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I received my copy when I purchased the Mother Goose preschool curriculum to homeschool my daughter. This book has quickly become her new favorite. She remembers the beach vacation we took in the summer and she particularly loves spotting the seagulls, having seen Finding Nemo recently. As the one who reads it to her every night, I like that it has few words on each page and gorgeous, realistic illustrations. It should definitely hold the beach-loving youngster's attention. I highly recommend it.

My four year old daughter just got the english/spanish copy and it's her favorite book. The illustrations are amazing. Mr. Astrella is a rare talent. His work comes alive and brings you to the beach. G.R. Dubois Raleigh,NC.

This book is not only wonderfully illustrated, but wonderfully written as well. It is a great way to reinforce a trip to the beach and to remind kids of what a wonderful time they had there. My 4-year old absolutely loves it!

If you have read Mondo 2000 before, then nothing in this book will be much of a surprise. In fact in 1998 this book is clearly retro. Still, to the new reader you will find much of the information interesting. The format is basically an A-Z of popular memes and cultural phenomena with a pseudo hypertext interface.
High gloss and flashy. Suitable for a coffee table, but you might want to keep it on your reference shelf.

A very 1990 look at the future, but well done withgood graphics. Covers music, fashion, Industry,etc.

The exhibit was breath-taking and the illustrations in this collection succeed in communicating some of the loneliness that pervades the paintings. I can't wait until someone translates the Prison Notes in their entirety.

This book is a nice help to reading Chinese. It helps to know which common characters have multiple pronunciations when looking them up. However it is not quite comprehensive, since some rather rare readings of characters are left out (these readings left out are REALLY rare, ones many Chinese people don't know).

The is the best handbook in coaching with Chinese woman. Inside the book, there are full of resource and methodology to learn by ourselves how to develop ourselve step by step.

This is one of my favorites. The beautiful color pictures are great. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. The list of ingredients clear. I tried many of the dishes and haven't been disappointed yet.

Another excelent selection from Jhon Rhee's series of forms. The moves are all excelently shown, depicted from many angles. Steping diagrams help students learn how to transition between moves. It is present at all the classes I teach for reference.

The recipes in the book made it seem easy to cook your own Chinese dishes. I'm 47 years old and have never tried making my own Chinese dishes (and I'm Chinese). Even after I thumbed thru the book, the only thing it made me do was order take out 3 nights in a roll!
One day, I will try one of the recipes in the book!

This is an excellent cookbook for those who are not familiar with cooking Chinese dishes. What I like most about this book is that the majority of recipes don't call for ingredients that are hard to find. Since I don't live anywhere near an Asian food store, this is a big plus for me. In addition, I'm a vegetarian and my husband is a big meat eater. This book has several vegetarian recipes in the back, so it satisfies both of our palates. To date, I have 18 Wei-Chuan cookbooks and I put this one in the top 5.

This book is one of a series put out by Wei-Chuan Publishing from Taiwan. I bought this particular title while living in Taiwan in 1992 and have used it continuously since. Part of the draw for me is that this book (like most of the Wei-Chuan publications) is bilingual (as I was studying Chinese in Taiwan). More importantly, the recipes are easy to follow, have good pictures of what each finished dish should look like, and has a front section on mixing various sauces that can be used with whatever you want to stir-fry.

Most religous teachings have as a goal the transformation of self -- a move from selfishness, ignorance, and -- in many traditions -- sin towards understanding of reality, compassion for others, and a weakening of the bonds of ego. These goals are at the heart of Buddhism and of the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra is a seminal text of Mahayana Buddhism probably written about 350 A.D. The work is written in difficult, deliberately paradoxical terms. It encourages the reader to change his or her outlook by understanding the evanescent, changing, illusory character of what we take in our ordinary moments to be fixed reality. The Diamond Sutra tries to get the reader to let go of fixed concepts, of ideology, of selfishness, and to work towards a transformation to true wisdom and understanding and compassion for others. The Diamond Sutra also asks us to rethink our concept of a religious text. In the West, most people tend to see Scripture as specific teachings reflective in some sense of a Divine command. The Diamond Sutra and Buddhist teachings generally follow the Buddha's famous simile of the raft. The teachings are means to lead the reader to understanding -- or to the other side-- rather than ends or doctrines to be followed in their own right. When a person has attained enlightenment -- a rare occurence -- the teachings of the Sutras have fulfilled their goal and have no inherent value for their own sake.

In his study, "The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We See the World" Mu Soeng emphasizes the transformative intent of the Diamond Sutra. Mu Soeng is a former Zen monk and currently is the co-director of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Barre, Massachusetts. His book is a valuable guide to this difficult text designed, Soeng tells us (at xi), for "serious readers of Buddhist teachings."

The book is in three parts. Part I consists of a historical and thematic discussion of the Diamond Sutra to prepare the reader for a study of the text. Soeng sets the Sutra in the context of early Buddhism with its belief in the transformative power of shamanism. He explains well, in a short space, many important concepts of Mahayana Buddhism and how it differed from what its followers perceived as the monastic, scholastic Buddhism codified in the Abidahamma texts of Southern Buddhism. Soeng also discusses the concepts emptiness, skillful means, and compassion, as exemplified by the Mahayana ideal figure of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva takes a vow to help all beings become free from suffering before he or she passes into Nirvana.

Mu Soeng gives an analysis informed by many sources, both ancient and modern. He discusses in particular scientific developments in quantum theory and the literary philosophy of deconstruction as analogies to the teachings of the Diamond Sutra. I am skeptical of the value of these analogies and think they should be used with caution. I think these teachings, while having some relevance to the Sutra, are basically of the sort that the Buddha counseled his followers to avoid and to transform their minds instead by working towards a different, non-ideological approach to reality and to the end of the concept of self.

The second part of the book consists of a paragraph-by-paragraph presentation of the text of the Diamond Sutra together with a commentary. The commentary is basically Mu Soeng's own, informed by classical and modern texts. The third part of the book is the simple text of the Diamond Sutra, unadorned by commentary. Apparently, Mu Soeng suggests his readers approach the Sutra in a manner that follows his presentation (discussion of backround, text and commentary, simple text).

I found Mu Soeng's book helpful in approaching this text. The interested reader may wish to compare the approach of this book to the approach of Red Pine in his recent translation and commentary on the Diamond Sutra. Both Pine and Soeng emphasize the transformative power of the text. Pine has less detail on the backround of Buddhism and of the Mahayana School but he offers a wealth of classical Buddhist commentaries on the Diamond Sutra and integrates them well into his own thinking. His commentary draws much more on traditional Buddhist sources than does Soeng's.

Interestingly as well, Pine's pedagogical approach is almost the reverse of Mu Soeng's. After brief introductory material, Red Pine presents the unadorned text of the Diamond Sutra and then follows it with his detailed section-by-section commentary. Both Soeng's and Pine's approaches are insightful.

Mu Soeng's work will help the reader see the goal of transformation underlying the difficult and great teaching of the Diamond Sutra and to work towards its realization.

The Diamond Sutra is the core of the Buddhist Mahayana tradition and displays the paradoxical and mystical nature of Buddhism. Mu Soeng has written an extraordinary book for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. It is transformative for readers from almost any spiritual tradation, and the most articulate and absorbing commentary on the Buddhist Mahayana tradition as well as the Diamond Sutra. Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary on the same sutra pales by comparison. The book's first section is the most elaborate and remarkable exposition and history of Mahayana available in a popular text. Mu Soeng places both Buddhism and the Mahayana tradition in the historical and cultural context of the times, showing the remarkable creativity of the Buddha's views. His exposition of shunyata or emptiness is as close to human comprehension as we are likely to get.

Bowing to the two previous reviewers, I will add these few words.

If you want to know more about Prajnaparamita thought and practice than this book undertakes to explain, then you are in for some serious reading of very thick and mysterious books (commentaries on sutras), supplemented by no small amount of meditation practice. I hope that you will 'go for it'. Until then, Part Two of this book will serve you well.

The Part One is the real find, however, delivering a marvelous digest of the most recent scholarship of the history and analysis of the origins of Mahayana. Your simplistic distinctions go out the window, with no regrets. Most every Mahayanist will learn some new things here.

The illustrations are beautiful! This is an authentic presentation of the ancient folk ballad of Mu Lan. The translation adheres closely to the original Chinese text. This is simultaneously the great merit and the great fault of this translation, since the original text is allusive and elliptical in its phrasing. For example, the ancient text appears to have several speakers, but it is not always clear who is speaking at any moment. Because of this, the English translation is at times unclear. The imagery of Jeanne Lim's lean interpretation of this poem is nevertheless powerful and rich, comparable to Han Frankel's translation of this poem, and quite a relief from the excesses of Arthur Waley. I recommend it highly.

In the US, most people came to the legend of Mu Lan via or following the Disney version, which was, for a change, amazingly close to the source material. In China, this story is as well known as George Washington and his cherry tree is in America. I was quite taken with the Disney movie, and went looking for books of the story. Many books later, in both English and Chinese, I have come to regard this version as the best of all. The translation is excellent, the drawings nothing short of captivating. My children, now four to fourteen, all enjoy hearing me read this book aloud, and I have not grown tired of reading it. There are many small true things in this book which may not be readily striking to the casual Western reader, but to those who have studied or lived in China, the story makes a great deal of sense, both in the details and in the broad message of the story.. I can't heap enough praise on this book. It is perfect in every way, all the details are just right.

The story of Mu Lan is the chinese woman warrier fairy tale that describes a young girl that is capable and courageous. Her father has no elder son, so she disguises herself as a boy and joins up when they call her father's name. The original fairy tale poem is reproduced in poetry, both in chinese and english. The calligraphy is artfully done and the story rings genuine. The words are faithfully reproduced to convey the original meaning. It is a book you can display on your coffee table or read over and over to your children. The beautiful illustrations are done in watercolor on silk and are lush and expressive. Because of her service to the emperor, she is rewarded. But she only asked to go home after 10 years of valor. They welcome her like a lost child and hold a feast in her honor where she surprises family and comrades alike with her real identity. This is a wonderful book to teach girls that they can be anything they want and not lose their identity. And it is humerous when she reveals herself. The chinese proverb at the end states that when two rabbits run together, no one can tell which is male or female. The original text was written in AD 420-589, and it can be considered one of the first statements of female independence in a society that is proud of sons over daughters. I know it gave me and my daughters pride to be Chinese women and the sense that we can be both beautiful and strong. The book is a good teaching tool but it can also be enjoyed purely for the artwork and calligraphy. I would recommend this book highly to all girls everywhere and the action and surprise will surely delight young boys as well. It is no wonder that Disney chose this book.