This is the best book I have ever read because this book shows how you can start out with so little, but if you try hard you will have so much! This is a truly inspirational and uplifting book about the life of Cynthia Cooper. Cynthia was always the underdog in sports and in life. Cynthia grew up in a money wise poor family. Her mother was a single parent who raised eight children by herself when Cynthia's father left them. Cynthia lost her best friend/brother when he was murdered. Cynthia played basketball in other countries, but was always the second best. Cynthia Cooper's mother died because of breast cancer one year ago, and her best friend and WNBA teammate died because of lung cancer that spread to her brain a half a year ago. Cynthia currently plays in the WNBA. She was named MVP for the first two years of the WNBA and has helped the Houston Comets win the Championship every year that the WNBA has existed which is three years. Even though Cynthia went through so many hardships in life she is no longer an underdog. She has claimed a triumphant victory and will always be a Champion!

I loved this book! It made me realize how tough some poeple have it in life and all the fears that they have. I admire Cynthia even more, now that I have read her book. It was cool reading about her love life, and all her accomplishments in basketball. It was very interesting to learn where she came from and her experiences in Europe. I recommend this book to every basketball player, or just anyone who wants to read an inspirational story about such a great person, Cynthia Cooper.

Coop is sharing so many facets of her life: her childhood, teenage years, college years, her experiences in Europe, her love life and her love for basketball. Adversity, splendor, tragedy and beauty entwined to make the fabric that is her life. She had to learn many lessons along the way, and now her story can be an inspiration to others. You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this book. This is a book about life, and how your choices can lead you to success if you are willing to do the work and have faith in yourself. An easy read - I bought this book one evening after work and read it cover to cover that night. I just refuse to stop reading; I did not want to close the book. Cynthia Cooper - you got game and a whole lot more.

This is Adrian Cooper's second book. I loved the first, Sacred Mountains: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Meanings, but here, Cooper surpasses that first achievement.

The book was developed since 1985, when Adrian Cooper began interviewing 150 pilgrims from all over the world about their experiences of finding sacredness in wilderness places. The finished book therefore includes short extracts from these interviews along with Cooper's clear and authoritative commentary.

This book is totally different to pretty much every other sacred ecology / creation spirituality book I've ever read. First, Cooper's book combines so much. There is the combination of ancient history with modern experience. All the texts and scriptures which these 150 pilgrims found helpful to their journeys into, and through, the wilderness are included in the book for others to contemplate.

I really admire the way Cooper has combined a discussion of ecology with faith. The ecological nature of wilderness areas asks penetrating questions of everyones faith who took part in this book. And vice verse, faith asks new and difficult questions of science. You can't deny either of these major themes. Both sides of this balance of ecology and faith are vitally important to sacred nature.

But Adrian Cooper doesn't stop with his debate and tension between science and faith. He looks at the bi-products of that age-old interaction. So we're lead into paths of anthropology, psychology, politics and education. The last two are particularly important for just about all these pilgrims. Why? Because the sacredness of wilderness is not restricted to the wilderness areas. Instead, they follow the pilgrims home. Haunting them and challenging them all the time to change the way they make sense of their world. For parents, they often want to change the education of their children, and so they start lobbying for changes in curricula at PTA meetings. Others get themselves onto community projects and community radio, to tell other neighbourhoods how they personally have felt changed by their wilderness experiences. In this book, Adrian Cooper discusses all these many themes.

Finally, but no less importantly, I admire the way Adrian Cooper holds all these many themes and threads together. He does it by appreciating the power of language. After all, how else do we think, or talk or write about sacred nature, or anything, if not through language. So Cooper traces the importance of the language associated with sacred nature. He looks at how pilgrims learn and negotiate their understanding of sacred nature as well as the opportunities to get out there. He looks at the politics and economics of this language of sacred nature. It's fascinating, and he explains it so clearly!

So ultimately this is scholarship of the very highest calibre explained so anyone can understand it. My only regret is that I wasn't a part of Cooper's interview groups. I've thought about them a lot. And I imagine the atmosphere of sharing and learning from each other - it must have been brilliant.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Sincerely yours,

Jean King

I recommend Adrian Cooper's book to all students and lovers of the sacredness which this planet inspires.

But this is a ground breaking book. There is more than a single author's voice here. Adrian Cooper uses the interviews he's done over the last 15 years with other travellers and scholars who have all been changed by their experiences in mountains, deserts, tropical forests, frozen landscapes and ocean journeying.

But there are more voices here than these modern and post-modern souls. There are the other writers, extracts of whose work are peppered throughout these pages, all of whom have given the interviewed travellers an added dimension to their pilgrimage experiences.

Making sense of all this dialogue between ecology and spirituality, past and present is a task Adrian Cooper has addressed with brilliant clarity and scholarship. He has a real gift for explaining the most complex of subjects and problems clearly and engagingly without losing sight of the wonder and awe of these same themes.

But there is more to this book than the words themselves. It should be read by every man, woman and child simply for the challenges it presents. Sacred Nature should start a global shock wave. Let me explain. Religious leaders, TV producers, newspaper and magazine editors and school and college teachers all neglect the importance of appreciating the holism of the subjects Cooper examines. Why, for example, do church ministers rarely preach on the themes of sacred earth? Why are they not at the heart (or front) of conservation movements? Why too do TV producers fail to grasp the potential for NEW PROGRAMMES which look at this fascinating but valuable connection between natural history and faith. Discovery Channel, please take note. There is a vast, rich, fascinating wealth of ideas for endless programmes from sacred mountains to sacred deserts and sacred rivers etc etc etc. I pray these people will read Adrian Cooper's book. He has identified a major need for change in the media and therefore in our lives. We will become re-educated at a time we need it most. Presented correctly, these new programmes and newspaper and magazine articles will help us to un-learn redundant ways of thinking and believing about this planet, and open our eyes and other senses to what there is here, and what we can do to celebrate it and conserve it.

A SUPERB BOOK.

Sincerely yours,

Sophie Fergusson

I agree with the other reviewers of Adrian Cooper's book, but I feel so strongly that this is going to become a classic text of the sacred ecology movement, that I wanted to add my name to its list of admirers.

Adrian Cooper has a unique gift of explaining the details of science and mythology, ecology and mysticism clearly and with rare enthusiasm. This alone would be more than enough to recommend this glorious book. But he goes further. Cooper has interviewed 150 people from Europe, North America and Asia, all of whom have had life-changing experiences through their pilgrimage experiences in the worlds wilderness regions. Some have found healing. Others have found insights. All have found more than they expected from forests, ice fields, oceans, rivers and mountains. In Sacred Nature, short extracts of these people's words are included so we get a strong flavour of their sincereity and wisdom. But even beyond that, it's so fascinating to read how these pilgrims use the words of writers and sages from some of the most ancient mystical traditions within their meditations and descriptions. So Cooper includes extracts from those ancient scholars too. The result of all these many amazing texts is an extremely clear, and fascinating literary journey. I loved every minite of reading it. Now, I've started reading his other book, Sacred Mountains, which also seems to be just as stimulating. I hope you all take my advice and read these books, they deserve the widest possible support!

I highly recommend this book. The illustrations are outstanding. My three year old loves it. The story is engaging and sweet. It is one of our favorite bedtime books. It is a rare treat to find a book that has great illustrations and a great story to go along with them.

There is something so warm, satisfying and homey about this book. The three animals live happily together in their warm and cozy house eating their regular supper of pumpkin soup. Each member of this little family has his own role in the soup making process; however, happiness cannot last forever and one morning the duck decides he wants to trade parts! HE wants to be the one stirring the soup... This wish causes chaos in the little house and the duck decides to leave....
I am sure you can guess the ending, but nevertheless this is a rich, beautiful and lovable story which has several surprises along the way.
The paintings are beautiful and colorful (I especially love the pumpkin garden) and my son always ends the reading with his wish "please make me a pumpkin soup"...

We received this book as a gift from the authoress' father-in-law. Our three-year-old just loves it. When we carved the Jack-o-Lantern the other day, we saved the scraps and made some pumpkin soup. The story explores feelings about change and how it can make everyone feel uncomfortable. The story resolves with everyone agreeing that things can change, but only so much at one time! Another favorite of Emma's is Billy Goats Gruff as told by Ted Dewan, husband of the authoress.

I'm a new homeschooling mom, and I found this book to be a great hands on resource book about how to start homeschooling your children. It has detailed learning ideas for primary, middle and teen years. If you are looking for answers to alot of tough questions like when, why, and how to homeschool your child, then "The Homeschooling Handbook"by Mary Griffith, will be a valuable tool for you. Whether you homeschool your child or not, read this book for it's many helpful fresh ideas for working with children.

I borrowed a copy of this book from the library and signed it out several times. This book is the best book I have read, so far, on the basics of homeschooling. It was very informative and helped me to get through my second year as a homeschooling parent with less stress. I would recommend it to anyone who is open to, or looking for new ideas or new ways to home school. This book is very un-schooling oriented but it helped me to find a balance between both the "normal" homeshooling methods and un-schooling. I would highly recommend it for first time home schoolers and those with gifted or special needs children.

We will be starting homeschooling in June of 2001. I have read no less than 7 books on this topic and this one stands out amongst the others. It is so informative, it answered all of my questions and then some. It gives very specific information on the different "styles" of homeschooling, loads of resources, and best of all you get to read about real homeschooling families, how they do things and why. The author does write with obvious favor to her own schooling method of choice, but not nearly as overtly as others I've read. If you are considering homeshcooling, then read this book before any others.

Whenever I feel down and out. I pick up anyone of Ms. Cooper's books and feel instant inspiration. I realize that life is not too hard and that others have had it just as bad. She feel like she is a friend that just wants to talk to you and lead you in the right direction or put you back on track. I like this book because it applies to life in the 90s and there are still women and men out there acting the fool. When you are looking for love, she tells you how to go about it the right way. I recommend her books to everyone because they can be understood by anyone regardless of sex. I also loved her book "A Piece of Mine" but I see that it is not mentioned here and it's another great book worth mentioning.

I read J. California Cooper's In Search of Satisfaction. I enjoyed it so I now read everything that she writes. This book helps those who have become disillusioned with life and love. She shows examples of what can happen in the name of love and because of love. She colors the reality of love by showing human weakness and strengths. Sometimes we need a reality check and Copper has contributed this to all who are interested.

This is my first j. california cooper book and it is now officially one of my favorites. She had me laughing out loud, giving real thought to my life and relationships and also really inspiring me and making me see love in a different but very hopeful and realistic light. The stories were dynamite. The voices she uses for her tales are terrific and make you feel the character's plight. She is now my favorite author.

Join author, Elisha Cooper, as he pays tribute to the marvelous world of dance. This is a unique book about the process, not the performance. Arrive at the studio and warm up with the troupe, stretching and working at the barre. Meet the choreographer and watch as he demonstrates steps and teaches the new dance, bending bodies and correcting positions "as if he were molding clay." Then practice, practice, practice. "The dancers rehearse until their arms and legs remember the steps." There are costumes to fit, tickets to sell, programs to print, and advertisements to write. Lights, music, and scenery need to be coordinated with the dance and dancers, and even flowers need to be bought to give to the dancers after the performance. So much to do in only four short weeks... Mr Cooper's lyrical text is filled with imagery, magic, and passion as it creatively mimics its subject and dances across the pages. His simple pencil and watercolor artwork dazzles, complementing the prose beautifully, and captivates with grace, energy, and motion. Perfect for youngsters 8-12, or as a read aloud for younger children, Dance is an evocative and exciting experience that builds with each page turn. "Opening night. A crowd forms outside the theater, bustling for tickets. The dancers gather backstage. They can hear the buzz of the audience finding seats, the beating of their own hearts. They hug. The choreographer tells them they are wonderful. The lights go down. The curtain goes up."

Every child who ever liked to watch dance performances will love this portrayal of the work and fun that happens behind the scenes before the curtain goes up. Cooper's energetic and ethereal illustrations capture the airy movement of the dancers, and his prose is evocative and sometimes wonderfully quirky and entertaining. I disagree with the former reviewer's complaints about the illustrations, which I found charming, and productive of endless fun with children picking out specific little figures. I particularly like the tiny handwritten notes in the paintings themselves, which lend an air of spontaneity and a playful view into the mind of the artist at work, and which do not need to be clearly legible to have this effect. I also loved the ending, which I found entirely appropriate to a book so specifically about what happens on the other side of the curtain.

Elisha Cooper does what I didn't think could be done--he brings the glory of dance to the page. With his exquisitely simple watercolors--and his exquisitely spare prose--Cooper manages to transport us to the dancers' studio, the neighborhood in which they live, and, finally, to the stage. His words and pictures suggest rather than explain, they evoke rather than dictate. And, most importantly perhaps, my kids loved it.

Three of my four children are or were involved with dance in some way or another. I bought the book for the youngest (as a birthday present), but after I saw the reactions of her siblings, I quickly found myself stocking up on copies for the other kids for Christmas (and for my sister's kids, etc).

Truly, "Dance" is a find.

I read Louise Cooper's Time Master trilogy and the first book of the Time Master prequel series (when Chaos rules), and enjoyed them for their chilling, vivid imagery. They were un-put-downable. I had to read through the night to finish them. Cooper has one of the most original, malign, and imaginative minds in the fantasy business. When I was unable to locate the two other books of the Time Master prequel, I started working my way through one of her earlier series: the Indigo books, of which "Nemesis" is the first.

"Nemesis" is the story of a Celtic Pandora named Anghara who opens the wrong box and lets evil back into the world. There are large sections of imaginative, Cooperesque fantasy and well worth reading. In fact, I've already ordered the second book in the Indigo series. However, overall I'd have to guess that 'Nemesis' is one of Cooper's first ventures into fantasy. The heroine is an arrogant, impulsive, headstrong adolescent who doesn't really change through the course of the book, even though her whole family is slaughtered by the demons she frees, and her lover is condemned to purgatory until she can rescue him.

The lover is the character I really feel sorry for. He is brave, kind, and completely innocent of wrong-doing and yet he is condemned to a particularly awful life-in-death while Anghara-Indigo escapes pretty much unscathed from her own act of wickedness (her hair turns gray and a few months into the plot, she sprains her ankle).

With occasional pick-me-ups from the Earth Mother, Anghara-Indigo sets out to recapture the demons she let loose on the world, hindered by her nemesis (an evil copy of herself with what appear to be vast supernatural powers) and helped by a talking wolf.

'Nemesis' is a good fantasy and worth reading, just not as good as Cooper's later books.

I read these books probably five or six years ago when a friend lent them to me. Of course, since they are so hard to get a hold of, she made me give them back to her right away, so I only got the chance to read them once. I have been dying to get my hands on my own copies ever since. Although each book could probably stand alone, I recommend that you read them all, in order. Indigo is an intriguing heroine, a headstrong princess who inadvertently makes a terrible mistake and is forced to spend decades setting things right again. Although these books are very hard to find, I highly recommend you put in the effort - they are worth it!

This is a very good book to start a very good series! I had never read Louise Cooper before, but I will definitely read more of her books now. The story begins kind of slow, but more than makes up for it through the whole book. It is an excellent story of an obnoxious princess who, out of arrogance and foolhardiness, ruins her perfect life and curses the world when she releases the seven demons in the fabled Tower of Regrets, and must not rest (or die) until she restores peace to the Earth Mother. It has many, many qualities, emotionally, suspensefully, and most importantly, fantasy! Three cheers for Louise Cooper!!

This is probably my favourite Jilly Cooper book, and I don't think that she has ever come close again. The story is great, the characters are even better and the book is un-put-downable. I read this whole book in one evening straight. All of the characters are beautifully developed. I don't know which ones I love the most - Declan, the brooding Irishman who resents the fact that he has sold himself out; Maud, his wife, who lives her life as if she were in a Greek tradegy, Cameron, the hard career woman who had a hard life or Tony, the hard as nails businessman who is afraid of his wife. What I really loved about this book was that in Riders, Rupert Campbell Black was a selfish uncaring man who made it his life's work to have whatever woman he wanted. Yet in this book, he is absolutely amazed to find himself falling desperately in love with Taggie, the sweet, innocent daughter of his best friend. By the end of the book, Rupert is completely smitten and you totally believe that they will make it. A truly credible end to a wonderful book.

The continuation of the saga of Rupert Campbell-Black and co. in the Cotswolds. He's given up show jumping and is now Minister for Sport in the British Thatcher Government - he's divorced and as irreverent and unapologetic as ever.

Cooper takes us well away from the world of show-jumping into Campbell-Black's home territory, the Village of Penscombe which is home to the local television station run by loathed Tony Baddingham. It doesn't sound all that promising a plot - how Rupert bid for the contract to run the Television station, but it is told with the usual cast of wonderful Cooper-esque characters who brighten up the pages with their wit and verve.

It is full of scheming, double crossing, clipped upper class accents, vulgar upwardly mobile shrews and romance in buckets. Rupert also finally finds out what despair in love is all about when their are no guarantees you will succeed.

You can certainly read Rivals without reading the first book - Riders - it is a stand alone novel and many new characters are introduced. Still old favourites turn up like Billy and Janey.

Another great book with Rupert Campbell-Black and the gang. If you haven't already read RIDERS, do so at once. That goes for POLO as well. I liked the various characters in this book-a little more interesting perhaps than those that revolve more around show jumping...Declan and Maude O'Hara are wonderful characters, and that goes for the kids as well. I would like to have seen more of Rupert's kids also...but maybe that's the next book. Jilly's books have taken me across the pond and back again. I wish they were readily available in the US!

As a Dark is Rising fan, I had to read Seaward. I found that it fits the typical fantasy motif of the journey, but that the journey is the only plot that there is in the novel.

The book tells the story of Cally and West who, both having recently lost parents, stumble into a fantasy world where they meet up and brave the journey to the sea where they believe they will find their parents. Along the way, they must face the challenges imposed on them by the Lady Tarnis who wants to imprison them in her land, as well as the natural hardships of the land (desert, mountains, rivers, snow). As they travel they learn how to trust others, know themselves, and possibly fall in love. While the journey is long and enlightening, the end comes abruptly and is resolved quickly. While I was satisfied with the ending, it was a hollow satisfaction.

I liked the characters that I met in the book, but I wish that they had been developed more. While I understand that the depth level was created for younger readers, I wanted the emotions and psychological musings to be developed further. Since there was not much of a plot, the effects of the journey on the characters was the main element of the book and I just think more could have been done with it.

While the book does have its problems, it is still a really fun book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy stories about journeys.

I just read Seaward for Children Literature, and was throughly impressed by it. I love the sense of mystery that surrounded the book so that I was never quite sure what was going on. West and Calli's journey had mystical quality to it, so that I was never sure what the purpose of their journey was, or what would happen once they reached the sea. Susan Cooper's style reminded me a little of C.S.Lewis's work. She created a fully developed world all to itself, and steeped it in Celtic mythology and symbolism. It is a story about life and the hardships that one faces as one takes the journey of life. This book has become one of my all time favorites, and am truely glad that I read it.

I read this book when I was about 13 or 14 (I got it from my school library), and then spent the next few years of my life trying to get my hands on a copy of this book here in Singapore,but it looks like there's only one copy of the book available here :) I had to travel all the way to America to get my hands on it... Anyway, the review:

I love this book. Susan Cooper remains, to this day (I'm 19 now) one of my favourite writers for childrens' literature. (Her 'Dark is Rising' sequence ranks right up there with Lloyd Alexander's 'Chronicles of Prydain' for me.)

She renders a mystically wistful textual Picasso of Cally and West, two kindred souls on a journey to somewhere out of time, lovers in mind, not body. The diametric, yet symbiotic relationship of good and evil is also painted in vivid colour on her canvas. The book evokes feelings of unasked and unanswered yearnings deep within you, and it makes you wonder, where's the West or Cally of my life?

I still cry for the faithful Peth.

In his usual erudite style, Col. Cooper lays forth the basic use of the general purpose rifle. This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to improve his skill with a rifle and therefore his self-esteem as an individual citizen. His opening line says it all, "Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons." Do expect the straightforward dope on how to handle, hold, sight, and fire a rifle. Don't expect lengthy anecdotes, although personal examples, experiences, and observations are thrown in. Don't expect specialized material regarding target shooting or any specific (non-hunting) sporting applications. This is an easy-to-read book of just under 100 pages that will help the beginner build a solid foundation and help the expert hone their skill. You (as I did) will read it over and over. In a time where the skill of rifle use is rapidly disappearing from our increasingly urban society, this book is both timely and useful. I highly recommend it to all shooters and those who would like to be.

While I admit that I am an unabashed fan of Colonel Cooper, I without reservation regard this book to be one of the essential elements to the aspiring rifleman. This book however is useful to one person, the rifleman. If your into Benchrest, 1000 yard competion, and nameless other disciplines of specialized rifle usage, spend your money elsewhere. This book deals purely with the employment of the "queen of personal weapons", the rifle. The only thing that I did not like about the book was it's size. The information is so useful that I found myself in want for a compact "field edition" that could acompany myself and my rifle into the field. In short this book encompasses the most usable 97 pages of rifle related instruction that I have ever read.

This book is excellent reading. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve his or her rifle skills. My only quibble with Cooper's presentation is his dismissal of the .223 Remington round and the semi-automatic rifles that favor this caliber. I must respectfully disagree with him here. Apply Cooper's principles to the modern .223 rifle, and you will be well ahead of the game.