Blessing of the Animals Books

I have collected an entire gardening library so besotted am I with this gender of reading and gardening. This book is a treasure! Clearly the best reflection on nature in your garden I have ever had the pleasure to read. Amusing and full of directions and advise this book should never be put away but left out to consult and muse over. Get it and give it! You cannot miss!! Susan

Lovejoy is a vessel of knowledge that gardeners of all ages will delight in with this book. She makes gardening fun and kids (and adults!) will like the projects and ideas for nuturing a special place of thier own.

Ms Lovejoy's collection of gardening essays presents a book of relaxing and delightful reading. It is sprinkled with a collection of gardening ideas that will be appealing to both the beginner and experienced gardener, especially if you are interested in living with nature. I have already borrowed some of her ideas for my backyard wildlife habitat.

a fantastic, funny pirate adventure! a rollicking read! me kids loved it and I did too, and we all be talking pirate talk e'er since! yarrr!

Jack Jones is the 10th descendent of Blackstrap Morgan. When Jack's uncle dies a curse gets passed down to him. The curse got started when Blackstrap betrayed his friends. The pirates he betrayed will attack Jack Jones all his life, unless he can outsmart them.

I liked trying to solve the problem,when one of the pirates attack Jack. It is interesting to see what Jack is going to do to get away from them.

Poll is a talking parrot that helps Jack with his problems. Poll was my favorite character.

I did not like the beginning that much because it was a little slow and boring, but it got a lot better. This is a great book to read if you like mysteries and pirates.

Jack is a regular kid until his great-uncle passes away and he finds out about a terrible curse from his private relative that leads a band of pirates to his doorstep. Can he become the only family member to successfully thwart the curse, or will he spend his life running from it, as everyone has before him? Kids who love mysteries and pirates with a touch of the supernatural thrown in will love JACK JONES AND THE PIRATE CURSE.

Is a little confusing to the reader, I did not actuallty like the book until the middle of it when it got really suspenseful and interesting.

This is Hillerman's first novel (at least with NM tribal police). While the character of Joe Leaphorn is not drawn out much, it still is a good read. There is a considerable amount of action taking place thanks to a spunky archeologist trying to save himself and a woman in the Anasazi ruins.

If you compare it with the recent Hillerman novel, The Shape Shifter, there is a dramatic difference. There Joe Leaphorn is on center stage, his wisdom and gentleness coming across, with all of the action happening at the very end.

This novel was a brilliant beginning for one of my favorite mystery authors.

In the beginning, Luis Horseman was not destroyed by the Navajo Wolf. He was one hundred miles north of Window Rock where Joe Leaphorn worked. One of Leaphorn's files concerned Horseman. Leaphorn thought he knew where Horseman was. Bergen KcKee, a witchcraft researcher, was in Albuquerque, four hundred miles to the east. McKee's wife had left him six years earlier, after he was granted tenure on the Anthropology faculty of the University of New Mexico. He had lost his enthusiasm for reasearch in his field, Navajo superstitions.

Horseman was wanted by the police for cutting a Mexican in Gallup. Leaphorn and McKee traveled to a trading post where Leaphorn could pursue law enforcement inquiries and McKee his witchcraft inquiries. A boy herding sheep for his uncle's bro.-in-law had actually seen the Navajo Wolf. Joseph Begay was of Navajo-Pueblo blood. He followed the Navajo Way, building his hogan in tradtional fashion. The Navajo Way was the Middle Way, avoiding all excesses. Begay believed an owl was acting strangely. Begay discovered Horseman's body.

An informant, Old Woman Gray Rocks, believed that the Navajo Wolf was a stranger. When McKee returned to the place he and another anthropologist, Canfied, were camping, he found that Canfield was missing, a possible victim of foul play. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn questioned a Navajo elder about whether a witch would be killed by smothering a person in sand. Sand was used in Luis Horseman's death. Leaphorn learned the answer was no. Leaphorn discovered from asking people the witch was a man and that he had been on foot.

Mckee saw the Navajo Wolf with a machine pistol. He entered McKee's tent to reconnoitre. Next the Navajo Wolf called out that he needed to talk with McKee about Dr. Canfield. Joe Leaphorn knew who had killed Horseman, the Big Navajo seen at the trading post, and why Horseman had been killed. He believed that Billy Nez, Horseman's sixteen year-old brother, was going to Horseman's hiding place and he feared for Nez's safety and followed him. Bergen McKee felt that the Big Navajo was a relocation Navajo, someone from a family moved from the reservation in the 1930's to an urban center.

After considerable excitement, Billy Nez ends up saving MckKee's life. Subsequently Leaphorn entered the scene and solved the many strands of the mystery This book contains a considerable amount of cultural information.

I have read nearly everything that Tony Hillerman has written and, ironically, I read THE BLESSING WAY, one of Hillerman's first books, last. Doing so has given me some interesting perspectives about Hillerman and his stories.

It's interesting to me, for example, that Joe Leaphorn emerged as such a hero in subsequent Hillerman stories while it is Bergen McKee who is literally the star of THE BLESSING WAY. Truly, Leaphorn, if you think about it, is a supporting cast member in a story that highlights McKee's adventures from start to finish. Had he wanted to, Hillerman could have based an entire series of stories on McKee. His character is absolutely compelling--kind of a nerdy Indiana Jones out to discover the darker side of Navajo mysteries and myths. But even with his more bookish nature, McKee is still resourceful enough to outwit virtually all of the villains that Hillerman puts him up against.

Don't get me wrong. I can certainly see how THE BLESSING WAY spawned Leaphorn and his legend. There is certainly enough of him here to keep things interesting. But I would have loved it had Hillerman chosen to include McKee in a few more of his stories.

THE HORSEMAN

Purchased this book as a wedding gift for someone who has always wanted to go to Ireland, but never quite made it there. Many of the other Ireland-related books at Amazon were more like travel guides, etc... This particular book was the only one suitable as a wedding gift. The recipient was delighted. I recommend this book as a great gift item for all wannabe Irish travelers.

This is a Wonderful book! The pictures are very beautiful, vivid!
And the verses are lovely...I am just thrilled to have bought a copy. Our Public Library even ordered a copy after having looked through mine. Outstanding!! Truly.

This wonderful volume matches a gallery of photographs that truly capture the beauty of Ireland with a collection of blessings attributed to Irish saints, songwriters, poets, and Irish custom. The effect of the collection is both moving and comforting, especially to those who have been fortunate enough to experience Ireland first hand.

The photography heavily favors the wild and undeveloped Western part of Ireland; visitors may recognize scenes from the Dingle Peninsula and the Killarny area, among others. The blessings are a celebration of Irish spirituality; quotes from early Irish Christians mingle with customary blessings and songs and items from popular Irish writers. They together are an invocation to remember the simple and important things in life.

This book is highly recommended to the reader familar with Ireland and with its spirituality.

This book appears to be a normal size book in its add on the web but is infact only 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long.
Nowhere do they tell you that. I was ordering for adults not children.
Thank You for your time.
Sarah Matthews

The dementia of this book are entirely appropriate. One minor criticism: Ms. Shannon neglected to include an excerpt from the works of the often-overlooked Irish pugilist-poet Fighty McDrunkahan. His cycle of travellers' poems -- "Jaysus, What's This in Me Shoe?" -- is a classic of vernacular Irish literature.

A delightful story by Ethel Pochoki filled with the imagined settings and words of the animal kingdom. The engraved illustrations by Barry Moser show a master artist and illustrator at his best. Fine detail is revealed in every curving line wonderfully composed and skillfully executed in the challenging medium of block engraving. Subtle and vivid colors are used with sparing grace. A storybook to read again and again. A terrific combination of word and picture.

The illustrations are magnificent and the theme is wonderful. We have a blessing of the pets at our school on the feast of St. Francis. I thought the students would enjoy this story, but the ending is disappointing.

This is a great book for the person that absolutely LOVES their kitty. It just makes you feel good.

Colorful pages and delightful story help teach children to count - and give parents quality time with their little gifts from God!

Although this book has been out a while, it is a great handbook for anyone who is clergy or who wants to hold a ceremony for a treasured animal. One of several others on my book shelf and I recommend it. Diana L Guerrero author of Blessing of the Animals: A Guide to Prayers & Ceremonies Celebrating Pets & Other Creatures