Pennsylvania Books

An excellent field manual that elaborates on all the mammals of Pennsylvania from the common Eastern Cottontail to the elusive Martin and Fisher. Information includes animal description and photo, reproduction, interesting facts, adaptations, food, habitat, prey, predators, biology, reasons why the mammal is endangered or threatened, and behavior. Each description is in easy to understand language except for certain biological vocabulary. This is a must-have for hunters, Boy Scouts, students, environmentalists, and any interested resident of Pennsylvania. It is especially helpful to teachers of students of wildlife including those training Envirothon students.

Merrit's Guide is a very usuful book for those interested in mammals within the state of Pennsylvania. This book is easy to follow. The descriptions are straight foward and easy to understand. The diagrams and pictures are also very useful. I highly recommend this book.

It is Buber, who more than any other writer or thinker,made the works of Hasidism first known to the Western world. He found in their lives of devoutedness to God, in their holy simplicity a message for Modern Man.
In this work Buber outlines the principles of Hasidism, and provides us a picture of a whole way, not simply of seeing holiness, but of living in Holiness in the world.

Martin Buber recounts tales and parables of previous generations of central European hasidic Jewry to illuminate a life philosophy with appeal for today and tomorrow's interested generations.He communicates his vast love and respect for what he sees as a treasure trove of wisdom and insight into the human condition as found in hasidic lore.This book is very readable and speaks more directly to the reader without the dense philosophical phraseology which makes other of his books difficult to get into .I have heard criticism that one is actually hearing Martin Buber's humanistic philosophy of life with reference to his interpretation of hasidic folk culture.Be that as it may there is a universal self help appeal to this book.Martin Buber communicates the idea of humankind as consisting of free thinking individuals who can shape destiny,"every man's foremost task is the actualization of his unique ,unprecedented and never recurring potentialities,and not the repetition of something another,and be it even the greatest,has already achieved"This is a book that might change the reader's life.

The Petersheims model family and church togetherness. Nancy and Omar have lively times with Sally and Andrew Fisher. Hemlock Hill Hideaway is engaging, entertaining, lively reading.

After waiting a couple of years to see what was going to happen to Nancy and her family, I was pleasantly suprised to find another book in the Whispering Brook Farm series. The book is relaxing and I really enjoyed reading it. As a librarian, I don't always find time to read, but these books I do! Please take time to read a well written book about the Amish that isn't a joke.

This is definitely the guide to have in your hands if you are touring Philly and surroundings. The author's humor makes it fun! fun! fun!

I've lived in Philly all my life and recently picked this book up off the clearance rack at Walmart. I've discovered places in in the city of brotherly love that I never knew existed. As a lifelong fan of butter cakes, I especially appreciated the tips on new places to go to try out these confections! C'est magnifique!

As a native of the Allegheny National Forest region and a lifelong lover of the area's recreational opportunities, I'm stoked that someone has finally created an authoritative and informative guide to hiking throughout this incredible outdoor resource. Pennsylvania hiking expert Jeff Mitchell is just the man to do it. "Industrialized" Pennsylvania offers a multitude of outdoor recreation and natural beauty that is often a surprise to non-residents, and even to the natives. The northwestern portion of the state is fortunate to contain one of the few National Forests east of the Mississippi, and Mitchell proves that the area features fun for all ages and levels of ability. In addition to Mitchell's gift for natural detail, and the book's usable maps, Mitchell has included many hiking opportunities that are perfect for beginners, or those looking for an easy and peaceful ramble in the woods. There are also many hikes that incorporate the unique natural features or important ecosystems present in the Allegheny National Forest, while a few more challenging backpacking trips make the book a resource for the serious hiker as well. So obtain this book, then explore and enjoy this very valuable and enjoyable national forest. [~doomsdayer520~]

a wilderness roadmap
book review by Chris Lareau

For the million hikers who come to our woods every year, choosing a trail might be a burdensome process, even if you grew up here like I did. Instead of wandering around in the forest, readers of Jeff Mitchell's new book can easily pick and choose at their leisure, ahead of time.
Camera buffs can find out which trails have the best views. Biologists can ponder over the four trails with the most wildlife. Like waterfalls? If you have read Hiking the Allegheny National Forest, Exploring the Wilderness of Northwestern Pennsylvania, you'd know there are five different spots that have waterfalls or cascades. (And I thought we only had a single waterfall! I'm such a dope.)
Mitchell, an attorney from Tankhannock, breaks down 201 miles of hiking trails for those of all interests: for people who want to see old-growth forests (we have some of the oldest in the East), for parents with kids, even for hikers interested in caves, rock outcrops, and large boulders or rock cities. Mitchell even gives his opinion on which places have the most to see.
In spite of its title, Hiking the ANF also includes important descriptions of trails in contiguous state parks (including Cook Forest, the Akeley Swamp, and Chapman State Park. For the first time, someone has finally put all this in one book. The state parks are a tremendous asset and so far they have been grossly overlooked. (A longer version of this review appears at [...])

If you are researching Pennsylvania's Civil War units or soldiers, this collection of information is absolutely essential. This multi-volume work (with companion index) contains not only short unit histories of every unit from Pennsylvania that served in the Civil War, but also complete rosters of the units (or as complete as possible). The information includes soldiers' names, ranks, muster-in dates, muster-out dates, death dates (if killed in action) and location, POW status, and notes on wounds, transfers, promotions, etc. The rosters are broken down by company and the books even detail what counties that the companies were recruited from. This is the single best reference source on Pennsylvania in the Civil War.

My family had LOTS of great-grand uncles in the Civil War and many fought with the Pennsylvania units, so all unit histories, the detailed rosters and the fact that is was printed so soon after the end of the war makes this book a perfect source.
In fact, it has been put online, EVERY page of it, so why buy it? Just surf the web! You can even print out the pages you want!

A valuable compendium of essays from international professionals discussing the substance, methodologies and thematics of human rights education.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION FOR THE 21st CENTURY is the essential tool for every individual and organization charged with the promotion of human rights awareness and understanding. HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION NEWSLETTER, Centre for Global Education, College of Ripon and York St.John.

My ten year old Grandaughter likes poetry ,so she wanted the book. Since we live in Pa, she wanted to know about the Amish people and their out look on life and their beliefs. I was very pleased with Amazon's service.

An excellent insight in the life of the Amish. Shows the simple but loving ways of these plain people. Being from the Amish myself, it is indeed quite honorable to these rare breed of people. Loved it! Would recommend highly.

I never knew how close the United States came to becoming a communist country before I read this book. Everyone comes alive with the conversational text. And the descriptions of the wretched living conditions transported me to a different time and place. I couldn't put the book down. It's better than any novel because it's all true. It's like reading a private diary.

This really was THE WAY IT WAS...everyone in town remembers Ms. Gilfallen, and quite a few of the people in the book are still alive....I remember that my dad told me that she tried to talk to him in the mine (she actually got a job in the coal mine back when such a thing was not considered acceptable); however, he could not converse with Ms. Gilfallen because he could not speak english beyond a few phrases....this book was written right after the WVA/PA mine war, and the communists were trying to take over the mines, scabs were beaten and sometimes murdered (scabs were miners hired to replace the striking miners)..she even describes a funeral in our old Greek Catholic Church...she called that chapter THE CHURCH WITH THE BATHROOM WINDOWS....when you read this book, you will have a tendency to say "no way could this have happened"...but it did, exactly as depicted in this book....this is a true story....strangely, she called Cedar Grove by is proper name but tried to disguise Avella by calling it Avelonia...which, of course, fooled no one...read the book, its a time machine!

This is the ultimate coffee table book for any student of ice cream history, or for that matter, anyone who loves ice cream! Author Joe Greubel draws on his own family history (his father was the original "Ice Cream Joe"), celebrates the legacy of Valley Dairy, and connects his story to the great American love of ice cream. The glossy, full-color pages provide a tour down memory lane with old-fashioned advertisements, vintage photos, cartoons, magazine covers, and movie stills. Get the inside scoop on nearly-forgotten soda jerk jargon, plus the wisdom of soda fountain legend, Bryce Thomson. Most noteworthy is the tribute to the author's hometown of Latrobe, PA, the birthplace of the Banana Split and to the local hero responsible for the extravagant concoction.

This book is more than just a story of a family's American Dream. It is a full-color history of ice cream, and it contains a history of ice cream, a history of the banana split, rare promotional ideas, antique advertisements, enjoyable facts, pages on collectibles, copious excerpts from Bryce Thompson's famously unique "Sundae School Newsletter," and many other items. This book is of interest to anyone interested in ice cream history and the promotion of ice cream and related dairy products in America.