Long Books

We love this book!!!! I read this to my son who is 9 1/2 years old and has ADD. He has such a short attention span with any book I read to him. He actually looked at the photos and listened to me read this book without taking his eyes off of it. The rabbit is cunning and the wildcat part is histerically funny, we laughed and laughed. Thank you and You need to keep writing more funny books about this funny rabbit, wildcat.

I was enchanted by Br'er Rabbit when I was a small child. Now as an adult, I find myself emamoured with Compere Lapin! "Why Lapin's Ears Are Long" is a truly delightful story of a mischevious rabbit who knows what he wants, usually gets it and sometimes a little more than he bargained for. It's easy to find yourself laughing while reading this story aloud with a Cajun accent. The stories and illustrations are equally wonderful! Hope Madame Doucet plans to write more Lapin tales!

The pronunciation guide is the subtle difference in this children's book. Granted, the stories are amusing and the illustrations captivating but the real enjoyment comes from reading the story to a child "in character."

I participate in a program in California called Rolling Readers. I am currently reading to a class of third graders. The children were enthralled with the book both with the stories and with the illustrations. They begged me to find more stories of Compere Lapin's antics. I cannot imagine a more successful book from their point of view.

The authors have done a terrific job of connecting with the world of stay-at-home moms by bring humor to the daily challenges they face. This book speaks to mothers everywhere; you'll see yourself on every page. It made me laugh, smile and feel great about life with kids! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great gift for any mom, young or old.

Humorous snapshots of life as a stay-at-home mom. Makes a terrific gift for the new mom or one who's already had several tours of duty.

Ms. Haas & Ms. Pessin present a snapshot of the funny (and sometimes exasperating) side of motherhood in these pages. It's my life in a nutshell -- and I'm not even a stay-at-home mom! If you have kids (or know some), and you need a good laugh, read it!

Underneath the levity is the message that Stay-At-Home Moms do not get the recognition or respect that they deserve, especially financially! One such joke was "You realize that (you've been a stay-at-home mom too long) when your friends are paid high salaries to sit at their desks and e-mail you jokes while you are home wiping runny noses for free!" The cartoons are really cute too! I would definitely include this as a baby shower gift for an expectant mom!

Every week yet another diet or health fad comes on the market. One says that we should become strict vegetarians while another says high protein is the trick. The only thing these programs seem to have in common is that they suggest that this simple program will work on everyone (and doesn't) and that the creator of the fad makes a lot of money off of us. The end result is more confusion about what kind of nutrition is actually healthy.

Your Personal Life immediately takes a different approach, a more scientific approach. At the onset of this book, the author states we aren't what we eat but what we retain from what we eat and drink. This actual amount that each of us retains is individual depending upon not only our genetics, our body type, the amount of exercise we do, etc but also depends upon our unique body chemistry. In other words, we may have deficiencies or excesses of particular minerals, vitamins, and contaminants that affect how our bodies work. Thus, our diet must reflect these important requirements.

Your Personal Life is definitely not a simplistic one size fits all cure for health. I have to admit that I sometimes found the material in this book quite heavy and somewhat overwhelming. However, as I gain more understanding of the concepts, I gained a good deal of information. I particularly liked that the author set out the various tests (complete with explanations about what the results actually mean) that can be done to scientifically figure out the right diet for each of us.

An incredible book sharing the lessons-learned in body-mind-spirit wellness promotion. For me, the key insight was that I had been using what I call a "vitamin buffet" approach to supplements, picking and choosing from the health food store smorgasboard. I'd load up on the sale items and shovel them down every day as if that would help me boost my immune system? Instead I became toxic and felt like I was aging faster than the speed-of-light. Then I followed the advice in this bible on nutrition and exercise and became a minimalist -- taking a high-quality organic multiple vit/min, and others that are discussed in the text, cut back my food intake as well, and recovered that "glow" from my youth. Now I am fed and fit optimally and I love my new life. Buy this book and begin your journey into well-being too!

Dr. John Jay Harper is a clinical hypnotherapist, and author of Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century.

Your Personal Life: Measuring What Your Specific Body Needs To Live Lean, Long, Strong & Better by clinical bionutritionist, wellness practitioner, author, speaker, and bodybuilder Greg Tefft (with the assistance of author, songwriter, parenting expert, and president of the Angel Mind media company) is an articulate guide to personalized nutrition based upon over sixty years of medical nutrition research. Chapters explore why most touted diet systems are ineffective for long-term weight loss (for one thing, far too many diets come in a false one-size-fits-all concept), techniques for making positive and beneficial changes in lifestyle and eating habits, how to apply nutrition therapy and toxin elimination therapy, how to determine one's own nutritional prognosis and take control of one's health, and much more. Written for lay readers, Your Personal Life translates advanced health professional wisdom and technical concepts into solid, easy-to-follow guidelines for improving quality of life. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (5/06)

Dr. Tefft has written an excellent book on how to deal with the issues that are affecting our health as a result of changes in our lifestyles. These changes have caused our environment to be altered from being a natural and wholesome one to a fast paced, stressed out, toxic one.

"Your Personal Life" empowers you to take charge of your own wellness. You learn about what your body needs and then make a plan based upon meeting those needs. This is not a typical diet book that offers a generic plan for you to follow. I have been following plans like that for years and I find that they haven't worked for me. The latest health craze that I am trying is costing me over $200 a month in supplements.

After reading this book, I realized that I am probably taking supplements that I don't need, since I haven't been tested to see if I have a deficiency. I am excited to see that Dr. Tefft recognizes the importance of each individual following a nutrition/lifestyle plan based upon their personal needs. These needs are determined by some basic tests to check for food sensitivities and toxic accumulations.

Personalized nutrition is also referred to as orthomolecular nutritional medicine. Dr. Tefft defines it as "the science of what each unique body actually retains from what is directly consumed by that body." In this plan, an individual is tested to see what nutrients and toxins are in their body. Next, a medically proven, customized plan is developed from this information. This includes diet and supplements. Each individual is able to take back control of their life. They can overcome food sensitivities and toxic accumulation by detoxification and following a food rotation plan.

Orthomolecular nutritional medicine allows the body to heal itself. Its number one goal is "to create more energy from less food and drink." This is accomplished by learning how the body can operate at peak efficiency. This plan is scientifically based and with the health benefits achieved it will really pay off for the individual. I highly recommend it for individuals who are serious about taking responsibility for their health.

I wanted to read this book to six-year-old children. Before doing so, I read the book myself. It was wonderful. I cried in some parts, and laughed in others.

The adventures of the cats and squirrels were lots of fun and kind of exciting. When I read the book to the children, they were fascinated and listened to every word. I read the story so that the book came alive for them.

I highly recommend the book, as I really enjoyed reading it I know you will, too.

This story touched me.

I have always loved animals, but specifically, cats.

This story was mainly about cats and their families, and the adventures they participated in, but there were a lot of squirrels in here, too.

I fell in love with Biscuit, the smallest baby of Long Tail and Boots. The story was a little unusual, but I really liked it and recommend it.

While reading one of the chapters to my visiting grandchildren, I could not keep from crying. They in turn, also began to cry.

We stopped for a while and treated ourselves to a snack, during which time we talked about the story, and the children anxiously waited for me to continue reading.

During the story the children sat there in awe, often expressing a variety of anxiety, laughter, fear, and happiness.

The following week, with book in hand, they asked if I would read the story again. I was happy to accommodate, as I too found it as rewarding and enjoyable reading it the second time, as I did the first.

The children also excitedly mentioned that they have adopted an adorable kitten to which they have named "Long Tail."

Wendy Rawlings novel is a beautifully rendered tale of love and loss--of a family's deep connection to one another and the events that fractured their bond. The family in Rawlings story must cope with the mother's need to move in a disparate direction. While some members acclimate to the change better than others--each character illuminates a different response. The reader may recognize the feelings that the characters grapple with in the story. It's fascinating to watch the tale unfold; we are given a chance to see what happens when we choose (or not) to accept our loved ones.

Rawlings' empathy for all her characters is masterfully done at the level of both craft and insight. The prose is melodic throughout: Every incomplete, simple, and compound sentence falls faultlessly on the ear. But what stays with the reader is the author's ability to probe the thoughts and actions of a family's uniquely modern challenges and arrive at universal principles.

This is literary fiction at its best. Vividly drawn characters, brilliant description and detail, a gripping, moving story told with a discerning eye and an open heart. The worn fabric of a family's life is ripped to shreds, then pieced together in a crazy quilt that promises to be more durable and, oddly, more comfortable. Rawlings' writing is exquisite; she truly deserves the Michigan Literary Fiction Award she won for this shattering, humorous, hopeful and memorable novel.

Loosely based upon the classic story of Alice in Wonderland, sometimes very loosely (the seven dwarves do make a very amusing appearance), Alive in Corporate Wonderland is both entertaining and so close to the truth that it is scary.

The story starts with young Alice studying, or rather being distracted while attempting to study, for her accounting exam. Alice is a somewhat spoiled girl whose Daddy is paying her way through college and whose only real goal is to marry well. Therefore, when Alice falls asleep and finds herself in Wonderland, Inc (a somewhat exaggerated version of the worst aspects of the real world), the reader will feel very little pity for the underachiever. Moreover, as the story continues, the reader will note hierarchical cliques, positions that have no real purpose, and bureaucracy at its worst that he or she has likely experienced first hand in his or her own corporate experiences. This only makes the storyline that much more entertaining and hilarious. Beware the real world, it will make Alice in Wonderland look like kid stuff!

Lewis Caroll's classic tale of Alice Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865 and is still a favorite among young readers. Most of us will remember this children's story as a tale filled with satire references to the author's friends and to the lessons that British schoolchildren were expected to memorize.

R.T. Talasek has now reincarnated this famous tale with his loose adaptation, Alice In Corporate Wonderland: Down The Long Hallway. Talasek informs us in the Prologue that hopefully the reader will realize that the similarities between the two stories are frightening, with some allowances for the passage of time and change of venue. It should be pointed out that Talasek worked in the corporate world for over twenty-five years and the story draws from this experience.

Talasek's Alice is studying towards her MBA degree at Ivy League University and one day while preparing herself for her final exams, she falls asleep. In dreamland Alice meets up with a woman dressed in a white linen suit and matching white shoes, who towers over her. Alice is quite perturbed! Who is this woman, whom she compares to a rabbit with her "floppy hair ears." Moreover, Alice does not know if she herself works in this building or why is she here. Finally, Alice is informed by the woman that she is the senior assistant to the president and people call her WR.

Alice is instructed to follow WR to her first meeting and that Wonderland Industries values punctuality. WR tells Alice what Wonderland Industries is all about however Alice admits she has no idea what WR is talking about, as the descriptions and jargon she hears make little sense. Unfortunately, Alice can't keep up with WR and looses her in the corridors. Feeling abandoned and confused Alice is now left to find her way to her first meeting.

No one is around to aid her and the windowless hallway seems to go on endlessly. Eventually, Alice runs into a group of seven men singing "Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, it's off to work we go!" Sound familiar? Are these our seven dwarfs? Only this time they are dressed in Brooks Brothers business suits of varied shades of blue and gray. All of these employees seemed to be programmed and are not exactly sure as to what their respective responsibilities are in Wonderland Industries. Although, they do understand that in order to survive and keep their jobs they must tow the company line, otherwise they will be history.

Alice is finally approached by a short man with thinning hair, large ears and a round head, who beckons Alice to a room filled with row after row of steel desks, badly in need of paint. He tells Alice that he has been looking all over for her and that her help is needed, as she definitely is management by the way she is dressed and they need a management representative as a sponsor. Again, Alice is perplexed, as she has no idea what Mr. Mouse (Alice's nickname for the gentleman) is talking about.

As we follow Alice during her first chaotic day of work, we have to ask ourselves how do you rationally expect employees to grasp and understand America's ambiguous corporate "la la" land where there are sometimes vague norms, values and expectations that supposedly are to serve as unifying the workforce and strengthen a company's success. The characters that make up this corporate world are very often bizarre and "off the wall" with little or no direction.
New and even old employees constantly face the taunting challenge of comprehending both the norms of the company as well as communicating in a somewhat new language while adapting to a sometimes ambiguous culture.

Conveying thoughts, ideas, beliefs and feelings to another individual is never an easy task. Some authors choose the straight forward method and others rely on various techniques as allegory, parables, symbolism, metaphor, and irony in an effort to reach their readers.
Talasek has succeeded admirably in conveying his thoughts and feelings pertaining to corporate America's madness with the clever use of Carroll's characters and the loose similarity with the original story line.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures

Reviewed by Cathy Yanda for Reader Views (5/06)
Having met Lewis Carroll's Alice when I was a child, it was fun to be re-introduced to her now that she has an Ivy League MBA and is beginning her first job in corporate America. R.T. Talasek brings together characters from the original "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland", other children's stories, movies and rock-n-roll. "Alice in Corporate Wonderland" begins with Alice studying for her finals and nodding off to find herself at Wonderland, Inc. for her first day on the job. Alice, in typical fashion, gets separated from everyone and is lost in a long hallway.

She decides to quiz a group of vertically challenged men, bearing a strong resemblance to the Seven Dwarfs, she runs across in the hallway. She discovers they are blindly loyal to the company and simply do what they are told. As she quizzes further..."But don't you know how your assignments tie to the goals of the company? How do you activities tie to the long-range strategic plan of the organization? How do you know when you are successful in completing your task when you don't know what your goals are?"...the men are perplexed and reply, simply..."Now, we must return to the assignments that our supervisors have given us, because we know that it is imperative to the success of the company, and that we will be rewarded for our efforts"...

R.T. Talasek weaves many more valuable lessons into this brief volume of corporate adventures. At one point, Alice is told by Castillo Erpillar (Cat), her mentor at Wonderland, Inc., that she would read "Sun Tzu: The Art of War" is she wants to learn how to be successful at Wonderland Industries. Alice recalls that this is not the first time she has been advised to read this book. Perhaps in the next adventure of Alice she will have picked up a copy and applied some of the wisdom. She reflects on some wisdom later, "Better to retreat and live to fight another day..." not sure whether it was from Sun Tzu or Top Gun. She decides at that point that maybe Cat had been right about the book.

"Alice in Corporate Wonderland" is a well-written, concise volume which would be a valuable asset to anyone newly entering the corporate world. It also offers a fresh perspective to those who have been there for years.

american's of all ages and colors should feel indebted to Mr. Crouch for writing some of the most interesting commentary on our american cultural scene. it is because crouch understands so well the basic promise and opportunity of american life that he can weave such wide-ranging and often disparate opinion without losing touch with the reality of the culture. most importantly, crouch establishes himself as part of the great triad of negro americans - along with the novelist albert murray and trumpet virtuoso wynton marsalis who seek to recommit americans to the power and complexity of our national music: jazz. this can only be done by tossing some left hooks at our great national embarrassment: namely the nihilism and materialism of modern popular music, especially rap music. the fact that this music has been co-opted by white suburban kids shows that it has long been a bankrupt and impotent force whose only purpose is to further depress the culture for the enrichment of a few. crouch is calling on americans of all stripes to turn their back on the 'electronic judgement day' of the mass media and the self-serving race-hustlers of the academic and literary establishment and rededicate the culture to jazz and literature based on the 'tragic optimism' that has always been at the heart of jazz/blues music and american culture. count me in.

Crouch has a long history as a politically incorrect commentator on the vexed questions of race & victim politics. From what he calls "the Afrocentric hustle" to the real "race card" played in the O.J. Simpson trial; a stunning suite of essays in praise of Ralph Ellison; and how the Constitution is like the blues, I found my self in passionate agreement & furious dissent - often within the same sentence. For pure verve, style & energy Crouch is possibly the only writer who stands with Camille Paglia as a thinker who is hard to like but impossible to ignore.

Crouch continues to prove beyond any doubt to be an individual with the highest standard of literary precision. His insight into the human condition and clearness of thought are peerless in American correspndence.

Ken Mask, MD
New Orleans

Amistad shows what happended in the 1800's based on slavery with Africans who were kidnaped by white people who did not spoke thier language, how the fed them almost like dogs, how the crew treated the African women, how they decided who died and who lived and the people who died throw them of the boat, it was awful, how people bought slaves under the table around the world.

Eventhough I only saw the movie it made me understand that Africans and colored people at that time where treated like animals, they didn't have rights as human beings and white people were the "Kings or Gods" who rule the world, they decided they where the superior race or something like that.

In my opinion this movie or book would be helpful for future generations so that humanity doesn't repeat this errors that where commited in the past to make them understand that that is not right, eventhough some people doesn't care about religion to teach them that God doesn't care about race he cares about us human beings, on what we do and whom we love, and even with technology we don't rule the world because we don't really have the power. Just because a contry has the money of the world doesen't mean we rule other contries or make a club whom their objective is beating other people just because they are not the same as them the only one who judge us is God and God alone.

This book was turned into a movie, but like most books, it's better than the movie. It's hard to imagine that such things happened, but they really did. I'd liek to learn more about the people on the ship and thier lives once they got home and to freedom

Myers, Walter Dean (1998) Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom. New York: Dutton Children's Books and DreamWorks. 99pgs. ISBN: 0-525-45970-7. Chapter and Picture Book. Primary Topics: Slavery, Abolitionism, US Political, Legal History; Ethnicity, Morality, Diversity. Young Adult -- Grade 5-9.

This book is a marvelously drawn narrative history of the Amistad saga that begins with a contextual portrait of the Atlantic slave trade which was by 1808 illegal, though still widely practiced as this case shows. Myers traces the dramatic journey of Sengbe, a rice farmer in Mani and the future leader of the ship-board revolt from his capture by other Africans and sale to a Spanish slave-trader to the horrible Middle Passage to Cuba and the eventual landing on Long Island and capture by US Navy personal. It is in New London and New Haven, Connecticut that this case begins a near three-year legal, moral, and political conflict that touched the United States profoundly at the time and for years afterwards. Myers describes and analyzes in minute yet engrossing detail the legal battle waged between the forces of slavery and the forces of abolition in this country while never losing sight of the fascinating personalities involved. Using historic maps, engravings, and photographs, and displaying some painstaking research into primary sources (without source notes), Myers makes the case come alive and provides an engaging companion work to Spielberg's motion picture (DreamWorks owns part of the copyright), going beyond the time scope of the movie to follow many of the characters after their victorious Supreme Court case to an abolitionist community in Connecticut and eventually home to Africa. One of Africans even returned again to America to attend college!

I have no reservation using this book in a middle school or high school history class. It discusses the specific historical context in clear language that would serve as either a good introduction to the issues of slavery and abolitionism for middle school students or as a refresher and supplement for high school students of US history. It is written in a narrative style that is compelling and engaging for teens (and adults), but does not disengage when it pauses for analytical treatment of complex political or legal issues. Rather, Myers discusses many of these complex issues (especially the legal ones) in ways that simplify but do not reduce the contradictory moral issues at the heart of the story. Thus the built in tension of the story is preserved. I was compelled to read on even though I knew the ending.

Myers begins with a brief overview of the importation of slaves into the United States, describing the contradictions of the American Revolution regarding slaves and the Constitutional restriction of importing slaves into the US after 1808 as well as the international restrictions in place by that time. Britain outlawed slavery in 1787 and subsequently made treaties with other countries over the issue including one with Spain in 1817 that made exportation of slaves from Africa illegal. But because slavery itself was legal in both the US and the Spanish colonies, Myers makes clear that there was still a great deal of illegal slave trading going on. He even allows for the possibility that the slave cargo of the Amistad that revolted three days out of Havana (ostensibly bound for Puerto Principe in south-east Cuba) was in fact destined for the Carolinas to provide the rice plantations with skilled agricultural workers.

In a section discussing the economic costs and prices of boats, slaves, and provisions, Myers shows that the economic incentives were high enough to interest certain types of businessmen into risking defiance of international law by continuing the brutal enslavement of West Africans and their forced transportation to the Americas. He says, in fact, that the highest prices for young, strong laborers were being paid in the United States. These facts alone provide much fodder for classroom discussions into the nature of slavery as an economic system and lend support for critical examination of this still controversial topic and its legacies.

Myers' book has a cast of dozens of interesting historical personalities, major and minor, famous and infamous. Among the famous and infamous were John Quincy Adams (who argued on behalf of the Africans to the Supreme Court) and Roger Tawney (sitting on that Court) who would later author the Dred Scott decision. The roles and positions of many abolitionists involved in the case are described from Robert Purvis and Rev. James W.C. Pennington to William Lloyd Garrison and Lewis Tappan. In examining the abolitionist movement as it publicized and championed the Amistad captives from the moment of their capture to their eventual return to Africa, Myers depicts a diverse movement of reformers and radicals, some of whom were not opposed to using the Africans for political ends beyond their own personal fates, whether it was proselytizing Christianity or attempting to set legal precedents in their quest to reform slavery out of existence. Again to Myers credit, he shows them as they were historically in all their contradictions.

As Myers writes towards the end of the book, "Perhaps the most important aspect of the efforts of Lewis Tappan, Austin F. Williams, Joshua Leavitt, the other abolitionists, as well as the attorneys involved was that they allowed the world to see the Africans as human beings." Likewise, he describes in personalizing, humanizing detail, the principle protagonists of this historic drama: Sengbe, Kali, Kague, Margru, Foone, Burna, and others, who by their words, actions, and prayers demanded and pleaded and fought to be "given free."

picture two characters who inhabit the newsroom of a daily newspaper only in the night hours in the 1920s and 30s. a cat who believes and acts as if she s the reincarnation of cleopatra and a cockroach who writes his boss - that s in quotes - who s a reporter on the paper. but writing comes so hard that it is, well n-o-t what is written in the - booklist - review in amazon s internet review. i quote from the review - the cockroach, archy, couldn t hold down shift and hit another key. - wronggggg.,.,., i quote from don marquis s description - he did not see us, and we watched him. he would climb painfully upon the framework of the machine and cast himself with all his force upon a key, head downward, and his weight and the impact of the blow were just sufficient to operate the machine, one slow letter after another. he could not operate the capital letters... - can t you just cry with pain as you picture archy, or rathe! ! r, don marquis, writing his material, any and all material , for us. and suggesting that many writers must suffer as did archy to give us their thoughts, their beliefs, their observations, their opinions, their joys, their sufferings.... b-u-y- t-h-e b-o-o-k .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., - imagine caps, or parentheses - i can't do it, you see....

These are some of the most wonderful humorous writings ever. I first encountered them back in the '40s (1940 that is). Even copied them on an old manual typewriter (like Archy used). Have had the copies for over fifty years. It's great to get them in a book (my pages had become yellowed and crinkley). I hope to get the other books to go with these. For fun and entertainment and a good chuckle, you can't go wrong with "archy and mehitalbe"

Of course there's a value in teaching Emily Dickinson to our children. And no one would debate that every college student should immerse themselves in the likes of T.S., Joyce and Williams. But why are teachers missing out on such a classic collection of incredible poesy? wotthehell? Give it a read and see if you don't immediately take a copy to your next PTA meeting.

My husband has been joking with me that when I finish this series I will fall into a deep drepression.....I have never been so hooked on a series of books in all my life! Well, I finished all 5 in just 4 weeks! And I'm not depressed...I'm uplifted! I can't wait to read the next two out called The Hearts of the Children. I know I'll enjoy them just as much.

I really loved this book! What a great conclusion to the series. We start where we left off, with the war over, but Alex, Wally and Bobbi still away from home. Wally is finally liberated and on his way home with his friend, Chuck, but when they arrive stateside they find it's a little harder to adjust to being home than they expected. But the one who has the hardest time making the change from army life to civilian life is Alex. As happy as he is to be home with Anna and their baby, he's jumpy and suffers from nightmares. He's also unsure what he wants from the rest of his life. Bobbi is unsure who she wants to marry!
Meanwhile, back at home, LaRue goes through some changes and Beverly discovers dating. Bea and Al have some changes to face too.

I really loved this book. I have to admit, my knowledge and understanding of WWII is not very strong. But I was really drawn into the stories of this family, and through them, the whole history of the war. I think every major aspect of the war was touched on in some way. I really rejoiced with the whole family when everyone was reunited. Even if you're not LDS, I think you would enjoy this series. But as a Mormon, it was a very enjoyable slice of history I was not that familiar with.

Really Great!!

I love this book. Three months ago I was hooked on the first book and kept going until I finished them all. When you find good books such as the "Children of the Promise" series you don't want them to stop coming. So I am sad that this is the last book in the series. But this book is a fitting way to end a wonderful series of well written books.