Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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The gentle rhyming and gorgeous, tissue-paper collage illustrations in this classic picture book make it a dog-eared favorite on many children's bookshelves. On each page, we meet a new animal who nudges us onward to discover which creature will show up next: "Blue Horse, Blue Horse, What do you see? I see a green frog looking at me." This pattern is repeated over and over, until the pre-reader can chime in with the reader, easily predicting the next rhyme. One thing readers might not predict, however, is just what kinds of funny characters will make an appearance at the denouement! Children on the verge of reading learn best with plenty of identifiable images and rhythmic repetition. Eric Carle's good-humored style and colorful, bold illustrations (like those in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, and Have You Seen My Cat?) have earned him a prominent place in the children's book hall of fame. (Baby to Preschool) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck-- all parade across the pages of this delightful book. Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin's singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.

Customer Reviews:

A+.......2007-09-30

I've used this book (the hard cover version) to teach English to my Kindergarten English Language Learners. They like it! I also give this as a gift to my friends' pre-schoolers. It's a keeper.

Addicting!.......2007-09-27

From the day we purchased this book, my daughter asks for it EVERYTIME she lies down for a nap or bedtime. I quickly learned it by heart so I could tell her the story in the dark (many times she will fall asleep before I finish). My husband however just changes the story a little bit. My daughter can now read it to us (only 21 months old) and does so often. This book has really helped her learn her animals and colors. I will be giving this book for a shower gift from now on.

Eric Carle.......2007-09-23

Anything by Eric Carle is excellent. This is my son's favorite book. He's 3 and know every animal before we get to the page.

Wonderful for 12mo olds!.......2007-09-20

We bought this for our daughter for her first birthday. The text is simple, teaching colors and animals. The illustrations are, of course, beautiful. She loves this book!

Inspires reading.......2007-09-09

My 3-year-old granddaughter found this book easy to memorize. She loved being able to anticipate which animal would be next, along with its color. This, in turn, gave her the feeling of being able to read, and I believe it was this book that inspired her to learn how to read "for real" in the next few months. I'd recommend it for younger children as well.

Average customer rating:

Meaningful Inspiration
Heartwarming
The Pursuit of the Imagined
Engaging and Entertaining
Satisfying story, though not much like the movie

The Pursuit of Happyness
Chris Gardner
Manufacturer: Amistad
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060744871
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Will Smith, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS is the inspiring, rags–to–riches story of the charismatic Chris Gardner –– a once homeless father who rasied and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street

At the age of twenty, Milwaukee native Chris Gardner, just out of the Navy, arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him homeless with his toddler son. Instead of giving in to despair, the two spent almost a year moving from shelters, "HO–tels", and soup–lines, even sleeping in the public restroom of a subway station – ultimately making an astonishing transformation from the bathroom to the boardroom.

Part "Finding Fish," part "The Pact," THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS is a mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest memoir whose hero will appeal to every American.

Customer Reviews:

Meaningful Inspiration.......2007-09-11

Mr. Gardner's story is more than another story about having to pull oneself up by their own bootstraps, it is a mantra for Urban Americans who are dealing with cyclical social issues. Poor Education, Poverty and Single Parent household stories are no longer acceptable reasons for not achieving, unfortunately they are too common place. The Pursuit of Happyness is a great example of the saying "In order to be it, one must see it"!

Heartwarming.......2007-09-08

I've read one of the most touching and heartwarming book of one's life. It is a story that spreads open past hurts, the need for bottom-line respect that should come from the people who should give it (family) and speaks of success despite of...

The Pursuit of the Imagined.......2007-08-28

Chris Gardner says in the Acknowledgments, "Quincy Troupe [co-author] once paid me a backhand compliment by telling me that I was as crazy as his previous subject, Miles Davis. I'll definitely take that as a compliment!" Gardner's imaginings, that he could possibly become anything other than a replica of the hardworking poor men who enveloped his childhood, define him as crazy. His success is crazy. How he managed it defies sanity.

Gardner imagined a future bright enough to deflect the piercing influences of his childhood--violence, an alcoholic stepfather, a jailed mother, rape--and was able to grow up to be a man possessing little, if any, humility (refreshingly different than most memoirs). Good for him. That Gardner was once homeless and is now wealthy is interesting; that he had no reason to expect to succeed but succeeded anyway, is inspiring.

I should be so crazy.

Note: The movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" deals only with Gardner after he has lived in San Francisco for a while. My only complaint with the movie is its depiction of Gardner's wife. She is shown as an uneducated woman only capable of working in restaurants; she's actually quite educated, a dental school graduate who is waiting to sit for her dental boards. Tsk, tsk.

Engaging and Entertaining.......2007-08-23

I haven't seen the film, so I have nothing to compare it with. I found this book to be inspiring. It was a quick and easy read. It was entertaining and realistic. The language is colorful and his life is graphic. It's not a story for the faint of heart, but his experience is a wonderful read. Some of the other reviews have taken exception with the way he lives his life, but his account is genuine. His life is real in all its glory and its shortcomings. It's a wonderful read.

Satisfying story, though not much like the movie.......2007-08-15

Successful and wealthy businessman Chris Gardner truly knows what it means to achieve -- it was only through hard work and good luck that he managed to escape a lifetime of poverty and hopelessness.

As a child, Gardner grew up fatherless and poor, experiencing physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a stepfather who almost killed his mother on numerous occasions. Gardner and his sisters spent several years in foster care, and life was often bleak. But, thanks to the Navy, he was able to escape his inner-city existence and begin a promising medical career.

Just as things were beginning to look promising, a series of small misfortunes all piled up together, and Gardner -- along with his toddler son -- became homeless.

Despite the enormity of the task at hand, he managed to make the best of his circumstances, even with a large amount of humility and humor.

If you're like me, however, and decided to read the book after seeing the movie, you may be a bit startled. While the 2006 movie focuses mainly upon Gardner's homelessness and struggle within the world of stocks, that portion of his life -- however poignant and powerful -- is but a small section of the book.

Overall, this memoir is engaging and memorable, a true journey from rock bottom to success.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Average customer rating:

Moving, eloquent and inspirational...
A worthy memoir of Obama's complicated early life
just great
Worth the read, but slow to start...
Accurate reflection of its title

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Barack Obama
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400082773
Release Date: 2004-08-10

Book Description

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

Customer Reviews:

Moving, eloquent and inspirational..........2007-09-26

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama is a moving, eloquent and honest book that was originally published in 1995. This is an amazing story, and not just because he is a presidential candidate. Although autobiographical in scope, it is not intended to be a complete history of the author's life. Instead, it is "a boy's search for his father."

Barack Obama had a most unusual childhood. His mother was a white American living in Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was a brilliant black Kenyan who received a college scholarship to the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two, his father graduated college and received a scholarship to obtain his PhD at Harvard. Unfortunately, the scholarship did not include living expenses for his family, and this proved the end of the marriage. After that, Obama only saw his father one more time before being killed in an auto accident when Obama was 21. Obama's mother subsequently married a man from Indoesia, where Obama lived for several years. But that marriage also ended and Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Dreams from My Father also includes Obama's college experiences, as well as the work he did as an organizer in Chicago.

The most moving part of Dreams from My Father involves his trip to Kenya for the first time several years after his father died. As a youth, he describes the reaction of others when they discover his background "Privately, they guess at my troubled heart, I supposed--the mixed blood, the divided soul, the ghostly image of a tragic mulatto trapped between two worlds." In Kenya, he meets his African family including grandparents, half-brothers and sisters, step-mothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. At the Kenyan airport, an airport employee recognizes his name and knew his father. "For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide, how it could carry an entire history in other people's memories...My name belonged and so I belonged." I was also moved by Obama's discovery of faith.

Even if Obama was not a presidential candidate for the 2008 election, Dreams is still an eloquent and inspirational story about his search for his father and his efforts to reconcile the histories of this white and black families.

A worthy memoir of Obama's complicated early life.......2007-09-06

Due to its multi-section arrangement, falling into three precise stages, this book feels like a well-paced coming-of-age novel, an impression buoyed by the fact that, to a degree that is unusual for politicians, Obama can actually write well. If you are looking for information on what policies Obama would support as a presidential candidate, you should look elsewhere. However, the book does give the impression that the writer is unusually forthright, both about himself and his beliefs.

Watching Obama's attitudes on race evolve is one of the key points of interest in the book, and the reader comes away with a picture of a man who is both reflective and self-critical. It is somewhat apparent that the author was not running for office at the time the book was written, and yes, it (very briefly) mentions his now infamous flirtation with cocaine use. However, if you want to read a portrait of the man, if not his political platform, and interested in the struggles of someone growing up in between two different cultures, this book is well worth reading.

just great.......2007-08-17

Obama wrote his memoirs of his growing up some years ago (and with his political career I expect he'll be writing them again in twenty or so years). It is an honest book about a remarkable man who had a remarkable life. Nothing political about it.

Worth the read, but slow to start..........2007-08-06

I chose to read this book because I am very interested in Obama as a presidential candidate, and logically wanted to get to know him a little better. His memoir gives a really good picture of his life and has helped me understand where he is coming from in his politics. That said, this book was a little slow to start and a bit hard to get through, partially because he is a bit verbose throughout. The good news is that the excerpt of "The Audacity of Hope" in the back was not in the same vein as this book. So, I'll still read the second book without hesitation.

Accurate reflection of its title.......2007-08-04

Well written depiction of how Barack Obama came to be a man with much focus on his paternal side of the family. I would like to read a follow up book with more focus on his mother's influences on him.

Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

Average customer rating:

An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
Walking in Jackie's shoes
The opening day of my memories...
a Must read
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!"

Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
Jonathan Eig
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743294602

Book Description

April 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front -- and Robinson had a chance to lead the way.

He was an unlikely hero. He had little experience in organized baseball. His swing was far from graceful. And he was assigned to play first base, a position he had never tried before that season. But the biggest concern was his temper. Robinson was an angry man who played an aggressive style of ball. In order to succeed he would have to control himself in the face of what promised to be a brutal assault by opponents of integration.

In Opening Day, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. Along the way he offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? Opening Day is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time.

Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.

Customer Reviews:

An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers.......2007-09-08

By the time the middle of the 1940's rolled around Branch Rickey, President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was already widely acknowledged as one of the smartest, most innovative executives in all of baseball. After all, it had been Rickey who had conceived the notion of a system of minor league farm teams to supply talent to the major league club. In addition, Rickey knew how to evaluate talent like no one else. It got to the point that other general managers did not want to deal with him for fear of getting snookered again. It was sometime around 1944 that Branch Rickey made up his mind that he was going to be the one to integrate Major League Baseball. Always seeking an advantage, Rickey was the first to fully understand that there was a wealth of untapped talent playing in the Negro Leagues. And so it was that before the 1946 season Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was Rickey's plan to bring Robinson along slowing with the hope of Robinson contributing to the big league club in a year or two. After a magnificent season at AAA Montreal in 1946 it was apparent to most observers that Jackie Robinson would likely find himself suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. "Opening Day" is Jonathan Eig's splendid account of that historic and memorable season. It is a book that will grab your attention immediately and never let go.
I was quite surprised to learn that Jackie Robinson had really not played all that much baseball before signing with the Dodgers. While in college at UCLA Jackie Robinson had run track and been a star football player. He only dabbled in baseball. But Robinson was widely recognized as one of the best all-around athletes in the nation. It was this athleticism that intrigued Branch Rickey. On August 28, 1945 Robinson and Rickey would meet for the very first time. After taking careful measure of the man Rickey was convinced that Jackie Robinson had the proper temperment to endure the difficulties that were sure to arise as major league baseball attempted to integrate its game. After just one year in the minors Branch Rickey deemed Jackie Robinson ready to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In "Opening Day" Jonathan Eig introduces us to Burt Shotten, the unassuming manager of the 1947 Dodgers and to the men who would be Jackie's teammates. Make no mistake about it. There was a ton of pressure on these men as well. Players like Eddie Stanky, Dixie Walker and Pee Wee Reese really had no idea what to expect in 1947. You will come to understand how the players coped with the drama unfolding all around them. And you see how a team that little was expected of would come together over the course of the long season and make this the most memorable season in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
But of course it is important to understand that "Opening Day" is not just a book about baseball. For this is a story of courage and tenacity.
For one very special season Jackie Robinson took the whole world upon his shoulders. Rickey and Robinson were gambling that if this experiment was successful Major League Baseball would finally see the error of its ways and integrate the game. And it proved to be a risk worth taking. "Opening Day" managed to hold my interest from cover to cover. Jonathan Eig is a wonderful storyteller and I simply could not put this one down. One of the best sports books I have read in a very long time!
Highly recommended!

Walking in Jackie's shoes.......2007-08-04

Author Jonathan Eig does an excellent job of putting the reader in Jackie Robinson's shoes for the 1947 season. You get a good sense of what life was like for Robinson, on and off the field. He and his wife Rachael and young son, Jack Jr., shared a small bedroom in the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment of a woman in a black neighborhood. The living conditions only added to the stress of Robinson's rookie season. Can you imagine any rookie living that way today?

Eig details how teammates and opponents treated Robinson. Many of his teammates were aloof, at best. Many were Southerns who didn't care for him. The role Dixie Walker played in supposedly circulating a petition protesting Robinson's addition to the Dodgers is covered.

Eig recounts each series of the 1947, detailing how opponents treated Robinson, how he performed on the field, and how he had to room with black families when he was on the road. It's interesting to see how some things changed as the season progressed.

This book is essential for any fan who wants to know more about Jackie Robinson and the 1947 season. It will increase whatever admiration you have for Robinson.

The opening day of my memories..........2007-07-18

indeed the book is about baseball, however it is about soooo much more.
From my perspective of someone who was four years old in 1947 Eig's work instantly turned the shadows on my wall of rememberances into a vivid dance of joy.

There was MacArthur, Rickey, Flatbush Ave, stars earning a few bucks more than Ralph Kramden, a guy named Moses who lead NYC to international prominence and forced "them Bums" out of Brooklyn. I can not tell you how much I signed bitter sweet tears of joy through out this Illid.

I had kept this Father's day gift ominously staring at me from my bedside night table for two weeks as I had declared it's purpose in life was to be my companion on a transatlantic trip w/my son to Spain and Italy.

It turned out to be the best traveling companion I ever had so I knew the era forgave me for letting it linger in the brink for those weeks.

I was reminded that in the late forties why my family, sterotypical Italianos, were die hard Yankee fans and why I had to be different. I flashed back to 1949 when I got a Leaf bubble card and opened to see a black face with a mesmerizing smile looking at me and how nonplused I was when I asked my dad who this "Negro" was since living in San Antonio at the time my exposure to there culture was next to nil.

My foggy view of the Korean "conflict" came to light as did all the references to Caro's _The Power Broker_ started to make sense. How social change evolved and the sturm un drang (sp)of the times accelerated the process. This and so much more kept me enchanted across the pond and I was only jarred back to 2007 when we touched down at Frankfurt and I had so kiss my friend farewell, blinked my eyes and uncremoniously place him in my overnight bag all the while thanking him for sixty years of memories brought to life.

a Must read.......2007-06-18

Jackie Robinson was a true Ambassador of the game of Baseball. it's well known about Branch Rickey signing Jackie to the Dodgers and the Historic Impact of Jackie Robinson being the first Black Baseball Player to break the Color Barrier in Major League baseball 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson was also a 4 letter Athlete at the University of UCLA. He was a Gifted Athlete and a Smart Man whose first Season hadn't been fully told until now. this is a Great Book and it answers so much about just how things went down 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson is a true Civil Rights Leader and a Ground-Breaker who paved the way for so many.

RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!".......2007-06-12

I am a born and raised Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodger fan. In fact my family moved from New York to Los Angeles the same year as the Dodgers. Before my brothers and I were born, my parents went to Ebbets field every weekend. I still have a box full of Brooklyn scorecards from those days. I was too young to see Jackie in his prime, but my Dad took me to some games in 1956 and I got to see Jackie and all the "Boys Of Summer"! I was a Brooklyn Dodger fanatic even at that age. Besides watching the Dodgers, I read everything available on them, and still do, 50 years later. I can unabashedly say I love Jackie Robinson. One of my many fond memories of my Dad, was him talking to me in front of our tiny black and white TV watching the Dodgers. He said "I have gone to hundreds of baseball games, and have seen 1,000 players, and the most exciting player I ever saw was Jackie Robinson!" "What Jackie did, was not displayed only in the statistics. Over the history of baseball, many players stole more bases. (Such as Ricky Henderson stealing bases with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning.) But no one unnerved every player on the team just by leading off the base and dancing on his pigeon toes, like Jackie. This book points out little, subtle, beneficial affects, on the whole Dodger team, that the average fan wouldn't see. The pitcher and catcher would be so nervous with Jackie dancing around on the base paths, that they would be afraid to throw curve balls, so the batters got better pitches to hit. Jackie stole home more times, than just about anyone except Ty Cobb. When we moved to Los Angeles there was a program on called the "Million Dollar Theatre", in which they showed the same movie on TV every day for a week. When the "Jackie Robinson Story" was on, I watched it every night, and literally memorized the dialogue. People forget that the Brooklyn Dodgers were the "original America's team". And that was because of Jackie. When Jackie broke the color line, he wasn't only fighting for the blacks, but he also was fighting for the Jews, and every minority that has been suppressed. When I watch old sports shows, when they talk about Jackie, I actually get tears in my eyes, because I know what he went through. I've read just about every meaningful book on Jackie and the Brooklyn Dodgers. I would rate this book as the 2nd best Jackie book of them all. (My personal favorite is "Great Time Coming".)

This book was interesting to me as compared to many others, because it not
only zoomed in on his first year as a player, but also went deeper into
his personal life during that first year. All the way to the size of a little room he and Rachel rented, along with their infant son. If you were to ask me, what, with all my knowledge, I have on Jackie's playing, was the biggest thing I learned from this book, I would say his affect, and dominance, in every facet of the game, that didn't appear in his batting average, in a losing cause as a rookie in the 1947 World Series against the hated and despised Yankees. This is a great book and I recommend it to everyone. P.S. In my opinion Jackie was the greatest all around athlete since Jim Thorpe. A lot of people forget that Jackie was the first 4-sport letterman at UCLA. He was an All American football player, the top scorer on UCLA's basketball team, a record setter in the long jump, and of course baseball, which was actually his weakest sport at that time. Duke Snider tells a story about when Duke was in high school in Compton California, and Jackie was playing for Pasadena City College (A junior college). Duke went to see Jackie play a baseball game. One inning Jackie hit a homerun, and then in his full baseball uniform, with spikes on, ran over to the track field between innings, won the broad jump, and ran back to the baseball field in time to play the next inning!

When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race

Average customer rating:

A Translated Life
An emotionally charged, highly recommended pick.
History Is So Interesting
Sisters speak
A story of a mixed-race girl in Apartheid South Africa

When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race
Judith Stone
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786868988

Book Description

When I Was White is the mesmerizing story of a black woman born to white parents during the most unforgiving years of official racism in South Africa. Sandra Laing was officially registered and raised as a white child. But when she was sent to a conservative boarding school, she was mercilessly persecuted because of her dark skin and frizzy hair-the results, her parents said, of a genetic throwback. In 1966, when Sandra was ten, the police removed her from school and she was reclassified as 'colored.' In a bitter court battle followed closely by the press, Sandra's parents fought, and lost. Then, as a teenager, Sandra eloped with a black man, and her parents disowned her. She struggled with poverty, illness, and the injustice of race laws. With the end of apartheid in 1994, Sandra vowed to find her mother. Her long, troubling search and their ultimate reunion forms the book's surprising and deeply moving conclusion. Drawing on a wealth of research, including extensive interviews with Sandra Laing, her family and friends, as well as access to previously sealed government files, Judith Stone has written a close-up, compelling account of a remarkable woman whose life stands as a tribute to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

A Translated Life.......2007-09-24

I want to commend Judith Stone for the phenomenal work she has done in discussing a number of difficult subjects: Sandra Laing herself, the history of South Africa, and the nature of memory, family, and the examined life. Clearly, Sandra's lack (repression) of memory, and her inability to articulate her feelings, left Stone with an enormous challenge. She works through this brilliantly by marshaling the journalistic reports from the time and later, interviewing people who know Sandra, and sensitively explaining and exploring Apartheid's tortured history. Stone uses her knowledge of studies of PTSD, false-memory syndrome, and other relevant fields in psychology to examine Sandra's individual and South Africa's collective forgetfulness/refusal to admit reality. All in all, Stone has done a stunningly professional and sensitive job in illuminating one person's life, the cruel and terrible absurdities of Apartheid South Africa, and, more broadly still, what it means to live in a world where an ideological rigidity based on lies and hypocrisy sucks the life out of everyone--oppressor or oppressed.

An emotionally charged, highly recommended pick........2007-08-04

When Sandra Laing was born in 1955 to a pro-apartheid Afrikaner couple in South Africa she was registered as a white child - but upon entering a white boarding school, was persecuted by students and teachers because of her brown skin. Her parents believed an interracial union back in their family history was to blame, but neighbors thought Mrs. Laing had committed adultery with a black man and the entire family was shunned. She was reclassified as 'coloured', her parents fought the South African courts to reverse the determination, then as a teen Sandra eloped - with a black man - and her parents disowned her. WHEN SHE WAS WHITE: THE TRUE STORY OF A FAMILY DIVIDED BY RACE crosses back and forth along discrimination lines and is riveting. Impossible to put down, it will enhance any general-interest lending library and is an emotionally charged, highly recommended pick.

History Is So Interesting.......2007-08-01

Histry is so interesting. It is the tie to learning about how things use to be. This book is full of history and tells us how the African people were treated long ago. The sad thing is that even today these people are still treated very different. My nieces who are black and white are beautiful, but experience racism everyday. The book can be difficult reading in some parts because it is history. So be patient and enjoy it. I experienced many feelings while reading it. Makes me want to go talk to my 95 year old grandma and just listen to all her stories.

Sisters speak.......2007-06-04

With great anticipation, i began to read a riviting life story. However, i couldn't get through the first two chapters because of the dry manner in which the book was written. It was an extremely difficult read. I never finished the book. I was very disappointed.

A story of a mixed-race girl in Apartheid South Africa.......2007-05-30

Sandra Laing was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. South Africa was in the midst of apartheid, and the little girl didn't fit in to the country's strict classifications of white, black and Coloured. Instead she baffled family and neighbors in Eastern Transvaal by sprouting kinky hair that shaped her dark complexion, much to the dismay of her ethnically Dutch, Afrikaner parents. Judith Stone writes the history of this troubled girl, from her first encounters with racism all the way to her middle-aged life in the present day.

Sandra's parents tried to turn a blind eye to their daughter's physical differences, but the white boarding school she attended would do no such thing. Parents and faculty were outraged that an obviously non-white student was being admitted to their school and mingling with their fair-skinned children. Apartheid was about separation and segregation, and Sandra was getting in the way of their long-established system. Her mother was accused of sleeping with a black man, and her father had to constantly defend his paternity. Admitting to some "color-mixing" in their ancestry was not acceptable in such a polarized climate, even though this had gone on unspoken in South Africa for decades.

When Sandra was finally escorted off the grounds of her school, she had no idea what she did wrong. Her father was launching his own private campaign to keep her white; Sandra didn't see things in color yet, and her mom and dad were determined to keep it that way. But she did see that her parents treated her differently from her brothers, and she did notice the disgustful looks of those who had been in charge of her care. She knew that something about her was just not right. At the hands of government officials, Sandra's official race changed from white to Coloured to white again. She realized that she must take her fate into her own hands, creating an identity for herself that no one would be able to take away from her.

WHEN SHE WAS WHITE isn't a traditional biography. It chronicles not only the life of the protagonist but also the struggle of those who tried to bring her life into the public eye. In this way, the book is both a story and a study in psychoanalysis, in sociology and in consumer culture. Sandra was a willing but confused eyewitness to her own history, and half the struggle of chronicling it has been in getting the story straight. Sandra doesn't see herself as a hero or a representation of the ills of apartheid. All she sees is the pain that she feels she caused her family, and her only wish is for their forgiveness --- not recognizing that they are the ones who have a lot to be forgiven for.

This book does much to present the contradictions of apartheid to those outside of South Africa. It also paints a strong picture of the landscape and individuals who made the country what it was. The expanse of the Transvaal countryside sharply contrasts with the polarized societies who lived there, and it is as if it were a beautiful cake on top of a precarious tower that was threatening to come crashing down at any second. Sandra represented some of the flaws of that cake, and she was therefore shunned by those who wanted to keep things as they were.

WHEN SHE WAS WHITE is the print edition of the movie "Skin," which is scheduled to appear in 2008. It is a story in its own right, though, and shouldn't be left on the shelf in anticipation of the film. Judith Stone speaks of both the cruelty and the perceived justification of apartheid, and no one is presented as a simple-minded individual. Bigotry runs deep in South Africa's history, but the focus of this book is in healing the wounds from the past and embracing this new, free country, where government-regulated racial caste systems no longer exist.

--- Reviewed by Shannon Luders-Manuel

Average customer rating:

My 2 year old loves this book
Buy the book Fancy Nancy instead
Adorable book
Awesome book...
My granddaughter's delight

Pinkalicious
Elizabeth Kann
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060776390
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Book Description

Pink, pink, pink. More than anything, Pinkalicious loves pink, especially pink cupcakes. Her parents warn her not to eat too many of them, but when Pinkalicious does . . . she turns pink! What to do?

This sparkling picture book, filled with such favorites as pink bubble gum, pink peonies, pink cotton candy, and pink fairy princess dresses, celebrates all things pink while showing that being yourself is best of all.

Customer Reviews:

My 2 year old loves this book.......2007-09-18

This is a great, short, funny book for preschoolers. It is just an easy read with a simple story. A little girl is indulgent and eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink... Highly recommended as a great read over and over story. It isn't the most clever writing but rather a fun story.

Buy the book Fancy Nancy instead.......2007-09-08

I was disappointed in this Pinkalicious book. If you have not already purched the book Fancy Nancy for your daughter you should -- much better book! My daughter is 5 and she still loves her Fancy Nancy book -- it is appropriate for ages 2-5 I'd say.

Adorable book.......2007-09-07

My daughter and I both just love this book. It is so well written and illustrated that it's a complete pleasure to read OVER and OVER and OVER. Neither of us get sick of it. So simple, yet so clever ...

Awesome book..........2007-08-24

My girls have enjoyed reading this story every single night since we purchased it. I definitely recommend this book to others. The illustrations are also so very cool.

My granddaughter's delight.......2007-08-23

A friend told me how her daughter loves this book so I bought it for my grand-daughter (4). We have read it almost every night since we got it. She reads the word "pink" each time it comes up which makes her feel like she is reading. Great book! Pictures are really neat too. I recommend it for everyone who loves pink!

Average customer rating:

A nice book, if you make it to the cheerful part
Read it again!
Very Sweet
Disappointed
Perfect for age 2

A Good Day

Manufacturer: Greenwillow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 006114018X
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

It started out as a bad day for little yellow bird, little white dog, little orange fox, and little brown squirrel. Until . . .

A discovery, and love, and luck and persistence, and a different point of view changed all that. What can turn a bad day into a good day? You decide.

Customer Reviews:

A nice book, if you make it to the cheerful part.......2007-09-29

My 2-year really enjoys this book ... now. A couple of the first times that we read it, she seemed bummed out by the little misfortunes that occur to the characters. She actually looked sad and shut the book. But once she became used to the idea that there were happier times ahead, she became enthusiastic about reading it. Perhaps a little less drama from the reader (mom) during the first few readings would have prevented the stalls.

Read it again!.......2007-08-28

"Read it again!" was my three year old daughter's response to this book, which we read to her for the first time tonight. She absolutely loves it, and so do we. It's perfect--beautiful pictures, charming text and exactly the right length for a three year old.

Very Sweet.......2007-07-27

I got this book for my 2-1/2 year old daughter, and we all really love it! It's very short but manages to effectively fit in a very sweet (but not preachy) message that there is always a bright side when we are feeling down! The illustrations are very pretty but also simple. The way the pages are arranged is very nice and simple and creates a good rhythm when reading the book. In fact, it could also make a really great 'learn-to-read' book. My daughter loves it, and she loves to help 'read' it with us when my husband and I read it to her.

Disappointed.......2007-07-17

I was very disappointed with the book because of the brevity of the story. It's as though you begin to read the story and then its over!
The illustrations are very nice but I bought this for my great niece who is blind and so she cannot enjoy the pictures.
Again, I was very disappointed.

Perfect for age 2.......2007-06-27

Lots of pictures, few words, and little person's issues give this book strong appeal to be the one picked by the child to be read.

Average customer rating:

This is an amazing book.
Inspiration
The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of.
Inspirational Pioneer
Gifted Hands/Think Big Dr. Ben Carson

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Ben Carson , and Cecil Murphey
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0310214696

Book Description

This is the mass market edition of the popular book by Dr. Ben Carson whose inspiring story tells of a frustrated inner-city kid whose faith in God helped him become director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

Customer Reviews:

This is an amazing book........2007-08-25

I was assigned this book for my high school reading list and i thought it would be incredibly boring.I was really surprised by the mix of medical terms and personal circumstances.This is probably the best book I have ever read.

Inspiration.......2007-07-24

I enjoyed this book very much. I am a pre-med student, and I think all pre-med student get discouraged at one point because of all the hard work. Before I read this book, I was nervous about my upcoming semester with the work load. Reading about Dr. Carson's story gave me the extra push I needed to take on the next semester with a little more needed ambition.

The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of........2007-07-13

When you think of a hero, what comes to mind? Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie? Rocky, perhaps? After reading Gifted Hands, there was no doubt in my mind that Ben Carson is a hero.

The most amazing thing is, that upon reading this book, you will realize that he does not regard himself as such. He humbly acknowledges that he is a child of God and that he is out to put out his best efforts in this world. Ben is a gentle giant - he is a highly capable individual with the ability to save lives - and although he is a person that merits much respect, he acknowledges the value of every human as just that: a human. In other words, he considers himself an equal with someone who, for example, sells cotton candy on the beach for a living.

I rated the books five stars because it is so inspirational. Through his well told story- that of a economically handicapped youth in a segregated society who becomes one of the world's best neurosurgeons - he shows us that there are no excuses in life. We all have obstacles - some small, some mammoth - but we can all pull strength from ourselves and God to make something great of ourselves. His faith and virtues have taken quite far in his life - and it has been accomplished by giving his best efforts each day.

Highly recommended reading for everyone - especially anyone facing hard times that make them feel like they cannot be their best - the book engagingly gives us very practical advice.

Inspirational Pioneer.......2007-07-03

If you're looking for an inspirational, I-can-do-it-too book for high school students,this is the one. Having gone from ghetto child to pediatric neurologist, Carson not only recounts his own journey but offers advice to young people as well as their parents. The life and death stories are page turners.

Gifted Hands/Think Big Dr. Ben Carson.......2007-06-15

Dr. Carson not only has Gifted Hands, he has a great deal of Faith. My husband is a former patient of Dr. Carson and absolutely adores him. What a special person with a very special gift. You will love his books they are well written and inspirational. Great job Ben Carson!

Average customer rating:

A Dark Ugly Book
Pimp
Vivid and raw but dated and bumpy
Far and away the best of the pimp books
Good But Underwritten

Pimp: The Story of My Life
Iceberg Slim
Manufacturer: Holloway House Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 087067935X

Customer Reviews:

A Dark Ugly Book.......2007-09-28

"Pimp" is a dark, ugly book. It's author Robert Beck, aka Iceberg Slim spent much of his life as a pimp. It's written to leave a bad taste in your mouth. That is the intent of the author. This is a chronicle of how he wasted twenty-five years of his life.

Maya Angelou's brother told her a pimp is one of two kinds of men. Either he hates women or he fears women. The process of encouraging, enforcing a woman to sell her body is neither sexy or romantic. The life of a hooker, especially one working the streets is harsh and degrading. A `good' pimp only cares about using his women until they have no more left to give. Only someone who hates or feels the need to control women would make a `good' pimp.

Iceberg Slim hated women.

His father deserted them while he was a baby. Bobby and his mother lead a hand-to-mouth existence for his early years. Early on he is sexually abused by his babysitter. Stability came into his life when his mother marries an older man who was a successful businessman. Young Bobby loved his stepfather. They lead a comfortable upper middle-class existence until his mother runs off with another man.

The image of his stepfather crying in the street begging his mother to stay is repeated throughout the book. He took his hatred of his mother out on women - as a pimp.

Of course things go down hill for his mother. Eventually she gets her act together. But even though stability is restored in his life, Robert wants to be a pimp. Possessing a superior I.Q. (175), he was a straight-A student. In a time of blatant racial discrimination (the 1920s, 30s, 40s) he is given a college scholarship. But his path is set, the seeds of hatred planted years before take root and flourish.

For more details about his descent into depravity and his redemption - read the book.

His writing style is not polished. His language is not refined. But his imagery is stunning. He induces mood and feeling brilliantly. Mood and feeling are enhanced by his lack of polish.

The reader may have trouble with his slang. It's been out of style for 80 years. For example, "vines" means clothes. A woman "georgias" a man when she uses him for sexual gratification without paying. A "square" is a cigarette, etc.

I have noticed a disturbing trend. The black pimp is a role-model for some segments of society. Performers such as Ice-T extol the pimp lifestyle. Iceberg Slim is 'the man'. Whenever this book is discussed as a movie project, the gangsta rappers start lobbying for the part. These guys want to be like him. But not the man he became but the man he was - a depraved parasite. Some of them talk about this book as though it's the Bible.

While this is an excellent book, it is ugly. Richard Beck wanted it that way. He wanted to send a message against pimping and it's lifestyle.

Sometimes I wonder if these pimp wannbes can read.

Pimp.......2007-09-23

I just finished reading this book for the second time, cover to cover in 2 days this time, it is possibly one of the best books I have ever read and keeps you enthralled throughout the whole read.Everyone should read this book because it really gives an insight into a world that most will never see.I have read all of the man's books and this is by far his best work although Mama Black Widow and Trick Baby are up there as well they just don't equal this masterpiece.They only have a 5 star rating but if I could this book would rate 10 stars.

Vivid and raw but dated and bumpy.......2007-09-05

Wanted to like this book better than I did. I was hoping for something great but instead found the tale merely lurid.

Iceberg Slim's tale of pimping in and around Chicago in the 40s is raw and vivid. His life is twisted and he revels in showing us its brutality.

If there is moral clarity anywhere here it must be at the end. I ground to a halt after 75 pages of beatings, betrayals, kinky sex and drug use. The 40s ghetto slang is almost impenetrable at places, a fact acknowledged by the publisher's placement of an (inadequate) dictionary at the end of the book.

Far and away the best of the pimp books.......2007-08-30

Isn't it funny how pimps and pimping are totally mainstream pop culture terms and attitudes among young people these days? From multitudes of 18 year old white boy "pimps" on Myspace, to several HBO documentaries about pimps, to grown white men saying things like "keep your pimp hand strong" and dressing up as parody pimps trying to be funny (this has to be the most tired joke on the planet at this point) to Uncle Toms like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent doing their modern day minstrel show on Mtv, to those who have "game", the con artists, deceivers, and criminals being the heroes to a good portion of the black community. Those enlightened social engineers and producers of our pop culture sure do enrich our society don't they!?!?

I also notice there are multiple books about pimps and "how to be a pimp" type books on Amazon which at casual look seem so ridiculous that they almost seem to be comedic parodies reminding me of those books written for losers that tell you how to bed beautiful women. If you want a good laugh just read some of the Amazon reviews of the pimp books.

Excluding Magic Don Juans book which is somewhat entertaining Iceberg Slims book is probably the only one worth reading and is head and shoulders above any other books by or about pimps. He doesn't try to glorify himself or being a pimp and while he does give glimpses in the life of being a pimp, drug addict, criminal and eventual prison inmate this book is just as much a self analysis for him as a look into that lifestyle. He states most of the stuff that he experienced and did matter of factly but you get a feeling that writing this book served as therapeutic introspective for Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck. He does a good job of showing what a scumbag he was but he doesn't get preachy or come off as an attention seeker. Its like he took a step back and made an appraisal of what he once was and put it down on paper. He does a good job of painting a picture of the times in which all this occured and situations he was in. I have to be fair and give the guy credit he really was a good writer.

Good But Underwritten.......2007-02-20

This is a very entertaining, fairly informative novel that is worth the read, particularly if you have a novice interest in the subject matter. The problem I have is that some important aspects of Slim's "life story" are too sketchily described. He writes in sufficient detail about the lessons he learned on how to pimp (from Macks he befriended). He effectively pulls you into the story with his vivid anecdotes of the drug abuse, crosses and petty crime that plague urban street life. He goes into the life of a prison convict. Although it's set in the early 20th century, it doesn't read back as dated even with some of its old-fashion slang. It has a contemporary, almost timeless feel which I appreciated. It also has its fair-share of humor and I found myself laughing several times.

But as stated before, it's glaringly underwritten in many places. All of the female characters lack clear personalities traits; this is even true for women he had for many years like "The Runt", Chris, and Rachel. They should've been made more dimensional and distinct from each other if only to provide a more beneficial read. It also would've been intriguing if Slim had depicted the daily life of his stable, to show what being a part of that group was like and how they interacted and co-existed. I realize that the book is entitled "Pimp" but the lives of his ASSETS, on the streets and off, were never described. It almost leads me to believe that Beck had no clue about that part of the life, and that raises my misgivings.

It's also just a little too convenient that he never turns out a normal but troubled, fresh square with finesse and true manipulation. Every woman he cops is a brainless nymphomaniac who's already in the game to begin with (or headed there anyway) and all too happy to work for him after a weak rap or a nasty reproach. To me this is just uninspired and not wholly credible.

While his youth in the first half is painstakingly detailed at a steady pace, some parts of his life in the second half were rushed that shouldn't have been, like his endeavor to get off of heroin. That takes up only about a page. The circumstance of a love-struck girl bent on murdering him is almost mentioned in passing. I would've rather read about these things than about his Tuskegee years or his Georgia affair with the cop's mistress. I saw a lot of wasted potential with this book. As good as it was, it could've been even better- a definitive masterpiece.

All that being said, it's recommended for being intelligently written, somewhat informative, and above all entertaining. Read if you are curious about the subject matter and like hard-boiled, unapologetic fiction.

The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business

Average customer rating:

A slice of history, well-told

The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business
Stephanie Capparell
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743265718

Book Description

In America's long march toward racial equality, small acts of courage by men and women whose names we don't recall have contributed mightily to our nation's struggle to achieve its own ideals. This moving book details the story of one such little-noted chapter.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, as Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball, a group of African-American businessmen -- twelve at its peak -- changed the face of American business by being among the first black Americans to work at professional jobs in Corporate America and to target black consumers as a distinct market.

The corporation was Pepsi-Cola, led by the charismatic and socially progressive Walter Mack, a visionary business leader. Though Mack was a guarded idealist, his consent for a campaign aimed at black consumers was primarily motivated by the pursuit of profits -- and the campaign succeeded, boosting Pepsi's earnings and market share. But America succeeded as well, as longstanding stereotypes were chipped away and African- Americans were recognized as both talented employees and valued customers. It was a significant step in our becoming a more inclusive society.

On one level, The Real Pepsi Challenge, whose author is an editor and writer for The Wall Street Journal, is a straightforward business book about the birth of niche marketing. But, as we quickly learn, it is a truly inspirational story, recalling a time when we as a nation first learned to see the strength of our diversity. It is far more than a history of marketing in America; it is a key chapter in the social history of our nation.

Until these men came along, typical advertisements depicted African-Americans as one-dimensional characters: Aunt Jemimas and Uncle Bens. But thereafter, Pepsi-Cola took a different approach, portraying American blacks for what they were increasingly becoming -- accomplished middle-class citizens. While such portrayals seem commonplace to us today, they were revolutionary in their time, and the men who brought them into existence risked day-to-day professional indignities parallel to those that Jackie Robinson suffered for breaking baseball's color line. As they crossed the country in the course of their jobs, they faced the cruelty of American racial attitudes. Jim Crow laws often limited where they could eat and sleep while on the road, and they faced resistance even within their own company. Yet these men succeeded as businessmen, and all went on to success in other professions as well, including medicine, journalism, education, and international diplomacy.

Happily, six of these pioneers lived to tell their stories to the author. Their voices, full of pride, good humor, and sharp recollection, enrich these pages and give voice to the continuing American saga.

Customer Reviews:

A slice of history, well-told.......2007-02-21

What a fascinating book! I grew up in the 1960s when Pepsi and Coke were almost synonymous. Little did I know that the decade or so behind me had produced such a romp over the cola fields.

Stephanie Capparell's book, "The Real Pepsi Challenge" is terrific in many ways. She highlights the years circa 1947-1951 when Pepsi president Walter Mack, liberal and determined, set about to put together a team of black Americans to appeal to the burgeoning buying power of a group of people who represented a percentage of Americans equal to the entire Canadian population. Capparell then goes on not only to highlight the chief operating force for a team of twelve under the direction of the talented Edward F. Boyd but how they managed to be successful at a time when Jim Crow laws were still in effect and Jackie Robinson was just emerging. These men, talented, educated and from a variety of backgrounds, perfectly captured by the author, moved Pepsi-Cola within striking distance of rival Coca-Cola. It's an American success story at its best.

The thrust of "The Real Pepsi Challenge" concerns those post-war years and Capparell is at her best when she mirrors the times and the difficulties the team had in going out in the field. Given the times, her references to advertising and societal concerns are eye-popping. Subsequently, she gives a follow-up as to the new owner's decision to disband the group, and what happened to them after some of them left Pepsi, but others stayed.

"The Real Pepsi Challenge" is a highly recommended book. The author has done a great job in putting together the recollections of those who worked for Pepsi and how they connected with the era in which they lived. Congratulations, Ms. Capparell!

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