Girls Figure Skating, Ruling The Rink has some awesome pictures of skating role models. The book is full of young female skaters who set the bar for excellence in the sport of figure skating.
For young girls considering entering the world of competition this is inspirational. For those of us who just enjoy watching them skate it is a fun book to read. The book talks about the skills needed to skate on ice. It talks about posture and balance as well as the muscles needed to do this sport. It also encourages young girls to get out and skate for the pure fun of it if they aren’t interested in competing.
There are illustrations showing proper foot positions and posture. Some of the skating moves are shown in photos as well. Even for the fashion mavens the outfits are fun to see. There are random facts to read just for fun. Such as in 800 BC people actually tied animal bones to their feet to cross bodies of water. Who knew? The book also gives definations to some of the terms we hear when we watch figure skating on television. The book is worth checking out.
The book was written by Heather E. Schwartz with Mary -Elizabether Wightman, U.S. Figure Skating Judge. It was published by Capstone Press, www.capstonepress.com. It was copyrighted in 2007.
Ok, i have to admit; this book had me immersed in it’s tale. It is the extra-ordinary story of two female cousins. There are many layers in their family of fractured and broken dreams.
The two young girls were born at the same time and their entire lives are so inter-woven with each other that it is almost like they are each half of the same person. Their fathers died together seeking adventure and fortune in rubies. They were raised in an environment of women who are at the mercy of their culture in a world that is ruled by strict codes of conduct regarding the lower value of a female in a caste system.
While they were growing up, one child (Sudha) perceived herself to be the black sheep of the family living in Calcutta, India due to some faulty family secret that a family elder passed on to her. Her whole life she choose to submit herself to less than what she deserved because of this faulty information. She sacrificed her happiness for her cousin Anju, out of a misplaced sense of duty and loyalty because of the secret. The story is set in a very different culture and the expectations of a young woman at a marriagable age are very different in India than they are in America; it is interesting to explore that in this book. Theirs was a world of arranged marriages, dowelries and bring forth a son is the ultimate stamp of approval.
She loved her cousin like a sister and vise versa. There were so many layers to the story and yet underneath the whole of it…was that enduring love and need for each other. Many didn’t understand their bond and sought to destroy it. While their bonds were stretched and strained it was never severed.
The actions of others weave drama such as betrayal, lies, theft, envy,miscarriage, abortion, pride and the list goes on of the less stellar characteristics of the human race. Love wins out in the end and the world is open to any and all possibilities once again when the truth comes out.
The book was written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and it was published by Anchor Books , a division of Random House, Inc; copyrighted in 1999.
The lure of this particular book is the beauty and self sufficiency of a log home. The writers are also the builders of the home, Rex and LaVonne Ewing. Truly they have created a home worthy of a home beautiful article.
Admitedly, most people dont have the skill set that these two individuals have. However, even they ran into areas of expertise that they had to get others to help out with or do for them.
The information written between the covers of this book is very helpful whether you are reading the book for the fun of it; or, whether you are truly contemplating building a log home.
I particularily liked the parts on how to use solar power, wind power and even on how to utilize radiant heat to help cut down on how much heat you need from other sources. There a lots of tips that cut down on a home builders frustating and costly errors. I also adored the fact that they utilized nature and planned to make their home “fit” the environment that they chose to build in!
As the world becomes more and more dependent on oil/gas supplies; i found this book to be an inspiration. If more people could use some of these alternatives when designing/building their homes…it could really make an impact on the world economy as well as a can do spirit.
Even if a person considering building a log home from the ground up doesn’t want the hands on experience…this book would give them lots of ideas to pass along to the contractor/builder to help them get the type of home they want because it gives you options other than the ones that they chose to utilize when they built their log home. They pass on information such as what worked for them and what didn’t.
I loved this book even though i would never build a home from scratch; i know people who would and did (my father built a tri-level home back in the 70′s all on his own). However, if i had the money to build a log home (i love them) i would use this book as a guide to outsource the type of home i wanted.
The publisher is PixyJack Press, LLC and it was copyrighted in 2002
Between The Tides, a book for young readers, explains to children in easy to understand terms the eternal push and pull of the tide; and, the effect that it has on the creatures of the sea.
Author Fran Hodgkins wrote a fun book about the survival skills that all sea creatures have adapted to continue to live when the tide comes in and when the tide goes out. The illustrations are beautiful. Jim Sollers illustrated the book.
Between the words and the pictures; it makes a typical day at the seashore much more interesting. A child can use their imagination to wonder what is beneath the water’s cool, blue and green surface. With the information in the book, they can understand how everything in the sea can find a way to work with nature and survive when their environment changes.
At the end of the book, it tells the story behind the story, of the moon and earth’s tug of war which causes the changes in the tide every 12 hours. Very fun and interesting book for young readers.
The book was copyrighted in 2007 and was published by Down East Books; their website is : www.downeastbooks.com.
Rain Forests was written by Colleen Sexton and published in 2008 by Bellweather Media. It is a part of the Learn About The Earth series put out by Scholastic, Children’s Press.
Rain Forest has many wonderful, colorful pictures of the life included in the variety of life forms in the rain forest. In simplistic words and pictures this book gives an overview of the types of plants, animals and people who live in the forests.
It talks about the ways that the rain forest adds to the fullness of the world. It tells of the medicines that are made of the plants and trees in the rain forest and it also tells of the need to protect the resources in the rain forest.
Seymour Simon wrote the book, Hurricanes, for his grandchildren. This book is a complete book about what hurricanes are, how they are formed, what happens when they form and what to do to protect yourself when you know that one is coming to your area.
After hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the news was plastered with all of the trauma that those who lived in the area had to deal with. Children watching any kind of television were exposed to all sorts of horrors; they were left feeling vulnerable and fearful. The fear that those news reports inspired caused untold trauma for a whole generation of children.
However, people need to understand the danger that these types of storms can unleash. It is best to be informed and prepared when faced with a possible hurricane.
This book explains things in a non-threatening way. It is very informative and the pictures realistically show the damage. I believe the book also empowers children and adults into understanding that; while we can’t control the forces of nature, there are things that a person can do to help themselves when faced with an unpredictable hurricane. I very much enjoyed learning from this book.
A couple of very interesting facts i learned included the knowledge that hurricanes can last days or weeks, every second… a large hurricane releases the energy of 10 atomic bombs,and, hurricane weather forecasts can save lives. I also learned that even after a hurricane passes the danger is not done; flooding occurs for quite a time even once the actual hurricane has moved on. Hurricane season starts in June and goes until the end of November.
Also included in this book was a link to the national weather service radios; it can be found at: www.weather.gov/nwr/. Communication is very important during this time; and, the radios can help prevent a family from becoming more endangered by allowing them to get information from the authorities.
Another source of information can be found at the National Hurricane Center, their website is: www.nhc.noaa.gov/.
The book Hurricanes was copyrighted in 2003 & 2007; it was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books a division of, HarperCollins Publishers. Their website is : www.harpercollinschildrens.com.
Nobody wants your child was written by Mr. Milton Creagh. Milton is a motivational speaker and host on Parenting Works, a national television series on PBS. He also speaks to corporations and businesses around the world.
What he says in this book is that the way society is shaping the youth of today makes them virtually unwanted in the work place. We live in an instant world where children in the US are given much and have to work less for it themselves–parents are too eager to provide everything for them.
Discipline in the homes and the schools is not consistent nor is it administered in ways to promote a strong work ethic in Mr. Creagh’s opinion. He talks about the lack of strong parenting. With the rampant problem of drugs, alcohol, as well as the influence of the streets; it is difficult for parents to instill a strong sense of self- discipline in their youth. Often, young workers dont dress with modesty in the work place and react in disrespectful ways when chastized by someone in authority over them.
I had the pleasure of listening in to one of Mr. Creagh’s speaches a year ago. Alot of what he talks about is that in the work he does for the corporate world, he hears how lazy and how unproductive the younger employees are that are hired in the work place. He is often called in to teach appropriate interaction in the workplace between employees.
Mr. Creagh shares the fact that alot of corporate human resource directors say that they would rather hire aging workers or the mentally challenged than some of the younger potential hirelings. That is a very sad statement.
The book talks about how parents play an important role in teaching young people to value themselves as well as others by teaching them to be respectful, hard workers.
While this subject is a bit depressing, it is also aspires to encourage parents to have a higher standard when raising their children. He has a sense of humor and yet he is very direct in what he says. If we don’t change the course of our young people; we will all pay the price.
These are the leaders of the future …the potential fathers and mothers of our grandchildren…our future employees…our future caregivers…our sons and our daughters; are they not worth the effort it will take to challenge them to achieve their own personal best?
Nobody wants your child was copyrighted in 2006 and was published by Rock Hill Books of Georgia. You can visit Milton’s website at: http://miltoncreagh.com/
Stonehenge is a book that was written for children by Matt Doeden. It has many fascinating pictures and lots of facts about the mysterious monument in England. The monument is composed completely of extremely large stones. No one knows for sure exactly how these stones were placed one on top of the other due to their large size.
The book is a fun look at Stonehenge; but, it doesn’t answer the obvious questions like who built it for sure; or how was it built. Nor does the book answer with any kind of final word on what Stonehenge was built for…what purpose did it serve.
Still, the book is an enjoyable look at a historic place that many of us never will have the opportunity to see in person.
The publisher is Capstone Press. The book was copywrited in 2007 and you can visit the publisher at : www.capstonepress.com.