News and Media Books

This is an important book for "so called" documentary writers, photographers, and film makers. I say "so called" because we tend to think of documentary work as an accurate representation--literally the truth. Robert Coles pretty much shoots that idea down, showing how the background, beliefs, biases, hopes, and fears of the documentarian color the narrative. I came away believing that the word objective is not relevant here, and that it may be impossible to ever get at the truth. If I read Coles right, the documentarian may, in fact, be more akin to the literary fiction writer/photographer/film-maker, who does seem to get at the truth. This is not to say that documentary work is futile. On the contrary it can be potent, meaningful, and worthwhile. We may just have to look at it differently and face up to the fact that it reflects the person doing the documentary work as much as it does his/her subject. This is a liberating idea. And we owe a debt to Coles for proffering it. There are consequences, too. For instance, in the light of Coles' discovery, a lot of critics may owe an apology to Richard Avedon, whose photographic fiction, "In The American West," may be fine documentary work after all.

This book should be brought back into print. Unlike all the other critiques of the press, which accuse it of being left-biased or right-biased depending on the bias of the critic, this book points out that the press's bias is in favor of itself! Its highly selective offerings are designed to sell more papers/magazines, attract more listeners/viewers. To this end, they put in stories to delight the conservatives and enrage the left, then the next day put in stories to delight the left and enrage the conservatives. So, keeping up with the "news" has all the excitement of watching a tennis match.

These days, what is left out is as important as what is put in. Issues and causes that do not have enough popular support are not given space, simply because the benefit (selling papers) will not outweigh the cost.

With the wealth of information on the web and the easy access to books on Amazon, there is a chance for this information to get out. The problem is finding it among all the dross and deadwood. The newspapers, magazines and TV find "it" for you and trumpet it to you in the jazziest possible way. This explains why people have the benighted opinions that they do.

The situation is even worse today since the education system has been hijacked by a network of cynics who exploit minority groups under the guise of helping them and exploit the majority in the name of the minorities (see The Rape of Alma Mater).

So, read this book for the details. After that, instead of picking up a magazine or turning on the news, you'll spend your time on the web.

When I started it, I couldn't stop until I finished. The plotkeeps thickening until you can fit an elephant in! It is also veryfunny.

I write this review with a heavy heart. My name is Sally Richards and I was the agent on this project. I was a personal friend of the late Don Richard and helped him conceive this book idea. Don Richard and co-author John Brodie worked very hard through this material that you may find difficult to read. But, this book may very well save your child's life. Even though I don't have children, after reading this book I now tell friends (who are parents) about things that they never considered risks before. I'm not talking about being paranoid, I'm talking about protecting your children from preditors who walk among us. It's a fact. 140,000 names were listed in the Department of Justice missing Person's Clearing House, about a third of those were children.

There are people who find your children a great temptation for their sexual fantasies and murderous thoughts. That's a fact. All you need to do is read the long lists of child predators who have been released into your neighborhoods (you can go to your local police department and demand a list) to know that this is not paranoia. These people cannot be "cured," and often when one is captured for an abduction, they're often repeat offenders. There was something in their past that pointed clearly to the fact that they would become pedophiles, or one day be capable of murder. Arm yourself with this book and the study of cases and predator behaviors and you will be in a better position to identify risks and protect your children.

The words inside this book may be difficult to read; these pages tell the story of the many years of research Don and John conducted that details the thoughts and actions of men who treat children as objects of sexual pleasure. When I did the first round of editing on this book, I remember thinking how terrified I would be if raising a child in these times. Don and John were very close to their work and, at times, I had to tell them to back away, to be objective, but it was even hard for me to not loathe the people they were writing about. Finally, we came up with a book we thought told the story in a fair and helpful way that educates parents about the patterns and methods of child abductors/molesters.

Read this book and keep your children safe.

California Senator Richard Rainey, John Philpin, PhD, Forensic Psychologist, Francis Koopman, Esq., Lieutenant NYPD (retired) and US Senator Dianne Feinstein all endorse this book.

Proceeds from this book will go to the Amber Foundation for Missing Children

Sally Richards,
sally@sallyrichards.com

My two daughters (ages 2 and 4) request this book be read--at least once a day. It's a typical Dora the Explorer book with Boots. It has big words and colorful pictures. The stories are simple and not too long. I think it's probably geared toward the preschool/beginning grade school set.
Certain words have little "pictographs" with the word that it's for directly underneath it in smaller print. I suppose this is to help the child learn to read these certain words. Since my daughters are still pretty young (the oldest is now just learning the sounds different letters make; she already can recognize all the letters), we haven't really tried to use these little pictures in that way. Although, we've read this story so many times to them that they "read along" by reciting from memory certain parts of the story. All Dora the Explorer books are great fun for the kids because it involves them in the story much like the TV show does.
I highly recommend it.

Happy Mother's Day, Mami! tells the story of Dora finding the ingedients she needs in order to make a special Mother's Day cake for her Mami. There are 3 recipe cards laid out, and Dora asks the reader "Do you see the recipe card that has bananas, nuts, and chocolate?"

Dora doesn't have the needed ingredients, so with the help of trusty Map, she ventures to the Banana Grove, through the Nutty Forest, and finally arrives at the Chocolate Tree. Along the way, she encounters her friends Boots, Tico the squirrel, Benny the bull, and Isa the iguana...all who have created beautiful presents for their Mothers in celebration of El Dia de las Madres.

Of course, no Dora story would be complete without sneaky Swiper the fox trying to swipe something...and in this case, it's Isa's bouquet of flowers that she's about to give to her Mom for Mother's Day.

Dora brings back the needed ingredients, and her papi (father) helps mix the batter for the special cake. Mami thinks the cake tastes delicioso!

This fun story teaches children several Spanish words, including how to count one through six in Spanish. In fact, the inside front cover features a chart featuring 13 English words, the Spanish term, and the Spanish pronunciation of each.

This is a really good book for all Doug fans (like me). Actually all the Doug books in the series are great!! It is based on the show and has great pictures. It even includes the recipe Doug uses to make dough earings.

A fascinating tale about the downfall of a great news agency, and the charlatans and incompetents who ran it into the ground despite the heroics of an outstanding staff of news professionals. The authors are two veteran UPI newsmen who lost their jobs because they would not allow the owners to censor the absolutely true, if ugly and sordid, tale of management incompetence and malfeasance.

I loved the book! It's true to the episode,of the same name.I loved it when Kim rescued Mr.Barkin,Rufus,and Ron from DNA Amy,That's MY kind of woman who saves the guys! I love the pictures inside and on the cover.I love it when she snowboardinf in her Crimefighting Outfit with gloves and Has Her Kimmunicator and Rufus is Riding with her.

This is a great book!!!! It's not as good as Vol.1, but it's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's about, Son Goku comes to Muten Roshi's house to train for the Tenka'ichi Budokai. He gets a training mate too!! I reccomend buying this!