Baby Proofing Basics 2 Ed: How To Keep Your Child Safe

Product Description

Play lets a baby know he or she is loved. This collection of over 100 games, songs and activities is organized in 3-month developmental sections with one activity per page to make play and reference easy. Traditional and contemporary suggestions. 110 pages.

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Baby Proofing Basics
Vicki Lansky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KW3FFU

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Sometimes When Reading these stories, I Felt I was on the Expeditions Myself

Arctic and African explorations

Bureaucrat Barrow, his ideas and desperate explorers.

An excellent read

Accomplished Little But What a Time!

Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy
Fergus Fleming
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration

The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909

Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot

Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the Alps

ASIN: 0802137946

Book Description

Barrow's Boys is a spellbinding account of perilous journeys to uncharted areas under the most challenging conditions. Fergus Fleming captures the passion for exploration that led a band of men into situations that would humble today's bravest adventurers.

After the Napoleonic wars, John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, launched the most ambitious exploration program the world has ever seen. For the next thirty years, his teams of elite naval officers went on missions to fill the blanks that littered the atlases of the day. From the first disastrous trip down the Congo, Barrow maintained his resolve in the face of continuous catastrophes. His explorers often died of sickness or at the hands of unfriendly natives. They struggled under budgets that forced them to resort to pulling enormous ships across floating ice fields; to eating mice, or their own shoes; and even to horrifying acts of cannibalism. While many of the journeys failed, Barrow and his men ultimately opened Africa to the world, discovered Antarctica, and pried apart the mandibles of the Arctic. Many of the missions are considered the greatest in history, but have never before been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow's program.

Customer Reviews:

Sometimes When Reading these stories, I Felt I was on the Expeditions Myself.......2007-10-03

For those of you wondering about the title to this review, yes, that was Sarcasm. Having read Fleming's "Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration", I would recommend skipping this tome and reading that one instead. Many of the same people are covered in both books, but Fleming's talent is much better presented in 'Off the Map'.

I'm not totally sure how the stories in 'Barrow's Boys' disappointed me in that they suffered from "Michneritis". This is a virus that effects the writings of certain historians/academics and the like. They feel that they must include in their writings every piece of information that they have accumulated in preparing to write their book. Having spent so much time close to the info, they have lost the ability to exorcise any piece of data, not being able to tell the diamonds from the coal.

Putting all this aside, and keeping in mind that this was Fleming's first true stab at a mass market history, he has done a fine job. (Just wish he had left of some of the torturous descriptions of what people took along or how they managed to bring it back in written form for posterity.) He has written about both the sublime and inarticulate, not to mention the obstinate and insane. It's an engrossing story, just a little too gross.

Arctic and African explorations.......2007-08-30

A great book. All about the Arctic voyages in search of the North-West Passage and the interior African explorations mainly in search of the fabled town of Timbuctoo and the course of the Niger River. All of these adventures were conducted while John Barrow was Secretary to the British Admiralty, and thus under his watch. Most of the explorations were unproductive for the most part, though success was finally achieved for all endeavors. In the Arctic Fleming recounts the Ross, Parry, and of course, the John Franklin disaster (along with the numerous follow-up search expeditions for Franklin) [1818-1860]; in Africa he relates the Denham, Laing, Clapperton, and Lander explorations [1822-1831]. The hardships and privations endured by all involved often seem beyond belief. Fleming is an interesting writer and is able to capture the most intriguing details of each expedition as well as the personalities of their leaders, which are often pretty eccentric. The petty feuds among explorers (and Barrow) are also aired. Despite its 400+ page length, the book was hard to put down. Fascinating.

Bureaucrat Barrow, his ideas and desperate explorers........2005-03-13

It is amazing and fascinating book. Length to witch desperate explorers would accept years of being exposed to dangerous and deadly conditions of Arctic and Africa is unbelievable. Just to get recognition, sinecure or promotion, these brave people risked their lives and actually begged government and influential British societies for being sent to most climatically unpleasant, unfriendly and ramote places on Earth. All this to open new trading routes for England's riches and help them to get even richer in the future.
Explorers were truly a strange breed of human beings and Fleming presents them in an extraordinary fashion. Enclosed maps could be better though.

An excellent read.......2004-12-22

Barrow's Boys is an account of the British exploring efforts of the known (and unknown) world of the first half of the 19th Century. Spearheaded by Sir John Barrow, Second Secretary of the Admiralty, the British Navy sent out a number of ships to diverse areas of the globe. Notably Fleming does not focus solely on the Arctic explorative efforts for which Barrow is most well known. Fleming argues that Barrow could well be considered the father of Global exploration. British explorers penetrated the frozen wastes of the Arctic, and Antarctic, as well as the African interior, all in the name of Science and Knowledge.

Fergus Fleming is a particular favorite of mine, since I picked up his book "90 degrees North" a couple of years ago. He has a particular knack for drawing fine textual character sketches of the individuals whose tales he tells. Barrow's Boys is no exception. Fleming relates with ease the characters and adventures (and tragedies) of John and James Ross, of Parry, Back, Richardson, and the doomed Sir John Franklin.

Lesser known names in the annals of British exploration are not neglected: Lyon and Ritchie's mission to find the source of the Congo via the Sahara is discussed, as is James Tuckey, on which the book first begins it's exploration narrative after having introduced Sir John Barrow in the first chapter. The stubborness and arrogance often found in Victorian Englishmen that often rendered them inflexible to changes in their environment- for example the wearing a heavy woollen navy uniform in the suffocating heat of Africa- is well portrayed by Fleming.

Barrow's Boys covers the period between 1816 (Tuckey sails to the Congo) to 1859 (the efforts to locate the missing Franklin exidition). A neat touch is the epilogue, in which Fleming relates briefly the lives of the British explorers after they had their moment in the sun. Barrow's Boys is authorative, but by no means academic, as it is a very easy read. Recommended for those with an interest in exploration, particularly from the viewpoint of the British.

Accomplished Little But What a Time!.......2004-11-19

Fergus Fleming does another great job at painting a picture of heroic adventure and daring discoveries that filled in some bland spots on the map in the early eighteenght century but achieved little of scientific or economic valure at the cost of a great many lives. Barrow's Boys is not truly a biography of Sir John Barrow but a look at all the explorations he launched during his tenure as Second Secretary to the British Admiralty. All the greats are here from William Edward Parry to James and John Ross, from John Rae to Lady Jane Franlin and John Franklin. The destinations range from Africa to the Arctic with shorter excursions to the Antarctic and Australia. It is a thrilling ride with much foolhardiness, some bravery, and a spot of cannibalism or two. A wonderful read.

Book Description

"Its methodological freshness--the use of literature and art as historical artifacts, its focus on the popular as a subject for study, the introduction of anthropological tools--alone warrants attention, and its substantive contribution to our understanding of the meaning of the Revolution for American culture is large. Kammen's book will continue to inform us for many years."--Catherine L. Albanese, New York History

Customer Reviews:

The Changing Revolution.......2005-01-27

It may take a more sophisticated understanding of history to appreciate a whole book on historiography, but anyone who is more than passingly interested in the American Revolution might want to take at least a browse through Michael Kammen's well-crafted tome. I found that the book challenged me to seperate the Revolution's heady mythology from the truth for the first time. Still more valuable, perhaps, was that as I read the book, I was immersed in the hard cider and bootstraps world of the new Republic. While Kammen lapses occasionally into informal banter and has a rather odd sense of humor, it doesn't detract much from the monumental amount of work, scholarship and insight that is represented here.

Product Description

As citizens of the twenty-first century we are fortunate to have emerged from the biological evolution of the past million years and the cultural evolution of the past ten thousand years. This book addresses the impact of science on our evolving society in an era of technological evolution.

Customer Reviews:

Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader.......2005-02-05

A World Perspective Through 21st Century Eyes by Rob Koslowsky is about the positive impact science and technology have had and continue to have on western society. The basic premise is that science has a positive impact when knowledge is shared, applications raise the overall quality of life, and energy consumption increases. Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader, Koslowsky points out that we who live in an ever-increasing technological and science knowledge-based society will be committed to understanding at least one area of science; will need to be able to challenge the rationale of associations, corporations, and goverments in order to insure association members, corporate shareholders, and the citizens of governments are best served with respect to themselves, their families, their communities, and the nation-states. Best of all, A World Perspective Through 21st Century Eyes captures and showcases the essence of the biological, cultural, and technological evolutions of the human race over the past millennia. Highly recommended reading!

Intelligent, Thoughtful, A Must Read!.......2005-01-27

A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes By R. K. KOSLOWSKY is a book that flows well, as it is organized into three parts. A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes has wonderful information that is easy and enjoyable to read. It is especially great for students!

Book Description

'A brilliant story....an interesting saga of immigration, belonging and community.' -The Observer(UK) L eaving behind a sparkling social life and successful career, Eleni Gage moved from New York City to Lia-the remote Greek village where her father was born and her grandmother murdered, and which her father, Nicholas Gage, made famous twenty years ago with his international bestseller Eleni.Although her aunts warned she would invite the curse her grandmother placed on any member of her family who returned to Greece, Eleni was determined to come to terms with her family's tragic history. Along the way, she learned to dodge bad omens, battle scorpions on her pillow, and the shadows in her heart. She also came to understand that Greece and its memories were not only dark and death-filled, and that memories of the dead can bring new life to the present and hope to the future. Part travel memoir and part family saga, North of Ithakais, above all, a journey home.

Customer Reviews:

A magificent book.......2007-03-19

This book is a rare treat.

I loved reading it - I was mesmerized by it and during this snowed-in weekend when I read it, I was transported to Lia, where I lived under its magnificent sky with the changing sunset colors (enjoyed from the vernada of the Haidis house); observed up close the house reconstruction project; and came to know an entire village, feeling if not a Liotan myslef, at least like a frequent visitor.

What also springs out of the book, perhaps more than Lia and its people, is the author herself: nice, smart, mature, perceptive and talented.

And a note to her father: you're a great author but she is at least as good a writer as you, not to say better. So please give up the comparisons with her at the Thanksgiving table, there are genetics out there and there is also evolution -- and she has both aplenty. I'm sure you glow with justified pride having her as a daughter. Anyone would!

Bottom Line: A SUPERB BOOK - NOT TO BE MISSED!

the granddaughter speaks.......2007-01-18

The star is still her grandmother, Eleni, killed during the Greek Civil War for trying to save her children. In a word, it's the story of Eleni returning to Lia, the family village, to remember her grandmother close up and rebuild the family house. Without the memory of reading ELENI by her father, Nick Gage, I would never have read or understood NORTH OF ITHAKA. So that's the review: first read Nick's book about his mother, most likely the most riveting and compelling of my 55 year reading career. You should read ELENI, and you must have to understand NORTH OF ITHAKA.

a moving follow up in the "Eleni" series.......2006-07-24

As a half-Greek American, I was moved when reading "Eleni" and "A Time For Us," two books by Eleni Gage's Dad (Nicholas Gage) that detail the atrocities committed against her family during the Greek civil war, which was fought immediately post-World-War-2. Eleni's grandmother (also named Eleni) was ultimately murdered by the communists who were trying to take control over Greece during that war (thank God they did not win) -- she was executed for the crime of helping her children to escape war-torn Greece and ultimately to emigrate to America. "North of Ithaka" is a timely follow-up to this family's story.

Eleni recounts leaving her lucrative job in New York City (around the 2001-2002 timeframe) to move to her family's remote village of Lia, in the province of Epiros in northwestern Greece. There, with financial backing from her Dad, she undertakes rebuilding her grandmother (and namesake) Eleni's home, which was used as a prison during the Greek civil war and had fallen into disrepair over the years.

This book illustrates how even small village life can hold love and meaning to modern, cosmopolitan Americans. I do recommend reading her Dad Nicholas's book "Eleni" before reading "North of Ithaka," since many events discussed in "North of Ithaka" relate to the story of her grandmother's murder, to her family's hardships in Greece, and to their eventual emigration to America. However, it is not essential to read "Eleni" prior to reading this book.

As a bonus, there is a collection of traditional Greek recipes at the end of the book. I bought a briki (Greek coffee pot) and now make 1-2 cups of traditional Greek coffee every day! As Eleni mentions, we call this coffee Greek, never Turkish.

Discover a Grecian Villiage.......2006-06-23

Many times you need to read a book for the sole purpose of stepping outside your own life. Eleni Gage's tale of the year she spent rebuilding her ancestral home in Lia, Greece allows you to do just that. I have read plenty of travel narratives but there are very few that describe a place with such clarity that it feels like you are actually there. The author's father previously wrote about the village of Lia in his work about his mother's imprisonment and execution there. Eleni Gage chose to return to the scene of such tragedy to eliminate the ghosts of her past while rebuilding her grandmother's house for future generations. While moving to a different country to build a home or a new life are common concepts for travel memoirs, very few showcase the emotions that Eleni Gage allows to seep onto the page.

fascinating memoir .......2006-05-03

In 2002, Manhattan magazine editor Eleni N. Gage decided to rebuild her paternal family's villa in the Greek village of Lia on the Albanian border. Her four aunts, residents of Massachuestess, were upset and angry as they feared their neice would be murdered by Albanians. In their minds that was the good outcome; the bad outcome would be the return of the curse of their late mom, Eleni's paternal grandmother, who, in 1948, was tortured and executed for enabling her children to escape the Greek civil war (see ELENI by Nicholas Gage). Still the obsessed Eleni believes she must do this to pay homage to her grandmother and to provide solace to those still impacted over five decades since her murder. With the help of the townsfolk and the hindrance of the bureaucracy, Eleni's odyssey begins.

This is a fascinating memoir that is at its best with the reactions by the author's Greek-American relatives and the Greek villagers to the energetic American's objective. Readers will feel the impact of her grandmother's death on those still living in the village and in Massachusetts though over fifty years have passed. Though warm and well written, NORTH OF ITHAKA never leaves the audience with a sense of importance or wonder even when making the case of good omens vs. evil memories. Still this is a fine entry that is best read after obtaining her father's memoir ELENI that hauntingly describes what happened in 1948.

Harriet Klausner

North of Ithaka: a Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past

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North of Ithaka: a Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past
Eleni Gage
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OT9WNI

Book Description

In this timely work, former senator George McGovern, one of our greatest living political thinkers, argues that Social Security is not currently facing a crisis. Instead, McGovern discusses ways that we can maintain this program well into the future with just a few simple steps. More significantly, McGovern shows that when properly secured, aging Americans who are often seen as the source of any alleged Social Security crisis are actually one of our country's greatest assets. In keeping with his reputation as a visionary and politician for the youth of America, McGovern proposes the creation of a partnership across generations, one that will not only keep our most important of social insurance benefits intact, but will also provide many advantages to those over 65 and those who have much to learn from them. A work of insight that will resonate both with young and old Americans, McGoverns book forces us to look at the wonderful benefits of our new demographics.

Book Description

If you've always wanted to garden with native plants, this book is for you. With entries for nearly 700 species of native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, and wildflowers from the northeastern quarter of the U.S. and eastern Canada, its comprehensive horticultural coverage is unsurpassed by any other single volume. The natural ranges of many of the plants discussed extend beyond the Northeast; the information on horticultural uses applies to any garden. Each plant description includes information about cultivation and propagation, ranges, and hardiness. An appendix recommends particular plants for difficult situations, as well as attracting butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. Illustrated throughout with color photographs.

Customer Reviews:

northeastern natives.......2007-09-16

The book is a good list of plants, shrubs and trees for the area. I find the text to be a little technical for the novice/intermediate gardener.

Wonderful Plant Guide for the Northeast.......2007-07-20

I know how to garden in Kansas, Maryland, Australia, South Texas and Florida, but now I'm learning what plants work for New England. This book is a life saver with descriptions of ferns, grasses, wildflowers, vines, shrubs and trees suited to the region.
The photos are good, full-color, but aren't always on the same page as the description. Each plant is listed with its scientific name, followed by its common names and family group. It gives the zones, soil requirements, and light needs plus a short description. There are propagation tips for each and notes for special information and an indication of the plant's natural range. It is really a pretty exhaustive book.
Some helpful lists at the end includes:
Plants that tolerate wet soil
Plants that tolerate dry soil
Plants that tolerate shade
Plants with flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds
Plants with fruits that attract birds
Plants with fruits that attract mammals
This can be used as a wildflower identification book or to select plants for special needs in your northeast garden.

Going native........2007-02-12

For anyone in the Northeastern part of the USA, this book will become a well thumbed reference. The developing of a web of life based upon the system of native flora and fauna is clearly and compellingly presented. In a world where native plants are often thought of as weeds, this book is a fresh look at what makes the Northeast its own special region.

Very helpful.......2007-02-11

This book proved to be a big help in determining native plantings for my yard. The latin names helped eliminate "look alikes" in plant catalogs. It is worth the money

Native Plants of the N.E. by Donald Leopold.......2007-01-11

I am in landscape design and wish to use native plants as much as possible. My yard has been certified by National Wildlife for years and everyone loves it. I needed to learn more about "natives" so I can incorporate them into designs. This book has been pretty helpful in this area. One problem with this is that plant width is NOT listed...only height. Also, it would be very helpful to have sections within the chapters. Trees and shrubs would be more useful if sectioned into size and evergreen or deciduous.

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