a cliff notes version of radiology no fluff, all pearls. besides, my son wrote it!

Not that very long ago, it was fairly common, especially among the middle and upper classes, for parents in the United States to entertain their young children with pleasant stories of elves, goblins, and fairies. Though ultimately derived from European sources, these were not the fairy tales of Perault, Grimm, and Anderson, but looser, sometimes spontaneous stories explaining natural phenomena such as rainbows, autumn foliage, snow flakes, or spring flowers. These fairy stories, some which also came from immigrant European grandparents, were also a part of the larger American media culture, and books on the subject, such as 1951's The Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies, could easily be found in libraries and kindergarten classrooms across the country.

In addition to fireside and classroom fairy songs (such as ' White Coral Bells ') and widely anthologized children's poems like James Whitcomb Riley's ' Little Orphan Annie ' and ' The Pixy People, ' there were an abundance of books like Johnny Gruelle's Raggedy Ann in the Deep Deep Woods (1930), the Oz books of L. Frank Baum, Ruth Plumly Thompson, and John R. Neill, and the 16 Brownie books of Palmer Cox. Also widely available to general audiences were the equally popular ' flower fairy ' series by Cicely Mary Barker. Even the Brownies division of the Girl Scouts of America reflected the fairy mythology in its literature: to see a helpful brownie, a young girl need only look into a pond or stream under a full moon, and the brownie -- in fact the young girl's own reflection -- would magically appear. During the first half of the 20th century, Santa Claus was commonly depicted as surrounded by pointy - eared, toy - making elves in his North Pole estate, and knee - hugging, green or red Christmas pixies were common holiday toys and tree ornaments. Early 20th century Halloween post cards imported from Germany depicted the natural world as a place teeming with mischief - making boogies, goblins, and elves of every shape and color. Most American children were familiar with the tooth fairy, and the Sandman, who brought sleep to children on a nightly basis, was a kind of fairy too. In advertising, elves sold everything from cookies to soda pop and liquor.

By the fifties, however, America was rapidly moving away from its agricultural roots and the romantic sensibility that had dominated the arts for generations and given rise to these tales and images. By the end of the fifties, most children were still familiar with the Disney film interpretations of the Snow White (1938) and Cinderella (1950) tales, and recognized Tinkerbell, at the opening of each segment of the Wonderful World of Disney, as a fairy, if not as the single fairy character in Disney's adaptation of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan (1951). By the late fifties and into the sixties, Disney was producing movies like Sleepy Beauty and Darby O'Gill and the Little People (both 1959), and The Gnome Mobile (1967). In sixties television programs as diverse as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bonanza, and Bewitched, leprechauns and elves were prominently featured.

Johnny Gruelle's beautifully written Raggedy Ann in the Deep Deep Woods (1930) is a pure, relatively early product of this era, and as delightful now as it was at the time of its release. As its story begins, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy are adventuring in the deep woods, a world of "fairies and everything," a place where every creature -- whether doll, animal, or elf - helps all others on principal and enjoys bringing delight to anyone encountered. Gruelle immediately pulls the reader into Raggedy Ann's and Raggedy Andy's lovely and colorful fantasy world, which, in mood, is the kind of environment that many parents in the days before television attempted to provide for their very young children. The idea in those not - so - long - ago times was to help children see the world as a warm, fantastic, and cooperative place bursting with potential, where envy, selfishness, bad manners, and aggression are plainly wrong and readily disarmed by love, understanding, and tenderness. Raggedy Ann carries a magic Wishing Pebble, which she constantly uses to bring happiness and material satisfaction to needy or less fortunate others. Raggedy Ann and Andy set a good example by being thoughtful, attentive sweethearts to one another, but everyone they meet - whether owl, rabbit, bee, or bear - or fairy, elf, or gnome - comes in for their kindly attention, politeness, and appreciation. Raggedy Ann and Andy are curious and enthusiastic, and only capable of seeing the good and the positive potential in the world around them. Thus, in every way Raggedy Ann in the Deep Deep Woods promotes solid Christian values of charity, kindliness, and faith in the decent hearts and intentions of others. Every child deserves to be exposed to this world at least briefly.

Gruelle's remarkable, lollypop - colored illustrations of the anthropomorphic fairyland, which nonetheless represent the book's reality principle, are perfectly fused with the text and add enormously to the book's power. Highly recommended to children, parents, educators, and those cynical individuals who have lost their way in the world and their faith in themselves.

If you like folklore and legends you will love this book. I found it fascinating especially when the people who fell from the bridge turned into dolphins. The illustrations were beautiful and some were almost life like.

It is funny and it is as well written as any mystery I have read. If he keeps this up he will join an elite group of top writers such as Parker, Woods, Hillerman. Dudley Hafner

Dr. Wood's book is an invaluable guide for any parent who is raising children in a family where alcoholism is present. Well written, it provides clear and sensible guidance for adults trying to protect children from the terrible damage caused by parental alcoholism.

Perhaps the most amazing this is that this structure, visible from the Pullman highway, cost less than one million dollars to build. What a bargain when one considers that this building does for the UI what three separate facilities do for WSU if one discounts the differences in the athletic conferences. This slim book details how Trus Joist Corp. of Boise, ID, coordinated engineers and contractors and built the largest indoor college facility in the nation using laminated veneer lumber and the TRUSDEK structural system developed by Trus Joist. Not only that, they did it within ten months after the bid was accepted, completing the project in time for the first home football game. The author, Peter T. Johnson, knows what he's writing about. He was once the CEO of Trus Joist and he writes: "I remember the day in 1974 when the University opened the sealed bids in Moscow, ID. That morning, having experienced many times the bid, award, construct cycle, I felt the customary anxiety that prevails between the offer and the acceptance phases, as one might await a marriage proposal." Of course the bid was awarded and thus begins the union. And like many marriages, there were some interesting dips in the road. Warping due to weather moisture and other causes was a major concern. Finally, the project was completed and dedicated on Oct. 11, 1975. Its name is officially the William H. Kibbe-ASUI Activity Center Dome. Kibbie is a former UI student and was a monetary contributor to the project. Once finished, the Kibbie Dome received recongition in the architecture and engineering fields world wide. Engineering News Record, Architectural Record, Forest Products Journal, Western Building Design, and other major magazines covered the building extensively. Articles about the structure were published in the Japanes and German languages. The project's most prestigious nod came when the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded this impressive structure the ASCE Outstanding Structural Engineering Achievement Award for 1976 beating out a multi billion dollar mall project in New York State. In the last two decades plus, Palouse residents have come to take this awesome building for granted. "Raising the Roof" reminds us that great things can be accomplished with bold ingenuity and very little money, even in this 20th Century. I recommend this book to any and all architect students as well as those interested in local architectural history. Included are several beautiful photographs.

sherryl woods is a wonderful writer this is a part of a series she has wrote this book is wonderful. it is funny and sad at parts. but it gets to the truth about life for alot of people.if you read this book you have to get the rest of the series. i know because thats how it was for me and now i own the hole series.

Michael Elkan begins with a three page story of his background in the clothing and fashion industry, telling how he walked out of his job on the 47th floor of the Empire State Building to move to the forests of Oregon. Then he starts to tell us about wood.

His skill at taking a piece of maple burl from the forest and transforming it into an organic sculpture is seen from the early pages to the last. The book is filled with colour photos of his work, every piece more luscious than the previous one.

His work majors on skillful use of the bandsaw to cut layers from the burls which he picks up from the forests, and to carve them into extraordinary profiles. He then reassembles them into a highly carved block of timber with landcapes, cityscapes, castles, aztec carvings, palm trees, and hidden compartments.

Elkan shares the philosophy of the subtractive artist; that you must learn to read the wood and take away the unnecessary layers to reveal what is waiting inside. H! is imagination to do this well is evidenced in the book.

There are several pages of instruction dealing with two of Elkan's boxes and his intricate bandsaw carving technique. This is easy to follow, and once again the wood used is inspiring to look at even if you don't intend to make anything.

A bonus is several pages showing how to make Ken Altman's mysterious dovetail boxes, which have dovetails on all four sides, and seem impossible to make when looked at. Ken Altman is an associate of Michael Elkan and his work is very different and perhaps more skilful than Elkan's.

I give this book five stars for doing everything it set out to do. It highlights the work of a master craftsman. It gives clear instruction to those wanting to make similar projects. And it has photography which is inspiring just to look at.

I really enjoyed this book. As I said above, it kept you in a good mood while reading it. I hated for it to end. I'm sure it must have a sequel to it and I hope to find out tonight what it was. There was a lot of romance and mystery. That was a great combination. Usually there is a lot of mystery and little romance, but she had it all evened out. And the mystery was witty in a way. Anyway, This book is a great book to read.

Children will relate to the storyline of wanting something so bad they'd do almost anything to get it. The moral of the story is that sometimes anything might be too much! The illustrations are wonderful and the storyline is entertaining and educational. I highly recommend this title for elementary age children.