Field Books

lost on planet and learn teamwork along the way. rival almsot made her lost her pieces of gaze ball in river when boat flip. they got back home safety thanks to teamwork. she learn more lessons.

The Zenda books were passed around my daughter's fourth-grade classroom on a waiting-list system. Even reluctant readers couldn't wait to get their hands on them and re-read them, too. Actually, it is more descriptive to say they devoured them rather than read them! Although they are fantasy, they also contain relationship issues with which girls this age are concerned.

This book was very entertaining! Some parts made me feel happy, others made me feel sad. Most of what you feel while reading this book, though, is minor anticipation! This book was inspiring, and, as with all of the Zenda books, had a good moral. The story is about Zenda's class trip to one of Azureblue's moons, Aquaria. Zenda was nervous to begin with, but what will she do when she, her best friends Michael and Camille, and her worst enemy Alexandra are seperated from the rest of the group? Alexandra keeps the story interesting, although I'm constantly wishing Zenda would stand up to her more.

The ending hints in to the next book, which makes waiting for the next book more exciting! If you like good books, then you'll love this book! It is yet another great addition to the Zenda series.

I greatly enjoyed this book! The third in a wonderful series, I found that I couldn't put this book down. Besides the beautiful cover art, I love the Zenda books for their original, well-told stories. Once I was in the middle of reading one of the books, and I almost forgot that I wasn't in the book with Zenda! In this particular book, Zenda and her class visit planet Aquaria, an untamed, wilderness land. As if Zenda's continuous worries, and the bad dream she's been having lately weren't enough, Zenda, her two best friends, and Zenda's worst enemy are lost in the forest! With no food, Zenda and the others eat wild berries, only to discover that there are a few side effects to eating them...

I would highly recommend this book! Zenda is my favorite series.

I've owned this book for a long time and have done a number of projects. When I pick it up, I am inspired by so many of the projects it's frustrating because it's hard to decide which to do next. The patterns are very easy to read as the symbol for each stitch is in black and white as well as color. There is quite the variety of projects here from easy to very lengthy and difficult. But just the pictures are great. Buy it.

Since you have a lot of cross stitch books. I have tryed to find a pattern on a picture for anniversary. I have made this once borrowed it from a friend and she can't find the book. It is momma & poppa bear has the date they were married at the top and at the bottom has their inital.Do you have anything like that or do you know where I can find this book? I want to make one for my grandson Would appreciate if you could fine it. Madge

Whatever your style, this book has so much to offer. I'm a Brit who has always loved the vibrancy of US stitching and this book has so much that is good. Small projects to large, the quality is superb. ..... Wish I lived in the US !

I bought this book out of curiosity because I often feel misunderstood by my boyfriend. This book provides great insight about myself and now I understand why I (or other women) do certain things. I then gave it to my boyfriend, who's not much of a bookworm and never bothered to read the book *sigh*. But a guy friend who borrowed it from me told me he liked it because it's concise, practical, and useful. Given it's a quick read and inexpensive, I think you should give it a try.

Although I feel this book has value for men dealing with normal women, it seems I do not have a normal woman. (sigh) This book would help about 90% of the guys out there.

This book is the greatest book I have ever read! It really tells men how to smooze the ladies but in a positive way. Thank you Mr. Wonderful for writing this book and telling the men of this world how to have the perfect relationship! You must have one lucky wife, since you abide by the rules of your book.

My review from White Crane Journal - Summer 2008

The appearance of new poems by Edward Field is always a cause for celebration. The master poet begins his most recent collection, After the Fall: Poems Old & New with a series of poems that serve as gutsy ars poetica on the engagement of the poet with the world. Under the title "What Poetry Is For" Field surveys the landscape of the wartime Bush years. Some of the poetry is time-sensitive and read as a (hopefully) time capsule to the future. In "Letter on the Brink of War" Field bears witness to what the unjaundiced eye sees at the beginning of a disaster he has lived through before:

They even talk of shock and awe--
another term for blitzkrieg's sturm and drang--
and instead of Jews, the roundup of Muslims,
But you have to ask, Who's next?

"Homeland Security" extends the theme by offering an analysis of the police state tactics faced by those who raise suspicion. Field has a way of writing that delivers the punch with comic timing. It leaves you smiling and wincing at the same time.

Perhaps what I have always loved about Field's writing is its utter lack of pretense and its firm conviction in telling the truth. Beauty is not the word here. Breathtaking is. You read a marital poem like "Oedipus Schmoedipus" or the searing indictment of Jews complicit in the current administration's wrong-doing "But what are Jews doing in this government? / Wasn't civil liberties always a Jewish passion?" and you understand why Plato wanted poets banned from his Republic for their insistence on telling the truth. There is also humor. Lots of it --whether writing on aging in "Prospero, in Retirement" or celebrating his body's resiliencies in "In Praise of My Prostate":

and you still expand, your amazing flowers
bursting forth throughout my body,
pistils and stamens dancing.

Or in his apologia to his lover who must live with "the poet" in "Mrs. Wallace Stevens." When you're dealing with a great poet, the beauty of a volume of selected works like this--especially for the uninitiated--is its ability to offer up new work that captures your affections, and also present the earlier work that serves as confirmation that this genius has roots and, even better, offer a past catalogue of volumes to seek out. Here in one gem are the poems I have loved for many years. Field's "The Life of Joan Crawford" from his 1967 volume Variety Photoplays, "From Poland," and "Mae West" are here too.

As he did in his memoirs published three years ago, Field continues his clear-eye seeing and saying of the world. I believe he writes with the clear understanding that there is a beauty to be found in honesty. With After the Fall Field somehow gives courageous permission to be more honest in our lives. As if saying life is more fun and more compelling by facing the truth of oneself. In all its beauty. I truly believe it.

Edward Field is a poet of joy, anger, romance, humor,sex, the real breathing humanity we all share but rarely find in the overly intellectual, pallid poetry which is the fashion of our time. Reading "After the Fall" is to touch a warm, living , brilliant being, what some of us call a "mensch"! It's a true encounter full of joy!
Harriet Sohmers Zwerling

Ed Field is an amazing poet, and this is another fantastic collection. His new poems feel like classics, and his old poems feel refreshingly new. Read Ed Field now, while he's here-- for fifty years he's been breaking ground for poets, and he deserves to be read. His work is the glue that holds American poetry together. Nobody, before or since, has merged the personal, political, and the pop culture with so much skill and energy. Great great poems!

I was fortunate enough to attend a recent college graduation where the author, Dr. Don Holst, gave the commencement address. His wonderful and impassioned speech led me to purchase his book that he so eloquently referred to. He used the triumphs and successes of the Olympic athletes as a backdrop to his theme that diligence and hard work are the keys to the graduating students' futures.
What a wonderful surprise! Holst recounts his discussions with the great athletes in this great book! He tells their stories in their own words while painting a brilliant picture of the worlds they lived in and how the ultimately came to affect it!
A must read for all! Great stories from both young and old to enjoy!

Don Holst, a consummate athlete, coach and professor in his own right has given us an important work on Olympic American Men of Track and Field. He has presented their Herculean accomplishments, taken us into their homes and made these icons our hosts as we sit at their feet listening and marveling and learning. Dr. Holst and Marcia Popp have offered a specialized work which has universal appeal.

Don Holst has managed to accomplish the IMPOSSIBLE --- he has made me LOVE SPORTS ! Read this book, I DARE YOU, and then TRY TO PUT IT DOWN . . . Glenn Cunningham's story will inspire you, Jackson Scholz will delight and tickle you, and Bruce Jenner will continue to amaze you, even as Craig Virgin's breaks your heart . . . it's all about the times, and the timing.

Every MOM needs to read this, to help you understand why those boys and girls want to work SO HARD, when many of their peers choose the drugs and booze . . . It's HEART, my friend, something in the soul they are born with that whispers to them to do something MORE, and in the cases of these athletes, MUCH, MUCH MORE . . .

I have an extensive, eclectic home library, but I can't remember the last time I actually dog-earred and mutilated a book by LOVING IT SO MUCH . . . , or carried it from room to room, not wanting to miss a moment. (OR re-read it as soon as I finished, just to enjoy it all over again).

Hard to put down, and harder to forget Holst's unforgettable interviews with these true American Heroes, from the start of this project in the 50's to the present, this little book has the big heart of a sports history classic. NO superlatives in Webster's will suffice for this fine expenditure of your all-too-busy time. Buy 2, and send 1 to your favorite NON-athlete !

K Morris in Saint Louis,
Home of the big stainless steel handle next to the water

And Then, a novel by Natsume Soseki, opens with an image of extreme isolation: Daisuke, the protagonist, has woken up, and stares blankly at the ceiling with his hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat. He belongs to a wealthy family, has a cultivated aesthetic taste, is well-read, knows multiple languages, and has graduated from a prestigious university, at a time in Japan's history when universities were so new that the government had to hire Western expatriates to teach in them. It seems that Daisuke could get anything he wanted from life. Surely he was ambitious in his university days; it's difficult to imagine how a talented, educated, proud young man couldn't see himself as headed for greatness. But, by the time the book begins, Daisuke lives in seclusion, without an occupation, continuing to depend upon his rich father. He is about thirty years old.

The novel poses the following question: How could a man who showed all the promise in the world ultimately come to naught?

In his university days, Daisuke had two friends, who also had great plans for the future. But, when the thirty-year-old Daisuke meets them again, he learns that their hopes fell short of their mark. One of them, Hiraoka, sought to forge a brilliant career in Japan's civil service system, but fell into conflict with his superiors, mismanaged the money entrusted to him, and was fired. Daisuke's other friend, Terao, intended to become a world-renowned novelist, but failed to find a sponsor, and found himself having to scrounge, day by day, for one-time deals writing articles for cheap rags, or translating documents from English, in order to survive. Both men are now consumed with the fear of dying in poverty.

Daisuke has a strong sense of dignity, emerging from his refined aesthetic sensibilities. To him, such fear is degrading; his idleness becomes the only way to preserve his clarity of thought. Consequently, his reluctance to enter the "world of men" is confirmed in his mind, widening the gulf between him and his former friends, who view him as lazy and sheltered. When Daisuke writes to an acquaintance about a certain book he had sent, the acquaintance politely thanks him for the gift, but says, with regret, that he no longer has time to read. Soseki writes, "As he put the letter back in the envelope, Daisuke felt keenly the fact that this old friend, with whom he once shared the same inclinations, was now playing a different tune, governed by thoughts and actions that were nearly the precise opposite of those of the past."

Daisuke is adrift without ties to history. Unlike his father, he has no attachment whatsoever to traditional Japanese society; his education has given him the knowledge that the world is too vast to be confined to the boundaries delineated by tradition. Furthermore, Daisuke cannot help but notice that his father is motivated by selfish, ulterior motives as much as by any sense of obligation to tradition. Unlike his friends, however, Daisuke also cannot form a connection to modern society, which views education as a means to advancement in a bureaucratic order. He has no roots anywhere; one might say that he remains standing still at a crossroads after all other passersby have left. When Daisuke considers the occupations that he might be qualified for, were he to look for a job, he concludes that he would be incapable of doing anything other than begging on the street.

Daisuke's peace of mind is dependent on such artificial circumstances that it essentially rests on the head of a pin, where the slightest vibration will send it tumbling down. The more intent he becomes on continuing to be a detached observer, the more difficult it is for him to do so. His family has long given up hope that he will do anything with himself, and is willing to support him for the rest of his life, but demands in return that he get married, and threatens to disown him if he doesn't comply. Daisuke prefers to deliberately take a self-destructive path by categorically rejecting his family's demands and falling in love with Hiraoka's wife Michiyo.

Of all Japanese writers, Soseki, the father of contemporary Japanese literature, is the most inscrutable. His works cannot be called "beautiful" in the same way Kawabata's works can; "precise" is a more appropriate adjective. Kawabata's books overflow with beautiful, painfully fragile imagery of nature, glass, fabric, arranging these things in a way that creates a mood of deep melancholy. Soseki, however, is concerned above all with his characters' thoughts, which he faithfully records with painstaking levels of detail. They are not told in interior monologue, or any other such device, but rather conveyed straightforwardly in the third person. The book is absorbed in Daisuke's situation, yet simultaneously detached from it. One may find this style of writing to be pedantic, even artificial, but it enables Soseki to describe emotional truths that are complicated to the point of abstraction.

Soseki's writing is not without flourishes. Until the very end, Daisuke regards his circumstances with a charmingly carefree air, and is witty in conversations with his family, which makes him quite likable. Soseki also uses colours to symbolize his themes. There is a recurring image of white lilies, perhaps representing an ideal of frail beauty that, as it turns out, is impossible to attain, and the novel's ending is painted in bright, fiery red, carrying an air of beautiful, tragic finality, conveyed in sharp, concise language.

And Then is the greatest work by Japan's greatest novelist. Like all of Soseki's works, it moves very slowly. There is no real action in it, and yet, when it ends, one feels that a great upheaval has occurred. This is not a book to read when one is living a peaceful, wholesome life; however, in times of personal crisis, when one is driven to sleepless self-analysis, there is no book more relevant than this one.

Let me start off by saying that I cannot do this novel sufficient justice. The words I have put down are those of a fan. Soseki is regarded most highly by literary critics, in as many ciruits as they run, and to this I can only toss in my own small verbal confetti. For more adroid renderings, please see Donald Keane, Edward Seidenstiker, and Norma Moore Field.

Of all modern Japanese writers, Soseki is one of my three most favorites. Of his books, I have read Kokoro, The Three Cornered World, Grass by the Wayside, Light and Darkness, and, And Then. Of these, And Then, is by far my most favorite. I probably love it for different reasons than most.

Whenever I begin re-reading it (I have read it four times now), it is initially for the feeling of being transported into Daisuke's beautiful, if fragile world, where he set against a cast of lovable if predictable characters. His lazy houseboy, Kodono ("is that right, Sensei?"), his niece, Niu ("I'm warning you, you'd better watch out") who changes her hair ribbon several times daily, his sister in law with her love of Western music and concern for Deisuke's future and keeping the peace with Father, and so on. But as the novel evolves, the imagery takes on stronger substance, while retaining the light touch of a master. Of the lighter: the time when Daisuke and Kadono strip down to their waists and toss water around in the garden; when Daisuke fills a bowl with water and floats white lillies to offset a pounding headache, how he sets off to take a trip (in an attempt to avoid facing the pressure from his family to choose a bride) and never quite goes anywhere, and his foolish mishandling of his personal affairs.

Daisuke sees no point in trying to overcome his enui and take a stand of any kind, nor to try and resolve a series of issues that offer no simple resolution. Daisuke is a man with his feet planted in neither the past nor the future, and as the story comes to crisis, he loses his already delicate equilibrium, and plunges into a near mad state, where, since he cannot conceive of hurting anyone else, he runs headlong into trouble.

It is unfortunate that my copy gives no credit to the translator, for the prose is of exceedingly high calibre.

I highly recommend this book.

"And Then" ("Sore Kara") is a perfectly beautiful novel. Soseki always writes with an elegant clarity, tackling complex emotions and situations that creep up just like life. Nothing seems forced or unreal.

The plot reminds me of a quote I heard once. "I was a soldier so that my children could be merchants, and their children could be artists." The main character, Daisuke, is a dilettante, an appreciator of life's fineries who has never turned his hand towards anything seriously in his life. His father was a famous soldier during the Russo-Sino war, and his older brother is successful in business, and neither of them can understand this luxury object of a younger sibling that they both maintain financially. Seeking to find some value in him, his family attempts to pressure him into an advantageous marriage, which Daisuke's refinements does not permit. Love, however, will destroy everything.

The story floats along at Daisuke's pace, with nothing hurried or in crisis. Inside of this veneer are heavy issues of family obligation, the distaste of working for food as opposed to working for pure artistry, and most of all the undeniability of love, something that none of us can choose for ourselves.

Like all of Soseki's novels, "And Then" lingers long after the last page is turned, forcing us to evaluate our own lives and wonder what we would do in similar circumstances. How much of our own dreams have been sacrificed for necessities, and what does it mean to be human besides eating, sleeping and making more humans?

Having the good fortune to be able to collect Anne's paintings, this book
does indeed capture her magnificent talent. I have been purchasing her work for many years now, and also have had the wonderful opportunity to meet Anne
and discuss her philosophy regarding her paintings. She is indeed a colorful personality - no pun intended - and look forward to her new book
which is due out September 2008. I encourage all patrons of naturalistic
art to delve into this volume for a sumptuous treat.

Kurt Meister
New York, NY
August 2008

I first discovered this artist when I ran into her work in St. Augustine Florida. One of her paintings was displayed in a gallery storefront and I stopped dead in my tracks. As an avid gallery and museum goer, it takes a great deal to knock my socks off...and this artist did. It was the first time (and only time) I have ever looked at a piece of work and had tears well up. Anne Packard has managed to do what every artist aspires to, she has burned her soul into her work. Her energy, deepness, and love leap out of her seascapes. Naturally I had to learn more about her and since I could not afford her work, I bought her book and was not disappointed! This volume is a large, lovely addition to any collection and a proud display. At the time I thought the book was also pricey, but once recieved, it's worth every penny. All of her paintings are well presented and large enough to be truly appreciated. Her quotes are beautiful and inspiring...very thoughtfully put together and highly recommended.

How wonderful to have all these beautiful images in one beautiful book.
Her paintings are masterful and mesmorising. I especially enjoy the insightful comments that the artist shares about her process and philosophies about her work.
This is a treasure! I would heartily reccomend it to everyone!

This is an amusing, entertaining and surprisingly intelligent introduction to archaeology. It covers not only the basics of how to do archaeology (digging, mapping, etc.) but also where archaeology fits in society and where it is going intellectually. This is not only a perfect beginner's text but a valuable guide to anyone interested in what we can learn from the past.

"Archaeology - The Comic " is an introductory book for archaeology students or for introducing archaeology to any beginner - but - and here's what's different - it is in COMIC form.
The book covers a vast number of topics including how to survey, excavate, analyze, interpret, and preserve archaeological sites and their material remains. The main character learns about site protection laws, consultation, museum exhibition and a variety of other public archaeology topics. She visits experts who explain the complexities of carbon dating, ground-penetrating radar, flotation, and thermoluminescence, among other analytical methods. And she develops an understanding of how all these tools allow archaeologists to make confident interpretations of the past.
There is a complete glossary and bibliography too, which makes this book a great reference book.
Anyone seriously interested in Archaeology, young or old, will enjoy this book, and learn a lot from it.

A very original approach to introducing the science of archaeology is taken by Johannes H. N. Loubser in Archaeology: The Comic. A professional archaeologist working for New South Associates (a contract firm in Georgia), Loubser is an expert on rock art, having done extensive field research in North America, South Africa, and Australia. Loubser draws upon his considerable expertise to provide readers with a graphic novel approach to explaining archaeology in terms of what it is and how it's done. Readers will follow young Squizee after some antiquarian pots are discovered on her family farm. Squizee learns from professional archaeologists how to survey, excavate, analyze, interpret, and preserve archaeological sites and their material remains. Also covered are the site protection laws, consultations with native peoples, museum exhibitions, radiocarbon dating, ground-penetrating radar, plant flotation, thermoluminescence, and more. Ideal for school classroom curriculums, Archaeology: The Comic would also serve as an ideal template for presenting other science disciplines!

This is an incredible adventure story written in in a very descriptive manner. It's unbelievable what we can endure if we put our minds to it. This is a MUST READ!

I highly recommend this book for those who love true adventure stories. This is a rare and unique one. While I would not rate this book a 5-star simply on the basis of the writing, as sometimes I find descriptive language to linger too long, I must give it an overall 5 stars due to its amazing content and intriguing story of a woman who dared to follow her dreams into one of the last wildernesses remaining on Earth. Jean Aspen went where few dare to go, and she did it as a college-aged young woman. The reader is amazed at the matter-of-factness of her descriptions of pushing off of the bank into the mighty Yukon River, alone with a boyfriend and a puppy in an unweildy overladen canoe. Have they packed all the necessities to live a year alone in the Alaskan bush? Will they really be able to find a site and build a cabin before winter? Will they survive despite Aspen's own admission that there odds at making it through the winter are perhaps 50/50? And obviously, though you know they make it somehow, you constantly want to know HOW? What was it like to live through a dark deathly-cold winter on the edge of the Arctic Circle, under the Brooks Range in a cabin built by two with no outside help? What does Alaska's bush really look like? What does it FEEL like to be out there alone? What are they going to eat? How will they stay warm? Don't read ahead! This is truly an adventure few have ever lived to tell about. Descriptions of the sights, sounds and emotions are beautiful.

I was at a friends house when I first picked up Arctic Daughter by Jean Aspen. I sat down and started to read the first few pages, two hours later it was time to go home and I was still reading this book. My friends were kind enough to let me borrow the book and I finished it the next day. I returned the book to my friends and went directly to the book store and ordered it. I was told it was out of print and I was very upset. I then spent about two weeks searching to find a copy of Arctic Daughter and I was lucky enough to find a new copy. I gave it to my wife and she also read it in one day. This book takes the reader to a place that many people will never see. The courage and spirit of true adventure in Jean Aspen prevails in this book and it is a shame it is out of print. I would encourage any person who has the dream of "chucking" it all away in order to live a life more simple to pick up a copy of this book. It is the real deal and puts the adventurers' life in a new perspective. A must read!

The book is a great for anyone in the exercise field. It is easy to read and straight forward. It covers every aspect of athletic training, rehab, and injury diagnosis.
A DEFINITE MUST HAVE!

I am the Head Athletic Trainer and Professor of Athletic Training Curriculum at a college in Oklahoma City. This is the best text I have ever read which caters to the education of Athletic Trainers. It is the text of choice for my Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries class, as well as a source of reference for any challenge I face within the training room. This book is the "Trainer's Bible" bar none! I personally used the eighth edition when studing for the NATABOC exam and have used the ninth and tenth editions in my classes. I highly recommend this text for everyone in the sports medicine field. If you are a Student Atheltic Trainer and are debating whether or not to spent the Seventy-something dollars for this book. this book will make the difference between pass and fail!

This book is one of the most important books for an athletic trainer. It covers everything that is in each of the 5 different domains of an athletic trainer. Their sections on sports injuries, and treatments are invaluable to anyone who is preparing to sit for the NATA exam. It is fondly termed by those that I know as the "trainer's bible." And that is exactly what it is.