Issues Books

I was given this book by a research mentor at the conclusion of a summer of undergrad research. She thought I would find the sections advising scientists to find appropriate wives amusing, and I certainly did. Cajal is certainly opinionated on this and many other subjects, and he writes well and clearly. Although the book is dated, the basic philosophy of science itself has not changed, making Cajal's insistence that young researchers question authority and trust their own abilities as timely as ever.

a wonderfully written, sharp, succinct account of how and why we should do research. for anyone embarking on long term work in the natural or social sciences this book provides invaluable advice. if only everyone worked this way!

This is a great book for anyone who is embarking on research life journey. It should be a madatory reading for all persons getting training in research.

Could one expect have such a magnificent review of the life which can give you the main principles to enjoy your life as a scientist? Yes, read this book which still inspires me in most aspects of my life. By some pertinent illustrations, Santiago gave us the basis to lead not only a sucesss in your scientific career, but also (and more important) advices to a better human being.
This book (and all others of this kind) speaks to human's heart, and should be proposed in our education system instead of so many boring and barely useful.

This book was recomended by Dr. T T Sun, who himself is a great motivator and researcher. I read this book and its incredible. It changes the view of thinking towards science.

TITLE: The Declaration of Independence
AUTHOR: Anne Mazer
MAIN CHARACTER: Her name is Abby Hayes. She is a fifth grader who loves soccer. Abby has a younger brother and two older sisters who are twins. She also has a mom and a dad whose names are Olivia and Paul Hayes. Abby is outgoing in a way, loves writing, and collects calendars. She is a normal fifth grade girl.
PLOT: Abby wants to go to the Halloween festival with her friends and not with her younger brother. So she has to prove to her parents she can be independent and responsible. Abby has to take on more chores that she is not asked to do like making breakfast and cleaning. Abby keeps messing up but she finds a way that she thinks will prove to her parents she can go to the festival alone.
SETTING: It takes place in present time in a little town in a big state. The writer makes the town sound beautiful.
THEME: Abby wants to prove she can be responsible to her parents to show she can go to the Halloween festival alone with her friends.

I like this story because it keeps the reader interested and you just want to keep reading. It also has a great exposition and climax!


By:
Madison

The book is called the amazing days of Abby hayes the declaration of independence it is about a girl named Abby Hayes she has blue eyes and red curly hair.She has a colection of calenders to.I love this book becaus it is a general fiction book and it is exiting!oh yea she also writs in the book!I am not going to tell you every thing abot the book exept she relly wants to go to the fall fest with her friends!

Abby Hayes, former soccer player wannabe, is now on another mission in which she must prove herself. This time, though, instead of proving that she is worthy of being a part of the Hayes family by becoming a soccer star, she is proving to her parents that she is mature enough to ride bikes to the fall festival at the high school with her friends, and hang out there without her little brother tagging along. But after doing countless chores and trying to act more adult-like (both seeming to be unimpressive to her parents) Abby is wondering if she's EVER going to be considered "mature". Will Abby be able to earn the freedom that she is positive she deserves...or will one mistake ruin everything?

This was a very good book! It's what I refer to as "not fantastic literature, but it requires little thinking and is enjoyable enough that I really like it". I have to say that this book was probably better than the first one. (And now I can't wait to get the third!) My only comment is that ten years old is pretty young to expect that much freedom! Whether Abby gets it or not, I'm not telling, though.

Overall, I say that if you're looking for a fun, light series to read before bedtime, while you're eating a snack, or while you're waiting in a doctor's office, then I recommend "The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes" to you! It's not complicated, and it's very entertaining. I actually waited in anticipation for moments of free time when I could read it!

This is a very good book. When you read it, it seems so real!

Every year, in high school, they had a Fall Festival. And this year's Festival will be the best ever. Abby wanted to go with her friends--NOT her little brother and her parents. But first, she had to prove how mature she is. So Abby planned alot of plans. Those were a great plan for independence...until disaster struck!

P.S. This'll be the book that were always in your hands.( When you get it! HA-ha-haaaaaaa! )

In the second book in the series about Abby Hayes, Abby declares her independence by refusing to take Alex to the Fall Festival, just like she does every year. Abby has to prove herself worthy by acting more mature. She agrees to babysit Alex, so they go to the park. But something terrible happens to Alex. Fortunately, Abby thinks quickly and everything turns out fine and Abby gets to go to the fair with her friends. Buy this great book and every one of them in the series.

Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry kept me up all night reading to see what happened next. This is a story about Dante, Pook and Wyatt, three brothers who live in Oakland, Cali. Dante has a heart problem caused by his mom's addiction to crack before he was born. Pook is gay. And Wyatt is a cool fat dude. Babylon Boyz is a story about life in the hood and thuggers and drugs, but it's really a story about friendship and that it's more important to stay true to your friends than the game. Friends care about you, the game doesn't. If you like this book you should also like Voodu Dawgz, Skeleton Key, and Way Past Cool by Jess Mowry.

Babylon Boyz, by Jess Mowry, is a thrilling novel about inner city life. It's based around the lives of three youg teens. Starting out with the words "Hey Homo," it captured my attention right away. Pook is the homosexual who is out of the closet. Wyatt is very overweight and Dante is a Rastifarian with a serious heart condition. These boys are best friends who want more than anything to get out of Babylon, their dangerous ghetto. Throughout the story they encounter many problems including: dealing drugs, fights, gang problems, tagging bathrooms and running from Air Touch. (A big gangster/bully)
A quote that particularly stuck in my mind was: "We all just little black ants in Babylon, waitin' to get stepped on and too stupid to see it." It's kind of true because these boys know that they will never be good enough with society looking down on them all the time.
I guess the whole reason I liked the book was, even though the characters may come off rough edged or as black trouble makers they are not. If other people took the time, they would find a bunch of passionate young men.
I would recommend this book to all mature audiances because the content may not be appropiate for children.

(Submitted by Justine Spencer)

Life ain't always like some of you may live it the easy way- sometimes life sucks, and sometimes it ain't fun at all. And that's the way it is for these three homies, the Babylon Boyz.

Take Pook, tall, gorgeous, and gay. Always fighting for who he is, always wanting to get outta Babylon and be a doctor.

Take Dante, who's never had a chance. His mom was heavy into crack when she was pregnant with him, and died when he was born-born with a bad heart. If he's really good, no smoke, no alcohol, no excitement of any kind, he might live till he's 30.

Take Wyatt, over 300 pounds of flab with a 300 pound attitude to back it up. Don't mess with him-you don't want to know how he sneaks his gun into school every day.

For these brothers, life is not fun. Life is not easy. Everyday they fight the gangstas in the street and the jocks at school who hate gay boys, fat guys, and guys with bad hearts and a worse attitude.

These are the good guys, Pook, Wyatt, and Dante, but what will happen when they witness a crack dealer's arrest, and end up with his gun and the briefcase he threw out of the car just before the cops caught up with him? It could be money-money for a new heart, a medical education, a new start. It could be crack, crack that they could sell for that money. But either way, that briefcase is guaranteed to be danger. What will they do with it?

Jess Morwy wrote the awesome book, Babylon Boys about friends sticking together to stand strong in Babylon. The Babylon boys stick through rough times making good or bad choices to stick with one another. The book is written in third person narrative explaining what kind of life people in Babylon live. (Troubles you face in Babylon are watching for cops, protection to family, drugs, and even school problems as well). Babylon relates to real life in Chicago's South side and also New York's crime and hatred. Most cities face problems with drugs, cops, and wrong decision just like this book and more problems. There are lots of things to like about this book, such as when they make fun of one another in a profanity kind of way and get in fights with older people because they think they are not the same because they of a bad heart, are fat, or even gay. This book is an adventure for thrill seekers, or even a book to imagine and learn what it would feel like to live with troubles everyday and only way out is a illegal way out would you take it.

Since childhood, they have been best of friends, three troubled boys, Pook, Wyatt, and Dante. They want nothing more than to escape their ghetto, crime-filled neighborhood, where everyone around them seems like "little black ants...waitin' to get stepped on an' too stupid to see it." They have no way of reaching their dreams-until they discover two packets of cocaine worth thousands of dollars.

What would you do? Would you sell drugs at your school, deteriorating your community and getting the money YOU desperately need for medical school, a heart operation for your dying friend, and most importantly, a one-way ticket from behind the bars of your own neighborhood?

That's exactly what these three boys had to decide when Pook and Dante witnessed Air Touch, a rich and popular drug dealer, throwing a suitcase full of what they thought was money, out of his car window during a police chase. Later, they bring the suitcase home realizing they had brought home the same terrifying evidence that had killed Dante's own mother.

And everyone knows, "It only gets worse before it gets better." Not only was this incident a problem, dilemmas rained in regarding Pook's homosexuality, the homelessness of a younger boy the trio makes friends with, and Wyatt's obesity. And the new homeless "boy" has a great surprise for us all!

I would recommend this book to all mature readers age twelve and up, regardless of gender. Also, just because a tree died to make this book, doesn't mean you'll die reading it. Actually it's the complete opposite. Reading this book gave me a much closer view into our own great neighboring cities about how life really is for some kids like you and me. And not only does Mowry do a spectacular job of revealing the secrets of Oakland, California, she verbally indicates the setting of lower class residents all over the United States. If you're also in to fiction, this book is definitely calling your name! This book deserves to be put in every hotel side drawer in America!


Monique K.
Des Plaines, Ilinois

This is such a realistic story, and sweet as well.

We have two sisters. The older one, like older sisters everywhere, is very protective of her younger sister. She doesn't jump rope, or go to school, or sew a button without making sure her sister is safe. And her sister lets her, until one day she's tired of having cookies and lemonade managed for her, and tired of being told how to do things and when.

So she leaves. She leaves her house, and her block, and goes right to an empty field where she lies down and thinks about things for a while.

And when her worried big sister comes out the door, the little one stays still and doesn't answer, and doesn't answer, until her older sister sits right down and cries.

At this point the little sister does just the right thing, which she's learned from her older sister. And as they go home, we're told that they now protected each other, and I cry.

It's just a very sweet story, one I really recommend for any sister.

I bought this book to prepare our eldest for our 2nd daughter. The sisters in this story are about 4 or more years apart, while my first 2 daughters are less than 2 years apart. So the story was a little beyond our first when we first read it to her (at not yet 2), but she quickly grew into it and enjoyed it. It helped her understand that even though she was older and would have more responsibilities, her younger sister would eventually be able to help too. It also helped me to be cognizant of how many times I make demands of my daughter and talk with her about it.

When we eventually read this book to our 2nd, she didn't really get it until our 3rd daughter was born. Then, we made a point to re-read it to our 2nd (who was almost 4). Around that time, I had a conversation with our 2nd about how, when the baby was born, the baby would need lots of help, but eventually would grow up and then the 2nd and the baby would take care of each other. The 2nd thought, and said, "Just like in that book."
I look forward to reading it to the baby once she's older. Brava Charlotte Zolotow--a wonderful story with great lessons without being pedantic!

This book is great for a family that has two girls close in age, I would suggest 7-8 and 4-5. I have two nieces that could relate to the content, as well as myself. Enjoy!

I got this book for my birthday in 1970 - just days after my sister was born. I used to read it to her, and I read the tattered book to my own sons now. Today she presented me with a brand new copy. The meaning of this quiet book continues to unfold in our lives yet again.

I have 2 daughters and found this book while searching for a new story about sisters. The reviews were so good, and the pictures I could see so sweet that I ordered it. When it arrived I read it to myself and indeed my eyes did smart towards the end. But instead of thinking about my daughters I found myself thinking of myself and my 2 older sisters. I related perfectly to the conflicting feelings of the little sister, and to the conclusion in which love for her big sister won out, but she still kept her afternoon alone to herself, something that's hers alone. I adore the illustrations and feel the story is perfectly told for about 3-7 year olds - just enough repetition for new readers, too. I'm impressed with the way it addresses the topic of conflict between sisters, without making anyone the bad guy, or without being obnoxious or shallow. My daughters are still a little too young for this book but I expect it will become a classic in our family. My highest compliments to this author.

My 13yr old son was like "what is this" when he found this book I had purchased for him. Hours later he was still absorbed. He said it was a great read and very interesting.

Historical fiction either works really well, or it doesn't work at all. Those YA historical fiction novels that deftly capture the distinct essence of a time period and place so different from our own that you can hear the unique cadences in speech patterns and visualize details not even mentioned in the text, those novels are to be treasured and savored more than once because they offer not only a well-told tale, by delicious tastes of bygone eras. Recent novels like AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS and OCTAVIAN NOTHING accomplish these goals heroically; you feel as if you are living in the times and that is part of the emotional journey that we love. YA historical fiction that fails is highly awkward, illogical, anachronistic, and MADDENING. We argue with ourselves about why the author couldn't get it right! The guilty (or at least the current crop) shall remain nameless...

Which leads us to Janet Taylor Lisle's latest. BLACK DUCK is (to maintain the metaphor) an odd bird; it captures that time of the late 1920s nicely, but focuses on perhaps the most unusual of young adult subjects: rumrunning. Told primarily in flashback, BLACK DUCK follows Ruben Hart, a fourteen-year-old from Rhode Island who finds himself (as does most of the rest of the town) involved either directly or peripherally with breaking the law (it is Prohibition, after all). This era is brought to life expertly by Lisle's correct decision to have the story told through a first-person point-of-view. That choice allows her to capture the language, mannerisms and trends of the time quite accurately. Building slowly, she offers plenty of historic detail without the weight of seeming to force the historical information on us (like QUAKE!: DISASTER IN SAN FRANCISCO, 1906 does).

I was also taken with Lisle's characterizations, particularly those of the several characters who made unexpected, yet by-all-means organic choices -- always a joy for an English teacher to read -- that took the plot into unexpected, yet organic places.

Though the historical nature of the book is, as far as I can tell, relatively accurate, it is an incredibly bold move on Lisle's part to make practically all of the characters law-breakers (yes, even many of the kids)! On top of that, the reader and a majority of the characters don't want [SPOILER NOTICE] the legal authority -- in this case, the Coast Guard -- to capture the rumrunners aboard the Black Duck. WOW! And it works... beautifully. To take a questionable subject for young adults and approach it in a highly questionable way, and succeed (!!!) deserves real kudos from YA fans.

As an English teacher, this is a great piece for discussion and analysis -- in part for the above-mentioned reasons, but also for the dramatic structure in which the flashbacks are interrupted by the present and newspaper stories of dates in-between.

So, in the categorization of YA historical fiction that soars and those that sink, this rumrunning ship, heavy with cargo, is definitely buoyant.

Black Duck is a great piece of historical fiction. It tells the story of the rumrunners off the coast of Rhode Island. Because of the mystery running through it, this book will keep you reading for more to find a surprise at the end. There is a couple of "bad" words in the book, however, I recommend it for 6th through 12th graders, boys and girls.

I bought "Black Duck" based on the book's description and also based on all the great reviews it has received thus far. I loved the book the entire way through. "Black Duck" is geared for kids ages 9-12 according to the description with the main characters being teenage boys.

I enjoyed how the author intermixes the past with the present in "Black Duck" by making some chapters in the present day and other chapters in the past. Janet Taylor Lisle is able to bring to life what rum-running during the prohibition may have been like on the New England coast in 1929 by using a cast of fictional characters and how prohibition may have effected a community. The story is told through the eyes of Ruben Hart, who was a teenager during 1929.

Currently Ruben Hart is an elderly man. He is approached by a young boy named, David Peterson, whom wants to be a journalist when he grows up. Young David has his sights on writing a story about the the rum-running days and this is where he crosses paths with Ruben Hart. David is set on interviewing Mr. Hart about the rum-running days as he has heard that Mr. Hart knows something about those days. The interview happens over the summer vacation and David learns/hears quite a story from Mr. Hart & quite a tale it is. The two become friends by the end of the novel.

"Black Duck" is a good story with well developed characters!! The story is intriguing and keeps you wanting to know more about what will happen next!!

A year ago three of my sixth graders wanted to read Black Duck, a new book in our school library, for Literature Circles. That was my first experience with the book. I started reading on my way home to Illinois and couldn't stop. Likewise, my sixth graders had a lot of praise for the mystery set in the Prohibition Era. If you parents or teachers are looking for a book that will motivate even the most unwilling reader, this is it. One of the boys confided that although he is a jock, he had to confess he couldn't stop reading it. At first some of the girls were resistant, but soon they, too, had to admit they were hooked. Telling the story in an interview is a unique format. This book also lends itself to a variety of research topics the students enjoyed: Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Roaring 20s, Women's Suffrage, politics, gangs, gansters, Rhode Island, the East Coast, and of course bootlegging and smuggling. What a great way to learn some history! I highly recommend it.

Abu Ishak died! Alec inherits the Black! Now he has both the Black and Satan, his son!
The two horses are to run in the same race, the Black ridden by Alec and Satan ridden by another jockey Alec trusts. But when one of the horses at the race comes down with a deadly disease and must be put down, all the horses are quarantined will the race even go on?
At the end of the book it's not just a race for fun but more for survival.
AMAZING BOOK!

Walter Farley is a fantastic author about horses. He knows his stuff.

This book is extrodinary.While you're reading this book El Dorado gets swamp fever.The other horses are checked for swamp fever.There's a wildfire and Alec tries to save the horses.Any girl that loves horses I recommend this book.

This book is extrodinary.While you're reading this book El Dorado gets swamp fever.The other horses are checked for swamp fever.There's a wildfire and Alec tries to save the horses.Any girl that loves horses I recommend this book.

The Black Stallion and Satan is a great book by Walter Farley. It is the 3rd book in the Black Stallion series. This 178 page book was just as amazing as all the other Black Stallion books, so if you enjoyed the other book I suggest you read this one as well.

Right from the begining this book is exciting and suspensfull, you wont want to put it down. Alex gets a letter from Abu's daughter, telling him that her father has died, when he was thrown from the black. In his will Abu has left the Black to Alec. Abu has entered the black in a race. So Alec decided to let the Black run in that last race before his retirment, instead the Black and Satan end up in a race for there lives!

This is a great book that you will love just as much as the other Black Stallion books, but if you haven't read the other books I suggest that you read them before this one. This book would be good for anyone in there teens to adult.

Initially, I bought the Praying for Purpose book to infuse my daily quiet time (plus it was on sale). I was enjoying Praying for Purpose so much that I decided to take the advice at the front of the book and read Pathway to Purpose as the foundational book. Significant time elapsed between my buying the book and actually reading it--mainly because the longer chapters were daunting when combined with my hectic schedule. Nevertheless, I knew I need to really delve into it because I am at a watershed period in my life. Well, once I began reading I was drawn into the contents. I was particularly struck by the author's relation of her own story. She writes with strategic candor--sharing vignettes of her life with precise relativity to the principle being shared. I was not able to fully relate to the first 2 chapters but I appreciated their advance wisdom. I am still working my way through both books because ever so often I stumble on something that takes me a few days to "soak in." Nevertheless, I've enjoyed Pathway to Purpose so much, I bought copies for each of my Women's Ministry Coucil members. I would totally recommend it!!!!!

I found this easy to listen to but not of much help to any pathway to purpose for me. It was interesting and did get some ideas from listening to it.

This book is excellent for doing exactly what the title predicts. It has certainly been a pathway to God's purpose for my life. I am slowly discovering the passions that God has placed in my heart and connecting them with, what else but, His purpose for my life.
Carole

This book is one of the most significant books I've read in awhile in regard to helping me honestly evaluated God's place in my life and my own motivations for serving Him and relating to others. This book makes me feel like I want to sit with the author and discuss at length the concepts she brings forth in her book. Ms Brazelton must be an awesome mentor.

If you are wondering about your purpose or or ust plodding along day to day, this is for you!!!!!

As a newbie to genealogy, I find this to be a very helpful book. It points you in the directions that you should go and gives a lot of ideas that I would not have thought of.

These authors have the credentials to and have written a superb handbook, especially for the genealogy "newbies". Even the experienced family historian will here find MUCH help. Paul Drake JD

This edition of the book is more up-to-date, so it's actually useful somewhat. Mostly, though, it's a book written by experts for experts. There is little thought given to the practical application of genealogy -- making friends with newly found relatives, for example, and family reunions. There is no mention of the politics that go into genealogy. You can easily destroy your family by writing the wrong date for a marriage on your descendant chart, but the book totally omits important facts like that! It has a small chapter on DNA, which is nice, but it leaves out critical information on that topic, too. The "Idiot's" title of this book is misleading; the authors fail to think like a layman. Beware.

This is a great book for beginners and experienced researchers. I recommend it to my students.
Maria (Ree) Hopper, CG

Christine Rose's "The Complete Idiots's Guide to Online Genealogy" made me finally move from, "I am going to do a genealogic study of my father's family", to "I have been working on this project for two years, and am truly enjoying the experience".

The book is well organized, and easy to read and understand. I have in the past 5 years developed a memory problem that will not get better. I had become so afraid failure, I did not want to attempt learning something new again. I used "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Computers" years ago, and found it a great way to quickly ground myself in the basics. When I saw Ms. Rose's book, I knew it was my best opportunity.

I now have numerous books concerning genealogy, but "Idiot's" is dog earred and still the first book on the shelf. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn family history and genealogy and how to put together a family tree. Especially those who do not have the inside lingo.

Shari Peavy

Dr. Jabbour bravely leads us forward -- rather than backwards in fear -- forward in faith. Followers of Jesus must take the initiative, creating conversation, creating understanding, bringing a fuller portrayal of Jesus to our Muslim friends. Personally, a man of great character and compassion, in this book, he takes us on his personal journey. However, the highest praise comes from my two daughters who remember Dr. Nabeel Jabbour as the one who played hide and seek with them in our small apartment in Central Asia. Highly recommended!

Good book. It does a great job on going by "Insights from an Arab Christian." I decided to give this book a five star rating because it has given me a better understanding of an Arab world.
Although I must disagree with some of the theological undertones, it is was a very valuable learning experience.

Dr. Jabbbour's book is quite characteristic of his other works, including "Unshackled and Growing". That characteristic is an ability to explain deep and complicated concepts in simple, but clever ways, without watering down the issues. In The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross, Dr. Jabbour employs a clever yet sincere literary method to get his points about the ways in which Muslims see Christians and Christian efforts at evangelism. He creates the characters of "Ahmad" and his family members. Though he creates these "characters", they are really a composite of actual Muslims Dr. Jabbour has encountered in his extensive experience. Thus, their concerns and issues (and even complaints) are genuine. Dr. Jabbour does a great job of taking those complaints seriously, while not always agreeing that the complaints are legitimate. In short, he is fair in his address of them. I think this kind of sincerity and fairness is what is needed in this field. Christians must understand the legitimate and even illegitimate concerns of those they are trying to reach. More than that, Christians must endeavor to honestly address those concerns. This book is a useful tool that will help Christians do exactly that. While the book (as Dr. Jabbour acknowledges) is not the final word on the matter of Muslim evangelism, it certainly is the first place someone who cares about being careful should turn. In fact, though the intended audience is mainly Christians, I think this book is so fair in its address of Muslims' concerns that Muslims themselves would benefit from and respect this book.

Abdu Murray
Founder, Aletheia International

One version of a famous proverb goes like this: "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness---but it feels better to curse the darkness." Many polemical books have been written, especially since 9/11, that curse the darkness. By giving distorted portrayals of everyday Muslims and their pious culture, they actually add to the darkness. The result is that Christians who read these books are unable to converse with Muslims without displaying their fear, disdain, and ignorance. This destroys their credibility and repulses the Muslims.
Dr. Jabbour, on the other hand, lights a candle that fosters respect, understanding and empathy. This can enable Christians to have meaningful friendships and dialogues with their Muslim neighbors, displaying attitudes and understanding that open doors instead of closing them.
In my opinion this book is a "must read" for any Christian who wants to have meaningful friendships with Muslims that are a blessing to all concerned.

Dr. Jabbour has opened our eyes to the Muslim world through the eyes of a Muslim in this book. If you are looking for a non-prejudiced book about Islam, this is it. The fictional characters seem very real as I have met people like this in my travels to Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. Even I, thinking I was not prejudiced, discovered new prejudices and asked God to forgive me. Once I finished the book, I requested the addendum from Dr. Jabbour and was further challenged in what I thought I knew about Islam, the Middle East, and the Crusades. Buy this book and be challenged in your faith toward loving Muslims. They are our neighbors too and, as such, we should treat them as our neighbors, not our enemies.

Wow, this book is REALLY big. It's a big, heavy hardcover. MUCH BIGGER than we expected. The stories and illustrations are just what you'd expect from Curious George, and our son really likes it. It comes with FIVE CDs, and each audio track begins with "Out story begins on the page where George is doing XXX with YYY" so the children can flip to the correct story without grownup help (in theory, that is. In practice it's not so easy, because there's so many pages that it's just too hard to find).

I would have given it FIVE STARS, except for one thing: the only thing I would have done differently is put the stories with and without page-turn signals on separate CDs. Each CD has two versions of each audio track - with and without page turns, but that means there are less stories per CD, and that when you play a CD it plays each story twice.

I forgot how long Curious George books are. I remembered them being short when I was a kid. Anyway, my 4 year loves the cartoon and show on PBS so I thought I would give these a try. She really likes these books w/ CD. She can follow along on her own. Audio and Narrators are very good. My 4 year old has a long attention span. Some of these books can be up to 30 minutes. If your child cannot sit still that long, it may not be for you.

I bought this set for my 4 year old boy. Little did I know that this would also be a mommy sanity saver gift as well. I gave this to my little boy with a cd player to enjoy. On the first day he opened it, I had forgotten that he was in the house beacause he was so quiet, for a whole hour. And well my little boy is like Curious George, always into something. So for him to be quiet and out of trouble for an hour was a glorious event in my house. He enjoys the book and cd so much that now it's his own little word of reading and enjoying. He even brings it in the car to take with him to enjoy. What an incredible gift this turned out to be. I highly recommend to anyone. I will definitely keep on my list to buy again as Birthday presents in the future. Trust me all your friends with thank you endlessly.

My Grandson loves Crious George and I am always satisfied with my purchases from Amazon.

Tells when they need to turn the page. My 4 yr old loves it. Him and my 2 yr old love Curious George!