Henry Books

There are over 400 articles and over two-dozen illustrations reproduced in this notable collection which is subtitled "The Story of the Civil War as Told By Participants." These words are taken from speeches, letters, editorials, diaries, memoirs, poems, articles, reports, orders, and even the sheet music of the day. Henry Steele Commager, the legendary American historian, covers every aspect of the war in his chapters: the events and issues leading up to the war, the great battles and campaigns, life on the home front as well as on the front lines and in the prisons, even the songs of the soldiers on both sides. You will find not only Lincoln and Lee in their own words, but ordinary soldiers and former slaves, along with ambassadors to foreign nations and women trying to keep the home fires burning. As a collection of excerpts of primary documents this is first-rate volume that will surely add to your knowledge about the Civil War, bringing a more personal touch than you get even with the historical narratives of Catton and Foote.

Just the notes connecting the first person peices of these volumes make for a good history of the Civil War! They're short but good. But that is not the point. The accounts themselves are by soldiers (and sometimes civilians) written as they lived the adventure and tragedy of the Civil War. Cavalry raids come to life. Battles materialize before your eyes. Even the "dull" days of waiting are filled with a vibrance. All this is done, not by "authors" but by folks like you and me. And it is true from the begining to end. The descriptions of the very first shot of the war at Fort Sumpter are absolutely paralyzing! They are from Mary Boykin Chesnut. And there is the Indiana farm boy who got the news that the war had begun while husking corn with his father. His surprise and sense of excitment riveted me almost as though I hadn't known of the war myself before I read his account. From these beginnings to Appomatox, this two volume series is a ripping good read. Buy these books! --- Scott Brundage

With a name like Henry Steele Commanger one would expect him to be a writer of history. And boy is he!! A whole section in my library is filled with his amazing works.

This one is a two Volume Set - with Volume 1 starting with the nomination of Abraham Lincoln as President of the US and follows the events to the bloody three-day battle of Gettysburg, the highwater mark of the Confederacy. Volume 2 takes us from the aftermath of Gettysburg and follows the war to Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

The works are surprisingly slim considering what it covers, so this is not an in-depth look at the War Between the States. It does however give a gold mine of details. For someone looking to understand the war, its causes and the people that fought it, this is a wonderful place to start.

Highly recommended for the beginning or intermediate Civil War Buff.

This Comanche legend demonstrates how people are sometimes blessed due to others' faith and/or sacrifice. It relates the story of the origins of the bluebonnet, a beautiful flower that blankets the prairies, and is honored as Texas' state flower.

It is a time of drought and the People of the prairie are hungry. An old warrior named Spirit Talker goes out alone to pray, seeking the reason for his kin's suffering. He returns with the message that the People have been taking more than they need during seasons of plenty, and that they must now sacrifice their most treasured personal possessions. Alas, no one is willing to part with valued items.

No one, that is, except a little girl. Her offering brings rain and an amazing meadow of bluebonnets. Soft, expressive watercolor paintings complement this version of the popular tale.

Bluebonnet Girl by Michael Lind retells a legend of the Comanche Native Americans about how a young girl's sacrifice of her greatest treasure saves her land and her people from terrible drought and suffering. Featuring the artwork of Kate Kiesler, Bluebonnet Girl is a beautifully illustrated and highly recommended tale of courage and sacrifice which is narrated for young readers ages 4 to 9 in rhyming verse.

It was a heart warming story that brought tears to my eyes. It was great. I got it from the library because it was not available for purchase. I read about it in a monthly electric co-op magazine. I am about to purchase 2 for gifts now that they are available in hardback.

It's not easy to find good quality children's books these days and this one is a keeper! I'm buying a copy for all the children on my Christmas list this year. It is a wonderful story with many lessons to be learned.

This book is really a gem, the pictures are so understated and funny and kids really can really relate to Redd's situation. I love this book, it is one of my favorites.

Little Redd has been invited to the prestigious Boll Weevil Ball, but will his size deter his enjoyment of the event? Kelly Murphy handles this little bug's troubles with style and grace. What a beautiful book! The text is simple and pleasurable, and the illustrations.....the illustrations are simply breath taking. The character design, the layout, the colors - everything is top notch! Kelly Murphy - we want more!

This is a wonderful book to teach children colors. Kids will enjoy all the blue objects they can spot on every page. Kelly Asbury has created a delightful series of books with "Bonnie's Blue House", "Yolanda's Yellow School" and "Rusty's Red Vacation". I love them all and look forward to more books by Kelly Asbury.

This charming little book has the feel of something that seems like it must have been around for many years. It's disarming in its simplicity and style.

It's just fun to look at. Same goes for the other two books in the series. Get all three.

Bottle Houses tells the true story of Grandma Prisbey, artist, collector, and builder. Although not as famous as Simon Rhodia of Watts Tower fame, she similarly constructed edifices out of discarded glass and other objects. Her creative urge led to a whole complex of varied structures, united by the use of found objects. As Grandma Prisbey said, "What some people throw away, I believe I could wear to church." Unfortunately for her-and for us-some of the buildings were damaged by the 1994 quake in Simi Valley, California; however, much remains, and there is a "Preserve Bottle Village Committee" working to restore the Village.

Melissa Slaymaker does a superb job of drawing us into the story. Right away, she describes Prisbey's, nonconformity, and independence: "...she didn't have a house. She was too busy to have one." "Grandma Prisbrey had some land in California, but she didn't have enough money to build a house in a regular way. But Grandma Prisbey wasn't the sort of person who did things in a regular sort of way."

Prisbey went to the local dump, using "what some people throw away" including "furniture, stoves, refrigerators, dishes, clothes, batteries....even dolls. Hundreds of dolls."

The most important of these junked items were the colored bottles. Using everything but milk bottles (apparently against the law) she stacked bottles atop each other and held them in pace with cement. With these as her basic building materials, she built bottle houses for her collections of pencils and dolls, a bottle chapel, bottle birdbath, wishing well, rumpus room, and the round house ("everything in it was round. It had a round fireplace, a round bed, and a round dresser with a round mirror over it." Other creative projects include a house of shells and a "singing tree," hung with thousands of bottles that rang like chimes. She built a pyramid out to headlights and 150 gold lipstick cases, and dyed her three cats (vegetable dye is supposedly safe) pink, green, and blue! Slaymaker and Paschkis portray Grandma Prisbey as an artist without formal training or conventional drawing talent, who still created beautiful, original, works that delight the eye and express her individuality.

The bright illustrations and decorative "folkish" art designs by illustrator Julie Paschkis add greatly to Slaymaker's text. Paschkis captures the luminosity of the colored glass bottles, using shading and reflection in her gouache illustrations. Other illustrations are reminiscent of old stencil patterns and mid-20th century graphics. Paschkis scattered her drawings over the page, yet they retain a uniform style, echoing the feeling and look of Prisbey's Bottle Village. Colors have unusual and beautiful hues, and Paschkis conveys the vivid, multi-colored mosaics accurately and with flair. The back of the book shows photos of Grandma Prisbey, some of the structures and a link to the Preserve Bottle Village Committee website (http://echomatic.home.mindspring.com/by). I strongly suggest viewing the site, and I higly recommend this enjoyable, eye-pleasing book.

Since the days when Simon Rodia built the "Watts Towers" in Los Angeles, I have wanted to visit other projects that were "flights of Imagination" ..... and this story of Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Houses naturally claims my applause. Here's to COLOR, CREATIVITY & INDEPENDENT THINKING ! What fun for the illustrator, and for us all!

In 1956 Grandma P. left her open-road life to settle in Simi Valley,California. She needed room for her souvenir pencil collection first, and a bottle house was the result of salvaged bottles, a strong arm for mixing mortar and persistence. Her sons helped with roofing & hanging doors as her little 'compound' grew.

But this was no Hyannisport! Tressa Prisbrey's unstifled creative juices led to other structures, small & tall: a house for dolls, a bottle chapel, birdbath, wishing well and a bottle Rumpus Room. There is a round House of bottles, and a Singing Tree where more than a thousand bottles hang & sing like wind chimes! She 'branched out' and used other materials, even potted cactus, and she laid pathways for the many gawking visitors & picture-takers.

A "Preserve Bottle Village Committee" works now to protect the future of this imaginative artistry; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. REVIEWER mcHAIKU enthuses over the author & illustrator who bring us Grandma Prisbrey's colors bursting like Roman candles: a memorable legacy for all to share.

This beautifully illustrated children's book tells the story of charmingly quaint Grandma Prisbrey who builds herself a house made of empty bottles (and just a whee bit of mortar) -- making her feel as if she lived inside a rainbow or a diamond. A little glass shed for her pencil collection, a well (made of blue bottles, of course) and a glass chapel are added later on. The furniture -- if she does not build it herself, from bottles -- and all kinds of knick-knacks to make the houses even prettier come from the local dump.

Sounds like a beautiful story? Well, it's a true story. Grandma Prisbrey lived in California, where she built "Bottle Village," later placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1994, six years after her death, Bottle Village was seriously damaged by an earthquake. This book shows her creations when they were all still sparkling ...

De Witt Henry's "Breaking Into Print" is truly revelatory. This latest book of Henry's is an anthology of Ploughshares short fiction. It contains the early stories of contemporary luminaries of short (and long) fiction. Represented writers include, Tim O'Brien, Edward P. Jones, Mona Simpson, Howard Norman, David Wong Louie, Christopher Tilghman, and Gina Berriault. Breaking Into Print demystifies the process of publishing short fiction. There are 15 stories in the collection and each is preceded by a biography that tells the story of how its author came to have the story published in Ploughshares. These biographies also show how the authors went on to publish more work and receive other literary accolades.

Beginning writers will find the appendices of Breaking Into Print especially helpful. The first appendix, Resources for Writers, lists: (1) books that discuss editing, publishing, and marketing, (2) books by writers on writing, (3) handbooks on the craft of writing fiction, (4) websites for writers, and (5) books about the dark side of the literary life. The second appendix, Recommended Literary Magazines for Short Fiction, opens with general advice about submitting short fiction and is followed by sub-sections that identify the agendas of certain venues for publishing short stories (i.e. Mainstream, Feminist, Avant-Garde, etc.).

The stories and specials features (the biographies, editorial keynotes, and appendices) in this anthology make it an excellent buy for those interested in learning how to break into print, and it is also an ideal reader for undergraduate and graduate Creative Writing courses.

I found this book doing a search on the editor who released another anthology I enjoyed very much (Fathering Daughters). You're bound to recognize the names in this collection as award winning, fresh and vital authors. The stories are no less than provoking, satisfying, and beautiful.

Breaking Into Print: Early Stories And Insights Into Getting Published presents an informative collection of famous authors' first or very early fiction as it appeared in the prizewinning journal "Ploughshares". Here presented are some of the freshest and most satisfying fiction of the past thirty years including Going After Cacciato (Tim O'Brian); Gemcrack (Jayne Anne Phillips); Expensive Gifts (Sue Miller); Ollie, Oh... (Carolyn Chute); In the Dark (Edward P. Jones); After Rosa Parks (Janet Desaulniers); Approximations (Mona Simpson); Unicycle (Howard Norman); Little White Sister (Melanie Rae Thon); Displacement (David Wong Louie); Back (Susan Straight); Mary in the Mountains (Christopher Tilghman); A Wronged Husband (David Gates); Proper Library (Carolyn Ferrell); and The Infinite Passion of Expectation (Gina Berriault). Breaking Into Print is enhanced for the reader with invaluable resources for writers aspiring to become published; an introduction describing the "discovery" process for new writers; headnotes revealing how the authors launched their writing careers; lists of websites and links for new writers (including MFA programs and writers' conferences); books about careers in writing; excerpts from literary luminaries reflecting on the writing life; and extensive lists of literary magazines and prize anthologies, with advice on submissions. Breaking Into Print is recommended reading for students of contemporary literature, as well as anyone seeking to have their own work successfully published and presented to the reading public.

Was an excellent book! It portrays the stories of a NYPD officer that honestly describes life 'trying' to protect the Ghetto in the roughest neighborhood within East New York (Brooklyn). It is a must have for all the individuals interested in true police stories. It is a short and sweet type of book that will have you wanting more. Out of all the cop books that I have read, this one is number one on my list. Poss shows the truth behind police work in the NYPD. Crime has gone down in the 75th Precinct, East New York, but this book shows how bad it can get in there. He displays the politics of the NYPD and why cops act the way they do when they are dispatched to calls. This is a must have book.

The best non-fiction book about police work!

I have alot of first hand experince with this subject matter and can tell you that this book will give a reader the best idea of what working on the NYPD is like. I read the book in one sitting it was that good. I don't normaly read cop books, but I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what they do. The author pulls no punches when he describes the job and he lays out the nature of the beast in an unheroic and truthful manner. The book is the best education a person can get on being a NYC cop without actually having to wear the uniform. Joe Poss and Henry Schlesinger have really put together an exceptional book. Well done! A review from one of the finest.

We used this textbook in our MBA level Business Law course. This book is an excellent resource for understanding business law from a corporate finance angle. The book is well organized and very useful as reference to any corporate manager or executive. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Cheesemen's thorough and direct explanations into the world of business law is phenomenal. He breaks down the wall and makes the law a whole lot easier to understand.

I had to purchase this text for a class...it is phenominal! I actually like reading all the cases and examples that bring the law back down to earth. It isn't hard to complete reading assignments and actually understand what you should be retaining as concepts.

C

Absolute wonderful book. The story(song) is cute and teaches us a lesson about praying for each day before we begin it. The pictures express every word beautifully. Authors and Illustrator did a wonderful job.

My little girl was beside herself when she got this book for her birthday! She loves it! I highly recommend it to children ages 0 to 99!

This is a great Christian based book for children!
The illustration is AMAZING!!! Sweet little story
about one day in the life of Butterfly Billy. Would
highly recommend this book to children of all ages!

Wow, I loved this book as a child. I think I had it perpetually taken out of the library. I am so excited to share it with my children!

This was one of the first books I read in grade school. It made a real impression on me. It was kind of "strange" in the early 70's, but I as a strange, artistic child. I have been looking for this book for the past 10-15 years. Ya'll read it! It's really, well, I wept when I found IT.

Cabbage Moon glows off the pages while Adelgatha and her dog save the day.Very imaginative,unlike many books today.