Customer Reviews:
Lots of pictures.......2007-10-14
This was a gift for my Dad to help him identify the birds outside his window. It is a very good beginners book with lots of pictures. I really like that the catagories are arranged by the color of the birds. It makes it an easy guide for him to use.
Wonderful book.......2007-08-30
This was the best of the three books and was a greatly appreciated gift. I became so wrapped up in it that I was not sure I could part with it. It contained so much information in such a little space that I read every word. I would highly recommend it to both the avid bird watcher as well as a beginner. Children would have no trouble using this book
Good book for children and teens.......2007-07-28
This little book is packed with great pictures of the most common birds. However, it is on a rather simple level for anyone who is going to take birding seriously as an adult. I rather liked the information on preferred foods, nesting, and calls.
Good book for basics.......2007-07-10
My 6-year-old daughter and I have just started bird watching and found this book to be very helpful. The illustrations are great and the information given is basic but is just what we're looking for at this point. It's a great starter book.
Perfect for both novice and experienced bird lovers.......2007-02-20
My oldest son gave me this for Christmas, and I absolutely love it. I have watched birds for years, and learned to attract them from my wife, knowledge that I transferred to my office with a deck overlooking a very large pond that has its own heron. This book sits on the office kitchen table overlooking the range of feeders (two suets, one peanut butter, one standard feeder, and three trays for bluebird worms, bluejay peanuts, and ground-feeder mixed nuts. Two water features, one of them running water.
This lovely little book has first-class photos (and as one reviewer pointed out, is organized by color with the color visible on the edge of the book), and provides short blurbs on appearance, song, preferred areas, and nests, as well as on attracting them--what to put out. Also a regional diagram that is helpful is distinguishing between birds common to the north east versus the south east.
We just participated in the national bird count, and this book surprised me with something I did not know: the difference between the downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker (only difference is the latter's longer bill).
This is a great portable reference and from my point of view, the best possible bird book to give to anyone with an interest in observing and attracting birds (provided they live in the Eastern United States).
Book Description
A classic book of horsemanship is back in print.
Customer Reviews:
Good for newbies if your barn is run the way George's is. .......2007-01-25
I liked the book, but there wasn't a whole lot about position/form, etc. I think you have to get that from his other book, hunter seat eq. This book is designed more towards the trainer, or for the rider on what to expect when at the stable and taking a lesson. Typical old style George Morris, with lots of direct talk.
Very professional.......2007-01-23
I found the book very instructive, clear and helpful.
I wished I could have encounted G.H. Morris
Book Description
Norval the Fish is hosting a seaside talkshow for the Fish Channel–and the Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two are Cameracat and Crew! Among Norval’s special guests are his old friend Clam-I-Am (a shy gal who lives in the sand and likes to spit), along with horseshoe and hermit crabs, jellyfish, sand fleas, starfish, seagulls, and miscellaneous mollusks. Seaweed, seaglass, tides, tidal pools, dunes, driftwood, and waves make cameo appearances, too. Warning: Beginning readers are apt to be swept away!
Customer Reviews:
ANOTHER GREAT ADDITION TO A GREAT LEARNING SERIES........2007-05-10
THis time we go to the sea and learn about the ecology of that wonderful place. Per usual, the art work is wonderful and the kids all seem to love it, which, if you think about it, is the best indorsement you can get for a children's book. This is a beginner book and between the delightful text and the same silly illustrations, makes learning actually fun for the child. This is one you will certainy want to place in your school library, if you have not already done so, and certainly one you will want to add to your child's home library collection. Loved ever page of this one.
Book Description
The Cat in the Hat takes Sally and Dick for an “umbrella-vator” ride through the understory, canopy, and emergent layers of a tropical rain forest, encountering a host of plants, animals, and native peoples along the way.
Customer Reviews:
Great starter book on rain forests!.......2007-03-29
My 6 yr old really enjoyed this intro book on rain forests. One of the off-shore excursions on our upcoming cruise is the Costa Rican rain forest and I purchased several books on rain forests to get him familiar with the topic This one was the perfect intro book for him. It was written in classic Seuss rhyming style which was engaging for my son. The illustrations were colorful and eye-catching and the information about rain forests was just enough for a 6yr old to understand and digest. We read it while also listening to a "Relax with Tropical Rain Forest" audio CD which provided an added dimension to the rain forest learning experience. I plan on reading the other books on rain forests to him but selectively as they contain much more advanced information.
Not impressed.......2007-01-18
This is the first time I've read a book from the Cat in the Hat Learning Library, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I wasn't expecting this.
The illustrations make it look like the kids and the cat are having an adventure in the rainforest. But they aren't. They're just on a field trip, I guess.
The book goes over the four levels of the rainforest and names the different types of animals, plants, and people you would find in a rainforest. The main focus of the book seems to be maintaining the rhyme scheme rather than giving detailed information. At times, clarity is even sacrificed in order to maintain the rhyme. For example, "Millions of acres of land every year are cut down..." Cutting down land is confusing to a child. Usually trees or plants are cut down.
One funny thing was that the cat in the hat says he will give you a prize if you find these six things. Well, he's talking to the kids he is traveling with, not "you" the reader. So my 5-year-old son jumped in and named the things, then said "Where's my prize?"
So after around 40 pages of naming and discussing rainforest plants, animals, and people, a bulldozer showed up on the second to last page and the animals are running for their lives. On the last page the cat in the hat says "Save these trees please!" The end. Well, I like the environmental theme, but I had an awful lot of explaining to do when the bulldozer showed up. I think the book should have begun where it ended, because that is where the real story is. I buy books for my kids in the hope that the author can explain and illustrate a topic better than I can.
My son only asked me to read this book once, then never picked it up again.
I gave the book two stars for the unusual format. The novelty might appeal to some kids.
Interesting way to introduce rain forests to children.......2004-10-25
This is one of the best of The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library. The rhyming style is excellent. This book introduces such concepts as four levels of the rain forest, transpiration, animals in the forest, pollination, and camouflage.
Book Description
The Stokes Beginners Guides, intended for beginning nature lovers of all ages, offer a wealth of identification and behavior information in a portable pocket-sized format. Illustrated throughout with full-color photographs and range maps, each Beginners Guide is organized according to the Stokes easy-to-use and popular color-tab system. Acclaimed bird and nature authorities, Donald and Lillian Stokes have written more than 22 books. They divide their time between Carlisle, Massachusetts, and Sanibel, Florida.
Customer Reviews:
Stokes Guide to Bat.......2007-04-05
Never realized just how many bats there are. I bought this along with the Bat Builder's Handbook for my grand daughers. We can't wait to have some bats move in.
cute little leathery mammal guys.......2006-07-02
The fact that you're reading this review indicates that you already know that bats are good guys, not bad guys. 'Nuff said.
Next thing, you'd probably like to have a bunch (they only come in quantities) in your yard. OK, then start with this Stokes guide.
It's bedecked with stunning photos and a cool set of symbols that tell you about migrational (with apologies to Monty Python) patterns, roosting preference, how they fly, and what the little guys like to munch on.
The Stokes Guide will also tell you how to make a bat house so they have a decent place to crash, but you might just as well buy one inexpensively at your local quality birding shop.
You can't go wrong with this attractively presented Beginner's Guide to Bats.
Excellent Bat Book!.......2003-11-27
Last Christmas I got a Bat Detector (from Bat Conservation International). The instructions with it were very poor so I asked a local naturalist if she knew of any good bat books and specifically any that would indicate what frequency to tune the bat detector in to for our local bats. She recommended this book and its terrific! There's a short section up front that talks about bats and how they echolocate as well as the frequencies that they do it at so this was perfect for me and my bat detector (boy is it cool!). The real meat of the book is an id guide with great pictures and interesting information about each ofthe different species of bats - similar to a bird id book. Since bats are genenerally out at dusk and they fly so fast I haven't been able to make use of the pictures and actually id the bats but I've narrowed it down by where we live and what we're likely to see so its fun to have a reference to read about them more specifically. Excellent excellent book and a must have if you've just gotten a bat detector and need to know what frequency to tune into. Highly recommended!
Customer Reviews:
Excellent starter book........2007-07-26
Although I already had other more advanced books, I am glad that I bought this book also. It is well laid out, and very helpful to a newcomer to Odes. This book delves into many aspects of the Dragonfly life cycle, and contains many useful photos.
One of the Best Pocket Guides in Print.......2007-04-17
This concise little guide is designed with the beginner in mind with its tons of information on distinguishing the difference between dragonflies and their cousins the damselflies. It come replete with lots of large photos of many of the major species of Odonata. Its only shortcoming is that is tends to lean more to species of the eastern United States. For this reason, family species like the Setwings, among others, are ommitted.
Especially helpful is the introduction and easy id charts on the inside of front and back covers. This little book is worth its weight in gold on account of these charts alone!
Great Starter Book on Dragonflies and Damsflies.......2006-07-26
Stokes does it again. Great first time book if you are interested in Dragonflies and Damsflies. Has great pictures and U.S map of where they live. I truly enjoy looking at this book over and over again. Great size for traveling or just having in you backpack.
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies.......2005-10-14
Excellent identification book for beginners. Simple information concepts and good location maps with each dragonfly picture.
Excellent Guide for a Beginner.......2005-08-20
This book lives up to its title: it is an excellent first guide for someone just beginning to observe the marvelous "Odes." (Odes, short for Odonata, the scientific name for the Order of Dragonflies and Damselflies, is a word you're likely to become familiar with.) Besides a good pictorial introduction to the main families, the book provides a solid introduction to the life cycle, one that will probably inspire you to read more. The color tabs on the edge of the book are very helpful for quickly locating the right pages for identification. All in all, a great book.
Book Description
The Stokes Beginner's Guides, intended for beginning nature lovers of all ages, offer a wealth of identification and behavior information in a portable pocket-sized format. Illustrated throughout with full-color photographs and range maps, each Beginner's Guide is organized according to the Stokes' easy-to-use and popular color-tab system.
Customer Reviews:
Shorebirds are NOT all alike1.......2007-05-23
Prior to reading this book, I gave up on shorebird identification. This book makes it very easy for a beginner like me to ID shorebirds. I love the easy way you identify birds by size and then picture. I'm finding it is now fun to try to ID the shorbs!
Outstanding field guide but not just for beginners.......2007-03-19
This is an outstanding field guide for shorebirds and it is not just for beginners. I have been birding for more than 20 years but I have had limited experiences with shorebirds and I found this small book comprehensive and organized in such a way that it has now become the only book I carry when I'm watching shorebirds.
Very Helpful.......2007-02-06
This book is very helpful for a quide in identifiying shorebirds but still can't figure out what the shorebird with a dark head, light underneath, and a straight bill is.
A good guide for both beginners and more advanced birders........2006-11-10
This is an excellent shorebird guide -- and not just for beginners. I bought this guide for a specific purpose: I lead tours in a wetland refuge and wanted an easy-to-carry guide I could use to show pictures of birds to people on the tour. This book fits my needs perfectly, but many others should find it useful. It is small and easy to carry. The book uses photo illustrations: I believe photos are better than paintings for depicting shorebirds since silhouettes are so important for shorebird identification and it is hard to get the proportions exactly right in a painting. The photos in this book are excellent. Shorebirds can vary greatly in appearance because of plumage variations. This book has multiple photos of most species and does a good job of depicting the plumage variation. This book is less comprehensive than some larger guides, but since it is designed as a beginner's guide, it wouldn't make sense for it to be too long and complicated. An excellent little book.
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Shorebirds.......2006-03-16
I'd actually rate this 41/2 stars, but that choice wasn't available. It's organization is based on a neat color tabbed guide that breaks the birds down by body size and further refines this by bill size. This rapidly narrows choices and speeds comparitive evaluations. The migration maps, both spring and fall, though general in their timing, further help narrow selection. I love this little book! It's lightweight, thin design makes it easy to carry into the field, yet it is wonderfully illustrated with summer, winter and juvenile characterists depicted for nearly every bird. It's only shortcoming - and this would perhaps alter it's small, light, handy character - would be insufficient pictures of the birds in flight.
I purchased this book as a companion to Shorebirds of North America by Dennis Paulson and use the Paulson book as a reference when Stokes leaves me still wondering. The Paulson book, however, stays in the car, both because the Stokes book is that good and because I don't want the more extansive pictures and more elaborate descriptions in the Paulson book getting wet, dirty or ruined.
Book Description
The earth is getting hotter, and not just in the summer.
The climate of your own hometown is changing.
But why is this happening, and can we stop it?
Read and find out!
Customer Reviews:
A great, current book for children.......2007-05-15
I used this book for a unit I taught recently on natural resources and conservation, and my second graders loved it! One of the few books on the subject geared toward younger children, this book does a great job of presenting global warming in simple, kid-friendly terms without distortion. The fun and accessible illustrations are very engaging; my students spent several minutes just examining the page with plankton and other sea life. They came away from the book with both a sense of urgency about the topic and the conviction that they can do something to help.
Excellent Science Resource for Young Readers..........2006-12-05
Global warming is a scary topic for a children's book, but one that children need to know about. In WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING, author Anne Rockwell writes about this topic in a voice that children can understand. Ms. Rockwell explains why the ice caps are melting, what global warming is, what the greenhouse effect is, and most important of all, she tells children what they can do to help stop this from happening.
Written in a friendly, mentoring style, WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING will inform children while fostering a good attitude towards conservation and our environment. Illustrated with cute, but educational, pictures from talented artist Paul Meisel, WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING takes children on a journey that will affect them the rest of their lives. After all, we all share this planet, and will for the rest of our lives.
Kudos to Ms. Rockwell for tackling such a tough subject and breaking it down to make it easily understandable to our most important audience! This book is an excellent resource, one that can easily be used to teach children basic science concepts about global warming.
Book Description
A natural horsemanship novice reveals his inspiring journey toward a Better Way with horses.
Customer Reviews:
A brand new way to ride!.......2006-10-26
Natural Horsemanship has apparently been around for quite a few years now. Being new to the world of horses I just learned about this type of training a few short months ago. Mr. Moates gives a wonderfully insightful, and often amusing, introduction to the natural training method. Since I am new to horses this book was perfect for me. Anyone with a love of horses will enjoy this book. And it may inspire you, no matter what your age, to get involved with horses. This book never gets bogged down or tedious. It is fun!
Book Description
The Stokes Beginner's Guides, intended for beginning nature lovers of all ages, offer a wealth of identification and behavior information in a portable pocket-sized format. Illustrated throughout with full-color photographs and range maps, each Beginner's Guide is organized according to the Stokes' easy-to-use and popular color-tab system.
Customer Reviews:
Stoke's Butterflies.......2007-01-09
This is just what it says it is...a BEGINNER'S guide. Excellent photos. Great basic information.
Books:
- Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership
- Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World
- The 48 Laws of Power
- The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
- The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
- The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children
- The Deliberative Practitioner: Encouraging Participatory Planning Processes
- The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness
- The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
- The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Books Index
Books Home
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- More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave
- No One Writes to the Colonel: and Other Stories
- Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader
- Messies Manual, The: A Complete Guide to Bringing Order & Beauty to Your Home
- Matrix Computations
- Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action
- Almanach De Gotha 2000 : Reigning & Formerly Reigning Royal and Princely Houses of Europe and So
- Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital: September 1992 Condensed Version
- Trader Jon: His Life! World War II Veteran a Legend in His Own Time
General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Stokes Birdfeeder Book : The Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Understanding Your Feeder Birds
Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guides)
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Butterflies
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Shorebirds
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Bird Feeding (Stokes Beginner's Guide)
