This book is a dazzling romp! It's both smart and entertaining at once. I learned more than I expected and urge others to purchase this under-appreciated book!

This is an amazing gem of a book! I've always admired Ellen Stern's writing, and this is some of her best yet! (I do recommend A Passion For Red also). Who knew that Ann Landers and "Dear Abby" were twins? Or that Jackie Kennedy and her sister, Lee, didn't always get along? Pick up this book immediately!

This book is just fascinating! What a fount of information! My two sisters and I love the clever mix of history and humor, photos and illustrations. It's a great gift idea for the person who has everything -- including a sister.

The TWO GARDENERS in question are Katherine White of New Yorker fame and Elizabeth Lawrence who wrote a garden column for years for the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. White's columns on gardening written for the New Yorker magazine were compiled by her husband E. B. White (CHARLOTTE'S WEB, STUART LITTLE) and published after her death in 1977 in the book entitled ONWARD AND UPWARD IN THE GARDEN. Lawrence wrote a number of books, including THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE and THE LITTLE BULBS. Her book THE MARKET BULLETINS was completed by the New Jersey gardener Alan Lacy. The market bulletins were wonderful publications farm women in the South used to communicate information about seeds, plants, animals, receipts (what they called recipes), and other items they for sale or being sought. Elizabeth shared a good deal of information about the market bulletins which were not published north of Virginia with Katherine whose one interests lay with garden catalogues when their friendship began.

Lawrence and White corresponded for several decades. The two women discussed their gardens, their columns, their books, and their lives. In the early part of their correspondence, they often wrote each other by return mail. Toward the end of Katherine's life, the letters were few and far between as illness began to affect her movement and ability to see. In spite of their suffering, they continued to observe the world around them and relay how things were going in the garden-the latest blooms, the ravenous mice, the unexpected cold snap, the new greenhouse. Their words remind me of the hope and comfort women have long experienced when a letter from a loved one arrives. As my 87-year old aunt with whom I still correspond says, it doesn't matter what you write, the smallest thing matters.

The editor of this collection of letters Emily Wilson, quotes a librarian who remarked after having read the letters Elizabeth and Katherine wrote to each other, "I got a feeling of moral interdependence on a creative level. Somehow I had viewed the creativity of successful people as a strong force that perhaps needed channeling but not encouragement. Now, on this new-to-me-plane, I see again that no man is an island."

As the editor of TWO GARDENERS/KATHARINE S. WHITE AND ELIZABETH LAWRENCE, I welcome hearing from readers. I am now writing the biography of Elizabeth Lawrence and would benefit from hearing others' understanding of her, both in these letters and in her books. Emily Herring Wilson

Delightful! The correspondence of 19 years between White and Lawrence is insightful, informative and elegant! Their letterse (far more elegant than e-mail) give us glimpses into life in the 60's and 70's and beyond. This book, which is expertly edited by Emily Herring Wilson has inspired a perennial garden at our Wisconsin home and a renewed interest in the writings of E.B. White, not to mention the writings of Katharine White and Elizabeth Lawrence. These two career women and ladie were supportive and encouraging of one another for 19 years!

This book has beautiful illustrations and can be used for a great way to expand minds as to how the earth and all that's on it came to be. It can also help children use their imagination to experience God being refered to as a woman. Lester uses great similes. This book is beautifully written.

When I first glanced through Julius Lester's take on creation I thought I would never read it through. I tend to view most retellings of Creation based on how they represent Eve and whether they allot any responsibility at all to Adam - and I was afraid that this book, like so many others, would fall short of my hopes. Then, as I began reading, I thought I loved it so much that it would be the easiest book I ever reviewed for anyone. Instead, the book forced me to explore so many facets of possibility - both of my own sense of God and how others might feel about the different aspects of this book - that it became a decidedly more complex task. Perhaps a book that raises more questions that it provides answers for is the greatest book of all - but that doesn't make it a simple task for the reviewer!

Julius Lester is an African American Jewish convert and as such he brings an amazingly fresh view of one of the best known Judeo-Christian tales. In his introduction he explains to parents and older children about the Jewish method of using stories to explore the realm of possibility between the sparse lines of sacred text. He encourages parents to omit sections they may not feel comfortable with, and he adds an element from Afro-American folklore: Lester's God is not necessarily all-knowing. He (sometimes she) is playful and makes mistakes, and a lot of things seem to happen by accident, including the discovery that he even has the ability to create.

Lester begins with God and the angels sitting alone in dark timelessness with nothing to do. Once God makes the discovery that his words produce results, not everything runs smoothly; there are animals who are disgruntled being who they are and Satan opens a school to teach angels how to clip the wings on others who are resting as well as how to sneak off to visit Earth without God knowing. He creates man and woman despite the warnings from some of the angels, and while I was at first concerned that the book might me misogynistic in regards to the eating of the forbidden fruit, Lester does a remarkable job of making the mistakes all around seem like obvious human realities - as well as making it clear that God continues to forgive and love and accept what he knew all along was going to happen.

Amidst the humor of the text are profound questions: Who is God? What is God? What do angels think? Why did God make the choices that he did? To some, both the humor and the questions may seem disrespectful - I even asked myself that question more than once throughout the book. Yet, in my own experience working through my thoughts and feelings, I felt a stronger sense of connection to the Divine in the universe and saw a million windows of opportunity in the conversations I would expect to have with my son as we read it together. Lester's work makes the exploration of religion come alive.

Parents would do well to pre-read this book and explore their own feelings and reactions - regardless of their religious background - not just to have a sense of how their own child would might react but to be prepared for the inevitable questions and commentary that any child will bring to this text. I see the mutual exploration of this book as an amazing opportunity for mutual growth and sharing, and as laying a foundation in searching the sacred and spiritual that can (as I believe it should) last a lifetime.

Wearing simultaneously the hats of story-teller, dedicated scholar, and observant Jew, Professor Julius Lester has crafted an engaging clutch of stories which present the Bible's account of the world's creation. These stories use as their point of departure many of the "midrashim", the rabbinic stories of centuries past, which came into being to amplify and clarify what is sometimes only implicit in the text. He does so utilizing the same skills he has used so effectively before: humor, imaginative language, and a willingness to flirt with irreverence for the sake of opening the reader up to new possibilities to be found in this ancient recounting of how God brought the world and its creatures into being.

Rabbi Marc Gellman's excellent book, "Does God Have A Big Toe?", explores similar territory but Professor Lester's work lends itself especially well to oral presentation. The conversations amongst the minstering angels are hip, funny and thought-provoking, and will send readers of any religious persuasion back to the opening chapters of Genesis with eyes and minds opened wide. Emily Lisker's droll full-color illustrations do a lovely job of opening up the text even further.

This book will find a place of honor on my shelf, alongside others which serve as gateways to a deeper understanding of our Scriptural legacy.

i'm a french reader of this book and i didn't know anything about computers before reading this book which is the first one i read. it is very well written and beginners can really understand almost everything this book has helped me to improve my regitry and the one of my friends whitout any problem -------------------------------------------julien

i'd like to say that the authors are very sympathics and they answered my questions as clearly as possible

The tricks on how to preserve the registry have saved me (and my customers) a great deal of trouble.

I work in the computer support industry and have found the book great.

This book is an excellent hands on guide to understanding what a registry is and how it can effect your computing life. It is written in a basic manner so as not to lose anyone, no matter what their computing background. The glossary gives excellent definitions to the questions that that most people will have. The tools on the CD-Rom that accompanies the book are helpful. With the included tools and this new found knowledge about my registry, I have been able to slim up my registry and speed up my computer like never before. One fact that I did not know before reading this book is that a regular backup of your system does not backup your registry so...if your system crashes you have to start all over again to build your registry, BUT...there is hope and it is in this book. It give detailed instructions on how to backup your registry (several options). I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about Windows 95 Registry and how to save yourself from it.

Maddie begins a pen pal relationship with a stranger when she finds a balloon and a note attached; but quickly comes to believe her new friend is a ghost from the past. Pearl uses old-fashioned phrases and sends a photo decades old; but the real surprise comes when Maddie decides to track her down. Mystery, supernatural overtones, struggles with a new person in the family and a surprise ending make for a fast-paced, highly recommended story.

Write Me If You Dare! is a compelling story of Maddie, an endearing, fun-loving, courageous eleven-year-old who has lost her mother. A pen pal comes into her life just as her father begins dating a woman quite different from her mother. Maddie, her father, and grandfather and their relationships are exceptionally well-drawn and convincing as Maddie tries to accept her father's new friend. Interwoven throughout the book is a fascinating study of the family's bee-keeping enterprise. The story is told in a warm, reflective style, while Maddie herself is a bright, engaging youngster full of personality. I grew to love the characters. This story is meant for 8-12 year-olds, but I am a full-blown adult who laughed aloud, cried and felt every emotion in between as I read to the finish. I hope Emily Rhoads Johnson writes many more stories!

Maddie, the book's main character, is wonderful. She's bold and adventuresome, smart and fair, and best of all someone who knows how to stand up for herself. But she is also going through a tough time and feels lonely and abandoned--like many 12 year olds. She finds a mysterious letter telling her "Write me if you dare" and begins a correspondence that allows her to feel better for a while, and eventually helps her to grow up a bit. I won't reveal the great ending, but will mention that the book has the added attraction of teaching readers all about the beekeeping business, a family business that Maddie helps out with that gives her a sense of competence and being needed. It's a good book for any 10 to 13 year old but particularly for girls that age who may be struggling to adjust to life with just one parent (Maddie's mom has died) or to accept a parent's new partner.

Stella finds a golden retriever who's been hit by a truck on her way to school. She sees that where he got killed there is a big bend in the road where people can't see too well, and that can cause many more animals their lives. Will Stella be able to get the bend in the road fixed before it's too late?

This book shows the maximum that a young girlm can feel about any topic. Miss Costello wonderfuly shows the rush, tense feeling of a vetranary room. She draws in the reader with her supenceful words and exciting, seamingly, real life, drama of a young girl whos love for animals (of any kind) over thrwo anything and everything else in her life whether it be school, time or any thing else.

Superior!!! I read this book years ago after the birth of my son. It filled me with such depth of emotion (no book since has made me feel like I was part of it) If you have never read it, read it. The characters and countryside will remain with you for life!

Apple Tree Lean Down is the foundation book of all of MaryPearce's writings. If you can find it,count yourself as one of thelucky ones! Mary Pearce writes about english farm life like no one else on the planet.Her characters have such depth, that you feel they are old friends. Her historical knowledge of the way farm life was in the 1800's is phenomenal.All of her books are unforgettable, and you find yourself reading them over and over again.Jack Mercybright is a living breathing person you wish you could meet.And there is excitement,suspense,drama and death as well as beauty of the English Countryside. I can't say enough good things about this remarkable author. Lynda Blair

I was thrilled to find this book at my local public library. The more I read, however, the more I wished to own a copy myself so that I could refer to it again and again.

I would rate the spiritual factor of this book at least a 10. The world would be a better place if all of us could revere trees in the way of Stephanie Kaza. The stories are rich, honest, and full of love. The illustrations are beautiful, free, and alive. The only thing I didn't care for in the book was the extremely Buddhist perspective; I found it structured & confining. Still, a very beautiful and moving book--Particularly, the chapters on the Coastal Redwoods and Bristlecone Pines. As a tree artist and hardcore druid-at-heart (especially when it comes to redwoods), I very much enjoyed it. I appreciate a book which provides such utter spiritual reverance and love (which we have often towards animals), to trees!.

I hit the jackpot when I found this book on the New Shelf at my local library. What a treasure! Once I started this book, it was very difficult to put down. Emily Watts had me from the first page with her humor, honesty and down-to-earth wisdom. I couldn't help wishing that she was my neighbor, mother-in-law or co-worker. This book is a real pick-me-up for anyone drowning in the responsibility, effort and amazing amount of laundry that comes with motherhood. You'll find yourself laughing out loud as she describes struggling over homemade drum-shaped cookies for her child's preschool class only to realize that they would have been just as pleased with a Ho Ho and some licorice sticks.Later you'll be touched as she describes the moments to remember from each stage of childhood. This book is alive with spirituality, common sense and truly useful advice from someone who's been there.

Unlike many child rearing books this one is real. No perfect kids, no perfect parents but a lot of great times to be enjoyed as a mother. Many of the suggestions in this book are things you will learn after you've had several children and tried to do it all really well. If you can learn them now you will enjoy the journey of motherhood so much more. Emily Watts is honest, frank, and funny and will help to give you perspective for those days you just want to scream, cry, and hide under a blanket. It's a quick pick me up and it does have some great stories and ideas. The best part is, it is written by a woman who despite the frustrations of parenting, and sometimes because of them, really enjoys being the mom and wants you to enjoy being the mom too.

1870 -- Arizona and Chicago, Illinois

Georgia "Georgie" Kennedy traveled all over the western states with her wanderlust-afflicted father, until he decided to finally settle down in a small Arizona mining town. Since her father's death, Georgie still works the gold mines, and acts more like a man than a woman. She wears coveralls and flannel shirts, can shoot, arm-wrestle, and take down Apaches with the best of them. After selling one of her two mining claims to longtime friend, Cooper "Cougar" Barnes, a lawyer appears in town to tell Georgie that the claims weren't hers to sell -- her grandfather owns them. Her grandfather also wants her to come to Chicago so that he can make amends for the hard life she's had to lead. With no choice but to try to straighten out the mess with the claim, Georgie goes to Chicago. What she finds there is a stubborn old man bent on turning her into a lady, and marrying her off to the most eligible bachelor in the city. He proposes a deal -- Georgie will get her claims back if she stays for at least a year, and shows true effort in becoming a lady. And so, Georgie, the wildcat, must now become Georgia, the lady.

Cougar Barnes is one unhappy man. Left behind while Georgie goes off to dally in Chicago, he decides to follow and keep an eye on her -- strictly to protect his claim, he keeps telling himself. What he finds is an astounding and eye-opening change in Georgie, making him reevaluate his reasons for being there. Cougar has always had feelings for Georgie, but now that he's confronted with the lady she's become, not to mention a rival, and an old man who wants him out of Georgie's life, Cougar realizes just how deeply those feelings go. He concocts a plan to take Georgie back to Arizona before she does anything rash, like marrying someone else. What he doesn't bargain on is the fact that Georgia is still "Georgie" deep down inside, and she's not about to let him take control of her life.

BECOMING GEORGIA is an entertaining read, rich in historical detail, and sparkling dialogue. Georgie's reaction, however, to seeing Cougar, and the betrayal she feels, didn't ring true, nor did her constant harping about him just wanting her for her gold. Otherwise, humorous scenes abound while Georgie is being "made" into a lady, and her companion in Chicago, Elizabeth, is a wonderful, endearing character.

Overall, BECOMING GEORGIA, is a fast-paced story with detailed descriptions of setting and how hard life was in the mining towns of 1870. Fans of Emily Carmichael's modern day romantic comedies might be a bit disappointed in her foray into historical romance, but whichever era you prefer, Ms. Carmichael is a talented writer.

Georgie Kennedy can whip any man twice her size, and has. Now, though, she has come up against an opponent she just can't lick, her grandfather. It seems that the gold stake she sold Cougar Barnes actually belongs to the old goat, and he has reclaimed it. This puts Georgie in the awkward position of having inadvertently cheated a friend, but there is a way out of her mess. If she will agree to grandpa's terms, come back to "civilization", become a "lady" and marry the wimp he has picked out, thus cementing a business merger, the mine is hers, free and clear. This is not a solution that makes her really happy, but she has little choice. The wimp is nice enough, but the becoming a lady part, well, Georgie absalutely hates that part. She puts it a bit more colorfully, however. Grandpa's plans might have to change when Cougar shows up and interferes with Georgia's heart.

***** If you have laughed and enjoyed My Fair Lady and The Princess Diaries, then you will love BECOMING GEORGIA as well. One laugh follows another as we see the results of an irresistible object meeting an inmoveable force. *****

In 1870, Chicago attorney Jacob Whittaker arrives in Prescott, Territory in Arizona to escort his client's granddaughter back to the Windy City. However, he expects a lady of some sort, but instead sees an arm wrestling female that makes Jacob believe his fee ought to double because he must change "George" into Georgia. Initially refusing to go east, Georgie girl is forced to when Jason informs her the mine she sold to Cougar Barnes was not hers to sell.

In Chicago, her grandpa offers her a deal. If she stays for one year and accepts the courting of his hand picked dolt, he will give her the mine outright even if she fails to wed his chosen one. As she struggles to change from a brawling mine working George into a facsimile of lady Georgia, Cougar arrives demanding ownership of the mine he bought from her.

BECOMING GEORGIA is an amusing mid nineteenth century Americana romance reminiscent of "Annie Get Your Gun". The story line contains a strong cast to include the lead couple, a secondary duo, her grandfather, and her friend Essie that bring Chicago and to a lesser degree Arizona in 1870 to life. However, it is the humor that makes this tale stand out in the bookshelves as fans will appreciate the antics of George of the desert turning into Georgia of the Windy City.

Harriet Klausner