Thomas Books

This book is basically about Michael W. Smith's song, This is Your Time, and what it means. The song was written for Cassie Bernall, the Columbine High School student who was supposedly asked if she believed in God, and answered yes, before she died. The book is really good, I recommend it. the only thing, it gets a bit preachy at times, which I hate (and yes, before anyone asks, I am a Christian), but it's a really good book. it'll help you find insight. read it. you wont regret it.

This was a great book. At some points, very moving. My mom was reading the begining to me and had to stop because she was crying. The main idea of this book is: How Michael W. Smith came up for the idea of the song, THIS IS YOUR TIME. He got it from Rachel Scott after the Columbine shootings. This book also tells of some of MWS's own struggles and triumphs. It is a great book. A somber one at times, but true to the core. Please read this book and pass on its message: THIS IS YOUR TIME! MAKE IT COUNT!

Even if you haven't heard Michael W. Smith's album of the same name, you should read this book! I highly recommend this book for everyone, but especially for teens who face the difficult task of trying to grow up in today's mixed-up world.

The title of the book, "This is Your Time", is also the title of a song he wrote after the Columbine tragedy. Michael tells about his experience singing at the memorial service and talking to Cassie Bernall's parents (check out my review of Misty Bernall's book "She Said Yes"). But this book isn't just about Columbine. Michael talks about the death of Rich Mullins (which deeply affected me as well) and Rich's impact on people. Michael also was a good friend of the late Bob Briner (author of Roaring Lambs) and he encourages Christians to get out there and make a difference.

He quotes Hebrews 12:1...

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Amen!

(You might want to check out my other reviews of Christian books and music)

What a great book to read! This is really a good time to evaulate our lives in a modern world with a message to all that the test is yet to come.

May it be the next munute, hour , day or month we should try to do our best work. Smitty does gives some personal highlights of what he is doing to make his moment count, as we should make our time count.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and kept reading until I finished the book (it was a good time reading and getting to know him).

If you don't know Michael W. Smith, musically or as an author, this book is a great introduction to his spirit. His telling story of the Columbine tragedies affect on himself and what we all can learn from it is time well spent. Read the book, listen to the song, reflect on the meaning. Works like these in words and music bring some strange value to a tragedy at a time when we increasingly are asking "why"?

This is another wonderful Thomas & Friends storybook. My son adores it and gets very excited to see the Octopus and Shark. When actually playing with his trains he would replicate the wrecks. Highly recommend this book to all kids who love Thomas. My son is 2 1/2 and asks us to read it every night.

My 2.5 year old loves this big, colorful Thomas story. He studies the illustrations and talks about what all the trains and cranes are doing. Really fuels his imagination!

I love trains and I used to watch the show when it aired on PBS years back. So every now and then I come across one of these books, I snatch it up. Love the stories and art work. I even got a chance to see Thomas the Train when it came into town on one of its tours. Little ones loved it. I highly recommend this series to all those who like a good fun story and especially to railfans everywhere.

What fun! A big aquarium exhibit is coming to Tidmouth and the docks are hustling and bustling with activity. Cranky the Crane is unloading Bulstrode. Harvey is loading small crates of aquarium glass, while James and Salty are busy with their own tasks.

The only problem is, Thomas wants to help and he keeps getting told that he is too small to be of assistance. Sad because he can't find a job `his size', Thomas is about to head back to the Station when he comes across Salty with a huge, toothy shark in a see-thru tank. Surmising Thomas' sad state, Salty takes pity on Thomas and tells him that small engines **can** be useful, which is exactly what Thomas finds out.

When Percy is surprised by the shark in the tank, he loses control and runs right into Henry who then crashes into Harvey's freight car. This accident is so noisy and unexpected that Cranky gets spooked and drops a crate of seaweed on James, causing James to go off the track.

As we say at our home, everything was goomeywammered. And to make matters more complicated, the docks are such a scene of chaos that none of the large engines can move about. They are just too *big*.

On cue, in comes Thomas. He steps up and because of his smaller size, he is `Just The Right' engine to clear up the whole mess. The story ends with everything back to normal and everybody waiting in anticipation for the big exhibit to open.

Five Stars. Good Read-aloud. This book has good artwork (versus the photos that are taken from the TV show). Steamies abound. So many that almost any Thomas fan should be content.

Our small blue friend gets to be a hero. This confirms for small fry that you don't have to be big to be helpful. This book can even be used to help children to understand that no matter how big a mess is made, if everyone pitches in to help together, that mess can be cleaned up.

"When Thomas arrived at the docks, the other engines were bustling around. Everyone was working hard to prepare for the Ocean Life Exhibit, which was coming to the Island of Sodor. " -From the book

Ocean plants arrive on the docks to be put in the fish tanks to make the fish feel at home. Thomas notes the excitement, and decides to look around. He was amazed that several of the cars were like none he had seen before: they were clear, full of water-and held an octopus and a shark! Thomas looks for his friend Salty and asks where the special cars are going. Meanwhile, Harvey was crossing the tracks with a fragile load of empty fish tanks. Percy was in a hurry, and noticed a huge shark looking at him from one of the tanks. He was so surprised and scared that he ended up crashing into Henry, who crashed into Harvey-yikes! What a mess!

There's a neat set of trains that corresponds to this book-the aquarium cars. I highly recommend those, especially as companion toys to go along with this book. Unlike some of the Thomas the Tank Engine stories, this delightfully illustrated book doesn't promote competition, name-calling, or rude behavior.

The debut monograph of photography artists Thomas Allen, Uncovered: Photographs by Thomas Allen presents surprisingly lascivious images from pulp paperbacks of bygone decades, constructed into humorous and witty scenes (utilizing no digital aftereffects at all!). For example, in "Thirst" a sexy woman reaches her hand toward a man with a bottle on an adjacent volume, while in "Teeter" a man losing his balance is about to hit a precariously stacked set of paperbacks. A board book with a die-cut cover, Uncovered lets its twenty-seven four-color images speak largely for themselves. A treat for anyone who fondly remembers the trashy novel covers of yesteryear, featuring a wealth of creativity and re-imagining of bygone themes.

I really liked the approach the artist took in preparing this book- it was really interesting! Turned out to be a great gift, but the cardboard pages make this book deceptively skimpy. Still quite enjoyable, especially to see that child-like expression of glee on that pulp fiction fan in everyone's life.

I always knew that someday, if I flew long enough, I'd read a worthwhile article in one of those dreadful inflight magazines they stick in the pocket of the seat ahead of you next to the sick bad. My eureka moment came in December when I read United's latest issue of "Spirit" (I think it was) and an srtist called Thomas Allen was featured in quite a slick spread. I must have been exclaiming over it out loud, for later on i found out that not only had I gone ahead and ordered a copy from Amazon, but my wife did too, thinking that aha at last she had found a good Christmas present for hard-to-shop-for me.

Some of you may be wondering by now is the book worth it, or is Allen a one trick pony? I have no idea how he does the things he does with a razor blade and a steady stack of old, sometimes crumpled up paperbacks, but they say a documentary is coming and will soon be on public TV to show the artist at work. You can see in UNCOVERED how, in an effort to keep the sliced out cover image at least minimally attached to the book itself (what a curious, seemingly irrational restraint), he has been known to carve out a single line--one here shows a line of smoke mounting moodily from an unfiltered cigarette, so slim and tenuous you wouldn't think anyone could get in that narrowly.

Are they suggestive? And how! It's an Oulipean art practice, born of subtraction, that nevertheless extends itself into eros and beyond. The campy aspects of the original covers seem to dissolve under the application of all that rigor and man meets woman, woman meets woman, man meets man, and undresses right quick, just the way the Lord meant it to happen. The sensual just pops right out, almost like a physiological reaction. Just as his name, "Thomas Allen," seems to have been leached of personality, UNCOVERED clarifies the intents and purposes of one of America's favorite guilty pleasures, pulp fiction of the 40s, 50s, 60s. Wish I could see the Dallas exhibition of Allen's work at Light and Sie (the gallery has a nice slide show so you can sort of see the dimensions of his work and mind).

Wow! I'm between pays, but one look at this ripe book, and I dished over
whatever they asked. A babyboomer who found Dell Mapbacks all over the
house---and have since collected a few of the best-----
I had that instant feeling of "fullfillment" as I turned every page.
The essence of time/place perfectly realized.
Could Thomas Allen's accomplishment here be loosely called "RETRO" ?
It's totally transformed, and playful, yet retains the originality
and period flavor of that long-ago-era. And yet still modern. A winner.
(But I agree with those critics who expect the original artists to be
prominently credited.)

What a treat to get a book, open it and immediately be grabbed by the contents. 'Uncovered' did that for me. Mr Allen has been scouring pulp paperbacks for years it seems, his fight photo 'Red' was done in 2002 and used by designer Chip Kidd for the cover of James Elroy's 'Blood on the Moon'.

The twenty-eight photos in the book actually turn out to be a varied selection, a sort of template for Allen to go and explore other print media besides pulp paperbacks from past decades. 'Swell' shows a galleon tossed on the wave pages of an encyclopedia, the delightful 'Uplift' has two children on a swing or 'Migrate' with two birds having flown from a spread but leaving their shape so you can see the text on the previous and next page.

The book's production is rather intriguing. The thick cardboard like pages, round corners on two sides and a sepia tinting for an aged look on some pages are suggestive of children's books from yesteryear but the violent and suggestive nature to many of the photos seem at odds with fun and frolics of children's playbooks. The cover is brilliant though. The sexy blond is actually on page three, her shape has been die-cut from the cover.

'Uncovered' will delight anyone who opens its pages. It all looks so obvious yet it was Thomas Allen who seems to be the first person to realize the creative potential of the cut cover tableaux.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

What I love about this book is that it really breaks down HOW to do TJ Ed by letting you look into the lives of a TJ Ed family and see how all the components are implemented. I HIGHLY recommend this book if you are serious about integrating the TJ Ed lifestyle into your family/homeschool life. It gives descriptions of everything from how to integrate chores into your daily life with your kids to transitioning to practice scholar to spelling and more.

All these examples have really helped me give over more to my kids and allow them the opportunities to really take charge of their education and life.

This book completely changed the way I think about education, both for me and my children (and my husband, come to that). It describes the "factory model" on which the modern American educational system is built, and explains that this way of thinking about education was designed only to provide basic literacy to those who could not afford a better, classically based education. We have substituted the inferior for the superior as a culture, and are paying the price in every aspect of our lives.
Because of the brilliant and clear, well reasoned writing by Mr. De Mille, I have been inspired to turn off the dreaded TV, organize my home, and return to the study of the great works of Western Civilization, from Euclid to Hugo (and beyond)in the hopes of becoming a better citizen and inspiring my family to follow suit in becoming the stewards of their own educational destinies. Every homeschooling parent must read this book, but I would go further and say that every parent must read this book, and perhaps every individual committed to a functioning democracy - because that is what this book is really about. I was not inclined to homeschool my children (who are not yet school-aged) before I read this book, and although I am now considering it, I know that they will benefit from a Thomas Jefferson Education in their lives regardless of where they spend their days. If you enjoy this book, buy and read Mr. De Mille's other works, including the Home Companion, which is a practical application of the Thomas Jefferson Education ideology in a family, and the Core and Love of Learning audio series, which is also excellent in that it provides even more detail for those stages of development.

Save yourself some time and get this book to start applying principles and techniques of Thomas Jefferson Education that took me ten years to figure out! I first read A Thomas Jefferson Education almost ten years ago and since then have been incorporating techniques to apply it into my everyday homeschooling and personal education. Suffice it to say when I read this book I was nodding my head in agreement in several places. I love Dr. DeMille's answer to the overwhelmed mom that empathizes with her and then inspires her(and the rest of us) in his response. Rachel DeMille and Diane Jeppson are inspiring and knowledgeable in their writing as well. The chore chart that Dianne suggests has worked well for my cousin who uses it while I work from the motivatedmoms.com chore list.

While I think it is highly desirable for the family unit to be the main source for each child's education, I found this book to be a bit simplistic. My daughter was sent to public school today for the first time and I know I'm more nervous about the experience she'll have than she is. Of all the books that I've read on alternatives to NoChildLeftBehind public school, the best have been by John Taylor Gatto and Grace Llewellyn. Both of them offer ways to incorporate enrichment outside of public school, and in fact, say that you will HAVE TO practically have a "curriculum" to allow your child to feel free to seek out the experiences they wish to explore. I have alot to learn and look forward to working with the system until I feel that is more of a detriment than not.

I was floundering, trying to get my TJEd homeschool organized. That effort is still in progress; but I don't think I could have even attempted it without this book, especially Chapter 8, to guide and encourage me. Thanks especially to author Diann Jeppson!

Jack Fruchtman has done a fine job of giving us a total picture of Paine, warts and all. This is an intelligent, balanced and humane treatment of the life of a complex man who tends to be either demonized or deified by those who write about him. Highly recommended.

In the hierarchy of founding fathers, Thomas Paine is not in the top echelon, but he is significant. His principal contribution was Common Sense, a pamphlet that spurred the independence movement in the early days of the Revolution.

One of the themes that seemed to run through Paine's life was a commitment to ideology that often had negative effects. While he was a man who backed his words with actions, he did it at a cost: he had few lifelong relationships, he was often broke and he even spent a year in jail, with the threat of execution constantly hanging over him. In the conflict between idealism and practicality, Paine favored the former.

Fruchtman's biography does a good job in describing this important historical figure. At times slow (I feel because there are points in Paine's life that aren't very interesting), it is overall a good, educational read. It makes me feel that if Paine had exercised a little bit more common sense in his own life, he might have been even a greater man.

The American Revolution's roots in the British which many people thought was 'betrayed' by parliament when it restored the monarchy, the roots of common British and American democratic ideals emerging from the dissenting religions and their notions of justice and equality (it's said that British socialism has more Methodism than Marx in it), the frustrations and ideals of British republicans who invested so much of their hope in the American colonies (not then 'United') shows that even in the l8th century (and presumably before and since) there is a community of men and women who, irrespective of nationality, place justice and liberty above all other human aspirations. What we learn from this book was that Tom Paine wasn't just a great British radical, a great founding father of the American Revolution, an active member of the revolutionary French Tribunal -- he was a critic of all unearned or abused authority wherever he saw it -- from George III to George Washington -- and that he foresaw a world in which every soul enjoyed the same rights and liberties. It was his internationalism, his understanding of the drawbacks as well as the virtues of populist democracy, that made him so relevant to modern readers. You can be sure that Tom Paine would have been at the Seattle demonstrations and would have no doubt been considerably more eloquent in his criticisms of international big business than anyone alive today! He speaks to us as clearly and as authoritatively as he spoke to his first readers -- who made his work best-sellers in America, Britain and France -- and this is the first book I have read which does its great subject the justice he deserves. He shouldn't just have a statue in Washington -- he should have one in London and Paris. It is his ideas of common liberty and justice which unite people around the world, perhaps even more now than in his own day. Read this book and you will understand how valuable democracy is and how hard it was to win, how hard it remains to keep it vital and uncorrupted. Everyone interested in modern politics should read this book.

One of the most enjoyable biographies I've ever read. This book is meticulously researched and well written. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the ideas and the spirit of one of the most important figures of the American Revolution.

When asked to name the Founding Fathers of America, most people will name Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. Those who have read a book or two on the early America may also say Adams, Hamilton, and Madison.

I bet that very few people would name Thomas Paine. That is unfortunate and would be fixed quickly if this book were more widely read.

"Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom" devotes little time to Paine's early years, focusing mainly on his life after arriving in America a few years before Independence.

Before reading this fine biography, I had not given Thomas Paine much thought beyond being the author of "Common Sense". I now realize the many roles he played in both the American and French revolutions and in furthering the cause of freedom and liberty in an age of monarchy.

Also check out:

- "Tom Paine and Revolutionary America" by Eric Foner
- "46 Pages: Tom Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to Independence" by Scott Liell
- "Tom Paine: A Political Life" by John Keane

Highly Recommended!

J Vernon McGee has such a readable style, I am really enjoying his thoughts and commentary. I may not agree with everything he says, he does not go into great depth, but he focuses on the salient points and writes thought provoking material

I like his style of writing. More interesting than most. Watch out. Learn to differentiate between his opinion and what the Bible actually says. Keep the Bible near to your reading space.

I recently read a piece in the Washington Post about the spread of Christianity abroad. In one memorable scene, a man in the horn of Africa sits listening to J. Vernon McGee on his wind-up radio. He explains to the reporter how McGee's Bible messages have changed his life and made him a better husband and father. Quick question: how many other American exports work their way through a wind-up radio into rural Africa to change lives? Now change the scene to my father-in-law: a New Jersey surgeon who is affluent, sophisticated, well-educated, and skeptical. Guess who is the one evangelist that he has ever had the patience and inclinication to listen to? You know it - our teacher with the Texas drawal.

Why such an effect in so many places, and with so many lsiteners and readers? Because people know sincerity when they see it. J. Vernon McGee is the Real Thing. For him, it's not about J. Vernon McGee - it's about teaching and preaching the Word of God. Intelligent, concise, homespun, informed. His personality comes through loud and clear, but that's a good thing. It enlivens his teaching without getting in the way of his subject. Other than the Bible itself, these are the best books in my library.

Gone over two volumes of this set by now, I can state that Mr. McGee is an excellent companion to my search thru the Bible. It is not an exhaustive analysis of everything, it would be impossible, but it clarifies lots of subjects that can easily be misinterpreted. It is never boring; he never gets entangled in interpretation issues: he gives us his honest one forcefully when convinced of so, and when he doesn't know he also honestly states so and gives his humble opinion.

The author speaks from the vantage point of experience, in his life and what he has observed in the lives of many people who have looked to him for counsel. One of the valuable things that I learnt from his commentary is that there must be a lot of false teachers in our churches, so-called Christians (they call themselves Liberals) who are watering down the real faith. The same way as the scribes used to shoot questions at Jesus once, trying to get Him in trouble -definitely not searching for truth-, now we have many people among us who attack our faith from within. In Spain we have the old saying that goes: Tell me whom you go out with, and I'll tell you who you are. Well, we are save alright if we go out with Mr. McGee, after we've been first with the Gospel. Lucky me that I have found a church that preaches the real Word, and is not ashamed of one word in it. Mr. McGee is right in making us aware of the dangers that some phony Christians can create by their examples in our churches. Better stay out than do us harm from within. Faith shows by acting upon it: We need to do more, ask more of ourselves, love more, help more. Talk is cheap. It's something like when we complain about our politicians but we, Christians, don't get into politics, so what can we expect?

The truth is simple because it aims at the hearts of men, not at their intelligence. So it is not so difficult to understand once we read it in its context (which Mr. McGee perfectly supplies). The commentary is spread with rich anecdotes and real life applications, making its reading a vivid experience, and not a dull or abstract mental exercise.

Here's a good example of Mr. McGee's style. Talking about when Jesus enters the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42):
"...Mary had done her part; then she went to sit at the feet of Jesus. Martha, her sister, was a dear soul and if it had not been for her they would not have had that lovely dinner: She got busy, however, and became frustrated. Possibly she reached for a pan, thought it was not big enough, then reached for another, and a pan fell off a top shelf. It was too much for her and she came walking out of the kitchen, and said something she would not have said under normal conditions. Our Lord was very gentle with her, but said: "Mary has chosen the best part." My frustrated, confused friend, are you at that corner of life where you don not know which way to turn? Then, for goodness sake, sit down. Sit at Jesus' feet. Look in His Word, and see what He has to say. It will help you with your housework." (Volume IV, page 294)

Wonderful advice.

I like this set overall because it comes honest and forcefully, from the heart of a man whose devotion for the Lord Jesus cannot be denied.

I've borrowed a copy of this to use along with Romans Verse by Verse by William R Newell for my bible study group, and it is a wonderful easy to use set.

Easy to read, easy to understand, and good clear theology. I agree with the previous review.

I'm saving up for my own set. This is one I want to have and use on a daily basis.

Along with Newell I'd put it in my top 5 Bible related books to take with me to a desert island. (the others being my Strong's Concordance, Matthew Henry and my Bible)

Andrews is a man who died with his ship and should be called the best man in the world he is a saint even if i am not cathlioc

This book was such a lovely find; I had been fascinated with Mr. Andrews from the first moment I saw a picture of him. His intelligence, intensity, and presence jumps out of the picture. After hearing from so many sources of just how wonderful he was, I was so happy to receive this book. Even though it is written in yesterday's English - it is a delight to get insight into such a wonderful soul as this. My only hope that in some place in the world, this man has reincarnated so that others will have a chance to be around someone of this caliber. A wonderful book, a wonderful man.

I took a tour of a local titanic display not too long ago. And as i saw the picture of Mr.Thomas Andrews and remembered the recent movie by James Cameron, mainly the brilliant performance by Victor Garbor as Mr. Andrews. I was inspired to find out more about who this man is and what sort of person he was. Searching Amazon.com, I found this book and bought it right away. Information about Mr. Andrews is not very abundant and hard to find. This is a very short book and the language is a little different, due to the differences between the last turn of the century and this one. The content is right on the mark, concentrating on the subject at every turn. Pulling back the curtains of history past to see the story, behind the story of the man and the power behind his success.

Shan F.Bullock truely captures the essence of Thomas Andrews, and what he meant to those who loved as well as worked with him. His passion for his work and his love for life are clearly an inspiration to all who read this book.Though he had already accomplished so much in his brief lifetime, the reader is left wondering how much more he could have contributed had he lived. There is one line in particular, written by Sir Horace Plunkett in the introduction that has touched me deeply. It read, "There is not," ran this fine epitaph, "a better boy in heaven."

Anyone who has ever looked at Thomas Andrews' photograph and wondered what sort of man he was will be fascinated by this book. A Managing Director of Harland & Wolff, he regarded the shipyard workers as his 'pals' and was equally loved and respected by them. The story of the men weeping when all hope of his being saved is heartbreaking. Shan Bullock shows why he inspired such love and respect, and why Thomas Andrews should not be forgotten. To quote a line from the book: "Surely of all men worth saving he should have been saved."

I thought this book took on an awesome view point, I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone, who likes Penelope Stokes works, but it is a bit different than some of hers other stories, it is an awesome story.

This is my fourth book by Ms. Stokes and I don't consider it her best but it is a good read. I would have given it five stars but the ending was full of so many twists and turns that I found myself rereading previous paragraphs just to keep the characters' relation to each other in my mind. I loved the premise of the treasure box storyline but the suggested explanations at the end were a bit farfetched.

I have two more unread books by this author on the bookshelf and know that more adventures are awaiting.

This was such a wonderful book. I LOVED it. It was so neat to see it all unfold. It was so well written. This is the first book I have read by this author but I will be buying ALL books from this author. I would have to say this was one of the best books I have ever read.

I have read a few other books by Penelope Stokes (Blue Bottle Club, Amber Photograph, Amythest Heart, etc.) Some were good, some so-so. The Treasure Box was excellent!

Stokes really made a good blend of magic, bitterness, happiness, sadness, love, hate....you name it. The book is a page turner that draws you in. I recommend it to anyone that likes a little fantasy with alot of real life. The real life situations make you hurt, laugh, cry, love...along with the characters in the book. I think I'll leave it at that. I don't want to ruin the story for any of you but instead entice you to pick it up for yourself! =) Happy Reading!!

When I read the first chapter of The Treasure Box I thought this was going to be another ordinary, no real plot, women's Christian fictional book. I was delighted to find that I was wrong. It takes many twists and turns and keeps the reader involved with it's story within a story.
The ending was a bit strange, however, and not very plausible.
Thus my four star rating.
It was hard to put this book down.
Read the book.

I received this as a gift for Christmas and have now purchased at least 3 others for gifts. The 1 page, short, daily devotionals are true, uplifting, and have given me a great view into God's practical power and grace for each day. A true blessing!

If you are mission minded or want to be then this book is for you. The introduction is written by Beth Myers but the individual daily devotions are written by missionaries from all over the globe. I purchased four of these books and gave them as Christmas presents. When I find a good book, I always want to share it with someone. I asked for a copy for myself as a Christmas gift from my son. It has been a very heart warming book and makes the missionaries seem more like real people doing a real job. As I read these devotions and pray for them, I feel like I am having a part in their work. The four friends I gave this book have told me that it has truly blessed their hearts and they look forward to reading it every day in this New Year.

If you are looking for a devotional book that will broaden your prospective about missionairies; this is the book. Beth Moore has an introduction at the beginning of each month. The daily devotionals are grouped together into topics that change each month.

I started reading the devotions in September. October was on spiritual warfare. I was amazed at the depth of the content. You will be suprised that some of these beliefs still exist. We are so caught up in our own little worlds that we do not have a clue about the world around us. Each day has a scripture to read, a story, and a prayer to use.

The missionaries are identified mostly by initials but you are given the region that the missionary lives in. My Sunday School class is using the devotionals before our lesson on Sundays. We take turns presenting the text that usually works right along with our lesson on that particular Sunday. I have ordered the book for some of my friends and they love it also.

OUR HOLY FATHER USED THIS BOOK TO BRING THE WOMEN OF OUR CHURCH TOGETHER NOT ONLY IN PRAYER BUT IN MISSIONS. IT WAS A REASON TO GET TOGETHER ONCE A MONTH AND SHARE STORIES. WE ORDERED 25 BOOKS AND THEN ORDERED 10 MORE. WE NOW HAVE 35 WOMEN OF THE CHURCH WORKING TOGETHER, PRAYING TOGETHER AND REACHING OUT WHICH IS SOMETHING OUR CHURCH WAS STUGGLING WITH. THANK YOU AND WHAT A WONDERFUL BOOK, MOST OF THE WOMEN COULDN'T STOP AND READ ON AND ON NOT WANTING TO STOP. THANK YOU GOD FOR YOUR DIRECTION AND THANK YOU BETH MOORE AND MISSIONARIES FOR MAKING THIS BOOK. IT NOT ONLY CHANGED OUR CHURCH BUT OUR LIVES. (WE WERE NEVER MUCH ON MISSIONS BUT WE SURE ARE NOW!) GOD'S BLESSING ON ALL OF YOU. A SISTER IN CHRIST.... MARILYN

This is a collection of short essays written by western Christian missionaries who are located throughout the world.

Beth Moore compiles this set of short inspirational readings (one for every day). Each reading is one page. The objective is that you read the short essay, all of which are based on Bible verses, and contemplate the teaching throughout the day.

The essays are arranged by subject. Each month has a different theme. February - the word of God. March - prayer. Etc. Each month's essays are preceded by comments by Beth Moore.

Some of the essays are very inspiring. It takes a couple of minutes to do the daily reading, but one can contemplate it during your daily commute or throughout the entire day. Some of these messages are that good.

However, Beth Moore's comments are my favorite part. She uses charm, wit and wisdom to arrive at a very entertaining writing style, and at the same time she is very effective at getting her point across, and her monthly introductions are perfect for setting up the theme for the coming month. But her short introductions are only to set the stage for the real stars of the book, the missionaries.

Wonderful read for the whole family. This is a book we look forward to reading to our little one, over and over. The art work is fantastic, the words are entertaining and has a section at the end of the book to educate about all the cycles of water. Do not hesitate to add this to your library!

Thomas Locker's beautiful oil paintings make "Water Dance" a work of art and a wonderful way for kids to learn about the water cycle.I decided to see what's out there for kids about water and began with "Water Dance," "Where the River Begins," and "Cloud Dance," all by Locker. I fell in love with his art and . . . also bought "Sky Tree" and several others.
I just published a review of approximately 20 kids water books titled "Teaching Children about the Hydrologic Cycle." To read, go to www.ndwc.wvu.edu and click on the current issue of "On Tap," a magazine about drinking water in small communities.

This is probably one of the most useful books I have come across in recent years. It is a delight to the ear and the eye. The author teaches us the story of water, or more specifically, the water cycle. He does this with simple, lyrical prose and combines this with some wonderful, original art. The paintings in this book are breath taking. This is a wonderful way to teach children about rain, water, streams, lakes and nature. It can be read to the class and then discussed page by page (it is amazing to hear the comments of the children)and at the same time each painting can be admired and discussed. I have watched our art teachers use this one in class as well as the reading teachers. But just as importantly, I have observed quite a number of children just setting along, reading and carefully studying the pictures. (I must admit to picking up this one my self, quite often, and just gazing at the wonderful art). This is a pretty good indorsement for any children's book. This is certainly one that should be added to any children's library, either at home or at school. Highly recommend this one.

I bought this book as a gift for my friend's son. He wanted to read over and over again for days (and it looks like this will continue for some time!) The pictures are absolutely beautiful, the poetry soothing, inspiring and educational, and this 3-year-old insists on reading the scientific explanations at the end of the book every time. I can't imagine a child (or an adult!) who wouldn't enjoy it!

This review is by way of one of my 3rd grade students, who said that "this book is so beautiful that it make my heart hurt." After looking at the pictures and reading the wonderful descriptive phrases, I had to agree with her. It has become a favorite book to read when I need to quiet my classes down--and invariably, at least one student asks for the name and author so that they, too, can own it.