Santa Mouse has traveled with our family for over 30 years. Through joy, triumph, tragedy, births and deaths every Christmas we would break it out. As life has grown and expanded us we have all continued to return each year, gather together and read our beloved Santa Mouse. It has been a missel of love, memories and treasured times that has woven through our lifes like a thread of gold. A wonderful addition to any special Christmas library. Why we just finished it for the 34th time!

Not only is this an adorable story, the illustrations are incredible.

Mouse lives all by himself in a big house, where he often dreams of having friends and a name. As he's getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve he realizes that no one gives Santa Claus presents, so he gets out his piece of cheese and leaves it for Santa. Santa appreciates it so much that he names the mouse Santa Mouse, and gives Santa Mouse a job as his helper.

This is an enchanting book, and a wonderful addition to any Christmas collection.

Santa Mouse is an adorable story about a lonely little mouse in a big house. He plays in his own little fantasy world, and like the borrowers, uses small, discarded human things to create his cozy living space. Santa Mouse doesn't have anything to give Santa, so he leaves St. Nick a piece of cheese he has been saving. Santa is so pleased that he makes a special request of the little mouse. Children love this delightful book. The tiny elements that are associated with a mouse with "human" characteristics is always a pleaser. In addition to the charisma of the book, the story prods children to relish in their own gift giving. A very important virtue in us all.

I was introduced to this anthology in a writing course. While compulsory reading is seldom as enjoyable as elective reading, I found myself returning to this collection of short stories long after the course ended. Stuart Dybek's "Pet Milk", a warm and rich introspection on the transition from childhood to adulthood, got me hooked and I soon read every story in this collection. Anyone who enjoys good writing but struggles to find time to read, or who appreciates finely crafted short fiction will enjoy these short but interesting stories. Highly recommended.

I didn't want this book to end; the stories were so enjoyable. Some were so intense I had to reread them immediately. I would love to take a writing course to try emulating them or using them as inspiration. One complaint: like many of these anthologies the editors don't give a hint of what to expect. Stories are ordered alphabetically by author's last name, but curiously each leads to the next. This volume is much better than ones that try to pick the best story (or stories) of the year and more enlightening than single author collections.

This is a wonderful selection of contemporary short fiction featuring a variety of authors and points of view and a great diversity of subject matter. Stories deal with such varied topics as homosexuality, the Holocaust, Native American mysticism and small time crooks. Women writers are well represented. This collection features some very different choices, including a ghost story from Joyce Carol Oates.
This collection will prove an invaluable resource for budding writers and literature majors alike. This would also be a great primer for someone unfamiliar with the most contemporary short fiction.

Things Change gives a very worthwhile message to readers by showing how life will not always predictable and you must adjust. It also shows the rewards of never giving up. The bottom line is that this is a quality book by a Hall of Fame quarterback.

I thought this book was worth reading. This book is about a guy that plays football for the Dallas Cowboys. This book is about his whole life,from when he was a little kid and until now. I would recommend this book for others to read because you can relate his life to your life. I liked it and i hope you will read it and like it too.

Greg Brown has started a wonderful series, I've bought several for our grandson, who definitely needs to learn to be a better sport!! It isn't just the specific athlete, but the lessons they teach in these books, that make them attractive to me. But it is the athlete on the cover that makes the boy want to read them. Also, these books are something that "Dad", a sports fan, actually enjoys reading to son. I highly recommend any book in this series.

This was was very meaningful story for me. My second time through I noticed details I missed before; the reoccuring dragonfly when yawri talked with Moran, the orange light throughout the book including in Pergaine's crystal before and after the battle. So much weaving of images and events. Well done.

Provoking and written with exquisite skill. The book may help to inspire a new perspective about the world and your relationship with it. Read it.

I couldn't put this book down. It's a great story based on soul memory of our human history. I found it touched connections in me that opened my heart to an older part of myself. I can feel the truth of this story, and feel more whole now as a result of reading it.

I am a professional personnel who dove head first into being a stay at home mom - who misses the professional world, but knows she is in the right place w/kids right now, home - it can be a shocker. Even with all of the stay at home mom stress, it's worth it to me to make $0 and stay home with our kids. The biggest lesson I've learned these past 4 years is to take care of your mind, body and spirit (self-esteem). This book shows others (even non-moms) how they can regain balance in their lives by determining what they love to do and shifting their professional gears to a more fulfilling position. Excellent read!

Glaser and Smalley are among the most influential of current business scholars because they think so clearly and write so well while discussing the most important issues. Perhaps you have already read their Swim with the Dolphins. If not, you are urged to do so. In this book, they focus on an especially timely subject: The importance of "soul" in the equation for "success." In recent years, I have examined the results of more than 30 "employee satisfaction" surveys and was surprised, frankly, by what were rated the highest attributes: feeling appreciated, being treated with respect, believing in the value of the work to be done, enjoying the work to be done, and trusting the organization by which one is employed. What about compensation? Depending upon the individual survey, it was ranked anywhere from ninth to thirteen in importance. For those who participated in the surveys and probably for most other workers, money is never enough and seldom most important. The authors ask all of the right questions but, to their credit, resist the temptation to advocate any ":right answers." That responsibility they entrust to each reader. Although this is another of recently published books which have a gender-specific frame-of-reference, almost everything the authors share can also be of substantial value to men...not only to understand much better their mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, business associates, etc. but, more to the point, to understand themselves much better.

Connie Glaser is right on target. All who have not read her book, When Money Isn't Enough, get it. She shares with us reality today. It is tough. The time pressures and family pressures are a reality. Nobody outlines the current environment and the choices better than Connie Glaser in this very special book. It is command reading for everyone, woman and man alike. Give it to your colleagues and discuss the challenges. Glaser makes us stop and reflect on choices we all have. Congratulations to Connie Glaser and all of us will be helped with the right balance we choose. Her work advances our own thinking.

Have you memorized Goodnight Moon? I have. And I read Owl Moon until I could hoot with the best of them too. But, beautiful as these books are, I was looking for something else to suggest when my two daughters (ages 6 and 2) screamed, "Goodnight Moon!" for the hundredth time. I found it. When Moon Fell Down is the perfect rhyming bedtime story. In lovely prose:

"The rye smelled sweet; the night winds whirled, circling moon in a misty wreath; And he gazed in awe at the wonderous world, the sky above and the earth beneath . . ."

When Moon Fell Down tells what would happen if the moon came down to earth one night. What would he see, and how would he see it? Sometimes soothing, sometimes surprising, this book's melodic text and dreamy artwork brings a smile to my children's faces and a tear to my eye.

When Moon Fell Down is one of the most lyrical books I've read lately. Smith's words have a musical quality about them, and when you read them out loud, they give satisfaction both to the tongue and to the ear. There's also a wonderful playfulness to the story. This one is going to be a classic.

"When moon fell down one night.../Fell upon a farmer's lawn,/Rolled about in sheer delight/On fields he'd only shined upon." So begins Linda Smith's lovely picture book about a night the moon fell to earth. Having seen everything from only above for so long, the moon is eager to see the world from another vantage point. "He'd never seen the trunks of trees/Or blades below the farmer's plow./Moon didn't know a horse had knees,/But things were strangely sideways now." Moon meets up with a friendly cow and travels the night away on a delightful adventure through this small farming town, until at dawn a perturbed farmer sends both back where they belong. "Moon! he cried. This isn't right!/Cow, how dare you roam!/A moon belongs in the sky at night,/And a cow belongs at home."..... Ms Smith's evocative, rhyming text is soft, soothing and full of imagery and magic and beautifully complemented by Kathryn Brown's subdued, detailed and expressive artwork. Together, they've authored a charming bedtime story the entire family will share and enjoy, again and again. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, When Moon Fell Down is a treasure and a book that's sure to become a classic in the years ahead.

World war two is history like other things we learned from books and media. But how many times could you find a reference is written by a person who actually flew those airplanes ? Especially they were not Allied's planes, they were German's military airplanes.

You could learn the speed, range or how many guns of each airplanes from tones other books, but you won't be able to learn the feeling to fly all of them by the same person from them.

This book was published long long time ago, but don't think the data and describtion is also old. Those experience is never faded away.

Besides being in the Guiness Book of World Records for the number of different aircraft types flown (over 500!) Eric "Winkle" Brown has authored several books concerning test flying and evaluation. "Wings of the Luftwaffe" reads like all the others...scholarly with a welcome dose of English wit! The inclusion of clear photos, profile drawings and cut-aways are further enhancements. Readers of the Air Enthusiast and Air International from the 1970's will recognize that "Wings of the Luftwaffe" is a compilation Mr. Brown's flight test reports printed in those magazines during 1970's and 80's. Having them in one volume saves much time in not having to look through back issues. No other book I know of captures the essence of flying these earliest of jet aircraft. Layman friends of mine have also responded enthusiastically to "Wings of the Luftwaffe" It is therefore highly recommended.

Besides being in the Guiness Book of World Records for the number of different aircraft types flown (over 500!) Eric "Winkle" Brown has authored several books concerning test flying and evaluation. "Wings of the Luftwaffe" reads like all the others...scholarly with a welcome dose of English wit! The inclusion of clear photos, profile drawings and cut-aways are further enhancements. Readers of the Air Enthusiast and Air International will recognize that "Wings of the Luftwaffe" is a compilation Mr. Brown's flight test reports printed in those magazines during 1970's and 80's. Having them in one volume saves much time in not having to look through back issues. No other book I know of captures the essence of flying these earliest of jet aircraft. Layman friends of mine have also responded enthusiastically to "Wings of the Luftwaffe" It is therefore highly recommended.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this book has many wonderful reproductions, including a lot of "extreme close-ups" (if you'll allow me to lift an expression from the movie "Wayne's World"!). The close-ups are great...you can see details of how Velazquez achieved certain effects- such as concentrated spots of pigment to represent the glitter of jewelery, or applying a transparent black "wash" over the white pages in a "book", to give the impression of writing in a book. Additionally, Professor Brown provides a nice biographical sketch of Velazquez in the first 20 pages of the book, and he writes very well indeed. The commentary that accompanies the plates contains a lot of fascinating historical information- we learn a lot about the "court" of Philip IV, the roles of dwarves and jesters, etc. The author goes into the symbolism included in the paintings- for example, the importance of showing the king in control of a horse (which implies he is a good ruler as well as a good horseman). One of the most fascinating plates is the portrait of Mariana of Austria, who was Philip's second wife. Professor Brown explains that Philip's first wife, and his only son, had died and the king needed to remarry and produce a male heir. Unfortunately, Mariana was Philip's niece. As you might expect, the only surviving male heir of their marriage, Charles II, proved incapable of ruling and also of having any children of his own. With his death, the Habsburg dynasty of Spain came to an end. But the physical act of painting the picture also ties into this sad story. Velazquez was a very "economical" painter (some might say lazy). He wasn't very productive, and he also didn't like to waste canvasses that he had worked on! In this case, he had started a canvas of Philip IV. The physical resemblance between Philip and his niece was so great that the artist was able to paint Mariana's face over Philip's. In close-up, Professor Brown even shows how you can see where Velazquez covered up the area on the upper lip which had contained the king's mustache! Many of the plates have similar interesting bits of information contained in the accompanying text. I felt that the book only deserved 4 stars rather than 5 for two reasons- after awhile, some of the technical information becomes boring for the lay reader....too many descriptions of the various pigments used in the "ground" layer of each painting and of the sizes of the additional strips of canvas added to the paintings, for example. The second reason is that Professor Brown is a little too free with the word "genius". He claims that Velazquez was capable of doing things that other major artists weren't able to accomplish. I'm not qualified to say whether or not Velazquez was a genius but, in general, I think the word is overused. The author fails to explain WHY Velazquez was a genius, and what exactly he could do that other important artists couldn't. Still, this is a fine book, with a very nice mixture of beautiful reproductions and lively, informative text.

The book consists in essence of two parts: The first 20 pages cover briefly Velazquez's life, career, techniques, and materials. The rest of the book comments on the artist's works.

Concisely, the author discusses the artist's choice on (painting) supports, pigments and colors, and composition and execution, as a prelude for in-depth discussions of the artist's works that follow.

Common art appreciaters will enjoy beautiful paintings (of in general not-very-beautiful people) in which face expressions and body language are deploited ingeniusly by the artist to convey drunkeness, retardation, sovereignty, self-importance, etc...

As for readers who are artists, an in-depth discussion on each painting reveals (with the aid of radiograph) techniques and procedures Velazquez used to create his work. In essence, a majority of Velazquez paintings were prepared with a layer of flake white as foundation. Over the underpainting, the artist applied pigments of different homogeneity and thickness to render desired effects. In addition, close-up pictures of painting details allow readers to understand better the secrets of creating luminosity in the paintings of this painter.

Perhaps as interesting is that mistakes and corrections made by Velazquez in his masterpieces are also unveiled, indicating the fact that although ingenius, the artist did have certain "imperfections" in his art maneuver.

This very fine book on the painter Velazquez is full of historical details, details of the master's painting techniques, and many photographic details of his masterpieces. The several close-up detail reproductions of each painting in the book show the artist's brush strokes and the weave of the canvas as the text describes the pigments used. This extraordinary art book deserves close examination.

Readers of Scottish historical romance are in for a real treat! With rich detail, intricate plot, and finely drawn characters, Debra Lee Brown creates the ultimate historical romance. Few writers can make flawed heroes delectable and yet Gilchrist Mackintosh is the proverbial to die for with an extra twist. Rachel is a stunning heroine that readers will cheer on until the very end. Don't miss this exciting tale! Denise A. Agnew, best selling author of BRIDGE THROUGH THE MIST

In THE VIRGIN SPRING, award-winning author Debra Lee Brown has written a beautiful story of love and passion that will warm your heart. The hero is a man of power and pathos, while the heroine is likeable and strong. The amnesia angle was not contrived or cliched, but was as fresh and interesting as the rest of the book. I love Scottish historicals and found Ms. Brown's book to be both accurate and entertaining. I look forward to her next offering!

The masterful Debra Lee Brown crafts an intriguing tale of historical romantic suspense.

The tormented Gilchrist is having enough trouble resuming his role as leader of the clan Davidson after a fire ravages his body and nearly destroys his spirit. The last thing he needs is to be looking after a lovely lass with no memory of her past-- or is it? A beautiful story of the healing power of love is woven with enough intrigue to keep readers turning pages quickly. Debra Lee Brown makes an impressive debut-- definitely an author to watch.

This is a nice little interesting book, but I can't agree with the effusive praise it's garnered. Brown does have some useful things to say, and his analysis is more balanced than that of many commentators on the science wars, but in places that analysis is rather shallow. It seems to me, for example, that the philosophical difficulties of naturalism would be something worth addressing by Brown, but he gives those difficulties short shrift.

Brown is just as capable as the extremists at dismissing those he disagrees with as "mushy-minded", "bad scientists" whose views are "laughable" and whose sanity should be doubted. All those who think moral norms might have divine origin? According to Brown, they're "naively religious". All those who disagree with Brown about capital punishment? According to Brown, they just must not have studied the matter as much as he has. (For Brown, this is apparently an issue on which it is impossible for there to be an honest, informed difference of opinion.) As someone who sympathizes with both Brown and Norman Levitt on many issues but disagrees with them each on others, I have to say that it's a lot more fun to be insulted by Levitt because he does it with such style! (Incidentally, Brown's analysis of Gross and Levitt's book only seems to make sense if Levitt is on the political Right. My reading of Levitt's _Prometheus Bedeviled_ leads me to believe that that is far from the case.)

One last item: Brown writes: "Most people could achieve a high-level understanding of any branch of science, but only if several years have been devoted to its intense study." I'm not sure whether Brown classifies mathematics as a branch of science, but I see no more evidence that sufficient training could provide most people with a high-level understanding of mathematics than that sufficient training could provide most people with the ability to high jump 7 feet. I used to tell my students that intense study would undoubtedly make them successful; after seeing several hard-workers earn D's, I stopped saying that.

Some contend the conflict between the sciences and the humanities is behind us. Reading Brown's analysis on the one hand and the daily news on the other shows how mistaken this view is. This is a refreshing and perceptive examination of the topics encountered over education, workplace behaviour, health and environmental issues. In short, Brown asks what the role of science is in our lives and how should we consider it? While the so-called "science wars" may seem like a remote philosophical debate, Brown brings it home for us all. In his view, you, as a participant in society, have a role to play in what science ought to address. He is adamant, however, that how science is done should remain with those who understand the methods involved in seeking the truth, elusive as that concept might be.

Brown's reviews the famous "Sokal Hoax" in which a physicist scathingly exposed the limits of "postmodern" language and philosophy. He explains how the Sokal Affair raised the public consciousness about views of what science is and how it works. Brown presents and illuminates the issues with admirable clarity and logic. He is a Professor of Philosophy with a deep respect for rational thinking. Unlike some, he doesn't view "cultural relativism" as a fad. Instead, he's aware of its impact in education and the wider world of social and political life. We are daily confronted with decisions to be made. We must make them on a rational basis and not be misled by "charlatans" who would obfuscate the issues. We make decisions on the basis of the values we hold. Brown enjoins us to be clear on our values - their foundations and how they are derived. This all sounds familiar, even redundant. Brown demonstrates how easily we can be misled if we fail to pay attention to what we are encouraged to believe and how we act on those beliefs.

Brown's answer to the query in his title seems simplistic - you do. You should rule science through democracy. We all believe in democracy [at least most of us reading this book do] and we all feel we know what it means. Brown wants you to reconsider what you believe about democracy and how it should be practiced. In short, he understands that in our form of democracy, knowledge, not emotion or mythology, should rule. Brown demonstrates how "expertise" already plays a significant role in political decisions. Expertise is derived by those who employ scientific methods to increase our knowledge. Our job is to sort through differing views to determine which is most applicable to issues under consideration. He recognizes the difficulty of the task, offering step-by-step solutions to ease the burden. People need to hear "more intelligent and informed voices" in Brown's view. How to find those voices? The starting point is this book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This is an excellent and pleasantly surprising book. Not only does it pull off the trick of explaining the differences between the positivists, Popper, and Kuhn in one concise, easy-to-read chapter, but it places the political aspect of the debate in a reasonable light, pointing out that the objectivist-constructivist divide is not simply a divide of the right and left politically, but of a certain portion of the left, those whacked out French philosophes, the "nihilist wing of social constructivism," as Brown calls them.

It is this combination of explaining philosophical terms and political problems in a clear manner that makes this book the good read that it is. It has better explanations about the philosophy of science and such terms as naturalism, realism, rationalism, and even underdetermination than I've seen elsewhere. All this in a book written for the layman, not the expert.

The one problem I had with the book was its treatment of realism. I don't think Brown brought out the problems inherent in realism. Realism not only posits that objects exist; it posits we can know and describe their properties. What is wrong with this line of thought? Parmenides said "a thing is or it is not." Give it a linguistic turn, and one might say "description describes what is or it is not description." The complaint against realism is that historically, realistic descriptions of objects have not endured and so are not descriptions.

Look at Brown's definition of realism (96):
1.The aim of science is to give a true (or approximately true) description of reality.
2.Scientific theories are either true or false.
3.It is possible to have evidence for the truth (or falsity) of a theory. (It remains possible, however, that all the evidence supports some theory T, yet T is false.)

Accepting definition (2) as the bedrock axiom, definition (1) immediately contradicts it. "Approximately true" is false to anyone except a pragmatist. The whole point of realistic description is a complete, accurate rendering of the object. Approximation might "work," but it is not "true." Second, Brown's definition (3) is at some point arguable. What if evidence itself is conceived as a set of particular objects or relations that make up the larger object of description? Inquiring into them, one could ask what's the evidence for the truth (or falsity) of the evidential facts. The realist avoids this regress by referring to some axiomatic definition or other sort of "given." This works most of the time, but not always.

Consider Brown's statement (102) that, "One thing that cannot be overstressed here is fallibility. Objectivity does not imply certain truth. Evidence can mislead. The ancients were objective in believing in an earth-centered universe, because the available evidence strongly supported this view." Brown is wrong here. Objectivity does imply certain truth (or certainly did among ancient Greek philosophers who invented realism). I think what's being confused here is rationality and objectivity. It is a rational strategy to believe what everyone else believes. What is believed, however, is not necessarily objectively true. It was rational for ancients to believe in an earth-centered universe. It was not, however, an objective description of the universe, no matter what the "evidence" showed.

Plato made a distinction between knowledge and true belief. If I recall correctly, the philosopher-kings had objective knowledge, the enforcers had true belief. The philosopher-kings were right. They knew they were right and why they were right. The enforcers knew they were right, but didn't know why. Consequently, they were fallible in their explanations and, without the philosopher-kings to guide them, in their beliefs. Now, if scientists are fallible, what is it that allows them to know when they are right? The evidence? Brown said earlier in his definition that the evidence could all be right but the theory wrong. The realist who believes in fallibility has nothing to knowingly connect to the object. He is like the enforcer who has true belief, but not knowledge.