LILLA BELLE WILL DEFINITELY MOVE YOU! THE COVER CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. The little girl is very beautiful! THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY IS EQUALLY SO! I have shared this book with my children
and all of my nieces and nephews! Not to mention my neighbors,
the mailman, my patients, you get the picture, don't you?

Lilla Belle is my favorite girl! I fell in love with this darling little girl, with the huge heart that's filled with love and wisdom. Lilla Belle Wongley is an excellent role model.
This is a book of substance, that the young and the old alike, should read. Ms. Cole won me over. I am eagerly awaiting, "F.A.T. CHANCE!" I will be first in line!

I'm an avid reader, and have been, for over forty years now. AFTER reading this beautiful story, I shared it with everyone that I know. This story takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride. It also takes you to school. It's a story that is also RICH with WISDOM, and many books today lack that. The little girl is so beautiful, I wish that I could bring her home with me! LILLA BELLE THE FIRST STAGES, IS NUMBER ONE IN MY BOOK!

It's is worth the money. It is the single most comprehensive book on Gardening. I know it does not give super detailed descriptions of every plant out there. Their supplemental book can help you with that. Buy this one first. When I built a greenhouse, this book have several pages on construction, types of materials, venting, watering systems, cooling, hydrating, you name it, it was covered. When my neighbors pine tree was getting a white pithy coating on the lower leaves, this book described the problem to a T, and had several methods of curing it. No matter where I go, in irrigation, propogation, seed starting, grading, setting up a bed, identifying which plants work, where, when, and in what kind of soil, climate, etc., this book is there. They must of had a zillion contributing editors-authors create this work, because nobody knows everything this book has to offer. It is big, it is well illustrated, and a definite must have for any gardener. It is even a great read during the winter, for planning your spring garden. Even at this price, it is about twice what other books cost, but it is 5 times the book. It's a bargain. In the long run it will save you money by avoiding costly mistakes. I highly reccomend it.

This book as a reference is great. It provides me, the novice and working my way up gardener, with a great source for understanding the fundamentals of gardening. However, I think I'm going to purchase one of its sister books, American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. The A-Z provides more details about specifc varieties which can be helpful when you're selecting plants for your garden or simply trying to learn more about a specific plant. I believe the A-Z also contains much of the information contained in this one altough it is not as encompassing from a general perspective.

This book is a great reference book on plants. One of the things that makes it so good is that it has so many excellent pictures of the plants listed. If it grows here in America, you can probably find it in this book. Beware, though, it is very heavy!!

One of my proudest moments as a mystery writer came at Tucson's Left Coast Crime mystery convention when I was given the honor of introducing David Cole to the mystery community. He was a member of the author panel I was moderating, and his debut mystery, BUTTERFLY LOST, had just been published. BUTTERFLY LOST features Laura Winslow--a Ritalin-abusing, cyper-hacking, half-Hopi--protagonist. BUTTERFLY LOST is a remarkable book because, at least to this reader, David Cole gets everything right. His work with Native American groups has provided him with the thorough cultural knowledge he presents in his book. Laura's computer expertise is completely convincing. David Cole knows well of what he writes. His plot is fast-paced and complex. He knows the Southwestern turf well. I cannot remember reading a more impressive debut novel. David Cole is an amazing talent.

This is a wonderful, often amazingly well written book. Laura Winslow moves through many colorful worlds that I knew nothing about. The plot doesn't just plod relentlessly from A to B (like Hollywood action movies), but has many subplots and very different and unusual characters. I thought I'd read enough books about serial killers, but David Cole writes about missing girls from traditional Hopi villages, and the usual mystery novel concepts of "police" and "crime" just don't result here in perfect solutions. Also, Laura's computer-hacking and bounty-hunting experiences are vivid. I didn't know how much personal information was available on the Internet, and how easily a hacker could get to and use that information. I've never been to a rodeo, but Cole makes bullriding so terrifyingly alive that I got excited at the thought of visiting a rodeo. My husband and I ride Harleys and follow Nascar racing, so rodeo excitement sounds like a natural for us. The best part of the book is Cole's exploration of what it's like to be part Indian and wanting to stay on the reservation after leaving for big-city life. I've always enjoyed Tony Hillerman's Walk in Beauty style, but Cole adds a gritty dimension to the poverty of reservation life. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Cole expertly takes the reader on a journey seen through the eyes of his main character, Laura Winslow. After reading Butterfly Lost I felt like I had made a new friend through the process. Far from being perfect, Laura exposes her insecurities and dependencies to us while in search for her own identity. As Laura uncovers her past to us we understand her motives for solving the mystery. Laura takes you, the reader, through the everyday world of the Hopi and Navajo and a glimpse into the world of rodeo bull riders. I loved watching her weed through the intricacies of the other characters in order to bring the book to a climactic conclusion.

It was a page turner from the get go! It's so refreshing to see a woman deal with her life and not run away from it. I hope David Cole will bring Laura Winslow back in another of his novels.

This book is so comprehensive you can use it for any engineering and general purposes. You must also get it`s study guides and instructor`s book for an efficient study... Their study guide 1 ISBN: 0-534-936-261, 2 ISBN: 0-534-936-27X, Instructor`s manual 1 ISBN: 0-534-936-30X and 2 ISBN: 0-534-936-318.

I am teacher of calculus and I found this book an excelent reference for the beginners students of electrical engineering.

When I was in high school back on Guam, my Calculus class used this book. At first, I was pretty intimidated about taking this class, what more being intimidated with the SIZE of this book. Throughout my senior year, this book helped me conquer my "fear of calculus" and ensured me that I was ready to take on college, where I am currently majoring in Mech. Engineering. Till today, I still have a copy of this book, which I use for reference. I highly recommend this book for both high school and college students who feel that "calculus is too hard"...but actually it's really FUN!

History is replete with companies done in by forces beyond their control. History also celebrates the rare examples of executives who turned these "irresistible" forces to their great advantage.

Can executives of companies see the wave soon enough, catch and ride (read manage) it to sustained growth, rewarding themselves, employees, customers and shareholders along the way?

In their new book, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise: Breakthrough Gains from Unstoppable Change, authors Donald W. Mitchell and Carol Coles lay out a road map for managers that, if followed, will allow them to take advantage of forces beyond their control. Authors of the popular The 2,000 Percent Solution, Mitchell and Coles show how CEOs can benefit from flexibility when they confront irresistible forces and provide a set of principles for shaping vision, strategy, tactics, management process and organizational structure.

The book identifies external factors and obsolete ways of thinking. For example, "companies that strategize only to optimize the forces when they are positive, will face grave difficulties when the forces shift directions," say Mitchell and Coles. A lack of understanding can lead to "inappropriate action or no action," the authors suggest in their book.

In separate chapters, they describe a wide range of stalls commonly faced by companies in a section called, Overcoming Stalls and Taking Actions.

These stalls include:

A lack of direction;

Wishful thinking that favorable conditions will return;

A sense of helplessness about actions to take;

A defensive reaction and denial of the seriousness of the forces;

Relying only on the company's resources to handle the situation;

Covering up problems and "throwing in the towel";

Being too independent and believing they can succeed;

Being overly optimistic about succeeding; and

Underestimating the impact.

Mitchell and Coles set out eight steps that will allow companies to manage these irresistible forces successfully:

1) Recognize how measurements can help your company identify and understand more about irresistible forces;

2) use your own leading indicators to anticipate shifts in irresistible forces;

3) identify the future best practices for locating, anticipating and adapting to change in irresistible forces;

4) extend your vision to accomplish best practices beyond anyone else in the future;

5) identify the ideal best practices for benefiting from irresistible forces;

6) determine how to operate close to ideal best practices for locating, anticipating and adapting to your irresistible forces;

7) enhance your people's ability to achieve the benefits of irresistible force management; and

8) repeat steps one through seven for improved effectiveness in using the management process.

Last, the authors urge readers to "embrace the forces," encouraging managers to "seek out the irresistible forces" as a basis for early action. Survival, growth, and personal opportunity are at stake and at hand. They lay out a course of action for taking the lead inside your company and mobilizing people.

A chapter personalizes the entire process for each reader's overall life.

robertlowe@mindspring.com from Atlanta , 5 July, 2000

The Irresistible Growth Enterprise is a breakthrough work and a millennium message from one of the truly gifted business minds of our times.

The perspective and information in this book is of equal importance to the CEO, CFO, Corporate Director, executive, manager, supervisor, sole practitioner, first time entrepreneur, or student at any level.

This is more than a 'how to' book yet you may use it to work through what you must do to grow, thrive, change, and survive into the new century. It is more than a management technique book, yet the techniques introduced and developed here may be used as a guide for any who must manage to manage into the turbulent and exciting times ahead. Among the 'irresistible forces' with which we must deal are such events as globalization, market fluctuations, economic surges and reversals, new technologies and their economic impacts, natural events - weather and catastrophes, demographic changes, and the myriad aspects of human unpredictability. Don Mitchell tells us that 'Most people see irresistible forces as random factors or inconveniences, but The Irresistible Growth Enterprise will instead show you how to use all those forces instead of trying to avoid them.' This principle, at once ancient and modern, is essential to both business health and personal development.

The principles and practices in this book are more than mere ideas. They are the culmination of practical gleanings, over decades, in close business and interpersonal relationships with an astounding number of the nation's top executives dealing with real-time irresistible forces.

The Irresistible Growth Enterprise is required reading if you wish to deal effectively with the geometrically increasing velocity of change and development facing all of us today. As Don Mitchell says, 'This multiplier effect will increasingly happen with all irresistible forces, and this is the key insight upon which you must act now.'

Robert Lowe - Author Improvisation, Inc.: Harnessing Spontaneity to Engage People and Groups Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer (2000)

We are living at a time when everything around us is changing at such an enormous rate, that we have really only two choices: (1) we will use change to our advantage or, (2) we will simply be trampled by it. There is no longer a reasonable choice of standing still, hoping to survive. Take heart! The Irresistible Growth Enterprise is a practical, no-nonsense book that deals with how to harness those inevitable, unrelenting forces of change. It includes tools, approaches, and even attitudes for successfully using these forces to our advantage. It's a book for you and for your entire organization. I wouldn't consider starting a strategic plan until your whole team internalizes its lessons first.

Broken Wings is a simple story which serves as a canvas for Kahlil Gibran's flights of beautiful prose and philosophical insight. Gibran's prose is simply redolent with images. His evocative narration paints pictures with words which both took me away and taught me. Gibran's point is so much more clear and simply arresting for the crispness of his imagery, such as when he writes: "Those ample treasure chests that the energy of the father and the thrift of the mother fill up are transformed into dark, narrow prison cells for their heirs. That mighty deity whom the people worship in the form of money metamorphoses into a horrifying demon who tortures the people and kills the heart." (p.51)

There were several thoughts of Gibran's that I found similarly significant. In talking about the blossoming of love, Gibran writes that love is not "born of long association and unbroken companionship." Instead, he writes, it is "the daughter of a spiritual understanding, and if that understanding is not achieved in a single moement, it will never be attained -- not in a year, not in a whole century" (p. 41). My limited experience leads me to believe precisely this. Likewise, I agreed with Gibran when he writes that "Limited love demands possession of the beloved, but infinite love desires only its own essence" (p. 97).

If Gibran has a fundamental message in Broken Wings, though, I think that it is surrounding the tension or balance between putting everything that we can into our love and our endeavors, and the need to contextualize that love or endeavor in such a way that it does not consume that which we are. Gibran's narrator struggles with this tension. He wants to spirit Salma away to a life of true love. He wants her to break her word to her father and follow her heart. Mostly, he doesn't want her to give up on their love. His defense of this course of action is passionate: "For the soul to experience torment because of its perseverance in the face of trials and difficulties is more noble than for it to retreat to a place of safety and calm. The moth that contines to flutter about the lamp until it burns up is more exalted than the mole that lives in comfort and security in its dark tunnel" (p.73).

The imagery is again evocative, and certainly, I think, speaks to me: if you are to pursue life, pursue it like the moth -- soaring to unimagined heights and experiences. Don't be a mole who attempts to prolong his life by simply hiding himself away -- but never really experiencing life. Live, don't simply preserve an unlived life. Such a good reminder for us.

Love (and any endeavor, I imagine) isn't always so black-and-white, though. Salma's understanding is deeper and more complicated: before even her emotions and her love, she places her commitment to her father and to her (unloving) husband. There is incredible power in her choosing integrity over running away to a love which Gibran paints as being the fulfillment of all of our hopes for love. There is some unspoken insight here about integrity and commitment, I think. It is, perhaps, part of the foundation of love itself, a necessary ingredient for its presence.

In the Broken Wings, Gibran touches a variety of subjects like love, plight of women, hypocracy of self serving religious heads, false values on which human socities are built, and true prayer and sacrifice. And all is told in very few majestically beautiful words without malice to any one.
"Love is the only freedom in the world because it so elevates the spirit that laws of humanity do not alter its course."
" Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and ..........is created in a moment."
Gibran says of the plight of the women by describing them as
" the bird with broken wings in a cage."
Of heads of religions, Gibran says, "Thus the Christian Bishop and the Moslem imam and the Brahman priest are like sea reptiles who clutch their prey with many tentacles and suck their blood with numerous mouths." How true are these words!
Gibran tells how "in some countries, the parent's wealth is a source of misery for the children."
Yet the woman in the story, although falling in the abyss of miseries, prays "help me, my Lord, to be strong in this deadly struggle and assist me to be truthful and virtuous until death. Thy will be done, oh Lord God."
And finally she sacrifices her own life fot he sake of her beloved thus bringing glory to "sacrifice."
Tears rolled down my cheeks while reading the tragic end of the story. But I felt these tears have cleansed my spirit.
The reading of The Broken Wings is a must for any one who wants to experience a tearful smile or a sorrowful joy or miseries for a true prayer.

The power to love is God's greatest gift to man, for it never will be taken from the blessed one who loves.(Gibran) I am a fan of Kahlil Gibran and more than that I get steered spiritually when I read his books. As for Broken Wings well that book is surely one that has the greatest love story ever told. This first love of his was inspirational and has brought him along way into many many books. All of them written with emotion and with what we would say as of today with truth. How many of us would agree to social norms? Well as teenagers surely we hated society as they curbed our very life style, but this man with his first experience has really written so many books. He was truly an inspired person as no one could write so much on spirituality. Whatever his lifestyle, we are no judges for that. The books are what matter most. Most authors till date are not as young as he was and probably envy his being young and gifted into the world of TRUTH. We are still seeking what he already had.

I teach Kindergarten in New York City. My students sat totally engrossed as I read the story of Ruby Bridge's struggle to gain an education in New Orleans, Louisiana.

After I finished the story they asked to hear it again. My five year students actually had a sophistated discussion about the moral wrongs of Ruby's experience. To quote one little boy, "But that's not right. It doesn't matter what someone looks like, they should be able to go to school."

My students totally got it! In January we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and they instantly connected the Civil Rights struggle lead by King to Ruby's experience of going to an integrated school. They also learned the value of education. It was an awesome experience.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with children or works with children.

Wonderful, powerful, humbling true story of Ruby Bridges, a six year old African American girl in 1960, sent to integrate an elementary school in New Orleans. Children of the 1990's will be speechless with astonishment when they come to understand the ugliness of racism. Ruby's calm perseverance, academic commitment, and gracious forgiveness are powerful lessons for all of us, parents as well as children. MUST READ FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY. Ruby's story makes it all make sense.

Short Synopsis: Young Ruby Bridges is ordered by a judge in 1960 to attend William Franz Elementary School. She is the first African American to attend the school. A mob gathers to shout racial insults at Ruby on her first day at school. Marshals accompany Ruby to school for months as crowds gather daily to protest. Ruby is taught alone by Mrs. Henry as white children are pulled out of school. The story ends with Ruby praying for the forgiveness of those who are persecuting her.
Critical Review: This is an excellent historical story about a young girl's determination and love. Students will see how hurtful racial prejudice is, and will better understand what African Americans went through at this time in history. The book is illustrated by George Ford. The pictures are large an bright. The colors are beautiful. The eyes of Ruby follow along so well with the story. They seem to paint a picture of Ruby's soul.
Curriculum Connections: This book fits into my social studies curriculum. I use it while studying the history of the southeast. It also fits in well with units on civil rights and famous African Americans.

"The Ultimate Competitive Advantage" provides business leaders with real-life examples and the rudder necessary to shift the course in a stormy, ever changing environment and find the most direct way to new opportunities. This is a useful toolset necessary to develop a winning business model in a globally competitive environment. The authors of this foremost book understand business models and how to make them a source of adequate competitive advantage. The primary idea of Don Mitchell and Carol Coles is simple and rather practical at the same time: improve the effectiveness of everything you do. The authors show how strategic innovation can emphasize your business from the stack and deliver stronger.

The book is well organized and the writing is clear and concise, all making for an informative and enjoyable read. It is an excellent book for a strategic planning point of view. It is an absolute necessity for the 21st century business owners and CEOs. The book is teaching you about Business Model Innovation and the ideas might become useful as your business direction changes. The book offers help to anyone looking to improve theirs chances for success. And it is quite readable. I highly recommend it for senior and mid-level managers, entrepreneurs, consultants, and business students.

Alexander Petrochenkov

The Ultimate Competitive Advantage provides the reader with great, practical advice on how to establish a business model innovation mindset.

Using a multitude of real-life examples to illustrate their points, Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles clearly lay out the steps to business model innovation. You will get ideas for how to: increase the value of what your business provides to its customer, increase profitability, eliminate costs that provide little or no value to the customers, pursue business models with a higher potential for growth and profitability, expand your thinking about who your stakeholders really are and what they are owed, and how to do all of this over and over again.

Each chapter ends with a set of questions to help the reader apply what was learned to their personal situation. The questions, alone, are worth the price of the book.

And you get one more bonus. Mitchell and Coles clearly write with a conscience that has been sorely lacking in some of the leaders making recent headlines.

Gadzooks man! When I first started this book and read the business models of the featured companies, I thought "What?! These people are literally gambling at the way they do business!" But the more I read, the more convincing it was to understand that to have the competitive edge in today's business world, you've got to think outside of the box.

Using real world business models, author's Mitchell & Coles explain how you can cause your company to have the competitive advantage by simply changing your company's business model. No matter what the size of your company, this book is a definite tool in creating your business model. Most companies restructure and reorganize, hoping to attain business effectiveness & success. Yet the "Ultimate Competitors Advantage" will help you discover ways to reinvent your business model that will not only meet the needs of your customers, but bring strong profitability back into the company and spread from the employees to the shareholders. All around success!

So put an end to the business model that says "We've always done it this way." Buy this book, and allow it to help mold and guide your imaginations into 21st century business model innovation!

The 2,000 percent solution is not limited to business! I am in the educational field and I found many factors in the 2,000 percent solution that apply to our schools. The Disbelief Stall and the Communication Stall pervade many of the K-8 schools where I have been a teacher and administrator. Teachers and administrators alike have become more receptive to researching "best practices" and they are beginning to "choose a colleague to coach." Change agents in school settings will gain focus, direction, and a host of important questions to ask as they read this book and plan for the future. After you read the 2,000 percent solution, hand it to another educator. You will learn a lot, laugh often, see some fascinating art, and liven up your faculty meetings when you offer ideas and opinions you have gained from this wonderful book!

I presume to suggest that you first read the authors' more recently published book, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise in which they explain how to achieve "breakthrough gains from unstoppable change." One of the key points in that book it is imperative to understand the nature and extent of such forces as they affect a given organization...then respond accordingly. Another key point stresses the importance of anticipating future changes which inevitably create problems. Each of these problems requires an effective solution. That is, a "2,000 Percent Solution" which enables an organization to get "20 times better and faster results from the same or fewer resources."

The subtitle of this book correctly suggests why the authors wrote it: To "free" organizations from "stalled" thinking so that they can achieve "exponential success." Note the words embraced by quotation marks. Most organizations (especially the larger ones) can easily become captive to basic assumptions and presumptions which are no longer valid...or at least appropriate. As a result, those involved feel obligated to defend the status quo. Their thinking is stalled. Managers become bureaucrats. Because they are defending the status quo, they resist and resent any suggested changes of it. Of course, change does occur: The organization deteriorates. The "best and the brightest" employees leave as do under-served customers.

The reference to "exponential success" is also very significant. The authors correctly believe that, in the absence of Divine Intervention, sustainable success can only be achieved exponentially: building a skyscraper one floor at a time, paving a road to Oz one yellow brick at a time, eating a whale one bite at a time.

Part One explains how you can free your organization from "mind-forged manacles." To do so, you must overcome:

The Stall Mind-Set ["If I ignore it, it will eventually go away."]

The Tradition Stall ["But we've never done it that way before."]

The Disbelief Stall ["I can't believe you suggested that."]

The Misconception Stall ["Wet highways cause rain."]

The Unattractiveness Stall ["It may work but it just doesn't look right."]

The Communications Stall ["I'll get back to you with some feedback when I can."]

The Bureaucratic Stall ["This is highly irregular."]

The Procrastination Stall ["Interesting. I'm going to give it the careful thought it deserves."]

The authors analyze each of these familiar stalls and evasions. Then in Part Two, they suggest (and explain in detail) "Eight Steps" by which to overcome them. This book is "primarily about what to do differently rather than how to do something better than you do it today." Pogo once observed, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Stalling and evading strategies are basic to human nature. We tend to employ one or more of them whenever we feel threatened or confused or inadequate...or because, like Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, we simply don't want to do what we are asked to do.

I highly recommend this book. The wealth of information and material is carefully organized and lucidly presented. The authors seem to have no illusions whatsoever as to the difficulty of implementing the "Eight Steps." The success of those initiatives will indeed be exponential. My guess is that organizations which have the greatest need for this book will be most resistant to its recommendations. Those involved in such organizations would be well-advised to "think small." That is, select a specific situation in which "unstalled thinking" can have an immediate, obvious, and quantifiable impact. Complete the "Eight Step Process." And then leverage that success to achieve other successes...one "2,000 Percent Solution" at a time.

Obviously, both this book and The Irresistible Growth Enterprise can be read separately and still have great value. As noted previously, I suggest that the latter be read first. I also presume to suggest that both books will have even greater value if read in combination with Peter Schwartz's The Art of the Long View.

Being a creature of habit, I put the 2000% Solution on my bookshelf and thought about reading it. Without ever touching it, I was in a "stall". Finally, I read it!

The 2000% Solution offers is an excellent book to help keep processes moving along- both organizationally and personally. In this very entertaining and well written book, Mitchell, Coles and Metz, offered very practical, creative, innovative and thoughtful ways to overcome both simple and complex obstacles. Chapters entitled "Manana" "where many cooks improve the broth", and "the square peg in the square hole" not only ring true in terms of issues I've encountered, but also provide the necessary and rigourous solutions to improve the inherent strength of corporate organizations.

An added benefit is that the 2000% Solution also has real life, personal implications. It's true life skills for productivity an open capacity.

An excellent book

The four funniest books I have read in my life were: 1) Candide by Voltaire, 2) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole, 3) My Gorgeous Life by Dame Edna (Barry Humphries) and 4) Buddy Babylon. This book is so funny, I was laughing out loud while reading it during lunch at a restaurant. Scott Thompson is funny to the extreme. And I do not mean "smile" funny but out loud hilarious funny. This is the kind of comic book I will be reading every couple of years just to enjoy all of the routines and great lines over and over again. Absolutely the funniest book in years!!!

Being a Kids in the Hall fan, I may be biased, but I have loaned this book to some of my friends who aren't quite so lucky to have experience the hilarity of the Kids. They have quite enjoyed the book, and rightly so! It is a well-written, and although unsuffice enough to say, very funny. Scott's character recalls hilarious anecdotes and manages to make something that would normally be serious and unlaughable into just that, a laughing matter. I suggest this book to anyone unless you're homophobic; you never get the full gist of Buddy Cole's flamingness until you read Buddy Babylon. It's great.

I have read this book 27 times already, and it gets better each read! If you think your life is a little sick and twisted, read Buddy's story! I am a huge fan of The Kids in the Hall, and think Scott Thompson is GOD! This book peeks into why Buddy is the way he is...FLAWLESS! You have never read a more creative book in your life, nor will you ever, (unless part two comes about)! Reading this book will leave you continually fantisizing about the Canadian wilderness, and thanking God your not there! You will become a child again, and pretend Buddy is a close personal friend, (who you don't like)! I no linger fear circus freaks, but now love them as other people's children. This book is a true spititual journey! Buddy is genius!