Edwards Books

The End for Which God Created the World represents the core of Jonathan Edwards's thought. Edwards's thesis is this: God designed everything to revel in his glory, and he desires for us to take joy in his magnificence. What's more, those who enjoy God will enjoy him with ever-increasing joy for all eternity. Isn't that a breathtaking thesis?

Edwards marshalls huge amounts of scriptural evidence to support his claim, and, as always, he brilliantly answers philosophical objections against what the scriptures reveal about the matter. His writing throughout is penetrating, perceptive, persuasive, and deeply worshipful.

I think John Piper's goals in his contribution to this work were to whet the reader's appetite for the feast of The End for Which God Created the World and to make the work more accessible to the average reader. He succeeds in both respects. After reading Dr. Piper's introduction I was eager to plow forward, and, while reading The End . . ., I found Dr. Piper's explanatory footnotes helpful.

The End for Which God Created the World is a majestic work, and I am grateful that John Piper took the time to re-introduce it to the general public. May God use this humble offering from Jonathan Edwards's pen to help our tragically parched world find the living water flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb!

This book recovers a much needed perspective for the evangelical church-- the importance of theology (what we believe about God) and intimacy (how well we know God). Too often, we get caught in the middle, in methodology (how we do things). Most books, most conferences, etc., deal with "how" instead of the other, more pertinent issues, which Piper relays from Edwards in this book. (I see this most often in the "church growth" movement-- where pastors all get together, go to conferences, and seek to copy what's working in some other place in the country, rather than struggling to know God in the present.)

J.Edwards was one who, according to Piper, was steeped in both theology and piety-- both, without neglect the other. Theology without intimacy leads to cold, dry orthodoxy. Yet, intimacy without theology often has no moorings... no depth...

The book is challenging... and will stretch you to move beyond simply copying the methods of others (whether you're a church leader or whatever) and get back to the God you know and relating to that God as you seek to know Him and make His glory known.

The book is in two parts. The second part of the book is an essay by Jonathan Edwards called, "The End for which God created the World." Edwards lived in the 18th century and was a careful and brilliant thinker. Needless to say, the essay is very tough read. I tried reading it slowly and carefully, but I gave up and decided to read it in normal mode. I plan to go back in a year and try it again. The essay needs to be digested slowly with multiple readings. Piper has added many footnotes to help guide the reader through the more difficult passages.

The first part is Piper getting you prepared emotionally and physically for the intellectual climb. He does an excellent job of encouraging the reader to make the climb for the view is great from the top.

The book is worth reading even if you don't understand it. It helps bring into focus all of Piper's writings.

This is a solid, powerful, stunning, and most biblical text from both Jonathan Edwards and John Piper. This book includes Edward's essay titled "The End for Which God Created the World," along with comments and further delineation from John Piper. To read Edwards sometimes takes much concentration and hard work, and Piper has done a great job bringing this work to life.

The first part of the book is an introduction to Edwards's work, by Piper (a sort of commentary, if you will), and the later part is the actual work of Edwards's. Piper begins by expressing his concern about the issue at hand, and then leads into a discussion of not only Edwards's life but his work as well. Piper comments on Edwards's conclusions in relation to Piper's concerns in his current ministry and then allows the reader to take what Piper has discussed and make application of it through Edwards's original work.

The thing I find most interesting about this work is its relevancy. What I mean by this is the fact that Edwards's wrote this work 200+ years ago and it is still pertinent to our own culture today (sure proof that the Truths of God endure forever). This is a great text, solid theology, and extremely relevant reading for today. I heartily recommend this work!

This is a general comment on Piper's books. I deeply appreciate the work of John Piper--especially his emphasis on missions and on living God-centered, Christ-exalting lives of worship. And I am Augustinian, so I love Piper's theology and am thrilled that he has become so popular. But I do want to provide a warning. Piper's main emphasis is (and you'll read this over and over again) "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied (or delighted) in Him." This is a biblical and wonderful proposition that Piper became aware of through the writings of Jonathan Edwards. To Edwards, this proposition was one small part of his theology.

But Piper has taken this idea, which he calls "Christian Hedonism," and built his whole life and ministry around it. The problem is that if you read enough Piper, you will begin to focus on the FEELING of being delighted in Christ, rather than on Christ Himself. And when your feelings don't match what you want them to be, you will become disheartened. (And let's face it, few of us have the emotional intensity of John Piper.) At that point, your feelings (of being delighted in God) become the object of your desires and, thus, an idol. Yes, they are feelings TOWARD God--but those feelings are NOT GOD. And when the focus of your life has become your emotions, it has deceptively become an idol.

I know Piper fights against this tendency. But I'm afraid he is often unsuccessful. The fact is, the Christian life is not going to be one of unending joy in God. Read the Psalms to see how often the psalmists cry out in agony and desperation and sadness to the Lord. Read Romans 7 to find out how tough and discouraging the Christian life can really be.

According to Piper, our happiness in God should be the driving motivation in our life. But when Christians are inevitably not overflowing with delight in God, then under Piper's framework, the only solution is to seek that feeling of joy rather than just do our duty. There are times when duty and obligation (which Piper hates) are the only motivations for the Christian to be obedient and live a life of faith. I agree wholeheartedly with Piper that delight in God is a much better motivation for the Christian than duty. But when that delight is not there, we still must be faithful and obedient, and we can't always wait on our feelings to drive us on toward the prize.

Read Piper's books. And enjoy his passionate and Christ-exalting preaching. But beware and repent when your emotions--rather than the Triune God Himself--become the focus of your life.

Lee Edward Fodi has set up this chronicle like a playset. There's everything in it thats in our world! Personally, I like Door To Unger because it has more adventure! But Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers is a great beginning book! Kendra Kandlestar is just as awesome as Harry Potter! It was so adventurouse and I love how you lay out the clues to the conclusion in the beginning! I love to read your books because when I'm in the middle I can't help wondering how the story ends. Then when I finish the book I realize all the clues were at the beginning at that surprises me! I loved the part where the Door To Unger starts to taunt Kendra. She showed real courage to stand up to the Door.

My favorite character is Oki because of his "EEKS" and "Don't think about onions" (Uncle Griffinskitch taught him that.) My favorite parts are when Uncle Griffinskitch "humphs". My favorite Kendra Kandlestar book is "Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger".

This book sucked me in and I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to read it over and over because I love this book.

I thought Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger was the best book ever! Whenever I read the book, I thought it had only been five minutes, but when I looked it had been half an hour! One of my favourite parts was when they met Effryn Hagglehorn, when Skeezle was making it's way up the tree and Effryn Hagglehorn did a spell to make the snail become a giant snail!

Kendra Kandlestar and the door to Unger is fantastic! It rocks! and the illustrations are really good, they're fantastic!

Being new to Wiccan, I found this book not only useful as a date book, but as a reference book for the Craft. Granted I have other books to reseach Wicca with, but this provided historical facts about witchcraft, recipes, and ritual ideas as well. Definitely a good tool to have!

The only things I would change about the date book, would be to make the cover less conspicuous, for those of us who need to remain in the broom closet, and to choose artwork with different styles, not just the same simple, blocky art over & over again.

This book is definately a necessity! It's packed with great information that's not just limited to Wiccan holidays and topics. You'll find most major holidays of varying religions, stages of the moon, etc., marked down in each day. The space provided is just enough to write down the things you need to remember. There's also extra pages put in with short antedotes and recipes. I actually bought the book to keep my Wiccan Sabbats straight in my mind, but I think it's going to serve me even better when I go to use it in January. The only drawback is it's a bit thinner and flimsier than I imagined. I usually like a thick, zip-up agenda book which I can shove notes and things in; this is definately not one of those. However, as it's the only Wiccan datebook I've seen on the market, it's quite a find!

I have purchased the Llewellyn's Witches' Datebook every year for the past three years, and I am honest when I say I wouldn't make an appointment without it! It had large enough spaces for each date that you can take plenty of notes, while the book itself is small enough to fit in a purse or backpack. Helps me keep track of moon phases and doctors appointments! I recommend it to anyone!

bring this datebook with you,were ever you go. at work and want to do a small spell to relax,well then open this book and see if the moon is void of course,or if mercury is retrograde. also have an appointment you will forget if you dont write it down,you can use this book to jot it down. it covers meditations,recipes,and lore. has all the sabbat dates.

It's an intresting book that will keep you reading through and through

Absolutely beautifully photographed book. Schatz captures the God given beauty of the models under water with perfect taste. This is his best book by far. Yes far better than his most recent book Nude Body Nude.The dancers and models in this book appear to be much more natural and have a graceful beauty that almost makes you forget their nude; as opposed to the cliche "sexy" look that is typical of other models.

A magic delight to any person with or even without sensibility.
A must see for photographers and artists. It is a source of inspiration for my paintings and sculptures.
The beauty of the human body as if we were still in Eden.
After this book I was hooked on all Schatz books.
Do not miss it.

With production values like a Hollywood movie, this book still manages to be intimate, and at the same time, otherworldly and unattainable. More technically accomplished and more luxurious compared to "Water Dance" (although the latter is also a must-have), I can pour over this book time and again, and find another detail or expression to seduce me.

I have now bought three copies of this book, one for my house in London, one for my house in the country, and one which I cut up - so I could frame and hang my favourites. It IS that good: this is a truly-wonderful collection. Howard Schatz is a great photographer and in Pool Light he sets the benchmark.

Whereas "Water Dance" took off from an experiment, "Pool Light" appears to be the result of a complete mastery of this unique form of photography which combines beautiful bodies with dazzling fluid effects. Every image in this book is a sight to behold, combining the beauty and grace of the human body with the imagination and emotion brought forth by an underwater stage.

Photographer Howard Schatz has advanced beyond "Water Dance" to perfect his art of underwater photography through a more effective use of the pool's characteristics to portray motion, suspend animation, and produce some of the most fantastic images of the human body. Every one of the 120+ photos is worth a long look. The bodies of the dancers, models and swimmers are not all there is to admire, but take a look at how Mr. Schatz uses the surface of the pool as a mirror or as a screen to either reflect or shield portions of the physique. Every aspect of each image seems to be perfectly in place, even air bubbles and ripples of the pool's surface, which add an interesting quality of depth and lighting.

As a nice complement to the images, there are several pages of commentary which describe the artists' (photographer, collaborators and models) inspiration and efforts, as well as some of what goes into making a book like this. For example, it's noted how Mr. Schatz prepares his "liquid studio" to be more tolerable to the subjects, such as using ozonated (not chlorinated) water, and matching the pool's pH balance to that of human tears so that models can keep their eyes open longer. Interesting reading indeed.

"Pool Light" is one of my favorite photography books of all time, and I would recommend it to anyone.

As an African-American male who is a member of a predominantly white Evangelical mega-church, the title of this book jumped out at me, and that's why I was so eager to read it. I found the book to be very interesting, with many poignant history lessons, and I could definitely relate to the different prisms through which Christians from different racial backgrounds see God in our great country. Mr. Gilbreath does an excellent job, even using examples from his own life talking about the challenges, triumphs and setbacks in regard to racial-reconciliation. I wish many more people would read this book, because even though it is a touchy subject, I believe that Mr. Edward Gilbreath handles it with class and fairness and shows that he truly has a heart for reconciliation. I highly recommend this book to all Christians regardless of your racial or denominational background.

Everyone views the world along an angle of vision that affects both how he interprets the world and lives within it. That angle of vision itself is formed by, among other things, time and place and creed and culture, not to mention the postmodern troika of race, sex, and class. To understand why a person interprets the world the way he does, then, we must begin by understanding the person.

Edward Gilbreath is editor at large for Christianity Today and editor of Today's Christian. These are two mainstream evangelical publications, placing Gilbreath firmly in the evangelical camp. In America, evangelicals are predominantly white, but Gilbreath is black. That status as a black evangelical gives Gilbreath a unique angle of vision, which he writes about in Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity.

In a moving paragraph, Gilbreath describes "the loneliness of being 'the only black,' the frustration of being expected to represent your race but being stifled when you try, the hidden pain of being invited to the table but shut out from meaningful decisions about that table's future. These 'reconciliation blues' are about the despair of knowing that it's still business as usual, even in the friendly context of Christian fellowship and ministry."

Gilbreath's story is not unique. Although much of Reconciliation Blues is autobiographical, Gilbreath also writes about such pioneering black evangelicals as evangelist Tom Skinner, publisher Melvin Banks, and activist John Perkins, not to mention other lesser-known pastors and professionals. They trod (and continue to tread) a lonely road within evangelicalism's predominantly white subculture.

Historically, that subculture was not friendly to black demands for civil rights. White evangelicals sat out the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Or worse, they rooted against its heroes. Gilbreath tells the story of Dolphus Weary who, as a student at Los Angeles Baptist College (now The Master's College) heard white students laughing at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Of course, that event is forty years in the past, and Gilbreath concedes that white evangelicals have made progress in their racial attitudes. But there are still blindspots. Gilbreath mentions the 2004 brouhaha over LifeWay Publisher's VBS curriculum, Rickshaw Rally, whose stereotyped artwork offended many evangelical Asians. Rather than admitting offense, LifeWay dug itself into a hole defending the curriculum.

For Gilbreath, as for many black evangelicalism, part of the problem with white evangelicals is institutional racism, defined by sociologist James Jones as "those established laws, customs, and practices which systematically reflect and produce racial inequities in American society."

Examples of this kind of racism include "the failures of public education (why are inner-city schools devoid of proper resources?), imbalances in our nation's criminal justice system (what's with the inordinate number of black males in prison?), and the inability of African Americans and other minorities to keep pace with their white counterparts (why do some banks charge higher rates on loans to African Americans and Latinos?)."

These examples of evangelical insensitivity and institutional racism raise political questions that make white evangelicals uncomfortable. Two of the more challenging chapters in the book are back-to-back chapters on politics: "Is Jesse Jackson an Evangelical?" and "God Is Not a Democrat or a Republican." Jackson is a lightning rod of controversy among conservative white evangelicals, both for his politics and for his personal indiscretions, but he is viewed with admiration by many in the black evangelical community for his social concern. Indeed, his heir apparent at Operation Push is a Bible-believing, black evangelical pastor named James Meeks. And while in the abstract many white evangelicals agree that God is not a partisan, they still have problems with the concrete practice of voting for Democrats that is so prevalent in the black evangelical community.

(Indeed, after reading Gilbreath, I began to wonder whether politics is a stalking horse for race in contemporary American culture. That is to say, I began to wonder how much of the tension between white and black evangelicals is due to political differences rather than racial ones.)

Gilbreath tells his story and provides challenging analysis, but throughout this book, his main concern is racial reconciliation among evangelicals. This was a prominent them among evangelicals in the 1990s. Promise Keepers made racial reconciliation one of its seven key promises. And white Pentecostal denominations (such as the Assemblies of God) disbanded the all-white Pentecostal Fellowship of North America and joined with black Pentecostals and others to form the multiracial Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America in 1994 (the so-called "Memphis Miracle").

Unfortunately, racial reconciliation has fallen on hard times. The first sentence of Gilbreath's book is the sentiment of a black female friend of his: "I'm sick and tired of racial reconciliation." And the Epilogue of the book describes a November 2005 conference of dispirited racial reconciliation leaders, Gilbreath among them. Despite the history, heartache, and hard work, Gilbreath isn't giving up on the dream of reconciliation. "I think about Jesus' prayer for his followers, `that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me' (John 17:21)."

As I said at the outset of this review, everyone has an angle of vision. Gilbreath has his, and I--white, Pentecostal, and politically conservative--have mine. But surely Jesus' angle of vision is the one that counts, the one that calls us to work through our differences to a higher unity based on our common life in him!

I've given up on racial reconciliation quite a few times. The first time was shortly after I discovered it due to my inability to sleep peacefully as I grappled with my newfound understanding of ethnocentrism. The second was when my Asian American husband and I left the segregated and monocultural Midwest for the more integrated and diverse landscape of the East Coast (where racism no longer exists, or so we thought...). The third was when the African American pastor of our mostly white urban church resigned, citing racial reasons as one of dynamics that shadowed his pastorate. The fourth and most recent was when we returned to rural Indiana to a landscape of, shall we say, far more (white) milk than (brown) honey. However, it gets a bit tricky to walk out completely on racial reconciliation when you're married to someone of another race.

Although I am white, I daily face racial issues through my children and husband. While I easily blend into the crowd, they never do, and I am regularly privileged to experience life through their eyes. In his book Reconciliation Blues: a Black Evangelical's View of Christianity (Intervarsity Press, 2006), Edward Gilbreath offers a similar gift. With painful honesty, he shares his experience of being an African American evangelical Christian in a white dominated church culture. Confronting the majority notion that racism in the church is not a pressing issue, Gilbreath observes that "something is still broken." He offers examples not only from his own life, but also from other African American Christians who struggle to interact with and trust white evangelicals.

While he concedes that the church has come a long way from the days of slavery, segregation and lynching, he still questions if we have come far enough, citing the lack of diversity in many Christian organization, and the white majority's unwillingness to genuninely submit to leaders from other cultures.

Gilbreath begins by describing his experience being the only black person in many evangelical Christian institutions and organizations. He speaks candidly of how he is often expected to speak for his entire race, and to `give in' to the white majority's unacknowledged ignorance of other cultures. "Many days the weight of it all leaves me exasperated," he writes. "Sometimes in the silent thumping of my heart, I am haunted by the thought that I will always carry the mantle alone - terrified by the realization that, on a daily basis, if I do not speak up to voice a nonwhite perspective, it will go unheard."

In addition to sharing about his personal experience, he offers portraits of other publically known black Christians such as Tom Skinner, Martin Luther King, Jr., and (gasp!) Jesse Jackson. Offering a fair treatment of each figure, he shows how their influence has both affected and been received by a white evangelical audience. He even explores how hot-button issues like political associations and cultural over-generalizations effect race relations within the church.

While a powerful read for those already in the throes of the reconciliation movement, I would also highly recommend Reconciliation Blues for those who have not yet entered. While the issue of racism - especially in the church - is never an easy one, Gilbreath addresses the issue much with gentleness and grace. His vulnerability is a sigh of relief for other nonwhite believers who share his experience of isolation, and a challenge to those of us who too often forget how much we have to learn.

Be afraid? Not really, I'm kidding! But, let there be no mistake that Edward Gilbreath has something significant to say, and you had better be willing to have your comfortable evangelical faith tested. From cover to cover, this was an excellent book! I was especially grateful that Gilbreath's perspective intentionally went beyond just black and white. It is time that every Christian of every color should get with God's program of multi-ethnic evangelism and discipleship.

As a tenured white Christian, I grew up in a very bigoted community, went to a bigoted school, and grew up thinking "white flight" was just the way it was. I was convinced that going to a church in a multiethnic community had solved many of my ill-conceived notions of race. Like Mr. Gilbreath writes in the first line of his book, "I am sick and tired of racial reconciliation," so was I. Or so I thought. As the chapters of the book unfolded, I found myself getting angrier and angrier at the perceived "stones" that Mr. Gilbreath was throwing at the "church." And then my heart broke. I finally understood the ignorance I had toward a community that was oppressed; that I, unknowingly, oppressed. As Christ longed for us to love our neighbors, that process begins with getting to know our neighbors. I strongly believe that all believers need to have the veil of ignorance lifted by this book, so that the discussion, (and healing) can then begin.

Back when I was a teenager, (in the early 1980's), I loved this book. It was my favorite sci-fi novel. Really good stuff. parallel universes, and a girl with violet eyes...

This book whetted my appetite for science fiction at a very young age and I still remember its wonders 35 years later. I kept checking it out of the local library so it would stay in circulation and I would always have it available. Time got ahead of me and we moved away. When I returned, I headed for the library to follow my same pattern and found it was no longer in the system. It was a science fiction book, with a poet's soul, for young readers and older ones who have yet to loose the excitement of what fantasies await in the future.

For several years in Jr High and High School, I was a SF junkie. I just couldn't get enough. And Nourse was my favorite SF author (with the exception of the Foundation Trilogy).

The Universe Between had some almost bizarre ideas about transporting between two universes. But the very strangeness was part of the fun. If we ever actually do get to travel to another universe, the method used may end up being just as strange as the method presented herein.

One of the things that I appreciated most about Nourse was that he was able to tell a story and keep your interest without pandering to sexual innuendos like some other popular SF writers sometimes do. I would be completely comfortable letting any of my young children read Nourse's science fiction.

--George Stancliffe

...

Dr Alan Nourse didn't write much sf -- though he had a prolific career writing non-fiction, esp. with a medical bent -- but what he did was solidly plotted and exciting. Most of his fiction is out of print now, sadly, but it stands up well with the contemporary works by Del Rey, Bova, Norton and Asimov.

This is a collection of ten short stories.

Like several reviewers, I discovered this book around age 12 in a Junior high school library. It was my favorite novel for about 10 years, and remains in my top 5, even 30 years later.
The author, Alan E. Nourse was a physician, who wrote SF novels and short stories as a hobby. Given that, the combinaton of qualities that shine forth from this novel are very impressive, in my opinion.
First, Nourse uses some unique ideas, based on speculation about scientific questions of the day (the short stories which this novel sprang from were first published in 1951, in short stories called "The Universe Between" and "High Threshold", per my searching on the internet).
An example: Using the highly adapatable "blank slate" of a young child's brain to imprint/adapt/learn an environment which is incomprehensible and even dangerous to a "rigid" adult mind - utilizing the normally unused parts of the human brain. (I hate to give others, because they would be plot "spoilers" to some extent - but most of these utilize hard science concepts and are explained in a way that entertains and teaches too).
As I've reread and rethought this book as an adult, it also occurs to me that Nourse is most likely writing on multiple levels and sending multiple messages. Such as:

1. An exciting adventure appealing to the young, young at heart, and both the hard and the fantasy SF lover.
2. A commentary on the difficulty of meaningful communication between people of radically different cultures/backgrounds.
3. A commentary on the surprising number and nature of the wonderful discoveries about our universe the pursuit of science brings us.
4. A reflection/reminder of the precious nature of life, and how close/uncertain death can be at any moment - a reminder not to take anything for granted.
5. Commentary on how important it is not to squander our natural resources, and the critical need to plan ahead for humanities' resource needs - given the inevitiblity of population and technological expansion throughout the globe over time.
6. And finally, repeatedly, a reminder of how little we know, and how little our limited perception allows us to grasp the true nature of reality.

This novel should leave you thougtful; hopeful, yet challenged. An exciting, interesting and unique children's SF novel? Yes! But also quite a bit more - very commendably written by this "hobbyist" for the thinking adult SF fan, in this reader's opinion.

I gave this to a young bride who did not know how to cook. I put all my best family recipe's in there and all the litlle helpful hints I knew from my grandma. Like what to substitute for this or that, how to make yogurt last longer. I didn't fill up any section so she can add to it over the years and pass it down to her children. A unique gift that the bride will not have another just like it.

Very smooth transaction, very quick shipping. Item was packaged very well and completely as described

The book was great. It made an excellent gift for my wife who is interested in passing along family recipes. The delivery was prompt as well.

The concept of this book is good/sweet, but anyone could essentially create their own cookbook using a nice/high quality spiral bound notebook and placing sticky tabs where they want. I have medium size handwriting and I often have to squeeze words in because the illustrations on each and every page take-up valuable writing space and then when you couple the loss of writing space from the illustrations with the border... I am using my book but I'm also keeping my eyes open for a better version.

This is a great recipe journal. It offers everything you need. It has tabbed dividers, lined pages with "recipe for" and "from the kitchen of" on the recipe pages and has a lined page in the front of each tab to create an index. I bought this one for my sister for her birthday. I put a favorite recipe in each category to get her started. Hopefully she will pass it down to her daughter.

It's a common enough story for picture books. Kids band together, learn something new, and accomplish a common, feel-good goal.

And yet, it totally works in this book. It's not heavy handed. It's not overdone. It does have religious aspects (great for Christians, I'd think), but they're not so heavily stated that atheists and agnostics can't get in on it.

I really recommend this one.

I will note that it's a wordy book, and it does deal with some tough concepts, such as Miss Eula's eventual death. Better for the older end of the 4-8 group, I should think.

CHICKEN SUNDAY is another one of my favorite Polacco books. This is a fabulous and emotionally touching story of an interracial friendship and the children's journey of love and service. Young Patricia (who has written another great episode about her rich and colorful life) and her two best friends Stewart and Winston (who happen to be black) want to buy the boy's gramma (Eula Mae) a hat that she has wanted but could not afford to buy. Since the death of her beloved babushka, Eula Mae also serves as Patricia's surrogate grandmother. The children witness an act of racism on the hat shop owned by the Holocaust survivor Mr. Kodinski. They were going to ask Kodinski for a job to raise the money to buy Eula Mae her favorite hat. Mr. Kodinski sees the children and assumes that they are responsible for the act of violence. Ultimately, the children redeem themselves by making Pysanky eggs for Mr. Kodinski to sell in his store. He tells them the story of his life and then gives the trio the hat. Naturally Eula Mae is thrilled.

CHICKEN SUNDAY is named after the chicken dinner that Eula Mae feed the children every Sunday after Church. This is another multi-cultural book teaching children that it is okay to have friendships with people who are different. Incidentally, Patricia remains close to these boys to this very day. It also exposes children to different types of racism. This book has a wonderful lesson for children and adults.

Although they are innocent, some young children make ammends for the harm done to a Holocaust survivor (the old man has the unmistakable tatoo on his forearm). You must purchase the Scholastic book on cassette for an even more motivating storytime (complete with music).

Chicken Sunday is a touching story of friendship and family. Patrica Polacco writes of a childhood recollection. Patricia and two of her childhood friends set out to raise money to buy the beloved Miss Eula an Easter bonnet as a "thank you" for her wonderful Sunday chicken dinners. The three children need to deal with trying to prove their innocence to Mr. Kodinsky and Miss Eula after being wrongly accused of throwing eggs at Mr. Kodinsky's store. The children decide to make Pysanky eggs and hope Mr. Kodinsky will let the children sell the eggs at the hat store. The reader can definitely feel the love between Patricia, the boys and Miss Eula. The realistic drawings and colors are a great addition to this already enjoyable story. Readers of all ages will truly enjoy this book.

This book speaks volumes . . . especially how a life can be changed forever through a simple act of love and kindness. It seemed that Miss Eula was a beautiful person who just loved and cared for everyone around her by continually demonstrating the true principles of faith, hope, and love.

This book truly emphasizes those things that matter most: a faith in God, a loving family, and good friends.

Chicken Sunday was not only heart-warming and touching, but to me it clearly stated the importance of allowing that little "light" within our hearts to shine no matter what!

This book is an excellent educational tool, and can be easily used in various thematic units such as: family and friends.

I have always enjoyed Patricia Polacco books and will continue to read them to my loved ones and classes for many, many years to come!

The Children of the Lens are the culmination of the Arisian breeding program, and are to be their weapons in the final assault on Eddore.

Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa MacDougall have had four children. Born with the abilities Kim possesses, these kids will become the 'third stage' with an ability to join their minds in an all-powerful gestalt.

They are talented enough that they can shadow the Second Stage Lensmen without them knowing, and help them out. Each of the four has a favorite among the Second Stage Lensmen, even if they won't admit it.

This book has a different feel, in that it is a tiny bit focused on family, and the mental war part of it means the insane space battles are a much smaller part of the whole thing.

The end is the final battle between the Arisians and the Eddorians, with the third-stage Kinnison gestalt as an important part of the assault.

Afterwards, what the Arisians tells the Children comes as a bit of a surprise.

All six books went fast and furious...but what reading!!! Terrific stuff! Smith definitely had the jets to tell one of the best yarns in all of science fiction. All the other reviewers citing how later movies, series, and stories were influenced by these books...WERE RIGHT!!! One of the best science fiction series you will ever read. Period.

Galaxies wide adventure. This is the last book of the Lensman series. While the book can stand alone, the earlier Lensman books lead up to this conclusion where the combined mind powers of the Lensman children, together with super science manage to defeat the super villains for the victory of good over evil.
E.E. Smith wrote these books around the middle of the century, and some of the writing style appears less sophisticated than current authors. However, I enjoyed the extremely positive depiction of the human nature and future - similarly to what the author did this in the Skylark series. Highly recommended..

Having started the six book series with Triplanetary and ending here, I thought the series started to trail off after Galactic Patrol. Triplanetary has been heavily criticized as giving away too much of the series and of the pro- and antagonists too soon. However when the Eddorians are finally confronted here I didn't feel as much as a build up to their powers as Triplanetary instilled. In Triplanetary you really felt that the Eddorians were almost omnipotent beings and the task before the Arisians in seeding planets, including Earth, preparing for the eventual confrontation to save Civilization. Galactic Patrol really carried on the beginning of the series with Kimball Kinnison, but I thought the quality dwindled starting with Gray Lensman and the dated 50's slang really picked up then. It's not just because it's written in the 50's, I've recently read several works by Alfred Bester, Arthur C. Clarke, and others written in the 50's and they have no where near this level of 50's slang.

Another thing I started to find unappealing is Smith's heavy regard for the `wide girth' of Kinnison and of his space-ax swinging cohorts. In reality, strong ambition comes often from those that have not been so physically gifted in life and so have to fight their entire lives against people's initial reactions to their appearance. Lois McMaster Bujold's Mountains of Mourning of a diminutive protagonist's personal battle against his grandfather's attitude, and possible disgust, of his physical stature comes to mind. So it is with irony that I can picture some skinny kid sitting outside in the 50's reading this book and `barrel-shaped chests" as the big neighbor kids come up to him and say `hey poindexter, whatcha reading...' or something.

However, the originality, and impact this series had upon science fiction cannot be understated and is why I am giving it a respectable four stars. Several reviewers have mentioned that they can see scenes from Star Wars lifted from this series. What I see even more so is what Star Trek lifted from this series. Even down to small details such as a ship having to lower shields in order to fire a weapon against an enemy. And many other movies, tv shows, and books influenced comes to mind including Alien, The 5th Element, Heinlein, certainly the original Star Trek as well as the Next Generation and Deep
Space 9, Wing Commander and others.

255 Pages, Publ 1954.

I have read this series at least 4 times. If you like SCIFI, you will cherish these books and buy the whole collection (as I did).

This book was very helpful for my 4000 level Neuro class that I had to take. It took me back to the simple basics that I somehow never had or forgot and built from there, showing how the basic developed into the more complex structures. The simple explainations for different structures also includes functions which I need as a Psyc. major. No coronal views are included, but the other views are very helpful. Grab your colored pencils & have fun!

I bought this book to help my bachelor level students learn the parts of the brain. They found it helpful in their learning process to color the parts of the brain. Although, because they are bachelor level students, there were only a few pages that were surface knowledge...lots of detailed pictures that would be more appropriate for doctorate level.

This is a must for anyone interested in learning about the anatomy of the human brain.

It is also essential for anyone studying physiological and / or biopsychology.

I teach an interdisciplinary course in psychology and neuroscience, and my psych students have found this book helpful for getting up to speed on neuroanatomy. I've also started using some of the pages as overheads during my lectures, since the diagrams are uncluttered and easy to draw on.

I'm writing a review because I thought I should mention that I found this book *much* more useful than its better-known competitor. The other book has more fine-grained anatomical detail, of the sort that would be most useful to someone studying to be a neurosurgeon - but the result is that it's very hard for a casual student to tell what's worth studying or remembering. This book does a much better job of focusing on the important structures, the ones that you're likely to see mentioned in popular science books and articles. The second half (Functional Neuroanatomy, with chapters devoted to the systems subserving different functions) is especially useful.

For anyone interested in self-study, or who just wants a quick reference source for neural structures that they see mentioned in other texts, I'd strongly recommend this book.

If you loved your third grade art class, you'll love this brain coloring book. The truth is we learn by doing, using our hands, applying colors. Many areas of the brain are involved in what we think of as simple learning tasks. Adding manual tasks to learning the complicated anatomy of the brain strengthens the learning process - forces you to linger over the page and get involved in learning the structures.

I feel the text on each facing page is quite useful but could have been a little more detailed on the clinical end. You will come out of the 'coloring book' experience with far greater confidence in your understanding of neuroanatomy than you expected. You may find reading on neuropsychology a good deal easier, now that you have, in effect, overstudied the anatomy and physiiology underlying it.

For those who want to go beyond this text to a really superior text in this subject, I highly recommend Clinical Neuroanatomy by FitzGerald and Fokan-Curran published by W. B. Saunders. It is already marvelously colored and illustrated with much greater detail and clinical information. It is an exceptional medical text (and priced accordingly). The medical illustration, scans, photos and other teaching aids are excellent and profuse. The coloring book is just a sort of 'boot camp' to prepare you for this. I have not seen a better text on neuroanatomy. If you are seriously in need of learning or reviewing your knowledge of this subject, this is the one.

ADDENDA: I have just read Pinel's other excellent work called BIOPSYCHOLOGY. Illustrated by his partner (sic) Maggie - superbly and contributing greatly to the success of the book as a great teaching medium in neuropsychology and neurology. It is a textbook for undergraduates in Psychology and assumes little in previous physiology and anatomy, using extensive explanations of vocabulary and concepts. Frankly, you might as well buy this one instead of the coloring book. It will cost more but you will get a lot more out of it along with the same high quality of illustrations necessary to understand this challenging subject. John Pinel has an engaging writing style, some surprising personal anecdotes, and many case histories. I highly recomment BIOPSYCHOLOGY.