Here's a real flyfisherman that has allowed each one of us into his own backyard. Mr Barbier's book, Eastern Sierra Guide for Day Hikers' tells his secrets on where to go, how to get there and what to use for a memorable day on the water. The Day Hikers' Guide has become my bible in the Sierra.

Barbier's book has opened up a whole new world to me. It's a fantastic, accessible, yet underutilized world away from all that ails our gotta have it now society.

The guide at the back of the book tells so much in so little space--it lists distances to each lake, the type of fish there, difficulty, region of the sierras, and more. This, like so much of the book, understates its value. Mr. Barbier's brief comments about essential gear, lures, fishing etiquette, mosquito avoidance, has taught me more than I've been able to learn on my own after too many trials and even more errors.

This is not a fisherman's only guide. Every hiker, backpacker, and naturalist who appreciates the beauty of discovering an unspoiled lake in the least likely places, high in the sierras, would do well to use this straightforward, beautifully simple book.

Write on, Mr. Barbier. You have a wonderful story to tell!

With Bush touring the West talking about logging as the solution to preventing ever larger forest fires, this book provides ample documentation that FIRE SUPRESSION and MONOCULTURE REPLANTING are the real causes of the current explosive environment.

I first saw this book at the top of Mt. Harkness. The fire watchman there pointed it out to me, as we both struggled to peer at Mt. Shasta through the smoky haze created by the Biscuit and Fremont fires.

The differences in the trees and ground cover between now and the last century is striking. Most of the photos taken in the late 1800's show trees devoid of branches below 20 feet, and very little ground cover. Photos of the same area taken recently show thickly limbed trees down to ground level, with dense underbrush. Without hundreds of little fires to regularly clear out the low limbs and undergrowth, the forests become dense tinderboxes. When a fire finally breaks through fire suppression, it kills the trees instead of burning their limbs.

This unusual photographic interpretation of ecological changes brought about by forest fires in the Sierra Nevada since 1849 will provide a guide which should intrigue both California residents and any interested in forestry issues, park management or ecosystems. Chapters use historical photographs to document changes which have taken place over the past 150 years, from early settlements to modern times. Fire In Sierra Nevada Forests will add fuel to debates over prescribed fires and logging issues.

This Indonesian version of Cinderella hails from the Moluccas, or Spice Islands--the place to which Christopher Columbus was headed when he found the New World. In 1492 they were the only place in the world where cloves grew. The earliest written version of Cinderella is from China. As the author indicates in the afterward, no one knows where the story originated. But she speculates that Cinderella may have traveled West with the spices.

Damura was a child when her mother taught her to light a fire, cook, and to tend and harvest rice. But she still loved dolls when her mother died. The lorikeet and little green parrot outside in the nutmeg tree were not company enough for her. With a new doll, a neighboring widow bribed Damura into convincing her father to marry her. Her stepmother's two daughters were kind at first, but soon made Damura their servant. She cried at night that she had traded her happiness for a doll.

One day as she washed the family's clothes, she lost her sarong in the river. She called to the creatures of the wild for help, and a crocodile appeared. "Good morning Grandmother," she said to the crocodile.

The crocodile gave Damura her baby to care for, and returned with a silver sarong that sparkled like the night sky. She told Damura to take it and come to the river again if she ever needed anything.

Her stepsisters were naturally jealous of the sarong. But when they tried to entice the crocodile to help them, she saw through their façade. A year later, the village buzzed with excitement as the prince planned to hold a dance to choose his bride. Damura asked her stepmother if she might go, wearing her silver sarong. Of course her stepmother refused her.

The rest of this tale is very similar to that of Cinderella. But to find the unique ways in which it sparkles, you'll have to read this book. Alyssa A. Lappen

I Have never read such an interesting version of the cinderella story, i recomend that every one with children or who know those who have them buy this book and save it. It will provide pleasure to generations to come

The first thing a teenager sees when they look at a Bible is how long and boring it is. Actually, that is not true. I once thought the same thing until I bought the God's Word for Students Bible. This book inspires a close relationship with God by including 365 devotionals (one for everyday of the year). When I got the Bible and began to do the devotions, I found myself trusting Jesus more and more. Reading His word is a key to a successful walk with Him.

The translation is also extremely easy to read and is written clearly, so you arent' overwelmed by the looks of it. It is a "must-have" for any on-fire-for-God teen.

This is a Bible written with youthful readers in mind. It is written in modern English and in paragraph form that kids are used to. It helps them to put their religious beliefs into action. There is an index that allows the kids to look up topics of interest (ie. dating, drinking, popularity) and to find out what the Word of God has to say about it.

As you can easily guess from the title, "The House That Drac Built" takes the basic structure of "The House That Jack Built" and throws in everything from a bat and a cat to a manticore and the fiend of Bloodygore. Everything chains out, albeit rattling chains covered with dust from a dungeon, and young children will love the way new monsters keep getting added into the mix. Then, just to make things really fun, some children show up trick or treating and pretty much scare the monsters. Author Judy Sierra keeps this relatively simply despite offering up such things as a fearsome manticore (apparently she and her husband like to convince trick-or-treaters that they have come to the house that Drac built, which apparently is located in Eugene, Oregon). Will Hillenbrand's illustrations are atmospheric without being overly spooky (e.g., the mummy from days of yore), thereby catching the whimsy of this particular tale. Be sure to have your kids check out the cover where all of the characters from inside the book can be found lurking around somewhere.

I am a student studying to be a teacher at UNL. I used The House That Drac Built for a lesson on counting. I created a felt board and allowed the children to add the characters as I read. We counted them and then took them away at the end when the children arrive at Drac's home. I found this book to be very entertaing and useful in my lesson. It served as a perfect way to integrate literature into my Math lesson If you agree with me, please respond and let me know what you think! I would love to know what you think!

This is one of those stealth games that nobody seems to have heard of. But it's spread from person to person among the geeks and it's a lot of fun. This is like Hasbro for adults. You will spend hours and hours playing this. It's a lot of fun for groups too. People will be fighting for the keyboard when they're not scratching their heads trying to figure out how to solve THIS puzzle.

I have been listening to the audio tracks on this CD since I was twelve years old and still love it! I think everyone should use this program.

A great writer writing about great things - you'll feel like you're in the middle of the Sierra yourself. Endlessly enjoyable.

In a world brimming with wonderful volumes of the work of John Muir, here is the one edition in which you may find virtually everything you seek. To find it in such a handsome, handy, easy to negotiate book makes this a must for all lovers of Muir's writing. Eight inches tall by six wide and two inches thick, it is a durable and willing partner for excursions through the wilderness. Created for long life among library shelves and scholarly studies, this sleek little friend stows away quite comfortably in backpack or oversized coat pocket. Those who don't know Mr. Muir will meet the great lover of wildness (and perhaps history's most influential advocate of preservation) presented in a lovingly researched volume which includes informative notes on the evolution of Muir's field journal entries into published pieces, a chronology of his life and literary career, and all of the major writings for which he is known. A generous selection of his published essays and magazine articles reveal many previously unsuspected jewels of poetic prose. As a lifetime devotee of the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, and the immortal Scottish bard Robert Burns, Muir could recite extensive passages from all. Likewise, his writing breezes through the imagery and lessons drawn from these potent sources. Coffee table books brimming with Ansel Adams photography, biographies of Muir, and collections of his correspondence are all aspects of any comprehensive Muir collection. The words themselves, however, simple and elegantly bound, are where the journey might well begin.

The book discusses in detail every technique that you need to know to become a very good land navigator. It explains very simply and clearly the different types of maps and compasses. Teaching the novice or expert basic and advance navigational techniques which are both simple and practical. So far this is the best book that I have read with regards to land navigation.

This book teaches everything from basics to advanced navigation procedures, it even teaches you how to understand those crazy topographic maps you've got to use when navigating! It's very complete, it's very easy to understand and it comes from those guys who defend the wilderness. Looking for THE book about map & compass? You found it.

I first found this book in the library, and after returning it three weeks later, I was drawn back to check it out again. This is the only book of its kind, and made me want to immediately take a vacation--whether in an electric car or not! Perrin's journey takes him across America with Solo, his converted Ford Escort wagon, and he writes about a good portion of American culture, right down to his thrill to spend only $21 for a night in a hotel in Utah. He writes about all the questions posed him, the curiosities that were too irresistible to pass up, such as how expensive are the solar panels, what is the car's range, is it expensive to convert a regular car, and so on. Although Perrin's book is already over eight years old (and I was saddened to see that it is out of print), it is clear there has been some progress since the electric cars that basically had only one power source that was cheap, reliable and had a reasonable life expectancy, albeit a dangerous one: lead-acid batteries. I would feel uncomfortable sitting on top of (or near) 800 pounds of sulfuric acid. Solo has a limited range, only 150 miles a day and can only get up to about 65 MPH. The drawbacks come when accessories must be used: heater, lights, and defogger. I wouldn't have the patience to drive such a car, but maybe driving such a car would teach me patience.

I loved this book! Perrin makes nonfiction as literature an art, and breathes new life into travel writing. His book is very helpful in itself about a good, consistent writing style, and I love it when the writer takes me to the places he visits: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and so on. In that sense, "Life With an Electric Car" has no equal yet, and the author knows it. If you can find this book, buy it and keep it. Perrin's book is like a good drink that is sipped, not gulped down. Read it slowly. You may begin to think that the days of gasoline powered cars are numbered. That they are. Highly recommended for readers 14 and over.

Noel Perrin is a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College. He had a moment of enlightenment when a student asked him how he traveled the thirteen miles to class that morning. "I drove in, in my gas-guzzling, air polluting farm truck," he admitted. Then began his quest to find a vehicle more consistent with his beliefs and his profession. He acquired Solo, a Ford Escort converted into a battery-powered, solar-panel-assisted electric car with a range of nearly sixty miles (on level ground on a warm day).

Perrin's adventures with Solo are in the best tradition of the "travelin' across America" genre. We share his frustration as he realizes that he can't make it up and over Donner Pass, and abandons his coast-to-coast drive to bring Solo home from California. (He buys a pickup truck to tow "him" - Solo is male.) We watch his chagrin as he realizes that his new truck/car caravan can't back up - not even a few feet - and he has to select motels, restaurants, and gas stops based on the shape of their parking spaces. We worry with him the first time he drives after dark; how fast will his headlights drain the batteries? Back at home, we cheer as the college gives him his own personal outlet next to a reserved parking space.

Perrin's attention to detail adds to the pleasure. He doesn't just state Solo's mileage range and charging time; he spells out the cost in time, worry, and inconvenience. School is thirteen miles away, and he can recharge the car during classes. His wife has her own separate home forty-six miles away - a little too far for comfort, especially with hills and cold weather making extra demands on his seventeen batteries. Perrin gives a detailed analysis of the "cradle-to-grave" pollution costs of owning Solo vs. owning a gasoline-powered car. He contends that Solo costs society virtually nothing - especially since he started to recharge "him" from a series of solar panels.

Three chapters have been added to the expanded paperback edition. These bring us up to date on the latest in electric vehicle technology and the evolution of the field.

This is a most enjoyable and informative book. It left me with a rather surprising urge to rush right out and buy an electric car!

If you're planning a trip to Mount Whitney, you need this book. It contains the most comprehensive trail guide on the market, with detailed descriptions and photos to help you visualize the hike. There are also many other helpful chapters, such as: Bears, Wildlife, Weather, Your Success Factors (hints for mental and physical preparation), and background history of the trail.
Furthermore, this book carries a guarantee by the authors: "If you feel this book doesn't prepare you for a summit attempt, we'll refund your money." Written by the owner of the Whitney Portal Store, it's a gold mine of information and advice!

Before hiking Mount Whitney, I browsed a few books on the topic. This book was the most informative and interesting to read. Not only are there interesting anecdotes about the hike, including some of the messages left in the guestbook at the top, the book is well organized and readable. The book divides the hike into parts, making it easy to envision before attempting a hike to the summit. This is a wonderful book written by the owner of the Whitney Store.