Educational Books

I bought this book for each of my grandchildren, and they all adored it. Storad wrote a wonderful story for children of all ages that is enhanced by beautiful illustrations. What a joy to be able to find a book that is both entertaining and educational!

This book teaches children and adults alike about javelinas (and yes, most people think that they are a variety of wild pig - nope, they are "peccaries.") As a resident of Arizona, we actually encounter javelinas from time to time and these encounters are all the more interesting now that we have learned so much from this wonderful book! My children (4 and 6) adore this book and love shouting out the oft repeated refrain: "Don't call me pig!"

In addition to the fun, rhyming text, the book features marvelous and funny illustrations of the javelinas. Both the text and the illustrations describe their physical characteristics and their life in a manner that is appealing even to young children. For adults who want the facts, there are two pages at the end of the book that discuss javelinas in a more narrative manner.

This book should appeal to any child who is curious about wildlife, or the southwestern United States. It would be a great book for teachers too. My kids learned alot, and so did I!

What a joy to read this book to my kids! It was not only fun to read this rhyming story, it was educational, too. The illustrations are fabulous. My two young boys asked lots of questions while we read, which just means they were really interested in this animal called a javelina--not a pig! After reading this book, we also obtained "Lizards for Lunch" by the same author and enjoyed it just as much. Now, as we travel across the desert periodically, my kids will be on the lookout for some of the animals they've seen in these books.

My children recite the catch phrase from this humorous, yet educational look at Javelinas for hours after we read the book. I truly admire Storad's ability to make kids laugh and teach them at the same time.

This book is great for study at university. My professor didn't say anything about it because he didn't know the book, but for the student is very easy to learn all the development stages, so necessary for later in teaching.
Great!!
I hope to find the same structure book for kids in school 6-12 years

This is a book that helps parents learn about how their children learn. I really appreciated how the author included charts, pictures, and subtitles for the topics. It makes a fun read, but it can also be scanned for quick reference. Ever wonder when your child will start to ________, and why? This book probably has the answer. For example, "Hand training activities" is one section with activities to help this area of development. The content of the book is helpful for those of us who have the time to direct our children toward certain activities and games in order to foster development. Also, great for those of us to whom this knowledge is not common sense - lots of great ideas. The author gives background about why things develop they way they do, followed by activites to help development, stages, time frames. It is a practical, helpful book. One point of interest is that the book is structured like a quick reference book, a plus, but it does make it seem over-whelming. Overall, a gem (should be on every parents bookshelf).

The book is one of the best I've run into around the topic of child development. This is NOT a book about children's issues when growing up or what to do if they run a fever (you need to get your copy of the APA's book "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5" for that purpose!). It is a book that covers the different aspects of child development (movement, senses, language, etc.) by time periods, so that you can understand what you child can or cannot do at a point in his/her life, as well as what you -as a caring parent- can do to help stimulate the child with games and activities. Complementing the excellent and well laid out content, the book is packed with lots of color photos (not illustrations) and comes with a very solid binding -in spite of being a paperback edition- which is important considering that it wil have to last you at least five years.

After having searched for a while, we settled on this book, along with Edward De Bono's "Teach Your Child How to Think", to help with the physical and intellectual growth of our little one.

I bought this book when my now 3.3 year old was an infant. I have followed the checklist, completed the activities and now I have what I would call an active, well balanced, extremely smart (dare I say gifted) precocious child that everyone loves and declares is a pistol.

If you are looking for true milestone marks and are truly interested in developing your child then this is the book for you. If you are just into the whole unschooling---"my child will pick this up on their own..." then this is not the book for you. This book is a how to help your child develop and to keep developing. If your child is showing reading readiness then you will know what to do next.

This book is consulted before I buy toys, new curriculum and almost weekly I just review where he is headed. It is easy to use and if we are needing help in a particular area I know this is the book I can turn to because it is divided into easy to understand sections.

This book and "Your Self Confident Baby" , and "You are Your Child's First Teacher" are the parenting books that are still on my shelves. Sadly, those other experts are packed away with the other baby things he has outgrown.

Buy this and know that it is money well spent and that your child will benefit greatly.

To read a book that is pure pleasure is a gift, particularly when you've been reading a lot of so-so or merely okay books for a while. My history with Eva Ibbotson has been a kind of stilted one. As a librarian I've shelved her fantasies on a regular basis. As a reader I tasted one of her realistic stories ("The Star of Kazan") and one of her more imaginative flights of fancy ("Island of the Aunts"). And I did like them both, but that was all. I "liked" them. I didn't love them, look forward to going back to them, or think about them in my spare time. They were fine and they were good and they were completely insufficient when it came to preparing me for "The Dragonfly Pool." This book has all the cleverness and charm of her previous books. But rather than indulge in a steady slow-building charm, the text in this book dives right for your throat from the start and clasps you tight for the rest of the tale. If you've never read an Ibbotson before, I suspect that here would be an excellent place to start. She has gripping kid-friendly writing down to an art.

Tally, as it turns out, is the last to know. When her hard-working but penniless father tells his daughter that she has a chance to attend a progressive boarding school called Delderton, Tally is miserable at the thought. Leave all her friends and family for some school outside of London where she knows no one? The world is on the brink of WWII and it's no wonder that Tally's father is inclined to get her out of town. Once at the school, however, the girl finds herself greatly enjoying herself, learning the strengths and secrets of the kids around her. And when a chance comes to start a folkdancing group and perform in the little nation of Bergania, nothing could be sweeter. While there she even manages to strike up a friendship with the crown prince Karil. Bergania is one of the few European nations unwilling to submit to Hitler and his demands, and when tragedy strikes it's up to Tally to help Karil any way she can and up to Karil to determine once and for all what it is he would like to be as a person.

The publishing blog Pub Rants once proffered a piece of writing advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since; "writers should not mistake voice for character development." Easier said than done. Ibbotson certain has voice down, but character development. . . . character development she has DOWN down, man! Example A: Consider the description of Tally's personality. A mediocre writer would say that she was strong and show one scene involving personal strength, leaving it at that. A better writer would be subtle and let Tally's strength emerge and surface as a natural part of the text. And then there is Eva Ibbotson. She wants to make it clear that Tally has a clear view of purpose and commitment. So how exactly do you show that? You throw in small unforgettable details alongside the naturally emerging strengths. You mention that her grandmother spent a lot of her time washing the socks of beggars, and that it takes a certain amount of character and determination to get those socks OFF of the beggars' feet first. Details such as this do not grow on trees. They don't grow in the brains of many writers either, for that matter.

I've often thought that class is to England what race is to America. This isn't to say that America can't be classist and England can't be racist (racism and classism are horribly universal in that sense), but we've very different histories in both areas. In the case of this book, class is a constant companion to Tally. Her father is a good doctor who would rather cure a patient than make a quick buck, and as a result he doesn't make a lot of money. Karil is royalty, a fact that allows him to fit in perfectly in British society since he is considered of great quality (in spite of the fact that the family loses money like water through a sieve). Another offspring of classism is where you chose to send your children to school. Hence Delderton becomes a kind of anti-boarding school. It is said that the actress Tilda Swinton refuses to act in the Harry Potter movies because they romanticize the boarding school experience. Whether you consider that to be true or not, they certainly make schools with houses and colors and sports sound neat. As a progressive school Ibbotson cleverly makes it clear why it is that Tally much prefers Delderton, where she might stifle (or at the very least be unhappy) at a posh prep school elsewhere. And on the bookflap of this title Ibbotson notes that Delderton was modeled after the real school Dartington that she attended when she was young, pet hut and all.

The temptation when you read a book like this is to suddenly try to sell it to your fellows with grabby sentences like, "Eva Ibbotson! Now with Nazis!" Now I am German. German roots run thick in my blood on my paternal grandmother's side, and it has always kind of bugged me how children's authors tackle the German people during WWII. Generally it's just easier to make everyday Germans out to be Nazis, except for anyone Jewish of course. This is just a smidgen insulting and never fails to raise my hackles when I come across it. Now consider the "Dragonfly Pool" take. Not only are there good Germans here, but they also come up in a variety of different manners. There are the German folkdancing children who are described as being anything but Hitler Youth (and who consequently are sent back home for this very flaw). There is the teacher at Delderton who loves a German man, one that actually is drafted to fight for his country but isn't villanized for it. It's rather impressive, really. We don't usually consider Ibbotson the kind of author who takes risks, but little moments like these would be avoided entirely by a weaker, lesser writer.

And . . . and . . . and . . . well let's just get past all the hoopla and rigmarole I've written here and speak truth to power: Ibbotson is just a really remarkably writer. Look, I've even highlighted a passage in the book that I took delicious delight in (little knowing how important it would turn out to be later in the story): "Prince Dmitri's mother, the old Princess Natalia, brought a small, low-slung dog with a topknot and an ancient pedigree. Pom-Pom was descended from a long line of Outer Mongolian pedestal (or snuggle) dogs, which had been bred to warm the feet of the Great Khans in their drafty palaces and now wheezed through the corridors of Rottingdene House, seeking the dark, familiar world of legs and shoes and toes." Somewhere in the world they may try to teach children's authors how to write sentences like this. They may, but I can't help but think it takes a very particular, very rare talent to conjure up such stuff, let alone make it so interesting to read. The use of "low-slung" is particularly delicious, I think.

The craziest thing about this book, to me anyway, was that I never knew where it was going. I always enjoyed the ride, but when I expected the plot to make an expected turn to the right, suddenly it would dash off hell-for-leather to the left, leaving me panting in its wake. So I have a suggestion on how to use this book in school. Teachers who read it in class, a chapter at a time, should ask the class after each reading to predict where it's going to go. These predictions should be recorded and retained throughout the story so that the kids get a sense of how to plot a story, the amount of work that goes into making it hold together in a coherent fashion, etc. They could even write their own chapters each time! An ultimate writing assignment that is actually fun waits in the pages of this book.

If you are looking for a book to assign in a bookgroup or a title that would work brilliantly in discussion, if you need a story to readaloud to a group, a title to recommend to a bright kid who prefers a little realism, or a novel that is simply pure enjoyment on the page, this is a book to consider. Little wonder that the image on the cover gleams in iridescent colors; this book is a gem. A wonderful introduction to Ibbotson for the uninitiated, and a joyful discovery for those readers already under her sway.

Wow, this one really hit the sweet spot. I guess it's a little like Frances Hodgson Burnett's books, only written today. And with more...interesting characters. And Nazis. And naturalists (this must be a side interest of Ibbotson's--it reminded me of her Journey to the River Sea). And a class where you have to imagine turning into a spoon. And a determined heroine set on rescuing a prince. What a wonderful book!

I love all of Eva Ibbotson's books, and this enchanting tale of heroism and friendship, with its fairy-tale atmosphere, is one of her best. The story is set in 1939, just before World War II, and Hitler is on the move. The heroine, 11-year-old Tally, is sent by her father, a doctor in London, to Delderton, an unconventional boarding school in the Devon countryside where students are encouraged to think for themselves.

Meanwhile, in the small European country of Bergania, the king is bravely standing up to the Nazis. His son, Crown Prince Karil, seeks solace and escape from the restrictions of court life at the Dragonfly Pool, a hidden place that his father also used as a childhood refuge.

The children at Delderton are invited to a folk-dance festival in Bergania, and when Nazi conspirators assassinate the king, the children smuggle Karil out of the country to safety in England. This beautifully written story is full of adventure, narrow escapes, excitement, humor, and well-portrayed, believable characters, and Tally herself is courageous, intelligent, friendly, and commonsensical. I highly recommend this delightful book to middle schoolers, teens, and grown-ups alike. Don't miss out on it just because it's labeled "young adult."

By 1939 most English know war against Hitler is imminent. In London, Dr. James Hamilton worries about his extremely popular daughter Tally, born just before her mother died. Thus when a grateful patient arranges for a scholarship at the remote boarding school Delderton, he accepts because he wants her out of the capital though he knows he, his spinster aunts, his patients, and the neighbors will miss his precocious caring daughter.

Tally is unhappy to leave London, but makes friends with other students on the train. She soon finds she loves the school especially the freedom and the lessons by her counselor and biology teacher Matteo. She continues to help other people as that is her makeup. When she attends a movie that has a newsreel, she is excited by the freedom stand by the King of Bergania, who rejects the Nazis' demands. When Tally learns of a folk dance festival there, she organizes the students to participate, chaperoned by Matteo. There she meets the lonely twelve year old Crown Prince Karil. However, when his father is assassinated while attending the festival, Karil is in danger by those who hope to appease Hitler. Tally and her friends risk their lives to try to help Karil flee to England.

This is an entertaining historical fiction filled with a can do optimism in spite of the mass murdering madman. Tally is terrific, a sort of preadolescent Mary Poppins assisting others with their problems; the middle school audience will admire her determination and courage as she is an excellent role model. The rest of the key characters are also fully developed though they either move forward the vivid story line or increase understanding of the remarkable heroine. My advanced copy did not contain the illustrations by Kevin Hawkes, but if his entries match that of his work in LIBRARY LION, fans are in for an even greater treat. Early teen readers will dive head first into THE DRAGONFLY POOL while demanding their school be more like Delderton.

Harriet Klausner

I'm sure you dont need me to tell you what the story is about, there are 3 other posts doing that. so.....
I recieved my copy of this book very early on. about month after it was first released. (my claim to fame, Steve Voake is related to me, his dad is the son of my grandmother's brother.. confusing eh?) And found the book a brillient literary work. tho a little disturbing that one of the main characters had the same nickname as me.. I recently read the book again to find anything i had missed and was again amazed by its brilliance. I just need to get my mits on the sequal, the web of fire..

This book is about a child Sam Palmer who goes to a world of giant walking bugs, to fulfill a prophecy he has never even heard of. I think this is a great book. The characters are extremly well developed and hilarious, especially Skipper who I find is one of the best characters I have ever come across.

A wonderful book! imaginative powerful moving. I loved it. Skipper especcially is a brilliant character anyone can relate to. Sam is a young boy in a different world with bugs the size of fighter jets and adventure and danger around every corner. Anyone with an open mind should try it!

Sam Palmer has always been fascinated with insects, but now he's become obsessed. Suddenly insects also appear to be fascinated with Sam. Wherever he goes, a few wasps follow him. One day he finds a horsefly in his room. He gently corrals it in a glass and sets it free, informing it that it isn't very smart. But that fly knows more than Sam could ever imagine.

Meanwhile, an army in the state of Vermia in another world called Aurobon prepares for war against humans on earth. Their weapon: a virus to be spread by mosquitoes. As they refine their technique, word comes that "the Dreamwalker" has been found --- and that she has a son. Odoursin, Vermia's evil emperor, demands the boy be brought to him.

Sam takes a bike ride and notices a peculiar cloud of wasps. He can't resist following them. Pain stabs his neck, and then everything goes black.

He awakens to nighttime in a strange landscape, marshlands lit with blue-green light. Confused and frightened, he walks toward distant city lights. But his travels are disrupted by a horrendous encounter with a slavering pack of creatures like no one has seen on Earth. The crazed beasts are intent on killing him. Sam realizes he will surely die, but then a group of soldiers appears. His relief is short-lived, however, when the soldiers act like he's a criminal, violently hauling him off to prison. What is going on?

Vermia's enemy state is called Vahlzi, and the army is led by Commander Firebrand. Realizing the Dreamwalker's son has been kidnapped by Vermia, Firebrand decides to send a rescuer, Skipper, who is his best pilot despite her young age.

In prison, Sam meets Skipper who gives him hope of escape. Looking through the window of his cell, he sees three moons and realizes he's in a whole new world. When Sam learns the truth behind his plight, he's shocked. He must fight the evil that seeks to destroy Earth's humans. Meanwhile, his damaged body on Earth remains in a coma.

This original book is filled with ideas I found myself discussing repeatedly with family and friends. In the midst of an urgent plot fueled by a dangerous mission, we find humor, a gutsy female role model, friendship, family relationships, questions about the guardianship of Earth and the balance of nature --- plus a subtle, thrilling celebration of life itself. Speaking of celebration, I understand a sequel to THE DREAMWALKER'S CHILD is in the works. Hooray!

PS: Dear Hollywood: What are you waiting for? This book has "movie potential" stamped on it in huge red letters.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

Dr. Caffrey's book is a real gem! I heard her give a powerful, insightful speech on parenting and education. This book is a MUST READ for any parent. I now understand things about motivating and encouraging my daughter that I'd never even considered before. We all want our children to succeed, to be self-motivated, to care about their futures and their education. "Drive" helps you parent in a way that turns on your child's inner motivation - no more pushing them. Imagine that! Best of all, although my daughter is in high school already, it's apparently never too late to start. I recommend this book highly to anyone who works with children, has children or even wants to have children. And Barack Obama, if you're reading this, you need to make this woman Secretary of Education.

DRIVE is more than just a parenting book; it is an outstanding resource for teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, or any adult who works with adolescents. Anyone who has ever longed for a How-To manual for motivating young people will shout "Hallelujah!" after reading DRIVE. Good advice, insightful examples, amusing anecdotes, handy quizzes, sound philosophies, and easy to follow applications all in one well organized resource that will clearly show you how to get kids off the sofa and moving toward success in all they do. A gem of a book!

I have experienced Dr. Caffrey's expertise first hand, as my son is a student at her school, Renaissance Academy, Port Richey, Florida. This will be his fourth year at her school, and he and I could not be happier. He is now a teenager, and I was thrilled to read her book. It gives tons of "common sense" advice that lots of parents seem to have forgotten about. The book is full of things that our parents did that have been forgotten by this generation, and techniques and strategies that I had not thought of. It seems children today have everything done for them, and it works for them, because they still get the reward. I have seen first hand Dr. Caffrey's way of thinking, parenting, and teaching, at her school, and IT WORKS! The students at her school are highly driven, motivated, and HAPPY! If you are a parent of any child, you owe it to your child to read this book.

Finally, a resource that gets to the point! Parents will love it- kids will wonder what hit them. In a world of excess and overindulgence, Caffrey shows us how to become parents again. In a world lacking common sense, she demonstrates an abundance of it. It is refreshing to be reminded that we have a responsibility to raise independent young men and women who will feel the need to make contributions to the world because they have a sense of pride, not entitlement!

I am new to the Early Intervention world and there are so many medical diagnosis and medical conditions out there I am very thankful that this book was available to me. It is simple to find what you are looking for and gives you the definition in layman's terms. It also gives definitions for acronyms used in the medical field. I would recommend it to anyone in the Early Intervention field!

Written by Jeanine G. Coleman, M. Ed., The Early Intervention Dictionary: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Terminology is the updated third edition of a straightforward, practical definitive reference for medical professionals and parents alike. Each entry consists of a brief (from one sentence to one full paragraph) definition of a medical or scientific term concerning medical and development issues, features, and abnormalities present in infants and children. The Early Intervention Dictionary is accessible to readers of all backgrounds, and covers everything from "abrachia" (congenital absence of arms) to "Zero Reject" (The principle that no child with a disability should be refused a free, appropriate education if other children the same age are being served). Highly recommended as a user-friendly reference.

This book was our trusted guide and friend through the first years of our child's life. We took this book with us to every new medical and therapeutic appointment, and it enabled us to quickly become knowledgable about our son's condition. I give this book as a special gift to welcome new "exceptional" families to our circle.

Highly recommended.

This book is an excellent reference tool. As a student seeking certification in early intervention, I find this book to be extremely helpful. This book will guide you through termonology and provide you with a wealth of information.

This is a great textbook and I saved money by getting it here instead of my college bookstore!

If you are looking for a book that is broken down into plain English, is very readable, and is organized in a logical way...you've found it! For someone taking a basic level economics course, I can't recommend a better book. Everything is explained in language that is easy to read and understand. The text is organized in a logical, flowing manner, to include side notes and other helpful bits of information. Also, this book relates the information it is presenting to "real life", making it easier to visualize how economics affects our daily lives. I HIGHLY recommend this book!

As an econ major and teacher of economics this book was the one I wished I had in Micro and macro. Clear, concise, interesting and well-organized, this book is perfect for the aspiring AP Econ student as well as the Micro/macro intro class.

As an instructor who has used this textbook, it is easy to understand and follow. It is written in plain English. It is logical in its organization. Lots of real world examples. The students enjoy studying a difficult subject using this textbook.

My daughter needed this book for a college class. We were very impressed when it came because it looked like it had never been opened or used. It was a great deal for us.

Book was beneficial for class. Emphasizes on different issues within the schools system.

This is a great book about current education policy that everyone should read.

Current educational significant issues for 2007 are listed within this book including such issues as social experience, standardizing curriculum, producing good citizens, charter schools, bilingual education, school violence, homework, and merit pay. Two major sides are looked at for each issue listed, and one of the issues, redefining of "public school" in question, lists 4 people on the "no" side of the issue and 1 person on the "yes" side. The table of contents does not show that there are 4 different excerpts, but lists it as only "et. al" for three people when it really should be written out for clarity and easier reference.

The bonus issues, changing science curriculum on evolution (known as Intelligent Design (ID) ) and boys' education are extra issues they decided to tack on. They really don't fit into any of the categories from the issues originally listed, and are much more theoretical and directly less significant than the issues originally in the text. The bonus issues are not a necessary read unless you intend on reading everything or something on those particular topics, but it's nice addition for the book.

Considering that this is a 14th edition, there are still way to many places where they forgot to place a space between words and I think a couple of misspellings too.

Besides all the tidbits, the issues are worth reading and understanding, as they capture many nuances that you may or may not have thought of. Even if the points are already obvious to you, it's very arguably a handy well written reference if nothing more than that.

A good resource for faculty. Well written with nice integrated examples. I always recommend this book to faculty looking to develop rubrics for their teaching.

While it may not seem like it to students, grading is a very complex exercise for teachers and instructors. Anyone hoping to go into that line of work will have to learn about how complex and uncertain the art of grading can be, and this book is a strong compendium of current theory on such matters. An especially valuable aspect of this book is its coverage of the different schools of thought on whether grading is really an accurate assessment tool at all, and how all parties in the education process (students, teachers, administrators, parents, employers) have different conceptions of the usefulness and value of grades. But while this book is hugely informative at the practical level, beware of a few larger theoretical weaknesses. Frequently, certain practices that are currently held in high esteem become overused examples of larger concepts. The most glaring example is the inaccurately-titled chapter "Establishing Criteria and Standards for Grading" which is entirely about just one method, Primary Trait Analysis. At a higher level, this book assumes that all instructors will have the privilege of smaller class sizes, or welcoming administrative environments, in which experimenting with grading methods is possible or practical at all. Meanwhile this book (and many others like it) fails to distinguish between future advancements in theory and the real world in which such theories and practices have yet to be implemented on any appreciable scale. [~doomsdayer520~]

Do you love to teach but hate the grading process? That's where I was when I picked up this book. Very practically written, "Effective Grading" shows you how to choose the proper grading model for a class, how to motivate students through properly communicating your grading system, and how to structure your assignments to increase student learning. All this while drastically reducing the amount of time you need to spend on grading papers. Within a week of reading this book, I've made some drastic changes in my courses which will benefit both my students and myself.

I admit I was skeptical when I started this book--so many pedagogically oriented texts seem to sacrifice content and standards for "feel-good" solutions to education. However, I have found this book to offer excellent suggestions for every aspect of structuring classes to teach and evaluate what you most want your students to learn. In my college English classes, I've used variations of Primary Trait Analyses and Gateway Criteria and they have made a big difference in the levels of thinking and writing in my own students. Giving students specific guidelines allows them to focus on what's important about the assignment, set their priorities appropriately, and makes things much easier for me when the time comes for grading. I highly recommend this book.

If you are the parent of a gifted child, you MUST READ this book! Author Barbara Gilman gently guides the reader through the maze that is educational advocacy. With anecdotes from actual students and teachers, Empowering Gifted Minds is the how-to manual for ensuring that gifted children receive an education appropriate for their special needs.

Parents of gifted or gifted & LD, and teachers of gifted, now have an up to date and authoritative treatment of
- testing that brings out the best in the child and what makes it so,
- teaching that works for fast learners,
- advocating effectively to the school for effective programming for your child,
- and clearing the way for learning to occur,
in a gifted or twice exceptional child, or one who the parents believe may be gifted or gifted & LD.

Author, Barbara [Bobbie] Jackson Gilman, is first and foremost a testing expert and a long time member of Denver's Gifted Development Center under educational psychologist and world authority on giftedness and learning differences, Dr. Linda Silverman.

We were fortunate to have Bobbie do the testing on our son because the results led to extraordinary, one-of, accommodations being granted at the superintendent level of our school board; and for our daughter, which led to a perfect placement for her as a gifted & LD child who now thrives in a gifted program with a long list of essential accommodations developed through the assessment process.

For the parents, the next best thing to Bobbie doing the testing is Bobbie's book to guide your decisions on assessment and advocacy issues. What you get is her insider's view of the practical nitty-gritty of which assessment and what to advocate for.

The writing is often gripping: her personal experience of raising a gifted child who gave up on school, at least temporarily; the penetrating insights of gifted youth, Quinn O'Leary; the haunting excerpts from the writings of other affected children, to name three narrative threads that run through the text.

Bobbie also pays special attention to the twice exceptional child - gifted & LD -- and this child's story is powerfully represented in the children's excerpts as well. One girl's story of her struggles with dyslexia and CAPD, despite abstract reasoning ability at the 99.6% level, and learning to compensate if not overcome it, and getting rejected by all the goody girls schools but then getting into a good high school gifted program with the GDC assessment, ends on the hopeful note that infuses this book:

"Even though have I have been very successful, not every academic institutes understands my learning style. I live in ... [a large city] and all the high-end privet high schools didn't accept me. I can guarantee you that I got the politest rejection letters there are in this world, but for the first time in my life I felt almost ashamed of my dyslexia even though it was only for a day or so. I thought that know with spell check and extra time I was not that hard to handle. I thought for days why I didn't get in with an 80+ average in every thing I have done since grade five it would be dead certain entry. Instead I will go to a very good public high school that has a gifted program.

"Through out it all I have had a very optimistic look at life. I guess it's was in my genes to be happy and to make every thing look as good as possible. All through my life I have been challenge, with out that challenge I would have nothing to work for, so life would be boring. My advice for any one dyslexia is that no matter what don't give up because there is always the computer, calulator, and the good old agenda to solve all the problems. With these tools we are equals or supers to those with out dyslexia, and with time like red wine we only get better."

Ken Arenson, parent of gifted learners, lawyer, wood-worker etc.

Empowering Gifted Minds is the best and most comprehensive book on the gifted that I have read. Barbara Gilman gives the reader all the tools to identify, educate and advocate for the gifted. Quinn O'Leary writing was brilliant and a very poignant glimpse into the mind of a gifted student. The wisdom in this book is so important to know when planning for success for your child or student. This is a must read for every parent or educator of gifted children. If there were only one book to read on the gifted, this is the one!

This is the book every parent-of-the-gifted needs to read.

It starts with understanding. What is "gifted?" What does it mean, to my child, and to me? Identification through testing and assessment are detailed. What questions should I ask in selecting a tester? And then... How gifted is my child? What does this mean to her development and education? And how can this one child seem to be so many different ages at once? Asynchronous development...

Academic and social / emotional development are discussed next; both must be considered. Which schools? What programs? Why? Family always plays an important role.

Underachievers: are they under-challanged in school, or are there hidden learning disabilities at play? What is auditory processing deficit? Verbal expression? Dyslexia? Sensory integration? Perhaps someone has suggested attention deficit... could that be? How can I find out? What considerations should be made in educating this child?

Planning my child's program year by year. What to look for in a teacher, with recommendations from a long-time elementary school teacher. What about middle school? High school? What about homeschooling, grade acceleration, and concurrent college enrollment? Advocacy...

Empowering Gifted Minds discusses the many questions parents ask (or should ask!) in the years after learning their child is gifted, offering answers, ideas, and sometimes, more questions to ask.

Brief case studies bring Gilman's descriptions to life. After each chapter, find print resources and websites with more information, along with the references. Throughout the book "Observations on the Inner Experience of Giftedness" by Quinn O'Leary, a very gifted young man, help illiminate the subject from an insider's perspective.

Empowering Gifted Minds should be one of the very first books every parent-of-the-gifted reads!