5 comments about Special Diets for Special Kids.

1. I recommend this book for the GF/CF recipes. My only problem with the book was there were typos, apparently not proofread very well for spelling. If you want more in depth reasoning behind the diet, I suggest the book Unraveling the Mystery of Autism... by Karyn Seroussi.



2. This was the first book I read before starting the GFCF diet. It gave a ton of information. Some easy to understand, some, I hate to admit, went over my head unless I really had the opportunity to concentrate! The one thing I strongly disagree with is the assertion that this diet is not much more expensive than what you're spending now in cow's milk, etc. It totally is- even if you bake from scratch. All the specialty flours, etc. really add up. The switch to rice milk is a bleep on the checkbook balance compared to the switch to gluten free cooking and eating.
   All in all, I'm very happy with this book. Some recipes are better than others, but the wealth of over all information in this book is great. I would definitely do a search for better prices, though! I found it for around $30.



3. I found this book to be extremely informative and would recommend it to anyone considering a special diet.



4. I bought several books/cookbooks re: going GF/CF and this is the one I find myself using the most. I especially like the author's comments/suggestions on how to make the recipes easier or get better results. My son is in the process of being diagnosed with ASD and in the two weeks we have been GFCF we are seeing exciting results.
   I also want to add that I made the Pearsauce bread recipe using applesauce and adding nutmeg and raisins and took it to a work potluck... nobody knew it was GFCF and they loved it!!!!! Several people wanted the recipe. Also a great resource for what to avoid and a sample letter to teachers/therapists that I found helpful! Can't wait to get her other book!



5. My husband ordered this book when we decided to put my son on a gluten-free diet. I was looking mainly for a gluten-free cookbook with some helpful hints included. Half the book is about the author's story and theories about why the diets in this book should be followed. For the most part I don't agree with her theories. The cookbook part is okay but so far has not really been the taste of my family. Also there are a lot of recipes for muffins and desserts which I don't really need because stores have a lot of gluten-free snacks. I am really looking for more meals I can cook my family.

5 comments about Transforming the Difficult Child Workbook: An Interactive Guide to The Nurtured Heart Approach.

1. I have read a dozen parenting books. This one is by far one of the most helpful, but you have to be consistent. If you like this, try Becky Bailey's works too.



2. Thank you to these authors for helping me see my contribution to my son's difficult patterns of negativity. He responded almost immediately to his "successes", and we're working towards building consistency in our home, with consequences. My son is very sensitive, but prone to angry outbursts and meltdowns when stressed. This workbook is helping both of us to bring some peace back to our relationship.
   
   BRAVO!



3. Glasser, Bowdidge and Bravo have a home run with this book!! As a school social worker, therapist and mother I would recommend this book to anyone who works with children/adolescents of all levels of intensity!! The book describes the Nurtured Heart Approach concisely and colorfully. Anyone can pick this book up, begin using the approach and have immediate success.



4. This workbook is a great way for all professionals and parents to understand and utilize the concepts of The Nurtured Heart Approach.



5. I was told that this book is the best about how to apply the Nurtured Heart approach. Nurtured Heart is a very simple -- not necessarily easy, but simple -- approach to child rearing. It has an impressive, though limited, history in schools. My behavioral health agency uses it with difficult children, and teaches it to parents who've had their children removed as well as to treatment foster care parents. The reports are very good. My early results are very good. I recommend the book and the approach.

5 comments about Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents.

1. This book will give you insights into the areas we do not normaly think about in adoption. A good hepling hand.



2. This book was a gift after we adopted two toddlers from Russia. It helped to understand how attachment happens and to understand the stages. This book helped our family attachment struggles take a turn for the better. 2 1/2 years later the boys are wonderfully attached. This book wasn't the only tool used but was critical to first understanding how attachment works.



3. I just wish I had had this book 2 years ago when I started as a foster parent. Yes it is mostly for adoption but I think it would have helped me tremdously.



4. You can tell this book is written by a professional therapist. I was looking for some straight-forward, basic help. This book did not do the trick. By the time you filter through her theraputic "mumble-jumble", you are only left with s thimble full of helpful advise. It was not worth my time or money. Back to the drawing board!



5. As the mother of two children adopted from Eastern Europe, and having read stacks and stacks of books on adoption and parenting children with attachment disorder, I can honestly say this one was the most helpful. My children were both 2 at adoption and are now both 11. We have weathered suicide attempts and many other serious mental and emotional problems, including a long-term psychiatric hospitalization, and still, when I have a question about my children's attachment development and what I can do to help, this is the book to which I turn. I only wish every teacher and professional that works with my children could/would also read this book.

5 comments about Men Are Better Than Women.

1. I bought this book because of the great cover and the many positive reviews I read on this site. Boy, was I duped. The writing style is completely horrid, as if the author didn't even graduate from high school. The amount of obscenities significantly takes away from what little humor there was and makes me wonder why I hadn't popped in a N.W.A. album instead. Every aspect of this book screams amateur. If you want a couple of cheap laughs at essentially the same joke rehashed several times, this is the book for you.



2. The funniest book I've read since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. All men and women should read this quick read book!



3. I was very depressed after two of my girlfriend broke up with me. I walked into Barnes and Nobles just to spend my time. I was just feeling so sad.
   Then I found this book and within a few minutes I was laughing out loud.
   If you are man, seriously , get this book. This will make you laugh out loud. Yes this book might be offensive to women and feminist. But it is a great survival guide book for the recently divorced guy or your nerdy male friend who just got dumped by his girlfriend. We guys are too sensitive to women. But women don't appreciate sensitivity. They want a strong man who can lead them. This book will also teach you to be a man. This is the first amazon book review I am writing. This is the best book I have ever read that helped me get over my long time depression of getting dumped by two girlfriends. Get it man, and buy another for your buddy, you won't regret it.



4. It's got some funny parts, mixed in with a lot of bland ranting. Overall, I'd say it's worth a read for sentences like "women couldn't do math even if it tasted like chocolate". But I wouldn't put this guy on the same level as Maddox and the others.



5. Does this eye-opening, life-changing book come in a leatherbound, hard cover collectors edition? It should, because it's awesome.

4 comments about Chicken Soup for the Soul Love Stories: Stories of First Dates, Soul Mates, and Everlasting Love (Chicken Soup for the Soul).

1. I ordered ten (10) copies of this book and sent to family and friends for Valentine's Day in 2008. The feedback was terrific as several read stories that reflected/imaged their relationships and found "hope" in knowing their problems are "universal" and solvable. Loved the book!!



2. I've always loved the Chicken Soup series but,this book is dear to my heart. I'm a believer in love so much and believe that everyone deserves to have a love that's so great and dear to them. This book is filled with heartwarming,sweet stories. From stories of 'How We First Met' to stories of gratitude and friendship. This is Chicken Soup for the Soul @ its finest.



3. This book has great love stories in it. It also lets people know that true love is STILL out there. So don't give up.



4. Those books are amazing, the way they touch your soul and make u relfect upon life !!!! God bless all the colaborative authors that make this book a reality!!

5 comments about Toilet Training for Individuals with Autism or Other Developmental Issues, 2nd Edition.

1. I am so thankful that I chose this book over others that deal with toilet training. I did not realize how teaching someone on the spectrum how to use the potty is very different in many ways, than someone who's not. This book deals with those issues. It brings to light some very important routines and activities to follow. Especially for someone who is new to the world of Autism, this is a book that I highly recommend that you include in your library.



2. I had been struggling with toilet training my autistic child. This book gave me a better understanding of what autistic children experience when toilet training them. It gave me different techniques and helpful hints to toilet training my child. It was so helpful that I purchased a copy for his teacher.



3. I have a six-year-old with Autism who is yet to be potty trained. I was beside myself until I purchased this manual. Now, I understand more about his point of view when it comes to learning this new task. I was perplexed by his ability to control his bladder and bowel, but his unwillingness to use the toilet. It never occurred to me that using the bathroom could cause anxiety or that I needed to provide a calm and relaxing atmosphere for him while he was on the toilet.
   
   What I like most about this book is that it gives you not only an overview but solutions and ideas for making a very important milestone in your child's life possible. Any parent of a child with learning disabilities wants their child to be able to assimilate into society as much as possible. This book helps to knock down one more wall standing in the way of social acceptance.



4. Our family has a child with both sensory integration and developemental delay challenges. This book provided some ideas on how to proceed with the toilet training process, which is especially difficult for children who have less awareness of their need to go to the bathroom.



5. Our almost 5 year old son on the autism spectrum has had much difficulty with bowel movement training to the point where we have been in tears together. Finally, something gave clear input on things to try and they are working for us. I am so thankful for this book!

5 comments about Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love.

1. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this, and I must say: I am very impressed. You can learn a lot more from this book about childrearing and how to bring children up to be secure, confident adults that you can from most of the pop psychology and parenting books which present the fad of the day or some catchy opinion that has not been backed up by scientific research. Karen has a rare combination of professional expertise, a wide command of the extensive literature relating to early childhood including psychoanalytic, a real gift for writing, and a willingness to not dodge difficult issues and to be entirely forthright with the reader, without ever underestimating the intelligence of the reader to grapple with the issues he brings up and form their own conclusions. The book does get a bit dense towards the middle, including info that the layperson probably wouldn't want to bother with, but he never loses the narrative thread and I kept reading and learning and being grateful he did such a thorough and well-reasoned job of presenting all this material.



2. I just finished this book about two weeks ago and I want to read it again. Although the book at times is a little technical, it is perfect for anyone interested in understanding people. Although the book is primarily about child development, Robert Karen adds amazing insights throughout that are absolutley mind boggling. I would highly recommend this to everyone because you will not only understand others, but you will understand yourself. Absolutely love it!



3. This is an amazing book which was recommended to me by a friend who works in Child Protection - the parents of the children have mental health issues which range from learning disabilities to more extreme personality disorders. She sees babies and toddlers who have been abused through neglect; absence of communication; verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The children suffer a range of disorders from the physical to mental, emotional and social as a result, yet all have degrees of attachment to their abusers, ambivalent attachment and codependency and the patterns of how they are likely to develop are easy to see manifesting in the child that will become the adult if there is no early intervention, if the relationships were to continue between child and parent and if there is a lack of awareness or ability as a growing adult to consciously make efforts to change habitual patterns. This book covers all of these themes. Moreover in the seemingly relatively normal upbringing of a child and then the adult who looks retrospectively at their own childhood and their present relationship with their own children similar issues arise which affect their ability or capacity to love or show an ability to love. This book causes one to self-reflect, analyse and ponder quite deeply how we love because of how we were loved or what we understood or perceived love to be.



4. I recommend That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, brilliantly insightful, and wonderfully wel-written. It's a great read. The writing just flows.



5. This book is perfectly written, gives a reading pleasure, a very good historical review of attachment theory. But if you want something more technical this may be not suitable for you. I'll advise this book as a good start for anyone who wants to get familiar with attachment.

5 comments about Goodnight, John Boy: A Celebration of an American Family and the Values That Have Sustained Us Through Good Times and Bad.

1. I have re-established my love of The Waltons after watching the reruns on The Hallmark Channel the past few months - so I decided to geek out completely and buy this book and the Spencer's Mountain and The Homecoming novels and movies [in case you're wondering, Earl Hamner wrote those 2 novels, and Spencer's Mountain was made into a film with Peter (?) Fonda and Maureen O'Hara - then a few years later The Homecoming was made into a Christmas TV special movie. It is The Homecoming that directly inspired the TV series - the original cast of kiddos was in it (so little and cute! it was a few years before the series got started) but the parents and grandparents are different (Patricia Neal was the mom).
   
   Anyway, needless to say if you are a big Waltons fan the book is great, meaning better than not reading it, but as other reviews have alluded to, this book COULD have been really great, and it's just ok. There are a couple of typos and mistakes in the episode synopses, which makes it seem thrown together, and there are hardly any 'behind the scenes' photos of the cast, just a few here and there. How about an 'epilogue' saying what the whole cast has been up to the past 25 years - married, kids, writing, any more acting, etc.? And the big mystery as far as why Michael Learned and Ralph Waite were totally MIA the last episodes is never adressed. They each wrote something tiny for the bok so I would assume they didn't leave the series on a bad note - EVERYONE IS WONDERING! Why didn't they tell us? Also the guy who played Jason called the girl who played Toni, his Walton wife, the 'love of his life.' Does that mean they are married now? He even alluded to the fact that he dated a 'Lisa' during the show (Toni's real name) but never comes out and says it was her - why thy mystery? The best behind the scene stuff is from 'Elizabeth' - funny little nothing stories the fans love to hear. And 'Ben', 'Erin' and 'Jason' make a lot of comments, which is nice. Would really have loved to hear a lot more from the cast, though.
   
   The other nice thing is that Earl talks about his real family, what real facts inspired the series, and for hard-core fans there is info. on the Waltons museum in Virginia.
   
   For more Waltons stuff, you can buy the 2 novels like I said in the beginning, and the movies they made them into (I got all on Amazon). I do believe the also have seasons 1-6 on DVD now, if not all 9. Ye-hoo! :)



2. I really think people should read this book. If you are a TRUE Waltons fan like myself; you will enjoy it over and over again. It is what a family did to survive the depression times. I sometimes wish I lived back in that time with the Hamner family because they knew what life was all about and clung to their beliefs as a family. Family is the most important part in life and we shouldn't take them for granted.



3. I didn't realize that the Waltons was "loosely" based on Earl Hamner's young life. I enjoyed reading about his life and how he was able to get jaded Hollywood to see that people liked this kind of family show. I also liked reading about each of the actors and what each tv episode was about. It is an easy and enjoyable read.



4. I have always loved the Walton's. I have been enjoying watching the reruns on the Hallmark channel each morning. I bought the book to go along with the shows I have been watching. It is a great little book for anyone interested in this 70s show. I am 61 now and seem to be getting alot more out of the show than I did 30 years ago. The book helps me get a running idea of the development of the show since the reruns jumped from year one to year 7 in a three week period.



5. The book arrived in pristine condition, and in only a few days from the time of ordering it. My wife is a huge Waltons fan, and she loved the book!

5 comments about Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56.

1. I picked this book up because I work with 4th-6th graders at an after school center. Regardless of if you are a teacher or not - if you work with children you MUST read this book. The tips, tricks, and ideas alone are priceless. I really admire that Rafe is a teacher and not just an educational theorist/researcher.
   
   He reminds us that even though our school systems are getting more and more bureaucratic, we can still (and we must, really) strive to teach our students. He fights against complacency and disillusionment with his honest portrayal of education.
   
   
   READ THIS!



2. My name is Lydia and I read it as part of an assignment for my teaching education classes. I loved this book. Esquith makes the classroom come alive in real life and on paper and his rebuke of traditional teaching is swift and precise. His students are different and think about learning differently because he teaches differently. While his all out style is not for every teacher you can encorporate his passion and energy into any grade being taught. My favorite part is at the end when he aknowledges that sometimes he does let the stresses and difficulties of teaching his kids get to him. Every time that happens he goes back to one student who he really made a difference with and that student helps him regain his passion. The lesson for me is that if you can truly help one child learn in your classroom then it will always be worth the effort of teaching.



3. I'll be honest, I haven't bought this book yet. As a Senior in College with loans and student teaching looming in the distance I just don't have the time to go buy this book and sit down and read it with the attention it deserves. But I want it so badly that it will be topping out my Christmas list before any of the new techno gadgets.
   
   I saw it in the book store, and as I've seen a video in one of my classes about this teacher I picked it up. The title was interesting as well and I flipped it open to a random page to get a feel for it. I was hooked, and if my mom hadn't been in the store I would have spent the rest of my night standing over the display reading this book cover to cover. It doesn't matter if you're in the classroom yet or still working your way there, this is a must read!



4. "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire" is a far cry from his earlier self-serving book, "There Are No Shortcuts". This time, Mr Esquith writes with a comfortable humility and spends less time dishing out former student letters and comments.
   
   "TLYHF" is neatly divided up into sections (although numbered chapters and a table of contents would have really helped) and focuses on subjects individually. Within these sections, Mr Esquith details how he and his students go about accomplishing set tasks; he provides at length different ideas and tactics he uses in order to get students form point A to point B. I really enjoyed his classroom management techniques, such as the "six stages of morality" which I used with my classes with great success.
   
   The downsides: he continues to speak of himself as a lone island trying to stand against a disparaging sea of public education and educators. He even went so far as to take an angry note written by a colleague, photo copy it, pass it out to students, and have them edit it for grammar and spelling mistakes. Honestly, how unprofessional is that? Especially for a teacher? What message are you sending your students here?
   
   Secondly, I am overwhelmed by the amount of time he puts into his classroom. As teachers we already spend a good deal of time outside the classroom just preparing for what goes on inside...isn't it healthier to actually find a balance? Personally, I think it's an incredibly unhealthy borderline obsession. Teachers need to maintain their own lives and certainly the relationship with their families. Whilst he claims that his wife supports him wholeheartedly, what about his poor children?
   
   Thirdly, there are boundaries that I find crossed too many times with students. Trips should be chaperoned by more than just the classroom teacher, students should be showing respect by referring to you by your last name not your firs, and parents should be the ones showing their young ones around to colleges. It feels that he is trying to hard to be a father to each student...what about being a father to his children and letting other parents parent their own?
   
   It was difficult sometimes to get past these shortcomings, but I do recommend the book solely for its practical purposes. Though he teaches gifted students, there is something to be said for some of his classroom management techniques. There are also other good tidbits you can find to help teach other subjects. If you can just get past the rest of it...



5. This man is a one-of-a-kind teacher. He makes me want to be the best teacher I can be. Great incite into the heart of a real and caring professional.

5 comments about The Leopard Prince.

1. Men with green eyes will do it for me every time! Harry Pye--I'll take slice, thank you very much! Aghhh, did I just say that?? Hmmm....his name takes some getting used to!?
   
   The heroine was a darling too, just slightly eccentric and so enamored of Harry that she was ready to cross some major societal boundaries to get to him. I loved the repeated handling of the whittled figurines over the mantle. Touching each one of them, then placing them in paired up arrangements--don't tell me that wasn't Freudian!
   
   I relished the authors romantic/sensual delivery; seemed fresh and new; not re-hashed, been-there-done-that routine! It's pretty yummy stuff really.
   
   I also thought that this was more of a 'hero' driven story. We spend more time in Harry's pate then George's(that's our girl)and its mainly because he's trying to figure out what she just said. His thoughts when she'd ask something to the effect 'what are you thinking?" He'd shudder, or say 'rats', there was no trying to glaze him with sugar, he does think like man.
   
   Elizabeth Hoyt is a wonderful writer and definitely worth the read.



2. This was my first book of Ms. Hoyt's. Perhaps I'm spoiled having become a fan or Lisa Kleypas' historical romances. The Leopard Prince was a very good story. My only suggestion is it would have been interesting to continue to read about the relationship once Harry and Georgina were marrried and the adjustments they would have to make to make the marriage work. I don't care for stories that end at the point of marriage and leaves the reader wondering if they really will make it since the characters are usually so diverse in many ways.



3. What I liked best about this story was that the characters were not your run-of-the-mill Regency types. The heroine is a bit oblivious about certain societal constraints. Ms. Hoyt's writing is so finely tuned that I could just about hear the accents. There was real conflict here, and a nice mystery that didn't overwhelm the difficult romance between the hero and heroine. Nicely done, Ms. Hoyt.



4. Okay, yet again I have to wonder if I am the only one who notices some of these things....
   
   First, I need to say that I'm not going to recap the whole story. That's been done, ad finitum. I am, however, going to address some of the reasons that this book is, at best, a 2 star.
   
   So, where on earth does Ms. Hoyt come up with her descriptions of genitalia? Really! The descriptions were horrible! If I saw a man with the coloration and shaping that Harry had, I would tell him to call a doctor! As for Lady Georgina's "weeping opening", I am left to wonder at how her genitalia has emotions! This is almost as bad as the crying vulva from Madeline Hunter's book, "The Sinner".
   
   I agree with the other reviewer that this might just as well have been set in current times, less the sheep killings, of course. As most people, at least where I live, don't have a lot of sheep grazing around. Other than the sheep stuff, the mindset of the characters is not really appropriate to the time frame.
   
   I don't know what book the rest of the reviewers were reading, but these sex scenes just weren't all that hot. They were a bit dirty, which is okay with me, but they didn't engender any feelings of "wow" in me. And the whole genitalia thing was a total turn-off.
   
   I'm ticked with Lady George for her immature and absurd behavior through several parts of this book. I'm kinda wondering about the ending but I can't say anything about it without spoilers, and people tend to get a bit upset when I include those. ;)
   
   Now that I've explained what I DIDN'T like, I'll tell you what I did... um... there weren't a lot of typos. Harry seemed like a decent enough fellow. I liked Will.
   
   There you go. If you choose to read this, do so with a foreknowledge that you might get grossed out at the times you're supposed to be the most turned on, and you might find yourself scratching your head going "huh?" a lot. I leave the decision up to you, the reader.



5. Thiis love story was a bit unique fro me. What I enjoyed most was the fact that The hero was the commoner and the heroine was a earls daughter with a large inheritance. George was a very likable heroine. She knew what she wanted and went for it. She didn't care what other thought of her and Harry's (hero) relationship. Harry was quiet, meek, and charming. I really liked all the characters in the story. Even the villain you love to hate. The plot was interestly unique and very good. The hero and heroine already knew each other when the story begins which made their falling love very realistic. The lovemaking was pretty hot. I must say this was a pleasant read for me. Well done!!!