This book is great for elementary age children. Because most students are already familiar with Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book works well as an introduction to biographies for young childern. The book is full of pictures which allows students to relate to Laura's life and her time in history.

This is a Swedish legend that explains the origin of the flower known as the Christmas Rose. Lagerlöf was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature in 1909. This legend, retold by Ellin Greene, originally appeared in a magazine in 1907. The illustrations are beautiful. They capture the emotions of the characters splendidly. The story is not too long for advanced second graders to read in a single sit-ting. Younger children will be able to listen to it. Several times however the layout alternates from a two-page spread of text to a two-page illustration. The text pages can appear overwhelming for young readers, and because there is not an illustration on every page, it can be cumbersome to use in a read-aloud. The story does, of course, have a mention of the Christ Child and central characters include a Bishop, Abbot and lay priest. There is no attempt to influence the reader on behalf of the Christian faith however. Still, it may create some difficulties in a public school classroom. A well-written and illustrated legend, it is a shame the design features make it less appealing and it may create some trouble in a public school classroom.

Why 4 stars?:
This is a nice story, but has some logistical design flaws. The illustrations are well suited and many children will most likely enjoy it. However, the subject material may not always be accepted in a public school classroom.

This book is about the Paleolithic time in what is now North America, the Great Spirit creates Yah-qua-whee (the mastodon) to help the people. But when the mastodons turn against the people, the smaller animals side with the People to defeat them. After hundreds are killed in the great battle, the "creator" sends thunderbolts into the ground, killing the mastodons. The "crane-berries" that grow in the bogs formed during the fighting are a peace offering from the creator to the people. They are also the gift Native Americans give to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving. I found this book to be very interesting. The legend was something that I had never heard of and the way the author told the story really held my attention. The illustrations were beautiful and would be very helpful to a young reader. This would be a great book to use when doing a culture unit in the classroom.

I was rather surprised that there would be A Rookie Biography of "Leonard Bernstein: All-American Musician" published in 1995 given that the famed composer and conductor died in 1990. Earlier generations of school children were first introduced to classical music through Bernstein's "Young People's Concerts," but those ran from 1958 to 1972 and I do not know if schools are still showing them on videotape. Consequently, I am not sure if young school children today know that Bernstein did more to promote classical music in the United States than anybody else in the last 100 years. Marlene Toby's biography tells the story of how the sickly young Lenny fell in love with a piano and music, went on to get a musical education, became a famous conductor, and then an equally famous composer. Through all of this, Bernstein's love for music comes through and hopefully young readers who pick up this book will have a chance to listen to some of his compositions (Everybody listens to "West Side Story," but I would also recommend Bernstein's "Mass" that was used to open the Kennedy Center for the Performance Arts). "Leonard Bernstein: All-American Musician" includes photographs from throughout his life and musical career. There are several juvenile biographies of Bernstein out on the shelves of your local library but this is the only one that is geared for the youngest sort of readers, so take that into account. Other Rookie Biographies devoted to great musicians look at Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Sousa.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the principles and technology of linear accelerators (linacs) used in radiation therapy.
Following a brief overview of the components of a typical linac, each subsequent chapter deals in detail with one component or part of the process of generating clinically useful photon and electron beams.
Chapters cover electron acceleration processes, production and transport of electron beams, beam shaping and steering, and generation and control of microwave power sources. Topics such as commissioning, radiation protection and maintenance are also described in full. The use of the linac is also put into context by inclusion of chapters on the treatment simulation process and treatment verification. Specialised and developing technology of interest such as dynamic collimation and electronic portal imaging are also described.
The book is written with the graduate physicist and medical physicist in mind. However, its presentation style is non-mathematical, so associated workers in radiation oncology such as radiotherapists and oncologists should not be daunted by this book. It is well written with helpful figures throughout. It offers good value for money, particularly being available in softcover. The authors are well known and respected physicists in the UK medical physics community.
The book, it should be stressed, is an introductory text and so some topics, such as multi-leaf collimation and electronic portal imaging, receive perhaps a slightly more brief mention than some might wish. The book also suffers a little from a lack of coverage of state-of-the-art techniques, such as dynamic multi-leaf collimation for intensity modulated radiotherapy.
This is one of only a handful of such texts on this topic. Overall, it represents a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the physics and engineering of linear accelerators and is recommended for the bookshelf of anyone involved in the technical aspects of radiation therapy with linacs.

I think this story is very nice. The language is very simple.It would make a good bedtime story. I liked most of theillustrations, although some of them I thought could have used a little more detail. I was hoping the story would be more up to date with stronger female roles, but it was a good story.

This novel was an unexpected delight! I read it because of my acquaintance with its author, Sheldon Greene but I am recommending it strictly on account of its merit. Narrated by a Holocaust survivor, it concerns the triumphs and foibles of the Jewish community in a small town in Pennsylvania. It is written in the style of Sholem Aleichem and is, by turns, poignant, humorous and provocative. A small treasure!

Erica has many problems--starting with her beautiful, popular, and mean cousin, Amy, who is staying at her house. Then, there is also Matt-- the flirty jock who doesn't know she's alive. Throughout the story, Erica attempts to do a biology project on the hard-to-find bluebird. Meanwhile, she learns about how precious love is and tries not to lose it with her admirer

While this wasn't one of my favorite Greene books, it was quite enjoyable. It's not every day you read about somebody inheriting a bordello!

I love Ms. Greene's heroines. They are strong and self-sufficient but not to the too-stupid-to-live stage. Any romance reader knows about that kind. Eww!

So, if you can find this book, read it. Try the library or Amazon.com auctions. It can be found!

The book "Marie- Mystery at the Paris Ballet" is about true friendship. Marie has always wanted to dance with the famous Paris Opera. Her dreams come true but Maria spends so much time at the opera and with her American friend Prudence that her friendship between her best friend Joelle is torn apart. It's not much better at the opera house. She is the youngest dancer and is teased daily by the older ballerinas. When a terrible crime happens, Marie is the one blamed. Will she find the culprit or be kicked out of the Paris Opera?