Sherman Books

I read this book to see if I wanted to assign it for my Hebrew School class. It is great. I couldn't put it down. It can really relate to today's kids rather than some of the older books that are out there. It also addresses anti-semetism in a way that they will understand.

Romeo, oh Romeo where fore are thou Romeo......
Mellisa was a natural with these famous words, and she was especially excited to practice some of this literatures finest with one of the midwest, small town finest boys, Daniel.
Missouri has turned out th prove Mellisa parents words right. "This town is such a lovley place and we just knew you'll love it." What Mellisa loves most about this small town though is the amazingly gorgous Jewish boy named Daniel who sits alone at lunch due to many people being very predgudice aginst Jews.
Little did Daniel know though Mellisa, herself, should of been dealing with the exact same promblems considering she too, was a jew. Will people accept Mellisa's religion and still think of her as the witty big apple girl I don't know you tell me.




I like this book because it got straight to the point and had a good outcome and it showed a persons religion does not have to affect the way a person is or how you should treat a person.

This book was a quick read, but the plot was predictable and there was not much depth. The book addresses the important issue of anti-Semitism, but doesn't get too far into it. I loved the book until the part when the boy Melissa finds obnoxious is being beaten up by his father. It could have brought something to the story, but instead the incident is mentioned once and never brought up again. Also disappointing was the end, when the author could have made the ending exciting, but instead Melissa's biggest worry is getting a watch back while avoiding suspension. Overall a good book when you want something that doesn't require a lot of thinking.

Melissa Jensen is Jewish, but her Judiasm has never been a major aspect of her life. When her father, a playwrite, gets a chance for one of his plays to be produced in Henryville Missouri, Melissa has to move. She's not too happy about the decision, but she soon meets friends at her new school. One of them is Daniel Goodman, and another is Johnny McGraw. Their contrasting personalities pose a problem. All because Daniel is Jewish.
As she confronts the reality of Anti-Semitism in her new school, and the fact that Daniel gets pushed around so violently because of his religion, Melissa questions if she should reveal her religion to her new found friends. Daniel and Melissa's mutual dedication to the violin brings them close, and Melissa's heart again questions if she should speak up against all the prejudice she witnesses.

The reader really feels the emotions of tension and uncertainy during this book. Melissa's questions make you want to keep turning the pages.

I would reccomend this book to kids ages 11 and up. The book made an impression on me, and I belive it will make an impression on them too. Jewish or not, the reader could still relate to the main character. It's five stars are truly deserved.

A valuable and practical anthology on African American poetry. Really an interesting sample of poetry related with slavery since 1773. I strongly recommended. Francisco Bernardo Regino E. Dominican Republic.

"African-American Poetry: An Anthology, 1773-1927," edited by Joan Sherman, is a powerful and rewarding gathering of poems. Sherman has packed a lot into just 82 pages. Many of the giant names of African-American literature are here: Phillis Wheatley, Frances E.W. Harper, James Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and many more. There are also poets who are perhaps less well-known, but still admirable as literary creators. As a whole, these poets write with an intriguing variety of voices: solemn, satirical, militant, etc.

Many of black America's most important and most memorable poems are in here: Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America," Dunbar's "Sympathy" (with its significant line, "I know why the caged bird sings..."), and Countee Cullen's "Yet Do I Marvel." There are poems about slavery, literacy, religion, racial uplift, folk culture, and more. It is interesting to see the juxtaposition (sometimes from the same author) between poems written in vernacular language and those written in very formal English with classical references.

The only weak aspect of the book are the author bios. They are simply too short. Some are only a single sentence long, and they don't contain much bibliographic data. I would have liked a little more for each author. Still, this is an excellent anthology whose compact size and focus make it great both for classroom use and for general reading.

This book is simply amazing. I contains more culture than I have ever read in just one book. I definitely reccomend it to anyone.

In the introduction to Armored Thunderbolt, noted armor specialist Steven Zaloga mentions that he was growing up in the 1950s the Sherman tank was routinely referred to as a `war-winning weapon' but recently, this iconic image has been derided by sensationalist accounts and TV documentaries as a `death trap.' Thus, Armored Thunderbolts sets out to examine whether the M4 Sherman tank was a `war-winner' or a `death-trap' or something else. Rather than just a technical history - which already exists - the author uses his thesis to lay out how the U.S. Army developed, built and operated its main battle tanks in the Second World War, in both the European and Pacific theaters. Overall, this is a well-researched, well-written book by an author in clear command of his subject. Furthermore, the numerous photos are superb and really help to bring home the author's points. For readers seeking to understand how U.S. armor was used, this book is simply indispensable.

The first chapter outlines the basis of U.S. tank development between 1917 and 1940, culminating in the M3 medium tank. Although this was a rushed design based upon half-digested French technology, the author makes the point that development of the M3 `primed the pump' for vastly future production and taught U.S. industry valuable lessons that were used in developing later tanks. Chapter two covers the `Birth of the Sherman' and its initial use in 1941-42 by both the British and U.S. Armies. The author also discusses the twin U.S. design priorities of "Battle Need" (there had to be a specific need for a weapon to go into production) and battleworthiness (the weapon had to be reliable under battlefield conditions) and how they shaped the Sherman. In essence, based about what they knew about tanks in 1940, the U.S. Army wanted a medium tank with a 75-mm gun, decent armor and a reliable engine. It got all three with the M4 in 1941 and as the author notes, the Sherman was considered quite successful in North Africa and even in Italy in 1943. In comparison, most German tanks were poorly tested and not very mechanically reliable.

In chapter three, `the panzer nemesis,' the author discusses the impact of Germany's development of the Panther and Tiger tanks in 1942-43 and how this affected the Sherman. Initially, few of these heavier tanks were encountered before the Normandy fighting in June 1944 and thus, the U.S. Army was not concerned about a handful of enemy tanks with armor and firepower that outclassed the Sherman. Other factors discussed in this lengthy chapter included the appearance of potent infantry anti-tank rockets, the confusion caused by the Tank Destroyer doctrine and the U.S. failure to emphasize infantry support training for tankers before D-Day. The author notes that both the British and Soviets recognized the threat from the new generation of German heavy tanks but the U.S. Army was overly-complacent and provided only sporadic support to the project to upgrade Shermans to 76mm guns. However, the U.S. Army did accept some combat lessons from North Africa, such as the adoption of `wet stowage' that reduced ammunition fires and improved gun sights. Chapter four discuses the various options the U.S. Army considered to either upgrade or replace the Sherman, including the nearly moribund heavy tank project.

Chapters 5-9 cover the Shermans role in the battles from D-Day to the Rhine in 1944-45. These are superb chapters, filled with interesting battle descriptions and incisive analysis. Although the German tanks had better firepower and protection than the Sherman, the smaller U.S. tank was often better suited to close-in fighting in the bocage, in cities and in the hilly areas of Lorraine than the German `big cats.' Furthermore, U.S. tank crews were usually better trained their opponents after August 1944 and the reliability of German tanks sank to absurdly low levels in the last year of the war. The authors does a terrific job explaining how U.S. tank developers could not deploy a better tank than the M4 Sherman quicker than 1945 due to the fact that the real "battle need" did not arise until the Normandy fighting in 1944. Chapter 10 covers Sherman operations in the Pacific theater. In conclusion, the author states that "there has been a tendency in many recent histories to judge the Sherman on the basis of purely paper comparisons with the Panther and Tiger," but the reality was that, "the U.S. Army did not face the Panther very often in the summer of 1944, and when it did...the Panther did not prove to be a wonder weapon and was defeated by American combined arms tactics." Numerous appendices are included, such as technical specifications, production and distribution data, unit strengths, losses, etc. A very extensive bibliographic section is also included. This book was a pleasure to read and the author's conclusions provide an important contribution to our understanding of how American armor functioned in the Second World War.

This is a superb book on the Sherman Tank that - amazingly - covers much new ground. It accomplishes this by not focussing on technical development as RP Hunnicutt's Sherman "bible" (and most other Sherman books)do. Instead, it's a history of how the various organizations within the US Army created the Sherman, why they made the design decisions they did, how combat effective the Sherman was as a result, and how development proceeded (or didn't) as a result of that experience.

Unlike many writers of amour (sorry - armor!) books, Zaloga is not just a vehicle enthusiast. He's a real historian who has been conducting original research in various archives and other primary sources for three decades now. So, when he discusses the preference of Gen McNair and the Army Ground Forces for proven designs or the tendency of the Ordnance Department to waste time on pointless but interesting technical developments, he supports his argument with specific detail and extensive quotations from period correspondence.

When it comes to evaluating the Sherman's combat performance, Zaloga provides a lot of statistal data from the operational research that was conducted by the US and Britain during and shortly after the war. The facts will surprise even those who think they are Sherman experts.

Before purchasing the book I was concerned it would focus solely on US Army Shermans (as implied by the sub-title). In fact it includes a chapter on US Marine use in the Pacific as well as good coverage of British and Commonwealth Sherman developments and experiences. Contemporary Soviet and German armour developments and attitudes are also summarized. All this provides a very useful context for the Sherman story, and the book would be poorer without it.

Finally, Zaloga's prose style is both vivid and clear, and the large format pages are used to include many, many large and well-reproduced photographs. The only minor criticism I could make is the lack of maps. However, since the purpose of the combat sections are to analyze the Sherman's effectiveness, not provide a campaign history, even this is forgivable. All-in-all, a wonderful book.

This book excels by not just re-hashing the technical details of the M4 versus it's opponents, but by providing much invaluable 'soft' information that was every bit as important -- and perhaps more so -- than the technical details.

The author provides background information on how the Sherman was created and how the design changed - or did not change - over time. Shortcomings of both the Sherman and the Panther are covered in some depth. The author also touches on bureaucratic issues, metallurgy, training, crew experience, reliability (and the causes for reliability issues), availability of spares, ammunition, mission of the tank (tank versus tank, infantry support), the focus on the US Tank Destroyer concept, and many, many other relevant and interesting issues.

A large part of the book contrasts the Sherman against the German Panther. When you look at only the technical specifications, the Panther appears to be a vastly superior weapon to the Sherman. However, the book looks into detail at issues that exacerbated the Panther's problems, blunting it's technical edge, and the things that mitigated the Sherman's shortcomings, and made it 'work' better than the specifications would otherwise indicate.

While I consider myself very knowledgeable on WWII armor, I learned a great deal from this book. If you want to learn more about some of the 'soft' -- but very important -- issues that affect armor performance beyond the technical specifications, I feel that money spent on this book is money well spent.

Since most can't afford Hunnicutt's SHERMAN, this is probably the best alternative. Mr. Zaloga has done a very good job in explaining the Sherman's history and development. There are some errors, such as his assertion that the Soviet KV heavy tank was rearmed with a 122mm gun and renamed the Stalin (two completely different tanks), or that the Soviet 85mm was superior to the American 76mm (the latter was superior in armor penetration). The book does falter a bit in describing the Sherman in action where generalizations take the place of indepth analysis. Mr. Zaloga does, however, provide a reasonably balanced perspective of the Sherman as well as its opponents. Most information deals with the European Theater of Operations having little to say about the Pacific, etc. One of the more unusual and welcomed elements of the book is the BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY in which Mr. Zaloga lists and describes where he found his research/source material. If you want to know about the Sherman tank and U.S. Armored Force doctrine in WWII, this is one of the best available.

there is a formidable history in barton mumaw's life. he went from a small town in florida state to broadway, he was a premier american dancer of modern technique, worked with an awesome assortment of choreographers such as hanya holm and ted shawn and was there by shawn's side helping to lay the groundwork for the jacobs pillow dance festival.

and that's not all. but because he and co-author jane sherman wrote his autobiography, we may never know how much more there was. the style is sweet, polite and gentle--just like the southern gentleman mumaw was. and it is also evasive, even when it wants to be elucidating.

and it centers on mumaw's experiences without added insights from his colleagues. if mumaw's voice was more authoritative or his ability to tell a story were more articulate, that would be enough. in this case, it is not.

one benefit of this book is the cataloguing of repertoire mumaw performed and a variety of photos from mumaw's nine years with shawn.

In recent months I have become obsessed with Denishawn and have been reading everything I can find that is related strongly to it. BARTON MUMAW, DANCER by Mumaw and Jane Sherman is wonderful. It tells the life of a talented man who was a true artist with an intellect and a heart full of love. He fell in love with music and dancing as a Pennsylvania Dutch boy growing up in Florida. As a youth in New York to study dance he meets and ultimately becomes the protege and paramour of the famed Ted Shawn. This is a very personal story, told frankly, as it traces growth of their relationship both professionally and emotionally. Mumaw becomes the principal dancer of Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers who barnstormed the country in the depression-ridden 1930s. The creation and survival of this company forms the real creative heart of this story and it is a very exciting one as it tells of male camaraderie among artists, who dance together, run a farm together and build a school together. After the breakup of the company due to the impending World War II, Mumaw joins the army and is shipped to Europe to fight. He survives and is truly a grown man when the war is over. He knows he must achieve independence from Shawn as an artist and as a man. Then the story's second part takes over with further amours and a new career as a Broadway dancer. This is the story of an artist's survival. Mumaw, with Sherman's help, has come up with a beautiful book. There's an intelligent, literary sensibility behind this book that informs everything Mumaw writes. This is a great book on a lot of levels. Mumaw may still be alive. I hope so. I want his book to have a long life, as it truly deserves to be known as a classic dancer's autobiography. Five stars.

I had the pleasure of a casual acquaintanceship with Mumaw in New York in the 40' and 50's. Always enticing, the narrative is impeccable, and the story itself one well worth telling. The prime student and then lover of Ted Shawn, Mumaw was enriched by the pairing, and when later in life after he had cut the umbilical chord with Shawn, though devastated by Shawn's treacherous behavior, could never bring himself to bring an end to the friendship.

I got this book as a gift from my best friend - who's been a "health nut" for years. I'm just the opposite! This book really was an eye-opener for me though in many ways. It's shocking what gets put on and into our food. I'd never really thought about it much before. Anyway, I've made some of the recipes and they came out great, I especially recommend the seitan fajitas and the lasagna - really easy to prepare. I learned more from this book than I thought I would. I only wish it had color photographs.

It's strange to think of a health/nutrition/cookbook as a "page-turner", but this one is! I literally couldn't put it down. It's packed with up-to-date information on organics, factory farming, genetic engineering of food - essentially everything you need to know about food today. It was really fascinating and written in an easy to read, sometimes humorous style. I now know what to buy and what to avoid - at the grocery store. I highly recommend this book.

I've been through a lot of different diet and health books but always felt like something was missing; none of them really gave me a complete picture of what it means to eat healthfully. After reading The Best of All Worlds I know what a healthy eating style is for me. I liked that the author didn't preach but just presented the facts in a down to earth, sometimes humorous style and made a complex topic easy to grasp. There are a lot of factors affecting our food in modern times, such as pesticides, irradiation, and genetic engineering, which are covered in just the right amount of detail. Whether you've been an avid follower of health or diet trends for a long time or are a junk food addict who's just starting to think about the quality of food you eat, you can benefit from reading The Best of All Worlds. I've tried several of the recipes so far, and they've all come out delicious and were easy enough to make. I really liked the fact that, even though they are vegetarian, most of them can also be made with meat if you desire and the author doesn't make you feel guilty if you aren't a vegetarian. I felt very empowered after reading this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who eats!

After reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian last summer, I decided to work my way through Alexie's oeuvre since I had already also read and enjoyed Reservation Blues. Two short story collections and one novel later, I was done. Not in that my task was completed but in that I couldn't take anymore. Then The Business of Fancydancing came into my possession after waiting about six months for it. Unwilling to let the book go after waiting so long for it, I decided to see what the first page was like. Ten hours later I had finished it.

The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems is Alexie's first published work (from 1991). As the subtitle suggests, the book is considered a collection of stories and poems. However, since most of the stories are less than five pages I think a fair argument could be made that the five stories are actually prose poems instead of stories. That might just be me though.

Like any of Alexie's other writing, this collection includes instances of beauty as well as sadness. In the opening story "Travels" a hungry youth is told to make a jam sandwich by taking two slices of bread and jamming them together (unless a wish sandwich is more to his liking). This image recurs often in the collection.

After reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Toughest Indian in the World, I must admit I had my doubts about Alexie's short stories--they never seemed as engaging as his novels. That isn't a problem here even though all of the stories are much shorter than anything found in his later collections. Very like the poems, Alexie's stories here are bare bones. Instead of full stories (in the sense of having a conventional plot) most are vignettes painting brief, eloquent pictures of what life can mean for a Spokane Indian on and off the reservation.

The bulk of The Business of Fancydancing is comprised of poems. The English major in my wants to make some kind of comparison to illustrate what these poems are like, but no quick comparisons come to mind. Suffice it say, the lines are long and the poems deeply grounded in the concrete. One of my favorites in the collection is "Distances" which is literally a series of vignettes along with aphorisms like "Remember this: 'Electricity is lightning pretending to be permanent.'"

Familiar characters who turn up in one of Alexie's later story collections as well as Reservation Blues also make their first appearances here. Thomas Builds-The-Fire, a personal favorite, even has a story all to himself.

I don't know how illustrative this book is of Alexie's current style since his latest work has been novels, but that detail aside The Business of Fancydancing is a superb collection of poetry and serves as a good introduction to Sherman Alexie and his unique style/themes without the visceral, harsh details so often found in his newer writing.

Probably my favorite Alexie poetry book. This book also contains short stories, the meager beginnings of "The Lone Ranger and Tonto..." novel he was soon to write. Prepare to transport yourself into Alexie's world and share pain, joy and frustration, but prepare to walk away wounded, battled and bruised as you find yourself falling deeper and deeper into an introspective study of self.

The Business of Fancydancing is a collection that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up while you laugh, cry and stare at the written page with stunned amazement. Alexie uses language as a paintbrush, creating a complex mosaic of life growing up Indian and walking through a world that is not quite yours. The author slashes at stereotypes of what it is to be an American Indian. All too real tragedy and pain is laced with black humor, revealing a poet/essayist who I sincerely hope rises to be a Steinbeck of his generation.

Those who consider themselves New Age may not care to venture into this work unless thick-skinned and self-aware.

Then again, maybe the children of the New Age SHOULD read this remarkable window on the world of Sherman Alexie. Enjoy.

This short book can serve as a wonderful non-technical introduction to the work of Cindy Sherman. The book is filled with reproductions of her work from various periods in her stylistic evolution. Wisely, the author does not seek to didactically interpret Sherman's work for the reader-- instead she presents the material while raising a number of issues for the reader to contemplate.

For those unfamiliar with Sherman's work, one of the most striking aspects is her use of her own self as model in most of her works (especially those from earlier in her career). Her later works are a little more dangerous-- using dolls and other non-human subjects in often graphically subversive sexual contortions.

Cindy Sherman is a true contemporary genius in that her works speak to a very large audience on various levels of meaning. My only reservation about the book is that it seems a little too brief in its discussion of Sherman's biography (although the inclusion of her early work is certainly revealing). One wonders about the "real" Cindy Sherman-- and how she differs from the "Cindy Sherman" that appears in the Untitled Film Stills that solidified her position as a great American artist.

I was just surfing around and stumbled in here. I've read this title, Anyone unfamiliar with the model in question should get this and anyone familiar should read this as it is one of the greatest books on her. The only reason this does not get 5 stars is pieces of it I thought were wordy and a bit belaboring. Overall a great read however.

I bought this book because, like most photography students (I'm getting my MFA), I've always been fascinated by Cindy Sherman and also because I've recently found my own work stumbling into the terrain of feminity and the aesthetics thereof. I thought this book would probably be oversimplistic in the analysis of Sherman's work and mainly bought it to have an index of her images, but the text is actually refreshingly concise and clear compared to most of the photographic theory I've read elsewhere. As a seasoned photography student and a relative novice in Shermanland, I highly recommend this book.

"Just the facts, Ma'am" encapsulates this book for me. Reading it took me back to my school days and gave me that "book report is due" feeling. The author's approach is very scientific, detailed, emotionless as though the writer may have a touch of Asperger's Syndrome. It appears to be only half a book because so much of the emotional aspects of her experiences are missing. I can hardly imagine a more emotionally charged atmosphere than a 5-star hotel crammed with wealthy, pampered, driven, ambitious people juxtaposed intimately with those whose very livelihoods depend on satisfying their every inane desire. Yet the author makes it sound as exciting as filling orders at Starbucks. The myriad people this author encountered had fascinating stories to tell that could have shed light on what life is like in the hospitality industry. Yet we hear nothing. Susie did this. Bob did that. I worked here. I worked there. Boring. Boring. Boring. What was the purpose of this book, anyway? There are a few humorous stories here and there. The guests seem oblivious, the staff comes across as basically money-hungry, ever looking for that next tip - only doing nice things for the guests to get more money. If this is what staying at a swanky hotel is like - I'll take the Holiday Inn. At least I know where I stand. And I don't have to stock up on one dollar bills before checking in.

"Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels" is a captivating look at how class gets played out in a particular setting -- and yet it has a lot to say about how we all relate to our social and economic class (whether or not we work or stay at luxury hotels). It's a sociological study, and though I'm not a sociologist, I found it accessible, not too academic, and packed with interesting anecdotes.

The author, Rachel Sherman, talks about the luxury hotel as a kind of "theater" where guests and workers act out class relations and fill their own needs. For their part, workers strive to protect their dignity, even as they are subservient on the job to very wealthy guests. To accomplish this, workers may take pride in their skills, criticize guests behind their backs, or--as discussed in an especially fascinating section of the book--turn their jobs into a kind of strategic game. Meanwhile, guests rationalize the lavish service they enjoy by, for example, treating workers as equals or even friends--in the process "erasing" class differences or acting as if they don't exist. The book could have stopped there and been really interesting; but it goes further, and shows how workers and guests come to depend on each other to perform (or even become) their roles.

I once stayed in a luxury hotel for a few nights on work. The book grabbed me because of the backstage look it provides at this dramatic setting, and held onto me for another reason. We all play strategic "games" on the job and elsewhere, we all play roles in relation to people of various classes, we all rationalize our choices and tell ourselves stories to make sense of things. That's why "Class Acts" is pertinent to everyday life and politics in America.

I just finished reading Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels, and I mean reading it: Acknowlegments, Introduction, Chapters 1-6, Conclusion, Appendices A, B & C, and Notes. Okay, I did not read References and Index, but close enough.
What a great ethnography! What a great voice! The writer, Rachel Sherman, manages to be impressively objective and fair as she observes and participates in the service economy of the luxury hotel. Since I am an arm chair-bleeding heart liberal, I wanted there to be a clear demarcation between "good guys" and "bad guys," but Sherman paints a far more complicated and nuanced picture of the social dynamics at work in the luxury service sector. As a result, the Conclusion provides a satisfying critique, since it is in this section that Sherman lets her views be known. I find this admirable because it indicates this researcher's ability to distinguish between observation, analysis, and critique.
Class Acts is a scholarly work, yet the writing style is extremely lucid. Yes, the author uses jargon -- intersubjectivity, habitus, interpellated -- but what is really cool is how Sherman uses language to mirror some of the class distinctions she is writing about, at times conveying theory and abstraction and at others conveying terms like "ripped off" and "pissed." The contrast is refreshing.
Sherman also does an excellent job of sign postng. In a straightforward way, she reminds the reader of who is who, foreshadows ideas to come, and acknowledges ideas previously introduced. I found all these textual reminders to be helpful. Not only that, but Sherman offers advice on how to tip in the Notes.
Finally, the author does a great job weaving the motif of movies and image making throughout the text -- from Pretty Woman to My Dinner with Andre -- to underscore both the transformative power of the luxury hotel setting and the nature of work and class distinctions.

I recently purchased this book to help me get aquainted with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. The book is very easy to read and provides you with just the right amount of information to use your camera. It even provides some help on buying a camera if you are reading the book prior to ownership of a Canon EOS product. The book also serves as a good quick reference guide if you need to go back and revisit topics. If your a beginner to digital photography and your thinking of buying a Canon EOS or already own one, this book is for you.

A fantastic book that augments TFLB that comes with the camera. It cuts through the tech jargon and gets to the point quickly and conceisely. While sometimes trying to be too witty, it is certainly an excellant book to launch one into the world of DSLR. This is the only reason I didn't give it five stars.

I found this book to be entirely helpful. It is full of useful information on all of the features for these cameras as well as photography in general. I have taken classes through my local camera store but this book is more helpful and easy to understand. It breaks down information in chapters (obviously) so it is easily referenced. It explains things in a way that you can very easily comprehend...I bought one for a Christmas present for a friend I liked it so much!

I have read this book more than I can count, and I learn from it every time. It really helps me with life's choices and how not everything is found in front of your face.

I read the first half of a story every morning to my middle schoolers. I let them offer any "solutions" they think of, and they can ponder the story for the rest of the day. Then I read the ending of the story, where the problem is resolved, before they go home. This book gets across important life lessons in a very clever, non-preachy way. I've found it to be the perfect activity to start off our day, in the few minutes we have between the students' arrival and their first class. The stories are terrific, in a multi-cultural "folk tale" mode. You can read the additional commentary on the stories or skip it.

This book is great-the first time you read it. It's wonderful for the first time but you won't read it twice because the stories are riddles and once you know the answer it's boring. Just be prepared when you pay.