I like this book called "Welcome to the Rodeo! (Rodeo)" by author Josepha Sherman & my favorite picture is page 10 with a cowboy roping a calf.

This book Introduces the rodeo as a sport, exploring its origins, people, animals, events, scoring, & involvement children.

What does the word rodeo mean?
What is a piggin' string?
Why did steer wrestling used to be called "bulldogging?"

Rodeo is my favorite & any one I can go to is The Calgary Stampede, Aspen Colorado, Montana, Texas, Wyoming, Florida where the Kissimmee rodeo is & Nevada in Las, Vegas at The National Finals Rodeo.

The National Finals Rodeo is in Las Vegas, Nevada & it is every December.

I think this book reminds me of Rodeo: American Original CD, Black Beauty book by author Anna Sewell & Adapted by Eleanor G. Vance & Illustrated by Susan Jeffers, Home Alone 3. video & book, Rodeo Action 1: Rodeo Bloopers on DVD & Big Comfy Couch: Picky Eaters/Naptime for Molly video.

I loved this book & enjoyed it!!

Well, this also reminds me of a DVD called "City Slickers" starring Billy Crystal & on video, too.

I loved it!!

First off , I have to admit something about this Famous Figures of the Civil War Era juvenile biography of William Sherman strikes me as odd. Henna R. Remstein refers to Sherman as "William" throughout the book. Now, I have heard Sherman called "Uncle Billy," mostly by his troops, and "Cump" by his friends, but other than that Sherman has always been called Sherman. For that matter, it has always been William Tecumseh Sherman or William T. Sherman, but never just William Sherman. I guess I have a problem with calling someone whose destructive march through Georgia made him a legend by his first name. I am not a big fan of using first names as a way of building familiarization with the subject for young readers, but especially not with military leaders.

That reservation aside, Remstein provides a solid biography of Sherman's life and military career, focusing primarily on his military service during the Civil War, which saw him become the second most famous Union general. Ramstein also provides a context for understanding the war, and explains how the two sides in the war viewed Sherman's March to the Sea quite differently. This book is illustrated with historic photographs and pictures, including several rather well-known paintings that do not depict Sherman (such as boys playing crack the whip). Side-bars explain interesting details, such as telling about the Indian chief from whom Sherman got his middle name and explaining about "Sherman's neckties." One final note: I was surprised that Sherman's most famous quotation, "If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve" was not included.

This book is an excellent companion to conventional textbooks in a Global History course. The Introduction and "Consider" feature before each source helps the reader to pinpoint key ideas and important themes in the document as well as provide important background information which aides in the understanding of the source. The wide variety of sources focusing on various aspects of each topic help to provide a well-rounded view of the subject.

A friend recommended this book during a workshop and I rushed to look at it at the library. Unable to check it out (and better off because the library probably would NOT have gotten it back!) I bought a copy. It is indexed to give you ideas for incorporating the picture books into everyday lessons, units, themes. It can be used in ALL subjects! even math! There are even ideas for lessons/activities to incorporate the picture books as well as recommendations for tie-ins with novels, music, and other pic books! The pictographic index allows you to find the best books for teacher read-alouds, student performance, art and music units, etc. The authors are superb and though the writing is less, the content is more. These are picture books specifically for young adults and adults. They are NOT children's books. Many of them deal with sensitive and mature themes like war, family issues, social problems, etc. The pictures in many of these books are more artistic than they are "cartoony". A necessary book in every secondary student's classroom or home library!

I picked up Dan Sherman's book while browsing for a book I once read called "The One Minute manager". What I found in "You can be a peak performer" was much more useful, as it gives a good account of many do's and dont's, and the case studies are really useful and make great reading. 5 Stars!!

This is a great read for anyone interested in American history, the Civil War, military history, or just history in general. This book takes the reader on a tour of the thoughts and feelings of General Sherman, probably one of the most misunderstood people in history. This books shows his difficult trek through life and how he perservered. Although some readers might be biased against him, I think they should give him and this book a chance. It's great to get first-hand impressions of historical events from the people who lived them. Sherman's memoirs not only cover the Civil War but his entire military career and life and a breif family history. I would also recommend Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States", and "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

The memoirs of William Tecumseh Sherman is a book I continue to return to . It is long, it is detailed but it it is fascinating . You participate with Sherman in the decisions he makes and realize he was the greatest General in the Civil War . Unlike Grant and Lee he avoide the killing of troops , ( on both sides ). He realized that the way to Peace was to destroy the economic underpinings of the South . The concept of his march across Georgia was contrary to the conventional wisedom both North and the South . It is fascinating to read his correspondence with Grant and Lincoln on this subject.
Readers interested in Sherman might want to look at a book by renowned British soldier and writer B.H. Liddell Hart book "Sherman: Soldier, Realist , American" which has been reissued in paperback 1993 and is availaable on Amazon for [...].
Hart feels that Sherman was the greatest General of modern times. He emphasizes the lives saved by Sherman's unconventional strategy.

I have read numerous Civil War books, including the prominent Historical volumns by the leading scholars. These volumns led me to begin reading the memoirs and books of the significant people involved in the war - Grant, Longstreet, etc. I must admit, Sherman's memoirs have been the most facinating yet. He is a very powerful writer with flow and grace to his book. I have lived in California for over 50 years, a native, and his descriptions of early Calif. life were beautiful - too bad it is not still like that. I could not put this book down and finished it in about a week. After reading his memoirs, I do not agree that he was a failure in anything that he did. On the contrary, I think he led a full and fasciating life that would be difficult to duplicate in the present times, even with our transportation abilities. Sherman was a brilliant military leader and you feel as though you are with him throughout his many marches and campaigns. He includes many letters and orders in the book that I believe substantiate his writing and give proof that he was one of a kind.

This is a crucial book to read to gain the full picture of what is involved in the Ringworld novels. The Pak Protectors are quite a race. They are both complicated in origin, but simple in purpose. This book was very interesting, as it describes the evolution of the protectors more than the Ringworld novels do. Larry Niven is a genius at the technical side of Science Fiction, and this novel was facinating and filled with action. I enjoyed it from many angles.

Imagine a race of beings that:
Are so hyper-intelligent that they never invented computers. It never occured to them to devise a machine to help them think.

Abandoned interstellar travel because it was useless. Except to kill off a few close-by competitive races. And they invented interstellar travel w/o computers, remember.

Are very long-lived. Maybe immortal. They don't grow old since they always die a violent death.

Are amazingly strong with lightning-quick reflexes.

Are Very warlike.

Are EXTREME XENOPHOBES.

And you have to fight them. Actually, this would be a good basis for another Niven book. But Protector does a great job of introducing this race to his future history. The middle third of the story is rather slow, but it picks up again for the final third. Great book. And essential to understand, not just the one or two books that other have mentioned (giving away part of the plot for those books)but the place of Humanity in the Known Space Universe.

A Protector could eat a Klingon for lunch. And wouldn't even enjoy it. A Must Read for the space-loving scifi fan.

What can you say about this tale to someone who hasn't read it? How about that if they want to get to know excellent science-fiction, or if they just want a story with crackling dialogue, pages bursting with ideas, and an essential part of an ongoing Future History, or an combination of the previous, then they don't have to look any further than this novel?

I might even consider this book better than Ringworld, mostly because I can comprehend the ideas better and the plot was easier to follow than the other book. Also, this novel is one that most of the other Known Space stories refer to, making it a must for any Larry Niven fan.

The story of the Pak Protectors is also essental to the Ringworld saga, as anyone who read The Ringworld Engineers would know. But I don't want to spoil the surprise, or the sheer joy of reading a classic novel for anyone. Just go out and buy the book, borrow it from the library, or steal it from a friend, already! What more do you want?

Katie Nana has left the Bank family in need of a new nanny. But before they know it, a woman blows in on the East Wind. Literally. She takes the position of caring for the four children, Jane, Michael, and the twins John and Barbara. But with her extremely prim and proper attitude comes magical adventures. A day in the park, having tea, running errands, and even Christmas shopping can turn into an adventure when Mary's around. And the kids love it.

This most decidedly is not the Disney Mary Poppins. Disney toned her down significantly for his movie, making her heart easier to see. Still, it's there if you look closely in the book. I had forgotten just how hard it is to see at times behind Mary's outward appearance and actions. Still, the kids come to love her because they know where they really stand.

As with all books in the series, this one is a series of adventures. Each chapter tells it's own story, each story it's own fun, magical adventure.

Those looking for Disney's Mary will be greatly disappointed. But anyone looking for a fun series of adventures will find a woman who does care for those around her, even if it's not always super obvious.

Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back were among my favorite childhood books. Indeed, I still have my childhood edition, which contained both volumes, minus its covers and completely worn out with reading and reading again. You can imagine my delight to find the books reissued. I made sure my husband knew to buy them for me for Christmas last year. However, someone did see fit to change the chapter Bad Tuesday, in which Michael finds a compass which Mary Poppins uses to take them around the world. I suppose it was meant to make the book politically correct, but what gave the person who did that the right? It is too bad that today's young readers will not get to read the book as written.

P.L. Travers' original deptiction of Mary Poppins is NOT anything like Julie Andrews' cheerful, smiling character in the classic Disney movie. Instead, this nanny is very proper, stern and strict, a model of British efficiency, complete with a stiff upper lip. Only on rare occasions does her steely exterior give way and we get a glimpse of her heart of gold.

Yet, this gruffed up version of magical, mysterious Mary Poppins is practically perfect in every way. You won't need a spoonful of sugar to get kids to read this classic. Harry Potter can't compete with Mary's timeless appeal or her supercalifragilisticexpialadocious (did I spell it right?) magic powers; she's every bit as wonderous as you remember from years ago. Mary Poppins flies in on her parrot-head umbrella, straight into your heart.

VULCAN'S HEART, tells the story of Spock's life and adventures after the "death" of Captain Kirk. It brings together (none of these are spoilers since all of these elements are on the dust jacket): a young Jean-Luc Picard and his ship "Stargazer"; Saavik; the female Romulan commander from TOS: "The Enterprise Incident"; and the "Enterprise-C" from TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise." And it's long: 378 pages. It takes that many pages to tell a story this complex. This is epic Trek at its best.

One of the reasons it's so good is that Sherman and Shwartz were allowed to break most of the long-standing rules of STAR TREK novels. Although under the editorship of John Ordover at Pocket Books, these rules have been broken before (much to the delight of readers), but I don't think there's ever been a TREK novel where so many have been broken *in combination* before. There's sex (it's Pon farr, but not to the level of those "adults only" zines you may have seen at conventions), there's intermingling of the casts (Spock meets a young Picard plus cameos by Tasha Yar and McCoy); there's revisiting minor characters (the Romulan commander, Captain Garrett and crew of the E-C), and there's the raison d'etre of this novel: mapping out a character's history beyond what has already been done on TV and films. All those rules are broken, but because the duo are such good writers, the results are knock-out.

It's several decades after FORGE, and Spock is incognito on Romulus. A dishonorable leader is about to stage an attack on an unarmed Klingon outpost. Spock is going to try to stop it, but - along with Romulans everywhere - he's hampered by experiencing Pon Farr, the Vulcan mating drive which can kill if not satisfied. As you might imagine, he and his bond-mate Saavik aren't exactly at each other's fingertips. Will the two Vulcans get together (this isn't just a question of romance, it's one of life and death)? Will Spock be able to maneuver behind the scenes to stop the evil praetor? Will the crew of the Enterprise-C survive the battle of Narendra III?

The two elements which stand out (the third, a seamless continuity-blending that includes an explanation of why our stardate calendars may not say it's time for Pon farr, but it is, was evident in FORGE, so it and it's coolness need not be mentioned here) are the authors' treatments of honor and sex.

This is a book first and foremost about honor. The Romulans are the enemies of the Federation, but they can usually be counted on to act with a certain honor. Their leader's quest to increase his own political power through a series of easily-won wars against small targets, sets the stage for the woman from Spock's past to appeal to his honor in hopes of overthrowing the praetor. Meanwhile, Spock must decide what are honorable actions for himself, and he must convince a number of other Romulans that acting against their government is the most honorable course of action - as well as the most logical.

Sherman and Shwartz also use the demands of Pon Farr not as a cheap side show, but as a (damn me) logical source of conflict. They have kept in mind that Pon farr is not about sex, but about . . . "biology." Saavik and Spock's link is a condition not merely a choice. Their lives could just as easily have been imperiled by any other Vulcan-specific disease. But Pon farr is so much more interesting.

There may (depending on how well this one sells) be a third novel from Sherman and Shwartz. Do your part to insure that this happens.

I finally finished Vulcan's Heart last night. It took me longer to read than I thought. Largely because the more I read the more I didn't want the story to end. When I first heard of the book after reading Vulcan's Forge I was excited because I enjoyed VF so much. Then after hearing that Spock would marry Saavik my enthusiasm waned somewhat. It didn't seem to make much sense to me. I must say though as I began reading I became hooked entirely. When I came to the end of chapter 14 I was sold completely. When Spock sent her away I just wanted to yell no go with her! What a wonderful novel. So full of everything. Action, familiar characters, intrigue, honor, politics, and passion. WOW! The way Josepha and Susan blended characters from the original series, next generation and Captain Garrett and crew was amazing. I don't know how they do it. Who does what, who writes what, it doesn't matter, they have struck gold. I found a book far superior to Vulcan's Forge. This was the first Star Trek hardcover book I have ever bought. If they continue writing though it won't be my last. I enjoyed this story so much I have to admit that if I had to choose between Sarek or this book it would be a hard choice to make! I can see why it took so long to write, well worth the wait. Thanks Josepha and Susan for such a terrific book. Here's hoping this is just the begining of Spock's journeys.

A wonderful follow up to "Vulcan's Forge" by the same authors. I would not call this a true "sequel" because it is a self contained story, with some characters carried over from the previous book.

An exciting and gripping story of Vulcan mating rituals, and a Romulan coupe. This story give the background as to why Spock has such a strong desire for reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan races. This story brings together many elements from the episodes of ST "Amok Time", ST "The Enterprise Incident", STNG "Yesterday's Enterprise" and an STNG novel "Reunion" by Michael Jan Friedman . The authors really did their homework on this one. Great continuity.

I especially like the way the authors dealt with the story line around STNG "Yesterday's Enterprise", giving the events that showed how the Enterprise-C became involved in the conflict between the Romulans and Klingons at Narendra III, their valiant attempt to defend the Klingon Outpost, and its ultimate destruction by the Romulans. Also, the detail was given as to how Tasha Yar came to be the mother of Sela as reveled in the STNG ep. "Redemption II".

As to the elements of the STNG novel "Reunion" by Michael Jan Friedman, in short, the novel was about the reunion the command staff and crew of Capt. Picard's first command aboard the USS Stargazer. The characters' background and personalities were developed in that novel, and then were reintroduced here in this novel as a small but important part of the story that took place on the USS Stargazer. This is where the authors' work impressed me. Most authors of ST novels attempt to keep continuity with the various series and movies, however, few of them attempt to keep continuity with other novels from other authors. I felt the extra effort on the part of the authors was worth mentioning.

This has to rank right up there with "Sarek" as one of my favorite ST books. I highly recommend it! It was difficult to put down.

The Book The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie was very well written and enjoyable. It is a collection of inter connecting short stories that share similar themes and characters as well. It revolves around a few main characters including Victor the main character, and Thomas Builds-The-Fire an obsessive story teller. The characters are very well developed, in each story he builds on each character until you really feel as if you know them. The flaws to this are sometimes there are contradicting traits in different stories, but that is understandable with a collection of short stories. He seems to develop the settings enough but not to great detail, which is sometimes effective and at other times leaves you waiting for more. For short stories his plot development was excellent, as well as the way in which he compiled his stories, theses two elements combined kept me engrained in the book and were very effective in portraying theme. His overall writing style is very blunt, honest, and real, he also uses some elements of realistic satire to keep you interested and shocked simultaneously. I also saw hints of budding surrealism in some stories, but not enough to create an overall surrealistic effect; I think his usage of it is appropriate but as well developed as it could be. I enjoyed his style of writing because it gave me the raw and bitter truth behind life on an Indian reservation. He spoke so realistically and honestly, like he had been there first hand, which makes this book very good and effective with its portrayal. The themes are very apparent, and do not involve much reading between the lines, but are there and do leave an impact on you. The themes of differences and discrimination are very effective as well as the theme of the difference between modern and past Indians. Overall I really enjoyed his work, despite his minor flaws in development of character, and setting. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Native American life, or someone willing to read an entertaining and powerful book.

The title itself is very intriguing. The title pits two famous american icons, who are indian and white, against each other. Sort of setting the stage for reservation life in the present day. A constant clash between races and rights. This collection of short stories, in my mind, is one of the best books published by a Native American ever. The author, Sherman Alexie, has a very distinct voice. He sets scenes very well and the descriptive language he uses is great. Each chapter brings a new adventure and a new lesson to learn. Alexie creates many interesting characters in Lone Ranger and Tonto but a few stand out. One is Victor who was left by his father at a young age and goes threw many adventures chronicled by Alexie. One of his adventures is very well depicted in the film Smoke Signals. The movie focuses on Victor traveling to Arizona to retrieve his dead Fathers remains. Smoke Signals focuses on my favorite chapter in the book anyway. A lot of issues are brought up between Thomas Builds-The-Fire and Victor. Their travels bring them closer together and many of their past conflicts are resolved. Usually I'm not a sucker for stories with corny happy endings but this one got me. I read this book for a school assignment and usually I don't like to read books issued by teachers as required reading but I liked this one. It isn't my favorite book of all time but I liked it. That is saying a lot because I don't read much outside of the classroom and getting exposed to new authors I like is always fun.

I initially picked this book up for two reasons--I liked Alexie's novel, Indian Killer, and more importantly because I live in Spokane, WA and have traveled extensively through the Reservations and towns that are described in the stories. The descriptions and the characters are very realistic, the names and places are not very fictionalized, and it makes me feel right at home. Fortunately for those readers not privleged to live in the Inland Northwest, the stories also teach a lot about Indian culture, the modern Native American and their heritage. It is a disturbing picture at times with too much alcaholism, violence, and racism, but underneath it all there is a great deal of love which makes the stories comforting and redeeming. Alexie has a lyrical voice, and when combined with his authenticsity, beautiful, rich stories are produced. Aside from those academic traits, he is also very funny, honest, and affectionate throughout, and those qualities are what I will remember about this book far more than the descriptions of familiar hotels on Third Avenue and the basketball games played between Springdale and Wellpinit. It is a great, quick read, and a wonderful way to pass an afternoon.