Book-value

Vera B. Williams's best known book. In this story a young girl, her single mom, and her grandmother all occupy the same apartment after their home is destroyed by a fire. To fill their empty space the women scrimp and save for a big comfy armchair.

This is a story of perseverance, but it isn't preachy in any way. The family looks to be South American, but this isn't drummed into the readers' heads. All it's trying to do is tell a story about getting what you want when you've faced a disaster of some kind. Though I've never really been a fan of Williams's art, this book is very well done. Ms. Williams works with a rough watercolor style that leaves little room for fine details. Just the same, when the mother in this book sees her house on fire after buying new pumps, the next picture displays the woman, new shoes in hand, sprinting towards the house. It's the little touches that make any book interesting, and this book falls into that category. Finally, it's a bright cheerful story that is smart enough to acknowledge sadness and hardship. An excellent book for kids.

I borrowed this book from the library to read aloud to my 2 year old. He loves it and I'm adding it to my wish list.

The story is about a family of mother, grandmother and daughter (maybe 7 or 8 years old). The mother works as a waitress to support her family. The little girl realizes and appreciates how hard her mother works - she often helps out at the diner herself after school. She's learned from her mother the value of saving - when her mother's boss gives her some money for filling the salt shakers, she puts half in the big jar at home.

The little girl speaks of a fire that detroyed their home and all their possessions. Through the help of extended family and friends they are able to start over. However their new apartment lacks a place for her mother to "take a load off [her] feet" The family saves coins in a big jar for a year to be able to buy a new easy chair - from the mother's tips, from the grandmother's market savings, from the little girl's "earnings".

The pictures are beautiful - colorful, almost luscious. Our favorites are of the mother collapsed in a chair while the little girl counts her tips and a picture of the little girl's fantasy chair - huge, covered in velvet with roses on it.

The words are simple enough that beginning readers will be able to master it, especially after having listened to it being read aloud over and over again. My son has asked for it at least a dozen times in the last week!

This book is about a family that lost all of their furniture in a house fire. The family members decide to save coins to buy a new chair for their home. The mother is a waitress and tries to save all of the money she can to help out the family. The mother and daughter take all of the money they save it in a jar. When the jar is full they go out and buy a beautiful chair for the family to enjoy. This book is appropriate for ages 6 to 10. The illustrations are very meticulous with a painted appearance and show exactly what is going on in the text. Each page has an inventive and vibrant border on it that pertains to what is happening on that particular page. This is a Caldecott Honor Book that teaches a valuable lesson on how hard times can always be worked through and that working hard and giving 110% will always make a difference.

This is the standard reference book for anyone buying, selling, or collecting first editions. You won't find $20 or $30 books in here, this is definitely a guide for the high end of the market, with a good section on identifying first editions.

Year after year, the Ahearns have turned out the most comprehensive guide to values. I have been a serious collector for years and always look forward to the newest edition. If you collect paperbacks, book-club editions, or buy for content rather than edition, then you probably won't enjoy this book. However, if you are into book collecting or want to be, then purchase the Bible of book collecting. In the genre "books about books," the Ahearns are tops!

{This} is a valuable book for collectors of first editions. It is the most comprehensive single-volume guide to current market values. The authors own and operate a bookstore in Rockville, Maryland, specializing in rare books and first-editions.

This is a good childrens book on teaching kids how to behave. Children do not know how to behave properly. But when you tell them through books, and use characters like Rainbow Fish, then it is easier for them to understand. It is a great book for kidst o read to understand how to expect peoples differences. Everyone is different in their own ways, it is just harder for some people to realize it. Everyone has their own special qualities, people just need to learn that we are all different.

I like this book because things like this hapen in everyday life. Rainbow Fish is a good example of how people follow others, and do not think for themselves. When one other the other fish is not excepted becasue he is a little different, Rainbow Fish doesn't know how to react. But, he learns to stand up for himself and learns how to treat others. I think everyone should learn to try to except everyone. We are all same, yet we are all different.

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue, Marcus Pfister's second addition to Rainbow Fish, is a short and sweet story about Rainbow Fish, and his now sparkling scaled friends feel they're too good for fish without sparkling scales.
In the last story Rainbow Fish felt he was too good for the fish without the shiny scales. He showed them off to the point where the other fish ignored him and thought he was snooty. He gets advice and decided to share his scales with the other fish. In this 2nd addition the schools of fish with the shiny scales are playing and a small yellow fish asks to play. Since his scales are dull, they say no. All of the sudden a shark comes looking for food and the small yellow fish is out in the open all alone. Rainbow Fish knows what he must do!
It's a good lesson for younger children to learn from. About sharing, accepting, and so on. I would definitely recommend it to parents looking for good children stories.

This is a great book no teaching children how to except others. When all the fish with a sparklie fins are playing a game. They do not let a little fish without a sparklie fin play. Rainbow Fis wants to invite him to play yet doesn't know what his friends will think of him. He is afraid to stand up to his knew friends. Instead of standing up for what he believes. He follows his friends and does whatever they do. Later on in this book Rainbow Fish saves the day.

My favorite character is Rainbow Fish. He realizes how the little fish feels, yet in the end he learns how to make the little fish happy. This is a great book on teaching kids to except everyone. Everyone is different in their own ways. WE just have to learn to except that we are all not the same. I liek this book, it is one of my favorite childrens books. These books have great characters, and can relate to life very well.

The book has excellent pictures of all the horse breeds. It is filled with information on the breeds and gives you down to earth, credible facts that anyone from beginner to advanced horse owners can relate to.

This book helped to learn more about horse. In this book author tired to capture the horse lover's heart while explaining all the matters related to horses. Really this book has a tremendous knowledge about horses.

This was a very good book for beginners and I recommend it to all of the Horselovers!!

No one denies Dick DeVos is a great seller of soap or would question his right to do so. The book presents us with a paradox, however. Dick would have us believe Amway salesmen aren't like other salesmen: they don't bear false witness, they are consistent in word and deed, treat others according to the golden rule, are humble, courageous, disciplined, and stand for freedom. You have to decide if he is deceiving you or not. If he is, then Amway's approach is deceptive and sales practices based on this deceptive doctrine are deceptive. If he is not, then he is violating the constitutional rights of the sales force. They have the right of freedom of speech, an implied right of privacy, freedom of religion or lack of it; in short, the right to make their own choices about how to live and feel and think without Amway telling them how they better do it. Moreover, even in Dick's own religion, he is paradoxical. The path of spirituality has never been through riches.

DeVos inspires us to take charge of our lives, to live it to the fullest. Outlines principals and values we all should be living by. If we all did, this world would be a better place to live and work.

There are many great books in our local libraries and on booksites around the world. No doubt this is one of them. This is a book not only worth buying, reading, re-reading and applying. It is a book worth sharing!

During turbulent times such as these in our schools: crime, drugs, alchol abuse, teenage pregnancies, and now even MURDERs are becoming commonplace. We must rediscover those values which have made our country great.

Adults and youth alike are scrambling to find themselves in counter cultures and in personal liberties. Ask the Chinese, where personal liberties get them. Personal freedoms are important but as Mr. DeVos shares with us, freedom for all is much more critical. If we are to be a country of individualists, than we will be subject to lie in the bed we have made for ourselves. More accurately, we will be subject to sleeping with those FEW individuals whom are driving their own agendas.

My hope is that we (together) strive to uphold the vision our forefathers provided: to make our bed of universal freedoms -- a comfortable bed indeed.

"What would change if we finally found our place--and lived it?

For our entire lives we've been urged to look out for number one. To find our place in the sun and soak it for all its worth. To make a name for ourselves as if we are the headliners in the life's drama.

But what happens when the sweet life we imagined proves to be sour? When our expensive toys break and our work is no longer needed and our bodies grow soft?

What's next when all our efforts to take care of number one leave us feeling unsatisfied and the thrills we were promised turn up empty?

Best-selling author Max Lucado turns the greatest lie we've believed on its head--the one that says, "It's all about me"--and sets our sights on a different goal. "We were not made to live this way," Max insists.

What would happen if we all took our place and played our parts? If we started living like "Son" reflectors than individual stars and suns? If every person's priority became a divine pursuit, not a performance?

We'd see our families differently. We'd view our jobs differently. We'd treat our bodies differently. We'd respond to our problems differently. We'd find our place in the universe...finally. And we would be changed.

"The God-centered life works. And it rescues us from a life that doesn't," Max assures us. Here is your lifeline to a life of purpose. Grab hold and let the rescue begin!"

In addition to or perhaps instead of, I strongly recommend that you read C.J. Mahaney's book, The Cross-Centered Life (ISBN: 1590520459) and John Piper's book, The Dangerous Duty of Delight (ISBN: 1576738833).

I bought this book while out of town on a business trip and began reading it over dinner. By the time I went to bed that night in the hotel room, I had finished the entire thing. I usually am not a fast reader, but Lucado writes so poetically and conversationally that you can't help but keep turning the pages. I've read many books on this topic, some more "scholarly" than this one. But "It's Not About Me" hangs with the best of them. Don't let the big print or the easily read conversational tone fool you. This is a serious book about a weighty matter, and Lucado has done a wonderful job of covering the topic biblically.

I would like to also comment one of the other reviewer's statements. The reviewer named Peniel G.G.G. has made a mockery of this entire system by using the review space to promote his own heretical work. Read his other reviews, and you will see they all say the same thing... "Jesus told me he likes this book. Now go buy my book too." I can guarantee you Jesus doesn't like some of the books he's positively reviewed. I don't know what voice this man is hearing, but if you really want to hear Jesus' voice, read the Bible!!!

I have a problem with one of my sons. He's a very charming young man who makes friends easily. Unfortunately, he also has trouble keepng them. His thoughts and actions tend to center around his own needs and desires, and friends don't put up with such a one-sided relationship for very long.

My wife and I explain to him that his life will be much richer and rewarding when he shifts the focus away from himself and onto others. Max Lucado takes this idea one step further and asks, how much richer and rewarding will our lives be when we shift the focus from our personal agenda to God's agenda?

As usual, Lucado has assembled an excellent balance of meaty scriptural passages, stories both Biblical and contemporary, and some of the best analogies imaginable to illustrate this point. His style is so friendly and conversational, with bits of brilliant humor thrown in, that the message is easy to learn and a pleasure to apply.

By shifting the focus away from personal desires, our son stands to earn and keep many more rewarding relationships. Through shifting our focus from a self-centered life to living a God-centered life, we give honor to Him and open ourselves up to the ultimate reward, hearing Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Read this book, reflect on its message and the many scriptural passages within it, work through the study guide at the end of the book, and you will be well equipped to start living a more God-centered life.

Larry Hehn, author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory

once again, (OK it does not happen that often, otherwise we would stop trusting Amazon and shopping with them, would'nt we?) the description is not accurate : this version ISBN 1569945233, monterey media etc.... is an ADAPTATION of Dicken's novel by the St Charles PLayers, who record it with all due talent and spirit BUT as a play, in an "exciting Radio Theater style" quote, unquote.....

This is Charles Dickens' best christmas story. Only David Copperfield tops this story. Mr. Dickens teaches the reader that no matter how much money or position we have, no matter how important we feel, no matter how much cynicism we have, life will come right out in front of us with a big wham!! Tiny Tim is compassion, Mr. Cratchit is hope, Fizziwigg is happiness. And all these things are life at its best. A Christmas Carol is the true feeling and hope and love. Make this short story your hope.

The following review is for the version illustrated by William Geldart, not this version illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. For some reason, Amazon mixed the two up.

This is it! These are the letters, words, sentences, paragraphs that made Christmas the celebration that it is today - the family parties, the feasts, the excitement, giving to the poor. Virtually every way we celebrate this magnificent Holiday (except the mall part!) comes from this book written by Charles Dickens.
First off, this is the unabridged version. Nothing added - nothing taken away. That's as it should be. (Unfortunately, as great as they may be, the movie versions truly do not do the book justice - although I must say the George C. Scott and Alistair Sim versions do come fairly close).
One thing that surprises me about this book is how few people I know that have have actually read it, but they've seen one version or another of the movie countless times! They don't seem to realize that when books are put to film, so much is taken out for length or for other reasons. A Christmas Carol is no different. In fact, if you watch all of the different movie versions available, you STILL would not get the complete book, even though each movie adds one thing or another from the original story that the others may not.
There are countless copies of this story available in various book form, but this particular version is probably one of the best that I have seen. The illustrations attempt in some part to keep in the same spirit as in Dickens' original. But the best, most interesting part of this version (besides the story itself) is all of the little facts, explanations, and trivia put into the margins throughout this book. They give the modern 21st century reader more of an understanding of what 19th century English life was like. A couple of examples: when Dickens writes of the Cratchit family taking their goose to the bakers to be cooked, I wondered why would any one take their food OUT to be cooked and then picked up later. This book explains that few poor people in this time period had ovens large enough to roast a good family sized bird. They were big enough to cook a small bit of meat and that was about it. In order to have one of those rare Holiday meals, they had to take it to the large baker's oven at an appointed time for cooking.
Another fact I did not know was that in the story, Scrooge's sister, Fan, was based on Dickens' actual sister in law, Mary Hogarth.
There are also a multitude of paintings, drawings, and sketches from Dickens' time showing his time. Now you can see, as accurately as one can considering there were no cameras, life of the rich, middle class, and poor as it actually was. There's a picture of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating Christmas. There is also a beautiful painting of a poor labourer's family Christmas celebration. There are sketches from the first edition of 'A Christmas Carol.'
If you plan on owning a copy of this most wonderful of all Christmas novels, this is the version to get.

This book comes nowhere close to living up to the claim that "no volume will provide more compelling and inspiring answers to our children's questions" about what it means to be an American. It is important to remember that while we might be tempted to buy into the kind of simplistic view Bennett presents in The Children's Book of America, what America was and is and who the people are who have lived and are living here are far more complex than he seems capable of conceiving. His stereotypic images might resonate with some people who long for simplicity and the "good ol' days" that never really were, but telling a story the way one wants to does not make it so, ignoring things one doesn't understand doesn't make them go away, and buying into ignorance is never a good idea. His sanitized vision of America should offend our sensibilities in light of the reality many of us live, and represents the co-opting of our children's education and future for the perpetuation of a grossly unequal and unjust status quo. Rather than serving up the pablum offered to our children by Bennett, we need to help them understand and critique the society in which they live, and prepare them for the kind of participatory democracy that can bring about the kind of social justice and egalitarian society that will permit each of us to live a bit of the American dream. We need to develop more critical and democratic thought than that evidenced by a BarnesandNoble.com customer-reviewer whose attempt at critique concludes,
"The unintentional irony of juxtaposing Martin Luther King's 'dream' speech with blatantly racist folksongs is typical of Bennett's charmingly naive and confused view of morality and virtue. The inclusion of songs and stories promoting racial harmony appears to have been driven by a simple-minded sense of political correctness. But Bennett nonetheless succeeds in providing the children of America with a much needed lesson in patriotism and morality. God knows that the public has completely lost their sense of morality. Thank you, Mr. Bennett, for teaching my children what is good and virtuous." This is part of what is wrong with America.

Bill Bennett again has created a compilation of intrigueing stories that will stimulate young minds and provide a foundation for children to begin to appreciate what it means to be an American. Parents who have ultra-liberal views that America is basically a sexist, racist, homophobic, corrupt, sinister empire should pick another selection. Parents who believe that America is a wonderful place that is the beacon for liberty, freedom and justice, who may have made some mistakes along the way would be well served to provide this valuable educational tool to their children.

I really liked this book, and so did my children.

Bennett has taken familiar vingettes (Pilgrims, Paul Bunyon, Johnny Apple Seed, Martin Luther King, Jr., moon walk, etc.) and presented them in a short form that is perfect for four to seven year olds and above.

Each story teaches lessons based on core values and can lead to good discussions with children in trying to explain the underlying values. The tales are also a wonderful introduction to the story of our country through our history and myths. They cover the range of the American Experience and are exactly the kind of tales that can serve as a launching pad to introduce youngsters to a wider exploration of our national heritage.

The stories themselves are well written and captivating (though my four year old's attention wandered with some -- it is for older than pre-school on the whole). The illustrations are first rate and help younger children understand the written story.

The format is perfect for bedtime stories -- good length for a one story a night reading. It is also one you'll want to return to again.

Sure it covers a lot of areas. But its all from 50,000 feet. After done reading it, you may gain an general understanding of different subjects and area of interests of photography. There are not enough technical details to show how the result would be acheived. Don't expect this book to help you improve your photography skill. The pictures look like they come from the early 70s and certainly not creme of the crop. Many of them while relevant but not doing a good job showing the concepts.
After reading other books, I've found this book a complete waste of money. 2 stars for the vast coverage.

The strength of this book is its coverage of many areas. Those wishing to know about setting up thier own studio and printing color and black and white photos will find it here. Very useful for providing information on diverse topics from composition to meterering, travel to wildlife, lens choices, differences in print and slide film etc. The photos are also good references for ideas and concepts that were previousily explained.

It gave me the full concept of 135 photography. From using wide range of lens to dark room photography. In addition, it gave me the idea to take a wonderful and detailed photos