Miss Lawrence says, "Dill is a hardy annual. The seeds can be sown in fall or early spring. The seedlings must be thinned, and Mrs. Clarkson says she saves every scrap that is pulled up. She uses them in potato salad, and sprinkles them over broiled lamb."

Miss Lawrence has distilled much of her gardening and some of her cooking knowledge into this lovely little book (about 250 pages). Ideas abound from sources such as old wives tales, myths, stories, poetry, and the miscellaneous information passed along to Miss Lawrence from her correspondents, friends, and readers. Reading this text is like sitting at a wise woman's knee and listening to her tell about past times.

Will it rain on Saint Swithin's Day (July 15th) as it did in 971 A.D when his body was transferred from a forgotten grave to the Cathedral for a proper burial? Were the Chinese, who considered the frog the lord of waters onto something, "Send soon O frog the jewel of water."

But my favorite writing is the poetry she intersperses into the text -- "A bank where the wild thyme blows, Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows, Quite over canopied with lucious woodbine, with sweet musk-roses and with eglantine." Planted any eglantine lately..?

Edward Ardizzone had the knack of writing and illustrating wonderfully satisfying adventure stories for young children. You can read this story to a five year old, and both of you will interested - even enthralled. There is a quietude to his illustrations that my children loved. Pen and ink with watercolor washes, they convey the mood of an English seacoast town, the moods of this story's many characters, and allow room for the viewers' moods and varied reactions to the text. Children don't so much gawk at his drawings as enter them - safely.

In this story, despite wearing a life belt, a little girl nearly drowns, and is rescued by the boys Tim and Ginger. They carry her limp body into Tim's house where "Tim's mother put her to bed with lots of hot water bottles and blankets." No one knows who she might be. The doctor is called, and her convalescence begins. Her recovery is rocky and it is that process, with plenty of drama, that forms the rest of the story.

Ardizzone's messages are in favor of friendship and sticking out one's neck for others. There are some disturbing but manageable events in the story that parents might want to talk about with children. (Charlotte's amnesia; the absence of her parents; Tim's treatment at school - for writing to Charlotte, later - whom he misses.)

Another wonderful children's book by Edward Ardizzone.

From a small girl, Beatrice Crain is one smart cookie. She has the gift to dance, and dance she does! She proved herself and went on to become a professional dancer and even made movies. Her dancing partner, Bobby Bradley is also a good dancer, but has a bit of a struggle finding himself in the beginning. This book is definitely about love, finding it and keeping it. I don't think Charlotte Vale Allen has written a bad book, at least none that I've found.

You may have read many memoirs, and biographies about people affected by the Holocaust. However, do not think this is similar to other stories, or be put off by a topic that is upsetting. The journey through this book will be more than rewarding. Mary Felstiner has a deep, historical knowledge of Charlotte Salomon that she relays in a moving, and powerful style. You feel that you intimately know the people she writes about. Salomon's story is not one that is widely known, but it should be. She painted her life story during the Nazi years in the form of an operetta. Her paintings recently on display in the US tell a painful, vivid story of her, her parents, and her lover. This book is about what happened to Charlotte Salomon and her family during the Nazi years, but will also be of great interest to people interested in art, and in the human condition. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Tom Thumb has always been my all-time favorite book when i was younger.

In a series of lovingly detailed vignettes, Ms. Mannion paints the picture of her unique life story. Although in many ways she has lived the quintessential American experience, Ms. Mannion's bold spirit has led her to break past many of the boundaries set for women of her generation. From her roots in New York City to the days before air-conditioning in Miami, readers will experience worlds that are only now accesible through valuable memoirs such as Ms. Mannion's. The Tomato Caper is also immensly entertaining, as Ms. Mannion is a natural storyteller. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the American immigrant experience, the genre of the memoir, or just an engrossing and enriching read.

Jayne Chilkes removes human ego completely, and reveals her most vulnerable, lightest Self. While most people would feel vulnerable expressing such depth, it is most natural to Jayne to declare her utmost truth and reveal her most sacred being. She shines as an eternal tower, unwaivering.

I admire Jayne's willingness to share her channeling experiences in this book. Others may have experienced things somewhat similar, and yet been too afraid to share, too worried about what the masses might say, or almost apologetic in their delivery. Jayne bravely takes on the world and tells it as she has experienced it, unabashedly, purely, faithfully.

As you read this book, you are lifted to higher realms of lightness. Jayne carries you on wings and you don't really have a clue where you are going and you're not too sure where you've been, but you know that you have been lifted to a level far beyond the solidness of the earth plane.

Twelve Steps to Heaven is extraordinary. It is a porthole to a different perception where earthly baggage is left behind. Bringing forward the concept of Twin Flames which seems strange, yet feels right, she opens a gateway to a higher awareness.

When you read this book, you must suspend all judgements and leave old beliefs at the door. Open your mind, read, and you, too, will feel lighter.

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A vintage whodunit, this book includes wry humour, a subtle feminist commentary regarding women in 1920's society & even a butler! The story is a thoroughly enjoyable diversion (particularly needed in recent weeks). An excellent choice for Charlotte Perkins Gilman fans & anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Urban growth is pervasive. It can be as benign as following the signs to new housing tracks on weekend drives or discovering that old downtown buildings are being reused with trendy lofts. Is this growth simply the result of a free market at work or is it the result of a specific agenda created by a powerful lobby for the purpose of influencing politics? The Jonas and Wilson text explores through a compilation of scholarly essays, the urban growth machine thesis developed by Harvey Molotch over two decades ago.

It is a great reference point for practicioners, scholars, students or individuals interested in reading about one of the field's seminal arguments explaining urban economic development. As a graduate student I found a great reference point in my research. The reference section alone is worth the purchase. It is a great day for the serendipty of research when you can find a compilation of essays, both critical and supportive, of this major theme in the field of urban affairs.

Vane Pursuit is in fact neither vain nor without merit for the reader. This is entertainment in the best sense of the word. It's a book from the Balaclava series of Macleod and you should read the preceding volumes, but don't have to. Several known and already loved characters are once more trapped in bizarre and surrealistic doings of just as bizarre new persons. Peter Shandy's friends of his past are in the center of one plotline, the acquaintances of Helen Shandy - namely Iduna Stott, who gets more and more whalelike...in the other. How they merge finally ist Macleods art and unique skill. And wait! Another woman appears in this book, who figures prominently in "An Owl too many" - Miss Binks. I can't tell you, how she emerges, it would be a spoiler. But believe me: you will read this book again and again, just because it works that way.. The different settings picture truly antagonistic persons in environments that seem to fit both parts. Needless to say, that the "good ones" are better adjusted, perceive the wrongdoings of the "bad ones" in due time und thus create the wonderful happy end, this time without wedding bells but with a blossoming romance hinted. Well, I enjoyed the exaggerated parts hugely. If you didn't in the books preceding this one, you might really feel, that Macleod took several things too far. To the faithful followers of the author (of whom I am one) this is one of her best.