This book is Historical information on both the area I grown up in and family bacvkground. I greatly enjojed not only ready this book, but found that being about to see many of the places and items mentioned in the bok added to my enjoyment. Please note that "Boy Captive of Canada" and "Boys of the Border" follows this. All 3 are excellant and contain much interesting information on the settlement of Western Mass.

This is the first in a series that cronicles young Stephen's life in an early American, frontier town and capture by indians from Canada. The book was not only hard to put down because of continual actions, but I was always learning a little bet here and there about early colional life and Native American life.

The first chapter was a little tough getting used to some of the Olde English spelling an phrases. But soon I no longer noticed them at all. I would recommend this book to anyone from about 5th grade and up.

I won't spoil the ending, but do yourself a favor and order "The Boy Captive in Canada" at the same time because the story doesn't end in this book. It continues into the next.

Penn has led me to insight into my own mixed-up family as my mother seems to have forgotten her own mixblood memory--had it not been for my grandparents, I would have never known my great-grandparents were members of the Delaware nation. Racial shame is the wrong way to bring up your children, and Penn clearly depicts the suffering it inflicts upon the entire family.

I think that good autobiography brings us to that space and place in our humanity where we must stop and rethink America's history so we do not continue to make the same mistakes again. Penn relates how American history has affected his own family from Chief Joseph to the present. What I enjoyed most was the way he wove textual criticism of other Native authors and their works into the story of his life. He is truly a gifted storyteller, and knows how to connect with his reader.

This is an amazing book. It is hard to write about one's own family and make it interesting. To go further and make it not only interesting, but relevant to others, takes a writer of rare talent. Penn is clearly such a writer, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the creative and original approach taken in this work. The author draws thought-provoking parallels and connections between his own mixblood Indian family's dreams, visions, failures and successes, and those of other families, in particular other native and mixed-blood families, including exploration of the writing of many historical native American figures. This is a creative and very original book, highly recommended.

This book is so enjoyable to read that you may be surprised how much you are learning and gleaning from its insights. This book has great examples of how to apply lessons to your day-to-day life. I loved Rabbi's other book, but this is great in a totally different way. It is non-political but still has a lot to say on th best way for us to organize our relationships, relate to our Maker, and become successful in our professional lives. This book made me want to meet the author and ask his advice on everything- which most 'self help' books do not usually do. I heartily recommend it.

I went to Hebrew school in the 1970s for my bar mitzvah and "learned Hebrew" -- meaning, learned how to pronounce the letters, while having absolute no idea what the words meant. This is about all the Hebrew education Reform and Conservative Jews tend to get from their temples. Later I learned to understand Hebrew well enough to read the Pentateuch. As a longtime resident of the Upper West Side, Manhattan, I heard all kinds of rabbis talk about all kinds of Jewish subjects. But I didn't REALLY begin to comprehend this amazing language till I started reading Rabbi Lapin's writings about the insights that are coded in the very structure of Hebrew grammar, spelling, etc. So when I heard he'd written a whole book about Hebrew, I was very excited. I'm a little disappointed that the book isn't more comprehensive; it's fairly short. Hopefully there'll be a second volume. But what's here is great: a variety of Hebrew words analyzed in detail, in a very accessible, charming way, that yield lots of sometimes-counterintuitive "life lessons" about everything from sex to work to deepening your relationship with God. There's no heavy grammar or vocabulary. You won't come away from the book being able to speak or read Hebrew. That's not the point. It's more like a series of fun, elegant essays about life that unfold from Lapin's incomparable command of this ancient tongue. I've read all about those "Bible code" books, that are supposed to show how information is coded in the text of the Hebrew Bible. I'm not sure about that. But the way Hebrew works -- almost like mathematics -- is enough to make you wonder if there's something supernatural going on with this language. I mean, I don't think Enlish works that way. "Buried Treasure" is a pretty accurate title for this book.

This book has given me much to think about and provided much comfort. The "much to think about" comes from Part One where Stone looked at storytelling communities. Her analysis of them helped me see more clearly what's here in Kentucky and how those communities function as well as what might be missing and how those could come about and could function. Part Two provided "much comfort." Here Stone looked at individual tellers as they talked about the development of the telling of a specific tale. She also included a transcript of the tale as the teller told it to her. This was fascinating since I love telling fairy and folk tales (wondertales, Stone calls them) and am not that interested in creating parodies or spicing them up in ways that call attention to the teller's cleverness instead of to the story. To read about how storytellers have worked on the telling of a story and about how the story has worked on the teller was like looking in a mirror at my ways of working and seeing that I truly am not alone. Although my comments touch on only a fraction of the subject matter in Kay Stone's book, those two aspects are what burns brightest for me now. To read it was a fine and wonderful experience with thoughts and images "burning brightly" to illuminate my path. Thank you, Kay Stone.

In Burning Brightly: New light on old tales told today, Kay Stone tracks the revival of oral storytelling in Canada. Since the dawn of human history storytellers have entertained, educated and inspired members of their communities, but in the age of books and television their art almost died out, relegated to story hours for children. Early chapters of Burning Brightly explore the many adult storytelling communities which have arisen in cities and rural areas over the last twenty years, including four streams: "traditional", library/educational, theatrical, and spiritual/therapeutic. The book shows how these communities fulfill the human need for meaning and connection. Traditional tales, including many from the Grimm collections, retain their relevance in today's world. Stone explores the reasons tellers choose these old tales and the ways they rework them. In the second half of her book, Kay Stone explores in depth the life stories, thoughts and repertoires of eight contemporary tellers, including herself. Texts of their stories are included. Her own tale, that of a curious girl who meets a dangerous crone and finds her own storytelling voice, acts as a metaphor for the revival of oral storytelling as a performance art. Kay Stone offers rare insights based on her dual career as a popular Winnipeg storyteller and an internationally recognized folklorist. Her book shows the depth and breadth of today's storytelling as does no other book I have seen, and is a valuable resource for storytellers, folklorists and anyone interested in oral tradition and community building.

Simple rhyming text celebrates every potential action of wiggly toes, as young African-American children play their way through the pages. The brief line form consists of one present-tense verb paired with the word "toes", and with the imagination of a young listener the poem can continue long after the reader is finished, by using the simple combination of action and "toes".

In the case of "Busy Toes", you sure can tell a book by its cover! The delightful cover illustration of a little girl on her toes invites you to turn the pages with your fingers (or toes). Simple, say-it-all, words accompany each rich illustration of a child manipulating his/her toes. The rainbow of faces reminds us of the wonderful diversity of our world and delight in moving toes serves as a common bond. The authors and illustrator have created a book that will bring a smile to a child and adult alike......and the desire to wiggle your toes!

I have owned this book for years and use it often in my work as a historic garment researcher & seamstress. Copious primary source material in the form of store ads, photographs of original garments in the Museum's collection, and easy-to-understand, logical descriptions of the times and social conditions under which these clothes were worn. ...

The pictures are beautiful, the information is extensive, and it'll make you want to sew!

Stewart tells us a splendid story. In 1840, California was there to be settled, but how to cross the deserts and mountains to reach it? Beginning with the Bartelson Party in 1841, pioneers blazed ever-better trails that avoided deserts, followed water, and crossed the mountains, especially the forbidding peaks of the Sierras. But even though trails improved, they were still treacherous, as shown by the doomed Donner Party in 1846. We get a fascinating picture of the West, and Stewart even takes on a trip along the California Trail, from Independence, Missouri to Sacramento via Fort Laramie, Wyoming's South Pass, Nevada's Humboldt River, and over Donner Pass. If you enjoy travel or American history, you can spend many, pleasant hours with this book.

Because my family also migrated to California (albiet in 1993) I have been interested in the history of the settling of the American west. This book was wonderfully informative but also very compelling reading. It chronicles the annual human migrations from the Missouri to California, including the ill-fated Donner party (in 1845)and the famous "49ers". The author did a very good job comparing the immigrants mode of travel, unique difficulties faced during each of these migration years, route finding and heroes and villans, and the sweat and tears progress which lead to the wider opening and settlement of the west.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the settlement of the west or anyone who just wants to read a good old-fashioned adventure story based in historical fact.

Mr. Baldwin's book was very readable. It was a telling and insightful look at a most important time in American history. I only wish my high school American history classes talked more about the everyday lives of real people; I would have remembered a lot more about the Revolution other than Washington crossed the Delaware! As a direct descendant of Captain Piggot(t), it was all the more fascinating to me.

This book made the revolution, the frontier and my ancestors come alive for me. Carl Baldwin is a storyteller in the grand sense of the word. If I would have had history teachers like this, all of my classmates would have went into politics, teaching or writing. Mr. Baldwin, may he rest in peace, was a meticulous researcher. His description of the period was excellent, as was his knowledge of the characters. As I read, I followed his characters to the American revolutionary warfront and back. On the frontier, I followed the author up and down the Missippi. The characters are as big as life. Not only has he told us about the heroes we already know about, he has painted a portrait of my courageous, steady and true ancestors, Captain James Piggott and his wife, Frances James Piggott. Frances is a real life heroine and I am proud to be descended from her. I loved the book and I am so grateful that Carl Baldwin wrote it.

The sign of a good book is when you are very sorry to turn the last page! I liked the fact this book combines an interesting mystery with a facts about the United States during the 1920s to 1960s. There are lots of fascinating old pictures to pour over.

This is a fascinating true mystery! The historical comments are interesting as well. Much of the book reads like a "Little House" book, except for adults, and about a different time period. Humorous anecdotes add a personal touch. The author goes back and forth between the mystery of why her father changed his identity and left his family, to her mother's extensive memoirs of the period between 1919 and 1980, to things happening with her father's family in St. Louis, to world history events. The book is full of photographs stratecically placed. A recommended read!

William Brown is talented as a biblical scholar, a theologian and a writer. Alarmed that the Church has virtually ignored the diverse and theologically-rich books of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes, Brown makes a strong argument that the function of biblical wisdom is character formation. He also shows an interest in ethics, speculating throughout about how individuals embodying sapiential virtues might interact with the larger community. Brown finally argues that the NT letter of James draws on the OT wisdom tradition's emphasis on consistency of conduct and conviction for the individual and the community. His conclusion, like the rest of the book, is provocative: "The final test of wisdom and character is the quality of community it engenders" (164).

I began reading this book with hardly any knowledge about Old Testament wisdom literature, and now that I've finished, I am able to carry on a fairly intelligent discussion about the whys and wherefores of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Character in Crisis explores the above writings and explains how they reinvent the traditional view of wisdom found in Old Testament times. Each wisdom writer is on a quest to discover how to live with integrity and godliness in spite of suffering, frustration, and daily difficulties. Brown details each person's journey, keeping his explanations weighty enough to be interesting but colorful and applicable so that they are not lost in theological babble. His arguments keep the mind churning in an effort to work out the questions presented by the Old Testament books, and he encourages readers to embark on their own quest for character. Books that delve into the theology of the wisdom writings are far and few between, so if you desire a solid foundation in Old Testament wisdom literature, this may be the book for you.