Cross Books

Pestelli's book is a welcome addition to the musicological world; deeply informative and highly readable. The book is geared towards those with a comfortable familiarity of music history and was probably intended for music professionals and/or university-level music students. Appropriately titled (the AGE...) it focuses heavily on lesser known, yet influential, figures and trends that allowed the music of Mozart and Beethoven to become possible. Those with a lesser musical background are advised to have a good music dictionary on hand, as this writing does carry the informational weight of a university level text book.

Editor's Note: The Order of the Holy Cross is highly regarded in the Diocese of New York. Generations of our people have grown up knowing its monks and taking them for granted as part of the life of our Church. The Order's publication, the Holy Cross Magazine, year in and year out has furnished the Church with thoughtful and penetrating articles on religious subjects.

Some of these articles are what makes up this book. 250 pages. Articles by different people.

This book is full of more Santas, angels, and Victorian children in the usual Leisure Arts style of using turn of the century postcard art for cross stitch needlework graphics. The result is beautiful, although this book includes some country style art too. If I had time, I would stitch the snow covered Victorian style house, the angels with beautiful wings kneeling around the Christ Child, and the beaded snowflakes for my snowman tree. The Twelve Days of Christmas music sampler with matching ornaments would look great in a music room. I love the alphabet they've stitched on the country/Victorian bed linens. There are also cute ginger bread country kitchen items, and a quote from Dickens, with plenty of projects suitable for stitchers with abilities from beginning to advanced. The charts are beautiful, easy to read, and color-coded that really are great to stitch from.

I marvel at the number of African American children's books that can be used as effective teaching tools, yet are no longer in print. Lucille Clifton's ALL US COME CROSS THE WATER is one such literary work. Published in 1973, the book serves as an excellent springboard to writing, empowering blossoming writers to write from the heart. This work also serves as in invaluable resource to embrace diversity. ALL US COME CROSS THE WATER confronts a thought-provoking question that (in spite of DNA testing and technological advances) continues to haunt many black Americans: "From which African country is our ancestry rooted?" In a colloquial, humorous, yet candid way, Clifton addresses this seemingly timeless question. She brings to the forefront that Africa is not a country, that it and its people and cannot be generally classified. This work conveys that it is the role of the family extended to pass down the history to the children, rooting them in all aspects of their heritage. Clifton's work heralds the importance of reaching out to community to empower the individual and ultimately the collective body. Should you purchase this work for classroom use, before presenting it to a young audience, ensure that background information is conveyed. For example, Dahomey, a powerful West African Kingdom during the 17th century referred to in this work, is today called the Republic of Benin. Reference to Ujamaa, the little boy and main character in the story, sleeping in the same bed with his father conveys the family-bed concept embraced by many families across cultures. Verbs and nouns do not agree on every page; yet the writing style proves artistically effective. (Creative instructors can also use this work to highlight the formal use of verb/noun agreement.) A great vintage resource to spark investigative research into one's ancestry, ALL US COME CROSS THE WATER is worth the purchase for use with young learners!

This is my favorite cross-stitch book. I have several, and this is the one I have done the most projects out of. Even though this is out of print, it is definitely worth it to have this book found for purchase. You will love this book!

I was a little skeptical about buying this book at first, but I'm glad I did! It's jam-packed with tons of info about specific artists and tells the history of "alternative" music! He sweeps over a billion bands with such different sounds from Depeche Mode and Frankie goes to Hollywood, to Pantera and Husker Du and even Live, REM and David Bowie! The author also gives lots of lists of the best albums and labels and also internet sites (even though most of them are too old). I definitely recommend this book to any music fan who likes to read.

I think the fact that day by day you can read how Leslie Buswell became more and more aware of the futility of trench warfare....and the war itself.. makes this book even more interesting. There are some very interesting stories about the trenches..one moment they are swapping cigarettes with the Germans or going over to have a chat with them in the 'enemy's' trench and the next moment shooting at each other. Very surreal.

It is very descriptive, so you can imagine yourself there, and feel yourself feeling and seeing the very same things as the author. (There are some drawings also he drew in the book of things he saw around him)

Very interesting

We live a World where every new technology is ogled at, studied, and reviewed months before it is on the market. We spend our time trying to find faster and easier ways to do things in the future. In a world like this, the past is given very little thought. I very much doubt your Wall Street sharpie could tell you a lot about the War of 1812, or the St. Valentine's Day massacre.

But the past is not lost. There are a few incidents, which remain with us today. One of these history-making events that are in the minds of all of us is the legacy of Amelia Earhart. She is with us because her dream and her story are eternal. Hers is the story of a hero. A woman venturing on a path that many of her male counterparts would never dare. But this book not only relates the heroic tale of this woman, but the dream she left us with. The dream of an existence that was not always cut and dry. Not just a Lawyer, or a accountant, or a housewife. We could be anything, if we reach for it, and feel it strongly enough in ourselves. And as her dream has persisted through the decades, so has her story, and her sprit.

So far I have made "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" (on the cover of the book) for my mom and got it custom framed. Its harder than it looks since there can be over ten colors in one little flower, but it was worth it. Its beautiful and my mom loves it! Right now I'm working on "Just As I Am" for my sister (its a beautiful green pastoral scene with sheep) and "Rock Of Ages" (a very pretty scene with trees, rocks, and a waterfall) for my brother. These seem to be a little easier than the picture I made for my mom.
The other titles are, Amazing Grace (I want this one for myself), Blessed Assurance, Count Your Blessings, Jesus Loves Me, Shall We Gather At the River, Softly And Tenderly, Standing On The Promises, Sweet Hour Of Prayer, and When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder.

You will find thirteen wonderful designs for Counted Cross-Stitch in AMERICA'S BEST-LOVED CATS book by Linda Gillum. She has picked thirteen different felines in tabby orange; soft grays, blacks, whites of the American Shorthair; the tan and white of the Persian; the luscious chocolate of the Burmese; the mottled tan/black/white of the Maine Coon and the almost white of the Siamese.

The first page shows you the basic "how-to's". All the designs are shown in full color with charts large enough so you don't need a magnifier to see what colors go where as each design covers at least two full pages. She shows various forms to display your work when you have completed the project such as pillows or pictures in frames. On the last two pages, Ms. Gillum even provides the directions for creating the four different pillows shown in her book.

If you are a cat lover what better way to spend you relaxation time but stitching your favorite cuddly friend?