Product Description
Published in hardcover to outstanding acclaim on both sides ofthe Atlantic, and winner of the prestigious Commonwealth WritersPrize, Gould's Book of Fish is a marvelously imagined epic ofnineteenth-century Australia -- a world of convicts and colonists,thieves and catamites, whose bloody history is recorded in a veryunusual taxonomy of fish. Widely hailed as a masterpiece and a work ofgenius, it stands out as one of the best novels of recent years. BillyGould was a forger and thief sentenced to life imprisonment in a penalcolony in Van Diemen's Land -- now Tasmania. After six months heescaped and boarded a whaler for the Americas, but before long hisadventures landed him back in prison. The prison doctor Lempriereutilizes Gould's painting talents to create an illustrated taxonomy ofthe country's exotic sea creatures, which Lempriere madly believeswill assure his place in history and the Royal Society. Lost andre-created, destroyed and hidden, Gould's book finally resurfaces inthe present day littered with scrawls recording his unutterablystrange life -- part freewheeling picaresque, part tragicomedy -- andthat of his country, a penal colony, settlement, and magical spacepopulated by generals, visionaries, and madmen. Gould's Book of Fishis a tour de force that questions the reliability of history andscience, and the substance of artistic creation.Amazon.com Review
Gould's Book of Fish, an extraordinary work of fact-based fiction by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan (Death of a River Guide) is a journey through the fringe madness of Down Under colonialism. Set during the 1830s in a hellish island prison colony off the Tasmanian coast, the novel plucks a real-life thief and prisoner, English forger William Buelow Gould, from the pages of history to act as protagonist-narrator. Through Gould's unique capacity to blend hyperbole, hyperrealism, and self-effacing honesty, the reader acquires a shockingly clear picture of daily torment on the island. Yet more remarkable is Gould's portrait of bizarre ambitions among prison authorities to further principles of art and science amidst so much misery. Key to such plans is Gould's talent as a painter and illustrator. The compound's surgeon, nursing hopes of publishing a definitive guide to the island's fish, leans heavily on Gould's ability to record the taxonomy of various species. Though Gould accommodates his masters, the manuscript, in his hands, becomes testimony to their perverse dreams of civilization and his own quick-witted survival instincts. Throughout, Flanagan never loses the well-imagined voice of Gould's candor or the character's dense descriptive powers, talents that translate into a thrilling text that reads like a blend of Melville and Burgess. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

exquisite storytelling, with too much post-modernism thrown into it
'Gould's Book of Fish' is a novel that employs every single trick belonging to the post-modern canon: you have the story-within-story scheme, the narrator witnessing his own death, the lingering doubt that the whole tale could be just the invention of a madman, etc. Yes, it does get a bit pretentious at times and yes, it does feel a bit unnecessary (quite often so) yet the novel has a lot of redeeming qualities and it ultimately proves to be a deeply rewarding literary experience.

First of all there is the language. Flanagan writes beautifully, the pages imbued with ueber-clever turn of phrases and a style that is both poetic and always to the point. Then there is the sheer joy of the storytelling. Set in a Tasmanian penal colony during the 1830s, GBOF gives life to a host of over-the-top characters: you have William Gould himself, a convict who poses as an artist to escape the hellish conditions of his imprisonment. Meet 'the surgeon', a mad scientist who want to make his name in the nascent field of taxonomy (only to end up as a specimen himself). How about the 'Commandant', the island's tyrant, a deranged officer who insists upon wearing a gold mask and making up grand plans to turn the island into a golden kingdom?

GBOF is an imperfect novel but if you can overcome its (slightly sagging) post-modern edge it will definitely turn out to be a very satisfactory read.

"I Have Stolen Songs From God."
Richard Flanagan is certainly quite mad.His is doolally, barmy, quite out there, don't you know.So, heavens - O quiet, sedate reader - do not read this book----unless, perchance, you are a poet, madman or lover.The work is a masterpiece!One doesn't know whether to cry, laugh or vomit through much of the jauntily told tales of endless cruelties on this Tasmanian penal colony - serving as synecdoche for the world at large - precisely described - so many disembowellings and accounts of excrement, excrement and more excrement.And yet - this mad, meandering distinctly fishy book is about - Love.

For those too prissy for this sort of thing, please take leave of this review now and return to your undead, sanitised world with this send-off I'll crib from the author: "You are a lost apostrophe in search of a word to which you might belong." Now, begone!

As to you others, I shall continue quoting from mad Flanagan because nothing I can write will do him justice:

"Perhaps reading and writing books is one of the last defences human dignity has left, because in the end they remind us of what God once reminded us of before He too evaporated in this age of relentless humiliations - that we are more than ourselves; that we have souls.And more, moreover."

To read this book is to, as the author instructs, become reacquainted with the words of "the great Shelley," that:
"Ye were injured and that means memory."And, as Proust would be quick to point out, to love is to be injured.To read this work is, finally, to realise that: "All life, properly understood, is a savage dream in which one is shuffled about - constantly in danger of being lost - that one is only ever an awestruck witness to everyday wonder."

I'm finished. Go!Go out and do something mad, reader, like reading this book, because we're all, like Gould towards the end here, standing on the gibbet waiting for the day on which the catch below us opens and the rope snaps tight.

Sanity? Insanity? All very wet in either case.
I read very little fiction (as you can tell from my other reviews) so when my daughter bought me this while abroad I stuck it in the queue and eventually got around to it. Glad I did.

The book conjures up Borges, Marquez, Melville, yes, and I might also add Heller and maybe even Rushdie. This is a compelling if extremely gross read. Surreal and horrific, it is a book within a book and a piscine view of humanity, or maybe the other way around.

I can't add much to what the other reviewers have said. I'll give it four stars because I suspect it is not for everyone, but if two or three of the above-mentioned are writers you cherish, then Gould's Book of Fish is worth your time.

A Horrible yet Visionary Objet d'Art
I am reviewing the hard-bound edition, which is quite simply one of the most beautiful regularly-priced modern books that I have ever handled. Elegantly printed on thick creamy paper, in an attractive tall format with a distinguished dust-jacket and rich marbled end-papers, it is a joy to read and to hold. Each chapter of this "novel in twelve fish" is prefaced by a full-color watercolor painting of a fish, the work of William Buelow Gould, a convict in the notorious Sarah Island penal colony off the west coast of Tasmania in the early 19th century. These paintings actually exist; Flanagan's book is an imaginative reconstruction of the text that might have accompanied them, had Gould been a diarist as well as a painter. As a particularly subtle touch, each chapter is printed in a slightly different color of ink, the almost subliminal variations in hue corresponding to the various substances that the convict might have had to use instead of ink. The paperback edition, which I have also seen, does its best to reproduce these qualities, but it cannot compare to the original.

After enjoying the sheer wonder of the book as a physical object, my next reaction was to the intense contrast between presentation and content. For the first chapters at least are written by Flanagan (a Tasmanian native) in shame and anger at the horrible degradations and tortures visited by the British colonists on the convicts, not to mention the systematic rape, exploitation, and slaughter of the aboriginal population. The only thing that makes it palatable is Gould himself, a forger and trickster who manages to maintain a macabre humor through the worst of it. For instance, in a pun on the typical sentence "to be imprisoned at His Majesty's pleasure," Gould imagines the King in the cell with him, responding to his arguments with the irrefutable rejoinder of silence.

But this is only the beginning of Gould's fantasies. He soon builds a picture of the Sarah Island colony as a separate nation-state, run by a megalomaniac Commandant in a gold mask, who opens trade with other countries in the hope of rivaling Europe as a center of culture and power. He builds, for example, a vast railroad station in the belief that this itself will cause rail lines to snake out from all directions, quite oblivious of the fact that he occupies a small island. So he is reduced to riding his imported train around a circular track, surrounded by backdrops of various regions of the world that he has Gould paint from sheer imagination. The lethal absurdity of life in the colony has something of the quality of Joseph Heller's CATCH-22, but Flanagan's incandescent writing is even closer to the pyrotechnics of Salman Rushdie's, for example in THE MOOR'S LAST SIGH. But no matter how high the fancy flies, it is ballasted by two things: the undeniable heft and solidity of the objet d'art in one's hands, and the uncomfortable suspicion that what Flanagan is really writing about is the not-so-distant history of Australia itself, its heedless indifference to all that was there before, and the colonial inferiority complex of its pretensions. As Gould says: "Everything that's wrong about this country begins in my story: they've all been making things up, ever since the Commandant tried to reinvent Sarah Island as a New Venice, as the island of forgetting, because anything is easier than remembering."

In the end, though, GOULD transcends history and politics, and becomes simply a book about human existence. "I just wanted to tell a story of love & it was about fish & it was about me & it was about everything. But because I could not paint everything, because I could only paint fish & my love & because I could not even do that very well, you may not think it much of a story." Well, he's wrong; it is one heck of a story. It is the kind of masterpiece that makes me want to go back and reduce a lot of previous five-star ratings in order to do it justice. Even Flanagan's most recent novel, WANTING, fine though it is, is a relatively normal piece of linear narrative beside the nightmare intensity and total originality of this one. But then GOULD'S BOOK OF FISH is something that few authors could write even once, let alone twice.

I'm of Two Minds About This Book
I'm afraid I cannot exactly agree with the reviews that praise this book as a work of genius. (I think it is simply a matter of personal taste - like the way my brother-in-law raves about Quentin Tarantino movies, but I can't stand them) This book sat on the shelf for a very long time, and after numerous attempts to start it, I finally determined to plow through to the finish. And what a long, strange trip it was!

After about 200 or so pages (when the voice and plot veered off in a completely different direction), I finally decided I liked it. The observations about human nature and society were brilliant, and I actually liked Gould's hallucinogenic descriptions which left the reader wondering what, if anything, of this story was real.

If I were to go back and carefully read this book multiple times, I think I would glean the jewels lying in the prose, but I'm never going to read this book again. I simply have no stomach for endless descriptions of torture, rape, murder, sores, boils, excrement and filth.
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Product Description
This comprehensive encyclopedia offers superb world coverage of the many kinds of freshwater fish, reptile and amphibian. ... Read more

Product Description
Cardinal Francis Xavier Ngyuen Van Thuan In 1975, Cardinal Francis Xavier Ngyuen Van Thuan was arrested by the Communist government of Vietnam and imprisoned for thirteen years, nine of the in solitary confinement, and then finally exiled from Vietnam in 1991. Always reticent about speaking of himself, Cardinal Van Thuan slowly began to realize that his prison experience of suffering and hope could help others in their journey of faith. The reflections he prepared for the 1997 World Youth Day in Paris became the framework for Five Loaves &Two Fish; the content in his personal Magnificat for the wonders God had worked in and through the small offering of his life - like the fish and loaves in the Gospel, which fed thousands. "Five Loaves & Two Fish reflects a great humility, a great joy, and the virtue of hope. It calls each of us to give to God the little we have with great ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Keeping the faith
I loved this book, It made me be grateful for all that I have and to be thankful to God from whom all good things come.

A tale of courage...
For being less than 100 pages, this book is an amazingly engaging read. I bought the book in order to foster a faith-sharing group discussion for church, and everyone who has participated agrees that Francis' tale is one of inspiration and simplicity.

That is what's amazing about his tale; he was able to distill a very harrowing life experience (nine years in solitary confinement is impossible to visualize for me) into the simple truths that helped him through it. What inspires me is that Francis does a great job of conveying that it was his faith in God that got him through all of his trials, and not some triumph of the human will. If you have faith, then it will allow you to accomplish great things, whether they be large or small deeds.

Each chapter is 10-15 pages long, so you won't find yourself struggling to get through it. Bottom line, it's a great book.

Fantastic
This book is just fantastic.I am still contemplating the echo of his words and thoughts.I believe every Christian would benefit from reading it.

Uplifting
A short but powerful book by the author that inspires us to dwell not in our knitty-gritty stuff that clogs our life but to surrender what we have to God. Suitable piece for young & old. One you could read over and over as a prayer.

Five loaves and two fish- food for the soul.
Father Francis Xavier Nguyen survived the worst that the communist re-educators could throw at him, including nine years of solitary confinement, and he retained his faith due to strong system of values and beliefs. Guidance came from the words of Monsignor John Walsh, imprisoned in China, "I am not going to wait, I will leave each present moment, filling it to the brim with love". Engaging his guards in conversation caused a major discipline problem for the communist authorities.

This small book is packed with inspiration, and the loaves and fish title draws on the Biblical story of Jesus feeding the crowd of five thousand.

The seven homilies are:
The first loaf: Living the present moment;
The second loaf: Discerning between God and god's works;
The third loaf: A fixed point of reference;
The fourth loaf: The Eucharist- my only strength;
The fifth loaf: Love and unity- the testimony of Jesus;
The first fish: My first love- The Immaculate Virgin Mary; and
The second fish: I have chosen Jesus.

Conducting the Eucharist, even in isolation using bread crumbs and "stomach medicine", enabled Father Francis not only to survive but help others also.

One stands in awe of this priestly man who survived, both physically and spiritually, when others would have fallen by the way.


... Read more

Product Description
Sent out for a swim in the deep sea, Tiddler, a young fish who just can't keep still, sees many interesting creatures and one very dark cave. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

We LOVE Tiddler
We love this author, Ruth Galloway, and have other stories by her.I've been reading Fidgety Fish to my 2 year old since she was about 3 months old and she never grows tired of it.I have the board book and the paperback, and we both prefer the (now well beat up) board book.There are a few less words, making it flow a bit better.For example,

"A crab sidled by, clicking and clacking its big claws" in the paperback reads "a clickety clackity crab that scuttled off into the seaweed" in the board book.There are a few other instances of this, and a couple of sentences are completely removed for the board book.

I highly recommend this book, it's light-hearted, engaging (she loves to say "excuse me" after the fish burp) and entertaining.I recommend the board book for durability and easier reading.

Fidegty Fish - paperback
I love this book.So I bought a second copy for a gift.But this version is the thin paperback version.Don't buy this version, get the board book version.Same size, same length but sturdier than a paperback.

Fun Giggles for a Child that Wiggles
If your small children are like mine, then they are always fidgeting, squirming, and wiggling.It is simply impossible for them to sit still.If that is the case, then your child will immediately relate to Tiddler, the star of FIDGETY FISH by Ruth Galloway."Tiddler was always fidgeting;" so much, in fact, that his mother sends him out to work off his excess boisterous energy."Swim until you are tired," she says.So Tiddler swims out of his cave, and the adventure begins.Tiddler flips and dives and leaps around, meets some interesting critters, gets into and then out of trouble, and ends up back home.All because of his fidgeting.

We have the board book version of this enchanting story, and it is very well loved in our house.The illustrations are extremely cute:bright, colorful, and eye catching.The writing style is especially engaging; it doesn't really rhyme, but has almost a chanted rhythm to it that really seems to connect with young children.The words themselves are very vivid and onomatopoetic; when read aloud, they really fire up my child's imagination.Of course, the fact she gets to burp while reading this story just adds more to the fun.

Tiddler has become a favorite character in our house, and his story is requested often.I am guessing that he will be with us for a long time.FIDGETY FISH is highly recommended both as a read aloud book and as a book for early readers.

Very fun story and pictures!
Initially, when I borrowed this book from the library, I was not that impressed.To me, the writing did not flow naturally from the tongue.Try saying "there were limpets that clung"or " a crab sidled by, clicking and clacking it's big claws" 3 times fast!O.K., now that I've read this book 100 times, it doesn't seem that bad, but at first I just seemed to keep stumbling over the language.

However, my 2.5 year old son loves this book, so I eventually purchased my own copy.It is about a fish that fidgets his way into and out of trouble, and my son loves fidgeting along with "Tiddler."The illustrations are bright and very descriptive, and you could "read" the book without any words at all!

I recommend this book if you have a little wiggler - after all, you can't go wrong with a children's book that contains a "burp!"

Fun Book!
I actually found this book at a thrift store and it's currently my son's favorite book.While I would agree that it's not the most wonderfully written book that we've ever read - it's definitely entertaining.My son and I love to snuggle together and pretend to be fidgety just like Tiddler. ... Read more

Product Description
In the bay...

There are six little fish. Along come six little feet. What will happen when they meet?

Customer Reviews (6)

Fun for early reader
Arrived promptly and my 6 year old grandson was so excited that he could read grandmommy a book!

How Many Fish
I bought this book for my grandson.He is beginning to read.He really enjoyed this book!

Excellent for small children
All children love it!My three year old learned how to read five words within the first week from this book alone!I now take those cards off the sight words flashcards keyring and regularly quiz her.Parents, please let them quiz you too!They love it.Pretend that you do not know some of the words in the book or on the cards once they know them, such as "fish." Only do this once you've read it a couple of times and the child knows the word(s).Also, do not pretend with words they have mastered. Now that annoys my three old.I have seven of these I Can Read Books at Stage 1.

Fun for counting, discussing
I got this for my 2 year old granddaughter who loves books.So far it has been a big hit.I am hoping that when she learns to read, she will be able to read it herself.The pictures are very good at telling the story and there are many opportunities to count and discuss what is happening.The words are simple and repetitive which she likes.Mom, Great Grandma and I have all read it to her and all have enjoyed her reactions to the predicament of the yellow fish.

Excellent book for beginner readers
This is an excellent book for beginner readers. My son not only learned to read it, but he enjoys reading this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Like every fifth grader, Esmé Raji Codell spent her days at her school, in her neighborhood, and with her family. But this small world provides rich material for these hilarious, moving, and engrossing stories.Esmé tells us about the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids sat on sofas instead of desks and could choose disco dancing instead of math, andher dangerous neighborhood, which her father made seem friendly and wondrous.In this childhood memoir, Esmé demonstrates her gift for making the ordinary extraordinary, and the unusual familiar. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

An Exceptional Book
I enjoyed "Sing A Song of Tuna Fish" immensely, not only because of the fantastic description and detail, but also how Esme Raji Codell created an incredibly entertaining story of her childhood. I think she did a very good job of making something that in real life might not have been that entertaining, into a very good story. I think that even a 40 year old would enjoy this book!!!!

funny, inspiring....
This is a great book for all ages -- I read along with my 10year old who did a report on this book ....terrific, funny....very true to life....

Great as a mentor text!
As an antidote to a wicked case of bronchitis, I've managed to read my way through a stack of books on my nightstand and found a winner: Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, Hard to Swallow Stories From Fifth Grade by Esme Raji Codell, the author of Educating Esme and other books.

It was published in 2004 but I hadn't seen it until last week on the shelf of the Atlantic County Bookmobile. What a treasure! I've been searching for good mentor texts to use with our fifth and sixth grade classes, something that would make the kids and their teachers really "get" the need to focus writing workshop around memoirs--and boy this is it! Esme takes you right into her life as a fifth grader. I think that both kids and adults will be inspired to explore their own childhood experiences after reading this book.

Sing a SOng of Tuna Fish is good for future writers
This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better.The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter.My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares.

Sing a SOng of Tuna Fish is good for future writers
This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better.The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter.My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

a lovely experiment with discipleship
Truly inspiring, truly radical, and amazingly faithful to the way of Jesus. Dorothy Day lived a cruciform life. She took Jesus seriously at his word, and lived a life that most Christians could not make sense of (which is telling in regards to whether or not any of us would be able to recognize Jesus amongst us). This collection of her writings are quintessential Dorothy Day. She address Christian fidelity in light of money, war, abortion, class, and race. Her words are so simple yet so difficult. She continues to stands within the prophetic tradition of Christianity. Read her writings, look at her life, re-imagine Jesus, and then just try it.

Dorothy Day's Loaves and Fishes
This is an excellent book inviting the reader to a look inside the life of the Catholic Worker movement. It is vintage Dorothy Day, easy to read, like a novel, yet politically and philosophically challenging and, of course, spiritual. An easy to read thought provoker, if you will!

Loves and Fishes
An excellent story about Christian Ministry through the efforts of the Catholic Worker Movement and its founders, Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day. Day writes a clear and moving description of the heartache and blessings that are so much a part of ministry to the lost and forsaken. Moving accounts of the call to the social justice for the poor and marginalized in America. Her inspirational journey calls others to join the Catholic Worker Movement to provide for the masses that suffer daily.
The Long Loneliness also by Day is a must read as a companion to Loaves and Fishes

A Multiplication of Grace

In Loaves and Fishes Dorothy Day tells the story of the Catholic Worker movement. It is a story of faith in action; the working out of the Word of God in day to day living.

The adventure that began one day in the early 1930's led to the establishment of a radical newspaper (for clarification of thought), houses of hospitality (to give the rich an opportunity to serve the poor), and communitarian farms (to confront issues of unemployment, delinquency, rootlessness, and hunger).

I was struck by the matter of fact way in which Day describes the lifestyle that flowed through all of this; "We were to reach the people by practicing the works of mercy, which meant feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, sheltering the harborless, and so on. We were to do this by being poor ourselves, giving everything we had; then others would give, too". She goes on to write, "'A spectacle to the world, to angels and to men...the off-scouring of all,' St. Paul said, and that is what we became. The trouble was, we could not know when to stop...we soon began to have a community, and it was pretty much a community of the poor".

It becomes clear that Dorothy Day and those with whom she worked saw none of this as extraordinary. Rather, it was a natural consequence of following Jesus. This is something that we who are comfortable in the church today need to meditate on.

Towards the end of the book Day expresses regret that not more was accomplished. But then she adds, "The consolation is this - and this is our faith too: By our suffering and our failures, by our acceptance of the Cross, by our struggle to grow in faith, hope, and charity, we unleash forces that help to overcome the evil in the world".

"All we give is given to us to give"
So says Dorothy Day in "Loaves and Fishes" (p. 177), and it is both the heart of the book's message and the central theme of her adult life.Thank goodness Orbis has reprinted this classic personal history of the Catholic Worker movement and the colorful saints in its ranks.In the book, Dorothy tells how her depression-era meeting with Peter Maurin birthed first a newspaper, then a hospitality house, then a national movement.In addition, Dorothy tries to explain the underlying theological and spiritual principles of the Catholic Workers:the resistance to power structures that cynically refuse to care for society's most vulnerable; the Christ-inspired conviction that voluntary poverty (or what Dorothy called "precarity") is a mechanism for social reform as well as a transformative sharing in redemptive suffering; that the duty of Christians is to collaborate with God in the creation of God's Kingdom; and that in society as it's currently structured, one is either on the side of the poor or one is an exploiter--there's no fence-sitting.As Peter Maurin says (quoted by Dorothy, p. 86):"We cannot see our brother [or sister] in need without stripping ourselves.It is the only [genuine] way we have of showing our love."

Reading Dorothy Day, as I try to do every year, is a reminder both of how far from the Gospel message most of us who call ourselves Christians live, and how wonderfully easy, joyful, and liberating living that message would actually be.By both her example and writings, Dorothy invites us to ask ourselves why we hold back from doing what we know is right, and inspires us to roll up our sleeves and accept the Gospel challenge.Let her have the final word here (p. 176):

"One of the greatest evils of the day...is [a] sense of futility.People say, What good can one person do?What is the sense of our small effort?They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment.But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transorm all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes." ... Read more

Product Description
More than 600 species are described in detail, with more than 525 illustrations. This is the guide for quick, reliable identification of fishes that you'll encounter while fishing, snorkeling, diving, or even strolling along a Pacific Coast beach. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Not easy to use; there are a lot of better choices
I'll be honest -- I was using this in Baja (Pacific coast of Mexico), not the US.And there are definitely better fish guides for Baja.This book occasionally had info my other reference books didn't, but this book just isn't easy to use.It's not laid out well to find a fish you've seen, and pictures and info generally aren't on the same page.

I love to dive and snorkel and think I own a dozen fish books for Baja.Out of the bunch, my four favorites are (they all have different strengths and weaknesses):

Reef Fish Identification: Baja to Panama -- If I had to pick just one, this would be it.It's really designed for identification and some of the others are better to learn about the fish once you've identified it.Tons of color photos.

Sea of Cortez Marine Animals: A Guide to the Common Fishes and Invertebrates Baja California to Panama -- A good compromise between identification and learning about the fish.Covers most of the common fish, but not as many as the above.Uses color photos.

Reef Fishes of the Sea of Cortez: The Rocky-Shore Fishes of the Gulf of -- Best book to learn about the fish, but not as strong on ID.Covers a lot of fish. Some color photos, other B&W photos, many drawings.

Fishes of the Pacific Coast: Alaska to Peru, Including the Gulf of California and the Galapagos Islands -- Pocket-sized book, color drawings, short info on each fish.Best book for edibility information.

Lots of information. Not easy to use.
A very informative book but really more of a library reference than a field guide.

There is a lack of pictures and no reference to edibiity. Names in Spanish are missing.

Fishes of the Pacific Coast is much better.

My Go-To Book
I own many field guides.Many.Of them all, the Peterson Guides are usually not my favorites.Yes, they are the original field guides, and you have to salute any of the Peterson Guides for being breakthrough books, but I don't usually like the format of flipping around to find information.But this is THE best book for Pacific Coast fishes.I'm not always fond of drawings, and as much as I love Humann's photo field guides, I haven't found a book that competes with this one.There are fish in this book I've never heard of anywhere else.If you own this book, you don't need to buy another Pacific Coast fishes book.Also, the text has some good facts.Other good purchases are Humann's guides (good intro books) and More Than you Want to Know About Pacific Coast Fishes (Downside: drawings are black and white, and not in plate side by side format). Still, this is #1.Oh, and I've never seen a well used Peterson Field Guide that didn't have pages falling out.

Great Pictures
I had purchased this item before, and loved it! The only problem is that the wonderful color photos in the middle of the book fell out! It got destroyed inevitably by my husband, so I have purchased it for a second time. This book gives you many many helpful ways to identify fish in the pacific ocean--in fact, haven't found a fish yet that wasn't in this book, but dearly would love to find some of the fish that ARE in the book!

a field guide to pacific coast fishes:north america petersons field guides
The book is great I use it on our boat every weekend the pictures are very life like and accurate very informative ... Read more

Product Description
The most comprehensive field guide available to the tropical fishes of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. All 417 photographs are in full color, capturing the natural beauty of the fishes on coral reefs and other habitats of tropical marine waters. The species photographs are keyed to full text descriptions of more than 400 species, each with its own range map. The text also includes brief coverage of nearly 800 additional species. Detailed endpaper maps, precise black-and-white drawings, and an illustrated family key supplement this authoritative and visually stunning resource.

The National Audubon Society Field Guides group species according to taxonomy and shape. Helpful thumb-tab silhouette keys make identification quick and easy. Amazon.com Review
Covering tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf ofMexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, this field guide byC. Lavett Smith (curator emeritus, Department of Ichthyology, AmericanMuseum of Natural History in New York) sets the tropical-fishstandard. There are 417 truly magnificent color photographs evincingthe glories of the coral reefs and full-text descriptions for morethan 400 species, each with its own range map. In addition, the guideincludes maps of the regions, more than 100 fish anatomyillustrations, and close to 800 more brief species descriptions. Easyto use and understand, lightweight, and sturdily constructed fortravel, the field guide is a great boon for one's snorkeling orscuba-diving vacations. --Stephanie Gold ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Good for general info
I bought this book for my husband to prevent him from telling me about "that yellow fish" he saw when we were diving.It is good because it has a lot of variety of different types of fish, but it is by no ways all encompassing reference.It has only a few varieties of each type of fish (ie only a few angel fish shown, not all of the types).So, it is good, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Getting the most your tropical Holiday!
I bought this book as birthday gift for my son-in-law.I looked through the guide before I sent it to him.My impression was very positive, but no where near the rave reviews that Steve had for it.This guide to tropical fish should be a must for anyone taking a tropical vacation.

Dick

The Best, As Always
The Audubon Field Guides are the best there are. Every category of book is well documented and the glossy photos are fabulous. I buy these books for my 11 year old son. He enjoys reading them so much that I count his time spent as credit for our homeschool science course.

disappointing
Although there are many fishes accounted for, it has quite a few that are missing, and it would be helpful if more showed pictures of the difference between adult and juveniles.

OK, But Paul Humann's Book is Much Better
A few years ago, I bought the Audubon Society Field Guide to Tropical Marine Fishes and found when I tried to use it in the Florida Keys that there were many fish I couldn't identify. People recommended I buy Paul Humann's book, "Reef Fish Identification."The book is more expensive, but I found it to be far more comprehensive and user friendly. For example, many fish look entirely different when in their "juvenile," "initial" or "terminal" phase, and the "Reef Fish Identification" book has clear photos of each of the three stages shown beside each other, and frequently includes photos of alternate color phases as well.The Audubon book usually just shows a picture of the fish in just one phase, and often not a terribly good photo at that. Next to each photo in the Humann book is an excellent line drawing of the fish, highlighting and labeling which features of a fish are most dependable for identification. The Audubon book includes no such diagrams to aid identification. Finally, the Humann book is based upon both an extensive bibliography and collaboration with field biologists, and if the detailed descriptions in his book of definitive features for discriminating species of fish are correct (and experienced scuba divers tell me they are correct) then some of the pictures in the Audubon guide are actually even misidentified as to species. For example, the Audubon picture labeled as a "Leopard Goby" is almost certainly a picture of an "Orange-sided Goby" (if the Humann book is correct about dark lines outlining the orange rectangles being areliable discriminating feature). If there were no other reef fish identification book available, I would have given the Audubon book more stars, I am usually a great fan of the Audubon Field Guide series, but in comparison with the Humann book it just doesn't rate very well. I should add that I have never met, nor have any private or professional association with, the author of either of these books, so my opinion is not biased by any such affiliation.
Finally, I should add that I am pleased nevertheless to own both of these books because, for many species of fish, fish of the same species can be found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, so you can never study too many photos to get a handle on the range of appearances possible for any given species. Buy the Humann book if you can just afford one book, but owning both books is even better! ... Read more

Product Description
Fish is a stunning celebration of this continent’s great fish, mostly game fish, with a sprinkling of fun (pumpkin seed sunfish), history (shad), and culinary delights (bluefish). These detailed, never-before-published watercolor portraits, with text by the master of sport fishing, Dean Clarke, combine to make an upscale guide for the naturalist, an aid to the angler, a tool for the educator and conservationist, and an enjoyable read for everyone. It’s part field guide and part angler’s soul, but most of all a feast for the eyes.

Every fish has a story, and this book presents 77 incredible tales of hunting, studying, catching, and eating fish. Each portrait is accompanied by tips on bait and habitat. Also included are essays on the state of our oceans, and species conservation efforts. Artist Flick Ford’s watercolors of individual specimens—many of which he caught—are rendered in a unique technique that captures the perfection of the fish at the moment it was pulled from the water. Everyone who fishes longs to land “the big one,” and here it is—the best catch of the season for sport-fishermen and weekend anglers alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Fish Book Review
This book is the perfect book for the fishing enthusiast.More than met my expectations.Was delivered within just a few days.Very happy with this order and product.

Fish
A great book to give as a gift when someone asks you to join them for fishing or hunting.Economical and a super book at the same time.

Fish 77 Great Fish of North America
Gave this to my husband for his birthday after seeing the artist etc. on a TV show.He was thrilled, the pictures were really sharp and clear and it made for very interesting reading.Just loved it.

77 Great Fish of North America
I purchased this book for my husband as a gift.He wanted it to put on our coffee table.The cover of the book has a crease down the middle of it.After what I paid for this book, is there anyway I can exchange it for one that does not have a crease down the middle.

Thank you.

Lisa Mitchell

great gift for an avid fisherman
The paintings are incredibly beautiful and text is informative. Great
coffee table book for a sports fisherman and lover of art. ... Read more

Product Description

Antwone Quenton Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment his single mother gave birth to him in prison. As a foster child, he suffered more than a dozen years of emotional abandonment and physical abuse, until he escaped and forged a life on the streets. And just as his life was about to hit rock bottom, Antwone enlisted in the U.S. Navy -- a decision that would ultimately save him. There, he became a man and discovered a loving family he never had. Through it all, Antwone refused to allow his spirit to be broken and never gave up his dreams of a better day.

Customer Reviews (44)

SUPER and Extremely Inspirational
There are so many other good reviews, that I do not feel the need to say much except read this book.It was great through and through, cover to cover.

Must Read
If you have any interest in human behavior, this is a must read.It is a true story of a man who has to overcome so much to succeed.The challenges he faces are so harsh, as he struggles through life as a foster child.

It was gonna be a 4 star, but...
the ending made me switch to 5. I liked the happy ending. I think what made it kinda bad for me reading this one was that I saw the movie first. So while reading I kept trying to copy parts to scenes in the movie.

What makes this book great for me is the fact that it's written by a black man about his troubled life. Most black men won't even tell the people close in their lives things like this let alone write a story for the world to read.

End child abuse today.

Better Than The Movie
This is an awe inspiring piece of literary work. The narrative from the beginning inspires the reader and allows almost a walk-along journey into the author's life and the actual steps that he took. The movie was good in its setting and up to date account of a life in the 60's. The book adds so much story that went untold in the movie and is that much more moving. Antwone Fisher writes as if he has been doing this since a child.

A Great Read
The novel Finding Fish by Antwone Fisher is a very good book. The book is far better than the movie and i reccomend it to all. It entails his life as well as select readings from his poetry. It is a a story of struggle and beating the odds to become a success ... Read more

Product Description
Underwater photographs and informative descriptions of over 240 species, including classification, evolution, and best locations to spot them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A must have for identifying Hawaiian Fish
If you want to identify the fish you see in Hawaii, this is the book to have. In fact, Hoover has a number of marine life guides out and they are all worth checking out. If you see a fish while diving or snorkeling in Hawaii....it's in there. The photographs are colorful and I love the way there are multiple photos for differences in sex or juveniles and adults. If you are doing any research on Hawaiian fish (as i often do in my line of work), you will also need to have a copy this book. Hoover includes general information about each group and then describes each fish in detail. There is information about identification characteristics, anatomical features, feeding habits and he lets you know which species are endemic. Did you know that 25% of the fish you see in Hawaii are endemic. That means that you won't see then anywhere else in the world! This is a great guide to take on your trip to Hawaii! I highly recommend this book!

thorough identification guide
This was perfect for my recent trip to the Big Island.My 7yr old son is a nature enthusiast - and we couldn't get enough time snorkeling.This book was perfect for identifying the fish we saw (I had a waterproof case for my digital camera).

Second Edition is even better
Released late in 2007 in the islands, the 2nd edition has new, and software enhanced photographs, and more species.I go back and forth between Hoover and Randall (Shore Fishes of Hawai`i) to identify reef fish.

Undersea Eye Candy!
A comprehensive and visually delightful treat for snorkelers and scuba divers, alike.Lot's of pictures and they're all labeled with the area where each specimen was photographed.A must for anyone planning to spend time exploring the sealife in Hawaii!

One Fish, Two Fish...
The photography in this book is amazing.Beautiful, clear color shots are on every page of this book.The information is good and relevant.I was able to identify many of the fish I saw snorkeling in Maui in this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

My favorite reef book
I've bought and read several books on Hawaiian fish, and this is my favorite. The illustrations are copious and clear, it contains common, scientific and Hawaiian names for the fish, and it discusses things such as their mating habits and diets, so you can learn about as well as identify the various fish.

If you have the privilege to go snorkeling in Hawaii, this is a great book to have. It will provide far more depth then the simple cards or guide books you will get at the snorkel gear stores, and it is one of the best ways for you to share your experiences with others (short of having an underwater housing for your digital SLR....)

It covers just about everything you will see, from fish to eels to turtles to dolphins.

Brenda
The photos are beautiful and the information very helpful in understanding these wonderful ocean beings.

Just like it says...The Ultimate Guide
There are quite a few books out there on Hawaii's reef fishes, but Hoover is one of the top authors. The photos in this books are spectacular and the number of species included is unparalleled. This is the underwater guide you don't want to be without especially if you are on a dive trip to Hawaii. Great for academic research, or just the casual marine enthusiast. I use all of Hoover's books on a weekly basis and I'm a marine biologist...but it's great to have references like his with great pictures for comparison of different species and to explain something to the lay person with pictures. This book also includes multiple photos of many of the species. The value of this is that there are often many different color morphs, and the juveniles, females and males may differ in color. The descriptions are accurate and helpful, both for identification and coloration as well as more technical biological information, behavior and feeding habits. If you are a diver or marine enthusiast. This is the book for you.

Beautiful artwork and complete guide
This book captivates from the cover with a beautiful picture of a turtle and yellow reef fishes swimming around. Then, there are lots of pages full of colourful photographs and complete texts that bring you all the hawaiian waters in a guide.
Very useful text boxes with curiosities and facts that add further information to the main text. High quality paper. Complete list of fishes. First I thought to buy the Snorkel Reef Fishes by the same author but when I met this new complete guide I rated best. Besides fishes, you may find turtles, dolphins, whales and even seals.
A perfect guide for snorkelers and divers in Hawaii.
Great service by Amazon. Good package and in very short time.

Great book
This is a great book to take with you while diving in Hawaii.The diver operator we used had it on the boat.We loved the book so much we bought it after the trip.It has great pictures and good write ups. ... Read more

Product Description
Covers all types of dishes, from appetizers to main courses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The New Cleanihng & Cooking Fish: The Complete Guide.......
Bought this as a gift for a male friend & he loved it!!!Book was in super condition.....looked BRAND NEW! Would purchace from this site again!Thanks!

1st Class Resource
If you are a casual fisherman/woman/child and hate to waste your catch, this is an ideal resourse for you.Cleaning your fish efficiently and preparing good meals are covered wonderfully.Highly recommended.

Expert advice from an expert
Sylvia Bashline, author of The New Cleaning & Cooking Fish, is just the right person to tell you how to clean and cook a fish that you've just caught. She's served as president of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writer's Association and also as a board member of Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Her book makes lavish, skilful use of color photography to tell you everything you need to know about preparing a fish to eat, once you've caught it. Plus, there are dozens and dozens of mouth-watering recipes for cooking fish by every method you can imagine. ... Read more

Product Description
The sequel to Pfister's popular The Rainbow Fish features the same eye-catching graphics, and tells a story of heroism and charity, offering a universal messsage about kindness to and acceptance of others. Holographic foil stamping. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Trite and rather disappointing
When I first read "Rainbow Fish to the Rescue," I had to check to make sure this book had, indeed, been written by the author of the original Rainbow Fish book."Rescue" has the feeling of a quickly-cranked-out sequel, one that the author of the original would never have approved had he been given the choice.

I really don't know what came over Marcus Pfister."Rescue" picks up where "The Rainbow Fish" left off.Each fish now has its own shiny scale, and they all play together happily.However, a new fish without a shiny scale comes along, and rather than welcome him to the group, all the fish ignore the newcomer.The Rainbow Fish goes along with the crowd even though he feels bad for the new guy.With little or no development to the story, the Rainbow Fish experiences a change of heart, the new fish is welcomed to the group (after being rescued from a prowling shark) and everyone is happy again.The moral of the story, which practically thumps the reader over the head, is to treat others nicely.

The original "Rainbow Fish" book did a much better job of presenting the exact same moral.This book feels forced and rushed, as if Marcus Pfister was working under a tight deadline and needed to get his manuscript off to the printer yesterday.I bought my copy of "Rescue" at a dollar store, and it was worth the buck but certainly not much more.Stick to the original "Rainbow Fish."

Rainbow Fish tot the Rescue ~ Marcus Pfister
This is a great book no teaching children how to except others.When all the fish with a sparklie fins are playing a game.They do not let a little fish without a sparklie fin play.Rainbow Fis wants to invite him to play yet doesn't know what his friends will think of him.He is afraid to stand up to his knew friends.Instead of standing up for what he believes.He follows his friends and does whatever they do.Later on in this book Rainbow Fish saves the day.

My favorite character is Rainbow Fish.He realizes how the little fish feels, yet in the end he learns how to make the little fish happy.This is a great book on teaching kids to except everyone.Everyone is different in their own ways.WE just have to learn to except that we are all not the same.I liek this book, it is one of my favorite childrens books.These books have great characters, and can relate to life very well.

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue ~ Marcus Pfister
This is a good childrens book on teaching kids how to behave.Children do not know how to behave properly.But when you tell them through books, and use characters like Rainbow Fish, then it is easier for them to understand.It is a great book for kidst o read to understand how to expect peoples differences.Everyone is different in their own ways, it is just harder for some people to realize it.Everyone has their own special qualities, people just need to learn that we are all different.

I like this book because things like this hapen in everyday life.Rainbow Fish is a good example of how people follow others, and do not think for themselves.When one other the other fish is not excepted becasue he is a little different, Rainbow Fish doesn't know how to react.But, he learns to stand up for himself and learns how to treat others.I think everyone should learn to try to except everyone.We are all same, yet we are all different.

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue
Rainbow Fish to the Rescue, Marcus Pfister's second addition to Rainbow Fish, is a short and sweet story about Rainbow Fish, and his now sparkling scaled friends feel they're too good for fish without sparkling scales.
In the last story Rainbow Fish felt he was too good for the fish without the shiny scales. He showed them off to the point where the other fish ignored him and thought he was snooty. He gets advice and decided to share his scales with the other fish. In this 2nd addition the schools of fish with the shiny scales are playing and a small yellow fish asks to play. Since his scales are dull, they say no. All of the sudden a shark comes looking for food and the small yellow fish is out in the open all alone. Rainbow Fish knows what he must do!
It's a good lesson for younger children to learn from. About sharing, accepting, and so on. I would definitely recommend it to parents looking for good children stories.

Pfister Offers Engaging Texts and Fine Artwork
I appreciate Pfister's ability to write stories that challenge my 2 1/2 year old's comprehension of story structure and vocabulary while sticking to themes and plots that she can understand and enjoy.
This book might appeal to readers who want the Rainbow Fish's luscious illustrations and foil highlights, but disagree with the supposedly "conformist" or "socialist" thrust of the original. This book offers a message of inclusion with which most parents would agree. I like Rainbow Fish here and in the other titles.
(Of course, it's a little unrealistic that a shark would be scared away by a few little fish darting around its snout, but hey, this isn't natural history, it's a fable!)
It's a big hit with my child- I didn't give it 5 stars because as an adult, it seems a little bit cliche. But I'm sure she would give it a top rating! ... Read more

Product Description
A lavishly illustrated reference covering all aspects of keeping fish, the Encyclopedia of Aquarium & Pond Fish is the first book on the market to provide care and identification information on all types of fish for every possible environment, from indoor aquariums to outdoor ponds. The book contains a directory of over 800 of the most popular fish-freshwater, saltwater, coldwater, and tropical-showing not only what each fish looks like, but what food they eat, which species they can cohabit with, how big they grow, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Get this book, probably the only one you would need
I have bought this book few years ago (when first published). Never needed another one.

I use it to identify fish, fish requirements (food, water chemistry, ..etc.), compatibility, and general information about each.
Text is easy to read. Information well researched and covers all you need to know. Photos are beautiful, clear, and easy to identify each fish.

Great book.

This book is complete
Great book for clueless people.Is very comprihensive and very colorful.Qualiy of the book is great.Tons of information.One of the most beautiful books in this subject I have ever seen.

Lovely Pictures
I gave this book to the fish enthusiast in my family, my 15 year old son. It has beautiful pictures and is full of information.

Excellent reference book!
I borrowed this book from our library and found it was excellent so have purchased a used one through Amazon's program. The pictures are clear and colorful. Good basic information including origins, size, diet, water temp and ph parameters, and temperment. Each fish has a paragraph describing colors etc and if needed an extra tidbit of info. This book also describes spawning behaviors. Once again an excellent book.I have been involved in aquarium keeping for about 3 years now so am speaking from that perspective.: )

simply fish !
This book is also very helpful, we have three tanks & an outdoor pond the information covered everything we need to know, thanks ... Read more

Product Description
Amateur or expert, every angler dreams of landing "the big one," but that's only part of the appeal of fly fishing. Because even when hours pass without a bite, nothing beats the rugged beauty of the surroundings. For both armchair travelers and avid lovers of the outdoors, who may have already started a checklist of their own, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die maps out the meccas of the fly-fishing world. Through in-depth interviews with the sport's acknowledged gurus, author Chris Santella goes beyond standard guides to convey the very essence of the recommended locations. Readers can vicariously cast mouse patterns to fifty-pound taimen in the wilds of Mongolia, wrangle with wily permit off the Florida Keys, and match the hatch on Montana's Armstrong's Spring Creek. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba (tarpon), the Zhupanova River, Kamchatka (rainbow trout), and the Rio Negro, Brazil (peacock bass) are also included. The essays include a cultural and natural history of each site, along with colorful anecdotes based on the author's and authorities' experiences. With breath-takingly-beautiful photos of the spots, many by celebrated fly-fishing photographer R. Valentine Atkinson, the book also provides adventurous anglers with enough travel-and-tackle information so that they, too, can start planning excursions to go fish around the globe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Nice Book
I received this book for Christmas and have enjoyed thumbing through the pages.It could really use some more pictures to accompany the destinations they recommend.It is important to note that these fifty destinations are the opinions of other fly fishermen.The small size makes it a great book to have on the coffee table without taking up too much room.

Dream book
I really haven't in depth reviewed this, but I bought it for a friend who is an avid flyfisherman and I hope he can make it to all the places before he dies! I do think he has been to quite a few already, so maybe a later review would be in order.

Very informative and introductory
It was a very good quality book, very informative. It is NOT a full informative planing trip gide, but rather a good place to start planing your own trips.

Where's the Beef, Er Trout?

This is a beautiful book, one that is smartly designed and packaged, pleasant to leaf through and to handle, but somewhat lacking in substance.

Here's an example of the kind of lapse that would have been caught had the book been written for hard core fisherpeople. We read, "The South Island of New Zealand is awash with beauty and teeming with trout". And then a few sentences later, "The South Island trouting experience is certainly one of quality rather than quantity. A majority of the rivers simply don't support large numbers of fish. Some of the most fishy-looking water you can imagine may not contain a single fish".

So is the South Island "teeming with trout" or is it not?

Ultimately it doesn't really matter. This isn't a book about information - it's a wonderful collection of vicarious fishing trips. I'd never flicked a fly rod when I got it, yet I was engrossed, transported, and in the end captivated.

The settings range from intimate, "Brown Trout on Letort Spring Run", to grand, "Steelhead on the Dean River". Along the way we encounter tarpon, bonefish, snook, pike, redfish, all manner of salmon and trout, and even something known as a giant trevally that lurks in the waters off Christmas Island.

And the photographs are stunning. I only wish there were one for every destination.

Recommended to wile away a winter's afternoon while waiting for the ice to break.

Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die
A wonderful book for the fly fishing enthusiast.A keepsake for all fishermen.A must have for the coffe table! ... Read more

Product Description
Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment, Second Edition provides thorough, yet concise descriptions of viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic and noninfectious diseases in an exhaustive number of fish species. Now in full color with over 500 images, the book is designed as a comprehensive guide to the identification and treatment of both common and rare problems encountered during the clinical work-up. Diseases are discussed following a systems-based approach to ensure a user-friendly and practical manual for identifying problems.

Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment, Second Edition is the must-have reference for any aquaculturists, aquatic biologists, or fish health specialists dealing with diagnosing or treating fish diseases.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A top pick filled with technical detail and the latest research
The second updated edition of Edward J. Noga's FISH DISEASE: DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT is a 'must' for any aquatic biologist or fish health specialist. The newly updated edition expands clinical work-up insights, coverage of fish pathogen identification, and more, providing updates on diagnosis, treatment, and issues affecting overall environmental health. The result is a top pick filled with technical detail and the latest research, recommended for any college-level collection! ... Read more

Product Description
One crab, two whales, three sea horses...Rainbow Fish's undersea world is filled with fabulous plants and animals all waiting to be counted, but there’s only one glittering Rainbow Fish! Simple, bold images, reinforced with numerals in appropriate colors on facing pages, make this appealing board book the perfect way to teach very young children the numbers 1 through 10. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautifully illustrated counting book for baby
My little boy loves rainbow fish books, and has been enjoying this book since he was a tiny baby. He will be turning 2 next month and still asks me to "read" this book with him. Sometimes we even read it over and over. He flips through to his favorite animals and colors. It is a very simple book, but it has lovely illustrations and serves its purpose as a counting book. My son loves to help count the sea creatures and points to each number. This book is helping him learn the different animals, their colors, and the numbers, and exposes him to beautiful artwork. Definitely a 5-star book in our household!

just ok
I was dissapionted when I got this book.It isn't the quailty that I expected of aRainbow fish book.It is fine it has the numbers 1-10 with the appropriate number of sea creatures on each page. ... Read more

Product Description
One of Italy’s brightest literary lights reinvents travel writing with a seductive, intoxicating celebration of the magical saltwater city.

“Venice is a fish,” writes Tiziano Scarpa. “It’s like a vast sole stretched out against the deep. How did this marvelous beast make its way up the Adriatic and fetch up here, of all places?” Paying homage to his native city in a lyrical and evocative style, he guides readers down tiny alleys, over bridges, and through squares, daring us to lose ourselves, forget the guidebooks, and experience Venice as Venetians do.

Venice Is a Fish provides no hotel ratings or museum hours. Instead, in a delightful initiation, Scarpa tells us how to balance while standing on a gondola; where lovers will find the best secret hiding places; the finer points of etiquette and navigation during an agua alta; and how best to defend ourselves from the pitiless beauty of one of the world’s most stimulating cities. Open Venice Is a Fish, and Scarpa’s magnificent images, secret history, and hidden lore unfold like a treasure map of the senses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not a Travel Guide - but a Poem of Homage
The author tells us straight out what this book is and is not.It is not a travel guide.He exhorts us not to explore Venice in typical travel guide fashion.This advice is worth the price of the book alone.He tells us the sections of Venice that are loaded with tourists and encourages us to go elsewhere.The author is creative and he seeks for us to be creative in our approach to visiting and getting to know the "real" Venice.Other tidbits in the book are helpful.Scarpa points out that most Itlaian cities are divided into sections, or areas, referred to as "quarters".He teaches us that in Venice there are not four quarters (quartieri)like most Italian cities, but, instead, six sections of Venice referred to as ""sestieri". (page 10) Additionally, if you know some Italian language and plan to use it in Venice, the author helps us a little with that by taking Italian words for features of Venice and correlating them with words from the Venetian dialect we are likely to encounter upon our arrival. Travel guides and Italian phrase books generally lack dialect.His poetic description of how buildings are held up or how foundations of buildings in Venice are constructed is not too architectural or scientific, but, descriptive, poetic, yet interesting and insightful. It painted a picture in my mind and I learned something that will stay with me.

A Big Disappointment
For someone who has been to Venice and absolutely love the city, I found this book to be a big disappointment.It was light on content, I found the chapters...heart, hands, nose, to to be stretching a thin point.

He tried to be poetic but it came out contrived. An example: "In Venice the same clould drops slanting bucketloads on a campo, but hits the narrow calli with well-aimed arrows of rain; the drops suddenly ease away, and yet this gutter floods, the canal beyond is covered with little cirlces, as though a billion anglers were casting off at the same moment.

An Ode to Venice

This is an unusual book.To my knowledge, it's a whole new art form.It has the elements of a Hallmark gift book and at the same time those of an underground travelogue.The beauty of Venice is given in prose that rivals that of Maupassant (pp 117-124) whether it is about the vistas, the architecture or scatological issues unique to the city (pp.69-77).

The writer clearly loves his topic and the translator the art of translation. (Not having read the original, I presume Shaun Whiteside has coined new words to express Scarpa's intent, for instance: pulchroactive - love it!)

There are ruminations on street names.There is advice for the casual traveler on canal crossing fares. There is description of the faded glory, the decaying infrastructure, the art and the past glory of Venice.

This is a fascinating, idiosyncratic volume.Will Gotham/Penguin be producing similar volumes on other small but famous cities?
... Read more