***** Wow! Looking at the cover of this new book from Illumination Arts is like standing at the base of a giant tree, tilting your head backward, and looking toward the heavens. The scope is powerful and compelling, and the colors are breath-taking.

This story is told from the perspective of an 800-year-old Douglas fir in the Pacific Rain Forest. The Tree tells of its history and the many things it has seen over its lifetime, as well as the wildlife it has seen and sheltered. Each illustration is so realistic that it feels possible to reach in and touch the rocks or to actually hear the babble of tumbling water, experence the flash of lightning, and tremble at the mighty roar of a bear. Children will also enjoy finding the many tiny surprises hidden within the pictures: A Butterfly, Dragonfly, Spotted Owl, Tree Frog, Mouse, Bald Eagle, Bark Beetle, and many others.

At the end of the story, there is an informative page about the Pacific Rain Forest that impressed me a great deal. After reading that page, I asked several children what country came to mind when they heard the words rain forests. Most of them mentioned Africa and one or two said South America. They envisioned a tropical climate with hot, humid jungles, big broadleaf plants, monkeys, and brightly colored birds. None of them knew that there was such a place as the Pacific Rain Forest right here in the United States. A temperate rain forest that is cool and wet, filled mostly with cone bearing trees, and stretches along the coast from Southern Oregon to the Gulf of Alaska.

I cannot say enough good things about The Tree. I highly recommend it as a book to be treasured and reread for years to come. It entertains the reader while teaching a love for nature's delicate balance and the urgency to act now in order to save our valuable forests from disappearing forever. Read it with a child and enjoy the light in his eyes as he searches its pages for each of the tiny surprises...

This is a very emotional story told by an 800-year-old Douglas fir tree in the Pacific rain forest. The Tree tells of his life in the forest and the wonders that he has experienced over his long lifetime. Lyons lives in the Pacific Northwest, and camps and hikes in the rain forests there. He was inspired by the ancient trees there, and may have been told the story by the Tree itself.

The stunning, full color, two page illustrations are a visual feast. Each illustration is richly detailed with new treasures to be seen each time you look at it.

Over 800 years, the Tree has survived the wind, fire and snow, and seen the wonder of a young owl learning how to fly, the yearly return of the salmon, and the great glaciers melting. He hears bulldozers coming and wonders if it is his time to die...but then children come and circle his trunk and save him from destruction.

Information for parents and teachers about the Pacific rain forest and the story of the Tree are included in the back of the book. A portion of the proceeds of the book will be donated to the Jane Goodall Foundation and the Circle of Life Foundation that fosters conservation and social solutions.

This is a marvelous book to enjoy with children, to be treasured and read again and again, and to inspire children to fully appreciate the wonders of nature.

While recuperating from a back injury, Dana Lyons sat and played his guitar at the base of an ancient Douglas fir tree in the Pacific Northwest. Toward the end of his four-day rest, a strange thing happened: As Lyons puts it, gA fully formed song came flowing through me.h After playing the song for a local native tribal chief, the chief said he recognized the tune and explained how in his tradition each tree has its own song. The
Tree presents the song of that giant fir.

Thirty-two gorgeously illustrated 8.5-by-11-inch pages house the story. Each doublefold spread vibrantly depicts the Olympic Rain Forest in all its glory. Replete with spotted owls, timber wolves, blacktail deer, and one very scary grizzly bear, illustrator David Danioth puts readers smack dab in the middle of the forest with his spectacular artwork of airbrush, colored-pencil, and gouache depictions. In the story, bulldozers invade the forest, and the 800-year-old fir ponders its fate. Peaceful action ultimately saves the day when people encircle the trunk to prevent the treefs demise.

A beautiful book for children or adults of any age, The Tree boasts forewords by environmental activist and author Julia Butterfly Hill (who spent more than two years living in an ancient redwood) and renowned folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger. A portion of the profits from the bookfs sale go to Hillfs Circle of Light Foundation and to the Jane Goodall Institute. The Tree sports an eye-catching cover illustration that gives a taste of the beauty to be found inside. The book will be a welcome addition to the childrenfs or environmental sections of your shop.

This 3-book volume is a very good buy, because let's face it, if you read the first Tales of the City, you're going to want to keep reading. These books are juicy gossip, the steamy parts of soaps, and the groovy seventies all rolled into one.

The books are a compilation of Armistead Maupin's popular serial that ran in San Francisco Chronicle and was beloved by the city's residents. It's easy to see the appeal, for San Francisco is as much a character in the novels as are the wonderful residents of Barbary Lane.

These stories are so fun! Maupin often included current events of the time in his tales as well, which lent to some silly story lines (the whole Jonestown bit in book 3) but do not lessen the entertainment value.

A caution: it's very easy to stay up way too late by telling yourself, "Just one more chapter!" The chapters are two to three pages long, but just one more leads to just one more, and then one more, and one more...

The miniseries are not as good but do some justice to the work, although one would probably spend less time reading the books than watching the films.

Having the first three books in the "Tales of the City" series all in one place is a huge convenience as I am continually reading them. There is an absurd joy I get whenever I read these stories. Please understand, I realize these characters are fictional, but I so want to be friends with them and take part in their bizarre adventures. Maupin has a very minimalist writing style. The chapters are rarely more than three pages long, and in some cases almost entirely dialogue; yet somehow Maupin is able to create a world so real I feel I know these character intimately.

What makes this collection so wonderful is that it does not contain the final three books in the series. It helps to maintain my delusion that the last three book simply don't exist and the action stops at the end of book three. I highly recommend this collection.

This series was recommended to me by a friend during my freshman year of high school. I began reading the books when I was 14 and found that I loved the story lines and found myself getting wound up in the fantastic lives of the characters. The short chapters made it SO easy to lay in bed at night and promise myself "just one more chapter"...but then i'd flip ahead and find that the next chapter was only three pages and i simply COULDN'T end there! this pattern would usually go on until about three o'clock or until i finished the book, whichever came first! Because i was so young when i read the first two books in the series, I think a lot of the meaning was lost to me. During my second year of college i re-read the first two books and found myself falling madly in love with the adventures of the characters in the book. I found mysel weeping on the train...gasping on the plane...and laughing out loud like a lunatic at a cafe. I read the entire series in less than a month and to this day, elements of the stories stay with me.

This book is a MUST read for any lovers of fun, entertaining and poignant stories.

I read several of Mario Vargas Llosa smaller (but also superb) works before deciding to attempt to read this one, his masterpiece. It is truly one of the more memorable and profound books that I have read. The structure of the book doesn't divert too much from that of the typical epic novel- dozens of characters, numerous subplots, and events of historical significance. Most of the action takes place in the remote, arid backlands of northwestern Brazil. In this land devastated by drought and poverty, a religious leader known as the Counselor manages to recruit a sizable number of miserable and scorned creatures to be his disciples. We are introduced to such characters as the Little Blessed One, the Lion of Natuba, the Mother of Men, Satan Jao, and a host of others who are social outcasts for one reason or another. It is around this time that the monarchy in overthrown and a republic established; taxes are now to be collected, a national census is to adminstered, and church and state are to be separated. The Counselor and his followers regard these new developments as a direct threat and signs of the impending apocalypse, and they set up their own town, Canudos. The newly formed state can obviously not tolerate these renegades, and the book basically relates the war between Canudos and the waves of military forces that are sent to annihilate them. Vargas Llosa spares no details when relating battle scenes; the reviewer on the inside cover of the book was right in calling this one of the bloodiest books of the century. We are presented with images of corpses hanging from trees, ants devouring the open wounds of soldiers, and decapitated heads on stakes. It is perhaps this gritty realism that makes this book so memorable, though. Another aspect of the author's writing that makes this book so convincing is his ability to sympathetically portray all of the competing interests. Although it is probably fair to say that the Counselor's followers are depticted mainly as victims, Llosa also argues from the point of view of the military, the aristocracy, the republican government, a nearsighted journalist travelling with the army, and even a Scottish anarchist. At the end of this book, one is quite uncertain who, if anyone, is on the right side and who is on the wrong side. But I think it is this moral ambiguity that Vargas Llosa is attempting to create in our minds. In presenting this true historical event in the form of an epic novel, Vargas Llosa has given us a masterful tale of devotion, despair, misery, and personal redemption.

The War of the End of the World is an impossibly ambitious book which nevertheless succeeds completely, and in the process confirms that Vargas Llosa deserves to be considered among the great authors of all time. Unlike his other books, which are either frankly autobiographical or significantly based on the author's personal experience, this is a straightforward historical novel, taking place in 1890s northeastern Brazil. It is also a real novel of ideas, confronting very seriously such timeless topics as the relationship of individual to society and of faith and personal belief to law and social order, the source of state authority, and truth/beauty and means/ends issues. While somewhat "modern" in style - the narrative does not proceed in a linear fashion, perspectives shift sharply from one character to the next, and "truth" is often in the eye of the beholder - the book really aspires to be a Great Historical Novel in a classic mode, like The Red and the Black or War and Peace. (Personally, I think it is stronger than either of those; at the very least it belongs on the same shelf.) In other words, it is no post-modern mirror-job, but a serious attempt to engage all thoughtful people - including those who ordinarily do not care for fiction - in a subtle and thorough consideration of the factors that create Peru's Shining Path, or Waco, Jonestown, MOVE, Hamas, etc. Vargas Llosa even manages the trick of being both sympathetic to and critical of all sides. The relationship of the book to the author's subsequent (aborted) political career is also fascinating - it is difficult to believe that an author whose extradinarily acute, and depressing, analyses of politics and ideology would be willing to enter the actual world of politics, yet it is easy to see how he yearns for a real-world solution to the failures of the rich to understand the poor, of the poor to understand the rich, and of organized government to appreciate the value of people's actual lives. I recommend this book to everyone (except perhaps readers who cannot handle some extreme and sustained violence in the last part of the book).

This is perhaps Vargas Llosa's best novel and a must for all those well-meaning readers in the developed world who eagerly idealize Latin American revolutions without knowing anything about these countries.

The book is based on the true story of Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel ("O Conselheiro"), a mad prophet of sorts -kind of a weird Christian ayatollah of the late XIX Century- who ignited, in the most remote corner of Brazil, a bloody uprising among the lowly against Money, Property, Progress, Law, Army, Republic and State, and everything else he found oppressive, sinful and evil. In return, the Brazilian government reacted with indifference, disbelief, concern, anger, outrage and total annihilation.

Little by little, Vargas Llosa transforms this obscure anecdote into a monumental epic of Tolstoiesque proportions that not only hooks you on the plot but reveals the richly interwoven tapestry of Brazilian -and therefore Latin American- society; its illusions and delusions, its races and classes, its loves and hates, its fear of the modern and its contempt for the past, and the fanaticism that pervades both attitudes (to date).

I read this mammoth masterpiece during Christmass '94 at the midst of the Zapatista revolt in Chiapas, and it was sad to realize how little have we changed our societies. Our development always seems to engender inequality and our social struggles to defend backwardness and ignorance. Vargas Llosa is acutely aware of this, and he conveys it in his story splendidly, without preaching, without agendas, without aloofness and without letting you put down the book. Should you decide to read it, ask for a few days off!

Charlotte Bronte was the productive sister. Emily Bronte graced us with one powerful, brillient masterpiece. What about Anne, the forgotton Bronte sister? The Tenant of Wildfell Hall proves Anne Bronte has no trouble matching her sisters in talent. Brilliently executed, this novel engrosses your mind, leaving it immune to distractions.

This novel begins through the eyes of an English countryman, Mr. Markham, and continues switching to the viewpoint of Helen, a mysterious newcomer to Mr. Markham's small gossip-ridden community, and then back to Mr. Markham. The entire book is in first-person narrative- an excellent oppertunity for Bronte to flex her descriptive muscles. I found the characters to be well-developed and symbolic, especially Arthur Huntingdon. At first we are led to despise him, even wish for his death, yet as the story unfolds we pity him, even understand why Helen once loved him.

Bronte's message is clear- society torments women. This book is bold in it's suggestions, considering it was created in 19th century England. I suggest you buy it; it is a book to read more than once

'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' is written by the least remembered Bronte sister. Many people at the time, including her sister - Charlotte, thought that this book tackled inappropriate subject matter, but I disagree. It is a passionate book about a woman's struggle to free herself and her son from her dissolute husband. She flees to a broken down mansion where she attracts the attention of a young farmer. In order to clear the gossip surrounding her dwelling in Wildfell Hall, she offers him her diary to read, which takes up the main part of the narrative. This book is extremely readable and deserves much more attention than it actually receives. The female protagonist is a likeable woman, whose plight obtains sympathy with the reader. It has been described as a feminist book, before its time and when Helen Huntingdon shut the door on her husband it 'resounded throughout the whole of England'.

Anne is the Bronte we never read in school and most of us don't read afterwards, which is a big loss for those who don't, because she's at least as talented as her two older sisters. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" can hold its own against "Jane Eyre" or "Wuthering Heights" any day in the week, but it was panned in its own time, in large part because of its "unladylike" topic of alcoholism. Anne Bronte knew alcoholism first hand through her brother Bramwell who drank himself to death, and her revulsion of the alcoholic personality is central to this book. The heroine of "Tenant", Helen Graham, is a headstrong and independent young woman, who marries Arthur Huntington against the advice of her family. She is one of those who loves not wisely but too well, because Arthur, a selfish and irresponsible womanizer, cares about nothing but satisfying his own wishes and desires. Helen wants to help Arthur turn his life around, which Arthur couldn't care less about, and his drinking and adultery right under her nose eventually repels her to the point where she despises him as much as she once loved him. It is only when she sees him attempting to influence her young son to become a chip off the old block, that she realizes her responsibility as a mother to save her son from his father trumps her duty as a wife to stand by her husband. With the help of her brother, she runs away with her son to the anonymity of life in a small village. Here she meets Gilbert Markham, who falls in love with her, but realizes that their relationship has no future as long as her husband is alive. Arthur's ultimate death from alcoholism not only frees Helen from an abusive and degrading marriage, it also leaves her free to find happiness with Gilbert. Anne Bronte pulled no punches in writing this book and that is probably what so perturbed readers of her own era; too bad for them, because they were unable to appreciate this book for what it is, one of the unrecognized classics of English literature.

My favorite children's book, The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith, blends the simple vocabulary and sparse text of a beginner reader (think "Dick and Jane" sentance construction), bold graphics, and Simpsons-esque dysfunctional humor. Read it with your kids, or read it to yourself...just read it and enjoy!!!

When I see that a children's book has been written and illustrated by the same person, I ususally find some weakness in the story line or the visual presentation. Lane Smith has beat the pattern and authored a unique and entertaining book that caused my three children (ages 3, 11, and 12)to laugh out loud. The illustrations are marvelously spare, yet masterfully efficient in portraying the Happy quirky Hocky family. Did I tell you that I laughed out loud as well? I love sophisticated humour for kids; this is a fun book. I hope Lane Smith gives us more Hocky Family stories.

This book is so funny to read, and my 2nd grader delights in reading this book out loud! It's easy for him to decipher and he gets the funny jokes, and sarcasm and wit, it's really a scream with the illustrations as well. It reminds me of a book by Munro Leaf called "Manners Can be Fun" that is now out of print. This is a delightful book, and if your child has a sense of humor for the absurd, or a dry wit, this is for him/her.

I stumbled on this book when a friend recommended it. I was wary of the title, but the book is excellently written and very easy to read. It is an inspiring tale of Lisa Jura, a Jewish girl from Austria. In attempt to save her life, her parents send her away to England on the Kindertransport train.

The story of Lisa is wonderfully told. I was moved to tears several times and laughter several others.

You will love this story.

This is a Heroine's journey during time of war. From Vienna, the city of music, to a little house outside London, where Lisa Jura will find safety & a piano where she can continue her mother's legacy.

It is the memories of the descent into the hell that Adolph Hitler visited upon the people of Europe, upon the life of one girl with a huge talent & a family who sent her away that she might survive.

It is memories of danger & death, as well as hope & the goodness in people's hearts, & how a dream made a girl brave & true to her heritage.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE is passionate, engaging & charming, destined to find its place beside THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.

This is a Heroine's journey during time of war. From Vienna, the city of music, to a little house outside London, where Lisa Jura will find safety & a piano where she can continue her mother's legacy.

It is the memories of the descent into the hell that Adolph Hitler visited upon the people of Europe, upon the life of one girl with a huge talent & a family who sent her away that she might survive.

It is memories of danger & death, as well as hope & the goodness in people's hearts, & how a dream made a girl brave & true to her heritage.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE is passionate, engaging & charming, destined to find its place beside THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.

I first read this book when I was in highschool. Since then I've probably bought it and read it more times than I can count and I still find the sarcastic humor both enlightening and funny. Mr. Foster creates a truly alien society that is both fantastic but all too familiar.

I think that what I found most impressive was the way that the book made fun of the "responsible" character while the characters who are the stereotypical "irresponsible" were able to fit into the alien society. That says a lot about our human culture's ideas of acceptable mores.

I first read Glory Lane about five or six years ago and then resurrected it for my teen-age son. This book has become one of the few books that he and I both liked immensly. That the action takes place in our hometown makes it more fun than ever. Every aspect of it is believable. Assuming that aliens exist, every part of this adventure could actually happen. This is what makes it great. You can take this leap into fantasy, knowing that it could become a reality.

I've read many of Alan Dean Foster's novels and this one was one of the best. It was story about three teen agers, of total different personalities.They then get caught up into an inter-galactic war which they try to help their friend deliver a highly valuable "Thing" that many races want.It's also has humor which is a needed aspect in any novel.

Dakota Lane keeps her readers entralled in johnny Voodoo, a novel that explores young romance and intense characters. Johnny and Deirdre find themselves in a world all their own learning together how hard love can be. I love this book and I've reread it so many times. I recommend this book to all young readers out there. I hope Dakota Lane creates a sequel to this book. I long to read more of Johnny and Deirdre

I read Johnny Voodoo for my 2nd period English class. I thought that it was one, if not the best book that I have ever read. It is about two outcasts who are brought together through love. It is more of a romantice book and some people are not in to them but if you are I think that you would enjoy this book. The two outcasts are Deirdre and Johnny and the story takes place in Charmette, Louisiana. Deirdre moves to Charmette from New York and she is very lonely there until she meets Johnny who is a homeless teenager. Deirdre classmates see them together one day and they make fun of her because some of the girls think that Johnny is good looking and they are jealous of Deirdre. So, she does not have many friends in Charmette. Deirdre has one other thing that upsets her and it is her father. He is not the nicest person to her and her mother died when she was little. But, like I said it is more of a romance so if your in to that I recommend that you read this.

I always seem to come back to this book and read it over and over again. The compelling atmosphere of love and utter revoltion combined with delicious details sucks me right into the story and I REALLY wish I was there. It's like I can smell the damp woods, it's wonderful! Too bad she had to have a father to spoil it all...

Sam Powell and Lane Carter's "Almost a Whisper" provides a basic guide for horse owners who want to work with their horses. From the foundations of basic horse behavior patterns to understanding horse psychology for more effective training, this book provides a general focus on understanding and communicating with horses.

This book speaks volumes more than the 160 or so pages. Having read just about every book I can on Equine care etc., this is one that stays at the top. Sam not only communicates with the horse, but more importantly us all knowing humans.

One significant issue that struck me as so different is the character Sam demonstrates in giving credit to others. Very specifically his father for teaching him so much early on. Sam that is character. Something that is probably recognized by the horse quicker than the human.

This is a great book. Will it teach you something you have not already read in other trainers (whisperers) books. You bet it will. It has depth and a total lacking of self promotion. It has soul.

Sam and Lane, Thanks.

Sam is the " genuine article", a true horseman. I read the book and then found Sam. I have seen or been to many of the hyped up, famous horse " whispers" clinics/productions, and three trainers. I've read a ton of horse books. Thanks to Sam's book, I have now met and had him help me with my horses. If you want glitz and hollywood glamour, you won't find what you are looking for in Sam's book. If you are looking for someone to tell you how pretty your horse looks with his whiskers sheared, you won't find this in his book either. If you are looking for a real horseman, you will find him in this book. My horses have found a true friend and knowledgeable horseman in Sam. My hope is that after reading his book, you will begin to see the horse from the horse's point of view as opposed to the Hollywood image. One book can't cure all your horse problems, but it does give you insight and a place to begin. Many thanks to ... for recommending this book. Many, many thanks to Sam and Lane for being such gentle souls and taking the time to write this book for the benefit of the horse.

Talk about "the flip side!" This book was great. Jon Sceiszka has done a great job of protraying the wolf as a inocent victim. The true story was about a sneeze and a cup of sugar. The way that he inter-weaved the two stories was perfect. Jon told the wolfs side well without changing the original pattern of the story. I am a college student and a future teacher of America. I really enjoyed reading this book. I remember when it was first released and my 4th grade teacher read it in class! I loved it then and I love it now! This book is the perfect book to teach point of view, when comparing it to the traditional three little pigs story. It's also a good way to discuss the impact of media.

Jon Scieszka's "biography" of Al wolf's tru tale of a sneeze and a cup of sugar is an exciting and funny book. Al Wolf tells his tale as a simple misunderstanding and a Wolf that ate 2 pigs because he didn't want to waste any food. This new twist of the original story creates a new story for young kids to enjoy. Al Wolf makes the kids believe that the pigs are evil and that Al shouldn't be considered big and bad because his diet consists of cute fury animals. An excellent picture book for kids to see how the wolf is illustrated as a proper man, and the pigs illustrated as slobs. A must-buy book for all children.

I'm STILL chuckling after buying this book and reading it before gifting it to my nephew Greg, 11, and Kayla, 7. And,. as with other books by Jon Scieszka, the huge problem is: I want this book for MYSELF.

The bottom line is that in his version, wonderfully illstrated by Lane Smith, the Three Little Pigs is the ultimate story of SPIN CONTROL. This time, unlike in a zillion other versions, the wolf is telling HIS side of the story -- what REALLY happened. And to hear him tell his story (with all of the familiar elements and a delicious economy of words) it's all a terrible mistunderstanding about his allergy, his desire not to waste food, and distortions by the press.

None of this gives any of this away, since the genius of this is not only in the conception, but in the TELLING of the story. Don't consider this just a book for kids. You can EASILY gift it to friends, relatives, favorite (and unfavorite) politicians and members of the media. It's the perfect late 20th-early-21st century retelling of the story, with the wolf as the poor misunderstood victim (of the police, the media, and his health etc). Just like the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, this works on two levels so the adults will be as delighted as the kids by this story -- which could easily have run as one of Mad Magazine's better pieces.

Get it for the kids, read it for yourself...and get ready to realize what a great gift this would be for adults of any political persuasions. LOVED IT so much...I hate to give this to the kids! Kids of ALL ages will love this story, whether you read it to them or they read it themselves (so will the kids under 40 years old).