If you are looking for a great calendar, I suggest you make your own with the illustrations from this book. I don't know why it was listed in Calendars ... it isn't one. But I can't complain. Otherwise I might never have found it.

This is the sort of book I have long sought in order to advance my understanding of haiku as the Japanese read and enjoy them. For example, we begin with a dispute over a particular poem. The poet mentions that his feelings were upbeat and positive on an autumn evening. His critic demanded that the poem be withdrawn and redone because the poetic meaning of 'autumn evening' was 'forlornness.' If the poet didn't say he felt forlorn on an autumn evening, then he was betraying the poetic art, according to the critic. The author withdrew the poem. The critique also mentions the other kigo which were meant to indicate that the poet felt forlorn.

Kawamoto takes off from this anecdote for a general discussion of the emotional effects meant by the various kigo. That's something I've wanted to know for a long time.

A later chapter is on poetic meter, or "mora." This brings to mind the art of Seishi Yamaguchi, much praised for his rhythm. The 'mora' of the Japanese language are larger than the onji/jion traditionally used to describe the haiku-- the lines 5, 7 and 5 so often given as defining haiku. Mora are described metrical speech units covering whole 5 or 7 onji segments. Their purpose is to make each segment identical in how long it takes to say them.

This book is not for the beginning student of haiku. The target audience is the advanced student working on his own or as part of a college class in Japanese poetry. Such students are strongly encouraged to add this book to their collection.

An ex-girlfriend had a copy of this book she picked up @ the LA Book Fair in 1977... I've never seen it since, but remember the vivid, precise and -- I want a word that means fantastically well-targeted -- use of words. I'd LOVE to find a copy of this thin book.

This is an excellent resource book for portfolio assessment. The book provides the history of portfolios. It provides many examples of how to create and use portfolios for assessment in elementary, middle school, and high school. The teachers in the examples share the areas they found most difficult as well as how they were ultimately successful. The examples include estimated time frames for creating, managing, and grading.

This book both extols and maps the art of storytelling. As is evident from the storytelling CDs and cassettes of Rives Collins ("We All Have Songs We All Have Stories" on the Louisa May Alleycat Music label and "Let's Fill Up the House with Stories and Songs" on the Southport Records/Louisa May Alleycat Music label--reachable at LMAMusic@aol.com), Rives is a masterful storyteller. He knows how to marshall the power of story and to share with his readers and students the craft skills required for the oral tradition. Readers are both inspired to--and guided in how they can--tell their own stories and create magic from thin air. Pam Cooper's special expertise as author, teacher and storyteller brings special depth to the book.

Mangieri and Block have taken a complex subject and made a very accessable interactive book,where you can fill out pages and take mini-exams to explore the way you think. Based upon these insights, the reader should come away with an idea of how to become "power thinker".

This book keeps you wondering about everything: the murder, the characters, the story line. It is filled with more real life story plots than lustfull sex scenes.(That's a good thing!)

L.A. Connections is a well written mini-series with all the good qualities of Collins other books except with one difference, a good mystery plot that keeps you guessing.

The is a great book for a step by step guide on how to conduct inmate disciplinary hearings. It provides the reader with the tools to conduct inmate discipline correctly, ensuring that the inmates "due process" rights are not violated. A must read guide for correctional administrators and those they supervise.

Kidnappers enter the home of English Lord and Lady Awkwright and abduct their daughter, Victoria. For the next two months, the Awkwrights and the police receive no demands or even hear anything from the abductors. Two months later, Victoria is released, having been raped and infected with the HIV virus. The police, not knowing that this is the first gamut in a bigger plot, write the case off as the work of a bunch of amateurs, who failed to get a pence for their efforts.

The married Detective Constable Carr, who just became a father, becomes the victim of blackmail from the same group when he is caught gallivanting with a prostitute. He reveals to the kidnappers detailed information on police plans to catch them and protect a potential victim. Somehow, Carr knows he must find a way to do his professional duty without destroying his spouse, who already suffers from post natal depression.

Nobody today writes tighter thrillers with not one throw away word as well as Jeffrey Ashford. His current suspense novel, THE PRICE OF FAILURE, is a brilliant tale that readers will absolutely devour. Carr is a great character, facing a monumental moral dilemma that threatens to consume him. Trent, the leader of the villains, is one of the all time great criminals of fiction. This reviewer strongly recommends all the Ashford novels plus the Inspector Alvarez books (see A MAZE OF MURDERS, AN ARTISTIC WAY TO GO, and AN ARCADIAN DEATH, etc.) written under the pseudonym of Roderic Jeffries.

Harriet Klausner

A fine entry in an excellent series. And unlike many other series, events in one novel have ramifications in those that follow. Definitely worth buying.