These books are great for teaching children about language.

Fans of the blues will thoroughly enjoy this outstanding book by Roger Wood and James Fraher, who spent seven years researching and interviewing folks involved with the largely "invisible" blues music scene in Houston and the surrounding area. Fraher's photographs are outstanding, and they help drive the lively text. The authors interviewed musicians, club owners, producers and many others associated with the music scene in Houston's Third Ward and the Fifth Ward. The book moves easily from clubs to ballrooms to barbecue joints, where the music first took root and is still played today. Many legendary blues musicians such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Clifton Chenier, Gatemouth Brown and others of similar rank make appearances in the text. This is a high-quality book from a production standpoint and is an incredible bargain at full price or the Amazon.com sale price.

My three year-old daughter happened upon this book at the library the other day and we fell in love with it the first time we read it. She absolutely loved the illustrations of the little furry animals. But even more, she loved the language that the author used for the different animals. The baby toadlets were her favorite in the ubp, glup mud.

As a parent and teacher, is a great book for getting a younger child to follow a pattern. On each page "deep down in the woods at sleepytime" is used to start and then the pictures allow for further hints to the words that follow.

This is a page turner for my daughter and I love the rhythm that is created by the words. The language is soothing and gets my daughter ready for bed in an instant. This will be a book that we will definitely add to her library in the near future!

It was a serendipitous moment when I discovered Orlando's Little-While Friends sitting on the bookshelf at my sister's place. I assumed it had been thrown out or given away along with all the other cherished objects of our childhoods. I was yet more surprised to discover the book was still in print. It was over twenty years ago in Canada, as a boy of four or five, that I first read this beautiful story, and its appeal remains strong even today.

Orlando sets off with his parents in his super-shiny-travel-anywhere van for the summer. He doesn't share his parents' happiness, however: He must leave all his cherished friends behind. Will he be lonely? How will he make friends? How will he overcome his shyness? Will he risk everything, push the boat out and find some little-while friends, or will he let his bashfulness get the better of him and hide away from the world? The author explores Orlando's vulnerability, loneliness and how he confronts his fears to make little-while friends. These themes are treated in a way so touchingly human that even I, as a twenty-five year old, could relate.

The scrapbook style, with its many lushly coloured illustrations, is what takes the story the extra distance to make this into a true classic. Its value lies not just in it being great fun, but in exploring in a highly accessible way some very important life issues. Snap this up while it is still in print.

After her husband nearly ruins her life and career with his addiction to painkillers, Dr. Kelsey James gets a divorce and moves to Los Pinos, Texas with her son, Bobby. There, she helps Lizzy Adams-Robbins run the local clinic, and tries to rebuild her life. Then Bobby is kidnapped and Kelsey is desperate to find him before it's too late.

Private Investigator, Dylan Delacourt is called in to help search for the three year-old. Dylan suspects that Kelsey isn't telling all the information she knows. Since he lost his own son to his ex-wife when they divorced, he finds it difficult to trust Kelsey. But they will need to learn to trust each other with their secrets before they will be able to find Bobby.

Sherryl Woods always gives you something to smile about and warm your heart when reading her books and this series within a series is no different.

That is what our son said after reading this short but powerful account of the experience of being an intelligent but dyslexic child in today's educational system. He said that the book spoke to him in a way that he had never experienced, and he felt the relief of discovering that others share his frustrations. I couldn't get him to return the book to the library, so I had to purchase a replacment copy on the web! Thanks Mr. Wood! CN

This is a well written and engaging look into the importance of the Mandan and Hidatsa Indian villages as a pivotal point in trade systems during the late 1700's through early 1800's. Being located along the Missouri River in present day North Dakota, the Mandan/Hidatsa Indians traded horses, robes and furs to Canadian Fur Companies in return for guns and ammunition. They would then trade these goods for other commodities from various Northern Plains Indian Tribes, who previously may have traded with other tribes or the Spaniards further south. In part one, the authors give a lengthy but excellent and relevant chronological introduction as to the fur trade history of this geographical area. Part two includes five journals (or excerpts) of some of these Northwest Fur Company traders' first hand accounts depicting life as it was: John Macdonell's descriptions of the Indians, geography and trade in the 1790's; David Thompson's narrative describing his harrowing 1797 journey from Fort Assiniboine to the Mandan villages in the dead of winter; Larocque's two narratives, the "Missouri (1804)" and "Yellowstone (1805)" Journals, the latter of which, in the company with Crow Indians, he may possibly have been the first white man to descend the Yellowstone River, pre-dating William Clark by more than a year. The final narrative is of Charles McKenzie's four journeys to the Mandan villages (1804-1806), the first two in company with Larocque's expeditions. This is a fascinating read for fur trade enthusiasts and/or those whose interests are in early western exploration.

Illustrations for every step helped me learn, because I'm a visual learner. So did the CD.

As I became lost in the art of intarsia, this book was my map. Completely unknown to the craft, I purchased this book as a way to beat my summer bordom. As I opened each page, a swirl of thoughts came to me, and I immediately made plans to visit the local hardwood retailer to start my first project. But where to start? This book has the most wonderful design ideas, from beginner to advanced, even I was impressed with the works I had done. You can make each project over and over, because the wood you use is always different. I would recomend this book highly to anyone slightly interested in the art and history and creativity of intarsia.

Anders S. Lunde is the man who resurrected the whirligig from the ashheap of historical American culture. In the 1970's, Lunde first investigated old whirligigs in New England, researched in the Library of Congress, and just plain hit the woodworking bench to figure out what makes a good whirligig work. Others have tried to copy him, but his whirligigs spin and turn and twist with a freedom and naturalness few can match. His political whirligig creations are snapped up immediately these days, because at 86 years old, there is no telling when he will stop. Simple, straightforward, and detailed, these designs and instructions will put you in the drivers seat for making any design you desire. It is the creative side of these wind machines that intrigues Lunde a lot. His other books continue his approach and offer many other interesting designs. Buy them all!