The book includes three common metaphors that rule, unconciously, the way educators think and act in schools. Understanding these three metaphors is a necessary step towards changing the education system.

In clear, direct language, Learning All the Time describes the crucial difference between learning (making sense of the world)and education (being forced to digest and regurgitate what someone else dictates). Without vitriol, John Holt exposes how our children are harmed more than helped by institutional schools. He shows how all children are natural and gifted learners and how educational systems frustrate and fracture their innate curiosity about the world. His insights, ideas, and experiences show how to support children as they teach themselves. I wish I'd had this book when my child was born.

Unschooling cannot be attained through recipes of course, since every child and family is different. But Holt thoughtfully and sensitively manages to share his devotions and insights about learning, children and life in general so clearly that even the most hesitant parent can gain confidence in hir and hir child's ability to unschool.

The book is a collection of essays about many facets of learning and educational subjects (the three R's, science, music). Holt's profound observations help not only to understand how children tackle these subjects but also to gain a better understanding of these subjects ourselves.

Highly recommended for anyone involved in education.

This book has the ring of authenticity about it. One British reviewer called it "Probably unsurpassable," and I agree. In this way it is like an Arthurian book by Ashe or Alcock. (I am thinking of "In Search of Arthur's Britain," which described the 1967 South Cadbury dig.)

You will learn the truth about the earliest Robin Hood stories - he was a yeoman, not a nobleman or a peasant, his earliest haunt was Barnsdale, not Sherwood. There was no Maid Marian at first, etc.

An excellent book for British history buffs and English lit types.

I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
It's a great book for anyone inteested in Robin Hood.
I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Holt has written an enthralling study of Robin Hood, of both the man (what little remains of him in the ballads) and the legend. He discusses the five earliest surviving ballads - "A Gest of Robyn Hode," "Robin Hoode his Death," "Robin Hood and the Monk," "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne," and "Robin Hood and the Potter" - and from them details all that can be inferred of the original Hood and of the transmission of the legend in the 200 years before the songs of Robin Hood were first written down. Even after they began to be written down new elements in the legend emerged - Maid Marian and Friar Tuck only joined Robin's merry men in the 15th century. Although today we commonly think of Robin Hood as hanging around in Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, the early ballads most strongly connect him with Barnesdale ("My name is Robin Hood of Barnesdale," the outlaw once remarks in a ballad). Holt details the physical setting in which Robin Hood and his legend traversed, and also the type of people who were his original audience.

So who was Robin Hood? Holt answers, "There were more than one." Many outlaws later called themselves Hood, and some elements of the legends were possibly added on because a storyteller confused one Hood with our Robin Hood - this may explain why a actual march of Edward II's in 1322 is incorporated into the life of a bandit who probably lived a hundred years earlier. Holt does think there was an original Robin Hood, who inspired the legend, and believes that he lived in the first half of the 13th century. He is possibly identical with a certain outlaw named Robert Hod, aka Hobbehod, who is mentioned in records from 1225-26. Although there are many uncertainties, of all the suggested candidates for the "real" Robin Hood, Robert Hod is the most plausible, based on the existing evidence. If you get only one book about Robin Hood, make it this one.

This is not the type of novel I would usually read but it was sent to me by a special friend so I tried it. It was wonderful! It held my interest so much I read it in 3 days! I recommend it to everyone!

This book was sort of different...off the mainstream trail of the usual suspense novels I like. The historical basis of the hidden treasure and its interaction with the present day "hero" businessman made for an interesting meld.

This is a terrific adventure story! The story begins much like a Harvard business school case study - an interesting business opportunity is being reviewed. Then, after a few chapters, the reader begins to sense genuine Evil lurking in the intentions and actions of the main character's business partners. The author "leaves you hanging" with a knot in your stomach until the end of the story, when the many sub-plots converge to reveal greed and obsession beyond imagining. Some of the sex scenes are not suitable for people with delicate sensibilities - don't let your kids pick this one up.

Barcelonawalks is the best guide book I have ever come across. It allows you to explore the old city without the pressures of a tourist guide, introducing you to history that you would never uncover on your own.

As much as I have enjoyed the other books on Barcelona that I have read, nothing has brought this spectacular city to life in quite the same way as Barcelonawalks. I went on the walks with a native who knows the city so well she can get navigate the labyrinth of the Barri Gotic with her eyes closed. The book was a revelation even to her. George Semler, the author, brings considerable reserves of insight, style and wit to the proceedings. As a book, it's a wonderful confection. As a guidebook (a recipe I don't ordinarily care for since they often do to their subject what the Kraft company does to cheese), it is more like private tour with someone who knows the broad arch of the city's rich history, the character of it's people, as well as a baroque quantity of entertaining minutia. Semler's restaurant recommendations alone might be worth the price of admission, as you are likely to find yourself the only tourist in various characteristic and popular neighborhood eateries.

George Semler has told as much about the passions of the people of Barcelona as about its buildings. From the medieval splendor of the Gothic Quarter through the 19th neighborhood of Gracia to the wildly idiosyncratic buildings of the Catalan Renaissance, each block is revealed not only as a sequence of architectural structures but as the place where the great and the ordinary people of Barcelona fought, dreamed and struggled. I walked every one of its routes with pleasure and a great sense of history. Marvellous!

This cookbook has to be one of my favorite to date. To have so many diverese foods at your finger tips that are truly easy to prepare, as well as fun is great. Not to mention that they taste as good as they look in the illustrations. My family and I enjoyed cooking these resipes, but enjoyed sharing them with friends even more. Great food!

The recipies in the cookbook are great the kids whom wrote the series are great thinkers god must of blessed them with alot of inginuity.

We loved this book. The recipes are from various regions around the world on their "Chocolate covered adventures" series, and are truly a breeze to make. If you like Egyptian, Persian, Traditional English, Asian, Ethiopian, Italian,Chinese, etc. you'll love this small efficently refreshing book. The "Temptuous Truffles", and the "Chocolate and fruit Filled Sambusas" along with the "Vegetarian Sambusas" have to be my children and my favorite recipes in this ingenous cookbook. The cute illustrations of Tyco-the changito (monkey)making his famous "Chocolate Covered Bananas" is truly my husbands favorite recipe. He says even an old goat like him can learn to cook. This book bring sfamilies together in a fun, non-threatening manner. There is something for everyone's taste buds, from sweet, to salty to spicy. Our family loves it. This is a must for every kitchen.We also applaud the authors fo donating 10% of sales to various charities, as they have with all their books.

You will not be disappointed by Keeper of the Night. The style is a bit different from Louisiana Sky and Zachary Beaver, but it is still poetic. It reminded me of A Step from Heaven, short vignette's from a young girl's view. The Guam setting makes for a perfect summer novel. Teen girls will especially enjoy this gem.

Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt (When Zachary Beaver Came To Town) now brings the poignant story of a young girl's determination to help her family overcome or at least cope with the pain and loss they feel following their mother's suicide.

As read by actress Vivian B. McLaughlin the tale is profound, painful, yet beautiful.

Isabel is good at pretending. She would like to imagine that her mother's death was not unusual; she can think that as no one seems able to voice the reality of the tragedy. Tata responds to overwhelming grief by sleeping on the floor where her mother's body lay. Olivia wets her bed and is wracked by nightmares. Frank, on the other hand, expresses his abandonment by cutting into his bedroom wall.

Isabel knows that she must help them, but how?

There are times when truth is the only antidote for pain.

- Gail Cooke

Keeper of the Night by Kimberly Willis Holt is wonderful. Although this book is written differently than Holt's usual style, it works well. The book deals with a serious subject - suicide - but is neither too depressing or too happy. I also appreciate that at the end, the family is recovering, but not quite there yet. It shows how real life is - always a work in progress.

This is the book that introduced me to Jean Plaidy. I have since read at least 30 of her books, and none of them contain the tawdry, psuedo-historical fiction so common today. Being a dedicated anglophile, Jean Plaidy's works have become a starting point to a better understanding of English history. Her bibliographies have become useful aids in this endeavor. "The Lady in the Tower" takes the reader on a journey through the life of one of the most famous women of the Renaissance, Anne Boleyn. I personally enjoyed how she acquired her education, her sparkling wit and her unquestionable finesse at the French court under the tutelage of Marguarite, the tantalizing sister of Francis I of France. I also appreciated the lessons Anne learned early on in life by the treatment of Queen Claude, the experience of her sister Mary, and the skillful management of King Francis. This is also the story of a middle-aged man who had known limitless power for twenty years, and then sees his will thwarted for the first time by God (no sons), his first wife (by not instantly acceding to his wishes as she always had), his trusted Chancellor (Wolsey who simply could not singlehandedly change the political realities of his day) and, finally, by the first exciting woman to say him nay FOR YEARS. The reader sees how not just Anne changes, but also how Katherine of Aragon, Henry & the entire court metamorphose into the unrecognizable shells of the optimistic youths they once were. It's the story of aging, of reaping what we sow.

I've always loved Jean Plaidy's books and I'm so happy her Tudor series is being reprinted. The Lady in the Tower is the story of Anne Boleyn. It begins and ends in the Tower with Anne, tired, wiser, and almost ready to die; trying to figure out where things went wrong. Once she was a king's beloved, now that same king was so sick of her that he'd signed her death warrant. How did she fall so far and so fast? Thus, the incredible story begins.
Most biographies, fictional or not tend to skip over her years in France but this one spends quite a lot of time on them and it's to good effect. Anne's life in France helps to explain her actions in England. This is a sympathetic portrait that shows Anne as impetuous, thoughtless at times, and too ambitious but not the evil, scheming seductress that she's been painted as. Brilliant. If you've never read Jean Plaidy, this is a good one to begin with.

'The Lady in the Tower' is a fascinating, fictionalized first person account of the life of Anne Boleyn, doomed second wife of King Henry VIII. The book begins with Anne's childhood as the youngest lady-in-waiting to Mary, young bride of France's Louis XII and sister of Henry VIII. Anne enjoys her life in France until her older sister, also named Mary, tarnishes the Boleyn name with her numerous liaisons with gentlemen of the court, including the man who succeeds Louis as king, Francis I. Anne and her sister are sent home to England, where Mary becomes Henry's mistress and the Boleyn family becomes much more significant because of this. Anne becomes a lady-in-waiting to Henry's wife Katherine, who has fallen out of the King's favor due to her inability to produce a surviving son. Henry is now looking seriously for a new, younger wife, and he finds the perfect woman--Anne. After a courtship that lasts several years, mainly because of the difficulty involved with divorcing one of Europe's most important women, Henry's marriage is finally annulled, and he and Anne marry. Eight months later, she gives birth to a healthy baby--girl. Anne is enthralled with her new daughter, but also dreads her husband's reaction. Henry is upset--after all, he has married this woman mainly to get a son--but decides that this new daughter, Elizabeth, is rather charming, and he and Anne still have plenty of time to have sons. But Anne never does deliver a live son. She has also failed as Henry's wife in other ways: she refuses to accept his dalliances with her ladies-in-waiting, for instance, and is very quick-tempered. What's more, Henry has found another woman, one who is meek, gentle, young, and healthy--and about to become his third wife. Henry does not care to got through the hassle of another divorce, though, so he has only one choice: death. Anne is arrested under trumped-up charges of adultery (including with her own brother), and is sentenced to death by beheading. As the book is written in the first person, we get to hear the thoughts she has a few hours before her execution. Most are of her life with Henry and of her daughter, who will grow up to become Queen Elizabeth I--a fact which, had Henry foreseen it, may have spared Anne's life. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves Anne Boleyn, Jean Plaidy, or both.

I think all quilters should own this book. The directions are easy and include both rotary and template patterns. The pictures of the finished designs are vibrant and beautiful. I taught a beginning quilting class and we used this as our "textbook". Many of the quilts featured can be completed in just a few hours. Also, my favorite part of the book is how the quilts are shown on display. These pictures offer great decorating ideas.

This was the first quilt book I ever bought and dozens of books later, I still think it is one of the best I own. The authors make quilting fun, not intimidating, and provide instructions so clear and simple that a child could follow them. Better yet, their style is very distinctive--elegantly simple, with beautiful color choices, and lots of pictures showing how to use the quilts to decorate your home. If you long to see what quilting is about, but don't quite trust your skills or taste, try "Little Quilts." You will learn confidence as well as skills...and everyone will love your quilt.

I loved the easy to use instructions and the colorful examples. I really enjoyed the course I took given by the authors, Alice Berg, Mary Ellen Von Holt and Sylvia Johnson, in Norway. Thank you for your inspiring book. This is a definite must have book on any quilters shelf/night stand.

if you are looking for information on Holt Howard collectibles, this is the book for you. I has lots of color pictures and descriptions with specifics.

This is one of the best books on Figural Kitchenware of the 50's and 60's that I have seen so far. Not only great pictures, but the best information about Holt Howard Collectibles as well as nock offs. I have used my copy more than any other reference book I own on Kitchenware. Walter Dworkin can't put out another soon enough. Can't wait!

Highly recommend this book not only for the detailed description but also for the great color photos. Most price guides have alot of descriptions but not many photos, not this one! I enjoyed reading the description and seeing a photo. A must have for any collector

After meeting Lisa Meyer through a graduate class, I was curious about her book. It turns out that I am beyond thrilled with what I found between the covers of this work. I am buying several copies for friends and family. It is THAT good! When you read it, it is like you are talking with Lisa. It is definitely from the heart of Lisa and her niece - well worth the effort they have put into it!

I have read this book more than once and now use it as a reference guide for raising my son. It provides a tool for showing him examples of character. It is an easy read and lays the foundation beautifully for knowing right from wrong. I encourage others to read this book to your younger children as well. It is a must read for all of us. Valuable wisdom is shared here from many a great wise one. More of this type book is needed. Thank you for writing! B.Robertson / Centerville, Texas

This fine book is of interest to adults as well as to children. Each page is headed by a famous quote and on the remainder of the page Lisa explains its meaning. This is a wonderful book for parents to buy to read to their children before bedtime. I am happy to very highly recommend this book!