Bonds Books

Paddington is a loveable, cuddly, inquisitive, independent bear who lives with the Browns while his aunt is in Peru. This is a classic British children's book that needs to be experienced here in America -- it truly is a wonderful book.

My 5 year old listens to this over and over again. Stephen Fry does a fantastic job narrating, giving just the right voice inflection and capturing the spirit of the characters beautifully. A family favorite!

Paintings by Mose Tolliver, the key folk art painter from Alabama, who is one of America's greatest living treasures, inspired this gem of a book of poems by Robert Ely. The 8" 1/4-by 8 1/4" volume, published in Alabama by Black Belt Press, includes a brief introduction by Julian Bond. Twenty of Mose T's best known images are finely illustrated here in color, alongside the witty poems they inspired. Featured in the book are the fanciful inhabitants of the town of Slapout, among them the "Hoodoo Man...who learned his art from Kulba Khan," the "Jick-Jack Girl...who "kicks off her shoes when she begins to feel the blues" and "Mose t" himself, the artist who "paints pictures made with real paint...and many folks find them quaint."

--David Ebony, Assistant Managing Editor, Art in America magazine.

This book was my introduction to Malcom Muggeridge, and I kept the hardback continuously checked out from the library. Not only was it the funniest book I'd ever read, but it was enlightening also. Like most casual readers, it never occurred to me that writers would lie, but here was this writer exposing them. "Frank Harris: His Life and Lies" is perhaps the most direct unveiling, but all these essays question the general view of their subjects. Later he would come to question the very mechanisms of media, and the way that these views come about. Seen this way, he is not about disrobing this or that highly esteemed or highly placed personage, as simply providing yet another instance of the emperor having no clothes. Shorn of the pretensions of power, we are all the same, as he approvingly quotes St. Francis: "naked on the naked earth."

Simon and Schuster also issued a similarly named volume, The Most of P.G Wodehouse. Although that volume lacks the alliteration of "The Most of Malcolm Muggeridge", the two authors have something else in common. The same books appear under different titles, to the continued annoyance of their respective readers. The Most of MM is an American edition of the quite similar British collection, Tread Softly for You Tread on My Jokes. They share the same introduction and many of the same essays. I give the differences here for those who may want to track them down.

There are 47 essays collected in The Most of MM, and only 39 in Tread Softly. Some of the funniest, like "The First Church of Christ Economist," are only in the American volume, which includes all the essays in the English one. Most essays are from the '50s and '60s, and originally appeared in such publications as Encounter, Esquire, The New Republic, The Observer, The New York Review of Books, The Spectator and The Sunday Telegraph.

While most of the bits are about something else, there are some that illuminate MM's own life. "The Queen and I" elucidates the absurd misunderstanding that got MM kicked off the BBC. "The Wodehouse Affair" illuminates the equally absurd instance whereby Wodehouse was labeled personna non grata in Britain. "Many Winters Ago in Moscow" touches on his reporting of the famine in the USSR caused by forced collectivization under Stalin, which made him very unpopular among American journalists of the day, who conveniently ignored it, along with other believers in the "Soviet experiment." These essays both leave the reader skeptical of of the veracity of media and aware of what a writer can do who rises to his or her high calling.

OMG... This book is riveting and enlightening! I couldn't put it down. I have a friend who came from an abusive family and after reading this book I now understand her outlook on life. I would definitely recommend reading this book in addition to Ms. Young's other books.

Each essay reaches out & touches the Reader because of the struggles encountered whether succumbing to blindness or traveling too often for work or searching for ancestors or...it is so unfair that I can't comment on every mother's story...& there are a couple of sons' in there too!

Mother love is a vintage brew regenerated with each woman, each child. It is steeped in our species' unwritten story & spiced with unbridled adoration & everyday epiphanies. To be a mother, regardless of biology or birth, is to accept an ancient mantle of compassion, responsibility & transformation. To mothers our children are gods incarnate, showing us the world anew, & to travel with them, because of them, for them, is indeed an enlightening journey.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends A MOTHER'S WORLD, for the Reader will find something wonderful, heartbreaking, infuriating, inspiring, hilarious & everso genuine in this celebration, to be reread many times.

The set was given to us as a gift a few years ago and our kids have enjoyed it so much that we have worn out a couple of the pages! With favorite recipes like M&M cookies included in this book, be sure to keep it on hand for easy access. The mouse cookie cutter is cute but even cuter is the little story done in pictures throughout the book and it's recipes. Kids will revisit the mouse and the boy from the original "If you give a mouse a cookie" book, in another story about baking cookies. This will grow to be a favorite book, not just a recipe book...we "read" it for our bedtime story tons of times!

The third in the Mr. Pipes series can only improve upon the first two. Mr. Pipes travels to New England with Dr. Dudley to see a few historic sites with Drew and Annie before heading to the west coast to spend Christmas with their parents. The humor that amused the readers in the first two books hasn't disappeared, nor has Dr. Dudley's disdain for things not British or his overbearing concern for Mr. Pipes' health. The storyline is just as charming, and children will read it for the mere pleasure of it.

However, the main ideas that are constantly reinforced are Godly behavior, understanding and sharing the Bible, contrasting good hymnody and shallow songs, appropriate music, poetry, great men of faith, and doctrine. Mr. Pipes teaches an excellent course on great Church hymnody effortlessly and very enjoyably to all readers. Highly to be recommended!

This story begins in the book "Mr. Pipes and the British Hymnmakers". In that book, Annie and Drew meet Mr. Pipes during a summer in England, and through him, they come to know about many hymn writers. They learn the hymns and discuss poetry, the meaning of the words, and the lives of the writers. Annie and Drew believe on the Lord Jesus, and then returned to the States with their mother at the end of the summer.

In this book, it is the next summer. Mr. Pipes has invited the children to tour Europe with him, and they are delighted to go. There are more hymn stories, of course, and the hymns with music are included at the end of each chapter. As the title states, the hymns are from the Reformation era, and they contain signs of the spiritual upheaval of the time. Mr. Pipes also points out interesting facts about the places they visit, which adds the interest of culture and European landmarks. Their trip takes them to from England to France, Germany and Switzerland, although most of the book occurs in Germany. Annie and Drew were impressed with the character of the German hymns: martial with gentleness and tenderness. Mr. Pipes told them of some of the persecutions the people endured, and they could see it reflected in the hymns. From battling their tempers to outwitting a spy, the children learn character, history and doctrine from Mr. Pipes with plenty of apt humor thrown in. Annie and Drew return to the States knowing more history, and with a deeper love for and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I enjoyed this book so much. I think every Christian family should have this series, as the history of the hymns and hymn writers will draw the reader closer to Christ. Especially in this book, the hymns speak much of the preciousness of the person of the Lord. These books would also make great gifts for children from non-Christian families. Mr. Pipes is not preachy, and never pushes his strong beliefs on the children, although he never misses an opportunity to explain anything they ask about! Own this set of books!

The Fabozzis and Feldstein have, once again, produced a most helpful book which any municipal bond investor, portfolio manager, public official, or investment banker will want to own. From the mathematics to the markets to the mechanics, the authors open up the all too arcane world of public bond finance for both the professional and average investor. Detailed, thorough, accessible, comprehensive and logical.