Canoe Country Wildlife: A Field Guide to the North Woods and Boundary Waters

Book Description

Warblers, wolves, and whirligig beetles-the creatures of the canoe country come alive in Canoe Country Wildlife. In this read-aloud-treasure, "Sparky" Stensaas, naturalist and storyteller, intrigues readers with his tales of meeting the forest inhabitants-from tiny toads to majestic moose. Each page describes these creatures and their habits accurately so you'll know where and when to look for them. Detailed line drawings illustrate each animal clearly so you'll recognize what you're seeing.

Written for the curious naturalist in each of us, Canoe Country Wildlife takes readers a giant step beyond field guides. It's good reading before, during, and after a trip through canoe country.

Customer Reviews:

A superb book, essential on any canoe trip........2004-06-03

This is a great field guide to all the creatures you might encounter on a canoe trip in the North Woods. It is very succinct, yet written in an interesting prose, with about 2 to 3 pages dedicated to each animal, fish, or insect it describes. We consider it an essential part of the gear we take on all our canoe trips up North. You will not be disappointed in this book. Great for all ages.

Excellent!.......2001-06-05

An excellent overview of wildlife of the Northern Minnesota area. There are interesting and informative descriptions of everything from birds to insects to fish. The scope of the book is so broad that only a few of each type of creature can be listed, but he has chosen the ones, such as loons, herons, and otters, that are so special to the North woods. Highly recommended.

This Book Description Leaves A Lot To Be Desired.......1999-07-17

'Nuff said. The rating-stars do not apply, as I have not seen the book, and am not likely to until I can find out more on its content. *-(

Book Description

Summarizes present knowledge of Ecuadorian palms.

Customer Reviews:

A great achievement, not up-to-date but still the best........2001-11-19

Central Africa is almost undoubtedly the least touristic, among the inhabited region of our Planet - and unfortunately so, for it offers wonders that few other parts of the world can offer. You can paddle a canoe down a junge river for weeks on end, hunt with the Pygmies, climb an active volcano, come face-to-face with a mountain gorilla, trek through the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon, join a search for white rhinos, dance all night to Congo music, have a bath on the unique beaches of São Tomé & Principe... Due to the very limited touristic facilities of the region, it would appear that Lonely Planet has never re-printed this 1994 edition of the guidebook, nor published a new one. This is why, despite the fact that the book is clearly well out of date, it surely remains the best guide to the region. Its advice on hotels and restaurants may no longer be perfect, but its wide sections on culture and society, its maps, its general advice, remain irreplaceable tools for the traveler.

Average customer rating:

My wife and I kept this with us at all times....
Engaging and informative
Superb, simultaneously comprehensive and concise
The guide is OK
Essential for the first, second, third.....time visitor

Lonely Planet Morocco
Damien Simonis , and Geoff Crowther
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

Morocco | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Lonely Planet | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Lonely Planet Moroccan Arabic Phrasebook

ASIN: 0864422490

Amazon.com

From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years, and as a result has experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

With a special focus on women travelers, this is an essential resource for those considering independent travel in Morocco. This comprehensive guide offers trekking routes in the High Atlas and Rif Mountains, an illustrated guide to Islamic architecture, a full-color section on arts and crafts, a useful guide to the incredible birds of Morocco, expanded cultural notes, and essential planning information. Also included are Arabic, French, and Berber language sections. --Kathryn True

Book Description

Morocco's intoxicating blend of Arabic, African and European influences has attracted travellers for generations. With this guide you can explore the dark and romantic Morocco depicted in film and also discover an emerging modern state reconciling Islamic tradition with western liberalism. Thoroughly updated with a new focus on women travellers, this is the essential companion for the independent traveller on any budget.

Features: expanded information on trekking routes in the High Atlas and Rif Mountains; illustrated guide to Islamic architecture; 16-page colour section featuring Morocco's renowned arts and crafts; new illustrated guide to the remarkable range of resident and migratory birdlife; hundreds of recommendations on where to stay and eat; expanded cultural notes on traditional lifestyles, music and food; essential notes on planning, visas, safety, transport and health; Arabic, French and Berber language sections; and 70 detailed maps.

Customer Reviews:

My wife and I kept this with us at all times...........2001-09-05

This was my third interaction with Lonely Planet books and I am impressed. The information and maps are more than fairly accurate (there is not much you can do about the winding narrow passages in the old towns).

During our stay, we not only carried this with us to get better background information on all the sites we saw, but we also would spend part of the evenings reviewing the history and planning our next day's excursions. I concur with the other review about men wearing shorts. It didn't seem to be a problem for myself or my wife in many of the major cities (like Fes, Marrakech, and Rabat).

I would recommend this guide before (to plan what you want to see), during (to understand what you are seeing), and after (to help you determine what exactly you photographed) your trip.

Engaging and informative.......2000-11-14

Just returned from a 17 day trek to Morocco, and this LP guide never left our bodies. Prices, especially for hotels, were remarkably in line with the guidebook - a real shock, considering it's now two years old. Still, the quality of a couple of highly-touted good deal-rooms have deteriorated. An updated volume would be great; hope it's forthcoming. (Also Ñ and this might be streching it - while the book makes cursory mention of Morocco's huge unemployment rate and poverty ills, LP Morocco hardly paints the picture of the grim reality of life in some towns and cities. One can't expect a travel guidebook to completely prep you for those types of social problems, but I thought the authors glossed over those facts.) Other than these complaints, though, LP's Morocco is an essential, and much more informative, read than the Rough Guide Morocco. And compared to other LP guides, its Morocco edition is a cut above.

Superb, simultaneously comprehensive and concise.......1999-08-10

I just returned from a wonderful stay in Morocco, and this book was most useful. One minor quibble - re the book's advice against men wearing shorts - it's quite acceptable now

The guide is OK.......1999-06-29

Once more, Lonely Planet has managed to write a complete guide to the budget traveller. I've recently been to Morocco and this guide was very useful. But I think it should be more explicit when writing about how to avoid being robbed, harassed and how to drive among those crazy Moroccans.

Essential for the first, second, third.....time visitor.......1998-08-27

I am preparing to depart on my third trip to Morocco. This book is THE BEST travel guide for Morocco. It gives the first time traveler and the veteran good insight on where to go, what to see, and the all important how to act and how not to get taken advantage of.. My husband, a Moroccan native won't travel around his country without it.

Average customer rating:
MUGHAL & BRITISH INDIA TCHRS NEW ED

Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0003272982

Book Description

This multiauthored publication presents illustrated keys to the 19 families and 706 described genera of Chalcidoidea known to occur in the Nearctic region. There are approximately 330 differences between the genera keyed and those listed in the most recent (1979) North American catalog, including about 200 additional genera. The book consists of 22 chapters by 17 world experts, plus an appendix of about 130 generic names no longer considered valid for the region, and separate indexes to chalcidoid names, animal hosts, and plant hosts. The first three chapters provide an introduction, review of chalcidoid structure, and an overview of the superfamily, including a 40 couplet key to families. Each of the remaining 19 chapters reviews one family and includes introductory sections on its recognition, systematics and relationships, biology, literature, an annotated key to the Nearctic genera, and for larger families an index to genera based on couplet number. Over 1800 line drawings and scanning electron micrographs illustrate the keys. The annotations include references to existing keys to species, estimated number of species, and known distribution and host range in the region.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent identification reference for Chalcidoids........2000-07-25

This is the essential reference for those wishing to identify Chalcidoids (very common, tiny parasitic wasps) to generic level. All known genera present in North America are covered, and each key is designed by one of the foremost experts of the family in question. Certain chapters are unusually authoritative for works of this type because the authors examined backlogged material in museums in order to make this reference as complete as possible, which resulted in many taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. Absolutely essential for identification of Nearctic Chalcidoids.

Book Description

Efficiency as well as economy of chemical processes can be increased by integration of reaction and separation in one unit. In this case e.g. reversible reaction may reach complete conversion. Well known examples are reactive distillations. But it has to be taken into account that process integration is not advantages in any case. An important parameter for process design is the degree of integration which varies between homogeneous integration, partial integration with distributed functionalities and non-integrated sequential processes.

The book gives deep insights into the overall evaluation of integrated processes as well as development of methods for a systematic design and optimisation of integrated reaction and separation processes.. Potentials and the technical as well as economic limitations for process integration have been identified. The book covers several case studies of reactive distillation, reactive extraction, reactive gas-adsorption and chromatographic reactors which have been investigated from the modelling and experimental point of view. Based on validated models process simulation was used to optimize these processes. Following the concept of integrated process design approaches have been developed for model predictive control and process optimisation during production. Another new and very important focus of the book is systematic synthesis of integrated processes.

Based on the investigation of processes mentioned above as well as further process simulations heuristic rule and short cut method have been developed which are used to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of a certain process integration and to develop a favourable process design.

The book presents the latest developments in simulation of integrated processes as well as new methods of process synthesis and process control. It shows also the details of experimental approaches for model validation, determining of model parameters and measurement techniques. The combination of sophisticated modelling, optimisation methods and experimental results has not ben published up to now. Therefore on the book addresses readers from industry as well as academic research.

Book Description

This invaluable volume is a collection of articles in memory of Jacques-Louis Lions, a leading mathematician and the founder of the Contemporary French Applied Mathematics School. The contributions have been written by his friends, colleagues and students, including C Bardos, A Bensoussan, S S Chern, P G Ciarlet, R Glowinski, Gu Chaohao, B Malgrange, G Marchuk, O Pironneau, W Strauss, R Temam, etc.

The book concerns many important results in analysis, geometry, numerical methods, fluid mechanics, control theory, etc.

Book Description

Edited with an Introduction by Philip Horne.

Download Description

An adaptation of Dickens's story of the orphan forced to practice thievery and live a life of crime in nineteenth-century London.

Customer Reviews:

Still a Masterpiece.......2007-07-28

I bought the Penguin Classic version and recommend that purchase highly. This is among Dickens's best and almost on par with other great novels such as Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Madame Bovary, etc. In short, it is a masterpiece that brings together all of Dickens's writing skills with a great story. It has some literary flaws, and I would rate it slightly behind David Copperfield but it remains one of the most original and interesting of Dickens's novels.

As background information, I am in the process of reading most of Dickens's 22 novels and longer short stories, and set up a Listmania list. I bought the Penguin Classics version of the novel. As a suggestion, avoid the Penguin Popular Classics with the plain green covers (I bought two). They fall apart and do not stand up to a read, especially books over 500 pages in length. The Regular Penguin Classics with the photo or painting on the front are excellent and some have maps and illustrations (drawings). The Wordsworth Classics are not as good, and some are illustrated.

Charles Dickens, who lived from 1812 to 1870, is the best know male English writer of the 19th century. He authored 22 novels plus numerous short pieces. Most of his writing was first written in serialized form, later published as single novels.

A young Dickens at the age of 12 had the unenviable job of attaching labels 10 hours a day at the Warren's boot blacking factory. That experience shaped much of his writing career. Still in his teens he became a law clerk, then later in his twenties a journalist. The last job as a reporter led to the serialized writing of his novels. His works were social commentaries with larger than life characters, or colorful caricatures, living in the slums of London. He was a critic of poverty, social injustice, and the slow moving court system.

All of Dickens's experiences come together in his novels. The Pickwick Papers is mostly humorous, but Oliver twist is a dark novel set in the crime plagued streets of early 19th century London. There are very few nice characters here. Mostly, they seem very unfriendly, and most a lot worse: criminals, and abusing social workers. The pull between the good and the bad or negative, is personified by the difference of opinion between Oliver's benefactor, Mr. Brownlow, and the criminal Fagin. As is generally well known, the tale contains a cast of very odd characters with even odder names, such as The Artful Dodger, Fagin, and magistrate Fang. The only flaw in the story is that there are too many coincidences; otherwise it is a stunning tale and an innovative book.

Having read many of Dickens's novels I still rate David Copperfield as best as a work of literature and rate Oliver Twist as close behind and a must read. The book was read by Queen Victoria and Karl Marx, and both enjoyed the read. The novel had a far reaching social impact. It is hard to fathom that this is one of Dickens's first novels and written in his mid-twenties.

Suffer The Child.......2007-06-23

Does anyone enjoy "Oliver Twist" nearly so much when things are going well for the novel's young protagonist as when they are going badly? Do you notice how quickly you scan the pages when names like "Mr. Brownlow" "Rose" and "Mr. Losberne" are in the text, only slowing down when it's "Fagin" "Sikes" and "Mr. Bumble"?

Cruelty can be a positive quality when writing fiction. Dickens' torture test for his young hero saves the book from mawkish excess and, along with an uncompromising social conscience, gives it readability and drive.

Oliver Twist is a miserable orphan, his birth a mistake and his life a matter of no consequence to anyone but himself. Yet time and again, a guiding hand of mysterious providence suggests something of deeper importance connected to the business of his life. This is so even when he finds himself in the London underworld, under the guileful care of the master thief Fagin, who bestows praise upon Oliver's eager ears while coaching him down a criminal path where only a scaffold awaits.

A bit overlong, yes. "It is a tale told of grief and trial, and sorrow, young man, and such tales usually are; if it were one of unmixed joy and happiness, it would be very brief."

Though it is ironic how that formula works in reverse in "Oliver Twist", one understands what Mr. Brownlow means by that statement. The narrative of "Oliver Twist" covers a lot of ground, and presents a strong case for the reasonless cruelty of life even as it argues for humanistic compassion. If there is any release from life's savagery, it may only be found in death or dreams.

In his introduction to my Signet Classic edition, Edward Le Comte notes the "fairy tale" quality of "Oliver Twist" as a license for its sentimentality. That may be a hard sell for the casual reader. People come out of nowhere to sacrifice themselves on Oliver's behalf for vague reasons, often involving freakish coincidences. One fair maiden languishes under a life-threatening condition that can only be described as "acute Victorianism". Oliver himself soon becomes a helpless bystander in his own story, albeit one with perfect manners and diction despite his dirt-poor upbringing. Reading through this only works as a window to Dickens' time.

But the novel excels in the negative, in its conception of bad guys such as the homicidal Sikes, the engaging Artful Dodger, and especially smooth Fagin, the real center of menace in the story despite Sikes' bluster. You feel the soot and desperation of these people's sad lives in every bitter page.

With Fagin, Dickens plays with his audience's anti-Semitism mercilessly, always calling him "the Jew" and making Fagin's motives around Oliver obscure early on to recall the insidious "blood libel" of the time that supposed Jews guilty of slaughtering innocents.

Was Dickens anti-Semitic? No. He did write an anti-Semitic book, albeit not by design. It's hard to imagine Dickens' audience in 1838 making a distinction between the criminal and his ethnicity. Nor did Dickens think they would. He didn't care. He was on a mission.

And there's the rub. Dickens is not holding back anything grabbing his readers by the throat, which is why "Oliver Twist" worked then and still does today. It's not his best book, but it's a good one all the same, uniquely committed, maybe his most powerful. Seeing a debased world through the prism of middle-class morality has its flaws, but the focus is painfully keen and Dickens makes it hard to look away.

Gripping Classic Literature........2007-01-22

I always wanted to read this book--and any other Dickens--after being subjected to the musical featuring child stars Mark Lester and the late Jack Wild. It is with great sarcasm that, though I love the musical, to find that the novel differs greatly is such a surprise. I will also admit that this is the first Dickens novel I have ever read, and find it interesting to note that children have never had easy lives since the beginning of man's origins up until now. We just hear more about it these days.

The amazing cruelty with which orphans have been treated through history is depicted here with a verbal imagery which the reader will not soon forget, and the cast of supporting characters keeps one fascinated due to the human characteristics Dickens gives them. How a largely bland, yet sympathetic little boy stays true to the purest of righteous virtues seems far fetched at times given his treatment at the workhouse and being constantly surrounded by thieves and murderers like Fagin, Sikes, the Artful Dodger, and Master (All he does is laugh) Bates (I won't even elaborate on that name, but snickered quite a bit at it). Most children would have succumbed to their surroundings long before 12, but Dickens seems to be going for nature verses nurture here, pointing out that people can rise above their environment, and I cannot argue. Most people know someone who came from awful circumstances, only to become the opposite of all the negativity they've been surrounded with. So then, maybe there are street walkers like Nancy--the true hero of this story--who have hearts of gold as well, and there are wealthy people who are the antithesis of everything you have ever heard like the man who comes to adopt Oliver.

Dickens makes one thing very clear in Oliver Twist: right makes might, and if you hold on long enough goodness can indeed win the day, no matter how hard life gets sometimes. He also stresses that, among the many paths in life one chooses, the virtues of goodness and honesty are the best roads to take in the end. A classic worth reading more than once.

Oliver Twist is a classic novel from Dickens prolific pen........2007-01-04

The young genius Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was still publishing monthly installments of "The Pickwick Papers" when he began writing Oliver Twist.
What a tale! Young Oliver is born in the workhouse to a mother who dies giving him birth. He is apprenticed to the undertaker Sowerby; fights with one of the undertakers idiotic apprentices Noah Claypool; flees to London and comes into the clutches of the evil Fagin arch pickpocket. In this den of thieves we meet such unforgettable characters as the Artful Dodger; the despicable Bill Sikes and his mistress Nancy.
There are also many good people who populate the many pages of this novel. The Maylie family especially young Rose who rescue Oliver after he is injured in a foiled robbery escapade are helpful to the young waif. Mr. Brownlow is also a rescuer who eventually adopts Oliver. This novel is a fine bildungsroman as we follow child Oliver on his tempestuous journey through the London streets.
Oliver Twist contains many scenes which are film worthy. These scenes include the flight of Bill Sikes from the London mob following his murder of Nancy; Fagin's last hours in Newgate Prison prior to his being hanged;
the vivid descriptions of nineteenth century London and pastoral scenes
of beauty. The portrait of Oliver's half-brother Monks is well drawn.
The novel is not perfect. It relies too much on coincidence to be realistic. It is if you will a fairy tale but a great one!

Oliver Twist- .......2006-11-08

The story of Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens, is a classic bildungsroman, about the difficulties a child had to endure to survive in the 1800's. Dickens satirizes the atrocious trait of human selfishness by illustrating how it comprises ones humanity as the helpless and vulnerable are victimized for personal gain. Oliver Twist is an orphan from a small village not far from London, who is forced into social conventions by a city council. He escapes his horrible captor, a woman who steals food money for her personal use, but unfortunately lands in the hands of a criminal mastermind, who forces him to pickpocket in the London streets. He luckily is taken under the loving care of a family who gains the information of Oliver's previous captor. Many scenes are dedicated to the fallout of this criminal family which proves that with a positive environment, people are able to succeed in life. Oliver Twist has been around for nearly 200 years and I found it a very good novel, not only for its content but also for its moral truths. It is interesting because it allows children and young adults to imagine what life was like back then and to contrast their lives to Oliver's. This realization allows the reader to see that some people have more difficult lives then others and to not take advantage of them.

Average customer rating:

Oliver Twist: Movie Tie-in [UNABRIDGED]
Charles Dickens
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0786177896

Product Description

Set in Londons seedy backstreet slums, Oliver Twist is the story of a workhouse orphan captured and thrust into a den of thieves, where some of Dickenss most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the barbarous bully Bill Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, whose knavery threatens to send them all to the gallows. At the heart of the drama, however, is Oliver, the orphan whose unsullied goodness leads him to salvation and who represents Dickenss belief in the principle of good triumphing at last. This was the first of Dickenss works to depict realistically Londons impoverished underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime. Writing it shortly after the government halted payments to the poor unless they entered workhouses, he used the tale of young Oliver as his vehicle for social criticism.

Average customer rating:

Not as advertised

Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
Manufacturer: BBC Audiobooks America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Treasure Island (The Classic Collection)

ASIN: 0792739965

Customer Reviews:

Not as advertised.......2007-02-24

This is not an unabridged version of Oliver Twist, despite the description that it is. This is a "Full Cast Dramatization" on three CDs running 2 hours and 37 minutes.

Average customer rating:

Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: MP3 CD

Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | MP3 CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

Teens | MP3 CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0786180102

Oliver Twist: The Official Companion to the Itv Drama Series

Average customer rating:

Oliver Twist: The Official Companion to the Itv Drama Series
Tom McGregor
Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Guides & Reviews | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1852278374

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books