I can attest (both professionally and personally) to the many obstacles parents of color face in raising healthy children. The reallity is that there are specific challenges parents of color face in nurturing and guiding our children on a path to success that mainstream children's books simply do not address. Call Me Black Call Me Beautiful makes a vital contribution to children's literature and is an effort that is long overdue.

"Well, honey, you are black." Richard looks down at his hands and arms and says matter-of-factly, "No I'm not. I'm brown."

The social construct of race is a concept ambiguous to many adults, and can be incomprehensible to young children, particularly those of color. Able to accurately identify the Crayola colors in their environment, African American youth are often bewildered when their own chestnut/walnut/pecan/ebony/beige/mahogany/red skin tones are universally referred to as "black". And in a society that typically assigns negative connotations to the word "black", racial identity becomes even more problematic.

Call me Black Call me Beautiful addresses the question of racial identity through Richard, a young African American boy. As the story begins, Richard is portrayed as a happy child with a multiethnic array of peers, both on the soccer field and in the classroom. When Richard's demeanor turns sullen, his concerned mother prods her son for an explanation. It is then that Richard reveals that a white friend, Max, has called him "black", a label perplexing to Richard as he stares at his hands and arms, which are clearly brown to him.

In simple yet poignant terms, Richard's mother first affirms her son's observations: "You are my caramel brown baby, Daddy is smooth, dark chocolate brown, and I am honey brown." She then explains that "black" and "white" are merely terms to describe groups of people. The story's themes of self love and appreciation for others resound in the mother's advice to Richard: "So the next time Max calls you black, smile at him with joy. Explain to him that despite your different skin colors, you are both absolutely beautiful!"

Central to the story are Jennifer C. Kindert's bold and colorful watercolor illustrations. The characters' skin tones and facial and body features capture the wide array physical characteristics within the African American family. Also captured visually is the ambiguity of race. Indeed, white Max's beige skin tone and facial features closely resemble those of Richard's black great-grandmother, Dorothy. Detailed and synchronized to the plot, the illustrations compliment the text both nicely and appropriately.

Children of all ages will benefit from this book, as will parents, teachers, and librarians. The straightforward and conversational writing style allows for easy understanding by all readers. Call Me Black Call Me Beautiful fills a much-needed place in multicultural children's literature. Dr. Henderson translates potentially difficult concepts in a style that is simple and joyful.

Highly recommended for day-care centers and early-learning centers for story-time. Very helpful to all children especially bi-racial and foreign nationals. Also a great start for the younger children--they understand everything!!!
Dr. Henderson..... "you go, girl"

If you're involved in higher education and responsible for emergency planning at your institution, this CD-ROM is must reading. The templates are easy to use and are based on industry best practices. It truly "covers the waterfront" for the unique issues associated with emergency management at colleges and universities.

About This Plan
Beginning in 1995 Disaster Management, Inc. published the Business Continuation Plan for Academic Institutions. The manual, which includes a planning template, is used by over 100 institutions in America and by a number of Colleges & Universities in foreign countries. Over the last several years I have consulted with a number of Colleges & Universities developing and improving their plans. The Emergency Management Plan for Colleges & Universities is the result of years of research and practical application in an academic environment. Key features of the plan are as follows:

·Standard planning developed in the corporate world needs substantial modification for application in the academic world. This new work incorporates a planning structure that is both compatible with an academic environment and effective in an actual emergency situation.
·Colleges & Universities must be able to effectively respond to a wide variety of emergency situations. New response procedures need to be defined as a result of 9/11. Often faculty and staff are the initial responders and many of these individuals are untrained in incident response. Special sections of this Emergency Management Plan for Colleges & Universities are devoted to basic incident response techniques.
·Many emergency situations require the coordination of multiple organizational resources. All organizational resource units are assigned specific responsibilities and are provided in a standardized organizational format.

In Emergency Management Plan for Colleges and Universities, Douglas M. Henderson presents a ready-made set of templates which can be readily adapted to the specific emergency management needs of a college or university. By completing the templates, establishing the emergency management team with designated primary and alternate members and providing training on the incident command system, the institution can quickly implement a functioning emergency management plan.

The heart of the emergency management plan is the emergency management team which must include the key decision makers of the institution-President, Chancellor, Provost, VP for Administration and Finance, and other critical positions of the institution. Second, one (or more) incident response teams must be established (before the fact) to deal with the details of an incident when it does occur. The incident response team operates under the incident command system used by fire and police departments throughout the United States. The incident response team should include representatives from critical areas of responsibility-security, environmental health and safety, facilities, public relations, human resources, finance and administration, etc. Each critical unit (having important institution-wide responsibilities, e.g., security and facilities) should establish a unit response plan defining the command structure and describing the critical functions and operational needs of the unit.

The author not only provides templates and issues for consideration in creating the above plans and organizational structure, but also describes the different levels of response appropriate to incidents of varying seriousness. He describes how the plan should be activated and how notification and information can be effectively distributed for every type of foreseeable incident or disaster. Checklists are provided for most emergency and disaster scenarios from tropical hurricane to winter storm, flood, fire, utility outage, and many more.

Lastly and very importantly, the author recognizes that an academic institution operates differently from the typical business. This publication addresses emergency management where the needs of students, faculty, research, teaching, libraries, administration, and other activities unique to colleges and universities are all addressed.

This is the short and simply-written story of how two poor guys, through hard work and intelligence, created the wine business in the United States. Their lives were the American Dream. The book offers a good lesson for the current generation: work hard, take risks, and good things will happen. Unfortunately, the book reads as if Gallo's lawyers were all over it and that is perhaps its biggest shortcoming. It leaves many questions and details unanswered. It would be fascinating to hear the "war stories" of Ernest while he is still alive to tell them. With any luck there will be a sequel.

i thought it was a wonderful book . i loved it ebcause they mentioned my grandfather in it because he later became Vice preseindet of Gallo Winery.

Great book to read, especially if you are part of a start-up\family business. Focus is on hard work, guts and determination. If you are thinking about going into business for yourself, read it first!! Easy reading.

Overall it would say that it 's the excellent job that authors has put together all the description of American palm species. It would be welcome among serious palm collectors as well as reserchers.

The only thing I don't like about this book and I think it is controversial among palm colleectors is that the book tends to lump down many named species into a synonymous for example, a genus Coccothrinax or the palms in the Attalea Group. Though not all of the recorded species are really distinct from each other, many of them are quite different and should be separately treated at least in a variety level i.e., genus Acrocomia which authors has lumped from 26 recorded species inot only 2 species. This is however not explicitly stated there at all.

This is probably the most useful book for anyone involved in plant identification, such as Forest Engineers, specially those working in tropical America, where one often encounters many kinds of palms in the field, but until now it was not easy to identify them, and palms are mostly overlooked because they have the reputation of being difficult to identify. This book changes it all, and it's definitely a must-have.

I use this book for field work, and it seems not fair that a book of three authors, appears as a one-author book, I know the other two people and they are scientist and work in the palms (Arecaceae) as well as Mr Henderson.

If you've been lucky enough to see "The Magic of Myth" in one of its many permutations, this book is a great supplement to and a wonderful reminder of just how cool that exhibit was. If you haven't seen the exhibit, this book is still great to have for it's back-story on the origins of the trilogy.

I'm not the most well-read person around so it was a lot of fun to learn how Lucas' characters and story were shaped by (or copied from) myths and legends of other times and cultures. Reading this book has led me to explore some of the material that Lucas borrowed from in creating Star Wars. I'm a big SW nut, but it's nice to get my head out of the SW universe and out into other forms of art and literature.

If you don't feel like reading, this book is also full of GREAT photos from the trilogy.

I keep this one on the shelf next to Joseph Campbell's "Power of Myth." It is a nice complement to Campbell's book.

I love this book. I got it at the National Air & Space Museum. It is very fun to read. You can learn a lot from Darth Vader's Helmet To Luke Skywalker. It talks a lot about the "MYTH" of STAR WARS. A book you don't have to be a jedi to understand. Lots' of color pictures from the movie and the exhition in Washington. Don't miss this book, Also check out the STAR WARS SCRAPBOOK END

The Star Wars Trilogy is one of the most profound series of our time. This book shows how George Lucas put together many ingredients from history, mythical and factual, to create one of the best stories of good vs evil ever told. And the pictures and illustrations are beautiful. A "must have" for any Star Wars fan.

Mr. Henderson's book brought back all the fun and sometimes horrible experiences I had as a waitress. The author didn't miss a thing. In all, I enjoyed the book. It could have been funnier and more humorous but he writes well and does a very good job of letting those who are in the business "tell it all". My daughter is now a waitress and I will be sending her this book to read and "relate".

I just happen to discover this hilarious book while browsing through bookstore one day. I knew immediately that I would have to purchase it. I have been in the service industry for over ten years. I have exprienced just about everything that was discussed in the book. I too have dealt with irrate,idiotic customers, crazy,perverted cooks, being so incredibly busy trying to wait on several people that at times I wanted to throw my tray down and walk away from the chaotic scene, and I have definitely discovered that restaurant managers are a breed of their own. I have dealt with disapproving sighs and smirks with individuals that think that all I want to do is wait tables my whole life. The fact is, many of the food servers I have worked with are students pursuing very high educational goals. I myself have been woring towards my MSW. A good majority of people believe that we are just these pathetic peons that are down and out. I recall a situation when a customer saw me drive to work in a new car that I had recently purchased. He was completely astonished that I had that vehicle and couldn't understand why a waitress would have a new car. Frankly, like Mr.Henderson writes about, it is good way to make fast money and the hours work well with school schedules,internships, and auditions(although I never personally worked with any aspiring actors). I was delighted (and somewhat relieved) that there are others that have had some of the identical expriences I had including the frustrating and ridiculous nightmares that will haunt you in your sleep when you bolt up from your bed and scream "Oh my God! I forgot to give that table their butter!".

I have worked as a waiter, and I have also had the good fortune to work with Bruce Henderson. "Waiting" is a wonderful book, with great behind-the-scenes insights about the fairly universal experience of dining out-- but from the point of view of waiters and waitresses who take our orders and bring us our food. A great deal of humor happens as those seemingly mundane events unfold.

"Waiting" is divided up into very funny, easily read chapters under headings like "Celebrities," "Pet Peeves," and so on. Truly an outstanding read, and something that very restaurant staffer should check out.

Bruce Henderson is also a really fine singer/songwriter and recording artist with two current CDs available on Paradigm Associated Labels, "The Wheels Roll" from Summer 1997, and "Beyond the Pale," which comes out mid 1999. Bruce is an even better as a songwriter than he is as a storyteller. No songs about waiting tables, though.

I laughed, I cried, I was entertained. The dialogue kept me on my toes. The characters are delightful and the gypsies are people to be reckoned with. I hated to see the end come but was thrilled when I discovered the Lord of Misrule is alive and the author has other Bigger plans for him.

This book was amazing. It made me laugh, cry, laugh, laugh...oh, and laugh. This book is truly one of a kind.

Thank you for entertaining me. I can't wait to see what you have in store for "the dragon".

The Henderson's book is a superb pedagogic text. The chapters 1 to 5 are superbly written. They are easily understandable by any student and engineer.These five chapters are outstanding. Unfortunately the following chapters are in need of some updates. For example, the sections on spillway design (pp. 180-191), energy dissipators (pp. 214-227), culverts (pp. 258-264), roll waves (pp. 342-344). More importanly the chapters on sediment transport (Chap. 10) and part of the physical modelling (Chap. 11) are really outdated. The interested readers should be advised to consider seriously some modern books : "The hydraulics of open channel flow: an introduction" (Edward Arnold 1999, UK & John Wiley, 1999 in North America) and "The hydraulics of open channel flow" (ASCE, 1998). The former is a solid textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as professional engineers. The second title is more a reference handbok. The main drawback of Henderson's book is the lack of revision and its unavailability in many parts of the world because it is out-of-print since two decades.

I consider this book as a classical handbook of open channel flow. This book gives an in-depth theoretical background of all the concepts required to tackle the real life engineering problems associated with the open channel hydraulics in a very simple language. The only drawback is that this book, in its original hardcovered form, is out of print for so long time. If you find a copy, do not miss.

I was fortunate enough to find a hardcover copy of this book just a few years ago. I used it as text book in a graduate open-channel flow course and would not be without it as a practicing engineer. That fact that there is still a demand for a $100 ring bound fascimile is testament to it's continued applicability in the field of hydraulics. It covers all of the basics and I have yet to find a better treatment on the fundamentals of the method of characteristics. The illustrations are quite good and the text is clear and very well written. I actually came to Amazon in hopes of a more current edition for my library and ended up submitting this review. If you ever see one - buy it.

Henderson's Out of Control is one of most revealing and honest books I've yet to read that documents the world of big-time NFL football, or any sport for that matter. It packs a heck of a punch by basically chronicling in great detail, the partying and good times that were had by the 1970s Dallas Cowboys. The drugs, booze, women and carousing are all here in abundance. Of course Henderson's athletic life is the focal point, however I found the behind the scenes stuff enthralling and worth the price of the book alone. Much in the tradition of Bouton's Ball Four, Out of Control takes it to another level.
The usefulness of Out of Control is its brutal honesty and fly on the wall glimpse into big time sports. Anyone who's played any level of competitive football will find Out of Control to be a magnificent read you won't be able to put down. I devoured the whole thing in two days. Henderson's assertion of covert racism regarding just who would start at linebacker was also interesting and made for great reading.
The NFL's Public Relations department won't be sponsoring Henderson's book signing tour anytime soon.

As sports biographies go, this is a very good one. I have some memories of Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson's football days but obviously never knew what was going on behind the scenes. The pattern for his abuses were set young in his life and not necessarily as a result of his fame in the NFL. Hats off to Henderson for not pulling any punches or blaming anyone for his drug problems but himself. He admitted his faults and didn't come off too preachy about his downfalls either. A most enjoyable read if you find a copy of it.

I've always enjoyed reading autobiographies where the author's not afraid to let you in on the more lurid details and the darker side of his/her life. And being a follower of pro football, Thomas 'Hollywood' Henderson's amazing memoirs of growing up in the Austin ghetto, his pro football playing days as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys' Doomsday II defense, and his near-self-destruction from his addictions to cocaine, painkillers, and alcohol makes 'Out of Control' a double treat for me!

With the help of sports author Peter Knobler, 'Hollywood' discusses his darker days and eventual reclamation in the plain and straightforward manner that made his reputation as one of the NFL's most colorful characters, and makes for an absorbing read. I went from cover to cover in one sitting with this one!

There are a few other interesting and outrageous moments in Henderson's life aside from his drug-and-sex binges as well. The best of these were his front-row view of the climactic Roger Staubach / Clint Longley sucker-punch in the Cowboys locker room, and checking out Richard Pryor's home porno flicks at Pryor's house during one of his infamous parties.

Whether you're a football/sports fan or just an avid reader of 'True confessions'-style biographies/memoirs, then this is one book you shouldn't miss!

'Late

this book is cool, i also know the guy, he works at the high schoo

Hollywood has not been kind to the long constrictor. In its view, they drop out of trees or rise up out of rivers, big as buses and determined to squeeze the guts out of that hapless human being who has wandered within reach of their treacherous or lecherous (depending upon the sex of the victim) coils. Though big snakes have, in fact, never been much interested in people, people have always been fascinated by them. Sensational stories of villagers squashed and gobbled up by monstrous serpents fill the accounts of explorers and early "naturalists." For all the satisfying fear they engender in far removed readers, such stories do the snakes injustice and divert attention from their remarkable morphology and living habits. These authors are scientists, but they are also literate and obviously snake enthusiasts. So while they stick to the facts, they write clearly and engagingly in defense of remarkable animals who, when it comes to encounters with humans, are much more sinned against than sinning. There are chapters about feeding and breeding of course. But there is also a serious review of the extraordinary stories that impute lengths of sixty or more feet to anacondas and pythons. By the time the myths have been detonated, the terrified lay reader is ready for an honest answer to the question, "How long can a snake grow?" Read the book to find out. But I will say it is longer than some buses.

I purchased this book on a whim, knowing of the authors' credibility. When I got in to it, I realized it was going to be more than I expected. This work discredits one by one all the ridiculous length claims on snakes from around the world. Instead of these (sometimes outrageous) claims, the authors provide you with THE FACTS AND NOTHING BUT THE FACTS!

It is about time herpers spread the honest truth about these species to the general public, rather than the typical "My python should hit thirty-five feet because that's the maximum size!".

This book is an educational experience for ANYONE with an interest in these species or herps in general. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

The human attack accounts are pretty eye-opening, too!