Wood Books

This book has the most awesome animal drawings I have ever seen. The fact that they are wood engravings is more than remarkable!

A present for my daughter-in-law and the illustrations were incredible. She is an artist and will make good use of this book.

Wow - the enormous numbers of animal life is astounding and the book clearly shows this. Unfortunately the images are quite dark and the book is very thick (you get your money's worth - image-wise), so scanning them for use in various artistic media is difficult. Therefore, I bought two of the books and plan to cut one of them up (that hurts to say for I treasure books of all types). This way I can control the scanning and modification using software to bring out details and highlight an image to my satisfaction. And finally, the classic images are impressive and I applaud the author for his selection of animals from all realms of life on earth.

Used several of these drawings in projects. Books like this are great for those of us designers who aren't the best freehand drawers.

This is just packed full of brilliant illustrations of birds frogs fish girafee spiders butterflies you name it , throughly recommended for any one who loves botanical illustrations or engravings , really good source material for artists or designers.very nice book but rember it is a paper back not that that matters to me.

This is the first book I read that was set in Australia and I got a lot more from it than just the wonderful story of the lead characters and the interesting people around them. There was not really any permanent villain, each characters whether they started as bad people had their reasons for their actions and you don't really grow to hate them even towards the end unlike the typical villain. What I love is the author had done an extensive research about the history of Australia from the convict days and the life of the Aborigines that were forced to live with the European immigrants. The heroine was a very adventurous woman who was seeking her mother's early childhood memories that cost her grandparents their lives and her mother having an amnesia of her early years of life. I could not put this book down and read it in two days. The ending was not as great as I expected because the Woods left a lot of the characters behind and I did not know what happened to them. Additionally, the main characters were not reunited in person in the end after the lead character discovered where Kara-kara is located (the place that she's been searching from the beginning of the novel). I don't want to give away too much so just pick this book and you won't regret it!

I highly recommend this book to those who love Australia, are fascinated by the good and the bad of its history, and the mysticism of the Aborigin culture. It is a wonderful read for those who just want to read and be entertained; but it has much more to offer and is deeper than your normal page turners. It explores the personal development of a number of characters as well as provides a gentle critism and depiction on a human level of some of the unpleasant sides of Australia's fronteer days and of the beauty of a culture that was trampled on.

This is a wonderful book about the Australian outback and the myths and legends connected with the native peoples. It is a story about a young woman who goes in search of the cause of her mother's nightmares and of her own fears about her heritage. It was a wonderful book.

I needed something to read and purchased this book because I loved "The Thorn Birds" and was hoping this would be on a par. Needless to say, it was. I especially loved this book because it explores the world of the tribes of Australia and other things that The Thorn Birds missed out on. I would love to see this book made into a film. This was just the first of many Barbara Woods novels I've read. I read the book in one sitting. I highly recommend "Green City In The Sun" a great book about Africa that I can see Sean Connery playing the lead male role in. "Domina" another great Barbara Wood book that shows the role of women in medicine when women weren't allowed to be a part of that world. "Virgins Of Paradise" where Barbara does it again! This book will open your eyes to the roles of women in a country where women are considered "property". AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ, and "The Prophetess"...an incredible book that keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense and excitement, yet explores religion through a completely new set of eyes and shows us how much we are all alike despite our "beliefs" A page turner that you can't put down till the end. I LOVE BARBARA WOOD. The Dreaming is just one of many of her books you'll love too! *"CHILDSONG" is another book of hers, a very early one, that will make you think twice about a lot of things in life. I certainly hope you can find some of these fine novels still in print and enjoy them as I have and many of my friends.

I read this novel while I was in Australia last month - my first trip there. Ironically, I purchased the book several years ago, but never read it. Now, I am glad that I read it when I did, because it made Australia come alive
for me, rich with history, culture, geography, economics, etc, more than even just being in Australia on vacation. I especially found fascinating the embedded information about the Aboriginal culture. I went to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) shortly before I neared the end of THE DREAMING and felt much more connected to the spirituality of the land because of B.Woods' invocation of the spirit of Aboriginal life. My last day in Sydney, I went on a walkabout in the Blue Mountains, led by a guide with Aboriginal ancestors. Reading the novel gave me a different appreciation of my experience. Then I went on the Indian Pacific Railway for 24 hours, through mostly desert, and I felt as though I were a character in Woods' novel. I would have enjoyed this novel even if I read it elsewhere than in Australia, but I would encourage anyone planning to travel there to buy this book and read it if you really want to understand Australia better. Barbara Woods is an author, yes, but really she is a born teacher, because she made me hungry for more information about all the subjects she touched upon. (I was also reading Bill Bryson's excellent humorous travel narrative DOWN UNDER. He treats many of the same subject but with non-fiction humor. If you go to Australia, you should definitely read both of these books.)

Another book by Janice Woods Windle, she wrote True Women and just by accident my sister saw it. There on the fist page were pictures of our great grandparents. Wonderful books. All the old family stories we had heard growing up were the same stories in the book. It was nice to learn it wasn't all folklore. Great books, if you enjoy reading historical novels, you are in for a nice surprise.
Rita McWhorter

I originally bought this book for my daughter who had recently moved from Austin to Boston. However, after she finished reading it, she gave it to me and told me how much she loved the story and told me to read it.

I was fascinated with a book about an area of Texas that I had lived in for many years. As a result, Janice Woods Windle became one of my favorite authors. I have purchased every book she has written and many copies to give as gifts. I have never been disappointed.

Hill Country is an mesmerizing story that keeps the reader turning the pages. Janice has the ability to take life, historical events and people, and intertwine them into stories that come to life.

However, the best part is that the reader is not only entertained but educated as well.

By the way, regarding all of Windle's books that I have given as gifts--everyone has thanked me after reading them and in turn buy them as gifts for others.

Brenda Ritter

Janice Woods Windle proves that lightning can strike twice.. Following her highly successful debut novel, True Women, which was made into a 1997 television mini series, the Texas author has penned Hill Country, a sweeping historical drama fraught with danger, excitement, and love - all the more fascinating because it's true.

Drawing from an unfinished autobiography plus a trove of letters and notes, the author has revitalized the indefatigable spirit of her pioneering grandmother, Laura Hoge Woods, an amazing woman who fought marauders, scratched a living from unfriendly soil, raised seven children, counted presidents as friends, and flew with Charles Lindbergh.

Much of Laura's grit came from her mother, "Little Mattie," who once pulled down Old Boomer, an "ancient, ten-gauge, double-barreled, shotgun" to protect 7-year-old Laura and her two brothers from hostile Indians. Herman Lehmann, who had been kidnaped by Apaches as a child, was among the intruders. To Laura, he was beautiful, "His hair was golden and long....his body seemed carved from ivory."

As a teenager Laura met Herman again, at Eager Mule Creek, her wilderness hide-away. They fell in love, but the gap between Indian life and the white world proved too wide for him to bridge. Wealthy Peter Woods, owner of a large horse ranch and chairman of the Blanco County Democratic Party, became Laura's husband. Through him, she hoped to satisfy her political aspirations - if she couldn't run for office because she was a woman, she decided to be a candidate's wife.

When government railroad land was offered for a dollar an acre, Laura and Peter bought. There was one qualifier: a buyer had to build on the land and remain there for six months. Agreeing to live in this new territory while Peter tended their present ranch, she "moved to the last place on Earth....the wild empty lands of Central Texas," where she felt her life was "sliding backwards."

In 1894, a violent storm arose isolating Laura and two young sons at the distant ranch. Days of incessant rain made puddles in the cabin, brought creek water to the horse pens, and serious illness to her youngest boy. Despite the blinding torrent, Laura managed to hitch a buggy, cradle the paroxysm seized baby in one arm, hold the other child on the floorboards between her knees, ford a wild river, and drive ten miles for help.

After the rigors of wilderness life, she was delighted to move to Blanco, into a stone bungalow overlooking the river. This home, known as "Hanging Tree Ranch" because of its proximity to a lynching she witnessed as a girl, was where Laura lived her glory years.

She gave birth to their first daughter, Winifred, and met the young woman who became her lifelong friend, Rebekah Baines Johnson.

It was also at "Hanging Tree Ranch" that Peter and Laura entertained Teddy Roosevelt who bought horses for his Rough Riders. Despite initial misgivings about Roosevelt's Republicanism, Laura was won over.

Later, in 1911, Laura again doubted a political hopeful; she was dissuaded by his scholarly mein. But when Woodrow Wilson came to Texas and advocated women's suffrage, Laura enlisted in his cause.

As the United States teetered on the brink of World War I, some suspected an alliance between Mexico and Germany. Asked to provide horses for an assault on Pancho Villa, Peter mortgaged his land to buy the animals.

An attempt to transport the Spanish cow ponies by train proved disastrous - a derailment injured the horses so severely that Peter was forced to shoot them. Laura wrote, "It was like something in Peter died that night, as well."

Always troubled by Winifred, who seemed uncommonly distant, Laura was pleased when her daughter married. But Winifred's first child was stillborn, a loss that pushed the fragile girl beyond reason, and eventually warranted her institutionalization.

As Peter faded to a shadow of his former self, Laura realized that she would have to support them. The family moved to San Marcos where she opened a rooming house. Of this journey she wrote: "The road from Blanco to San Marcos, Texas, is only 45 miles as the snake slithers.....Every mile of that road is littered with little pieces of my soul, with discarded notions of right and wrong, love and duty, and all the dreams and easy pleasures youth sheds on its way toward the setting sun."

In 1924, a young Charles Lindbergh barnstormed through Texas selling plane rides. Laura flew with him twice, finding "It was like riding on a beam of sunlight and being in absolute control." That evening she pretended not to hear when Peter asked her where she had been.

Outliving her husband and her close friend, Laura saw Rebekah's son elected to the presidency. She waltzed with Lyndon Johnson at his Inaugural Ball.

At over 90 years of age, plagued by failing eyesight and osteoporosis, Laura became the unwilling resident of a nursing home where she was repeatedly told to lay "back and rest." Valiant in her obstinacy, she would have none of it. After escaping her confines, Laura thought, "Maybe if I was old like these others I'd lie back and rest. But I've got things to do." One can scarcely imagine what it was that this remarkable woman had not already done.

I was so sad when this book was over...I couldn't put it down!! I highly recommend this for any woman to read. A wonderful story, made all the more exciting because it's set in a region of My great state that is dear to my heart!

Ms Windle has given us two books in one. A thoroughly delightful sequel to "True Women" in Laura Woods and a thoroughly boring (even to a Texan who lived through it) story of Lyndon Johnson.

Too bad they were not bound seperately so I could have only read the one about Laura Woods.

This book is a keeper and I'll probably read it several times. I have already ordered another for my daughter and am thinking of sending this book to others as well.

When I first saw this book I felt a little bit like a kid again--and that's exactly where this book took me--Every Sunday I would go into our sun filled living room and sit down and read a chapter in Julie's book--Every one of her outdoor "Nature" experiences took me back to the unencumbered days of my childhood --seeing nature through her eyes made me feel at peace while learning more and more about the things in nature that I would have liked to understand years ago--I just wish she would write another one just like this one--Have you ever read a book you wish would never end?? This was one of them--Thank you-

This is a wonderful little book. Julie Zickefoose is a writer, illustrator, and contributor to NPR. In this book, organized by the seasons of the year, she shares her experiences living on her 80-acre farm in southern Ohio. She brings a sense of wonder to seemingly mundane things such as squabbling starlings and the wreck of her vegetable garden.There are sad points, such as euthanising a little opossum caught in a steel trap, but most of the book is devoted to happier topics. I really enjoyed reading it.

Experience the seasons with Julie and her family on their wildlife sanctuary in the Appalachian foothills in southern Ohio. A gem of a book, if you love birds and other animals... very real and full of the wonder of everyday happenings - if you keep your eyes open.

I loved Ms. Zickefoose's little book. It's a publication one reads in small doses, enjoying her comments and her art. The style is like having a really good conversation with an interesting, accomplished naturalist. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys nature.

My daughter who is 9.5 asked me to purchase this for her after we read a library copy. It is a sweet tale, well told. She much preferred the illustrations in the 25th anniversary edition.

Nice illustrations, good strong story line. For being such an imaginative story, it's fairly realistic in how to think of solutions, instead of quiting. Very good story for young readers.

Steven Kellogg is an excellent artist and storyteller. This is my favorite of his works. I often wished, when I was young, that my uncle in Scotland would send me a huge tadpole, but my uncle only lived 10 miles away in the desert. Not much chance of that!

This book has a great story and is fun! Children will love the vivid pictures as well as the exciting turn of events! I give it two thumbs up! There are two editions out there, the original, and the second edition which has several different illustrations and a few story differences. I like both, but for different reasons and whichever you get, you'll love it!

Sure, the plot is silly. What do you expect when the premise is that a tadpole caught in Loch Ness turns out to be more than Uncle McAllister bargained for? The Mysterious Tadpole is a rollicking romp, rich in absurdity (Only after Alphonse grows four legs and reaches the size of a Volkswagen does the teacher conclude that he's not an ordinary tadpole.), and chock full of Steven Kellog's usual hilarious illustrations. Grab the nearest child, curl up in a big chair, and enjoy The Mysterious Tadpole.

I loved this book as a child and have loved reading it to my son. He received the 25th Anniversary edition for Christmas and while it's very, very good, it has been rewritten and simply lacks the charm of the original (which I would rate an enthusiastic 5 stars). The story is still wonderful and if this is the only copy you have access to, you won't be disappointed. The original, though, is the best and that's why I have to give this edition 4-stars.

the type of reading material most grandparents search for to excite and encourage our youngsters' reading and interests.

I bought this book of poems while doing a them on Penguins. The children read Mr. Popper's Penguins and I used the Teachers printables for the unit. The poems were used during Writing to immerse the children in poems and cross theme with Penguins. This poem book and them can be used across all grades and guided reading levels. My 5 year old even loves it.

This book gives good basic information on penguins in a very fun format. The poems are catchy. I teach 3-6 year olds and I caught them repeating the phrases they liked the best. I highly recommend it for this age group.

I bought this book for my son since he is interested in penguins. Most penguin story books are promoted to toddlers or are penguin science books; not books for fictional reading for older children. Normally he doesn't choose to read but when he received this book for christmas, he immediately put down his other items and began to look through the book. Later that evening, before bedtime, he chose to read his book before going to sleep. He also liked that the book had poems; something he's been studying in school and hasn't seen how it could be fun to read. Now he likes them a little more. I'm glad it will help to promote more reading for him.

First of all, I love this book because I love penguins. However, as a piece of children's literature, it's so much more. This is an excellent example of how literature (poetry) and science can go hand and hand. There are some poems in this book that seem written just for fun, (e.g. "Be My Penguin"). However, most of the poems in this book are written about and around actual behaviors that penguins exhibit: from regurgiating their food to feed the young ("Regurgitate") to the motherly instincts of father penguins ("A Hatchling's Song" and "My Father's Feet") to poetic riddles about penguin predators (sea lion, killer whale). The book is charming, easy to read, and full of delightful penguin illustrations. A great gift for any child interesting in science or literature or anyone who (like me) just loves penguins.

I was totally ignorant of segmented wood turning until I read this book. Now I am ready to give it a try. I would recommend this book to any serious wood turner.

This is an excellent book, but I feel it is for advanced segmented wood turners. The pictures are beautiful and give you lots of "food for thought." I'm just beginning with segmented wood turning. The book is fun to look at, very detailed in it's instruction, and very interesting to read.

I like everything about woodturning. This book is no exception. You might also want to check the DVD Beyond Wood - Portrait of an Artist. You will see a lot of beautifully photographed pieces and interviews from years of research on the subject.

This book is very helpful and inspiring to any segmented bowl turner. Gives incentive to try the seemingly impossible combination of patterns.

This book was very inspiring. I've made several projects similiar to what is in the book. My work has been praised. Although the designing, cutting of pieces of wood and aleining is challenging; the end results are well worth the efforts.

The author is very knowledgeable and gives a thorough background of each herb that he describes. He includes a lot of scientific information, as well as more mystical/spiritual and historical uses of each herbs, giving the book a nice balance. It was recommended to me by a fabulous herbalist and naturopath, and I must say that I'm very glad I listened to her advice as it's one of the best herb books I've seen.

I really enjoyed reading Matthew Wood's herbal book.He weaves a good amount of history with his scientific herbalism.After i read his book,i felt that he was another former modern christian rediscovering his connection with the good Earth.He may have been labeled as a former 'Quasi-Pagan',or seemingly pagan,now a 'true Pagan'.Nevertheless,he presents the global history of the herbs quite well,in relation to what these plants and herbs can do to benefit people.It's an engaging reading that will please any serious herbalist-ethnoscientist.The more you know,the more you will later reap.-Alma Hutchens wrote,'Indian Herbalogy of North America',which has more medical information about 'Native Medicines'.Ms.Hutchens' book does not have a good historical perspective,yet does have many good medicinal antidotes.The bottom line is that any modern ethno-herbalist will more likely enjoy reading Wood's text on the history and uses of homeopathic shamanic botany.

Matthew Wood's book is a must-have for your bedside table and/or bookshelf. It's a serious and studied approach to healing through plants. This book and its contents have made a difference in our lives. Don't hesitate to buy it right away and read it; you won't regret having done so, and will feel better. My health has improved rather quickly, thanks to some of the recommendations made by Wood in this wonderful manual for health.

Matthew Wood is literally a wealth of information. He has done an excellent job of providing information on several different types of herbs with usages, and just good information to have as a ready reference book. The diagrams, while they are not in color, still are excellent. This is one of my useful reference books that I would recommend to anyone who is serious about using herbs in their life.

Matthew Wood brings a variety of his gifts together as writer, historian, herbalist and a man of prodigious memory and herbal storytelling. This book stands out as my favorite herbal reference because it treats each herb to a whole chapter. Any lover of plants knows that there is much more to describe an herb than the usual sort of important lists of information most commonly shared in herbal reference books. This book helps one to get to know these 41 herbs much as you would know a friend or relative in their habits and ways of helping.

I pick up this book over and over simply because it is such good reading and I don't remember everything. If you like to learn through story and beautiful prose, this just may be your book! It fills a very unique niche of herbal literature.

The 41 herbs are quite available in the Midwest habitat and many overlap into other areas.

My only disappointment is that there is not a second volume to cover the many other herbs that didn't fit into the first volume.

This is a really cute book for toddlers/preschoolers/K-2 kids. It helps with colors for the really little ones, then with short sentences to read or write later. I actually bought this for my 10 year old daughter - lol - she always loved this book. I guess the bright colors and sparkle of the foil cut outs of the eggs appealed to her in Kindergarten when she saw it in the school library - she's checked it out every year at least 6 times ever since (4th grade now). Every kid has a few books that they just adore and can't get enough of, so I got it for her to keep and give her own kid(s) some day (she has my old copy of "Bambi's Fragrant Forest" - a 1970's scratch 'n sniff book). It's a visually pleasing book and little ones will enjoy it.

I love the illustrations in this book!!! My 2-year-old may be a little too young for the story, but she loves looking at the pictures.

My son learned his colors because of this book! Each page has a different color of egg, the story rhymes so well, and its a lift-the-flap book! The pictures have so much detail sometimes we spend extra time looking in the background for other animals and talking about what they are doing. We've had this book for a year and it is still very popular at our house!

I purchased this book for my nephew and he absolutely loves it. Beautiful illustrations and a very cute story for children from 1-6 years old. However, the book seemed a bit warped when I purchased it but I attributed it due to the delivery process.

One of the nicest things about this book is how well it is designed. Children love beautiful materials and this book delivers. Today, electronic media is so prevelant in childrens' lives. This book, though, offers children the opportunity to relax and read pages filled with awe and wonder. Quality colors, papers and decorations invite children into the Natural Easter world of the forest and imagination. It's beautifully adorned with sparkling, jeweled pages made to entertain and peak interest.

Mr. Wood's book was excellent. As retired superintendent of the small school east of Duncan, OK, I was allowed to share in some of his reflections. I have purchased more of the book for other people and would love to visit with the author about some of his reflections and mine. Thanks for taking the time to do the book.

This is the best book I have read in a long time!!!! The author gently takes you by the hand through the events of a remarkable life, and you can't stop turning pages, sometimes laughing out loud and sometimes gasping for breath as with simple and straightforward words he expresses the most intense pain. It is the story of an exceptional man's journey from childhood to adulthood and the ever present longing for home, love, warmth, acceptance and fitting in that even at the height of his unprecedented success tear at his heart right up to the devastating event that changes his life forever. The memorable multicultural characters that appear in his life at the most crucial times, leave with us a message of hope that we are never alone in times of need. The kindness, wisdom and insights of characters like Tony Two Hats, Father Bill, Old Bea, Laurie Medina will remain with us for all time. It is a book that comes form the heart and speaks to the heart. Underneath it all, it is a cautionary tale for parents and adults on the need to nurture self- esteem in young people, and a message to young people that no matter what, they'll survive. As a literature teacher, I would certainly put it on the must read list, right along with The Catcher in the Rye and Death Be Not Proud. Honest and powerful, Reflections in the Mill Pond is a book not to be missed.

A friend asked me to read this book and give reasons why you should. No, not Mr. Wood, I've never met him. It's the story of a man's life as seen in a very unique perspective, his own. An autobiography/novel, an oddity in itself, I stalked through his memories like the trails of an unknown wilderness. I became cautious, anticipating danger or situations to be avoided as the trails unwound before me. I saw his places, and met his family and friends. Or were they?

Everyone has a unique perspective of things and events in their lives and of course everyone's life is different. But if you ask someone to reminisce about their life you will find that as much as things are different, they are the same. So why should you read this book? Because when you look between the covers into Larry Wood's millpond, the reflections you see staring back are not his. They're yours.

Richard Roberts

OH MY GOSH!!!! I recently finished the book! I don't have words to adequately describe my feelings. It is unbelievable for one person to have such highs and lows in a life time!! I couldn't help but read parts of the book out loud to my husband while we were driving down the road. In fact, my husband does not read books but he took this one to read!! I laughed out loud and cried my eyes out! He is a fascinating man!! I recommend it to everyone! When his next book comes out, I will be among the first to buy it!

What an incredible journey the author has been on, and how lucky we are that he has shared it with us.

Like a modern day Odysseus, Larry Wood embarks on the journey of a life filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Along the way, the author pays tribute to the people and places that shaped his life and we are, in the end, reminded of the most simple of truths... there's no place like home.