This amazing book will capture imagination of readers of all ages, said my mom. At first, I did not understand what a Beejum was, but as I read on, I not only felt like a part of their world, but also learnt some helpful lessons. Like being an "inside" and "outside" person and having "little me" and "big you". I recommend this book to everybody who wants to stretch their immagination, learn something about themselves and laugh a lot ( and cry a little). I will have a Beejum party with my friends. Thank you, Mrs. Howell!

Alice Howell has given the world a huge gift in her BEEJUM BOOK. Few authors possess her remarkable ability to combine wit,wisdom, sensitivity and a highly creative facility of the English language to produce a beautiful metaphor for human life and transformation. Since BEEJUM is about the life of a child, Teak, some might assume that BEEJUM is only a childrens' book. Far from it. Alice has packed so much life and wisdom into each chapter that one can hardly stop reading it. Like all great literature, it can be understood at different levels, making it interesting to young and old alike.

Like the book, the main character lives her life on two levels - inner and outer. We are transported enter a inner world of Beejumstan - from Teak's point of view, learning lessons from her outer life as she is living it. But it is the rare child who are exposed to such intuitive wonder as is Teak, largely through the fascinating family in which she lives and with whom she travels the world.

At the end, we discover that the story is both profound and autobiographical. And despite its occasional sadness, we learn that Teak's unusual life created the delightful sage, Alice Howell, into the gifted author and teacher she has become. Teacher, mentor, therapist, astrologer, respected author, Alice personifies the coming of the Hagia Sophia into the modern world. Those who know something about Jungian psychology will be especially attracted to its depth insights. Readers will feel themselves growing with each page! Read BEEJUM with you kids, read it for yourself....but read it - and enjoy!

A rare treat, written by a rare soul...a book for our time and all time. It speaks of the universals in all people and places.

This is a book for children and adults alike. It is a book that will keep giving you gifts long after you have finished the last page. It is hard not to read the book all at once, but it is fun to spread the adventure out. This book is a gift to the world and I hope that many will read this little jewel and be blessed by it. I certainly was.

Do not go birding in Mexico without first procuring a copy of this invaluable book! Last summer a friend and I undertook a succesful three week birding road trip throughout western Mexico, and most of our route was planned directly from this book! There is a relative scarcity of information on finding birds in Mexico. Visit southern Texas or Arizona, and you can easily obtain a dozen helpful volumes. Cross the border, and you are hard pressed to track down any useful information - but this book is certainly the best of what is currently available. Written by the same man who authored the superb and definitive field guide to the birds of Mexico, it covers most of the important regions of Mexico(a "mega" bio-diversity country), and points you in the right direction to search for every single one of Mexico's 115 endemic and 25 near-endemic species. On our trip we visited nearly every site described in chapters 5, 6, and 7. We enjoyed the luxury, thanks to this book, of showing up at remote places in a foreign country and immediately getting down to business of birding the best spots, without wasting time exploring or scouting - as if we were at a local wildlife refuge back home!
I eagerly anticipate future editions. There is room for improvement here, as well as expansion. I can envision this book doubling in scope, without andy redundancy. More and more birders are venturing into Mexico, and this book is helping pave the way. The number one improvement I hope to see is a dramatic enlargement of appendix B, which deals with sites for finding species of particular interest. I would like to see that expand to offer a few paragraphs of information per species, rather that a vauge line or two. Also, a few of the directions will need revision and updating (although most were right on!). Finally, I hope to see a lot more sites described within a day's drive of the border.
In short, unless you are accompanying an organized tour group, your birdwatching experience in Mexico will be far, far richer for having this book - and if you are anything like me, you will read and re-read it prior to your birding trip until you have almost memorized parts of it.

Should be "Birder's Delight: Potent Conservation Tool." As it is the "n" was left out of the word Conservation. Many thanks.

Steve N.G. Howell is to be commended, perhaps more appropriately thanked, for the tremendous job he has done in writing this revolutionary book. Howell, who together with illustrator Sophie Webb several years ago authored the definitive guide to Mexican birds, has now given the world something far more important than a field guide. In "A Bird Finding Guide To Mexico," Mr. Howell provides a complete and up-to-date guide for where to find the diverse species of Mexican birds. The guide is unprecedented in its coverage.

Howell divides the country into 14 regions, and lists the top several birding locations for each region, called "sites." Not only are there specific directions to the sites he covers ("turn right onto cobblestone road at Kilometer 14, past Pemex station," for example), he supplies a list of species found at each site. The result is two-fold: (1) anyone can now easily find the "hot spots" for Mexico's fabulous avifauna; and (2) field identification is facilitated, because a species list for the site has been provided by the man who authored the authoritative field guide. You will know where to stay; where to go; and what you are seeing once you get there. Quite simply, birding in Mexico has been forever changed, and just in the nick of time.

This reviewer recently took the book on a "family vacation" to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Assuming I was to be confined to seeing a few species at the resort where I was staying with my 3 year-old, my 6-year old, my in-laws, and my wife, I nevertheless eagerly anticipated the trip -- hoping to make forays into the wild -- but not knowing where on earth to go. Receiving a tip 10 days in advance that Howell's book had just a few weeks earlier been published, but assured that undoubtedly I would not be able to procure a copy in time, I nevertheless got one quickly from Amazon.com in three days. Whew!

After consultation of the book, I learned there was a splendid lagoon 5 miles from my luxury hotel (which I visited twice) and that a world famous bird area was only two hours to the north -- San Blas, Nayarit -- Spain's headquarters for its Pacific empire of the 1700s. I quickly reaaranged my itinerary; rented a car; made reservations in a lovely hotel recommended by Howell; and took in a three day adventure that netted me 135 species of birds. This would have been impossible without the book, as Howell's guide directed me to 7 specific locations that were simply gushing with birds, birds, and more birds.

On the first morning of birding at Site 6.2 in the state of Nayarit (the Mexican state north of Jalisco), I hiked up a verdant canyon above the village of "La Bajada." The mouth of the canyon opened directly into a gentle bay of the Pacific, which I could see far below. The cliffs of the canyon rose 800 feet above me, and I gradually worked my way higher and higher as morning mists evaporated and sunlight hit the leaves. A canopy of trees surrounded a coffee plantation, and I was proud to be setting out before the coffee bean collectors merrily starting their early morning work, with sharpened machetes and little fires to keep warm and burn the forest.

In a few hours in the mysterious canyon above La Bajada, I spied both the Elegant Trogon and the Citreoline Trogon (a Mexican endemic); the Lineated Woodpecker and the Pale-billed Woodpecker; three species of parrots (two screamed as they rocketed away from a Grey Hawk, which seemed to swoop out of nowhere); the Squirrel Cuckoo; the Ivory-billed Woodcreeper; the Masked Tityra; the Rose-throated Becard; and the Black-throated Mapie-jay, the San Blas Jay and the Sinaloa Crow (all Mexican endemics).

But the sounds were marvelous as well. A Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl tooted from a grove of trees, unseen but easy to identify from the combination of the bird list in the "Finding Guide" and Howell and Webb's authoritative field guide. The Happy Wren, another Mexican endemic, blasted its pulsating song from the brush. The White-tipped Dove cooed ghostlike, unseen from the forest floor.

As I had hoped, above La Bajada I also heared the song of the bird many consider to be the finest singer in the New World -- the Brown-backed Solitaire -- a thrush in the genus Myadestes. George M. Sutton, in his ground breaking "Mexican Birds: First Impressions," described the fantastic song as an "electric sparkler," as "musical fireworks," and confessed that in his decades of professional ornithology, when he first heard the solitaire in 1938, he felt as if "his ears had never fully functioned" until that "high moment that filled him with wild, half-furious exultation."

At La Bajada you hear such things, and the trees were indeed literally dripping with birds.

In San Blas proper about 20 minutes away, there were thousands of shorebirds, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks, and Black-necked stilts. On the beach was the majestic American Oystercatcher. A pair was observed catching tiny crabs, and performing an odd sort of bonding dance where the two stood parrallel to each other, but head to toe to bounce and sway in unison. There were warblers galore, parrots, anis, Crane Hawks, Black Hawks, Harris Hawks, and a Peregrine Falcon was easily approached on top of a hill where an old fort, church and canon commanded a view of the town at sunset. The raucous call of the Collared Forest-Falcon was heard from a cliff, bouncing through the forest. The bird list for the marvelous San Blas area tops 305 birds!

The directions in Howell's book are so good that the name and telephone number of a boatman specializing in mangrove swamp tours was given: Oscar Partida. I took the bait, and as a result approached a Northern Potoo, a Paraque, Boat billed Herons, Bare-throated tiger herons, and Rufous-bellied Chachalacas at close range. Obviously, this book has revolutionized birding in Mexico. Many of the magical areas seem to be within easy driving distance of resorts, and comfortable hotels. It is profusely illustrated with diagrams on how to get where you want to be.

In the larger scheme of conservation biology, the book should also serve as a landmark of sorts. On each jaunt I saw wetlands being drained for new resort hotels, forests being hacked down and burned, and the delicate web of life irreversibly disorganized by the growing human and economic activity. This is, of course, nothing different from what is also happening here in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Many tropical countries, most notably Costa Rica, have recognized that conservation of biological diversity, at least in the form of eco-tourism, has great economic value. Mexico is, at this moment, now coming to this realization, and towns such as San Blas are experiencing a revival precisely because of such eco-tourism.

Accordingly, Howell's book is also important because it will make much more widely accessible the viewing of the marvellous Mexican birds. Let us hope it sells in droves, and that its readers flock to Mexico to see the birds. The concomitant increase in awareness of birds there, both as economic factors and also as indicators of intact ecosystems, will do much to aid Mexico to preserve its invaluable biodiversity, which otherwise may disappear within the next generation.

Bravo, Steve N.G. Howell! Your book has tremendous potential at the turn of the Millennium, both for enjoyment, and for preserving our planet.

The author writes well, and explains well in her writing. I could actually picture myself in numerouse places which she had explained. From The war time, to her weding day, to what she went through during her sisters death.

...a truly excellent real-life story of tragedy and love.

The amazing things that the author went through throughout her life were very uplifting. I laughed and cried throughout. The author's experiences were vividly captured on the pages of the book. I was caught up in the horrific imagery of the war that was described, but also the beauty of her family relationships as well as her love for her country of birth. I recommed this book highly, but be prepared for an emotional roller coaster.

Well-researched and thorough, Choose Mexico is a no-holds-barred primer for anyone contemplating life in Mexico.

This book has all the accurate information one needs to know about retiring in the major gringo havens in Mexico. Chocked full of excellent information, much more valuable than any seminar given in Mexico. I highly recommend it.

This book gives down to earth info on relocating to Mexico; it is a great resource. Very readable style. Author reveals his love of the country and people and the reader will most likely have to discard some previous misconceptions about this country. I was ready to pack my bags after reading it.

My family is from Mackinac so my mom got this book for me. It did not take me long to read because I could not put it down. This was the first out of the three that I read and I'm in the middle of the first novel. They are both very good! I liked how you put some history of Mackinac in there but I don't like too much history so it was perfect! KEEP WRITING!!!!!!!!!

For those in the Great Lake States who spend time on the water, this is great fun. Don't let your parents start passing it around you may never get a chance to share it with your friends. Great reading for young and not so young!

Summer island friends from Cincinnati and Michigan sail to Mackinac Island and look for a lost treasure ahead of a deranged treasure hunter. Historically accurate. Spoon fed history in a fascinating format. Kids and their teachers love this book from an educational standpoint.

This is a "to the point" review. This book is beautiful - in every way. It relaxes me after a dificult day, or when I need to come back to "Spiritual reality". I'm so sorry it isn't being published any longer - along with several other books by the same author & illistrator. the only one I have is "Spirit Walker"; dreaming I owned all the rest as well.

Like Dancing Moons, Spirit Walker is a set of jewel like reflections on what matters most, written with the sensitivity and sentiment of Native American wisdom which captured Nancy Wood some time ago. This book is not just for young adults as it is classified; it most certainly is for anyone who wants to hear the rhythms of the world a little more clearly. A great book to supplement one's morning meditations, prayers, etc. The paintings by Frank Howell are spellbinding. This is a rare gift for those who need to slow down, to listen, to heal.

this is the best book of poetry that i have read. I am 15 years old and i have read this book many times. i got it from my grandma when i was little. reading this book helped me though my fathers death in sept. my fav poem is three sisters. i think that people should read this book. now i am tring to get my mom to get me her first book.

My kids love this book! Lick Bean is a treasure

The author (and illustrator) takes a new and unique look at the imagined origin of Oahu's Chinaman's Hat island. Beautifully and whimsically illustrated by the author, the book weaves a wonderful tale of a small boy from China with big dreams of seeing the world. Through his travels to Hawaii he discovers that, although small in stature he is big in heart and in abilities. Written for children this book would be equally loved by children of all ages and adults alike.

This is a wonderfully imanginative story about the origins of the Chinaman's Hat island which lies just offshore on the windward side of Oahu. The book is beautifully illustrated by the author. A great story for young and old alike.

The Young Draftee is the autobiographical story of Monte Howell, an inexperienced young adult, who at age 18 was thrust into the horrors of World War II in the South Pacific. Howell faithfully and candidly relates what life on the frontline was like in the Pacific Theatre with its ruthless and deadly battles, unbearable climate, treacherous terrain, and exotic diseases, as well as the terrible blood toll which surround his life and the lives of his fellow combatants in a vividly told, gripping narrative. Howell also covers the end of the war in terms of his army discharge and what it is like looking back down the years at those earlier times. Enhanced with his own charts, maps and photographs, Monte Howell's The Young Draftee is an invaluable, eye-witness account and a welcome, much appreciated contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobiographies from a generation swiftly passing from amongst us.

Title: The Young Draftee
Author: Monte Howell
Publisher: iuniverse
...
Reviewed by: Norman Goldman (Rebecca Reads)
There have been many books written about World War II, however, few describe the frightful experiences of the inexperienced teenage combatants.

The Young Draftee is an intimate accounting of what it was like to be a teenage draftee just out of high school and sent to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese.

Induced by the discovery of a box of approximately one hundred old faded wartime photographs, author Monte Howell decided to put down on paper his person experiences of the horrors of war. However, as he states, the war he encountered was "beyond being called a brutal, savage war or some other words which can explain what these men went through. The terrain, climate and disease those men had to fight besides the enemy was unbearable. The war in the South Pacific was a war without mercy."

The unknown was always the frightening component of the war. From basic training to the actual deployment in the theatre of action, we are apprised of the awful fear that was always prevalent. Never knowing where you would be stationed. What to expect once you arrived at your destination? Who would die and would survive? These queries were always foremost in the minds of the soldier.

Howell does not hold back in his disdain for General Douglas McArthur whom he described as old, vain, egotistical and who had an inflated ego. In fact he even recounts an incident where McArthur and his staff delayed the evacuation of some seriously wounded men in order that the General could have his picture taken while performing an inspection at the front lines. Unfortunately with this four-hour delay, two of the wounded men had died lying in the hot sun. The author goes on to say the McArthur had made some very bad decisions that caused the death of many Americans, however, he never shared the blame for these tragedies. This is the kind of a story that is omitted from our history books and it is only when we read first persons accounts of the war can we truly appreciate the suffering of the soldiers.

For many of us who are unfamiliar with the war in Japan, this book will serve as an excellent introduction, devoid of the dry scholarly texts that perhaps we read as students in high school or college. The author's penetrating personal perceptions of the war only confirm to us that war is about people and we never seem to learn that no one wins.

The unknown was always the frightening component of the war. From basic training to the actual deployment in the theater of action, the reader is apprised of the awful fear that was always prevalent. Never knowing where you were or what to expect once you arrived at your next destination. Who would die and who would survive. These questions were always in the minds of young soldiers. This is the kind of a story that is omitted from our history books, and it is only when we read first person accounts that we can truly appreciate the suffering of soldiers at war. The Young Draftee will serve as an excellent introduction, devoid of the dry scholarly texts that perhaps we read as students in High School or College.

Me gustaría saber dónde puedo conseguir libros del autor, tales como "The Flights of Icarus" o "Views". Gracias, y espero que se reimpriman pronto. Un saludo

This book is a must. If you only like music or if you love the covers more than the music inside or if you are learning to design covers...Well, this book has it all. The covers are show by elements in commom, so you can judge by yourself about the criativity of the designers. Roger Deam is a famous artist well know by his covers and stages for the rock group Yes. But this does not interfere with the overall result. The guys did a fantastic job compiling all the covers in this book. There are rock covers, jazz covers, latim, dance, disco, and so on. All possible covers are there. Don't hesitate. Buy it now!

Alex Sab

This book is NOT out of stock, as it has been reprinted in 1988 and remains avaliable from Whalesback Books. For orders, call 202/333-2182.

This is a reprint of a book originally published in the 1930s, which describes with great sophistication the architecture of the many 18th century homes that dot the Piscataqua River valley, primarily in Portsmouth. At the time it was written, many of these homes were still occupied by descendants of the original owners, whereas now they are owned by non-profit organizations and are open to the public. It is enormously rewarding to compare the black and white pictures in the book with the houses as they are today. It also contains an introductory essay that gives a superb explanation of the evolution of domestic architecture from America's earliest settlements through the 18th century. As the book explains, Portsmouth, along with Newburyport, Annapolis, and Charleston, are unique among historic American cities because they prospered in the 18th century only to decline thereafter, thereby allowing their wonderful examples of Georgian and Federal/Adam architecture to be preserved. By way of contrast, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia grew so rapidly in the 19th century that most of their examples of this type of home were lost to the wrecker's ball.