Barrett Books

My 1 1/2 year old has already worn out our first copy of this book--we love it! It is a perfect size for her hands and has all her favorite Sesame Street friends.

Aristophanes is considered the finest comic playwrite of the Classical Era. This is certainly born out through the selection in this volume. Birds is a comedy about an Athenian who decides to incite the birds to take over the world and replace the classical deities as its rulers. Both Lysistrata and Assembly-Women are about what would happen if the women took over the government. In the former, the women of Greece band together in a sex-strike, to end the Pelopennesian Wars. In the later, the Athenian women use trickery to be elected the the leaders of the democracy, and they institute economic and sexual communism. In the last selection, Wealth, the deity of Wealth, Ploutos, is captured and made to distribute wealth only to the good. However, as Poverty points out, that might not be a good thing. These plays are full of topical comedy, but much of the humor still is funny 2400 years later. The translation is very uncensored, as Greek comedy itself was, so that very little is lost in metaphor. The imagery in some of them is highly amusing. Although this is a great example of the way life was in Classic Athens, these plays are not for the squeamish!!

This book sneaks in a lot of education in the text that wraps around great pictures of birds of prey: eagles, buzzards, owls, hawks, falcons. Kids will love the fierce-looking birds; there's even a tasteful photo of vultures on an elephant carcass! Meanwhile the words are there for readers to learn more from. This book is definitely a success!

This is a beautiful book, a way back into that vivid time for parents of children no longer infants, and a companion to the newly pregnant, the heavily pregnant, and the sleep-deprived after a midnight feeding.
In their introduction, Kovacic and Barrett claim that "a well-crafted poem, story, or essay can unlock the secrets that science and society never reveal." The collection includes some well-known writers - Rita Dove, Sylvia Plath, A.S.Byatt and Margaret Atwood - but most of them, to me, are new discoveries, and writers I will now look for in other places.
The book is divided into sections, named for a piece included in each: First Stirrings, Notes from the Delivery Room, The Welcoming, and Now That I Am Forever with Child. While some pieces provoke tears of sentiment or joy, the authors included do not shy away from the scary, ugly, ironic, humorous, and sorrowful. Most newly expectant couples tend to rush out and buy the What to Expect type books, the ones detailing physical symptoms of mother and baby, all the things that can go wrong, what you should feel when, and why you should avoid sugar (well, okay, you should). This book opens up the vast new emotional territory that lies ahead for parents. I would have loved to have it as a pregnant woman, and I love reading it now.

I am now celebrating my 50th birthday, and although my generation lived through the middle east conflicts and Vietnam; no wars in our lifetimes have been fought on the scale and intensity as WWII! It is fortunate that folks still live who remember these years, and the next best thing to actually living then is this book. Since it may be true that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, perhaps we should all try to understand how this horrific war came to be fought! This is an exiting story, well read by a narrator who brings the story to life, complete as the telephone sized book, and makes a great audio book with its advantages of ease of use, and portability. I admit I tried to read this first, and found that book a bit cumbersome, and the story just seems more interesting on tape. The Books on Tape edition is rugged and high quality, they are best known as library suppliers where audio tapes are played week in and week out, time after time. Genenerally their books are not for sale at my bookstore so I was glad to find this audio set here at Amazon for significantly less than the $220.00 MSRP! Best yet Books on Tape usually does pretty limited editions so if you do buy one, you stand a good chance of being able to resell it if you want to for what you paid.

Box Turtle at Long Pond is a rarity among children's books - it contains accurate information! It is very refreshing to read a book to children that portrays wildlife in a natural setting rather than wearing clothes, driving cars, etc. Bravo to the authors for combining their artistic and creative talents to create such a treasure. If only other authors would follow in their example. (This book also contains beautiful illustrations!)

How did this little gem go unreviewed for so long? If you want a "one stop shopping" place for Operation Overlord, this book is the choice. The organization, content, and execution are all excellent. My only suggestion would be more illustrations but that's a small complaint in a book that contains a tremendous variety of subject matter and presents it in comprehensible, readable form. There's even examples of D-Day movies with favorite lines from each. Altogether a top-notch effort.

This anthology is based on a nice idea. Instead of representing each of the Browning's separately it presents them together. Their life story and poetry are bound up with each other. And this volume shows to a degree their development together.

To paint was her fondest dream--to walk was her greatest hope--to fall in love...unimaginable.

Ruth Moore has lost more than her job, her boyfriend, and her ability to walk. She's lost her desire to paint. Confined to a wheelchair, she views herself as a burden. Then she spies a handsome handyman with a sculptured body she feels compelled to recreate on canvas. But can she pick up a paintbrush again without losing her heart?

Mick Thomas is a successful architect trying to find a place to start over when he meets a shy sprite in a wheelchair. Consumed by new emotions and past mistakes, he hopes that Ruth will find it in herself to allow him to love her as he's never loved before.

Drawn together by circumstance, two tortured souls find comfort together. But too soon happiness is threatened by secrets not easily forgiven. Can hearts prevail when the truth is revealed?

This is a great great book, you forget your reading a historical novel, a record of actual occurences you think that what your reading is a story book the way Barrett puts the facts together to make a truely compelling story out of the resources of history. Great book, Great Great book, well done, Barrett.