Schools and Instruction Books

In A Secret Country expatriate journalist John Pilger tells the often untold, hard to swallow, stories which make up the Australian past and present. Some of the wide range of issues covered in this book include:

- The white invasion of Australia.
- Contemporary Indigenous Australian issues, including deaths in prison.
- The power plays between the wealthy in Australia and politicians and how politics in Australia is influenced for personal gain.
- The power plays between other nations (USA & UK) and Australia. Including how these nations have potentially changed politics in Australia for their gain.

My favourite is the section on how the CIA through their influences was able to oust a democratically elected government and replace it with a better behaved one. It should noted that this book often reads like other passionate, emotive rants. It is easy to find yourself being totally engrossed in the story and feeling like you need to take a step back, follow the books sources, or find other literature which supports the books premises.

For people looking for a darker alternate view on many still highly relevant issues in Australia I would thoroughly recommend this book.

There were quite a few poems I did like. But overall, this collection was boring. I think she should stick to singing.

There are a few poems in this book which really touched me at the time that I read them. Others did not appeal to me at all. That's the great thing about poetry it either speaks to you or it does not. It is a very personal thing. I give Jewel credit for pouring her heart into her poems and then releasing them for the world to see, I do however prefer her music to her writing.

A Night without Armor by Jewel is an excellent and under-rated book of poems. Ok so she's not Shakespeare but most writers aren't. These poems have been highly-criticized in the past, and it's a shame that Jewel was unfairly mocked by critics and so-called fans. I got this collection of poems the first week it was released and I fell in love with the book instantly, the poems are sensual, seductive, sensitive, and incredibly funny as well. Some of my favorites are: The Bony Ribs of Adam, Sara Said, The Strip Parts 1 and 2, New Moon, Someone To Know Me, Christmas in Hawaii, Red Roof Inn, Boston, and You Are Not. So with that being said, get this great collection of poems by Jewel today.

Very well done! The expression drawn from deep within is very identifiable. I love it!

I found THAT book brilliant? Eye-opening? Of course I did, once upon a time. I am usually the exception to the rule. I like people who are usually reviled and I am drawn to other things that can be otherwise shunned or whatever else...maybe because I feel like I too am shunned or reviled.

Poetry can take on so many forms, so many incarnations. What one person finds incoherant, another might find powerful. There really are no limits to the styles of verse or subject matter, and not everybody has to understand or approve of it. While I might not get the same momentum that I found when I first began reading this book...the poems here are rather simple and sparse, with not much rhythm at all in the lines if any, I am still proud to have it in my library because it is a very personal body of work which is unique only to Jewel Kilcher's life experiences. She may not be up to par with the writing abilities of Emily Dickinson, Dylan Thomas or Sylvia Plath, but not many writers are.

Poetry, above any other form of writing, is an individual experience. Different people will have different reactions to it. I suggest you read it for yourself first before you decide to form an opinion of it.

This book is really good for beginners. It's a great help if you plan on doing fantasy manga or robot manga drawings. I got this book from the library and I enjoyed it. So now I am buying it. I would recomend buying this book. If you are under the age of 10, some pictures may be not be for there age group. But otherwise, a really great book!

I found the book very helpful for drawing anime style cartoon characters. I'm making an anime parody! This book is helpful on how to draw a manga character's head from many angles! The art isn't all very good the later volumes in the series have better art though. Overall it's okay!

I bought Manga Mania for my 12-year-old niece for Christmas as she's getting into Japanese cartoons (she's started watching Robotech!). I decided to thumb through this title before wrapping it up and was disturbed by chapter 7, "Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Manga Babes."

Hart's publishers state it's appropriate for 5th graders (10-year-olds) and up but I decided not to give my niece this book based on this chapter. The females are scantily clad and the descriptions that accompany them are explicit (e.g. "Her bathing suit is a great costume because it's skin tight and wet"). I know this is a part of the genre but I think the content is too suggestive for young teens.

I ultimately went for Hart's other title, "Anime Mania" which did a good job of describing illustration and character development without focusing so much on sexiness.

I am a huge fan of christopher hart;i have most of his books!The other books in the manga mania series are awesome!but this book was really bad the art was horrible except for maybe 5 pictures.I did not like the book and i regret buying it...So if you want a good manga book get another book by him like shoujo mania.Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics (Manga Mania)

MY SON LOVES THESE BOOKS. THEY GIVE HIM IDEAS HE NEVER THOUGHT OF. HE HAS TO TURN IN A SKETCH FROM HOME EVERY WEEK TO HIS ART TEACHER. THE BOOK MAKES IT EASIER FOR HIM TO FIND SOMETHING TO DRAW. WE ARE VERY PLEASED!!

I bought this book to help get through 'the talk' with my daughter. It was very blunt and to the point, but I think that is a great thing.

this book is one of the top 10 most highly questionable books in 2007.
it ranked #9.
i think parents should explain these things. your child should hear it from you.

This book is just what every parent of a preeteen needs. It covers all the "taboo" topics many parents are uncomfortable discussing with their kids. I feel better knowing my daughter is armed with facts as she enters her teen years.

What I love about this series of books (we also own "It's So Amazing") is that they give enough information to answer the questions your kids may have about growing up and sex, but they don't overwhelm them. The characters of "Bird" and "Bee" also reinforce the fact that learning about the subject matter can be both interesting (Bird's perspective) and kinda uncomfortable/gross (Bee's perspective)...and that either feeling is not only okay, but normal.

My daughter and I read this book together, so that I can answer any additional questions that may come up. I highly recommend this book as part of your child's sexual education.

Let me start off by saying that I'm a 26 year old guy, single, with no kids. I hear about this book from a conservative watchdog group and to satisfy my curiosity I read it for myself. I was surprised to find it in my local library in the juvenile section considering how controversial this book is.

The content itself is not that much different than what I learned in 5th, 8th, and 11th grade. It describes the biological differences between men
and women, the changes that occur in puberty, and the process of birth. The section on abortion is politically balanced -- which is surprising for a book promoted by Planned Parenthood. The author also reiterates thought out the book that sex can be dangerous and should only be done when you are mature enough for it. She says that the only safe and guaranteed way to avoid STD's and pregnancy is abstinence, which is what I learned in school.

However, the book has a lot of things that are inappropriate for 10 year olds. It gives way too much information on the use of contraception. It also graphically shows the naked male and female body, including an erect penis, repeatedly. It shows a boy and a girl masturbating. It also shows a couple having sex twice in the books. It condones homosexuality and makes no mention of marriage. I'd be concerned that kids mike think they are "mature enough" before they really are given this information and imagery.

Personally, I would not consider giving it to anyone under 13 or 14 to read, if even that. I would not want to have it in my personal library, and I might not even want my kids to read it at all. Other people might think that this material is appropriate for their children, and that's okay. That is their right as parents. In my mind the book doesn't necessarily deserve 1 star but it doesn't deserve more that two.

Katy may not have purfect anime but she can teach you the basic's well. Dont go out and try to learn from the 'how to draw manga' series from Graphic-Sha if you an ABSOLUTE BEGINNER. That's for expert's. I know because when I wanted to try and draw manga I went to go get the Sha book's and I gave up because it was too hard. Untill I had one of my friend's tell me it was for intermediat and expert's.
The reason why most people give it a low-rating is because they are most likly above the stage of beginer's and basic's and this did. Anyway, after I got this book I got better after a day. But the reason why I give it a 4 out of 5 is because she use's blush to much.
Blush is for showing emotion like shyness or emberassment or even anger. She use's it willy-nilly like it's apart of their face or something! I mean come on , look at other manga and anime t.v show's and you can tell they dont blush in every sceen. She doesnt even tell you WHY you put blush. It's just there. But that's the only setback.
After you get good at this buy her other book 'How to draw more manga' and/or get the how to draw book's from sha. Only when you think you have mastered her book though.

If you're above the age of eight, this book is not for you. It shows you how to draw over-simplified figures that can hardly be called "manga." Well, it doesn't really "show you." Coope hardly gives you four steps for drawing a face, and it's difficult to imitate unless you know what you're doing. I guess I can't criticize too much, since this book is obviously aimed towards the younger crowd, like I said in my title.

Still, I don't recommend copying her style and attempting to create manga, because it actually doesn't look like the real thing, to be blunt. It's ridiculous. Each character has blush on top of their noses, and now that I brought up noses, the noses she draws are horribly small. Where is the collar bone on the neck? Even if you ignore the deformed facial features, how are you supposed to draw a side view of your manga characters Coope-style if the noses are so small?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Not really recommended.

~Lina-chan

This is not good for anyone above the age of twelve or thirteen. Explanations are incredibly simplistic, everything is colored with pencils, and it's quite a short book.

This might be good for someone who is just learning to draw, but does not go into depth of technique. Everything is very basic without much detail. Also, the author's finished drawings are not very good.

If your children are in any way serious about being good at drawing manga - or drawing, period - this is NOT the book to buy for them. I can only assume books like this come about because some clueless publisher has a 13 year old daughter who "draws anime", because this is not up to what any sane person would consider publishable "how-to-draw" book standards. Anatomy? Not important here, not even stylized anatomy. Proportions? What are these "pro-por-ti-ons" you speak of? This book sure doesn't know. It disturbs me that so many how-to-draw manga books are illustrated by people who, frankly, need one of these books themselves. Don't doom your children to hours of failure and frustration.

This book is absolutely awful. Look elsewhere.

This is THE single worst "How to Draw Manga" book I have ever seen. This girl is my age, and gets props for getting herself published, but, speaking as a fellow artist, I certainly hope that after the publication of this book she pursued further artistic training, because her own abilities as put forth in this book are sadly lacking. She demonstrates how to draw "anatomy" but fails to implement good Manga-style anatomy into her own demonstration images. While I can understand using the over-simplification of the style for young readers, it would be far better to start out learning the style from someone who offers a more accurate example of the art style.

I think this book would be better titled "How NOT to draw Manga". If you are an aspiring artist looking for solid tips on how to draw the manga style, don't bother with this book.

It took me several days to bull through the first 50 pages. I found out that must cultures used some sort of "drying oil" -- linseed or other for oil painting. This discovery astounded me so much, that Ii have been unable to continue reading. Perhaps the people who gave it a high rating could tell me something to encourage further reading.

By the way this system won't let me give this book a zero star rating.

A seminal work - referred to by authorities (Ralph mayer, etc) on painting technique. A must have if you're interested in painting technique throught the centuries.

Okay...the title is a little bit misleading but truth be said....its not a difficult book for the Artist who knows what he or she is at and its certainly not for the hobbiest who would be lost with this book.This for me is a great book as it has enrichened me....information is always good.

Out of the thousands of dollars I've spent on art books over the years to understand and improve my knowledge as a realist artist, this has to be the only one I've ever bought so far that I found completly useless.
If you want to impress another artist, sure, hit them over the head with it. But apart from that I can't really see the point of it being marketed to modern day artists. Written in 1847 with language to match, it just simply describes what most realist artists can usually figure out for themselves by looking at the pictures. And come to much clearer conclusions. Something that your average artist without a generous income and the time to travel round europe during that time period probably couldn't do. Hence the reason I imagine, this book was written.

As a teaching aid for your modern day realist artist, in my opinion forget it. If you want a book this thick and scholastic that will actually help you, get Ralph Mayers 'The Artist's Handbook of Materials & Techniques' instead.

Beware of impressive, studious sounding reviews - I'm sorry I wasted my money on it.

My initial reaction on receiving this book was "Bloody hell is it big enough!?" At 1024 pages you're certainly getting a lot of information for your buck.

Eastlake (1793-1865) was a former president of the British Royal Academy, director of the National Gallery, and in his day an major expert on painting techniques. Do note the book was first published in 1847, hence the writing style can be somewhat turbid. Perseverance pays with there being more information in here than you can shake a stick at.

My comment about caution is based upon recent studies of old master paintings. The old masters would typically have a team of apprentices working alongside them, mixing paint, painting parts of the painting that the master was probably too bored to bother with (as well as good training for the apprentice) etc. The Master/Apprentice setup allowed for a continuous stream of knowledge being passed along the generations. However as oil paint technology advanced, in particular the ability to buy premixed paints off the shelf, the painter no longer needed a team of apprentices. He could pretty much get by on his own. Hence there was no longer anyone for the painter to pass on his knowledge to. This resulted in a considerable amount of technical knowledge being lost. (A good example is the recent theory promulgated by David Hockney that the old masters were able to paint such realistic paintings as they used rudimentary projection techniques to place a guide image on the canvas, overwhich they painted. No one knows if he is right or wrong).

From the 1800's on, technical experts such as Eastlake and Max Doerner ("The Materials of the Artist") began to impart their wisdom on how the old master paintings were created. But the techniques thay had available were very rudimentary, more often than not being a case of the expert trying to reproduce a certain style and looking at the painting surface close up. The experts proferred their theories and techniques, often with much aplomb leaving no room for doubt. Unfortunately they were often quite off the mark - they could emulate a style somewhat but never 100%. There are too many variables involved even for a discerning eye. It has only been with recent advances in scientific analysis, chemical and visual, that a truer understanding of the old master technique is finally being determined. Van Wettering's excellent "Rembrandt - the painter at work" book details the findings of extensive research carried out on a number of paintings considered to have been painted by Rembrandt. The book is 340 pages, and they still haven't got all the answers. But what they have done is to throw in to doubt the theories and techniques of the 19th/20th C experts.

There is a welter of information in this book, but if you are trying to perfectly replicate a certain old master painterly technique, and failing to do so, then be warned the experts might not be such experts afterall.

All said and done, I do recommend this book for the wealth of information it contains. Numerous recipes for mediums, varnishes etc. along with many techniques that it lends itself to study in its own right. Dover books have once again provided an excellent product at an excellent price.

This was a pretty dumb book I already knew all of this stuff!

I bought this, along with several similar books, for my 11 year-old son. The Q&A format of this book made it easy to read, but many topics were handled in a clinical, vague manner and spent way too much time on trivial subjects (e.g., a whole chapter on "Crushes.") I actually checked the copyright, to see if it was written in the '50's. (It's 1988.) I was very troubled by the section, "What Happens if a Young Girl Gets Pregnant?" It ignored the boy's role & responsibility, and glossed over the topic with vague statements such as: "Her whole life will change, and not usually for the better." And, "She may feel upset for a long time afterward." There's even a section, "Why Would a Girl Let Herself Get Pregnant?" which suggests "Sometimes a girl secretly wants to get pregnant..." The section ends with: "The surest way to prevent pregnancy is not to have intercourse." I found a much better book for my son: "What's Going on Down There." Silly title, but much more thorough, balanced and practical.

As a mother and a teacher, I appreciate Cole's sensitivity and frankness with a difficult subject. I am afraid, however, that the adolescent audience for whom the book is intended will be distracted by the many graphic illustrations. This is unfortunate because the book has many good things to say. I especially appreciated the chapters on AIDS/STDs and sexual abuse. Children need this information. I would like to see this book reprinted with fewer illustrations. Descriptions will often suffice as children have vivid imaginations!

Joanna Cole gives straight answers for preteens' questions concerning sex. Parents and child should read the chapters together. The book will open lines of communications on this very important subject.

I bought this book hoping to have an early broad conversation about sexuality with my 9 year old boy and found this book to be too detailed for someone that young. The illustrations are over-simplified and may be good for younger kids, but it doesn't jibe with the text which is more complex and biologically, fact-based. A great book- but I found I have to leave it on the shelf for another year or so. I don't think most 9-year olds will get this stuff yet so I'd advise you to hold off buying this unless you have an exceptionally mature child of this age. I'm sure it will be an excellent reference at 10 or 11.

I found this book so easy to follow that I was cutting the hair of my two daughters in no time at all. My husband was so impressed that he let me cut his hair, too. I just followed the simple steps and illustrations within. If you want easy and simple, then this is the book for you.

I was having trouble learning how to cut hair in cosmetology school. I just couldn't get the feel of cutting. Then I bought The Haircutting School Book and my haircutting got much better. It puts how to cut hair into very easy to understand terms. I recommend this book to anyone who is starting hairdressing school or for someone who just wants to cut their family's hair.

Personally, I found it helpful, but not that helpful, if that makes any sense to you. And I also thought the illustrations were vague in my opinion and not very well done. They are just good enough that you can make out what she is doing, but barely and I really didn't care for that. I wanted something with good instruction and illustration, so I could see exactly HOW I should be doing it and HOW it should actually look. I felt these illustrations were not very helpful at all. But, all in all, if you are not really in need of pictures, then her instructions are fairly decent and you could go by them. I know this may be confusing, but it is just the only way that I could explain it!

This book might be OK as a supplement to a haircutting course, but one sure couldn't learn haircutting with it alone. It's just a 40 page teaser, leaving you with many more questions than it answers.

I found the illustrations confusing

I got the books quickly and in good shape. However, I did not see the Brief Edition explanation. The brief only has 5 of the 10 chapters. If I had seen this I would have ordered the full version.

If you know the ABCs of programming already, this book is useless for you. Alice is soooo simple, it's absolutely easy for you to figure out on your own how each element in Alice works. On the other hand, if you don't know what "Java" or "C++" is, ummm ... buy this book.

Actually, even if you don't know any programming language at all, but are moderately smart, you can figure out how Alice works since Alice has an inbuilt tutorial, which is fairly simple to follow and covers almost everything you need to know in Alice. (The rest 20% that is left out in the tutorial, you can figure out by trial and error.)

I will admit, there are some good definitions in here for the different concepts in programming. However, this is NOT a good way to actually learn Alice.

The exercises are not explained in the text unless they are an extension of the chapter problem. The text teaches very little about how to use Alice. If the Alice interface wasn't so clunky, it would be easy to figure out. None of the examples relate to any of the actual exercises. A case in point is the fish problem in chapter 2. There is no explanation given on how a fish can supposedly "jump" in Alice.

The CD does not include a Mac version of Alice. If the computers being used in a course do not have internet connectivity, this is a problem for Mac users. Also, the index is poor and there is no glossary.

Don't waste your money on this excuse for a programming manual. Get yourself a real textbook on the subject.

I used this book as a textbook in a 'Programming with Multimedia Projects' college class. I thought it was very easy to understand, and I liked the way the material is presented: Using the Alice program (included on a CD-ROM with the book), each chapter walks you through each new topic in a few different 'lab exercises'. You are then able to apply what you have learned to 'project questions' at the end of each chapter. The only problem would be that if you are not part of a class when you are going through this book, questions would remain unanswered as there are no solutions in the back of the book (such as all odd-numbered questions, etc.). I believe it would be difficult for some to use this book as a stand-alone learning tool.

"One of Alice's real strengths is that it has been able to make abstract concepts concrete in the eyes of first- time programmers. " - Forward to the book.

I used this book as a textbook in a one-semester introduction to programming course in my high school. I intend to use it again next year. Here is why:

Each chapter begins with a motivational overview of the chapter's topic and end with exercises and projects. Storyboards are used to provide an algorithmic step-by-step description of the example animation. Screenshots of code and visual setting allowed students to recreate and closely follow the covered topic.

Student had their copies of the book open next to their workstations. Throughout the course, they were focused, on task and having fun. This made my experience teaching the course very rewarding. Answers to end of chapter exercises, projects and instructional support material are available to instructors on [..]

With no hesitation I give it 5 stars.
M. Kadri (High School Teacher, New York, NY USA)

I found this a good book for an older mature teen. It is very refreshing compared to other books on the market for advice to teens on sexuality. It's very important that our kids are taught about sexually related diseases and unwanted pregnancies. They also need to be warned of the emotional consequences of getting physically involved with a partner before they are ready. Most books cover these topics, and advise abstinance until marriage. Which is all fine to a point. I have been searching for a book for older teens who are mature and in a loving relationship, that would introduce to them how to begin slowly and cautiosly intergrating a little sexuality into their realtionship. One day their sexual relationship should be a very fulfilling and enriching part of their lives. I feel that if we "scare" them too much,they will learn unhealthy sexual outlets (such as pornography), and will then be incapable of developing a healthy loving sexual relationship with their life partner. While this book is not the perfect answer, it's the best I've found so far, and I intend to give it to my teenagers when the time is right.

This book suffers from the unfortunate modern thought that if a book uses a lot of technical and explicit sexual terminology, then we can rely on the good doctor's words. Dr. Stoppard tackles many important topics for sexually curious teens, but her advice generally is a soft-sell on sexual risks and an encouragement to teens that any and all sexual behaviors are enjoyable, `when you are ready.' She repeats the popular line, "Contraceptives can prevent pregnancy, and condoms in particular can prevent STD's from being passed on." The emphasis is on PREVENT. Cute cartoons then suggest "some" people do get an STD from sex, but there is never an honest discussion of failure rates for condoms or a loud warning about the STD's like HPV or herpes which can be transmitted to a partner, even if a condom is used. In fact, in a chart on contraceptives, she lists the condom as 98% effective, when industry experts agree the effectiveness is 87% in reality, with teens turning in the lowest rates of all. (Contraceptive Technology Update, 2000) In spite of the medical community's authoritative warnings against the term "Safe Sex," Dr. Stoppard tells teens, "Always practice safe sex. You want to relax when you have sex; you don't want to have to worry about pregnancy and STD's." In order for teens to decide for themselves if they are mature enough for sex, they are given a short list of 12 simplistic questions: "Would I stand up for a friend? Do I keep promises? Can I accept criticism?-and others." Her "Guidelines for Responsible Sex" begin with, "No sex unless you really care about him, and he cares about you." How many teens "care about" each other? Is this truly when we want them to decide sex is permissible? When discussing HIV, she cautions teens to never have sex with a stranger, implying that teens are protected from AIDS if they "know" the person. This advice flies in the face of the fact that HIV and many other STD's give no outward symptoms, even to the infected person. And she tells teens to try mutual masturbation and oral sex as a way to avoid the problems of intercourse, (including the statutory rape laws in many states, she points out,) while, in truth, mutual masturbation and oral sex are highly effective ways to transmit STD's. In a book targeting pre-teens and younger teens, this is woefully inadequate advice. Finally, at the end of a book that honors any and all sex as permissible for a "mature" person, Dr. Stoppard drops the bombshell of teen pregnancy with this understatement, "An unwanted pregnancy is difficult for everyone concerned...If you're pregnant, it's too late for regrets." In the United States 40 percent of all females will become pregnant before their 20th birthday, and up to 95% of these pregnancies will be unplanned. (CDC Fact Sheet) This unfortunate statistic can be understood in light of the sexually permissive and encouraging advice contained in "Sex Ed." This book ends by reminding teens that everyone "has the right" to basic freedoms. Number 4 on the list is, "Freedom from repression by the older generation." In spite of earlier suggestions in the book that parents are important, this basic freedom No. 4 gives teens complete freedom to ignore their parents. This is the kind of duplicity in "Sex Ed," by Dr. Stoppard, that will allow teens to gain whatever type of permission they seek for whatever type of sexual behavior they want to explore. If teens are truly mature enough to be considering sex, they deserve better than a lukewarm, `be careful, but enjoy,' served up with cute cartoons. Any adult concerned for the health of a child will pass this book by.

This book is GREAT! It realy helps teens like me understand sex isnt just a game, its a step that will affect your whole life. The info is given in a way that teens actauly take seriously. I love the little cartoon scenarios. They help show things clearly. The illustrations are good too. I feel this book should be used by schools when teaching about sex. From a teens point of view it would be way more effective and would lower the levels of sleepers of people who just dont pay attention.

This is a wonderful book for teens. It is much, much more than the title implies. Dr. Stoppard encourages her readers to act in a mature, responsible action, and to treat sex seriously. She encourages her readers to wait, to think before having sex, and to talk to their parents or other adults about what's going on in their lives. She doesn't make readers who have chosen to have sex feel guilty, and she doesn't talk down to teens. She includes frank discussions about the risks of sex, birth control, and protecting yourself against STD's. There is also plenty of good advice for teens on making and maintaining non-sexual relationships and the changes going on in their bodies as they mature. In a few years I'll be making sure my son sees this book.

Sex Ed is a good book for teens that are going to become sexually active not pre-teens like me. The book gives a lot of good information on puberty, birth control, and STD's; but toward the end the book turns into a so called sex manual! Dr. Stoppard actually explains how to have make foreplay more enjoyable. how to get an orgasm, and how to have better sex. I don't like those type of things in a book that teens read. Besides all of the that type of stuff the book is actually pretty enjoyable. Not great for pre-teens but pretty good for teens starting a sexual relationship.