Animals Books

As a longstanding and rather hefty vegetarian, I also firmly felt that my aversion to killing animals, birds and fish for food was rooted in reverence for God's creatures. Richard Schwartz bolstered my spirituality with this compelling and irrefutable book. Genesis One clearly asserted that man was created vegetarian before our fall from grace and plunge into strife. Fortunately, the Prophet Isaiah envisions Messianic times to be an idyllic era wherein men and all creatures will live in peaceful coexistence devoid of bloodshed. Schwartz answers his detractors and accentuates the ecological, moral and human rights benefits of a meatless diet. He also salutes vegetarian advocates including Rav Kook, Rabbi David Rosen and Isaac Singer. If you love this book it will be imperative to purchase and read David Sears' brilliant "Vision Of Eden".

This book is excellent. It is beautifully written, exceptionally complete, and very fair-minded in its tone. The arguments are compelling and clear. I expected a diatribe, but that was not the case at all. Even though I will continue to eat meat, the author raised many pertinent questions and answered them in a thoughtful, well-reasoned way.

Schwartz's treatment of vegetarianism and Judaism is remarkabley thorough. He approaches the topic from the multifaceted avenues of Jewish thinking: Torah, halakhah, values... it's all there. This book is a complete compendium on all the issues and argument pertaining to vegetarianism, concerning for animals, the environment, and more. Schwartz's style is highly readable. He is passionate about his topic, but not emotional. I highly recommend the book to everyone, and certainly for Jews who take our traditions seriously.

I wrote a review on this book for the newsletter for the winter 2001 newsletter for the animal rights group, Last Chance for Animals. I am including my review here:

Richard H. Schwartz's Judaism and Vegetarianism is a useful reference for refuting claims that humans and animals do not deserve equal consideration. It effectively explains and elaborates upon the Bible's stance on vegetarianism and explores other moral and societal issues with which non-religious people can identify; Schwartz even includes a section on how vegetarianism can promote awareness and ultimately resolve these issues. The book also contains answers to common questions, nutritional suggestions, discussions of Jewish vegetarian groups and their activities, biographies of famous Jewish vegetarians, an annotated bibliography, ideas for promoting vegetarianism, and a detailed index. In sum, Schwartz has produced a well-documented, well-reasoned, and very convincing work which ends with a query to Jews who plan to continue eating meat: "In view of strong Jewish mandates to be compassionate to animals, preserve our health, help feed the hungry, preserve and protect the environment, conserve resources, and seek and pursue peace, and the very negative effects animal-centered diets have in each of these areas, will you now become a vegetarian, or at least sharply reduce your consumption of animal products?".

I have read this book thoroughly, and I think it is the most informative, most complete and most readable book about vegetarianism I have ever read. The book is very well structured, the information given is presented clearly and is up to date. Since I am a vegan, I have paid extra attention to what is being said about veganism, and I found the author is objective, accurate and gives sound advice. The B12 issue is dealt with in a responsible manner and I think it is very wise to present the transition to vegetarianism and from there to veganism as a process of growth, where every step counts. The author gives many practical suggestions on how to make changes in your lifestyle without losing touch with family or friends and manages to be firm and friendly at the same time. These things alone make the book a purchase well worth the investment. For me, however, the particular merit of the book lies in the spiritual values that have inspired it. Reading the book from a non-Jewish perspective, what struck me most was that the author has chosen focal points which are relevant to people from all kinds of different backgrounds, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and people who are not religious in the 'traditional' sense. In short, all those who are concerned about the way we relate to our environment from a spiritual point of view. The first focal point is that ethical considerations are more important than habit, convenience, or tradition, and the second is that there will be a price to pay if we chose to ignore the ethical imperative to change our ways. There are many books explaining why it is better for your body to become a vegetarian; there are not many books explaining why it is better for your soul. Richard Schwartz makes the reader see how the themes of inclusion and compassion towards animals are woven all through the Torah. Having read theology at a fairly orthodox Christian college, I have often heard the argument that `since Man was created in the image of God, he was given dominion over all creation' as an excuse for the maltreatment of animals and their reduction to `meat-producing units'. Guided by Richard Schwartz, we are shown that according to the Torah both man and beast are creatures of God, and that our being created in the image of God is not a given, but rather a potential; something to be brought into manifestation by following the pattern God has laid out for us, and that one of the qualities we must manifest is compassion. Instead of feeling very proud of ourselves and thinking that we are like God already, we should realise that we are asked to imitate God in love and concern for all living beings. Instead of 'dominion' we should read 'compassionate stewardship', and that is something else entirely. From the idea of our potential for goodness and compassion, the theme of responsibility is developed. The author shows us how we are responsible, in the sense of being accountable for the wrongs we do not try to stop. By means of the voice of Amos and other prophets he poignantly asks how we can be content and comfortable while others are in great distress, humans or non-humans. I feel that now Europe has recently been plagued by BSE and foot-and-mouth disease, and we have watched the horrors of what is happening every night on television, this question is more pressing than ever. How are we to answer for these things? That is one side of responsibility. The other side is that human beings are called to do justice, to liberate the oppressed, to care for every living being and that it is the way we act in this world, the choices we make and the goals we chose, which form our answer, our response, to God. For me, our human capacity to answer to this call is the basis of faith in a better future for all beings and Richard Schwartz's book has given me every reason not to give up believing. Human beings have the potential to be compassionate and just, and they can learn how to express these qualities. And they will learn more willingly if they are given the facts about oppression and hunger and are shown ways how to change. This is exactly what Richard Schwartz has done. Like the good teacher he is, he shows people what their calling is, where they go wrong, and what they can do to change for the better. This calling is not just for Jews; many people feel that they have a responsibility for the planet and for all that lives there; they just don't know what exactly is going wrong and how to make it better. By enumerating the facts, by showing the consequences of present practices, and by showing the way out, Richard Schwartz makes a very strong case for the vegetarian imperative, no matter what the reader's religion is. I sincerely recommend the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys photography, animals, scenery, and just beautiful magical things. Franz Lanting is able to capture images from the real world but in a way that makes them seem not of this world.

Not only are the pictures a work of art but the book itself is contructed so that it too feels like a masterpiece. An oversized book that just feels good to hold in your hands and each new section in the book is seperated by lovely, transparant vellum.

Treat yourself or someone you love and buy this book!

Frans Lanting is a god among nature photographers. This book's *gorgeous* imagery takes me to another world completey, and I can only hope to follow in his genius footsteps with my humble little SLR. For anyone who loves to look at up close and personal pictures of animals or of lush jungle vegetation/rivers, or anyone who loves nature photography, I highly recommend this book. No wildlife photographer's shelf should be void of it.

And yet another 10 star book on nature photography. This is a hard to get title, if you find it buy it. It is absolutely fascinating, I cannot say anything else that hasn't been said by all other previous reviewers. For nature lovers and rainforest addicts, this should be a must have. Bravo, Mr. Lanting!!! Save the jungles and the wonderful creatures of the world!!!!

This is really an excellent portfolio with some stunning photography that really inspires one. I am a fan of Lanting's work and this book does not dissapoint.

My only issue is not with Lanting, but rather with Taschen (the publisher). The book is really very poorly bound and the glue just does'nt seem to hold the book together. This is not just an isolated case with my copy. I found that most of the copies (even those on the bookstore shelves) that I handled has this problem. I must say that this is quite dissapointing work from Taschen.

Well,when I was 14-15 years old,I was mostly interested in underwater photography and therefore,I had only a few photo books. But later,my interest for other animals too,grew much larger and therefore,I received this book as a christmas gift from my mother. It was really not a bad book,and it made me love Lanting and buy two more books with his pictures later.
It is a huge book,weighing perhaps 1,5 kilograms and with dimensions "14" x "10". It contains 150 photographs of plants and animals living in jungles around the world. Among the animals included are a series of pictures of red macaws in Peru,
dancing lemurs of Madagascar,cute little frogs in giant flowers in Borneo,incredibly strang-looking insects of various jungles,bats fishing at night in South America,and the shining eyes of caimans in Brazil.
But don`t just look at the animal pictures. The part which I find most inspiring is the jungle habitats. Especially the morning light in Borneo and Peru,and the palm savannah of Brazil. They all look humid and there are fog clouds in the dawin. Very beautifull. The australian jungles look very exciting too. Many pictures,especially of birds,are very windy to make a real impression of the movements of the animals. Lanting`s capability of capturing details of animals has never been as well presented as in this book. Especially in this huge format and double-page photos in the half of the book.
Over all,this is a fantastic book recommended to anyone interested in jungles,animals,or just in beautifull natural photography. You`ll be amazed,whoever you are.

it's a v good book for children. Letters are big and characters are interesting.

Very cute book! My 2-year old son is a Kipper fan and he loves this book! Hopefully it will help us with learning the ABC's!

My 2 1/2 year old LOVES this book. She's a big Kipper fan, and this is such a great book - much requested at bed time. We love all of Mike Inkpen's work...

My son loves the Kipper videos. I think he might even like the the books more. He takes them everywhere.

A really nice book that covers each letter of the alphabet. It has easy-to-read large print and clean, tidy drawings of some of the familiar Kipper characters (mainly Kipper and Arnold).
My only objection is that the edition I have has some Americanisms, like ladybug, instead of ladybird (I suppose because the publisher, Red Wagon Books, an imprint of Harcourt, is US-based). That doesn't go with the very English Kipper of the animated series. But aside from that, it's a lovely book.

Penguin is a book that contains photographs by Frans Lanting and text and commentary by Christine Eckstrom. Lanting is one of the world's best known nature photographers and a number of his photographs are instantly recognizable. The book contains exquisite photographs of the many varieties of penguins in both Antarctica and lower South America. There are large penguins, small penguins, beautiful penguins, ugly penguins (or at least penguins that only a mother could love), and chicks of quite a few species. Some of the photographs are portraits, others show action. Many of the photographs contained in this book are already rather familiar and popular, especially the cover photo of a mother and father penguin with a small penguin chick. We see in these photographs why Lanting is a master nature photographer and why so many of his photographs are featured in magazines such as National Geographic.

Everyone will enjoy this coffee table book. Nature lovers will enjoy the majesty of these great birds. Photographers will find inspiration. Certainly after viewing the photographs in this book one may want to travel to the remoter areas of the world to see these creatures, but for those of us who would find the trip to be too cold and cost prohibitive, this book will serve us just fine.

Known for his exquisite images and extraordinary fortitude, Frans Lanting will travel to the ends of the Earth, weather the most extreme conditions and still persist in making the most beautiful and creative photographs of his subject imaginable. Over the course of a decade, he traveled to the Falklands, South Georgia, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica, and the Southern Ocean, where his subject was penguins. In "Penguin", Lanting exhibits his photographs from these expeditions, in which he aspires to evoke the personalities of the individual birds and convey some sense of the experiences that their lives entail. "Penguin" features photographs of a wide variety of penguin species, from the diminutive to the imposing: Emperor, King, Gentoo, Galápagos, Rockhopper, Macaroni, Magellanic, Adélie, and Chinstrap, representing all four main clans of penguin species. The book is organized into three large sections: Coming to Land, Going to Sea, and Living on Ice, which each consist of an preface by Lanting introducing us to the featured penguins and explaining a little about their lives, followed by many color photographs of penguins doing what the sections' title implies. There are also several smaller sections containing an introduction, an essay about photographing the penguins, and an image index. Most of the images in this book are at least full page. Many span two pages. Some images are accompanied by captions, but more detailed captions are found, alongside thumbnails of the images, in the image index. This is a little awkward, but it does allow images to be printed full page without having to leave room for captions. The reproduction quality of the photographs in "Penguin" is not on the level of fine art books, but it is very good for a book in this price range. Recommended for penguin lovers and Frans Lanting fans.

This book is top-notch and amazing, just like anything else you would expect from Frans Lanting. You can just imagine the hardwork the man goes into just get these photos you see, not to mention the ones you don't see. This book made me feel a connection to penguins I didn't have before. You look at the book and you can see how similar these animals really are to people, their behaviors and family and emotions are so human-like, it is scary and quite emotional sometimes. Amazing book.

"Penguins" by Frans Lanting is one of the most beautiful nature books I have ever seen. In it he details the lives of various species of penguins through his brilliant photographs and a modicum of text. Make no mistake; this is a book of pictures: it does have a small amount of informative text, but the main attraction is the incredible color photographs. The photos are arranged artfully, but my one nitpick would be the captioning: each photo has a very abbreviated caption (though not always on the same page,) but to find out more detail about a given picture, you must flip to the back of the book and cross-reference the photo in the image index, a feature that I found annoying.

Overall this book is great, and I appreciated that Lanting did not devote the book to the more commonly known King and Emperor penguins, but also detailed the lives of other less well known species like the Rockhopper, Gentoo, and Macaroni penguins. For those interested, Lanting includes a section on penguin and Antarctic conservation in the back of the book. This is a great and visually stunning book, and I recommend it without reservation.

No, neither have I but you'll find them in Frans Lanting's beautiful paperback of penguin photos, along with the emperor, gentoo, king, magellanic, chinstrap, adelie and rockhopper, all in dazzling color. As he says in the books short introduction it is not a natural history of these amazing birds but a personal photographic interpretation shot over a ten-year period. The birds are shown in all weather conditions, as huge groups, ten or so and as individuals in very detailed close-ups. Naturally the close-ups of parents with chicks are the most appealing photos in the book.

Many of the photos have captions and rather strangely there are twenty-four pages at the back of the book with thumbnails of all the photos and detailed captions, I would have thought it better to use these pages for more photos and have a caption (where needed) on each page. Apart from this I think it is a lovely book of penguin photographs and excellent value too.

Well written and highly informative, especially regarding the politics of the delightful new country that is Belize. Great background reading if you're planning a trip there - and while there, be sure in include a visit to the Belize Zoo - absolutely amazing!

First, a disclaimer -- I'm related to Bruce Barcott, and so was preinclined to like this book because of family and locale references I would recognize. However, this book was much much more than I expected. I'll mention just two things I especially liked about this book. First, it is a true page-turner. I didn't know how the dam project would end, and Bruce's non-fiction story-telling kept me on the edge of my couch throughout. Secondly, I really liked the amount of somewhat tangential information Bruce wove into the main story. He would veer off on some interesting and helpful side road, but always bring the reader back quickly to the fascinating main story and players in the drama. I look forward to the next explanatory journalism that Bruce undertakes.

Barcott does a marvelous job of weaving the diverse elements and characters involved in this story into a comprehensive narrative. Better than that, he makes what could be very tedious legal proceedings a stimulating read. Well, the reading is stimulating, as is the subject matter. The situation itself, an instance of convergence on Belize of global forces enacting the doom of another unique wildlife habitat, is less than edifying.

Barcott obviously sides with the environmental forces that ally themselves to fight the erection of a dam that will flood the nesting site of the largest scarlet macaw population in Central America, estimated at less than 200 birds. At times his partiality causes blindness to perspectives he does not share, but overall he does an excellent job of presenting the reasoning of all major stake holders.

Barcott chose his subject well. The story is almost like a novel, with corrupt colonialism-playing politicians, heroic but flawed ex-patriot Americans, big international environmental players and corporations, local businessmen caught in the middle, and even the Law Lords of the British Privy Council. The combatants on both sides are committed, highly motivated, and adept at working the system.

All told, this is a very well-written and enlightening telling of one of many current battles being waged over our planet's last remaining wild lands - what's at risk and what's being done to both exploit and to preserve the remaining pockets of natural diversity.

THE BEST FIELD GUIDE TO BELIZE.
EVER.


You probably won't find Bruce Barcott's The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw in the travel book or nature guide sections of your local bookstore or of Amazon.com, but it just may be the best field guide to Belize you'll ever read.

Ostensibly the story of Sharon Matola, founder of the amazing Belize Zoo, and her campaign to defeat the Chalillo Dam on the Macal River in Western Belize and to save the nesting ground of what are believed to be the last 200 Scarlet Macaws in Belize, it's actually a 313-page crash course on Belizean culture, society and politics.

It's also the most riveting, gossipy and entertaining book on the country since Richard Timothy Conroy's 1997 memoir of British Honduras in the 1950s, Our Man in Belize.

Barcott names names. He pulls no punches. As an American writer - he's a contributing editor to Outside Magazine and the author of a book on Mount Rainier, among other things - he doesn't have to worry about making a living in Belize or raising a family there. He points to the high-level corruption that Lord Michael Ashcroft, the British-Belizean politician and entrepreneur, helped introduce in Belize and who "turned the sovereign nation of Belize into his own tax-free holding company," to the fast-buck shenanigans of the second generation of People's United Party politicians, to the seamy Dark Side of the PUP's "Minister of Everything" Ralph Fonseca, to the shrill shilling of party spokesman Norris Hall, to the fellow-traveling of the Belize Audubon Society and even to the bumbling efforts of some well-intended but barely competent Belizeans.

I've been banging around Belize for more than 17 years, but Barcott's book is full of insights I've missed or didn't understand. It took Barcott to tell to me why so many Belizean politicians wear guayaberas and other open-neck shirts (to set themselves apart from their English colonial masters who slaved in the heat in coats and ties). Barcott explained why and how the Belize Audubon Society, which one would think would be on the side of the at-risk Scarlet Macao, helped get the Chalillo Dam approved (the Belize Audubon Society, under President José Pepe Garcia, at that time a quasi-arm of the Belize government, claimed the Scarlet Macao subspecies wasn't really endangered in Belize and that the habitat of the Macal River Valley was duplicated elsewhere in Belize.)

If there's a fault to Barcott's approach, it's that he relies heavily on the gringo side of the outsider-local divide so common in post-colonial countries, including Belize. Many of his primary sources - Matola, ex-Fleet Street newspaperman Meb Cutlack, Lodge at Chaa Creek co-owner Mick Fleming, butterfly expert Jan Meerman, geologist/dolomite miner Brian Holland and others -while long-time residents of Belize and in many cases Belize citizens -- will always be viewed by some Belizeans as expat, white perpetual tourists. Barcott tried twice to interview George Price, Belize's ascetic, incorruptible George Washington, but was turned away: "He's too busy," the retired Price's sister told him. We hear little or nothing directly from Said Musa, King Ralph or Lord Ashcroft.

It also bugs me that Barcott's publisher, Random House, didn't do a bloody index.

Sharon Matola comes across as a complex and sometimes exasperating woman, neither Joan of Arc nor Wangari Maathai. A fluent Russian speaker, a fungi expert, a former bikini-clad circus tiger trainer, the founder and miracle worker of "the best little zoo in the world," Matola, at the height of the anti-dam, pro-Scarlet Macao effort, almost forsake the battle. She became depressed and for a while, as a long-time Rolling Stones fan, turned her focus to a new campaign to get the city fathers of Dartford, a small working class town near London, to build a shrine to native sons Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Even with Matola at her passionate best, the campaign to stop the dam failed, of course. With most of the economic and political power structures of Belize supporting the pork project, and the giant Canadian utility Fortis dead set on damming as much of the world as possible, there was never much chance it would succeed.

Tellingly, however, Matola did win the Battle of the Garbage Dump. Vindictive members of the government allegedly planned to put Matola in her place by building a dump at Mile 27 of the Western Highway, virtually next door to the Belize Zoo. After some clever maneuvering, some of it involving Britain's Princess Anne, the government backed down and decided to locate the egregious dump elsewhere.

One irony came too late for Barcott to include in his book. The environmental consulting company, Tunich-Nah Consultants, headed by José Pepe Garcia, the former Belize Audubon Society president, conducted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Ara Macao, the overblown planned development on the Placencia peninsula. Ara Macao, Spanish for Scarlet Macaw, received approval to build nearly 800 condos and villas, a marina, casino, 18-hole golf course and 400,000 sq. ft. commercial center, all this on a peninsula with no paved road access and a population of about 2,000. The beautiful, smart red parrots must have shuddered, as they searched for new nesting grounds in their fast-disappearing habitat.

In the end, though, Belize is Belize.

With a population of just 315,000, about that of a small provincial Canadian, U.S. or British city, everybody who is anybody knows everybody else, and it's hard to stay mad. As Barcott visits Belize for the last time in researching this book, in 2005, Matola is getting ready to attend a party at Beer Baron Barry Bowen's Belikin headquarters. Bowen, one of Belize's wealthiest men and the country's political check writer extraordinaire, had helped kick Matola's butt. Now, Barcott learned, it was time to kiss-kiss and make up. That's Belize for you.

..............

Review and Opinion by Lan Sluder

"At times the earth's fate seems so dire and inexorable that I'm tempted to throw up my hands and say to hell with it." The words are by Bruce Barcott, and they reflect what a lot of people feel when faced with global warming, the current destruction of species that many biologists think is a "sixth extinction crisis" (a previous one wiped out the dinosaurs), or the ruin of natural regions for profit. And yet, Barcott found a story of optimism and hope (even if they might have been eventually misplaced) when he heard about Sharon Matola, better known in her adopted country Belize as the "Zoo Lady". She has become an authority on the scarlet macaw, and led a remarkable effort against strong odds to keep the macaw's only known habitat in Belize from being flooded behind the proposed Chalillo Dam on the Macal River. Barcott tells Matola's amazing story in _The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird_ (Random House). It's a story that might have remained obscure, but it becomes an epic in the way it is told, and it is also a legal thriller as Matola and her cohorts pursue one effort after another within the Byzantine Belize legal and political system.

Matola has quite a history. After leaving a marriage by running away to the circus, she wound up in the early eighties helping to film a nature documentary in Belize. The movie featured orphaned animals, and when it was over, she had a jaguar, an ocelot, a puma, and some exotic birds, little money, and no job. What to do besides paint a sign on scrap wood saying "BELIZE ZOO"? As the nationally-known Zoo Lady, Matola has gotten the populace of Belize interested in its natural resources. There are only two hundred macaws on the Macal River where they make their nests, and a dam would not only destroy the macaws, of course, but drive out other animals like tapirs, pumas, river otters, and howler monkeys. Close evaluation of the economics of the dam indicate that it would result in higher energy rates, not lower. The geological analysis that preceded the dam's construction was full of lies. It claimed that there was granite upon which to build the dam, and there was none. The engineers even arranged to have a map of the site lose by eraser a geologic fault line that could endanger it. In Barcott's words, "the dam was a fiasco: environmentally devastating, economically unsound, geologically suspect and stinking of monopoly profiteering." In the middle of the campaign, the government released its vengeful plan to place a garbage dump adjacent to Matola's zoo, another battle she had to fight. She got the help of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the powerful environmental legal team in Washington, and the battle ranged through the local courts and even to the mysterious Privy Council in London. Barcott takes in each legal battle and financial tomfoolery, producing a book that has a great deal of suspense to it.

I won't spoil the suspense by telling the outcome. "The odds are against us", Matola says late in the book, and gets the answer from an environmental-law solicitor, "The odds are always against us." Matola continues at her zoo, and has taken up, among other battles, the protection and reinstatement into the wild of the endangered harpy eagle. Dams continue to be planned and built, many financed outside the nations that will hold them, and placed in third-world areas containing poor people who won't benefit, and politicians who will. Concentrating the story on Matola makes for a brilliant narrative, spangled with instructive thoughts on matters ecological, financial, and political. In summing up at the end, Barcott writes, "People like Sharon are rare and strange and sometimes aggravating... These people aren't perfect. They aren't simple heroes. They are complex human beings. And we need them. Because without them the world would be lost." Barcott's fine book gives us a deep portrait of Sharon Matola, and she gives us one more reason not to give up on humans and their interactions with their planet just yet.

Mike Fay has done it again with this collection of amazing photos. Each picture tells a unique and compelling story that make you feel the real struggles in Gabon.

Bought this book for my mother-in-law as a birthday present. She has traveled to Africa many times so it was perfect for her. She was thrilled with the book. The book is spectacular. We would recommend highly.

Having been a member of The National Geographic Society since 1952 and with a library accumulated in that time, I have not seen before Last Place on Earth such a fine book so magnificently produced.

As a photographer and a journalist who has a passion for intense travel and the natural world, I think this is one of the most amazing books published in the past 20 years. Passionate, heartbreaking, and beautiful the world and work of Nick Nichols and Mike Fay shown in this book was eye opening. Highly reccomend. Only comment that maybe negative is the size a bulk of the book.

This is a beautifully bound book covering a wide range of areas in and about the jungles of Africa. The images are possible only for someone who spent as much time there as these two did, and the breathtaking work shows this condition. The mega-transect journal is a very nice companion to the photographs, and really helps to convey a mood and philosophy of their work. There passion is obvious.

A delightful book covering some of the most unique and entertaining acts presented over the years in Side Shows,Circuses,Stages,and famous Rooms in Europe and America.Although I remember going to Carnivals,Side Shows and the Circus since I was a kid in the late 40's and after.I also remember many great Magic and Illusion Shows over the years ,brought right into our home via Television.I always had a preference for the side act,oddities,daredevils,illusionists,etc., over the animal acts.Yes,I can still see the Monkey Woman,the King and Queen of the Midgets at home in their Castle in Montreal. Then there was the World's Smallest Horse,The Alligator Boy ,whose body was covered in scales,the man without arms who drew portraits with chalk using his feet, A Flea Circus where real fleas did all kinds of things,even pulling a tiny carriage, and on and on.
What surprised me most about this book is that many,even most of the people and acts covered were new to me.I guess this sort of stuff was more popular in the 18th,19th and early 20th Centuries and more so in Europe than America.I really haven't seen much in recent years. I guess Political Correctness and activist groups have had a major impact on these acts and people. The media is forever doing a story about mistreatment of animals in the Circus etc. Maybe the diversions this kind of entertainment gave us did us more good than realized.I know as kids we waited with anticipation for the Circus to come to town and particularly the Side Shows that accompanied them. I can tell you one thing,there was no need to drug up the kids on Ridlin,then,like you see today.
For my money,I would far prefer to watch an act like La Roche climbing the spiral tower while inside a sphere;than any Olympic event.To me ,shaving one hundredth of a second off some record I've seen hundreds of times is pure boredom.It seems that the most excitement is created with announcers debating calls by referees ,judges or as a last resort;who has failed a steroid test or broke some rule.
So, if you ever saw a good Side Show, saw some great feat of magic or illusion;this book will give you some wonderful memories of how entertaining this all was.It is jam packed with photographs and wonderful illustrations ;both in color and B&W. You may have to make a bit of an effort to find this book.It is out of print, but thanks to finding books on the Net now,It is available at a wide range of prices and some even signed by the author.It is a "must have" for anyone who loved this form of entertainment that may become a thing of the past.All we can hope for is a revival.

"Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women" is a tour of peculiar performance through the ages by modern master and scholar of the magic arts Ricky Jay. Each of the book's 17 chapters is dedicated to a different type of performer that awed audiences with his or her unusual skill or expert illusion. These are not all practitioners of misdirection or deception. Many are people who possessed very real unusual mental or physical talents. And some were not even human. There are scholarly pigs and horses, slight-of-hand artists, hypnotists, faith healers, poison resistors, and mind readers. Also featured are painters who happened to be limb-less, a blind and dumb musical prodigy, daredevil divers, mnemonic sensations, sword swallowers, musical farters, a man who could grow 6 inches at will, and more.

The book does not attempt to be comprehensive on its subjects. Ricky Jay limits himself to "pioneers or refiners of peculiar performance". The truly extraordinary and inventive, not their many imitators. So many famous and impressive performers are not included. Ricky Jay's writing is precise, fluid, and conveys his admiration and awe at these human oddities and pioneering showmen. Jay's occasional references to his own experiences when they are relevant add interest. There are black-and-white reproductions of posters, playbills, and other illustration throughout. In the center of the book are 16 pages of full-color poster reproductions. "Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women" is an education in eccentric performance and the unusual, determined individuals who have created it. And it's great fun.

As a magician and card wielder Ricky Jay is fascinating to watch as well as listen to. As a writer Mr. Jay also brings his own fascination at the work of others to play and writes a truly well-written, very interesting and enlightening book about the arcane world of many sometimes downright odd entertainers.

Thorough in his presentation of details Mr. Jay's book is well-researched and his appreciation and awe for these unique people makes us quite enthralled as we read page after page about performers such as Le Petomaine, with his unusual ability to produce sounds of musical quality from a most unusual source on his body.

Ricky Jay, besides being fascinating to watch, is also fascinating to read.

This wonderful book profiles some of the most unusual entertainers of all times: calculating pigs and acrobatic horses, stone eaters, poison resisters, daredevils, and mind readers. The contents of this meticulously researched and lovingly presented book often boggle the mind, inducing, at times, a wonderment that is nearly stupefying. Profusely illustrated with contemporary broadsides, lithographs, and photographs, the book is also enlivened by JayÕs seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of each performerÕs antecedents, biography, and critical reception. Engrossing from start to finish, but particularly notable for JayÕs account of the controversial career and bizarre death of mind reader Washington Irving Bishop, whose story beggars imagination. Also not to be missed is the final chapter on Joseph Pujol, whose career as Le PŽtomane was based on his ability to create music and sound effects with the least reputable of bodily orifices. A treasure

In Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, Ricky Jay takes on the history of oddball performers: men who claimed to cram their entire bodies into quart jars, armless ladies who could paint miniatures holding a brush between their teeth, gentlemen whose specialty was to enter large ovens accompanied by raw meat and exit (unharmed) with fully-cooked steaks, as well as mind readers of all sorts and species (human, pig, and horse).

Organized into chapters by skill by oddball skill, Jay is sometimes able to document such performers back into the 1700s by tracking newspaper reports, handbills, etc., many of which are reproduced in color plates and black-and-white photographs.

Ricky Jay occupies an engaging hole in intellectual space between enthusiast and academic. He is comprehensive in the extreme, but his writing style is anecdotal and he does not go for any elaborate sociological explanation of why such performers exist or what they `mean' to society. He just wants you to have fun, and perhaps to freak you out just a wee bit.

The book is also very nicely designed; its large wide pages lie flat and there are loads of remarkable illustrations. Definitely worth a look!

It is A good book to read whether you are into horse or not. It is more of a self help book than training. Worth reading for anyone. Good book on communication between your horse and you.

I am not good at reviewing books, but I will say that if you had a six star rating instead of just five, I would definitely give it a six.
Anyone who is fond of horses or has ridden and/or worked with horses would love this book written by a totally likeable man who looks at training, riding, working and just being buddies from the horse's point of view. This book shows great understanding of the subject. Mark's writing is easy, compassionate, humorous and you just hate it when the book ends. From now on I will buy any book written by Mark Rashid. (TOLD you I was not good at writing reviews)!

a book showing that there is a lot to be learned from our horse if we only care to listen to him/her.

I have read most of Mark Rashid's books, and I had greatly anticipated reading this one hoping for more insight into horse training. If you are looking for training advice in this book you will find very little of it. The book deals mostly with what Mark learned about his own personal behavior through observing his horse Buck. One could take advice from the book I suppose but you have to dig much deeper to come away with useful tidbits. Also, don't expect any of the colorful stories of the "Old Man" that appeared in other books by Mark, there are none of those here, and only a smattering of stories about working with horses other than Buck. It is a good read, but don't expect much in the way of tips on working with horses.

I love the easy reading. Anyone who needs to have more confidence and fun with their horse needs this book. All of Rashids books are great! I found my patience with my Horse soar and the games and fun I have riding - make me appreciate my horse even more.

My daughter has been somewhat obsessed with the Little Bear tv show on Noggin for almost a year now. It's all she watches so when I saw these books I was really excited. We got them for her for Christmas and she just loves them.
I reccommend the books cuz they are sweet stories about Little Bear and his friends and family.

The little bear stories are one of my son's absolute favorites. It is a shame the cartoon is no longer on the air, as I'm sure he'd love that too, but the books are adorable and heartwarming as well. My son loves reading these books, and its really a joy to read this to him and see the expression of delight on his face. Really a great book for your kids.

I bought these books for my 4 month old daughter. We've already read them (just before bedtime) more than once. I grew up with these books and they bring back great memories of when I was younger. These books are great for bedtime with the real little ones, and perfect starters when they first start to read on their own. Every child should be familiar with these books. They are classics.

This is a set of books that is perfect for children to read. Innocent, heart warming, and charming, Little Bear is a series that your young child will love to read again and again. Also, if your child loves the Little Bear series as much as mine do, there are dvds of episodes from the tv show based on these books that they would love as well.

As far as good, clean, books for kids 2-6, thre are none better than the Little Bear series.

The fish hobby is made up of two different types of people. Some hobbyists do not really bother to understand their fish, they simply buy replacements when the current ones die. The second type of fish-keeper wants to know as much information as he or she can on the types of fishes they keep. This book would be of most value to the second type.

Sometimes, we mistakenly assume that fish are fragile and that there is simply no way to maintain them at optimum health. But that is not the case. Most fish are quite hardy. They can easily be maintained in the home aquarium if attention is given to their particular needs. Even so, from time to time, our fishes do get sick despite of our care. This book will help you diagnose some of the more common diseases that afflict fishes, as well as some possible remedies.

Some of the procedures in the textbook are simply not feasible for the average aquarists. Most of us do not have access to a laboratory. However, there is enough solutions in the book that are easy enough to follow. I highly recommend this book.

This book is amazing! I absolutly recomend it to everyone I've talked to. Not only does it use casual scientific terms but it does also explain them for anyone that doesn't have a BSc. Great information not only on fish disease, but on maintaining a properly balanced aquarium & preventing diseases from occuring in the first place.

Personally I think it should be a manditory buy with ever first-fish purchase.

The book is pretty good for most aquarists as all should have something to help with the diagnostics and treatment of their pets. There's some pretty good photography of various diseases that simplifies the text, and in each section there is a little box of explanation of a point in the text, be it a bacteria type or similar. Where the book falls slightly short in my opinion is in the treatment section. I would not advocate the use of all the chemicals in this chapter and some may well be impossible to obtain for most people. In this case, I would recommend using the book then visiting a professional fish keeper, specialist shop or vet with your diagnosis after consulting the treatment section to see if there is an alternative.

All said and done anything that can help easy diagnosis and lead to the correct treatment of fish disease is a good thing.

I have Aquarium books coming out of my ears. In my quest for knowledge on how to care and treat my freshwater fish, I have purchased books, but most left a lot of my questions unanswered, or were vague on discriptions of fish diseases and/or how to treat. This is by far the best all around book for the Aquarium Hobby enthusiast. It has everything you need to know about aquarium fish, their environment, disease and prevention. The pictures of diseased fish help you pin point the proper ailment, bacteria, and cure. I give this book 5+ stars and highly recommend it to anyone who has aquarium fish.

I bought this book based on the great reviews here, and have not been disappointed. That said, there are a few deficiencies that drove me back to the web for more information and hence this review.

There is very little information about contemporary brands and their products that can be used to treat fish diseases. Using the book, one can easily diagnose pop-eye (which I was combating in my prize altum angels). But the suggestions are not terribly helpful in finding the right product to treat this affliction. For example, there are 3 or more different drugs under the Mardel brand that all claim to treat pop-eye. Some target gram-positive bacteria, some target gram-negative bacteria, and some are broad-spectrum antibiotics. At the same time, some can be simultaneouly administered with other treatments, some cannot. And so on. It would have been helpful if the book had helped me sort these details out (which I eventually did) and if it had suggested possible courses of action. Even something that lists all common antibiotics and adds a classification chart to go with them will address this concern.

And as one reviewer pointed out, some of the suggestions are beyond the scope of the hobbyist. But let this not detract you from purchasing a guide that will save you time and help you narrow your diagnosis.