Ann GainesReseñas

In 600 A.D. a warrior Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma traveled from India to China, where he promoted the study of martial arts as a key not only to strength, but also to self-confidence, health, and peace of mind. Bodhidharma's combination of breathing, meditation, and physical fighting techniques formed the foundation for all martial arts.

Over the centuries as the practice of martial arts spread throughout Asia, each region developed its own specialty, from karate to judo, jiujitsu, tae kwon do, kung fu, tai chi, and aikido. The martial arts proved to be an influential and enduring form of exercise, self-defense, and self-improvement.

Promoted in recent years by action film stars such as Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, martial arts today are practiced by millions of people worldwide who seek a connection between the powers of the body and the powers of the mind.

Contents

Chapter 1 Fighting bulls with empty hands
Chapter 2 The history of martial arts
Chapter 3 Kung fu
Chapter 4 Jiu-jitsu and judo
Chapter 5 Tae kwon do
Chapter 6 Aikido
Chapter 7 The martial arts
Chronology
Glossary
Further reading (bibliography)
Index

More detailed than a children's book, appropriate for the young adult section, but awfully dry. Published in the '90s, with black and white photographs as illustrations, except a middle photo-essay with color pictures of Egyptian art.

Some of the Egyptian art is enjoyable: their is one double page spread of an enormous Tutankhamun with the help of some regular size Egyptian soldiers, absolutely destroyed a foreign army with his regal prowess. All preposterous, of course, but very lively.

The book is barely about Herodotus at all. To a great extent it describes military expeditions which also resulted in discoveries about other lands. Alexander of Macedon's march almost to India revealed a lot that had not been known to the ancient Greek civilization. Interestingly, Hannibal's march across the Pyrenees and Alps and the intervening country is also viewed as a voyage of exploration, rapidly superseded by the Roman conquest of those regions, converting the unknown into Roman colonies with really good roads. The Anabasis gets a mention.

There is a great emphasis on the development of trade routes as well as the voyages of Carthaginian explorers around Africa.

Full of interesting detail, but confusing. The choice to use photographs of mediaeval illustrations of classical events does not make sense to me. I'm just not interested in fanciful depictions of Alexander of Macedon, wearing the armor of a knight, attacking a medieval castle, as medieval art is not the subject of this book.

There are also some mistakes in astronomy; the sun is _not_ always over the equator.

There is one illustration of a bas relief that purports to show a Greek phalanx, but the soldiers look to me a whole lot more like Sumerians.

jB

The book is truly a work of art. With all of its historical content, it is one that can be use anywhere but especially in the classroom. It has lots of actual photographs along with information that depicts the life of Ronald M. Reagan, our 37th president. There are also bolded words in red ink, which can be used in the classroom to help students better understand the history behind Reagan's presidency. The vivid colors are what would get students engaged even if this is not a topic that particularly interest them.

Good overview of the difficulties Grant encountered during his presidency.Includes timeline and glossary.

"Gary Paulsen: A Real-Life Reader Biography" is a brief, informative book that gives a solid outline (emphasis on 'outline') of the famous author's life.

It isn't very long and there aren't any pictures, but that's not entirely unexpected in a book meant for middle-graders. And it is for middle-graders as there's plenty of dark moments in Gary's life: excessive drinking by many people, child abandonment, as well as multiple sad marriages that didn't work.

The book would have gotten a solid 4-Stars except for the immature sentence structure used by the author. In my opinion the book read more like one targeted for early elementary aged children, than one for young adults.

THE SKINNY:::
Despite the flaws, this is a informative book about Gary Paulsen that's worth reading. The author frequently ties Gary's real life experiences with incidents from his books which is the sort of thing fan's like myself appreciate.

Pam T~
mom/blogger
booksforkids-reviews½

This is young adult history but still odd that only two lines devoted to Joshua Chamberland who won the congressional medal of honor for his leadership in the Battle of Gettysburg.

This is an informational book about the life of Thomas Edison. The art in this book is real photographs.The content of this book is a glimpse into his life, how he became an inventor, and his inventions. The reading level of this book is around fifth grade. The cirricular connections for this book could be: history, inventions, science, and light bulbs.

This is an informational book because it is about the life of Thomas Edison. The art in this book is real photographs. The content includes him as a child, how he became an inventor and his inventions. The reading level is fifth grade. The curricular connections is history and science, because it is about his life and also the science behind his inventions.

This is a good book for grades 2-4. It provides information about the great inventor, Alexander Graham Bell. The book is divided into mini chapters that cover several areas of his life and the contributions he made. The illustrations are a mixture of real photographs and sketched pictures. The book provides a glossary of terms and also important dates to know. This book could be a reference for an elementary research paper.