As a Certified Hospice Nurse and Hospice Administrator I have access to many tools to help both staff and loved ones through the grief journey. Where Souls Meet is both compelling and insightful. From introduction to appendix this book provides each reader with guidance and support through the most difficult time most of us will experience - the loss of a loved one. As we anticipate death, like life, we are faced with many challenges and obstacles. This book offers both inspiration and suggestions to help ease the fear. Dillon writes and shares with a level of emotion and realism that will help both caregivers and professionals alike. Share this book with a friend!

This is a most excellant handbook that provides guidance and direction for family and caregivers of terminally ill people. It is the best and most thorough study that I have found on this subject. It clearly defines how to relate to a person who has been diagnosed with such an illness on the spiritual, emotional, and cognitive levels. It should be made a requirement for every hospice and healthcare worker who relates to terminally ill patients on a regular basis. Families with a terminally ill member will find the book most helpful. It will answer many of their questions and allow them to have a better informed understanding of the patient's emotional needs. It should be made available to all families who are caring for a terminally ill person. Besides focusing on our relational and vberbal behavior when relating to the terminally ill, it gives very practical suggestions. For example, appendice C gives suggestions on what to look for when hiring helpers for patient care. Appendice D has ideas and examples of how to make lists and charts for everyday monitoring.

Many times caregivers think only in terms of what they can offer the terminally ill patient. One chapter gives important lessons that the caregivers can learn from the terminally ill patient.

After reading this book, I was faced with the reality that everyone will have to take care of someone who is nearing death at one point in their life. Before I read this book, I researched the author and found that he had been taking care of the elderly for years and had been a care-taker to many people throughout his life. He was walking the walk. I myself have never been in a situation where I would need to guide a loved one into their final days on this earth. It was never a topic of conversation either, until I read this book that a friend recommended to me. After I read this book, I was shocked at what I had never thought about. The book teaches you how to nurture a loved one who might be coming upon their final days. It talks about situations that you would never think of that are very important in the last days of a persons life. I will have this book in my home until the day that it is time for me to pass. It is an invaluable tool that everyone can use and benefit from. I would recommend this to everyone, whether they know someone who is dying or not.

Don and Audrey Wood are quickly becoming my favorite creators of picture books for toddlers. "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear" has been a must-read since the day my 3-year old daughter found it at the bookstore; when we went looking for more, we found "Quick as a Cricket." My daughter made me read it to her six times before she let me up from the bookstore bench to go buy it for her. The intense likeability of the Little Mouse style has been taken up a notch into a wide variety of animals, as the boy of the story changes and shifts to match each new companion. The words are simple, but rhythmic and rhyming. While it's not as funny as "Little Mouse," the rapture of reading it with my daughter has not faded. "Quick as a Cricket" is a definite classic, and one that will last the decades.

My one year old daughter is a book-a-holic. She loves me to read ot her and I have, in the process, been given an opportunity to become quite adept in my knowledge of great children's books. This book is a winner! It is her very favorite. She loves the illustrations and the story delights her. She loves animals and is able to see many of her favorites, namely, the dog and cat. She also loves the end of the book where the boy has his arms overhead. She likes to mimic this gesture everytime we come to the end. If your kid loves to read, loves animals and you want a book that is not too wordy this book is for your child. Happy reading!

This is a great book- it celebrates the complexities of our personality in a way that makes sense to young children. Different animals are used to illustrate different facets of our personality- quick as a cricket, loud as a lion, shy as a shrimp, etc. The illustrations are just gorgeous, and can help children learn about a variety of animals in the natural world, as the animals are not shown in a zoo setting. I appreciate that the child can be seen as either a little girl or a little boy, since there are so many books need to enforce gender roles right from the beginning. This book is truly a gem for the 2-6 range. At least, my 2 yo son loves it, and will imitate the animals!

Dr. Hill, who was on the staff of NASA's Langley (VA) facility, presents a wonderful assessment of possible UFO propulsion methods. His assessment is based on reports of many UFO observors (calls to NASA were generally forwarded to him), as well as some of his own personal observations of UFO flight (such as seen in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia). Some of his ideas, such as "force-field" technology, aren't particularly easy to understand by someone accustomed to considering more conventional propulsion techniques, but I admit that it seems most consistent with the data he presents (such as the way automobiles often tend to lose traction when flying saucers hover nearby/overhead).

For anyone interested in UFO phenomena this is an excellent treatise by a professional aeronautical engineer. Perhaps the best available at the moment (better than any I've seen). Better ones will probably only appear after various governments of the world decide to end over 50 years of UFO pseudo-denial.

Consider that many paleontologists find that the best place to go fossil hunting is in a museum. The reason is of course, that many field collectors from the past have stored incredible fossil finds in museum archives, while having little or no time to evaluate the data and draw conclusions. What could this possibly have to do with Paul Hill's fabulous book? Mr. Hill did what real sceintists should do...he sorted through historical UFO data (including his own sighting) and looked for mechanisms and the patterns inherent to that data. By applying his own form of "back engineering" to these UFO cases, he sought to determine the power source(s), electromagnetic byproducts of those sources and other important aerodynamic components intrinsic to UFO flight characteristics. The results of his back engineering provide incredible information from "seemingly" insignificant details, much in the same way that Sherlock Holmes deduced Watsons' whereabouts by the mud on his shoes. Other physical scientists take note: All that UFO researches have asked of you for years was to look at the data, much as the late Dr. Hynek suggested. Finally, Paul Hill has done it. I know there are other scientists (personally) who are continuing to investigate using the same stringent scientific methods used by Paul Hill. I applaud you, as do all meaningful UFO researchers. For Mr. Hill, I would say that it was too bad the climate of yellow journalism did not allow the release of this important work before his death. The press in this country is veneer. But, over time, veneer peels up to reveal the oak. Take heed, read Unconventional Flying Objects. Think.

Paul Hill spent almost his entire career with NASA directing research projects. His credentials are impressive. NASA's official stance on UFOs was, "They don't exist." Hill says he saw one, reported it to his then boss, and was told to forget it and do his job. He did the latter but not the former. His book, written after he retired, reviews well-documented and investigated events from around the world. Since many of the people reporting the events are not hillbillys or crackpots but credible professionals, his approach is, "Assuming that these people are not loonies but are telling the truth about what they saw, how could these phenomena be explained using our present level of scientific knowledge?"

He takes one event at a time, and examining the reports and hard evidence where it exists, eliminates various suggested explanations if they don't fit. He doesn't answer all the possible questions that one can pose, but he does conclude that nothing the objects do violates any of our accepted scientific principles or the laws of physics. The propulsion system that he says fills the bill is a "focused force field". Although we admittedly haven't the foggiest notion of how to develop a focused force field, the scientific principle is sound. Gravity is a force field. We have electrical and magnetic force fields.

Hill also delves into advanced--but accepted--theoretical physics to explain how interstellar travel would be possible without exceeding the speed of light. The bulk of the book is written for a lay audience. Any normally intelligent, reasonably well educated person can follow it. He includes several appendices, however, which are crammed with mathematics far too arcane for me to digest.

It's a fascinating book, light enough to be enjoyed, but too heavy to skim. In the way that some people go to church "just in case", this work should be read, "just in case". I heartily recommend it.

I just finished this book a couple of days ago, and I found it to keep me on my edge of my seat...I was dissapointed when I found out that one of the characters died so soon in the book. Wood's makes you care about the characters in this one...my heart went out to main character when he was trying to find his daughter, and his wife was killed at the opening. Good book..well developed, made me want to read another one of Mr. Wood's books!

Cat Catledge is just beginning to come to terms with the murders of his wife and daughter when the phone rings. One word - "Daddy"- and then the phone is hung up. That phone call leads Cat and the readers on a journey through Colombia as Cat tries to find and rescue his daughter, Jinx.

Drug trafficers have fallen out of favor as the villians of choice in thriller fiction. This book, written in 1988, was written at the height of their popularity and is still a darn good read. Cat is a good hero - a rich computer printer inventor who has plenty of vulnerabilities (first and foremost his family). Woods provides an great group of friends to fill the gaps for Cat. I particularly liked Bluey, the renegade Australian pilot.

Since Jinx was kidnapped by pirates off the Colombian coast, much of the book takes place in that country. Woods does a nice job of telling the reader about the various cities without falling into the traveloge trap.

And, yes, the pages turn easily. A fun read for all (except, maybe, the fathers of beautiful eighteen year old daughters).

This book was my first Stuart Woods novel that I've read and I wasn't disappointed. The action starts off quickly and keeps you turning pages well into the night. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the crookedness of South America, the drug trade, action, and mystery. Definitely a quick read.

As a kindergarten teacher, I was excited to find this book in time for the schoolyear to begin. What a wonderful way to introduce the alphabet to a group of wide-eyed children. This is a must-have for all pre-school and primary teachers.

The story is charming and simple. Before the letters of the alphabet can go off to school to become "Charley's Alphabet", they are delayed by the loss of the lower case i's dot. All of the letters must help to find the missing dot ... or find a way to make the dot return so that they may get to school in time for Charley, the boy who needs them.

Bruce Wood is the illustrator on this book and he has continued the family legacy of producing bright, captivating illustrations which are just begging the reader to look more closely. Indeed, there is a story in the pictures alone. My own eight-year-old daughter read the book and then immediately went back through and looked at the pictures, pointing out little details in each illustration. This is a wonderful book. I can't wait to introduce it to my class.

Bold and captivating, this alphabet concept book is a must have for the beginning reader. Not only is the story of the missing dot on the "i" appealing, but children can learn and enjoy the letter characters and detailed illustrations. This book would also be great for library story times and back to school themes. Another jewel from the ever-popular trove of the Wood family!

What a wonderful collaboration! The story of "Little i" by Audrey Wood and the illustrations by son Bruce are wonderful. This is an imaginative introduction to the alphabet for even the youngest child. The illustrations are colorful and BUSY. My children love this book!

Into the Woods...How can you forget the name and all of its characters if you've seen it before, and if you have not, then it includes such timeless fairy tale names as: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Little Red Riding Hood, and many others. James Lapine's brilliant script and Stephen Sondheim's astounding score are all in this book! Don't miss out on reading this fantastic book with your kids or for pleasure! This book is great for pleasure reading or if you are looking for an amazing musical to put on. Once you start reading this book, you won't be able to put it down! And if you liked the book...you won't hesitate to buy the video of the original Broadway cast and the CD or cassette! Having all 3 mentioned items and watching, listening, and reading over and over still isn't enough! You will love it too.

This is a wonderful play to introduce students to music, theater, Sondheim, and fairy tales. In my class we read many of the original Grimm Fairy Tales (Dover Ed.) and the Perrault Fairy Tales (Dover) discussing the tales, but also color symbolism, different forms of magic, totems, threshold creatures, etc. Pretty heady stuff for sixth graders, but they LOVE it! Finally we read this wonderful interconnection of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Baker and His Wife, Little Red Riding Hood, and more while they are on a quest tale to get things to undo spells. Everyone takes parts and it is AWESOME!! The book is certainly not just for kids, there are very dark themes underlying all of the "fun". These can be discussed and its great to see kids find more to a story than its literal meaning. The VHS tape is then shown, which can be ordered here. This is a taping of the Broadway stage production and is mesmerising. Students think it's awesome. (I do suggest previewing, though. The wolf certainly is "untamed nature" and his coat stops just above what probably should be hidden in a mixed group of sixth graders. :) We just fast forward those three minutes.) This is a great unit. If you would like more info, please contact me via e-mail. This is wonderful stuff, though certainly not Disney!!

This book is great to have before seeing the show or listening to the soundtrack... you'll completely understand what's happening in the story. I should also say, just in general.... Into the Woods is back on Broadway now, and I just saw it yesterday on its opening day with front row seats in the orchestra. I was worried the new production might not surpass the original, and that I would be disappointed since I love love Bernadette Peters and all... but it really blew my mind! The set and costumes were so much more appropriate, more fairytale-esque. There were lyric and staging changes, a little more dancing around, and Milky-White was alive this time which made her like another character. The musical has a lot of catchy tunes but also a good storyline, and though there is a lot of symbolism that if seen literally might not be appropriate for kids, they usually are too young to notice or understand it at all. So anyone can see it, and everyone finds it funny, everyone likes it. And the current production is better than you could have dreamed.

I read this book as a child and liked it a lot; I still think it's an entertaining story with beautiful pictures. However, it is one of many stories about a witch, in this case a devalued version of the ancient Greek goddess Hecate. This just saddens me a bit because children tend to be exposed to few stories about positive interpretations of ancient goddesses from the before-Christ era, so I recommend that parents look into providing a more balanced repertoire.

I enjoyed reading this story to my class. My class still get excited every time I read this story to them. I now read this story to other classes and still get amazed at the look on their faces when they see the pictures and when I sound like the witch in the story, My class especially enjoys the children names, Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday,Saturday,Sunday. They always want to say it along with me. I have bought all of Audrey and Don Wood's books. I would love to meet them and tell them thank you for writing a wonderful and inspiring book for us all.

A fantastic enchanting read aloud book. The story is about a
determined mother who outsmarts a witch who has
captured and bewitched her seven children. The
children's mother is the only one who break the
spell of the witch.Other related books are: The
Pumpkinville Mystery, by Bruce Cole; Scary Stories
to tell in the dark, by Alvin Schwartz.

If you've never seen Out of Africa or read any book about Kenya, this novel will give you a cursory overview of Kenyan history from 1919 to the present. It is easy to follow, its characters are uncomplicated, and it certainly never lacks for plot.

Using simple words and very short sentences, Wood presents the interconnected stories of three generations of two families--the African family of a shamba-living, fig-tree worshipping witch doctor and the veddy British Treverton family of aristocrats who have come to Kenya, taken over their land, and, not surprisingly, torn down the sacred fig tree to build a polo field. The British, as exemplified by Lord Treverton, are so arrogant and insensitive in the course of their decades of power, that the local population forms the guerilla Mau Mau secret society, committing all manner of murder and mayhem indiscriminately against both the British and those Kenyans who reject Mau Mau-style violence.

Eventually, of course, the Kenyans win their independence, but not before the reader is confronted with a series of other overtly dramatic and/or sentimental plot elements: a witch doctor putting a curse on the Treverton family, a wife steadfastly rejecting her husband's sexual advances from the beginning of her marriage, two mothers pretending for years that their own children do not exist, a lover hidden successfully for months in the garden, two passionate interracial affairs between "good" characters, a long-unsolved double murder, several suicides, secret betrayals, rapes, imprisonments, numerous love affairs both serious and casual, a gay relationship, and even the belief of a contemporary female doctor, who has straight hair and "creamy skin," that she is half Kikuyu. For good measure, there are also a couple of graphic sex scenes and a series of genital mutilations. The book is so unabashedly sensational and romantic that this reader found herself wishing the Mau Mau had been more successful.

Every book I have read by Barbara Wood is an amazing blend of history, romance, complex relationships, and situations fraught with difficulties and problems to solve. Her characters bind you to them as you share their joys and hardships.

The fascinating setting in "Green City" is the early 1900s in Kenya, and involves the conflict between the rich British Treverton family who wants to establish a profitable plantation, and the neighboring tribal medicine woman who curses them for invading her people's land. Tragedies befall the Trevertons, and they struggle through the uprising of the native Kenyans as they defy the British. Complicating things is the romance between the medicine woman's black son and a young white Treverton woman.

Meanwhile, we follow the heroine, Doctor Grace Treverton, who, separating herself from the aspirations for wealth of the rest of her family, dedicates her life to serving the tribes by providing them with medical care and schooling. Yet even this big-hearted and wise woman is not immune to danger from the revolting tribes or from romantic turmoil involving a married man.

Full of romance, danger, and political and family intrigue, this 700-page book never lost my attention for a minute!

I love this book!! I try to read it once a year. It follows two families in the newly colonized British Africa, one British and one native African, through three generations. Their story is moving, easy to follow, and at times brings me to tears. I don't want to give anything away, but if you are looking for a feel good book, then don't buy this one. If you like tragedies that end in triumph, then this is the book for you.

The book delivered exactly what it was supposed to. The equipment described were mostly from the second movie, which was expected since the colonial marines only made an appearance in that one. I was expecting a few more vehicles and weapons that were not shown in the movie. The arsenal of the marines appeared to be very limited. Whatever the case, this is a good book for fans of the movies and sci-fi fans who like big weapons. The section on the aliens themselves was kind of brief, being mostly accounts from Ripley.

this book provides a great deal of information on the Colonial Marines from "Aliens". all of you potential Aliens video game modders out there must get this book. it has served as an excellent reference book for all my "Aliens versus Predator" modifications. with several illustrations, it also provides the artist with valuable "Aliens" info. even the curious Sci-Fi geek will find this book thoroughly interesting.

This book is based off of the premise of a technical manual writen as a MArine PR piece. The book is full of psuedo scientific explanations for everything that we saw in the first and second movies, from the dropship design to the actual biology of the aliens themselves. It's all complemented very well by ample pictures and quotes from "actual" colonial marines. It's addicting, I find that i pick it up every now and again and re-read it, some of the "quotes" are very funny. Even if you are only a casual fan of the series, pick it up, it's sure to get you addicted.

I recently re-read the entire Little House series. I remember watching the television series as I read the books the first time. I see things differently now, obviously as an adult. The hardships the pioneers endured to live as they wanted. We get upset if the electricity goes off for a few hours. The sheer struggle of life that these books portray touched me. I also admire Laura Ingalls Wilder for her memory. She wrote these books while in her sixties and seventies. I can hardly remember what I did last week. I will encourage my son to read these when he is old enough.

I received my first Laura Ingalls Wilder book when I was nine years old, and went on to receive one each birthday and Christmas until I had the entire series. They transported me to a world few movies, t.v. shows (including the series!) ever went to...and I am still fasinated with this woman's life. I recommend it for all children and soon will start reading it to my three grandchildren, so their hearts and minds can come alive in a time and world they can only visit thru these wonderfull images of the author. This entire series is only rivaled by Louisa May Alcott...and these are easier for a child to read. Please enjoy the wanderings and hopes and dreams of the Ingalls as they moved thru the midwest...it's worth every moment you spend. The illustrations are so perfect...not glamorizing how Laura or the family looked... in a time before makeup and curling irons, when barefoot along the banks of plum creek was the best! ENJOY

As with all the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories, the deep love and rich feeling Laura herself felt and lived jumps comes across as a real, physical thing. I read one of these stories as a child. I remember liking it but I went back and read them recently as a mother. It gave me both a clear, real view of pioneer life. With both the hardships as well as the joys. As through all of the Little House stories, Laura's love and feeling for her family jumps from the pages. I could only wish that all books I read were so true and real.