As a preschool teacher I am always looking for new and age appropriate activities for young children. Alexandra Cleveland and Barbara Caton's "Games for All Seasons" is a collection of fun motor activities that would interest any three or four year old. The games not only promote fine and gross motor skills but also provide practice in cognitve, language and social skills. The book is divided into games for each of the four seasons and includes an excellent theme and holiday index.

It is often difficult to find age appropriate games for three year olds but "Games for All Seasons" certainly provides a vast number of activities geared to the interests of any child. The 130 activities include such child pleasers as "Follow the Flying Bat", "Parachute Fireworks" and "Sack of Snakes".

This book is a "must have" for any teacher of young children.

Art collectors living in Cleveland have been well exposed to sculpture made from glass both through the efforts of Tom Reiley of the Reiley-Hawk Galleries and the passion of a group of collectors, most notably Francine & Benson Pilloff and Mike Belkin. A few years ago, the Cleveland Museum exhibited a significant amount of material from local collections in one of the Museum's most popular shows. This is the beautifully illustrated catalog that accompanied the show...and if you enjoy contemporary art, this is a must

I had a great time reading and remembering the great memories Indians fans have of April-October 1995, and the Tribe's first postseason since 1954. Russ Schneider wrote a very good book, and used details very well. A must read for any baseball fan, in particular a Tribe fan.

Few people are aware that Cleveland was America's first "Motor City" long before Detroit claimed that title. In Golden Wheels, Richard Wager tells the largely unknown story of early American automobiles from Northeast Ohio. This includes venerable names like Winton, Stearns, Peerless, Chandler, Templar, and Jordan. In all, Golden Wheels tells the stories of 80 different automobile marques from the classic era.

Every true automobile enthusiast should know the stories in this book.

Zachary Kent picks a very interesting episode to begin his juvenile biography of Grover Cleveland for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. Cleveland had been a cigar smoker all his life and in 1893 a cancerous tumor was removed from his mouth, along with a large segment of his upper jawbone. Eventually Cleveland was fitted with an artificial rubber jaw. Surprisingly, the public never found out about the operation until nine years after Cleveland died. Perhaps it is the idea that a President of the United States got away with keeping a deep dark secret from the press and the public, but as fascinating as this little story is, Kent's biography gets much more interesting.

Grover Cleveland has always been something of a political oddity because he is the only President to serve non-consecutive terms in the White House. He was also one of the few men ever to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college (gee, that sounds SO familiar). However, by the time students reading this volume they will probably have a greater appreciation for Cleveland and judge him to be an above-average President. Kent focuses on Cleveland's political career as a Veto Politician who rose quickly from Mayor of Buffalo to Governor of New York and then President of the United States. While the opening chapter focuses on an obvious case of deception, Cleveland's honesty was his hallmark. Kent characterizes Cleveland as the Veto President, although most of his record number of vetoes had to do with small pension bills sent up by Congress. One of the strengths of this book was how Kent focuses on the years between Cleveland's two terms, which usually gets glossed over in these short political biographies.

Actually, I am sort of surprised that Kent did not play up the President's marriage during his first term to the twenty-one year old Frances Folsom, by far the youngest First Lady in American History. Most students might know little about Cleveland's political views, but they probably know even less about his wife, who turns out to be one of the most fascinating women ever to live in the White House. The production values on the Encyclopedia of Presidents are not as snazzy as you will find in other similar series, but few juvenile histories of the Presidents provide this much information. The book is illustrated with historic black & white photographs, engravings, and political cartoons, which usually given students a better feel for the times than anything else.

I am not sure if there is a rhyme or reason to the order in which the Profiles of Presidents series is publishing its volumes. I have been working steadily through juvenile biographies of the presidents in alphabetical order (just to be different) and now that I am consistently encountering Profiles of the Presidents volumes on Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt I have been trying to go back and see which other ones have come out in the earlier part of the alphabet. My motivation is that I find this series to be the best for introducing young readers (i.e., elementary school students) to the lives of the presidents. Once they get to junior high/middle school the Our Presidents series would be the first choice, but when it comes to the first book a kid should read about Grover Cleveland, this volume by Jean Kinnney Williams is where I would point them.

These books combine solid information with compelling graphics. Grover Cleveland is notorious as the only President to serve two nonconsecutive terms (and the second of three candidates to win the popular election three times in a row) at the tail end of the 19th century. While there are some historical black & white photographs from Cleveland's life and political career, you will also find a colorized photograph, tinted etchings, a colorful campaign poster, and even colored picture frames for some of those black & white photographs. However, you will also find that the substance of this volume is not sacrificed to the aesthetics of its presentation. Williams establishes Cleveland as "A Man of Principles" with a choice quotation--"What's the use of being elected or reelected unless you stand for something"--and traces his political rise to the Presidency from being mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York. She explains how the political pendulum went back and forth on Cleveland, who could be elected, voted out of office, returned to the White House, and hated when he finally left for good by focusing on the political issues and turmoil of the tile. Young readers should find the story of the Cleveland presidency to be both interesting and insightful beyond the oddity of the non-consecutive terms.

I never really knew how little I knew about Grover Cleveland until I read this informative little juvenile biography by Ann Graham Gaines for the "Our Presidents" series. Young readers and teachers alike will almost certainly have a higher opinion of our Twenty-Second and Twenty-Fourth President after reading this book. Gaines tells how Cleveland, whose first name was actually Stephen, taught himself the law although he had never graduated high school and went from Erie County sheriff to mayor of Buffalo, Governor of New York, and President of the United States in the span of a dozen years based maninly on his spotless reputation: People described Cleveland as "ugly honest." Chapters and devoted to Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms in the White House, and Gaines does a solid job of covering the political heights and lows of his Presidency. Young readers will be impressed by Cleveland's wife Frances Folsom, the youngest First Lady in history, and surprised to learn that Cleveland was operated on for a cancerous tumor in his mouth, which included having part of his upper jaw removed, without the public ever finding out until after he died. However, in these troubled times it is Cleveland's integrity in the White House that will stick with readers.

This juvenile biography for younger students (9-12) focuses on providing basic information about Cleveland with "Interesting Facts" about his life and times appearing in the margins. Several chapters have a page devoted to some rather serious details about Cleveland's life and political career: Civil War Substitutes, Corruption in New York, The Presidential Veto, and The Pullman Strike. There are a couple dozen illustrations in the book and the back of this volume includes a time line of Cleveland's life, a glossary of three dozen words, information on all of the Presidents form Washington to Bush, Presidential facts, and internet sites and books for finding further information. The "Our Presidents" books are part of the "Spirit of America" series, which focuses on the American experience in terms of history, culture, and politics. This is an excellent series for young readers to learn about the nation's Presidents and Gaines has turned in one of the best efforts with this volume of Grover Cleveland.

For anyone who is a student of Gestalt Therapy this book is a must. Stoehr's work gave me a deep appreciation for the intellectual legacy of Paul Goodman.

Anyway who has read the Plain Dealer in the last five or six decades is aware of Bob Dolgan, who has written thousands of articles for this daily and continues to enlighten us with stories of our famous and infamous Cleveland area sports heroes.
Although Bob has covered everything from the Indians to horse racing, his most cherished works are his nostalgic looks at the many sports figures who graced our city from all walks of life and in all sports afields.
Capturing articles from 1971-2001 we are brought back to a time where money was not God and most athletes played for the love of the game.
From Jessie Owens to long forgotten baseball characters, Bob's articles got into the heart and soul of the men and women who spent their time showing us their skills in an often frustrating town, with few too many champions.
Anyway who loves sports and enjoys classic black and white photos will relish this fine hardcovered book, which makes us remember once again how many colorful and also very skilled athletes the city of Cleveland has been blessed with. From greats like Tris Speaker, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Lou Boudreau in baseball to characters even from the world of gambling he has hit the mark over the years.
I personally enjoyed stories about my boyhood heroes like Rocky Colavito and Jim Brown, but also enjoyed the likes of the great teams of the late 40's and early 50's.
I highly recomment this publication to anyone who loves Cleveland sports. You will see why Bob Dolgan is a member of the Writers Hall of Fame and has won many other local and national awards for his writing.

Jerry Fitch

This is the sweetest book my son has ever read. It is totally geared toward children. My son loved recognizing the landmarks he has grown to love. A must read for all of Cleveland's children and anyone who ever thought about trying to explain relocation to their child.