Brown Books

A powerful book, raw and I found myself in it.

A powerful book, raw and I found myself in it.

A powerful book, raw and I found myself in it.

This book is a fictionalized account of Angela's life and her suffering from abuse, parental and then spousal. She overcame this cruel treatment to become a driving force in helping others escape from their own hell. Read it and learn.

This book is a powerful and gripping first hand account of the abuse suffered by the author from early in childhood to married adult life afterwards. But it is not a "woe is me story" like so many other writings. Quite the contrary, the author shows how she was able to finally recognize that being abused was NOT normal living, that she deserved better in life, and carried out a plan to gain control of her life. Having gained control of her own life, the author embarks on a crusade to help other women realize that they need not be abused...that they too may break the bond of oppression, end the vicious cycle of abusive partners, recognize that the abusers are pathetic losers whom they should not be entangled with in the first place, and discard the trash in their lives once and for all and attain fulfillment. An inspiring story.

I didn't know that there were other books like this one until coming to Amazon. Now I'll have to get the others, too! My kids love this book! The bright sparkly paper really attracts their attention. And the text and lenghth is just right for the toddler age set. The round faced, smiling girl in the book always make my kids smile right back at her.

Easy to read to the youngest of babies, this book is fantastic for learning colors and naming simple objects. The rhyming schemes are fun and the unique art with glittery items on each page is entertaining. I own the whole series and my almost-two-year-old son has LOVED them since he was about six months old.

Along with the other three books in the series, my 18 month old daughter has this one. She likes all four, but this one is probably my favorite. This book; along with the others, is so colorful and bright that it captures my daughters attention. The text is simple so it's just enough for her to sit through. I highly recommend all four books.

This book came in a set of the other 3 Baby Dazzlers titles. My 2 year old loves the simple and enthusiastic rhymes, bright colors, and glittery accents on every page. Each book has a baby with a different skin color, which is always nice! Children's book of the month club offers all four books in a set for really cheap! I recommend all four

This book as well as Helen Stehpens other books are fantastic. They are the best books we've got to read to our baby. They have great colors and short and simple tales. My 6 1/2 month old pulls this one out of her toy chest among all her other toys.

This delicate children's books reveals a small part of the talent of artist Tim Brown;one becomes curious to see more of his work.

Deceptively simple, Bark and Tim brings you an age-old story of friendship, that between a boy and his beloved dog. Tim Brown's colorful folk art and the spare (but evocative) text will engage and delight children, while it helps them to understand that, through art, we can keep our friends in our hearts forever.

This story flows like a river on a lazy summer afternoon, winding its way across the Mississippi countryside of the 1920's and 30's. Audrey Glassman Vernick and Ellen Glassman Gidaro's language is both deceptively simple and wonderfully rich. Tim Brown's folk art is as scruffy as Bark himself, and is all the more real for that.

Bark and Tim gives us rough-hewn truth and timeworn beauty. It gives us piny woods, soft grass, and shiny mud. It gives us the early-dark days between Halloween and Thanksgiving, the cloudy mist of Christmas dreams, the sweet air of Spring, and the warm summer sun. It gives us a boy, his dog, and all the seasons they spent together.

Bark and Tim gives us love. Not the some idealized, syrupy, slicked-up version of love. It gives us real love. And thank goodness for that.

I originally bought this book for myself. There is something about this book that pulls you in, and makes you want to own it. The combination of the author's story and Tim Brown's artwork is magical. After reading Bark and Tim to my daughter for the first time, she took over my copy and now likes to keep it beside her at night. She says she wants to sleep with Bark. It definitely has both adult and kid appeal.

Would also make a great gift to anyone who loves art, dogs, picture books, or just a good, unique story.

When you're done enjoying the book, don't forget to read the author's note at the end. The story of their collaboration with Tim Brown is worthy of its own book. It's a fascinating story.

this heartwarming story about a boy and his dog is even more special, knowing it's based on the artist's own childhood and illustrated with his paintings. Sisters Audrey and Ellen tell Tim Brown's story beautifully.

The relationship between Bark & Tim reminded me of pets I've loved and lost, bringing tears to my eyes. My son asks for it often, as he enjoys Bark's antics.

BARK & TIM is the perfect addition to a pet lovers library!

This book was the best book i've read in many years. I was hooked from the begining, and stayed up all night reading it! it is emotionally enthralling, especially for any that love the original BEACHES.

Well....after being a HUGE fan of the movie & book of "Beaches" I thought a good sequel was not achievable, but I was wrong....a must read for those who loved "Beaches"

I thought that I'll Be There was an exelent book. It made me laugh and cry, as well as feel emotions that I have never felt before. The book was easy to read. Even non-readers should love it and be able to slip into the story line in no time. I hope all of Iris Rainer Dart's books are as good as this one was.

I found this book when looking for the first one, and I was really satisfied. I tought it would lack Beaches special indescriptible feeling, I really wanted t read the first one.. but I'm really glad I found this one and read it.. IT IS A GREAT BOOK... it makes you think and realize life. This book puts you in touch with you deep inside. If you liked the movie, you would love this book.. it even leaves you wanting more Beaches.. even a movie of the sequel. You must definitely read this book!!!!!

After seeing "Beaches" and reading it, it only came to reason to read the sequel. And, boy, was it good!!! Anyone who saw the movie has to read the books!!!! They will make you laugh and cry, and you can just picture Cee Cee standing on the beach, hands on her hips with a nasty look on her face! Trust me, you pick one of these books up, you'll read it from start to finish!

This book is jammed pack full of SAGA info on critters of Krynn. I have gotten a lot of useful information from it. I wish they had more than just the two books on Krynn.

This is such a good role-playing aid. it is well-written, & visually superb. it is THE BEST MONSTER MANUAL that TSR has put out. The Bomb!

This book is well-written, lots of fun to read, and the illustrations are fantastic.

Fans of the novels will enjoy this as much as game players.

If you plan to play SAGA or you just red the novels, this book is for you. It is a narrative book by Caramon Majere. He shows us all the feinds and freinds in DL. The Illustrations are great and the set up is much nicer than TSR's past Monstrous Manuals and Compendiums. The reason I gave this only 4 stars is that the book didnt include mosses and fungi, and some plants that can play a major role in a SAGA campaign.

If you play the Dragonlance adventure game with SAGA, this book will tell you all you need to know to have any creature in your game! And even if you don't, it provides excellent background knowledge and stories about the creatures. It is great!!!

Reviewed by Mary Durfor for RebeccasReads (6/08)


"Big Brown Bag: Stories" is a collection of twelve short stories, which can only be described as haunting, weird, macabre, and bizarre. Nevertheless, the book is strangely compelling to read. Some of the images created by the author stay with the reader long after the book is closed, and are disturbing to recall, yet difficult to forget. They are reminiscent of Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum and The Tell-Tale Heart, haunting images that will stay with the reader forever.

The title story is a strange tale of the journey of two young people, Leila and Eck, who are striving to reach a destination: the home of Peter Twiss. Leila is desperate for work and has pinned all her hopes on the unreachable Mr. Twiss. Eck's limbs begin to fall off, leaving a bloodbath along the road, and as the big brown bag fills up with his body parts, the destination becomes more and more impossible to reach. The story is exhausting. The next story is The Elephant Factory, where we are subjected to all the mean and disturbing thoughts of the first-person storyteller, yet taken in by the otherworldly spinning, dancing lights that he and his date, Delia, observe while on the roof of the Elephant Factory. Another story, Robotics, follows a husband and wife who are observing their neighbor constructing a robot in his garage, while they await the return of their son, Jack, who was horribly injured in the military, and who will be encased, hooked up to, and inextricably bound with so many machines when he returns home that he, too, will be like a robot. In the story, The Baby Vanishes, a pregnant woman deals with the stress of her third pregnancy by screaming, a technique which she had used in her first two pregnancies with good results. However, this baby chooses to leave them before being born, and they react to the event quite uniquely. By this time, the author has us in a state of mind that simply accepts his stories of the bizarre without question.

This is Mark D'Anna's first published book. The reading audience cannot be too squeamish, and must allow leaps of faith while reading the collection. The writing is crisp and intimately descriptive, and I found myself immediately drawn into each story, as unique and different as they were. I look forward to reading future publications from Mr. D'Anna. For now, some of his characters are burned into my consciousness.

Santa, Vanity, Dead Celebrities, Ghosts, War Veterans, fascination with waiters, and unwitting and unwanted pregnancy cures - just some of the variance degrees of weird and not-weirdness one will find in "Big Brown Bag", the short story collection debut of author Mark D'Anna. Packed cover to cover with intriguing tales and thrilling characters makes it an exciting debut for D'Anna indeed. "Big Brown Bag" is highly recommended to fans of short story collections, especially those with a bit of an offbeat tone and for community library fiction collections.

Last fall as I was preparing for a trip to Thailand, I was on the market for a few books to take with me on the trip. A friend of mine recommended I purchase Mark D'Anna's series of short stories BIG BROWN BAG which I'm pleased to say was one of my favorite purchases of last year.

The shorts compiled here vary vastly in subject matter, from the serious gripping drama of Robotics and Alone at the End of the World, the dark humor of The Life and Death of Steve Cutler to the spiritually moving The Elephant Factory.

After my 16 hours of travel I found myself suffering some pretty severe jet lag, struggling to stay awake and get accustomed to the local time. D'Anna's novel kept me turning the pages, unable to put it down after I'd started. I'd usually end up reading at least two additional stories (each is about 10 pgs long) and staying up later than I'd intended. I was compelled to keep reading, the characters so well developed and story's so intriguing and filled with detail, I'd find myself thinking about them days later, mulling what happens next in their world's, beyond where their stories end.

I was very grateful to have BROWN BAG with me on my trip and highly recommend it as it's a great read to both avid readers as well as casual ones. The chapters are the perfect length for reading through when you keep a busy schedule. One warning however, it's tough to stop reading these after you've started.

I'm looking forward to D'Anna's next release, and still want to know what happens next!

I am thrilled this book was recommended to me. Here you find writing that is brilliantly dark, wildly warped, but true to our lives. We know his characters because they are the truest, cruelest and most hopeful aspects of ourselves. Mr. D'Anna reveals slices of their complex lives in each story. We get a peek at their eccentricity, vanity, courage and loneliness but are left to contemplate their fate on our own. A man considering an affair with his consolation prize, a contract killer with a conscience, a married couple in grief, and a crazy robot building neighbor are what await you inside. His writing is fresh, unique but reminiscent of writers like Raymond Carver, George Saunders and Haruki Murakami. I know you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Mark D' Anna's collection of short fiction is an amazing debut for a writer who masters the art of taking the most complex (and not so complex) of ideas and expresses them with a unique, refreshing sense of profound simplicity and technical sophistication. His writing style is extremely reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver, George Saunders and especially Haruki Murakami, where he utilizes the powerful economy of language to reveal the many facets of humanity. And it's expertly reflected through the characters he creates and the situations each of them face.

All twelve stories shine with their individual charm. But every reader has their favorites. Mine include those which possess a "fantastic" flavor, such as the title story which deals with a woman escorting her simple male companion (half the time in a large brown bag) towards their uncertain destination. I also like the celestially surreal beauty of "Elephant Factory," the Ray Bradbury-ish heartbreaking "Robotics," the ironic mixture of the supernatural (or is it supernatural?) and patriotism in "Dave Duncan, Patriot," and the absurdity of how an egotistic assassin gets his just deserts in "The Life and Death of Steve Cuttler." But his "realism" stories deliver the same incredible emotional punch as the fantastic. "The Man who Loved Jayne Mansfield" is a poignant look at how a photograph can either be a lonely man's salvation or damnation. And "Mama's Little Chauvinist" intriguingly shows a power struggle between a child and a Santa Claus he discovers in his own back yard.


The characters drive the action in D'Anna's stories, and it's this wonderful balance of developed characterization and the fluidity of his prose that forces the readers to hold on tight for an incredible literary ride.

Bill Slider keeps getting better and better and his police crew are also growing and maturing. They are half the fun in these stories. This series should be read in order because the development of the characters is so well laid out from one book to the next. In this book Bill is trying to find out who raped and murdered a well-known journalist. Don't forget to read the chapter headings because Ms. Harrod-Eagles is still in fine form with the puns. Even her titles have hidden meanings which you will discover when you find out who committed the crime this time. There are lots of red herrings and lots of interference by principles in the crime to help keep the murderer a secret until you near the end. Very good series! My only complaint is the way this book leaves the reader hanging at the very end regarding Bill's and Joanna's relationship. Now that Bill's divorce is final, things should be going smoothly for him and Joanna, but that unfortunately is not the case. We'll have to read the next one to keep up to date on that relationship.

This gal is the real goods, she delivers. Cynthia has the knack for reconstructed cliches and malaprops. There are lots of chuckles, out loud laughs and guffaws. For some of the fun you have to have a frame of reference, a history, of course, but you will not be disappointed even when you don't know what you are missing. The plot is nicely constructed and the conclusion credible, which is not true of much of the dreck on the market today.

I'm so glad I stumbled across Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, a prolific British writer I'm guessing not well known here in the colonies, despite her portfolio of some 30+ books counting both these mysteries and over two dozen historical romances. I've only tried Bill Slider so far, but he's a wonderfully low-profile hero in the style of Dick Francis' leading men: guys you either want to be like (men) or want to be with (women). That our author can get that feeling so consistently over eight stories is impressive, despite plots that are entertaining and often complex enough to bewilder til right near the end.

The series is best read in order, because part of the fun is following Bill's personal life as his somewhat flawed marriage is tested (uncharacteristically for our straight arrow) by a lovely violinist that turns his head. His unattached "playboy" sidekick Atherton has much the same "trouble" and the interplay between these two men makes interesting counterpoint to the thorough police work otherwise on display. Indeed, we have come to know and like many of the precinct's supporting players beside our leading men.

I'm guessing Harrod-Eagles has either real life experience in an orchestra or a close friend in one, because her description of the lives and times of the players, and the politics and "affairs" in the symphony, are right on. (If that's "just" the result of research, I'm astounded!) Maybe best of all, some personal dilemmas for Joanna (our musician) add some real kick to the story, right up to a cliff-hanger ending that can only be resolved in the next book -- hopefully being penned as we speak!

So "Blood" seems to have it all: a mystery and plot that leads us here and there right to the end; compelling developments between Bill and Joanna that make us worry; and story that entertains on almost every page. Sounds like 5-stars to me!!

Blood Sinister should have been a feature for this month. Harrod-Eagles provides another chapter in her top-notch series with Slider, Atherton, and Joanna, characters you will care about - rare in the mystery genre. Strongly suggest readers start with the first Bill Slider book to get the most out of this very satisfying series.

Cynthia Harold Eagles has written another excellent Bill Slider mystery. Detective Inspector Slider must investigate the death of left-wing journalist, Phoebe Agnew, who wasn't exactly a favorite of the police department after one of her stories helped to free an obviously guilty killer on a matter of failed police proceedure. With his side-kick Atherton heading toward some kind of a breakdown, Slider must untangle a web of lies and betrales that lead toward powerful members in Government. On a personal level Slider must also deal with his emotions as his divorce comes final and also with a new twist in his relationship with musician girlfriend, Joanna.

The plotting of this book was excellent and each time I thought I had the mystery figured out, another twist occurred. I look forward to the next one.

What an amazing and well written book that I found to be particularly meaningful to me. I was an F4 Phantom driver (USAF) based at Cam Ranh Bay AB, Vietnam, during 1966-67 and as a fighter pilot my combat experiences were exciting but far different from that of the helicopter pilots so well described by the author, N. G. Brown. Although I always had great respect for our helicopter pilots in Vietnam I never knew much about how they lived, trained or conducted combat operations. As I read Blue Max I was profoundly moved by the way the words drew me into the helicopter pilots world. I felt as if I was right there in the cockpit on every mission described. The unique way that Mr. Brown is able to described his experiences ranging from periods of stark terror to hilariously humorous moments is truly remarkable. For me, this book has given me better understanding and appreciation for America's helicopter combat warriors. This book would make an outstand movie if produced as it is written. I highly recommend this book, it was a joy to read.

I flew with Blue Max back in `The Good Old Days'. I'm not writing this review because Mr. Brown is a friend of mine but because he wrote a book that I didn't want to put down until I read all of it, almost without stopping. He has done a wonderful job describing what the Viet Nam War was like for some of us who were there. It brought back a lot of memories about my tour `Over There' and what he writes about is really interesting, insightful and revealing regarding what happened back then and what we who were there went through over there and later on, over here. If you want and like a good narrative history, this book definitely won't disappoint you. So much better then the hollywood tripe that has been put out.

During the Vietnam war the AH1G Cobra attack helicopter was a new concept in gun ships. Mr. Brown flew these Cobras and if you ever wanted to take a ride in one, here is your chance.
I got to Vietnam a few months after Mr. Brown went home but I did serve in the same unit as he did and trust me, he tells the story the way it really did happen. I honestly could not put this book down. Job well done Mr. Brown.

Glenn Brown's book is well written and fast paced. The military action is exciting and he provides philosophical insight into the time as someone who was there in the midst of the missions. He mixes in humor and brings the events to life. The book also includes a number of photos. A great read!

N. G. (Glenn) Brown has done a masterful job of telling his story of being a helicopter pilot in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. It is a remembrance of how it really was during the day to day operations of the unit he was assigned to and the heroics of the American soldier called to do what his country asks with uncommon skill and ingenuity; he was the master of a complex machine sometimes forced to use it beyond its intended purpose to accomplish the assigned task and to survive. A great read, enjoy it.

Reviewed by Regan Zaborowski (age 8) for Reader Views (11/07)

"Blue Schwartz and Nefertiti's Necklace" is a story about a girl named Blue Schwartz who babysits a lot for Professor Albany's two children when he goes out with his wife, Mrs. Albany. Professor Albany is a teacher who likes to study about old times and things. Other main characters in the story are Yvonne, who is Blue's best friend; Zach, who is Professor Albany's assistant, and Mrs. Bliss, who is Blue's neighbor and where Blue likes to go to watch cooking shows on television. Blue likes to make up her own recipes, and they are in the back part of the book.

The big problem in this story is that Nefertiti's necklace was missing from the glass case in Professor Albany's house. There was a big party at Professor Albany's house, and a lot of people saw the necklace. Professor Albany thinks that Blue took the necklace, and wants to call the police if she does not return it. Blue has many adventures when she tries to find out who the real thief of the necklace was. The ending surprised me.

I loved this book, because it was interesting how Blue made plans to find the necklace and how she finally succeeded in her plans. I was surprised by the ending, when Blue found out who the real thief was. I was very glad that she didn't take it. The recipes in the back of the book were fun to try. Blue likes to cook and learn about cooking and new recipes, just like I do. My mom and I tried all the recipes, and my favorite was the French toast.

I would recommend "Blue Schwartz and Nefertiti's Necklace" for both boys and girls my age to read because I think they would like the surprise ending and also the cooking recipes.

This fast, fun mystery is a bit reminiscent of Nancy Drew. Blue Schwartz and her friend Yvonne are out to solve a mystery.

Blue Schwartz is an experienced babysitter, but her current employers have accused her of stealing. First they are suspicious when the wife's bracelet falls to the floor after apparently getting stuck in Blue's coat. All seems forgiven until after an important social gathering, when they suspect Blue of taking a valuable artifact.

Not wanting to trouble her financially strapped parents, Blue seeks the help of her friend Yvonne. Together they carry out an investigation that takes them through the streets of Chicago and into several of its world famous museums. Among the colorful characters are an elderly neighbor lady, a demanding and annoying teacher, a brainy brother, and TV Chef Randy, Blue's culinary idol.

An added feature at the end of the novel is a group of recipes Blue created for her babysitting clients and a school project on soybeans. The recipes are kid-friendly and sound yummy.

Hopefully Betty Jacobson Hechtman will return with another adventure featuring Blue Schwartz. She is sure to be a hit, especially with younger readers.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

From the minute you open this book, you become Blue's partner-in-crime, as she takes you along for a wild adventure. This story has a child-like simplicity, and is a delightful experience for readers of all ages. The recipes at the end are an added bonus that serve as clever souvenirs for the reader to take with them into the kitchen (the popcorn balls were my favorite)! I especially enjoyed the tour of Chicago's Hyde Park. The characters are familiar, as if they were your own personal friends, and the exciting plot of this charming mystery really takes you away. Take this journey and become Blue's accomplice - get a copy today!

Although I am closer to the author's age than to Blue Schwartz's, I thoroughy enjoyed this book. This is the Hyde Park I remember from when I was in college in the 60's, and the now bittersweet evocations to Marshall Field's, and the current ones to the Medici and Oriental Institute, help the flavor of the plot. The characters are crisply drawn, and the incidental references to such Hyde Park habitues as University of Chicago students and professors are wry and witty (and made me chuckle). A delightful quick read -- and don't be surprised if you get hungry while doing so. After all, it is a mystery with recipes.

Betty Jacobson Hechtman is a Chicago native who now resides in California. She had a lot of experience babysitting as a teenager, and has translated her experiences to juvenile fiction. She currently resides in California with a cat named Einstein and a dog named Yoga. Her love of baking is apparent in the recipes she thoughtfully provides throughout her book.

Blue Schwartz is thirteen and is the second of two children in a lower middle class family in Chicago. Her schoolteacher parents are pinning their hopes on her brother-the-brain, and Blue feels isolated, except for her good friend Yvonne. When Blue babysits for a Professor Albany's kids, a priceless necklace said to be Nefertiti's disappears. A stern Professor Albany immediately blames Blue for the loss and threatens police action if she doesn't produce the necklace. Blue also has a report due at school for a non-supportive and lazy teacher. Then there is the new guy at school, Shane, who is showing some interest in Blue, making her heart jump. Blue and her friend Yvonne try all sorts of clumsy plans to retrieve the necklace until Blue discovers the culprit and the menace of Professor Albany:

"'He wouldn't really want to call the police. They'd start checking on the necklace and find out what he was claiming to be his was stolen property. No doubt, they'd start asking him a lot of questions he wouldn't want to answer. When you're dealing with illegal things, you don't want the police involved, Blue. Just suppose some drug dealer gets his stash stolen. He isn't about to report to the police.'"

Betty Hechtman does a masterful job of producing Blue's voice for the reader. What goes on in a thirteen year old's head is a mystery to much of the population, including their own parents! Hechtman combines Blue's first tentative steps into adulthood with compassion, wit, and laughter. Blue and her friend Yvonne are delightful characters, as are the friends she makes as Blue struggles with some very adult problems.

Hechtman's plot is fast-paced and scaled down to a teenager's world. She uses cooking as glue to hold together an already intriguing plot that involves visits to the Oriental Institute, where Yvonne's mother works. Hechtman produces a book that is perfect for the 12-15 year old crowd. She manages to teach, entertain, and make the reader smile.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

This book is one of my favorites for group activities, ice breakers, and getting a staff team to start thinking creatively. It is perfect for anyone who likes a challenge and the answers not just handed to them. I have given these books as gifts to adults and see them use the exercises over and over. Highly recommended. (Maybe even your kids would like it.)

This 125-page children's book really makes you think by challenging the most basic of assumptions. Some of the exercises are quite simple, some a bit more complex, but all of them make readers consider things from a different point of view, a skill that all too many people in 2008 have utterly lost.

After explaining briefly that people often get roadblocks in their brains, or "build your own mental walls," and keep bumping into them, this book first sets about proving the point, and then proposes several samples of mental gymnastics to get one's brain "unstuck."

The second, entitled "Looking at what you usually see," challenges ten pretty basic assumptions. It asks readers to try a ten-question quiz, answering each item "true" or "false." Then readers are asked how many answers they were absolutely certain of and how many they guessed. After a week, they're asked to try the same quiz over again. In many more instances than one would imagine, readers answer wrong, and a week later, still get a lot of questions wrong.

Similarly, the book instructs readers to "watch out for mental blinders," which prevent problem solving just as much as physical blinders prevent peripheral vision for horses. Drawing a line through nine dots in only four strokes, for example, is possible without lifting the pencil off the page---only if one thinks "outside the box."

Newspapers today are as guilty as school children (and too often, teachers) of insisting that reports may be told only one way. Any news falling outside the lines of "acceptability" essentially get blocked out. This is the boxiest means---that is to say, the stupidest possible---to cover national and international events in a supposed democracy.

By not admitting information from "outside their box" news media are contributing mightily to the downfall of free thinking.

Fortunately, readers still have The Book of Think, and the Internet, to help them evade all those dumb, artificial boundaries.

I just pulled out my copies of this book and The I Hate Mathematics Book! to show to someone. I read them both prolifically from years 8-12 or so, and to this day pick them up occasionally. I was curious to see if it was still in print, and pleasantly suprised. My copy of this book is so well worn, the cover is falling off of it.

The Book of Think, simply put, is a book that teaches critical thinking skills. The puzzles are fun, and sometimes a bit surreal. The skills learned are invaluable. I believe this series was recommended to us by a gifted education teacher. They strongly shaped my formative years. I remember staying home and reading these two books, and others in the series. They are loaded with practical problems and hands on tools to use. I am sure that a teacher could find lots of great activities for students with these books.

Quick, click on the link and purchase this book, Hate Mathematics, I am not a short adult, Blood and Guts, The Reason for Seasons, This book is about Time... get them all before they are out of print. You won't be disappointed. It may be the best purchase you have ever made for your children and/or students. Maybe even yourself! I think I'll reread them all.

Lisa

I was given this book a zillion years ago when I was a kid. It must have made quite an impression on me, because I still remember it fondly all these years later. I recently bought a copy for my 6-year-old and, while some of the book's concepts are a little advanced for her, she still enjoys it. This book encourages creative problem-solving and analytical skills, two things that are not taught nearly enough in today's schools.

I was given this book as a child. It was one of the best gifts I ever got. Every child should have this book, and every parent should read it, too.