Product Description
What’s black and white and red all over? A blushing penguin, of course! This clever book is full of jokes, riddles, and puns from the funniest penguins around—The Penguins of Madagascar! ... Read more

Product Description
The eighteen chapters of The Bhagavad Gita (c. 500 b.c.), the glory of Sanskrit literature, encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul. Its three central themes-love, light, and life-arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.

Translated by Juan Mascaró
Introduction by Simon Brodbeck ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Not Read Yet
The book arrived in a timely manner and in good shape. I have not read it yet. Just skimmed it and read a little of the introduction.

An amazing book, an eye-opener.
After much concern as a Christian, over whether or not Hindus believe in one Supreme Being or not, this book put my concerns to rest.It explains, as a 500 BC document, their view of God and His avatars on earth, the Trinity as they know it, and who their God is by name.I was completely intrigued by phrases in this "prayer" or poem, that echo the Nicene Creed:God of Gods, Light of light, Very God of Very God, Begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by Whom all things were made.This book should be required reading for all seminary students.Now we know things in Hinduism got fairly convoluted with over 200 demi-gods after this book was written, but it tells it like it was when it started.The Trimurti is still a mystery as is the Trinity, but over all, Brahman is God.A masterful work.

The Classic of Religious Deception
Always be wary of the academic edition in which the introduction rivals the feature.That's the case here, with Juan Mascaro's introduction coming in at 30 pages and the actual Bhagavad-Gita coming in at 83.I'm no Sanskrit scholar, so I've got nowhere near the knowledge and background Mascaro has, but at the same time, it doesn't take 30 pages to convince me this is a classic worth reading.

Once through the introduction, I enjoyed the smooth, easy flow of the actual text.The Arjuna-Krishna dialog on the nature of God, devotion and faith truly are classic.But then again, this was not written--not so much written as cobbled together from centuries of oral tradition and variation--in a period when most folks were illiterate, and it's so plain to see that this is an object lesson to the masses in how to be a good follower.It's clear and direct instruction, disguised as an enlightened discussion between mortal and divine.

But all in all, it was nothing but the millennia-old claptrap of religious dogma, playing on fears of death, the inherent longing for meaning and purpose, showing man's cynical manipulation of others for personal and institutional dominance.It's the same old garbage that the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning; death is life and life is death.God is many, and the many are one."I am what is and I am what is not."And so much of it is a "sacred mystery," imparted to a chosen, select few.It's the instruction to accept what the Great Wheel has dealt you, be you rich, or much more importantly, poor and dispossessed: just keep your head down, work hard, toil and suffer in pain, hunger and servitude and do not complain because that is questioning what the gods want for you, and your reward for unquestioning service is the sweet, sweet rapture of death; Krishna coos, "...whatever you suffer, suffer it for me."The required "unshakeable faith" is absolute, and the slightest doubt is sacrilege.Have no attachments, to belongings, family, or your own belief and opinions, because all that does is cloud your mind.And fear not, for the slaughter of thousands in war, if directed by the king, is really the will of god and therefore is not only excusable but is laudable and is to be sought, in abundance.

This is easily digestible pablum for the uneducated, beautiful words exchanged between the divine and the divinely-appointed royal.It is lush and deep prose, telling interesting, mystical, fascinating stories that answered the most basic questions of life and death for those living 25 centuries ago.

This is the same garbage extremists are feeding their hollow, foolish and ignorant followers today, so they can serve their god in the cowardly murder of noncombatants, by developing chemical weapons, by eliminating all questions, all competition, anything other than their own one and only possible way.

By the end of this I was just depressed.The writing is indeed beautiful, artful and evocative, flowing beautifully, and I realize that a great part of the credit for this goes to translator Mascaro, his work 50 years old this year.But all my reading of this classic served to do was remind me that 2500 years ago, before Christianity and Islam, all of those concepts of religious stricture and doctrine and unquestioned obedience were already fully developed, and were being delivered to serfs, servants, peasants and slaves.

Bottom line: This is a classic of world literature, and everyone should read it.But, it served to remind me of man's inhumanity to man, and man's innate ability to play deeply on the fears, insecurities and ignorance of others.

A must have spiritual guide!
This is a powerful, transforming book. I have read it about 4 times. It has taught me much about stilling my mind and heart. This may well be my favorite book ever. I have written many of its passages on cards and meditate on them frequently for peace and for helping me to draw close to God. Much of it has truly become a part of me. Much of who I am spiritually I owe to the Gita.
As for this translation, I have tried about 3 other translations. Now I'm glad I read Mascaro's translation first, because if I read one of the others first I might have lost interest in it and might never have pick it up again and thus I would not have received such valuable insight.

SUBTLE SOUL MEDICINE
Juan Mascaro's masterful translation is the most moving and the most fulfilling of them all.

The Gita provides the subtle soul medicine to enable you to aspire to the moral heights invoked by the Sermon on the Mount. You read the wonderful, infinitely compassionate words of Christ, and you think, "Yes - but how can I live like that?" The Gita tells you how.

The Gita is a song, and a philosophy, and a spiritual tract; it is all of these and far more than these: it is the fundamental substance, the absolute bedrock of all true spirituality which is crystalised in our language at the highest pitch by Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Keats. These poetic geniuses, though indisputably sublime at their heights, were relatively haphazard in their spiritual effects: whereas the steady, quietly relentless focus of the Gita is simply overwhelming. It is the deepest and richest of all mines: and its ore is the most perfect ore.

To read the Gita with a will, and to reflect on it continually, is to change your life forever. When the mind beholds truth, the heart leaps....


... Read more

Product Description
One of the greatest and most ambitious works in English literature, The Canterbury Tales depicts a storytelling competition between pilgrims drawn from all ranks of society.

The tales are as various as the pilgrims themselves, encompassing comedy, pathos, tragedy, and cynicism. The Miller and the Reeve express their mutual antagonism in a pair of comic stories combining sex and trickery; in "The Shipman’s Tale," a wife sells her favors to a monk. Others draw on courtly romance and fantasy: the Knight tells of rivals competing for the love of the same woman, and the Squire describes a princess who can speak to birds. In these twenty-four tales, Chaucer displays a dazzling range of literary styles and conjures up a wonderfully vivid picture of medieval life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Unbeatable
The Kindle Penguin edition of THE CANTERBURY TALES in the original Middle English cannot be beaten at the price. Every non-modern word is defined in a note, sometimes at the rate of three definitions a line.

Download a sample to see how the lines look. They're quite readable on the Kindle though often they have to be bent in two because of their length. You'll have to trust me that the definitions are good: they are, but you can't get to them on the sample.

But for 95 cents, hey. Complete, and with a good introduction. The notes are well-linked and easy to get to once you have the complete etext.

A quarter of the book is language notes, word definitions. Another quarter is historical and social notes. These are keyed into the language notes, but you'll have to get to them by using a bookmark in the notes. They're quite thorough and helpful.

I'd have bought this edition at ten times the price, like a shot. Fanatical Kindle user that I am, I think the printed text would be slightly easier to handle, but you'd need two bookmarks there, so maybe not.

Good Middle English version of The Canterbury Tales
This edition is good for anyone looking to read the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English.The notes are very details and helpful and the glosses at the bottom of the pages are helpful too.Some of the glosses are a little obvious, but that it to be expected.

Over all this is a good edition if you are interested in reading a very popular work in it's original language.

Amazon Rocks Middle English!
I was worried when I couldn't find my texts for My Medeival Literature class, However, Amazon pulled through. Thanks Amazon

Definitely the best Middle English edition of the Canterbury Tales
This is the best edition of the Canterbury Tales on the market, by far. Here are the main reasons why:

1. It's complete; many other editions (such as the Norton) only include a "selection" of tales. But if you know the Canterbury Tales you know that almost all of them are good (or at least interesting) and you miss some great tales when you don't get them all. I've found that even the allegedly "bad" tales are still really good, not to mention that the tales work together in various ways (arguing, dialoguing, etc.) so you need to read them all to get the whole experience.
2. It's readable; the size of type, font, and the overall layout make for a very comfortable reading experience. The Riverside Chaucer, for example, besides being an expensive monstrosity, also has really small type in double-column format (this can be discouraging, in my opinion; it takes a lot of reading before you get to turn the page). Plus, the footnotes are on the bottom of each page so you can get help if you need it, but not have it distract you if you don't.
3. It's cheap; enough said.
4. It has endnotes; this edition has copious endnotes that are very up-to-date, in-depth, and have numerous references to the vast history of Chaucer criticism for further study. Jill Mann, the editor, is a very well-respected Chaucerian and she does an excellent job of making the endnotes readable and valuable so they are useful to both Chaucer beginners and experts.
5. It's in Middle English; don't be daunted by Chaucer's Middle English. It's surprisingly easy to read once you get the hang of it and it's infinitely more beautiful and elegant than a modern translation. It easily provides the same kind of reading pleasures as Spenser, Shakespeare, or Milton, and is not any more difficult than them. With this edition, because of the convenience of the notes and easy-read typeface, you'll find it that much more easy to pick up the Middle English than with any other edition.

Kindle formatting corrected
EDIT (08/18/2010): The Kindle formatting of this edition has been corrected, so the following criticism no longer applies.

The Kindle version of the Penguin "Canterbury Tales" edited by Jill Mann has very bad formatting.Though the text is sprinkled with useful notes that appear to have links to allow them to be accessed, it is not possible to click on a note indication because the entire text is treated as though it were an image.I hope the publisher will correct this formatting problem, as this appears to be quite a useful edition. ... Read more

Product Description
Ponder, if you will

What happens to your Social Security number when you die? Why are peanuts listed as an ingredient in plain M&Ms? Why is Barbie's hair made out of nylon, but Ken's hair is plastic? What makes up the ever-mysterious "new-car smell"?

Pop-culture guru David Feldman demystifies these topics and so much more in Do Penguins Have Knees? -- the unchallenged source of answers to civilization's most perplexing questions.

Part of the Imponderables#174; series, Do Penguins Have Knees? arms readers with the knowledge about everyday life that encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs just don't have. And think about it, where else are you going to get to the bottom of how beer was kept cold in the Old West? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Answers to questions I never knew I had!
I recently found this book in the National Library Service for the Blind's Talking Book catalog and on their pilot web site for their new digital format. Curious, I downloaded a copy to see what Imponderables was all about.
The short of it is that the Imponderables series takes little questions about things we encounter in everyday life, little things that, though we've never questioned how or why they got to be the way they are, we've nonetheless come to accept as, "just the way it is." These are questions that people write in to ask and, once gathered, the author, David Feldman, poses these questions to experts in the fields of study that pertain to the question. This has led to at least six Imponderables books, Do Penguins have Knees being the sixth. And for all I know, this having been my first such book, there could be more. And it's thanks to one of these books that we now know the answer to the trivial yet still troubling question of why hotdogs tend to come in packages of ten while hotdog buns seem only to come in packages of eight. Note that I haven't yet read the book in which this answer is revealed, but Penguins does tackle, among other things, the question of why, and more particularly how, we have hotdog buns that are only partially sliced. The most fascinating question for me had to do with one of my absolute favorite soft drinks, Dr. Pepper. The question was how it got its name and if there was ever really a Dr. Pepper. To put it simply, yes there was.
In short if you're looking for an interesting read that combines humor with fact, then you should definitely check out the Imponderables series. I certainly intend to read more of them as soon as I can find copies.

So THAT'S the Answer To My Question!
It's a fun, informative book that holds the interest of pre-teens and adults alike.I would recommend the whole series to everyone.

good book
This book is good, it has the answers to questions that people have always wondered.

Even someone who hasn't read a book in years will like this one.

Feldman keeps producing these books of imponderables;and they just keep
getting better all the time. His books just go on asking questions and producing answers about those unlimited number of things we've all wondered about,and even many that we have come to accept as "that's just the way it is". Feldman encourages his readers to send in their own imponderables to answer ;much in the same way that Allan Funt did with Practical Jokes on "Candid Camera " and Robert Ripley did with his Oddities with his "Believe It or Not". I have been a fan of this sort of thing and their "stuff"has intrigued the curious,entertained the joker in us all and amazed all who are surprised to see the rare or unbelievable.
This is the type of book that can be left hanging around, and anybody who picks it up will become engrossed in it in no time at all.Many of the imponderables you'll read about are not earth shattering,won't make much difference in your life,but nevertheless grab your interest and provide enjoyable pastime entertainment.Maybe the time spent waiting at the Dentist's,Doctor's ,Barbers or any other waiting room would be a little less painful if books like this were available rather than those awful magazines.
Who wouldn't be interested in questions like these?

"Why do straws in drinks sometimes sink and sometimes rise to the
surface?"

"Why is Rhode Island called an island when it obviuosly isn't an
island."

"How did they keep beer cold in the saloons of the Old West?"

"Why are 25-watt light bulbs more expensive than 60-,75-,and 100-watt
bulbs?"

"Why do hospital gowns tie in the back?"

"What causes the green-tinged potato chips we sometimes find? Are they
safe to eat?"

And how about thisimponderable that never seems to die?

"Why are so many restaurants,especially diners and coffee
shops,obsessed with mating Ketchup bottles at the end of the day?
Believe It or Not,it prevents Explosions! Thats right!;you'll find out why,right here in this book!

Feldman does it again!
As a kid, asking inumerable "stupid" questions was sure to get a weary "Go look it up" from a parent. Unfortunately, as a kid, I didn't have the innumerable resources at the fingertips of the Imponderables crew. As always, David Feldman and his team of information hunters have compiled questions from all over, some of which kept me going until I read the answer!

If you want to have an interesting afternoon while it's raining outside, get together some friends. Open up the book to a random page. Read out the question on that page, and have everyone come up with what they think the answer is. Then, read out the answer, and see who came close (or even spot on!). You'll be surprised (sometimes) to see some of the answers that your friends came up with be popular urban legends, which Feldman goes on to discredit.

Imponderables books are a riot for pleasure reading, or in large groups of people! ... Read more

Product Description
"A superb piece of work . . . written with grace and style." (The Sunday Times, London)

Hugh Brogan's The Penguin History of the USA has established itself as the definitive and most readable work available on America. It brilliantly captures the dynamic events and personalities that shaped the nation's triumphant progress to global superpower: in Brogan's words, "for good and evil, a power and civilization that surpasses . . . all empires of the past." In this new edition, Brogan makes numerous revisions to earlier chapters, taking into account the most up-to-date research into American history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Shame about the final comments.
I enjoyed the history, but was left disgusted with the final comments of the author. I know we have to put up with the fact that most academics have ignorant, quasi-religious left-wing political views, but how is it relevant to end a great book by repeating the usual bleating about how America should adopt the left-wing policies of other developed countries? When will you figure out that supporting central planning and gun control is no different to believing in intelligent design, and that you do it for the same reasons as the fundamentalists you so despise? There is no scientific basis for gun control (see National Academy 2004, CDC 2003), so what you are saying is that no one should have guns because you don't like them. What a childish, undemocratic, immoral attitude that is.

British View
My review is actually of the 1985 edition and I should also confess my Britishness.

I bought and read this book first about twenty years ago at which time I had a patchy at best understanding of any history.I now consider myself quite well read in British history and some other areas but wanting to get a basic take on the USA picked this up again, and was very impressed.

Brogan to me comes across as what these days seems a good old-fashioned liberal.I feel this lets him down a little when he gets to the twentieth century.For instance, at least in this edition he avoids coming to judgments about the First World War, and in his savage criticism of the anti-communist movements of the fifties and later, seems to regard Chinese communism as benevolent.Nevertheless in making this mistake he at least thoroughly airs the conflicting ideological currents which were the context of the cold war, the Vietnam war etc.

As an ignorant Brit I very much enjoyed the section on the build up to Independence, having also recently studied the British end, notably the heroic failure of Pitt to keep the Americans on board.

To me Brogan makes slavery and the civil war the central theme of the whole book.He points out how in the making of the constitution acceptance of slavery was the price paid for bringing the southern colonies on board, and in signing up to this America wrote its own destiny.The civil war was a horrendous struggle, and massively destructive, but also a coming of age.The tragedy of Lincoln's assassination is stark and Brogan's account of the reinstall of racism is fascinating.

Some reviewers have suggested that Brogan goes in for too much editorialising about all this and perhaps so, but to a foreigner, very much aware that the USA writes the world's scripts for us, a thorough exploration of the themes, opinions and feelings of American development is very useful.

I feel Brogan paints a sympathetic picture of Woodrow Wilson.I ws prepared to see him as the idiot who took over Europe's peace treaty and then failed to sign his own country up to it but Brogan makes me see this as unfair.In one sense Wilson was doomed to fail.I would recommend Margaret Macmillan's book on Versailles to anyone interested in this.

I stopped reading when I got to Versailes and jumped in again at the cold war but have no hesitation in recommending this book.Brogan works very hard to cover all the angles, although I think the freshness and complexity of the twentieth century defeats him at times.

Alas, a waste of time.
The challenge of any one-volume history of the USA is to provide some advantage over specialized works addressing a single aspect of the subject.A book on the entire history, from the 1580's to the present (i.e., 1999) will of necessity rely mostly on secondary works, since there is no way an historian can review more than a tiny fraction of the necessary primary historical resources.A comprehensive history will therefore be a third-hand resource, and require a specific purpose.In some cases, that is met by having many specialists write a book.In other cases, a single author may want to summarize the general meaning of a nation's history, or simply have a convenient reference book for routine research. Brogan's book fails at all of these.

Brogan really does not appear to think his subject deserved a serious effort to research, much less understand. His chapter on the English settlement of North America is badly clichéd; for example, he mostly (?) fails to understand that 17th century church denominations had an urgently political dimension: religious denominations of the day were an explicit statement about the legitimacy of certain types of regime.Hence, the antagonism between (say) Catholics and certain types of Protestants in the 1600's was not the same thing as the bigotry that some Catholics or Protestants feel towards each other today.


His chapter on Native Americans reflects a post-1980's understanding that this group has been very badly overlooked and ignored in mainstream historical narratives.However, his research is badly inadequate, and he compensates by endless bromides.One example is right after he quotes a passage from John Winthrop on Indians and their rights to the land:

"Thus the patriarch of New England, justifying his robberies he meant to commit by the best social science of his day.Perhaps his style betrays a slightly uneasy conscience; but even if it does not, he should not be blamed overmuch.The migration of forty million Europeans between 1607 and 1914 is too great a matter to be dealt with by elementary moral texts... Migration, as we have seen, is natural to man.It cannot be reasonably maintained that... the Europeans were wrong to better themselves by sailing to inhabit the largely empty land." (p.60)

Usually these passages in Brogan's work skillfully avoid saying anything whatever.On the one hand, he wants to judge the European settlers fairly, but when they morph into Americans, he is far less inhibited.He babbles on with shopworn expressions or caveats, advertising his "nuance"; but the dancing around seems to accomplish nothing more than to weary the reader, and conceal the fact that he really doesn't know very much about his subject at all, and doesn't see why anyone would want to.

Somewhat Sloppy, Somewhat Biased
I must admit, I am only moderately impressed with Hugh Brogan's "The Penguin History of the USA". It is written well enough, as befits a distinguished British scholar, but it is marred by excessive editorializing, to the detriment of what one would expect of an informative and unbiased historical text. It is highly informative, even if the presentation feels at times chaotic, but it is emphatically not unbiased.

Looking at more technical aspects: numerous quotations are presented without references; value laden pronouncements are derived from some historical fact or other, or a number, but where these come from is seldom explained; neither it is discussed how representative they might be; whole pages of editorializing are interleaved with more factual portions of the text, but without a clear demarcation; the presentation rambles on in parts.

It is a jolly good read nevertheless: not an easy text to follow, and not a text from which to learn about the US history, sic, more like a long-winded polemic.

Incidentally, the disastrous winter of 1886/7, which is mentioned on page 422, and the drought that followed, may have been long term effects of the Krakatoa eruption of three years earlier. It was followed by chaotic weather patterns and global cooling that did not alleviate until 1888, cf. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester, so the statement on the following page, "The farmers' wounds were in large part self-inflicted, and they ought to have known better..." sounds rather flippant.

An even more calamitous volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora, the largest since AD 181, happened in April 1815, and produced a disastrous "year without summer" in 1816. This then triggered a massive migration of New England farmers to the Upper Midwest mentioned on page 231, but without a reference to climatic conditions at the time, cf. Volcano Weather: The Story of 1816, the Year Without a Summer by Henry and Elizabeth Stommel.

Interesting perspective, great details
Having read the existing reviews, I have little to add except that this book delivers quite a few details that are all too seldom mentioned, some of which are quite ironic. For example, I believe I have only read in one other text, and had almost forgotten, that the British parliament revoked the Charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony because of it's tendency to rather savage persecution of Christians of other denominations, most especially Quakers. The irony of this, given that it was the governor of that colony who bequeathed to us the image, made popular by Ronald Reagan, of the "shining city on the hill" is quite powerful. Brogan, to his credit, doesn't attempt to draw such conclusions. But, perhaps because he isn't an American, he is able to lay out such jarring details in a neutral and unslanted manner. ... Read more

Product Description
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judean desert between 1947 and 1956 was one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time. Hidden in the caves at Qumran by the Essenes, a Jewish sect in existence before and during the time of Jesus, the Scrolls have transformed our understanding of the Hebrew Bible, early Judaism, and the origins of Christianity. This fully revised edition of the classic English translation by Geza Vermes, the world’s leading scholar on the subject, offers an astonishing look into the organization, customs, and beliefs of the community at Qumran. Enhanced by much previously unpublished material and a new preface, this will remain the authoritative translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls for years to come.Amazon.com Review
It's been 50 years since a Bedouin youth named Muhammededh-Dhub went looking for a stray sheep and instead found the Dead SeaScrolls. In the intervening decades, the scrolls have been envelopedin a storm of controversy and bitter conflict: the scholars entrustedwith translating and editing the texts sat on many of them instead,creating suspicions that escalated to conspiracy theories aboutsupposed cover-ups of sensitive, even damaging material. Geza Vermes,a former professor of Jewish studies at Oxford and a noted authorityon the scrolls, marks the 50th anniversary of Muhammed edh-Dhub's findwith his book The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English; thetitle, however, is misleading, for the collection of documents is byno means complete.

Vermes has left out the copies of Hebrewscriptures that are available elsewhere, instead focusing on thesectarian writings of the Essene community at Qumran and theintertestemental texts, and these are indeed completetranslations. Vermes has also included an overview of five decades ofresearch on the scrolls and a thumbnail sketch of the Qumrancommunity's history and religion. For anyone interested in biblicalhistory, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English is aworthwhile read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

2Theou
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English is as good as advertised. It makes accessible to the general public a group of amazing documents that not only shed light on the practices and beliefs of an ancient sect, but on history itself. Absolutely loved the read as I finished it days after receiving it.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls In English
I've watched documentaries when I could catch them on certain TV stations that were telling about the Dead Sea Scrolls.I've always got chills because of the findings of the archeologist continuing to discover proofs of the Holy Bible is truely fasinating to me.I've hungered to know more.Well, finally my Pastor mentioned that he and others purchased the book once becausing there was a one time sale.I thought to myself, if they got that book like that, then there must be another way for me to get it.So, I went to my major source of information which is AMAZON, and sure enough, I found it.What a treasure.I'm thankful to God for creating such a resource to gain information on such an amazing level.The Provider that sent the book did an excellent job in sending the book sooner that I thought that I would get it and I received it in excellent condition.

Great Book!
Recieved it in a timely manner, and was in the exact condition as described by the seller.

Excellent introduction to the Dead Sea Scrools
A detailed, objective 90-page introduction to this book is worth its price alone. A comprehensive overview of the discovery of the scrolls, the entangled and protracted process of their translation, archelogical findings, supposititions on the practices and beliefs of the Qumran sect are among its offerings. Then add the comprehensive translations of the scrolls themselves, and you have an invaluable historical resource highlighting the diversity of late Second Temple Judaism.

Ernie Hines
Lincoln, Nebraska

Still uncomprehensive translations but.
This is amongst the better buys for tanslations of the scrolls. It leaves a stop - gap of information, and fills with a authors assumptions. But as a compiled sum of the whole, it is a good buy. ... Read more

Product Description
It"s common knowledge that Tacky was never the best-dressed penguin, but when he and his friends prepare for the arrival of the emperor, Tacky gets carried away and ends up in more than just elegant attire! Tacky brings his own unique brand of humor and entertainment to the emperor"s visit. Here is another wacky addition to Tacky"s myriad adventures in which friendship, kindness, and laughter always win out! Tacky fans will be carried to new heights of hilarity by this latest Tacky tale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Tacky knows how to break routines.
My daughter likes the Tacky series. For some reason; this book didn't go over as well.

The emperor of the penguins is going to visit the iceberg.Goodly, Lovely, and Angel make piles of fish-flavored cupcakes, punch and Ice cream.Neatly decorates a throne with ribbons and sparkly stars.Perfect practices a dance and Tacky handles the balloons.

The only problem is the emperor sees this all the time and is not looking for yet another day which is the same as all other days.

Tacky blows up a balloon and floats off and lands on the emperors berg. The emperor not being happy decides to take a swim. Tacky stumbles on his cloths and takes them!

He returns to the ice berg and everything thinks he is the emperor and give him the food, throne and the dance.

Eventually, the emperor appears and Tacky ends up showing him a fun time.
The emperor likes it so much that he declares Tacky to be a prince amount Penguins.

As always; Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.

Overall, it's a good story and the art is good but again my daughter did not like this book as much.

Great book for young children.
I purchased this book for my children because it is a book they read for a competition this year.My kids really enjoyed Tacky and the Emperor and could not put it down.It is challenging enough that as a parent you know they are gaining reading skills for younger students and interesting enough to hold their attention.The other penguins put Tacky down because of his appearance and different ways, but sometimes people need a little variety in their lives.

Tacky represents many TAG kids I know
The "Tacky" series of books and many of the others written by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Messenger are fabulous examples of what TAG (Talented and Gifted) kids live through on a daily basis.They march to a different drummer! I enjoy my two "taglets" and when they laugh out loud upon reading these books, then I know they "get it"! These books are fun and enjoyable with simple messages for everyone to live by.

Very Entertaining
My daycare kids love this book.I love reading it aloud.About the complaint of the song being hard to sing as long as you make it silly it works.If you read it through yourself once before reading it aloud you can make it flow.All the Tacky books are great.

I don't like this book at all
This book is, frankly, annoying.It is written in a strange manner, mixing "folksy" dialogue and more straightforward language, with an awkward flow to it - hardly inducive to reading out loud.

I found the characters either mean-spirited or annoying, and the storyline clunky.The "song" that Tacky sings at the end while doing a stupid dance is just plain difficult to sing. It is up to the reader to imagine a "tune" while reading the book aloud, but the lyrics are quite tuneless (contrast with, say, Boynton).

Disappointing book, in my opinion. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Tacky the Penquin
My grandson is 4.This and the rest of the Tacky books are his favorites.

Love these books!
I love all the books in the Tacky series. They're so cute and funny and very clever. Would recommend for children (and the adults who read to them) of all ages.

This one really hits the "it's good to be different" message in the right way
I really like this one.

Tacky, being different from the other penguins, decides to go surfing while they nap. And he ends up in Africa, where he's promptly picked up as an elephant who thinks he's a bouquet! Naturally, his odd behavior saves the day and he ends up home.

What I love about this book is that the other penguins are clearly shown missing him while he's gone, not because he's useful to him (as so often is the storyline), but because he's Tacky.

A good bird to have around!
We start the day with Goodly, Lovely, Angel Neatly, and Perfect singing "Sunrise on the Iceberg." Of course Tacky is sleeping in. He wakes up with his trade mark "What's Happening?"and slaps everybody on the back.

He still does not do good Penguin activities and gets in the way. It's nap time but not for Tacky. He goes Ice Surfing and a good wind catches hisflower shirt like a sail and sends him out to sea.

He eventually shows up on a tropical island and meets the strangest penguins he has ever seen. He also finds the strangest rock.It's warm, squishy and hairy. Hairy? He finds it's fun to bounce on but then notices an eye.

Rocky the elephant wakes up, grabs Tacky, and runs through the jungle declaring she found flowers for her table!She plops him in a large vase and Tacky tries to tell her he is is a bird.She doesn't believe him and says he has to prove it.

Tacky does it in his usual way and eventually works out a trade!

He later jumps a brown iceberg(a tree) and sails back home.

Overall, it's a fun story and the artwork is good!It's a good reader book for those that are starting to read. It's probably longer then a starter book but my girl does try.

As one of the others has mentioned, I think the first one is still her favorite.

Cute!
This book is definitely not as good as the first one, but it is still cute.I love Tacky, and seeing what he was up to was great!A good read for anyone! ... Read more

Product Description
There's so much to do when you're a penguin. Join in the fun! The rhyming text and adorable photographs in this colorful board book offer a close-up view of penguins dashing, splashing, jumping, bumping, and going about their busy penguin lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Toddler Loves It
I just love books with real photos. I love that it uses "ing" words, bright colors and although I was a little shocked by the "penguins pooping" pages, its a favorite with the kids.My 2 year old laughs every time.Make more books!

Very Cute!
We loved this book! My son loves anything with penguins. He carried this book everywhere for a few weeks.

Great book I just can not get past the pooping page :-(
I took my kids to the zoo and the kids LOVED the penguins exhibit as did I.I decided to get a couple of books for us to read about.I love the ABC and 123 penguins but the Busy penguins went a little too far with the famous pooping page.It was a little too graphic for me to take home to the kids.For those of you who have not read the book this page has a penguin with it's back turned and a clear view of its butt and poop shooting out of it.I found it a little discusting personally.Of course we all poop and so do animals but we should keep that a little more of a private affair and I certainly do not want to read about it and look at it in a picture book with my kids.If I wanted a potty training book that is what I would have purchased.I returned the book and will look for a poop-free book.:-)

Makes a big splash!!
The entire "Busy" series is engaging and fun for kids and parents alike. A great way to introduce your child to books, nature, language.

Picture Perfect Penguins
This Board Book is beautiful colour glossy photographs of busy penguins, doing what penguins do, like:

penguins splashing

penguins dashing

penguins sliding

penguins diving

penguins drooping

(and the anti - Freudian)

penguins pooping.

It's great fun in the Tundra for all ages!Reviewed by TundraVision, Amazon reviewer ... Read more

Product Description
In The Penguin Handbook , Faigley rethinks the way handbooks present information and ideas with a reference that's tailored for today's visually and technologically oriented students. Drawing on student feedback and a wealth of classroom experience to design a handbook that gives students the information they need in a format they will actually use, The Penguin Handbook, addresses the changing nature of today's students as well as today's writing assignments. This text uses unique, "at-a-glance" documentation pages to help students visually understand how to cite sources, while "Common Errors" boxes for grammar and style help students identify the building blocks necessary for academic writing so that they can successfully employ them in their work. Additional visuals throughout the text help students with everything from how to construct a descriptive paragraph to understanding how visual information can be used in a paper, presentation, or Website.The Penguin Handbook, makes major advances over existing handbooks by broadening the context of communication, including concise, practical discussions of verbal and visual texts as well as detailed coverage of writing in its many forms.While an emphasis on the process of academic writing and research is maintained throughout, the book and its Website also include coverage of non-fiction genres-brochures, magazine articles, and letters of application-that are used more typically outside the classroom. In addition, The Penguin Handbook is the first handbook to combine this coverage with three purposes of writing: reflective, informative, and persuasive writing.Throughout, Lester Faigley's expertise in matters relating to technology is consistently evident, including integrated references to the text's comprehensive and meticulously constructed Web site. This site extends the interactive nature of the text by providing self-scoring exercises linked to the "Common Error" boxes, "ESL Worksheets" for non-native speakers, "Writing in the World" projects linked to the writing process chapters, and more.On everything from Internet research and documenting online sources to cutting-edge chapters on writing for the Web and creating visuals for papers and oral presentations, The Brief Penguin Handbook, ensures that student writers are adequately prepared for anything they are likely to encounter in today's academic environment and beyond. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Handy book for all th
Great book for improving writing skills. Answers to all you writing stylebook questions. Good MLA guide and other style guides. Tabs are the best for finding what you need quick.

brief penguin handbook
Just what my daughter needed, quick delivery of a well described item.Will do business here again!

Very Helpful Shortcut!
I had the privilege of taking Dr. Faigley's Computers & Writing course at the University of Texas. This book is great if you get frustrated with other MLA handbooks. I was tired of muddling through typical MLA handbooks and never being sure if I was in the right section. This handbook is easy to use and gets you quickly to the right section. It is particularly helpful with internet composition/citation!

Does NOT come with online access code
online access code is an extra $25.The book does show the MyCompLab sections, but you can't get to anything online without paying an extra $25.Get the one with e-code.

APA rules and regs.
If your school requires papers written in the APA style, this book is a keeper.Quick, easy to referrence. ... Read more

Product Description
This wide-ranging, chronological summary of the main cultural, scientific, religious, and political events from the beginning of world history to the eve of the French Revolution is accompanied by detailed maps that clarify complex historical situations and make this an essential reference book for students and for the home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Penguin Atlas of World History
This two book set is the same as the old Anchor Atlas of World History though volume 2 has been updated to bring the set more or less to the present.I fell in love with the Anchor Atlas set to the point I wore out my first set so I bought a second set.Then the publisher took the book out of print.It stayed that way until the last couple of years when Penguin took over.

These atlases are perhaps the most comprehensive of any similar books on the market.One or two come close, but I think Penguin's atlas is still the best if you are looking for a brief overview.Critics say the print is too small or the content is not detailedenough.I disagree with both criticisms.I believe a historical atlas should be brief.The intent is to cover an event and depict it in maps.If in depth analysis is wanted, then find a book dedicated to the particular topic.

I bring these books with me whenever I travel and want something to read.In fact, back in high school we had a group assignment of what books we would bring along if we were to be stranded on a desert island.I convinced my group these books were worthy of such a list.With them back in print I can finally discard my first set (the glue binding disintegrated leaving me with single pages.I bought this set to the cabin for casual reading up there.Now I can bring my first replacement set up there.

I just can't say enough good things about these books.I did notice a flaw in a map label in volume 2 that has not been corrected since the initial publication.In a map showing the early United States they label as "Minnesota Territory" those lands which were originally the Wisconsin Territory after Michigan gained statehood.This flaw leads me to wonder about other maps whose labels I'm not as well versed it.But overall I still remain very impressed with this set.Anyone who buys this set for what it is: an introduction to the topics it presents accompanied by detailed maps, will not be disappointed.

Pound for pound the best there is...no contest
I have loved maps and history for longer than I care to admit and I was fortunate enough to have a father who shared these interests and provided a fertile and far-ranging "garden" of books for my edification and enjoyment growing up.One of my favorites was this book.The story skips ahead many years--I decided to look for this book, which had been out of print or at least unavailable for a long time.I found it here on Amazon and ordered it, along with another larger highly touted atlas from another publisher (rated #1 by another reviewer).Much to my delight and surprise, the Penguin atlas has aged quite well (to be expected given the period covered).Its strength lies in the abundance and thoroughness of the map coverage--where other atlases give one map, this one often gives three or more--and in the "extracurricular" material such as diagrams illustrating governmental organization.Incidentally, I was sorely disappointed in the other atlas, which cost far more and sported foolish and uninformative cartographic projections as well as such vast lacunae in coverage as to render it virtually worthless as a serious reference.

As I see it, the heart of any atlas worth its salt must be its maps and this compact, user-friendly little volume offers such a wealth of these that it exposes other historical atlases as the patchy, inadequate waste of paper most of them are.I don't buy an atlas for text--though this atlas has excellent if necessarily skeletal narrative accompaniment--I buy it for the maps, to complement my reading.There's nothing sillier than an "atlas" that overdoes it on the text at the expense of the maps; oddly enough, Penguin also publishes some of what I consider the worst atlases available today (see their atlas of the Roman Empire for a prime example)--go figure.

Really this atlas does everything right.My sole complaint is the small size, but this could just as easily be considered a plus (for portability, ease of use, etc.); if only there were a large format historical atlas to match--I'm still looking for a worthy counterpart.

Historical Atlas, Priceless, Missing Three Big Things
I am providing the same review for Volumes I and II.

The two volumes, together, represent an essential and priceless reference replete with details as well as clever visualizations.I venture to say that it is not possible to understand the sway of history in all its forms without such an atlas.It is, however, missing three big things:

1)Consolidated edition, larger print and larger pages.The gold in these two volumes is devalued by the reductions.Enough.Update it for 2009 and let's get it right.It makes no sense to have to use one volume for the Middle East prior to the French Revolution, another for afterwards.

2.I could not find, in the book or via an online search, an online version of the consolidated books or even one of the books.I regard it as *essential* that Penguin begin to transition all of its excellent knowledge, and especially its atlases, into interactive online form so that one can, for example, flip through any region or topic (e.g. Islam or US imperialism) and "see" history passing before one's eyes.

3.There a re a handful of automated time series depictions, e.g. of the spread and contraction of religions, the spead and contraction of various empires.We need that from Penguin for every country, every region, and every threat and policy, and I list them here from the UN High-Level Threat Panel and Earth Intelligence Network:

Poverty
Infectious Disease
Environmental Degradation
Inter-State Conflict
Civil War
Genocide
Other Atrocities
Proliferation
Terrorism
Transnational Crime

Agriculture
Diplomacy
Economy
Education
Energy
Family
Health
Immigration
Justice
Security
Society
Water

I am deeply impressed by the quality and focus on Penguin Publications.It's time they discovered the 21st Century and the demand of Digital Natives as well as global strategists for coherent holistic online visualization and sense-making.

Here are other books on history that I consider exceptional, each with a summative review:
The Lessons of History
The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin
The Age of Missing Information

And for the future:
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

Another great historical atlas from Penguin
This entire series is superb and is absolutely essential for any lover of historical atlases. I have been an owner of virtually all of them for at ten years and I can honestly say that they are most read books of all that I own.

The reason is their unique portability and scope. Most historical atlas are huge, heavy and expensive. They are difficult to read unless you are sitting at a table and very difficult to carry. This limits their utility (even though I still love them). Most history books have lots of dense detail about one nation or one period. Virtually none cover the broad sweep of an entire region over centuries.

While the Colin McEvedy line of Penguin Historical Atlases (which I highly recommend) is more map oriented, the Kinder/Hilgemann line is much more text oriented. It starts in the late 18th Century and ends just after the Cold War. As its title suggests, it literally covers the entire world, although it is heavily biased towards Europe. In an effort to cover everything, the authors makes frequent use of abbreviations and symbols. This is a little annoying, but you get used to it.

Like all Penguin Historical Atlases, it is small, light, reasonably priced and incredibly broad in scope. These atlases offer a unique perspective on history than is otherwise impossible to achieve. Their size and weight make them perfect for travelling. Whenever I go on a trip, I take the most relevant ones with me. That way I can brush up on my history of the region.

What is most fun for me is to trace the history or one nation, province or sub-region through the entire atlas. In just a few minutes I can learn as much as spending days reading an entire book. You can also see how individual nations interact with each other, a subject often left out of typical history books.

atlas review
I hate this book.Print is tiny.Info is cryptic.I waited too long to return it. Darn. ... Read more

Product Description
This book leads readers on an in-depth tour of Club Penguin, letting them in on tricks and shortcuts. Readers will get tips on how to play games on the site, how to adopt a puffle, decorate their igloo, and much more! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

great
It is a good book just seems not what my son wanted!! So we will try again . But the book was in excelent condition.

great
My son wanted this with his own money he had saved and said it was just what he needed to go with the game.

Club Penguin is fun!
My son and his friends LOVE Club Penguin! He loves this book and is always perusing through it! He brings it to school to share with his friends and discuss. Good, clean fun!

Club Penguin Ultimate Official Guide
Purchased for my 7 years old daughter. She loves this book. This book has good tips and information about Club Penguin and their games. It is useful for people new to Club Penguin.

Great Book
I got this book a few months ago, and I just started playing Club Penguin then, so I enjoyed learning about decorating my igloo and playing the games. This is a good book for Club Penguin beginners, and also fun to read for Club Penguin experts, since it has great tips on the games, and things to do with your friends. I didn't get it from Amazon though, I got it from a book order from my school. If you love Club Penguin, then you should get this book. I hope they make a volume 2 soon. ... Read more

Product Description

• What time is it at the North Pole?

• What's the chemical formula for a human being?

• Why do boomerangs come back?

• Why do flying fish fly?

• Do the living really outnumber the dead?

• Why does lightning fork?

• Why does the end of a whip crack?

Everyone has at one time or another thought up odd questions like these, questions that are strange, intriguing, maybe even impossible to answer. Making your morning omelet, perhaps you've wondered why most eggs are egg shaped. Or maybe, the last time you walked on the beach, you felt compelled to ask why the sea is salty. Watching Polly sit on her perch, have you ever marveled at how she stays there -- even when she's asleep? Well, the readers of New Scientist's wildly popular, long-running column "The Last Word" thought of these questions, too, and weren't afraid to ask them.

Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? is a brilliant collection of questions and answers for everyone who enjoyed the international, runaway bestseller Does Anything Eat Wasps? Guaranteed to amaze, inform, and delight with topics such as the human body, plants and animals, weird weather, and our wacky world, it'll stump you, enlighten you, entertain and amuse you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Fun look at science, volume two
In 1994, the New Scientist started a column, The last word, devoted to everyday science questions asked by readers, with answers also provided by readers. Originally expected to survive for between one and five years, the column survived way beyond that and as far as I know, it is still going strong. Two books compiled from these columns didn't do much business but a third (Does anything eat wasps?) was a huge success. Its success prompted a subsequent volume (this one), that selects questions and answers from those two unsuccessful volumes and adds questions of more recent origin. A further volume, Do polar bears get lonely?, has also proved hugely successful.

This book consists of nine chapters covering our bodies, feeling OK, plants and animals, food and drink, domestic science, our planet and universe, weird weather, troublesome transport and, for questions that don't fit easily into any of those categories, best of the rest. Note that these chapter headings are slightly different from the previous volume. Two new ones (feeling OK, food and drink) have been added while our planet and universe are combined in one chapter here.

The question that gives the book its title provoked some very good answers explaining how penguins cope with life in the Antarctic, but there`s a more interesting (at least to me) penguin question elsewhere in the book. If polar bears and penguins swapped places, could they survive. The answer seems to be that polar bears would survive in the Antarctic but they would devastate the eco-system and penguins would be particularly vulnerable. Penguins might be capable of surviving in those parts of the Arctic where there are no polar bears, but there's another species that would make their life difficult - us. Attempts to establish northern penguin colonies have failed because people couldn't co-exist with them.

Another question that particularly grabbed my attention was what the time is at the North pole. It sounds easy but of course it isn't, since the pole is on Earth's axis and therefore not in any particular time zone. A variety of answers are supplied, some serious, some not. One of the serious answers explains how it would be possible, using astronomy, to set up some kind of clock, summing that you didn't take a clock or watch with you. One of the less serious answers points out that Father Christmas lives there and, it being in no particular time zone, explains how he is able to deliver all his presents so quickly. Another answer suggests that the North Pole is the true spiritual home of all politicians, because the time can be whatever you want.

The variety of the questions asked and the answers provided is incredible, although I confess that I wouldn't have actually considered asking most of these questions. While this book provides very informative answers, I suspect that you'll have most fun with it if you share it with family and friends.

Fun and Interesting
Fun to read. It also caught the attention of my teenagers. It has many interesting facts that worked their way into meal time discussions and questions during a long road trip. It makes science into fun, and is a book equal to the Discovery and History Channels.

Mostly stupid answers
I thought this would be a book with real scientific answers to trivial, everyday phenomena.What I got was a book with a question, followed by a bunch of answers from mostly morons who obviously don't have a clue.Those responses are, luckily, pretty easy to spot, but why should I have to even glance over them?The answer is likely so the author could get his page count to over two hundred.

Anyone can come up with a stupid answer to questions like, "Why do some people sneeze when exposed to bright light."If you want a serious answer, you unfortunately have to sort through a bunch of crap written by people who couldn't make it as comedians.

You may end up identifying the correct answer, if there is one, or you may not.The really disappointing part of it is that, because of all the silly responses, you never really know.

If you're OK with that, fine.If not, don't buy the book.

Ever Wondered...?
The 'New Scientist' is a weekly magazine, first published in 1956, that covers the recent happenings in the scientific world. In 1994, the magazine launched a new column called "The Last Word" in which its driven by its readers - not all of whom are geeks in white coats. Here, they could not only pose a science-related question, but also provide the answers. In 2005, a selection of the questions asked and answered were gathered together for "Does Anything Eat Wasps ?" - a book that elbowed its way to the upper ends of the UK's bestseller's list. Unsurprisingly, with a great deal of material still available, New Scientist decided to follow it up with "Why Don't Penguin's Feet Freeze ?".

The book is divided into chapters, depending on the focus of the questions selected - our bodies, plants and animals, and weird weather for example. While the book is informative, it is equally as likely to raise a smile - the overall tone is not that of a difficult, highbrow scientific paper. Some of the questions that are dealt with include : "Why do birds never fall off their perches when sleeping ?", "Fish don't fart, why is this ?", "Why doesn't superglue stick to the inside of the tube ?", "What time is it at the North Pole ?" and - from a nine year old boy - "Is it a coincidence that a human finger fits exactly into a human nostril ?"

An enjoyable and informative book - it's one I tend to dip into once in a while, rather than reading it from cover to cover.

Great for Grand Kids
Fantastic book. Great for Grand Kids. Kids always have questions and now they have answers! Who says Grandparents can't stay in their kids lives? ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

Tacky the penguin is fun!
My five year old grandson loves penguins and has a great sense of humor.These books combine those two things and he loves them!The stories are not just fluffy and silly however.They do have little life lessons to teach.They are great books for kindergartner's and first graders who are learning to read and the illustrations are complex enough to hold a child's attention.

Gotta love that Tacky!
This was purchased as a gift for my wife, who is a big fan of the Tacky the Penguin books. Her elementary
school class enjoyed it, as they always do when the books are read aloud!

We like Tacky
I have five Tacky books and we go through at least 3 every time my granddaughter comes. "Tacky is a strange bird, but a nice bird to have around."

A fun little poke at the Olympics
"A-huff-and-puff-and-a-huff-and-puff-and-a-huff-and-puff."WHAT'S HAPPENING?" blared Tacky the Penguin as he came across his companions Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect."

Tacky quickly learns his companions are training for the Winter games.They try to get him to work out as well and Tacky does in his own unique style.

Soon the games arrive, opening ceremonies and then the events.

His team handily wins the bobsledless race as they jump on Tacky and ride him to victory.But a judge calls them for riding a bobsled.Tacky tries to point out his is not one but they still get disqualified.

Next is the ski jumping event with frozen fish for skies. Tacky decides to toast his toes in a cabin but unfortunately he thaws his fish. He tries to jump and lands....several times.

Finally, it's the last event; speed skating. Everything is going well but when the baton is passed to Tacky; he eats it.Frustrated, his companions chase him.Tacky things it's a game of tag and races faster and faster.They win.But did they?They take him to x-ray and look for the baton.Point out the cobwebs in his head as it made my girl laugh.

They eventually are declared the winner and as always:Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.

Overall, it's a good story and well illustrated. However, I found my girl not liking this one as much.

Penguins in a Wacky Wonder Land:Hilarious Book!
"Tacky and the Winter Games" nails the difficult challenge of writing a truly funny kids' book; it's one of the funniest I've read in the last several years. Text and illustrations combine superbly to give a fully realized portrait of a Tacky and his wacky winter land.You and your young audience will enjoy both immensely; It's one of those rare books that adults will enjoy appreciate almost as much as kids.

The Modus Operandi here is depicting penguins--those lovable but waddly, often awkward looking mammals--training for a Winter Olympics type contest. For credibility, Lester presumes that most penguins might adapt well to winter sports, given sufficient training. However, Tacky is not "most" penguins: He combines a wonderfully comic combination of the sloth and gluttony of Garfield the cat with the wild abandon of Mr. Toad. Not for Tacky the rigors of training: Whereas his four teammates hike, do sit-ups, lift weights, bicycle, eat "special training meals" and keep "strict training hours," Tacky lays down in the snow, abandons the sit-ups, Mr. Toads it on his bicycle--sending his teammates scurrying for safety, feasts on pizza and donuts, and stays up late munching popcorn and watching TV.

The story opens up thematically and pictorially with the 2-page spread describing the Opening Ceremonies.Teams of other penguins come from the "Highlands," the "Lowlands," the "Fun Lands," and Tacky's own "Nice Icy Land." They all march with dignity--except for Tacky who falls on his head while carrying the 'Nice Icy' pennant.However, this episode gives observant readers some insight into his character: Although Tacky falls down, he manages to hold the flag aloft with his feet.Could there be something more to him than his clownishly lazy behavior suggests?

Well, sort of.His team wins the NO-bobsled race but is disqualified because they use Tacky as a bobsled. Penguin ski-jumping, as we all know, uses frozen fish for skis; Tacky's fish skis thaw when he chills (so to speak) by a pot-bellied stove before the race, and floppy fish make for funny aerodynamics. Finally, there's a relay race.The first four members of Team Nice Icy Land pass the baton neatly to each other, but when it's passed to the last skater, Tacky, he eats it! "Ate it? Ate it. Well, it looked like a hot dog." In frustration, his teammates chase him, and Tacky, thinking it's a game of tag "skated faster. And faster. And fasterandfaster and barreled across the finish line in record time." However, will a strict judge (wearing a button that says, "I rule") award them first place when the baton has disappeared?I'll only reveal that the resolution involves X-rays and that the four other penguins give Tacky a big hug.Lester concludes, "Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around."

Just about everything here is perfect: The pacing, the funny and vividly colored illustrations that evoke place and person, the plot--which could have stopped much earlier but is well-developed but not long or meandering for its young audience.I'm surprised to see it so low on the Amazon.com sales list. I hope this is not indicative of its popularity. If so, Tacky and his crew deserve a much bigger audience. ... Read more

Product Description
Despite the youthful and talented trio of Sidney Crosby ,Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury, a second consecutive Stanley Cup run looked out of the question for the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins. Offseason free-agency defections left the reshaped team struggling and outside a playoff spot at midseason. Then a well-timed coaching change shook the squad out of its doldrums and pushed the young stars to peak performance. The result was a masterful run into and through the post-season culminating in a dramatic seven-game series win over the Red Wings. Comeback Kids is a must-have for every Penguins fan. It traces the ups and downs of this riveting season and celebrated a hard-earned championship that just a short time ago seemed beyond Pittsburgh's grasp. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

City of Champions . . . again !!
This is a nice compilation of the Penguins Stanley Cup season for Pittsburgh sport fans, especially for those of us that have moved away and don't get the Post-Gazette any more.The order of chapters is confusing to follow, but I enjoyed reading all the articles with nice full-page photo spreads.If we could only get the Pirates to recapture their old glory for the ultimate trifecta!Looking forward to another great season . . . Go Steelers !!Go Penguins !!

Awesome commemorative book
Definitely get this if you're a Penguins fan. It has articles on different parts of the regular season and playoffs, and is loaded with tons of high quality photographs. Well worth the price. ... Read more

Product Description

When Pierre, an African penguin living at the California Academy of Sciences, begins to lose his feathers, the zoo staff is at a loss as to what to do. The lack of feathers causes Pierre to lose warmth, making him afraid to swim in the zoo pool. And the other penguins start to shy away, giving Pierre the “cold” shoulder. Unfortunately, heaters and medications fail to correct the situation.

But one rainy day, inspiration strikes a biologist named Pam. While walking her dog in the rain, Pam notes that her pet wears a raincoat. Could a “raincoat,” or

wet suit, help Pierre?

A tiny neoprene wet suit is designed especially for Pierre. But will it work?

Told in rhyme by noted

I SPY author Jean Marzollo, this true story of veterinary ingenuity charmingly comes to life.

Customer Reviews (1)

Rhyming, Accessible, Engaging
Did you know that April 25th is World Penguin Day?It correlates with the beginning of the annual northward migration of penguins.Missed it?Don't feel bad, we did too (stomach flu).But for penguin loving families, any day is a good day to learn about penguins and if you want to keep a picture book in mind that comes along with a teaching guide for educational extension possibilities, Pierre the Penguin is where it's at.

You might be familiar with Pierre's true story if you and your family have watched the bonus disc that comes in the latest boxed set of March of the Penguins on DVD.That is where we first saw Pierre and his special situation.Dealing with feather breakage and loss Pierre was scaring the other penguins in his zoo habitat, and wasn't able to swim due to the lack of insulating feathers.Thankfully, an aquatic biologist came to his rescue, and Pierre the Penguin is his story told in simple, child-friendly rhyming text that quickly engages young listeners.

The blocky text style with only a few words on each page against the large realistic illustrations make this title particularly engaging.I love Marzollo's use of action and sound words that really draw my preschoolers in.This inspiring story is also great reading for budding young scientists with a longing to make a difference in the lives of troubled animals.

A question and answer section by Pam Schaller (the aquatic biologist who worked with Pierre) is included for children who'd like to learn more, and the full teaching guide is available for free online. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Wacky Funny Christmas
Amusing story with adorable illustrations, TACKY's CHRISTMAS celebrates this best time of year with penguin-spirited humor and the readers of all ages are invited to the Nice Icy Land to see how the exciting pack deck the iceberg, wrap their gifts and read how Santa-elect Tacky (because of his round belly) saves the X'mas cheers with his odd outfit and gift that turn the big, bad hunters into friends whom they invite to enjoy fish pudding andgames together for the merriest season of giving and peace-making. A bonus CD featuring songs with a Tacky twist like "O Tackytree" and "Sandy Clawz Is Coming to Town" is also included to make this picture book unusually delightful and fun.
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Product Description
Plato's "Republic" is widely acknowledged as the cornerstone of Western philosophy. Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, it is an enquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. During the conversation other questions are raised: what is goodness; what is reality; what is knowledge? "The Republic" also addresses the purpose of education and the role of both women and men as 'guardians' of the people. With remarkable lucidity and deft use of allegory, Plato arrives at a depiction of a state bound by harmony and ruled by 'philosopher kings'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (42)

Dialogue
The dialogue in the book provides an excellent forum for introspection into one's own political and moralistic values. A great read that keeps you thinking...

Essential
Plato's Republic may be the most influential book ever; its importance is simply impossible to exaggerate. Its impact on philosophy, ethics, science, politics, and almost everything else is incalculable. It is in a very real sense the foundation on which Western society rests; countless later writings or actions would have been extremely unlikely or impossible without it. The work is famously touted as Plato's ideal state vision, and every subsequent look at this all-important question has had to deal with it. Its scope is so wide that people of every persuasion have taken something from it, and negative reactions have in many ways been at least as important as positive. Plato's thoughts here are so far-reaching that they have vital practical importance even now, and his sweeping historical and philosophical overview is the ideal place to start exploring the subject. However, saying The Republic is about this only sells it rather short; some have indeed suggested that this is only a metaphor for the soul's purification. The book in fact explores nearly every subject of importance:the nature of justice, the difference between good and evil and how to aim for the former, the question of the soul's immortality, etc. Plato unfortunately has a reputation as hopelessly idealistic and/or impenetrable, but this is highly unfortunate because The Republic specifically goes to pains to make all this practically applicable. For further proof, we need only look at its comments on many issues - not least class and gender - that seem to have become preeminent only very recently. Like all geniuses, Plato both epitomized and was far ahead of his era; it is impossible to think of Greece without him, yet in some ways - e.g., female equality - we still have not caught up.

It goes without saying that anyone interested in any of these issues must know The Republic. We can without hyperbole go further by saying anyone who cares about intellectual issues, especially applied ones, must also, as should anyone who wants to be even basically well-read. However, this is far easier said than done for most; Plato is so different from what now passes for literature, to say nothing of pop culture, that he is virtually inaccessible to general readers. Yet the importance of persevering cannot be overemphasized; the payoff is well worth the effort. As nearly always in such cases, reading him becomes far easier after the initial difficulty; no attentive reader will ever think Plato easy reading, but he is utterly absorbing once we get used to his style. He has a near-poetic beauty that all agree has never even been remotely approached in philosophy, and such mesmerizing prose is rare in any genre. His dialogues are an incredible form at once intellectually and aesthetically pleasing - an inspired combination that has perhaps never been bettered; many have appropriated it, but none have matched it. All this means that picking the right translation is probably more important with Plato than any other writer. For the average reader, the more recent, the better is generally true, though older versions like W. H. D. Rouse's and Benjamin Jowett's are still very accessible. The important thing is to read The Republic in some form, and those who happen on a translation that does not work for them should keep trying until their mind opens in a truly new way - and once done, it will never close again.

Reason allows us to live for something
I read Plato's Republic for a graduate philosophy class.I paid close attention to Plato's thesis of courage in his Republic, which I expound below.I found G. M. A. Grubb's translationto be the best of several I read.

Plato's project in the Republic is to form the "perfect" society."Reason allows us to live for something."Through reason we set goals and organize our lives around achieving goals.Plato argues that the government's duty to citizens is to provide justice, and educate citizens both men and women.The state's social structure stood for justice and was divided into three groups.Rulers- those trained to use reason and posses wisdom.Guardians/ Soldiers have courage/spirit.Artisans have moderation of appetites.Plato's ideal ruler, the "Philosopher King," should be 50 years old with 15 years of government experience and should have studied science and philosophy.The ruler must show a mastery of Arete = excellence vs. akrasia= weakening of will, or no self-control.The ruler should think logically not emotionally.In the Republic to insure excellent people Plato advocated selective breeding of excellent unmarried people who lived in communes, who did not own property.

Plato describes five types of government in the Republic:

1. Aristocracy- Plato considered this the best form of government; aristocracy embodies wisdom of the philosopher king.
2. Timocracy- military government embodies virtues of honor and courage.
3. Oligarchy- rule by a rich elite, their vice is greed, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
4. Democracy- mob rule, and chaos, it represents akrasia people are slaves of their desires and have little self-control.
5. Tyranny- this is the worst form of government.The vice is selfishness, one power crazed person in control.

Plato's purpose in the Republic is not to perfect the character of people as an end but only as a means to an end.Plato's aim has a definite effect on his definition of courage.I find this is especially the case when exploring his ideas on how to educate the Guardians of the city to act courageously.Plato's goal is to match a person's character disposition to a job they are naturally inclined to perform in the city.Once he [Plato] has introduced the city in 369 b-d, he immediately advances the thesis, which is to dominate the rest of the Republic, that the needs of its inhabitants can best be met if each person in it performs that single task, and that single task alone, for which he is naturally suited.

With this view of human nature in mind, in Plato's model society, he divides the citizens into three classes.Rulers from whom the "philosopher king," will be selected, Guardians who are soldiers to protect the state, and the rest of the citizens classified as ArtisansThis division of citizens precipitates a discussion by Plato on the four virtues that these citizens will bring to the state.In the history of philosophy this becomes known as the "four cardinal virtues"; wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.With this introduction of courage as a virtue, Plato takes another crack at defining courage.What is also important to observe is that he introduces a new element, that of education, in his definition of courage that was absent from his early dialogue Laches.

Plato espouses the idea in the Republic that the Guardians need to possess certain natural qualities; such as strength, speed, and courage.It seems odd that Plato classifies courage as a natural quality possessed by certain people.This automatically presupposes that not all people can practice the virtue of courage.Plato's successor Aristotle, will argue against this notion in his EN.In addition, Plato argues that in order for people to be courageous they must also have an aggressive thumos [passion], which makes both people and animals fearless and determined.Plato fears that the Guardians could be susceptible to using their passion of aggressiveness against there own people.Therefore, he counsels that the Guardians who naturally possess aggressiveness have to also naturally possess the opposite characteristic of gentleness as well, so that their aggressiveness will only be used against the enemy and not their own citizenry.

This dialogue is significant in that it helps to flesh out Plato's notion of what ultimately makes a person courageous.First, Plato argues that the goal of education, which he compares to a sheepdog, is to watch over the Guardians; thus, with the proper education he believes the proper balance between exciting their aggressiveness and subduing it in the Guardians can be achieved.Second, Plato believes that if aggressiveness is properly excited by physical training, then the Guardian will be courageous.If overly excited they will be like a wild beast devoid of grace and will become ignorant.Finally, Plato argues in his education section of the Republic, that to counter the possibility of a Guardian developing an over excited passion of aggressiveness, it is necessary to teach the Guardians literature and music during the same time they undergo physical training.

Thus, Plato hopes this balanced approach to educating the Guardians will then lead to courage being a controlled and calm act of endurance in battle, instead of a foolhardy lust for blood letting and an emotional reaction to war.Not only does Plato spend a significant amount of time advocating for the tools necessary to subdue the passions of the Guardians in book three of the Republic, but another important point in Plato's philosophy to consider is that since he believes that a Guardian's aggressiveness is influenced by literature he is very concerned by what type of literature is taught to them as well.Plato is very concerned that the archetypical heroic warrior Achilles, as depicted in Homer's epic poem the Iliad along with those depicted in Greek tragedies performed on stage, are bad examples for the Guardians to emulate.Consequently, Plato advises that heroes of Greek literature should be depicted as thoughtfully courageous and in control of their anger and physically resilient warriors.Thus, Plato seems to be using the term andreia [courage] to cover (at the least) both courage proper, which can only exist in some kind of unity with the other virtues, and raw mettle or aggressiveness, which can exist in conjunction with various vices.Plato in book four of the Republic does move on from his study of thumos as the prime motivating force to act courageously, to actually defining the virtue of courage.Plato defines courage as a person's ability to subdue their aggressiveness by the orders of their reason in regards to what they should be fearful of regardless of their own feelings of pain or pleasure.Plato's expounded definition of the virtue of courage is that a courageous act is an amalgamation of a person's natural passion of aggressiveness and properly educated rational beliefs over what is worthy regarding the possibility of losing their life or limb over.

The cornerstone of modern philosophy
"The Republic" is an insightful look into human nature and the nature of state. This book is truly Plato's best work. This edition contains great annotations and explinations, and is a very lucid and accessible translation. This book is absolutely essential to understand Western philosophy.

The Rhetoric
Most people know this book by title, not by content. I must admit reading this book is not for the faint at heart. Rhetorics will be thrown in your face as if it is common language and some sense of historical background on the Greeks may help as well.

But this shouldn't hold you back from reading this classic piece, all 450 pages of it. It is not so much the result of all thinking, but the process of thinking itself which makes this a great book. Known as one of the greatest Greek philosiphers of all-time you can get a taste of his way of thinking and the time he was living in.

If you have any interest in history and philosophy you'll love this book. ... Read more

Product Description
How do you keep a crowd of energetic young penguins entertained? Put on a play, perhaps? But will they pay attention through an entire performance? If Tacky"s center stage, they might. Even in his flowing blond wig and little red "skipping shoes," everyone"s favorite misfit penguin imbues the character of Goldilocks with his own indomitable personality and style. So what if the set is in shambles? This is one performance Mrs. Beakly"s students won"t soon forget. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Amusing twist on Goldilocks & the 3 bears
Cute little story about Tacky's mishaps in the penguin play of Goldilocks & the three bears. My kids loved it!

Tacky the Penquin Books
All the Tacky the Penguin books are great. They are read over and over at our house.

A goofy and very silly book
It's time for the penguins to put on a play for Mrs. Beakly's School; Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly and Perfect are all ready, but they're all worried about Tacky (he's the penguin in the Hawaiian shirt). With no practice or preparation, on the day of the play Tacky dons the Goldilocks outfit and flounces onto the stage. It's an absolute disaster...and the best play the rambunctious young penguins have ever seen!

I had this book in reserve, waiting until my baby got old enough to read to, but when my little nephew needed entertaining I dug it out. Well, he loved it! Yes, this is not a nice, uplifting story with a moral. Instead, it's a goofy and very silly book, one that is sure to please a little one with a sense of humor.

Could be better
Not funny or interesting enough.Kind of cute but could be cuter and not a wordy. ... Read more

Product Description
Translated with an Introduction by David McDuff. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

watch outfor formatting likeyou seehere
Arrrgh.Who doesn't love Dostoevsky?Who doesn't love Penguin paperback editions?I bought this Kindle version anticipating no problems with translation or formatting.Well, the translation is certainly acceptable; Dostoevsky's style comes through.What utterly undermines my enjoyment is that the formattingall runs togetherlike this,j ust enought o makeyou crazy.Get the idea?It certainly takes the pleasure out by interrupting the flow of information from the eye to the brain.

C'MON PENGUIN! YOU ARE CHARGING 9.99 FOR A BOOK IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.TAKE THE TIME TO PROPERLY FORMAT!

An Orthodox Christian Masterpiece!
In my opinion The Brothers Karamazov is the greatest novel ever written. Man's supreme literary achievement. The sheer depth and beauty of Dostoyevsky's writing leaves the reader in awe of this intellectual giant.

Through an ingenious plot and the interplay of his unforgettable characters, Dostoyevsky explains the meaning of life by describing the human condition and the salvation in Christ that exists only in the Orthodox Church.

The Brothers Karamazov was Dostoyevsky's last and greatest novel, the culmination of his life's work, a life's work that included such masterpieces as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Possessed.

The Brothers Karamazov- review
The book has been translated several time by different editors and in different languages. Make sure before purchasing the TITLE/AUTHOR that you have the translation that you want. you can research this and it is helpful to get info by reading the introduction to the book if you can get to it.

My favourite translation of the greatest novel ever written
I have read The Brothers Karamazov 12 times in three different versions - those by Garnett, Pevear-Volokhonsky, and McDuff. This one is by far my favourite of those three. While the other versions would take me at least a month to read, this one only took two weeks. Not only is the translation easier to read and more compelling, but there is a helpful introduction that explains some of the themes.

I'd also recommend these two introductions:
The Brothers Karamazov: Worlds of the Novel
Dostoyevsky: The Brothers Karamazov (Landmarks of World Literature)

I occupy myself with this mystery because I want to be a man
Anyone interested in the central question facing mankind will find `The Brothers Karamazov' an essential guide. That question--on man's capacity for responsibility and the proper role of the state and religion--is posed throughout the story in dialogue and events, and is framed neatly in a 20-page section where Ivan presents a poem titled `The Grand Inquisitor' to his brother Alyosha. The chapter that bears that title (Book V, Chapter V) is a masterpiece in itself and should be studied for its narrative technique alone. But the ideas it presents are so immense, so mind-blowing and inspirational, that literary criticism is not sufficient.

Indeed, `The Brothers Karamazov' should not be classed merely as a novel--it is a book of philosophy, theology, and sociology as well that ranks with the greatest documents in those disciplines. There is a fictitious plot, of course, and the characters in the story are some of the most unique in all of literature, so it is rightly praised as a novel. But the modern reader looking for a plot of twists and romantic intrigues is bound to disappointment. Dostoevsky does not stir up drama through the placement of unexpected developments or improbable character traits. Instead, he relies on the inherent needs and wants of all men to make vivid his story.

The amount of dialogue may be shocking (tedious) to one accustomed to the modern show-don't-tell policy in storytelling. Today, novelists and screenwriters let a character's actions speak for them--it is quicker and provides a much more convincing impression. It also limits the kind of ideas that are posed in the story to simple, prosaic ones like `she likes him' or `he wants to defeat him.' By contrast, Dostoevsky allows the characters to speak for themselves, which creates a much longer and subtler exposition, but also frees the ideas to be vast and monumental.

What is the fundamental nature of socialism? What are the uses of the church in finding purpose? In finding salvation? Why is there suffering? What is the meaning of death? Read the brothers' dialogues and contemplate.

Dostoevsky's own philosophy is seen in the protagonist, Alyosha. This is so despite the fact that the author ably covers every perspective on every topic presented in the book, and one can hardly find a positive assertion throughout. If there is one, it rests in the overall effect of the words and actions, a concept Dostoevsky articulated in a personal correspondence--it is that "Man is a mystery; if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say that you have wasted your time."

A word about the translations: The title of Book IV has been translated differently in every version I have seen (other chapter titles are also inconsistent, but Book IV is seemingly the most difficult to agree on). The original Russian is `Nadryvy,' which literally translates to `Ruptures,' though no translations I have seen use `Ruptures.' The word is used throughout the book to convey the motif of `pressures' or `strained conditions about to break.' The various options I have seen for this title are `Lacerations' (Garnett), `Strains' (Pevear & Volkhonsky), `Torment' (MacAndrew), `Crises' (Avsey), and `Crack-Ups' (McDuff). Given this is a central theme, the potential reader might look into which translation he prefers before buying. Apropos, the Princess Alexandra Kropotkin print version bears the Garnett translation, as does the Frederick Davidson audio recording. ... Read more