Brown Books

This book is about all kinds of bugs. My kids ages 5 to 9 were all glued to this one again and again. The illustrations are absolutely the best I've seen. They are so cute and funny and there are tons of different types shown. The pages are overflowing! The gross out factor is high for instance "Oh, in your clothes they're restin, in your nose theyre nestin, there isn't any question, theyre infestin your intestine" and "now, you may have had a hunch, if you bite bugs they will crunch, this is true but stay alert - the fat ones sometimes squirt." Then, the illustrations show the picute of a boy forking a huge bug on a plate and green guts spraying out. My kids were uttering "ooooh yuck" and "oh, he's cute" throughout the book and wanted it read again when we were done. If your kid likes bugs and the gross out factor, this book is for him or her.

This is one of those silly books that kids (and adults that still have a lot of kid in them) love! It is quirky and is loaded with gross pictures of bugs and very strange suggestions as to what to do with them. The art work is great and the rhyming text is a pleasure to read. A tremendous amount of imagination and work has gone into this work and it has certainly paid off. This is one of the most checked out books in the local school libraries for the young ones. They just enjoy looking at the pictures. This is also a fun book to read with your child or a group of school kids. The bugs depicted and the uses they are put to are so ridiculous that I doubt a child, any child, would take it very serious. Most children are bright enough to spot a "put on" when they see it, so I don't think their is much worry in that department. If you are looking for a fun, interesting and very, very funny book to read with your child, then you probably should give this one a try. The art work alone is worth the price of the book.

I have bought most of these books for my 6 year old son. They are a little creepy, but for boys, they are terrific fun! And for me too, to be able to get into "character" reading them. I would highly recommend these series of books for anyone who has a child who loves animals, and bugs. Great fun, if you can get through it!

What a great book for kids. I love the illustrations. They are just the cutest! I read it to my grandkids and they loved it. So did I.

This is a good book. It's gross and charmingly off-beat, just as the other reviewers claim. It also rhymes and makes a good out-loud read. And it is very, very outlandishly funny.

However, we also have David T. Greenberg's book Snakes! and it is just as appealingly gross and much funnier. Plus, the rhymes work a bit better for out loud reading. If you are only getting one of his books, I'd go for Snakes!

But before you buy, a quick warning! Neither this book or the Snakes! book are for kids who take things literally or who are easily frightened. I'd only recommend them for children who really "get" puns, word plays and jokes. It is the perfect book for older kids who still love to have books read out loud to them.

P.Gould, co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family

It's out of print here but it's currently available in its entirety in The Jump at the Sun Treasury. The book contains 7 pictures books.

For any parent wanting to introduce their child to God, it's hard to imagine a better way than this exquisitely-illustrated book. And though it may be written with children in mind, Can I Pray's simple, direct message resonates with many adults as well. A joy to read.

This is a wonderful story about the curiosity of prayer for children. But, the artwork is what inticed me to buy the book, several of them in fact. Garin Baker brought out beautiful memories of my childhood. I grew up in the house that he painted. What a wonderful way to bring back memories.

This book's wonderful, lyrical text will lull any child into an interested participant. I just read it to my 5 year old daughter who then asked me, "If I'm in bed and get scared, is it okay to go to the window to pray?" When I assured her that she could, she smiled, and said, "I thought so." This book is one of those perfect little reminders of the things you already know, but need to hear again.

I am the librarian at my church. I recently read this book to a group of children during their monthly visit to the library during children's church. They really enjoyed it! It's a book that generates a lot of questions, comments, and thoughts! What I personally like best about it is that it is suitable for all children,whether they go to church or not. It's non-denominational. It's suitable for Protestamts, Catholics, or Jews. The drawings are truly beautiful and realistically portray a young girl. I highly recommend this book for all church libraries, children's Sunday School classes, and homes.

This is a powerful tool for couples and an excellent resource that should be a part of every therapist's library.

Review of "CPR for your Sex Life: How to Breathe Life into a Dead, Dying or Dull Sex Life - A Guide and Workbook for Couples"

By Mildred L. Brown, Ph.D and Stephen L. Braverman, MA

Review by Sharon Asher

"CPR for your Sex Life" is a book that is truly needed by and will be invaluable to many couples who would like to improve their sex lives. It is written in a way that is compassionate, accessible and practical. The focus is on communication at all levels which is necessary for intimate sexual relations. The professional therapeutic expertise of the authors is evident in the clear presentation of issues followed by excellent and exceptionally helpful written exercises to enhance and reinforce learning at every stage. It will be a treasured guide for many couples for years to come. Highly Recommended!!!

CPR for Your Sex Life is a wonderful guide for couples and clinicians alike. It does offer advice, but what I especially appreciate is that it provides a pathway for couples to broaden and deepen their intimate relationship that is unique to them enabling them to discover a sex life and intimate relationship that is better than it ever was.

This is a self-paced workbook, so readers can choose areas where they would like to linger. There are relationship enhancing activities on nearly every page that are easy to follow, not too long, and they actually work! There is plenty to keep a couple moving forward for quite a long time. It is written in straight forward, direct language with lots of examples to jump start communication. While there isn't an index, the table of contents is very detailed and helpful. The focus is on heterosexual relationships.

The overall attitude of this book is upbeat. Couples are guided to explore and talk about things that many may have previously thought about but didn't know where to begin in a sensitive and realistic way.

As a sex therapist I highly recommend this book as a professional and personal resource for other health care professionals. I especially recommend it for couples who are ready for more sex, intimacy, and fun. Millie Brown and Stephen Braveman have used sensitivity, intelligence, years of experience, and wisdom to create an exceptional workbook and guide.

Both authors have worked in the field of sexuality for many years now and have great insight. This book is an example of their ability to teach and make information accessable and available to a wide audience. Easy to follow, this will be great for couples working to help their relationship grow. Whether you are actively experiencing barriors to your sexuality or just want to keep things hot and intimate - This book will help you!
- Melissa Fritchle, Sex Therapy Intern

You would think that after writing an 854-page book on sex, I would know most of what's in "CPR for your Sex Life" by Brown & Braveman--and I probably do. But what's so nice about CPR is how the authors lay everything out is a way that is accessible and fresh. It was as if I was reading all of these suggestions for the first time, and these truly are the steps that many couples who are struggling with little or no sex in their relationships need to begin with.

Of course, there are those couples who bring us problems that are so seeped in psychodynamic turmoil that we end each session feeling emotionally tarred and feathered. They require our finest clinical skills and will not be helped by this book or any other. And there are situations where physical conditions or a combination of physical and emotional issues loom large, and they will need an approach that requires the coordination of multiple disciplines.

However, for the majority of couples, this book is a wise companion, providing a helpful and easy to understand roadmap for how to get the sexual part of a relationship back on track.

The one aspect of "CPR" that might scare away some clients is that it asks for written responses throughout. So I tried to put myself in the mindset of a person who only writes in mono-syllabic grunts, and still came away with much that was good. If your client finds the blank lines overwhelming or a good excuse for resistance, tell them to just answer the questions in their mind. In doing so, they will still get much that is wise and helpful from this excellent book.

My only problem with the book came at the very end where the authors imply that males can control the timing of their ejaculations if they will just work at it--were it that easy for many of us, be we too slow or too fast! But this is only a minor issue, and the authors wisely counsel their readers not focus on the genital part of sex until they've established a more solid relational base. "CPR" is full of advice that we can all learn from, and keep going back to time and again if we want to keep our sexual relationships vibrant and alive.

Paul Joannides, Psy.D.
author "Guide To Getting It On!" 5th edition
weekly podcast: ThePleasureReport.com

I knew, in advance, that this book was historically and factually accurate. What I didn't know was how "visual" it would be. I was hooked from page one!

Newfoundland's history is not one for the faint of heart. Typically, it includes tales of remarkable hardship, endured by even more remarkable people. This was no exception.

This story will open the eyes of those who know little of Newfoundland's evolution. Readers will feel the biting cold of being trapped on the Arctic ice in a blizzard. They will wince when they read of subtle incidents that could have changed this tragic event.

I finished this book four days ago, but I haven't shaken the chill of it yet!

This is a tale of the loyalty and courage of Newfoundland sealers in the face of greed, arrogance, inhumanity and stupidity. The book moves slowly for the first 40 pages of background information and then it becomes a can't-put-down tale of inhumane treatment,unimagineable hardship,courage and tragic miscommunications. The arrogance and coldheartedness of the merchant captains and ships' owners are not to be believed.The story haunts me still.

An overwelming story, told simply and truthfully. The ease in which this book consumed me astounded me. I have never before been so moved. A MUST READ.

No one should miss reading this tale of the greed of "swiler" (seal) captains and merchants...and the innocence and courage of those poor souls who they commanded. As I stood and the gravestone which marked the burial of 3 members of the Jordan family in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland who perished in this incident...I could only choke by the understatement written on the Marker: "Killed on the ice-fields April 1, 1914" That the mores of these times did not regard these deaths (and the other 70 odd others) as the most treacherous form of murder is astonishing.

I read Death on the Ice because of a novel study in my class, which I ended up doing a book report on. Death on the Ice is a wonderful reconstruction of the 1914 'Newfoundland' Sealing Disaster. It's very slow, almost boring for the first 6 of 18 chapters, but after that it is an exciting and detailed retelling of that horrifying event, in which two hundred fifty-three men died, most of them because of a string of stupid mistakes. It's also a very sad book in some parts. I liked it very much, and would definitely read it again.

I found this an exellent book. The original design patterns book drew its examples from C++ applications. I could see a use for the patterns in C++, but I thought most of them would not have been necessary if the code had been written in Smalltalk.

This book did an excellent job of showing how and where the patterns could be used in Smalltalk applications. The authors also extended and clarified many of the pattern so that they were simplier to understand. The book is more than a companion to the GOF book; it is an enhancement of it.

This book gives you a better understanding of the patterns than in its original version (the GoF one). I am not a SmallTalk programmer but a 9 years C++ one. At work I had to use the GoF book and never liked reading it. In contrast to this, the SmallTalk companion is easy to read and you can understand the patterns within the first few lines of their description. Take the Bridge pattern and compare their discussions in the two books. If you really like the Gof one then buy it. But according to me, it would be a big mistake buying the GoF in favour of the SmallTalk companion. Trust a C++ programmer :-)

This isn't a Smalltalk translation of "Design Patterns." Instead, it's a companion to that book. You'll need to read the first one to get the most out of this one. If you have read the first one, you'll find this one is better written and really casts essential light on some of the GOF material. The Smalltalk aspects of this book are really a non-issue (except perhaps showing static-typers how many hoops you don't have to use in Smalltalk). This is required patterns reading.

I bought this book because of the unresolved questions I had after spending so many hours exploring the GoF original book. I am an experience C, C++, and Objective C programmer, not a Smalltalk guru at all. And I found the GoF very confusing and intimidating. My current projects these days are written in Java (I miss Objective C). I looked for a book that would cover the pattern catalog in Java because I was really questioning the purpose of some of them in that language. Creating some mechanism to overcome the C++ language is somewhat understandable, but why bother with Java. Take the prototype pattern for example: "...It's (the prototype pattern) less important (to use it) in languages like Smalltalk or Objective C that provides what amounts to a prototype..." (page 121) Sure, ok, but what about Java? Can you give me an example on how it would benefit a language that doesn't really require it like Obj C, or even Smalltalk? Then the sample code refers to the maze example but not much material is given here. I bought several books with Java and Design Patterns in the title but was very disappointed with the beginner level these books approach this problem. The titles are seductive but the content is not that great. I don't need another ADOO (I've read Larman's book already. Get it if you are new to OO BTW.) So I ended up getting that book as a last resort. And you know what? It's great. I program in Java all day (and sometimes all night, sigh...) and this book spends more time on my desk than the GoF original one. So, if this comments remind you some of your experience, you should give this book a try. And this book lighted up another bulb in my brain: I ended up downloading Squeak and prototyping in Smalltalk some of my projects just for the fun of it, but that's a side effect I guess ;-)

I found this an exellent book. The original design patterns book drew its examples from C++ applications. I could see a use for the patterns in C++, but I thought most of them would not have been necessary if the code had been written in Smalltalk.

This book did an excellent job of showing how and where the patterns could be used in Smalltalk applications. The authors also extended and clarified many of the pattern so that they were simplier to understand. The book is more than a companion to the GOF book; it is an enhancement of it.

I lost 20 lbs after reading Arnots books. He offers safe and effective advice for folks who want to live longer and healthier lives.

Dr. Bob's "Guide to Turning Back the Clock" is 100 percent accurate and a good motivational tool for both men and women. I had no idea that enriched flour ... is so bad for your body. He has some very good ideas on how to eat and "fuel" your body. I especially liked the sections on roller blading and cross country skiing. This is the "one" diet/fitness book to have at your side. Cousin Arnold is right: "Be the best you've ever been. Now is the time and this is the book!"

Very informative book. It contains a lot of useful information. I became bored with many parts of the book especially when Dr. Arnot went into long discussions on topics like which sports equipment to purchase. Overall the book contained very practical information. I found the diet information extremely useful, but a little hard to actually implement. For a short time after reading the book, I actually did follow Dr. Arnot's eating advice and felt better than I have in a long time.

Sensible and practical. No quick fixes, but collects a bunch of good tips into one place.

great book, very informative, talks about not only diet, but also the importance of exercise and mixing it up. Not just cardio but muscle building/strengthening as well. No BS in his book, everything makes sense. Oh yeah, Arnie recommends it.

Any family with kids would enjoy this book. No matter what your drawing skills, you can learn how to turn those precious thumbprints into funny little works of art. Frame them, make greeting cards with them, entertain the kids at birthday parties with them... the possibilities are endless.

I used this book w/ my Preschool classroom to use at project time or if we needed to make a Thank You card for someone - a way for them to "sign" it!

This book is awesome and VERY easy to use. It would make a great gift for an early drawer.

This is the perfect craft activity. Cute, fun, simple. I love doing this with my children. I also love doing this with my students as I am an educator. All ages young and old love it. You can use fingerprint art for greeting cards or just making things up. This author is really wonderful. I have many of his children's books.

These are classic books that expand imagination. How could you not love them? I especially like how they encourage kids to draw without making it *too* detail oriented. (Alot can be achieved with a few simple lines!)

I have a 7, 5 and 3yr old. They received this book along with a kid-safe ink pad. They love it! It's easy enough for them to follow and they love how easy it is for them to create the different animals and facial expressions. It's actually taught them quite a bit.

Fascinating!!

I only wish more photos, diagrams and website links and/or information (on those specific archeological discoveries and digs) would have been provided, so that we could have researched it a bit more, and tracked any furhter progress.

The listings of the incredible array of artifacts found in these archeoligical digs would have also benefited by some drawings and photos.

That being said, this is a wonderful book that brings the action to life -- I can almost see the ship rise and fall with the waves. The natives (skraalings) and the landscape of the new world is rendered in vivid word pictures. The descriptions of the Viking farms in Greenland and the hazardous trips sometimes needed to be made to reach those farms, gives me a sense of the tremendous resiliency and resourcefulness of those heroic people way back then.

Exceptional -- but would definitely benefit from photos, diagrams, links, -- even a rendering of what Gudrid may have looked like.

Brown gives us a lot of interesting information about Gudrun's life and times in "The Far Traveller." But what is even more interesting is her description of being on archaeological digs in Iceland, describing what archaeologists have to do to torture more information out of the physical remains of the past. Brown's focus on what archaeology has contributed to our knowledge of the Vikings, as well as archaeology's limitations, make this a more fascinating read than the account of what we think we know about Gudrun could have done.

This is an extraordinary acheivement. The author follows the character of Gudrid throughout her journeys through in Viking world of the late 900s and early 1000s and, along the way, paints a vivid picture of life at that time. The writing is engaging and apparently effortless, but the research that supports it is massive, as described in 35 pages of footnotes and references at the end of the book. The author's passion is clear throughout, and further evidenced by her having worked as a volunteer archaeologist one summer in Iceland to excavate Gudrid's home. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the Vikings.

This book enlightens a period of history not well known to date. It is very interesting reading, especially for anyone with Scandinavian roots. The research the lies behing this work is remarkable. I highly recommend this book.

I am just a general reader who happens to enjoy well-written history. I've never read much at all about the Vikings but the NY Times review of THE FAR TRAVELER was enticing and I was not let down by its promise. Nancy Marie Brown has reached back to a place and people obscured by time, doing a decent job of erasing some of the fog and cold desolation that obscure the Dark Ages and Medieval Epoch in Iceland and Greenland. She also succeeds in revealing a lot about contemporary archaeological practice and thought.

Brown turns first to the Sagas, the 10th and 11th century tales of Vikings, for inspiration. Though embroidered, the Sagas, written down some generations later, are regarded as holding historical memories. Brown focuses on one woman who appears in both the Eirik the Red and Greenland Sagas as her guide, Gudrid, who traveled from Iceland to Greenland to Vinland, back to Iceland and remarkably, in later age, on a pilgrimage to Rome. Her son Snorri was very likely the first European child born on North American soil, circa 1005. Her personal story reveals much about religion, economics, gender relations, values, world view and other aspects of her culture. Born late in the 10th century AD, she witnessed the spread of Christianity and the fading of the violent marauding male economy as the domestic textile industry spun by women on the farm began to reposition Iceland in the world trade scene. Brown travels to all of the places Gudrid did, reads scholarship on her topic and participates in archaeological digs and recreation of weaving studios.

The digs at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland, have been reported on before, but Brown brings a fresh fascination to them in the context of Gudrid's life. She provides strong descriptive passages of the places she visits and there is one map in the front of the book. It would have been nice, however, to have had some illustrations. I would also like to have known a little more about Brown's own context and interest in this subject.

I am an avid fan of books related to the crossover of Eastern religion to Western pyschology. This book fits the bill, though more emphasis on Eastern religion.

The author details an Eastern method to resolve inner conflict and face your fears. The idea is to look inward and give your fears, demons, and insecurities a chance to tell you what they need from you in order to heal. This is accomplished through meditation and visualtion.

I found this book to be very helpful and very insightful for a new approach to therapy. Most Westeners have the idea of running from or suppressing darker emtions, when, as this book suggests, we can feed them what they need and feel 'lighter' as a result, instead of being consistantly weighed down by suppressed feelings.

I have found the perspective of Feeding Your Demons to be insightful and wise and the technique itself to be invaluable. Over the years I have explored and benefited from both meditation, yoga and breathing practices from the East as well as various psychological insights and practices from the West. With Feeding Your Demons, I am experiencing the result of a beautiful melding of the wisdom of both orientations.

Even before trying the process itself, I found that just reading the book brought a way of seeing myself and my life that was richly rewarding. I felt some doubt about my ability to do the technique, though, because I don't visualize easily or well (visualization being part of the process). But the good news is that even without clear visualization, I have grown to trust and feel comfortable with my own way of experiencing the technique (it is usually more a feeling sense than `seeing') because of the positive changes that have come from each session!

Thank you Tsultrim!

Since she first glimpsed Buddhist lives and practice over 40 years ago at age 19, Lama Tsultrim has devoted herself not only to her own practice but also to finding ways to bring this joy, compassion and devotion to others. In this jewel of a book she offers those experiences to benefit people who may never resonate with Buddhism or Tibet, but who do notice our lifes' continuing struggles, the world's distresses, and our deep longing for ways to nurture less conflict and more hope. The book offers a way for anyone to turn toward that distress and longing, elegantly and skillfully placing this remarkable meditation practice in a modern, Western framework. So whatever your own spiritual inclinations are, whatever form your personal 'demons' may take, however you're thinking about war and peace and disharmony in the world, you'll find an ally here - in the practice, in the stories, and in the remarkable woman who brought us this book.

I'm 51 and found it very useful. I also bought it for a 24 yr old friend of mine and she thought it was wonderful too! I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
on 07/08/2008

Tsultrim Allione was one of the first Western women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. In this book, she presents an eleventh-century woman's wisdom to non-Buddhists in simple, easy to understand language that anyone can follow.

According to Tsultrim, we can all overcome whatever demons are causing chaos in our lives, whether they be weight, illness, anger, or whatever. By following her five steps, we can supposedly overcome these problems.

In the first part of the book, we are given an overview of Tultrim's life - her journeys into spiritualism, her marriages and divorces, her children, her tragedies and her triumphs. It is an interesting biography, if somewhat brief. But this book isn't supposed to be a biography - and it's not completely. The next section delineates the five-step program to overcoming whatever ails you. It is clearly written and easily understood.

The third part of the book deals with specific types of demons. Each demon - illness, fear, addiction, abuse, etc. - comes with case studies allowing you to read about people who faced these problems and overcame them. Each one is different, and interesting to read. The last section of the book gives you information on how to deepen your work.

In the grand publishing segment that encompasses self-help books, this is one of the more interesting ones I've read. It is brief, to the point, easy to understand, easy to follow and deals with problems that plague almost all of us. Does it work? I'll have to get back to you on that. But I can't see where there's any harm in trying. If nothing else, you've spent some time meditating and that's always a good thing. If you're into spiritualism, Buddhism, or any of the mediating practices, definitely pick this one up. If you're just into reading about obscure spiritual readers, this would be a good buy.

4.5 Books

I have been following Greg Brown's columns in AOPA Flight Training for a while now, but I would have never guessed that if you read a handful of these short, factual-yet-full-of-emotions stories one after the other, you can get a complete picture of what general aviation is all about. Highly recommend this book to everyone, pilot spouses or parents above all.

I've followed Greg Brown's column in numerous aviation magazines over the years, and have always looked forward to reading his latest adventure. Now, with "Flying Carpet", he has detailed stories and events from his past that have served to educate, enlighten, and amuse both aviators and non-aviators alike. I thoroughly enjoy his writing style, and am always recounting something he wrote to someone else to emphasize a point or provide an example of some aviation-related subject. I love the fact that he relates his stories as if aviation was a sort of pagan religion, and he, and all other pilots, are willing followers. He truly highlights the romance and passion that flying evokes in those of us do it, and stimulates curiousity in those who don't. I highly encourage anyone to read this book, whether you're a pilot or not.

Full of fun interesting stories but not a book I would want to read again. The books sounds like it is a collection of Gregs adventures that may have been published somewhere before.

This book was purchased as a gift. I do not know if it's been read or not.

I am a student pilot and have been reading just about everything I can get my hands on that has to do with flying for the past two years. I first learned of Greg Brown through his Flying Carpet column in AOPA's Flight Training magazine and enjoyed his articles and writing. I stumbled upon this book through a search on Amazon and am so glad I did!

The book is extremely well written and you can tell through each page how deep Greg's passion is for flying and for sharing it with those around him. I felt as if I were along for the ride to all of the wonderful destinations he has been to.

I highly recommend the book not only for those interested in flying but the non-fliers alike!