First Nations Day Books

Using the Brookman Stamp Price Guides, along with Scotts USA Specialized, do help a lot in making good auction bids for many of those missing spaces in anyone's album - Scott catalogue values versus Brookman values - the winning bid is always somewhere in between. A must have philatelic reference tool for any serious collector of USA and/or BNA.

I think this book is a very useful guide for US stamps. The only thing that I was a little unhappy about with this book is I thought this would be the spiral bound copy like you see in the stores, but it is not. Otherwise this book is great! I use it to identify US stamps. It is much easier to use than a Scott Catalogue because under the picture of each stamp is a list of possible Scott numbers that the design corresponds with.

Great quick reference book (and cheaper than Scotts Catalogue)...but the spiral version has two big advantages in my mind

1) You can tear out the pages that you don't need to make the book smaller and easier to use. For example I remove the United Nations, 1st day cover, famous autographs, duck stamps, Canadian trust terrritory and postal stationary sections.

2) It is easier to use the book balanced on your knee while checking eBay or folded in half next to your Stamp Album.

If you are new to the world of nutrition/lifestyle and you seriously want to get your kids' health issues straightened out, then Fitkid7 is a good place to start. Sirkka Wolke offers information and advice on nutrition in combination with lifestyle suggestions specifically aimed and kids and families. Wolke combines her knowledge and enthusiasm in a conversational writing style which will most appeal to those who find textbook approaches to nutrition daunting.

Personally, while reading the book I felt encouraged to tidy up my own eating habits. Inevitably my kids benefitted from my choice to change my diet! However, though Wolke is passionate about her subject, I found the overuse of exclamation marks irritating. I also found myself wishing Wolke had sited more research when making claims. In any case, if you are fervently searching for help in getting your kids to make better diet and fitness choices, Fitkid7 might be for you.

Let me preface this review by stating that I do not have children. However, I was one (weren't we all?), and I did babysit for many, many years. Take my opinion about "FitKid7: 7 Simple Steps for a Fit & Healthy Child" as you will with this knowledge. A how-to book of any sort requires two basic things. First, it must be written so that the reader, any reader, can understand it. Second, it must have clear directions and advice to follow. Given these criteria, does Sirkka Wolke's book qualify as a great investment of your money?

The book is divided into three basic parts. The first part lays out the steps to take. The 7 basic steps are easy to understand, because Wolke writes in an approachable, conversational tone. Frankly, her advice isn't all that new. The only truly new thing I saw was the idea that you should not keep anything that isn't healthy in your house. The rest, ranging from water as your primary liquid to a positive attitude, is very common in discussions of good health.

My biggest complaint in this first part is that there are a lot of how-to directions and advice that seem missing. I think many of these steps would be easy to put into place at the beginning of your family from the moment you get married or paired up or buy a house, and certainly before you have children. However, I can see many people buying this book who have older kids or teenagers, and I think much more practical advice is called for, such as how you convince your spouse or partner to get on board and how you deal with the stronger peer pressures and school access at the junior high and high school level.

In the second part of the book, Wolke looks at several factors that contribute to unhealthy behavior and eating patterns. Much of this is social, from the role of business to the pressure to succeed and passive entertainment. Again, there are several factors that are not deeply enough addressed, such as the American idea that dinner or supper should be the biggest meal of the day. Outside of the social factors, Wolke only pays brief attention to biology, and I'm not talking genes that make you fat. What about the fact that fats and sugars taste good to us? She mentions repeatedly the idea that our bodies can easily think we are starving, but how do you counter that long-standing biology in a world where we do not need to move as much and food production is incredible?

Of course, there are no easy answers for these issues, but I remember that my old private nutritionist looked at my ethnic background when she came up with a food plan for me. She considered not just my environment but my genetic background, and in her wise words she doubted I'd ever look like a supermodel because I came from "strong peasant stock," where big, strong women were a plus. Wolke focuses on health, not weight, though she does raise the weight issue a few times. I was very happy that she did not promote those height/weight/age charts that are generic. I also was very glad that she emphasized that stress and mental health are just as important or more important than the shape and size of your body.

The third part of Wolke's book looks at the various measures you can take to make these changes. Again, I think more could be said here, and the general advice consists of things I've heard and read repeatedly. She does list a few references for her advice, but more would also please the scholar in me. Of course, you can learn all you want but you have to make the actions match the information. As a person who has slowly added more fiber and leaner meats to her adult family's diet, let me tell you that it can be emotionally draining to stay the course in the face of opposition. Yes, even adults can be picky eaters, and I'm no exception.

The book ends with several sections that offer further information, such as an ideal shopping list, recipes, meal ideas, and resources you can use. I think the resources and bibliography need to be much longer. I also want to know where Wolke received her degrees in nutrition and whom/how she consults? I think knowing that would add more authority to her words.

"FitKid7" is a simple, fast read with good steps to take to help your children become more health-conscious and active people. It is really too short, though, at just over 100 pages, to give a lot of strong practical suggestions. Perhaps Wolke hopes you will consult with your own health care professional, but I would have liked more ideas for making this all work. The book is a good first step, but it won't answer all your questions.

No, plus my kids enjoyed the many ways on eating healthy from this book. We all want our children to be fit and healthy, but the current invasion of fast food, sugary snacks, and oversize portions are creating an epidemic of overweight, inactive, and unhealthy kids. The powerful influences of the fast-food industry, omnipresent junk food advertising, and the vicious cycle of TV, computer games, and Internet addictions only make our children more susceptible to a sedentary lifestyle and a lifetime of bad habits and obesity. Dedicated mom and Nutritional Consultant Sirkka Wolke says it's time to say good-bye to sugarcoated cereals, artificially colored cheese puffs, oceans of sugary soft drinks, nutritionally deficient school lunches, and fast-food super meals!

This book is not a diet which will make the transition even better for not only for yourself but for your child. In "FitKid 7" she shows you how to create a healthy, balanced lifestyle for your kids and how to make the transition from dairy-, fat-, sugar-, and chemical-laden foods to the vibrant, natural, nourishing foods we were all meant to eat.

You'll find general dietary guidelines for healthy eating for active kids, as well as tips on pre- and post-exercise nutrition, staying hydrated while exercising, and healthy snacks. This book offers a proven plan to help parents and kids alike learn to eat healthier and feel better, it features:

The Fitkid 7 Steps
Why is it happening?
The Tools We need
Harmful Foo Additives List
Great Ideas for Meals and Snacks
List of Extra Tips

Fit and Healthy foods does equal Healthy Children. "FitKid 7" provides the essential information on creating a lifetime of nutritional eating habits for your children. Highly recommended to those who care.

Sirkka Wolke, drawing on her extensive expertise, addresses a growing health crisis in the world concerning our children in a forthright way that underscores the importance of raising healthy, fit kids and outlines how to execute this easily. Although many adults attempt to get fit themselves, they tend to ignore their kids. This book accomplishes what the author set out to do--to make us take notice of what we are feeding our children for the sake of their future. This should be a standard read for all parents and those who work with children.

...Teacher, mother of 2....

Good things sometimes come wrapped in small packages, and this is certainly true for this concise book. It's true that there's nothing earth-shattering between the covers, but only because most people already know the validity of the author's recommendations and choose to push the information to the back of their minds in favor of the easier way out. What this book does is condense the information into seven palatable bites, so that the health of your family is served to you on a plate for easy consumption.

Wouldn't you rather order in pizza and soda after a rough day at the office instead of putting together a healthy meal, and then convincing your kids to eat it? Sure you would! However, as the author points out, the lure of a fast food diet and a sedentary lifestyle is causing fat and unhealthy kids, and as a parent, the onus is on us to try our best to do the right thing.

The seven steps are spelled out in simple language, and in a conversational style that makes for easy reading. Seeing the information all together in one place makes planning a healthier lifestyle a lot easier, even if the actual implementation will be a lot harder than it sounds.

Convincing your child to go along with it is the toughest part, but you may be surprised by their reactions. My six year old, for example, hates reading with a passion, but when he saw this book, he asked me if he could read it. Some of the recommendations will undoubtedly cause some friction at first, but if you use this book as a guide and take it gradually at a pace to suit your lifestyle, you will be able to make a start towards cutting back on the junk and inculcating good habits for eating and exercise.

Consider this as a common sense guide to healthier living for the whole family, or, in other words - everything you already knew about a healthy lifestyle, but were afraid to put into action.



Amanda Richards, November 16, 2007