N Books

I read my grandson's book and had to have it for my own collection. Since then, I have been buying it for all my animal loving friends.

I love this book i read it in a week because it is so good you can ask my parents im attched to this book. If you are a dog lover you will love this book pick it up and read it give it a try~

Narrated by a good-natured dog named Squirrel, this heart-wrenching book describes her life after she is abandoned and separated from her family while only a puppy.

Squirrel encounters many obstacles as she struggles to survive. This is not an easy read--many of the horrors faced by Squirrel are all too real.

I read this book right after adopting a pair of kittens from an animal shelter. Having just seen how many abused and abandonded animals were living at the shelter made me even more aware of how hard life can be for a stray animal.

Please spay or neuter your pets and support your local no-kill shelter!

This is a wonderful book for ages 10 to 100. If you have a love of dogs then you must read this book. I bought a few copies for friends and for myself. A must for any library of dog books.

This is book written for children but I have to tell you I loved this book as much as my 8 year did. I had to stop reading once or twice because I was so chocked up.

The writer did an amazing job of drawing you inside the mind of Squirrel the dog. I felt like I was the dog living this story at time. I tell you what, I look at our dog in a whole new light.

This is a classic must read for all.

A positively adorable book, from its hilarious and sweet story to the bright illustrations. Great for read-alouds, as kids instantly like the somewhat stuffy police officer and his whimsical dog. Excellent message.

this is the book our 16 month old picks up every morning when he wakes up and wants to read... a great story.

I absolutely LOVE this book...............I have my special copy, and I am 'over 37'........and I also give it to special people in my life. It is delicately beautiful....and....lets us all know that puppies are more human than human beings.....

I use Officer Buckle and Gloria with kindergartners when I teach my humane education classes. I found it well-written because it was "engaging" for the students, keeping the attention of the children as it moved forward to its happy conclusion. The colorful illustrations throughout the book were great for helping communicate the action. I recommend it for pre-K and K children as a way to enhance their love and appreciation of dogs! Donna Forst, M.A., Education Coordinator, Hawaii Dog Foundation

I'm substitute teaching and I just read this book to a bunch of first graders. I was cracking up laughing all the way through (the kids were a bit puzzled). Cute book and entertaining for all ages - nevermind the ages 4-8 designation. The illustrations are priceless.

"Parasite Rex" is great science writing. For readers familiar with evolutionary and ecological theories, they will meet these theories in a new guise. For readers not familiar, Zimmer has a talent for explaining complex ideas in a very simple fashion. In only one case did I detect a minor oversimplification: there is more to generating novel antibodies than shuffling genes. My only complaint about style is that Zimmer sometimes tries to make the reader horrified at what parasite does to prey, and when the prey is a lower order animal like a caterpillar, I am doubtful that having its insides eaten is as horrible as it sounds. I say this as a person who only eats free range meat. As regards content, fewer case histories of individual parasites would suffice to illustrate the ideas, and for me at least, make for an even more interesting book.

I was very surprised to learn of the strong environmental component to such autoimmune diseases as Crohn's: while once thought to be characteristic of a few ethnic groups, e.g. Jewish, it has become much more common in other groups as sanitation has improved, and the immune system has fewer parasites to fight off. Zimmer suggests parasites play a critical role in ecological balance, and points to some compelling case histories. Parasites are often able to control behavior of their hosts, and thus are a potentially important source of new behavioral drugs.

I bought this book quite a long time ago and forgot to review it until now...I am a parasitologist and this is one of my favorites. Zimmer is funny and engaging and scientifically accurate--I HAVE GOT TO READ THIS AGAIN SOON.

Another excellently-written work from Carl Zimmer. This book will give you a bad case of the creepy-crawlies in parts. It will also completely change your outlook on the nature of life, because you will learn that parasites are not really the gross, "devolved" hangers-on that most think of them as, but rather a vibrant, important part of the web of life...

... that is sometimes really disgusting.

Still, an outstanding book, one that give parasitology a much-improved face. Written in Zimmer's usual clear, very readable style.

Luckily I had already learned about some of these parasites before reading this book because the narrative made a lot more sense than if I hadn't. I could have used more pictures or drawings to help me visualize the parasite life cycles.

I really enjoyed the new perspectives given about parasites--how they fit into the ecology of an area, what determines their sexual versus asexual reproduction, how they evolve along with the host, how multiple parasites exist for every species, etc. Fascinating. I would have liked to hear more about bacterial parasites (viruses?). Also, do parasites have parasites?

I don't know why, but I find parasites interesting. However, I wasn't exactly looking for a book on this particular subject; rather I merely stumbled upon it. When I go to the book store I typically peruse my favorite sections, one of which is science. On the shelf I came across the title "Parasite Rex"... so I picked it up "King Parasite...huh." Then I made the mistake of reading the back of the book and found out what it was about. I had to buy this book immediately!

I'm always reading, so I had to finish up a couple other books before I could start reading this one, so I waited patiently in eager anticipation. I'll usually read two or three books at a time, and when I finally got freed up, I started this book. I didn't read another book until I finished this. It is one of the most engrossing scientific books I have in my collection. Carl Zimmer is actually a phenomenal writer. I'm not a scientist, but I enjoy reading about it and it's written in a manner just about anyone should be able to understand. It's like a science report that flows, but doesn't sound overly scientific, yet it's still science!

Parasite Rex doesn't just deal with one specific parasite, like the title might suggest, rather it's a veritable tour of the parasitic world. The reader finds themselves enthralled with each creature. It really changes your perspective on the world as a whole, realizing that the major importance of sex is so that we can vary up our genetic code to better defend against such parasites. It also makes you realize that for all intents and purposes the fetuses of mammals would also be parasites as well because they force the mother to change her chemical reactions to support the fetus. Also the mother treats the fetus initially as a threat to her system. I personally found all this very fascinating and made me realize that perhaps Agent Smith in the Matrix, when he assessed the human race as a virus, probably should have identified them as a parasite.

The book is also terrifying in some regards because there are parts where it explains where parasites go wrong. Parasites are essentially programmed to thrive in specific locations in your body (or some other creatures). So a parasite that gets lodged in your brain, but it's supposed to be in your stomach could end up killing the host. Or screw up which species it attaches itself to. From what I gathered, the parasites main focus isn't to kill the host, but to feed off of the host's life, so when a parasite is in the wrong spot it executes its program, but it ends up having terrifying affects on the host.

In the end this was a phenomenal read and I can't recommend this enough. In fact I will probably read this a second time because when I read it the first time through I read it pretty quickly. One other thing this book made me not want to do is visit any location that's in the central area of the earth, such as the Amazon. Considering there have been 2,500 different parasites identified in one small location. Carl Zimmer is seriously the kind of writer we need in science to help transfer complex knowledge to the lay population.

First, I want to be clear that this review pertains to the CD that comes with Runny Babbit. My 7-year-old son checked the Runny Babbit book from the library, and we read it and loved it. We'd pause to figure out what the words "should be." When he received money for his birthday, he wanted to buy a copy of the book. I made the mistake of suggesting he purchase the book that comes with the CD. THE CD IS AWFUL!!! The narrator sounds like he has a head cold and should have called in a sick day, but showed up at the studio anyway. There are only 12 poems on the CD, and it only runs about 10 minutes. (I know, that's like the joke about the restaurant that served lousy food, and such small servings!!! But it adds to the feeling of being completely ripped off by the CD.) It is not worth buying!!! Just buy the book without the CD and either read it to your child aloud or have your child read it; the experience will be much more worthwhile.

This book is the last that Shel Silverstien wrote, it took him twenty years.When you see how this book is written, you will understand why it took him so long. After he died his family compiled the entire thing as a project of love.
I highly recommend this read, my children love it and it is eduactional. Since it is all backwords, it forces children to think about every word and how it should be instead of how it is. It is fun to read as is and switch around and read as it should be. I had to add this to my children's collection, since it is a one of a kind and Shel's final book.

This book had my son rolling on the floor with laughter. There's one poem in particular that we have to read every time we open the book. It never fails to get his funny bone. I would recommend this for children who are reading. Younger children will probably not get the humor intended.

Do you like jokes? Well I've got just what you're looking for. READ Runny Babbit. It is the funniest book ever. Instead of saying all the right things he says all the wrong things like "here is my bat" insead of "where is my hat". It is so funny. Read to find out why the book is funny. You will love this book. So READ IT! Recommended for kids who love jokes.

In a wave of nosthalgia, I bought this Shel Silvertein book. As a little kid I loved "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and the other works. This has to be the best, though.

While obviously it is a children's book, adults love it, too. It tickles the tongue and the spirit. When I took it to the office we took turns reading from it and laughed silly. It really lightened the atmosphere.

Also a warning: You will me tompelled, no cempted to wange you chords after beading this rook.

while i bought this book for another, i find it to be pretty good. some pictures aren't up to todays digital quality, but its still great to look at. you won't be disappointed.

AMAZING - INSPIRING - AWESOME. This book was purchased in tandum with the video "Rivers and Tides". I don't think I could just pick one or the other. What one begins, the other ends and the relationship is perfect. Be inspired - spend time, REAL TIME - looking at these images and reading about his work and his methods. You will look at the world a new way. I am a professional photographer and the photography is gorgous. You can't miss this one.

I was instantly attracted to the cover. I would have liked two things before I purchased. The date of publication and to have access to more pictures in the book. It was a gift and it is loved. I love you people...I love free shipping....it is now a HUGE factor in whether I purchase on line or get in my car and go to the book store.

I plan to acquire more Andy Goldsworthy albums. His photo art calms the mind, eyes and soul...look at it while listening to your favorite calming music!

This is classic Andy at his finest. A must have for your coffee table, bookshelf or any tucked away corner or your home. Fantastic intro book to get anyone to know Andy and his work. A great gift. Pick up a few for yourself.

After reading so many praises from young adult readers, I'd like to make a suggestion for adult readers of historical fiction. I read this book, not so that I could instill a love of reading for my children, but rather, for my own pleasure in reading young adult fiction. The books may not involve many subplots, intrigues, and thickly woven characterizations, but certain ones can immerse you into their world of historical make-believe and even lead you to tears. I for one cried when reading this book. The way Louise Erdrich handles the coping of virulent illness and death through the eyes of a child is incredible. Not only does she paint this glorious heroine from a late 1800s Ojibwa girl, but she makes me dwell on the delicate vitality of the human soul and the subtle interconnectedness of each other. Yes, this book describes accurately the lives of the Ojibwa people of that time, but more importantly, above the cultural/historical lesson, the most prominent lesson from Erdrich's storytelling is her unveiling of human transformation into maturity clothed in the culture of the Ojibwa girl, Omakayas. Her auspicious past, her gifts with animals, her perseverance in caring for her family during the smallpox epidemic, and her coping with her brother's death -- for readers to feel that the book has a slow start, Erdrich more than likely chose to portray Omakayas' life in that way because that was exactly the pace it was. Meaning to say, it's not always violence and passion every minute, every chapter. The life of Ojibwas had a steady rhythm that followed the course of nature and only when the white settlers introduced themselves did that rhythm falter. For people who'd like an exciting quick read having to do with Native American history, I can't think of any. But for people who want to see life through a young girl's eyes -- life that involved hard work, sacrifice, love, death and living with what nature has provided, then this book is an excellent choice. Otherwise, there are a lot of old western novels that involve Native Americans (inaccurately of course) that would provide more of a thrill ride, if thrills are what you seek.

I purchased this book for my daughter who is attending CSUN. It arrived in a week and was in good condition, just like the description said.
Very happy with this purchase and many others.

This sweet, tender, sometimes humorous book, chronicles a year in the life of Omakayas, a seven year old girl who lives with her tribe on an island near Lake Superior. The book is divided into four main sections, each relating to a season of the year, just as the Native America daily life is based. Through Omakayas, children learn as they read about how she helps build a birch bark house, how she does her chores, and many other important details of Native American life. This makes the book especially invaluable for the fifth grade Social Studies curriculum. Many Native American words are used throughout this book, but this is done in a manner which makes their meaning apparent. There is even a glossary for these words in the back of the book. Children will love this book as Omakayas makes friends with animals and deals with feelings about her family, loss, fear, happiness, and contentment, as well as other feelings familiar to the young reader.

Generations of American children have grown up reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm in one of those generations. These stories gave us a view into settlers moving into formerly Indian territories and the hardships of breaking new lands to the plow, fighting weather, droughts, floods, and illness. These stories are our stories of conquering the prairie West. But there's another story that needs to be told and this story is of the Indians we died of disease and starvation and were moved off the lands so that white settlers could build farms and towns.

Laura Ingalls Wilder told the only stories she could tell - one dimensional tales of white people in a white nation. Louise Erdrich tells the story she is equipped to tell - one of a rich group of people living together in the Northern prairie lands. In this story Omakayas is a young Ojibwe girl living with her family, but the characters aren't all Indian. There's Albert LaPautre, a Frenchman who bumbles through trades and wild visions. There's Omakayas' father who works to pay off his yearly debt to the trading post and knows how to play chess so well that he can sometimes win enough food to help his family through hard times. There's Old Tallow, a medicine woman with a pack of angry dogs who teaches kind lessons through harsh examples.

For Omakayas and her family life is both hard and wonderful. There's enough sadness in the book to make you cry and enough happiness to make a child play-act the parts. The one thing I love about native storytelling is the respect shown to animals and plants that are needed to survive. Ms. Erdrich tells of this relationship with the skill of a master storyteller.

This book is richer and more complete than Little House on the Prairie. It's a responsible book and deserves more accolades and a greater following than that earlier work. It's brilliant and sensitive and fun. Everyday life never made me feel so fully. Please let all children in your life read this beautiful book.

- CV Rick, May 2008

We had to read the Birchbark House for a 7th grade class assignment. I thought this book was kind of interesting, because it had some funny parts and some sad parts in the middle of the story. In the beginning it was really boring. Sometimes it's hard to understand because they used a lot of Indian words but they provide a glossary. I think thee book could use some more funny and violent parts to get people interested to read more. I gave this book 3 stars because it was an o.k. book. It was kind of boring in the beginning but it got a lot better. It needed more funny parts. It was a good book but not one I would have picked. I would recommend this book to high schoolers, but they have to have a little Indian in them to understand you must like: sad, boring, exciting, and funny to enjoy this book.

Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.

Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.

Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.

I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.

This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!

I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.

Grabbed it off my english teachers shelf junior year of high school, loved it so much I never gave it back. This is an amazingly wonderful book. Vivid writing style...I could see every last detail in my head. It was like a movie in my brain. Love it.

Book Review: Down These Mean Streets

We recommend this book because Piri Thomas wrote the book in a way that you can visualize the story. This book is interesting because it talks about a young Latino's life growing up in the streets of Harlem New York in the 30's. However Piri the main character in the story gets discriminated throughout his young life for being a black Puerto Rican. We think this book has some strong scenes suitable for children under 13. Little by little the story gets interesting to the point where you don't want to stop reading. To conclude, this story is a good autobiography to learn from

This book is absolutely amazing. My mother got this book for me when I was about 17 and just really starting to bud out and become an artist. Dan's work was absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring. His colorful life and tragic death spark something in you to go out and change the world.

This is a dense, rich book of images and words left by Dan Eldon, one of those brilliant, outsized people who burn through life like a flare and are gone. He surrounded himself with beauty and horror and tried to both record and to make some sense of his experiences and the constant, jarring disparity between the extremes of life.
If you love photography and art or are just drawn to precocious brilliance and the intense energy of people who are present in every moment of their lives, you should own this book.

After seeing this book in a Borders store, I decided to buy it. I couldn't put it down, page after page offers so much of the author, yet offered so much to the reader. It makes your own imagination soar again, and as a fellow photographer, it gave me a kick in the butt I needed to start shooting again. The vision of Dan Eldon was not only through a lens, but through his heart as well. He accomplished a great deal in a short life, and definitely contributed to the bettering of our world. His photographs of Africa, combined with the scrapbook like additions of text and objects could be considered a new form of documentary photography. I strongly urge anyone who is interested in travel or photojournalism to get this book and have it transform your outlook on life.

Eldon's story of the war-torn Somolia is as much an artwork as it is an engaging story. This "book" is a reproduction of photojournalist Dan Eldon's journal from his travels in the most impoverished regions of Africa. Part insightful reading, part artistic work, this book should be on anyone's reading list who wants to know more about the world we don't see everyday, and it truly makes one think about all we have, and all Eldon lost...5 out of 5 starts easily!

I bought this book upon it's release in 1997. I can remember allowing the contents of this memoir to captivate me for hours on end. I lent my copy to a friend shortly thereafter and subsequently forgot about it. I recently ordered a replacement and I must say, this book is even more compelling than I ever remembered. Dan Eldon was a profound visionary, an articulate statesman and a devoted caretaker. As a Reuters photo-journalist, he traveled the world and served as a dipomatic embassador to many, yet his life was taken prematurely in a stoning riot in Somalia. He experienced more in his brief 21 years than most of us will over an entire lifetime. A MUST HAVE.

This product was extemely helpful in getting me ready for my twins. They were born 11 weeks eary and I was much more prepared for the NICU and what the care would involve for the hospital stay for my boys. I would suggest others with multiples or complications read it.

My baby is a micro-preemie that was born at 24 weeks and 1 day gestationally. He is now 28 weeks gestational age. The NICU loaned me a copy and I pretty much devoured it.

This book was wonderful in letting me know what to expect and where my preeemie was developement wise. He has had two surgeries (for a collapsed lung and PDA) and the book helped to calm my fears and inform me of the process. The book seems to cover every issue, even when the preemie goes home and what the future looks like for him/her.

I would recommend this to any parent with a preemie.

This book was full of useful information that helped me feel more calm after learning my niece would come early.

This was a very good book. It helped my daughter and I better understand what was going on in the NICU and with my grandson and why things are done a certain way. It lets you know the criteria that your baby needs to meet before he or she can come home. It also talked about Kangaroo Care, which the NICU my grandson was in, never metioned until we brought up the subject.

The down side was alot of the book also pretained problems with multiple births,so we could skip alot of pages that didn't pretain to us.

All in All I would recommend this book to preemie parents.

Pros: great information about what to expect, comprehensive data on outcomes and risks, talks about all stages (antepartum, delivery, NICU, early childhood, etc).

Con: 578 pages!!! And every chapter repeated some information from other chapters. The foreward suggests reading only the chapter that relates to you, and warns you against reading the whole book, but what a dumb suggestion - Of course I want to know everything! So I read the whole book, which repeats itself about 30%. For nervous fathers-to-be (and mothers too), reading almost 600 pages to get 200 pages worth of information is not worth it. My wife read the Dr Sears "Preemie" book (much shorter) while I read this one and she liked it. I was worried I wouldn't even get a chance to finish it before the baby came, which just piled on more stress - just know what you are getting in to when you buy this book.

If I had to make a recommendation - FIRST read one of the shorter books, if it doesn't answer what you want to know, THEN buy this monstrosity.

"Ship Ablaze" helps fill in gaps of history that for one reason or other our parents, grand-parents, uncles and aunts. I grew up in that neighborhood and attended the LCMS (Trinity) Lutheran Church on 9th St. and Ave. B., yet I had to wait until late in life to learn of this disaster and the long term impact it had on the area. While the congregation I belonged to was not in worship fellowship with St. Mark's, I am certain that one would find a history of humanitarian fellowship at the time. But, these would be in the old records of that congregation written in German script. We need not only researchers, but multilingual researchers, in this incident as although there were those born in America, they lived a German life. My generation was the first not to speak German from birth. When I went to Germany to live for a while, I find myself very much at home despite the fact that this was post WWII Germany. If there are researchers interested out there who are fluent in German, a place they might want to look at is the resources of the NY Public Library and Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis (records of the original Trinity on microfilm).

An excellent book about the General Slocum disaster, a 1904 steamboat fire that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly women and children on a church outing. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish.

I think this is the year as a reader, as a watcher of television and news, that I've finally reached my endpoint as concerns human disasters. I've always been interested to an extent of this type of story...if we weren't newspapers would not fare well. But I started picking up more of these books after the making of the movie, Titanic, and it's about 7 years later, and I am pretty sure I've had it. Nothing about the writer's abilities, just between the constant onslaught of real life disasters with the hurricane season now ending, the tsunami of last year, constant reportage on this ridiculous war in Iraq, and normal everyday life, I cannot take on any more sorrow and of course, the stupidity and greed that goes with these stories. I didn't even finish this one. If you like this genre, and this type of reading doesn't depress you deeply, as it did me, then this book is for you.

This is not the 'ostrich' burying it's head. It's rather I decided to stop rubbernecking in this manner. I don't do it when there are fires or car accidents, so I don't know why this should be anything different. If I am interested in it from an engineering or scientific view of things, as occurred with the 1927 dynamiting of the New Orleans levees, then I'll go for the history. I know this stuff happened, and where it is absolutely necessary to know more for family research or whatever, fine, I can look it up online. This is not the type of reading that I consider as being of benefit for me, nor is it entertaining to read about the needless deaths of so many. There are other things I'd rather do and read than books of this genre, though it is obvious that as with true crime, this is a popular genre which will not be going away soon.

Karen Sadler

This disaster has been hidden from historical references better than anything I've ever come across. Over 1,000 people die horribly, mostly women and children, and the following has occurred:

The 2004 Microsoft Encarta DVD Encyclopedia makes absolutely no reference to this event.

The book "New York Times Page One" does not show this as one of it's important front page dates.

The book "Chronicles of the 20th Century" (1300+ pages) only makes mention of the ship's owners being found negligent, not the event itself.

The largest loss of life from a single disaster from 1904 until 2001 and they can't mention it! Thankfully, this book does it justice and brings the hidden truth to light.

Edward T. O'Donnell tells a horrific tale in Ship Ablaze. In a matter of minutes a steamboat full of a German-American church group went from enjoying a ride down the East River on a beautiful day towards picnic grounds to fighting for their lives as an inferno consumed the lives of over a thousand people, mainly children and women, through fire or drowning. The very life preservers themselves became instruments for the deaths of many as it dragged them straight to the bottom of the river. The author does a magnificent job of setting the scene for the tragedy but his best work comes in the description of the disaster itself. It is heartbreaking and breathtaking and impossible to pull away from. This book is a wonderful memorial to a time and event that should not ever be forgotten.