19 year-old Tui De Roy Moore was discovered on the Galapagos Islands by the editor of Audubon magazine, Les Line, in 1972. She had been living there since she was 2 years old with her Belgian parents. Her skill with a basic 35mm camera and Kodachrome is breathtaking, as was witnessed by the cover of Audubon magazine a few months later. Since then, she has published another book about the Galapagos Islands and traveled the world building up an impressive nature and wildlife stock photo portfolio. She even served as associate editor (I think) for one of the finest diving magazines around "Ocean Realm." I bought this book 20 years ago and still treasure it as one of my favorite photo books. If you can find this book, you will not be dissapointed.

There was a reason that Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution at the Galapagos Islands, and this book for young adults shows it very well. In this 13 major island archipelago Earth science intersects with animal and natural history. In 45 pages of the most amazing photographs and text, this book tells the story of the islands' formation over 9 million years ago and how their location hundreds of miles from the nearest continent of South America influenced the gradual development of species unique to this locale.

Kids learn first about volcanic action (still very much alive here) and they can see its bald shape and effects. They see lava cones and vents, the century-old pahoehoe on Santiago and ashy landforms on Bartolome.

Next they learn about the trade winds and sea currents that brought plants and animals to the islands and gradually transformed their landscapes. They meet the famous blue-footed boobies, frigate birds in full expanse, fur seals and sea lions and the marine iguanas found no where else in the world. They see dancing Galapagos tortoises (from which the islands took their name) and their unique land-bound cormorants and penguins, as well as the lush hillsides and unique desert flora, including candelabra and opuntia cacti (the latter being relatives of sunflowers).

In these pages, cacti sprout among fresh lava flows. A child's imagination will grow here, too. Alyssa A. Lappen

In anticipation of a forthcoming trip to the Galapagos a visit to the local library turned up this 1924 book by Wm Beebe. Somewhat to my astonishment, the book captivated me. Wm Beebe (1877-1962) was not (as I heretofore had thought) merely a one-dimensioned, deep sea explorer. World traveler, naturalist, director of the NY Zoological Society -- he wrote books ranging from birding to jungle exploration. Beebe turns out to have been an early 20th century Loren Eiseley. This book records a 1923 trip undertaken by fourteen scientists from New York to the Galapagos in a steam power yacht, provided by a wealthy patron. They were later to learn that it was more suited to ladies "sipping tea" than oceanic cruising. They discovered to their astonishment that it was "neither an inexhaustible reservoir of fresh water, nor a floating coal mine". They had to cut short their Galapagos collecting and beat an unplanned retreat to Panama for more provisions. Beebe is a very readable author, with many a well turned phrase sprinkled thru the book. He describes the ocean voyage as, "... driving a momentary wedge thru sunshine, wind, and water..." Later, in a small boat, going ashore in the Galapagos, he describes the gentle swell "...which rose and fell as if the Pacific were breathing quietly and regularly." Accordingly, when it came time to jump, he appropriately waited for the ocean to "exhale". He finds both comfort and wonder in contemplating the Darwinian explanation of all he sees. For Beebe, there is an "honour of being one with all about me and in a small way to have at least an understanding..." He marvels, for example, in picking up a crustacean's shell, that having parted ways uncountable millions of years previously, now, quite by accident, they cross again. Beebe deplores both the early sailing depredations of the tortises and the wholesale slaughter of animals by previous scientific expeditions (how many flightless cormorants do you need to get an accurate description?). This expedition restricts themselves to capturing various specimens, which they hauled back to the NYC Zoo. They also took back sacks full of lava rocks, sand, plants, etc with which to make scenic dioramas in the AM Museum of NH. On page 265 one comes across the single most arresting observation in this book. As usual, profundity lies hidden in the details. It seems that Beebe "secured" (his euphimism for collecting) several specimens of different Darwin finches on Daphne, and found to his astonishment that their crops all contained identical food items, despite their differing bill shapes. All, even the heavy beaked birds, for exaple had uncrushed seeds in their crops. He repeated this observations several times, always with the same results. So there is more to the oft repeated, now almost cannonical evolutionary explanation of the differing finch beaks. The various finches are all eating the same things! Natural selection provides what appears to be a reasonable hypothesis to explain the various beaks, but what is really going on? I can think of no less than four explanations, but that is another tale. If anybody reads this and is curious, I am at proode@pol.net.

It would be hard to overpraise this exceptional book. Written by two people who are master practitioners of our grandparents' ways of living as well as master gardeners, this book is a gem!
It is at once a book on gardening (flowers, herbs, fruits & vegetables) and independent living, a book of recipes and remedies, and an arresting narrative of thirty years of work creating a self-sufficient life (and all manner of wonderful gardens) on the bare bones of an old, abandoned farm on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It is also a book of considerable visual beauty, being generously illustrated in vibrant watercolors by Champlain Valley artist Elayne Sears.
I found Gardens of Use and Delight not only meaningful and enjoyable reading, but also a very useful reference for many aspects of flower, herb, fruit and vegetable gardening, and for all manner of things "homemade." The recipes in the chapters, "The Kitchen Garden," "The Contained Garden," and "An Old-Fashioned Fruit Garden" are mouth-watering gems often rescued from the cookbooks of yesteryear (the Herb Salt and Apple Ginger recipes to name two favorites!) And the wisdom and humanity distilled from the lives of these two people who decided to truly live their beliefs is instructive and inspiring.
Perhaps more importantly, though, the book is a reminder of the elements of a rich and healthy life that have been forgotten, if not lost, in these times.
I recommend it highly!

"Krazy Kat" is a classic in both comics and the literature of love. Krazy Kat is a feline of debatable gender, smitten with love for Ignatz mouse; Ignatz loathes Krazy and is eternally concocting plans to "crease that Kat's cranium" with a hurled brick. Krazy takes these "love missiles" as tokens of esteem. All would be well but for Offissa Pupp, the policedog who admires Krazy and is constantly intervening in the rendezvous between brick and skull. Endless permutations of the resultant confusion follow, mapping out - with a combination of slapstick and poetic surrealism - the convolutions of the human heart

As an avid inshore fisherman, I regularly visit the Georgia coast. With so many inland waterways, the task of when and WHERE! can be quite a challenge. Fortunately, the Zydlers have accelerated the learning curve for me. Not only has the book been informative, it has also been a pleasurable read. It's not just a guide of the waterways (although it does that in great detail). The book brings a keen sense of history, a respect for nature and an armada of helpful resources that one could spend countless weeks investigating prior to a visit to this wonderland.

Georgia's coast is best discovered by boat, but having a capable "road map" will certainly enhance the journey. Whether you're a yachtsman, fisherperson, naturalist, or history buff, this book offers much for its reader.

I would encourage anyone that wishes to visit coastal Georgia to buy this book. I'm confident it will enhance your experience as it has done for me.

Thanks to the Zydlers!

If you are looking for a book that gives you a basic overview of the Mining industry that flourished on Vancouver Island in the late 1800's, then this is a book to have. It includes dates and who's who for each mining area as well as many color and black and white photographs. A great book for those that had family that moved out west to be a part of this 'coal rush'. It gives a real feel of how they lived and went about daily life.

...Have you ever had a spooky summer break? Well, I'll tell you this, Liza, Jed, and Bill had one spooky break that could go in the record books. Three siblings go on a vacation to their grandparent's house on Pirate Island. Bill, Liza, and Jed find a little opening in some bushes near their grandparent's house, which leads them right up to a beach that shows Cougar Island. After asking their Gran and Grandpa, they realize a rich family once owned it and when they died out, legend says whoever trespasses on the land will be haunted for life. That makes the three even more eager to go and see if the legend is true. Locals of the Island say they see ghost lights at night on Cougar Island. When Jed, Liza, and Bill find out its true, they aren't as excited about going to the Island. Then one of the neighbors, Hermit Dan, is missing some of his stuff. And the newspaper says that they still can't find the thieves who stole from several banks in the area. Do you think Jed, Liza, and Bill will have the guts to go and find who this ghost thief is?
I think this fictional book is excellent because it has many problems that come together into one big plot. It keeps you reading because when the book gets kind of boring with one problem, another one jumps in. One thing I don't like about this book is that there is so much dialogue that it gets annoying.
This book is great for mystery lovers and scary ghost book lovers. Both boys and girls would like this book. I enjoy, "The Ghost of Cougar Island," and hopefully you will too.

Concisely written, richly annotated, and backed by an extensive bibliography, God's Island: The History of Tangier by Kirk Mariner does so much in so little space! As a native of Tangier Island, I am appreciative to the author for having chronicled the island's history from the early 17th century to today. There was little to go on, but he (obviously) did his homework. Thank you, Mr. Mariner! ECrockett@nc.rr.com

I wish this book would be updated.