Reference & Nonfiction Books - Page 12

Scholastic Dictionary Of Idioms (Revised)

Marvin Terban

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Highly recommend this book!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I really would LOVE to recommend this book for all of people who are learning English as a second language and hope to know English idioms. I am from Korea, but now I am staying in N.C. to learn English. I was looking for some books that could helps me to understand the meaning of idioms because sometimes it was too difficult for me to figure out what they mean. This book has more than 700 idioms with examples, meanings and origins. The origins help me to remember the idioms easier. After I read some, I finally understand why people use idioms in particular situations and I feel like I will never forget them. It may not really helpful for academic courses or daily conversation, but it is easy to read anytime and it is good for FUN! Unless I am older than twenty, this book is fun enough! And especially, this is cheaper than others. So, I'd like to say just buy and read. I am 99% sure that buying this book is going to be a good choice!

Editorial Review:

Cat got your tongue? Penny for your thoughts? Come again? Every day, idioms bring color to our speech. Since they don't really mean what they say, idioms can stump even the native English-speaker. Marvin Terban makes understanding idioms "as easy as pie" with the revised SCHOLASTIC DICTIONARY OF IDIOMS. Explanations for, and origins of, more than 700 everyday American idioms, complete with kid-friendly sample sentences. The entries are amusing as well as educational. Alphabetical listing and cross-referencing index makes finding idioms a "piece of cake."

Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia (I Can Read Book 2)

Herman Parish

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

I wish I could write like this! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish, like all of his Amelia Bedelia books, is hysterically funny. Parish's use of expressions confuse Mr. Rogers' maid, Amelia Bedelia, throughout the entire story. Poor, silly, Amelia Bedelia never realizes how confused she really is. She takes everything anyone says literally, so when her boss Mr. Rogers says "jump in the car", she thinks that he actually means to sit in the car and jump.
In this story, Amelia Bedelia goes to the doctor. However, when she gets there the nurse asks for Amelia Bedelia's help with the patients. A woman who calls the doctor's office to complain that she has "caught a bug" is told to "let it go" by Amelia Bedelia. She proceeds to tell a woman who has hives to bring some honey to the doctor's office. She looks at a bank's clock to take a patient's temperature and she tells a boy to draw his own blood onto a piece of blank paper. A boy says that he is at the office for a test and Amelia Bedelia tells him that he must go to school.
No matter what Amelia Bedelia did for most of the book, she is a hit when she "treats" the patients to ice cream! This is not exactly what the nurse had in mind when she said to treat the patients, however, Amelia Bedelia comes out looking like a hero!
Amelia Bedelia is entertaining to the adults who read this story to children because we have an even better sense of Amelia Bedelia's silliness. I love reading this story to my second graders and they love hearing it!

Editorial Review:

Funny bones

The doctor is out! But Amelia Bedelia is ready to help a crowd of grouchy patients. Along the way she doses out some of the best medicine of all -- laughter, of course!

Brain Quest Workbook: Pre-K (Brain Quest)

Liane Onish

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing collection of activities 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I thought this would be an excellent book for my 4-year-old. He likes to do "homework" when his older brother does his. This book has been perfect for him.

Packed with hundreds of pages, the age appropriateness of the tasks is right on track for a preschooler. My son just turned 4 this month and has only been in school since August and has been easily able to complete the pages.

Although the book goes from easy to more challenging lessons, I've let my son pick the page he wants to complete. We haven't had any problems with certain sections being too difficult for him.

One of the aspects I like most about this book is repetition. There are several pages of like work in each section. This allows the children to practice concepts more than once, thus reinforcing them. It is also a great self-esteem booster for the child to confidently finish a page. My son also likes to review the work he's done and explain to others what he did.

Overall a great book and I'm giving it 5-stars because we've been using this for almost three weeks and my son still hasn't become bored with it yet. I'm going to be ordering the other books in the series to save for him as he ages. Well done Brain Quest!

Editorial Review:

Jam-packed with hundreds of curriculum-based activities, exercises and games in every subject, Brain Quest Pre-K Workbook reinforces what kids are learning in the classroom. The workbook's lively layout and easy-to-follow explanations make learning fun, interactive, and concrete. Plus it's written to help parents follow and explain key concepts. Includes ABCs, 123s, tracing letters, mazes, shapes, colors, beginning sounds, sorting and matching, "what's wrong with this picture" games, and much, much more.

Cliffsnotes on Kingsolvers the Bean Trees (Cliffs Notes)

Barbara Kingsolver, Cliffs Notes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 385 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ten years ago, Barbara Kingsolver published a first novel that is well on its way to becoming a classic work of American fiction. The Bean Trees is a book readers have taken to their hearts. It is now a standard in college literature classes across the nation and has been translated for a readership stretching from Japan to Romania.

When it was first published, however, its author was unknown. Word of mouth spread slowly among booksellers, librarians, critics and readers with a passion to share their favorite books. In The Bean Trees they found a spirited protagonist, Taylor Greer, who grew up in poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when Taylor heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time she arrives in Tucson, she has acquired a completely unexpected child and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

Most readers of The Bean Trees discovered the novel in its paperback edition. On the 10th anniversary of its first publication, HarperFlamingo is proud to offer readers this special hardback edition, redesigned to be easy on the eyes and priced to be accessible to every lover of good fiction.

United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination

John J. Newman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The best AP US review book, hands down. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I took the AP US exam in 2004, after a 2-year long AP US History class offered by my high school. I was terrified that I'd fail, but this book saved my butt! It's comprehensive, easy to understand, and the review questions and quizzes in the back are fantastic - I even saw a question from the book on the exam! This tome is intimidatingly thick, but don't let that daunt you. I studied 3 chapters per week in the 2 months leading up to the test, and there wasn't a single thing I didn't know. It could use a bit more post-1970 foreign policy information, but you can probably cover that with your teacher/textbook/class. Oh, and a whole chapter devoted to important Supreme Court cases & their significance would be great, but all that information is scattered throughout the book as well.

My AP teacher recommended _not_ writing the practice essays & DBQ, but I don't see why. Any practice writing in the style of the AP exam is critical to scoring well.

In all, if you are taking the AP US History exam (or just want a concise US history reference book!), I highly recommend this one. I still consult my AMSCO from time to time.

There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Lrning Libry)

Tish Rabe

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The best of this series! 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library books are all great tools to get beginning readers to read and explore different topics at the same time.

There's a Map on my Lap is my favorite in this series. It explains in typical Cat in the Hat rhyme and stance all the different uses for maps.
It explains the difference between a globe and a map, what latitudes and longitudes and other features of maps are. You learn to read a map by using the windrose or a grid.
The book goes well beyond town or country maps. It features weather maps, topographical maps and even marine charts.

What truly separates this book from the crowd: it is shockfull of hands-on things to do. It begins with peeling an orange while leaving the skin in one piece to demonstrate what a world map should really look like - brilliant idea! Then it goes on to make a map of your room, town, imaginary countries. Or how to measure the length of a curved road on a map using a straight ruler and string.

At the end of the book you find a glossary that explains the "big" words like topographical map and others again. Also a list of more books about maps and globes for children.
If you like doing hands on things with your preschool through 2nd graders this book is for you! Hours of fun and education all rolled into one big happy Cat in the Hat poem.

Editorial Review:

The Cat in the Hat introduces beginning readers to maps–the different kinds (city, state, world, topographic, temperature, terrain, etc.); their formats (flat, globe, atlas, puzzle); the tools we use to read them (symbols, scales, grids, compasses); and funny facts about the places they show us (“Michigan looks like a scarf and a mitten! Louisiana looks like a chair you can sit in!”).

Common Errors in English Usage

Paul Brians

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Tell me something I DON'T know 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 16 people found this review helpful.

Were these "common errors" used in the English Language directed to
6th graders? I can't imagine anyone over the age of 17 needing these
explanations and examples. They are simple to the point of being insulting.

Help for Writers 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book provides help with common language usage questions. As an engineer working for the federal government, writing is a large part of my job. I keep this book next to my computer, and rely on it frequently. The "word in question" and the "correct/incorrect" (or incorrect/correct) format is easy and quick to use; and in many cases the accompanying explanations are the best I've seen.

Excellent reference 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I felt the book was so good that I ordered it for all 3 of my adult children. Public schools do not seem to have the time to teach correct English anymore.

Very good 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought the book because I know the website. The book looks great, I really like the drawings. Very clever, very useful and makes a good present, too.

Editorial Review:

A useful guide to mixed-up, mangled expressions, foreign language faux pas, confusing terms, and commonly mispronounced words.

Trolls, Elves and Fairies Coloring Book (Dover Pictorial Archives)

Jan Sovak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Love it 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I love this coloring book, it has a small paragraph for each picture telling about the faeries. I use acrylic paints and it's great

Beautiful coloring book 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I have given this coloring book to my girls two years in a row. This is an excellent alternative to Disney characters and other more commonly found coloring pages. The creatures in this book are beautiful and contain enough detail to challenge and inspire creativity in an older child, while the quality of the paper can stand the abuse of a toddler. Highly recommend.

Great 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I love this book it can be hard sometimes to find adult coloring books that are worth coloring but I love this one.

Beautiful... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

These are beautiful coloring books because they are so different then the ones that are out there. Beautiful intricate pictures that not only children will love but adults as well.

Editorial Review:

A wonderland of wee folk, this imaginative coloring book is populated by gremlins, pixies, giants, and other fantasy characters. In addition to mermaids, leprechauns, and other familiar creatures, these 29 images encompass a variety of lesser-known spirits. Colorists of all ages are certain to fall under the spell of these beguiling images.

My First Spanish Word Book / Mi Primer Libro De Palabras En Español

DK Publishing

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book if you know some Spanish 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My native language is English, and I speak Spanish fairly well at a conversational level. I am speaking Spanish to my young son so that he will be bilingual. Much of my Spanish vocabulary is business- or government- related, so I got this book to learn words for everyday things. When chosen for that purpose, this book is wonderful. To give one example: beginning Spanish students usually learn "camisa" for shirt and "pantalones" for pants. This book has two large pages of words for specific articles of clothing (pajamas. shorts. raincoat, sweatpants, etc.) As other reviewers have mentioned, the pictures are outstanding and I'm sure my son will like looking at the pages when he's a little order.

You do need a basic grasp of Spanish, and a good Spanish-English dictionary, to use this book most effectively. It does not have a pronunciation guide, so you need to be able to pronounce the words (which isn't hard, since Spanish reads phonetically). Also, most of the words are nouns or verbs, so to really be able to practice using them you need to know how to construct a simple sentence in Spanish.

Be careful and check with a native Spanish speaker or with a dictionary if something doesn't seem right. As another reviewer has mentioned, the usage in this book seems to be South American (I would guess Mexican, but I'm not an expert.) I've found a couple typos ("el peinilla", for example, which should have been "la peinilla"). Also, it pays to check translations of unknown words in a dictionary. For example, there is a picture of a beaded bracelet with the English word "beads" and the Spanish word "pulsera". "pulsera" doesn't mean beads, it means bracelet.

Editorial Review:

Presents pictures labeled in both Spanish and English under such headings as "Going to school," "Weather," and "At the supermarket."

What Color Is It? (Good Beginnings)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"naranja" is correct in spain 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Great book, my toddler loves it. And there are no mistakes.

For clarification: the color orange is "naranja" in Spanish from Spain. We call the fruit and the color the same in Spain (just as they do in English!). I know in Latin American countries they say "anaranjado". But that does not make "naranja" a mistake in the book. It is correct Spanish, found in the dictionary.It was just probably translated by a Spaniard.

I was shocked by the review by a teacher saying that she tells her students that the word "naranja" is wrong. I would never tell my toddler that "anaranjado" is incorrect, even though we don't say it that way! It's just a proof of the diversity of the Spanish language. Shame on this teacher who says she uses "naranja" as an example of bad translation - and complains of seeing the mistake frequently. No wonder, since it is not a mistake. She should instead explain how different Spanish-speaking countries use different words, and all are correct.

Editorial Review:

Part of the Good Beginnings series of full-color board books which will intrigue children and at the same time help them build vocabulary. The words have been chosen for their age-appropriateness by the editors of the American Heritage(R) dictionaries. Pamela Cote's charming illustrations introduce toddlers and young children to a delightful family of animal characters and the joy of the world of words. What Color Is It? presents individual scenes in vibrant red, green, yellow, brown, blue, orange, and purple which are instructive and playful.