroughs did a stint over there. But, the tales told here could have been written by a native, rather than an outsider who was merely visiting. Well worth the read!

"A pipe of kif before breakfast gives a man the strength of a hundred camels in the courtyard." The proverb which opens this collection of stories lets us know where Bowles is coming from. Four short tales of Moroccan kif smokers open doors into worlds distant in time, space, and spiritual reality from millennial America. Bowles' style is distantly reminiscent of Hemingway in its bare simplicity, but also evocative of the South American magical realists in its exploration of the miraculous.

Each of his heroes is a kif smoker, and each finds it to be a useful and integral part of his life. Whether dealing with difficult neighbors in "A Friend of the World" or avoiding the cops in "He of the Assembly," smokers have a definite edge in Bowles' Morocco. But this is no simple paean--the stupid everyday troubles that also spring from kif are presented vividly and humorously (the soldier who loses his gun in "The Wind at Beni Midar" perfectly captures the zenith and nadir of chronic use). Short but satisfying, "A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard" makes an excellent introduction to Paul Bowles' work.

From the preface: "Moroccan kif-smokers like to speak of "two worlds",the one ruled by inexorable natural laws, and the other, the kif world,in which each person perceives "reality" according to his own essence, the state of consciousness in which the elements of the physical universe are automatically rearranged by cannabis to suit the requirements of the individual."-Paul Bowles

Bowles immersion into the culture of North Africa has produced some of the most interesting literature. This scant collection of four stories is an attractive little book of inconsequential but readable tales. Just as Bowles studied and collected Moroccan music as a key into the North African mindset so here he studies kif as another kind of key, one that gives him direct access into the North African subconscious. Bowles sets forth in the introduction that these tales are put together making use of associations made while he was under the kif influence. ....the best parts to my ears are the hermetic sayings overheard by kif smokers. "The eye wants to sleep but the head is no mattress", "The earth trembles and the sky is afraid, and the two eyes are not brothers", "A pipe of kif before breakfast gives a man the strength of one hundred camels in the courtyard".
The folk simplicity of these tales is very appealing. Later Bowles will cover this terrain again when he works with Mohammed Mrabet transcripting that Moroccans oral tales. An excellent book by Mrabet/Bowles is M'Hashish(which means full of hashish). Happy happy reading.