So many children's books are just junk. This one is too, but for once that's a compliment. My 4 year-old picked this out, and now it's one of our favorites. The illustrations are so detailed that we can spend ten minutes just pointing out different things on one page, and this is the neatest retelling of the Jonah story I've ever seen. I always talk to my daughter as we read, and it was clear she understood the point exactly.

My kids love this book, and they choose it over and over again to be read to them. They also love to scour the pages for all the hidden items they need to find. The unique illustrations keeps them alert and interested while listening to one of the best Bible stories for children.

Unlike other retellings of the story of Jonah, this charming book focuses not on the point that Jonah tried to run from God and couldn't--but rather on the fact that though Jonah (God's chosen messenger, no less!) thought the people of Nineveh were bad, and therefore unworthy of God's love and mercy, GOD thought they were good and was determined to show His love to them. A powerful message for adults and the children they read along wtih. The illustrations are so imaginative, as well! I highly recommend this book!

This book is a MUST for anyone serious about food! It tells you everything you need to know about storing any kind of food you can think of! I am constantly having to look up something, so mine is pretty dog-eared. Make that "was" pretty dog-eared --- it is SO good that people borrow it and don't return it! I am anxiously awaiting a new (my third!) copy of the book. So guard it well, it is indispensable!

After contracting food poisoning from a restaurant meal several years ago, I became very interested in the topic of food safety and storage. This is THE book for those who would like extremely detailed and thoroughly researched information on this topic. It includes virtually every food item you can think of, with the proper buying and storing techniques for each item. A wonderful reference tool.

This book is a perfect addition to your cookbook shelf in your kitchen!

A detailed explanation of the universal forces which affect everyone and everything, and which can be manipulated for good, that's what I've learned from this work of DK and Alice Bailey. Clearly enumerated and explained are the rules for disciples and initiates, a must for anyone who is serious about serving mankind. Words of power affecting these forces, called "rays" in Alice Bailey's books, are divulged to the attentive reader, who wishes to follow the path of the chela, or student of the Masters, whose fields of activity are also shared with the readers. This book is a MUST for all industrious servers of mankind.

Some works of litterature is truely byond reviewing in the normal sense: You dont choose to take on the challenge of understanding the works of Søren Kierkegaard or C.S.Peirce because they got a better review than say the works of Kant or Hegel. I think in most cases you study such a work because they promise a deeper understanding of the general questions that you are strugeling with in life. In this case i would suggest that an interest in making true your aspirations for a life in service of humanity and a desire to expose yourself to a range of advanced suggestions from your freind and teacher Djwhal Khul would make up a sound basis for the study of this book. If you choose to do so The Rays and the Initiations offers a continuous source of inspiration which you will properbly value for decades. Leaving the advertising of quick fixes to others the book represents a clear view of the longterm goals in the unfoldment of your soul-pontential. In the way that it speaks to your deeper layers of soul wisdom I think that it is very suggestive of the relationship that you will devellop with ur master as you progresses on the path. There is in my experience a very real spiritual stimulation resulting from any attemt to grasp the vision of this book.

Out of the many volumes of Alice Bailey books, there are a few that truly are written at a higher level, and whose contents will endure long into the future. "Treatise on Cosmic Fire" is one of those, being exhaustively profound all through. "The Rays and the Initiations" is another, whose information is valuable in a profound way. The book offers many esoteric catechisms and allegories that are intrinsically valuable to anyone seriously into meditation and contemplation. The "14 rules for initiation" given in the early volume "Initiation Human and Solar" are reproduced at a "higher consciousness" level. Whether the casual observer needs to believe this is beside the point. The wisdom and esoteric knowledge hinted at in this book makes it stand out as a valuable tool.

The descriptions and implied definition of initiation is non-sectarian and considers the person as a soul, who passes through many incarnations in order to "stand at the portal" to participation in a permanent and elevated awareness of life. I've had complaints from readers of AAB that she was at times antisemitist, talking of Aryans and all that! I think that the intention of the author was not racist, and that the reader should seek to view it that way.

Intitiation is a testing experience, and many of the pitfalls and potential hazards are described here. It seems that true seekers of illumination risk their sanity at many points along the way. However, just reaching the "door" to this experience is triumph in itself.

There is emphasis in this book on "group awareness". This is due to the time coming when there is inner awakening of the disciple to the group of sisters and brothers. These are not literally our siblings, but the inner family with whom we share our spiritual journey in service to the planet and its living creatures.

There is also a very practical large section on building the link between lower and higher self. This link is known as the "rainbow bridge" in some books, or, as here, is called the Antahkarana. Many meditation techniques use this sort of idea to reach higher awareness.

Finally, its worth adding that AAB books can get rather heavy, especially if you try to read them as you would a novel. However, this book has a lot going for it spiritually (I think at least) and the purely interested intellectual reader may find there is lots to try put into a perspective.

This is a truly magnificent book. Anyone who has the ability to read it should!!

I feel that Coach Bailey's wonderful recount of this controversial decade gives the younger reader an idea of what really happened. A must read for anyone.

This sadly neglected masterpiece should be brought back into print immediately. It is, to my mind, the definitive guide to a badly misrepresented decade. Mr. Bailey's writing is witty and readable throughout, never didactic or ponderous, and the lavish illustrations will satisfy even the most anti-literate coffeetable connoisseur. A wow.

The kids of Bailey School go to laua, while they meet a very hairy hula dancer. But is this guy a wolfman?

Will the lights turn on? Will the wolfman die? Do wolfmen hula dance? What's going on? It's up to The Bailey School Kids to find out!

This fabulous book is funny and exiting. Its well writen and its a great plot. I loved this Book!

I am a mother and a school teacher. And, this book as well as other of the "Bailey City Monster" and "The Bailey School Kids", books are great for all ages. I have shared these books with others and given many away as gifts to friends and family. When you read these books, you can think of students that you know and children who remind you of each of the characters. I just wish that I knew where I could get a brooch like Mrs. Jeepers!

I have tons of cookbooks but this is one of about 5 that never leave the kitchen. The recipes are easy to follow and always turn out well. It is definitely not for the calorie conscious (9 egg yolks for a quart of ice cream!) but everything is delicious!The writing style is simple and homey and the pictures make you want to cook everything immediately.

THIS IS A MUST HAVE IF YOU ARE A COLLECTOR OF COOKBOOKS, AND/OR ENJOY BAKING. MR. BAILEY'S BOOKS ARE NOT JUST FOR THE RECIPES, EVEN THOUGH HIS ARE EXCEPTIONAL--ESPECIALLY THE SNICKERDOODLE RECIPE LOCATED IN THIS BOOK--THEY ARE ALSO A FEAST FOR THE SENSES.

IF YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY YOU SHOULD ALSO TRY TO OBTAIN A FEW OF HIS OUT OF PRINT BOOKS, SUCH AS LEE BAILEY'S CITY FOOD, AND LEE BAILEY'S GOOD PARTIES. HIS RECIPES AND INSTRUCTIONS ARE VERY EASY TO FOLLOW. I HAVE NEVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED WITH HIS WORK, AND HIS PHOTOGRAPHER, JOSHUA GREENE, DOES JUSTICE TO ALL THE RECIPES THAT APPEAR.

This is a fantastic book! Just reading thru and looking at the pictures is a great experience. It brings back fond memories and rememberances of a more peaceful time. Every recipe therein makes you want to cook and entertain friends.

The Hermitage of New Glastonbury was lucky enough to be given this book for the library. It's great. The author surveys the use of mandalas through history and by cultures around the globe. Reading the book is like taking a journey not only around the world but into the soul. Each page is rich with color photographs and artwork that not only illustrate the text but also give ideas for creating mandalas of your own. In fact the author includes instruction on mandala construction with suggested tools and materials. The author's emphasis on the common artistic and spiritual ground of humanity is a welcome message, especially at this time. The book is clearly worth the price - both for the great illustrations and for the wisdom of experience shared by the author.

Bailey Cunningham's MANDALA Journey to the Center was for me a journey of discovery of the spiritual dimension that can be found in forms and color. In this beautifully illustrated book, the author presents a myriad of mandalas and the many forms in which they are found. Some are absolutely breathtaking. She then shows us how we can create our own-and why we might. Although I meant to browse the book casually, I actually read it cover to cover in one sitting. I recommend MANDALA Journey to the Center to artists and non-artists alike for the way in which it can touch the artist that is deep within us all.

After reading Journey to The Center, I understood for the first time how connected we are with one another, that every living thing, the great trees, the smallest creature, or infinitesimal insect is part of the intricate sacred art of our universe.

The book is imbued with lush Mandala art from a variety of people world wide, in addition to magnificent photography and even a design to show you how to make your own personal Mandala. Great fun!

I had the pleasure of attending one of Ms. Cunningham's Mandala workshops and her book is an extension of her joy of life and ability to give others a kick-start in understanding our spiritual link to the universe.

Solitary Survivor is a fascinating book detailing one of the first American soldiers taken captive during the initial stages of the Vietnam war. Colonel Bailey's story is revealing in many ways as he is the only survivor of a C-47 code named Rose Bowl that crashed in Laos with seven others on board in 1961. There is some speculation that one other on board survived but Bailey explains what he knows concerning Edgar Weitkamp and gives the reader the information and allows us to form our own opinions. He is unique in that he is only one of several men to return from captivity in Laos and details the dehumanizing treatment he received at the hands of his captors. In spite of or more because of his confinement and the total darkness he was kept in for most of the 18 months he was held in captivity, Colonel Bailey made a trek back to Sam Neua, Laos, to revisit, after 30 years the place that started the nightmares that are with him today. His return visit is very unique as Sam Neua is still considered Indian country and it has also been the focal point of many POW sightings over the years. Sam Neua is considered to be the place where many American POWs where held captive but were never returned at the conclusion of the Vietnam war. As a former 1st Cavalry soldier, I salute you Colonel Bailey and thank you for writing such an informitive book. Finally, I want to thank you for answering our country's call in three wars!

True story told truly. It might sound grand, but this is indeed a lesson on life and attracts respect, for the courage then and now to tell the story so humbly.

Historically it is not insignificant at all either, as so little has been written on that period and that aspect of the conflict, and even less with seriousness.

First off, I'm biased. Col. Bailey is my grandfather. Secondly, I never asked why we call him Boompaw. I suppose it may be the last thing he heard standing in the doorway of Rose Bowl, ready to bail...Boom. Grandpaw went BOOM.

Thirdly, this is a fantastic account of another time, another place and another generation. If you feel you know all about Southeast Asia and that painful time in world history, you will find an entirely different perspective in Solitary Survivor.

I often wonder when reading autobiographies, especially assisted ones, if I am hearing the author or flowered up prose from his professional co-author. When you read this, know that you are hearing the author's words, in his words. The first time I read it I don't know if I cried more because of what the author went through or because I was hearing my grandfathers voice telling the story. His story.

The honest reason it gets five stars? They don't offer six.

Avid readers of biographies often note that great men and women in their fields exhibit striking contradictions in their personalities. Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), England's greatest landscape painter, is no exception and those contradictions are highlighted in Anthony Bailey's excellent 1997 biography. Notoriously tight-fisted in his dealings in the art world, Turner was equally capable of striking magnanimity towards his few friends. Jealously protective of his paintings, he left dozens of his masterpieces rotting in his gallery at the time of his death, virtually uncared for. Indifferent towards his two, illegitimate daughters, Turner was reported to have burst into tears at the death of a patron. All these characteristics are illuminated in Bailey's fine study. Organized on thematic, rather than on strictly chronological lines, Bailey's portrait emphasizes the man instead of his work, although Turner's major works are not neglected. Like all good biographers, Bailey is also careful to describe his subject in the context of his times, a tumultuous period in western European history. At bottom, though, Turner was a man devoted to his craft and his political awareness appears rarely to have extended beyond the infighting and maneuvering accompanying his long membership in the Royal Academy. There are many specialist studies of Turner's work, but this may be the best portrait yet of Turner. Still, Bailey has not fully penetrated the sources of Turner's unique vision, (perhaps an impossible task),a vision that baffled many contemporaries and placed Turner "out of his time" in much the same way that Blake appears of a different time, out of synch with the poets of his age. This biography is highly recommended to anyone having more than a passing interest in art or art history.

This very well written biography works well on two levels - a portrait of Turner the man, an endearing eccentric, and Turner, the painter, an artist who painted in both an extremely academic style and a visionary and expressive one. Anthony Bailey artfully weaves in and out of the contradictions in Turner's work and his character. Highly recommended.

Anthony Bailey provides the modern reader with a most readable and interesting account of the painter, Turner, and his life. Mr. Bailey, captures the essence of Turner's character and brilliance as a landscape painter. He leads the reader down a path of vivid description and imagery that encourages and entices one to go on and read more. Turner was a creator of illusion and mystique in paintings. He captured the mood and climate of his country in the mist, storms, clouds, sunsets, and sunrises created with his brush. I had the opportunity to buy Standing in the Sun recently in England, and I found it to be an excellent tribute to a fine English painter by a truly gifted English writer, Anthony Bailey.

Anthony Bailey's somewhat misleadingly titled Vermeer not-quite-biography is meticulously researched, lovingly detailed, and suffused with a powerful affection and appreciation for both Vermeer's painting and Dutch history. It is only ever less than fascinating when dealing with the old master himself.

So little is known of Vermeer as to leave his biographers only slightly better off than those of Shakespeare, imagining that this document indicated this mood, this painting signifies that political opinion...such supposition is not terribly interesting to the lay reader.

But in his detailed recreation of 17th century Delft and his lush and delicate descriptions of the major canvases, Bailey makes up for the limitations of his subject. This period of Dutch history is so rich it seems almost a shame to spend so much of the text on a figure about whom so little is known, and Bailey recounts it beautifully.

An excellent book, then, unless one really wants a biography of Vermeer.

Anthony Bailey is the ideal author to write about Vermeer: like his subject's paintings his prose is quiet, calm, introspective, and serene. He illuminates Vermeer and his work, but as in the paintings discussed the light is gentle, and golden, never harsh - like a good poet, Bailey leaves plenty of room for the reader to reflect on his/her reality as he describes his subject.

It's wonderful to think of Vermeer painting his silence-drenched, calm and mysterious images amid the noise and tumult of his house filled with eleven children. Perhaps his paintings were a world of perfect order and quiet that he could retreat to when his messy and noisy surroundings became overwhelming. I also liked Bailey's point that perhaps Vermeer painted so few images because almost all of his best work had sunlight streaming through a window, and the Dutch climate doesn't offer too many sunny days to paint from!

The book opened with a bit more 15th and 16th century Dutch history than I would have cared for, but hold tight, once he switches his focus to Vermeer's paintings the book takes flight, and you will never look at the paintings in the same way again. The black and white reproductions don't do the paintings justice however - I'd recommend having a book of color reproductions of the paintings (there are only 37 known Vermeers!) next to you as Bailey gently helps you see these familiar images in wonderfully new ways.

I'm certainly no expert on the non-fiction genre and definitely no expert on art history but I do know a well-researched and enjoyable piece of work when I come across it. I came in the backdoor on this one having become fascinated by Vermeer after reading Tracy Chevalier's Girl With A Pearl Earring. I followed that one up with Susan Vreeland's Girl In Hyacinth Blue and then came across Anthony Bailey's book. What a wonderful way to continue my journey into this author's own portrait of this master painter and what a surprise to find that it contains black and white and some color pictures of Vermeer's paintings as well.

While very little is known about Vermeer's life, through the genius of Bailey, you come away from this book feeling you know the man. What we do know is that he lived in the mid 17th century, was a Reformed Protestant until he married the Catholic Catharina Bolnes and fathered 11 children as well as 35 masterpieces. At a time when painters were in abundance in Delft and industry was striving, the picture of Vermeer is still that of a struggling artist trying to feed and clothe a large family. It is a wonder, Bailey points out, that amidst all the noise and commotion that must have gone on in his house and the financial problems that must have weighed heavily on his shoulders, that he was still able to paint such masterpieces that put the beholder at ease merely by their stillness. Vermeer was never an "all-inclusive artist" notes Bailey and none of his paintings incorporate a single flower. He favored the use of the "local colours" of yellow, white and blue. Bailey also notes that he was "fond of rendering the effects of sunlight and sometimes succeeded to the point of complete illusion."

The author mentions the trademarks found in Vermeer's paintings -- the white wine jug, the map on the wall, the bowl of fruit on a carpeted table, finials in the form of a lion's head at the back of the chair and, my personal favorite, the black and white floor tiles that helped the artist establish perspective. He also explains Vermeer's possible use of the camera obscura to focus his view. There were so many interesting things presented by the author, one of which was the different way Vermeer signed his name. Bailey shows five different signatures all playing around with the V and M in Vermeer's name. Another thing I found engrossing was how Vermeer put things into his paintings and then painted them out. We can only see this now because of modern X-ray and infrared equipment.

I could go on and on about all I learned after reading this book but some of the more interesting parts occur after Vermeer's death and have to do with Hitler's possession of some of these masterpieces as well as Van Meegeren's forgeries of Vermeer's works in the 1900's. Of the 35 known Vermeer works, one painting, The Concert, is still missing, having been stolen in 1990.

I culminated my fascination of Vermeer with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week to see the Delft/Vermeer exhibit. Having just read Bailey's book, I felt quite knowledgeable not only concerning Vermeer but all things Delft in general. Upon exiting the exhibit, I walked directly into the gift shop where Anthony Bailey's book was not only on sale but being purchased by all those around me. So not only do I congratulate this author on a work well done, but also on the best timing possible for publication that one could imagine.

I'll end this review with my favorite lines from the book -- those that sum up Vermeer's life in the eyes of Anthony Bailey. "He remains in some respects, the missing man in some of his own paintings: the person who has just left the room, or who is expected at any moment. He is impatient to be found, to be seen, but while he waits, he paints stillness."

Anthony Bailey has made Johannes Vermeer come alive for me with interesting stories, things that might have been and a wonderfully descriptive Delft region by which Vermeer was obviously inspired. To me he is no longer lost, but found on the pages written by Bailey.