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Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics A Child’s First Collection By Various

Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics A Child’s First Collection By Various

This book arrived in the post today. I am so delighted. The book is a very sturdy hardback. The paper is heavy. The illustrations large. This is going to be the book I will be reading to my preschoolers each night for many nights. We did have a similar collection but it is so well... »

Heartbroken Open A Memoir Through Loss to Self-Discovery By Kristine Carlson

Heartbroken Open A Memoir Through Loss to Self-Discovery By Kristine Carlson

I haven’t read this yet but I have requested that my local library get it. I’ll add more once I have read it. But a friend heard the author on National Radio and sent me the link http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20100722-1011-Feature_guest_-_Kristine_Carlson-048.mp3 It sounds like an excellent book. »

The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition) Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City By Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen

The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition) Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City By Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen

The book is full of realistic ideas to increase your self-sufficiency in the city. I have always wanted a life-style block but there are lots of great things to enjoy about city life. I have teenagers too. So that might mean a great deal... »

The Path of Loneliness Finding Your Way Through the Wilderness to God By Elisabeth Elliot

The Path of Loneliness Finding Your Way Through the Wilderness to God By Elisabeth Elliot

I found this a wonderful book to guide me in my path of loneliness. Elisabeth Elliot’s first  first husband was martyred and her second died of cancer. Her wisdom was greatly appreciated. Her ability to put the thoughts and feelings of loneliness into... »

Commotion in the Ocean

Commotion in the Ocean

We read this book over and over again until we had the poems memorised. The picture links to the board book version. »

Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else By Geoff Colvin

Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else By Geoff Colvin

From the front cover : “What if everything you know about raw talent, hard work and great performance is wrong?” I think every home educator should read this book. What makes the difference is deliberate practice. Read the book to see what that means Read the author’s... »

Pyramid and others by David Macaulay

Pyramid and others by David Macaulay

This book shows in rich detailed illustration and text how the pyramids were built ( just by slave power, there were no cranes etc!) This book and others by David Macaulay have been particularly wonderful for my later reader son. The illustrations are so... »

The Fourfold Path to Healing Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine By Thomas S. Cowan

The Fourfold Path to Healing Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine By Thomas S. Cowan

This book is an excellent introduction to alternative medicine. While I would not agree with everything contained in the book, I think this book has information which will be helpful to most. You can combine many alternative therapies with conventional medicine to aid healing.... »

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by  John Boyne

I read this to my son (11 years). It is the kind of book to be read aloud because there is so much to discuss and the subject matter is difficult:  The story is set at the time of the holocaust but when... »

Caps for Sale By Esphyr Slobodkina

Caps for Sale By Esphyr Slobodkina

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina ” Caps for sale, 50c a cap!” As you can guess this is an old book, you certainly can’t buy a cap for 50c and I have not seen a peddler! It was published in 1938.  But it is certainly... »

Nate the Great By Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Nate the Great By Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Nate the Great, child detective is a fabulous easy reader, especially (I think)for boys. Marjorie Sharmat has written a whole series of them. Once a child learns the reading vocabulary of one, they will enjoy the others more so. Finding good easy readers that... »

The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes illustrated by  Louis Slobodkin is a story about  school children teasing a  poor little Polish girl. They tease her for her strange name and that she wears the same dress every day. The little girl boasts that... »

The Door In the Wall

The Door In the Wall

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli is a delightful historical fiction book. We purchased it on audio cassette some years ago, the tapes used so often they has to be thrown out. It was my older children’s favourite book to... »

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois was published in 1947. This book has stood the test of time. A retired school teacher sets off on a balloon adventure and ends up of an island  secretly populated with families of immense wealth-... »

Harry Potter -Magical Music

Harry Potter -Magical Music

Harry Potter Magical Music from the First Five Years at Hogwarts by John Williams (Composer), Patrick Doyle (Composer), Nicholas Hooper (Composer) Sometime to inspire your up and coming pianist. 95 pages full of musical score. Unlike other books of this type, it isn’t half full... »

French Women Don’t Get Fat The Secret of Eating for Pleasure By Mireille Guiliano

French Women Don’t Get Fat The Secret of Eating for Pleasure By Mireille Guiliano

You might like to have a look at the author’s website. The  book’s website is here. I found it a helpful book. The advice is not new in one way: building good eating habits. But was unique  is her strategies to make those good habits... »

4 Ingredients Gluten Free By Kim McCosker, Rachael Bermingham

4 Ingredients Gluten Free By Kim McCosker, Rachael Bermingham

4 Ingredients Gluten Free is not a make from scratch, blend your own flour book. The baking recipes use a commercial flour blend. My teens  regularly make  the pineapple cake. The beef stir fry includes a commercial GF BBQ sauce as one of the ingredients.  The authors  Rachael and... »

My Father’s Dragon: Three Tales by Ruth Stiles Gannett

My Father’s Dragon: Three Tales by Ruth Stiles Gannett

My Father’s Dragon: Three Tales: 50th Anniversary Ed My 10 year loves these books. I read the first one aloud to him when he was about 8. They were one of the first real chapter books that he read to himself. They have lovely illustrations.... »

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Alanna, the First Adventure Alanna changes her name to Alan and  pretends to be her twin brother, so she can become a knight. She is talented at fighting, archery and riding. Because only boys can become knights she must deceive those around her otherwise she... »

Economics in One Lesson by H Hazlitt and Jeff Riggenbach

Economics in One Lesson by H Hazlitt and Jeff Riggenbach

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics This is the audio version for listening on your ipod or in the car. If you find it hard to find the time to read then audio books are great, it makes... »