GB Books

Living Energies gives the understandings necessary for revitalizing Planet Earth -- for understanding which human actions either enhance or destroy the vitality of our forests, soils, air and water. I tell people about Living Energies more often than I promote my own books! Living Energies is the best book in the world for understanding the extensive wisdom of the Austrian forester and genius Viktor Schauberger. Academics, politicians and many other decision-makers should all study this book, if they can set aside any prejudices they might have regarding some inclusions of spirituality in a science book. It's the big picture!

Jeane Manning

(First I should say that my copy of this book, by the same publisher, has a different sub-title than the one listed. Also, it's my understanding that this publisher (Gateways) was bought out, and I very much suspect that the book now in print by New leaf is more-or-less exactly the same as this one. Buy it!!)
Viktor Schauberger came from a long line of Austrian foresters, whose family motto was Fidus in Silvus Silentibus: "Faith in the Silent Forests." It's almost as if the trees & rivers were in his blood. His profound power of observation permitted him to see what others overlooked, and to draw conclusions that were both practical and utterly unique. He eschewed a university education because he knew it would deaden his mind, and he had learned enough in school already to find deep disagreement with a number of sacrosanct theories. He is probably best known (for those few who know of him) for his profound observations of water as a living being - most particulary the natural vortical inner motion of rivers, and their need to meander and maintain low temperatures, and the natural formation of springs. He also deeply understood the nature and needs of trees - which, in essence, create water, and have a tremendous effect on weather systems.
Because Viktor's observations, discoveries and inventions were so unique, and outside the strictures of establishment science, he had to create his own terminology. In this sense he was very much like the old alchemists, who had to coin new words for their discoveries. And too, Viktor's view of the elements was unlike any other. For example, with the exception of oxygen and hydrogen, he termed all the other elements "carbones." In fact his whole vision, with all of its extraordinary explication, is alchemical - not the least because it includes Spirit. It deals with natural transformations and energies: his dictum was "Comprehend and copy nature!"
Probably his greatest gift to us was his recognition of implosion, rather than explosion, as the natural, harmless means of releasing/creating energy, and he did much work in this area.
Not suprisingly he was much maligned by the powerful status quo. His life was fraught with treachery and great adversity.
Read this book and learn about a truly great man. You'll find it very exciting.

I have every book written by Callum Coats on the Schauberger subject. This book, if you only buy one of them, is the definative book to get. I would basically call it a complet Schauberger reference work, as it contains all of the material that will later be expanded in the "Eco-Technology" series - which contain more thorough descriptions of Viktor's work. This book is great on its own, however, and will not dissapoint anyone interested in learning more about the "water wizard" - Viktor Schauberger. I highly recommend this book as a great starting point for study on everything from understanding the vortex, implosion technology, water-power in general, Schauberger's inventions, his forestry upbringing, and as a general biography, this book can't be beat.

This is one of my all time favorite books--even though much of it I had to read and re-read several times to get a clear understanding of some of the points it makes. I believe everyone should read this...several times---it has some truly fascinating information in it and is an excelent book to really get you thinking and appreciating the nature of this planet we live on!

If somebody have some interest in water must read that book.
It give great insights of how we should consider water and how to use it.Schauberger is the pioneer on what really water is,and with all of other things i read on that subject i think this is the one to start with.Many research today lead to the way Schauberger saw water many years ago.It prove too that you don't need to be a scientist to understand water.Great reading.
Bruno.
briberdy@dagua.com

Archer of the Yard used to laugh but that was some months ago Britain is a conquered state the King is in the Tower of London and Chruchill has been executed. Some Britons carry on the fight there is a government in exile in Canada and there are groups closer to home who ambush mounted patrols but being scattered divided and basically without a plan the groups aren't going to last very long. Some others openly collaborate and Archer who is basically a good guy trying to do his best in a bad situation just wants to do what he has always done-solve crimes.

Now it is this point that things rapidly start to spiral out of control.

Overall-The only issue I have with the book is this why would the weak English resistance look to Archer to help? Also why would the German occupiers trust Archer? Oh course the answer is simple they do this because the narrative requires it but I am not wholly convinced.

What would England have been like if the Germans had invaded England in 1940 and won? Well the King is in the Tower of London, the Queen and the Princesses are in New Zealand, and Churchill has been executed by firing squad. Only the southern part of England is under occupation, but the Nazis are heading up most government bureaus including Scotland Yard. In addition, there are the internecine battles between the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, the SS and the collaborating puppet government. Throw in a British Resistance a la "Le Maquise" and you've got a great story.

What if Germany occupied England during WWII, that is the premise of this novel by Len Deighton. SS GB" is a thoroughly fascinating, absorbing, terrific novel--a first-rate murder mystery wrapped in a huge, wartime conspiracy, with a detailed, completely believable backdrop of Britain defeated and occupied by the Nazis. A real page turner sure to please not just Deighton fans but anyone who loves history.

This was a great book for many reasons. First of all, it was thrilling and moved very quickly. But it also had depth and intelligence. The picture he paints of German occupied England is very beleivable. Most of all, the plot was thick and there were some good turns and twists, especially at the end.

It's November 1941 in Nazi-occupied Britain, and Detective Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard finds himself reporting to SS Gruppenfuehrer Fritz Kellermann. The King is a prisoner in the Tower of London; Churchill has been shot after a brief trial in Berlin; Germany and the USSR are still the best of friends; and the USA is reluctant to intervene. Austerity holds Britain in its icy grip, with luxuries more or less limited to the German occupying forces and those who succeed in ingratiating themselves.

The successful invasion left swathes of ruin and destruction that have not yet been repaired. The blackened shell of a Panzer IV tank still sits halfway up Wimbledon high street. Anyone violating curfew, or breaking regulations, is likely to be shot or sent to a concentration camp. Yet there is no point in rebellion - that would just get more people killed. Apparently, the only way forward is to cooperate with the Germans. Kellermann hints to Archer that his young son might possibly attend the good German school in Highgate... On the other hand, perhaps he should be sent to a training school for young Nazis in Germany.

While developing one of his usual opaque plots, Deighton cleverly shows the dilemma facing Archer and others in positions of responsibility. We see the British resistance as more like the present-day Iraqi insurgency (depicted as terrorists, criminals and diehards) than in the heroic light that has retrospectively fallen on those who persisted in fighting the Nazis after their governments had surrendered.

As usual in a Deighton story, it is no use trying to work out which side anyone is on. Mostly, each of the leading players is on his (or her) own side. The question is: who can profit most by cooperating with whom? The answers turn out to be surprising indeed. Tension starts to build with the abrupt arrival of SS Standartenfuehrer Huth from Berlin - a man who stands for no nonsense, works for Himmler, and has dauntingly direct methods. Can the Resistance exploit tensions between the German Army and the SS to rescue the King? What is the secret of the scientist who is found shot dead, apparently suffering from an extreme case of sunburn? Add a beautiful American journalist, a sinister British secret service officer, a US military expedition, sundry criminals, black-marketeers and collaborators, stir vigorously... and get ready for some stunning entertainment.

This is a great story, strangely and gorgeously illustrated. It is the story of Bobo, a man who makes food for all the animals - only one day a 'funny thing' comes along. It is not an animal, it insists it is an aMinal.

The funny thing won't eat any of the food Bobo has for the animals, but says he loves eating dolls, not just any dolls, the dolls of very good children. Bobo doesn't like this, so he says he has something much better than dolls, and goes to make it. Something which will make the aMinals tail grow longer, and his beautiful blue points on his back get bluer and more beautiful. The aminal likes the sound of htis and waits happily. Bobo goes back to his house and mixes all the animals food in together and makes a jim jill which he gives to the aminal - which loves it. His tail does grow longer - and his points more beautiful.

A wonderful story of goodness, patience and distraction. Nice lessons for children (and adults!) here. Loved the illustrations - from the same author as Too many cats!

When my children were small they got this book from the library every other time we went, and I just ordered it for my grandchildren. Great to read together - ages maybe 4-7.

A delightful dragon with an apetite for "jum-jills" sits on top of a mountain devouring them. The drawings beautifully show his tail growing longer and longer as it curls around the peak. I must have a copy for my grandchildren!

At a local used bookstore, while walking along the picture books aisle, I spotted a text that looked like it had at six to seven decades on it's shoulders. The book was The Funny Thing (a first library edition, too), one that I'd heard of, and even more important, one by Wanda Gag. For those of you who don't know, Wanda Gag is perhaps the best picture book author/illustrator of the 20's and 30's. Ms. Gag was the recipient of two Newbery Honor awards (for writting) and two Caldecott Honor awards (for her beautifully-detailed pen-and-ink drawings). And though Ms. Gag wrote only a handful of books, her illustrations were some of the first in picture book history to be recognized as 'real' art. That's what makes each of them special.

Now onto the review. Within the first page of the story, we are introduced to Bobo, a baby-faced man who lives in a cave on top of the mountains all by his lonesome. Well, except for the animals, which Bobo takes time out to feed every day. He even has a stand where animals can feast on an assortment of dainties including, "nut cakes for the fuzzy-tailed squirrels" and "seed puddings for the pretty fluttering birds". Everything goes well for Bobo until on a beautiful day, he encounters an animal that looks like a cross between a dog and a dragon. This 'funny thing', as he calls it, talks, insisting that it is an aMinal, rather than an animal. The funny thing then asks what Bobo has for him to eat. After showing the funny thing all the different types of food he has to offer, and the funny thing rejecting each food, Bobo learns of what The Funny Thing loves to eat. Dolls. Yes, dolls. Bobo is terribly upset that The Funny Thing eats dolls, thinking of all the small children left doll-less by the aminals appetite. So Bobo decides to combine all the foods he has to make something The Funny Thing might actually like. And it works. But there's one problem: The Funny Things tails keeps growing longer and nothing can seem to stop it.

Wanda Gags creativity cannot be matched, and her books are some of the few that are just as good as they were the day they were published. The text in the story, as you may have noticed are hand-lettered. And, like always, the pictures are amazing. I'm tellin' you guys, Wanda Gag's work is some of the best out there.

R, your friendly neighborhood reviewer

Imagine my feelings when I couldn't locate my "over 50" years old copy of The Funny Thing! Not only can I repeat the whole story but also my children and their children. Problem is I can't find my copy and without the pictures, I feel a little lost. This book is a tradition in our family and the uncountable times I have served the children "jumjills" has become a family joke. An invaluable book - wonderful story, but then I've always been a Wanda Gag fan - and so are my children and grandchildren.

Young readers will be stimulated by Jean Fritz's story of a young lad who wants to know all there is to know about George Washington! There's a lot that he knows, but he just doesn't know what Washington ate for breakfast.

Following from one step to the next, he researches until the mystery is solved, demonstrating that persistence brings a reward. Kids will want to read this book over and over again. (And the hoecakes aren't bad, either!)

I think this book is very awesome especially if you want to know what
George Washington ate. It talks about a boy who is named after George Washington and has the same birth date. If you want to find out more read it yourself.

This book is wonderful and engaging. It is about a little boy, George W. Allen who shares his name and his birthday with George Washington. He knows many facts about George W. but he wants to know more. One day he decides he wants to know what George W. had for breakfast and the learning adventure begins!! I read it to my boys 6 and 4 and they loved it. My sons enjoyed the facts about George W. like: he had two horses named Nelson and Blueskin. There were many "fun facts" such as this in the book. I loved it because in addition to learning about George W., it shows children different ways to search for information. George Allen first goes to the library from there to the card catalog, and then the biographies. Then his family took a trip to Washington D.C., and to George Washington's home in Virginia. It's a great addition to any family library.

I am a second grade teacher, and have a 8 and 4 year old at home. I loved this book, both at school and home. We read it every President's Day, and bake up a serving of hoecakes. It is a really fun way to teach children about the history of George Washington.

You have the wrong illustrator listed. The illustration on the cover is by Tomie dePaola and you have Paul Galdone listed.

The Clue of the Leaning Chimny is a book filled with adventure!!
It all starts with a man in a raincoat and stolen potery. Then a
friend asks Nancy to investigate his missing friends. Can Nancy solve a clue,and wrap up both cases? Read The Clue of the Leaning Chimny and find out!!!!!

When I first read this book I couldn't put it down.It was sointeresting and excitable.All the time I couldn't wait to read whatwould happen next.I would encourage anyone who is interested in mysteries and detective novels to read this book, as this is one of the best book I have ever read.

in this exiting mystery nancy tries to locate a missing vase wich is in dick miltons pottery shop.this vase is very rare and the only way dick thinks he can pay mr.soong,the owner of the vase,back is to locate a clay pit near a leaning chimney.while nancy is searching for the leaning chimney she finds a bording house that has one and when nancy goes in one of the rooms of the bording house to investinate she sees a man enter a secret panel in a closet nancy goes in the secret panel and finds it leadsto the next doors house attic.the man nancy saw eneter the attic escaped but when exploring the attic she finds a lot of rare pottrty vases in the attic!!!!!latter on nancy and bess and george go in the woods to investigate to see if they can find the right leaning chimney which they belive it is in the woods because a professor told them something about remenbering a leaning chimney and the girls soon find out that there is a leaning chimney in that area!the way nancy solves the mystery of the missing vases and the fake imitations of vases is exiting.expesially when nancy and mr.soong go to the leaning chimney to find out if mr.soongs friends which went missing five years before are being held prisinor there.

This book is really really good. Instead of a 5 star rating it deserves a 10 star rating. I could not put this book down. It was so bad that my reading teacher had to yell at me to pay attention and stop reading.I read this book in one day because I could not put it down. It was like my eyes were glued to the pages. My friend was doing a book report and she needed a book, she never ever reads so i was like just take this one and she finished it in one day also! The whole collection of Nancy Drew's book are like this, they are all really good,at least a 4.5 rating for all of them.I have only 30 books of the collection and I am still going, I am trying to finish the whole series, Carolyn Keene won't let you down, when it comes to a good book.Ths book is really, really good and i have nothing bad to say about it! Now since my friend read "The Clue of the leaning Chimney," she has asked her mom to get the rest of the collection. This book has action,laughs,thrillers, and much much more. Anyone who reads this review should believe me and get this 5 star rating book!

This review concerns the original 1949 edition as well as the edited 1967 edition which has a plot similar to the original. Bess' cousin Dick asks for Nancy's help when a valuable, old, oriental vase that was on display is stolen from his pottery shop. He also tells Nancy about a pit of china clay that is supposed to be located somewhere around River Heights near a leaning chimney. The clay is used in making fine pottery and could make Dick wealthy if he could find it. Finally, the owner of the stolen vase, Mr. Soong, seeks Nancy's help in finding his missing friend and the man's daughter, who came to America a few years previous, but disappeared before they arrived at Mr. Soong's. This is certainly one of the more interesting books of the Nancy Drew series. The book quickly grabbed my attention and managed to hold it until the final page, which I can really only say happened with about 1/3 of the books in the series. There is quite a bit of action in the book and the writing is very good, at least in the original edition; unfortunately, in most of the revised editions the writing has been dumbed down. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I think that most Nancy Drew fans would place this one on their Best Of the Series lists.

"Accidental Death of an Anarchist," by Dario Fo, is adapted by Gavin Richards from a translation by Gillian Hanna. The Methuen Modern Plays edition contains an introduction by Stuart Hood; Fo himself contributes an author's note and a postscript. The opening pages note that the original Italian edition had a copyright date of 1970. The author's note describes how the play was inspired by the death of an anarchist being held in police custody.

This outrageous comedy opens with a character known as the "Maniac" being brought to a police station. It's a very "metatheatrical" piece; Fo warps theatrical conventions and makes jokes in a way that reminds me a bit of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author." There are some really funny scenes, but a very serious vein still runs throughout the piece.

Ultimately, this is a thought-provoking piece about truth. What is the true story, and how do you discover it? Fo's satiric wit explores police brutality as well as the relationships among the police, the media, and the political establishment. I recommend this piece by the Nobel Prize winning Fo to all with an interest in 20th century drama and/or political activism.

There has been a long debate about the death of the theatre. And that debate still continues, but plays are nevertheless being produced, actors are playing Hamlet over and over again, and directors are staging everything, from timeless classics to newest avant-garde. Even so, death of the theatre seem iminent. New methods of expression appeared which drove public fromt the teatre seats. Nowadays, in those seats you can only find aged critics, younger men and women still posessed by the power of art" and some older couples which have no place to go. Can there be future to such setting?
Whilst future reamins obscured in unsettling clouds, past looks glorious and full of appeal. Not only in works like ones of O'neil, Brecht, Pirandello or Shakespeare but also in the ones that have more modern" sound, whatever that should mean. Dario Fo is one of those men who brings with himself entire glamour of theatre together with precise sharpness of satire and political subversion.
Upon reading this play, you cannot but think of Groucho Marx and his extravagant style, high intelligence and unparalleled big-mouthedness. All of those characteristics were incorporated into the Fo's character called Maniac. But such comparison might not be entirely fair, having in mind what was said before. Still, Death of an anarchist" functions as classic farce, with what it seems as a total anarchy in script and staging, anarchy that is apealing in such a way that you simple cannot put this book away.
Magic of the theatre shows itself in the best way on these pages. You are being drawn into the world wihtout rules, which scarringly resembles our own and which we can relate to. That kind of identification puts us on the edge. And Fo is aware of that and uses that fact in such a brilliant way, that you have to bow to him.
It is quite unnecessary and to some extent impossible to retell the story of Death of an anarchist". It would be exactly the same as if you were going to retell the Marx brothers film and expect that it would have the sam impact as seeing and hearing Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo act themselves crazy.
When you're feeling sad or you would just give up on everything and go with the flow, forgeting that posibility of rebellions ever existed, you should reach for this book, and it will charge up your dead batteries, making you feel the joy of existence and laughter all over again.

I saw a small production of this play a few years ago in downtown Minneapolis and was most interested in what it had to say about police interrogation techniques. This is not a topic which I would expect to be popular now, as most emphasis has been shifted to deadly confrontations, and the only major death in this play is of a suspect who was hanging out of a police department window before he dropped to his death. In the history of people being pick up for interrogation, this might be as famous someplace in Italy as the Biko case in South Africa, where police in Port Elizabeth picked Biko up and slammed him against the wall because he was not cooperating fully in their investigation of his attitude toward law and order.

I thought that the theme of the play was that the police get overly zealous in trying to pin a crime on a particular person once the police have made up their collective minds who they think should have committed the crime, as the defense allegations in the famous O.J. murder case seemed well founded when the methods of the L.A.P.D. were subject to the scrutiny of attorneys who are aware of how these things are usually done. In the case of the actual event upon which the Accidental Death of the Anarchist was based, the police techniques were subject to an official investigation, and the play was written as on ongoing farce which kept Italy informed as more facts came to light. The play may be way beyond the Zen of any audience, but if people think that something about the nature of the police is revealed in it, I don't think that those people should be considered as paranoid as they ought to be. Anyone who loses sleep over this kind of thing hasn't adjusted well to modern society, so they can probably find a shrink to give them pills that will put them to sleep, but that is a different topic, but not much different, really.

I truly enjoyed this play and again am wondering why it is not put on more often. Granted, it has a specific political objective, due to its timely plot and circumstancial event. Yet, as a performer, I find the quality of writing to be extremely wonderful. Interestingly, I also discovered that Fo's viewpoint on comedic and political theatre to be very similar to my own:

(It) grabs at the heart and guts, but attempts to get there by a violent moment of laughter. Because laughter does not remain at the bottom of the mind, leaving sediment which cannot be wiped off. Because laughter helps avoid one of the worst dangers, which is catharsis. (5)

Fo wanted the reverse of catharsis, the emotional release, and it is very apparent in Accidental Death of an Anarchist. He seeks to provoke, debate, to arouse feelings and to challenge ideas while inviting his audience to consider new points of view. I respect this form of theatre, for it is the hardest to write, collaborate, and present clearly to an already cynical audience in this day and age. By using an absurdist/satirical/farcial approach towards the issues of power, its abuse, and political stations, he creates sense out of nonsensical characters and situations. The maniac, a harliquien like character, leads the members of a police station somewhere in a city, in this case we assume New York or London, through a dizzying investigation around the questionable death of an anarchist from years before. Mysteriously, the anarchist had "thrown" himself from a four story window during the course of police investigation. We, the audience suspect foul play for the cause, and in effect we see the maniac give nothing but insane play to the accused. He is quick witted and incredibly dynamic with language and vast information. The maniac flaunts with their pride and guilt, causing mass confusion. The audience cannot help but love his crazy ways. In true satiric fasion, just and darkly comedic rewards are served to all characters by the end. The audience is left wondering how these events effect them. The ever present window in the scene is the only realistic element that the audience must contend with. It reminds them of the reality of the crime, how it really took place, and yet they are forced to laugh at it and find disgust in that humor. It is this form of satire that provokes thoughts and action towards change, which is what Fo wanted. It is this subtle stealthiness of dark humor that creates the desired effect of political theatre: change, perhaps for the better, or in this case, for the playwrights cause.

In the age we're living in today, this is the perfect satire of police departments. We always here in the news about some cop in some city getting caught framing someone innocent (or sometimes worse). Fo does a wonderful job of humorizing that situation. Some might call the play over-the-top, but they're just missing the humor of it all. I've read a lot of plays, and this is definitely one of the best modern plays out there. Everything about it screams "wit." The characters are great, and memorable too. If you have the chance to buy it, don't miss it!

This is one of my favorite Halloween read-alouds. Tomie DePaola's illustrations are gorgeous and funny, full of vivid Halloween oranges, greens, purples, and blacks, and the story is an offbeat delight that will introduce your child to such delightful vocabulary as "ghoul," "varmint," and "rapscallion." Not at all frightening for even smallest kids, quite funny, and with prose that rolics right off your tongue -- The Vanishing Pumpkin is as much fun for the grown-up reader as it is for the young listener snuggled on his lap.

Cute tale of an old man and old woman, each hundreds of years old, looking for the person that stole their big pumkin. Just as they were going to pick it to make pie, it vanished. They go to see the ghoul, and show they have ways to make you talk. You see they are both witches with very old power. They go to see the rapscallion, and even the varmint. But no one knows who took their pumpkin. They finally meet up with a powerful wizard, even older than they are. Will they find their pumpkin in time to make pumpkin pie?

Some repetitive lines and rhyming make this a nice book for reading to the younger ones, and not scary at all. Good story to go to sleep with. Terrific art work and colors by the great Tommi de Paola. I reccommend.

What a sense of fun that pervades this delightful, magical story involving old folks, wizards, ghouls, and one big pumpkin! Written by Tony Johnston and illustrated by the inimitable Tomie dePaola, this is a winning Halloween story.

"There was a 700-year-old-woman. There was an 800-year-old man. They were rocking by the fire as the sun came up." I know old folks (and I mean old folks in this case) arise early, but I get the impression that these two have been rocking all night. A great start!

When the old man compares the great pumpkin that has vanished with the rising sun, the sun becomes a character that follows the couple through the day and their escapades in finding that orange orb. That pumpkin was grown to make a Halloween pie and it must be found!

On their quest they meet what are typically scary folk -- a ghoul, a rapscallion picking mushrooms, a varmint just sitting around, and finally a snoozing wizard. By this time the sun has gone down, Halloween is almost over, and the old man has not had his pumpkin pie!

How the old man gets his pie (for he does, of course) is part of the silly fun of this book. What piques children's imagination are the repetitive word plays, silly searches, all within the framework of a seemingly scary story. The artwork is an equal partner in --yep, this winner!

I have three young boys and they always find this story fun to read or have read to them. We have had it for several years and this slightly offbeat tale never seems to get old. It is a good addition to your Halloween library, although I would go for some classics like "The Headless Horseman," "Tailypo," or other classic tales that are not so scary for young children.

If you like this you might also try "Four Scary Stories" from the duo of Tony Johnson and Tomie Depaola.

In Mr. Johnston's "The Vanishing Pumpkin" we are introduced to a 700-year old woman and an 800-year old man. This immediately sets the tone for the high level of playful silliness the reader will encounter in the pages within!

Our heroes have a problem: their pumpkin, destined to be a pumpkin pie, has gone missing suddenly, and on Halloween, no less! Right then, the search (and the fun!) begins. It's not in the coffeepot. It's not in the bed, it's not anywhere! "Snitched!" cries the old woman. "'Great snakes!' croaked the old man. 'Who would dare snitch a pumpkin from an 800-year old man?'"

Who indeed...!! They set off down the road to find the missing pumpkin and run into some wonderfully kooky Halloween characters, including a ghoul in stovepipe hat and button boots, a rapscallion picking mushrooms (he is in a heavy cloak with a hooded mask-- my Star Wars savvy students said he looks like a Jawa), a rat-like yellow varmint and finally a wizard in starred robes, spectacles and pointed shoes. All along the way the old man and the old woman play tricks on these funny folk to try to get them to surrender the pumpkin which, of course, they don't have.

The illustrations by Tomie dePaola are wonderfully funny in the way that only Mr. dePaola can make them. Though this is a Halloween story, the illustrations are bright and silly enough to make the story much more funny than frightening. The pace of the text flows quickly but is repetitive enough for young readers to stay hooked by the story.

All in all, it's a wonderful book, and you shouldn't wait for Halloween to go out and get a copy of this fun, fantastic tale!

Great book to introduce Van Gogh - nice reproductions and storyline, but then I'm biased as this is my favorite artist!

My five year old was so inspired reading this that she went to the basement and proceeded to make her own copies of his works. It is nice and simple, but with a decent amount of info and great pics.

My 5, 6 and 8 yr old kids are entranced when I read them the Smart About Art books. After reading one, I came back to Amazon and ordered as many as I could.

They are written as a student would write a book report, but are humorous, touching and extremely informative with plenty of examples of the artists' work. I attended Art School 20+ years ago and it was a refresher course for me as well. It includes background/personal info about the artist, but only as much as a child can comprehend and as it pertains to his art. These books have just the right amount of info on the artists and their work.

I wanted to share the world of art with my kids. Though my youngest two still use coloring books and my oldest reads chapter books without illustrations, these Smart About Art picture books are the perfect mix where they all can gain something from them--this series is neither too young nor too advanced.

After years of reading picture books, my kids often ask "can that really happen?" or "is that person real?" I wanted a break from the imaginative world of children's lit and now I'm happy to finally answer "Yes, this person really existed, this really happened!" after reading the Smart About Art books.

I wanted something to spark my 6YO son's interest in art. This book sure did. He asked me to read it to him a 2nd time right on the spot. He also spotted a Van Gogh print that I brought home. This is a fine series. I also got the Degas which wasn't quite as interesting but he still liked it. I just ordered Picasso and a few others. Get the Van Gogh and if your child loves it, try some of the others. (I also liked that this mentioned Van Gogh was very depressed once at loving a woman who didn't love him back.)

This is what my daughter called the famous painting when I first bought her this book. She is almost 4 and has owned this book for about 9 months and it is regularly a favorite that she likes to read...well, more often she likes to look at the pictures and name the paintings. This is a great intro to art book for young children. I highly recommend as a first book for your little art-lover, or art-lover-to-be.

Jess Brallier did a terrific job presenting facts about Albert Einstein. The book included every single detail about Einstein's marvelous life. It will surely intrigue readers.

For me reading about someone special like Einstein is a prize because you get to learn about someone's remarkable life and at the same time explore another world.

Einstein's biography will inspire readers because of his lifelong lesson-to keep on learning and never give up!
Albert Einstein is my role model. He was a hardworking and a kind person who donated so much to the world.

I recommend this book to people who are interested in Albert Einstein and those who want to change the world!

by Emily P. (soon to be in grade 4)

I thought it was great and exsiting im in 5th grade and i love social studis and history my mom cinthia trys to get me all the who was books collection

I thought this was a great book for my daughter who is in 3rd grade. She enjoys biographies and was interested in getting to know more about Albert Einstein. She read this one in about a week, a faster reader could finish it in a day or two. I have a few other selections from this series in my wish list.

This book contains many facts about Albert Einstein that may be new to you. Although I have several books about this man, this remains my favorite. In fact when a student's father accidentally spilled his coffee on it, I knew I had to get a new one for the classroom library.

I thought Who Was Albert Einstein? was a great book. Hats off to Jess Brallier! I have read this book two or three times, which is rare for me, since I do not like to re-read things, so that must tell you how good this book is! I learned a lot of things like he was born on March 14, 1879, he had two wives, he wasn't the best father (in his own words), his brain is floating around in a jar today, 52 years after his death, and many more interesting things! You should read this book, and I would even recommend it to adults!!!

This last of 3 volumes in Deutscher's biography caps an astonishing and captivating historiographical achievement. Deutscher weaves together character study, drama, and historical narrative to give an authoritative account of Trotsky's tragic final years, as the great leader waged a rearguard ideological struggle in the face of an avalanche of Stalinist harassment, slander, repression and murder. Simultaneously, Deutscher lays bare the blunders and disasters of the Communist International under Stalin's leadership, making clear how inexorably these failures followed from Stalin's deadened bureaucratic-centralist socialism.

Deutscher's deft handling of the facts, personalities, ideas, and situations of the time is simply unparallelled, and makes for a tremendously enjoyable and informative read. His account of Trotsky's last hours left me in awed tears.

Essential material for anyone exploring the question of where socialism went wrong in the 20th century.

THIS YEAR MARKS THE 66TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF LEON TROTSKY-ONE OF HISTORY'S GREAT REVOLUTIONARIES. IT IS THEREFORE FITTING TO REVIEW THE THREE VOLUME WORK OF HIS DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHER, THE PROPHET ARMED, THE PROPHET UNARMED, THE OUTCAST.

Isaac Deutscher's three-volume biography of the great Russian Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky although written over one half century ago remains the standard biography of the man. Although this writer disagrees , as I believe that Trotsky himself would have, about the appropriateness of the title of prophet and its underlying premise that a tragic hero had fallen defeated in a worthy cause, the vast sum of work produced and researched makes up for those basically literary differences. Deutscher, himself, became in the end an adversary of Trotsky's politics around his differing interpretation of the historic role of Stalinism and the fate of the Fourth International but he makes those differences clear and in general they does not mar the work. I do not believe even with the eventual full opening of all the old Soviet-era files any future biographer will dramatically increase our knowledge about Trotsky and his revolutionary struggles. Moreover, as I have mentioned elsewhere in other reviews while he has not been historically fully vindicated he is in no need of any certificate of revolutionary good conduct.

At the beginning of the 21st century when the validity of socialist political programs as tools for change is in apparent decline or disregarded as utopian it may be hard to imagine the spirit that drove Trotsky to dedicate his whole life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only the one of the most consistent and audacious of a revolutionary generation of mainly Eastern Europeans and Russians who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the political struggles that would shape the modern world. As Trotsky noted elsewhere this element was missing, with the exceptions of Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and precious few others, in the Western labor movement. Deutscher using Trotsky's own experiences tells the story of the creation of this revolutionary cadre with care and generally proper proportions. Here are some highlights militant leftists should think about.

On the face of it Trotsky's personal profile does not stand out as that of a born revolutionary. Born of a hard working, eventually prosperous Jewish farming family in the Ukraine (of all places) there is something anomalous about his eventual political occupation. Always a vociferous reader, good writer and top student under other circumstances he would have found easy success, as others did, in the bourgeois academy, if not in Russia then in Western Europe. But there is the rub; it was the intolerable and personally repellant political and cultural conditions of Czarist Russia in the late 19th century that eventually drove Trotsky to the revolutionary movement- first as a `ragtag' populist and then to his life long dedication to orthodox Marxism. As noted above, a glance at the biographies of Eastern European revolutionary leaders such as Lenin, Martov, Christian Rakovsky, Bukharin and others shows that Trotsky was hardly alone in his anger at the status quo. And the determination to something about it.

For those who argue, as many did in the New Left in the 1960's, that the most oppressed are the most revolutionary the lives of the Russian and Eastern European revolutionaries provide a cautionary note. The most oppressed, those most in need of the benefits of socialist revolution, are mainly wrapped up in the sheer struggle for survival and do not enter the political arena until late, if at all. Even a quick glance at the biographies of the secondary leadership of various revolutionary movements, actual revolutionary workers who formed the links to the working class , generally show skilled or semi-skilled workers striving to better themselves rather than the most downtrodden lumpenproletarian elements. The sailors of Kronstadt and the Putilov workers in Saint Petersburg come to mind. The point is that `the wild boys and girls' of the street do not lead revolutions; they simply do not have the staying power. On this point, militants can also take Trotsky's biography as a case study of what it takes to stay the course in the difficult struggle to create a new social order. While the Russian revolutionary movement, like the later New Left mentioned above, had more than its share of dropouts, especially after the failure of the 1905 revolution, it is notably how many stayed with the movement under much more difficult circumstances than we ever faced. For better or worst, and I think for the better, that is how revolutions are made.

Once Trotsky made the transition to Marxism he became embroiled in the struggles to create a unity Russian Social Democratic Party, a party of the whole class, or at least a party representing the historic interests of that class. This led him to participate in the famous Bolshevik/Menshevik struggle in 1903 which defined what the party would be, its program, its methods of work and who would qualify for membership. The shorthand for this fight can be stated as the battle between the `hards' (Bolsheviks, who stood for a party of professional revolutionaries) and the `softs' (Mensheviks, who stood for a looser conception of party membership) although those terms do not do full justice to these fights. Strangely, given his later attitudes, Trotsky stood with the `softs', the Mensheviks, in the initial fight in 1903. Although Trotsky almost immediately afterward broke from that faction I do not believe that his position in the 1903 fight contradicted the impulses he exhibited throughout his career- personally `libertarian', for lack of a better word , and politically hard in the clutch.

Even a cursory glance at most of Trotsky's career indicates that it was not spent in organizational in-fighting, or at least not successfully. Trotsky stands out as the consummate free-lancer. More than one biographer has noted this condition, including his definitive biographer Isaac Deutscher. Let me make a couple of points to take the edge of this characterization though. In that 1903 fight mentioned above Trotsky did fight against Economism (the tendency to only fight over trade union issues and not fight overtly political struggles against the Czarist regime) and he did fight against Bundism (the tendency for one group, in this case the Jewish workers, to set the political agenda for that particular group). Moreover, he most certainly favored a centralized organization. These were the key issues at that time. Furthermore, the controversial organizational question did not preclude the very strong notion that a `big tent' unitary party was necessary. The `big tent' German Social Democratic model held very strong sway among the Russian revolutionaries for a long time, including Lenin's Bolsheviks. The long and short of it was that Trotsky was not an organization man, per se. He knew how to organize revolutions, armies, Internationals, economies and so on when he needed to but on a day to day basis no. Thus, to compare or contrast him to Lenin and his very different successes is unfair. Both have an honorable place in the revolutionary movement; it is just a different place.

This is the final volume of Isaac Deutscher's famous three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky, the great Russian revolutionary. Deutscher's biography is the standard biography of Trotsky by which all other biographies of Trosky are measured.

Picking up the life of Trotsky from the time of his first exile from the Soviet Union in 1929, this book carries the story of the later portion of Trotsky's life all the way to his murder in Mexico in 1940.

Deutscher's writing is enticing and holds the interest of the reader. The book is also wonderfully indexed and serves as a guide to the voluminous writing of Leon Trosky during the last phase of his life.

The last ten years of Trotaky's life was one of exile and assassination, an account worthy of the death of Jesus and Socrates. Mme Trotsky even remarked that her husband when mortally wounded look like Jesus taken down from the cross in an El Greco.

It remains to me still incomprehensible that so many Communists and supporters of Communism did not come to Trotsky's defense and aid, allowing that thug Stalin to persecute him, to destroy his followers in morale and in life, and finally to send an assassin to finish him off. Granted that Trotsky's position against Stalin and in favor of the Soviet Union was perhaps too sophisticated for most Communists to rally to, he was after all still the greatest Communist figure after Lenin and perhaps even including Lenin.

Trotsky would of course have been horrified to learn of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but had he led the Soviet Union after Lenin much might have been different and better for all concerned. He certainly was more right than Stalin about Hitler, about China, and about the dangers of extremist collectivization and industrialization, even though collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization were program he had initially advanced against the hesitations of Stalin.

In the end Bolshevism has in Trotsky its hero and prophet which nothing can really take away.

This reprint series, others have correctly noted, is marked by numerous typos and other errors.

This is perhaps the most "weak" part of the "Prophet" trilogy, in that Deutscher thought Trotsky's opposition to Stalin was, at the time it happened, useless, as Stalinism was the necessary mechanism of modernization that made a future fully-fledeged socialist society possible. Now, amid the smouldring ruins of Stalinism and with the former Soviet bloc reduced to a sorry parody of compradore capitalism of the Latin American style, one can be certain that, in the long run, Trotsky was right, after all, but then Deutscher puts his case so throughly that one can see precisely in what he was wrong and therefore how Trotsky managed to make so outstanding and unexpected a prevision as the final demise of Stalinism. Only that makes this book a necessary reading.