Kites Books

Fulfilling, riveting and all inspiring from the poetic genius that is Ian Caws. He captures the whole essence and beauty of what is life itself. He displays an extraordinary use of powerful imagery with simple clarity and elegance. "Helen's Footprints" to name but one, is a perfect example of what is the profound talent and unmistakeable style of a unique poetic guru.

I have been collecting coins for 15 years

I thought this was an excellent introduction to the Depression years for younger readers. Russell Freedman writes in a straightforward style and nicely avoids contractions ('did not' instead of 'didn't') popping up throughout his text. There are two stories in these pages, the Depression and life in the Thirties and the same years as they relate to children, so there are chapters devoted to 'In and out of school', 'Kids at work' and 'Boxcar kids' for example.

What really makes the book come alive for me are the excellent photos, all with captions including the date and photographer. Virtually all of them are from the now famous FSA files in the Library of Congress. Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein and Ben Shahn have the most and they perfectly work with the text. As well as great photos the design of the book is simple and elegant with the photos printed in a sepia green, there is a bibliography and index.

Another worthwhile childrens book about the same period is 'Welcome to Kit's world: 1934. Growing up during America's Great Depression' (ISBN 158485359X) beautifully designed with the story told as extended captions to the hundreds of photos and period graphics. This title is really aimed at young girls.

For a photobook of FSA children images have a look at 'Children of the Depression (ISBN 0253340314) a large format, one photo to a page book that probably has the best of what is available from the files. This book is mentioned in the bibliography of 'Children of the Great Depression'

All three books explore the lives of children in hard times with sympathetic words and powerful pictures.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

"The Chinese," by Lorien Kite, is part of the "We Came to North America" series of books for young readers. The book tells the story of people of Chinese heritage in North America. The book is illustrated with many photographs (both black-and-white and full color). The main text is supplemented with maps, sidebar articles, a glossary, and an index. Vocabulary words are boldfaced in the text: "immigration," "pictographs," "scholar," etc.

Kite begins with an overview of Chinese history and culture. The text covers many topics: the great wave of 19th century immigration, Chinese work on North American railroads, the impact of anti-Chinese sentiment, the historic immigration station at Angel Island, the growth of urban Chinatowns, and more. There is a brief section on the contributions of famous North Americans of Chinese heritage. Overall, an informative and visually compelling book.

I am a third-grade teacher who ordered this book for my class. I live in the warm climate of Morocco, where cockroaches are as common as flies. My kids are absolutely fascinated by this book, and it is one of the most popular books in my class.

This book is one of the best animal books for children that I've ever seen, as are all the other books in the Early Bird Nature Series. In 48 pages, there are 41 outstanding, full-color photographs. The enlarged text is perfect both for reading to a child, or for a child to read to himself. The language and book design are perfect for a child between Grades 2 and 4, but even quite interesting even for me, as an adult!

Topics covered are: the many different kinds of cockroaches, and where they live all over the world; that they are nocturnal, and what that means; their various body parts, and the functions of each of those parts; what they eat and drink; how they clean themselves; how and where eggs are laid; how their babies live and grow up; molting; enemies of cockroaches; how long they have lived on the Earth; how they are able to travel to new places using people when they move; and about some cockroaches who are kept as pets, or who live in nature, as in the jungle, far from people.

The first page in the book both introduces new vocabulary words to be found in the text, and also explains where to find the small glossary at the back of the book, and how to use it.

I highly recommend this book for your child. It will give you hours of fascination reading together. It would also be an excellent edition to any school library. I purchased the library-bound edition, which is both attractive and tough. The cover photo is extraordinary-a big close-up of a cockroach.

I purchased this book used after first reading a copy from my local public library.The author has been all over the world researching kites and their customs and significance in each respective country.The book also details his adventures and travels.Also some amusing storys and situations.Albeit this book is dated, it is a timeless treatse on kites and a great book for the beginner or long time kite flyer.I spoke briefly with Mr. Yolen many years ago.He was suffering from parkinsons and needed a nurse to handle his affairs, but despite this...He was still full of life.He (his Nurse) sent me one of hisInternational Kiteflyers Cards as a Souviner of our chat. David.

I was intrigued when my sister gave me this book a little while ago. With the popularity of Kite Runner, I wanted to read a story about Afghanistan that wasn't fiction, and wasn't a war laden story or simply history (there are plenty of those!) I knew that there was more to Afghanistan, and I saw that from the perspective of this little boy. His adventures are both hilarious and heartwarming. The author brings a humorous side to Afghanistan that we haven't seen before. Since it was self-published there are a few typos and things that could be fixed, but it certainly never detracts from the story. Ultimately I would recommend this book to anyone who has read Kite Runner (whether you liked it or hated it!).

As I read this story I could not help but compare this book's legendary hero, Ishikawa, to the European Robin Hood. A thief who steals to feed the poor, keeping for himself only enough to sustain his family, Ishikawa is a Japanese historical character that lived in the late 1600's or early 1700's (author's note). The Dragon Kite details his plan to steal the golden dolphin from the roof of the castle. Suspense builds as the thief spends a four-year apprenticeship with a wise kite maker before he is ready to build his dragon kite and execute his plan. This is Nancy Luenn's second book, the first being The Ugly Princess. (book jacket). The story itself is captivating as patient wisdom combines with cunning to form the perfect crime. "Luenn's version of a Japanese folktale hums with suspense...Hague's soaring, beautiful paintings animate the story..."(Publishers Weekly as quoted on Amazon.com). Both author and illustrator have formal art training and their combined sense of style creates a masterpiece the reader will not soon forget. Peppered with mysticism, and timeless wisdom, the pages of this book will force you to linger longer in attempts to absorb its intellectual jewels and visual splendor. As the kite maker Katsuda instructs on page 8, "The winds bring the kite alive and the reins keep it tied to the earth." You will be swept up in the mysticism of this tale and blessed by its accessible truths.

This is one of those craft books ideal for the Boy or Girl Scout troop leader. The designs are very detailed and they all require a great deal of effort to complete. The projects are from all over the world and they are:

*) The European Diamond Kite
*) The Japanese Red Devil Swooper Kite
*) The Oriental Butterfly Kite
*) The Korean Warrior Kite
*) The Chinese Yuan Kite
*) The Guatemalan Sun Kite
*) The Traditional Chinese Dragonfly Kite
*) The New England Ghost Kite
*) The High-tech Box Kite

There is a scaled grid drawing of each of the kites and detailed textual instructions regarding the materials to use as well as how to put the kites together. Several diagrams showing intermediate stages in the kite construction are also included for each model. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in young people creating advanced kite models, independent of the reasons for wanting to do so.

Co-authored by lifelong student of Indiana history George W. Geib and judicial expert Donald B. Kite Sr. (a partner with the Indianapolis law firm of Schultz & Pogue, LLP), "Federal Justice In Indiana: The History Of The United States District Court For The Southern District Of Indiana" is a specialized and superbly written history of Southern Indiana's court system from its earliest days as a territorial court to the District Court's current composition. Selections of major cases are incorporated to illustrate the court's evolution (as well as its humanity) making "Federal Justice In Indiana" a unique and impressive resource for law students, history buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in American judicial history. Enhanced with occasional black-and-white photographs, "Federal Justice In Indiana" could well serve as a template for other regional court histories and is very highly recommended for academic and community library Indiana History collection, as well as academic library American Judicial History reference shelves.