North America Books

By far the best guide for the amateur or professional. No other guide can come close to this one. No fluff, no wasted space. It's been around since 1958 - frequently updated and appended. I can't count how many copies I've acquired over the years.

I live in North Carolina and I have been able to identify all the snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs that I have found using this book. Good descriptions and photos to help you tell the difference between different species.

Thank you for your timely shipping of this brand new book. I ordered it for a friend who is looking forward to getting it soon.

This book features clear plates with apparently well painted views of probably all the species of amphibians and reptiles occuring in Canada and the USA east of the Rocky Mountains, apparently also including those of Puerto Rico and introduced ones. Unfortunately, the plates of the third edition from 1998 are printed badly, with the colour dots not completely blurring in front of the reader's eye, and the pictures are a little tiny anyway. On the page opposing the plates are the common and scientific names given, as well as some important details of their appearance. Many species are represented with several images (e.g. from the side, from below; adults, juveniles), but this would probably be warranted for even more species.
The species accounts are, however, usually much too short, giving almost no detail about biology and life history of the species. Among them are, however, some colour photographs, whose printing resolution is usually also somewhat too bad, though.
The range maps are in colour and show the different subspecies in different shades, yet they are also somewhat confusing, because water bodies like the sea or the great lakes are not shaded differently from the land, so that their borders look like the state borders, and because the range borders have also be drawn in black (maybe for copying?).
Laudable is the existence of a general section about amphibians and reptiles and their catching, handling and captive care. This section would be worth expanding, though.
The third printing (1998) is/was, as already stated, not very good because of its low colour resolution and its maybe somewhat too small size, and it is/was bind only as paperback with relatively thick pages throughout.

I have had this book for several years and absolutly love it. Not only is it nicely informative, it holds up well in the feild. I can not begin to count the number of times I have slipped (I generally keep it tucked in my waist band) in creeks on outings. After years of abuse, my cover is a worn, spine wrinkled and paged stained, but it's still solidly bound.

What a great read! Awe Inspiring, Alaskan all the way. Does not get more raw than that! I grew up in the bush hearing tales of the good old days. This is a story worth every word.

I spent time in the village of Huslia and actually taught in the school Jimmy started there. I met Jimmy's brother Sidney, who also wrote an awesome book, SHADOWS ON THE KOYUKUK. This is a beautiful, but harsh country where survival was not a given. This is a marvelous book..... unforgetable........ a must-read for a lover of adventure and the wilderness!

Recently, I have been fascinated by Alaska and the people that inhabit(ed) its interior. The life of Jim Huntington is to be admired by everyone. This book was a fast read and a real page turner. It is more adventurous than many fictional tails I have read. Excellent and should be read by everyone.

I think I bought the last eight copies, so please order more, Amazon. I teach high school in the Alaskan bush, and it is extremely difficult to find books that my non-readers enjoy reading that also have academic value. This book, and "Shadows on the Koyukuk" by Sidney Huntington, Jimmy's brother, have given my students insight into the transition between traditional Native culture and current native culture with its White influence and inclusion. My copies are going into the Alaska History tub of materials from our district resource center, to be shared by the other schools in our district. We will need more copies.

Jimmy Huntington wrote the best read I have seen in awhile--not too flowery, just basic truth. I loved it!!! Bonnie

This is the wrap-up volume of the author's "Bromeliad" trilogy (the title of which has to do with tiny Amazonian frogs living in tree-top flowers, who know nothing about the world at large, or even that it exists) -- though it runs parallel, actually, to the second volume, which followed the exploits of Grimma and the nomes who stayed behind at the quarry while Masklin and a couple of others went to investigate the nearby airport. Now it turns out that, in their quest for the Ship waiting for thousands of years somewhere out in space, the three bickering adventurers have managed to stowaway aboard the Concorde and have gotten to Miami and then to Cape Canaveral. There, they meet other nomes, much more widely traveled than themselves (thanks to migrating geese), get close to a rocket launch, and make use of the Thing to contact the Ship. As always, Pratchett tells a delightful, very humane story with lots of humor (the nomes tend to be VERY literal), while at the same time commenting on subjects like interspecies relations, religious dogma, and the whole point of society. Written for adolescents but enjoyable for any thinking reader.

DON'T READ THIS BOOK INTILL YOU READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE BROEIMLEAD TRILOGY. This book is about when Masklin (a nome) trys to find this one ship that while supposedly send the nomes to a different planet. This ship is faster than light. The one thing that leads them their is a thing. This thing is like a box with lots of electric inside, and only if this thing is by something that is powered by electric it works. Now in this book Masklin, Gurder, Angalo, and the thing go out to find the ship. At the beginning they fly on a airplane to Florida. When they get their they find more nomes (which they never knew that there was any other nomes). Now they have get the ship to them somehow. Read this wing of a book to find if they find the ship.

My Dad has been reading Terry Pratchett books and he thought I'd like this one. He was right! You should read this book , because it is very funny and exciting. The book is about three nomes that got stuck on Earth and need to take a space shuttle home. The nomes get a lot of useful help from Thing, a machine. But too bad when Thing runs out of "pow" (power)!
I don't have the first two books from this trilogy but I am getting them next!

In Diggers, the nomes living in a quarry found themselves besieged by humans. In the end, Masklin rescued them with nothing short of a miracle. This book is the story of that miracle.

This book is so funny that I often found myself laughing out loud while reading it. Not only that, the action is gripping, and the ending is touching. This book is a wonderful buy.

The Bromeliad trilogy soars to a grand finale with "Wings," the companion volume to "Truckers" and "Diggers." This tale runs parallel to the second book of the series, and brimming over with Terry Pratchett's usual wit and satire... and a mild dose of insanity.

Now that humans are returning to the quarry where the tiny nomes live, the nomes must somehow find a new place to live -- and fast. So Masklin is following the instructions of the Thing (a computer who is smarter than all the other characters put together) and going on a secret mission with Angalo and the Abbot to Florida.

After they sneak aboard the Concorde, freak out the stewardess and hijack the plane, the nomes learn that none other than Richard Arnold (grandson of Arnold Bros, founder of The Store) is on board. Now they must somehow send the Thing into space, so it can contact the spaceship and whisk the nomes away. Easy? No way.

Technically, anybody who has read the end of "Diggers" will know exactly what will happen in "Wings." But like flying on the Concorde, it's the ride that's half the thrill. "Wings" is a little tighter and funnier than its predecessors, partly because it has a much smaller cast -- the small bickering trio, plus the Thing. It doesn't get much better than that.

The nomes are fun protagonists, partly because they're so likably naive about the world in general. If they were left alone, they would probably produce a cute little civilization, and their naivete produces plenty of entertaining humor (Concerning the sound barrier: "All right, own up. Who broke it?"). Pratchett manages to make us laugh with the nomes, not at that.

The long-suffering Masklin has a new slew of problems the moment he leaves, ranging from the Thing refusing to talk to him to Angalo razzing the stewardesses. Atheistic Angalo and the abbot just avoid biting out each other's throat. But it's the Thing's dry, superior guidance that really steals the show.

Pratchett brings his Bromeliad trilogy to a close full of action, suspense, and frogs. A witty and wild ride on the Concorde, and not one to be missed.

This book is far more than its title implies. Yes, it's about animals and plants in the wake of glacial retreat, but it's also a travel guide to ancient lakes and seas, an explanation of the cause of glaciers, and seeing the distribution of life throughout North America in an entirely new way. And as if this weren't enough, Ms. Pielou's precise descriptions are consistently presented in a very readable way.
I've just finished my first reading, and will be reading it again soon. It's a great book.

This is a fabulous book. I have read it twice, will read it again and again. I am not a scientist, have little background in geology, ecology, earth science, don't know E. C. Pielou from Norman Mailer, but for me it has been a page turner from preface to index. I have learned that at 40+ below zero Fahrenheit black spruce trees stop procreating via seeds, turn to cloning,which allows them to survive alpine frigidity beyond all reason. I have learned that maple trees followed the ice north faster than chestnuts because they blew in on the wind while chestnuts had to be carried along by squirrels. I have learned that THE ice age was just the latest, that there have been at least 200 similar periods since Day One, and that the next one is surely on its way - global warming or no. There was a time in Earth history when it rained day and night, week after week, month after month, year after year, for thousands of years. Who knew? Treat yourself to a rare delight. Get this book and don't pass it on until you have read it backwards at least once. -Mike Ameigh

Science is data-driven. What we know is based only on the data we acquire and its careful interpretation. Debates about climate change often occur in an over-heated atmosphere, with those opposed to the notion that manmade influences are driving the global climate shift often beginning their arguments with the statement that "the climate changes naturally". True enough. Over the 4.6 billion year lifespan of our planet, it's safe to assume that the weather has changed. It is the magnitude of the changes, and their rapidity, that has caught the attention of scientists. The end of the Pleistocene Epoch and the beginning of the Holocene, the past 20,000 years or so, marks the end of the last glaciation, known as the Wisconsin glaciation, and the beginning of the present interglacial. There seems no reason to doubt that a new glaciation should begin. Short term trends, measured in centuries, have varied, with periods of relative warmth and then cooling. The Little Ice Age, which began around 800 years ago and was a particularly rigorous period in our history, seems to have ended with a warming period persisting from the mid-19th century until the 1940s, at which time a short cooling trend set in that seems to have reversed itself about 1970. The trend has been unremittingly upward since then, accelerating in the magnitude of the temperature increase. It is the trends and not individual years that are important. Since we are in the cooling phase of an interglacial period, there is one inescapable fact: the glaciers should be advancing and not retreating. That would be the natural trend. But they are not advancing, they are most definitely retreating worldwide. From continent to continent, everywhere we look, the ice is melting. This is the antithesis of what they should be doing naturally. It is most probably a manmade trend. And that is the worrisome aspect of recent climatic events.

E. C. Pielou has written the finest book on that strange period when the ice disappeared and flora and fauna fitfully returned to the ice-ravaged landscape of glaciated North America. The large mammals, such as mastodons, mammoths, sabertooth cats and giant short-faced bears, were the most spectacular immigrants. The small human population of 10,000 years ago may be to blame for their extinction: another sobering thought. It is the dramatic destructiveness of the glaciers, the titanic changes in the environment caused by natural climate change, and what it takes to reintegrate a pre-ice age biosphere that has changed almost beyond recognition, that Pielou outlines so beautifully. Pielou does not speculate on issues of global warming. What she does do is brilliantly portray the breathtaking magnitude of global climate change. It only requires a little imagination to recognize that if humanity is indeed changing the long-term natural course of the weather, then we are playing with fire. When it comes to the issue of climate change, it is best to ignore the arguments. First acquire the facts: acquire them truthfully and without prejudice, especially without economic or political prejudice. Then proceed from there. This book is strongly recommended for best outlining the facts without imposing an ideology or agenda. And in the end it is the facts that make the issue of climate change so worrisome for thinking people.

Mike Birman

I love this book. At the beginning the author starts off with a agreeing nod towards the completely discredited Malthus, and I love this book despite that. I'm only two chapters into it and already I love this book. Anyone who blithely thinks that the global warming analysis is completed and that we know all the answers needs to read this book and realize just how dynamic climate patterns can be over as little a period as the past 20,000 years. But reading it requires that the reader put away his science as politics mentality and listen thoughtfully to an amazing story. Did I mention that I love this book?

One of the most far-ranging books I have ever read. The first chapter, on glaciation processes, covers an an enormous amount of ground (no pun intended). This book can give perspective on such issues as climate change and on the ongoing rapid change of plant species in North America.

It provided information about glaciation that made me fighting mad about the abuse of glacier images in Al Gore's movie. He is doing no service to us by using specious evidence in support of his views on global climate change.

The author's style can make you feel that you are on the business end of a fire hose, but what a great way to cover a lot of important territory fast.

David Hackett Fischer lays in relief one of the worlds great explorer colonizers in his new book 'Champlain's Dream'. Born around 1570 and dying on Dec. 25 1635, Champlain would set his sights on adventure in the New World and he never looked back. Fischer reveals that Champlain had a grand vision of the French and Indians living close to one another, adapting the best of each culture, and being guided by principles of universal faith and law. Unlike the conquistadors of New Spain who made slaves out of the Indians or the English who kept the Indians on the outside at a distance, he urged the Indians to live close even side by side in peace and harmony. Champlain believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man and this recognition of common humanity lay at the heart of Champlain's dream. Working with three monarchy Henri IV, Marie de Medici and Louis XIII, Champlain was able to keep his focus on the dream he had and not merely on the rewards themselves. Fischer brings this fascinating man to life and shows that "he was a soldier and a man of the world who acted like a holy man. It was so unusual that Indians and Europeans talked about him with amazement and admiration in his lifetime and afterward". This principled leadership in the cause of humanity as well as his career as explorer and founder of colonies would leave a large successful legacy for us all. Filled with pictures and footnotes, this is an excellent read. Well worth the addition to the history shelf.

Included in this volume is a 531 page biography of Samuel Champlain, 109 pages of notes and 101 pages of interesting appendixes. If you already know about Champlain and are interested in obtaining an up to date exhaustive biography, look no further. If you want a good picture of what life was like in Canada 400 years ago, or, for that matter in France during the time of Henry IV - Louis XII, it's here. And these were fascinating times and places. Take Canada. There is the city of Quebec with a population of 70 surrounded by various huge Indian tribes some continually at war with each other. There is danger of attack from other European powers and the need to keep the community from falling apart from its own internal struggles as well as the need to keep it supplied from France so its people will not starve. This is just one of the places and set of problems Champlain faced as founder and governor 9in all but name) of New France. Then take Champlain himself - soldier, explorer, sailor, spy, artist, governor, visionary, enlightened humanitarian. He lived a life larger than Hollywood could fit in a single film! And he lived it well. His dream? Simply to create a nation where all people - Indians and Europeans - could live in harmony. It is a pleasure to spend time with him in this well written, well illustrated book.

The author, a Pulitzer Prize winning Professor of History at Brandeis University, has here constructed the definitive biography of Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec (1608) and one of the most fascinating figures within the chronicle of North America. As with his prior books, Fischer relies for source material upon original documents, rather than by paraphrasing writings from other historians, and his contempt for those who are "apostles of political correctness" is well known and, in this instance, is largely responsible for his depiction of Champlain as a truly heroic and praiseworthy man. This is, therefore, somewhat of a revisionist piece, with Fischer forced to create from whole cloth many elements from Champlain's life that have remained unknown, due to his personal papers having been lost after his death in 1635, such as the date of his birth (Fischer posits c. 1570) and his formative years, while his speculations have, as a result, remained generally unrecorded. A void of these dimensions is particularly vexing due to Champlain's inordinately productive life as a diplomat, writer, cartographer, soldier, mariner, artist, ethnographer, et alia. He captained 27 North Atlantic crossings over a 37 year period with no craft being lost other than a supply ship, fought as a youth in French religious wars under King Henri IV, beneath whom his intrinsic tolerance for differing creeds and peoples was fostered, served as a successful cultural diplomatic representative following his voyages to the European continent, and established in Acadia the first gastronomic society in the American continent, "Ordre de Bon Temps". Yet, having all of these accomplishments to his credit, and many more, Champlain's likeness is not available for pictorial reference other than a single tiny self-portrait with no facial detail that is ensconced within a battle scene engraving completed by him. His legacy to most North Americans is extensive and varied, including such as the 12 million Métis (French/Indian mix), a racial combination encouraged by Champlain; and the numerous positive results of his emphasis upon achieving tolerance within his New France, guiding it forward as a land wherein peoples of all ethnic backgrounds might live peacefully. His urging for toleration towards Indians is recorded, and enforced by his behaviour when in their company during his travels by foot, boat, and birch bark canoe (although he never learned to swim) through wilderness regions of what later became parts of six Canadian provinces and of five of the United States. Published during the 400th anniversary period for the founding of New France, the book is an academic masterwork, featuring 16 appendices, 110 pages of detailed notes, a valuable 42 page bibliography, a comprehensive index, and a large contingent of illustrations, in both colour and black/white. This founder and administrator of the first North American French settlement, Champlain, was an advocate of peaceful colonialism, in sharp contrast with the mode envisioned and employed by the Spanish and English (he explored Plymouth Harbour 15 years before the landing there of the Pilgrims) and is a prototypical Renaissance Man of heroic stature, ably depicted by a redoubtable historian.

Ah, would that more of the explorers and conquerors who sallied forth from Western Europe after the fourteenth century had been men of the caliber of Samuel de Champlain. The history of imperialistic violence and exploitation might have been much different. David Hackett Fischer makes a reasoned case for this. Fischer's book strikes me as a work analogous to what has been said of Cezanne's paintings. They are painters' paintings. And so this seems to me to be a historians' history. Well footnoted and supplied with appendices not only on the historical source material but also the historiography, this is the kind of book one might give to a graduate student not only to show that revisiting a biography in detail can illuminate larger historical themes, but also how to use primary and secondary sources to do that.

For many years Fischer and I taught at Brandeis University. (He outlasted me). Besides occasionally getting his mail, we shared interests and undergraduate students, some of whom became quite accomplished. To my regret I don't think I ever met Fischer. I learned of his interests from students. We both liked to take our students into the nearby woods and teach them to figure out how the landscape had changed under the influence of humans. Unfortunately, I didn't read any of his books until after my retirement. Now I have read all that are in my local library. His books on Paul Revere and Washington were justifiably popular. "Albion's Seed," opened my eyes to ethnic currents which deeply influenced American history. "Champlain's Dream," draws a bit from each of these genres. Champlain moves through a setting of French religious wars, maritime commercial competition, Spanish cruelty in the New World, palace politics, and the realities of trying to found communities in the Indian lands of North America. His great accomplishment was to forge alliances with the Indians of what is now eastern Canada and its southern reaches. In some ways Champlain was too good to be quiet believable. It would be too extreme to say that Fischer's biography touches on hagiography, but the critic in me would like his hero too have a fatal flaw or two. Arising from his horror of the religious wars and his 16th/17th century humanism, Champlain treated the Indians as equals and thereby won their admiration. An important factor in this was that he genuinely admired them too, particularly their physical strength and intelligence. Fischer points out that only a few others were able to overcome the cultural gap between Europeans and indigenes to achieve a similar rapport. Some who would have liked peaceable relations with the Indians didn't have the skills to bring it off. Others, the majority in fact, could have cared less and came to conquer or exploit. de Soto despoiled Nicaragua and Peru, then left a trail of terror from Florida to the Mississippi. A governor of New Amsterdam collectively punished Indians setting off a cycle of revenge which fell upon isolated farmers.

Without the drama of Revere or Washington, Champlain represents the rather calmer history of Canada. Being very interested in the consequences of contact I not only learned a great deal from Fischer's book but was left with a number of questions. There is much more to be said about fur traders and fishermen and their interactions with the Indians. The Basques, Norman traders, and English seemed to have had lots of contact with Champlain's Indians, particularly when Champlain wasn't around. They sold them guns and booze. Fischer mentioned that this created some kinds of troubles, but none of it seemed to impinge upon Champlain's eventually successful establishment of a colony. I would like to know more. I would have thought traders would have created chronic problems. Similarly, Champlain sent young Frenchmen to live among the natives. Many of them went almost native. What were their experiences like? We know that Etienne Brule' had an independent existence among the Indians. Champlain upbraided him for his alliance with the British when they temporarily drove out the French. Though the natives eventually ejected Brule' and he vanished, Fischer's judgment is that the Indians came to hold him flawed and immoral as Champlain did. There must be more to the story, although the historical sources may not suffice to let us know. The prince among the "translators," as Champlain called the sojourners, was Nicollet. Only remnants of his journal exist among the Jesuits' papers. What was his experience like, or for that matter we learn little of Champlain's experience during the one winter he spent among the Indians. Here was a profound interchange. I would like to have learned a bit more about it because it seems to have been a crucial aspect of the French living peacefully with Indians and, of course, leading to the Métis role in Canadian history. By the time of La Salle some thirty years after Champlain there was tension between the agricultural settlements sponsored by the French government and the trappers and explorers. I suspect this had its roots during Champlain's rule but little is said about it.

Fischer's book will not be as popular reading as his earlier volumes. It is harder going and much more historically subtle. Nonetheless I really learned a great deal from it. Fischer is a historian of the highest caliber and I, for one, look forward to what he produces.
Charlie Fisher, author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

A Vine Review (Thanks for the book, Amazon!)

Brave, tough, ever-curious, Samuel de Champlain stood out from other daring Europeans voyaging to the Americas for his qualities of decency and sensitivity. That is the take David Hackett Fischer offers in this lengthy, engrossing 2008 biography of the 17th century French captain.

Canada at the time was desired less for habitation than for quick-hauled treasures of fur and fish. Farther south, in warmer climes, the Spanish hunted gold and the British elbow room. Enthusiasm among the French for the hard business of colonization was tempered by the frosty hinterlands they had to colonize.

Not so for Champlain: "If they knew in France that we were eating bear, they would turn their faces away from our breath," he noted at one feast in the slow-growing frontier town of Quebec, which he made his headquarters. "Yet you see how delicate and good the meat is!"

Champlain's enduring optimism was a necessity in getting New France off the ground. Winters were brutal; transoceanic journeys often death-defying. On the plus side were relations with Indian nations like the Montagnais and the Sac and Fox, many of whose chiefs were fond of Champlain for his hearty manner and the doughty way he thrashed their feared southern adversaries, the Mohawk and Iroquois.

Champlain also had to negotiate tricky waters of another kind, those of French politics. One king, Henri, was a mysterious champion, but his death left Champlain swimming upriver. "In Champlain's two worlds, some of the most dangerous people wore diamonds and brocade," Fischer writes.

Those who read Fischer's other narrative histories, like "Washington's Crossing" and "Paul Revere's Ride", will know what to expect here: a deep-dish exploration of the many facets of the title character and his age. Fischer is writing more of a straightforward biography here, hampered a good deal by a lack of first-person material, but his gift for finding seemingly loose facts and putting them in vivid context remains on fine display.

So's his talent for touting the positives and for unabashed-if-factual hero worship. I enjoy Fischer for his de-revisionist perspective, his willingness to challenge the prevailing politically correct view of evil Europeans descending upon guileless "Native Americans", but he does push the point more than needed, and seems to repeat himself a lot when talking up Champlain's many virtues. He may be reacting to two generations of dogmatic debunkers, but since I haven't read as much of them his case-making feels a bit strident.

Yes, Champlain enjoyed good relations with the Indians, no doubt helped by his nuanced approach to Christianity and respect for local ways. But New France in his day was barely settled, and Indians there did not find themselves as hemmed in as other nations further south. Would Champlain's approach been as practical if tried in Jamestown?

One would like to think so, anyway. Fischer's book reminds us goodness and decency need not be millstones to success. More important, it's a vibrant take on a sometimes overlooked yet integral chapter of North American history, one that will have you smelling the bear meat on Champlain's breath.

Robust account of one of the seminal figures of early America, one attempting the creation of an indigenous culture cast in a more universal mode than that of the provincial Christianity of his roots. The courage to give up his secure life as a minister for the uncertainties of exploration and creative renewal marks Emerson's trail through a pioneer's psychological American wilderntess, to touch on and integrate everything from the post-Kantians, to the Buddhists/Hindus to the Persians and Sufis. That Emerson evolved into a near firebrand abolitionist is an aspect of his life unsufficiently told, and this part of his later career runs clear in this book. All in all, a first rate pioneer story of another kind.

This is the only biography of Emerson that truly matters. Richardson locks in on the essentials - the development of a seeking mind is search of the ground of being and the nature of reality. Emerson is our Founding Thinker and to do him justice, a biographer has to grapple with the how and why a mind grows, changes, struggles and reaches new heights. Even if you haven't read much Emerson, this biography sheds light on what Emerson meant when he said, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."

In the past, my experience in reading Emerson has been similar to reading the Tao Te Ching; interesting, non-mainstream in its point of view, puzzling to understand what exactly it means. So I would pick up the Tao and read it at different times of the day and different frames of mind, hoping that it would resonate with me, but it never did. Maybe it was the cultural difference, or the language, or not being able to easily identify with Lao Tzu. Such had been my experience with Emerson. I wanted to understand him better because what little I did understand made me want to learn more, but I just couldn't get there.

This biographer, Richardson, really did his homework and any who want to understand Emerson better should appreciate this work. Emerson kept exhaustive journals and collections of his thoughts for many years. He read widely and deeply, kept detailed notes, and thoroughly indexed the notes. What perfect material to access for writing a biography! Apparently Richardson went back and studied much of the source material that Emerson references in his journals and brings into this biography an understanding of who Emerson was reading and what it meant to Emerson, so we receive the pleasure of following along on a journey in the development of a powerful mind. Then Richardson is able to write about this development so that it is easily readable to us moderns. It's quite a remarkable achievement.

"Mind on Fire" shows me that Richardson is certain that studying Emerson and his message is worthwhile. So much consideration has gone into this biography that when I laid it down after almost non-stop reading for several days over the holidays, I felt like I really understood Emerson for the first time, and now have much better insight. I plan to let this book simmer in my mind a few more months, then pick it up and read it again.

If Richardson could also write something as lucid and detailed to help me understand the Tao Te Ching, I wouldn't have 10,000 questions about the 10,000 things. ;-)

Mr. Richardson's 'Thoreau A Life of the Mind' was not only the best biography I've read on Thoreau, but one of the most exhilerating and enlightening reading experiences of my life. So I decided to read his 'Emerson The Mind on Fire.' And it was every bit as intimate and intelligent.

There are times you feel that you're intruding upon Waldo and Henry on one of their walks. It was an endless stroll of two intellectuals and humanists on the path of being very human. Each of the one hundred chapters (both books) are kept short, which helps move the reader from topic to topic without ever feeling put upon (too much detail can drag what is otherwise very interesting.) Though, for me personally, I would love to savor every moment these two great men shared. I don't think I could ever get bored.

Emerson has many close friends with whom one gets to know intimately. His personal address book was a whose whose of literary and intellectual greats.

The relationship between Emerson and his second wife, Lidian, is of great interest. She was also intellectual and as much a partner in life as she was a wife. Her presence is everywhere in Emerson's life.

Emerson's essays are pure poetry. And the behind the scene snippets into how they became a part of his legacy was both insightful and relevant to the day to day interactions and causes he committed himself. His transformation from the unremarkable child into the neverending 'student' of self-education and commitment to social conscience throughout his entire adult life is one to be admired.

Mr. Richardson is one of the best biographers of nineteenth century literaries. He is truly one with his topic.

Robert Richardson's biography of Emerson is superb. Though, as Richardson reminds us, Emerson did not like superlative language when precise and adequate language would do, it is the case that at times the superlative, the precise and the adequate converge (as, in fact, they often did in Emerson's writings). Richardson's biography is indeed superb in its unfolding of Emerson's life -- the loves, the friendships, the losses, the intellectual and spiritual hunger, the religious quest, the writers in America, in Europe, in Persia and elsewhere to whom Emerson owed and acknowledged debts, the grasping at and for a world, the determination of a single, brilliant human being to find his way and to see his life, and all individual lives, as imbued with the divine and thus worth living.

The book is also superbly written. Each short chapter offers enough substantive insight to urge the reader into the next. It is a long book, but not long-winded. Richardson provides the reader with some morsel of insight in a few pages of narrative, and then offers a rest to digest what has been said. His placement of quotations from Emerson's journals, essays and other works is brilliant, offering the reader a useful sketch of Emerson's metaphysics and ethics. In my own case, this has allowed time to reach for other literature more fully descriptive of the events or scenes offered in a particular chapter, or to reread chunks of Emerson's writings while moving through the biography. The book is a useful tool not merely for a study of Emerson's life but for a study of Transcendentalism and of the interplay of ideas across the Atlantic that shaped American thought in so many ways. One sees more clearly where and how such writers as Nietzsche and Thoreau obtained the seeds of their own truths from Emerson's works and thoughts.

Richardson has set the standard for the writing of future biographies. Again, simply superb.

The book "Kiki's Journey" is a excellent story. It is about a little girl named Kristina (Kiki) who goes back to her Tiwa Tribe where her parents are from, to see her Grandma Santana and her uncle Tim.When she goes back to Taos Pueblo she forgets becuase she hasen't been there in a long time,ever since she was a baby. During her journey,Grandma Santana takes her for a walk after she comes out of the giftshop and tells her that she is still part of the Tiwa culture even though she lives in Los Angles. At night she thanks the Creator for making her an Native American and for her Pueblo. So,if you are going take a chance to read this wonderful book, your own journey will begin on the first page you read!!!!

The story of Kiki`s Journey was a marvelous story because she goes to see her grandmother and grandfather in her village. Kiki was from her grandmother's village, so she goes and visits. You should look at it. It`s for all ages.

KIKI'S JOURNEY WAS A TERRIFIC BOOK. KIKI'S JOURNEY WAS A SUPRISING BOOK. I FELT GOOD ABOUT IT.THE THEME WAS TO REMEMBER`YOUR PEOPLE. IT WAS A SAD AND HAPPY STORY AT THE SAME TIME.

A heart warming book for all ages, "Kiki's Journey" is delightful. It works as a story, a read aloud story, as a lesson in cultural differences, as well as a lesson of acceptance. The book would be great for kids of all ages, parents, and teachers. The illustrations are also a wonderful addition to the story.

Written by Kristy Orona-Ramirez and illustrated by Jonathan Warm Day, Kiki's Journey is a picturebook about modern Native American life. A young Tiki girl living in Los Angeles knows little about her traditional culture and heritage, as her parents brought her from the pueblo to the city when she was a baby. During spring break from school, she has the opportunity to experience the pueblo with her parents for the first time. At first she feels like a tourist in a place that should be home, but the more she learns and sees, the better she understands the proud cultural history and traditions that precede her, and above all, the importance of family ties. The boldly simple and colorful artwork is the perfect complement to this heartwarming story of discovery.

I like it.IT is cool.The totempoles.I hope you do to.That is why I rate it 5 stars.Also I like the Last American Rainforest.I have to go now.Have a good year. Bye!

I liked The Last Amercain Rainforest because,it has beautiful pictures and creative writing.I love your book because,it's amazing and,I want to buy it.I liked the Wind and the Raven in your story,because,the Raven and the Wind are beautiful. Shelley Gill came to Ashley River .

I gave this book 4 stars because it was'int one of thoese books that you couldn't put down to me. But I learned some stuf from it, like facts from the last american rainforest. Shelley Gill came to our school to talk about her books. She was cool. AND I MEAN IT.

I liked it because she took the story and made half a fact.She came to our school on Tuesday talking to us about herself.The book I wanted to talk is The Last American Rainforest is talking how the earth was before.

I like it.We learn things from it. I learned that Salmon come from trees.

My four year old daughter cannot get enough of this book! The pages are a good quality thickness and the pictures are beautiful and bright. Every page presents a new challenge and a fun image to cut out. My daughter is very confident now with her scissors. Bravo Kumon!

Kumon is quickly becoming a family favorite. My 3 year old love puzzles and the Kumon workbooks are easy to follow, give direction to parents, and make it easy to get the next book in your child's progression.
My 3 year old is telling time by looking at a face clock. I know the Kumon series of books is helping him every day. They are fun and he is eager to learn using them.

My son is 3 and his preschool teachers told the parents in September to start working with the kids on cutting. This Kumon workbook has improved his cutting skills beyond belief. His teachers asked what we were doing with him because his skills surpassed his peers by so much.

I love the graphics and the paper that this book is printed on. Be aware that most of the cutting is pretty challenging, even for my first graders. If your child doesn't have great fine motor skills, be prepared to help them with the cutting. That being said, it is great for developing those skills that teachers don't have a lot of time to teach these days- like cutting and gluing.

My mom always said, give your kids a pair of scissors and they'll be happy for hours. She was right, but even more so with this book. When my oldest was in pre-K, the teachers encouraged us to have her cut, color, and draw at home to develop fine motor control and hand strength, as pre-writing skills. This book gives your kids something fun to cut, and by the end, they're cutting much more complex configurations, without pain. Highly recommended!

The only thing not to like about this book is why, at almost $7, could they not have perforated the pages?! I've bought coloring books at the dollar store with perforated pages. I'd take off a star for this, but the book itself rates 6 stars in my book...

My 3 yr old daughter is almost done with this book now, and we'll be getting more Kumon books - and that great Chicken Socks cutting book, too.

I teach three year olds. I bought this book to help them with their cutting skills and I really like it. I only have to say "Who wants to do a page out of the cutting book ?" and I have a full table and some waiting in line. They really like it.

I am a bird wood carver and constantly use reference books and photos. This book has it all. I am sure the bird watchers will find this book comprehensive and well worth the purchase.

This is the third birding book that I have purchased and it is not only a great resource in identifying the birds that are at my feeder and in our lake, but the illustrations are beautiful. Would recommend this for those who are really serious about bird watching.

This book is great; it was a gift and the person who received loved it.

It is a great book. It is very informative about a lot of birds. We do a lot of camping and Iam sure that it will be with us. Thanks

Out of the 3 birdwatching books I purchased... the other 2 were well known names in the animal/avian world, this was by far the best! With full color photos, not illustrations, and all the information you need to identify your birds, I would highly recommend this book to anyone.