My third grade teacher read one of these to our class in the early 1960s and it opened my mind to the world of reading. Prior to that book, reading was a school chore. I became a club member and got 33 books (the whole series I think). They led to reading Hardy Boys and eventually even to Agatha Christie! They'd be great for a 3rd or 4th grader who is interested in mysteries. They're tame by today's standards but still fun.

Several of the previous reviews have mentioned a desire to find these books. I've seen them on e-bay (I'm sure Amazon appreciates my mentioning that) and I suppose the auction area here has them sometimes too. I still have my whole set and while I am not willing to sell any, I'd enjoy hearing from you if you have questions about titles, etc. Contact me at robnbob@flash.net

I can't say enough about the series of books of the "Happy Hollister's". I also grew up reading these books in the 70's and wishing my mother hadn't given the books away. The characters are uplifting and wholesome. I now have children who would benefit from reading these great wholesome story books. (Myself, too! again.) I have looked everywhere for the series of books and haven't found a one. So I am looking for any and all books I can find. If you're reading just one book for the first time, you will want to read all of them. They are better than any other childhood books that have ever been on the market then and even now. A worthwhile investment. Happy searching and Happy reading.

I read all of the Happy Hollisters books as a child and loved every one of them! They helped me "escape" from an abusive home and "become" a Hollister for a little while. I always dreamed I was Sue or Holly. I would love to have some of the books to share with my precious daughter now... she has inherited my love of reading; and although, thankfully, our family is much different from what I grew up in, I know she would enjoy "living" with the Hollisters for a few hours each week and sharing their adventures!

I came across this book in the library when I was 11 years old. I just had to find me a copy. To this day I look at my horses with a different perspective. The fact Mary Stanton made these horses love, hurt, and the sacrifices they all made to be free, is one touching look at the animal itself. I had always wished there was more to this beautiful animal and her book made my dream become a reality. Even though it is a fantansy, I am hooked on a wonderful book that I have read over 20 times, AND IT NEVER GETS OLD!!!! If you ever thought there were more to the horse, and that there is a higher being for every animal to look up to, this a perfect book for anyone.

Following in the footsteps of such books as Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Tailchaser's Song, and The Wild Road; this book brings to life the wonderful world of horses. I couldn't put it down. Even now, after several years of reading both this book and Piper at the Gate, I still can't put them down once I start. This book has to be one of my favorite books of all time. Mary Stanton really did a wonderful job. I am still enchanted by these books. They hold mystery and magic; all the glorious things that make a great story. My congradulations to Mary Stanton for writing such a masterpiece.

My first reaction to seeing this book's title was to wonder what the author was thinking. It didn't sound particularly inspiring. I pulled the book off its shelf at the used bookstore I found it in, and immediately regretted my first impression. The cover art suggests a story far darker and deeper than you would expect from the book's title, and a Tolkien-esque epic scale. I bought it without another thought.

Sure enough, this was no children's book. What Richard Adams did for rabbits in Watership Down, Mary Stanton does here with her horses. The antagonists are truly evil in ways most storybook villians only aspire to, and the equine mythology/religion thoroughly detailed. My only disappointment was in thinking this masterpiece was a one-shot wonder, a belief that was thankfully proven wrong by the discovery of this book's more epically titled sequel, "Piper at the Gate"

NOT for young children (say, under 13). Anor the Executioner will give them the screaming meemies, and Anor's master (the equine analog to the devil) will give them nightmares (no pun intended) for weeks. But a MUST READ for anyone over the age of 13, whether you like horses or not.

NOTE: Due to the dark and supernatural nature of the storyline and antagonists, I'm tempted to catagorize this one under "anthropomorhpic/horror" instead of fantasy.

This book is a MUST Read for anyone even contemplating a visit to Hedo. It's filled with useful tips for first-timers and I'll be re-reading it before my next trip. You'll be laughing out loud and getting totally psyched for your trip...and when you get back, it's highly likely you'll write to Chris with a true story of your own...even though no one who hasn't been there will believe it. But those of us who've been there will !

Chris has done it again! This book tells the exact truth about Hedonism II. It puts to rest the rumours and half truths that circulate everywhere. My husband and I are Hedo vets, having been three times and I laughed my head off reading this second edition of this book. It's hysterical and brought back so many memories. Without the first book, we would have definately been more apprehensive about going the first time. This book should quell anyone's fears. Chris calls Hedo like it is, a very fun time with lots of friends. This is a great book for any Hedo virgin or vet. It's a great read!

Don't believe the rumors and wild stories reported other places about Hedonism II. In TNTAH2, Chris does a great job of explaining and illustrating the experience of a very different resort in Jamaica. Hedo II is like no other place on earth. If it wasn't for the First Edition book, my wife & I may not have gone there, now we can't wait to get back. Now the Second Edition has even more tips, photos, and great Hedo stories which veterans will find hillarious (or be very jealous!), and the inexperienced will find almost unbelievable. But you can believe it because Chris has "been there, done that" many times and writes without authorization, support or endorsement of Hedo management.

This book will prepare "virgins" for their first trip by giving tips for what to bring, what to expect, and explains who goes to Hedo. Is this the place for me? Do people really.....? Can I really wear THAT? Should I bring.....? These questions are answered, and many others you never thought to ask. Chris is an experienced "repeat offender" at Hedo and tells the true stories, debunks the myths, and gives many tips needed to make the most of your trip. The wife & I read it straight through the minute it arrived at our door, and we review it again everytime we are longing to go again. Whether you are a couple looking to experience some romance, or a single wanting to party for a week, this book will prepare you for a trip to a place that so many repeaters call Home.

I will reccomend the book "Where rivers change direction" to all my friends. It is easy to read and at the same time extremely powerful. If he comes to your town for a book reading, go see him. Mark Spragg stories come to life when he reads them. I can hardly wait for November to see him at Aunties in Spokane.

This memoir by Mark Spragg is one of the best books I've read in years. And I read a lot of books. His imagery and descriptive lines aren't just written. The words are sculpted into exquisite granite sentences like the mountains that surrounded him as he grew up on a dude ranch in Wyoming in the 1960s. I read the book two weeks ago and can still remember one or two, paraphrased here. He's shoeing a horse with John, one of the hands, and he gets put down a bit by a man he respects, perhaps, more than his father. He writes that he didn't mind being a boy, but didn't like being treated like one. Later, in describing his school, which had about 12 children, he says it was painted the color of an elk's eye. I mean, this is terrific stuff and there are lines like that on every page. The only other writers I've read who do this well are Barbara Kingsolver and Owen Parry. Sure, there may be others, but I've not read them yet. You have to read this book. It will make you laugh, perhaps cry, it will give you goose bumps and it will make you think. It is a gem.

Having never heard of Mark Spragg, I bought this book because it was the winner of the 1999 Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award. I can hardly wait for him to write more! The beauty of this book is how the author relates events of his life, particularly his boyhood, with such matter-of-fact innocence and honesty. I marvel at how candid he is with his thoughts and feelings. Wyoming comes alive because of the vivid pictures he paints with his words. I feel thankful that I found this gem of a book!

This book also has a recommendation by Teresa Jordan, author of Riding the White Horse Home, another of my favorite books.

We tested all the features of this book on our vacation last month. This book is definitely our first choice of all the Kauai guides. It proved itself a great alternative to all the package tours that can run up to over $100 per person for one outing. The authors provide easy driving directions, accurate trail descriptions, hike degree of difficulty, potential hazards.

It was a big help knowing where to go the minute we hopped off the plane and was responsible for us having one fantastic time.

This book served as our primary field guide for finding hiking routes. We had heard Kauai was known for its uncrowded spaces and this book proved it very true. No other book lists so many trails. It is well written and contains precise directions and maps that made driving to the traiheads easy. During our two week trip there was never any down time which is amazing for a family of five. When the boys wouldn't walk another step, we hauled them to recommended beaches where they could boogie board and build sand castles. We're lending this treasure with all our underlining and notes to the family next door and plan to buy their Maui book for our Christmas vacation next year.

I bought KAUAI TRAILBLAZER for a recent trip to the Garden Isle and found it a friendly companion to have tucked under my arm. It's got explicit directions, so if you get lost, it's because you want to be lost! There is a soft subtlety in the photography--like snapshots in my memory, evocative. Imbued in the text is a sensitivity to the land and peoples of Hawaii. I was struck by a certain reverence that allows witness without disturbance. There is a marked dry wit to Sprout's writing style; he lightly peppers his guide with humor without detracting from the densely packed info he delivers to anyone wishing to visit Kauai--whether they want a useful first-time tour of some well-known sites, or desire to stray off the beaten path. The book definitely helped me and I highly recommend it. Aloha & best wishes, Doreen Sinky, BC, Canada

Where Blue Highways sprawled across the continental United States in a macro-view of America, William Least Heat-Moon reverses the lens and concentrates on (mostly) walking and (sometimes) driving a tiny subsection of the USA: Chase County, in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. The people he meets--the old timers who've seen the river rise and fall and mined the quarries, the feminist restauranteur, the female ranchers determined to succeed in the face of declining small-farm agriculture and chauvinism--are people who might make unlikely subjects for straight fiction, but Least Heat-Moon's gift is to make us care about their personal stories and worries anyway. The ecological, social, and political sides of Chase--and the personal issues and flights of fancy of the author's psyche--come into sharp focus under Least Heat-Moon's eye, which misses little; and his writing is clear enough to make you forget that you're reading something fascinating about something commonplace. The kind of book to make you wish the author was just a little more prolific

Having read BLUE HIGHWAYS several years ago I was excited when PRAIRYERTH came out and couldn't wait to read it. Even though itwas a huge book of about a thousand pages, my admiration for William Least Heat Moon was such that I knew I wanted to read this book.

When I began to realize we were never going to leave one county in Kansas I was already near the end of the book and wished that it wouldn't end.

I don't recommend this book to casual readers, for I think they will miss the beauty and fascination contained in these pages. But for those who love poetry and the sheer beauty of words mixed in with simplicity of spirit in story telling, there are few books that can come close to this one. I also have read RIVER HORSE and am hoping that William Least Heat Moon is writing his fourth book as I write these words!

I first picked up this book when a job change brought us into the Tallgrass Prairie region of Kansas. As it turns out, we settled in Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, Kansas! It was extraordinary to read PrairyErth, knowing that we would soon be experiencing this place first-hand.

There is truly nothing like living in this community and experiencing the sights, places and people described so richly in PrairyErth. William Least Heat-Moon knows this place well, and paints a picture that is as vivid and timeless as Chase County itself. As a "local", I've returned to this book time and time again.

Unfortunately, my job is now taking us away from here. If you've read the passage about Spring Street in Cottonwood Falls, then you know our home. This is truly a beautiful and extraordinary place; unique in the world. If you would like to experience the sense of community that my family and I have been so blessed with, give me a call.

I consider the book a complete overview of the design history of the Star Wars Univers. The drawings detail is just great and there is a wealth of information too that bring us back to the origins of many of the familiar vehicles and ships of the original trilogy. The fold-out of the Droid Control Ship is amazing but the other drawings are no less impresive. I strongly recomend this book to everyone interested in technical detail even if you are not a Star Wars fan.

Just like the first Incredible Cross Sections, this book amazes with page after page of intricate cutaways of almost every ship in Episode 1. The foldout of the Droid Control Ship, much like the foldout of the Death Star in the origionl, is great. Definitely recommeded, even if your not a Star Wars fantaic

The artwork and detail in this book is mind blowing. However, since few of the Episode 1 vehicles are as intriguing as the ships in the original trilogy, this book is slightly less interesting, in my view. That is not to say it isn't essential if you're into technical artwork or Star Wars as a whole. It's probably best to get them both, the older book and this new one. I have one question to DK, however: Where's the Star Trek cross sections book?

This is a book report on Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I am doing it for my reading class. This is the second of three books about Shiloh a dog. It is about a kid who worked for a man named Jud to get Shiloh from him. When the kid gets Shiloh, he treats him well, unlike Jud who treated him bad. When Jud gives Shiloh to the kid he gets lonely and starts drinking a lot. He gets drunk and tries to run over Shiloh but instead runs off the road and crashes. People try to be nice to Jud because he crashed and got hurt bad. Finally, one night the boy visits Jud with Shiloh. When they get there for the first time Shiloh licked Jud's hand. I recommend this book to people of all ages.

In the sequel to Shiloh, Shiloh Season, the award-winning author, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, once again beautifully portrays the rural life of West Virginia and the love a young boy, Marty, has for an abused dog named Shiloh.

In this sequel, Marty is faced with the conflict of losing Shiloh to the dog's original owner Judd Travers. Judd is known throughout the small community of Friendly, West Virgina for not only being a drunk but also for abusing his dogs.

I would recommend reading the first Shiloh before reading Shiloh Season. However, Naylor gives background information in chapter 1 to refresh the reader's memory from what happened in the first of the 3 novels. Therefore, if you choose not to read the first Shiloh then you will not be totally lost when picking up with Shiloh Season.

Marty worked for Judd in the first Shiloh in order to earn the right to own the abused beagle Shiloh as his very own. However, in Shiloh Season, Judd continuously taunts Marty in wanting Shiloh back as his dog again. What could possibly make this situation worse? Judd is drinking heavier now than ever before and backing up his threats of taking Shiloh with gunshots at Marty!

Marty learns many important lessons throughout the course of the story. He not only learns the different responsibilities that accompanies raising a dog but he also learns that truth and honesty are always the best policy even if it means losing something that you love. Marty also learns that forgiving someone is sometimes very hard but a very crucial lesson when growing up.

As a teacher, I would definitely recommend this book for 10 year old students and older to read independently or for teachers and parents to read aloud to their children of the same age level. I can't wait to read Naylor's Saving Shiloh which is the third book of the Shiloh trilogy. I also hope to see future books about Shiloh to continue the series.

It all first started when Shiloh was being abused by his owner Judd Travers. So Marty tried to take him away but after an attack from a German Shepherd, Shiloh was hidden no more. His parents found out ing and worse Judd Travers Shiloh Season was a book about a boy named Marty and a dog named Shioh,and a man that Marty despises named Judd Travers. In this book Marty feels like he did not get Shioloh fair and square. He thinks that the only reason that he got Shiloh was because he saw Judd do something that he was not allowed to do. Because of this Marty keeps on getting the feeling that Judd wants Shiloh back. But Marty loves Shiloh and doesn't want to give him up. There is a lot of conflict going around with Judd and Marty. Since Marty had taken away Shiloh from Judd he has been drinking and drinking ever since. Marty is worried that since he drinks and is violent he might come after Marty or even worse come after Shiloh and kill him. Marty fears for his life. He has to look over his shoulder every second of his life.

To even flip through this book is to become deeply enmeshed in the time that was (and for author Hal Lifson, still is) 1966!

If you grew up in the 60's like I did, you will gasp in delighted recognition with each turn of the page as you peruse this wildly colorful book.

This is not a highly inclusive record of everything from 1966; this is the author's own personal recollections of his youth and culture growing up in Encino, CA and all those things that comprised his environment during that time. Luckily for the rest of us, whether you grew up in that time or not, you will enjoy and very much relate to the stories Hal Lifson tells. For those of us who had a similar childhood, or those who want to get an idea of what it was like to be a kid in the 60's, this book provides enough detailed and factual captions to make it an educational must-read for anyone interested in 60's pop culture.

The pictures of the toys and products alone (remember using a real potato for Mr. Potato Head? Hey! I had that Mary Poppins lunchbox!) make this book worth getting, but Hal Lifson's observations and comments truly make you feel as though you were reminiscing with an old childhood friend about all the things that were important to you back then.
Extremely fun and highly recommended!

I happily offer my two cents worth about this book. I expected to leaf through it over time but rather found myself reading it cover to cover and reminiscing over every photograph before putting it down. This is a fun and easy read for everyone! It's full of photographs and not much text. Just enough to bring back wonderful memories of childhood in the year 1966.

You won't find references to politics or drugs as this book was written from the eyes of a six year old child during the 60's. "Hal Lifson's 1966" highlights the fads, fashions, entertainment, foods, toys, etc., all the "fun stuff" a kid remembers from that era. I smiled with warm memories as I turned each page.

If you were around during this time, I think you will find, as I did, this to be a loving tribute to an amazing year. If you weren't around in the 60's, you should definately read this book to see what you missed....you would have LOVED living it.

I wish, and expect, great success for this book and I thank its author, Hal Lifson, for sharing his childhood memories with the rest of us to enjoy.

Hal Lifson's 1966! is essential reading (and viewing) for anyone interested in 1960s U.S. Pop culture. The book is well written and the illustrations comprise a great and thoughtful selection of pop "icons" from 1966: From images of tv's Batman to advertisements for toys, comics, music albums, films and other mass-marketed products, the book provides an excellent travelogue through a sometimes overlooked facet of a unique and explosive period in U.S. cultural history. The book is great fun (and that's enough) - but it also provides some keen insights into the visual context that gave rise to the work of Andy Warhol and many of the pop visual and media styles that still resonate today. The introductory writings by Adam West and Nancy Sinatra are great "bonus material" that add to the book's thoughtful approach to it's subjects.

This has to be Mrs. Oke's best book ever! I've read many of her books but this one is my personal favorite. The characters are realistic and you can't help but get excited when Ariana and Laramie fall in love. But my favorite part is when Laramie gives his life to the Lord!

If you like Mrs. Oke then you definitely need to read Leigh Ann Roberts' books! I just discovered her and am truly thrilled by her new and refreshing story lines!

This book is the best book I have read of Janette Okes so far!!!! I was very into it!!! The ending was so fabulous.I was kind of upset to find that Laramie and Ariana were brother and sister,but as I continued reading,as always Janette Oke suprised us!!!! What a GREAT ending!!!!! Thanx Janette Oke for writing such wonderful Christian books!! My friends and I read them all the time.

A Gown of Spanish Lace is the story of Ariana, a sixteen year old schoolteacher. She is abducted from her school right before a storm. She is taken by her captors far from her home. There she loses track of time but never loses her faith in God to take care of her. She is befriended by Sam, one of the outlaws who abducts her. Sam is in charge of guarding the prisoner but then things change. Laramie, son of The Boss, is put in charge of Ariana. This is all part of The Boss's plot and reason for taking her. After Laramie is put in charge of Ariana things take on very interesting turns. People begin to realize they aren't who they thought. I can't say anymore without giving the story away.

This book was a wonderful read. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to find out what would happen between Ariana and Laramie. I found myself feeling sympathy for not only Ariana for being in the situation she was in but also for Laramie. He was also in a situation he wasn't comfortable or sure about.

Janette Oke writes such wonderful books. Her characters are so real one almost believes they really did live in the past. Though her books are set in the prairie times the messages in them will be current for all of time. This book is so well written. Events happen at such a pace the reader doesn't have time to catch their breath or stop for a break. You simply must read ahead to find out what happens. I loved this book and was so sorry it ended. I must say I was beginning to get a little worried toward the end when things weren't looking good for Ariana and Laramie. This is a must read book.