I picked up this book because it is a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. I found it to be delightful and charming. I was even more delighted to find that it is a true story about the author's father. That sort of information always makes a story even more alive. I greatly enjoyed this book. For the curious, this isn't the only book the author has written about her family.

This is a charming, interesting book. Kids will be intrigued by Marven's adventure - not only by the notion of being sent away from his family, but also the dramatic reasons for it and the incredibly different and appealing life he gets to lead with the lumberjacks. Adults will like all that, too, and will also be won over by the warmth and, ultimately, gentless of this very unusual story. A lovely, rare find.

Marven Lasky was my mother's husband. He passed away last week at the age of 91. I only read this book in detail to find out more about him. For more about his family, see "The Night Journey", also by this author.

Having just lived through another l-o-n-g winter for the privilege of living in the northwoods, this book was like a breath of fresh air. From mosses to white pines, water striders to black bears, this very readable book covers most everything you're likely to find in the northern woods -- and there are even segments on clouds and constellations. One-stop shopping for all your info needs if you love the woods and are curious about its other inhabitants. Lots of little-known facts written in an intelligent and engaging fashion. An easy-to-use reference that even children could enjoy, with entries that make you want to check out "just one more thing." After buying it yesterday we had a long road trip ahead of us -- that sort of flew by as I read entries aloud to my husband. It would be a great addition to our cabin "library" on a pine shelf behind the woodstove, but I kind of think I'll keep it here at home, close at hand.

This book was written as a companion to an exhibition that opened at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles in October 1998. The illustrations are disappointing, because they are mostly photographs of documents. The text is decent, but provides a very superficial account of Washington's life. A much better general book about Washington's life is James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.

Washington's achievements were primarily in three areas: commanding the continental army, being president of the Constitutional Convention, and serving as the country's first President. He practically single-handedly fostered a sense of our being one united country and held it together through the war, the draftig of the Constitution, and the national's early history.

It is difficult to overestimate Washington's contributions. Everything he did set a precedent for the nation. And everything was being done for the first time. There had been no democratic country in the history of the world. No country had had a democratically elected leader; they had all been kings.

Washington was a fascinating man. Unfortunately, this book is not. Still, it is worthwhile as a superficial overview of Washington's life.