Bennett Books

Harvey Green The Eating Machine is a whimsical (bordering on ludicrous) picture book by Gene Perret, about Harvey Green, a young boy who likes to eat -- perhaps too much! Wild color illustrations by Gary Bennett wonderfully enhance this fanciful tale, and a brief segment at the end teaches young folks about proper table manners. Certain to be popular reading for children K-3, Harvey Green The Eating Machine is a good choice for school and community library picture book collections.

The illustrations are fantastic and the story is wonderful! I love Harvey's rules of table manners!

I do the childrens' storytimes at our local library and I have bought this book to donate to the children's department...I don't want to wait until the library orders it!

My grand-niece and nephew will also receive a copy!

As a talent management director in a Fortune 50 company, I have used Heart-Centered Leadership as part of our high potential and leadership development programs. This book demonstrates the importance of serving as a leader in a way that engages, retains, and motivates employees, and also clearly demonstrates why this leadership style increases business results.

The book provides exercises and checkpoint tools that make it a great "leadership book discussion" choice for leaders within an intact work group, or for an individual reading the book who can then use the tools to identify practical applications and actions to take on the job.

The seven principles and virtues spelled out in this book represent the core foundation of effective and meaningful leadership. In essence, the ultimate secret to effective leadership is influence (read any book by John C. Maxwell to confirm this universal truth). However, I have noticed through my study and research on the topic of leadership, that little is ever mentioned on how influence actually transpires, or better yet, how or why a person should expect to increase his or her personal ability to generate real and meaningful influence.

This ability starts from within. There is no escaping this fundamental truth. Whether the situation calls for being a great parent, a trusted friend, or outstanding CEO, the reason that people follow you is because of the light you shine from the inside out. Lao-Tzu mentioned that "the ways of the sage are attractive." Thus, the secret to influence is attraction, and attraction in turn is achieved through modeling honest, heart-felt compassion for self and other. The virtues laid out in this book walk the reader through the transforming world of inner wisdom and personal integrity in a way that is fresh, original, and illuminating.

The ways of the great leader are naturally attractive, so people naturally follow: Through good times and bad, through periods of tremendous change and adversity, through thick and thin. Behavior modeling is a more powerful teacher than positive and negative reinforcement ever could be. Because the leader is an authentic and honest person, their organization will shape and create a culture of honesty. Influence is clearly understood by Steinbrecher and Bennett as being the "outcome" of effective leadership, not the starting point, not the descriptor. Heart-Centered Leadership is a fantastic way to start your journey of building an authentic legacy in life, both personal and professional.

If only I could give this book six stars instead of five I would do so...in a heartbeat.

As a school counselor, I purchased this book for my schools that I service for young learners who are experiencing separation anxiety and not wanting to go to school. It is an easy read and understandable by a preschooler and kindergartener. It allows parents to talk to their child about going to school. Even the kindergarten teacher borrowed it to share with the entire class! Great storyline and book is illustrated beautifully.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Florrie Binford-Kichler, Founder of Patria Press, Inc.- an award-winning independent publisher and Member of The Children's Book Council; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

The perfect book for anyone who is a little cynical about Feb. 14th. Awesome present for college/young adult age. Madison tells it like it is about the horrible chocolate, the high expectations and those damn conversation hearts. Deffinetly something I will read every valentines day!

I'm an extremely romantic type who will probably never marry, have children, or even have a serious boyfriend. According to a test in this book, I was almost the type who "cries at TV commercials", who should've put the book back and gotten a refund. Thing is, I borrowed this book yesterday from the Flushing Library (Queens, NY), and I've almost read all of it.

Bennett Madison's book is full of tongue-in-cheek (almost) advice about rethinking Valentine's Day's meaning, and, failing that, landing a "V-Date" for that fateful day, and surviving that date. He also includes advice about Valentine's Day gifts and cards (no stuffed animals, says he!), and other paraphernalia.

From my POV, the first two chapters, "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "Rethinking Valentine's Day", should be taken seriously. His very first line in Chapter 1 is, "Remember when Valentine's Day was fun?" He gives the same advice that I received from a college counselor nearly 30 years ago: basically, to expand one's definition of love beyond the narrow confines of romantic coupling. Similiar to the book Unplug the Christmas Machine, this book challenges the reader to recall the childhood enjoyment of the holiday and recognize when and how "it went wrong".

I supposed I have a love-hate relationship with V-Day, though I mostly love it. After reading I Hate Valentine's Day, you might teach yourself to love it, too, or keep hating the day--your choice.

Wonderful book, with information rarely available elsewhere.

I see it as an honour, be be able to write this review today, on J.G. Bennett's birthday, June 8.th.

This book is a collection of accounts written by J. G. Bennett and his wife Elizabeth during the three months preceeding Gurdjieff's death in 1949. It is detailed report of what was really happening during that time, a very good recollection of journeys vividly structured and reported.

In Elizabeth notes you find, that the memories of the dinners and lunches rituals, at Rue des Colonels Renard in Paris, with the 'toast of the idiots', are meticulously recorded and clarifying.

One very impressive description made by Elizabeth is her personal experience of Mr. Gurdjieff's death:

"We arrive at the chapel a little before six. I had not meant or wished to see his body;...
I was overwhelmed by the force that came from him. One could not be near his body without feeling unmistakably his power. He looked magnificent; composed, content, intentional, for want of a better word. Not simply a body placed by someone else. He was undisguised, nothing was concealed from us. Everything belonging to him, his inner and outer life and all the circumstances and results of it, were there to be seen, if one could see. What force there was in him then! I have never seen anything in any way like it." Idiots in Paris / pag.104- about Mr. Gurdjieffs death.

This one tells us much about Gurdjieff, and by the way, much about the kind of student he attracted, people like Bennett--who might be one of the most gullible men who ever lived (he was later duped out of his estate by some other even more phony guru, as documented in Madam Blavatsky's Baboon). For all his brilliance, even in old age G. was very crafty, manipulative and superstitious, as revealed here (he thought the caves at Lascaux were painted by Atlanteans!). Also, the quality of the Bennetts' writing really sets this apart from some other books in the genre; it is compulsively readable.

As a child, Linda Keen learned to hide her metaphysical experiences. As an adult she risked ridicule "by discussing my communication with spiritual beings on national radio and television [where] it became obvious to me how important it is for everyone who has psychic experiences to bring them out into the open."

Her latest book, Intuition Magic: Understanding Your Psychic Nature, is intended "to help you unveil the spiritual aspects of your world in a simple and playful manner." It reflects her belief that we all have psychic abilities, and that those abilities need to be developed, rather than hidden.

The first part of the book tells how she learned about her own intuition and spirituality. The remainder of the book is designed to help readers "learn to trust in the intangible world and all the miracles and magic to be witnessed. . .."

Keen defines intuition as "knowing without reasoning. It's sensing information coming from your own source within, without intellectual effort." One of the keys is learning to trust and use our imaginations. She provides numerous exercises for stimulating the imagination and intuition. Other exercises focus on transforming the way in which we see ourselves and healing old hurts.

One chapter is devoted to learning how to go with the flow, that is "to let go of old, limiting patterns, trust the universe, and surrender to your destiny." Another chapter focuses on "dealing with the dark side" of our human natures. She also explains how to get in touch with our inner teacher and our spiritual guides and helpers. The book ends with a chapter on healing others.

All of the exercises are explained clearly and simply. None require anything other than some quiet time to yourself and a desire to develop your own intuitive and psychic powers.

Linda Keen is the founder, with her husband, of the School of Intuitive Development in the Netherlands, and is an internationally-recognized leader in the field of intuitive research. She designed Intuition Magic "not only to acquaint you with some new ideas, but also to give you a complete hands-on experience, providing concepts and exercises you can put to use right away." Readers will find that she succeeded in her goal.

Just as you would need an instruction book for learning any skill like accounting or building a bookcase, Intuition Magic de-mystifies the psychic world and provides nice, down-to-earth guidelines for developing our intuitive side. Linda Keen makes it clear that you do not have to be a gifted shaman to consider yourself intuitive or psychic. Far from being remote, she befriends us by sharing her own initial doubts and lack of confidence at the beginning of her own psychic journey, something which most of us feel. She then describes her successes and challenges at an intuition school with brevity,generously sharing what she learned there. Her advice on "grounding energy", i.e, staying connected to the physical world while expanding the spiritual, to maintain a healthy balance of energy, is vital to anyone beginning their own spiritual journey. She also gives great perspective on how to establish "psychic boundaries" in order to maintain neeeded independence from other people's emotions and energies. Her ideas on developing psychic vision, ability to read auras and actually do healings are, again, very easy to understand, very readable. Her advice on receiving past life information is excellent, suggesting, first of all, that it is easier than we think and gives basic techniques. She reminds us to narrow our search to only those past life experiences that will help us clear old negative energies that keep us locked in unhealthy emotional patterns. All in all, the reader makes the transition from thinking they could nevr be psychic, to realizing we are all intuitive. We just have to wake it up with a little excercise and practice, with some healthy groundrules to remain focused and keep our feet on the ground. In this way, any fears one might have in beginning this process are dispelled, and our God-given, natural intuitive sense can be reclaimed. The book is small enough to fit in a purse, easy to read anywhere, very handy, with a beautiful cover. Highly recommended as we begin a new century when so many people are awakening their spiritual selves.

I was given this book to read at one of Geraldine's instructional classes and was so pleased with it that I passed it on to a friend. It's interesting to read and practise such a simple concept as thoughts having wings, but I proved it to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt. Forget that this is a childern's book, my husband and I have improved our relationship by 'sending' each other love messages during the day when we are apart. Thank you Geraldine for your simple, but most effective, help in understanding such a simple concept. Now I'd like to get the Aura book that I saw listed in the book.

I tried out the tech in this lovely book and found that my thoughts really do affect people. That's scary, but I'm glad that I know this now. I also read "Monkey See, Monkey Do" by this same author and was so surpised to find advice that I could use everyday. I loved it too. I'm waing to get another of Geraldine's books, "Mickey and Honor". I can't wait to read it. I recommend these books to everyone. Thanks Geraldine.

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden, whose family has moved to frontier Minnesota of 1854. This book takes place during the same timeframe as Changes for Kirsten, after the fire in their home, and before the father returns from logging. When the two mothers and Lars go into town to shop, Kirsten and her younger siblings and cousins are left alone. Trouble comes in the form of a surprise snowstorm that leaves the children snowbound. Now it is up to Kirsten and her cousins to be responsible, and take care of themselves and the baby.

This is another wonderful story, with a great lesson in responsibility. As always, the illustrations are excellent and a real addition to the story. The final chapter includes a group of newspaper snowstorm stories from a 1888 newspaper, and then a number of ideas on what to do during a snow day.

[For those adults interested in reading adult historical fiction about Swedish immigrants, please consider reading The Emigrants series by Vilhelm Moberg.]

Having worked in Korea, and visiting Seoul many times while I was there, I have developed a keen interest in Korean history, particularly in the colonial era as Korea began to open its kingdom to the West for the first time. This book helps me visualise what the people, and the places, were like as Korea moved into the modern age.

A number of photographs were taken by Herbert Ponting, who later accompanied Captain Scott to the Antarctic, and by Felice Beato, who is the first known photographer to have worked in Korea, having being part of the American Trading expedition in 1871. Other early western photgraphers have their images reproduced here. A number of Japanese photographers also worked in Korea, during the time of the Japanese colonial occupation, and a sampling of their work is included.

There are images taken from the first significant foray by the Western world into Korea by America, American ships making their presence felt on the Korean penisular in 1871 and capturing, probably for the first time ever, photographic images of Korean people.

There are samplings of the initial contact with the outside world, and of some of the minor ensuing conflicts. Farming and industries are depicted as is daily Korean life in the cities such as weddings and funerals, and general street scenes such as cobblers plying their trade. There are a number of formal portraits of members of the aristocracy and government officals. There are also hand coloured photgraphs of members of Korean embassy staff in Japan, which are interesting for the ceremonial costumes they are wearing.

I can highly recommend "Korea Caught in Time" if you have an interest in Korean history, as it will supplement any history books you may have on Korea.

This book presents rare pictures form a country that had sealed itself off from the rest of the world and tried to keep out the west. Not until the latter part of the last century was Korea forced to open up. The pictures not only present first impressions of Korea by western photographers, but also show an early show of western force against the desire of Korea to keep itself free of western influence. The early documentation of imperial force gives thought to how much or how little things have changed from just a century ago. Native Koreans themselves would perhaps enjoy the early photography of their country. With Korea so much in the news today this book can teach a great deal.

More than thirty years ago, lovable British playwright Alan Bennett encountered an eccentric and difficult old woman, Miss Shepherd, living contentedly, eccentrically, and not without troubles, in her van - in his London neighborhood. Bennett, intrigued by her and concerned for her safety (which was not always assured) subtly befriended her. Within a few months she had moved the van to a parking spot across from his house. She stayed for years and this slim book, first published in 1989 as a long piece in "The London Review of Books," is the story of their gently and sometimes humorously intersecting lives.

In subsequent years Miss S.'s highly individual sense of upward mobility would find expression, and there would be replacement vans. Miss S. was a Catholic who loved to paint her vans and favored yellow - asserting "it's the papal colour." She was sometimes demanding of Bennett's time, requesting favors and errands of him. She never said "Thanks." She revealed precious little about her past: only of her current opinions. She wrote and sold pamphlets on the street that she claimed were authored anonymously. She sold pencils on the street, claiming that her pencils were the best. She was given to fanatical religious and political pronouncements, and outrageous statements of prejudice and some silliness. Her right-wing politics clashed with Bennett's, and her comments on current events - reported deadpan, and verbatim - were often very funny. Old age and its freight of health and personal problems dogged her, and Bennett did what he could to help.

Alan Bennett is a great listener. In addition he can tell a story simply and clearly, with precision and understatement. He tells just enough. He encourages his characters to speak for themselves.

This is a great little nonfiction story that is tender but never mawkish - told with wit and elegance.

Famous for his hilariously ironic comic sketches in Beyond the Fringe and Talking Heads, and for his recent Tony Award-winning play The History Boys, among other productions, Alan Bennett here gives some insights into his own life and personality. In "The Lady in the Van," he details the twenty-year relationship he had with someone who, under any other circumstances, would be considered a homeless person. In this case, Mary Shepherd is not "homeless" because she lives, unkempt but unfettered, in a filthy van--which she ultimately parks in the garden of his house. The van and its occupant remain there for years.

Beginning in 1969, when Bennett tells of meeting her for the first time, after she has parked her van on a lot across the street from his house, and concluding in 1989, with her death at seventy-seven, Bennett gives a diary of Mary Shepherd's life--and, incidentally, his own life, not as her benefactor (which suggests conscious "do-gooding" on his part) but as a person who respects the independence of those around him, even those like Mary Shepherd who challenge his good nature every step of the way.

The founder of her own political party (membership: two, including a nun suffering from Alzheimer's), writer of political tracts (which she sells, along with pencils), devoutly religious dropout from a convent, and fiercely independent challenger of "the system," Miss Shepherd lives without sanitary facilities, in a series of vans (each of which she paints yellow, "the papal color"). As Bennett describes her colorful clothing and headgear (all of it foully odoriferous) and the unsanitary conditions under which she chooses to live, the listener can only listen in amazement at Bennett's tolerance and ability to continue letting Miss Shepherd live her own life on her own terms--and on his property.

The audiotape also includes "Uncle Clarence," the story of an uncle who died at age twenty during World War I. A detailed picture of his family--especially of his grandmother, aunts, and mother--Bennett describes the special place the deceased soldier forever occupies in their lives. His visit to Ypres, where his uncle is buried, becomes a meditation on the futility of war. These two astonishing character sketches reveal as much about the author as they do about the characters being described. Always respectful of his subjects, while selecting details which reveal their unique (and in the case of Miss Shepherd, impossibly difficult) qualities, Bennett shows himself to be genuinely caring and thoughtful--and perhaps the only person in England who could have tolerated the lifestyle Miss Shepherd brought to his yard. n Mary Whipple