Bennett Books

Overall the book gave good advice. I especially like the special sections to homemakers, ex-convicts, veterans, and people in recovery. We all have to learn to sell ourselves to employers if we want to have work we'll enjoy. I also like the idea of short cover letters. 4 paragraphs is just too long for today's hiring manager.

The one thing I disagree with is not using bullets in your resume. The resume examples in the book are very text heavy. They're not the best ways to use the reader's time. I think it's good to use bullets to make the resume easier to read. I also wish he made a section for people who've been laid off or fired since that happens to so many people nowadays.

Despite my criticisms, I still think it's a good book. One bit of advice I really like is for lines with no text, you can choose an 8-point font to save space. I tried it and it works with my resume.

The only thing that I found helpful in this book was its lists of action verbs, which is found on the web for free. The rest of the reviews on this book are misleading. I follwed all of the recomendations of this book, and had several HR professionals blast my resume, telling me that that it was too hard to read. Luckily these weren't people who work for organizations I applied for. I did land interviews with my resume, which follows the guidelines in this book, but I don't think it's because of the resumes unique format, it was because of my content.

The author of this book offers suggestions that are completely opposite of what employers want to see. For example this book states that bullet points should be avoided in describing your job, and complete sentences should be used instead. This is wrong because employers want to be able to scan a resume quickly.

This book would probably be helpful to someone who is applying for a job as a professional writer, but for people applying for all other jobs, avoid this book, save your money and visit the web.

This book is a must have for the job hunter. Bennett provided much needed guidance, as well as support and humor, to help me navigate what can often be a painful, disheartening, and time-consuming process. He writes exceptionally well, gives excellent advice, and points out the common job hunting mistakes that most people, including myself, make.

I found the author's advice to be instrumental in helping me craft a resume that has gotten results. In turn, I have given this book to several high school and college students. They all told me it was one of the best gifts they received and agreed how great it was to have this amount of information in one handy portable no-power-supply-needed reference.

I work with people who are at different phases of job and career development. This book is an excellent resource for all of them. I've even bought a couple of copies to lend to those who have not yet established a reliable income for themselves. It's a great tool and I thank you for writing it in a style that is accessible to so many different people.

I purchased this book with my daughter in mind. She adores llamas and I am unable to find appropriate books for her age group. I thought we could enjoy this together but it is too "deep" for an eight year old, although she does love browsing through and looking at the fabulous pictures. I, on the other hand, loved the book and made many connections. How true the title is!!!!!! Animal lovers should read this book. It is an easy read and will make you laugh and ponder your own life's happenings.

The color photos are excellent, but I expected more substance in the test. Don't expect to learn anything, just light and fluffy.

If you like, or know someone who likes llamas and alpacas, this is a good book with cute pictures on every other page. The other pages are text which is also cute at times, but basically filled with strange and new-age flakiness.

This is a wonderful book, for all ages. If you are a llama owner, it is a very nice book to introduce them as animals to friends and family, who just might be puzzled as to why you find them as fun companions. It is chock full of great photos, and is written in an interesting manner. Since it is so full of pictures, it is a good one to have out on the coffee table for visitors to pick up and enjoy. Even though I have way too many books, this one will stay with me!

I great insight into a very interesting Group of independent Animals.

The Pictures were great

These tales were collected from virtually every corner of the globe and some go far back into the reaches of antiquity. Bennett and his collaborators did a fine job of finding stories of universal, fairly non-controversial appeal that we can all cite without worrying about the inherent differences in religion or politics that might otherwise divide us. Segregated according to the principles being celebrated (Honesty, Courage, etc.) these fables and true life stories demonstrate virtues of conduct far too often left unstressed in our morally-undermined society.

I had this book when I was a little kid. I honestly think that by reading it, it changed how I viewed things as a child. Partially because of this book, when I was little I had strong feelings about responsiblity, kindness, courage, perserverance, and many of the other subjects illustrated in The Children's Book of Virtues. I loved reading it and the stories affected me greatly.

As a homeschool mother I am always looking for great stories for my almost 7 yo and my 2.5 yo. This book is part of the curriculum for Sonlight and it is fabulous. My daughter's favorite is about two brothers, one who doesn't let his "please" out of his mouth so the "please" jumps into the other brothers' mouth (which makes him say all his "pleases" twice). Eventually though, the "please-less" mouth wants his please back and his "please" is thrilled to be at home and allowed to get some fresh air. The stories are grouped by moral or attribute (compassion, courage, etc.). Both male and female main characters throughout the stories and the poems makes this book appropriate for both boys and girls. I highly, highly recommend this book, no qualms about it.

My children and I just adore this book. What a lovely collection of stories all heavily demonstrating solid virtues that are Biblically rooted, not worldly. My children, ages 5 and 4, request that several stories be read time and time again. This book will grow with us through the years; they are no where near growing out of it.

Bennett compiles the stories and poems in 4 categories: courage/perseverance, responsibility/work/self-discipline, compassion/faith, and honesty/loyalty/friendship. There is a nice selection in each category of 1 paged poems, to several paged stories. There is a solid virtue to be taken from every single work.

I recommend this book highly. Fill those little minds with things that are good, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. Also recommended by the same author are The Children's Book of Faith and The Children's Book of Heroes. Both also have wonderful collections and wonderful illustrations.

I purchased this book and a few others in the series for my 4 ½ year old. My son is very intelligent for his age, yet some of the stories were a bit long and beyond his attention span and/or understanding. However, I am not disappointment as I am confident that in time, all the stories will be appropriate. I would recommend this book!

It is my privilege to have read Robin Rose Bennett's book, Healing Magic: A Green Witch Guidebook , cover to cover several times and in snippets more often than I can count. I feel compelled to encourage others to share the magic as it would be a travesty for me to keep this jewel of a book a secret. Robin Rose has many gifts which she generously shares through this vehicle, but what I feel is the most valuable is her willingness to share these gifts in a way that exposes herself and leaves her vulnerable.
Robin shares her alternative journey through the adventure of life..She allows those of us who respect this lifestyle but who have little or no experience to walk by her side, to experience nature and the world of spirit in a sensitive, enlightened way. She encourages us to be able to feel, perhaps for the first time, the heartbeat of the earth, the life force of air, the warmth and energy of fire and the flow and encompassing embrace of water. She helps us understand how these forces nourish, protect and challenge us, and permit us to be in an environment where we are safe.
Robin has expressed this in a personal way through her own experiences which she shares with us through stories-She teaches us ways to center ourselves-ways to communicate with spirit, practical ways to perform rituals. She helps us to allow ourselves to be the best, most authentic selves we can be and what could be better than that?
In single word adjectives her effort can be described as, magical, joyful, positive, warm, thoughtful, clean, clever, intelligent, articulate, simple and pure. It was my privilege, as it will be yours, to read this book. Make reading this book a priority. You will be giving yourself a priceless gift.

This is a perfect book for anyone who is searching for heartfelt and loving guidance in green witch magic. Robin Rose Bennett guides the reader into an awareness of healing magic with an easygoing, gentle style into which she weaves personal stories and wisdom to illustrate the rituals and spells.

I highly recommend this book to everyone but especially to those who are just beginning their journey.

This book worked for me on many levels. It provided practical applications for working with plants as well as helping me attune to nature and my own intuition. When all these concepts are in synch, it is magic indeed! The book also delves deeply into emotional connections that allow the reader to find resonance in a very personal way as the author's voice is nurturing and sincere. It is obvious to me that this book comes from a heartfelt and experienced healer who truly wants to share her knowledge with those who seek. Highly recommended!

I guess I didn't realize it until now, but I've been a Green Witch most of my adult life. Thanks, Robin Rose Bennett - for bringing that to light. I love this book! I loved its earthiness, I loved its magic! Unlike one of the other reviewers, I really enjoyed the personal stories. Reading them, added deeper meaning to my own experiences - and urged me to reacquainted myself with the moon. I had been taking it for granted and now have a renewed respect for it. It is back in my life, and welcomed me. This book, this message came into my life, just when I needed it most. Mo' magic!

Robin really expresses the concept of magic and relationship to energy in ways that speak deeply and inspiringly to me who have been praticing this for years, and also in ways I can see would also speak to someone completely new to these ideas.
I've been using the book for my morning meditations, reading a passage and letting it really sink in, to excellent effect.

This book was astoundingly, and sometimes embarassingly, accurate. Her research is phenominal and original, the organization of the chapters could have been a touch better, but all-in-all, I think that every person into astrology, or married to someone who is, should own this book.

If you like this book, you might also like: Linda Goodman's Love Signs: A New Approach to the Human Heart (a classic!), or Ex Files: A Zodiac Guide to His Former Flames (a wonderful new find).

This book was dead on for my sign which is Gemini. I read things about me that I sorta knew was true but in denial. A true gem!

This book describes how I feel so accurately it's scary!! Judith Bennett obviously knew exactly what she was talking about when she wrote this book. Bennett goes into meticulous detail and is usually right on!! This book answers a lot of questions you may have about yourself and reveals things about yourself you may have not even thought about or you've felt you couldn't put into words--a must for all women! I have given it to all my friends and they all agree this book tells the truth in detail. This should be required reading for men if they want to truly understand their women.

This book is so good I have already brought 4 copies for various friends and relatives! It is so accurate that my sister swear it is a woman's bible to understanding herself. It is truly a interesting read and I read it every 4 to 5 months to reinforce my own understanding about myself. Read it if you are open minded.

I enjoyed Ms. Bennett's writing style and I was very impressed with her ability to concisely describe the behaviors of each sign. Truthfully, I found the book very difficult to put down. However, her brand of psychology was less than inspiring.

I was also extremely disappointed when she wrote, "the Leo woman is almost always divorced as a result of failed expectations or of an incomplete awareness of her own behavior and needs. A seperation or divorce can teach her most of what she needs to know in order to build another, happier relationship." I found that to be a great example of what goes wrong when astrology is mixed with psychology. The perpective ends up being that if the female is just readjusted her relationships will work out. If she had replaced Leo with people she would have ended up with a statement that was just as likely to be true as most people are divorced because of a lack of self knownledge an inability to get their needs met with their partner.

In my own experiance I have not seen this as a the cause for the Leo females relationship problems. In fact, I know many examples of Leo women (and no I am not a Leo) who suffered or are suffering badly in their relationships because they are uncomfortable expressing their own qualities for fear that are unacceptable in a woman. I can think of one case of a Sun/Moon/Ascendent in Leo female who refuses to leave her husband after his repeated beatings because she thinks it is too selfish.

I think in the end she makes certain types of women feel guilty for expressing their own characterists. Leo women have a vivaciousness that is extremely attractive, and they are not more at fault for failures in their marriage than the females of any other sign whom Ms. Bennett seems to have had more compassion for. I would recommend A Knot In Time along with this book because by itself it does not suffice as a good source of female psychology.

Another problem with this book is that the author's explaination for all female sexual problems is that they are repressing their anger. Women maybe experiancing an inablity to orgasm for any number of reasons least of all repressed anger. Many medical conditions can cause problems with orgasming, not to mention that many women enjoy sex thoroughly and never orgasm. They are not all angry.

I definitely enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I didn't especially like the Spike and Dru story, which was surprising, and I liked the Dawn story more than I had thought I would. But more than that, I liked how the comic filled in some of the narrative holes created in the transition from movie to television show. I haven't decided if I'll buy the other Omnibus editions. I'm glad I went ahead and indulged in this one.

A collection of many comics, with the setting actually being before she ever made it to Sunnydale.

The one addition to this history appears to be the presence of Dawn as something around a 10 year old. So, apparently told from the point of view of Buffy's memory, given Dawn didn't really exist then.

Backstory of the brief time she spent in an institution, and also how Giles came to be her watcher.

Reasonable for those interested in Buffy, but that is about it.

This product is exactly what I asked for and not only did it arrive in the selected time limit but it arrived early! I would definitely buy from this buyer again.

This is so much better than the Season 8 comics, I can't wait to see the next volumes. It's actually got more plot and more said and more substance. It's interesting with better storylines, filling in the blanks we always wanted filled in. I loved seeing Angel (and Whistler!), Wesley, Giles, and whoa, Giles' Dad! Even the artwork was infinitely better, it wasn't like the other ones where it was all about the skin. This was more sophisticated and just...awesome. Spike's story was kind of boring, as was the Vegas part, but after that, everything picked up and it was stuff we actually cared about. This is a must-read for Buffy-fans, it's stuff that was mentioned in passing in the show but never elaborated on, until this. I'm so glad I found it!

With a faithful adaptation of Joss Whedon's ORIGINAL screenplay for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie), a story about the immediate after effects where Buffy runs away to Las Vegas, as well as giving us the story about her sojourn in the mental institution, we're finally given a good glimpse into what forces shaped the Buffy we grew to know and love in the first season of the series. Of course, we're also treated to a cute story featuring Dawn (because although she wasn't *really* there at the time, Buffy REMEMBERED her as being there), and we see Spike and Dru at the world's fair in 1933. All in all, a great collection of stories; a bit pricey, perhaps, but well worth the time to read - and practically a must-have for any serious B:tVS fan.

Alan Bennett's style is like eating a box of candy ... every page has a wonderful surprise. The story about the Lady in the Van was so compassionate, funny, and sad all at once. I loved both stories.

Alan Bennett is fantastic. The writing is funny and smart, and the characters stay in your head.

Everything I have ever read by Alan Bennett is wonderful and this book is no exception.

The author's introduction clarifies that 'The Lady in the Van', Miss Shepherd, saw herself as a member of the middle class, no matter what she wore and had. This calls to mind the upper class designation of the Big and Little Edies Bouvier, the women in GREY GARDENS.

THE CLOTHES THEY STOOD UP IN, the first piece of the volume, concerns a couple, Rosemary and Maurice Ransome, victimized by burglars, remaining together through his love of Mozart. In replacing household items, Mrs. Ransome developed a zest for shopping. An interesting point is that the Ransomes are provided with the services of a burglary counselor. Events take an unanticipated turn. Really, details pile up and an absurd scenario is disclosed to the reader. Marriage is a sort of parenthesis it is stated. This is droll in the extreme.

'The Lady in the Van' presents another sort of mystery wherein the writer befriends a near bag lady. This tale covers a span of twenty years. Miss Shepherd, the lady, claimed she had always been in the transport line. Giving Miss Shepherd sanctuary in his garden, Bennett's arrangement for the storage of her van and domicile lasted for fifteen years. Cables ran from Bennett's house to give Miss Shepherd light and heating. She was not part of the desperate poor by her own estimation. When she had the flu. Bennett shopped for her. Being parked in Bennett's garden, Miss Shepherd could qualify for full social security payments since she had an address. The account is very funny and very sad. Near the end, suffering from illness and quite aged, Miss Shepherd attended a day center. Following her death, the author visited her brother.

Alan Bennett's text causes the reader to think of a novel by Doris Lessing describing an elderly charity case. In addition there are similarities between Bennett's work and the stories of Joseph Mitchell detailing the lives of eccentric characters encountered by him in New York City that appeared in THE NEW YORKER. The comparisons here are meant to cast Bennett's work in a positive light. It is hard to imagine that anyone would not enjoy Bennett's sparkling pieces.

There are two stories in this slim package, both dealing with people’s relationships with their possessions.

In the first, Mr. and Mrs. Ransome return from the opera to find their flat totally empty. The casserole has disappeared along with the oven, and even the toilet paper’s gone. Mr. Ransome mostly misses his stereo equipment (and of course the toilet paper) but cheers up when he remembers that he can upgrade his technology with the insurance refund.

Mrs. Ransome quickly gets over her shock, and begins shopping for the bare essentials to tide them over until the insurance cheque arrives. During this exercise, she rediscovers the simple things and learns that life without all her accumulated baggage isn’t that bad after all.

When the mystery is revealed, Mrs. Ransome has a whole new outlook on life, and although her husband has also changed, he hasn’t evolved as much as she has. This is a story with some very funny bits, but also with some important messages for all of us.

The other (shorter) story is about an eccentric woman who makes her home in a van, surrounded by everything she owns. Also very funny, it is so rich in description that your nose turns up whenever the author takes you inside the van.

If you’re looking for an entertaining read, and don’t feel like tackling a whole book, this one is highly recommended.


Amanda Richards, April 1, 2006

This well-told, interesting, robust summary of Pakistan's 55 year old history is more than just the usual "run-of-the-mill country study." The author has talked to real Pakistanis, sampled their opinions, and mapped the nation's temperament and volatility back into its own desires, hopes and fears. It is a rich and dense biography of a much-troubled ally and nation.

Strategically situated at the crossroads of some of the most important of international sensitivities, and beset with enough internal problems to place it at the very top of any objective list of the world's most unstable countries, Pakistan continues to muddle through, lurching from one deep-rooted crisis to another.

Now that it has become "the first Islamic nuclear power," all of the stakes have been raised immeasurably to a whole new level. As a U.S. ally in the war on terror, it is a sobering thought that like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and even Iraq, Pakistan too could conceivably turn from our number one ally into our number one enemy almost over night. It is just a roll of the dice that keeps this troubled nation afloat and upright for the moment.

It is this volatility and unpredictability that makes a deeper study of Pakistan essential for international relation watchers. Jones, a journalist who spent several years "on station" in Pakistan, brings a fresh but very "un-journalistic" approach to this national biography: It is not just another computer dump of a journalist log, but a well-told story, that unfolds chronologically and thematically; one that is linked to internal opinions as well as to the larger international picture.

This is a very impressive book. Five stars

This book is without a doubt the best ever book one can find on Pakistani politics. It covers every aspect in detail from the 1999 Coup, the Kashmir Crisis-Kargil, Democracy in Pakistan as well as other internal issues.

The author obviously through his decade long experience has got a great deal of insight knowledge from his experiences for reporting for the BBC for which he made the wise choice for publishing his thoughts in this book.

If you're a student or even a curious reader liking books on Asian or especially Pakistani related politics, then look no further than this book as it is the best one out there. I read it all in 3 days and still do repeatedly as I've used it for reference for many university related projects.

Pakistan's turbulent history and military rule is treated to a scholarly and in-depth analysis which describes many of the problems of modern Pakistan with an eye to probing their historical roots. Jones assesses regional conflict and influence within the country and provides an important, scholarly assessment of Pakistan's underlying foundations. College-level readers will find it involving.

Owen Bennet Jones was BBC's correspondent in Pakistan for three years till 2001.

His book is a wonderful way to understand Pakistan. It is not a typical chronological list of facts. It is a set of nicely grouped perspectives on the issues in Pakistan's politics: the power players - army, politicians, feudal lords; the public opinion issues - Kashmir, Bomb, Bangladesh, Muhajirs; and their impact on Pakistan so far.

The reader can pick any chapter and start with it.

It is difficult to write a book about Pakistan (or India) without leaving in the reader's mind a sense of disappointment at a biased perspective. Was partition the right thing to do? Different views may emerge based on who you ask.

It is even more difficult for a British author to keep a balanced perspective on the history of the sub-continent given the influence in his own ambience. Is Winston Churchill a wise statesman or an arrogant imperialist? Different views may emerge based on where you ask.

The author seems to have struck a fine balance between multiple views.

However, in a few instances, the author disappoints:

Pakistan does feel insecure about India's intentions. The religious divide is a thin argument since India has more Muslims than Pakistan; and they are not raring to quit India. The divide stems from a public opinion that got shaped by the shameful violence during partition; that got nurtured after the partition by the army and politicians in Pakistan as a pet hate agenda for self serving reasons. Today, no politician or general in Pakistan can take a softer friendly stand towards India and survive in Pakistan. This is true to a lesser extent for politicians in India too. Feeding a public opinon for political convenience and in turn being fed by it is the vicious cycle that Pakistan has gotten into. The author misses this point and suggests that Pakistan's insecurity stems from India responding to Pakistan's invasion in 1965 by crossing the border and coming to occupy Lahore; and from India's role in liberation of Bangaldesh. This world-view befits a public relations spin master and not a political journalist.

Pakistan's view is that Mujahideens causing mass deaths in Kashmir are "freedom fighters" and not "terrorists". This view suffers from several fallacies:
(a) Pakistan's claim as homeland to the sub continent's Muslims is not valid any more. Not after 180 million in East Pakistan walked away. Not after 200 million Muslims have stayed back in India and have played a big role in India's growth.
Pakistan has lesser Muslims, 150 million, today than either India or Bangladesh.
(b) The Mujahideen are trained and equipped by the State of Pakistan. This is low intensity proxy war. Not freedom fighting. Not terrorism.
(c) The Mujaihideen are not citizens of Kashmir. They are "outsiders" coming in for a shared religion. They sincerely believe they are fighting for the noble cause of their religion. They believe religion prevails over the State. This view raises challenges to several States. In the end this may prove to be a bigger challenge to Islamic States than other States.
The author's sympathetic description of the events in Kashmir as "tribesmen crossing the border to fight for their muslim brethren" reflects one view reasonably well; but ignores an opposite view that may have a greater dosage of wisdom.

Pakistan's army, in the words of Benazir Bhutto, has a better track record in fighting its own citizens than fighting other armies. The army's response to this potential for doubt is made up of: (a) a signature tactic of proxy war - in defeat there is a cover of deniability; and in success there is glory and (b) lack of transparency on events during the war and a "spin" that could obfuscate truth. The author is willing to be a facilitator. Did Pakistan's army lose its positions in Kargil? Or, did they walk out because Nawaz Sharif ceded to pressure from the US? The author says that Indians claim Pakistan army was dislodged in 80% of the positions before Sharif met Clinton; but "neutral" observers, relying on Pakistan sources, believe that India had dislodged Pakistan in just 12 of the 132 positions implying that the army won it and politicians lost it. Neutral observers relying on Pakistan sources? There are better neutral analyses like Arthur J Tellis' book "Limited Conflicts Under the Nuclear Umbrella".

The author parrots a view he heard in Pakistan army: that Pakistan army uses tribesmen in its engagement with India because the Indian army is more afraid of the tribesmen than Pakistan's regular army. Steve Coll in "Ghost wars" has a different story. Officers in Pakistan army preferred to get posted to the Western front than the Eastern front where they need to meet the tough professional army from India.

Aside from these minor biases, the author has done a very good job in portraying Pakistan's history and the issues this young nation faces.

I bought this book some three years ago and took it on a trip, finishing it over six days. The book is written very well, and journalist in Owen Bennet Jones certainly needs to be commended.

Jones starts the book with President Musharraf, and moves back to the 1999 coup which installed him. He then picks up some of the key issues which drive Pakistan's foreign policy: Kashmir, The Bomb, The Army, among others. His writing syle is such that you immediately fall in with him and start thinking alongside. This makes the book an easy read. His style leans more towards description than analysis. Though the analysis is there, it is more journalistic than professorial (such as Stephen Cohen's: The Idea of Pakistan). There are also some good illustrations and cartoons.

However, he also leaves out important aspects of Pakistan (this is perhaps justified considering the title of the book). For instance, the entire book is written from the perspective of an outsider or a diplomat who would like to deal the Pakistan state. There is little analysis of Pakistan's domestic policies or problems, except to the extent that these influence its foreign policies. There is little information on Pakistan's economy or social institutions. Relatively little space has been given to Islam, which is strange considering that many of Pakistan's policies are supposed to be derived from the religious nature of the State. This is unfortunate because Pakistan's future may be determined largely by how it interfaces with Islam and how its economy shapes up.

And there are very few insights. What drives Pakistan, what holds it toegether, what may make it fail, these are all dealt with from a foreign policy perspective, but in an analytical style. Though Jones does make some very good connections between events and identifies patterns, the insights are simply not there. Perhaps one has to turn to an Asian mind such as V. S. Naipaul for that. However, Naipaul is somewhat hostile to the subject, and therefore may merely end up reinforcing some stereotypes.

All in all, an enjoyable book, but one that you may not be able to hold for long in your mind.

This book is so much fun. Beyond the great photos that are too campy to be believed, this book is jammed with the reflections of others on their mitzvah experiences. No poignancy here, just a lot of laughs.

Loved the Disco Bar Mitzvah. Great collection of antecdotes and fantastic photographs. Oh Vey, to be 13 again - NO WAY.

Highly recommend this book.

I just received this book for the holidays. I was going to bar/bat mitvahs in the early eighties and throughly enjoyed this book. Then came the photo. I graduated junior high with the entire table!!!

There are no words to describe how happy I am with this book, except to say that reading it was pure enjoyment.

This book is awesome - it perfectly captures this bizarre subculture of over-the-top celebrations of puberty among Jews in the 1980s, primarily in the New York metro area. If you are one of the chosen people that celebrated Bar and Bat Mitzvahs during that time, you will laugh until it hurts reading this book.

Cool book. I took it to work to show all my gentile co-workers and they loved it.

While I have horses and goats, llamas and alpacas are new to me, so I really appreciate the information and useful tips provided by Marty McGee Bennett in The Camelid Companion. Who knew they acted more like cats than like other livestock? The photographs are excellent, the information is detailed but not overwhelming or off-putting and the tips are golden. Having read this book, I feel like I can tackle these wonderful, odd and interesting creatures with a calm understanding.

I found the author to be intimidated by the animal and doesn't seem to understand animal behavior. She says not to take one piece of grass off the animal and save it for when you have more to do with it. To desensitize any animal to touch should be done openly and consistently. She evidently hasn't researched how in Peru small children walk herds of the alpacas and llamas through town and the animals walk right up to strangers to be petted. If you want a pet or companion animal you must do consistent touching. I brush and touch and pick up the feet of mine every day at first and then 3 times a week. Mine are used as therapy animals for school children and special needs children and many special events. Gelding your animal will help if you are concerned about it becoming a berserker. It is definitely worth the risk to have an actual animal that you can call a companion. We wouldn't be riding horses if people were afraid to touch them! Consistency is the key to any animal training. I have been training all kinds of animals for many years and have no problems. You can get a little bit of help on medical care in this book.

It's all in this book, anything you need to know about raising camelids. A good book to use as reference. Lots of information on managing and caring for alpacas or llamas.

The Camelid Companion by Marty McGee Bennett is a "must have" alpaca training book. Whether you are new to the alpaca business or an experienced alpaca owner, the information regarding training and handling is an unsurpassed library addition.

I read this book from the very beginning and made notations where I needed to improve my habits around my alpacas. They now are more relaxed around me and other people. This book is also very heart warming too. Great pictures to help you to understand what it is that these animals require. I am using this book as a reference also.