Danny, Joe, Irene, and Professor Bullfinch are "smallified" and wander through the now-enormous landscape. Danny rides a butterfly--thrilling! All this decades before "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".

Even though I read this book a little while ago, I remember it being good. I liked the whole book, especially the end and the middle.

Danny makes a ghost-detector and a robot bloodhound in this especially action-packed episode. Irene encounters a hippie. Joe opines that they should all be sleeping and/or eating. I love it!!!

When the Professor invents a machine which will do homework, the temptation is just too much for Danny and his friends. The hilarious antics of Danny served to keep this book fresh in my memory 40 years after I had first read it. This type of fun never grows old and hopefully new generations of young readers will learn from Danny that it doesn't pay to take a shortcut when learning is concerned.

I have read several books on serging, and I rank this in the top. Not only does it give techniques, but it explains the various parts of the serger and what they do and how they can be used to vary your results. Tension on the serger has always been a problem for me. In her book, April explains not what the tension should be, but shows clear pictures on how the results should look, since it differs according to fabric being used. After explaining the serger, she goes over different threads, and why certain ones are better for using in different parts of the serger than others, and which needles to use with them. Then, she goes over several techniques of decorative stitches. Step-by-step directions are given along with clear pictures. I would recommend "Deco Serging" for anyone owning a serger that, like I was at first, may be afraid of the machine, or someone that may want to do more with theirs than they realized it would do.

Why democracy? Could be one of the titles of the book. Why this political system with its inumerable variations is the dominant type of political organisation in the western world. Although representative democracy is not what the Athenians invented in antiquity, it is however as close to the original idea as it can be. All important topics are covered. "Ancient Greek political theory and democracy", "Greek democracy, philosophy and science", "The Italian City-Republics", "The levellers", ""Democracy and the American revolution", "Democracy and the French revolution" and more. In the preface of the book we read: "This is a book about the history and significance of an old but vigorous idea: that in human political communities it ought to be ordinary people (the adult citizens)and not the extra-ordinary people who rule....." Although we may not agree with these words the authors put once more the definite question on "Who should be the ruler and who should be the ruled?"

I stumbled across the Dunn and Larson book a decade ago, when it was new. It is STILL a vital text, and I am dismayed to learn it periodically goes out of print.

The book builds upon the now-eroded British primary school(i.e,. elementary) school model called "design technology." Firmly rooted in the tradition of John Dewey and Lev Vygtosky, design technology sets students and teachers to work together to construct meaningful objects that are initially just beyond the reach of any one child alone. In working on their constructions, such as mechanical toys, students are assisted in working through a cycle of several processes: contextualizing, clarifying, inquiring, planning, realizing, testing, modifying, interpreting, reflecting, and back again to contexualizing.

What sets this book apart from others is that it is situated in real practice. Liberally illlustrated with classroom pictures of students and teachers at work, the book beautifully blends theory with practice. The authors can talk about the value of planning and how it unfolds for children, and also offer very practical planning scaffolds for children, e.g., planning webs, project calendars, and task sequencing, illustrated with real children's work.

While the book is NOT particularly oriented toward computer technology, the reader will find today's software tools (Inspiration, Lego Logo, etc.) crying out for integration into the design technology process.

The authors address assessment issues, offer information on additional resources, even provide staff development stories and photos. The book is gorgeous, very readable, inspirational, and yet practical. See also: Stephen Levy, Starting From Scratch: One Classroom Builds Its Own Curriculum (available here at Amazon).

This is the largest fragment of Columbus's first voyage log, as abstracted by Bartolome de Las Casas. Of the many editions in print, Dunn & Kelley stands head and shoulders above the rest. The format has a new Spanish transcription on the left-hand pages, exactly as hand-written in the original manuscript by Las Casas: same abbreviations, strike-outs, diacriticals, and marginal notes. The right-hand pages contain an English translation.

But perhaps the most valuable addition for the scholar is the Spanish concordance of the entire text, giving folio and line numbers for every appearance of almost every word. (Common words such as prepositions are given only with word counts, not references.) All in all, a must-have for any serious scholar or afficianado of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea.

Prayer is often misunderstood. Ron Dunn takes this subject and gives deep insight on a layman's level. His understanding, personal and pastoral experience in the subject of intercessory prayer come through on the printed page. If anyone is interested in learning how to pray, when to pray, and what you can pray for, you need to read this book. Prayer can be misundestood and when it doesn't 'turn out' we can be disappointed. Ron Dunn carefully guides the reader through this subject and navigates difficult water. He takes issues that can be confusing and clears them up so we can understand. No library on prayer should be without this book.

This is the life story of my grandparents, Dr. Frank and Bessie Beck. They were missionary doctors in La Paz, Bolivia from 1910 - 1960, who dedicated their lives to the people of Bolivia. They established two hospitals, and a school of nursing which are all still in operation.

For those readers, who are personally related to them, you might find it fascinating to read about the adventures of traveling and living in South America during Bolivia's cultural revolutions.