This might be the greatest way to self teach a topic ever devised! You have to follow the instructions. What the authors want you to do is read along as you color the book. Each coloring page has an associated page of text. As you read the text it makes reference to certain parts of the drawing. You can't help but learn. The topics range over all areas and habitats of marine biology and hit all the key points covered in any introductory class. They are grouped by habitat, physiology, ethology and again by taxonomic groups. As far as learning style? If you where isolated in the middle of the dessert with this book and a decent set of color pencils then you would come out with an excellent broad base introductory knowledge of marine biology. It would go well with any beginners course also. Don't let the "coloring book" title fool you, a child of five wold enjoy it but an adult would be able to reap all the rewards as well.

Being a high school teacher, i use this book and the biology coloring book to supplament my class text. It offers very insightful text to accompany each picture. The pictures are very detailed with complete coloring instructions. I was skeptical at first to use it, but the students really get excited about it and seem to get a great deal from finishing them.

I am a college student who found this to be a great secondary resource. Many of the form and function and reproductive strategy summaries contain great information that I have not found in textbooks. The coloring pages are great too, if for no other reason than they reiforce what the organisms look like.

This book is still the best available for the Western Great Lakes region. Very informative and detailed. The distribution maps are most helpful in attempting to locate the general area to find these beauties. Fred's affection with wild orchids shows in the quality of this publication. I would also suggest his newer book on Trilliums.

This book is extremely useful, especially as a companion to Voss's Michigan Flora and wildflower books covering the Eastern U.S. The photos, although dated, are good. What is especially good about this book, though, is the accurate and descriptive list of habitats that occur in the region, complete with the orchids someone searching the area could find in the habitat. Distribution maps are also included.

A great guide to Midwestern orchids. Fred knows and loves our native orchids and their habitats, and succeeds in communicating that knowledge and love to the reader. Plenty of great photos of orchids and the places in which they grow.

This book is one of the best I have ever read. It truly shows what a special place Tiger Stadium will always be. An excellent narrative and pictoral work of art. This is the best book I have read concerning stadiums and their history. Truly a great book to pass down to future generations. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a passing or a diehard interest in sports or historical buildings. EXCELLENT READING. CUDOS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH THIS PROJECT.

Anyone looking for an accurate account on the history of Tiger Stadium and the personalities that played there need to buy this book. It's a must-buy for any Tiger fan and I am anxiously awaiting Bak's new book "The Corner". My only (slight) complaint I have with this book concerns the Detroit Lions. They are included but the personalities aren't fleshed out as well as they are with the Tigers.

There are many photographs of the many incarnations that this site has gone through in this book. But unlike many sports-related books, there is considerable detail to history, baseball and of course the stadium itself. Edited by two professors from Wayne State University, this book is a through retrospective on the history of Detroit and baseball in general.

WHile there are a number of flower books for the Sierra available, I found this one particularly useful because the plants are arranged by family so you can learn how to identify plants that are not in the range covered by the book. THe introductory section was also really informative and interesting.

Weekends in Tahoe are tons better with this book in tow. It is way cool to know the names of the gorgy plants and flowers with whom you are sharing your away-from-work time. I especially like being able to answer my two-year-old's question, "What's dat one momma," as he begins to take an interest in the names of the plant life surrounding him. A great gift for parents of children who go to Tahoe from time to time...or for anyone still young at heart/inquisitive enough to want to know more about Tahoe vegetation.

Without a doubt, this is the best plant or flower book I have ever read. The author clearly knows Tahoe Basin vegetation and natural history like nobody else. The key is masterful in its simplicity, the pictures spectacular and the text brilliantly concise (and sometimes witty!). You can leave your tent, cell phone and coffee mug behind, but you must not forget Mr. Graf's book when going to Tahoe.

In her second novel, Lisa Vice takes us to Preacher's Lake, a small town in Maine. What I like the best about Ms. Vice's writing is her ability to make each scene resemble a photo album. She gently weaves the stories of individuals around the connections between the characters, while taking us back and forth between their lives quickly and easily. About the time I am hooked into one person or family, she jumps to another concurrent story. This works well for Ms. Vice because she never leaves us anywhere long enough to forget about the other characters. I took my time reading this book because the characters became so alive to me, I didn't want the story to end. According to her bio, Ms. Vice lived in Maine working with disadvantaged people at one time. The quirky characters make it obvious that Ms. Vice has personal knowledge about that part of the country. I enjoyed getting to know each person, and laughed and cried with them as their fortunes changed for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Ms. Vice is an up and coming writer with a great deal of talent, and I will be waiting eagerly for her next novel.

Sometimes a novel has such a dramatic, suspenseful plot that you want to race through it to the end. But reading Preacher's Lake, I found myself taking my time, savoring the delicious descriptions of place and character, losing myself to the vivid fictional world Ms. Vice has so lovingly crafted. I didn't want to race to the end because I didn't want this book to end! I felt as if I had become a part of the lives of these characters - Slim, Janesta, Crystal, Rita - witnessing their quirks, their fears, their struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning. Indeed, the characters are so finely drawn that they may very well become as much a part of the fabric of your memory as the real people in your life.

When I began reading Preacher's Lake, I realized I was going to have to stop everything else in my life so that I would have time to sit and read this wonderful book. Within the first few pages, I was totally caught up in the lives of the beautifully drawn characters. I quickly became involved in the stories of the gawky, childlike Slim who runs the town dump and Carol, the artist from New York who is grieving over the senseless death of her lover Annie. I watched as the seemingly disparate lives of these and other people became interwoven, falling into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Preacher's Lake is my vote for the best read of 1998.

Martin Prechel need to get in contact with the alive members of the music group Juljuj Tijaax to write and outspread the story. Especially Diego Tiney.

Prechtel's book is incredibly beautiful, describing the life, loves and rituals of a small town in Guatemala, Santiage de Atitlan and the changes that have occurred there. As a companion piece to the Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, which is equally profound, this book leads us away from the Shamanistic and into the everyday life of these beautiful people. The book is full of the wisdom of the past regarding such things as marriage, teenage years, birth and death. My emotions and memories of the indiginous peoples of this land are brought vividly to mind in this book. I have lived and worked for many years with Pueblo people and am struck by the many similarities of belief and ritual.Prechtel is a fantastic writer who keeps one wanting more!

This being third in the sequence of Martin Prechtel's books that I'd read this year, completion of the triptych brought my understanding to critical mass/tears in view of how much has been lost in Guatemala's entry to the 21st century. However, these writings make it highly probable that the loss is not complete, or unmourned. His books embody the very processes he tells of; for example, his mention of customs which are made to be broken: people's learning the significance of who breaks them, how, and when they are broken or allowed to be broken strengthens the culture.* His own experience of out of sequence initiation illustrates this, but beyond that, the fluidity with which he passes between poetic and humorous storytelling and epilogues in a more philosophical tone invites inner dialogue in the reader. He is well aware of the modern consumer mentality as a ghost layer mimicing an underlying spiritual void, when he taunts the readers at the outset that many will voraciously consume his books and move on, without fulfilment. *This realization is the most important one passed from mentor to initiate in any culture. My mentor at the same period (the 1970's)was a halfway-house worker who realized and taught others that we were not there to enforce a culture on the mentally ill, but rather light-heartedly yet seriously to help them draw the line as to what they could expect to get away with and more importantly, not get away with, in this life, and to plan accordingly. Indigenous music and language being preserved and used in their celebratory (if no longer ritual) uses may be all we have left to work/play with. Prechtel does well to begin his story with his introduction to Mayan music. The depths have not yet been plumbed as far as the role music plays in initiation, since the printed word is not the right medium to convey this. It struck me as wonderful that a Peruvian flute band were playing their hearts out last weekend in Portland, Maine, at the last visit of the Tall Ships- a proper "send-off" to the ghosts of Conquistador navies by a very much alive pre-columbian musical band.

I read this book in elementary school and went looking for it again last year as a gift for a niece. Be warned that there's a scene that she found really sad (Minn gets hurt) -- and it made her cry. So maybe it's not for sensitive first-graders. Still, the story is wonderful and little Minn is a great character. There's also a lot of fascinating natural detail. And stunning illustrations. It's a children's book version of a top-notch Nature documentary. "Nova" in print, if you will. Also check out Holling Clancy Holling's other books. They're all great, even looking back at them after three decades.

At age 52, I can vividly remember discovering this book in my local library as a boy in 4th grade, especially the luminous color illustrations and drawings Hollings used to tell the story of the journey of a snapping turtle from the Mississippi's trickling source in Minnesota, to its fullness in the Gulf of Mexico. In following the life of "Minn," from hatchling to a veteran survivor of many predators and adventures, I learned the history and lore of the river and the animals and people who live in it and along its banks. This is a book that does not talk down to its young readers. I am buying one now to read again, and to share with any grandchildren who may come along in our family.

I discovered this book when I was in fourth grade. I thought it was the best book ever written. I especially enjoyed the juxaposition of the biology of the snapping turtle with the history and geography of the Mississippi River

"Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake", a novel by Michael B. Druxman, is a good story and great story telling, which is not surprising when you know that Mr. Druxman wrote The book on the subject in "The Art of Storytelling". "Mineral Lake" weaves its tale with solid, likeable characters who stick with you even the when you put the book down for that last time. He smartly brings the reader from the general to the specific so cleverly, you barely even notice. I loved this novel and I'm not usually attracted to mystery stories. I'll definitely recommend it to my book club.

After reading "Nobody Drowns In Mineral Lake," you will know that the author has been there,done that. Druxman boldly calls it as he sees it. Druxman pointedly and artfully defines Jay returning to his hometown. While back at Mineral City resort, Jay encounters police corruption, injustice, rudeness, bigotry and the hatred still abounding amongst the controlling hometowners. Mineral Lake resort's small-minded and ignorant people are colorfully depicted by Druxman who takes his readers through this time warp. Jay's experiences keep you reading on and wondering right till the end. The book has lure. You will find yourself trying to identify, discover and resolve the Mineral Lake Mystery. I purchased this novel quite by accident; I recommend it. Not only is it a good mystery; but gives a good look at evils that secretly lurk in small hometowns. "Nobody Drowns In Mineral Lake" has a good mystery plot that is woven with vivid truths. Yes, it should be said; this writer speaks from the gut. Nearly drowned by the prejudices in Mineral Lake, Jay tells his touching tale in a way we all can relate to.

Michael Druxman tells a vivid and unforgettable story of a homecoming that quickly develops into your worst nightmare. You are inexorably drawn into the serene, yet eerie Northwest where the present meets the past - full of mystery, intrigue, prejudice and terror. NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE is filled with finely drawn characters and a compelling plot that makes it a real can't-put-it-down page turner!

Octavia's Fried Chicken is the best, most foolproof fried chicken in the world. Octavia: whereever you are out there, thanks for making me EXTREMELY popular!

This is the stuff. These recipes, favourites of the ladies who submitted tham, have often been handed down from mother to daughter for generations.

These are the Good Recipes.

It's all here -- recipes developed from every part of the melange of cultures that makes Louisiana so thoroughly unique. And all of them excellent.

I wore out one copy, and lost my second in a move years ago -- i've been searching for a new one, and just thought tio look on Amazon.

In my opinion, this cook book belongs in every kitchen -- right next to a copy of the (real) Joy of Cooking.

In Terry Pratchett's wonderful fantasy novel, "Witches Abroad", Nanny Ogg, one of three witches who have travelled to their world's equivalent of New Orleans, tastes a jambalaya a voodoo woman has cooked up. Up till then, we are told, she had believed herself an excellent cook. But, tasting this, she realises that all she's been doing is "...not starving as pleasantly as possible."

Well, and i'll say it here in the Real World -- until you discover the delights of the Louisiana cuisine, all you're doing is not starving as pleasantly as possible.

And this book is an excellent place to start.

Have you ever wanted to know how TRUE cajuns made their creations. Well THIS IS IT! Everything I have every made is absolutely out of this world!

I have been looking for some action adventures for my young teenage boy that didn't have swearing and sex in. "Race Against Time" is a book you can count on. It is absolutely clean but full of adventure and action. I read it in the evenings to my 13 year old boy and he wouldn't let me stop. He loved it. This summer I bought the CD and my teenagers and I spent many hours listening to it as we weeded the garden and worked in the yard. We must have listened to it 5 times - enjoying the story each time and picking up more and more of its delightful humor. I recommend this book for tenagers, boy or girl, and adults as well. It is well written and an exceptionally fun book to read.

The only poory written part of Race Against Time is the back cover, which gives away too much of the plot and thereby obviates certain sections of the book. But that is a complaint against the publisher, not the author. This is a good first novel that left only a few questions unanswered. More development of the 1830s period is warranted. A good "religious" book that somewhow manages to avoid becoming too preachy.

This book was great. An excelent story which would entertain nearly anyone. Incredibly fast-paced, exciting and gripping. I read it everywhere i went. Definately my favorite book of all times.