Hunt Books

The publisher states this is for all ages. My interest in this book was my fascination with ABC books as a method of teaching my children the alphabet and to read as well as a budding interest in medieval times.

At least one of the pages is featured per letter; sometimes the illustration goes across two pages. The illustrations are beautiful and highly detailed. With each word there is a 3-4-sentence explanation of what the word is about. The author states he has gone to great lengths to make the illustrations historically accurate. The author quotes 15 references as the source of his information and he so loves all things medieval that he includes 5 recommended reading materials for readers who are interested in learning more. I love the purist stance the author takes and appreciate the recommended reading section. It is apparent that this is a labor of love for Mr. Hunt.

As the homeschooling mother of young children I say: The featured letter is shown in capital form only and highly decorated which is not conducive to teaching young children the alphabet. The words are medieval in nature and therefore not in everyday language of young children. Examples are excalibur and oriflamme. The text is written in language that may be difficult for even young readers to understand, let alone preschool-aged children. Older children with an interest in medieval times will love this book.

As an adult interested in medieval times, I found this a fun book with lovely illustrations. I enjoyed learning some basic information about some medieval terms.

I have taught at both the Middle and High School levels and found that Illuminations by Jonathan Hunt is a wonderful way to introduce the medieval period to young adults. This book is not just a childrens book. Illuminations introduces the students to important vocabulary words relating to the Middle Ages in a fun and visually stimulting manner. The author takes each letter of the alphabet and associates it with something medieval. The illustrations are breathtaking and compliment the students understanding of what illuminations were all about. I highly recommend this book to young and old alike.

"An illumination is a picture, design, or decoration drawn on a manuscript page" (Jonathan Hunt, from the "I" page in "Illuminations").

Jonathan Hunt uses this ancient--colorful and exquisitely detailed--method to introduce readers to a glossary of terms and concepts from the Middle Ages. Arranged in alphabetical order, readers are often introduced to more than one concept per letter, for example on the page devoted to "Knight," terms like chivalrous men-at-arms, king, lord, lady, page, squire, fief and the Round Table are mentioned.

As another reviewer suggests, this is not really an alphabet book for younger readers. Although "Illuminations" is done in picture book format--and the illustrations are a pleasure to browse--because of the way Hunt lovingly approaches his subject, it is an ideal introduction to Medieval times for upper elementary grade students, and perhaps all the way up through secondary. In reading it as a school librarian, I learned some things I didn't know before.

In my review of Marguerite De Angeli's Newbery Awarding winning Medieval novel, "The Door in the Wall," I suggested that a book like "Illuminations" would be ideal for introducing middle-grade readers to the language and terminology of this fascinating period of history. This is a resource that teachers and students in our elementary school often turn to. Highly recommended.

If you get this book, be sure to read "A Note From the Author;" About the Art;" "Suggested Reading;" and the Bibliography in the back.

In It Zwibble and the Hunt for the Rain Forest Treasure, the fairy dinosaur, It Zwibble, and the Zwibble Dwibbles, are trying to help save the rain forest. One Zwibble, Orbit, is tired of the Earth getting all the attention and starts to play his favorite game, treasure hunt. It Zwibble talks to Orbit and explains how important the rain forest is. He tells Orbit that the rain forest has many treasure of its own. That night Orbit uses some Stardust, and flies to the rain forest. He meets a bird that fears that it is the last of his species. Orbit says that he will try to find it mate, and in his journey he sees all the treasure that the rain foresr has to offer. He also sees the destruction that cutting down the forest has caused. Orbit wishes upon a star that he will be able to help save the rainforest. He does in a very special and important way. He also learns a great morale that children will learn as well. With many coloful illustrations, and a wonderful storyline, this book will make any child happy to read itover and over. I recommend this book to anyone that does all she or he can to help the Earth.

In the lovely children's book, It Zwibble and the Hunt for the Rain Forest Treasure, the fairy dinosaur, Zwibble, and all the star-tailed babies, Zwibble Dwibbles, are trying to find a way to save the lives of many trees and animals in a rain forest. They find many ways from saving pennies to selling lemonade. One Zwibble, Orbit, is tired of not being paid attention to, and is tired of the Earth getting so much attention. Instead of helping with the cause Orbit decides to play a game called treasure hunt. It Zwibble tells Orbit that there are many treasures in the rain forest, so Orbit should help save it. Orbit uses some magic powder and flies to the rain forest where he encounters a bird called the Emerald Slanty that fears that it he is the onle one of its kind left in the forest. He tells this bird that he will help it find a mate, and in his journey he sees the many beautiful things that the rainforest has. He also sees the destruction that cutting down the forest has caused. He wishes upon a star that he could help save the rain forest and it creatures. After Orbit wishes on the star a wonderful thing happens. With a very nice ending, and a great moral this is a wonderful book. There are very colorful pictures, and it also teaches children the importance of saving our enviornment, and why we should appreciate it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that values our Earth.

In the lovely children's book, It Zwibble and the Hunt for the Rain Forest Treasure, the fairy dinosaur, Zwibble, and all the star-tailed babies, Zwibble Dwibbles, are trying to find a way to save the lives of many trees and animals in a rain forest. They find many ways from saving pennies to selling lemonade. One Zwibble, Orbit, is tired of not being paid attention to, and is tired of the Earth getting so much attention. Instead of helping with the cause Orbit decides to play a game called treasure hunt. It Zwibble tells Orbit that there are many treasures in the rain forest, so Orbit should help save it. Orbit uses some magic powder and flies to the rain forest where he encounters a bird called the Emerald Slanty that fears that it he is the onle one of its kind left in the forest. He tells this bird that he will help it find a mate, and in his journey he sees the many beautiful things that the rainforest has. He also sees the destruction that cutting down the forest has caused. He wishes upon a star that he could help save the rain forest and it creatures. Then Orbit looks up and sees an Emerald Slanty Bird that is exactly like the one that feared that he was the last one in the forest. Orbit reuinites the birds, and heads home. He tells the birds that he has found his treasure, and that he has helped save the rain forest. This is a lovely book full of very colorful pictures. It also teaches children the importance of saving our enviornment, and why we should appreciate it.

This is a must for any fan of Ian Rankin. Each story is an ideal showcase of his talent when writing outside the restrictions set when he is writing his brilliant Inspector Rebus novels, and it is great to know that Rankin is no one-trick pony. Here are presented three early novels written under the name "Jack Harvey".

"Witch Hunt" is the first, and is a complex tale about the hunt by a varied group of British Agents to find "The Witch", an audacious and sucessful female terrorist. It's a while since i read this one, but i rememeber enjoying it a lot. The plot is complex, enjoyable, and the characters, a varied bunch, are all fascinating and good to read about.

"Bleeding Hearts", is probably the best of the three. It's a brilliantly tense story about a hitman. He carries out a job, but he's suspicious when the police arrive much sooner than expected, as if someone's tipped them off...Who's tried to set him up? Why? He has to find out. This is a well written book, and an excellent thriller. It's pace is great, it solution is unexpected and shocking. It is quite a feat that Rankin makes us like the lead character (the hit-man) who is actually a very likeable man, miles more than the Investigator who is after him, who is highly dislikeable. I enjoyed this one a great deal.

"Blood Hunt", the final story, i also enjoyed a great deal. I sped through it and, as i say, enjoyed it immensely, but writing now, i can remember very little of it. It's basically about an ex-SAS man who'se journalist brother is murdered, so he sets out on a quest to discover why. Cue all sorts of mysterious characters, conspiracies, and plot twists, up until an exciting showdown on what i recall as a forested island.

All in all, each tale is probably not the top of the genre (save Bleeding Hearts) but the writing is first-class, the characters are very strong, and it's very interesting for fans of Rankin to see him moving within other areas.

(NB: Gordon Reeve, the protagonist of Blood Hunt, is the same Gordon Reeve who was the killer in the first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses. However, BH is a sort of "parrallell" novel, one in which Reeve never became a killer. the events of Knots never occured, and it's interesting to see a new face to Gordon Reeve, a character we fell we already know...)

Oh, the blessings of being an author with too much time on his hands. I can just picture Ian Rankin sitting in the house (farm? cottage?) he and his wife bought in rural Dordogne, having whizzed through the manuscript for yet another increasingly well-written John Rebus novel and - having left behind all other employment across the British Channel and neither inclined to carpentry nor gardening - feeling his mind growing restless, in need of occupation. Now, wouldn't you have started looking for another outlet for your creative energy had you been in his spot?

The result of the aforementioned process, which Rankin describes in this compilation's foreword, were three thrillers written under the pseudonym Jack Harvey (Jack for his newborn son, Harvey for his wife's maiden name); now finally back in print and reunited in a single volume.

Jack Harvey's career began with "Witch Hunt," the story of a female assassin - the title character - pursued by various agents of the British and French governments, as well as retired secret service man Dominic Elder, who has both a private and a professional bone to pick with her. The plot moves at Rankin's trademark fast pace, from Witch's arrival on Britain's South Coast (leaving her calling card by blowing up both boats she'd used to cross the Channel from France ... with their crews inside) to her first order of "real" business in Scotland, then to London, where Witch implements her plan's second phase and where her hunters have meanwhile formed a reluctant coalition, to France and Germany, for two rookie agents' unlicensed investigation of the assassin's past, and ultimately back to London, for Witch's final coup, amidst a major international conference no less. As in the Rebus novels, Rankin particularly excels in the creation of his male characters; they are three-dimensional and, all in their own ways, flawed and profoundly human(e). The book's few female protagonists strike me a bit too much as variations on the same theme (superwoman with varying degrees of femininity, or what passes for such in male eyes): while justifiable in the title character - especially if, as Rankin says, she was inspired by the "Elektra: Assassin" series - overall this made it a tad difficult for me to identify with either of them. For proof that Rankin, even then, could do much better, consider DC Clarke in the Rebus novels ... or Belinda, the (anti-)hero's companion in the second Jack Harvey novel, "Bleeding Hearts." Plot-wise, I don't necessarily think the final denouement of "Witch Hunt" is a let-down per se; although I would've wished it had been developed more fully, as had the private motivations of Dominic Elder and one of the rookies, French agent Dominique (!) Herault. Still, Rankin's first Jack Harvey thriller is a major cut above average and a great introduction to the two following books.

For things really shift into high gear with the second novel, "Bleeding Hearts." Unusual is, already, its protagonist Mike Weston: another assassin, but this time a large part of the story is told from his perspective, and the presumed "bad guy's" first person narrative magnetically draws you in, until you end up rooting for *him* - the cool, slick, smart, presumably rather goodlooking operator - and not for ex-cop-turned-P.I. Hoffer, who's been on Mike's heels for years, and compared to whom even a classic noir gumshoe would almost look like an epitome of innocence (besides being a good deal slimmer). In addition, Mike suffers from a birth defect both supremely ironic and potentially fatal in his line of work: hemophilia. Add to that a few bad guys who actually do make Mike look well-neigh moral in comparison, an international conspiracy drawing on the perpetually interesting subject of religious sects and on a lesser-known Iran-Contra tidbit, and Rankin's superb instinct for locales, language and dialogue, and you have one heck of a ride; beginning with an assassination assignment that, in hindsight, has all hallmarks of a setup, and ending with a high-powered chase from London to Yorkshire, Scotland and all across the United States, with a final shootout near Olympic National Park in Washington State that could've been choreographed by Sam Peckinpah or Brian De Palma.

In "Blood Hunt," lastly, fans of Inspector Rebus meet an old acquaintance; George Reeve from the first Rebus novel, "Knots and Crosses." Only here he's the good guy - well, mostly; there isn't such a thing as a clean-cut "good guy" in *any* Rankin novel. In any event, "Blood Hunt" introduces us to Reeve's back story, and it almost works (in that the essential facts are in synch with his and Rebus's SAS past) ... even though to truly click with "Knots and Crosses," this book would've had to be written about a decade earlier, or vice versa, which in turn wouldn't square with the later Rebus books' historical and political references ... you get the picture. Read as a stand-alone, though, this is a tightly-plotted thriller, every bit as violent as "Bleeding Hearts" (there's a reason why blood figures in both books' titles) and, while based on a conspiracy theory that easily dates it as a mid-1990s release, as strong as the second Jack Harvey novel and the best of the Rebus books on characters and settings (Scotland to San Diego, London, France and back, with - literally - a cliffhanger finale on the Outer Hebrides' rough mountainous territory). Oh, and then there's that children's rhyme that I don't think I'll ever hear quite the same way I used to ...

While I'm happy enough for Rankin's success with Inspector Rebus and wouldn't want any story featuring Edinburgh's finest (and most hard-drinking) D.I. missing from my bookcases, in a way I regret that Rankin had to shelve Jack Harvey after only three books. But at least those are back in print. And yes, Mr. Rankin, I think I did spot the occasional Rebus in-joke, too - well, some of them at least.

Love Me Tenderloin, anyone?

Also recommended:
Rebus: The Early Years (Knots & Crosses / Hide & Seek / Tooth & Nail)
Rebus - The St Leonard's Years
Rebus: The Lost Years (Let It Bleed / Black & Blue / The Hanging Garden)
Rebus: Capital Crimes (Dead Souls / Set in Darkness / The Falls)
Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus CD Collection: Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, Fleshmarket Alley (Inspector Rebus) (Inspector Rebus)
Exit Music
Rebus's Scotland
Rebus
Rebus: The Complete Short Stories~Ian Rankin

This is a must for any fan of Ian Rankin. Each story is an ideal showcase of his talent when writing outside the restrictions set when he is writing his brilliant Inspector Rebus novels, and it is great to know that Rankin is no one-trick pony. Here are presented three early novels written under the name "Jack Harvey".

"Witch Hunt" is the first, and is a complex tale about the hunt by a varied group of British Agents to find "The Witch", an audacious and sucessful female terrorist. It's a while since i read this one, but i rememeber enjoying it a lot. The plot is complex, enjoyable, and the characters, a varied bunch, are all fascinating and good to read about.

"Bleeding Hearts", is probably the best of the three. It's a brilliantly tense story about a hitman. He carries out a job, but he's suspicious when the police arrive much sooner than expected, as if someone's tipped them off...Who's tried to set him up? Why? He has to find out. This is a well written book, and an excellent thriller. It's pace is great, it solution is unexpected and shocking. It is quite a feat that Rankin makes us like the lead character (the hit-man) who is actually a very likeable man, miles more than the Investigator who is after him, who is highly dislikeable. I enjoyed this one a great deal.

"Blood Hunt", the final story, i also enjoyed a great deal. I sped through it and, as i say, enjoyed it immensely, but writing now, i can remember very little of it. It's basically about an ex-SAS man who'se journalist brother is murdered, so he sets out on a quest to discover why. Cue all sorts of mysterious characters, conspiracies, and plot twists, up until an exciting showdown on what i recall as a forested island.

All in all, each tale is probably not the top of the genre (save Bleeding Hearts) but the writing is first-class, the characters are very strong, and it's very interesting for fans of Rankin to see him moving within other areas.

(NB: Gordon Reeve, the protagonist of Blood Hunt, is the same Gordon Reeve who was the killer in the first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses. However, BH is a sort of "parrallell" novel, one in which Reeve never became a killer. the events of Knots never occured, and it's interesting to see a new face to Gordon Reeve, a character we fell we already know...)

Jean Marie Christenson's mastery of documentary journalism shines through in this compelling collection of interviews, from the world behind prison bars, a world that the large majority of Americans do their best to deny, ignore and wish away. The great conundrums of the topic are portrayed, including: (1) the "prison industry", which employs tens of thousands of Americans to keep caged millions of other Americans, at huge financial expense to American society; (2)human tales: 1st-person interviews of a Governor, prison heads, prison guards, and, most of all, prisoners. Reading the book refreshes one's respect for the enormity of the topic. American governments, particularly our local governments, must devote immense, ever-growing sums of money to keep law-breakers separated from polite society... so much money (taxes) that insufficient tax resources are left for the many positive functions of local government: eduction, public health, social services... so much money (taxes) is required to cage people (consistent with all the criminal laws which we insist our lawmakers pass), the weight of the resulting tax burdens lead to tax revolts, in which society cuts off its nose to spite its face. Christenson's book comes from her heart and her own life-experiences... and that is obvious in reading her work. A passionate work of documentary journalism, about vital issues facing society which are manifestly unsolved, and cry out for solution.

READ THIS BOOK, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! FASINATING! INFORMATION THAT IS NO OTHER PLACE.

THIS IS A MUST READ IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOES ON ON THE "INSIDE". A very interesting book. Many insights. You won't be able to put it down!

Quandour has excelled again with this uniquly massive but very readable novel of the new Russia. It flows beautifully from its first pages to the last and the thrills and conflicts in it are so real and so exciting you cannot put the book down. The author, who must have had first hand experience of the Yeltsin years in Russia has superbly explained how so few managed to gorge themselves on the wealth of Rusia; how they managed to steal fortunes and become zilionares overnight. It took the rockefellers and Rothchilds of the world hudreds of years to accuulate the wealth these Russian oligarcs managed to steal within a short period of a few years. A shameful chapter of our history no doubt but still, Russia survives all intrigues and rebuilds its strngth to become once more a giant in world economy. The Yesltsin American advisors nearly brought our country down to its knees during the terrible years of Yeltsin. The book is full of revelations and truths about the evnts of the period. But it is also a grat read and a great entertainment.

I have read most of this authors works, some of them in Russian translation. I have to say that this work rates as the best, or maybe as good as his 'Kavkas Trilogy'. It is an exciting revelation of what happened in Russia during the Yeltsin years (1990s). I r3commend it to all my compatriots but also to those in the West who want to know truths about how Russia was nearly taken over by ethnic oligarchs supoported by American interests.

Very few novels or books have been written about the Yeltsin period and what really happened in Russia during the mid Ninties. This historical novel is gripping and exciting in its narration of actual facts but conveyed within a fictional format to avoid causing embarrasment. The culprits are, afterall still alive and in power. I think it is a must read for all Russia watchers. But it is also a great entertainemnt which grabs your imagination and does not let you put it down to the final page. I look forward to more titles from this amazing author.

I was so pleased to find this book. Though written in 1939, the language is clear and straight-forward and accessible. On the back is a note from the author - I assume it was originally a preface. Hunt writes, "....The reason the same story takes so much longer to tell in this book is that the men who wrote the Gospels just went straight on and hardly even stopped to explain anything. They couldn't be expected to know how differently we would live, and that we would have forgotten how people dressed and spoke and built their houses, and the other customs they had in those days. So in this book, I have to stop and explain all the time, but after you have read it, a good deal of the explaining will have been done, and you can start reading the Gospels yourself anytime you want." Well, my own kiddo has renewed her interest in the Bible after just a few pages with this book. Its retelling is gentle and warm, and the artwork is just enough to lend interest. The illustrator is Ted Schluenderfritz (that's 14 letters in that there name, folks, and typing all that just goes to prove his artwork for this book is worth taking note of!) A portfolio of his work can be seen at www.5sparrows.com This is an excellent book for reading aloud to pre-K's up to young readers. It shines as a religious ed. text for homeschoolers in early to mid elementary.

Here is another great book for kids that brings the life of Our Lord alive for them. My kids love this book too and it is one that they have re-read over again.

Highly recommend

I was blessed to have received "A Life of Our Lord for Children" as a gift to read to my children. They are always eager for me to read from this book, and I have found that I have learned a few things myself. Marigold Hunt writes in a way to make it easy for the young children to grasp the content, but without boring my older children either (ages 3-11). I recently gave this book to another family as a gift, so that they can be blessed too.

This book has recently been revised. Be sure to purchase the NEW book and not the old one. The revised book is the one shown with no image available. Educators love this book as it helps mainstream students interface more successfully with the community of special needs students in their school and other environments. Social services professionals are using this book as a first visitation gift for parents of newly diagnosed children in need of special assistance. The story shows the powerful influence parental guidance has in the life of a special needs child and restores hope for better tomorrows.

This book is the new "Little Engine That Could" for both children and adults. Truly an inspiration for all.

This book is touching and heartwarming. The author's understanding and compassion for the hardships of special-needs children really comes through in her writing and helps the book hit home and tug at the heartstrings. A must buy for any child or adult who has ever had to work hard to achieve success.

Review by Malcolm South

Marvin Hunt's LOOKING FOR HAMLET vigorously engages his readers in a quest to explore what HAMLET the play and Hamlet the character have meant to people. For Hunt, the quest is a personal one, and some of the most thoughtful discussions in the book (such as a connection between Hamlet and Hunt's passionate interest in the Duke University football team) are those informed by his personal experiences. In chapter three Hunt really understands what Hamlet is talking about in 5.1 as Hamlet discourses on skulls and the rot and the decay of the human body. Chapters five through nine cover critical reactions to the play during different periods. I especially like chapter six, "Hamlet among the Romantics." I also like the two "galleries" that comprise the sections called "The Man in Black," which through illustrations and commentaries highlight celebrated actors who have played the role of Hamlet. At the end of his last chapter Hunt expresses the fear that we may be in some danger of "forgetting" HAMLET in a "postliterate age." Hunt sadly points out that English majors in most American colleges and universities are now not required to take a course in Shakespeare. We fervently hope that such "forgetting' does not occur. Certainly, Hunt's admirable book will help keep us from "forgetting" the play.

The book provides good insight to a much researched topic. It is apparent that the author loves his subject. The book is readable and would be a good source for the serious student of Shakespeare. I recommend the book to anyone who is looking for an understanding and competency in this subject.

Here is a book worthy of its hallowed subject. Displaying enthusiasm and erudition, Professor Hunt offers fresh insight into why "Hamlet" has mesmerized the world for four centuries and how the play has shaped us. He describes the many sources Shakespeare drew from to write the play, the debate over the authenticity of the various versions of the script (e.g. Q1 and Q2) and the different ways critics have interpreted Hamlet and "Hamlet" through the ages.
Hunt shows a particular penchant for the riotous and ribald -- his book is filled with hilarious stories of the debaucherous folks who graced the Bard's world. Hunt is that rarest of birds - a scholar who writes like a human being! Best of all, he inspired me to return to Shakespeare's masterpiece, which I read with greater appreciation thanks to "Looking for Hamlet."

The author has written a series of short stories that use the hunt as a metaphor for looking for meaning in life. He succeeded in making me laugh out loud, shed some tears, and think about the meaning of my own life. What more can one ask from a book or a storyteller? Along the way he upsets some prejudicial and stereotypical views of hunting and hunters--reinforces a few as well. Altogether a good read.

This book is for all people who love the wilderness. I laughed and I cried. I found this book to be extremely insightful about one mans draw to the wilderness and the animals that reside in it. Not being a hunter myself I learned the authors profound respect for the creatures that he hunted and gave my new insight on hunting. I highly recommend this book for all lovers of the out doors.

The beautiful writing in "Love of the Hunt," does for me what the writing of my long-time favorite outdoor author, Sigurd Olson does. Olson wrote extensively of his times in "The Boundary Waters" of Minnesota and Canada and pulled me North with him on many a cold winter night of reading. John Winsor does that. He takes me on his "magic carpet" to feel with him in his adventures in the West and Artic, his unique sense of nature as a spiritual quest. The chapter, "Eulogy for a Bear" captures all the book. If you can read this chapter without tears, you're a better man than I am. Buy and read this one...and give it as a gift to your special friends.

This is one of my favorite books written about Mother Teresa. I give it as a gift to many of my friends and family.

This book gives you powerful insights into the soul of Mother Teresa and is an excellent resource for daily reflections.

Small gems, filled with great love, fill this book of daily meditations by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which can be read over and over again, year after year. If you are acquainted with her writing and speeches, you will recognize some of the quotes, while others will be fresh and new.

Every Sunday brings a new Bible quote, followed by a week of reflections on that quote. Here is food for thought, food for meditation, food for prayer. As she fed the hungry bodies of the Poorest of the Poor, Mother Teresa's words feed the mind, heart, and soul of the reader. They give a flavor of God's Love to each new day.

The occasional photos scattered throughout the book bring smiles or grip the heart with compassion or awe. In keeping with her simple and direct way, everything in the book is simple to read, simple to look at, and, like Mother Teresa herself, filled with the mystery of God's Love which passes all understanding.