Kids that don't usually like to read will want to read this book because when you start reading it, you feel like you are in the book. Also, when you start reading it, you don't want to stop.

Do you like the movie Hercules but dislike Hercules and the story line? If that's true, (or even if it isn't) this is the book for you! Of course, the Time Warp Trio gets stuck in Greek and have to get back home. They meet up with all the Greeks gods from Zeus to Hera, from Aphrodite to Apollo, and from Artemis to Hades! The Trio have to trick the gods with puzzles to get The Book and get home. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

This book grabs the your attention right from the start and keeps you interested with fast-paced action, entertaining dialogue and a humorous plot. It's the first "Time Warp Trio" book I've read and I really enjoyed it. Joe, Fred and Sam are magically transported into the world of Greek mythology where they run from vicious three-headed dogs, exchange witty insults with Hera, queen of the gods, and outsmart Zeus and the other gods on Mount Olympus, before they find their way back home. If you know a little bit about Greek mythology you will be amused by the characterization of the gods and godesses and you will find yourself wanting to learn even more. The book is easy to read and hard to put down!

We've used this book with our two daughters for 5 years. It is still the most often requested and read book we own! My wife and I lead Bible studies and I often refer back to this book. It is an excellent way to spend time with your children and offers pleanty of teachable moments. I give it five stars plus!!

The dialogue, the plot details, and the illustrations are very well done. Our kids couldn't get over the personalities of the three "ruffian" dogs waiting to ambush their victim in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Our kids wanted to have it retold over & over, and kept repeating the dialogue themselves. The underlying moral points were fun & relevant.

We have read these stories to our children at home, with adult counselors and children at camp and have used them reading in Church School classes. Both the children and adults have responded to this telling of six of the parables with enthusiasm and enjoyment. My most recent class of Second and Third grade children enjoyed putting together an impromptu drama based on 'The Unmerciful Servant' (Sir Humphrey's Honeystands).

Adults who have listened to these readings have commented on being able to see the parables again for the first time. Being able to hear the 'Good Samaritan' through dogs and cats, releases listeners from previously made judgements.

The illustrations are beautiful and not just a nice addition. There are colorful and also tell the story.

This book was a gift to our family and will likely fall apart one day. It is a book, I also have enjoyed giving as a gift.

Debbie Farmer's Life in the Fast Food Lane had me laughing out loud so often. As the mother of four kids, not to mention the occasional goldfish, semi-permanent turtle and seemingly permanent hamster, I really appreciate Debbie's self-deprecating, yet never sarcastic, look at family life. Her take on bathing suits and homemade cleaning solutions had me laughing so hard I cried! Finally, as a humor writer myself, I'm a tough audience to please, and Debbie is first-rate.

I love this book! Every time I feel overwhelmed by the unbelievably difficult job of parenting, I love to grab a cup of tea and Debbie Farmer's book, Life in the Fast-Food Lane. Her knowledgeable and witty essays about the challenges of raising kids always makes me laugh and reassures me that I'm not crazy. Anyone who is a parent will enjoy this book and I'm sure, will be able to relate to Debbie and her riotious adventures that she has so kindly decided to share with the world. Thanks Debbie!!

Debbie Farmer is a terribly funny humor columnist who is known to her readers as being dead-on with her observations of motherhood and family life. This book does not disappoint... it is all here, every thrilling moment in the life of "the domestically impaired," as she puts it. You'll love this book for its warm wit and self-deprecating humor!

Whether you own goats or not, you won't want to miss out on this book! With her adventures and misadventures, Linda puts you right on the farm. I highly recommend this book for every one! You're really missing out on something great if you don't read this book. Linda leaves your sides hurting from laughter. I hope you will have just as much fun reading this book as I did!

A delightful book with hilarious illustrations. My belly ached from laughter throughout. This book is for anyone who loves goats or wants to learn about them. I read Linda Fink's columns in United Caprine News, and her book is just as funny as the articles. I nearly fell off my chair reading about "kidding", or the art of delivering baby goats. And the chapter on photographing goats can be enjoyed by anyone who ever tried to take a picture of a child or pet. If you have ever been to a county fair, or enjoyed seeing a goat in a petting zoo, this book is for you. It is tender and funny and very true to the goats. This book is for any dreamer with love in their heart. And for anyone raising goats who has one who likes to escape. This is a must for anyone with a goat, and would make a great gift for any goat lover. Thank you, Linda Fink, for a great book about how wonderful goats really are.

This book fills a well-needed gap in the literature. - Kevin Fink (Linda's Eldest Son)

Critics have tended to split Evelyn Waugh into two authors: the hysterically funny satirist who wrote books like "Vile Bodies" and "The Loved One," and the very conservative Catholic writer who gave us "Brideshead Revisited" and other works. Patey shatters this shallow understanding, demonstrating convincingly that Waugh's satire, like Swift's, is solidly based on a system of positive values -- in Waugh's case, pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic religion. Patey's treatment of this aspect of Waugh, so central to him as a writer and as a man, is simply masterful. I have always found this side of Waugh distasteful, but through Patey, I found myself pulled into an intense and exciting dialogue with Waugh and his beliefs. The treatment of Waugh's life is equally superb. Perhaps more than any other genre, satire requires a knowledge of its historical context to be appreciated. Patey seems to know everything about everyone Waugh ever met, and to have read and understood everything Waugh might ever have read. He has synthesized it all and delivered it in a prose style so clear and unobtrusive that you don't appreciate it until you reflect on what he's accomplished with it. And he lets Waugh make all the jokes. There's much about Waugh to dislike, but Patey provides an understanding of the man and his art that reconciles us to him. And besides, how can you hold a grudge against an author who names a character Aimee Thanatogenous?

If anyone who wishes to learn more about the life and the works of Evelyn Waugh, this may not be the biography for him. Currently, there are three major biographies of Waugh-Stannard, Sykes, and Patey. Stannard's work is cumbersome, and often his prose is awkward, but it is certainly well worth reading for its inclusiveness. Sykes is more of a reminiscence of friendship, including anecdotes that he was privy to. Patey is the first author of apply high literary criticism to Waugh in the kind of form that a professor is apt to do. He responds specifically to continual problems raised in Waugh scholarship and provides far more coherent and concrete answers than Stannard or Sykes even attempt. He organizes the biography with an eye on chronology, but also addresses issues thematically which is brilliant, and simple, but what few literary biographies do. Bravo Mr. Patey! Thank you very much for your hard work on this matter. His biography is also meticulously footnoted.

Though half the length of the other standard biographies (Sykes, Stannard, and Hastings), Patey's book is more interesting and more insightful. He provides a context for Waugh's thoughts, so that some of EW's positions seem less strange. Patey also defends Waugh's books against the vicious criticism to which they have often been subjected. Another strength is Patey's explanation of what redeems even the non-Catholic characters. The surprising answer: the ability to love. Patey doesn't carry this point all the way through, and sometimes he seems too sympathetic to Waugh. Still, I'd rather re-read his biography than any of the others.

If you have a son, daughter or friend who lacks superstar ability but who wants to make the team, this is the book. In my case, my sons are at the age where dad's advice doesn't carry as much weight as that of someone closer to their age. This book solved that problem. I highly recommend it for its practical and witty presentation of common-sense truths that everybody who has ever tried out has seen.

CZAPLINSKI OFFERS TIPS FOR TRYOUTS by Pete Goering Topeka Capital-Journal

Lane Czaplinski's new book offers a slam dunk dedication for basketball players who can't dunk: Dedicated to those names who were never called, when choosing sides for basketball. Many have been there, done that. The anguish and embarrassment of awkwardly, nervously waiting to be chosen, only to be left out, or to be the very last person picked simply because everbody has to play is a cruel introduction to athletics. For some, it's also a traumatic goodbye.

Czaplinski, the former University of Kansas walk-on, tries to change that with his book, "Making the Basketball Team: Get off the Bench and into the Game," published by Quality Sports Publications.

What, you ask, is Czaplinski, the Director of Education at the University of Kansas Lied Center, doing giving tips about making a basketball team? Wouldn't Danny Manning or Rex Walters or Mitch Richmond be a better author than Czaplinski? Nothing against them, but...no.

The beauty of Czaplinski, somewhat affectionately known as Roy Williams' victory cigar, writing a book is that he knows what it takes for a person who doesn't have the skill of a Manning or Richmond to succeed.

"I felt I had a viewpoint I could share," said Czaplinski, whose father, George, was a long-time basketball coach. "My Mother told me she could relate better to me than to say, Dr. J." Czaplinski, a senior on KU's 1991-92 team that was upset by Texas-El Paso in the NCAA Tournament, tries to relate to the average player who is getting ready for basketball tryouts. I'm guessing the timing of his book, coming out as it does on the eve of most tryouts, was no accident.

His book includes the usual technical instruction, but its strength is the practical advice Czaplinski offers. "Go (to practice) early, stay late, give tremendous effort, use your head and concentrate on being in the right place at the right time," he suggests. And don't act cool.

"I think kids have (watched players who are) poor examples," Czaplinski said. "They think they should act cool, shuffle around and look slouchy with their pants halfway down the legs. That's fine if you're 6-foot-6. Then, it doesn't matter if you stand around: you always get to play anyway. I wasn't that way. Neither are most of the athletes who will be trying out for basketball teams in the upcoming weeks.

To them, Czaplinski offers plenty of tips, but not without a disclaimer. Just reading his book won't guarantee anyone a spot on the roster. In fact, it may already be too late for some would-be players. "Kids aren't going to be able to read the bood and change their lives," said Czaplinski, who says the best preparation for tryouts is also the most basic - practice, practice, practice. "Play more than anyone else," he say. In his book, he writes, "Others are practicing, too; practicing to beat you." And, remember, the sun will come up even if you don't make the team. "The majority of kids either get cut or don't get to play," he said. "Only a few really come away with a sense of having accomplished something." For those who don't make it, he says, "You cannot determine everything about your situation or what happens to you, but you do decide what happens next...overall, you couldn't ask for a better option." Overall, the boy or girl trying to make the team this month or next couldn't ask for better advice than Czaplinski provides in his book.

Lane Czaplinski's "Making the Basketball Team: Get Off the Bench and Into the Game" is the only self-help book that may actually help someone instead of driving them into therapy. Czaplinski, who played for the Kansas University baskeball team in 1991-'92, was arguably the most beloved and hardest working Jayhawk basketball walk-on ever. The same determination, talent and intelligence that landed him a varsity spot underpins his book, a step-by-step guide to how to play the fundamentally sound, defensive and team-oriented game that is widely known as "Kansas Basketball."

From the basics of ball handling, foot and body positioning on defense and proper shooting technique through the even more important mental aspects of the game, Czaplinski tells, and illustrates, what it takes to be a better ball player.

Although the book stresses hard work, practice and perseverance, Czaplinski writes without the preaching or flakiness of most sports how-to authors. He also spells out regimes and drills and even includes a model chart to help players document, and reflect on, their daily training.

Conversational, witty, encouraging, well-organized and incredibly informative, "Making the Basketball Team" will do wonders not only for beginning players, but also for advanced ones.

This was the first Donnelly Lane book my son read. His name is Andrew like the main character so it was a must for our bookcase. The message in the book can't be beat and my kid liked the rhythm of the text, which is really a long poem. I've gotten this book for several other young kids as well as birthday presents. I like to encourage reading. It's a story parents don't mind reading to pre-ks over and over again and primary readers---especially boys---get a kick out of the monster.

This book is great to start your kids off on a liftime of reading pleasure. My kids love it, and mom and dad do too. Barbara Donnely Lane GIVE US MORE!!

The Monster Boring is written with a clever flair. I heard of this book and when I went to a recent literature conference, I had the opportunity to purchase it. The following day I read to children, in a public School, for R.A.D. "Read All Day", age K-5 and one special needs classroom. Without question, the children really enjoyed this book. Many of the children were inspired to think about writing their own book. This book was money well spent!

I was driving to the airport at 4:30am in a heavy rain storm. I didn't see the flatbed truck when I enterred the freeway. He skidded and jacknifed and I saw the back-right corner of his truck coming straight for my side window. My whole life did NOT flash before me but I thought about the police notifying my wife of my death and about all that would follow. The tons of metal and steel stopped just short of my window but close enough to hit my rearview mirror.

As I calmed down, or tried to calm down, I turned on the radio. Rather than the usual popular music, the station was playing religious music in the wee hours. The most beautiful sound I've ever heard came through the speakers. It was just a lone woman's voice singing without accompanyment. I was ready to go straight to the radio station to determine what it was but the announcer saved me a trip. It was Bobbie Wolgemuth singing "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" from the "O Worship the King" disk of hymns. Most of us grew up learning this tune as "Because All Men Are Brothers" by Peter, Paul & Mary. I believe it originally came from "Saint Matthew's Passion," an 18th Century choral work.

Ms. Wolgemuth's song stilled my beating heart and gave me a sense of peace I've never experienced. I am not a religious man but the beauty of this music convinced me that there must be a living God somewhere.

This book and accompanying CD of 12 hymns is awesome. I truly feel in the presence of the Lord when listening to the worship songs and I am enjoying the background information surrounding each hymn. These original hymns date back to the 1800's. I enjoy contemporary worship songs, but am now a fan of original hymns from the early days. I am going to purchase several copies of this book as Christmas gifts this year!

Many of us have sung popular hymns like O Worship the King and A Mighty Fortress is Our God, but few know the stories behind them. Now popular authors like Joni Eareckson Tada, John MacArthur and Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth bring to us a beautifully bound book along with CD full of hymns. While you read the book, listen to the music. You'll be shocked to discover that many of the hymns were born out of persecution, fear, betrayal and sorrow.

Kudos to Mary Lane. Incidentally she was very popular at the recent CAEYC conference in Long Beach where many many teachers stopped by to say hi, and her older friends threw a reception for her. She is a remarkable 87 going on 110. This book distills the best research of the last fifty years on children from birth to five years old. I loved it when she says teachers must know the history and traditions of Education. So much of what passes for sound opinion in the current views on schools is just not grounded in the basics. Get this book! Educate yourself! Do it today! One great passage deals with the amount of time that elementary children spend lining up to go from one place to another throughout their time in a typical school day. As though they couldn't operate like regular humans. Go Dr. Lane!

Although I am not directly involved in acadmic teaching, Dr. Lane's book pulled me into her world of education. Her vision for improving teacher education should be adopted universally by all schools preparing students to enter the field of teaching. My daughter began teaching this year and is poignantly aware of the lack of preparation for the difficult task facing her. Sharing and discussing Dr. Lane's book has been an inspiration to her as she begins her journey of becoming knowledgable about herself and teaching.

Dr. Lane has done it again. For those who have known her work this is an wonderful gift to the profession from one who has worked with children, parents, and teachers for over fifty years. The research findings that she alludes to are so powerful that her notion that colleges and universities should recover the basic information of the forties and fifties is a much needed. It makes a lay person understand why all these fads (phonics vs whole words for instance) have no staying power. And the pictures are worth the price of the book in their beauty and power. I especially liked the "Friends" and the "Madonna and Child" (a photo by the great Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. Thank you Mary Lane for your great effort.

this is an excellent collection, full of valuable insights and arguments. well worth the money.

Consider this book, in its thoughtful approach to a socialproblem, possibly the best that anyone could expect to find amongthose who might consider making suggestions to those astute professionals who have the right to think of themselves the most modern of moderns. I doubt if I could ever find a better line than the one addressed by Jacques Derrida, in a plea for specific opposition to the brutal methods adopted by powers in Latin America, on page 81, "and this on the very face of the earth itself." On pages 68 and 69, Derrida made it clear that he considered himself an outsider, who could easily have his remarks "classified and forgotten even more quickly," when he was addressing a professional body on Geopsychoanalysis. Having been born in Africa, Derrida had spent his youth on a continent where "African psychoanalysis was European, structurally defined in the profoundest way by the colonial state apparatus." When I was young, I pictured our contacts with outsiders as the work of missionaries. Removing the notion of evil, as a total triumph of the state of mind of global capitalism must, if it is to consider the problem of race like it would consider anything else, leaves individuals to frame this problem in their own way. On the subject of Africa, Christopher Lane's remarks on "Savage Ecstasy" and Tim Dean's attempt to tie the disease of "Mistah Kurtz" (p. 306) in the famous story, "Heart of Darkness" to "the Historiography of AIDS" leave a distinct impression. For me to understand this book would require a look at the ways in which it treats Frantz Fanon, whom I might consider an agitator. The more one attempts to locate an element of control here, the greater the problem seems to be. Awareness of the ability of those who serve the existing public order as mind doctors to drug, or not to drug, certain individuals (the real power of a doctor's pen, in a world of highly profitable drugs) is of hardly any benefit to a society which would like to obtain as much control as possible over the lives of those who seek any excuse that they can find (my accusation against the agitators of race) to disrupt the operation of power. As well as the picture is framed here, I do not see race as a problem which is likely to find a solution through the actions of individuals who have assumed a professional obligation to classify individuals on the basis of how well they serve the social system. There is a chapter on "The Comedy of Domination" by Kalpana Seshadri-Crooks, which looks closely at Freud, a sure sign of "malicious mischief and sly humor." (p.360) This book remains insightful, on a matter which is likely to remain a real problem for those who must deal with personal problems worthy of delicate consideration, throughout.

I liked the clarity of these essays, and learned a great deal about prejudice and racial tensions. Nothing I've read so far better explains the problems we're seeing now in the former Yugoslavia and other parts of the world.