Reader Views

Gevrehan’s Holiday Story

This story is about a Medieval Princess named Gevrehan. Gevrehan had to wake up early in the morning to eat breakfast and say her morning prayers. Gevrehan was hungry around the time her lessons started. This is because in the Medieval Times they had a thing called a “fasting.” A fasting is where you can only have breakfast early in the morning, and dinner late at night, five minutes before bedtime.

Gevrehan’s friend Elizabeth takes Gevrehan out to the market to get stuff with her mom. Gevrehan dresses like a servant so know one will know that she is a Princess. Gevrehan has a great time at the market; she could smell such great things! Gevrehan thought about the fasting and she remembered that the fasting ended in two days! She was so happy! After the fasting was over, everyone in the castle came and had a big feast. Gevrehan was so excited to be able to eat again! She could smell the yummy spices and vegetables cooking. When it was time to eat, Gevrehan ate slowly, it was so good!

I think “Gevrehan’s Holiday Story” can teach kids how other people lived in the Medieval Times.  I think kids my age, younger, and older would like this book. There weren’t a lot of pictures, but I liked the drawings in pencil. They looked pretty good!

Gevrehan’s Holiday Story
Lois Jarman
Medieval Maidens (2010)
ISBN 9780981725185
Reviewed by Madeline McElroy (age 9.5) for Reader Views (11/10)

The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea Vol. II: Nothing But the Tooth

This book is about a young boy named PJ who has a pet parrot named Split Pea. One night they had a very long conversation. Then PJ shouted Good Night! Then they went to sleep. Early that morning PJ had lost a tooth.  In the middle of the night, PJs mom went to wake him up. When she had told him about his lost tooth he cried and said, “No!”

My favorite character was Split Pea because he was always by PJ’s side. My favorite pictures were Split Pea’s picture on picture day and PJ’s picture on picture day. PJ looked very funny because his tooth was lost. My favorite parts were when PJ wanted to buy a tooth and an old man asked him if he wanted to borrow his green yucky teeth. PJ said, “No thank you!” So he tried to get an old woman’s teeth without permission. But when they tried to get the old woman’s teeth he got the old man’s yucky teeth instead! Ewe!

I think PJ is really curious because he wanted to find a new tooth. I guess he didn’t like having the gap in his smile. I think that Split Pea is really funny because he tries not to laugh but blushes. I really liked this book, it was very funny. I think kids my age would like “The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea Vol. II: Nothing But the Tooth.”

The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea Vol. II: Nothing But the Tooth
S.D Moore
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432712891
Reviewed by Sophie McElroy (age 7.75) for Reader Views (11/10)

The Cosmic Order of Reincarnation: Fearless Bible

Buddhist philosopher Khun Shwe Thike has written “The Cosmic Order of Reincarnation: Fearless Bible” to explain reincarnation and how the process really works.    There is an extensive discussion of the different philosophies of what the major religions believe happens when we die.  These religions include Buddhism, Christianity, Muslim and Hinduism.  Much of our society lives in fear about what will happen after we die. Religious fanaticism has helped to propagate these fears.  By gaining an understanding of how reincarnation is directed by the Cosmic Order and not religious deities many of our fears about what happens after we die can be laid to rest.  There are four natural laws that create Cosmic Order, and it is not created by a being.  Cosmic Order has no beginning or ending, it just is.

A main point that is presented is that when death occurs, the human ceases to exist, but certain aspects of their being, such as matter and force, create a new life.  Humans are reincarnated as humans, not as other animals or higher level beings.  The Cosmic Order of Reincarnation explains reincarnation as being “…born again as a man after death.  There is no other place for man to go.”  Accepting this belief will help free us from our doubts and fears about death.  The author believes that our past deeds, whether they were good or bad, do not help determine how we will return in the next life.

An extensive discussion about the origin of man using physiological, biological, and geological evidence is used to illustrate his ideas.  The information presented supports his belief that mankind evolved from one step to another as humans and not apes.

It is best for society that we should work for the good of all, release our fears and learn to live in the moment.  We should show compassion and empathy to all.  It is also best that we not have more than we reasonably need, nor should we allow money to possess us.  Punishment in society should be geared towards prevention and reformation of the criminals.  Accepting the beliefs of others, instead of finding fault in them will also help us to live more peaceful lives.  By living with ideas such as these, we will be able to make the planet a better place.

These ideas resonate with me, because I believe that if I live my life with integrity and respect towards others, I will be able to enjoy a good life now, instead of worrying about what will happen when I die.  If the rest of mankind would accept these ideas and let go of living in judgment of others we would all be able to share a wonderful world.  “The Cosmic Order of Reincarnation: Fearless Bible” is a well written, intelligently thought out “Fearless Bible.”  I highly recommend it to those who are looking to live more peaceful, fearless lives.

The Cosmic Order of Reincarnation: Fearless Bible
Khun Shwe Thike
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432748180
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (11/10)

Queen Vernita Meets Sir HeathyBean the Astronomer

This book is about Queen Vernita meeting Sir HeathyBean the Astronomer and Cora the Teacher. Queen Vernita sends all her friends invitations to visit for each month of the year. Her twelve friends come and visit and each month of the year, one of her friends came. They learned all about the solar system, and so did I!

I think this is good book for kids wanting to be an astronomer. This book teaches you a lot about the solar system and teaches you some really cool facts. My favorite part was when I learned how long it takes for the Earth to spin around the Sun, it takes a whole year! Another fact I liked was learning about an eclipse. I think kids who are into to space and the solar system should read “Queen Vernita Meets Sir HeathyBean the Astronomer.” It has some really good information. This author also has several other good books I have read!

Queen Vernita Meets Sir HeathyBean the Astronomer
Dawn Menge and Heath Rhoades
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432731205
Reviewed by Madeline McElroy (age 9.5) for Reader Views (11/10)

Narcissistic Predicaments: A Biblical Guide to Navigating the Schemes, Snares, and No-Win Situations Unique to Abusive Families

“Narcissistic Predicaments” by Sister Renee Pittelli is a how-to guide to help victims of family abuse to navigate family relationships with Biblical principles as a guide.  The book really begins when the victim has already left the abusive situation.  Such issues that are covered are how to deal with holidays, whether or not to allow estranged relatives to visit your children, and how to handle the rituals involved when an estranged relative dies.  There are many explanations that help a victim to deal with possible contradictory feelings vs. what the Bible says.  For example, the Bible telling people to honor their fathers and mothers is explained in this way:  “In the Bible, ‘father’ and ‘mother’ do not mean ‘sperm donor’ and ‘egg donor.’  It takes far more than that to qualify as a ‘father’ or a ‘mother’ by Biblical standards.”  Other topics include forgiveness and reconciliation, both of which Sister Pittelli explains in such a way as to give victims the right to not forgive if the abuser has not repented or to reconcile or not.

“Narcissistic Predicaments” is written by a woman who is a victim’s advocate.  I applaud her desire to help Christian victims to interpret the Bible in terms that help them to deal with their relationships with family abusers.  There are many, many quotes from scripture highlighted.  It is often difficult for one to escape from her family when that is the very thing that needs to be done.  I find it sad that family members can inflict such abuse on their own loved ones, and the effects of the abuse seem to linger when family is involved.  The book will help those entrenched in such abuse even after distancing themselves from the abuser.  The only qualm I had about the book is that Sister Pittelli spent a great deal of time specifically emphasizing her own family difficulties.  I am sensitive to Sister Pittelli’s experiences and do not doubt them, but sometimes the book came across as a vehicle to bash her family rather than give support for victims.  Examples are important to helping others feel like they aren’t alone, but examples from a variety of victims (although a few others were shared) might have been more helpful.

Narcissistic Predicaments: A Biblical Guide to Navigating the Schemes, Snares, and No-Win Situations Unique to Abusive Families
Sister Renee Pittelli
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432750442
Reviewed by Marissa Libbit for Reader Views (11/10)

Rambling Squirrel

“Rambling Squirrel” is a book about a squirrel wanting to learn lots of things. He was born on a bright, blue-sky day and learned very quickly. He learned how to climb down a tree head first, gather nuts for winter, where to build a safe nest, to hide in a safe place and, of course, use his tail as a blanket, a rudder and an umbrella. But he wanted to learn more! He went to talk to his mama and she suggested he should visit his cousins to learn more. He packed all of his squirrel-needing items and went to visit his cousins.

First he visited his cousin Beaver, He taught him how to build a river dam. It was cold, hard work! Then he went to visit his cousin Prairie Dog, He told Squirrel to always stay alert and keep safe by digging a tunnel and live in it! But Squirrel didn’t want to live in a tunnel so he went to visit his cousin Flying Squirrel; he couldn’t wait until he could fly! He also learned from his cousins Woodchuck, Chipmunk and Mouse. He was gone from his family for many weeks when he went to go back home. When he returned home, he told his family all about his trip!

My favorite character was the baby squirrel because he wanted to learn more about things. My favorite picture was when he was with his cousin Beaver because the squirrel really looked like a beaver! My favorite part was when he was with his cousin Prairie Dog. I liked the artwork a lot! I also learned more fun facts about squirrels in “Rambling Squirrel.”

Rambling Squirrel
Wendy Laird
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432738761
Reviewed by Sophie McElroy (age 7.75) for Reader Views (11/10)

The Book About Tony Chestnut (with CD)

“The Book About Tony Chestnut” brings the children’s song ‘Tony Chestnut” by The Learning Station to life.  It is accompanied by a read-along CD.

Cayden:  “The Book About Tony Chestnut” is about a boy and his sister who have to go to a new school because they moved away from their old one.  His sister is sad because she misses her friends.  All of the other kids play at recess but Tony and his sister just sit on the bench and she cries.  He sings to make her happy and everyone looks at him.  He sings a funny song with his name in it and it has a dance with it too.  It goes “Toe Knee Chest Nut Nose Eye Love You” and then there are some other kid’s names in the song too.  He puts his hands on all of the parts he says, and that is how he dances.  The CD with the book was really cool.  It reads the story three times and then the lady asks some questions to answer.  I liked listening to the CD.  It helped me learn some of the words in the book that I didn’t know.  My favorite part of the book is when the boy is dancing and when we did the dance too!  It was cool how he made a song out of his name!  My favorite picture in the book was when they were playing on the playground.”

Max:  “I liked dancing to the song with Cayden and listening to the CD.  I liked the skipping part.  My favorite picture was when all of the kids were on the jungle gym and one was hanging upside down!  I wish I could hang upside down but I am too little.”

Parent’s comments:

“The Book About Tony Chestnut” by Laurie Monopoli is a wonderful interactive reading experience!  Incorporating the names into the movements in the song is very clever and my children found it to be quite amusing.  Long after the book was put down they were still dancing around to the Tony Chestnut song!

The Book About Tony Chestnut (with CD)
Laurie Monopoli
Hug-A-Chug Books (2010)
ISBN 9780615311395
Reviewed by Cayden (age 5 ½) and Max (age 3 ½) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (02/10)

Journey to You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be

“Journey to You” is a self-help book that will inspire you to discover who you really are and what you were born to do. I found that it really made me look inside myself to discover the areas where I tend to hold myself back from reaching my full potential. It also helped me to identify my habits that enable one to regress so that I can stop myself from continuously falling off track from achieving my goals. I had to take a serious look at both the positive and negative aspects of my character. As I did, a lot of people will really relate to this book. The author, Steve Olsher has twenty years of experience in helping people transform their lives through The Reinvention Workshop, which is a program that he founded.

“Journey to You” is divided into four different parts. The first part is to “Establish the Foundation.”  In this part we are taught about the Four Stages of Learning and how they affect us.  I found this to be extremely interesting. Olsher also teaches us to identify our weaknesses and our strengths.  We also learn about identifying the things that set us off, and cause us to fall off track.  Learning how to think rationally is incredibly empowering.

The second part is “Realize Permanent, Positive Change” introduces S.L.A.P.  This stands for “The Seven Life Altering Principles.”  Using this principles aides us in setting guidelines to direct us in how we are going to live. The part that really hit home with me, and that I think many people will relate to is the section about “The Sufficiency Theory.”

The third part, “Become Who You Were Born to Be,” will inspire you to feel like it is not too late to do what you were born to do. There is an interesting section called, “What is Your WHAT?”  Then steps are giving as to help you discover what you were meant to do through your innate talents.  The fourth part, “Forge Your Path – Create Your Legacy” brings it all together.  Life-focusing exercises are given to help you figure it all out and to make a commitment to stick with what goals you have set for yourself.

In “Journey to You,” Olsher writes, “You hold complete control over the choices you make now and the wisdom of those choices will determine the quality of your life.”  By learning about the theories he presents and gaining a greater understanding through his interesting examples, and by doing the exercises, I truly believe that this program will work.

Journey to You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be
Steve Olsher
Bold Press (2010)
ISBN 9780984479603
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (11/10)

Stilettos No More. . .and Other Delinquent Thoughts

When I began reading “Stilettos No More,” I was interested in learning what the author Diana Estill’s take is on what happens to women as we age.  Since I am only, ahem, 43, I didn’t expect to be experiencing too many of the “symptoms” yet. Boy was I wrong.  I guess the title should have clued me in.  No, I do not have stilettos anymore.  I gave them away to a friend who is still in her twenties and has no problems with wearing them all day at work.  I don’t think that I could ever do that. I didn’t think that giving up on those shoes was an ageism issue.  I was injured in a car accident.  From that injury I discovered that I have accelerated arthritis for a woman “my age.”  But since it was considered accelerated, I assumed that it had more to do with twenty plus years of karate. I guess not.
          
As I continued to read on, I kept finding myself thinking, “That’s me too!”  I guess I don’t have to wait until I hit nifty-fifty to start feeling it now.  Unlike the author, I haven’t been offered a senior plate special yet; however, I am getting flyers from The Scooter Store in the mail.  It’s coming.  I have also discovered the errant hairs that seem to pop up from nowhere. Why didn’t anybody ever tell me about those?  I’ve learned more about hair issues from reading “Stilettos No More,” than from reading any beauty magazine.  It definitely isn’t pretty! By the way, the Epilady hair removers work great on removing toe hair without slicing up your feet.  Not that I would be speaking from experience.

Ms. Estill mentions body slimmers a few times.  She also talks about how our bladders seem to fill up faster as we age.  I don’t wear the body slimmers because of the pressure that it puts on my bladder!   So she has one up on me.  Her discussions about how our bodies change are absolutely hysterical and right on the mark.  Once again, I know what I have to look forward to.

“Stilettos No More” seems to cover every topic that a woman will face as she hits her middle ages.  From looks, to cooking, to shopping, to relationships, this book has it all.  Being that it is just sixty pages, you would assume that it would be a fast read, but it is not.  I spent way too much time laughing and being grateful that I don’t have a weak bladder.  As I read, it occurred to me that I might be getting more laugh lines, from laughing so hard.  Then I pondered how many calories one might burn while laughing heartily.  I think it is a fair trade.  I can’t remember ever reading anything so entertaining in my life.  Trust me I have done a lot of reading.  I highly, highly recommend reading “Stilettos No More.” I also suggest giving it as a gift to every woman that you know.

Stilettos No More. . .and Other Delinquent Thoughts
Diana Estill
Kindle Edition (2010)
ASIN B004D9FW0W
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/10)

The Entrepreneur: Also includes The Truth About Peking Duck

It seems to me that we all know that one person who always has a plan to make it big by doing something unusual. For me it was a guy that was going to get rich by retarring driveways; in a city full of concrete parking spots.  In the twenty years that I have known him he has had a few other zany plans, but for now he makes a great stay-at-home dad.

In “The Entrepreneur,” the narrator of the story takes his crazy ideas to a higher level.  Seeing how popular that tattoos have become, he decides to do something bigger and different by tattooing internal organs.  To make the business grow even faster, he promotes the urban legend of the organ thefts, and offers tattoos that contain personal information, just in case it does happen.  This leads to a huge increase in kidney tattooing.
          
His business is booming, until he gets a threatening phone call to stop doing what he is doing.  Most likely it is from an organ thief.  This incident causes him to lose his tattoo artist, forcing him out of business.  Moving on to his next idea, he finds a used WWII Japanese submarine at a great price.  So he buys it and decides to offer dinner cruises in the San Francisco Bay.  Having personally experienced a dinner cruise in the harbor, I can see where this would be a great idea.  He is elated to find a captain who can maintain and man the sub.  He becomes a little deflated when he discovers that the propeller is missing. Thank God for Costco.
          
Once the sub is assumed to be seaworthy, he is able to hire on a sushi chef, a Dixieland band, and an aging stripper.  Once again business is booming. Unfortunately, the sub isn’t quite as seaworthy as he hopes.  Apparently, whales find antique Japanese subs to be quite attractive, especially if they have the right kind of music on board.  Once again, due to unforeseen circumstances, his business hits a huge snag - to the point that the sub is destroyed, the harbor seals are angry, the Coast Guard is extremely unhappy and Governor Jerry Brown needs to make him go away.  Note, that he wasn’t yet governor again, so the author shouldn’t be accused of ruining his political career.

Once again, the narrator is out of business and now has to leave the state.  Good things still came from this; love bloomed twice for his former employees.  He also finds a woman that is willing to travel with him to New Mexico to take on his next venture of having a pancake house that caters to aliens.  Once again he finds success, and another huge surprise.

“The Entrepreneur,” is a funny, quirky, laugh-out-loud kind of book. I totally enjoyed reading it.  It allowed me to step outside my mundane world and see life through the eyes of someone who looks at life differently, and refuses to let anything stop him from following through on his plans.  Thank God we don’t have more people like that!

I highly recommend “The Entrepreneur.”  It would also make a great gift for others, especially people who need something to laugh about.

The Entrepreneur: Also includes The Truth About Peking Duck
Rick Casteel
CreateSpace (2010)
ISBN 9781453818220
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/10)