I used this book as the text in a university linguistics course. Baker and Jones are very thorough in their analysis of bilingualism and bilingual education. At times, they are so thorough that the subject matter is much too elementary and common-sensical. It's also extremely repetitive. However, as a basic and solid reference for any questions or research one might need, this volume is sure to help.

This is by far the most comprehensive and informative reference book to date on bilingualism and bilingual education. As an encyclopeia (not a text book) it is an important resource for interested scholars, students, journalists, and others.

The Editors are top scholars and leaders in the field.

If you're looking for a single, comprehensive source on bilingualism, this should be your choice. The authors are noted authorities. Dr. Baker has written numerous books on the topic. The volume is well organized, packed with data, including information on the major scholars in the field. As its title suggests, this work is encyclopedia--not a textbook.

Having graduated from a private university affiliated with the a cappella Church of Christ, ordained by the elders of an independent Christian Church, and now working in a cooperative mission project, I took pleasure in knowing that a book like this one had been published.

The contributors are known to me either personally or by reputation, a couple having been among my professors. Particularly pleasing were the contributions by these gentlemen, showing great respect for the Word of God and not compromising on the truths this movement has advocated for years. About half of the contributions from the independent Christian theologians were what I would consider edifying. The others show the marks of a general shift away from solid Biblical standards and towards evangelical generalism.

Frankly, the responses provided by the evangelical theologians were sadly predictable.

All in all, this is a good book to purchase if you are a theology student looking to gain insight into current discussions and thought within the movement that some call "Stone-Campbell," but which others of us prefer to refer to as the "Restoration Movement" or "this present Reformation."

Editor William Baker has collated an anthology of papers presented during proceedings of the Evangelical Theological Society by members of two of three "wings" of the Stone-Campbell or Restoration Movement (RM), a capella Churches of Christ and Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. The third, the Disciples of Christ, is not represented.

The RM and the evangelical movement (EM) have much in common. As organized, identifiable movements (oxymoron?) in North America, they follow roughly parallel chronologies, springing as they did from the Second Awakening of ca. 1800. The "Stone" in "Stone-Campbell," Barton W. Stone, was one of the organizers of a Presbyterian camp meeting that is known to historiographers as the Cane Ridge Revival. One of the Campbells in "Stone-Campbell," Alexander Campbell, editorially followed the organization of the American evangelical movement early in the 19th century favourably noting points of intersection between it and the RM.

In the 20th century, like so many American Protestant bodies, the RM was split by the modernist-fundamentalist controversy into opposing camps -- one becoming the Disciples of Christ and the other the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. The editorial flagship of the modernist side, "The Christian Century," was of RM construction, and the first managing editor of "Christianity Today," launched by Billy Graham to lead the other side of the debate, was RM-adherent James DeForest Murch.

Over the past thirty years, many a capella Church of Christ exegetes have joined the Evangelical Theological Society, latterly joined by Independents. Independent leaders have been given prominence in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Although association between the RM and EM, and Baker's editorial introduction suggest a sort of "harmonic convergence" between the RM and evangelical movement (EM), the papers as published suggest otherwise. Theologically, the papers make clear significant points of divergence between the Princeton Theology-influenced Calvinism of much of North American evangelicalism and the RM on their understandings of conversion, faith, and baptism. Despite Baker's introduction, if one did not know anything of the significant interaction and sharing of resources among the RM and the EM, one might be surprised to learn of it.

A further point of divergence not highlighted is the prominence given to celebration of the Lord's Supper or Eucharist in the RM versus the EM. For the EM, faith and the book are the sole centre of attention and focus. While RM adherents claim the nickname "people of the book," the Lord's Supper is, still, given prominence and celebrated weekly (albeit, sometimes "weakly"). The absence of a paper dealing with differing views of the Lord's Supper is a weakness of the anthology.

That said, Baker does us a service by provoking discussion between two groups with parallel commitments to the book who interact at so many levels. One minor criticism: in his preface, Wheaton College historiographer Mark Noll insists on describing the RM as the "Restorationist Movement" instead of its long-standing appellation, "Restoration Movement." Is this stubbornness or merely an oversight on Dr. Noll's part?

I grew up and am still a member within the Church of Christ (a capella) branch of the Stone-Campbell movement. I found the book to be very thoughtful and engaging without being too scholarly or too polemic. The "evangelical response" chapters were nice reminders that theology is most profitably done in community. I imagine the book may not catch the interest of those outside the Stone-Campbell heritage, though I believe the book would be an excellent source of information for anyone wanting to know more about the claims and characteristics of this branch of the evangelical family.

Touted as Kyle Baker's "Biblically Acurate Telling of the David Story", King David is an interesting read, but its stuttered rhythm and the inconsistent level of quality found in the artwork makes for an admirable, though somewhat ham-fisted, effort.

Long-time Kyle fans will pick this one up out of sheer duty to the man who brought us the hillarious now-classics Why I Hate Saturn and Cowboy Wally Show. However, in an obvious attempt to broaden his appeal, Baker has sacrificed the clever semantics and biting wit that caused us to fall in love with him in the first place.

Much of the art is beautiful, full-color work in which Kyle applies his signature cartoony style. Every 10 or 20 pages, he treats us to a gorgeous pin-up, deftly showing off his astounding skill. Unfortunately, littered throughout are pages on pages of cranked-out sketches with dumped-on color, barely worthy of a concept character-study, much less final art in this otherwise beautiful book. It's far too much visual whiplash, between the lovingly-rendered and the hastily-scribbled, and the storytelling is sacrificed as a result.

Also, Kyle makes poor use of the comics medium, awkwardly bouncing back and forth between illustrated prose and traditional comics conventions. The writing itself resembles the art... wonderful in certain spots, glaringly sub-par in others.

A valiant effort, I suppose, but for my money I'd have preferred a book half the length at twice the quality. Buy it if you must, but don't expect the Kyle Baker brilliance of yesteryear.

This book is awesome. I love the way Kyle Baker melds a variety of art techniques, juxtaposing lush Disneyesque renderings with rough charcoal sketches which recall the work of legendary cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman. Baker also employs a variety of narrative techniques in the text, ranging from the witty dialogue which is his trademark to multi-page wordless sequences (the Publishers Weekly review above details Baker's handling of the Goliath fight, and I loved the silent scene of Saul and David in the cave), all combined with a healthy portion of actual Biblical passages (which are already so beautiful, Baker was wise not to try "improving" the Word of God). The result is a delightful variety of rhythms which keeps the reader engaged. I hope there will be more Bible stories from Kyle Baker.

This is one of the most spectacular graphic novels I've ever seen! Of course, that should be expected from one of the pioneers of the medium, but still! I've had this book for three days now, and I can't stop staring at it! The amount of detail, labor and research that must have gone into creating this must have been, uh -- impossible! How could one man create the kind of product it takes 400 Disney animators years to produce? And the story is true to the Biblical source material! You could read this book in Sunday school or Hebrew school! I mean, sure there's a lot of sex and violence, but it's all from the Holy Bible. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. If you love the Bible and the incredible story of one of the greatest leaders of all time, you will LOVE this book.

Loving Picasso is a book that will touch your heart, and my moisten your eyes.

When we visit a museum and see wonderful paintings of striking women, seldom do we think about the conditions under which the art was created. Did the artists and the model have a relationship? If so, what was it? Did they have enough to eat while the work was done? Were they considerate of one another? Was the studio warm or cold? What was the model thinking about as she posed? How had the woman come to model? And so on.

I will never look at another painting or sculpture again of a human model without being filled with such questions, as a result of reaching about the life of Fernande Olivier from her private journal, letters, and memoir as presented in Loving Picasso.

This beautiful, charming woman lived an extremely difficult life. It was so challenging that few could have emerged from such awful circumstances without being distorted in mind and personality. Yet, Ms. Olivier seems to have avoided both, and been a light in the life of her many male admirers, female friends, and an inspiration to Picasso in his most innovative years.

From the book's title, you will think that the material is mostly about the years when Ms. Olivier and Picasso lived together, but that's only about half the book. The book is really an autobiography through the time when the two split up for the final time in 1912.

Readers will be rewarded with many intriguing views of the lives of "starving" artists in Paris, the many distinguished friends of Picasso and Ms. Olivier, and how Picasso changed as he went from an unknown to one of the recognized leaders of avant-garde art along with Matisse.

Having read about Picasso's troubled relationships with other women, I was surprised to see that his relationship with Ms. Olivier was one of the most pleasant and productive connections he had in his life. Certainly, he often chose her as a model for his work, and we will always see her as the young person she was then. Many other details in here will either surprise or shock you about Picasso, and expand your understanding of his creative methods and personality.

One of the most charming parts of the book can be found in the many images of places where she lived, the people she knew, the paintings and sculptures for which she was the model, and her own drawings.

For those who have enjoyed Gertrude Stein's, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, you will probably be interested to know that Ms. Olivier's writing is considered to be a more accurate and complete version of many of the same events. In fact, there is an interesting view of Ms. Stein's apparent efforts to keep Ms. Olivier's writing away from an American audience to preserve the market for Ms. Stein's own writing on this subject.

After you finish this rewarding memoir of a most unique person, I suggest that you think about what the purpose of life is. That's a question with which Ms. Olivier had trouble coming to grips.

Follow your purpose!

This book is about Fernande Olivier, Picasso's lover during his formative years as an artist. It's about a relationship based on control -- Picasso won't let Fernande have shoes so she won't be able to leave the house. This book is extremely interesting but you can't help being astonished by how naive and foolish Fernande is.

This is the third Picasso and ____ book I've read. There are likely more, but the others I've seen are Picasso and Dora (his mistress in the late forties and Life with Picassoby Francoise Gilot who had his attention in his later years.

This book along with the others read like a three part trilogy - this latest one covering the earliest relationship. The book is very good and seems to be honest. Quite readable.

This book should be on the reading list of anyone interested in probing what the heck Picasso was about. Note that he does not get any less difficult in his relationships!! This book is fantastic to see that Picasso is as childish and monstrous in his early relationships as he is in his later ones!

I am a fan of Jennifer Baker's, and I usually love her books, but this was one book I could barely force myself to complete. It was so boring, and the plot and charcaters were all like something out of a cheesy 90210 episode. Sorry, but this is not worth your time- or money.

This was a really good book. I usually don't read books but I read this one in less than one week. I am so anxious to read #02.

I ordinarily do not read these kind of books. I like to read mysteries, and thrillers. This series was extremely interesting and impossible to put down. Class secrets had the dramatic story line of 90210, but and enjoyble like saved by the bell. I really hope that Jennifer Baker continues this series. GREAT GOING JENNIFER. YOU ARE THE BOMB

There was not much to originality to the retelling of Cinderella. I felt and thought there could be added touches due to the fact that it was written to be more modern. For no teen today would have settled such as Ella did. There are too many lawyers and many other avenues that they could have searched out. The telling of how and the prince met could have used a bit of a different work, but overall it was warm and fun to read.

At Midnight is told in a way that makes fairy tales seem within the relm of the possible. I loved the way it retained the magic and traditions of the story and yet was able to add a twist to make it new and worth the read. Ella seemed like a person that you would expect to run into at school, and the way the fairy Godmother is worked into the story is perfect. A ten speed bike turning to a convertible for the dance is just a hint of the charm of the story!

After the death of her father,Ella becomes a servent in her own home. A woman named Fay just might have a surprise up her sleeve....Read This Today!

I read 'Child of Mine' during my pregnancy many times and since then many many times over. I expected to find the same joy in reading this new collection of parenting stories, but although most are well written, sometimes poignant, definitely moving - I did not find that as a whole the book worked well. I think the editor was perhaps a liitle confused as to the true focus of the book, and as a result the stories veer off to strange directions, not really connected and not giving a satisfying feeling at the end of the reading. Still I have to say that I am glad I read it as each tale gives a new perspective omn the daunting joy that is parenthhood, and I do recommend it as an addition to Child of Mine.

I had really enjoyed the same editor's volume of essays on parenting in the first year, called 'Child of Mine', and so I was anxious to read this book, which contains essays by various authors on their experiences in raising children a little older (generally between two and ten years of age).

At first I was slightly disappointed because a number of the essays didn't seem to be of immediate interest to me personally, and because this collection did not seem to have the same coherence as the first. But after I began to read, I found myself making little notes of agreement in the margins, underlining sympathetic or insightful passages, and smiling at the experiences similar to my own. Even when an essay was not immediately relevant to me (such as the selections on adoption and raising twins), I found instances of shared experience with the writers, who seemed to be as awestruck and profoundly affected as me by their adventures in parenting.

Oddly enough, in reviewing the book, I found I most enjoyed the selections by the male contributors -- delighted at similarities of common experience and enlightened by the differences -- often told with great humor. So this book also helped me to appreciate the unique experience of fatherhood.

Very enjoyable.

As my daughter grew from a baby to a toddler, I found myself as confused about parenting books as I was about her clothing size. No books seemed to fit my needs: I no longer wanted the "new parent hand holding" books, but I didn't feel ready to approach this new stage without the comfort I've always derived from reading thoughtful -- and thought-provoking -- essays about personal experiences similar to my own. When a friend told me about "Room To Grow" I was relieved; when I started to read the essays, I was ecstatic. This book was exactly what I was looking for: smart, moving pieces about the kind of parenting issues the parenting books ignore. I am certain I'll come back to this book again and again as my daughter grows older. Every parent should know about this collection.

i liked this book and the spells in it.
the only problem is,
are oils ,,,?
and where do i get certain flowers?
also, where in the world can i find a stone with a hole in it!!
and aren't crystals ...?

besides that, the book was good and the spells weren't hard or too complicated.

I am an idle buyer of spell books. I am like Mellee, who is obsessed with Witchy books. This one would be a useful one for the Wiccan or Witch or Pagan who knows about the ethics and has studied the Craft for a bit. I guess it will come in handy. One thing I laughed about is the Spell "Invisi-spell". Where you look at the teacher, and say a chant asking the God and Goddess to hide you if you fear you will be called to speak to the class. Or if you haven't done the work, you ask the God and Goddess to hide yourself so the teacher doesn't ask you. I think its silly. You should have done the work. I mean, come on. Would the Goddess and God even do that for ya? I will try it! hehe. Over all, its great. I agree with Mellee on the Sabbat thing. Yes, thats enough.

I am 17 years old, and an established Pagan Witch with an obsession for collecting witchy books aimed at teens. 'Spells for Teenage Witches' by Marina Baker is one of the nicer books. Lovely layout and ethical, usefull spells means this book makes my recommended list. While not for the total beginner (although it does make some mention of ethics etc, it seems targeted at Wiccan-influenced young Witches who have already studied a bit), it is handy for someone like myself. Even if you write your own spells and rituals, I think you will enjoy this book. Simplistic but beautiful, it is about a hundred pages of goodness. The only quibble I have is with a statement on 'The witches sabbats' (as the chapter is called) where Baker states that Yule is one of the greater sabbats and Samhain one of the lesser, when it is in fact the other way around. Other than that, the info was practical and mostly accurate.

Blessings.

Sadly, The Alien Compendium has lots of great stuff in it: new rules, eratta on Series of life, mysteries of the Verge, Externals, planetary plot developments, and aliens... IN THAT ORDER.

There's a lot of stuff that was left out of the Gamemaster Guide in this (random encounter rules and alien NPC templates), and some equally cool things worth stealing to add to your own campaign (the Externals.) The non-External aliens themselves, however, aren't great: for every one that seems cool, there are a few that are, bluntly, overlookable. The aliens themselves range from neat to virtually plagiarized, and the Alien Compendium leaves you feeling that the Verge has become that much less eye-catching. If your Star*Drive group spends time hopping to all sorts of out-of-the-way places, check this out, but be warned - Alternity has better things than this running for it.

Alien Compendium: Creatures of the Verge is an accessory for Alternity and its Star*Drive Campaign Setting, essentially a sci-fi monster manual for Star*Drive's unexplored frontier. This book requires both the Alternity Player's Handbook and Alternity Gamemaster Guide for play, but may be used with or without the Star*Drive Campaign.

This full-color, 128-page volume details 57 organisms from the 18 solar systems of the Verge (an area just beyond the borders of Star*Drive's "civilized" sectors), six sentient species and one laboratory creature of "Old Space" (right, the civilized areas), and six sentient "External" species (from outside the bounds of Galactic society). Five of the entries from "Old Space" will be familiar to any Alternity gamer from the basic books (it would have been nice to pad out the roster beyond two new entries: the laboratory Warbeasts and the insane Cykotek cultists). Plenty of good concepts here and high-quality art. There are a few irritating glitches in the book, such as the authors' unnecessary straining for pseudo-scientific description (sorry guys, arachnids don't have six legs), and a few stinkers, such as the alien koala bears and a picture of an egistron that doesn't match the text. Still in all a nice collection.

Good for Star*Drive and for general Alternity use; a decent idea mine.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

This is a great book with a lot of useful information, although it is a bit light on the aliens, should maybe have not been a compendium, but still worth the purchase

I liked this textbook because it is nice and clean and uncluttered inside, however I think that the content could have been better. I had trouble with the first chapter having to do with business combinations in that every time a journal entry was recorded, I had no idea whether the author was referring to the common stock of the purchasing company or the common stock of the selling company. After a while, I finally figured it out, but I thought the problem could have been avoided by being more clear. There are many more examples that I have like this one. I may be being picky about the book seeing as how I took this course via independent study, so I did not have the ability to ask an instructor specific questions. I just think that the authors could have done a better job being more clear on many things. In the end, I did end up getting a A in the course!

I have used this book in conjunction with Gleim's CPA review books in preparation for FARE section of the CPA exam. Excellent supplement especially if you look for technical aspects of purchase/pooling accounting. The chapters on consolidation are truly outstanding. Very thorough and comprehensive. The only drawback as with many other textbooks is the lack of answer keys at the end of the chapter. Overall, I would definitely recommend getting it.