In 1924, two years after the famous discovery of King Tut's tomb with its amazing treasures, Dr. George Reisner, a world-famous Egyptologist, is exploring an archaeological site known as Giza 7000X. Joining the dig is young Will Hunt. The conceit here is that while Will and his family are fictitious, the rest of the information about Giza 7000X is true. Reisner was the director of the Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and everything you see in "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt" is based on the actual records of a history-making dig (diaries, object registers, photographs, and drawings) of the his expedition. Author Claudia Logan, a former museum educator and teacher, made this book with the cooperation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

We follow Will's adventures through his journal entries and postcards back home to his friend Sam, another member of the King Tut Club. Artist Melissa Sweet's illustrations, created in acrylic and watercolor, consist of luminous paintings of the pyramids and inventive collages of authentic documents and artifacts. Throughout the book there are sidebars providing information on ancient Egypt regarding the layout of the Great Royal Cemetery at Giza, cartouches, and hieroglyphs, as well as explaining the tools and tricks of the archeological trade. From pouring over "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle" young readers will come to appreciate the process by which archeologists unearth the past. Logan and Sweet also provide a sense of the time involved; Will saves a postcard telling about all the digging he has to do and there is a point where everyone sits around and waits for four months Dr. Reisner to return so they finally open the alabaster sarcophagus that has been found.

Even more impressive is the revelation that the puzzle of this title is one still waiting to be solved. Consequently, after suffering with Will through the tedious and painstaking tasks that are involved in discovering and opening an Egyptian tomb, young readers get to exercise their minds as well to come up with an explanation that fits the eight clues revealed through the book (do not worry; they are listed at the end to help). Dr. Reisner and a modern archeologist offer their own explanations, but the key thing here is that no one knows for sure. Whether teachers find a way of using this book for a class discussion or assign a bright student to do a report on it for class, "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle" is a great opportunity for challenging young minds to make their own judgments about each clue and come up with their own conclusions about "what really happened." The rests of us can hazard our own guesses as well.

In 1924, Dr George Reisner led an expedition to Egypt to explore the archaeological site, Giza 7000X. There, he and his team discovered a secret underground tomb belonging to Queen Hetep-heres, the mother of King Khufu who built the Great Pyramid. The tomb was carefully opened and painstakingly examined, but the contents yielded many questions and mysteries as to what happened to the queen, how she lived and died. Join fictional character, Will Hunt, as he and his family travel with Dr Reisner and participate in this amazing expedition and discovery, and maybe you can help solve the 5000-year-old puzzle..... Author, Claudia Logan, and illustrator, Melissa Sweet, have joined forces to create a fascinating and inspiring book filled with history, drama, archeaology, fun facts, trivia, anecdotes, and much, much more. Ms Logan's engaging text, told in Will Hunt's easy to read, diary entries, pulls the reader into the story and sends him/her back in time to a faraway and mysterious place, for the adventure of a lifetime. Ms Sweet's bold, busy, and captivating arwork includes original paintings combined with postcards, cartoons, collages, ancient artifacts, photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, and informational sidebars. Young and old alike will enjoy poring over and exploring the illustrations, and finding something new and exciting with each page turn. Perfect for youngsters 8-12, The 5000-Year-Old Puzzle is a creative and inventive archaeology lesson, presented in an innovative and entertaining format. So come join the expedition. The secrets of Giza 7000X are waiting to be discovered

This is a condensed version of the Psalms as editted by the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735). It is illustrated by plates of the Latin and translated well by a professor of Classics at the University of Illinois (Urbana). The translation is very readable.

The condensations may be as long 11 or 12 verses or a short as a phrase. Often they trigger a memory of the Psalm from which they come; this would be even more common among those who regularly pray the Psalms. Reading the condensations gives an overview of the Psalms as a whole, that is difficult to observe when reading the entire Psalter. This overview helps place the various psalms in their literary and theological context.

One oddity in Bede's abridgment; Psalm 50 not only prefigures Jesus but refers directly to him! The brief introduction explains this and the single line from Psalm 136 which in no way implies the well-known "By the waters of Babylon".

If you are interested in the early Church in England, liturgy, or a devotional version of the Psalms, this version is well worth exploring.

I puchased this book for my wife as a birthday present. Ironically I read it once she was done, based on her flowering recomendation. It was fantastic, well written, and inspirational. The pictures of the original texts are beutiful. I will read a page or two when ever I need a quick pick me up. In these times, thats probably going to be often.

Ben Witherington is simply one of the finest Christian scholars of our day. This work on Acts is another of his colossal achievements. The introduction covers all the ground one would expect (authorship, date, audience, structure, theology, purpose, etc), as well as a tremendous amount of detailed background information regarding Luke's use of rhetoric and the sociological situation of the day. The huge treatment of the question of whether Luke-Acts is biographical or historical monograph is extremely helpful. The detail of this work is immense.

The thing I like about Ben Witherington's work is that it is obvious that he is not merely reshaping the work of other writers. He seems to have combed through the text with careful thought and emerged with provocative insights in some areas, and helpful reiteration of historic viewpoints in others. His sections, A CLOSER LOOK, provide detailed information not found in other commentaries. Another great benefit of this work is that Witherington has surely plumbed the depths of the difficult work of C.K. Barrett, which likely influenced his research at times along the way. Barrett's work (ICC) is too difficult for most of us, but we can enjoy some of it through Witherington's work.

This commentary is a treasure that will yield great riches to the pastor/teacher in a study through Acts. Use it along with Bruce and Marshall (and, perhaps, Fitzmeyer), for an exhaustive study of Acts.

This 850+ page book is a great introduction for the serious student of Acts. Witherington begins with a hundred pages of crucial background information covering traditional topics such as genre of Luke and Acts, authorship, date, audience, purpose, chronology, text, etc. He also shows the need for new literary criticism in Acts that looks specifically at Luke's use of rhetoric and the diverse social setting of the ancient world. He also includes an extensive bibliography of significant books and articles on Acts. Witherington's divisions of the text are orderly and easy to follow. He deals with the first chapter of Acts separately, then comments on Pentecost, the work in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, the Antioch church and its missionary efforts, the trials of Paul, and his subsequent journey to and imprisonment in Rome. Perhaps the most unique and helpful features are Witherington's "A Closer Look" sections. The commentary contains over 25 of these 4-8 page asides that deal with a specific topic in Luke-Acts scholarship mentioned in the text, but not eseential for reading Acts. You may want to read them all, but you will likely read some closely and skim over others. Another advantage of this work is that it is written from a very balanced position. Witherington believes that Acts is in some way inspired by God and treats it accordingly. But he is also a serious scholar and deals with problems related to the text or its interpretation. This commentary is not bedtime reading, but it's not impossible. Knowing Greek helps, but it is not necessary. Witherington is a good writer, and has produced a great volume of work in recent years. The book includes a great deal of information. You would have to buy several books and commentaries to cover this much ground in Acts.

This is another excellent book in this Williamson art series for children. The cover says it's for ages 8-13, and I'd like to emphasize that it's definitely not for younger children, although a few can be adapted for younger children. Many projects are challenging enough that high school students and adults should enjoy them also.

Many of the projects take a definite commitment to time and care in order to have good results. There are some that require meticulous attention to details and fine motor coordination. Quite a few projects use an exacto knife to cut our small pieces of paper or poster board. There is a soap carving which requires a paring knife. Other potentially difficult and dangerous materials and equipment include glass sheets, turpentine, bleach, nail polish, cooking oil and paraffin heated for making candles, dye, needle and thread, tiny bits of paper for mosaic, wire cutters, pliers, handsaw, drill for a wooden birdhouse, nails for piercing a metal can, vegetable peeler, iron.

There are paintings and drawings using special techniques with pencil, paint, charcoal and markers, as well as many 3-dimensional projects that use folding, carving, building and other methods. Although there is an excellent variety of projects that can turn out very satisfyingly, there should be supervision for many of them, especially for younger children.

I highly recommend this art activity book. The ideas are original and fun and yet they are not exhausting to complete. As I homeschool our girls, I have found this book to be a great asset in my thematic approach to learning.

This is a great book my concept about this book it content arewell put together for the struggle of african americans in thesouthern mississippi state.I have not finish the whole book yet it is help to me so far.

This book is well written with excellent historical views concerning the old confederacy. Facts are documented and well organized . This book is wonderful for minority students.

Alexander, The Old Town Mouse is one of my sons' and my favorite books! My 3 & 6 year old boys (and I) adore the detailed illustrations and the fun-filled story of Alexander's "mousequerade ball". Alexander's creativity is second only to that of the author & illustrator of this book.

This is just on of the Barnes' FABULOUS children's books!

I bought my 3 nieces a book and they love it when I read it to them -- very colorful and easy to follow along. It's a fun way to teach history about a very historic city.

I'm a beginning fiddle player and I enjoyed this book because the songs are a nice change of pace and have a genuine sound and melody. As someone who doesn't read music well, I'd recommend contacting the publisher for the accompanying CD.

Allan MacDonald's collection of original old time style fiddle tunes is a great mixture of catchy, fast-learn waltzes, hoedowns, schottisches, and two-steps for master fiddlers or beginner fiddlers alike. For those fiddlers who learn new tunes by ear, there is also a tape or CD of these tunes available from Allan MacDonald's MCCBS Studio. The tunes, played by Allan MacDonald himself, were recorded at his studio in North Idaho, a beautiful mountainous area from which he selected the names of many of his tunes.

Full of interesting, charming, and humorous anecdotes gathered from letters and diaries, Roberts accomplishes the elusive task of making history informative and entertaining. Roberts repudiates the notion that the forty-niners were predominately working-class folk, explaining instead that most forty-niners were actually of middle-class origin (pointing out that the trip to California was expensive). These middle-class forty-niners, Roberts illustrates, joined the gold rush as a "rebellion against certain middle-class values; this revolt, in turn, was largely carried out by middle-class individuals." The gold rush provided an escape for those who sought freedom from the confines of Victorian mores.

Few books have as much to teach about the history of Californians or the United States. I recommend American Alchemy highly to anyone interested in innovative books about American history and culture.

I found the book lovely, restful, funny, and full of wonderful tips. Elizabeth, her family and her community really come to life on the pages. I very much enjoyed this book.

Having met Elizabeth Coblentz a number of years ago, I was thrilled to buy a copy of her book. There are terrific photos and the recipes are fabulous. Would make a great permanent addition to anyones cookbook collection!

Jonah is perhaps one of the least understood books of the Bible, with most people unable to get by the "whale" (actually, dag gadol, or great fish). The book contains fascination interaction between men and God, which Sasson brings out well.

Not only does Sasson go phrase by phrase through the four-chapter book of Jonah, discussing the book, discussing sources, but he provides us with an excellent translation, and lengthy introduction and postscripts. You'll read about the millenia-old debate as to whether Jonah is historical or not.

Sources from Jewish, Christian, secular, and other traditions are used.

Anyone from beginner to expert will get something out of this book, and it really doesn't matter what religion you are. I have no idea what religion Sasson is a member of. Jews may have a slight advantage in the discussions of Masoretic cantillation, since many learn them in preparation for Bar Mitzvah, but it really isn't necessary for a good understanding of what Sasson is getting at.

A good source for the reference library, or for anyone interested in learning more about the Book of Jonah than the 51 verses in the Bible.

Sasson's commentary on the book of Jonah follows in the best tradition of the Anchor Bible commentary series. While Sasson is a leading scholar, he avoids the hypertechnicality that permeates some modern Bible commentaries. Sasson is quite fair to the commentators that have proceeded him. In a lengthy introduction, he reviews the various interpretations given the book of Jonah as, for example, irony, comedy, allegory, parable, etc., giving each approach its due. Sasson also reviews the scholarly arguments over the dating of the book. Sasson comments on each chapter, verse by verse, and does an excellent job of showing themes that run through the book. In addition, relying upon sources from the ancient world, Sasson sheds light on many of the mundane activities described in the book, such as seafaring and travel. As is customary with Anchor Bible commentaries, Sasson includes a lengthy bibliography.

Even if you end up disagreeing with Sasson's own interpretation, you will surely find enlightening his generous approach that includes so many other viewpoints. This is an excellent book for anyone desiring an intensive study of one of the world's best known big fish stories.