Richardson Books

This is one of the best business books ever! Five stars is to low for such an outstanding work as 100 ways to motivate others. Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson have a writing style that really hit home for me. Order this book now and your return on investment could be huge. I loved every word. I have already ordered all of Steve Chandler's books as a result of my satisfaction with this effort. . 10 Stars - 2 hour 40 minute very easy read. This book offers steps leaders can take to increase composure and results.

John Halloran
CEO [...]
CEO [...]

Great tips and ideas for motivating others, especially in the business world. Some of them include, "Know Where Motivation Comes From, Teach Self-Discipline, Stop Criticizing Upper Management, Keep Giving Feedback, Get Input from your People, Accelerate Change, Don't Confuse Stressing Out With Caring, Manage Your Own Superiors, and Manage Agreements, Not People." If you want to become a great leader, I highly recommend this book.

I've listened to these CD's more than once while driving. There are lots of great tips - and a couple opened my eyes to some areas where I had been stuck. Not every point was new to me. I have recommended it to others and shared some of the individual points with friends.

Steve Chandler drives home the keys to becoming a great leader in a way that is easy to understand and implement. This should be required reading for anyone in a leadership role. David Otis Author of "Walk Fast, Talk Loud and Smile."

If you are a reader on leadership, Steve Chandler is not stranger to you. In "100 ways to motivate others:", he condenses several years worth of work into a handbook for the new generation of leader.
Do not be confused by the fact that the book is not large. Steve has crammed years worth of fundamental truths about motivation and management into a compact tome.
The hardest part of using these techniques is making the initial leap of faith that these steps actually work. And they do work. If you buy a book on motivation or leadership this year, it must be this book.

I have been in the finance and credit field since 1993. In this time, I have reviewed over 4,000 credit reports, and have seen hundreds of credit reports with major errors on them. Trust me, major errors on credit reports are a very common occurrence.

Denise Richardson's story is an absolute nightmare. You can read the summary of what happened elsewhere here, so I need not recap it. But her story is absolutely compelling, and frightening, and you will get angry at the following when reading the book: large bank practices; collections agencies; the three major credit bureaus, the attorneys for huge multi-billion dollar corporations; our judicial system; and our Congress and regulators who are supposed to be protecting us, but instead are protecting the large corporations who are funding their campaigns and often actually writing the consumer laws and the federal regulations.

You won't be pleased about how the credit system works in this country after reading this book, but that in my view is a good thing. With knowledge comes truth, and with truth, comes power. Once you have a much better understanding how this system works (or doesn't work) by reading Denise's story, you will know how to protect yourself from a similar fate. The nightmare of incorrect and damaging errors showing up and staying on credit reports doesn't just happen to a few individuals like Denise...it happens to tens of millions of Americans.

Denise has a number of tips on how to protect yourself from credit errors. Two important ones are: Monitor your monthly payments to all major accounts, especially your mortgage, and monitor your own credit reports on a regular basis to make sure that errors are not being reported. (A personal note - after reading this book, I contacted my mortgage bank, and will now start monitoring my mortgage payments online. We have never received a monthly mortgage payment statement either.)

I mostly read this book looking at it from a credit standpoint, because that is the field I am in. However, this is a well told and inspiring story that moved me on a human level; of one woman who took on the giants of industry, and won. The toll it took on her life was immense, but she did not give up. I have a lot of respect for her. She fought a lot of battles in this book, and did not win them all. But in the end, she won the war.

Again, I highly recommend this book. You will be moved by Denise's story, and you will also learn steps you can take to protect your own good credit.

Denise's story requires a strong stomach; I had to put it down at times just to let myself settle down after reading the nightmare she went through. This book gives you the tools to monitor your credit health and to be aware of the steps to take to maintain it. Highly recommended.

Denise's story is shaking up the credit industry. In clear, concise and honest language she tells her painfully true story of what can and does happen to honest and innocent people. I am buying copies of GIVE ME BACK MY CREDIT for all my friends...especially students being offered unsolicited credit. An excellent, compelling read.

Author Denise Richardson and I decided to exchange our literary works. I sent her my novel "The Kids on the Block," and Denise sent me hers; "Give Me Back My Credit." Even though "The Kids on the Block has some sad parts, for the most part it is humorous and hilariously funny. Denise's true story is, on the other hand, tragic, nightmarish and bloodcurdling to say the least. I do not expect Denise to have much humor left after what she went through in fighting an arrogant, error-plagued, contemptuous Mortgage Bank and the three national credit bureaus.

Denise is the Iwo Jima against corporate giant's who, not only ruined her credit, but made her life worse than a living hell.

If you are like me and feel safe and confident since your credit score is above the 700's do not be too complacent and seat on your recliner thinking all is good and well. I jumped out of my seat after reading the first two chapters!

In author Denise Richardson's book "Give Me Back My Credit" she tells how her nightmare and living hell began. She, too, thought and felt safe and confident that everything about her mortgage on the home she owned was better than best. She made it a point to make extra payments to the principal of the mortgage loan, and of course, her credit rating was excellent as well.

Years later Denise decided to refinance her home. Much to her astounding surprise, she finds out the Mortgage lender had made many dreadful, inexcusable accounting errors on her mortgage loan. The lender never credited the extra mortgage payment to the principal of the mortgage loan.

The mortgage lender had not only been misapplying those extra payments, but was using her money to their benefit. After she found out the inexcusable mistake the lender had been making for years, the mortgage lender refused to correct their accounting errors. Denise's nightmare and living hell began.

From face-to-face battles against the corporate giants to inefficient attorneys and courtroom dramas the fight to regain, restore and have the errors corrected by the Mortgage lender only compounded into a bigger nightmare. From there it spread like a cancerous disease to the three national credit bureaus of Experian, Trans Union and Equifax.
This is a story the reader will not forget. The reader will learn from it and, sadly to say, from Denise's nightmare.

I didn't think I needed to read "Give Me Back My Credit;" I was wrong! I hope the book finds its way to the halls of high school and college administrators and make the book required reading for all students.

If you feel you don't need to read her book, you, too, will be wrong.

Denise's first-person account is moving and her story is full of useful information and lists of important resources. It's unfortunate that she had to go through all of this, but she's written it down so we can learn from her experience. This book will help you understand the landscape of red tape and motivate you to cut through it.

This a wonderful book portraying an incredible time of Picassos life and also of the other great artists of that time period with whom he was sharing this spectacular period of creativity with.

John Richardson has outdone himself and this book is a must for all art lovers!!!

Mr. Richardson has out done himself on his Picasso opus. He displays Picasso in the light of his work and his influences without fluff and sensation. The book is a pleasant and interesting read sans the dry, academic, and often inaccurate writing of other books on Picasso. He also down plays the sensationalism producing a sensative and revealing portrait of the greatest artist of the twentieth century. As an artist myself, (www.arteespanol.us), I found this book extremely informative, useful, and entertaining. I highly recommend this, and Mr. Richardson's previous books on Picasso to art lovers and lay people alike.

John Richardson's long awaited third of four volumes of "A Life of Picasso" does not disappoint. The writing is insightful due to the author's personal relationship and knowledge of the artist. The first two works provided more than simply a lesson in art history, rather, an encompassing view of the life and times of the man and his culture. This most recent work continues the saga in the same well written manner.

I love Picasso and to read about him as a regular guy living his life is very revealing in that he is human as well as a protean god of Art. Loved this book as it continues the story along. The only real criticism I have of J. Richardson is that it seems he's in a rush. Quite a difference from the slow but sure tone of the first two books. It seems for some reason that he went in and took out a lot of stuff some stupid editor told him was too much for any one to care about. Wrong. I sure hope he finishes the proposed 7 volume series but for as long as it is taking him to write it, well, I will keep my fingers crossed because he writes in a honest way the story of one man who changed the world.

If you think you know Picasso's work, this book will convince you otherwise. John Richardson has done a tremendous service by sorting out when Picasso produced his greatest works between 1917 and 1932, what sources he "borrowed" from, what he was trying to accomplish, and how all of these works affected his career. This book was quite a revelation to me. Simply by seeing a lot of his work (as you can do at Musee Picasso, for example), you quickly realize that Picasso constantly copied himself. And, of course, it is well known that he borrowed much while trying to establish a style and while working with Braque to develop cubism. But Picasso borrowed early and often in ways I didn't realize. In that sense, he was a supreme stylist who could execute someone else's idea in a more profound way. I came away with a new appreciation for that aspect of his talent.

While Picasso was alive, very little was said in books about his mistreatment of women and the motives behind his paintings of his wives and lovers. While his second life was alive, people were still pretty circumspect on this point. But now we know that Picasso was louse when it came to women and his family. This book gives you the full story of his first marriage, relationship with his young mistress who inspired so many joyous works, Marie-Therese Walter, and his constant attraction to prostitutes.

There are some other surprises in this book including how central his work with ballet was in creating interest in his paintings and sculptures. It was through Diaghilev that Picasso met his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina in the Ballets Russes. Picasso decided it was time to settle down and marry. Despite having had long relationships with women before, he now was looking for someone who would help make him respectable. In the process, Picasso adopted the lifestyle of one of the first wealthy artists (famously being driven around in one of the world's most expensive cars by a chauffeur in the middle of the world-wide economic depression).

As good as John Richardson is on those subjects, he can be most annoying in other ways. For example, Mr. Richardson seems to have an obsession with Jean Cocteau and writes a lot about him even though Picasso didn't like Cocteau very much and Cocteau didn't influence Picasso very much either. Mr. Richardson also has a writing style that can be enormously elusive, describing what happened without saying anything. Picasso's wife seems to have had a lot of physical and mental problems but these are mentioned without providing much real information other than when they occurred. A greater problem comes in that Mr. Richardson likes to drop in lots of French phrases (I read French so I had no problem), but if you don't read French it makes the text harder to follow. Some will also find some of Mr. Richardson's put downs of those who disagree with as being rude and high handed. Perhaps the most annoying problem comes in using academic words to describe distasteful aspects of Picasso's personality and behavior. It's like putting lipstick on a pig.

But I advise you to read the book while being prepared for its weaknesses. I'm afraid there is no substitute. The generously represented art makes up for the weaknesses.

Robert Frost is a unique American voice that many people love. A few reject him, but the majority of those whom he was writing for still love and admire his poetry. His fans always have favorites and can quote lines and whole poems from memory. When a poet gets into people's memories and hearts it is not a sure sign of greatness, but it is a good indicator of something special.

In some ways his works have aged because they are about an America that has passed. One poem that I think catches a lot of the issues surround Frost is "The Literate Farmer and the Planet Venus". This piece is about the electrification of rural America and the strangeness of it all. It talks about the speeding up of life and wonders if the future will simply do away with beds because there won't be time to sleep. The poem is set in 1926, but was published in 1942 as part of "A Witness Tree". I don't know when it was written, but if it was written around the Second World War its nostalgia seems a bit more cynical to me (which I suspect to be the case). However, if it was written back in the late 1920s then it has more whimsy and an earnest wonder.

This poet does have a capacity for irony and bite as well as humor and whimsy. His words are more conversational than lyric and that is fine. They have less music, but a great deal of color and subtle observation. It really doesn't matter what any critic says about Frost. He will outlast all of them. What matters is what he says to you. He is certainly a more worthwhile read than most of what gets published nowadays, just expect to have to deal with some words and references to an America from a century ago.

This volume from the Library of America is terrific. The table of contents in the front refers to the whole volume. The Collected Poems is the reprint that takes up most of the book and has its own table of contents as well. There is also a chronology of Frost's life, notes on sources, and many very helpful notes that can help you understand certain references. There is an index of titles and first lines, and an index of prose titles.

I always feel grateful to the Library of America whenever I get a chance to read their volumes. Heck, they are simply great to hold and flip through!

For most of us most poets live through a few poems of theirs we have read in anthologies. It may be that in the case of a poet we especially love we have gone and read most of their poetry.
This volume presents a wonderful opportunity for the devotees of Frost to have in one book the work of a lifetime.
For me Frost is "The Road Not Taken" and "Birches" and "Mending Wall" and a host of scattered lines, " Good fences make good neighbors" and " The land was ours, before we were the land's".
Frost is also however, I must admit , for me the poet whose life casts a shadow on his work. Unfortunately perhaps I long ago read parts of the Thompson biography of Frost the central theme of which was his inveterate cruelty to all those around him.
All this has left me, you will excuse this, a bit 'cool toward Frost' and I personally prefer the more musical metrics of Wallace Stevens to the canny, often pithily wise lines of Frost.

I took a class last semester on Robert Frost, and it was quite an experience. Frost was truly a wonderful poet who deserves every bit of praise he gets (and who is unfairly ignored in academia it seems). His words are so often true and lifechanging and beautiful and honest. Nobody is fully educated until they have read Frost's classics: "The Death of the Hired Man," "Mending Wall," "Birches," "After Apple-Picking," "Storm Fear," "Meeting and Passing," etc. There are so many good ones.

The Library of America edition is a great way to be exposed to Frost's poetry. It's true that there are a lot of pretty bad poems since everything, good and bad, is included in the volume; the uncollected poems here were meant to stay uncollected. Nevertheless, that everything is here is really a great strength to the book. It's great being able to place a single poem in Frost's entire oevre. I also liked seeing how his command of the language and the forms of poetry. Seeing everything also helped to see how his conception of his role changed. Most importantly, I loved that Frost's prose and his plays were included here. There are a number of gems to be found there. I particularly enjoyed the "'Sermon' at the Rock Avenue Temple" and Frost's children's stories. The ability to read Frost's prose alongside his poetry really enhances the reading of both.

Overall, Frost was a magnificant poet who cannot be given less than five stars, and by reading everything in this edition, one can certainly gain a greater appreciation of the poet at his finest.

Are you someone who buys for the art of the book as much for the art of the contents? If so, you can't do better than any of the stellar titles from the Library Of America series of books... This splendid collection of Frost will not dissapoint...One of the many treats of this volume as is virtually true with all of the Library Of America volumes is the ease with which you can hold it comfortably in your hand...Exclusively thin acid free paper is the secret and this volume packs in a two inch thick volume what normal paper would weigh you down with five or six inches of...

What nice unedited and thorough Frost you get here!...Speaking of editing, the true Frost afficionado will want to be sure to avoid items edited by an Edward Latham...This edition is Latham free and contains Frost's work as he originally wrote it...Unfortunately, from the late sixties on, several editions of Frost went forward with unnecessary "clean up" editing by this very punctuation weilding word meister...He added to many editions extra commas and punctuation in places Frost never originally put it...If you'd like to read a much more thorough analysis of this than I can describe here, be sure to pick up a copy of writer Donald Hall's " Breakfast Served Anytime" and read the article he wrote exposing Latham and his added cleansing of Frost's work...This Library Of America edition captures Frost unedited and at his purest and best...

The reader can choose here from a smorgasbord of outstanding selections and offerings...Poetry, prose, plays...there is quite a variety of choice fare offered here...

In the words of Mr. Frost.." I'm going up to the meadow to check the newborn calf,...I shan't be long...You come too!"

Very attractive, solid and sturdy, materials are very well organized. Not the cheapest, but well worth it -- especially at the discount Amazon provides... And then there's the content -- top notch stuff, perfect.

"Architects on Architects" is such an amazing book where you can learn from the masters. See also Gray's "Designers on Designers" and "Writers on Directors" to discover how the pros are influenced by their mentors.

"...much more edifying is Tadao Ando's epiphany on his first visit to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel: 'Because of the overwhelming spatial experience, which penetrated deep into my soul, I had to escape after staying less than one hour. I was awe-struck by a light unprecedented in my life.'Best among the other appreciations are Carlos Jimenez on Luis Barragan; Ricardo Legorreta on another Mexican, the little-remembered Jose Villagran;and Hugh Hardy on William van Alen, architect of the Chrysler Building. As Hardy writes of that idiosyncratic aluminum-spired skyscraper,'This iconic office building goes for broke, flaunting the exterior skin's independence as a costume pageant of pattern, gleaming profiles and symbolic panache. It's a theatrical gesture that identifies this as a building like no other, and gives New Yorkers proof that they are extraordinary.'"

Classic text, rich assortment of photos, all presented in this, the new contemporary work on archs. What could she possibly venture into next....can't wait Ms. Gray

Practitioners of a wildly competitive art form, architects are always looking over their shoulders, not just at contemporaries with whom they must compete for jobs but also at the great predecessors against whom they'll be measured by history. The master builders that 24 present-day architects chose to write about for this revealing if somewhat repetitive collection tell as much about the authors as their subjects. Predictably, many of the participants (all men, with the exception of Diana Agrest) gravitated toward the big boys of modernism, and three architects are the focus of almost half the essays, with five on Le Corbusier, four on Paul Rudolph and two on Louis I. Kahn. Sometimes those pairings can seem willfully contradictory. It would have been far more interesting to find out what Richard Meier thinks about Le Corbusier,who has had such an overwhelming influence on his own aesthetic,than for him to draw tenuous analogies between his work and the diametrically different architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Likewise, there is more than a bit of irony in Michael Graves's praise for Le Corbusier, whom he routinely belittled in lectures earlier in his career. Much more edifying is Tadao Ando's epiphany on his first visit to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel:''Because of the overwhelming spatial experience, which penetrated deep into my soul, I had to escape after staying less than one hour. I was awe-struck by a light unprecedented in my life.'' Best among the other appreciations are Carlos Jimenez on Luis Barragan; Ricardo Legorreta on another Mexican, the little-remembered Jose Villagran;and Hugh Hardy on William van Alen, architect of the Chrysler Building. As Hardy writes of that idiosyncratic aluminum-spired skyscraper, ''This iconic office building goes for broke, flaunting the exterior skin's independence as a costume pageant of pattern, gleaming profiles and symbolic panache. It's a theatrical gesture that identifies this as a building like no other, and gives New Yorkers proof that they are extraordinary.''

Introspecting Influence

Who inspired the Whos Who of Architecture? "Architects on Architects" attempts to address this loaded question in a series of 24 essays by leading architects of the late twentieth century from around the world from Norman Foster to Carlos Jimenez to Tadao Ando. As the essays illustrate, influence is actually not simply a question of "who?" but rather comes from a number of different sources: a single building, an entire career of an architect,or sometimes just an attitude or way of looking. Many of these influential experiences happened during the architects formative years as students or interns and the impact of how these influences changed the direction of a life are revealed for the first time in these later career recollections. For Richard Rogers, his visit to the Maison de Verre as a student in 1955 would not only determine his thesis project, it would stay with him through the next half century as the symbol of "the power of innovation itself." For Tadao Ando, Le Corbusiers words in "Vers une Architecture" stressing that a journey in ones youth has a deep and strong significance throughout a lifetime inspired the young untrained aspiring architect to visit Le Corbusiers church at Ronchamp in 1965.As the essays attest, the importance of an architect can be measured not only by his or her designs, but also by the architects impact on other architects careers. Based on this criteria, Le Corbusier, Paul Rudolph,and Louis Kahn appear in these essays as some of the most influential architects. However, although five of the 24 essays are devoted to Le Corbusier, we see five very different aspects of the master architect: Ando describes impressions of Ronchamp, Michael Graves talks about Le Corbusiers method of drawing, William Lim discusses him in relation to Frank Gehry, Sumet Jumsai describes his personal meeting, and Arata Isozaki describes the context of his death. While Paul Rudolphs reputation suffered greatly during the Postmodern period, we see his lasting impact through his students who studied at Yale ranging from Norman Foster to current dean Robert A. M. Stern.
One of the most interesting aspects of this collection is the great variety of topics that the architects chose to write about. Some easily understandable choices include Cesar Pelli writing about his mentor and former employer Eero Saarinen and high-rise building specialist William Pederson writing about Rockefeller Center. However, it might come as a surprise to see Diana Agrest writing about architect-turned-filmmaker Sergei M. Eisenstein or Richard Meier writing about Frank Lloyd Wright rather than Le Corbusier. For the most part, these short essays are poignantly written -- a refreshing change from the typical arrogance and incoherence of many architects writing about their own work. Nevertheless, the essays shed great insight into the
architects inner thinking and also reveal architecture as a collective profession greater than the work of any single architect.The collection serves as a valuable document to understand this generation of architects from the second half of the twentieth century and also begs the question of how this generation will influence future generations of architects.

This book was very easy to use. It was just like vocabulary books you had in middle school. You start off learning things like prefixes, root words, suffixes etc. Then they start putting words together. It will help you understand medical terms when you break them down. The flash cards also help.

This is a great way to learn medical terminology. It's easy to understand, interesting and presented in a way that makes it easier to learn than just straight memorization. I am planning on keeping this book and not reselling it, because I think it will be a great reference for future classes as well.

I paid extra to have them delivered in 24 hours and sure enough, they came. Awesome!

Classes started and its not a class you want to be behind on. I odered the book though my school, but it was on backoreder forever. Finally got mad, cancalled my order though school and I ordered book here, paid a little more because I wanted it over night! I guess I'm better off getting the book though amazon. Atleast I didn't get far behind!

In a different school, I took Medical Terminology their book is confusing, This book is GREAT, pic to show where stuff is, and explains. I understood this book a lot more then the old one!

My son finds this book very helpful in his prenursing course which is also entitled Medical Terminologies. It is thorough and comprehensive. The root words are very helpful and the pictures are descriptive.

Appreciative Leader In the Eye of the Beholder

Book review by Dr. Elaine Sullivan, 1998 National Principal of the Year

In this very readable book the editors present the theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) for the practitioner to immediately use. The fruitfulness and promise of AI come to life in the unfolding stories from a wide range of organizational fields. The stories each had various aspects that resonate for me in how to lead from the positive frame. For me, the Appreciative Leader creates clarity of theory, principles, and concepts while strongly anchoring and grounding them in the real life work of leading and following from the positive and strengths-based approach. The success and flow of AI as a way of life and leading and doing jump out at you even when the stories get you in the trenches and even into the day-to-day minutiae of work and the hard stuff that drags you down and can move you to that negative place. In reading and re-reading the book, I find myself saying "Oh, I've seen someone do that" or "I do that" which connects the reader to the theory and principles written about in the Appreciative Leader.

The sections on the AI Principles provide one of the strongest explanations of what the Principles are, how they work, and how they relate to the research. The editors' thorough descriptions and explanations of the principles establish a foundation for making them more meaningful. The AI Principles are much clearer to me through reading this section.
The Appreciative Leader is a must have book for your AI library! This book sets the big picture of leading through appreciative inquiry. As a high school principal this book set me on my journey of intentional appreciative leadership and an affirmation of my leadership strengths. I just wish that I had discovered it earlier in my career and met sooner the colleagues who are also on the same journey.

It was inspiring to read the compiled interviews of appreciative leaders. The stories which emerge portray not lofty idols on a pedestal but quite the opposite. The leaders are remarkably human and the kind of people you would like to engage in a conversation. Their authenticity provides a resource for those who wish to develop strengths and abilities as a leader. The editors expand on the interviews by including additional data and developing a Model of Appreciative Leadership which captures characteristics of appreciative leaders.

A fresh concise readily readable book on the management paradigm of appreciative leadership. A thorough discussion of this management model with a visual construct on page 159, a chapter linking theory and practice, and inspiring interviews with both renown and unsung appreciative leaders from a variety of organizational arenas. Use it to inspire , to train, to teach ,to motivate managers,staff, studentsand others. This book has both wisdom and vision for the future, edited by women of wisdom and vision, themselves appreciative leaders .,

I have to admit that the appreciative inquiry movement is new to me. "Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder" was recommended by a friend and, after reading it, I am eager to learn more. Is this book the best place to start for anyone who wants to get up to speed fast on this exciting process beginning to transform organizational life? I can't imagine why not.

As a member of the Washington Ethical Society, whose mantra is "Elicit the best," I am naturally intrigued by the repeated promise of appreciative inquiry to bring out the best in human beings and their organizations. In this book, a number of leaders achieve this goal with what means are available to them. Apparently they all seek, consciously or not, to join and enhance their associates' strengths while rendering their weaknesses immaterial.

Marjorie Schiller, one of the book's three editors, points out the three core elements of appreciation: acknowledging what is special; recognizing the ordinary or expected; and appreciating what is painful and difficult in many of life's experiences. How these are used by appreciative leaders is examined again and again in the book with leaders whose habitat ranges from large industrial corporations to health care and community support organizations.

The editors invited 110 people to propose stories for this book and chose 15. Each author interviewed and wrote a rich profile of men and women who demonstrate appreciative leadership in action. Appreciative leaders, the book suggests, are a new breed for a new era. We all have the opportunity to be leaders in some fashion; but effective leadership is "in the eye of the beholder." The relationship of leaders to others -- and their mutual appreciation -- define its reality.

As human institutions become more organized operationally from within and from the base to the top, rather than the opposite, successful leaders are those who are and must be appreciative.

Since Forbes Magazine has chosen Bob Stiller of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as Entrepreneur of the year, I think the authors, in choosing him as an appreciative leader, were right on the money. The leaders they describe are inspirational people who are enjoying success in business using simple but effective relational skills. These important ideas which support positive and authentic interactions should help shape the leaders we need for the future. I found this book to be a very accessible introduction to the field of Appreciative Inquiry. I'm excited to have discovered this beneficial little book and I've already recommended it to several people. It was well worth my precious reading time.

This truly is a wonderful book. The words are easily memorized, and the illustrations are large and colorful. Our one year old son is constantly picking it out of the bookshelf, and looking at the pictures. All we have to do to get his attention these days is say a line from the book. He then goes and finds the book for us to read to him. We now have two copies of the book just so that it is always nearby to keep him entertained.

We're glad that our son is going to know all of the animals by name next time we're on a farm.

Great book!
Here we are a year later and we are still reading this book every night. Warren reads it now. 8/03

As grandparents who buy a lot of books for our grandchildren, we thought it might be helpful to point out how CAN A ROOSTER DRIVE A TRACTOR? meets the criteria we apply when we select their books. Young readers love rhyme and repetition, and this book employs both magnificently. Very quickly the child falls into the rhythm of the book and anticipates what will be on the next page. What new animal will appear? Will he drive the tractor? Also the child anticipates a positive answer somewhere to the basic question, and he receives that at the end of the book. Children also love correspondences, and the connection between the looks on the faces of the tractor as he asks his questions and the faces of the various animals will not be lost on them, although they may not be able to explain this connection. And children love humor. The mild absurdity of the questions and the answers of the animals will have them giggling. The comical looks on the faces of the animals are also bound to please. Finally, smaller kids love big, colorful, bold illustrations, and they will find them on every page of this superb book. As grandparents, we highly recommend CAN A ROOSTER DRIVE A TRACTOR? to anyone looking for a quality children's book for kids from two to six (or sixty).

This is a wonderful book for all young children. Our learning to read 6 year old enjoys being able to read this book. The wonderful illustrations and the repetition help him have success each time he picks up the book. The introduction of words like remote and absurd in "How Remote," said the goat and "How absurd," said the bird challenge and stretch his vocabulary. Our 18 month old, who is just learning to sit still for books, loves having this book read again and again. You will be delighted with Can a Rooster Drive a Tractor!

My grandchildren's reaction to this book was, "Nana, read it again!" So we read it again and again and again. [She]was so impressed the tractor could do a wheelie. Now my granddaughter wants to learn to read using the repetitive phrases in this book. She is in kindergarten. The illustrations are excellent.

What a wonderful book Shelley and Bonnie have created! I really liked the fact that Bonnie used some words that little kids might not know (like "remote") but could learn. And Shelley's illustrations are perfect for young (and not-so-young) eyes: really personal (the animals and tractor have personalities), variation in details (like the eyes and the little patches of hair, the beard on the farmer), and good colors (and use of color words). I tried this out on a 3 year old in our Sunday School and her face lit up with anticipation of the next question: To each she responded, "Nooooo" with a great big smiile. Until we got to the farmer, of course!