This book is the first in an excellent series of books. Not only are the teaching methods sound, but children (and adults) will love the rhyme and the terms Ms. Cherry has developed. As my grandchildren approach age five, I will begin to teach them to sew with these books!

This book is unlike anything I've read. It is a series of small extracts from many sources. Giving often very personal insights into the lives of colonial woman, there loves, losses and the beginnings of there families in the new place of New Zealand which at the time was vastly under developed. Often presented in letters you may as I did find yourself ingrossed in the lives of these strong woman.

For anyone with a heart for missions or a love for the Lord, this is a great read! Sharon has captured the real spirit that Ann Judson had to reached the unreached with the gospel. The latter half about Adoniram's prison experience was one of those narratives which has you looking forward to going to bed so you can settle in for a good hour of reading!! It is brought to life with letters and diary entries. It very much opened up my mind to the pioneer mission work of the Judson's in Burma and challenged me in my own efforts at witnessing for Christ and serving him.

The first rarity you notice in this unusual biography is its three Forewords. The first is a summary of the demographics, characteristics, and prognosis for this widespread chronic illness, by Norman J. Lewiston, M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine. The next two forewords are called Prologue for Parents, and are authored by mother Olivia Kennedy Lab who co-authored this compelling biography, and by Walt Lab, father of Doug. In the first several pages a reader learns that this biography is drawn on two story lines. Along one line, this book is a deeply informative account of one case history of cystic fibrosis. It tells how the disease, scarcely known at Doug Lab's birth, was finally identified. It imparts how parental persistence to find even acceptable medical treatment moved a family from their idyllic Montana home to a burgeoning suburb of Los Angeles. It divulges how the medical profession's trial and error intelligence about treating cystic fibrosis had to be managed by a keenly alert sensitivity to one's own medical history. Any family with cystic fibrosis could well benefit from following this story line with its careful analysis and information about the daily struggle to survive with this chronic illness. But to this reader, My Life in My Hands'second story line is even more compelling. Doug Lab unveils a remarkably open, passionate, yet casual zest for life in a memorable picaresque style. Doug is a playful, mischievous scamp in his memories of early boyhood. His almost roguish, vagabond adventurousness in search of identity, livelihood,intimacy,and independence unwinds in episode after episode of his constant drive for fulfillment. Doug is a driver. He begins his story behind the wheel as he cruises from his southern Cal desert mobile home to his parents' home in Modesto, where Doug outgrew his adolescence but never his love for cars. He steers his life through one obstacle after another. A surprising epiphany for the reader is that the obstacles of a chronic illness parallel obstacles of growing up amidst the onslaught of pop culture. Doug learns to know his pop culture as well as he learns to know his chronic illness. He loves and embraces pop with the same spirit he eludes the suffering and impending finality of cystic fibrosis. Doug's spirit is infectious and unforgettable. It brings to this book an energy that catches the reader. Dr. Lewiston from the Stanford School of Medicine who writes the Foreword, says, "In Doug's candid narration leading you through his life, you'll learn about CF and chronic illness, and about life in a society that doesn't really know how to deal with sick people." This excerpt is an example of Doug's narration: I'd been on my second round of amicasin for about four days when my rash broke out. My chest, scalp, and crotch were covered with eczema and my throat and pallet were so swollen I couldn't swallow. It seemed to bear a strong resemblance to the allergic reaction I'd suffered with carbocillin. The doctors wouldn't believe me then and I wondered if Dr. O would be any different. I was already in bad with him for refusing a blood gas test. "Douglas," he said, "I'm not used to patients refusing my suggested treatment. Now you claim to be allergic to the medication. You know, Medi-Cal doesn't pay the emergency rates, so I won't get paid the amount I've charged you. Since you're not doing well on my treatment, why don't you go back to the desert where you claim you can breathe better. Then come on back in a week and see me." I was going to ask him if he'd like to loan me his credit card for gasoline, but then I realized what a hardship patients like me are on a doctor's pocketbook. It would have been so much easier for him if I'd been content to lie down and die. The title, My Life in My Hands, is a double metaphor. On one level it expresses the necessity for anyone with chronic illness to monitor treatment with an informed alertness that never yields completely to medical authority. On its other level it expresses Doug's persistent search for work that can be both practical and fulfilling. Doug finds that work when, after many other jobs, he becomes a potter, with his own hands shaping clay into both functional and decorative art. At this level the title is a metaphor that follows Doug's maturing passion to give his short life as much daily satisfaction and as much aesthetic and spiritual meaning as he can. Cystic fibrosis is a disease of childhood and youth. While longevity rates are being extended, the average lifespan is still at the mid-twenties mark. Doug's life almost doubles the prevailing expectancy for his time. My Life in My Hands is written with an epilogue that reveals the love and commitment this unusual man deserved. There is much literary merit to this book. But most of all it gives the reader an intimate relationship with an unforgettable, spirited person.

This book is sweet. Personally, it inspired me to write a small book to my mom - filled with just what I have in my heart to tell her and show her. I'm just learning to love my mom as woman-to-woman and not little-daughter-to-big-mamma and this book really touched me and showed me the need to love my mom back! read it....it's good!

Great book for parents of twins. Buy one for each of the kids.

I LIKE ALL THE BOOKS BY JAKE AND LUKE THOENE BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY GOOD AND EXCITING. MY GRANDMA GAVE ME THEM FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND I READ THEM ALL SUMMER ON RAINY DAYS. THESE BOOKS ARE ON THE LIST FOR EXTRA CREDIT. NOW I HAVE READ THEM I HOPE THEY WRITE MORE BOOKS FOR KIDS. MY BROTHER AND I WANT TO WRITE STORIES TOO.

This book is very much in the genre of Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" and Bryan Burrough's "Barbarians at the Gate" - all packaged with a distinct Australian flavour.

The story documents the twilight years of a high profile Australian Bank (State Bank of New South Wales) until its eventual privatisation in 1994. From 54 expressions of interest, a solitary bidder emerged, extracting a plethora of guarantees and caveats from an enthusiastic vendor and effectively reducing the sale price to one more akin to a Thanksgiving sale at Wal Mart. Compared to more recent sales, it's easy to sympathise with Hand's conclusion that this was "the biggest Bank heist of all time". Indeed, within 5 years, the purchaser (Colonial Mutual) had onsold the Bank (and itself in the process) for over 10 times the purchase price.

But the story is much bigger than State Bank in isolation. Hand meanders around Australian Banking in general during the 1990s, coining the term "mating call" to illustrate Australia's unofficial banking cartel. And yet the story is more than a factual guide to contemporary banking - it's also about changing social attitudes and community values. The chapter named "From revered to reviled" illustrates bankers simply ignoring their demise in community stature, actively absolving themselves of social responsibilities in the name of "shareholder value".

The diversity of anecdotes range from young-gun dealers cheering disastrous employment statistics when it suits the portfolio to the multimillion dollar executive payouts as rural branch closures gather pace. One gem is an assessment of the Bank's bizarre attempt to market a variety of new fees as being of benefit to customers. Overall, the book is factual, well researched and entertaining, offering a balanced commentary and avoiding the easier path of sensationalism. The book is also critical of the government's splashing of public monies around simply to bolster their own fortunes.

Hand has a very entertaining writing style with a strong social conscience, offering meaningful anecdotes and insightful commentary. He has a great strategic perspective of Banking that that makes it so easy to see the woods from the trees. I just think it's a great rollicking yarn with a significance that will grow rather than diminish over time.

"God gave you a brain, you figure it out!" This was Bill Eagle Feather's response to many a question.He was the Sundance chief of the Rosebud Sioux. Howard Bad Hand never says it in his book, Native American Healing, but that rough response was always in the back of my mind reading this book. Through his own voice, and the voices of his wise elder relatives like Kills Enemy & Jimmy Dubray, these healers & medicine men imply a world miles away from the materialistic money-grubbing white man's world. It is left to the reader to figure out the truly deep meaning embedded in this beautifully readable book. Near the end of the book, his uncle Jim Dubray takes Bad Hand to the Sacred Tree during a Sundance. The absolute rock-bottom simplicity of Uncle Jim's wisdom, as he passes it on to Bad Hand, brought tears to my eyes. If you want to learn something about the Indian way, and begin to comprehend the chasm between it and the American "way of life", read this book.

I've been poring over books about building stuff (cabinets, furniture, built-ins, etc) on and off for years now, but rarely buy any. You can buy full-book advertisements like the books from Black and Decker (which aren't bad, actually), but you kind of need to buy the tools too.

Same goes for all the other books: they generally assume you'll somehow magically acquire a shop full of tools (not to mention plenty of space to put your shop), as well as all the materials.

Mr. Frost is a wise old dude, who has put in a lot of years of living and knows a lot of good stuff. If you're afraid power tools like me--I've known way too many people over the years with fewer than average fingers due to them--then this is a great introduction.

But if you're interested in graphic design (Mr. Frost designed the Gilbey's Gin bottle long ago), this is an awesome book as well: throughout, the illustrations illustrate not just the projects but also how to do illustration and graphic design.

And if you just feel inadequate because your dad never showed you how to use a saw or gave you positive feedback when you were learning something, well, you should get therapy--but also get this book. Mr. Frost is a gentle and sensible teacher, and his common sense comments (on using a power jigsaw: "Very little skill is needed to operate this saw, except to *remember not* to put your other hand *under* the board to feel the blade when it's running!") are more sincere than condescending.

Watch out, though, because someone forgot to proof read the manuscript (or else left lots of boo-boos in); it doesn't matter, it's still a great book.

So turn off "Yankee Workshop" (anyone could make *anything* with a 20x40 workshop and a hundred thousand or so in tools). This book will take you from the simplest of projects (a pair of sawhorses) to more challenging projects without breaking the bank.