Ward Books

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This edition is hard cover, with an attractive cover.

The plot line is the attendance of Tasneem, a young British girl of Pakistani origin, in a new elementary school. She makes friends quickly with Lisa and Yvonne. Tasneem invites them to her house for dinner and play when a misunderstanding stemming from Tasneem's practice of Islam causes the friendship to sour. Thankfully, the observant, caring teacher at the school notices Tasneem's distress, resolves the misunderstanding and reconciles the three friends.

This book meets all of the five criteria I've come up with for a quality Muslim children's book.

1. I don't see anything which violates the principles and rules of Islam.
2. The entertainment, for me, lies in the drama of the breakup and reconciliation! Again, parents, let me know what your kids thought.
3. This story showed how a Muslim child encountered difficulty making friends at school but was able to resolve the issue because the other children were basically good. Tasneem learned the value of communicating accurate information about herself to her friends.
4. Well I have to admit that us guys never broke our friendships and reconciled, to my recollection, all within a couple of days! But I think it's all right.
5. The child learns the definition of halal meat and that Muslim women wear headscarves when out in public and that Muslim girls are not required to wear the scarves.

As a final note, I think many non-Muslims would benefit from reading this book, as it shows that asking questions is better than refraining from asking and then jumping to conclusions. I remember a friend of mine, who would see me carry a prayer mat in my car trunk and pray on it, thought there was something sacred about the prayer mat. He would treat it like a sacred object, neither moving it nor touching it in any way. I finally had to tell him that I used the mat because it's cleaner than pavement and it prevents grass stains on my clothes, not because it's a requirement of ritual prayer.

The book is recommended for ages 7-10. I think it'd work better for 9-12, but, again, you parents and teachers let me know.

This is an interesting tale for elementary-school aged kids. Tasneem moves to a new town and quickly makes friends in her new school. But the new friends can't understand why Tasneem wears her scarf at school and not at home, and why she won't eat meat at school despite enjoying burgers at home.
The story takes place in England, so some of the terminology needs to be explained to American kids. My daughters enjoyed reading about a Muslim girl in an everyday setting.

This book is a must-have for researchers in the area of microphone array.

This book provides, for the first time, a single complete reference on microphone arrays. Top researchers in this field contributed articles addressing their specific topics of study. The results cover the current state of the art in microphone array research, development, and technological application. Part I concerns the problem of enhancing the speech signal acquired by an array of microphones. Part II is devoted to the source localization problem. Part III details some specific applications of microphone array technology available today. Part IV presents expert summaries of current open problems in the field, as well as personal views of what the future of microphone array processing might hold. The individual chapters selected for the book were designed to be tutorial in nature with a specific emphasis on recent important results. They are of utility to a large audience, from the student or practising engineer just approaching the field to the experienced researcher. Table of Contents: Pt. I: Speech Enhancement ch. 1 Constant Directivity Beamforming ch. 2 Superdirective Microphone Arrays ch. 3 Post-Filtering Techniques ch. 4 Spatial Coherence Functions for Differential Microphones in Isotropic Noise Fields ch. 5 Robust Adaptive Beamforming ch. 6 GSVD-Based Optimal Filtering for Multi-Microphone Speech Enhancement ch. 7 Explicit Speech Modeling for Microphone Array Speech Acquisition Pt. II: Source Localization ch. 8 Robust Localization in Reverberant Rooms ch. 9 Multi-Source Localization Strategies ch. 10 Joint Audio-Video Signal Processing for Object Localization and Tracking Pt. III: Applications ch. 11 Microphone-Array Hearing Aids ch. 12 Small Microphone Arrays with Postfilters for Noise and Acoustic Echo Reduction ch. 13 Acoustic Echo Cancellation for Beamforming Microphone Arrays ch. 14 Optimal and Adaptive Microphone Arrays for Speech Input in Automobiles ch. 15 Speech Recognition with Microphone Arrays ch. 16 Blind Separation of Acoustic Signals Pt. IV: Open Problems and Future Directions ch. 17 Future Directions for Microphone Arrays ch. 18 Future Directions in Microphone Array Processing Index

An excellent and easy to read book, and would highly recommend it to anyone studying beginning moral theology. Fr. Keenan uses his personal life experiences to add insight and enrichment to each topic presented within the book. It was hard to set down, once I started reading it.

"Though virtues assist us to harness weaknesses and overcome pitfalls, their overriding function is to develop strengths" (p.30). Fr. Keenan is a wonderful storyteller in that he weaves the virtues through drama and practice. In Psalm 51 we pray, "Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom." This book, Moral Wisdom, is the answer to this prayer request!

Please send me some pictures fo sports exercise after getting the baby, and small brief about these exercises .

Please send me some pictures fo sports exercise after getting the baby, and small brief about these exercises .

I bought this book when it came out in the early 1980s for identifying British fungi. At the time it was revolutionary as the use of photographs allowed the author to depict mushrooms much more accurately than the paintings of earlier guides. It is still one of the top field guides to this region (also check Courtecuisse & Duhem and Jordan). I still use this volume a lot for identifying American fungi, both in the tropics and North America. Although I have over 200 field guides of different sorts on my shelves this remains one of my all time favourites. If you're interested in fungi, don't hesitate.

I have been a big mushroom entusiast for some time now and I have at least 14 different field guides to mushrooms, this book is my all time favourate. Everything you have ever wanted in a field guide, pictures pictures and more pictures. Every mushroom is photographed and represented clearly from all angles, even cross sections showing the flesh. Good descriptions for every one, maybe not the longest description but detailed enough. If more information is needed on a mushroom I look it up else where. The photos make identifying mushrooms a breeze. I would recommend this book to any one interested in Mushrooms, I for one could not do without it!!

This is a landmark book. A must read for anybody interested in the esoteric side of cathedrals. It is available right now in France. It needs to be re-published in English.

Historically very interesting Makes the reader think about how the people of that age were able to engineer a project of this magnitude & about where the finances came from

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I have only read a handful of Chesterton's books and loved them, but really struggled with them sometimes because of the complexity and depth. They also can be harder for us "modern Americans" whose history and literature breath is weak (at least for me on 100-year old British politics). But this is a clearly written set of individual essays that most anyone will get 90% of what is said and love it. There is less historical trivia names and events that make many people lose the point being made in several other of his great works (tested many times when I read a page or two out loud). These essays (only a few pages long each) will all put context and fire to conversation on today's politics and life. Then you remind yourself he was writing in 1935 before WWII! It is a little scary to see his predictions come true (or worst) in our present day. He understood what makes the world tick, in his day and ours.

The first I knew of Chesterton's so-called "Catholic" books (written after his conversion in 1922) was their mention in Dale Ahlquist's G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense. What he wrote made me hungry to read them, which I eventually did in Volume III of Ignatius Press' series of Chesterton's Collected Works. While it's great bringing all that GKC back into print, I'd much rather have the individual volumes, so I rejoiced when The Catholic Church and Conversion came out as a paperback. Like Orthodoxy, it's a lively book with a dull title.

The second volume to escape on its own is The Well and the Shallows, which is actually a collection of essays from 1935, but which boasts a lot better title. I'd recommend "The Backward Bolshie" to anyone reading the sort of things said about Chesterton these days by Garry Wills, whom I consider to be talking out of his hat. Other than that, these essays stand poised between looking back at the Victorian era and forward to the threat of Hitler, whom Chesterton was one of the first to denounce. Taken together with his 1936 autobiography, they cast an illuminating ray on the literary and political figures of the day.

In the introduction, Chesterton says he thought of calling the book Joking Apart. But then, he rightly noted, people would take it as a joke. The light essay, in Chesterton's form, is virtually lost today, but keeping it light enabled him to tackle the heaviest problems of the day. He is almost thinking out loud, and certainly writing on his feet, as the turbulent events of the mid- '30s move the world closer and closer to confrontation and the brink of war. As these essays reveal, the world of seventy years ago uncannily echoes our own, and the timing could not be better for this book.

New York State Government: What it does, How it works
By Robert B. Ward

Publisher: Rockefeller Institute Press, Albany, New York 12203-1003, 2002

Robert Ward, who has been involved in New York State government for over 20 years, gives us a great road map to what has happened in the Empire State politically and substantively in his book New York State Government: What it does and How it works. This readable, one volume work gives a great overview of the structure, purpose and implementation of New York's large government on both a legislative, judicial and administrative level. It is a nice review for those involved in government and a good beginning for those who seek to be in or who are new to government. Directors of associations directly impacted by government, new legislators and regulators and public policy students will find this a useful start in learning the somewhat complex way in which the Empire State operates and carries out its government mission.

As Ward points out, it is the administrative governmental structure, which has grown significantly since the 1970's, that carries out the nuts and bolts of New York State Government. Ward's premise that "the power of an agency executive with a vision, personal drive and the support of elected leadership can make an enormous impact on state government" is carried out in his summary of changes in the Department of Motor Vehicles. A State agency most New Yorker's must visit during their lives, Ward, on page 285 of his book, shows how the "bureaucratic ineptitude" of the way in which licenses and motor vehicle registrations were issued was changed by Governor Cuomo's Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner, Patricia Adduci.
The involvement of employees as well as customers combined with focused "executive support" lead to greatly reduced lines and improved customer service at the Department. In a more micro way, this example highlights how committed attention and creative thought can change the way the State administers its programs. This portion of the book also highlights how the Pataki administration continued these reforms through the implementation of several technology-based improvements. These efforts, at a minimum, have resulted in less waiting time at the DMV, and, in a broader context, prove how effective leadership and commitment can garner positive change in a administratively detailed government structure.

In the end, Ward's book posits, what is the role of state governments? A great question in a time when state government decision-making is beginning to dissipate. As Ward points out, the federal government's role in a traditionally state issue--- insurance--- has become more pronounced with the repeal of Glass-Stegal. The federal government's involvement in the lowering the drinking age and education are significant signs in the reduced role, based on the significant financial needs of state government, states will play in policy making and control of their agenda. In the end, says Ward, voters who care about these issues "should recognize federalism matters." In his concluding remarks, Ward gives us a glimpse of his view that, "perhaps the only safe prediction is that the balance of power will continue to shift. Governors, legislators, and elected leaders at the federal level will push and pull to control the policy debate. Such competition over ideas and political influence will serve all America-as long as an informed citizenry is a full partner in the conversation." It is difficult to argue with this advice.

For a good, basic understanding of New York State's government, Ward's book, New York State Government: What it does, how it works, is a good reference.

This should be required reading for anyone who lives in, does business with or reports on New York State government. Ward combines a bird's-eye view, honed through years of thoughtful observation, with an intellectual appreciation for the nuances of politics and policy.

Many have criticized -- with considerable justification -- the rat's nest of rules, regulations, traditions, politics and georgraphic considerations that so determine what happens and doesn't happen in New York. But few have taken the time to understand that there is indeed a method to this madness. Ward is among those very few, and his book is both insightful and practical.

This is the story of Nimbus the Cloud, who makes the moon go to sleep and causes trouble for himself and others. A funny, well told story that is ideal for children, as well as a great fable about how the night sky and the rain clouds operate.

The illustrations are superb, very friendly looking and quite psychedelic. The illustrations gave me a happy feeling and the story was light and entertaining. Ideal for children. Highly recommended to all parents and libraries.

The Night The Moon Slept is a story of Mother Moon, Nimbus the cloud, Old Cypress, and others a modern fable by Susan Baggette and beautifully showcases with the gentle, colorful artistry of Ward Saunders. Ideal for beginning readers and a superb choice for parental bedtime story telling, The Night The Moon Slept is a thoroughly entertaining, very highly recommended, and destined to be a truly classic children's storybook.

The Cain family has been through too much. First little Jenny died accidently, then Mrs. Cain(Esther) was nearly shot and the church Pastor John Cain pastored was destroyed by terrorists. To top it all off, 12-year-old Jessica is kidnapped by the same terrorist group in the Middle East. While the world scrambles to find the child hostage before it is too late, Jessica refuses to give up hope. Her only chance, however, is if everyone else also refuses to give up. But when the U.S. government decides that Jessica isn't worth risking another world war, Pastor Cain takes the problem into his own hands. Along with a new friend, Hersch Towner III, he flies to Iran to rescue his daughter. They race against time to get to the compound Jessica is being held at. The only problem is that, when they arrive, Jessica has disappeared and nobody--not even the terrorists--know where she is. "October's Child" is extremely well-written. It gets you "behind the eyes" of Jessica, her parents, the terrorists, and Madeleine, the maid who risks it all to save the 12-year-old's life. Through it all, the hand of God is evident as He weaves the events and the people all together, and finally reveals His wonderful plan.

October's Child and September Strike are fast paced action books that take you inside the minds of a 12 year old girl,her parents, and the terrorists. You feel their joy and pain. Tanneberg makes you feel hot or cold, afraid or safe. More please Tanneberg.