Zachary Kent's look at "Ronald Reagan, Fortieth President of the United States" was published the year after he left office, so there is not much here in terms of historical perspective on the Reagan years in the White House. But in terms of providing biographical details on Reagan's long road to the presidency and cataloguing the main issues and accomplishments during his two terms in office, this is a substantial effort geared towards younger students. If anything this book might be more substantial that such students would expect, so it is not necessarily the first juvenile biography of Reagan I would recommend. But once students have read a more concise biography of Reagan to understand the basics, this is where I would send them for more details.

These volumes in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series always begin in media res, and I was curious to see what choice Kent would make for picking one episode in Reagan's life to introduce his biography. Kent's choice is the assassination attempt in which Reagan was wounded on March 30, 1981, just a few months into this first term in office. The episode evidences Reagan's sense of humor and explains how the incident made him a national hero as well as president. But most importantly in setting up how Reagan, having survived an assassin's bullet, would set out to change the course of American history, strongly implies that had he died the world in which we live in would be considerably different.

The first chapters in the book looks at Reagan's boyhood and how he became interested in acting, chronicles how he became a rising star in Hollywood until he called to active duty after America became involved in World War II, and then tells how the actor set the stage for his political career. One of the strengths of this juvenile biography of Reagan is that Kent provides decent coverage of Reagan's film career, more so that most comparable books. The chapter "Reagan of California" begins with Reagan's terms as governor of the state and ends with his defeat of Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election.

The book devotes one chapter apiece to the two terms Reagan served in the White House. "The Great Communicator" covers the first term, where Reagan survived the assassination attempt, fired the air traffic controllers, put the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, saw 241 Marines killed in a truck bombing in Beirut, landed troops on the island of Grenada, and made jelly beans popular again. If you lived through those years you can see that Kent has all of the major events of those four years covered. "One More for the Gipper" details Reagan's second term, which saw the United States retaliate against Libya for the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub, Reagan face cancer surgery, the "Challenger" explosion, the Iran-Contra affair, and meets with new Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev. Again, the major events and issues of the period are covered.

My one complaint about this book is that because the subject is so recent, the editors were able to find private and public photographs to go with just about everything Kent covers in his narrative (there are pictures of both John Hinkley and Jodie Foster, for example, in discussing the assassination attempt). Consequently, this Encyclopedia of Presidents volume is rather unique in the series because it does not contain one editorial cartoon. This is unfortunate because I do not think anything better captures the idea of the "Teflon President" or Reagan as the "Acting" President than a choice editorial cartoon. But this regret is also because there have been such marvelous examples of the art form in previous volumes. Still, Kent has provided an informative biography on Reagan to which you students can term in doing research on the president or the issues that defined his administrations.

While this is a book geared towards kids, I found it very useful in my studies on the life and times of Ronald Reagan, perhaps one of the greatest Presidents the United States has ever seen. I was surprised to see that it was a book for children, particularly because of the strong examples and hard-to-understand (for kids) scenarios and events. Overall, this book was great and I recommend to anyone (kids and adults alike) looking to increase their knowledge and awareness of Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator.

Even having read Kent's earlier fiction, "Shoe Leather" was so much more than I expected. Kent has managed to simultaneously expand the perameters of both the erotica and thriller genres, as well as introduce a lovable heroine with an ingenious "super-power," the likes of which neither genre has ever seen. Gripping, funny and genuinely tension-filled, "Shoe Leather" is groundbreaking in so many ways, I'm actually surprised a small publisher was daring enough to take a chance on putting it out. If Mr Kent hasn't yet written a script version, he needs to get right on it. Until then, I hope we can expect more adventures with Violetta.

Stan Kent has created one of the most fascinating characters ever in Violetta Valery Cutrero. He takes us into an ever increasing world of thrilling madness. You won't be able to put this book down. It's fantastic!!!

I have known Kent and Davidene Humphreys for 20 years and I can say without hesitation that everything they discussed in this book I saw them live out in their lives. This is a must read for anyone who deals with the frustration of how to be a witness in their sphere of influence. When I received this book from Kent and Davidene I was unable to put it down. It is well written. Kent & Davidene, Thank You!!

I received the book Show and then Tell as a gift from my sister Janet. I was moved to tears on more than one occasion. It was as if this book was written just for me. The Lord used the authors' words to speak to my heart and soul. Show and then Tell challenged me with each turn of the page. I have had the priviledge of meeting Kent and Davidene,as they are members of my sister and brother-in-law's church in Oklahoma City. I realized just how much God can and wants to use ordinary people to fulfill his purpose...and he wants to use me as well. Thank you for writing this book...I look forward to sharing it with my Pastor and others....

I found it interesting that on page 26 of Deborah Kent's volume on "The Titanic" for the Cornerstones of Freedom series there is diagram of the Titanic's final hours sketched by a passenger on the rescue ship Carpathia based on the descriptions of Jack Thayer, a 17-year old who was on the ship the night it sank. This book came out after the wreckage was discovered on the ocean floor but before the blockbuster film was released, but one of the "new" things in the movie was how the boat broke in half. However, this diagram clearly shows that to be the case and represents exactly what we saw in James Cameron's film. Consequently, this 1993 volume is more accurate than most of what students might find if they research the real story in their school library.

Kent relates the basic story paying more attention to the key details of the ship and its fateful collision and less on the individual stories, although several of the most famous ones are included and Thayer is a constant focus (which makes sense because, like the targeted readers, he was a young student). "The Titanic" has dozens of contemporary photographs of the ship and its passengers, along with some of the earliest paintings of the ship's sinking. There are plenty of books out there that go into considerably more detail, which is easy being hundreds of pages longer, but this one provides the essentials and is a good place to start on a research project.

This book gave an accurate account of the tragedy in 1912. Young children who are beginners will have difficulty reading this story. I feel it is geared towards experienced readers in grades 2, 3, and 4 at least. It is a hot commodity in my school! The photos are excellent. I recommend it!

Definitely worth the money. This book has lots of the little details (and not-so-little, such as the basics of hand-laying track) that make your layout really shine.

This book offers some excellent tips for all, from the beginner (like myself) to the intermediate-going-on-advanced modeler. Especially useful for me were the sections on laying flextrack, ballasting, weathering rails and improving performance of turnouts and switches. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to thoroughly study the subject before they begin to tackle a detailed layout.

If you have an interest in history, and most especially these amazing men who put so much on the line for thier friends and country. This is the book for you.
Facinating detailed stories of what these men did to recieve thier awards.
I just wish we in this country were a little more careful about how we use the word hero. Because after you read this book, it will be hard to think of a basketball player, or movie star as hero.
A fun read

Very inspiring accounts of the actions of Medal of Honor Recipients. Easy to read and you don't want to put it down.

This book is wonderful. I do not like to read books but I picked up this book at the store and could not put it down. This book is an awesome romance book.

I can honestly say that"When sparks fly" was one of the best romance novels I've ever read. It kept me interested from the minute I beggan reading it, until I read the last lines. It had a mixture of all the things that make a book great, mystery, comedy,tragedy, and of course romance. I think Lynnette Kent did a truely amazing job, it's ovious that a lot of time and effort was put in this book from reading just the first page. After reading this book, I treuly admire her amazing talent and I'm really looking forward to reading some other books she's written.

I picked up this gem of a book in a used bookstore and will state without a doubt that this is the best most insightful book that I have ever found on parenting (and I have read many). If you are a frustrated parent, find this book.

I've gotten this book from the library before, and now that I've discovered I can buy my own copy I'm going to order one--it's a great parenting guide.
The unusual slant of this book is that E. Kent Hayes based much of his advice on what he observed when creating foster homes as part of his job. These were not your usual foster homes--they took groups of six or more unrelated kids who were in such bad shape that they were not good candidates for the standard foster home system and put them into family groups, each with a married couple to serve as parents and to live with the kids full-time in a home bought especially for this created family. Obviously the people in charge had to learn what good parenting qualities looked like in order to hire people who could not only handle these kids, but could turn them around and give them skills needed to become happy, productive adults.
My own baby has started screaming so I'll end here, but I think it's a great book and I'm eager to read it again.

great photos by Tom Walker (wonderful wildlife photographer) that both adults and children enjoy ( so reading to my nephew is just as much fun for me!) the poems by Tom walker are very catchy (but once again not annoying for an adult to read over and over and over again!)

I bought this book (along with some other children's books about Alaska) when we visited the state four summers ago. Our son was 6 at the time. Wild Critters was his (and my) favorite!

It is sweetly amusing--with a photograph of a "wild critter" on one page and a short poem about it on the opposite page. A musk ox, fox, mountain goat, grizzly bear and many others are the subjects of these delightful poems. Each poem captures a quality that a young child--and the adult reading it--can relate to. For example, in a poem called "Back Seat Loonacy", the baby loon cries, " 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' Still the same old beat. No we are not there yet, why don't you try to eat?" My personal favorite is the poem for the Musk Ox, titled "Flower child". In part, it reads: "Few can understand me and some say I'm a slob. All they do is tell me, "Get a haircut, get a job".

The titles of the poems are amusing and inviting: "Pfine pfeathered pfashion" is about the ptarmigan and "The arctic waterbed" is about the polar bear, and so on. The photographs of the animals in their natural habitats are outstanding. They are either amusing (the grizzly trying to scratch his back on a post) or endearing (a baby caribou peeking around its mother).

I've emphasized the creative, delighful nature of this book, but it also teaches a small child much about the animals depicted: about how animals camouflage themselves, about how sea otters eat, about how fast a snowshoe hare can race across a field. An added surprise (which I loved because it's so subtle) is that each page number sits on a color imprint of the track of that particular animal.

I highly recommend this book to parents with children ages 3 and up. Even older children taking poetry in class can enjoy the simple, clever rhymes and use them as models for their own poetry.

In closing, I'll quote one of the most endearing poems--"Peekaboo caribou": "With nowhere else to go to hide from one another, I found the safest place to hide is right behind my mother". Enjoy.