The Butterflies of Cascadia: A Field Guide to All the Species of Washington, Oregon, and Surrounding Territories

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A must have for naturalists in the Pacific Northwest.

The Butterflies of Cascadia: A Field Guide to All the Species of Washington, Oregon, and Surrounding Territories
Robert Michael Pyle
Manufacturer: Seattle Audubon Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
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Plants of Western Oregon, Washington & British Columbia

Butterflies through Binoculars: The West A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America (Butterflies and Others Through Binoculars Field Guide Series.)

Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest (Timber Press Field Guide)

Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska

Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America (Field Guide)

ASIN: 0914516132

Customer Reviews:

A must have for naturalists in the Pacific Northwest........2002-12-09

This field guide is well organized with beautiful photos. Each butterfly listed has a key for recognition, variations, life history as well as habitat range and the time of year you are likely to see this butterfly on the wing. A particularly nice feature is is the list of names for each as butterflies often have akas (also known as.)Dr. Pyles broad knowledge of nature allows him to include additional information about the history of butterfly study. This book will supplant other field guides whose scope intends to include the entire continent. The beautiful durable cover will look good on your desk and will function well in your field pack.
The tremendous amount of data collected in these pages reflect a dedication to the study of butterflies that is inspiring to the amateur and professional naturalist.

Book Description

Marie van Goethem, a fourteen-year-old ballet dancer in the Paris Opéra, has led a life of hardship and poverty. For her, dancing is the only joy to counter the pain inflicted by hunger, her mother's drinking, and her selfish older sister. When famed artist Edgar Degas demands Marie's presence in his studio, it appears that her life will be transformed: He will pay her to pose for a new sculpture, and he promises to make her a star. But will being Degas's model really bring Marie all she hopes for?

Includes a reader's guide and an author's note.

Customer Reviews:

Marie et Monsieur Degas.......2007-09-03

A nice book, about the young dancer who posed for Degas' (in)famous statue, La Petite Danseuse de quartorze ans. Written by the prominent historical fiction writer for kids and teens, Carolyn Meyer, the trademarks of her writing weave sucessfully throughout the engrossing story she paints in Marie, Dancing. As is usual (and one of the things I like about Carolyn Meyer!), the book is based on history (Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt being the most famous characters you'll encounter,) and I actually learned quite a bit. I had no idea that Degas' model's name was actually known, let alone some details, however sparse, about her life as well. The afterword at the end is nice. Although the story isn't too "grabbing" and drags a bit at times, I greatly appreciated how some things DID turn out wrong, and there were no "happy surprises." It was a pleasant change from the usual cliche love stories. So while Marie, Dancing stands out among Carolyn Meyer's works, I still didn't enjoy it the way I enjoyed her books on royalty. Those were really quite nice, and I wish she'd write more! However I have one complaint about Carolyn Meyer's works. She always exaggerates the romance! There's always some kind of florid physical love theme lurking behind every couple in her books. She tends to overdo it with the kissing and hugging, I think. Not that there's anything graphic in any of her books, it's quite "clean", but I don't care for how in every single book there's some ridiculous romance. Of course I am a sucker for a good love story (or a not so good one!) so I really don't mind them, but I'm sure the books would be fine without them. Ah, but I've trailed of my topic now, haven't I? Well, simply read Marie, Dancing, see what you think. It made pleasant reading, passing the hours one summer day for me. I hope you find it equally enjoyable.

~E. Povroskaya

...makes the reader feel as if they are flying through the air, alongside Marie, performing flawless cabrioles!.......2006-09-09

The year is 1878. Fourteen-year-old Marie van Goethem has dreamed of nothing but becoming a sujet in the Paris Opera since she first joined the company years ago. And now, at the age of 14-years-old, Marie feels that she has the potential to do just that. However, just as she is basking in the glow of feeling light on her feet, she is picked out of her class by none other than prized Parisian painter, Edward Degas. Degas is a regular fixture in Marie's dance classes. Always sketching the dancers in various positions, from pointe to simply lacing their slippers, or adjusting their tutus. But Degas has other plans for Marie. For, as soon as she accompanies him to his studio, she learns that Degas plans on using Marie as the model for his one, and only, sculpture, entitled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans (Little Dancer Aged Fourteen). Marie is only too happy to comply with Monsieur Degas's wishes, for her family has struck poverty since her father passed away, and she could use the money to provide food for her younger sister, Charlotte. Money that her mother drinks away, and her older sister, Antoinette, spends on frivolous items, such as fancy stockings. However, as the years pass, and Marie is no longer summoned by Monsieur Degas, she realizes that she needs to find another way to make some extra money, in an attempt to follow her deceased father's wishes, and provide for her beloved family. And, at both her mother's, and Antoinette's request (and demands), Marie begins following the same path Antoinette has paved for her, attending the foyer de la danse. But when Marie's conscience rebels against what is expected of her at foyer de la danse, and Antoinette stumbles into a bout of trouble, Marie decides to change her path in life, in an attempt to create the home she always wanted for her younger sister; and hold her oft-times troubled family together.

I did a report about Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen earlier this year for an art class. Therefore, when I came across it at Barnes & Noble, and received a recommendation from Carolyn Meyer herself regarding MARIE, DANCING, I couldn't pass it up. As someone who has adored ballet since the time I could walk, I found MARIE, DANCING to be an original, awe-inspiring addition to the historical fiction world. One that would intrigue even those who don't hold an interest in ballet. While MARIE, DANCING gives random facts about the illustrious sculpture created by Degas, it surrounds itself more around Marie's troubled, poverty-stricken life, and the struggles she must endure in an attempt to keep both her own head, and that of her siblings and mother, above water. Through Marie's eyes, readers are taken on a journey through five-years of Marie's life. From her time dancing at the Paris Opera, to her modeling job with Degas', and the unveiling of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, all the way through her troubles with her family, and Antoinette's rebellion. MARIE, DANCING brings about the not-so-glitzy Parisian life that many suffered through in the late 1800's, showing readers the ups and downs of the dancing world, and the sacrifices those who were unfortunate enough to be poverty-stricken faced on a daily basis. A mesmerizing piece of fiction that makes the reader feel as if they are flying through the air, alongside Marie, performing flawless cabrioles!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2006-05-25

I can't count the times that I've seen a truly inspiring painting or sculpture and wondered what the inspiration behind it was. With MARIE, DANCING, the story behind Edgar Degas's well known sculpture, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, is brought to vivid life in this fictionalized account.

At fourteen, Marie van Goethem still holds out hope that one day her life will be, if not grand, then better than it is now. Her drunken mother is unable to hold down a job, and the place where they're forced to live can only be described as squalor. Marie knows their family--made up of Mother, Tante Helene, older sister Antoinette, and younger sister Charlotte--are poor and destitute. The only thing that brings joy to Marie's life is dancing in the Paris Opera. Ballet is her life, along with the life of both of her sisters, enrolled under the tutelage of Madame Theodore at the ballet school.

Things soon change, though, for Marie and her entire family. Antoinette is being wooed by much older, and much wealthier men, and although she promises to send them money when she's set up as a mistress by her benefactor, she never does. But when Marie meets Edgar Degas and he asks her to pose for him, Marie prays that her life is about to change forever.

And change it does, but not in the ways she had suspected. Mother is still drinking, Charlotte is the only girl of the three who shows real promise as a dancer who can make it her career, and her love interest, Jean-Pierre, has asked her to wait for him while he makes a name and a home for the two of them. It's only within the safety and glory of Degas's studio, or while on the stage of the Opera that Marie feels secure that her life will improve--until the day she's dismissed from the School, Antoinette asks her to play nursemaid to her unborn child, and Jean-Pierre asks her to move away from Paris, the only home she's ever known.

Carolyn Meyer has brought the world of Paris, art, and dance to vivid life in MARIE, DANCING. This is a story of a girl who only wants a better life, some small pleasure within this dreary existence. And although posing for Degas doesn't change Marie's life in the way she had planned, it definitely does change it more than she could have ever dared hope or imagine.

Wonderful and poignant..........2006-05-17

I've been enjoying Carolyn Meyer's Young Royals series. I have book three of the aforementioned series lined up for a read, but decided to give Marie, Dancing a whirl this time. This wonderful novel is based on the Victorian work of art of Degas's controversial sculpture called The Little Dancer. This tells the story of a penniless French family and the daughters whose only hope and happiness in life is that they are students at the Paris Opera Ballet. For Marie van Goethem, being part of the Paris Opera Ballet is the best thing in her life. At home, she has an alcoholic mother and shattered dreams due to their impoverished conditions to look forward to. Her dreams of success will come with many obstacles, including endless suitors and a proposition to pose for a sculpture in order to put food on the table, but Marie will be content if at least one of her sisters, Antoinette and Charlotte, realizes her dream of becoming a dancer. There are some twists in the novel.

This is a moving and compelling story of a young woman who will do anything to help her family and get them through their difficult times. Marie is such a fighter for someone so young. The descriptions of their conditions and the struggles with an alcoholic mother are quite vivid here. Marie's outcome is a realistic one that makes the reader wonder if a person of limited means could rise above the social and financial obstacles and succeed in life or if you're destined for a life of misery or mediocrity at best. It also makes the reader wonder if, despite the aforementioned obstacles, you can succeed in changing your life if you put your mind and determination to it. Meyer took a quite a famous and controversial sculpture (or at least it was controversial when it was first exhibited in 1881) and created a warm, poignant, albeit hopeful story that is beautiful and compelling as well as eloquent and enthralling. This is a young adult book set during the Victorian era targeted for teens between the sixth and ninth grades, but adults could enjoy this as well. I know I loved it! The author has great talent with historical novels and I shall continue to give her stuff a whirl and then pass her work to my niece so that she could read a good story and learn something at the same time.

La Petite Danseuse.......2006-02-10

I picked this book off of the shelf the moment I saw the little dancer on the back cover. It is my favorite statue and so I bought it and read it in a day! It was very good,and I recommended it to my cousin. It is sutable for young adults but adults can enjoy it too! It is one of the cutest stories I have read in a long time.

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Dancing Days
Anne Marie Forrest
Manufacturer: Poolbeg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1842230107

Marie in Fourth Position: The Story of Degas' "The Little Dancer" (Picture Books)

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So much more than a ballet story
very good book
Marie in Fourth Position

Marie in Fourth Position: The Story of Degas' "The Little Dancer" (Picture Books)
Amy Littlesugar
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0698117697

Customer Reviews:

So much more than a ballet story.......2006-02-09

My teacher read us this book. She really likes art and wanted to show us how wonderful the world of art can be. I love the pictures in this book. The brushstrokes really bring the paintings to life. I also learned some french words from reading the book - oui, I would buy this book!

very good book.......2001-07-31

I truly enjoyed this book. The books illustrations were great.I have read many books on Degas and this was one of the best.I would recommend it to any one .

Marie in Fourth Position.......2000-03-29

The author beautifully brings to life Marie and Monsieur Degas. My five-year-old daughter especially liked the illustrations, which are done in a Degas-like style. This book will make you want to run out to the museum to see the Degas sculpture in person. My daughter liked the book even better than Degas and the Little Dancer, a similar book by Laurence Anholt which I believe takes a few more liberties with the facts but which we also liked. The Anholt book, unlike the Littlesugar book, has reproductions of several Degas works, which were a very nice touch.

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Wow!
A great book for beginners

Ballet For Beginners
Marie-Laure Medova
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0806938773

Book Description

"Briefly looks at the history of ballet, the life of a professional dancer, and what a beginner needs to know about ballet classes. The main section introduces the basic exercises in a classical ballet class, from the five positions to little jumps and pirouettes. Full-color photographs of children in class show a series of motions for each exercise, while the captions offer explanations and advice....A glossary explains the pronunciation and meaning of French terms used in ballet classes throughout the world."--Booklist.

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2003-03-07

I take ballet as a supplement to my gymnastics training. This book is a great help, and has thourougly guided me along the way. All ballet dancers will find this book has a fantastic resource, with tons of helpful info and advice. My favorite part, like always, has to be the section with all the ballet moves. It provides detailed instructions with full-color photographs to explain each move. This book also has advice on what to wear, which ballet school is right for you, and how to sew ribbons on pointe shoes. It also includes a chapter on pointe work skills. All and all, this is a terrific book, and I think all ballet dancers will love it.

A great book for beginners.......1999-08-24

This book is great for children with a dream of being a ballet dance good for boys and girls!!!! I give it 100 stars!!

The ballet book: A ballet class supplement

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The ballet book: A ballet class supplement
Marie Bollinger Vogt
Manufacturer: s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007AHU2O

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Ballet Dance (Snap)
Karen Marie Graves
Manufacturer: Snap Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1429601191

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Close Dancing with Donny and Marie

Manufacturer: Osmond Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0898880017

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Dancing Dreams
Marie DeWinstanley Parks
Manufacturer: The Schauer Printing Studio, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PTH4BE

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Dancing Dreams
Marie Dewinstandley Parks
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0548059705

Disco With Donny and Marie: A Step By Step Guide to Disco Dancing

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Disco With Donny and Marie: A Step By Step Guide to Disco Dancing
Alma; Zimmerman, Don Heaton
Manufacturer: Osmond Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KUHRAQ

Book Description

Inductive Learning Algorithms for Complex Systems Modeling is a professional monograph that surveys new types of learning algorithms for modeling complex scientific systems in science and engineering. The book features discussions of algorithm development, structure, and behavior; comprehensive coverage of all types of algorithms useful for this subject; and applications of various modeling activities (e.g., environmental systems, noise immunity, economic systems, clusterization, and neural networks). It presents recent studies on clusterization and recognition problems, and it includes listings of algorithms in FORTRAN that can be run directly on IBM-compatible PCs. Inductive Learning Algorithms for Complex Systems Modeling will be a valuable reference for graduate students, research workers, and scientists in applied mathematics, statistics, computer science, and systems science disciplines. The book will also benefit engineers and scientists from applied fields such as environmental studies, oceanographic modeling, weather forecasting, air and water pollution studies, economics, hydrology, agriculture, fisheries, and time series evaluations.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Monograph.......2004-05-22

It's a collection of fifty years of research in the area of inductive computer-aided algorithms, machine learning and advanced neural networks. The practical examples given in the book are superb. We have used the same concept in our data mining and pattern recognition works. The scripts given in the book with slight modification are very useful in building the networks. I suggest anybody in the specialization of neural networks, machine intelligence and data mining to use this abundent knowledge in their practical works.

Mahraj who worked with the Inductive Learning Algorithms.......2000-10-19

The book "Inductive Learning Algorithms for Complex System Modeling" by Hema Madala and Alexei Ivakhnenko decsribes the learning algorithms in the first few chapters. First chapter gives historical perspective of complex nature of the subject. The next few chapters explain the importance of selection criteria and various computing algorithms.

These algorithms are similar to the artificial neural network algorithms which are being used widely in analysis, identification and predicting the fuzzy complex systems; only difference is that they are inductive in nature. They have different strategy in their forecasting approach.

The authors have dealt with the data from some real life complex systems and presented their results. They have given some comparitive results with the functioning of neural networks. Finally the actual source code has been supplied. This is still a valid code and one can convert it to utilize for modern data mining applications which come under the arena of internet CRM applications.

Though this has been first published in 1994, these algorithms are still valid for the modern usage. It would be worthy to consider for publishing a second edition by adding some latest contribution on the topic from the authors.

There is no other book available with such a valuable elaborative information on the topic.

Customer Reviews:

William Blake stands in paradise next to Dostoevsky.......2006-10-11

Francis Bacon, David Hume, Bishop Berkeley, John Locke, Edmund Burke; just a few of British philososphers. Some, like Burke and to some extant Hume are very tiresome and repulsive if one were to view them in a Nietzschean light. Other philosophers like Bertrand Russell, I loathe. Adam Smith and Thomas Carlyle: the former a crafty swindler who discovered clever ways to exploit the massess and cheat an honest man, the latter an insipid moron who boasted to the world that he was an atheist liberal who supported slavery.

British philososphy is not very exciting with such hum drum guys like the Locke who have a tiresome system of rationalizing every aspect of existence and smug bitter atheist[..]like Russell. It seems that British philosophy is dryer than dust.

Until one discoveres Blake...

William Blake (1757 - 1827), at once the purest philosopher, the most facinating figure, the greatest painter and most perfect poets ever set forth from Britain. Blake almost in the immense impressivness of his art and poetry to not be British, yet he is. Really the only true poet in the English language, the only true philosopher from Britain, for all true philosophers are poets and all true poets, philosophers. Blake is truly a noble soul

I read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell about a month ago. I am certain that it is one of those rare pieces of art that appears in literature; a beautiful work of art that appears so before its time (we seem only to begin to catch up to Blake in English) so before its time like the novels of Dostoevsky, especially Notes from Underground, lyrically Dostoevsky at his best, but my great Russian Brother is not the subject of this.

William Blake is the perfect embodiment of the Dionysian in art and literature. His works, such as the illustrations of Milton and especially Dante are the most beautiful paintings by an British hand. Particularly in the case of his illustration of the gates of Hell. This perfect haunting beauty is my ideal. Haunting in its depth of artistry, haunting in its appearence with Vergil looking at Dante in an ominous and yet celebratory way. One simply does not know. The mystery is half of Blake's magnificence and perfection.

Blake understands that many questions are left unanswered and that is my stand. I agree with him and Nietzsche when he is against the neo-classical ideal of rational explanations of every aspect of existence. I loathe many philosophers. Silence all who dare to cheapen our beautiful illusions.

The introduction alone is worth the price of admission.......2000-01-29

The best of William Blake (and then some!), taken off the shelf, dusted off and propped up for the rest of eternity to consider. From the aphorisms of "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" (required reading) to the later prophetic books, it's Blake in all of his...Blakeness. And let's give a hand to Kazin for his fantastic Introduction to one of the heavy-hitters of the Western tradition.

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The Portable Blake
William Blake
Manufacturer: Viking, 1974
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J0PLL4

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Portable Blake
William Blake
Manufacturer: VIKING PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W0C0D8

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The Portable Blake
William) Kazin, Alfred Ed Blake
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K5OHMM

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Portable Blake
William; Kazin, Alfred Blake
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RAZLES

The Portable Blake. The Viking Portable Library Series

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The Portable Blake. The Viking Portable Library Series
William. Edited By Alfred Kazin. Blake
Manufacturer: The Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WVZAHU

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The Portable Blake
William / Kazin, Alfred Blake
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ77MQ

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