This book is a nice resource for beginner bird watchers because it is small and limited in its scope (only the birds you're likely to see in the eastern U.S.). This allows you to look up a bird very quickly. The illustrations are excellent, showing both the male and female of each species.

This book allows the novice bird watcher to identify thecommon species of birds that inhabit the U.S. east of the RockyMountains. An easy-to-follow classification system allows the reader to quickly identify a bird before it flies away. All birds are represented in full color with male, female and juvenile colorings represented. A short description of the bird is available that also lists common traits and vocalizations. In addition, maps show summer and winter ranges for each bird species. The introductory chapter contains interesting and useful information on what to feed birds, the types of feeders that are available and offers guidelines for placing nest boxes and platforms in your yard to attract different bird species.

My class of first graders loved this story and they found the illustations adorable. The children fell as in love with Mr. Griggs as he was with his work. The illustrations helped the children invision Mr. Griggs' great love for his work, but also showed the humor in the story. This is a great story to use during a study of Cynthia Rylant in a primary classroom.

This is a very cute story about a postal worker who loves his job. He gets sick and has to miss a day of work and is very worried about his post office. He is so filled with joy upon his return to work that I just had to smile! It is refreshing to read about someone who loves the work that he does.

Mr. Griggs Work:

Mr. Griggs' Work, by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Julie Downing, is an example of "true literature." Within this story there are "ideas that go beyond the plot of a...picture-book story...but they are presented subtly and gently; good books do not preach; their ideas are wound into the substance of the book and are clearly a part of the life of the book itself" (Norton 111). Rylant gives a portrait of a man who finds so much passion and love in his work as a postman, that it becomes all he can think of, even if he's sick or is on his day off. Her story "provides the child with a visual experience...[and is] a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through a series of pictures" (Caldecott). The combination of Rylant's storyline and Downing's pictures, creates this unity and takes children into the life of Mr. Griggs, where they realize his passion and love for his work.

Norton tells us that "children want a book to have a good plot: enough action, excitement, suspense, and conflict to develop interest" (113). In Mr. Griggs' Work, children are given a plot where excitement is created out of what seems a non-exciting profession. Rylant does this through her use of characterization. Mr. Griggs is describes as someone who "loves his job...[and who thinks] about it almost all the time" (Rylant 4). Downing's pictures draw us towards this man and we fall in love with his rosy cheeks and classic blue overalls. "Characterization is one of the most powerful of the literary elements...an author can achieve...a three dimensional character by describing their characters physical appearance, recording the conversations of the character, revealing the characters thoughts, revealing the perceptions of other characters and showing the character in action" (Norton 121). We see the warm reception of Mr. Griggs after his sick day, we hear his thoughts as he remises about times at work, we are shown his curly hair on his balding head and his sweet smile, and we watch him at work giving all he can to his profession as a postman. Rylant and Downing collaborate to do all of this, in order to create a character, which defines the plot, which makes the story that we fall in love with.

The setting of this picture book "create[s] moods that add credibility to characters and plot" (Norton 123). Its themes are interlaced with this setting and tie "the plot, characters, and setting together into a meaningful whole" (Norton 127). More importantly children can understand and relate to these themes. More so than adults, children have passion, passion to play, passion to love, and passion to live. Mr. Griggs has all of these things, and because of that, allows children to relate to him. For a child to see such respect and passion given to a profession leads them to what they love. Children may view jobs like being a postman as less than desirable. However, when authors like Cynthia Rylant put a face to the profession, children will be itching to do not what makes the most money or sounds the best, but instead what makes them happy. These kinds of life lessons, which are hidden underneath the story of a postman, are essential for all children to learn.

Mr. Griggs Work is written with the knowledge that "children are [its] potential audience" (Caldecott). Its writing is simplistic while its drawings are in-depth. The writing of Rylant leads us into the pictures of Downing, which span across the page and tell the story inside of the story. We see every detail in the post office where Mr. Griggs works. From his scale, to his cushy green chair, we are given the atmosphere which we grow to love as much as Mr. Griggs does. Norton reminds us that books must be accessible for all children to read them. With this accessibility they can "gain knowledge of their heritage, recognize and appreciate good literature, and understand themselves and others through literature" (Norton 133). This accessibility is not simply reached by providing a child with a book, but instead, providing them with a book that they can read without struggling, understand without searching, and enjoy without reservation. Mr. Griggs' Work accomplishes all of this and more with its vivid illustrations and fitting text.

It is said that "children are the ultimate critics of what they read" (Norton 137). The Caldecott Award steps away from that ideal and sets up criteria for adults to judge children's books by. However, it reminds those who judge that the children are the audience, and that for a book to be considered for such a prestigious award, it must "display respect for children's understanding, abilities, and appreciations" (Caldecott). Mr. Griggs' Work shows that respect and gives a story that children can not only understand but also learn from. Reading is only worthwhile if it teaches, in some cases it teaches us how to write, in others, how to read; in the case of Mr. Griggs it teaches us passion and love of profession.

Elthia Sinclare is determined to show her rich Maryland family that she can take care of herself. That's why she's agreed to become a governess in Texas for two children. When she gets to Texas though she finds out that her would-be-employer has sent for a wife--not a governess. The two children are really six in number, and the contract that she signed for the governess position turns out to be a contract to become his wife! Not wanting to go home defeated, and her employer/husband holding a signed contract, Elthia reluctantly agrees to become his wife and mother for the children-after drawing up a new contract stating that it's a marriage in name only, and that will be annulled in three months.

Caleb Tanner is determined that no one is going to split up another family of Tanner kids, he went through that as a child, and he's not going to let it happen to his orphaned nieces and nephews. He has to have a wife in three days or the courts will take the children away from him. He'll do what he must to see that Elthia keeps her end of the bargain and if that means using manipulation and her sympathy for the kids, then that's what he'll do. Getting Elthia to acquiesce to the marriage of convenience is easy compared to the difficulty of knowing that he'll have to let her go.

SOMETHING MORE will have your emotions running the gamut. Right away my heart went out to a young Caleb whose world was first turned upside down by the death of his father, and then with the separation from his siblings. Elthia is endearing in her determination to show her family that she can make it, and she can, even if she's a bit inept. Elthia does manage to get into some funny situations, watch for her washing the floor-I just about died when I found out that the "cleaning solution" was actually molasses! My heart just about broke when Caleb comes to the conclusion that he's not what Elthia and the children need and that they'll be better off without him, so he sends them all away. That's when I got angry, and I really wanted to smack him! LOL I'm not going to give anything else away, so if you want to find out everything else that goes on you'll just have to go and purchase yourself a copy of SOMETHING MORE. With the wonderful, well-developed characters and emotional storyline, you can't ask for more.

In 1892 Maryland, Elthia Sinclaire accepts a job as governess to the children of Caleb Tanner even though it means relocating to Texas. Elthia feels this is an opportunity for her to break free from her father.

Caleb does not want a governess. He really needs a wife so he can adopt his six nieces and nephews before the children are scattered among various families as what happened to he and his siblings twenty years ago. However, the clock is ticking as he has three days to find a spouse. Though she has doubts about marrying Caleb, especially since they differ on the "contract", Elthia agrees to a marriage for the sake of the kids. She quickly falls in love with her children and tries to ignore her growing attraction to her husband, who reciprocates her feelings of love, an emotion neither acknowledges.

Winnie Griggs' western romance will grab readers' attention from start to finish because of the warm lead couple and the six charges that bring them together. The audience will empathize with Caleb struggles with the nightmare that history is unfairly repeating itself. Elthia is very spirited, but amusingly is no housekeeper based on her futile efforts as such but her love for the Texas six makes her a perfect mom. Her hilarious battles with the hero on top of a wonderful plot enable fans to receive SOMETHING MORE from Ms. Griggs.

Harriet Klausner

Winnie Griggs has fashioned a wonderful tale. Elithia Sinclair is running away from an unwanted engagement, and is determined to show her society family in Maryland, USA that she can take care of herself. She answers an advertisement for a governess in Texas where she would teach two children.

When she arrives she finds the employer was seeking more than a teacher for two children. There are SIX! And the position is not for a governess, but a wife!!

Caleb Tanner needs a wife in 3 days to keep the Courts from taking his nieces and nephews from him. He is determined to keep them together and give them a family. But to do that he has to have a wife, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to get Elithia to agree, even to using the kids to pull her heartstrings.

She agrees to a name only marriage that is to be annulled after three months, but in spite of finding she is poorly equipped to handle the task, she comes through all the burnt meals, flood kitchens and various mishaps and finds there is more to life that polished society. Elithia soon finds she wants her husband in more than name only.

Winnie Griggs fashions warm loving characters that burrow a place into your heart.

I just finished reading "Awaken The Diet Within" by Julia Griggs Havey. I loved the book because it didn't take long to realize she was a real person that had indured and conquered many of the same problems that myself and many others go through everyday. This book tells a story of a woman that has lost 130 pounds and kept it off for four years. That is the real accomplishment. As hard as it is to adopt new behaviors to loose weight, many of us have still succeded there. Statistic and my personal experience has shown that the real problem is keeping it off. Julia's book is a very well written book that is simple and easy to understand and relate too. There are funny moments, (I loved the red food coloring story). They are times when I was reading it and I would think that same thing has happened to me and I would have loved to reacted in a certain way but didn't always have the courage to. I would read on a little farther and sure enough I would discover that Julia had reacted exactly like I wish I had. There were segments that were so funny I woke my husband up at midnight to read it too him. He thought I was a little nuts at that point but once I got his full attention he thought it was hilarious too. Julia guides you through a simple program that can help you reach your own personal goals. Julia's book stresses the importance of keeping it simple, of setting goals and reaching them, of eating healthy and being active. The book throughly covers many aspects of living a healthy and happier life. I found the book to be educational, motivational and inspirational. It was so well written I could feel her pain and rejoice in her accomplishments. This is a must read!!! I used many of the same concepts that Julia shares in her book to loose 100 pounds. I am still stuggling to loose a little more and to maintain. I am so grateful to Julia for sharing her story and for giving me incouragement every time I pick up her new book "Awaken The Diet Within".

Julia Griggs Havey does a wonderful job at opening her heart to share such a personal journey through her low points, improvements and whole life style changes that her readers can identify with. It helps you see past just the physical downsides to being overweight and touches the emotional aspects of weight problems. I was forty pounds overweight and desperate for a quick fix after at least a hundred failed attempts. Julia's book gave me the motivation and the hope to lose the extra pounds when no other diet or book had come close. She is a wonderful inspiration that has made a fantastic impact on my life and I am so thankful to have read it. There is no quick fix to the problem, but Julia makes it painlessly easy to take the baby steps needed for a major lifestyle change without it being too overwhelming. The book helped me to realize that I was eating to feed my emotions like she was, how to take a step back and eat for nourishment not to soothe the brain. I highly recommend this book! It is worth every penny!

I want to tell everyone how special this book is. It is not perfect in it's grammer, too many of the other reviews have focused on the problems, rather than with the message. The message is strong and powerful. I have read every diet book ever written and NONE ever talked right to my heart! Julia Havey inspired me by the story she tells, she shares with us, the reader, her pain, what obesity cost her and she motivates us with her incredible ability to laugh at the worst life dealt her and to hold her head high and move on. I love the line "get your house in order". I realized I had quit caring about how I lived and cared for myself. Thanks to MS. Havey, I have lost 85 pounds so far, my home is tidy, my appearance is again attractive and my personal relationships are improving. Never again will I take a moment of life for granted. Julia taught me that life is to be treasured and that my fat is temporary and NOT a personality trait! The world would be a happier and thinner place if everyone would awaken the diet in them! Julia I can not thank you enough! My husband says I look as great as you do now!

I heard a lot about this book so I thought I would give it a try. It took long time to read, so I can't say it was a quick easy read. It was interesting. I am not sure why it was written in journal form from 5 different people. THey did not really add or take away from what the story was. It just took longer to get to the story, like why was JM and her father so estranged? Who plagurized her story The Moroccan Rose and had it printed in the magazine? Why did she react the way she did when she saw the story? I think it would have been more interesting and easier to read if it were JM's journal I was reading.

I found the book to be kind of wordy, and I am not used to reading a novel written in journal form. Even though I often found my self re-reading some of the journal entries in the book, having to pay such attention to detail, caused me to really read every word written, thus getting a more lasting impression of what I had just read.

If you haven't added this book to your collection you should. It was a story that anyone of any race, creed or color could tell about someone in their family or own lives. This book gave you something to think about and without being preachy led you to some powerful scriptures. Keep up the good work.

I didn't realize when I ordered this book that it was so biased towards humantities. While they have some tips that are relevant to any educator, some of the topics which are crucial for the humanities (such as essays and hour-long class discussions) are less useful for an adjunct teaching intro chemistry!

What I'd really like to see are tips for science educators -- how to run a lab, how to teach problem solving skills, how to involve students in active learning when you have so many FACTS to cover.

This book has a lot of common sense information that we all like to hear. It starts with information about how to plan for your class and prepare a complete syllabus that spells out your expectations and decreases the chances of arguments with students later. There are also some great tips for writing good test questions to demonstrate what the students know rather than what they don't know.

Most of the information is geared towards classes that do a lot of literature reading and include lots of class discussions and essay writing. Class discussions are often hard to sustain and this book advises how to keep people from dominating the discussion and how to involve everyone and lessen students' fears of being wrong. This book did not include many concrete ideas for how to improve teaching or new things to try in the classroom rather it gave advice for how to make the old, common ways of teaching, such as lecturing and discussion, work.

Although this book has six authors, I still felt like I was only getting one point of view. I think this would be a more inclusive general guide to college teaching if there were viewpoints from people working in different disciplines.

Every college professor, and would-be college professor, will want to add this important book to his or her professional library. It is brimming with practical advice for achieving success in the classroom. The co-authors, themselves affiliated with a range of institutions (from liberal arts college to university research center), bring their own practical experiences to the fore. Moreover, they provide superb advice about key issues related to teaching (e.g., office hours, construction of exams, and professional conduct.) Whether one is at the beginning of his or her career or a veteran professor, this book will prove itself most beneficial.

Accessible and highly useful, the format of "Cecil Essentials of Medicine" is unique. This is one of the few broad-scope medical texts, which used simple language to present advanced information. The book is dynamic; and very easy to understand. Its strengths lie in the methodological manner with which it tackled clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and therapeutics. It gives detailed information in each case, without dabbling into anything that is unnecessary.
Anybody who reads this book will appreciate the depth of its coverage. It is a quality designed: a valuable compilation with both doctors and students in mind.

I am a 4th year medical student and have referred to this book contantly on my rotations. i find that the chapters were lucid and covered just the right amount of depth for each topic. Best of all, the authors focused on all the clinically relevant points of each disease which is a must for the busy clinician. Get it now!

I got my hands on a pre-released copy of Survival and it not only made a lot of sense but it made me cry. It was a personal yet informational book regarding life and death. A great book for those who have lost a loved one or someone who is in contact with someone who has lossed someone dear to them. I know this book is in limited availability so I definately would say get it while you can.

I found this book to be wonderful...easy and quick to read. I read it twice in one weekend. Not your typical "cookbook" on how to grieve. It spoke of the realities of grieving. Very personal and I enjoyed the fact that it wasn't clinical. I highly recommend this book.

A realtime journey through the grieving process. Personal raw and honest. This book will make you think and feel.

The book set me up for the grand finale which never came. Most of these women were on the ample side. I am short and thin but with a thick long waist and I am swayback. The majority of the alterations were on separates; not much attention was given to dresses. I did however like the croqui. I need to do this and find my own way. There are probably better, more direct books out there.

This is a fun and helpful book. It was beneficial for me to learn that I should EXPECT my body to vary from the pattern standard - rather than beat myself up over it. I particularly liked the book's "before and after" photos. It's good to have so many visual images showing "this is what it means". Gale's insights will help me for years to come.

I'm just a so-so sewer, and this book was tremendously helpful to me. First, it gave me hope that I might actually be able to sew something that would fit. Second, it gave me focused instructions on how to make particular changes. Third, they worked.

If you are looking for the a-z of pattern fitting, this isn't it. But for a refreshing point of view and great ideas, I haven't found anything else in its league.

(It's fun, too.)

Green Pharmacy is one of the best books to read on the history of Herbalism and its connections to medical treatments. I liked it because it clearly explains how the principal constituent when isolated for conventional medicinal purposes, can cause harmful side effects. The book reveals that using herbs as a whole plant is more beneficial. A very educational book.

The sick and suffering in the USA who are appalled by current high prices for their medication will be amazed to learn this struggle has been unceasing throughout human history. Barbara Griggs describes how for many centuries inexpensive herbal remedies were fostered by women who were unable to afford the costly medicines or services of established doctors. For current times, the author explains,"The quiet revolution which is gradually bringing plants back to centre-stage is patient rather than doctor-driven. It is patients who may be bankrupted by the cost of medical treatment, if they are not lucky enough to be clients of a generous national health service"pg.369 An outraged public is making this a major concern of the presidential election. To intelligently deal with our current medical dilemma, read and absorb this studiously prepared history of ways of healing.

Ms. Van Der Zee has written a book that is quite fascinating! For me this particular book was required reading, but Im actually glad that it was because I learned a great deal about the history of herbal and general medicine throughout the millenia. The history and facts are interesting and higly readable. Ms. Van Der Zee makes you want to keep reading. Green Pharmacy is a book that is not only a "must read" but a definite "must own".