Family Resources Books

This book (part of the Donovan Legacy series) easily stands on its own. Sebastian is remarkable, even without his visions. Mel, the female detective, is another strong character. When the two of them meet trying to solve an infant's kidnapping, the sparks fly. Mel resents having to work with an obvious fraud, and hates it even more when she realizes that Sebastian's gift is real. Their attraction to each other weaves through the headlong search for the kidnapper(s) and the child.
A compelling romance by a seasoned author. I'll be reading more of hers.

When alpha male, Sebastian Donovan, meets alpha female, Mel Sutherland there are sparks of will that turn
into blazing flames of love.

This was a reread for me and I enjoyed it. This is the second book in the 4 book series on the Donovan Legacy. The Donovan's are a family of witches. Each has a power that stands out. This is cousin Sebastians's story. His gift is that of sight. He is psychic.
Mary Ellen Sutherland (Mel) is a private detective who reluctantly joins her friend Rose on a trip to the local psychic's house when Rose's son David is kidnapped.
She doesn't believe in anything witch related including psychics. But as Sebastian gived her more and more clues. She has to follow them for the sake of David.
They embark on a journey as an undercover married couple trying to break up a kidnapping/selling baby ring.
An enjoyable read. Those of you who enjoy JD Robb/In Death series by Nora my recognize some similar trates between Mary Ellen and Eve.

Loved this book and liked how it tied in the other characters from the two other books in this series- clever. Hard to put down! It was a pleasant and beautiful story with the paranormal mixed in to make it more interesting.

While Ms. Roberts' books will never keep you spell-bound, the paranormal ones are extremely entertaining. I don't particularly care for just the romantic ones but these will keep your attention.

I'm fourteen years old and I have a ferm belief in God and I am a southern baptist. You know what? If this book upsets you so much then maybe you need to reafirm your faith and if a teenager reads it and they get that impression you talked about which only a dumbass would then thats their opinion and their choice.This book is awesome!

Kortney Dowell
1st hour
October 3 2005

Sarah Morgan has so many problems she is having to deal with. One being the death of her father about one year ago. She also has to deal with her mother's problems. Her parents got divorced one year before his death. It was so hard for Sarah because she loved her father more than her mother. Her friend was no help either because all she ever wanted to do was write complaints to the government. She also liked a boy just like every girl her age does. She just didn't know how to express her feelings to him. On top of that she may be getting a new stepfather, Mr. Cooper. Sarah's feelings totally change when she finds out her father was a drunk and hit her mother frequently. She now has to decide should she love her father even though he has done such horrible things. In the end Sarah decides that she loves her father know matter what mistakes he has made in the past because he still loved her even though she made many mistakes. This book is very intense and realistic. So I encourage you to read this book
And journey through many problems with Sarah Morgan.

Dealing with her parents divorce, Sarah Morgan's life took a big twist when her father died of a heart attack and she moved to a new town, and school. Sarah idolized her father, and even loved him more than her mother, without him she felt like life was cruel, and not worth living. Her day to day life consisted of her being the typical outsider in school, dealing with her friend's issues, and her mother trying to be her friend rather than the mother that she needed.
The author's diction gave Sarah a realistic teenage attitude. As I read the book I could almost put myself in Sarah's place as she described her relationship with her father and how she felt about her parents' divorce. The mood completely changed after Sarah found out that her father was a drunk and often hurt her mother. Matters really got worst as her mother got into a deeper relationship with her soon to be step father Mr. Cooper.
Sarah wanted to express her feelings to Ben, and wanted to help her friend over come her problems and solve environmental issues by wrting letters to the governor. Upon her friend's death she felt dissapionted but relief as a sign to move on with her life and make the best out of it.
This book is very realistic, honest, and unbelievable. I highly recommend it, espeacially for those in a parallel structure to Sarah.

This short book tells a story about a young girl faced with many problems in life. She is going through a hard time in her life as her parents just divorced. Like any other person, they think that it is their fault that his or her parents divorced. Sarah( the young girl) would live with her mother after the divorce was final. Her mother and her did not get along as well as her father and her did. Sarah could relate to her father on a more fun and serious note. Sarah was a young teenage girl who liked to fight for her rights about things that were going on in life, such as fighting off the death penalties of innocent people. Sarah's best friend was busy with her alcoholic mother and her suicidal sister. She hardly had time to hang out with Sarah. Sarah learned that the unconditional love her father had given to her was all she need to get on in life.
I liked the book because I could relate to it myself. Most teenager's parents are divorced or having problems at home. Conditions of love tells that it is not at all your fault that the divorced. The Book also was a bit boring in some parts when all she ( Sarah) did was talk and explain how she felt. Other wise it was great and really showed an outside view on things.
posted May 16 2002

This book was very interesting.I found it hard to follow the book would jump from Sara's Mom and Grandmother and her Father to her best friend's problem with her family and also to the boy she loved.Once I understood what was happening I thought it was good but not great.The book is really funny and has some explict words and thoughts.If you like that kinda thing then you would love the book.When I started the book it was very hard to put down because well most teenagers think about some scenes in the book.The book is very funny and realistic.I recommend to all teenagers.

I wanted a book that would be simple and straight forward. I intended to buy it for family members that were having a hard time understanding what we were going through after my son's diagnosis of Sensory Integration Dysfunction. And this book helped immensely. For my husband and I, I bought the Out of Sync Child and The Out of Sync Child Has Fun. But I wanted an indepth book for me and something more basic for family members that would need some understanding of my son.

Sensory Disorder...A really difficult concept to understand for those of us who do not have it, yet very real for those who do.
For those who live with someone who suffers from the disorder, it is so very important to understand them and their specific needs. For these individuals, it is of utmost importance to recognize the symptoms so they can be dealt with accordingly. This book really sheds some light on the mysteries surrounding the disorder and gives guidance to making the right decisions for the child when it comes to school, sports, treatment, discipline, etc. I recommend this book as well as "Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew". It is another excellent resource.

This book should be read for anyone working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Pauline and Elizabeth have great suggestions for some of the issues that can be more challenging (public restrooms, public outings, baths, dressing). I thoroughly enjoyed the 1st hand account of these ladies in their journey to understand their children's pain, and to bring out the very best in them.

What a great way to get a quick, overall picture of individuals with sensory issues. I did not get bogged down with so much detail, yet it was thorough. It proved to be an informational, interesting easy-read for me.

I read this book in order to gain more insight into my grandaughter's problem. I found the book to be very informative and down to earth. However, I felt that it would have been much more pleasurable to read if there had been colored illustrations or something to break the monotany of the black and white type. It has the appearance of a college term paper.

Everist subtitles her book "A Comprehensive Guide to Christian Education", and that it is. Everist discusses both the theological basis for religious education and places it within the contemporary context.

Familar models of development (Eriksen, Piaget) are analyzed within a faith framework to create an age-appropriate religious education model for faith formation from infant to older adult.

Everist addresses head-on the issues most churches face in religious education: lack of time, resources, and personnel; "competition" with the modern culture; living within a pluralistic world. Her book combines theory with practical advice, and in the end she holds out hope that not only is religious education necessary to a life of faith, it can be relevant and life affirming to both teachers and learners.

The Church as Learning Community is an excellent resource that can act both as a guide to teachers, volunteers and paid staff workers (i.e. youth educational directors, etc.) within the Christian community and also affirm and encourage professional and lay leaders alike in the importance of Christian Education. I would recommend that all parish educators use this book as a resource. However, be warned: it is an extremely comprehensive piece of work and includes many diverse theories, ideas, phases in education, etc. Everist's efforts and the work and thought she has put into making this book is obvious.

The book is both theoretical and practical knowledge by nature. Theoretical in terms of presenting many (often diverse) theories on issues (i.e. how to be a church in a pluralistic world) and practical in that it offers suggests on how those ideas can be put into use (i.e. how to create safe learning environments, how to equip leaders, etc.). It is also really engages the reader both theoretically and practically speaking. It offers questions for reflection (theoretical) and strategies for putting into action what you just read (practical). I found it is especially useful in beginning to think about adult Christian education and how to work with different ability (and disability) levels. As the title implies, its geared to get the reader to think about the church an educational facility which is nurtures the educational process at every stage of life. In other words, Christian Education does not stop with youth Sunday School.

Basically speaking, she has synthesised a range of ideas, research and theories concerning faith education into one resource. As such, the chapters address a range of topics from learning amongst a community to connecting the community with public world at large.

The Church as Learning Community by Norma Cook Everist
This is a great survey of Christian Education and the many many different considerations that go into educating people of faith. It was surprising to me how much there is to think about when writing curriculum, finding curriculum, or critiquing it. I appreciated the different charts that are found through out the book. I liked that there weren't a lot of them, but enough to study to better understand where she was coming from and the big aspects she was trying to get at. The best one is Figure 9 found on page 344. I liked the mapped out ideas of Parish Education and how this is going to be brought out into the World.
A couple of other great things about here books were the Personal or Group Reflection and case studies. The sections of reflection are always helpful to reflect how the written information could be installed into the program of a readers church. The reflection also leaves room for people to break up the book, and read the sections that are going to be helpful at different times. This book should be read in sections, there simply is to much to try to implement in one setting. The reflections allow people to find ways to make Everist's ideas work in what they are doing.
The case studies are helpful as well with the mentioned ideas. They, like charts, allow the reader to have a real life example. With these different ideas, a reader can respond by saying, "Yes I have gone through that" and then reflect on how improve different situations.

This book will make you significantly smarter at your next education committee meeting! Ok, well...maybe not at your next meeting- as it is a dense and detailed, idea packed book close to 400 pages- but it will expand your ideas about education in a church environment.
I hate to be caught using the phrase "something for everyone", but it really does apply here. Not only that, Everist includes many things for anyone: most of the material seems likely to enrich any person involved in church education (a group of people which is expanded to include everyone who walks in the doors of the church, by the way.) It is a vast storehouse of practical methods and ideas for every age group, some of which are laid out in a convenient diagram format. Norma Cook Everist explores life stages, ways the community is organized, who is included in the community, and sets out many ideas for education in all of these contexts.
One criticism I have involves the flip side of this book's great strength- the volume of the material presented. It is very detailed and expansive. If you are looking for an easy-read manual that can be thumbed through at meetings when an educational issue arises, don't buy book. In order to utilize its riches, one needs to commit to it and spend time slowly becoming familiar with the content. Trying to skim through or read quickly may result in frustration, and abandoning the effort. (So, you may not have anything for your education committee meeting tomorrow... but next month? Watch out!!)
Another characteristic that might be a problem is the congregational ethos it quite obviously springs from. Parts of this model include church functions (committee structure, liturgy, curriculum, sacraments, the use of the word "parish" and the sometimes-assumption that there is a community of connected churches) that are found more often in mainline, liturgical churches than in a more fluid evangelical or non-denominational approach in which those elements are less important or not present in the same way. However, there are only a very few theological assumptions that affect the curriculum in ways that might cause a problem. The way that baptism is part of Everist's foundation for our congregational responsibility to educate one another might change meanings or create a stumbling block for congregations that practice only adult baptism. Other issues, such as the emphasis on community and civic involvement as part of our educational process (which is an emphasis found more often in mainline churches) add a wonderful richness to the book in taking our responsibility for educating outside the church walls. These differences in perspective are certainly nothing to fear. The sheer volume of information and diversity of the resources within this book (the great majority of which carry no denomination-specific doctrinal claims) assure that it will be a rich resource for anyone. Overall, this is a wonderful book for those serious about education in a church setting.

As a lay leader in my church's adult education ministry, I found Norma Cook Everist's book to be an excellent handbook and guide for my continued faith journey as both a teacher and learner in my congregation. I wish I had discovered this book a few years ago - but as they say - better late than never.

As the author states, "The purpose of this book is threefold: to put forth a vision of the entire parish as a learning community; to help faith communities create and maintain learning environments that facilitate us being different together in a pluralistic world; and to provide a comprehensive guide for religious educators leading a congregation toward fully becoming a learning community." I'm pleased to say that Norma delivers on all three fronts!

This is not the type of book that will sit idly on your shelf collecting dust. It's a wonderful resource that Christian educators will find themselves using time and again. It truly is a comprehensive guide to Christian education. I really enjoyed and appreciated the opportunities for reflection in the various chapters. The graphs, tools and strategies are extremely useful - this book is packed with tips and advice that's both practical and applicable in today's communities of faith. I especially enjoyed chapter three - Eight Facets of Learning: Methodologies for a Diverse People.

As the author states in chapter three, "How we teach teaches as powerfully as what we teach. The method a teacher chooses to use does not just convey content; it becomes the experience." The Church As Learning Community is truly a rich and wonderful guide to helping all of us involved in Christian education become powerful teachers to the body of Christ.

Pros: Covers lots of topics and is a very valuable source for beginners with great, well written, summaries of many skills and sources needed for doing family history
Cons:

No real cons. I was a bit surprised, however, not to read more about the incredible land patent database of the former General Land Office offered through the Bureau of Land Management's Eastern State Office. There is no mention that people can actually download from the office's site copies of early land patents of ancestors after discovering how and where they received federal land. Yet, this only points out that one book, though great, cannot cover everything.

I was interested to review this book since I do a lot of genealogical research and wanted to see what more I could learn. I wasn't disappointed. There's plenty to be discovered through the great information supplied by this fine book. Though one of the "For Dummies" series for beginners, there is much here for people who aren't dummies but are advanced in their genealogical studies. The authors have their own website, "Helm's Genealogy Toolbox" at www.geneaologytoobox.com, and that is featured as well as other web sites and links.
The book also contains a CD with three items: 1) a trial version of "Family Tree Maker," a popular genealogy database, 2) an evaluation copy of "Homesite 5.5," a popular HTML editor, and 3) a gazetteer designed for genealogists,"World Place Finder." This CD runs on Mac OS system software 7.55 or later, which is useful if you haven't yet stepped up to OS X.
This book is indeed a fine source for all genealogists, covering not only what can be found on the web (an incredible amount), but also great tips for basic "how to do" skills. There is even information in one of three appendixes for the real beginner without many computer skills, such as getting set up with a service provider. The other appendixes include terms and more information on using the CD.
As to its organization, the book begins with the needed first steps about recording easily available information needed to "ground" what you later discover. Progressively you also learn about preserving notes and photos, organizing your records, and many other valuable tips to get started. Later chapters (a total of 16 in the book) continue with planning genealogical research trips and strategies, plus lots of great information about the almost countless sources that have developed on the Web to aid family history buffs. This includes some information even on foreign sources and archives.
The book also covers the increasing availability of various source records, such as census and vital statistics posted on the Web, plus the value of using comprehensive genealogical indexes, surname forums, and the incredible national GenWeb project which coordinates state and county records. And that's only a sample of what this useful book covers! The helpful index allows you to easy find the variety of specific topics in this great "how-to" book,.
Overall, its easy-to-follow style, like other "for Dummies" books, makes this a real winner for both the beginner and advanced genealogist. It is well worth the price.

This book is for the beginner genealogist. It tells you how to plan your research and what kind of computer equipment to have. It takes you step by step in certain websites. It is extremely boring, even for a genealogy book. I was hoping for more info on what is contained in individual websites, where to find certain types of documents and explantions of software available to the genealogist. It is great if you don't have a clue but if you can navigate the internet on your own, you don't need this book. I will use it occasionally but The Genealogy Sourcebook and The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy are much more in depth.

This is a very helpful book. I have been doing genealogy research for years, and found all of the tips I would give someone who has just started research within its pages. I also found things that I hadn't previously thought of that I was able to use and I accomplished a lot. This is a perfect handbook for those who are interested in using the internet to further their research.

I've been researching my genealogy on the web for about a year now, and I'd already found everything included in this book. If you're a basic web surfer, and can use a search engine, don't bother with this book. I also found that it was very difficult to reference, and jumbled together both the excellent resource sites, as well as the ones that are pretty much useless. Spend your money on "The Source" it will be worth the extra investment.

Genealogy Online for Dummies is a handy how-to, where-to, what-to, who-to, and why-to book. Matthew L. Helm, one of the authors, is executive vice president and chief technology officer of FamilyToolbox.net, Inc. With a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in library and information science, he created and he maintains the Helm's various genealogy websites. April Leigh Helm, the other author, is the company president. She has degrees in journalism and higher education administration. They are no dummies, and anyone who reads this book will be no dummy about genealogy online.

The book has 16 chapters organized in five major sections, also three appendices, an index, a genealogy Internet directory, and a tear-out "cheat sheet." The text covers in part one doing the groundwork, in part two focusing the online research effort, in part three expanding research online, and in part four using the computer and web to organize and share information. In summary, part five lists ten handy databases, ten things to remember when designing your genealogical website, ten sites that offer help, and ten tips for "smooth sailing."

Throughout the text are addresses of useful websites, research tips, definitions of genealogical terms, step-by-step instructions, and warnings. Examples of warnings are "don't violate any copyright laws by sending large portions of written works through email" (p. 215), and don't post on your website "any information that could land you in the doghouse with any of your relatives - close or distant" (p. 246). The text features sidebar discussions of issues like copyright (p. 250) and privacy (p. 248), and even a "mandatory lecture on privacy" (234). But the tone and message are generally positive: You can do genealogy online. The text explains not only the software, the search engines, the online resources (websites), but also the hardware appropriate for different tasks, and the basics of HyperText Markup Language (html) needed to create a website.

One appendix provides the basics of going online, for anyone not already connected to the Internet. A second appendix defines genealogical terms. The third appendix provides a long list of software available on the CD inserted in the back of the book, mostly demo software for Windows; but the CD itself contains only the demonstration software for Reunion 8, and a very useful list of genealogy-related urls. The index is detailed. At the center of the book is a 30-page genealogy Internet directory, organized into clear categories and fully annotated. The cheat sheet provides instructions for using the Helm's Genealogy Toolbox at www.genealogytoolbox.com/, as well as the addresses for 14 websites.

The final chapter's "ten tips for genealogical smooth sailing" take the reader back to the big picture: (1) start with what you know, (2) get organized, (3) always get proof, (4) always cite your sources, (5) focus, focus, focus; (6) share your information, (7) join a society or research group, (8) attend a conference or workshop, (9) attend a family reunion, and (10) don't give up. Before the reader gets here, the text has provided clear, detailed guidelines for thoroughly researching, organizing, and presenting genealogical information.

The organization and layout of this 332-page book are great. I found it easy to locate specific information, and I found the information clear enough for the beginner and yet substantive enough for the advanced genealogist. The graphics clearly illustrate the text, and the text is easy to read. The occasional 5th Wave cartoons are appropriate and humorous. I am adding this manual to my desktop reference collection of books that I want within arms reach.

As the Reichmanns anticipate another rush to the top of the heap we shall watch with amazed eyes as this family woos our imagination, yet again! As renowned as the Reichmanns have been there are still followers of scrappy success stories that do not know much about what this family, with brother and son Paul at the helm, contributed to New York City's skyline. The World Financial Center was a creation of their delicately named Olympia & York. Read this from beginning to end so that you can grasp the rise and fall and now, again, rise of this amazing family. As is usually indicative of most business minds through time, the children are not as capable as the original "originators" themselves.

For those interested in real estate development, I recommend skipping through the first half of the book and starting at page 256. From there on it is fascinating reading on the possibilities of development for those with seemingly infinite capital on hand. Paul Reichmann's passion, drive and high tolerance for risk makes for better reading than most novels.

Though well researched and well written, the author accepts rumour as facts, and thus published reports of personal misconduct which are totally false. It does not do justice to the tragic story of the collapse of the fortunes of a family that was world reknowed for their kindness and generosity. For those that were acquainted with the true facts, and recognize the Reichmans as the great men that they truly are, this book is a travesty.

The Reichmanns

The book, "The Reichmanns; Family, Faith, Fortune and The Empire of Olympia & York" by Anthony Bianco is a 668 page mind boggling tale of a family dynasty that came from nowhere and rose to one of the most wealthy families in the world in one generation. The book explains how through Paul Reichmann's insatiable drive and willingness to parlay the profit from each successful project into a much larger endeavor, their wealth exploded to over $10 billion at the peak, just before risking everything on Canary Warf on London's East End.

At times it's a bit of a fight to get through the sections that are not related to business and real estate, but those sections give you a good idea about the family's morals and values and bring you closer to understanding their thinking.

A memorable section is when they braved the NYC real estate slump of 1976 - 1997 and purchased eight skyscrapers from the Uris Building Corporation for $46 million down. Within a decade the package would have a value of over $3 billion.

The book is packed with similar anecdotes that both inspire and encourage someone wanting to build a real estate fortune of their own.

By Kevin Kingston author of, "A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate"

The book discusses in great detail the Reichmann family's role both in Jewish culture over the last couple hundred years and in the real estate developement business over the last 40 or so years.

The part I liked the best was the descriptions of 18th and 19th century Jewish life in the "oberland"(sp?) of Hungary. A lost culture, thanks not only to the Nazis but also to Jewish Emancipation.

In a way, it is inspirational, as it shows how one family managed to integrate a healthy, traditional religious expression with philanthropy and business acumen. It also shows that you cannot understand what makes that family "tick" without understanding the rich culture and religion of orthodox jewishness.

The greatest strength of this book, in my opinion, is that it is a _history_ of the family and its business, religious, philanthropic, and cultural dealings. It isnt the hagiography that so many business biographies in the popular press tend to be.

101 Pep-Up Games for Children
Published by Hunter House Publishers
14.95 for trade paper, 19.95 for spiral bound

This book is designed for teachers or group leaders of elementary aged children. The contents reflect exactly the title--101 different ideas for quick games. In addition, there are jokes and "pick me up" tips scattered throughout.

Each game is labeled with a number of icons representing:
*the size of the group which can play the game
*whether props are needed
*activities which may need a larger space to play
*activities utilizing music
*whether physical contact is involved or likely
*activities more appropriate for outdoors
The icons are fairly clear and easy to read, accomplishing the goal of providing an at-a-glance indication of whether that game is appropriate for your group.

In the front of the book is a numerical list of the games, with a designation of what size group can play the game. In the back there is an alphabetical listing of all the games, and a separate list of games with "special requirements"--essentially enabling you to find games by icon type. There is no listing of games by group size, so you may be flipping to several interesting-looking games to check the icons before finding one that suits your needs.

The games range from the ordinary to the inventive. For example, game #1 ("All right!") and game #13 ("Auntie Bertha's stroll") are variations on follow the leader. Game #36 ("Mirror image") is more inventive, requiring children to mirror the silly faces of a classmate "clown" and freeze that way when the clown moves on.

It is likely that each individual teacher will try out several games from this book, and find a few to incorporate in his regular repertoire.

The "pick me up" tips were surprisingly useful and interesting. In the review copy, however, they were not clearly set out from the text, making them hard to find on a casual flip-through. I hope this will be corrected in the actual copy.

Almost every game is illustrated with a black and white drawing of some children engaging in the activity. The illustrations are cute, but a little misplaced. An adult flipping through looking for ideas might appreciate the summary of the activity that the drawings provide, but they are not really necessary and give the impression of padding the book to stretch to its "hefty" 128 pages. The money spent on illustrations would have been better spent on lowering the price.

That is my one true problem with this book. The price puts it at a level where it is only practical if it is being purchased for a group of teachers, or if an institution approves the purchase because it is not quite as frugal as an individual would be. I hope schools get a steep discount on this one.

As a theatre director and professor, I've had ample opportunity to witness the usefulness of games for energizing and focusing groups of people. Now, as the mother of an extremely energetic one year old (one of her primary nicknames is the Energizer Bunny), I'm even more aware of the basic human need to *move* sometimes. Educational theory backs this up: kinesthetic learning is increasingly recognized as an important and vaild learning style. (In my parenting group, our coordinator told us that some districts are even encouraging kids to chew gum late in the afternoons because the motion helps them focus!)

Along these lines, 101 Pep-up Games for Children is an excellent resource for moms, pre-school and grade-school teachers, daycare providers, and theatre folks like myself. The games are well-organized, making it easy to find the right kind of game for your specific purpose. They're ordered from simplest (for the youngest children) to most complex (for kids aged 9-10 ... or immature performer-types like myself). Each game is coded with clear icons delineating how many people the game is for, whether props or music are needed (mostly they're not), whether the game is played outside, and whether or not there's physical contact involved. There are also nice indexes in the back in case you want to find a game by name or requirement. Best of all, the games are simple to learn and play, and many incorporate learning concepts that make them easy to adopt to current classroom lesson plans.

One interesting note: the author is German and the book was originally published in Germany. For the most part the translation is seamless, but occasionally the cultural differences show in the "tips" included with certain games. (Suggesting that teachers light a peppermint scented candle to pep students up is one that I imagine would not be allowed in a lot of US classrooms.) Overall, this book is a great resource and one I'm sure I'll turn to with my own kid and with future students and actors.

As both the mother of four young children, and an intermittent Sunday School teacher, I have often found myself at wit's end while cooped up with antsy youngsters. Many are the times I have simply run out of curriculum or activities, while time slowly ticks until dismissal. Though I'm sure I must have played many games in my own youth, at these times, "Duck, Duck, Goose" is the only children's game I can ever remember on the fly. For all these reasons, "101 Pep-Up Games for Children" by Allison Bartl is going to be an invaluable resource for me.

From the publisher: "The games are designed to handle a variety of sitatuions: whether you're working indoors or outdoors, with small groups or entire classrooms, if you have 5 minutes or half an hour." It's really true, too.

Designed for children ages 4-11, this book is the ideal tool for various-sized groups of mixed age kids. In many cases, the games require absolutely no preparation or props, which for someone like me, is perfect. The book is well-organized, with easier games towards the beginning and more advanced games towards the end. Pre-defined symbols indicate what size group a game is best suited for, or other special requirements such as space to move or necessary props. Whimsical drawings are found on every page.

All of the games are specifically designed to release pent up energy, or to re-energize a listless group by moving the body. The description of each game is so straightforward and brief that I'm often left wondering, "Why couldn't I think of that?" But the truth is, thinking of children's games is not my strength, and that is why "101 Pep-Up Games for Children" is going to be such a fabulous tool.

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (7/08)

Do you have a bunch of kids that are getting rambunctious? Are you planning a kids party and don't want to play the same old games? Or perhaps you are a teacher who wants to give your students a break from the usual classes and revitalize their interest? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the book for you.

"101 Pep-Up Games for Children" is an awesome resource for anyone who is looking for games for kids in groups of just a few or a whole bunch. The book is separated into sections showing appropriate number of kids or what props you will need. There are some games in the book which require props, some where physical contact might be involved, some requiring a large space, some outdoor play and others which need music.

Recently I was placed in charge of coming up with kids games for our church's picnic. "101 Pep-Up Games for Children" has been an invaluable resource. The kids were able to have fun and in some instances learn something new too. My daughter is planning on being a teacher and she already wants to be sure to have this book in her "teacher stuff" that she will someday use in her classroom. This is a must have for any teacher, parent or adult who works with kids ages 6 to 10. It is a part of the SmartFun series and I can't wait to read more in this series!

Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (5/08)

"101 Pep-Up Games for Children" is a collection of different activities designed to replenish children's energy. The book is geared towards elementary school teachers and group leaders with the games inside being designed for children ages 6 through 10.

A page is devoted to each of the 101 activities but you are able to tell from a quick glance at the icons in the right hand corner of each page whether this activity is going to be appropriate for your age group or situation. The icons tell you what size group is needed, whether you need props, music, and/or space, if there is physical contact and if the activity involves going outdoors.

The activities in the beginning of the book start out simple with a game called "All Right." Ironically right before I picked up this book to start reading it my own children were playing their own version of this game which is similar to "Follow the Leader." Basically in "All Right" there is one child who calls out directions and before following them the children yell out "All right!" After three instructions then a different child gets to be the leader.

Toward the end of the book there are more advanced activities for older children such as a game called "Syllable Shuffle." In "Syllable Shuffle" everyone sits with their chairs in a circle leaving one chair empty. The child designated to be the leader sits to the left of the empty chair and tells the group to think of some very long animal names. For instance, if the word is orangutan there are 4 syllables. The person coming up with the word would say "o" and then move over one chair, the next person would say "rang" and then move to the next chair, etc. When the word is complete then another child names a word and they start again.

I found "101 Pep-Up Games for Children" to be a very useful and fun book! Although it is primarily written for teachers I think that any parent would benefit from utilizing some of the ideas in the book. It is a great help to those like myself who have run out of new ideas. Granted some of the activities in the book we have already come up with on our own, but there are still lots of fresh, new games that will keep us busy for a long time!

I haven't taken the Y2K issue to seriously until a few prominent business men in L.A. shared with me what they know about the Year 2000 bug and how it can effect them. I decided to do some research for the fun of it. As it turns out, there really is a large subject matter to concern ourselves with. This book helps to cover all the different solutions to these potential problems that may exist in the very near future. The book is well written and 'to the point.' I would recommend it for everybody.

Thanks to this book I was prepared when disaster struck on January 1, 2000. I not only survived the crisis, unlike so many in my community, two of my three children survived as well. Thank you, Mr. Whisman!

We found all of the information contained in the guide objective and easy to read. The authors took a step-by-step approach to understanding the Y2K problem. The guide answered most of our questions to date. Each chapter was centered around " in the event of a Y2K disruption". We found the supplies list and the document information useful. We liked how the guide included what documents to get, how to get them, and the phone numbers for all the vital document offices. Since we both work, we don't have filter through pages of opinion. This guide gets right to the point!

We thought this was a decent guide. It provides 2-4 week home confinment preparedness information. We liked the shelf life information, the 100 item checklist and the different water treatment options. It would have been 4 stars and a steal at $5.00

Looks like each contributing writer picked a subject and downloaded it off a computer website! Don't buy this and all or any costs!! If you're looking for a guide which will be cost effective and practical without all the sensationalism get: "Don't Panic! You Can Prepare for the Y2K Crisis" by Lee Dodds. It's only 41 pages, yet manages to provide more clear, consise and useful information than can be found in this disorganized, paste-up mess.

unfortunately, without a picture, and no information regarding publishing date online, the copy was very outdated. this series has been around awhile, and this copy looks to be an original! i appreciate the discounted price (the reason to purchase in this venue). i purchased several copies, but this one is outdated and looks it. i can't give it out in my group.

Appears to be a good book. However, shipping charges are too high and it takes too long to get books.

DENNIS RAINEY IS AN EXPERT IN THE AREA OF MARRIAGE AND PARTNERSHIP. MY HUSBAND AND I ARE CURRENTLY DOING THIS STUDY WITH FIVE OTHER COUPLES AND IT'S BEEN GREAT. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANY MARRIED PERSON.

This book provides a good spiritual basis to address very personal issues in an interactive setting. With a few basic ground rules, it sets a standard where issues can be resolved in a non-threatening and productive environment.

"Building Your Marriage" is a great study guide for couples in a group, or as an individual couples study. The study helps you understand what marriage is all about before or after you've taken the plunge. The study guide is built on the marriage principles in the Bible from a Christian point of view. It challenges your Christian walk as an individual and as a married couple. It provokes deep communication between the couple. It can save a marriage, and it can prepare a couple for marriage.

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We can presume this book's intended audience is the legion of teachers and education bureaucrats who cringe every time they hear the phrase "computers in the classroom".

Their biggest dilemma and their most justifiable concern are the expense of the hardware and the short-life of your typical PC. Educational dollars are finite and mistakes can be expensive. The big bonus though, is that as computers have become more powerful, they are at the same rate becoming cheaper.

Alison Armstrong and Charles Casement in their book make a fundamental mistake in their approach to the impact of computers on children's education. They focus predominantly on the hardware and human interface issue. Surely the power and impact of IT is not all about the box that sit on our desks but instead it is the world of knowledge and the creative tools that brings value, pleasure and rewards to all of us.

Since this book must have been written for an audience of educators, academics and "concerned parents", it sensibly provides us with a comprehensive set of footnotes and bibliography. Unfortunately, the index is useless. I thought I'd check out references to Yahoo! There are two, the second being on page 200. Nowhere is Yahoo mentioned on that page. Similarly references to Nicholas Negroponte. We found a couple of references to his "Being Digital" when reading the book, but the writers casually dismiss his ideas in a few lines . Whoever indexed their book should polish up their search tools since the index often leads us nowhere.

When you consider Yahoo searches are damned by the authors, and considered to be such a difficult and confusing task for a child, imagine how a serious reader of their book feels when references to Yahoo in their own index lead you astray.

[The writers] still see knowledge as a Cartesian world of library shelves and card index files. The new technology and its impact on education are not simple computer aided instruction tools or smartish auxiliary teachers. Instead, they offer a gateway into a whole new world. Cyberspace is all about a network of relationships; not a series of neatly catalogued and cross-referenced facts and figures.

The authors remind me of the guys who walked in front of the first steam locos waving a red flag. This time round its the youngsters who are driving the trains ( and designing and building them) , and its the parents and teachers who are cowering in fear of the new technology.

This book relies mainly on anecdotal accounts when developing their arguments about the dangers of computers in the classroom. There is very little objective statistics or fact-based research in this book. All this book succeeds in doing is reinforcing the prejudices of the anti-computer lobby. Its Canadian origins shine through with its none too subtle references to the tainted world of American commercialism.

To be more credible the writers could have broadened their field of research to the Scandinavians (particularly the Finnish) who are leaders in the application of IT in education.

Since the topic of this book deals with such an important area for all of us it is disappointing to see it treated in such a shallow and one-dimensional manner.

This is a timely appraisal of the role of computers in childhood education.The authors question the hype surrounding the use of computers by young children.Parents are pressured to put their children on the computer bandwagon with fears that they will be "left behind".(It's perfectly sane to be left behind collective delusion.)The authors are not anti-computer, but they put forward cogent reasons why young children are harmed by computers.A central point is that computers offer very limited experiences.They offer little more than rote learning and visual stimulation of dubious value.The young child needs a variety of experiences that the computer just cannot give, such as interaction with other people and with living, stimulating environments.Computers deny the development of the imagination, language skills, and experiences of relating.Child development is thus diminished by the computer.The authors also mention physical harm caused by computers, such as RSI, poor posture, back strain, "Sega thumb," eye fatigue and headaches.Young children are more prone to these problems.This is a carefully researched book which wants to see the real needs of children met.It is a much needed antidote to current computer hype.

It is all too easy for those of us with serious concerns about the every-growing power of computers in our children's lives to be shouted down with unreasining cries of 'Luddite!'. Fortunately this book has now come along to strike back on our behalf. It is well-researched, well-argued, and written in simple, clear English, and the concerns raised by the authors about computer overuse mirror what I have witnessed happening in the classroom over the last decade. It's comforting to know that I'm not just imagining it. I use and enjoy computers, both at home and in my work as a teacher, but they are only one tool among many. For me, perhaps the most interesting and important chapter was that on the role of the arts in education, and how this vital component was being squeezed of funding in order to provide more (in my view and the view of the authors, unnecessary) technology. Occasionally the authors go overboard in their criticisms of computer use, particularly in the chapter on knowledge, but they're definitely going in the right direction and should be congratulated for opening up a reasoned dialogue on this question, which is surely one of the seminal issues of our times. Please read it.

This is not another Luddite style, hysterically pitched, attack on computers. Armstrong and Casement present a well-reasoned and well-researched assessment of the shortcomings of computer eduction for children. They point out many attributes of software design and computer network systems that work to the disadvantage of some children in certain cases, most children in others. For instance, the very nature of the Internet, with all of its built-in "hyerlink" capability, will give only the most intensely focused pupils a fair shot at genuine learning. The rest? Prone to the distraction and ease of "point and click" motions, they are likely to follow tangential digressions and drift more and more away from the topic at hand. They wil also encounter a high number of non-educational messages, intending to sell and promote consumption of products. The majority of "educational" software is described as heavily influenced by the video and computer game design mentality. Pupils quickly learn how to master the "object" of the "game" and score points, but often with only superficial understanding of concepts. Most persuasive, however, may be the authors' argument that learning about the world must involve going out and experiencing it in numerous ways. Sitting in front of a monitor is a very narrowly defined kind of "experience." All elementary teachers, and indeed all parents of young children, should give this book a very open-minded examination. Those whose kids read books, attend concerts, ask questions of other people, and get involved in conversations, will feel they are on the right track after following the authors' arguments.

This is a timely appraisal of the role of computers in childhood education.The authors question the hype surrounding the use of computers by young children.Parents are pressured to put their children on the computer bandwagon with fears that they will be "left behind".(It's perfectly sane to be left behind collective delusion.)The authors are not anti-computer, but they put forward cogent reasons why young children are harmed by computers.A central point is that computers offer very limited experiences.They offer little more than rote learning and visual stimulation of dubious value.The young child needs a variety of experiences that the computer just cannot give, such as interaction with other people and with living, stimulating environments.Computers deny the development of the imagination, language skills, and experiences of relating.Child development is thus diminished by the computer.The authors also mention physical harm caused by computers, such as RSI, poor posture, back strain, "Sega thumb," eye fatigue and headaches.Young children are more prone to these problems.This is a carefully researched book which wants to see the real needs of children met.It is a much needed antidote to current computer hype.