I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD. WHAT NOW? by Dr. Patricia M. Wynne

5.0 out of 5 stars I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD. WHAT NOW? by Dr. Patricia M. Wynne. Review by S. Marie Vernon, May 4, 2013 By The Write Review "S. Marie Vernon" (Jacksonville, Alabama) - See all my reviews This review is from: I'm Potty Training My Child: Proven Methods That Work (What Now?) (Paperback) I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD. WHAT NOW, is a parenting guide book written by Dr. Patricia M. Wynne. Dr. Wynne, inspired by her own two children to write this book, realized that potty training is a highly individualized process that has the potential to overwhelm even the most caring of parents. Her book is intended as a handy reference manual with important messages for parents who are about to start potty training their child. It offers all the tools and information parents need to give them complete confidence they and their child will survive potty training, and even see it as the first of many great adventures they have embarked on together. This book provides a solid foundation for potty training and places great emphases on the unique personality and needs of each child. The approach is always with the upmost love and respect throughout the process. It offers proven methods that will work. In fact, this book has been endorsed by many parents and experts in the field of child development. The major role of a parent is to teach, encourage, and support their children throughout their lives. In the young years, a parent will help them through many milestones before they reach adolescence and adulthood. The author states potty training is the first milestone that gives a child a real sense of independence. As a parent approaches this time many emotions, concerns and questions can arise. For this reason, I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD, WHAT NOW, has User-Friendly Charts, Parent-Point-of-View Quotes and Quick Tip Sections to guide the parent along. In addition, there are Chapter Overviews. These provide cross-referencing of the material, so this book can easily be read straight through or read by flipping to the particular sections that are of the most interest. This easy-to-read guide book has only nine chapters that are choc-full of vital information! Chapter Nine is a question and answer session, most helpful as it references back to previous chapters for more details. From the start, Chapter One provides Quick Summaries for each of the chapters and provides a Readiness Checklist and a Supplies Checklist for shopping convenience. Chapter Two is all about how to set a Positive Tone for the entire process and Chapter Three is about Signs of Readiness. These signs can help a parent to know about when to start the process of potty training. The middle chapters cover Pre-Training ideas and the Nuts and Bolts, or details, of the whole process. Later chapters offer Alternative Approaches, discusses Common Problems and Obstacles, and how to handle Accidents and Setbacks, as well as Special Situations in potty training. I found, author, Dr. Patricia M. Wynne's book, I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD, WHAT NOW, to be very comprehensive on this subject. It seems any parent could benefit from her first-hand experience in potty training and her extensive research from so many trained experts. This is a book mothers and fathers will want to have handy when the time comes to potty train their child. It would also be an excellent book for other caregivers who take part in a parent's journey of potty training. Even the baby sitter and grandparents might find this book very informative and fitting for today's busy times. Author, Dr. Patricia M. Wynne holds a doctorate degree in Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her interests are many and she has been published in several Journals including, Neuron, the Journal of Neuroscience, and the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Wynne offers more parenting tips on her blog at LessonLadders.com. She is also a huge fan of Sophie's Magic Underwear, by Kristin Kroha, a potty training book with wonderful illustrations by Valerie Bouthyette. Sophie is a toddler who takes the reader on an adventure as she learns not to go to the bathroom in her pants! What a wonderful support book to be used in conjunction with this excellent guide book for parents, I'M POTTY TRAINING MY CHILD. WHAT NOW?

By One Vote by Carole Eglash-Kosoff

By One Vote by Carole Eglash-Kosoff, Review by S. Marie Vernon, April 10, 2013

By

The Write Review "S. Marie Vernon" (Jacksonville, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: By One Vote (Paperback)

By One Vote is a political novel and documentary series written by expert author Carole Eglash-Kosoff. It is a story about 12 significant events in American politics where one vote altered our society, significantly, and set our nation on an entirely different course. While each generation may think it is facing the nation's worst political and economic times, By One Vote is a poignant and factual story that tells us otherwise. Through the authors detailed and elaborated accounts of history we see what she describes as "The Butterfly Effect," how one small change at one moment in time can have a large, profound and sweeping effect at a later time. We also begin to see how the political wheel of social justice turns and how it is often turned by just one vote. Written in third person narrative and often explicit first person dialogue, this book is for mature audiences. It is well researched and dedicated to the unsung heroes, the unknowns-not famous men and women of history, who changed the world by having conviction and standing up for what they believed. These people changed the world as much as Roosevelt, Lincoln or Bush.

In 1783 the War of Independence was over. Unpaid soldiers from 13 colonies defeated the 18th Century's most dominant world power, The United Kingdom. It was no contest that General George Washington would become the first President of the United States, however, establishing new rules for running a country was no easy task; even the location for a central government was highly disputed. At a New York tavern, Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris from the Federalist Party met privately with two leading Republicans, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. If Hamilton gets his financial package passed they will see that Jefferson gets the national capitol built along the Potomac River, near Virginia and Maryland. Until completed, the temporary capitol location would stay in the "City of Brotherly Love," Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The deal was sealed. Jefferson and Madison began encouraging southern states to vote for Hamilton's financial or Assumption Act and Robert Morris changed his vote for the Residency Act to pass in favor of the District of Columbia. All hinged on that one vote.

Later in the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson is running against Aaron Burr and there's a deadlock; the nation experiences its first Constitutional crisis. Jefferson meets with James Bayard and assures him he won't replace the people who have worked so hard within his party, if he is elected. Also, in a strange twist, Alexander Hamilton wants Jefferson, his long time arch enemy on the political front, to win this election. On Feb 17, 1800, James Bayard lowers his loud Federalist voice and changes his vote from Aaron Burr to blank. The deadlock is broken and Jefferson becomes President, doubling the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase and dispatching the Lewis and Clark Expedition to seek a northwest passageway to the Pacific Ocean. Aaron Burr believes Alexander Hamilton has attacked his honor. He challenges Hamilton to a duel, ultimately killing him with a bullet to his lower abdomen. The Federalist voice is greatly diminished.

In 1868, Articles of Impeachment against President Andrew Johnson were approved by the House of Representatives. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. After his assassination, Johnson took the Presidency. He reversed and vetoed many of Lincoln's legislation including the Freedman's Federal Program to help slaves and the Civil Rights Act. Johnson also fired Lincoln's popular Secretary of War. Edmund Ross would have the deciding vote on the Impeachment of Johnson. It would not come to pass because no one wanted Benjamin Wade to become the next President. Instead, General Ulysses S. Grant took the Presidency in the next election.

Almost a decade later, Rutherford B. Hayes is the Republican nominee who will continue Home Rule and ensure racial equality in the old Confederacy. Southern Democrats hate Republicans and want to end Home Rule. If elected, Samuel Tilden will destroy every multiracial institution in existence and there will be no protection for blacks; sharecropping will continue to enslave blacks as indentured servants. Justice Daniel Davis was to cast the critical vote of the Electoral Committee. When Davis realizes he no longer has independence from candidates Hayes and Tilden, he resigns. Justice Joseph Bradley is appointed to take his place and will cast his deciding vote for Hayes. Rutherford B. Hayes accepts the Presidency, but, it's bittersweet. His cabinet has convinced him he must make changes to appease the South. He accepts The Devil's Compromise. Against his belief system and moral focus he ends Home Rule and withdraws Union troops from the South. Education for the Negro and other Federal Programs disappeared completely leaving them to face decades of fear and intimidation. Their economic slavery continued well into the 20th Century.

In each chapter of this historical novel we see how the vote of one person continues to shape the lives of millions of people. The Treaty of Paris passed in 1896 by one vote, that of Senator Stephen White. The Philippine Islands, home to seven million people, would not be free for another half century and two world wars. The Filipinos were outraged; they wanted their freedom, now! Affirmative Action cases were weighted for a quarter of a century, from the 1970's to 2003. It was a period of social unrest and Justices were vexed as to the right thing to do about university admissions and job selection. Finally, social justice prevailed by one vote, that of Justice Blackman. And Sandra Day O'Connor in the year 2000, faced a complicated social issue, eventually, securing a woman's right to choose by her one vote. The Flag Protection Act of 1989 saw many court battles before becoming part of our patriotic legislation. There continues to be ongoing religious disputes about constitutional freedom of speech. And, the resentment of the Cubans residing in Florida helped place a dark horse like George W. Bush into the White House. A nation was mesmerized by the case of Elian Gonzales, an orphaned boy from Cuba seeking refuge in the United States. Democrats floundered in helping Elian so Cubans living in Florida retaliated and voted for Bush.

While author, Carole Eglash-Kosoff, has thoroughly researched and documented these 12 accounts of one vote events that changed the course of History, we can rest assured one vote continues to change the course of our nation, even now, within the Obama Administration. We've just recently seen how one vote ensured 35 million Americans medical coverage they did not previously have. We can see from these events that the American vote is here to stay and allows us a way to disagree without having to fight a war over every dispute. It allows us to resolve complex issues in a humane way as we strive to build a better society for all American citizens.

Author Carole Eglash-Kosoff, is a UCLA graduate, a teacher, a writer and a world traveler. She has three previous books to her credit and does not shy away from the tough subjects writing about the Apartheid of South Africa, War, Reconstruction in the South and Racism. Mostly she writes stories about the human spirit and hope. Her first book was titled, The Human Spirit-Apartheid's Unheralded Heroes. Then she wrote Winds of Change and When Stars Align, both stories of mixed race love. By One Vote is her fourth book destined to become a 12-part documentary series. In my opinion, this is a book for any historian or history buff as it is fact-laden and an accurate account of some of our country's most defining moments in history. This title is also well-suited for anyone who would like a down-to-earth account of our country's history and voting system, complete with how the current electoral system came into existence. By One Vote reveals to us a unique perspective of our History and shows us in detail just how important our one vote can be.

Rage Against the Dying Light

Rage Against the Dying Light

By Jan Surasky

219 pages,

Review by S. Marie Vernon for Pacific Book Review

Rage Against the Dying Light, by award winning author Jan Surasky, is a brilliantly written novel about Boudicca, Britain’s legendary warrior queen.  Boudicca led a fierce and vengeful Celtic rebellion against the Roman Empire during the first century.  While the Romans fought for greed, she fought for her country, her freedom and to avenge her young daughters violated by Roman soldiers when they swarmed her palace to overtake the Iceni kingdom.

Born an aristocrat of the Coritani Tribe, Boudicca is a princess destined to become a queen.  As a young girl she prepares for her duty.  She learns well the history, the culture and the traditions of the Celtic tribes.  She also enjoys her childhood playing Tag and Run and Hide the Boar’s Tooth with her brother. She gathers violets for Beltane, the Spring Rites Festival.  It’s her favorite festival.  She plays with friends on the beautiful countryside overlooking the Devon River that runs down to the North Sea.  Boudicca spends time among the oak trees in the Sacred Grove and ponders life, religious rites and omens.  She watches for the signs of the hare to foretell the future of the Celtic Race.  Before Boudicca was a queen, a wife, and a mother, she was a carefree princess of royal descent, loyal to her country and proud of her ancestors’ undefeated legacy and freedom.  Later on, her vengeful rebellion toward the Romans will serve to make her a monumental figure of British History.

Boudicca marries the powerful King Prasutagus of the Iceni Tribe.  They enjoy a bountiful royal life and are blessed with two daughters.  Prasutagus has formed a loose alliance with Rome as a client king who answers to them, but rules his kingdom independent of the Roman tyranny imposed on other Celtic tribes.  A century has passed since Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and attacked the Celtic mountain tribes of Germania: Boudicca’s flaming haired ancestors.  Caesar had vowed to conquer all the barbaric tribes of the British Isles.  After Tiberius, the mad Emperor, Caligula, reigned for a time then Claudius comes into power.  Claudius and the Roman Senate want to finish what Caesar started almost a hundred years ago: conquer all of Britain!  Each year more tribes fall under Roman rule as the empire expands.  Boudicca takes quiet notice.

After a long illness, Prasutagus dies and leaves half his kingdom to the Emperor of Rome and the other half to his daughters.  He believed they would be allowed to rule their kingdom and live in peace.  Prasutagus was wrong.  Little time passed before Roman soldiers overtake the palace and enslave the royal family.  Queen Boudicca is humiliated, severely beaten with a whip and her daughters are brutally raped by Roman soldiers.  It’s a vicious attack and seems a sacrilegious insult to the Iceni Tribe and their Gods.  Betrayed and outraged, Boudicca, barely recovered, declares war!  She gathers hundreds of thousands of Celtic warriors who resent oppression from Rome and no longer want to live like Roman pawns.  Their bloody rebellion lasts for months as they sack and defeat three major strongholds of Rome.  Londinium (ancient name for London), Verulamium (ancient name for St. Albans), and Camulodunum (ancient name for Colchester), are leveled and burned to the ground.  Boudicca is remembered as Britain’s first heroine, a powerful queen with flaming red hair, willing to fight to her death.

Rage Against the Dying Light is written from a Celtic view verses the traditional Roman accounts of Boudicca, unsympathetic to her cause.  In this historical fiction, Boudicca’s early years and motivations for her uprising come to vivid life winning, author Jan Surasky, the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction as acknowledged in the US Review of Books.  This sensational story will speak to anyone who enjoys history and historical fiction.  And, it will speak, especially, to those who love history’s female heroines who are awe-inspiring, in their time and in ours, as this book is all the Rage!  Jan Surasky is a seasoned author and entertainment writer who currently is writing her next novel, Back to Jerusalem.

 http://ezinearticles.com/?Rage-Against-the-Dying-Light-By-Jan-Surasky&id=7491848http://www.amazon.com/Rage-Against-Dying-Light-Surasky/dp/0578051117#reader_0578051117