This book is absolutely wonderful! Paula has created beautiful arrangements in this book. Every page contains yet another arrangement to take your breath away. Not only that, but Paula makes her creations available for all of us to try. The information and history about each flower is also extremely interesting.

Whether you're a lover of flowers or of beautiful photography (of which I am both), this book is definitely worth buying.

British florist Paula Pryke and photographer Kevin Summers have produced a stunning book of floral designs which is well worth owning. Amateur and professional floral designers alike will be charmed by the quality and variety of the photographs as well as the very readable and informative text. This book is a must-have for arrangers interested in new ideas.

The chapters center on specific flowers (e.g. orchids, gerbera daisies, roses) which is a unique approach.

The book would make a lovely coffee table book for those who just enjoy beautiful floral design photography. For those of us who take floral arranging seriously, it is an inspiration.

I have been reading and buying floral design books for years. Paula Pryke is the most creative imaginative artist I have ever seen in this field. And she shares all of her creative ideas and techniques with the reader. If I pick up this book and start reading it I cannot put it down! I lent both of her books Flowers Flowers! and Flair with Flowers to a friend who said the same thing! There is a flood of new floral decorating books out there and none of them can come close to these two books!

Hawai'i One Summer is a slim collection of luminous essays reflecting diversal topics ranging from surfing to house chores. Indeed, this is the least read book by Hong-Kingston. Her prose is clear and evocative. It is very different from the radical Woman Warrior. It evokes a zen quality, like sipping a soulful cup of ginseng tea.

HAWAI'I ONE SUMMER is probably Kingston's least-read work, but I think it's the piece which captures this writer's clear and graceful prose style the best. Her essays range from surfing to dishwashing. Who'd ever guess that someone could write a substantial essay on a mundane activity like dishwashing? Well, Maxine Hong Kingston achieved this task. HAWAI'I ONE SUMMER would probably be good to use in an expository writing course.

A memoir of Maxine Hong Kingston's memorable years in Hawai'i, when she went from Viet Nam protests and virtual street existence to pedagogies and mythologies of empowerment that took on national and global impact. This, I find, an insightful, wry, even caustic book on the local literature movements in Hawai'i, always fresh and insightful even when New Yorkerish.

Henry and Mudge books are some of the best books available to beginning readers, and parents would be hard-pressed not to enjoy them as well. While a few of the books in the series show Henry's idyllically happy parents in a way that might make children from less traditional families sad or "homesick" for that situation, this particular book is purely about a little boy, his big dog, their imaginations, and being a kid in the summer. Cynthia Rylant's writing is fun yet poetic, and Sucie Stevenson's illustrations are charming as always.

Henry and Mudge are the best of friends. It doesn't matter at all that one of them walks on four legs and drools a lot!!

In this third book in the H&M series, summertime has arrived with adventures galore for boy & dog. Divided into chapters, each functioning as a mini story but related to each other, Henry and his 180-pound dog Mudge explore the wide, green world of summer. In one of the most notable chapters, a bee stings Henry, and boy does it HURT!! Fortunately, good ol' Mudge is there to make Henry feel better (a good face-licking by Mudge helps Henry forget his pain at being stung-Mudge likes the salty taste of tears).

As a teacher I love the H&M series because the illustrations are always bright, vibrant and immediately draw my students into the story. I also love the short, easy sentences, which are perfect for beginning-to-intermediate readers who feel that they're ready to tackle chapter books. As a parent, I love the way that this series is about the small adventures in life that are right on the level of the reader. Nothing blows up, aliens don't invade the countryside sucking out peoples' innards, and the world isn't narrowly saved from oblivion. Mudge is a wonderfully realistic dog that is completely devoted to Henry, like most real dogs are devoted to the children they live with.

As of this writing, there are some 20 H&M books, each a small treasure and each a wonderful read. Though they're numbered, it's not at all necessary to begin with #1 and progress up to #20; readers can grab whichever title catches their whim and follow along with the adventures. I myself have read them all and am not so patiently waiting for the next ones to come out. Each book comes highly recommended.

My 4-year-old son, Frank, has 16 of the 18 (?) books that are available in this collection, and although all of them come hightly recommended, I believe Green Time to be the best. This book highlights all that is good about a boy and his dog. Rylant never personifies Mudge too much but depicts their relationship beutifully. When my son read about Mudge getting a bath, he giggled as each part was washed. But the biggest surprise was watching his sheer delight as Mudge shook from head-to-toe. He understands that Henry would cry when he gets stung by a bee, and he laughed when Mudge eats popcorn. These books are simple and kind, and I hope there are more.

Another fantastic trip back down the amusement park midway, courtesy of Mr. Jacques. This well researched and colorful book manages to chronicle the life and times of Youngstown's Idora Park - without reading like your typical history lesson. Filled with hundreds of pictures, this book is a must read for any amusement park enthusiast. Although I have never been to Idora, or even Youngstown, this book put me right back on Idora's midway and in the front seat of their infamous Wildcat and Jack Rabbit roller coasters.

Mr. Jacques' book also includes many unique behind the scenes stories and anecdotes from countless interviews and local archives. Personal photos and individual recollections of time spent at Idora Park take the reader back to a time when the traditional amusement park was the highlight of our summer days.

Anyone who lives in and around Youngstown, Ohio and those who are devotees of the amusement park tradition in America will find this attractive book to be both informative and nostalgic. The Last Ride... is an intelligent, intriguing look back through time to the park's opening in 1899 through to the fire which sealed its fate! The book is beautifully and thoroughly illustrated with copious photos and other interesting items; including a summary list of the events, groups, bands, etc. who were part of the park's history. This book is a must for everyone who's ever set foot in the park wither during its glowing years or during its decline.

I found the book to back great old memories of the greasy french fries and rattly old coasters. The old train was my favorite

Manara's art speaks for itself, so no need to go on and on about it. But the stories written by him are usually pointless sex tales. The difference with Indian Summer is that Pratt actually gave him a great story (the struggles of early settlers for survival, and their unpredictable relations with the native indians). Manara expresses the emotions of his characters beautifully through his pencil. For those who like action, there is plenty of that as well. The duo's other book 'El Gaucho' is also a powerful graphic novel. This was a $20 well spent. PS: I've reviewed hundreds of graphic novels at my personal web page. Give it a shot.

erotism for art sake

male character are as good as the females. He should draw both.

Well I finally got a copy of the book and didn't get a chance to read it until I got home late the other night after being out at a club. I took it into the Batroom with me and didn't come out until Nine Chapters had been read. It was that good.
Seriously, Wayne Captures the whole essence of friendships of all sorts. And like the previous review says, if you know your Arthurian Legends, you'll start figuring out whose who. I wasn't sure about Tommy at first but then I saw his last name. I'm still only half way through the book but I'm sure I'll be awed as much at the end as I have through it so far.

Wow! Is this book ever good! If you're a fan of Harper Lee, Stephen King and Sir Thomas Malory (or T.H. White), then you'll love "King of Summer". Wayne Wise has written a completely original novel using the Arthurian themes as a guide and crafted a magical, frightening, suspenseful and heartwarming story. It would be easy to sum up the book with one sentence: that love and friendship can conquer the most hideous of evils, but that would do a disservice to the rich story and characters. Each character is fleshed out three dimensionally and evolves over the course of the story through trial and error. Each has their own good and bad qualities and the line between both blurs throughout the book, yet each character maintains their role in the context of the story. "King of Summer" made me feel nostalgic for my own childhood, when adventures of epic proportions took place in the woods behind my own house. But it is not for the faint of heart. In portraying evil, Wayne doesn't simply tell you how evil the antagonist of the book is. Instead you are shown its ugliness and brutality through several of the characters. But you are also shown the beauty and love that all can aspire to as well. It's hard to talk about "King of Summer" without talking about the characters themselves, but I don't want to give too much away. Suffice to say, Vivian became my favorite. Set in the town of Appleton, Wayne manages to describe the town throughout the course of the story without sounding like a AAA representative and it becomes so vivid and real that you can swear you've driven through it at one time or another. As I approached the end of the book, I found myself really sad that I was coming to the end! I didn't want to leave Appleton or the kids, they had become so real. The trouble is, the book is extremely addictive! I read it to the exclusion of all else and couldn't put it down. Sometimes while reading other books, I may get tired or bored with what I'm reading. I had no chance with "King of Summer"! The pace is crisp and Wayne always gives you just enough in each chapter to make you want to turn the page and find out what's going to happen next. I hope that someday "King of Summer" is made into a movie. If so, I'll be there opening day, first in line!

King of Summer has an atmosphere reminiscent of "To Kill A Mockingbird." The author--who I do know and consider a friend--captures the authentic voices of children. Too often an author will treat kids like idiots or as supreme intellects, but Wayne Wise accurately shows the strengths and weaknesses of youth amid a dark fantasy bearing Arthurian themes and an original twist on the ancient battle of good vs. evil.

In terms of technique, the book is smoothly written with a pace that flows. He relates the novel he was driven to write through vivid description and carefully crafted characters whose names even possess meaning. In short, brilliant.

CHILD'S SOUL: Hesse is largely an autobiographical author. Even when events in his novels or stories take place in a distant past or in a fantastically created future, he wrote about what he had lived through. His renowned novel "Demian" is very much autobiographical. The story "Child's Soul" may be the only thing ever written by Hesse, which is more autobiographical than "Demian". The narrating person in "Child's Soul" does not have a mental equilibrium. He can not draw a line between good and evil, between love and destruction; his mental state is characterized by fear. Nonetheless, he only sees the "chaos", takes its existence into consideration. His future fate is unknown, but there we see a sparkle of hope that he will gain a foot-hold and achieve the state of mental equilibrium. PS: the term "chaos" was used by Hesse himself in one of his articles. [Rating: 5/5]

KLEIN AND WAGNER: An uxoricide and a filicide escapes from Germany to Italy to find a peace for his tormented soul. He finds there death, however. Unlike the narrating person in the story described above, here we know for sure that Klein self-destructs. This story, especially, is laden with philosophical passages. Here (and in the story described bellow, as well) we see how Hesse uses associations; "klein" is the German adjective that stands for "small" and Wagner is not only the name of another uxoricide and a filicide, but also that of a famous composer, whose music is tied in Klein's imagination with eroticism of his youth. [Rating: 5/5]

KLINGSOR'S LAST SUMMER: a story of a dying painter, who, as we know from the preface, is only forty-two years old. In this case, the name Klingsor comes from one epic poem that dates back to the seventh century. In that poem Klingsor was a magician, which suggest a kinship between the art and the magic. This particular story is somewhat ambiguously written, even Klingsor's death remains ambiguous. One can not say with a certainty whether Klingsor committed a suicide, even though the whole mood of this story is imbued with ideas of life's frailty and death's imminence. This ambiguous narration (which Hesse employed in many of his works) does capture the atmosphere in which Klingsor spent his last days (and perhaps most of his life), but it bears a mark of abstractness. [Rating: 4/5]

fascinating, luscious stories filled with spiritual and debaucherous intrigues of the most unexpected sorts.

Hesse waves tales infused with rich mythological imagery and interesting turns around every corner.

Three stories that run the gamut from romanticism to melancholy.

Always a mystery and forever a joy.

Not one review of this book! Incredible, you don't know what you're missing if you have not read this author. This is not one of the most recognized works of the Nobel prize author (my personal favorite), but it has everything of what made their other novels so remarkable: the beautiful and deep description of his characters' thoughts and emotions.

This edition contains three stories: "Child's soul", "Klein and Wagner" and "Klinsor's last summer" The first one succeeds in showing how intense a child's feelings can be, the happiness and sadness that can be reached while being so young, how a small mistake can trigger the biggest of fears... Klein and Wagner, for me the best one of this book. And "Klingsor's last summer" the story of an artist who is dying, while reading this you become Klingsor...I wonder how could Hesse succeed to such degree in portraying thoughts and feelings, no other existentialist author I've read so far reached this complexity.

I cannot believe this book is out of print. I gave my copy to my brother several years ago, and went looking for a new copy today after the hated New York Yankees swept my beloved Boston Red Sox by scoring a whopping 6 runs in three games.
Why? Because Peter Gent's book - which is a wonderful tale about a father and his son getting to know one another - is also a prequel to the very public and successful career of Derek Jeter. You see, Derek Jeter starred on the Connie Mack team that Gent's son Carter played against for the Michigan state championship, and even back then, he was being viewed as a big-time up-and-coming baseball phenom.
And while some of the scenes between Gent and his son will tear your heart out, Jeter is front-and-center in the best sports scene in the book. That occurs when Mike Wyshowski(sp?), the farm-boy pitcher for Carter's team, whiffs Derek Jeter swinging with runners in scoring position late in the very close Championship Game, thereby sealing the win for the underdogs (and permanently endearing himself to me).
This is a wonderful novel. I read North Dallas Forty when I was just a kid, and thought it was a great, funny book. I thought this book, which I read after I'd gotten old enough to get married and have kids of my own, was much, much better. I'm assuming the fact that it's out of print means it didn't sell well. That's a shame, because it's every bit the story NDF was, and then some.

After Pete had asked a friend & I to join his Bangor team for the Kalamazoo tourney in the summer of 1991, I really got to understand & appreciate the love that he had for Carter & youth sports. His book was truly touching, especially after he asked me to be a small part of one of those summers. I will always cherish the opportunity he gave me, as well as the autographed copy of this book. A must read for all baseball fans & parents.

Although the divorce is pivotal in this story, it is not necessarily the key to the book's essence. Any parent who has reached the point of letting go can relate to the emotions the author so wonderfully describes. If a reader is an avid baseball fan, especially Little League, Pony League, Babe Ruth, etc., the story jumps out at you and transports you to that "magic" only summer youth baseball can take you. As the mother of three children, two who are finished with youth baseball and softball, and one still keeping me in the "magic" at the age of 13, I loved the book. Mr. Gent deals with emotions like unconditional love, fear, apprehension,regret and wins during that Last Magic Summer.

This book was good though it was shorter than the others. I hope the series stays strong.

This is one of the best Extreme Zone books yet. Can't wait for the next one!

I've been reading this series from the beginning and this is the best book of all! Things just keep getting stranger and the tension keeps going up. I love the scenes between Dee and Kenyon!

Penny, Robin, Naomi, and Alex Gareth are sent to live with their Great Aunt Dymphna in Ireland when their father takes ill (he's doing research outside of England) and their mother goes to be with him. Great Aunt Dymphna adds new shades of meaning to the word 'eccentric.' Her house is a dump and she expects the children to cook for themselves and do their own laundry and buy their own groceries--in a word, to be completely self-sufficient. The Gareth children are not a little put out, in more ways than one. Matters become even more complicated when they decide to hide a strange boy who claims that spies are after him. At summer's end, the Gareths go back home to London, having discovered that self-sufficiency is not impossible or even entirely distastful. Streatfeild writes in her customary elegant yet simultaneously down-to-earth style, with plenty of tongue in cheek comments and sharp observations. I'd love to give more details of the book's plot, complete with quotations, but that would take more space than I'm allowed to use. I'll just say that this is one of Streatfeild's absolute best, and (therefore, of course) one of the best children's books ever written.

i read this book aloud twice to my four children during summers in vermont...after 15 years, the thought of it still makes me smile...the dialect which at first my children couldn't understand, but wound up mimicing; the friendships old and young; mysterious old drafty rooms; the notion of letting barking dogs know where you're headed, so they can stop chasing your car. streatfield paints a beautiful, eccentric character in the aunt (who's name escapes me, but who scurries before me in my mind's eye still) ...loved the whole family of characters.

A twisting plot. One of the best Noel Streatfeild books ever. Please put it back in print with the "Shoe" books that are out of print (also by Noel Streatfeild.)