Fish Books

Carl is a wonderful writer and brilliant scientist, this book covers a wide range of issues while keeping it lively and hopeful.

I bought this book for my daughter who will go to graduate school to study marine science next year. I have not read the book but based on other reviews I think this must be an excellent book especially my daughter is very much concerned about preserving nature. Anyway, I was a litle bit disappointed when I received the book. I ordered soft copy and the print was so small that I don't know whether it will turn off my daughter's interest since she is very nearshighted. I don't mind if the book is thicker or bigger.

Part exploration, part eloquent plea for action, this is the report of a scientist's journey toward understanding the plight of our seas. Safina travelled with tuna fishermen and coral research teams, salmon boats and conservationists fighting for the Columbia Gorge. Their stories are here, in their words, set against a backdrop painted by a Yale professor with the soul of a poet. The litany is one of collapsing fisheries and dying reefs, huge nets that are scraping the sea floor into a featureless, lifeless plain, unbridled greed, and people whose heritage as sailors and fishermen is disappearing in a generation. Here also is the graceful breach of a humpback whale, the slow lazy lolling of an ocean sunfish, and the bullet quick movement of bluefin tuna under Atlantic sunrises and Pacific sunsets. An altogether beautiful book about the slow death of the sea. Safina believes we can protect the bounty and diversity he so eloquently describes. The question he poses is, "Will we choose to?" and suggests that one way to help answer that is to ask another. "What if we don't?"

This is one of the most beautiful, powerful books I have ever read. Safina's journey encompasses the entire world and all points of view. His words have inspired me to pursue my dreams and opened up new worlds of knowledge. Now, every time I hear of politicians doing something stupid to the oceans or rivers, I just shake my head and say "'Song' should be required reading for them before they can draft a piece of legislation dealing with the oceans."

I'm only about halfway through this book, but it's so moving that I decided I needed to rave now. Carl Safina uses an amazing grasp of language to paint mental pictures of what he writes about. I work in the scientific community and have spent a lot of time on that water, and his writings are not only objective and scientifically sound, he constructs them in such a way that they are beautiful. You will have a thirst for each topic and region of which he writes. I borrowed this book from the library and had vowed to buy it before I'd finished the first chapter. It has only improved as I've proceeded.

Reading this book is like having an aquarium-expert friend to take shopping with you. The author tells you which fish are best for beginners, what fish shouldn't even be sold, what qualities a dealer should have, what equipment you should buy, what equipment is a waste of your money, what products are dangerous, what plants are no good but are sold for aquariums anyway, etc. I finally found answers to a lot of questions that other books didn't cover. The book discusses cleaning schedules, necessary floor strength, and moving concerns. It explains water chemistry as simply as possible. There is list of the author's favorite aquarium books and other info sources. He even tells you how you can reach him.

The reasons why I didn't give this book 5 stars are trivial: Hard to make out black + white photos and substandard proofreading. Still, everyone who has or wants an aquarium needs this book.

This is a very good quide for the beginner. Mike walks through all the steps required for setup and maintaince of an aquarium. Gives good suggestions on fish & plants selections. If the steps in this book are followed the aquarist will have minimal problems to deal with.

Not much here for the experienced aquarist.

This is an informative, clear, funny, and brilliant book.
If you are just starting an aquarium, this is the book to get.
The beginning is all about the tanks, lights, and everything before the fish.
There is a section about fish but the photos are black & white so if you want to know more about the actual fish you probably want another book too.
Overall, a great book for beginners!

Are you starting an aquarium? Well, I've been running one for a while, and my dad used to keep one, and I can definitely tell you that it is absolutely critical to have at least one fish book on hand in order to set up your fish tank properly.

To the book. So why is this so hyped and high rated? First of all, it doesn't lie. You will learn why water changes are important, what pH is, and why you don't keep oscars with neon tetras. You will learn how to position and set up your tank, and you will learn the difference between a canister and undergravel filter. And most importantly, you will learn how to keep fish. Like some others have said, this book does mainly focus on the care and setting up on the aquarium, so for the fish and plants it would help a lot to get a separate book that specializes in those, because his descriptions are not that detailed. However, I can nearly guarantee you that you will not fail in your aquatic endeavor with this guide at hand. Good luck, and may your filter never crash when you are on vacation.

WOW! This book was ESSENTIAL to our successful (and fun) entry into the world of fish and aquariums. Great tips, easy to follow directions and explanations of "what, why, when and why NOT", written in a funny (if somewhat corny) manner, this book is easy and fun to read. I actually found myself taking it on a trip - and trust me, I have NEVER taken a reference book on vacation unless I was expecting to work on vacation. So, this book gets five stars. Buy it used if you have to do so (we did). We bought five different aquarium books, and this one was the best, and we refer back to it often.

Absolutely marvelous! This simple story induces you to think about morals, existence, and adventure. By having virtue, anyone can lead a life filled with wonderful encounters and a way of life that can only lead you to a good future.

I loved this book a kid and bought it for my own children. Each of the three joined my enthusiasm for our dear friend, Dominic.

My son is in the Army and now has a son of his own. I used to read "Dominic" at bedtime, until I knew the story by heart. If I tried to skip a line or a paragraph, my son would interrupt and tell me I had missed a part! Recently, he asked if I would get the book for my grandson. Now my son is reading to his son. I love it! Christina

Throughout my life, I'd always remembered the "first book I ever read" as about some dog who played the piccolo and traveled around with his possessions in a sack on a stick. I remembered it so fondly, like one of those few, golden memories you hold onto from childhood, when you still believed in the tooth faerie and unicorns.

I never remembered the title, though, and the book had long since disappeared from my parent's house. One day I did an extensive Google search with only the words "dog," "piccolo" and "traveler" and managed to stumble across William Steig's website.

I just bought myself a new copy of "the first book I ever read" and can't wait to read it again. It really is a book that has stayed with me my entire life. I just found it astonishing that so many other people wrote the exact same thing in their reviews. How can it be that one book has been the "first book" for so many people? I don't know, but I do know that if you can let it be your kid's first book, they will cherish it forever. I sure did.

This was the first "real book" I remember reading as a little boy. I suppose I was about 6 or 7. I read and re-read Dominic many times and loved it more each time. I suppose it has be something like 35 years since I first read this book and I still remember it fondly. How many things can you say that about?

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright was first published in 1941, and though it was written many years ago, is as delightful now as it was then. It's a story about a family who loves each other, works hard and strives to do the right thing. How refreshing!

Mona (13), Rush (12), Miranda (10 ½), who is known as Randy, and Oliver (6) live in New Your City in a brownstone that is rather shabby, but has many floors and fits their lifestyle perfectly. The Melendy children's mother died, but their father and Cuffy, the beloved housekeeper, provide the love, attention and care the children need.

Each of the children has dreams and desires for their futures. Their interests are varied and they each are independent and inquisitive about life and their surroundings.

But while the Melendy children find life generally interesting, Saturdays can sometimes be just plain boring. The children form a club they call the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.). All of the children agree to pool their allowances and each child takes a Saturday with all the money to do something by themselves that they really want to do.

The Saturdays are exciting, not just because of the activities they choose, but because of the people they meet and the stories they hear. Well, Oliver does make one Saturday particularly memorable, but you'll have to read the book to learn about his adventure.

In the day of the novels that glamorize the worst society has to offer, The Saturdays is delightfully refreshing.

Armchair Interviews says: Read the series and enjoy!

This book is different in a good way. It is about 4 children who decide to put there allowences to a good use. Every Saturday the add up there allowence and one of the children gets to do any thing that they will always remember.
By,
Girl With A Plan

I had doubts for this book because it didn't sound very interesting but my Mom wanted me to read it so I did-I loved it. It's original and imaginative and above all easy to read for hours without getting bored. It's original and fun like the story of Mrs. Olifount being kidnapped by jypsies, or Isaac the dog saving the family from suffocating. It's a wonderful book I can't wait to read the sequils.

When I was nine years old I picked up a copy of Elizabeth Enright's "The Melendy Family" on sale for 25 cents at my school Christmas fair, donated by some eighth-grader who evidently felt she had "outgrown" it. I wonder, does anybody ever outgrow the Melendys? "The Melendy Family" was a three-in-one volume comprising "The Saturdays", "The Four Story Mistake", and "Then There were Five". Alas, "The Melendy Family" is no longer in print, but fifty years later, I still have my copy, read to shreds, patched and repatched with scotch tape, a book to be treasured forever and never thrown away. Fortunately, the books making up "The Melendy Family" have been reissued as individual volumes available to enchant yet another generation of young readers.

"The Saturdays", the first volume in the series, introduces us to the four Melendy children: Mona, age 13, Rush, age 12, Randy, who is ten-and-a-half, and Oliver, age 6. Each is given a distinct personality and Enright modeled them on children she had known in her own life, her own children or childhood friends. The result is four fictional characters so totally believable that for years after the books were published, Enright continued to get letters from readers wondering if the Melendys were "real".

The Melendy children's mother is deceased, but they are raised by a devoted, caring father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, who stands in as nurse, cook, substitute mother, grandmother, and aunt, and generally rules the roost. The children are funny, refreshing and unspoiled. Mona has aspirations of being a famous actress and already at thirteen can recite "yards and yards of Shakespeare at the drop of a hat." Rush is the next to the oldest, a musical prodigy with a penchant for getting into and out of trouble. Randy at ten-and-a-half (the half is very important at that age) is an endearing mixture of grace and klutziness, a talented dancer and artist who keeps falling over her own feet when it comes to manual labor. And six-year-old Oliver is the baby of the family, placid and calm, very much his own person, as his story shows.

The story opens on a rainy Saturday which finds Randy and Rush monumentally bored with nothing to do. Randy wants to see a some French paintings. Rush wants to go to the opera. Mona wants to see a play. But in the early 1940s (the approximate time in which the story is set is revealed in the opening pages when Enright tells us that the long scars on the linoleum floor were made by Rush trying out a pair of ice skates on Christmas afternoon, 1939), fifty cents a week allowance was standard, and there wasn't a whole lot you could do with that. Randy has a brainstorm. Let's start a club, she says, and pool our allowances together each week so one of us can spend them on something we've always wanted to do. This idea is adopted enthusiastically by all the children (Oliver wants to contribute his ten cents, too), and thus the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (ISAAC) is born.

Each following chapter describes an adventure that takes place on each child's Saturday. Randy goes to see an exhibition of French paintings, runs into an old family acquaintance, Mrs. Oliphant, and is treated to tea at the Plaza while she hears a delightful story of the time Mrs. Oliphant was kidnapped by gypsies during her childhood.

Rush goes to the opera, walks home in a snowstorm, and finds a lost puppy that becomes the family's devoted friend and companion from that day on.

Mona, tired of her long braids, goes to a beauty parlor and treats herself to a haircut and a manicure. The resulting uproar by her father and Cuffy seems a trifle overdone, but as Father later admits, it's hard for parents to realize that their children are growing up.

And Oliver, keeping his own counsel, sneaks out of the house when his Saturday comes and goes to the circus all by himself. An even greater adventure occurs when he is given a ride back home by a mounted policeman on a horse, after he gets lost leaving Madison Square Garden.

After Oliver's adventure the kids decide to spend their Saturdays as a group, but that doesn't stop them from having mishaps such as Randy falling overboard from a boat in Central Park, the family almost suffocating from coal gas when Rush forgets to shut the furnace door, and the storeroom catching fire. It all comes to an exciting conclusion when Mrs. Oliphant invites the children to spend the summer in her lighthouse in Long Island.

"The Saturdays" takes us back to a simpler time and to adventures that probably couldn't happen today (no parent in his right mind would allow a ten year old to go to a museum alone in the New York City nowadays), but kids are still kids, and the Melendys seem so real they could be anyone we knew when we were children, or wish we had known. The time frame may help children understand what a dollar could purchase back then (a wash, set and manicure, or admission to a museum with change to spare). The whole series is a gem for every child and every generation. I still marvel at the priceless find I picked up off a bookshelf at random fifty years ago for only twenty-five cents. It's paid me back a zillion-fold ever since.

Judy Lind

I wanted to respond to the reviews below that thought it was either implausible or dated for children aged 10-13 to wander around New York by themselves. I grew up in New York (in Manhattan, across the park from the Melendys) in the late 1980s. I turned 13, just Mona's age, in 1990. I started walking home from school alone in fourth grade (when I was nine, a year younger than Randy). Like Mr. Melendy and Cuffy, my parents' major worry was that I was careful crossing the street. (Reasonably enough, they feared that drivers would not be able to see a small child.) Many of my friends from elementary school walked or took the bus to school alone at the same age. By twelve (Rush's age), I was allowed to take the subway to visit friends from junior high school, and they took the subway to visit me. By fourteen our teachers assumed that we were competent to find the Metropolitan Museum of Art on our own for projects. None of these people were neglectful, and none of them were "horrified" at the idea of pre-adolescents wandering around the city alone. This was in the supposed "bad old days" when crime was theoretically much higher than it is now, and none of us ever suffered any accident. (Although a group of friends and I got lost coming back from the theater in eighth grade, and were pretty embarrassed that we looked like tourists.)

Anyone familiar with the geography of New York City knows that the Melendy children stay within a fairly small geographic area in THE SATURDAYS, and that the areas where most of their adventures take place are some of the richest and safest in the city. Most sensible New York parents would allow their children to wander there on Saturday afternoons with no more concern than the appropriate ones that Mr. Melendy shows. (Be careful of traffic, don't talk to strangers, and don't get lost.)

Ironically, this ties in with the review that says that Enright did not take enough "risks" with the book, by having her characters get kidnapped by gypsies or run away from home. The fact is, she wrote a fairly realistic description of the childhood of the middle and upper-middle classes of New York City....kids who come into CONTACT with a relatively diverse group of people who have had a variety of experiences, but who actually live in a fairly safe, and sheltered world.

As a New York City kid, I was thrilled to read a book that reflected MY real life experience, as opposed to yet another story about kids who lived in houses with back yards and rode a school bus, and generally had no relationship to my real life. I still love THE SATURDAYS for its loving description of a New York that has in some ways remained startingly the same, even though parts of it have disappeared (no more two way traffic on Fifth Avenue, and no double decker buses!). As other reviews have said, The Saturdays is a charming, well-written book for kids, that can also be enjoyed by adults. It's also one of the few accurate and positive stories about growing up in a great city. I would recommend it for all ages.

My mother-in-law gave this book to my kids when they were young and they still remember the story of the little boy and his pet fish. A must for any kids' book collection.

Almost every nite we read "Mr. Carp" as my son calls it. Such a sweet story. I don't even mind reading it 700 times. I take it on vacation too. You'll love it.

This was one of my favorite books as a child and it was my daughter's absolute favorite book as a child.
Every new child in our family gets a copy of this book and it has become a favorite for all of them.

When my son was a little boy, this was his favorite book. He wanted to take it out of the library so many times that I finally bought a copy and gave it to him for Christmas.

My little grandson is two years old and he has 3 goldfish. I thought the book would be appropriate for him -- and he loves it.

This book is so cool. You just got to read this book. You'll laugh your pants off. You just got to read this book.

Great read with all the information you would need to create, maintain, and sustain a reef tank. However, the book can be overwhelming with information about every theroy out there about filtration, etc., with out really recommending the best approach/technology to maintaining reef systems. For a beginner, it was a lot of reading to get what I needed. Overall, I would buy it again.

very informative and comprehensive, would strongly recomend it for beginner and experienced reefer. Well worth the money

This is a book that every one should own, that want's or has a reef Aquarium. This book go's into great details.

I can't say much on this book except IT is a MUST HAVE FOR EVERY REEF AQUARIUM KEEPER! A very2 good book to have, it's worth the price I tell you.

This book is very good for the saltwater hobby. I know English language not so well, but I read this book with pleasure and to me almost all was clear without the dictionary.

If you want to raise clownfish or just want to know everything about them, this is definitely the book for you. I lost my copy and tore my house apart to find it and finally had to purchase a new one - just can't live without it.
For raising clownfish, she covers everything from spawning, hatching, catching, feeding, raising food, illnesses, selling, etc. It's amazing how many times I've had a problem, looked in the book, and she wrote about it.
This is definitely 'the bible' for raising clownfish.

it was really informative. I feel when i am ready i may be able to mate my clowns successfully with confidence. i also appriciate the background the author went into.

This reads well and has great background on breeding clownfishes. It gives you the right level of detail to understand what you will have to do to be successful. I have been breeding clownfish with this and another book as my guides and this is the better one of the two. The other is more detailed but so scientific it is confusing. This one is reasonable as a resource. I have an M.A. in aquatic botany so I understand jargon, but breeding fish is a practical activity for many of us, not a scientific research endeavor. You'll like this as a resource if breeding these interesting fish.

Good luck

Tim

Of the many books i got, this is by far the most detailed. Also because it focuses on one kind of fish i guess.
pretty detailed info is available on the various clownfish types, some of the behaviours are also listed to understand your pet a little better.

not a book focussed on filling pages for sure. however, a bit more was expected for detailed trouble shooting issues concerned to behaviours.

overall a nice book if you want to get to know your clown or the anemones.

If you're interested in keeping clownfish, this is the perfect book. The author goes into appropriate detail on what is needed to keep clownfish, what kinds of anemones can be kept with them (and their requirements), and how to breed them if you're so inclined. I found the book very easy to understand and not overly burdened with scientific and technical language. I also thought she had a very funny sense of humor that is sprinkled throughout. The pictures are great and she's actually had experience with most species in captivity and is able to make careful distictions to specific characteristics or needs of the different species. Some things I found especially helpful were the chapter on clownfish nutrition (she's really done her homework on that) and the common sense approaches to copepod cultivation for feeding baby clownfish. A great book for those keeping clownfish, even if you're not interested in breeding them.

This is a classic Dr. Suess book from my childhood. I have read it over and over again to my kids, and now I am reading it to my grandchildren. This book ranks right up there with The Cat in the Hat for entertainment value, for some reason it was a Dr. Suess book that wasn't as well known. Thank goodness my grandmother was a librarian and sent it to me for my 5th birthday. Your kids will LOVE this book, and adults actually enjoy reading it, too!

I thought I knew all the Dr. Seuss books, but this one came to my attention recently and I had never heard of it before. I bought it immediately in order to read it to my youngest daughter before she outgrows children's books. She loved the story and I had one more wonderful message to give her from Dr. Seuss, "Keep thinking of all the wonderful things that are possible!"

This is my favorite Seuss book (yes, I say that about all of them). Year after year I buy this for my friends' kids, but I think it's a great book for an adult library, too.

All you have to say is Dr Seuss. All of his books are excellent!

I have enjoyed this story since I was a child & am now 66 years old. I believe this is one of Dr. Seuss's first books published. Just had to replace my old copy after hurricane Katrina.

This book is about breaking through into a world where you don't accept number two status but you focus every element of your business into being the best of your own category.

Don't accept that this book is just for marketing executives, it should be read by everyone in business to comprehend how crucial it is to change your way of thinking. The entire book is summed up on page 264, where there is a clear four stage process outlined visually. The book is full of stories to illuminate Morgan's theories and outlines 'think tank' processes in order for your business no matter how big or small to 'break with your immediate past' and forge a new way of doing things.

Brilliant book that changed the way I approached business and marketing. I'd not have the drive and success without it.

This book did great things for my understanding of a challenger brands greatest strengths and strategies. Not to turn this into a forum, I have a few questions though: Does anyone know more about Adam Morgan? Did he work for TBWA? Any other agencies? What was his discipline? Any info would help.

I own (oooooh) probably between 80 and 100 books on marketing, some are obligatory read for my masters in marketing, some are handpicked in stores and on amazon and I stand by the title of my review. What can you take out from this book: YOU CAN compete with big brands, there are attitudes and ways of running your business that can knock down the goliath in your industry, and this book explains how, giving numerous examples from various industries. Only negative, if I can call it that, is author's writing style, which was rather hard for me, but then again, I am croatian, so it could be my english, not mr Morgan's :). A MUST!! have.

Author Adam Morgan went hunting for the second most successful brands. He sought commonalities among them to develop guidelines for those who are challenging the number one brands in their fields. In other words, if you are coming into the battle in the number two slot, here's your strategy for winning the marketing wars. Morgan is very adept at breaking things down into precise action steps. Witty and engaging, he offers a detailed analysis of the current consumer attitude about brands plus strategies you can use to market your second or third rank brand. We recommend this compilation of competitive ideas to those who want to boost their "Challenger" brands.

I don't know how to explain the insightful ideas I have taken from this book.

I have read tens of books on branding and how to gain a competitive advantage, yet none were as ground breaking as "Eating the Big Fish".

While others will tell you "what" marketing approaches they used...this one explains the "why".

I got my copy almost free using a coupon from UnderTag.com

The finished models in this book are great, they are clearly identifiable species, not just generic fish, crabs, etc.
What really makes the book stand out, however, are the folding sequences. The steps flow with a natural rythm, and every tricky step is clearly explained. Because the authors have created unique bases for each model, the results of a given step are often pleasantly surprising.
I have a pile of origami books, and this is my favorite so far by a pretty wide margin. When I finish folding everything in it, I will probably fold them all again because they are so much fun.

This book is well written with easy to understand diagrams. The models range from easy to extremly hard, but most of the animals are high intermediate.Most of the diagrams are so specialized that they can't make other models from the base, but the end result is an elegant model that isn't bulky like other models of this difficulty. I have most of Montroll's and Lang's work,and this is one of the best.The deep sea angler fish is my favorite with a full set of teeth. The binding is breaking apart because I've used it so much. Overall this is a book with the best models!
(Watch the binding of the Dover books!)

This superb book contains an enormous range of origami models representing various forms of sea life. These range from sea urchins and starfish through to the Blackdevil Angler Fish and the almost impossible to fold Chambered Nautilus Shell. I have in my time folded most of the models and my favourites include the Angler Fish, Goldfish and the Murex shell which is wonderful in a textured foil.

Most of the models will require some folding experience, even the easier ones and the most difficult ones like the Atlantic Purple Sea Urchin and Blackdevil Angler Fish are really for experts only, but most folders of intermediate level and upwards will find something to enjoy. It is definitely a book which will help you to develop your folding skills but be sure to have plenty of paper on hand!

Each section includes an interesting introduction to the natural history of the life forms it is covering and the book is well laid out with clear computerised diagrams. It's an origami book I've come back to again and again over the years and which remains one of my treasures. I recommend it.

I've owned this book for a number of years and only recently have I been able to fold most of the creatures in it. This book is definitely not for greenhorns, but if you look closely at every single diagramme in the book, and interpret them exactly and are very careful, every model in the book is foldable. The end result is gorgeous paper sea creatures that can impress basically anyone--yourself included. I've been amazed at how beautiful the things I'm folding from this book turn out.

This is one of my favorite Origami books ever. If you are thinking about getting it you should. This book will appeal to any body, from beginner to advanced. I love the models in this book. It contains various models of many genera and cover many of the marine phylums such as variety of gastropods, cephalodops, crustaceans, and many fish from Angler Fish to sharks to Sun fish.