The Little Black Book of Style

Be your own muse. You're dressing for yourself. That sums up Garcia's advice. She goes over my head and my ability to spend with her many references to the world of haute couture. Her list of 10 basics is worth considering, though: edit, invest in "the bones"--classics such as a trench coat--how many times did she mention that one?!!, buy with drama, the importance of shoes, the power of accessories, a good tailor (my personal favorite), how not to be a fashion victim, it's not about the money--(style is what we're after, not being fashionable), mix it up, and how to be imperfect.

For the most part, though, this book doesn't help me shop smarter. If that sounds a little negative, hey! Her illustrations are really cute. This gal is into high heels. Heels, ladies! Kick up those heels! Just don't wear them to the airport.Buy The Little Black Book of Style!

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 1-8

My 6 year old son loves the Magic Tree House books but isn't quite a good enough reader to have enough pace to get the full meaning of the story, so I bought a few book & CD sets (the first few books can come with a CD if you look around hard enough). I couldn't find any more book & CD sets so I bought the CD packs containing 8 CDs and I planned to buy the books to go along with each CD as rewards for good behavior.

When the CDs arrived - I bought the first three sets - I found that some of the stories were split between CDs so that by about the third CD it contained the end of one story and the beginning of the next as did all the CDs after that point. One of the sets didn't even identify which books were on which CD. I wrote to the publisher to explain that I didn't think this was very child friendly and were there any more individual book & CD sets available, but I have never had a response. I was disappointed with the CDs and even more disappointed with the publisher.

It may seem like a small complaint but to have my 6 year old listen to the CDs while following along with the books in bed, he would have to get out of bed and change the CD half way through, then get out of bed again and stop the CD before it went on to the next story... seems silly for the cost of one extra CD per set to get them all on their own CDs. So I sent them back and will read the books myself recording them onto a CD and he can listen to that - don't know why I didn't think of that before!
Buy Magic Tree House Collection: Books 1-8!

My Body / Mi cuerpo (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #8) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (Spanish Edition)

Excellent book to name body parts in English and Spanish. Colorful appealing to children. Cora VictorineBuy My Body / Mi cuerpo (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #8) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (Spanish Edition)!

The Big Book of Humorous Training Games: Games to Bring Humour, Fun and Creativity into Any Group Situation

I purchased this for my husband and also thought I could use it too. It is not humorous and there is not one game that I thought was useful. I fell really ripped off. Buy The Big Book of Humorous Training Games: Games to Bring Humour, Fun and Creativity into Any Group Situation!

Big Dog . . . Little Dog (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))

My son isn't really into this book, yet. It doesn't really rhyme which is why I think he likes most of the other ones. However, I just got if for him and have only read it maybe twice, so I am sure after a few more times, he will like it.Buy Big Dog . . . Little Dog (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))!

The Story of the World. Activity Book 1: Ancient Times (Revised Edition) (Bk. 1)

This activity book was a great help to our family. I had purchased the actual book over three years ago and never used it, for various reasons, one of which was I didn't have the time to come up with any activities to go along with it to help stimulate learning.

Then I got this activity book and since using it, my kids are engaged, I am engaged and we are all enjoying it. There are plenty of activities to choose from for each chapter, in fact I have a hard time deciding which activities to do and which to let go because we simply can't do them all. I have a "3rd grader" and a "1st grader" and they both are using the exact same material. This is very adaptable to different ages.

One word of caution: the activity book I purchased was a Revised edition, the book I already had was the original version and due to my own oversight I did not realize this--so if you are purchasing this activity book as a set with the book (which I recommend), there should be no problem. However, if you are deciding to purchase the activity book after buying the book, check to make sure they are the same version! I haven't found anything that needed to be worked around or pages that needed to be adjusted so far, but I do wish I had paid a little more attention!Buy The Story of the World. Activity Book 1: Ancient Times (Revised Edition) (Bk. 1)!

The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer

I had Sandra Scofield as an instructor for a week-long writing workshop at Iowa one summer. In class, she was absolutely a no-nonsense kind of teacher and got right to the heart of the matter. So does her book. Not one sentence is unnecessary. The book is filled with useful information about crafting scenes, which are themselves tiny stories with a beginning, middle and end. (Fractals come to mind.) I had an ah-ha moment when reading this book and was almost immediately inspired to pick up my short story writing again, after letting it lay dormant for nearly three years. I'm so excited to write again. I see a path and a new way to let my stories unfold. Mostly, I'm so grateful to Sandra for this book and for all of her work putting it together.Buy The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer!