Bryant Books

"Join the Club!" is a fun, if somewhat formulaic first release for the new "Friendship Club" entry into the "Strawberry Shortcake" series. This book traces the beginning of the club... or rather, clubs at first. See, Strawberry Shortcake, Ginger Snap and Orange Blossom are all together during a cold and rainy day and get the idea to start a friendship club. They get so busy with their plans that they forget that three of their best friends -- Huckleberry Pie, Angel Cake and Blueberry Muffin aren't there. Once they realize what's happened, they decide at the time that it's not a big deal and they can just tell them about it when they see them.

Their friends, however, *do* think that it's a big deal. This creates a rather unpleasant situation when they decide to form their own club instead. How will they resolve it? You'll have to read to find it.

The "Friendship Club" books are the first chapter books for "Strawberry Shortcake" and are illustrated throughout. Older fans of Strawberry and her friends won't want to miss these books, which might also work as readalouds for younger audiences who are able to appreciate them, but may not be yet ready to read them themselves.


Oh, one other thing -- Amazon's display picture portrays Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry Muffin on the front cover, but the copy I have shows Strawberry and Huckleberry Pie.

Read this #1 in the series and you will have to get your little friend #2. Great for young girls.

I found the book to be very dsconnected. Definitely full of history but lacking in continunity. Mike Walker had so many sources to use and think he used them all, but many times he lost focus of Mary Bryant and tended to give a history lecture. Very interesting and informative, just didn't care for the structure of the book and presentation of the story.

As one who has spent his entire life in Australia, I can't help feeling that story of the First Fleet is almost a part of me. From an early age I was fed and I absorbed the legends of poor English children transported to Botany Bay for the crime of stealing a handkerchief or a loaf of bread. Brutal guards, corrupt officials and murderous natives are used to complete the picture, and to help create an Australian ethos which is - and of course I generalise - anti-authority, anti-British and, perhaps most tragic of all, anti-Aboriginal.
Mike Walker's work is, in that context, an important contribution to a more complete understanding of Australia, and Australians. It's also a darned good read.
Mary Bryant (nee Broad) is stereotypical in many ways - poor Cornish fisherman's daughter, driven to petty crime, almost hanged, transported, persistent, strong - and so it goes.
Her story moves from the stereotypical to the extraordinary as she battles all before her to return with her family to her beloved Cornwall.
While the tale itself is remarkable, and worth the price of admission in its own right, I enjoyed the other personalities just as much. James Boswell, Arthur Phillip, Watkin Tench (or, in an hilarious error in the index, "Watkin Fench"), and Ralph Clark all come to life in a real, raw and entertaining way, thanks to Walker's style, and also to the way he has structured the book.
"A Long Way Home" is a neat companion to Tom Kenneally's "The Commonwealth of Thieves," also published in 2005, and providing a more general account of the first four years of English settlement in what we now know as Australia.
Walker is more tightly focused, but no less incisive and insightful. His is a book for the vaguely-interested (in Australian history) and also for the vitally-concerned. It is beautifully presented, and - I'm writing this review in early December - would make a superb Christmas for any thinking person.

I purchased this book to review toxicology for my re-certification boards in Emergency Medicine. It is concise and covers most everything. Highly recommend!

Are you getting crazy with all thoose toxic substances? This book gives you the tips that make clear the main differences between the different groups of poisons.

very good... Brings LIFE to the Bible. Made me look at and rethink Greek History and 'myth'. Includes some Bible references for matching and comparison. Makes a necessary point that 'scholars' refuse to make these comparisons or to EVER even consider the creator theory and shows how ridiculous the evolution theory really is. The more science knows... the more likely the creator theory is the truth. Also has photos of Ark site and matching Biblical references.

This is a great, great book. I couldn't put it down. One astounding surprise after another, presented with illustrations of ancient art in a plainspoken, matter-of-fact way. Finally, ancient Greek art makes sense. As the Noah book avails itself of the "Look Inside" feature, you can see the front cover full-size. Those are ancient images of the Greek version of Noah! Please think about that, and its implications. Also, check out the images and text on the back cover. If that doesn't make you want to read the book, nothing more I can write will. I also highly recommend the author's hardback: THE PARTHENON CODE: MANKIND'S HISTORY IN MARBLE The Parthenon Code: Mankind's History in Marble.

The book was in great condition and really helped me. It had all of the information I needed to successfully pass the class.

Gary Greene and Carol Kochhar get right to heart of youth transitioning from school to adult independent life. This book starts out with eye opening stastics about youth with disabilities and young adults with disabilities in the employment and community world. It goes on to suggest solutions for the issues related when trying to assist youth with disabilities in their transition to adult life. I would highly recommend this to all current and future educators as well as parents and service providers working with youth with disabilities.

March Madness has returned, leading to a series of ill-conceived brackets, non-stop ESPN analysis and often heated discussions over whose alma mater is going to take it all this year. Everyone with even a passing attention for the game gets caught up, reviving old rivalries and remembering that last big game. No doubt it's even bigger for the friends and family of players, who remember when their boys played in the high school gym.

It's that affection for young players that fuels "Remember Westville," James Bryant's history of the 1976 Westville Tigers. Westville, a small Illinois town known mostly as home to the first night high school football game, saw their high school basketball team embark on a winning streak that motivated players and fans alike. Winning several regional tournaments, they eventually lost a super-sectional but still established the best season in school history.

To reconstruct this almost epic year Bryant conducted extensive interviews with Coach Hardy, as well as the entire team, assistant coaches, rival coaches and family members. He covers Hardy's first years as coach and tracks the path each player took to get on the court, moving on to play-by-play descriptions of bigger games. It gets off to a slow start - there are almost too many little details, such as Coach Hardy's inscriptions in the high school yearbook - but the excitement builds as the stakes rise.

The book's research is considerable, but its construction feels less like a narrative and more like a documentary. Bryant, a former radio broadcaster, structures the book as a series of commentaries followed by long quotes from players and coaches. The language makes it seem like there should be a running reel of game highlights or players' faces, which makes the book's almost complete lack of pictures rather surprising.

What the book lacks in visual aid it makes up for in commitment, both affectionate and perceptive. Competition with rival schools Chrisman and Schlarman will resonate with anyone even peripherally involved in high school athletics, and the feel of the game comes across in several of the more tense reenactments. Anyone who either knew the players personally or becomes attached to them will enjoy updated biographies at the end - none of the players went pro, but all enjoy comfortable lives and share fond season memories.

"Remember Westville" is the story common in sports - small school team, up against the odds, uniting the town in a quest for glory even if the final win eludes them. With every player and coach talking to him Bryant has put together an in-depth history, even if some of the hometown pride will be lost on non-Westville residents.

This book is a great read! Much like Friday Night Lights, this book blends history with the incredible basketball season of 1976. Its an inspirational book that would be an ideal for any high school fan of basketball or football. Any fan who has experienced a season with your own kids or if you are just a fan of high school sports, get this book. It tells about the highs and lows of high school sports, and what a team goes through on an individual level and as a unit.

Based on over 1000 letters still surviving from over 135 years ago. What we are given is a window through which we can look at life as it was for a young married couple almost 140 years ago. We share their joy and delight at their marriage; we rejoice at the birth of their first child. We share their pain and longing as the war separates them. We feel the terror and the horror of a young woman as the Yankees approach her home. We share her anguish as she learns of the death of her beloved husband. Seldom have I read a book that transported me so completely to another time and place as Rose Cottage Chronicles did- one feels like you are there peering over their shoulders as they struggle to survive the hardships caused by the Civil War. For its painstaking attention to detail,its historical accuracy, and its readability, this book is a TREASURE!! Anyone with an interest in the Civil War or what daily life was like back then would enjoy reading Rose Cottage Chronicles.

Very good book about life in Florida during the War Between the States. Not the stuff of generals or other "important people", these are the chronicles of normal people during that period and gives an excellent insight into what life was really like in rural north Florida during the war. It is refreshing to see this aspect of the war published and it is invaluable to the serious student of the war who wishes to explore the conflict on the frontiers, far from the more researched and reported theaters closer to Washington and Richmond. By reading the letters of the participants and their families, you are almost transformed and taken back to live among them. An excellent book.

This book is great. I love it, and I love all of the other Saddle Club books.
Will Lisa have to be sent off to a snooty old boarding school with a bunch of girls who are mean to their horses? Read this book to find out. I think that Stevie's plan is completely brilliant and it's just like her to think of something like that.
This is a great book. GOOD WORK, BONNIE BRYANT!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa's mother is at it again but this time she has gone too far. She wants to send Lisa to a boarding school two hours from home! Stevie and Carole are shocked by the news and will do anything to keep her home in Willow Creek. But does she want their help?

The first chunk of this book describes the culture and daily life of the Bushi warrior class of the Sengoku Jidai period (roughly the dates in the title). This is full of interesting information about Samurai customs and personal possessions, like their Western-style pipes. The rest of the book examines weaponry, but especially armor. It lays a good foundation for the crazily small armor details good books on Samurai can be identified for. The plates are wonderful, as they are by Angus McBride. Among other things, they depict the crucial Battle of Nagashino and the Siege of Nagashino Castle, as well as sword and armor-making, Samurai training, and post-battle medical techniques.

This book won't replace a 600 pages reference book, but is a great little book which actually packs quite a bit of information. The drawings are beautifula and very detailed, which contributes to making this book attractive to seriously interested people as well as children.

I bought this book a long time ago (through a crafting book club, and it came with the paper patterns at the time so you didn't have to enlarge the pages in the back), and it's a great source for learning the "how" of sewing. The patterns don't have seam allowances added in, so you get a good idea of how to change patterns around without forgetting to add in seams. The patterns are very basic with very little fitting details, and there are no "dress" patterns, although they give you instructions on how to make certain views into dresses. There is also some basic information about fabric types that was useful when I started sewing. There are 2 vests, 3 shirts, 2 skirts, 2 pants, and at least one jacket pattern with instructions, as well as tons of ideas for personalizing them. My only complaints with the book is that there are no dresses, there are no indications on how much fabric you would need to make a dress variation, and I would have loved some details on how to fit things like princess seams and darts.

The basics, with that little extra, that can make a great wardrobe. Simple instructions.