Powell Books

All Praise to Blossom Tales: Flower Stories of Many Folk! I love the concept of this book, and the writing style is delicate,
>clean, and picturesque. How wonderful to get to know the stories of the flowers I've always loved!

A collection of 14 folktales from across the globe, BLOSSOM TALES relates wondrous legends about flowers. These tales relate the origin of flowers, or how and why they are used as they are. Always respectful of the culture they describe, the tales are filled with magic and whimsy.

Author Patricia Hruby Powell is an award-winning storyteller and community arts specialist, bringing her love of drama and storytelling to the written page in this collection that children will ask to be read again and again. This is illustrator Sarah Dillard's first children's book, but the beauty of the illustrations will leave readers hoping to see more of her marvelous talent.

Dragons, dwarves, soldiers and fairies bring a touch of the unexpected to BLOSSOM TALES, resulting in tales that will delight young readers with its evocative stories. Parents will enjoy the flow of the narrative that makes for perfect reading aloud before bedtime. A collection that will delight flower lovers of all ages, BLOSSOM TALES comes very highly recommended.

What a delightful book! Each tale is told in the space of one or two pages with economy and grace. The beautiful illustrations complement the stories - the color and design is bold and arresting. This is one of those marvelous books that the adults will want to read over and over - and that the children will clamor to hear again.

Patricia Hruby Powell's Blossom Tales is a wonderful picturebook anthology filled with short one-page or two-page folk stories from around the world; each story involving a flower in one way or another. The superbly presented color illustrations by Sarah Dillard add life and vigor to these classic folklore and fairytale stories. Blossom Tales is a wonderful multicultural anthology for young readers, filled with variety, color, and life.

This is an amazing book, heralding from an age where absolute safety was put second to creating excitement and wonder, and real learning. If your prime concern in choosing educational materials for your child is that they be hazard free, then this book is definitely NOT for you. Actually, it goes a bit beyond the edge even at that (the original at least had an entire chapter on how to build your own x-ray set and fluroscope by getting an x-ray tube "which can be purchased for about four dollars and a half at the local electrical supply store", and which gratefully was no longer possible in the late 1950's when I was introduced to this book). But if your goal is to create excitement in your child for engineering and science, there is not book I have ever read which is better. Although I built only a few of the projects myself, I spent endless hours thinking "wouldn't it be cool....." It influenced me for life.

I'm an engineer today probably because of this book which I borrowed several times from the library when I was 10 or so.
I never had the equipment to try any of the experiments but they inspired me nonetheless.

This book was written before the age of thinking that invention could be accompished on paper alone. Hands on experimentation was the order of the day. Real understanding was the result. The world we live in today is a direct result of those who marched to the beat of Alfred Morgans' drummer. Of course, if he published this book today, he would be shot (in California, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusits) for suggesting that "boys" actually go beyond safe video representation of physical science, and try to really build working devices. "Time out" parenting is not compaible with this book.

On the other hand, I first read this book in the late 60's, and built a few of the projects therein. My parents didn't quite understand, but they tolerated my enthusiasm, and my understanding of our world was better off for it. Get this book. Even if you are a boy that happens to be over 50, you will enjoy many hours of adventure and new understanding of things that have been with you from your beginning. I am thrilled to find a reprint after so many years.

The classic how-to book, first published in 1913, is filled with dozens of electrical projects and experiments for the young and old alike.
Learn the principles behind radio and other early electrical wonders.
Build a spark coil, a crystal radio, even a toy train with the easy-to-follow instructions contained herein.
With the original long out of print, this modern paperback reprint may be the only affordable way to obtain a copy of this wonderful classic.

In her Bungalow books Jane Powell has come close to inventing a new genre: the architectural book that is actually fun to read. The latest (Bungalow Details:Interior)is no exception. The illustrations by Linda Svendsen are stellar, as always, but sometimes I think they distract from the best part: Ms. Powell's writing. Jane Powell manages to combine extraordinary erudition with a real sense of fun, two things that virtually never go together. Her knowledge is encyclopedic, her humor unending, her love of puns totally scandalous. She is also wise, with a real sense of what should and should not be done with old houses and the resources they represent. The writings in her Bungalow (and Linoleum) books deserve to be excerpted and presented in a smaller, less expensive edition: the Sayings of Chairman Jane, if you will, devoid of distracting pictures. I highly recommend this and all of her books.

I loved the author's sense of humor... very candid about what IS acceptable for a truely historically accurate home... although my 1914 home was remodeled by not-so-accurate "carpenters." I loved the pictures (so many rooms that look like mine!). Great for ideas, but remember this is not a DIY book. Just a pretty picture book.

The reader might well develop a relationship with this book. Jane Powell takes you on an in-depth tour of the American bungalow. As she talks, her writing is conversational, the details are often interrupted with a pun, other humor, or an outburst revealing her biases. Readers who are looking for an academic study should go elsewhere. This is an enjoyable light-hearted "Open House" without a salesperson but rather a builder-decorator-owner. Powell knows this subject from being there and having done that. Behind her puns you find a seriousness based on an emotional bonding with bungalows. If the reader is thinking about rehabbing a bungalow this book is a necessity. If the reader has rehabbed a house meet a friend.

If you are interested in restoration this is a WONDERFUL book! Both of my daughters have purchased homes built around 1920-1927. They are using this book as their bible!

As a senior citizen, I feel D.E.Powell's outstanding book, "The Butterfly Princess," should be read by people of all ages as a beautiful life lesson through the eyes of a precious child. Beautifully written with unusual depth of feeling and soul in poetic descriptions of nature and love in close family relationships.

This is the kind of book you want to read out loud by the fireplace with your children beside you. It's has great family values and entertainment. A gentle, enchanting story of a young girl rediscovering her heritage through the magic of a butterfly.

As a senior citizen, I feel D.E.Powell's outstanding book, "The Butterfly Princess," should be read by people of all ages as a beautiful life lesson through the eyes of a precious child. Beautifully written with unusual depth of feeling and soul in poetic descriptions of nature and love in close family relationships.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a great book for kids age 12 and older. It is also a great book for parents to read to younger children. Many factual items incorporated, which I enjoyed learning about. The book talks about the Butterfly Sanctuary in Mexico. Good lessons on idividuality and how to overcome obstacles.

Frederick Dellaenbaugh was a young man when John Wesley Powell tapped him to participate in Powell's second trip down the Colorado River. Powell had made the journey already a few years before, so the second voyage was less pure exploration and more science; the crew included Almon Harris Thompson (called affectionately "Prof." throughout), a professional geographer who also happened to be Powell's brother-in-law. With several boats and men of widely varying experience, the expedition sailed the Green river (thought at that time to be the upper Colorado) to its junction with the Colorado, and the Colorado itself as far as the middle of the Grand Canyon. Swirling rapids, maggotty food, blistering heat, sudden blizzards beset the adventurers, who still though it all made their geographical, geological, and ethnographical observations which resulted in (among other things) the first maps of the four corners region and the Grand Canyon (reproduced in the book).
While wild adventure, humor, and a real sense of the Old West permeate the book, there is a certain sadness, too. The Native Americans whom Dellenbaugh encounters are people clearly already defeated -- fearful, distrusting, sad. We catch glimpses of the Navaho trying to accommodate themselves to the new reality of white (especially Mormon) settlement, creating new networks of trade focused on growing frontier towns. But the seeds of the end are planted already in the irrigated fields of the Mormon settlers, and sometimes it seems as if the natives knew this too. Also, the topography through which the explorers travelled has now partly vanished behind the dams that have ruined Glen Canyon and other stretches of white water and canyon scenery. No one can now do what Dellenbaugh and his companions did; the sense of loss hovers unintentionally about every page.
Dellenbaugh was a keen observer (though perhaps a bit naive) with a talent for making even the monotony of running rapid after rapid spellbinding. One does feel that he may have veiled some of the conflicts that must have arisen in two (non-continuous) years of isolation, though if so this trait is refreshing in a world where we now expect everyone to tattle on everyone else. Every now and then just a shimmer of impatience with one of the crew seeps through. But the real hero who emerges from this book, somewhat surprisingly, is not the leader Powell -- the young Dellenbaugh seems never to have gotten close to him -- but rather the Prof., who rises to every challenge with decency and humaneness, and of whom Dellenbaugh seems to have been genuinely, and for good reason, in awe. Like Powell he is buried in Arlington Cemetery. He deserved that honor, but where he lives is in the pages of this book.

Love and respect for the Green and Colorado Rivers is greatly enhanced by Dellenbaugh's narritive of the 2nd Powell expadition. Well written, accurate history, and spell binding from start to finish. An adventure that can only be partially accomplished today is TOTALLY available in "A Canyon Voyage!"

This is an exceptionally well written account of a wonderful adventure through the canyons of the Colorado River. For anyone who loves the West's wildness, and writing most sensitive and humorous, this is a "must read". This book is illustrated with many fine original photographs and etchings.

At the time of the 2nd voyage down the Colorado, Dellenbaugh was on about 19 years old. He didn't write the book until many years later. What a wonderful/spellbinding look at the most beautiful place in North America (The Colorado Plateau). Not only that but I found it extremely hunorous as well. Great Great book!!!

Once I began reading "Clearview:America's Course" I simply could not put it down. It is a personal historical account of the transition of our country from a place where only some enjoy freedom to a country where finally we can boast that all people are free. We see the past 7 decades through one man's vision, uncluttered by resentment and bitterness at the unjust treatment he endured simply because he was black. Dr. Powell is an inspiration to all. Ms. Nosner writes in a manner that is easy and enjoyable to read.

An excellent work to understand the cultural and historical issues facing blacks in pre civil rights history and beyond. It is a penetrating and inspirational look at overcoming obstacles in pursuit of a dream. It is not contexted solely in racial struggles of minorites but goes beyond this to the courage and deliberation required for any of us that have dreams and aspirations to accomplish something to make this a better world.

this book is one of the most inspirational and motivational books I have read in a long time. It teaches many lessons for people of all ages, especially to never give up.

This is a story of triumph over discrimination based upon the color of one's skin.

Imagine serving your country to win a war, and then returning to your homeland, and not having available to you the resources available to others who worked by your side.

Be amazed that there is only one golf coure in the United States in the year 2001 that is designed, built, and maintained by an African-American family.

Consider that the Professional Golf Association of America eliminated its white-only policy in the early 1960s.

Become inspired by imagining or playing this golf course that is available to any person, regardless of level of skill; for the love of the game.

Ellen Nossner's writing of this man's story is focused, fluid, and revealing.

America has come a long way, in part, due to triumphs of spirit like that of Mr. Powell. We must not lose sight that we still have a ways to go.

The book was very good. It gave me a very good time reading. It was so good I couldn't even put it down! I recommend it to everyone who engoys climbing stories!

This is a great compilation of climbing stories. Some are inspiring while others will make you think about whether this is really something you want to be doing. Also highly recommended for those addicted to mountaineering literature is the editor's book "Epic" for more of the same...

Willis has a genius for searching climbing literature and coming up with gripping passages to incorporate into his anthologies. Some readers will find that they already own most of the original books, making the anthology unnecessary. However, for those who only like the exciting bits, or who don't want to collect dozens of volumes, Willis' works are perfect. The latest installment continues to incorporate writings on many different climbing styles and historical periods, both fiction and nonfiction.

As you can see from the table of contents and the editorial reviews, this book contains writings by lots of great mountaineers and climbers. Many of the authors discuss experiences when they have had to deal with fear, loss, and the difficult question of risk; they also share some of the lessons that they have learned from years of being challenged by nature and other people. Willis' compilation includes a selection of both fictional and true stories that I found to be a balanced combination of very funny, poignant, sad, and--best of all--inspiring. Reading this book really made me want to get outside! One of the convenient things about this book is that the stories are rather short, so it's easy to pick it up for a brief escape from the hustle and bustle of the city...There is also a bibliography so one can read further about any of the stories, if one chooses.

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is a surprisingly varied collection of creepy tales involving revenants of all stripes. A handsome hardcover volume (with a great cover by Gary Gianni), it contains nine stories ranging from the outright fantastical to the strikingly contemporary.

As is the case with any anthology, the stories contained herein are hit or miss, although there are more hits than misses. Many of you investigating this volume will no doubt be interested in Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul," a Hellboy romp that is entertaining (though not his best work). However, Mignola's tale is not the only standout. Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" imagines a Victorian excursion to the Arctic with dire consequences that is exceptional in its artwork and narrative quality; Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is a dark fantasy tale that finds a young swordsman on a quest to rid his world of the hellish evil that has befallen it; Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori" is an atmospheric (and explicitly gruesome) ghost story taking place in feudal Japan; and Evan Dorking and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" explores what happens when dogs and the occult mix.

All of these are worthy entries, but the real standout is "Old Garfield's Heart," a "weird" tale by Robert E. Howard with supebly rendered illustrations by Gary Gianni. This yarn - encompassing 1930s Texas society, history, and black magic - may surprise some readers in that it is a Howard story that is not explicitly fantastic, and reads more in the vein of an M. R. James or William Hope Hodgson tale. The virtuoso composition and execution of this story shows just how good Howard was and will make you want to go out and investiagte his westerns.

Overall, The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is highly recommended for lovers of good old-fashioned horror with a grim and gruesome edge.

EC Comics is long gone, a victim of 1950's paranoia run amuck. Horror comics themselves went through a very long lull in the 80's and most of the 90's, taking a backseat to superhero and sci-fi related books. But horror comics have come back in a big way over the past decade or so and leading the charge has been Dark Horse Comics, who have really taken up the mantle of EC Comics both in their tone and inventiveness. Dark Horse has been feeding horror-starved fans everything from modern, gory horror, to books based on classic Universal horror films of the 30's and 40's.

A great example is this fantastic, Hardcover graphic novel, "The Dark Horse Book of the Dead", an anthology of ten stories by a host of talented artists and writers including Mike Mignola, Kelley Jones, Evan Dorkin, Guy Davis, and Jill Thompson. The opening tale by Jones is a truly EC inspired tale called "The Hungry Ghosts". Jones' work conjures up memories of EC greats like Jack Davis and Reed Crandall as a lone hunter ventures into haunted woods, endlessly stalked by a horde of ghoulish ghosts, but the hunter has a secret that will keep him alive and free of the spirits.

Mike Mignola's story is a short, Hellboy adventure as Big Red tracks down a poetry-spouting cannibal who has subsisted for centuries by grave robbing and eating the remains. One of my favorite tales was a comedic piece by Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge called "Death Boy". This zany, cartoony story finds a young man who was saved after a suicide attempt, only to be given the touch of death by the Grim Reaper who decides he wants to take a holiday from his work.

"The Magicians" takes a look at the conscience of the practitioners of the black arts as a man raises the skeletal remains of his father in order to have a father and son heart-to-heart conversation. A dark and moody tale to be sure...

"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson is a cautionary tale...Cats should never raise dogs from the dead to use them in their never ending battle with the canines. Dogs just don't like cats, even if the dogs are zombies!

There's also a great short story by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, called"Old Garfield's Heart" which features illustrations by Gary Gianni. While Howard was certainly most well-known for his works of swords and sorcery, he was equally adept at horror as this story will show.

Just a wonderful book of horror tales wrapped up in a gorgeous hardcover edition. Dark Horse continues to be one of the true leaders in modern comic book horror.

Reviewed By Tim Janson

This is the first in the series that I picked up. I was drawn in by Kill Thompson, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones, and was delighted to fin some others that I never knew I knew!
The stories overall were great. For he most part they were interesting and engrossing. did find Mignola's a little tough to chew through, since the poetry only seemed to distract from what was actually happening (which in and of itself was pretty neat). But, of course, his gorgeous art style and fun characters made up for it.
My two favorites, though, were unexpected ones. I know some people might not, but I actually really enjoyed the comicky humor of Fingerman and Langridge's piece. It was cute with charming art.
The absolute stunner, however, was Jill Thompson's. I've been a fan of hers for a while, but I didn't expect something this great. It was cute without being sickly sweet. The characters were fun, and the plot was neat.
Overall, this book was really great, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Anthologies are almost always a mixed bag of tricks, the alchemical products of well-intentioned editors possessed by some inspired thematic vision that compels them to collect a range of exemplary work under a single banner, ideally providing maximum bang for a reader's buck. With 94 pages of content, including an interesting 11-page prose piece from Robert E. Howard lightly seasoned with a handful of illustrations, its bang for the buck factor is pretty high.

"Nine Cautionary Tales of the Risen and Hungry Dead - Told in Words and Pictures; including famously Dead Author and Patriarch of Terrifying Adventure, Robert E. Howard." It's rare that a book's promotional blurb is worth referring to, but in this case it's appropriate thanks to its nailing of the anthology's overall tone: wry and a tad old school, perhaps the kind of thing Max Gaines would be publishing if the Comics Code Authority hadn't castrated his line of horror comics so many years ago. From the clever twist of Kelley Jones' "The Hungry Ghosts" opener, to the waterlogged horror of Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori," Book of the Dead delivers literate storytelling that doesn't shortchange fans of gore and hanging entrails. Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is the most intriguing entry, hinting at a much larger story that begs for a more elaborate telling, possibly hinted at in the credits which explain this story "marks his return to comics as both writer and artist."

David Crouse and Todd Herman offer up the disturbing "The Ditch;" Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" is a creepy tale with a nice Classics Illustrated-style execution; and Book of the Dead editor Scott Allie himself teams up with Paul Lee and Brian Horton for the surprisingly melancholy "The Magicians." Allie arguably saves the best for last, though, closing out with Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie," sort of Stephen King's Pet Sematary told from the perspective of the pets themselves. Fans of Grant Morrison's overrated WE3 should check this one out to see a twist on a familiar theme done right.

While there are no outright misses here, there are a couple of questionable entries that keep this worthy project from A+ status. Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul" strikes a dubious balance between pretension and confusion as the BPRD track down a ghoulish fellow who only speaks in poetry while Hellboy beats the stuffing out of him, as annoyed by the stylistic quirk as I was. Perhaps some more familiarity with Hellboy would have improved my opinion of the piece, but if so, in this context, it would still be considered a swing and a miss. The other strike is Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge's "Death Boy," a cartoony humor piece that brings to mind the old Sesame Street "one of these things is not like the others" segments. It's not bad, per se, just completely jarring in its tone and a bad fit here.

Nevertheless, the whole is far greater than the sum of its unequal parts, and it's an enjoyable collection worth every penny, suitable not just for genre fans but any fan of good writing and artwork. It's also a perfect introduction to comics for anyone that thinks they're just for kids and/or all about superheroes.

Tim Page has done an excellent job of writing in this biography of an important writer who has been overlooked, ignored. Gore Vidal did boost Powell's posthumous reputation through a piece in THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, but Page, arguably, has done the major work of excavation. The book is a joy to read. The accomplishment here is similar to that of the famous contemporary English biographers Michael Holroyd and Richard Holmes.

Dawn Powell, 1896-1965, came from Ohio. She was born in Mount Gilead and attended Lake Erie College. She received an honorary degree from that college near the end of her life. In 1918, after college graduation, she moved to Pomfret, CT, to imbibe the artistic atmosphere. After Labor Day she moved to New York City permanently. She found work with the Butterick Company. Later she joined the publicity department of the Red Cross. She free lanced. She met Joseph Gousha. Joseph came to believe it was his role to foster Dawn's genius.

After the couple married, they lived separately initially, and then moved to Riverside Drive. This was a domestic period for Dawn. She kept her name Dawn Powell. Joseph Jr. was born in 1921. His nickname was JoJo. He had enormous intellectual gifts and undiagnosed autism. His behavior was bizarre. A nurse was hired who worked for the family until 1954. In financial difficulties she refused to be fired. Louise Lee's presence allowed Dawn to write again. Joe and Dawn were both heavy drinkers. They pursued their vocations and their avocations separately. They were victims of difficult circumstances and were uncomplaining.

Dawn was close to John Dos Passos and John Howard Lawson and many other writers and artists. A great deal of the time the Goushas lived in Greenwich Village. Sometimes when writing a novel Dawn would go to Atlantic City in order to focus on her work. She liked to disown her first novel, WHITHER, claiming she had been a better writer at age thirteen. SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY was the first of Dawn's Ohio novels. DAWN NIGHT (1930) was the first of her great books. COME BACK TO SORRENTO (1932) was a gentle Ohio novel. TURN, MAGIC WHEEL (1936) portrayed sophisticated New York. THE STORY OF A COUNTRY BOY was sold to Hollywood.

Upon completing THE HAPPY ISLAND, Dawn fell into the hands of Maxwell Perkins when she changed publishers. ANGELS ON TOAST (1940) was witty, urbane. Another satire was A TIME TO BE BORN. The final novel in the Ohio series was MY HOME IS FAR AWAY. In all, she published fifteen novels. A TIME TO BE BORN was rated an enjoyable book about very disagreeable people. Following Max Perkins's death, Dawn's editor was John Hall Wheelock. In 1951 she moved to Houghton Mifflin. Rosalind Wilson, Edmund Wilson's daughter, became her editor. THE WICKED PAVILION (1954) was one of the more popular Dawn Powell novels. It appeared on the New York Times best seller list for one week. Dawn's last book THE GOLDEN SPUR, used material gleaned from drinking nightly at the Cedar Bar.

I fell in love with Dawn Powell after reading this biography! I recommend reading it highly, as well as looking into some of Powell's own works. My only complaint is the lack of photographs of Powell during her best writing (and flirting) years. After reading this book I thought about how many worth while authors are forgotten and lost to us, and how fine and generous Mr. Page has been in exhuming this wonderful woman's reputation and career for a new generation that perhaps has finally caught up with her.

Dawn Powell comes vividly to life in this affectionate, well-reasoned and meticulously fair biography. Tim Page has been nothing less than heroic in the service of this once-forgotten American writer -- and it seems to me that he understands her very well indeed.

I had a very different response than one earlier reader to Page's occasional admissions that he didn't know what happened at this or that point in Powell's life. It struck me as refreshingly honest. Very few biographers have the courage to confess that they aren't omniscient and that certain facts will simply get lost over the course of 100 years. And I was very glad that he didn't pad the book with all the Greenwich Village 101 stuff that you find in biographies of practically everybody who ever lived below 14th Street.

Certain people don't "get" Powell, and they probably won't get Page either. For the rest of us, this book has been, and will continue to be, a revelation.

I didn't know much about Dawn Powell before I read this book, but am now very glad I've come to know her a little, and I'm eager to read some of her novels, as well. The biography covers her life from her difficult childhood in Ohio to her many productive years in Manhattan. Along with detailing her life, the author details her work -- including how various novels came about, and how they were received. I recommend this book especially to anyone interested in the lives of writers and how they work. (The book offers some chuckles, as well, as Dawn was a very funny and quotable woman.)

A "typing" scheme on how we learn (geared towards children). People understand things in differing ways not because of the intelligience but rather because of the process of how their minds work. This book is full of practical ideas to connect with children

Until I read this book I just couldn't understand how to relate to my young son. Though I can't say that I agree with everything in this book, it was a huge help in learning how my son was figuring out his world. He learns through his eyes! My older son and I learn through our ears. I thought everyone did until I read this book. It is just as valid to learn through your eyes or your fingers or your movements as it is through your ears. Every parent and teacher should read this book.

After 8 years of trying to understand my daughter, I found her in this book. I knew she thought differently, but all the professionals were stumped as to how to help her. I finally found this book and it was as if I saw my daughter for the first time. Not only did it identify her learning style perfectly, I was able to see how that learning style formed her personality and how she reacted, positively and negatively, to different situations. As a parent, that understanding has allowed me to be more proactive with her education and more patient in my parenting. I recommend this book to anyone, especially those parents or caregiving professionals who know there's more to their child than what is being seen.

I picked up this book from an LLL meeting's private library, just for something to read for the month. I never imagined that it was going to change the way I looked at my child! In learning my child's thought pattern (and mine and my husband's as well) I not only discovered how he learns, but reasons for the ways he behaves. When reading the description of a typical person with my child's thought pattern, it was as though the author was describing my child exactly! I now understand such behaviors in my child as never having an appetite, not enjoying coloring, although he can very nicely, being able to memorize things he hears with seemingly no effort at all, talking and asking questions from the moment he wakes up untill he is asleep, and being timid about defending himself physically even when necessary. This book also enlightened me to the fact that my thought pattern and my son's will fit perfectly while I endevor to school him at home, as I enjoy talking and enlightening people, and he learns easiest through hearing. Never before has a book influenced my life in such strong and beneficial way. I have recommended this book to every parent I know, and strongly to those that have chosen as I have to educate their children at home. It is true that every child is smart in their own way and it is important to understand this in order to help each child learn to lead a productive life.