Book Description
This book captures the story of a widespread movement of churches that are expanding their ministries to include multiple formats, venues, and locations, using dozens of in-the-trenches examples, identifying the primary reasons churches succeed as well as how they overcome common snags on the route to “one church—many congregations."
Customer Reviews:
Must read for any church considering multi-site.......2007-06-08
Geoff Surratt and team provide an amazing resource for any church considering a multi-site strategy. This book is extremely informative, asks probing questions to help you think through why you want to go multi-site, how to do it, etc. They provide great tools to help you create timelines and budgets. It has been a fabulous resource to help my church start moving aggressively toward our vision to go multi-site. Before reading the book, I didn't know where to start. Since reading the book I feel like I have a much better understanding of the challenges and opportunities and I have a better idea of how to get our church moving towards this goal.
Good, but not great.......2007-05-29
The book is good, but comes across as a "how-to" manual, rather than as an opportunity to give testimony of the Lord's faithfulness. I'm sorry if that sounds cynical, but I'm not convinced that as Christians, passionate for the Lord's glory, we need that kind of approach as we seek new ways of creatively sharing the good news about Jesus.
A Must Read For Growing Churches.......2007-03-08
A wonderful book that gets you thinking about a vital growth barrier- your facility. There is no one way to go multi-site, and I really like how this book shares the various different ways of expanding our church without either building a larger facility or starting another church altogether. A great win-win! We will definately be going multi-site and my leadership will be reading this book as a next step.
Awesome Book!.......2007-01-18
This book is right on and I believe completely that this is the way the Lord is moving His Church. In a time of mega churches, it takes mega dollars to make them happen. I see the multi-site church revolution as being a way where God takes awesome churches, doing awesome things and allowing them to grow horizontally vs. vertically for a fraction of the dollars. Our church is moving in this direction and it is so much more strategic than to build a bigger building. Thanks for the inspiration! Todd - Horizons Community Church, Ham Lake, MN.
Thinking About Your Church Meeting in Different Locations? READ THIS BOOK.......2006-07-11
I love this book. Here is why!
* It's original. I have not found another book that discusses this model of reproduction.
* It is full of relevant information. These guys have done their homework. They have researched the issue thoroughly.
* It's short. 200 pages.
* It's full of stories. The book is full of stories of real life churches and leaders who have listened to God and are pioneering this model. I learn a lot from stories.
* It focuses on application. At the end of every chapter there are workouts that will help you apply what you've read. There are assessments, checklists, charts, and graphs to help you wherever you are at in the process.
* It is written for all kinds of churches. Churches of any size and any age. It's written for rural, suburban and/or urban churches. This book does NOT say that multi-site is the ONLY model and it does NOT say there is only ONE WAY to do multi-site. It is full of principles that can be applied whatever your situation.
If you are even thinking about doing church in multiple locations it would be beneficial to invest a few dollars and read this book.
Book Description
When Bob Tarte left the Michigan suburbs for the country, he was thinking peace and quiet. He'd write his music reviews in the solitude of his rural home on the outskirts of everything. Then he married Linda. She wanted a rabbit. How much trouble, he thought, could a bunny be?
Well, after the bunny chewed its way through their electrical wires and then hid inside the wall, Bob realized that he'd been outwitted. But that was just the beginning. There were parrots, more rabbits, then ducks and African geese. The turkeys, stranded on a nearby road, fighting for their lives. The starlings. The sad, ugly duck for sale for 25 cents.
One day Bob looked around and saw he was not only outnumbered, but that he'd become a servant to an extremely demanding family: Stanley Sue, a gender-switching African grey parrot; Hector, a cantankerous shoulder-sitting Muscovy duck; Howard, an amorous ring-necked dove; Chloe, a mallard who learned to limp; and a host of others. And, against every instinct in him, Bob became their slave.
He read all the classic animal books--The Parrot Who Owns Me, The Dog Who Rescues Cats, Arnie the Darling Starling, That Quail Robert, The Cat Who Came for Christmas--about the joys of animals, the touching moments. But none revealed what it was really like to live with an unruly menagerie. This hilarious memoir gives us the other side--about a man who, against all bets, was converted to a doting and proud animal lover.
Customer Reviews:
If you've ever been a chew toy for a bird...you'll love this book........2007-07-29
Enslaved by Ducks is the story of how the author Bob Tarte (a bonafide city slicker) gave in to his country girl wife, Linda when it came to getting a rabbit named Binky. Binky ends up being a terror on 4 legs for Bob. Bob ends up getting attached to Binky despite his relentless testing of Bob's temper. Bob ends up allowing Linda to expand their "herd". Pretty soon they have ducks, parrots and turkeys. Soon Bob realizes he's at the very bottom of the pecking order in his own home. He ends up sharing his dinner with parrots, nursing ducks back to health in his living room, building perches for turkeys and being used as a chew toy for a parrot.
I really enjoyed this book and I'm now reading the sequel to it called "Fowl Weather" by Bob Tarte.
Delightful reading!.......2007-07-09
Having personally been 'Enslaved by Ducks' the title caught my eye! I very much enjoyed reading this book with a vast array of animal characters and a never-ending list of animal encounters, this book is a FUN read. Initially, it is a little slow getting going. I bought the book based on the title and wanted to read about Ducks; I was somewhat disappointed when the first few chapters dealt mainly with pet rabbits, so it was slow going for me. Once I got past the bunny, etc. stories and into the Ducks and Geese it was a really good time AND I learned LOTS about pet Rabbits, too! A definite Must-Read for any animal lover!
Sweet, sad, and outrageously funny.......2007-03-29
This is a terribly fun series of fowl events. I was tempted to call it 'light reading' but that wouldnt be accurate. It feels like light reading but every page is chock full with this couples' adventures while they try to save, raise, and adopt a variety of critters. Its a good book to put down and pick up later - if you're like me and an inconsistent reader - and not be lost in the process.
The writing is wonderful. The analogies and descriptions are so clever and witty that i have to shout and laugh out loud. The husband and wife have diferent ways of looking at things (one is generally more pessimistic and the other deliciously optimistic), which makes things even more interesting of course.
This book is a blast. Its a delightful read.
Why Do People Think This is Funny?.......2007-03-23
I keep getting suckered in by these "funny animal stories" with high user feedback. I slogged all the way through Marley and Me and was ready to shoot myself by the end. OK, I laughed 5 times, but I grimaced 25 and the story was just not that interesting.
With Marley under my belt, my tolerance was way down, so I did not finish this book. However, after about 50 pages, I had not laughed once. Again, the story was not that interesting
Enslaved by Ducks review.......2007-02-07
Slow but funny reading. I read it in spurts. It is a book of his columns that were printed in the newspaper.
Average customer rating:
- You miss me, and I miss you, and I must leave you for awhile.
- Beautiful message!
- Childrens Books
- Wonderful Illustrations
- Finally I have made it through without tears...
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Oh My Baby, Little One
Kathi Appelt
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
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I Love You Because You're You
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No Matter What
ASIN: 0152000410 |
Amazon.com
It's always hard for Baby Bird and his mama to say good-bye on their way to school and work in the morning. But Mama finds a lilting, lyrical way of showing how her love is with her child all the time--and his love is with her, too.
But even when I'm far away,
this love I have will stay.
and wrap itself around you
every minute of the day.
Warm, reassuring feelings emanate from this lovely picture book. Mama Bird tells her child how her love slips inside his lunch box, sits upon his shoulder when he sings a happy song, and snuggles on his pillow while he naps. Jane Dyer, illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed, creates positively touchable watercolors of a pudgy-cheeked preschooler bird and his working mom. Hints of hearts nestle playfully on the pages: on the blackboard under the letter H, and sewn onto his pillowcase. Oh My Baby, Little One will resonate deeply for moms and kids alike, and may make daily separations just a little bit easier.
So blow a kiss and wave good-bye--
my baby, don't you cry.
This love is always with you,
like the sun is with the sky.
(Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
When Baby Bird says good-bye to his mama at school each morning, he feels sad. Mama Bird feels sad, too. Sometimes it's hard to be apart. But as Mama Bird says, the love they share is with them always, keeping them close until the best part of the day--when they are together again. •From the illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed, with more than 725,000 copies sold •A heartwarming story about the universal experience of parents and children being temporarily separated
Customer Reviews:
You miss me, and I miss you, and I must leave you for awhile........2007-08-10
Mama bird explains to baby bird, who misses her, how her love is with him throughout the day while she is at work. She tells him that she also misses him and finds his love with her. She also tells him that her greatest joy is when she comes home to him.
This is a good book for a working mother to read to her child (starting as young as possible) to reassure him/her and open up a conversation about the topic whenever needed. The pictures look just like my grandson when I babysit and he misses mommy.
Gift Of The Tortoise: A Musical Journey Through Southern Africa by Ladysmith Black Mambazo includes a song that the children sing when their mothers return from trading in the city (which may take days). It also has a song by a girl when she receives a gift from her father who works at a distance from the family and only sees them a few weeks a year.
Beautiful message!.......2007-07-12
I bought this book for myself when my first child was still a baby. It helped me with the drop off at preschool when she was a baby to know that our love was with each other when we were apart! I bought them this year when my sister-in-laws had their first baby girls and were headed back to work and they found them just as moving and sweet. What a great gift for any mom at any stage!
Childrens Books.......2007-05-13
This is one of the most beautiful and tender stories I've ever read about a working momy and the seperation she and her baby son must go through every day when she goes off to work and he goes to school. It helped me and my son a lot knowing that other families go through a similar process of separation anxiety. It also has beautiful pictures and eases the insecurities most little children go through when the aren't with their parents, I really recommend it.
Wonderful Illustrations.......2006-02-28
Large, soft, colorful illustrations attracted me to this book that I found at a book fair several years ago. I purchased this book for my "when I have children" book collection, and now that I have a son to read it to, it is a favorite for both of us. The story is a sweet rhyme and not too "wordy" for my toddler who does not sit still for very long. The illustrations are so pleasing to me, that I just completed a search for other books illustrated by Jane Dyer, and am excited by my new finds.
Finally I have made it through without tears..........2005-03-18
Stumbled across this in the library, (always scope out the books there first, in order to make sure "we" like them), the first oh, ten times, I read the book to my daughter I couldn't get through it without almost bawling. (And I only leave her twice a week, with her Grandma or Aunt). I don't think she understood (at 10 months) what was a matter with Mom. Now that I own it and have read it about 30 times, I can get through without tears and she really enjoys the story. It is told in a lovely rhyme, with beautiful illustrations.
If you are a working mom, or sending your child off to school, I highly recommend this book.
Average customer rating:
- Wow
- Love of a nightingale
- One of the greatest playwrights, not to mention female.
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Timberlake Wertenbaker: Plays One : New Anatomies, the Grace of Mary Traverse, Our Country's Good, the Love of the Nightingale, Three Birds Alighting on a Field (Faber Contemporary Classics)
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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In the Heart of America: And Other Plays
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Sarah Kane: Complete Plays
ASIN: 0571177433 |
Customer Reviews:
Wow.......2002-07-25
My high school did Love of the Nightingale my freshman year, and it's the most amazing play. I read it the first time and liked it, but when I read it again the play struck me as brilliant because I got lots of foreshadowing. Several years before they did Our Country's good, but I was littile (I went to see my sister), so I don't remember it. Amazing playwright alert here, people!
Love of a nightingale.......2002-01-05
I also have never read this book but my college is staging love of a nightingale i think that timberlake wertenbaker writes with such poise this book cant be missed.
The play love of a nightingale is in a greek style but the plot is so intriging that anyone who previously thought greek tragedies boring will be proved wrong this one keeps you reading. i should know as a college production being forced to pick a greek play we werent pleased we must have got the best one possible brilliant to stage brilliant to read this book is a must if u are considering staging a greek production dont send ur audience to sleep liven them up with philomele's urging desire to know about sex and when she wishes she didnt. If the rest of this book is as good as love of a nightingale its worth it.
One of the greatest playwrights, not to mention female........1998-06-18
This book of plays is one of the best and most interesting I have read. Wertenbaker tackles many subjects including female cross-dressing, female sexuality, and the plight of the criminal first sent to Australia. Very different topics and all well written.
Average customer rating:
- Rare fun, indeed.
- Well-written book, didn't like the subject or the ending though
- Okay, however...
- MayBird Review
- May Bird
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May Bird and the Ever After: Book One (May Bird)
Jodi Lynn Anderson
Manufacturer: Aladdin
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ASIN: 141690607X |
Book Description
Most people aren't very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don't understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat, Somber Kitty, is her brave guardian.
Then May falls into the lake.
When she crawls out, May finds herself in a world that most certainly does not feel like a fuzzy mitten. In fact it is a place few living people have ever seen. Here, towns glow blue beneath zipping stars and the people -- people? -- walk through walls. Here the Book of the Dead holds the answers to everything in the universe. And here, if May is discovered, the horrifyingly evil Bo Cleevil will turn her into nothing.
May Bird must get out.
Fast.
Customer Reviews:
Rare fun, indeed........2007-08-12
This is one of the most enchanting books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I fell instantly in love with the wonderfully witty May and her uglier-than-sin cat, named, of all things, Somber Kitty, and could not put the book down from start to finish. The ending, though, open-ended, still had a certain sense of closure as well. Without giving too much away, I couldn't help but sniffle. And, personally, I can't think of a more satisfying ending to such a great story than discovering it's just the beginning.
That said, this book is not for everyone. I imagine if you asked the author her favorite films, The Sixth Sense and Beetlejuice would be high on the list. Literary influences include Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and LotR which also have their share of darker elements.
I recommend this book to people of any age who delight in the macabre and can appreciate well-written fantasy horror stories, kids who are looking for a more intelligent, original alternative to those awful Goosebumps books and to the parents of such children.
So far, my sister, her sons and my mother have all read the book upon my recommendation and fallen equally in love with it.
Well-written book, didn't like the subject or the ending though.......2007-07-03
As I started reading May Bird and the Ever After, I had high hopes for it. The cover art was well done with a cute picture of May Bird on a spooky background scene. The Kirkus Review of "Rare fun" promised more than the book could deliver. This review, the cover synopsis and the misleading 'cute' aspect of the cover art didn't fully prepare me for what I found inside. The story of May's unhappiness at school and at home was fairly short. What was truly surprising was the graphic nature of the world that May Bird fell into. It was so creepy and so awful that I had a hard time finishing the book.
In its defense, the book is well-written. I was compelled to finish it. It moves quickly and the main characters are endearing. But the environment, supporting cast of ghosts and ghouls as well as the threat of being doomed to 'nothingness' was overly done especially for the age group to which it is aimed.
The ending was also unexpected and unsatisfactory. Without giving away what happens, suffice it to say that it was quite disappointing. I do not like to be left with the feeling that I must buy the next book to find out what happens.
I don't really know who I would recommend this book to. There are just so many well-written books out there that, despite the good writing here, other books provide a better story and a more satisfying ending.
Okay, however..........2007-05-10
It's not a bad story. I picked this up at the Scholastic book fair. The cover on the book I have, which is quite different from the one pictured here, did NOT mention that this was the beginning of a series. I don't mind a cliff hanger, but I prefer to know what I'm getting into when I buy one. Just out of sheer pique, I will NOT be waiting to follow up with this series. I hate sneaks.
MayBird Review .......2007-04-27
I really liked this exciting, adventure book. It's one you would hide with under the covers in bed after your parents have told you "LIGHTS OUT!!"
But you ignore them, and dive into the wonderful series of books that will transfer you to annother world.
May Ellen Bird, is a shy, lonely, 10 year old. She doesn't want to admit shes lonely, as to putting her trust and friendship to her loyal companion Somber Kitty.
She goes to explore Briery Swamp, falling in, she gets out and finds out she can see ghosts, that were hidden before.
Follow this brave young girl as she adventures into another land, another world, beneath the lake.......
May Bird.......2007-04-23
I think May Bird and The Ever After is a great book for adventcure lovers.
I liked this book because it's a great si-fi adventcure. It's also a great book for people who like scary books.
Book Description
As a self-proclaimed twitcher—a birdwatching extremist who travels around the country trying to catch a glimpse of as many species of birds as possible—the author took a year off in 2002 with the goal of seeing 700 birds and thereby breaking the national record for most birds seen in one year. In this amusing memoir, he recounts his quest, including how he spent all of his inheritance from the untimely death of his parents to make his dream a reality. Populated by unusual characters and interesting species of birds, this part confessional–part travelogue for both bird nerds and the general population follows the author as he works out what it means to be normal despite his unusually avid compulsion toward twitching.
Customer Reviews:
Big Twitch.......2006-09-09
Australian birder Sean Dooley describes his Big Year, an effort to break the record for the most birds seen in Australia (and environs) in a year.
I loved this birding memoir. Dooley is a lively, humorous, engaging writer, and his Australian slang makes his voice particularly come alive, at least for this American reader. He conveys a passion for his pursuit and a concern for wildlife and the environment without sanctimony.
Clearly, there are scads of awesome birds in Australia, and undoubtedly they have the best common names of any birds anywhere. The species list at the back of the book is an entertainment in itself.
I am at a loss, however, to explain Mr. Dooley's difficulty in finding women who bird. Maybe it's a cultural thing?
Definitely recommended, especially for American readers to whom the language and most of the species will be engagingly exotic.
Book Description
The California condor, with a wingspan of nine–and–a–half feet and a history as old as the Redwoods, should be extinct by now. It should not be soaring over the Grand Canyon, Big Sur, and south–central California. It should not be breeding like a machine in zoos. It should be a bitter memory.
Fifteen years ago, there were only twenty–seven California condors left in the world, and they were all in zoos, where none had even tried to reproduce. The effort to save this bird had come to resemble a bar fight, in which environmentalists, scientists, and bureaucrats injured themselves and the species they were trying to save. It was embarrassing at best.
Yet the condor has survived somehow. It has sailed past the brink of extinction, turned a broad circle in the sky, and returned to the wild again. The story of how this happened is more than the story of an endangered bird with an amazing wingspan. It is also the story of a wild and giant state that has become crowded and small, and the behind–the–scenes dramas that shaped the environmental movement.
Customer Reviews:
A Near Death Experience.......2007-07-07
If cats have nine lives, then the California condor as a species must be their equal. These birds have stepped to the edge of the extinction cliff and ALMOST fallen to a crushing collapse. After reading their story, you have to wonder if the creator was playing a cruel joke on this ancient and giant bird. First, with the exception of the huge black body and their graceful soaring, they aren't what you would call "easy on the eyes." They have a number of disgusting habits, and to top it off, they settled on Southern California as home (i.e., this place is being consumed by development at an alarming rate).
Condors to the Brink and Back - covers this bird's life history all the way to the release of zoo raised birds into the wilds of California and Arizona. With each chapter that John Nielsen writes in their life history I felt like, "Okay, this is it. These birds aren't going to survive this one." In the end, the species (read: humans) which puts them against the ropes, is ultimately the same species which comes to their rescue. Nielsen introduces all the key players in what at times resembles a less-than-unified effort to save the mighty condor.
Nearing the end of the book, what becomes apparent is man's role as the crutch the fragile condor must lean against to survive. As more condors raised in captivity are released into the wild, their dependency on wildlife biologists and zoo care-takers can begin to crumble. Encouraging news about California condors breeding and fledging new birds in their natural habitat is happening with greater frequency and spreading over a wider range including Mexico.
Their longer term survival looks brighter and brighter. But some of the threats that put these birds on the brink of collapse are still present today in the form of lead pellets and bullets in downed game which the condors ingest and the ever shrinking range land which they inhabit. For the time being, we have the California condor back to grace our skies, and play an important role as one of nature's big body snatchers.
Everything Condor.......2006-06-03
This is a really interesting book. Nielsen writes very well, and with an evident passion arising from his boyhood experiences with condors in southern California. Nielsen tells the story of the condor, what little we know of its history before the nineteenth century, the slaughter of the birds and the stealing of its eggs, and finally the sometimes comical efforts to save this profound species from extinction. The book is equally appealing to readers who are simply seeking a good story, and to those who are involved in other kinds of environmental protection efforts.
One particular part of the story surprised me. Nielsen interviewed Sandy Wilbur, the government biologist charged with developing a plan to save the condor immediately after the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973. According to Nielsen, Wilbur became a Christian after reading a book by C.S. Lewis, and it was his Christian beliefs that influenced his desire to preserve the condor. Wilbur believed that the condor was special because it was created by God, even though the bird had long outlived its evolutionary significance and was not necessary for any current ecosystem. This is a different kind of motivation for saving biodiversity, and the story is a nice complement to the many other individuals who have struggled to save such a memorable bird.
How one large bird journeyed to the very edge of extinction and came back makes for an exciting story.......2006-05-26
How one large bird journeyed to the very edge of extinction and came back makes for an exciting story: especially when related by a NPR environmental correspondent as in CONDOR; TO THE BRINK AND BACK - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ONE GIANT BIRD. Here is where passionate reporting blends best with science, producing a moving story of how a small group of committed people refused to allow the condor to become extinct, joining forces to gather the last remaining wild condors to a pair of zoos where they were encouraged to breed with other captives. John Nielsen is a native Californian as well as an environmental writer, so he's in the perfect position to provide a survey of both California environmental politics and processes and natural history in this compelling account.
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
Informative and a lot of fun to read.......2006-04-02
John Nielsen has clearly done his homework when it comes to understanding the fascinating history of the California Condor. He not only takes us through the natural history of condors from the Pleistocene to the present, he also introduces us to the remarkable cast of characters who have worked diligently for almost a century to prevent this species from disappearing. Written in an easy, engaging style, "Condor" combines ecology, history, and gossip to create a vivid picture of the challenges involved in saving a species that was more at home in the age of the mammoths than in the age of McMansions.
The Return of the Condor.......2006-02-28
American condors are not an easy bird to love, at least for many people. Their points of unattractiveness are many. The condor is a vulture, a creature that eats dead and rotting things by sticking its bald, red, ugly head into carcasses. When it needs to cool its feet, it urinates on them. Its sense of interior design for the caves in which it nests is to decorate the walls with feces and vomit. John Nielson, in _Condor: To the Brink and Back - The Life and Times of One Giant Bird_ (HarperCollins) admits to all this ugliness, but says the images vanish when the bird takes flight: "You may think there's no chance you could ever give a damn about this bird, but take my word for it: once you see the condor soaring, it owns you." The birds have inspired a great deal of fervent enthusiasm, which has of course pitted enthusiasts against such types as farmers and developers, but has also divided those who want to save the birds into warring factions when they disagree on the fundamentals of how to do so. The condor has survived, but even Nielsen admits it has long been a species with no ecological value. It has survived, barely so, despite its involvement with humans and now directly because of them.
The birds are amazing in many ways. They are one of the largest of flying birds, with a ten foot wing span. The finger-like feathers at the end of those wings are almost two feet long. As big as condors are, they were small scavenger birds compared to some of the others 1.6 million years ago in the Pleistocene, when they would have fed on mammoths, sloths, and saber-toothed cats. As Nielsen says, we'd pay plenty to get mammoths and saber-tooths back; what's it worth to keep an animal with the same history? Condors started being afflicted by humans who wiped out different mammalian species in the mid-1700s, and then by hunters who left their prey full of lead, and then by strychnine used to poison varmints, and then by collectors of their feathered skins and their eggs. By 1982 there were only about two dozen left. A great deal of basic research had to be done on the birds to get real understanding of how they lived. It was not until the 1980s, for instance, that it was learned by chance that condors are among the birds that "double clutch," laying a second egg in a season if they lose the first one. This meant that one egg could go to the zoo without making the flock smaller. Crews of condor-fanciers wore themselves out tagging condors in the wild or collecting the eggs; they called themselves "The Zombie Patrol" because as they staggered to the condor nest caves they were "filthy, smelly, bleeding, starving, stiff, and utterly exhausted." Eggs brought back (in a special padded suitcase) were hatched in the zoos. A program of simply tagging and releasing birds in the wild did not work; eventually all the last birds wound up as captives.
There has been enough success in captive breeding that condors raised in pens have been released into the wild. No one really can predict how this will go. Chicks raised this way are often fed by hand, or at least by hand puppet, a covering for a hand that looks very much like an adult condor head coming down with food in its beak. This was supposed to let chicks sense that they were in a condor family, but one keeper said, "It only took the chicks a few days to figure out that there were people behind the puppets." Wild birds do not need to be thinking of people as a source for nutrition (or for any other blessings, given how we have treated them). There was a program of "aversive therapy" to keep them from being too affectionate to or curious about humans, and another to teach them not to land on power lines. There are important philosophical issues here; are such birds raised so unnaturally really natural members of the environment, and what is it that we have gotten for the millions that have been spent to get them back in the air? If you only count numbers, there are about a hundred condors flying free now, which is a real success, although some biologists think this only shows how badly we have failed to keep the environment a place where condors could continue to make their homes independently. Perhaps it is only appropriate that this strange bird, hideously ugly in appearance and fabulously beautiful in the skies, should bring out the best and the worst in us, and that its unresolved story should be filled with ambivalent messages.
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Every Bird is One Bird
Francine Sterle , and
Trancine Sterle
Manufacturer: Tupelo Press
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Binding: Paperback
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Nude in Winter
ASIN: 0971031010 |
Book Description
When Francine Sterle focuses her lyric attention on the world outside her window, what resonates is the savage, the sensual, the redemptive.
Co-winner of the Tupelo Press Editor's Prize in Poetry, "Every Bird is One Bird" explores the intimate and intricate relationships that exist between untamed nature-the world we watch-and inwardness-the world we sense. The poems disclose the unending and essential flow between the two. Fiercely beautiful, they convey an instinctive, emotional involvement that aspires to pure song.
Many of the poems have a prismatic quality and depend on an incremental progression of time and detail. The landscape of northern Minnesota--its shrub swamps and needleleaf forests and grassy fields--is the archetypal and mythic well from which Sterle draws.
She is rooted in her landscape-it is her source and her resource. As she shares her world of lakes and stunted pines, wildlife and wildflowers with us in hauntingly beautiful phrases, she moves softly and swiftly between the grand and the intimate. It claims her as a writer, and us as readers.
Book Description
Featured on an enormously popular 20/20 segment, this heartwarming story tells of William Lishman, a reclusive sculptor, who adopted a gaggle of geese, flew with them in an ultralight glider, and actually taught them to migrate--earning himself the nickname "Father Goose." Optioned for film by Columbia Pictures. 66 color photos.
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- ONE BIRD = Lies?
- anti-adult, anti-Christian
- Not as good as Shizuko's Daughter, but a winner nonetheless!
- Another great book by Mori!
- The best YA book
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One Bird (Edge Books)
Kyoko Mori
Manufacturer: Henry Holth & Co (J)
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Binding: Hardcover
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Shizuko's Daughter
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The Dream of Water
ASIN: 0805029834 |
Book Description
"STUNNING, EVOCATIVE . . . [A] well-crafted coming-of-age novel."
--School Library Journal
Fifteen-year-old Megumi was very sad when her parents broke up. But now, with her mother running off on a "trip" to her own childhood home, Megumi is left to stay with her father (who is never around) and her cranky grandmother (who is unfortunately always around).
Just when she feels that no one cares, Megumi meets Dr. Mizutani, a smart young woman who offers Megumi a part-time job in her veterinary office helping her heal sick birds. Dr. Mizutani seems to understand Megumi without asking a lot of questions. And as Megumi finally begins to accept why her mother had to leave, she discovers a confident strength within herself. . . .
"The text gains an intensity from the discipline with which every detail of this accomplished work is orchestrated from the first page to the last."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Customer Reviews:
ONE BIRD = Lies?.......2004-03-05
I've come to the conclusion that I don't like this author very much. All of her books boil down to her past. It's understandable if she can't put down her mother's suicide but to write so much stuff on the same topic... Like "Shizuko's Daughter", this book is about a daughter growing up alone. Unfortunately, I was not in the mood for her boohooing all over again.
All I could think of while I was reading that book was "What is this?". Like the author, I am Japanese and have spent most of my life in Japan and am getting read to move back to Japan. Again, she stresses the discipline of the Japanese public school system. From reading her memoirs, I know that she personally never attended one. She simply listened to all the bad about them, and portrays them in a negative way.
Basically speaking? It's another way for her to boohoo about her past and to put down Japan. She's biased, and I don't recommend this stuff to anyone.
anti-adult, anti-Christian.......2003-07-04
As someone who used to live in Japan, I was eager to read this. I hoped to find a book that my daughter could read to give her a glimpse of the life I used to know. However, I would not recommend this to any teen. The book is disturbing, because with the exception of a young, divorced, athiest, all of the adults are portrayed as either naive, frumpy, foolish, or hypocritical. The author is especially harsh on the Christian characters, both adults and teens, but also portrays others with religious beliefs negatively. Only the atheist comes out shining. The overall mood of the book is very negative. I was glad when I finished it. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, because it does have some literary merit, unlike a lot of the stuff teens read these days.
Not as good as Shizuko's Daughter, but a winner nonetheless!.......2003-01-03
Megumi is a high school tenth-grader living in Japan in 1975. Megumi's life is a rather hard, cold, and lonely one. Her mother has left to go live with her grandfather using the excuse that he needs someone to take care of him, but Megumi knows that this is a lie.The only reason that her mother left was because she and her father coudln't stand each other, but getting a divorce would shame the family and the family's name. Megumi is very confused in the beginning of the book, if her mother loved her then why did she leave without her? Megumi's father and grandmother aren't exactly perfect guardians to top it off. Megumi's father is almost never home either out on business or visiting his girlfriend in Hiroshima who owns a bar and doesn't have a very honorable name. Megumi's grandmother is a cranky old woman who always complains about Megumi. Megumi meets a young, inspiring veterinarian by the name of Dr. Mituzani. Dr. Mituzani has had a hard past as well, but shows a strength that Megumi admires. Megumi helps take care of the birds at Dr. Mituzani's office, and finds much joy in watching sick or wounded birds heal. Many eventful changes occur in Megumi's life; Megumi stops believing in God, she loses her close friendship with her former best friend, and she learns that when her mother left her she missed Megumi as much as she said she did, and she truly did love Megumi.
Another great book by Mori!.......2002-11-26
I personally felt that this book wasn't as strong as Shizuko's Daughter, it is however, basically the same plot. The mother is not longer with in this case, Megumi, and the father doesn't care. He had a lover on a distant island, so someone moves in to care for Megumi. This book does contain many subplots, Megumi works for Dr. Mizutani, and discovers so much more about herself, about birds, and about caring. They develop a close bond, sharing their stories, and helping eachother. With the Kato's, it is a different bond, they had once been close, when Megumi realizes what she knew all along "There was no God" after admitting her loss of faith, she realized she could no longer be close friends with the Kato's and breaks connections. Toru, moves in from Tokyo and they develop an even closer bond, maybe even further than friendship...?
Her mother lives with her grandfather and Megumi must find the courage to stand up for herself, to get what she wants, to visit her mother...
Her father seems to stand up for her, and yet neglect her. Her grandmother seems to care not-at-all, but she cares enough to make the sandwiches, and all of those stories "Grandmother is really a nice person" what does it mean?
This book is great, but lacks the tension, the strong feelings, that her first book had. but read it anyway, you won't regret it...! ^_^
The best YA book.......2002-03-03
My friend was the first to read this book and I started after her after grabbing it to do a report. Most the time I barley get litte over half way through then I'm done. Not with this book. I stayed up for hours becuase it's one of those books you can't put down. The author is so good you acually feel like you know Megumi and what she is going through.
Books:
- The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Volume 2
- The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome: Completely Revised and Updated: Advice, Support, Insight, and Inspiration
- The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder
- The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life
- The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage
- The Secret of the Minstrel's Guitar (The Dana Girls, 5)
- The Ultimates, Vol. 1
- Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and TrueName Magic (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
- We're All Doing Time: A Guide to Getting Free
- What About Me? A Guide for Men Helping Female Partners Deal with Childhood Sexual Abuse
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