This book is great. Ever since I read ONE of The Laura Ingalls Wilder Series I just can't stop. I have all the books from Laura's great-grandmother to her daughter Rose. They are great books to read!

Truly a stunning collection of western photography. This massive size book offers an important visual slice of Americana. Many collectors have been known to cut out the photos in this book for individual framing (of course some "old school" book collector's would call that sacrilegious). Overall, a wonderfull collection of photographs.

This 95-page publication is an informative and fascinating catalogue book published in conjunction with a Smithsonian exhibition at the National Museum of History and Technology in 1980-81. Its subject is ranchlife in Paradise Valley, Nevada, north of Winnemucca and near the Oregon border. First settled by California farmer/ranchers in the 1860s, the region's development was influenced by the Spanish colonial agricultural practices of California, and its "cowboys" have traditionally been known as "buckaroos," an anglicized rendering of the Spanish "vaquero."

Contents of the book are based on field research by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. It covers history of the region and then focuses on cowboy life and culture, including clothing, bunkhouses, and branding irons. The book contains many black and white photographs, both vintage and contemporary. Several are two-page spreads. There is also a list of 244 artifacts from the exhibition, with photos of many of them....

As of this writing...this wonderful book is out of print. If you can find a copy, it's well worth having.

Excellent source for building ideas from fences to cabins. The plans are concise and very detailed. Highly recommend for the do it yourself person!

Having greatly enjoyed 'Getting Up with Dog' (US title: 'Can You Do What Dog Can Do?'), our 15-month old daughter adored 'Busy Farm'. Though in essence a counting book, such a description does not do it justice; it is a beautifully thought-out and constructed piece of paper engineering that will captivate small children and their carers. The book comprises four double-page openings, each with a number of moving tabs. Its great additional feature is that the book comes with a ribbon, with which you can tie the covers together back to back, making a wonderful play farm which stands up. As always with Jo Lodge, the drawings are bold, stylistically simple and colourful, and the pop-ups are among the best I've seen. They work well and help to make the book a magically engaging work.

I found this book to be very easy to read. It's actually written in a language that the average person can understand; no technical "Realtor terms." The info is great and very helpful, even if you are just looking to buy a home with a big yard and not a farm. I was quite intrigued with the "horse powered" part, as I hadn't ever thought of anyone still using horses to work farms. This book is certainly food for thought!

Dr. McMillian's treatment of a beautiful and significant architectural tradition in this country is quite unique. She has written and assembled an exquisite volume that deftly bridges the gap between a dry technical analysis and a pretty coffee-table effort by offering the reader an excellent textual and visual presentation of the mission and spanish revival styles (and related styles) that emanated in Southern California in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lesser-recognized sub-genre's like hacienda, rancho and Plateresco also discussed, and the oftentimes confusing evolution and blending of these various styles is skillfully addressed. Hundreds of color photos beautifully complement the extremely informative historical analysis, providing the reader with a real taste of the various architectural and decorative arts elements that comprise these styles. Dr. McMillian's effort brings appropriate attention to an architectural tradition that defines Southern California more than any other. A more adept and satisfying one-volume treatment of this subject matter would be hard to imagine. Highly recommended.

For a beautiful companion volume that is equally well-written and accompanied by some stunning photography, check out the author's "Casa California" (1996).

My four year old daughters love to play with this book. The stickers are very easy to remove and can be moved from one location to another. My children have spent many hours in imaginative play with this book. Great for trips!

Having just returned from Canyon Ranch, I was anxious to try the new recipes and a bit skeptical that my family and friends would eat them. There was no problem at all. Besides being healthy, the recipes taste delicious. Even my 3 small children enjoy eating my new creations and my husband no longer turns up his nose when I return from the grocery with Tempeh and FLax Seed. The first chapter on what you need to stock for a healthy kitchen provides the essential building blocks. I recently hosted a dinner party for 8 where I served the poached salmon in orange relish, lemon-poppyseed cake and Quinoa (all from the cookbook). The compliments were never ending and we spent much of the evening talking about nutrition and health. If you can't get away with 5 days at Canyon Ranch, this cookbook will help you meet whatever health needs you may have deliciously. I dare you not to buy the first one when you've exhausted all the recipes in the second.

I am a fan of Gillian Chan's short stories for young adults. I basically devoured her two short story collections, Glory Days, and Golden Girl, so when I saw that she had written a novel, I picked it up.

From the very first page, I was swept into the story. My own beloved dog had died just a week before I read this novel, and so the character of Dog especially appealed to me. It is not easy to fully develop an animal character in a realistic novel, but Chan achieves this admirably. I had tears in my eyes as I read it. Dog was so "real" that I could almost pat him!

And the historical research! As a historical novelist myself, I am very picky when I read other historicals, but this one is spot-on. Bravo!

I also loved the touch of fantasy.

The Carved Box is a universal tale that transcends age limits.