Park Books

this book is a useful reference for both the general public and for councils/communities establishing dog parks and for those that are already established.

very well written and researched - the dog park ettique guidelines and the body language sections are essential reading in my opinion. I feel too many dog people go to these parks in total ignorance as to proper ettique and K9 body language.
I highly recommened this book to all.

I am in the process of organizing a group to have a Free Run Dog Park built in Anderson County SC. I have excellent planning documents from Barkingham park in Florida and some additional input. I purchased this book as a guide to writing rules & recommendations for potential users. It will serve that purpose well, but it is an even better source of ideas for the layout and planning of our own park. As part of our project we intend to donate several copies of the book to our county library and post that information with the rules.

When I got this book, I wasn't expecting much - - still, I wanted to see what it had to say, because for me, a trip to the dog park can be just as fun as stressful. - - I have a very small poodle, and always worry about his safety. - - Within moments of getting it, I have to say, I realized that I picked a good book... especially when I got to the chapter that includes training tips to prepare your dog for a trip to the dog park. (- - I've put a lot of time and effort into training my dog, but the book presents some really useful ideas I had never thought of myself...) As an added bonus, the book is full of ideas that simply don't seem to be "floating around the net" (This is a shortcoming of buying books these days... I hate it when I buy a book and find out I could have gotten the same information off of WIKIPEDIA!)

Well written, the book is substantive, yet short of "fluff" and has an excellent further reading session. I also like the layout of the book - - its very straightforward and well done... not a lot of goofy graphics, fillers and "white space" - - you open the book, you read the 127 pages comfortably ... and if you've got a highlight pen, can walk away with lot's and lot's of stuff to think about as you get ready for your next trip.

Topics include: suggestions of who should and shouldn't use a dog park; dog park design and safety, rules and etiquette; training issues; understanding canine temperament body language; conflict resolution and health issues. All in all, as a person who likes dog parks, I really feel that the book lives up to the claims on the back cover which promises ways of having fun and staying safe at a dog park... and offers to teach practical skills to reach this goal... Based on this fact, and the fact that the book will definitely be a KEEPER that I'll come back to for many years to come, I give it a full five stars... and hope you'll decide to get it and enjoy it too !

Anyone can post an Amazon review. And I've never commented before. But I feel it is unfair to mark the book down just because your home country doesn't have dog parks. Then don't post a review. Obviously, even she found the book helpful, so it shouldn't be damaged by her review.
Thank you.

If you finally have a dog park coming near you and you want to
take your dog(s) to the park for some off leash fun, get this
book to prepare beforehand. Cheryl covers what to look for in a
good dog park - rules, park etiquette (yours and your dog),
openings, landscaping and clean-up.

Cheryl also covers different personality types in dogs and
which dog may want to stay home rather than go to the park.

There's also a very cool section of scenarios to see if you can
tell what is going on in different dog interactions. Don't
worry if you don't get them all right, it takes practice
reading dog body language.

There's a whole chapter that acts as a checklist for those who
enjoy making sure they have all the details to prepare for a
good experience with their dog. What to wear - you and your
dog. How to arrive and enter as well as exit the park. What to
do while in the park.

Cheryl also covers health issues that may come up from visiting
a dog park. The various illnesses that can come from shared
water bowls, airborne illnesses, and poop-borne illnesses.
These aren't meant to scare you from going!

The last chapter has suggested resources for training behaviors
as well as how to learn canine body language. There is a lot of
resources for dog park rules, how to find one, and how to get
one setup in your area.

I was very pleased with the book all the info in it was excellent!!!!

I enjoyed everything about this book. Not only are the trail maps well drawn but the descriptions of the waterfalls almost makes you feel like you are standing next to the falls as you are reading about it. One thing that makes this book unique to hiking books is the Historical Detour section at the end of each chapter. I enjoyed learning about the history of the White Mountain National Forest and the many stories about how these waterfalls got their names. I might add that the photography in this book is excellent. There are some beautiful shots of almost every waterfall mentioned in the book. Not only is this book goood for finding good waterfall hikes but it also makes for some relaxing reading.

I am an avid hiker of the Appalachian Mountains from the Carolinas to Maine. As such, I have purchased my share of guidebooks. Without a doubt in my mind, this is the best guidebook ever published. It reads more like a novel. I live in both Florida and New Hamphire and I find myself picking up this book to read for pleasure when I'm in Florida, 1000's of miles from the White Mountains. This book is efficient. As the title suggests, one can cover 100 waterfalls in 30 hikes, most of which are not very grueling. The book describes the waterfalls in detail but reads like a novel. It uses descriptions from early guidebooks as well, some over 100 years old! The directions to the waterfalls are clear and well written and include vital statistics like distance to each, vertical elevation gained, difficulty and altitude. A sketch map is shown for each hike (although one would use a separate topographic map for the actual hike). In addition, and I think this really separates this from other guides, a history is included for each hike of the area. These histories include Indian stories predating European settlement, stories of the early European settlements, the first grand hotels and even ski resorts. It truly gives the reader/hiker a sense of time and place. If you hike the White Mountains get this book!

This book inspired one of the best vacations I've taken (while closest to home!)exploring the waterfalls of NH. The directions and descriptions are accurate and easy to follow, and the falls themselves are exquisite--even in dry August weather, when we saw them. This will be a gift to friends, to be sure. Experienced hikers will appreciate it, but it's suitable for beginners. Not many geriatric hikes, however.

To my thinking there is not much more thrilling than turning a corner to find a spectacular and beautiful rush of water cascading over cliffs or through a rocky terrain. Who doesn't like waterfalls?!

This terrific guide to the waterfalls of New Hampshire's White Mountains details 30 hikes to 100 waterfalls, so many of the walks take you to several falls. A regional map pinpoints the thirty treks and a lengthy introduction relates waterfall nomenclature and origins, tells you how to use the book and offers tips to make your trip enjoyable. Detailed within four subregions (the Connecticut , Pemigewasset/Merrimack, Saco and Androscoggin watersheds), entries are 6-10 pages long and include location, distance, altitude gain, difficulty, access information, a map, trail and hike details, and a photograph of the falls.

An indispensable guide for waterfall lovers, particularly those travelling with kids.

The book concludes with appendices on regional geology and camping facilities, a bibliography and an index.

You can get the gist of the contents of the book from other reviewers. It's a fun book and helps build the habit of grabbing your deck every day. It positions itself as a beginner book, presuming NO knowledge of Tarot, which is wonderful for a starter book. But don't think that it's ONLY another Tarot 101!

I bought this book because I was looking for new ways to play with my cards. I can do readings (boy howdy) for people, and I knew about Tarot meditation, but I wanted a new repertoire. And this book delivered. Sure, some of the 30 activities didn't really send that special happy breeze up my knickers (there's an image for ya!) but I found enough new stuff to keep me happy as heck with this book.

My favorite new thing is the pro/con reading. He gives several options how to use the Tarot for pros and cons, but what's worked for me is to draw five cards and deal them into piles by what meaning each cards suggests. In the end, one pile will be bigger than the other, pro or con. It's something I'd never thought to do with Tarot. And the several options he gives kept me interested enough to try it several times to see what worked best for me.

At root, that's what this book does best--focusses on the reader. Unlike a lot of Tarot books that will tell you this card ALWAYS means X or Y, he invites you to 'Make Meaning' on your own. This approach can apply to ANY deck you use.

So, why not five stars? Weee-ell, he keeps hinting/pushing readers in his book that there is a treasure trove of resources available on his website, such as the "What Would the Trumps Do?" worksheet. It ain't there. The link is broken. The site itself hasn't been updated in over a year, as well, as if he's just stopped caring about supporting the book. That's fine; I'm sure he's got other great projects in mind, but he made a commitment and promise to the reader when he said the addtional info would be on the site.

I received this book today and, contrary to the way a normal consumer should do it; I read it cover to cover in one sitting. Mark's humor and down-to-earth suggestions are nothing short of brilliant. In this short book, Mark provides thirty days of experiments designed to either change the skeptical mind about Tarot or provide the inquisitive mind new and fertile ground to explore. I look forward to spending the next thirty days experiencing these exercises.

If you have never touched a Tarot card before, but are just interested in "What is all this about?", (Exactly how I got into the business ten years ago) this is the most comfortable and guided introduction you will ever receive. This is not a beginning Tarot book whose pages are filled with the meanings of each card. In his second chapter, Mark guides the reader through ten different ways to look at a card and determine the meaning. This is much easier than being burdened with memorizing 78 different cards.

After the reader feels comfortable with "making meanings" in the cards, they have all the tools they need to explore the cards through some of the most original exercises I have ever seen. Some of the exercises are wrapped up in one day (some with specific instructions for the beginning of the day and others for the end of the day) and some can span several days (or years, in one case). Each exercise also offers "For Extra Credit" exercises which give variations or expansions on the original exercise. So if a student finds an exercise that really works for them, they can choose to expand their knowledge in that area.

Another nice feature of Mark's book is that he charts at the end which exercises relate specifically to six various fields of study. This chart allows a new student to identify an area of expertise based on the exercises which held the most appeal. For advanced students working in one of these six areas, the chart provides a reference of exercises which may be useful to the student in their daily activities.

"What's in the Cards for You?" by Mark McElroy (ISBN 0-7387-0702-3) has just taken its place next to Mary K. Greer's "Tarot for Your Self" as my all time favorite hands-on Tarot book. Sorry, Mark, you are still number two. Buy this book and have a blast.

Having started learning Tarot in late 2001, I'm not quite a newbie, if not exactly a seasoned professional. Prior to buying this, I already owned the author's previous two books, "Putting the Tarot to Work" and "Taking the Tarot to Heart", as well as his "Bright Idea Deck", and I was already favorably disposed towards McElroy's writings. All the same, I thought it was for pure beginners, and furthermore, I had just started Teresa Michelson's "Complete Tarot Reader". I wasn't sure if wanted to plunge into another study course. A couple of enthusiastic comments on the author's website convinced me otherwise, and I'm glad I took the plunge. This is a great book even if you've been reading cards since your grade school days, as the author has.

Some of the reviews below go into detail about what the book contains, so I won't duplicate their material. Why do I recommend it? First, the exercises give you applications for Tarot that can help change your life here and now. The book's subtitle could easily be "Change Your Life For The Better While Thinking That You're Just Fooling Around With a Pack of Cards". Second, it is hilarious to read while being (as far as I can tell) absolutely sound in its Tarot scholarship. McElroy has both a deep sense of humor as well as a deep sense of respect for his readers. Third, the exercises can truly be completed in 15 minutes or less. This is something that I think is genuinely important for many of us: if we're going to commit to a 30 day program, we need to be able to fit it into our lives readily.

While not a professional reader, I do own a number of recommended Tarot classics (all of which I cherish, or almost all). McElroy's approach is definitely different, very empowering, and has helped me use Tarot cards to not only gain insight into issues into my life, but to help resolve those issues. Get this book, grab a deck if you don't own one already, and go for it. You'll be glad you did.

This book is a wonderful addition to your standard favorite tarot guide. It gives you simple everyday practice that makes learning the tarot more enjoyable. All of the enties are easy to comprehend and apply. The best part of this book is that it can be used many times over. You will always learn something new about the cards because they are not predetermined, you pick one or more to study. Excellent read.

"What's in the Cards for You? is like a Whitman's Sampler of Tarot applications...with a twist. Instead of it telling you what Tarot can do, you'll determine for yourself what you can do with Tarot. By completing a series of thirty fast, fun, hands-on experiments, you'll conduct a personal investigation into whether Tarot works for you." -Mark McElroy

The Tarot has long been shrouded in mystery. Some people lump this "wicked pack of cards" with crystal balls, purple turbans, and carnival fortune-tellers. Others fear the Tarot, thinking it's a tool of the "devil" that has the ability to foretell the future (which, of course, includes impending disaster.)

In his book What's in the Cards for You? Mark McElroy demystifies the Tarot once again, inviting the skeptical and the curious to venture on a first-person voyage of personal discovery. Rather than telling YOU what to think about the Tarot, McElroy has created 30 fun exercises so the Tarot can be tested on your OWN terms.

This book contains 30 different self-guided experiments to be conducted over the course of 30 days. Engage the cards, record your experience, and then evaluate the effectiveness of each exercise. McElroy acknowledges that not all of the experiments will appeal to everyone. Yet, personal preference for certain exercises contain clues as to what you enjoy MOST about Tarot-but more about that later.

Chapter 2 is the foundation of What's in the Cards for You?, because McElroy shows you how to tap into your innate power of association which will allow you to generate meaning for any Tarot card-even if you've never touched a deck before! He has also created a "secret weapon" template (which you can use in the book or download from his website) so you can decipher card meanings for yourself. The "secret weapon" is a clever tool for generating insights and creating applications for each and every Tarot card. As one familiar with the Tarot, I was surprised and delighted at how many new meanings rose to the surface after using the "Answering Mining" template.

One of my favorite exercises in the book is Day Three: Suit Yourself. McElroy invites you to rate your satisfaction with life-on a scale from 1 to 10-in four different areas, and then write your score in the blank (ignoring, at first, the words that came after the blank):

Material and Physical Satisfaction: ________ of Coins
Emotional and Spiritual Satisfaction:________ of Cups
Mental and Intellectual Satisfaction:_______ of Swords
Creative and Occupational Satisfaction: _______ of Wands

Then, you find the corresponding card in the Tarot deck. Going by the personal meaning you attribute to the card image, you then convert the illustration on the card into a "tip". For example, my score for Mental and Intellectual Satisfaction was 10. I laughed out loud when I saw the 10 of Swords, which shows a man with 10 swords, plunged into his body. I immediately saw the message as "You're too much in your head! Calm down that mind of yours because your over-active mental energy is affecting your physically!"

Although this knowledge came as no surprise, it was interesting to me that the corresponding Tarot card accurately reflected one of my banes.

Another exercise I enjoyed is from Day Twenty-Three: Creating Compassion. Likening the Tarot to a mandala, McElroy demonstrates how you can take any individual that you don't get along with, understand, or are irritated by and see them through the "lens" of 3 Tarot cards. By doing so-with the help of his pointed questions-you can literally shift your perspective to one that is more compassionate and centering.

A few of my other favorites include Deal Me a Story, Answering the Big Questions, Breakfast with da Vinci, and Exploring Past Lives.

In the last chapter which asks What's Next?, you're invited to look back through the 30 experiments and identify the 5 you enjoyed most, and which day the experiments occurred. (Believe me...it's hard narrowing it down to just 5!) McElroy has created a chart so you can highlight your favorite days, and then see which of six application/s you most prefer: Psychological, Creative, Educational, Predictive, Magickal, and Planning.

For me, my least favorite experiments had to do with Predictive Applications. My favorites were the Psychological and Creative exercises. McElroy then breaks down each of the six applications should you want to study the Tarot further-and aren't sure where to start.

If you wondering if this book has any value to those familiar with the Tarot (including Tarot readers) the answer is YES. I admit to having misgivings when I saw the title of this book, wondering if it would be a re-hash of the guidebook that accompanies the Bright Idea Deck (also created by McElroy). I am pleased to say that What's in the Cards for You? is NOT a re-hash of McElroy's previous works (I own them all), and presents fresh applications for the Tarot-including practical tips on how to put your own unique spin on the cards and using the Tarot for meditation, creativity, visualization, dream interpretation, and much more.

Those new to the Tarot will be introduced to this enchanting symbolic world by one of the most adept, down-to-earth, and rascally of teachers.

I really love this mystery series. They always take place at a national park and provides enough history and geography to be educational yet be included in the book as to not be preachy. Kids love the varied plots that come from being in different parts of the country as well as learn about different points of view. This book in particular pointed out the split between people who wanted to have wild wolves in the park as a natural predator and those who were ranchers who feared for their livestock. The book has a lot of suspence and yet is not too long. Great for early chapter book readers.

Wolf Stalker

I thought Wolf Stalker was an amazing book it made me want to keep reading and reading and it made me want to keep guessing what was going to happen next.


Wolf Stalker is about a boy named jack and his sister ashley and their mom and dad Steven and Olivia. Their mom is a vet and when strabge things happen in national parks they call her to investigate. Their dad is a photogropher and he goes will Olivia to the parks and takes pictuers of the wildlife. Both their parents are foster care parents and they usually take the foster kid on trips with them. In this story Olivia gets called to Yellowstone National Park to investigate on a wolf attack that killed a dog. The aslo bing a foster kid named Troy.When their parents leave to looks and the scene where the dead dog was. Troy runs of to look for a wolf and then Jack and Ashly follow him but then they see two wolfs chase a group of deer and then ashley saw a man shoot one of the wolfs. Then the wounded wolf gets up and limps away. Then Troy runs off after it and Jack and Ashley follow him. Next thing they no they are in the middle of Yellowstone with Troy and the wounded wolf.

I would recomen this book to a 10-13 yr old or a person who loves mystery books.

I am a 3rd grade student and thought this book was great! There were some scary parts with children lost in the woods, I learned a lot about what to do when you are lost in the woods. There were great descriptions of wolves and how they behave.

This series is wonderful! It has everything a mystery/adventure story should PLUS more.We picked up Wolf Stalker in Yellowstone and have been buying the series ever since. Listen parents, my son is devouring them, he normally is instructed to read but not with these. The books are factual yet fun. Each book is set in a beautiful park that inspire your imagination and makes you want to visit them. I could tell you the valuable lessons they will learn but I just have to say get this series and watch your kid get obsorbed.

Review of the Wolf stalker
Have you ever read a book and liked it so much, you wanted to critique it? Well I have, and I want to share a book with you.
The title of my book is Wolf Stalker by Gloria Skurzynski. She is a great author and has written ten of these great mysteries. They all go together in order, but each series has different settings. Wolf Stalker was very good and I would like to talk about this first mystery.
The author did a good job of making you feel like you were apart of the story. She was very descriptive and made you want to read on! The tension in the story builds with each suspenseful scene!! I would recommend this book for grades five and six. This book was so good that I didn't think it had any weaknesses.
This book starts out with two kids (twelve year old Jack Landon and his younger sister Ashley). Yellowstone National Park buzzes with rumors about a wolf attack. A stalker runs through the trees. It's dark, and he is ready to kill, but who is the stalker? At this time, Troy Haverson, a teenage foster child who is a troublemaker, came to live with the Landon family. This is because he lost his mother and his father died.
This is a great book if you like suspense and mystery. You will have to read and find out what happens in the Wolf Stalker. Remember, this is only the first out of ten mysteries!

This was a well-written and entertaining book. I have read other books which gave information on each of these five women, but this was the first which gave such great information on their occult lives. I was impressed by the historical research done on these impressive women. O! To have lived in London,Dublin and Paris during those times.Florence Farr seemed to me to be especially appealing; intelligent,talented and brave at same time. Ms. Greer has written a work to be proud of. It actually caused me to learn the Tarot.

The Golden Dawn magical order was founded in 1888. Although it admitted women, they have been often overlooked in histories of the GD.Mary Greer redresses this oversight.The four women in question are Annie Horniman, actress and writer Florence Farr,freedom fighter for Ireland Maud Gonne and the mystical Moina Bergson Mathers.Greer claims that these women were the true heart and soul of the Golden Dawn, and it is hard not to agree with her.Each woman had exceptional talents, and each made her own unique contribution to this magical Order.Much research has gone into this book and it is packed with information not easily found on the subjects.Interesting details of some of the magical workings are given, including some by Maud Gonne and W.B.Yeats.The personal relationships, the bickering, the magic--it's all here.

The role of the women who were involved in the Birth and Death of the Order has largely been overlooked.

It is highly recommendable if you would like a differing view of the rise and fall of the Order; it is an interesting combination of romance, drama, gossip, and historical information (Although I cannot attest to its accuracy). You are exposed to the flaws of the founders, and their weaknesses. While some of the interaction between members could come right out of Jerry Springer, it is still highly commendable.

I must admit I had a difficult time putting this book down.

This well written and extensively researched book gave me great insight into the Women of the Golden Dawn. One gets very accustomed to reading only about the male Golden Dawn figures such as Aleister Crowley and Samuel MacGregor Mathers. Finally, a book about the women and what interesting lives they led!
I liked the way Mary Greer divided the 4 featured women into different archetypes, thus explaining the different roles they had within the Golden Dawn. It also gives contemporary women role models and a deeper understanding of our own psyches.
The book was a fascinating read into these women's lives, what they accomplished and how powerful they truly were during the Victorian era!

Women of the Golden Dawn addresses a subject that is rarely touched on in other books on the Occult Revival: the role of the women in this movement. Mary K. Greer weaves a tapestry of astrology, tarot, metaphysics, biography, and history. The book elucidates many magickal principles as skillfully as it recounts the story of four uncommon women. The extensive endnotes are especially intriguing; tarot readers will be very interested at the in-depth records of Golden Dawn tarot readings and interpretations.

In this day of "who cares", I am happy to say this was a terrific purchase. I ordered, it was delivered, and it was in good shape. What a simple concept.

Although there are many RV campsites along the roadway a publication such as this gives the RVer the information of various RV campgrounds and their amenities so an informed decision can be made when selecting a good place to stop. This publication with its comprehensive information makes it easy to find a campground in any state. Selecting a campground is a breeze and that adds to the enjoyment of RVing.

The book is huge. It lists everything I have searched for so far. We are going on our first outting in a few weeks so will see if the parks are as described.
I think this will be a big help because we just go and see where we land.
It gives great discriptions of the parks and the amps etc so heres hoping.

This directory is HUGE, and filled with adds but I can't imagine setting off on a long trip without it. Calling ahead, or reserving a spot online is such a good idea when you are driving or pulling a large trailer. It really pays to have an idea of what you are getting into before you get there. If you are arriving later in the day to an area you are unfamiliar with this directory is a necessity.

"...intended for the adventure-minded travelers with special affection for the outdoors and nature. Each Adventure Guide packs in outdoor-oriented activities set in different regions. There's something for nearly everyone." Midwest Book Review

"[Adventure Guides] direct you away from the theme parks and into the great outdoors... the information on trekking routes, canoeing, wildlife refuges - even golf courses - is well researched." The Sunday Telegraph

This exciting update covers Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Northern Georgia. Outdoor activities, plus craft hunting and fairs. All the information you need for an activity-filled vacation. Maps. Index. Photos.

"Recommended for visitors who want to research a trip ahead of time and take the book along for repeated reference. An outdoors-oriented guide which includes all the best fishing spots, hiking trails in largely uncharted areas and whitewater rafting. An excellent guide." The Bookwatch

I enjoyed getting to know more of the culture and practices (both past and present) of area Native American groups: the Kumeyaay, Cahuilla and more briefly other groups in the Baja and SoCal area. The case is made repeatedly for an inclusive view of a desert "wilderness" as more than just a park untouched/left alone, but skillfully stewarded by the desert's first human inhabitants.

A near-perfect blend of anthropology, geology, human and natural history, it is the thorough overview of the Anza-Borrego Desert that I was looking for. There is no preaching or strong advocacy for either conservation or exploitation of the region, but rather a balanced presentation of the various viewpoints of a surprisingly large number of stakeholders. The easy-going tone and pacing make for an enjoyable read. There is a storytelling quality about the writing that drew and held my attention firmly but pleasantly. There was enough technical detail to flesh out the themes but not so much detail that I felt overwhelmed. The only exception was the chapter on the Salton Sea which included, perhaps necessarily, quite a bit of information on past and current politics regarding the handling of this unique area. While there were parts of the book that challenged my previous impression of the desert as "untouched" and "pristine" - and made me wonder if I really wanted that impression challenged - ultimately my attraction to the desert became more informed, not spoiled.

There must be more biomass contained in the paper that makes up all the copies of all the books in print about the American desert than there is left in the same desert.

A decade after his pancreas gave out, Ed Abbey's books fairly fly off the shelves. Terry Tempest Williams seems to come out with a new book every several months. From lyrical evocations of some guy's weekend hikes in the Superstitions to the yearly raft of new books on running the Colorado, a legion of tomes from the masterful to the mediocre seems to have said just about everything there is to say about the hyper-arid west. Nonetheless, new titles seem to hit the shelves every time you turn around. If John the Baptist had come out of the wilderness into a modern writers' workshop, I do believe he would have been contracted, in print and remaindered before the last locust leg stopped twitching in his beard.

In a less crowded field, Lawrence Hogue's All The Wild and Lonely Places; Journeys in a Desert Landscape might have attracted the attention it deserves when it came out in 2000. It's fairly popular in the San Diego area, which makes sense, given that most of the action takes place within sight of Anza-Borrego State Park. But I've not seen it in nature bookstores north of Mount San Jacinto.

That's a shame, for Hogue has offered up an intensely important book, relevant far outside the sun-drenched confines of San Diego and Imperial counties. All the Wild and Lonely Places may appear to be a collection of musings by a veteran desert hiker - and it is, one of the most appealing such in some time - but it's also a stealth polemic. It's not much of a stretch to call Hogue's work one of the most important books of the last decade on California's environment.

That's not to say the book isn't a pleasant, diverting read: it is amply so. Hogue's matter-of-fact voice and intimate familiarity with the land are refreshing, and he doesn't spend a lot of time using the desert as an excuse for introspection. Rather, he spends his time (and ours) trying to find out just how the Anza-Borrego area came to be the way it is. A quick tour of the land's tectonic origins and botanic paleontology sets the stage for the subject in which the book finds its true strength: the history of human interactions with - and attitudes about - the land.

European colonizers brought much more than cattle, cholera and Christianity to California when they arrived here: they also brought with them a distinct collection of attitudes about wilderness. Originally a negative, fearful abstraction whose sole value lay in the resources that could be civilized out of it, wilderness was partly redefined by nineteenth and twentieth century environmentalists into a source of inspiration, communion, meaning. Other than the signs at the boundary fence, there's not much to distinguish the new, benevolent wilderness from the menacing version feared by our great great great grandparents. Both are valuable for what can be taken away from them, whether timber or solitude, gold or grandeur. And both are, by definition, untouched by people; outside the walls of human society.

Problem is, in California - and elsewhere in the west - it weren't necessarily so. The summits of high mountains may well have been avoided as sacred places. It's hard to picture people getting much use out of wide alkaline playas. But most of the rest of California - valley grassland, Sierra forest, coastal oak savanna - was intensively managed by the people living here. This isn't news: Kat Anderson and Thomas Blackburn devoted their book Before the Wilderness to these practices almost a decade ago. Native Californians set fires to clear encroaching brush, they moved plants from one place to another, they built dams to turn small creeks into seasonal wetlands. Very little of the state was unaffected by native land management practices. There wasn't much wilderness in the state until the white folks brought it here.

Hogue writes at some length about the Kumeyaay, whose traditional territory stretched from the coast to the Algodones sand dunes, and across what's now the Mexican border well into Baja California, as well as about the Cahuilla, the Kumeyaay's northern neighbors.

By regularly burning over their land, the Kumeyaay maintained thriving grasslands now in retreat throughout the southland. (A wetter climatic cycle that ended around 1900 probably played a role as well.) They may have introduced the "wild" California fan palms to the oases they now grace, bringing seeds or seedlings from Baja. They hunted and killed the occasional puma - after giving the cat fair warning - thereby helping sustain populations of the now-endangered peninsular bighorn.

They also committed acts of agriculture. This will come as surprising news to those of us brought up on the canonical observation that California Indians never farmed, aside from the irrigated gardens of the Yuman tribes. The Kumeyaay didn't plow the earth, but they did engage in a form of no-till agriculture that might as well have been taught by Masanobu Fukuoka. They planted grasses, harvested and saved seeds, and planted again the next season, slowly breeding large-seeded cultivars about as wild as red winter wheat.

This is the landscape that the colonists found. Calling it a wilderness is a bit of a stark judgment of the prior inhabitants. When you call a forest a wilderness, despite the clear fact that it's been intensively tended, you're saying something about the people that tended it. If it's land untouched by human hands, then clearly the hands managing it have been something less than human. We moved into this house and said the builder never existed.

Gary Nabhan, who for years has written about the Tohono O'odham and their neighbors in the Sonoran Desert, tells of the oasis at Quitobaquito, once a thriving settlement right on the US-Mexico line, now part of Organ Pipe National Monument. When the Tohono O'odham lived there, the spring-fed pond was a spectacularly diverse assemblage of bird and plant life. Under the protection of the National Park Service, biodiversity has declined to the point that on a visit a few years back, I saw perhaps five bird species there in two hours. A similar oasis across the line in Mexico, still fringed by small O'odham family farm plots, still bears diversity like that Quitobaquito once hosted.

When the Kumeyaay, the facilitators of San Diego's biodiversity, were denied access to most of their land, says Hogue, that biodiversity likewise started to decline. Grazing cattle had something to do with that decline, of course, as did a litany of other environmental events Hogue catalogs. There's tamarisk, the bane of desert wetlands, imported as an ornamental windbreak and now sucking the life out of watercourses from Texas to Torrey Pines Reserve. The US military used part of the Anza-Borrego area for target practice; live ordnance is now a permanent addition to the landscape. Off-road vehicles scar much of what the Pentagon left alone, though an observer less charitable than Hogue might suggest that unexploded bombs pose a potential solution to that vector for damage.

The ferocity with which Anglo-Californians treated the landscape was reflected in their dealings with the Kumeyaay. Hogue gives a brief but compelling description of the Jacumba Massacre, sparked by a few missing cattle, a two-hour gun battle that may have killed a dozen or two natives, and certainly drove any survivors out of the Jacumba area. In an ironic twist, even belated attempts to protect the land compounded the damage to the Kumeyaay, who made up much of the ranching population barred from Anza-Borrego State Park a quarter century ago.

Though the material compels anger, Hogue is no browbeating ideologue. He's sympathetic to the white settlers who populated the land. That's sensible, as he's one of them.

He may not get that sympathy returned from all quarters. In a day when environmental activism is still informed by long-discarded ecological concepts such as the "balance of nature" and ecological "communities," pointing out the capricious, stochastic nature of environmental change in the Far West can earn you green detractors.

Nonetheless, the nature of nature in California has far less to do with stable climax forests and regular predator-prey cycles than would be the case in the Pine Barrens or the Schwartzwald. Out here, it's all landslides and flash floods, lakes drying into toxic chemical flats and rivers changing course. Hogue does a great job conveying the consequences of the last two in his chapter on the Salton Sea, avoiding the tempting easy answers. Do we spend billions to restore the accidental lake to non-toxicity, providing habitat for white pelicans and real estate speculators? Or do we let the sump dry up, sending the water to the critically ill Colorado River Delta? Either way, we may well be trying to make a decision that's best left to the river, which has filled the Salton Sea (Lake Cahuilla) at somewhat random intervals over the millennia, then changed course to let the sea turn to sun-baked mud.

We would do well to consider the native way of looking at this natural unpredictability, and Hogue's portrayal is an enjoyable shattering of common preconceptions on the subject. The most prevalent of those preconceptions is the one that leads people to speak of Indians in the past tense, but those native ways of looking at the land aren't entirely lost. The Kumeyaay Campo Environmental Protection Agency is restoring wetlands on tribal land using traditional techniques, and the plants and animals are responding. Far to the north, a consortium of tribes works to restore the Sinkyone Intertribal Park on the Lost Coast. The California Indian Basketweavers' Association is changing the way land managers use herbicides in wildlands throughout the state, and the Timbisha Shoshone may yet win the right to tend much of the landscape in their traditional territory in Death Valley National Park.

Mainstream environmentalists often ignore these initiatives, if they don't actively oppose them - as has been the case with the Timbisha. This is unfortunate. No one would be served if environmentalists uncritically adopted policies just because Indians said we should. But the least we can do is agree that the homebuilder exists.

We might even ask for a copy of the blueprints.

Vastly expanded my consciousness regarding the desert I love. A beautifully written book based on a tremendous amount of personal experience, research, and soul searching.

My 2 and 4 yr old girls LOVE this book! Now before they go to sleep they say "A present for you mommy?" and I reply "Just what I always wanted." Very sweet.

When I read this book, it made me remember when I was just a little kid. All the times I had been too little for things that other bigger kids could do, yet I never forgot all the things that I could do because I was little. Things such as the book said, getting a piggyback ride down the stairs, crawling under my bed, and being able to ride in a stroller everywhere. All the younger years that were so easy and yet went by so fast. This book lets me remember all the good times that I had when I was that age. Especially all the times I will never forget, for one, when I would go to weddings or other big things, and be able to dance on my daddy's feet. Or when I would play with my older cousins and they would swing me around and I was so small it would make me feel like I was weightless. Yet now I am too big to do most of those things and I miss that feeling, but I have learned that being older brings great things such as responsibility. So if someone asked me if I knew a good children's book, I would have to say Am I Big or Little? by Margaret Park Bridges.

This is a sweet story of a little girl asking her mother if she is big or little. With each question, her mother lovingly answers each of her daughter's questions.The last 2 pages just make this book special to me.... " Yes, Sweet Pea You're like a big present in a little box. A Present for you, Mommy? Of course- just what I always wanted! What wonderful words to say to your daughter, and words that should be said often, if not every day! I know without a doubt, my daughter is a wonderful gift!

Tracy Dockray does a fantastic job illustrating this book. The pages aren't cluttered up, but focus on the little girl and her mother and are done using both watercolor paints and pencils, that just gives the pages a softness.

I remember when my brother was born, my mom started calling me her Tiny Big Girl, even though I was 2, it made me feel big, when I really was little! I am so pleased that this boardbook found it's way into my hands and now heart! And will absolutely be perfect for your tiny big girl who is just wanting to be big!

This is a terrific book that doesn't just talk about the sizes, big and small, but the possibilities. The child has a enormous amount of fun being both big and little, with the story focusing on the things that she can do. The book is written as a conversation between the child and her mother. It reminds me a little of "The Runaway Bunny". The conversation is not as protective but the love shows through. It also reads smoothly so it is a good book to read aloud.

I first read this book a couple of years ago and thought it was very clever. Though the author sometimes sacrifices compelling language to reach a rhyme, the overall story is a rich, satirical tale for adults about how TV is used to lull a group of dissatisfied slaves back into complacency, presented in the guise of a children's book. I bought a copy recently to read to my junior high media literacy class in honor of "Turn Off Your TV Week" and a lot of it flew right over their heads. I think the rhyming helps to cloud the real issues being presented so I would recommend this title only for a high-school-and-older audience. Also, this book, unedited, is not suitable for read-alouds as it is deceptively long (and one can only listen to rhyming couplets for so long).

A classic! Fable for today's kids. My boys got the message, and my husband and I both loved it! Our current family favorite.

This is a fun book. The graphics are really engaging, and the writing has a really incisive glance at consumerism and how TV and media control every aspect of our lives. It's a nice follow up to Snark, Inc. and in many ways it's a stronger book.

Turn off the TV and check it out!

This is a very clever follow up to Snark, Inc. I read a review somewhere stating the book puts more twists into fewer pages, and I agree with that. I liked Snark but this book is more of an interesting critique of its enemy (if you will) as it has a stronger narrative. I think the best underlying theme of the book is that the "protaganosts" are treated as a faceless collective - which is exactly what people become as media consumers. There's a great illustration to convey this when the Snox Boxes are delivered to slaves, and they're all in the background with no discernable faces. Definitely worth picking up if you have your doubts about the true intentions of mega-media corporations. Control, control, control!