literature

When I was in first grade, I had an art teacher who tried to show us how to draw using circles, lines, perspective, and so on, and I remember distinctly the experience of knowing that I could draw circles (and to an extent, straight lines) but there was no way I could put them together in a way that would look anything like the teacher's work.

This book was my salvation. Within these pages you'll find instructions on how to draw all kinds of creatures, from the lowly ant to an elaborate dragon, all by adding easy shapes (traingles, circles, linnes) one-at-a-time.

There is considerable truth in this book (and the author's others, which I unfortunately didn't discover until recently). How simplicity can communicate. How you can tackle something big by working in small steps. How you can make something you imagine come to like.

To this day I can take pleasure in drawing pictures, even though they're simple and I've never taken an art class since first grade, and I attribute a lot of that joy to this book. And nothing compares to giving a frustrated five-year-old an Emberly book and watching his face light up as he realizes that maybe he can make his drawings more than just scribbles.

This book (and the others) cannot be recommend too highly.

I remember owning and using this book constantly when I was a kid. I recently got it for my two young ones and now they are drawing all the time! They would get so frustrated when they couldn't make something look like it was supposed to, but with this book it is easy and teaches them about using basic shapes to draw anything. It is so easy to follow, my two are both five and are doing great! Looking forward to getting some more of his books for my kids to use and enjoy.

As a kid, I loved to draw, and I loved this book! The author provides simple, step-by-step pictorial guidelines easy enough for young children to follow: if they can read the instructions, they can draw the animals in the book. At each step, there is a basic instruction such as "make a green triangle" or "add two squiggly lines." The instructions are accompanied by both a drawing of whatever it is to be added and a drawing of the animal-in-progress as a whole. Not only is this book fun for children, it's great for book reports and other school projects. Even adults will appreciate the ease at which this book helps them to produce realistic-looking animals while also enjoying the author's humorous style. This favorite book of childhood has become a cherished adult possession.

One can speak easily of Hemingway, Joyce, Orwell or Fitzgerald in terms of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. But what what of these others? What of a man like Peter Matthiessen who wrote a book like "Far Tortuga?"

"Far Tortuga" is unquestionably one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. History will bear out this assertion. In "Far Tortuga" we are presented with reality painted in dreamlike intensity. All of the the minor aches, pains and idiosyncracies of day to day life are there, yet they are drawn against a backdrop of unforgiving, almost monumental, natural power.

In the final analysis, though the details are subject to change, is this not the world that each of us faces on a day to day basis?

In his stark and almost poetry-like portrayal of life aboard a small turtle vessel, Matthiessen is able to address everything that is meaningful in all of our lives. There is jealousy, there is random hatred, there is competition for its own sake, there is hunger and there is solitude. There is anger, there is pride, there is shame and there is repentance. What doesn't Matthiessen touch upon in this great novel? There is sorrow, there is fear, there is unreasoning hatred and greed. There are moments of selflessness, there are moments of joy, there are moments of doubt and there are moments of ambition.

It is a rare novel that is able to pack the sum of human experience into one tale. Matthiessen does it in "Far Tortuga."

The novel has not recieved the glory it deserves, yet. One day it will.

One day it will be known for the work of genius that it is.

Peter Mattiessen is one of my favorite writers. You know, if you pick one his many books and open them,whether fiction or non-fiction, that you will be entertained, and see something through fresh eyes, and behind the writing a man concerned deeply for the suvival of our planet. Far Tortuga is a strange, other-worldly book. Mattiessen creates a new style, with word paragraphs of beautiful descriptions of the natural world and the sea, then the emphasis on the dialect spoken in the Bahamas, so deeply felt and understood that it is poetry, the natural rythums of speech and nature captured. Matthiesen has risked much but has succeeded on every creative level. One keeps going back to relish a passage and say "How did he do it, so deeply understand the native speech and blend it into a thrilling adventure story?" He has done this and more, this adventure story about turtle fishing, the sea, human nature under the stress of the elements, and wonderful imagination for names like the name of the turtling ship, the "Lillias Eden," place names like Misteriosa Reefs, and the characters like Raib Evers, Byrum, Speedy, and my favorite: Will Parchment. It is a story of adventure and meditation, of a deceptive simpicity. I think of Joseph Conrad mixed with the wonderful Bahama watercolors of Winslow Homer and Mattiessen in his imagery is easily their equal. It is a zen meditation on the sea and deep regret of things lost and hope of things that may be there, a "Far Tortuga" that may not be on a map but lies out there, home of wide-winged seabirds, pirates, and adventure. "Far Totuga" is a one of a kind masterpiece that throws its readers headfirst into the vision and never lets go.When I read it,I hear the sea surge,feel the author's deep love of nature and of the blue watery planet,where most of our natural paradises and magical places are disappearing.

Written in the style of the screenplay, Peter Matthiessen mixes poetry and realism. It is easy to see, although somewhat confusing as to who the speaker is. Enjoyable.

This book is most remarkable for wonderful photographs filled with Christmas treasures. Traditions fill the pages in the form of antique bears, ornaments, craft & decorating mess, and cookies. The vibrant colors on some pages are contrasted with muted tones on others. And the fun of each page is to find the rhyming objects, play your own I Spy game or just rev up the Xmas spirit!

My son came home from the school library with this book the day before my Mother came for a weekend visit. He paid no attention to the book after arriving home until my Mother picked it up. Within a few minutes he, she, my stepfather and our younger son were totally engrossed in it and spent several hours poring over the pictures. I reminded the boys that they had another I Spy book in their room which they had never paid any attention to. They went flying to get it and all four of them had to be pried away from the book for dinner. My sons and my Mother had never really made a very warm emotional connection until they shared these books. That was several weeks ago and they still talk about it and my Mother is sending me pictures via e-mail of them solving the riddles in the books which I had taken with her camera. These books are a hit with everyone in my house.

My son (He's 6) and I enjoy this book very much. It is an adventure everytime we read it. The extra Credits are also very challenging...

Este libro es simultáneo el libro más maravilloso y el libro más triste. La historia del piloto que se estrella en el desierto y que se encuentra ahí con el principito, me aflige mucho.
Aunque es un libro para ninos, gente de toda edad puede leerlo y no es aburrido. Puede ensenarnos mucho sobre la amistad. Para mí este libro fue un enriquecimiento para mi vida. Y podría leerlo decenas de miles de veces.
Si no lees este libro pierdes algo!

El principito contiene en tan pocas páginas palabras que penetran el alma para nunca salir. Que bueno que lo lei tan temprano en mi vida. Cada vez que lo vuelvo a leer, me da tanta nostalgia de recordar el tiempo cuando dibujaba por dibujar. Es un libro nuevo cada vez que se le lee, y en la profundidad de sus palabras es imposible no ver el reflejo de nuestro ser verdadero. No se que decir...es demasiado bello para tratar de definirlo.

el principito uno de esos libros que siempre debemos leer en diferentes edades, creo que es una de esas escrituras hechas para el disfrute de todos, nos hace pensar y ser más humanos cada vez que lo leemos, solo piensa que alguien todos los días esta esperando para ser domesticado. Si tienes un hijo leeselo y espera, que al cabo de los años el solo buscará el libro para leerlo.

With the exception of the short dictionary at the back of my Greek New Testament, no tool has been of more use in my study of Biblical Greek than this lexicon.

More than just a dictionary, the strength of this lexicon is that it gives both specific meanings of words in context as well as a knowledge of the shadings of meaning that a word carries throughout the Bible. This moves the student from a general grasp of a thing to an attentiveness to the precise way God has made himself known--there is nothing quite like it.

As other reviewers have noted, this is probably not a good place for beginners hoping to do a word study to jump in. I'd recommend Vine's for that. I also recommend that those serious in the study of Biblical Greek use this book in conjunction with a Greek New Testament, Mr. Mounce's Grammar (his lexicon is handy too), and Zerwick's Grammatical Analysis. This broad group of tools should help keep you from falling pray to a single interpretive spin.

Don't let its size and price scare you off--this book is essential for the student of Biblical Greek.

In a word, thorough. Owning this, you won't use your smaller Greek lexicons anymore. Besides definitions (multiple definitions, showing the range of meaning of each word), there are copious examples taken from actual usage, both in and out of the NT. This is THE lexicon of koine Greek.

While attending seminary, like most theological students, I purchased Thayers Greek-English Lexicon. It was good and easy to use. But as I advanced in my studies my professors were increasingly critical of Thayer and expected us to use the more scholarly Arndt/Gingrich. So as a impoverished theological student with a wife and baby, I purchased Arndt/Gringrich with my babys milk money so I could be more scholarly.

I wish I saved my money. Do not get me wrong. It is by far the superior lexicon. Its definitions are massive and the survey of a words etymology is unsurpassed; but realistically, it has more information than this country preacher is looking for. Like detective Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, all I want is the facts.

Behind me as I write this review is my theological library. Two lexicons, Arndt/Gringrich and Thayers stand side by side. Occasionally, when I need a lexicon in my biblical studies, I always turn to Thayer. So unless you are planning on writing for a theological journal, save your babys milk money and use Thayer.

The Inhabited Woman is a thought-provoking book that takes you on an adventure you won't want to end. Lavinia is a Nicaraguan architect "inhabited" by the spirit of Itza, an indigenous warrior killed centuries ago while fighting for her country. With Itza in her blood, Lavinia finds herself torn between her "normal" upper-class existence and her sense of social responsibility, which, together with her love for the revolutionary Felipe, sends her into a new world of danger and heroism. Analysing and challenging social norms of class and gender, The Inhabited Woman is an excellent combination of theory and story that entraps you so that you won't want to put it down.

This was the first book I ever read in Spanish and was a magical, captivating read. I was in Guatemala and my Spanish teacher suggested that I could read it over the course of two weeks, which I sincerely doubted at 300+ pages. But, it drew me in and I couldn't put it down -- I was amazed that I could cry from reading a novel in a foreign language. I did have to finish reading it within two weeks, because I didn't own it, and I couldn't buy it at the time in Guatemala (1992) because it was too subversive. I did buy it in a later trip to Mexico, along with other Latin American books. For the woman who asked whether anyone knows where to get the Spanish version -- I'm unwilling to sell, but mine was published in 1989 by Editorial Diana, S.A. de C.V., Roberto Gayal 1219, C.P. 03100, Mexico, DF -- ISBN 968-13-1280-5

As a retired English teacher longing for a "good read". I was delighted from the first chapter of Inhabited Woman. The concept of one woman from one period/culture being a factor in another woman's life sent a tingle through me. As I read on, I was excited in the insights gained by the main character. As she struggled with choices, I found myself rethinking my life and values. The characters are well drawn and the plot complex enough to be interesting. Furthermore, the author's use of langauge and images is sometimes almost poetry. BRAVO!!

This book is a great way to give kids sex education. It covers all subjects clearly and in an interesting fashion. However, I disagree with the age range it is recommended for. It is recommended for ages 8-10, and, while most of the material is appropriate for this age group, some is not. Children should receive sex education in stages. A child who takes the book and begins to read will learn about body changes and babies being born, but many in the age 8-10 age group are not ready to learn about intercourse. I know this because I have a 7 year old and a 10 year old. My 10 year old read the book "Growing Up, It's a Girl Thing" and was quite thrown by some of the information on periods and body changes. But all of that information was perfect for the stage she's at -- it was the information she needed, but nothing that would worry or overwhelm her. (It is the book I'd recommend for the first step in a girl's sex education.) My daughter is very well read, but not ready for "It's So Amazing." I will hold on to the book until she is.

Every parent should have this book available for their children when they start asking those delicate questions. It's So Amazing! cover topics from maturation, to reproduction, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted disease in a non-judgemental, factual way. The bird and the bee that are part of the learning audience help children to feel comfortable with their own reactions to the material covered; the bird is excited and anxious to learn more, whereas the bee is apprehensive and not quite comfortable with it all. The illustrations are humorous, helping to lighten such serious topics but without detracting from the importance of it all.

All topics may not be appropriate for most 7 year olds. However, chapters are arranged to start from the most basic topics and progresses to topics that are more sensitive. If the book is read with parent and child together, new chapters can be introduced as the child is ready to learn and understand more. It is also an excellent choice for a child to read alone.

After the experience of learning sex education from the dry, clinical books available that traumitized me when I was growing up, I am very pleased to know that my son's experience will be so very different from my own!

When my 8 year old asked about sex I did not know where to start. This book was a great way to introduce sex to him and my 5 year old at the same time. It was a comfortable book to share with them and I felt like I could have been teaching them about any of the systems in our bodies. It was a great place to start exploring this topic.

Many other amazon reviewers have described the book as "poetic" and I must agree. Buechner has shaped this story with an economy of words, and it often reads like a superb narrative poem. I read it in one sitting and was captivated by its grace.

A recurring theme in the book is the disparity between what is commonly perceived as "sainthood" or "saintliness" and what the saint, in fact, knows himself to be. Like Paul in the New Testament (see Romans chapter 7 for instance), Godric is continually brought to an awareness of his inner wretchedness as compared with other's perception of him. At one point his scribe Reginald reminds him that the name Godric means "God reigns" but Godric himself feels more affinity with the term "God's wreck." He says, "...Godric's sins have made a wreck of God."

Elsewhere he concludes that "life's a list. Good tilts with ill." Sounds negative? Well, if the sky is blue on your planet, pull up a chair and introduce yourself to LIFE! With those words, Godric is referring to the reality that in many instances evil men prosper while the good suffer privation. Even in the church, the Lord is oftentimes mocked by those who ought to have exalted Him the most. And sincere folks are often given to attributing holiness to those most undeserving. In this book we learn that holiness must, of necessity, be something other than good behavior... it turns out to be nothing other than the unmerited presence of God.

A beautiful book. Well worth reading, and as some have suggested, re-reading many times. I plan to. We see ourselves here.

Buechner once again shows he is a master, not only of prose, but of understanding what being human is. In spellbinding, rythmic language, he unveils the longings of the heart, as well as the deeds of the flesh, of an ancient hermit. Godric the man is a surprise of contradictions. His overwhelming passion for oneness with God is equalled only by his ability to be profane, and then to punish himself in penitence. He is a surprise, until we read the story of our own lives and find we are much like Buechner's sinner/saint. We want redemption, the touch of mysterious grace, but are too often confronted with evidence of our own humanness. I found myself both pitying Godric, and wanting to be him. Godric the book is beautifully crafted both in style and structure. Buechner's language has a beautiful visual quality. It creates, and leaves, pictures in the mind. The structure of the book is more episodic than chronological, placing stories of Godric's life into a well made mosaic of a saint and sinner.

Everyone points out that this little novel is graceful and poetic, and they couldn't be more correct. Throughout the novel, I marveled at the simple beauty of the words and the way they are put together, and it wasn't until later that I realized why. This novel is so meticulously put together that each sentence is written in iambs. I think that fact kind of holds within how wonderful this novel it is. It is a carefully constructed and beautiful portrait of a life persevering, persisting toward sainthood.

Everything about this novel is perfect. Of course, each sentence is perfect, and at times, I would go back a read and reread certain chapters which strike me so profoundly. The relationships held herein, such as Godric's loving relationship with Burcwen, with Mouse, and with Reginald, are subtle complex and really touching. And of course, Godric's own characterization is the biggest strength of the novel, as he moves from the worst of sinners to a godly, compassionate, and humble man.

I can't say enough for this perfect novel. I am sure that I will return again and again to its pages for the humor and warmth and beauty held therein.

It was soincredibly interesting and fun. not only did I enjoy reading the hella cool stories, i learned that Greek mythology does affect our language today. i learned how alot of things now, came from what we learn in mythology. the stories are so entertaining and fun toread, Sime are sad, some are happy but all of them kept me flipin' pages. I'm happy I read this book because it gave me knowledge about history and it made me know cool stories and I liked Disneys Hercules alot more. I felt smarter watching it. it a great book, props to the auther who wrote it in a non boring way. Thanks!

I found this book browsing in a bookstore. At first glance it looked like a cheap knock-off under the guise of mythology. However, I was captivated by the authors introduction, in which he explains how as a child the myths were read to him in Greek, and much was lost in the English translations he later heard- so this book is his way to communicate the myths as comprehensive and story-like as possible. He succeed on all levels.

I have read many English versions ancient Greek texts, and this one has an excellent flow that is not acheived by mere translation. This book helped me to learn about the characters in the Greek myths and legends better than any other, in the sense that the stories are presented in a MEMORABLE way. Now I can read other texts with a real sense of knowing who everyone is.

The book is a quick and captivating read, could be done in one day. I thank the author for his outstanding job. He has acheived a book which compliments the myths of the Greeks, and other translations can compliment this book.

I first met this book through a series of LP records in my local library as a child; I later read the book. It's still my favorite telling of the Greek myths, and it spawned a facination for the folklore and mythology that has been a great source of pleasure for my entire life (I'm now in my late thirties). I can't recommend this book enough, regardless of the reader's age; Evslin's telling of them gives life and personality to the characters that can't be found in any other version of the myths.

The drawings and poems of the children of the Terezin Concentration Camp are rather surprising. It is not surprising that the works of the children are sad, yet it is amazing the amount of hope and faith that they hold. Some of the children speak of the day that they will be free and the faith of their religion that helps them through the day.
The children also tell of sunny days and times when they are playing with the friends that they make. I was taken-back by the way the children spoke of cheerful and happy experiences. One would expect that a book of this nature would reflect the dark and ugly side of Nazi concentration camps. Though there are some mentions of starvations and other atrocities that the members of the camp faced in their daily struggle to survive in hope that they will one day see their freedom.
The drawings of flowers, unity and more peaceful and tranquil times show the children's amazing talent. The bright watercolors that are used reinforces the hope and good with that the children still possess, even though confined in a place that has little more to offer than pain and suffering.
Despite the perceived despair the book should offer I found ...I Never Saw Another Butterfly... a bright spot that has emerged from the history of Nazi concentration camps.

I was recently in the play I never saw another butterfly. I played one of the children durning the holocaust. In the play I read a poem that was in the book I never saw another butterfly, and the poem brought me to tears. When our director brought in the actual book, and I read all of the other poems and saw all of the other drawings i was overwhelmed by the pain and struggle that was portrayed in the book. I hope that others are as lucky to read this book as i was.

Terezin Concentration Camp held, between 1942 and 1944, fifteen thousand children under the age of fifteen years old, for various lengths of time, before the children were carted out to other camps to die. A few teachers came in with sparse quantities of art supplies, and they used art "lessons" as a way of offering art therapy. "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" is a representation of those surviving pictures, which are now housed at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, USA. Illustrating the pictures, as it were, are collections of poetry and prose, and excerpts from a few journals.

I wish I spoke Dutch (?) so that I could read contributor Helga Weissova's "Das Kunstlerische Schaffen" -- I'd like to see what else she has to say. I wish that Soña Spitzovã, who drew my favorite of the drawings ("Starlight In A Dark Room," page 53) hadn't died in Auschwitz before she was even fifteen years old.

The things these children saw! They noticed the trains, the transports. Helga Weissova did a painting of a woman, JUDE star on her clothing, whose hair was searched for lice. They also saw flowers in jelly jars on tables. They remembered their own beds.

I think that art exists, in part, to speak when we are no longer able to.

This book was purchased from my amazon.com wishlist. I think I'll be getting a copy for a friend who's in school to be an art therapist; I think she'll get a lot out of it.