Wood Books

This is a resource that recognizes that homeschooling, even Catholic homeschooling is by no means one-size-fits-all. This book has a little bit of everything. There is a chapter for the hyper-organized and one for unschoolers. There's one on burn out and one on the joy of homeschooling. There's info on teaching the gifted as well as the autistic. And yes, there is humor.

I just noticed that the last two reviews were by people who participated in the book. I thought I would write a review as someone who has no connection with the book. In summary, it is excellent.

I have found that in so many homeschooling books, authors tend to repeat themselves needlessly. Authors write in 100 pages, what could easily be found on someone's website written more clearly and concisely. This is not the case with this book. There are almost 500 pages of solid advice on Catholic homeschooling. Every chapter is written on a different subject by a different author, and the breadth and depth of the information is excellent.

A good example of this is the chapter on Art Appreciation: Recognizing Symbolism in Religious Art by Pattie Kelley-Huff. She explains what many religious symbols in artwork mean. For example, an anchor is a symbol for hope and steadfastness. She has entire lists with what the symbol means. The author also gives resources for further study.

Many of the chapters recommend additional material. I, personally, love mathematics, and I would consider that one of my strongest subjects. However, in the chapter on math, the author provides a listing of Math literature by grade level that I never would have known about on my own.

The only negative, I would say, is that because the book is written by various authors, some chapters are weaker than others. The chapter on teaching a foreign language would be an example of this.

I truly believe that this book will provide something for every Catholic homeschooler. In fact, even non-Catholic homeschoolers, or Catholics that want to enrich their child's school education might also find information in this book. Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I wrote a chapter in this book, as well as did proofreading for it. The most amazing thing about this book is that I found new resources and ideas. I'm a homeschooling veteran, so it takes a lot for me to get excited about a homeschooling item.

When I read many of the essays, I discovered new things for math, new things for science, and new things for literature. I was so excited, I couldn't wait for the book to get out so I could recommend it to all homeschoolers.

Catholic homeschoolers will appreciate the faith-filled pages, but all Christian homeschoolers will find support, guidance, humor and love in the pages of this book. The authors wrote to share their stories, but also to share resources, ideas, help and knowledge. This book is a real gift to the homeschooling community.

There are chapters written by dads and older homeschooling students, too, which I found so encouraging to read. This book goes beyond what most homeschooling books can do because it has over 40 authors. That's a lot of good ideas in one book.

I am a contributing author to this book, so I am not unbiased. However, that said, I have also read the book and found so many essays which were thought provoking treatments on pedagogy, as well as more practical elements such as home management and mother's well-being. There are also essays authored by and directed towards fathers, who are under-represented in this subject matter. This book is as useful to those starting out as well as those who are preparing children for high school and college. This is a necessary book for those interested in or actively involved in Catholic education in the home.

In the capacity of children's librarian,I recently purchased two Justin Matott books for our collection: GO ASK MOM and CHOCOLATE COVERED FROG LEGS. Young children will relate well to some of the adventures
(and misadventures) of Gabriel Peters in GO ASK MOM. Gabriel
"survives" and grows, which is comforting to children who also face
obstacles of all sorts. It is an entertaining book that probably would result in children happily extending their 20 minute "required night reading time ."

Children enjoy poems. The many humorous, imaginative, philosophical,
and instructive rhymes in CHOCOLATE COVERED FROG are
great for "kids of all ages." I thoroughly enjoyed my first time through the book and look forward to reading the poems again.

This would be a great book for the young ages (and adults, too!) because of its hilarity. Be prepared to laugh, no it should be LOL. Overall, it's another great book from a great author!

Another fun creation by Justin Matott totally enhanced by the wonderful illustrations by his son. This book will delight the most reluctant reader and thrill the enthusiast of fun and wackiness! ENJOY!

Even though I this book was easy for me it had a great story line. The narration by the dog was really funny and the illustrations were great.I was also lucky enough to get an autographed copy!

Very informative and historical pictorial of the classic cracker home. The different floor plans and pictures of "still standing" structures in Florida are all part of our heritage and I find that very exciting.

A complete and thorough description of a type of architecture and therefore the culture. This book was meaningful to me because of my southern heritage and I live in a cracker house. I didn't know it was a cracker house until I read the book. The author is fun and easy to read and the information is great.

A well-designed and thorough examination of Southern vernacular architecture. With its concetration on Florida 'Cracker' design, Haase discusses the unique limitations of the Florida climate and the adaptations made to regional styles. His clearly labelled diagrams and enthusiasm for the subject bring a welcome light to architecture that is too often overshadowed by the flamboyant designs of Addison Mizner and other South Florida styles.

Brief, but very informative, well documented and organized summary of a neglected (and marginal) theme in architectural history.

Peter Wood is not unlike a master artist, who, when painting a majestic rose makes certain to include the painful thorn. Saccharine sweetness is not Peter's style. He depicts life as he sees it and lives it. Rather than cover the blemishes, he exposes them. He lauds boxing as his saviour and condemns it for the pain and hurt in inflicts. Peter Wood tells it like he sees it and feels it. Expertly blending beauty with pain and crossing that often thin line between love and hate, Peter Wood may not have his reader smiling all the way through the book, but he will never, for a second, lose his reader's attention with his powerful, engrossing and honest style.

I'm a man who doesn't like boxing, but I LOVED reading "A Clenched Fist". Yes--there are many gritty, (even disturbing), moments within this colorful memoir. However, the tone here is upbeat, optimistic and tender. Wood's insightful story gives a reader a heart-felt glimpse into a fighter's soul and anxiety-laden life. I see myself (a pacifist) within the characters as they punch toward their goal. Wood's insight and colorful writing about fear, getting punched, coaching lost souls, and the high school experience touched my heart. His words ring true. It's all a quest for love and self-acceptance. This strange sport is so fascinating!

This author takes us back in time a creates the scenario of which he builds a fighter physically and more important mentally. A young kid has to purchase this book, and an older trainer may pick up a thing or two...

I received an advertisement regarding this book, while I was attending the NYC Golden Gloves Finals this past year. I am glad I held onto that advertisement and purchased this book.

In this book Peter Wood is the coach, not the fighter, and he pours his heart into helping his young fighters, and his emotion and boxing knowledge make the book ring true.

Like boxing, this book is raw but eloquent. It reminds me of a Robert Parker book, with its hardboiled dialogue and crafty similes. For example, when describing one of his fighter's opponents, Wood says, "His wide nostrils, bulging buttocks and thick neck look prehistoric-it's like he was scraped off a cave wall."

Boxing is dying for some good literature, and Wood helps fill the void. If you are a boxing fan, I think you will definitely enjoy this book.

Covers all the basics with a personal touch. Well done!

As a first year Coach I found this book Excellent. It taught me tennis from the Coach's perspective, rather then the players.

I had played both High School Tennis, as well as College Tennis for a Southeastern Conference school. This book helped me to understand the mental part of the game that had top be imparted to the players, as well as the refresher for the physical part. Passing on the mental toughness required for the players was critical for their future in Tennis.

Iam a coach of a high school tennis team. I found your book right on the money. Thank you for writting it

As a beginning tennis coach, this book helped me immensely

This has already been mentioned by other reviewers. There are plenty of melodramatic elements in this volume. Junior being reunited with his mother, the blinding of a cashier at Junior's mother's lunch counter, Pat Patton giving Tracy a blood transfusion to save his life and the conversion of a hoodlum. That about covers this volume and once again, I couldn't put it down and I look forward to beginning volume four!

Back to the days of the Sunday Funnies and comic books, Of characters who lived in your memories, before television took hold of everyone. Flat-top, Pruneface, Big Boy...Tess Truehart and the Kid... The fun and memories are all here in Dick Tracy - Volume3. Now I have to go and get Volumes 1,2,4 and whatever else they have. If you remember the days of comics and funny papers, or to introduce your son or daughter,or grandchild, I recommend this highly....Dick Tracy...The 'Bulldog' Jaw.

In this latest chunk of Gould-plated detective action, the fantastic still takes a decided back seat to the mundane -- not to mention the intensely melodramatic. Junior Tracy is reunited with his mother, Mary Steele. Tracy nearly dies in the course of a ghastly shoot-out that rubs out gangster "Cut" Famon and his gang. Dick takes it upon himself to convert a former hoodlum, "Lips" Manlis, to the side of good. A naive cashier and her gambling-addicted boy friend suffer dramatic payback for their sins -- a hair-raising stay in a women's prison followed by temporary blindness in her case, the "big sleep" in his. Similarly soap-operatic stuff would always be a part of Tracy's universe, of course, but with the legendary grotesque villains still some years away, these melodramatic sequences seem all the more potent somehow.

Max Allan Collins correctly points out in his introduction how Gould continued to draw story lines from contemporary headlines during this period. Boris Arson -- who started out as a vaguely sinister Lenin look-and-act-alike before eventually being reduced to the standard strong-armed thuggery -- bluffs his way out of prison with an iodine-dyed potato gun, in an homage to John Dillinger's escape from a small-town jail. Boris' sister, Zora, is a Bonnie Parker wannabe (with the extra touch of men's clothing suggesting lesbianism). Famon, who'd been sent to an Alcatraz-style rockpile for income-tax evasion, is obviously modeled on the late-period Al Capone. Gould also dips heavily into the stock ethnic stereotypes of the period, with mixed results. The amiable Indian Chief Yellowpony is a major -- and worthy -- player in the caper that brings the Arson duo to justice, and bit appearances by a Jewish peddler and Italian coffee-shop attendant are perfectly fine by me, but "darkie" valet Memphis is, as Collins admits, pretty embarrassing even by the standards of the day.

My favorite story arc in this volume is "The Hotel Murders," which I'd originally read in a paperback collection. This 1936 continuity is more of a "true" mystery than the typical Tracy yarn, with Tracy and the cops baffled by a disappearing bullet that's killed a high-rolling confidence man. Alas, Gould makes an unfortunate continuity goof, actually introducing the killer as a poor pencil-peddler BEFORE we learn that he's really a retired manufacturer! Still, I do like the story, not to mention the fact that the guilty party merits at least some sympathy for being one of the con man's victims.

The ancillary material's already getting a bit thin after just three volumes -- a brief piece by the inevitable Collins and an equally short article on Tracy's various appearances in Big Little Books. Not a good sign. Still, it's more than readers have gotten in the last several volumes of THE COMPLETE PEANUTS.

A great comic strip that holds up beautifully. Once you start you are hooked. There is a major drawback, though.

The sundays are almost impossible to read as they are cruelly reduced in size. An owl would have trouble. You must somehow enlarge them to appreciate them.

Still, a 5 star book as are all Tracy books. And most of the great stories - and villains - are on the horizon in volumes 4 and 5.

This is the Golden Age of early (pre 1940) comic strips. Also highly recommended are...
Terry and the Pirates
Little Orphan Annie
Krazy Kat
Gasoline Alley - possibly the greatest comic strip
Moon Mullins - published by a small publisher but worth the trouble

Hopefully we may soon see The Gumps, Ella Cinders, Bringing Up Father, Polly and Her Pals and Barney Google.

I own both volumes of this book and both are great! You cannot go wrong with buying both volumes ,or just one. Together though, both volumes are so valuable!

But if you must own just one of the volumes (in this series) then buy this volume first, & then see if you need the next volume. It could be that this volume fills your need, since this volume is packed with soooo much information! Also, the color photos are just great!

Of all my years of collecting dolls, I've never seen such a complete and informative book. Most impressive are the clear color pictures and the interesting discussion of the Cameo doll company. I.m very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to novice as well as experienced doll collectors.

An extremely resourceful book. Deep histories and information on composition & wood dolls, plus an extensive photo gallery of many rare dolls. A must have for any collector in their right mind!

Most books like this only show pictures with prices. Michele's book gives me more information, background and a true understanding about the dolls, there origins, and the true history. Besides, it's a fun book to read with great photos. I'm glad I found it.

Gerald Wood has written an incredibly inciteful book on this young Irishman who has yet to be fully recognised in his mother country. Mr Wood has guided us through the plays and scripts of McPherson and it becomes very obvious from the moment you read the first few pages that this is an author who has tremendous knowledge of the world McPherson comes from. It came as quite a shock to me to discover that Mr Wood is from the US but his ability to understand the concept of "The Irish Author" is remarkable. I can truthfully recommend this book to all students and professors of Irish theatre. It is a concise and very readable book and does not attempt to suffocate the reader with excessive analytical language. I agree with the above reader regarding "I Went Down." This film is one of the best we have ever seen produced in this country on such a limited budget. Hope to see more from MacPherson and Mr Wood in the near future. Excellent!

I found this book to be an excellent study and introduction to McPherson's work. Mr. Wood's analysis seems to be spot-on to me, and he makes some numerous insightful observations. Indeed, this Liffey Series is very good.

I'll admit that I have always found McPherson's work to be wildly inconsistent. Some of the plays are great (Rum & Vodka), while I always thought that others, particularly The Weir, were overvalued. My favorite is probably the movie I Go Down. This book does a good job of giving an overview of McPherson's work, and has made me better appreciate some of the plays that didn't originally mean much to me. In fact, Wood's book makes me curious about what the future holds for McPherson. I recommend this book highly.

I'm glad to see McPherson's work getting some study, especially in the US. I found this book to be a great introduction to the Irishman's works, and the author, Wood, seems to really know his stuff. Not only that, but the book is really readable. So much scholarship is poorly written, but this book is clear and intelligent without being confusing. For anyone interested in contemporary Irish writers, this book is a must for your bookshelf.

When I first heard of this book and it's contents I must admit I had a deep problem with it. The first problem was I hate any bad police officers. Members of my family have suffer at the hands of 'rogue' cops more than once. My second problem was his treatment of women through his many years while on the run. Of course I as a female would have serious issues with this subject, but I promised 'other' women who had read the book that I would at least attempt to read the book. Many of my friends say the book is an excellent read and that I was sure to enjoy it.

Well I finally read the book. I glad I did. This book has cause me to question my morals and values. This book is extremely deep and revealing. It's about more than a misguided and easily influence police officer. It's shares with the reader more than various flings with women from all walks. This book is about what could happen to you, me, or anyone. I realized the weakness of all humans.
But the most shocking and most awesome parts of the book is the author's struggle to actually live a large part of his life without family, friends, and other human company for many years. That is a feat that many of us cannot perform. Many couldn't live in the woods and forests for 22 days, as opposed to his 22 years.

Sure we all can point out his weaknesses as a police officer, but we need to also be mindful of his incredible resolve and deligence to do the one thing that many couldn't do....survive under harsh circumstances and apologize for his past behavior.
As far as his treatment of females, I still don't like it. But I can now understand that survival causes one to do things that are 'out of the norm', and surely his life was out of the norm. The author is not arrogant, harsh, or belligerent in the end. He apologize for his past life and I for one certainly accept his apology. I just hope that I'm able to have the courage to apologize so easily when I make my mistakes.

This book (published just this year; 2007) was great reading; I devoured it in only a few hours. I liked it so much I even contemplated purchasing many copies for other people, except that there are two unbiblical statements or errors in it, leaving me to wonder if the author is really born-again Christian or just Catholic (or Mormon for all I know); he seems to have had a very real experience with God but yet near the end encourages peopple to worship whatever diety or higher power they believe in: This is not Christianity, for true, Biblical Christianity is exclusive of anyone but Jesus Christ as God (for starters). He also makes a mistake in telling the Biblical story of Gideon, falsely stating that Gideon placed the fleece on the ground to determine if God existed (Gideon already fully believed in God's existence & the fleece was to determine if God would save Isreal by his hand or not; see Judges 6: 34-39). Nonetheless, the book is very inspirational, enjoyable and easy reading, describing how this former officer became sucked down into what amounts to satan's cleverly laid trap, as he became not only a hardened atheist but a hardened criminal. You end up loving him for all his humanity and falleness. True, he took some bad turns in life but he started out with a sizeable deck stacked against him. If you have empathy you can only feel Christ's love for him despite it all, and the amazement and joy at God's incredible grace! What astounding grace!
I highly recommend this book but as with everything read it with biblical knowledge, caution & discernment (as to the above two errors). It is very enjoyable and especially heart-warming at the end and may make a good gift for an atheist...

COP OUT is a marvelous and revealing story. That a man would be willing to divulge all of his life is amazing. I sensed no hold back or hesitation as he tells his remarkable story.

In the beginning, I was very uncomfortable reading this story. I experienced moments of sadness, then a slight moment of disgust, a little happiness, coupled with anger, then some other feelings I can't quite explain. That he revealed 'all' caused my discomfort. Most people hold back a little bit. It's like he was glad to expose his entire life. A very courageous person.

I challenge any living human being to reveal of his life the way Robert has reveal his rugged and lonely life. Honesty is a word we all use too much, but this epic memoir is just that: pure honesty, frankness, and truthfulness.

I wouldn't be surprise in the future to see this story transformed into a major movie. I would certainly love to meet this man, not just because the book was well written, but because this man has got to have God's divine wisdom and blessings.

Read COP OUT, after reading you'll never be the same.

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (2/07)

"Cop Out" is the story of Robert L. Davis. Abandoned by his father, Robert lived with his maternal grandmother and eight siblings in Hollygrove, a ghetto area of New Orleans. By the time of his high school graduation Robert had become proficient in stealing and stripping cars and was becoming entrenched in a life of crime. Two young neighbors, New Orleans police officers, influenced Robert to become a recruit for the police academy.

Corruption within the police department and the example of "bad" cops on the force gave Robert a false sense of his core values and an incident arose that caused him to be examined by the department of internal affairs. He was later arrested. While out on bail, unable to face the possibility of a 30-year sentence to Angola Prison, Robert fled.

His story of evading authorities, as a fugitive, is one of survival. He lived for months at a time in wooded areas and in National Forests. This first-person, fast-paced narrative takes Robert from New Orleans to Canada, from coast to coast.

His reflections and stories tell of significant influences of some of the people he met in bus stations, railroad yards, homeless shelters, church missions, and day job centers.

I appreciated Robert's open, frank, approach in relating his feelings. He has made himself vulnerable. His story is one that will create questions and cause you to seek answers. His journals are filled with a pattern of family, friends, acquaintances, and girlfriends challenging his atheism as he challenged their Christian message. The book is thought provoking for Christian and non-Christian alike.

The central truth of the book is this: the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the most despicable offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. As Robert experienced the miracle of God's redemptive love, after over twenty years of flight, he surrendered, first to God and then to the authorities.

This is a remarkable story of transformation. An angry atheistic criminal was recreated to become a man with "a compassion for the poor, love to those in need, patience to the foolish, and laughter with the innocent."

"Cop Out" is a must read book for anyone considering or involved in the area of criminal justice, faith based ministries, parole officers, gang members, and juvenile offenders. Challenging, life-changing, inspirational.

If you're working in the big company/corporation, you have to read this book. This is just masterpiece!

This is a "must read" for anyone in corporate America and, for sure, those considering entering the corporate world. Honest and a real eye opener -- some things we all knew, but never believed! RA McMillan gives you the facts in a style which makes you chuckle! The illustrations are great! Hope there is a sequel - will be sure to read!

This is a "must read" for anyone in corporate America and, for sure, those considering entering the corporate world. Honest and a real eye opener -- some things we all knew, but never believed! RA McMillan gives you the facts in a style whick makes you chuckle! The illustrations are great! Hope there is a sequel - will be sure to read!

This book is a gem. It is full of sarcasm and real-life-annoyance. You can tell that the author was writing this book as a healing process for all of the years he was "stuck" fighting the corporate monster. The illustrations were wonderful and really brought the book into a visual light. I think that anyone who has ever had a job, whether it's office, factory, restaurant, etc., will be able to relate to this book. As much as we'd like to deny it, this book is the real thing. It might be a little embellished for entertainment value, but the observations are true and they are pure Corporate Lunacy.