Bean Books

They just don't make children's books like this any more. I still remember reading this book as a child with my parents (and I'm 20 now) and having my mom do funny voices for all the different characters. This also serves as a great poetry piece for Oral Interp/Forensics - I won the poetry category at State my senior year with this piece. Such a fun book!

We had this book when I was child. It was an absolute favorite around our house. I managed to track down two copies a few years ago - one for a friend (whose boys enjoy it tremendously) and one to keep for my own children to enjoy. I paid a hefty price for them, but to me it was worth it. A truly great book.

This book was so amazing, exciting, and impactful for me as a young child that I still remember it today! I'm heading off to college and was recalling favourite memories of my childhood -- this book is one of them. Although the title had slipped my mind, I remembered the plot and the great illustrations.

The title is comical, and as I recall, the events in the book were as well -- it was light-hearted and fun, but you also had a sense of satisfaction after finishing the story: a pleasant story that parents can enjoy reading to their children.
It's too bad this book is no longer in print; it's really a treasure! :-)

It is a shame books like this are no longer in print. Septimus Bean and His Amazing Machine is a truly excellent childrens book. The story is written in poetic narrative with tons of onomatopoeia and rhythmic imagery. The illustations capture the memorable moments with a vividness like water colors. I had this book memorized by the time I was 4 years old. To me it is a classic.

I loved the Sharpe Chefs, and am looking forward to Sharpe Chefs II. Not only are he recipes great and easy to follow, but there is so much more here for Sharpe fans, and those interested in the Napoleonic era.

If you want to find out more about the story behind the cookbooks, Sharpe Pointe brings you the inside story of how a group of, talented, resourceful, and determined women took a fondness for the Sharpe series, and its star Sean Bean, and turned it into a very successful charity cookbook. So successful in fact, that Sharpe Chefs will soon be join ed by a second book, Sharpe Chefs II.

In the first installment of this multi-part series, the Sharpe Chefs' founder tells the story of how a casual conversation about exchanging recipes mushroomed into the search for a publisher. Curious? Go to the link below to find out more:

http://www.sharpepointe.com/Chefs1.html

A wonderful addition to any kitchen. I love the beautiful, glossy photos of all the recipes. The dishes look very mouth-watering and I can't wait to start cooking! Oh... and yeah, the photos of Sean Bean peppered throughout the book doesn't hurt either! YUMMY!! Bon appetit!!

This book is excellent. Not only are the recipes easy to follow, but each recipe has a picture to accompany it, so you can see how the finished dish will look. Lots of information on osteoporosis, some interesting facts on life in Regency England and several very amusing introductions to the different sections of the book and many of the recipes. And you know you are supporting a good cause.......remember research will benefit osteoporosis sufferers all over the world.

This isn't your ordinary charity cookbook - as a matter of fact, it's not an ordinary cookbook at all!
If you like the Sharpe series of books by Bernard Cornwell; if you like the Sharpe film series starring Sean Bean; if you enjoy trying out easy-to-prepare dishes or learning more about the Napoleonic Wars and Regency England (information delivered more than a bit tongue-in-cheek!) . . . you'll love "Sharpe Chefs!"
Conceived and created by twenty-six women from around the world, "Sharpe Chefs" features more than 100 recipes, including contributions from the actors, producers, and director of the critically acclaimed BBC television series, Sharpe. Endorsed by Sean Bean, with a forward from Bernard Cornwell, "Sharpe Chefs" is a beautifully designed, lavishly illustrated volume that will inform, amuse, and inspire you to try out the dishes - from "Lord Wellington's Crab Dip" to "Sharpe's Christmas Apples".
Best of all, this really is a cookbook for charity. Every penny of authors' profit is going to support the National Osteoporosis Society of the UK - whose research into the prevention and treatment of a disease that effects 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men is shared around the world.

Many of us, in reading Janet Arnold are familiar with this book due to her citing it numerous times. Now we can own it...and own it I do! This book is indespencible if you want to know what paterns from the latter 16th century looked like. It was written in 1589 by master tailor Jaun de Alcega to show others how to lay out patterns to conserve fabric. This book, is like having someone hand you a layout diagram from a modern pattern for many many differnt items of clothing ranging from doublets; to dresses; to cloaks; to horse barding. This book includes the actual 16th century Spanish work, followed by a translation...It even includes a conversion chart from the period Spanish measurements to modern ones ESSENTIAL!

Today my copy of this book arrived in the mail. I am very excited, this is a reissue of the 1978 edition which has been unavailable for so long! The book is a facsimile (with translation) of "Libro de Geometria, Pratica Y Traca" (Book of the Practice of Tailoring-- Measuring and Marking Out) by Juan de Alcega, printed in Madrid in 1589. Alcega was a master tailor.

The book was apparently intended as a guide for journeymen tailors, to help them figure out economical ways of cutting out garments, as well as giving them diagrams for some standard styles of garment. For each garment, there is a cutting diagram (much like the cutting diagrams that come with modern patterns), an estimate as to how much fabric is required (in Castillian ells) and brief directions on how the garment goes together. He also includes charts to help figure out how much fabric is needed based on desired length of the garment and fabric width.

In "Patterns of Fashion" Janet Arnold cites this book extensively (the '78 edition), though she complains that the translation is not as perfect as it could be, because the translators were not costume scholars. Any Spanish speaking folks doing graduate work in this area? Here's your chance. However, at least after a cursory examination, the translation seems good enough to me. And Arnold commented that it was extremely useful even without a perfect translation.

The first 4/5 of the book is a facsimile of the original, the remaining 1/5 is a translation, glossary, and notes (including a conversion table for Castillian ells to centimeters).

The book contains diagrams for 73 garments, plus a diagram for a "war banner," and two diagrams for "silk saddle trappings for jousts." The garments are for both men and women. The men's garments include ceremonial cloaks and church vestments. There are no diagrams for trousers, because trouser-making was apparently a different craft in Alcega's time.

This is a good book, if you're really serious about this time period, and you're also an experienced costumer.

The first 3/4 of this book is the original patterns in Spanish. The last fourth is the English translation. The patterns are mostly cloak patterns, with a few gowns for women, and a few doublets and gowns for men.

The pattern is given with a name and a brief paragraph of basic instructions, but no illustration of the garment. So unless you really research it, you won't be sure how the garment will look when you finish it. If you are an amateur costumer, I wouldn't buy it (since you need to know how to scale up patterns, tailoring tricks, and lots about the clothes of this time period.)

If you are enamored of late renaissance Spanish clothing, go for it. But before you buy this book, I suggest you buy Patterns of Fashion: The Cut & Construction of Clothes for Men & Women C. 1560-1620 By Janet Arnold.

For those who wish to re-create 16th century Spanish clothing and make them as authentic as possible, this is the book for you! The patterns should be used as general shapes and adjustments made for various body types. One word of caution: these patterns are not like those sold by Simplicity, McCall's, etc. Extensive experience with tailoring is required. However, even a novice can appreciate the value of this book as a source of documentation.

Friends introduced us to this cookbook, knowing that we eat vegetarian and follow the Mediterranean diet. What a joy!

My only problem to date (I've made 4 recipes to date - our friends an additional 3 or 4) has been a major typo in one of the recipes that left me unsure how to layer a casserole. I went with my best guess, and it was very good!

Highly recommended. Great flavors, great variety. I get tired of people saying that to not eat high-fat (especially "bad" fat) foods like burgers, fries, bacon, etc., is bland and boring and somehow to be disdained. WRONG! We eat so much better than that! and will eat even better now that we have this book.

I adore this cookbook! It is witty, fun to read, full of healthful insight and provides an excellent history not only of the regions of the Mediterranean and their culture, but how the residents of this area developed a healthy diet out of necessity. The selections are outstanding and I am enjoying this cookbook immensely. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in healthy eating, diabetics and vegetarians. I have a new found desire to live in Greece or Italy, shop at the market daily for my day's meals and work in the olive groves!

I have had this cookbook about a month and made 7 recipes...they have all been wonderful! I can't wait to buy more Veggie Times cookbooks!

This book is truly wonderful. I love to make dishes from this cookbook all of the time. This is a "must have" for vegans and vegetarians!

I've read many books published by WotC. I've been pleased with some, but disappointed by most. So, I was hesitant to try this one by a relatively new author. (of novels, that is) I have to say I was quite pleased. Mr. Wulf brings his characters to life in such a way as to draw you into who they are and gets you to invest time and energy into their story. He brought way more main characters into a story than I usually find safe, but did so without distracting the reader from the overall story. Each of them has a background and personality very unique, but all fall beautifully into the main story and are brought to bear in the same general direction.

The dialogue comes across flowing and reasonable. No ridiculous statements that make no sense or seem totally out of character. The rhythm of the tale itself is also expertly pulled off. Most fantasy books nowadays seem to drag on for the first 3/4 with nothing happening and then cram excitement and essential scenes into the last 1/4. Not this one. Mr Wulf keeps the story unrolling throughout the book, with little peeks into characters, motivations and mysteries all along the way. This leads us to an ending that leaves us wanting more answers and wanting to know the rest of the tale.

All in all, I was quite pleased with this book. Now that I just finished it, I intend to go out and pick up the next in the series. This was definitely what the Eberron setting needed--an actually well written book. Too bad there aren't more in the setting that live up to this level.

This book was suggested to me by a friend, on the merit of the authors work on the "Lengends of the 5 Rings" ( L5R ) roleplaying game and several books about that setting. I am moderately familiar with that setting and was interested to see some of Mr. Wulfs work in another setting. I was completely unfamiliar with the Ebberon setting but I find myself very interested after reading this book. Without getting to indepth into the plot, a thief get herself involved in a quest. The book is the story of her journey from the city streets to amazing adventures on an airship. It's great stuff, highly reccomended.

I don't like changlings. I don't like them as characters and I don't like the way authors use them to side step the challenge of creating a formidable spy, informant, or antagonist.

Changling are always bad. ALWAYS. Their methods are always deceptive, underhanded, and extremely cowardly. I've never read an Eberron novel where I enjoyed the use of a changling. Not even one with as solid of a back story as Marth. For all the rage and hatred has over the way people see and judge the changling race, he makes absolutely no attempt to redeem himself or his race in any way. Marth is cold, spineless, and absolutely evil. He kills even Kiris who is responsible for nearly all of the progress he has made towards the Legacy, not to mention the restoration of the Seventh Moon and saving his life. Marth makes monologue after monologue about how wrong it is for people to judge him just because he's a changling then he goes about giving us more reasons to hate him and his race. Ugh! Marth's only saving grace is that he does not prance around the entire novel disguised as someone else and that Wulf actually gave him a reasonable back story. At least that's slightly more original than the rest *glares at James Wyatt*.

Changling aside, I did enjoy the book and the rest of it's characters. Tristam Xain especially was a character I empathized with and routed for. I hope to see more development into his character in the future. At the beginning of the book I didn't like Seren at all, but she grew on me. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she was much more than just a thief. She was surprisingly trustworthy, loyal, and brave throughout the remainder of the book, which was a breath of fresh air from you typical female rogue character.

Voyage of the Mourning Dawn by Rich Wulf is the first book of the Heirs of Ash Trilogy set in the world of Eberron. The second and third books, Flight of the Dying Sun and Rise of the seventh Moon will be released in 2007.

Reading every Eberron novel thus far, I can say some have been good and some have been not so good. So far the authors they have writing in this world have been hit and miss. I have never heard of Mr. Wulf before, but I am always willing to give authors a chance so I picked this book up. I was not disappointed in the least. While some authors, most notably Keith Baker, feel a need to include all the `technology' they can in their novels, in this novel the technology is not what makes the story - it's merely a supporting element.

The plot of this book is rather linear, but it is also very well laid out and all the characters actions have a purpose behind them. They don't simply do something to be doing it. The plot also follows a logical line of thought that makes it not only believable, but fun as well. There is very little in terms of subplots in this book, but that works here. Some books need those subplots to continue the story - but this book has a pace where I think subplots would have detracted from the overall story and slowed it down.

The characters of this book are what truly make this one special. The vast majority of the characters are well thought out and very memorable. A great deal of thought went into not only where the characters came from, how they got where we find them, but also a simple thing like dialog. Each character holds true to how one would expect them to talk. I don't mean that there is cheesy dialog in this novel, rather each character has a unique was of talking that adds to that characters appeal. Even the villains are well thought out and have some character development; they are not simply this figure that appears once and a while to battle the heroes.

Being that this is the first book of a trilogy you can expect this book to mostly set up the over all plot arc as well as introduce the characters. This book does that very well. There is also a very good ending to this book that I would go into because I don't want to spoil anything, but it `fits' with how the book was written. The author also does a very good job at answering a couple simple questions that arise during the book only to replace them with large all encompassing questions that the reader has to wait for the answer until 2007.

Overall, I must say that this is one of my favorite books in the Eberron world. It was a fun read, a definite page turner that kept me interested throughout the entire book. If you are a fan of the Eberron world have no qualms about picking this up, you will enjoy it. If you are thinking about getting started reading Eberron books, I would recommend this one to give you a good idea of what Eberron has to offer. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of this trilogy, although it will be hard for Mr. Wulf to top this!

I bought this book as our other one was so worn out from the kids reading it so much. It's a really fun book not only informative and educational but humorous as well. Also great illustrations. Our kids loved it!

Years ago, when I was 9 years old, my mother bought me "Wooden Teeth and Jelly Beans" so that I could learn about our country's presidents. I loved the book so much, I took it everywhere and read it almost everyday. I could name all the presidents in order and add an interesting fact about each one. I am now 15 and have since lost this great book, and I am here to spend my own money to buy another. I loved this book so much and I'm sure that your children will love it too and learn so much from it.

We bought this book when on vacation and it was wonderful. Our girls (then 8 and 5) spent hours reading facts about the presidents. They delighted in coming up with question that their father and I could not answer. It's great because it contains little facts about our presidents without having to read long paragraphs. I am currently looking to buy another copy as ours was lent to someone - never to return again.

The couple next door are in Paris enjoying the heck out of themselves, I'm sure. They work hard, they deserve their vacation. They're good parents too, but everybody needs a break from their children on occasion and that's where I come in, this super book about Wooden Teeth and Jelly Beans too.

You see, my neighbors have two daughters, Jill and Jerry (short for Geraldine), who are spending three weeks with me, while their parents are in Paris. Part of the deal -- to make this three weeks fun for the girls, who are six and eight -- is for them to sort of have a vacation too, so no school for them, they get to spend the three weeks with Stephanie 24/7. Some would think that's a horrible thing, taking children out of school for so long, but not me.

We've done lots of stuff, had lots of fun, watched lots of movies, read lots of books. I get the L.A. Times on my doorstep and I go over the news of the day with them, trying not to censor it too much and the big news, of course, is the election going on. Tomorrow, after a very long campaign, we're going to find out if Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain is going to be our next president. The girls and I have talked a lot about this. At first then didn't understand. Oh they know who the president is, but who he is, what he does, why he's important, this they didn't know.

But they do now and this book helped hugely. Tommy Tupperman is running against Penelope Ratsworth for class president of Rhino Grade School. Tommy is quiet and shy. Penelope is rude and acts like a pit bull in a bad mood and she'll step on your toe if you don't vote for her.

This election is a hard thing for Tommy. He doesn't think anybody likes him. He wants to give up, but then he looks at a picture of old Wooden Teeth himself, George Washington and that stare tells Tommy to keep on.

Then we get a peek into the Tupperman Files, files Tommy has on all of the Presidents from George Washington to that famous jelly bean eater, Bill Clinton, with a page presented for each one of them. The illustrations are super and the facts about our presidents are just enough to wet a child's whistle. Well, I like to think my reading skill and my unique way of looking at politics and everything political has added to the girl's enjoyment of this book.

I've had a signed copy of this book in my collection for a long time and I'm glad I finally got a chance to put it to good use and now that the girls have a basic understanding of history, tomorrow night I'm going take them to a friend's house, where we are going to have spider cokes (Coke or Pepsi with ice cream -- a coke float) and popcorn and watch the election results.

Five really, really big stars from me for this book. It's really wonderfully super and if you can find it, I'd pick up, I really, really would. I can't overuse the word really with respect to this really fine book, I really, really can't.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

this book, which i bought, is a very great book for all Mr. Bean Fans. I collect all Mr. Bean videos, various books from and about him. This book is a very great bonus to the bean cinema-film, especially the chapter of the outtakes from the film, is very recommended and neccesarry for all real Mr. Bean fans.

Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean is one of the most engaging characters to come along. His bumbling, innocent, ignorant goodness is hard to resist. This book chronicles the process of bringing Mr. Bean from the telly to the movie screen. It includes: film stills, dialogue and blocking from the film, a forward by director Mel Smith, and behind the scenes tidbits. A must have for Bean-a-philes and anyone who wants to delve into the wacky and wild world of Mr. Bean.

I like the book because I am a huge Mr Bean fan!! I love the movie and the videos and the book was an extra bonus! And I really like it.

We often get Bean/Soup books for my daughter from our library, and they are a hit. The illustrations are precious and the text is simple and perfect for even the littlest babies, especially when first starting to identifying "dog", "cat", and "baby". My daughter is older now, but she still loves thumbing through Bean/Soup books on her own.

My daugther loves this book. "Reading" it has been one of her favorite pasttimes since she has been able to sit up on her own (6 months old.) The simple pictures, text and concepts are a perfect for her as she is developing a sense of the world around her. Now 13 months old she still loves this series and I have searched hi and low to complete it. Enjoy!

My son and daughter (10 months old)loved the Bean books, and I have been waiting for the Bean/Soup books to come out. They love this book as well. The illustrations are bright and appealing and the text is simple and clear. The combination works and my twins love it. It is also the perfect size for their hands.

Dave's book is full of great cartoons in the vein of Gary Larson's Far Side. Funny, entertaining, a fun romp! These days, we could all use a good laugh, this book will tickle your funny bone.

A wonderful coffee table book, full of Gary Larson-like observations of the world around us. Containing humor that the whole family can enjoy, I highly recommend this book!

If you like "the far side" you'll love this book. The quirky off beat humor is awesome! You won't be disappointed, I sure wasn't!!!

Ralph and Flora are two insects who have gathered twelve beans for dinner. Against Ralph's better judgement, Flora picks a thirteenth bean, which turns out to cause a long sequence of problems. Not only are they unable to divide the beans evenly between the two of them, but there is still one bean left over when they invite over one guest, and then two guests. Inviting a third guest (for a total of five bugs) makes the problem even worse: there are three beans left over. Eventually they find a solution with six bugs, in which the guests take as much food as they need: one takes one bean, three take two beans each, and two take three beans each. We never find out who ends up eating the unlucky thirteenth bean!

This is a great story to teach early numeracy skills, and there are plenty of small collections of beans for children to count. The author has done a good job of writing a book about division, remainders and prime numbers that still works as a story.

My 3.5 year old loves this book and so do I. It has great colors and illustrations and the concept of math is integrated so well. It also ends perfectly, no awkward text or lame ending. Highly recommend.

I was reading a funny, entertaining book to my daughters, and would you believe it? By mistake, they learned something about math! The characters are funny and naive. My girls had fun predicting the problems that Ralph and Flora kept getting into, all related to the seemingly simple task of dividing up 13 beans. Very clever and very funny. Nice illustrations, too.