Clayton Books

I purchased this book for my nephew who loves Peacocks. This is an endearing story about a lonely Japanese-American girl who makes up an invisible friend (the peacock) who teaches her some of the most important lessons in life. Themes of diversity, acceptance of our own individuality, unconditional love, self esteem and friendship are present throughout the story. Invisible friends are common in childhood, but in this story, the peacock seems so real to the reader that we begin to believe he is real too. Suki's father encourages the relationship with the invisible peacock and tells her such imagination can lead to good faith as an adult. The peacock teaches Suki to be humble and to love all others (even the school bully), just like God does. A good lesson for all. The book is 63 pages long and has only black/blue pen-and-ink/illustrations (although tastefully done, may not capture the attenttion of younger readers).

Reviews from the back of the book -

Come along and grow with Suki in this delightful series and see what this endearing little Japanese-American girl learns about surprises and gifts - about friends, about herself and her conscience, about the world of nature, about God's love and how to share it - in:

Suki and the Invisible Peacock, Suki and the Old Umbrella & Suki and the Magic Sand Dollar for which Joyce Blackburn was named Georgia's Fiction Author of the Year by the Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists. Also, Suki and the Wonder Star which was the winner of the National Associaton of Christian Schools' 1971 Children's Book Award.

"The Suki books are excellent exampels of children's literature that will promote interethnic understanding. Suki is a dignified, believable, and appealing character Children will have no trouble identifying wihe her. Ms. Blackburn has sensitively presented social and moral lessonsk, avoiding the didactic or 'preachy' treatment that often spoils books of this kind." - Dr. David K. Gast, Director, Minority Americans in Children's Literature Project, San Diego State College.

Ms. Blackburn possesses a find technical skill for imparting informtion to the young by employing the techniques of prose fiction with deliberate care. She achieves a harmony of balance between the incidents of the sotry and the spiritual thoughts so that the child will contemplate what has been written . . . for instruction and delight. - Arthur T. Allen, Associate Professor of Education-Children's Literature, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Written with poetic simpilicity, this intriguing story of a small girls' discovery of a real and magic Georgia island shows youngsters much that's fascinating about nature and the God who created it. - Charlotte Hale Smith, Atlanta Journal Constitution

The excellent writing combined with delightfully expressive illustrations make Suki and The Magic Sand Dollar a good choice for the child from about kindergarten to fifth grade. - HJanet Thompson, The Free Methodist

Our seven-year-old daughter thoroughly enjoyed Suki and the Magic Sand Dollar and will share it with her friends. . . An excellent addition to the school or home library. - Luetta G. Werner, Augsburg Publishing House Book News Letter

Sustainable development is a vast and complex subject where a new entrant can easily get lost. This concise book first offers a review of the issues involved, principally the problematiques centred around natural resources such as land, water, and biodiversity. It then tries to integrate these problematiques into a systems model whereby the non-expert policy maker can obtain a clearer picture of the stakes involved in a development intervention. The model presented, called "sustainability assessment map (SAM)", enables visualisation of the impacts of an intervention. This cannot by itself be an aid to decision making since it lacks the quantitative aspect, but I find this simple trick very interesting for illuminating the problem and for guiding discussions during preparation of an a priori assessment plan for a development intervention. I find both the introductory material and the model of representation very interesting from pedagogic point of view.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is very emotional and heartfelt. Each interview opened my eyes to the daily life and status of slaves. I found this book very insightful and recommend anyone who has the least bit of interest in history.

Osprey's new Battle Orders series is continuing to evolve as a hybrid, somewhere between the earlier Order of Battle series, the Elite series and the Campaign series. So far, each volume in this new series seems to have been put together with a different methodology. Dr. Clayton K S Chun, a lecturer at the US Army War College, offers keen insight into the evolution of the US Army in the period in between the end of the Civil War and prior to the Spanish-American War. Unlike other volumes in the Battle Order series, Dr. Chun does not try to describe the campaigns of the units in question, but focuses almost exclusively on the organization, doctrine and training of the frontier army. Despite the title, this volume is less about the Indian Wars per se than the slow transformation of the US regular army into a more professional force in the late 19th Century. Modern US Army readers might want to consider how the regular army in the late 19th Century dealt with an elusive foe, nation-building and a myriad of other civic tasks - all familiar to American soldiers today in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dr. Chun begins his study of the frontier army with a short introduction and an enumeration of the mission of each of its three principle branches (infantry, cavalry and artillery). Readers conditioned to thinking that the frontier army was composed primarily of cavalry will be surprised to see that it constituted only 37% of the actual strength in 1876; the much-cheaper infantry was 50% and the all-but-ignored artillery branch was 12%. Dr. Chun then spends seven interesting pages discussing the doctrine and training of the frontier army; as Chun notes, the army's leadership was focused on preparing for war against a European foe and did not believe that intermittent conflict with Indian tribes (i.e. "low intensity conflict") warranted any significant doctrinal revisions. The army's leadership was shaped by the total war mentality of the recent Civil War and held any form of "police actions" in low regard. However, the basis of frontier doctrine rested on a belief in the offensive, executed by converging columns and winter attacks. General Sherman began to change US strategy in 1867 from "pacification" to "total war upon hostiles." Chun notes that the strategy evolved into "selective totality" - where the reservation system was used to contain the Indians and the US Army was used to punish tribes that left the reservation.

The heart of this volume lies in the 32 pages that Dr. Chun devotes to unit organization, which has maps and line and block charts that depict all the major US Army posts and unit dispositions in the West for the years 1867, 1876 and 1884. For example, a reader could find that in 1876 there were two companies of the 19th Infantry with 99 soldiers stationed at Fort Lyon in Colorado. Dr. Chun also details the organization of infantry, cavalry and artillery units from regimental down to squad level. There is a wealth of information in this section, including statistics on desertion (one-third of all enlistments between 1867-1891 ended in desertion; the desertion rate on the Plains was 25-40%, whereas it had only been 14% in the Civil War), cuts in pay and strength authorizations by Congress, frontier posts and Indian scouts.

Dr. Chun also provides a lengthy section on tactics, which indicates that while French Napoleonic-era influences were still strong, Army officers on the frontier were adapting to local circumstances. A good deal of this section focuses on the work of Emory Upton in codifying a post-Civil War doctrine for the US Army; Upton was important for introducing standardized marksmanship training and an attempt to standardize tactical training (previously, mostly done at unit level). Dr. Chun notes throughout this volume that the greatest weakness of the frontier army was inadequate training, although this was beginning to improve by the end of the 19th Century. Although Upton's ideas helped to increase professionalism in the US Army, some of his ideas - such as the concept of "fours" - did not work. The next section, on weapons and equipment is also quite good and details how the Army was plagued with surplus equipment and inadequate funds for new development. Final sections on C3I and unit status for each regiment (including tables on authorized and actual strength) round out the volume. Readers expecting a discussion of individual campaigns such as the Little Bighorn will be disappointed (although there is no shortage of other works on that subject), but Dr. Chun's volume is an excellent dissection of the US Army in the Plains Wars. In fact, I noticed only one significant omission in this volume, namely that the maps did not depict railroads or any civilian towns or cities; it would have been useful to compare the dispositions of the US Army in 1867-1891 with the westward progression of civilization.

Orphaned Paul comes to Nebraska from Australia as an exchange student to live with childless Dick and Cathy Giles for one year, but with the possible hope of adoption. Paul, an accomplished all-round athlete has lost a leg and manages extremely well with an artificial replacement he affectionately calls Matilda. But can he survive the Giles family? Dick, an accountant, is a pedantic computer-dependant bore, Cathy, dumb and scatty, dotes on her overly friendly cat Kitty. Dick's good looking antagonistic brother Carson is a flamboyant extrovert and seemingly a shallow womaniser, a self proclaimed comedian who cannot speak without joking, he owns the local and very successful pet cemetery. Marcie, Dick's sister appears to be the only stable member of the family.
Paul himself, open and sensitive (but secretly gay, for even he has a few harbours a few mysteries), is a very fine looking Australian hunk and is an instant success with everyone he meet; his devotion to running despite his handicap impress all. When he and Carson are first introduced it is clear there is a special connection, and Carson (Uncle Carse) becomes a special attraction for Paul, in turn Carson's interest in Paul proves he is not as self-centred and insensitive as he makes out.
As events unfold, Paul's relationship with each of the Giles family develops in a different way, and there are a few shocks install for almost everyone. The story builds to a most satisfying climax where everyone involved somehow manages come out smelling of roses.
I found this is a very appealing and funny tale, perhaps a little spoilt by the all too frequent use of capital letters in the dialogue, and the not very successful phonetic spelling of Paul's Australian speech, both of which I found a hindrance and distracted from the flow of the story. But that aside, it is otherwise an enjoyable read, ranging from passages of hilarious farce to warm tender and loving scenes.

Edward A. Blackburn, Jr., a retired Houston physician, visited all 254 Texas counties in the preparation of his book - Wanted: Historic County Jails of Texas. In addition to examining the early forms of confinement at the county level, Dr. Blackburn also provides the reader a brief history of the county. Persons interested in the history of corrections in Texas, especially at the local level, would find this book compelling.

Clayton Eshleman, What She Means (Black Sparrow, 1978)

It seems to me (from the perspective of the ex-English major) that we do irreparable damage to our high school and younger students in the English classroom. We hand them archaic, outdated poetry and say "this is poetry. Read it, learn, it, live it, there'll be a test on Monday." We breed, in many, a resentment of, if not a hatred of, poetry. It has always seemed to me that the attitude that causes this malady comes from the widespread belief among teachers that modern poetry isn't, well, poetry at all. This malady continues on up the ladder, of course. No one teaches Youssef Komunyakaa outside senior seminars, and likely never will. Jorie Graham or Clayton Eshleman? Forget it until you get into graduate writing programs.

I propose turning the system on its head. Give Jorie Graham to the junior high kids. Once they're in high school and better able to handle more nakedly-presented adult themes, give them Eshleman and Bukowski. This is stuff that high-school age kids are going to be able to read, understand, and identify with. (Then, once they've got the basics of how to interpret poetry down, hit `em with Shakespeare's archaisms when they get to college.)

Clay Eshleman's many books of fantastic high-quality work would play an integral part in this little scheme of mine. Eshleman has been, since the sixties, one of the three or four American surrealists worth reading, despite the contradiction that surrealist poetry is about unrequited love and Eshleman's seems to be about the bliss of monogamy, in many small ways. Hey, I can't explain it, I just read the stuff. What She Means may well be one of the finest books with which to start a career of reading and understanding poetry. Eshleman's late-seventies work shows a bit more control than what he was writing earlier in the decade (cf. The Gull Wall), but there's enough of the reckless abandon therein to appeal to the audience who needs that sort of thing in their reading material. Much of it is gloriously sexually explicit, which makes for a great shortcut into the mind of the high school student, but one gets the message relatively quickly that the sexual aspect of the work is only one part of a much larger and much more interesting whole. Recurring themes and images fade in and out, crossing poems with impunity and allowing for class assignments on, say, the role of Isis in the book's middle poems, or the recurring image of the Doric column. (One is tempted to make an allusion to Shakespeare as Corinthian. One will resist as much as possible.) Final paper: use any three Eshleman books to examine Clayton and Caryl's relationship. Extra credit for writing the whole paper in free verse.

What makes Eshleman's work so special is that, in various ways, he shows us that the geneses of these poems come from a place where the writing part of it-the grammar, the word choice in many cases, other pieces of the puzzle that is poetry-are second nature. This is a man who has mastered the language to the point where he can sit down and pull together a rough draft for one of these poems, chip away at it with a few revisions, and come up with something that elevates language in new, interesting ways. He takes his experiences and impressions of the world around him and makes them universal, and he does so in a way that both inspires and elucidates. That's what poetry is supposed to do. Yes, the stuff we all read in high school does the same thing, but you have that extra added layer of work that comes from having to translate language that's been out of date since a few years after it was written. (And people think immediate obsolescence is a new thing. Yeah, right.) Here we have a body of work, and Eshleman is the only American surrealist with such a substantial body in print through major presses, that takes away that layer; there are a few cultural references that might jar against the head of someone born after 1980, but 1980 is a whole lot closer to the modern American mind than is 1630. The themes are no less universal, the language is no less a thing of beauty for being modern, and the poetry is, simply, no less valid an example of immortal writing. Yes, Clayton Eshleman IS that good. More's the pity that so few people will ever get to read this stuff because they were turned away from poetry so many years ago. **** ½

This is a unique combination of short fiction stories and theology that illustrate the gospel message. The stories center on God's plan of the ages, for all peoples. The book is divided into three sections. In part one Clayton has chosen historical settings going back to cave dwellers in France who lived thousand of years ago to contemporary church members of today, to relate the message of God's love and power.

I especially enjoyed the story of the Wall Builder who lived a life of sacrifice during that time in history when the Great Wall of China was being rebuilt and repaired. The author has done his research and the stories bring the reader back in history. The writer helps you experience the pain and hopelessness of his characters as they seek the reason for their existence and a purpose for their lives.

Part two is the story of a shepherd boy who was present when the angels announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds. In this fictionalized account the author follows the life of this young shepherd boy from the manger throughout the Biblical account of the life of Christ and the period of history immediately following.

Each of the stories relates how the individuals reached a point of commitment in life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and of their meeting with the Lord Jesus at their death.

Part three traces the gospel message briefly from creation through the death and resurrection of Christ and clearly presents the choices available to the reader to determine their eternal destiny.

This is an excellent gift book for family and friends that are considering the claims of Christ. It is an ideal pre-evangelism tool.

This is a colorful tale reimagining the tale of Richard III and the Princes in the Tower from the perspective of the daughter of one of the guards. The novel is told in the form of notes passed among the children and a few royal decrees.

The pictures are a little more cartoonish than I prefer, but they are brightly colored and sometimes quite clever, and carry a lot of the sense of the story.

Not having children, I'm not sure whether they will easily understand it without previous knowledge of the story, but there is a historical note at the end that parents may want to read first.