Another example of why not to trust the pictures and ...
924211
Another example of why not to trust the pictures and advertising! This was about as small, cheaply made and as far from the pictures as you can get. The Dollar Stores could carry it!
2181046
Why would the writer of a "complete history" and a "work of non-fiction" about Kalaupapa and the history of leprosy in Hawaii choose a photo of the Amalfi Coast in Italy as its cover?  This is indicative of the accuracy of the entire book.  There are errors in fact as well as in speculation, of which there is a great deal.  Documentation of many key events is poor, confusing or non-existent.  In addition, Mr. Tayman's frequent use of the term "leper" is encouraging current-day use of this highly objectionable term.  Readers should know that those of us who have spent years researching the history of leprosy in Hawaii and worked with Kalaupapa National Historical Park and the residents of Kalaupapa on developing educational materials, have serious concerns about this book, having found numerous inaccuracies and significant omissions of the important role of key figures, notably the Hawaiian Royal Family and Mother Marianne Cope and the Sisters of St. Francis who have consistently worked at Kalaupapa since 1888.  With the exception of the end of the book that talks about four of the remaining residents of Kalaupapa (three of whom asked to be removed from the book because of its overall sensationalism), the book focuses largely on the perspectives of Caucasian men, at the expense of many outstanding women and the Hawaiian people and their families, for whom great love was always more important than fear.
3082357
Another day, another discovery of someone trying to make a profit off the intellectual property of others. My review for most of these books, when I find them, and when I bother, is mostly the same.  Why? Because with the exception of the titles, and WHICH pictures and sentences they skimmed from the internet, the books are all exactly the same.

I discovered this "book" when it was listed, along with fifty other books by the same author (although some of the books list a different author on the inside) as a free resource for homeschooling. I am both a homeschooling mom and a former elementary school teacher with a Master's degree in Literacy, so I'm always interested to see what's out there.

This book (and all the other ones in the "series") is nothing more than a collection of pictures skimmed from the internet. Typing "jellyfish" into Google images turns up most of the pictures in this book very quickly, coming from a large variety of websites. The vast majority of pictures in this book are probably being used illegally with no compensation for the owners of the images. (In any case, there are no statements in the book giving credit to the owners of the pictures used, or showing permissions for using them.)

Underneath each picture is a random fact about jellyfish. They are not organized in any fashion, and most of them are unrelated to any other information in the book. They are also NOT at a reading level appropriate for early readers, despite the "FOR KIDS! LEARN TO READ!" advertisement on the cover.

I suspect these are copied and pasted from somewhere, but I didn't search to find out where. Someone else on a review of one of the books found most of the sentences on Wikipedia.

There is no table of contents or any other non-fiction feature you'd want in a children's research book. There is no listing of sources where the facts were obtained.

My guess is that these books were copied and pasted together quickly by someone hoping to make a quick dollar off of unsuspecting consumers. (While this book was free when I purchased it, there were MANY books built exactly the same way that had a price tag attached, and I'm sure this book will not always be free.)
3914029
PEOPLE WHO BUY THIS BOOK NEED TO REALIZE THEY ARE PROMOTING THE IRRESPONSIBLE USE OF THESE PHOTOS!  THESE VICTIMS HAVE CHILDREN IN THE WORLD THAT ARE FORCED TO VIEW THESE VILE PICS OF THEIR MURDERED PARENTS THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES EVERY TIME A BOOK LIKE THIS COMES OUT! THIS IS A VERY SAD TRAUMATIC THING TO HAVE TO LIVE WITH AND PEOPLE LIKE THIS AUTHER, PETER LANCE, HAVE NO MORALE AND NEED TO THINK BEFORE THEY ACT IN THIS WORLD!
SOME PEOPLE WANT TO BE WISE AND SAY THE CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE TO READ THE BOOKS, BUT HOW DOES ONE NOT HAVE CURIOSITY TO READ ABOUT SOMEONE THEY LOVED AND LOST AT SUCH YOUNG AGES?  SERIOUSLY EFFED UP!!!!  THERE SHOULD BE LAWS AGAINST THIS AS THERE ARE LAWS AGAINST SNUFF PICS AND VIDEOS!!!!!!
881299
Don't be fooled by imitations! This image was stolen from an independent designer who is being ripped off by these large import companies that steal their designs from the internet and sell cheap copies. Very often, the quality of the product is sub-par and most of the time the actual printing is blurry because the image was a low resolution image lifted from the internet. By purchasing from companies like this you are supporting corporate greed and putting small businesses in jeopardy!
4295294
Only buy this if you're OK with the pictures being in black-and-white.
4265376
The reviews said it was enamel so i get that. But it also showed that the right was far more detailed. It really appears that the ring has the images painted on, and because of the way it is done the graphics look distorted and basic.  So far it hasn't scratched, but i am not confident anymore. I feel like the seller knowingly decieved me with the images. Then to have "Customer Images" that were in bad light as well.  I will not buy or recommend this product.
3582159
Very diappointing. This book was advertised and reviewed giving one the impression of it as being a master piece of nude child photography as well as an excellent depiction of childhood. To me the word childhood brings forth connotations if innocence and joyous abandon. Only two photos in this book contain so much as a smile, those being " The Easter Dress" (cute) and the other being " Jessie and the deer" which depicts a very little girl standing next to a dead deer with it's throat cut in the back of a truck (not cute).
 All of the rest of the photos contain blank facial expressions if not down right frowns. Sally Mann's "models" at times appear to be unwilling participants of her work. " The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude,1987" is one such example, however, it does very well capture his little boy charm. He may have by the way been nude for the photographer, but not for the camera as he is submerged from the waist down in the river.
 The facial expressions in many of these pictures remind me of those I have seen from the Great Depression Era or those from Third World Countries rather than life in everyday America. "Virginia at 3" and "The Wet Bed" do effectively visualize that innocence we look for in childhood pictures whether clothed or not.
 There were by my count only 15 nudes out of 65 photos unless you count little girls of ages 3-9 with no shirts on as nudes. There was only one nude shot of Emmett, an intentional genital shot, with melted popsicle smeared over his lower abdomen and thighs. This shot doesn't even have a face. This was not a picture of her son who just happened to be nude, but a picture of his private parts with something smeared all over him. This is what she calls art???
 All I can say is it's a good thing that there's not a satisfaction guarantee with this book.
1406788
I like the shirt but the example pictures are deceptive. The shirts with the tears in them show white fabric behind them and in real life the product does not, so it exposes skin, and they run VERY small and slim. I am returning.
4625999
While the majority of this book looks great, it is dragged down by very poor reproduction on several of the images. I understand and appreciate that doing a complete monograph of a particular artist with a large output can be daunting. There is no excuse, however, for the poorly photographed images that were used for some of the paintings. I have been an amateur photographer for over 20 years and I can say with great confidence that a cheap "point-and-shoot" camera had to have been used on at least a few of the paintings. Poor color quality, washed out areas caused by the flash, bad lighting, extremely grainy images. This is basic photography 101. Some of these problems could have been taken care of with photo manipulation software as well. This does not appear to have been employed either. I know that some of the same paintings are reproduced in other art books in much better quality, so good photos do exist. I do, however, give it the benefit of the doubt in my rating, for the rest of the book. If not for poor quality control this would be highly recommended.
3442114
As a former resident of Newport, I'm familiar with many locations listed in this book. As a pictorial book, this one misses the mark. The photography is bad, and the lighting is glaringly terrible. Some locations, such as the Slocum estate, are ruined by lighting so yellow that colors are distorted. Another odd thing is the way the photographer loves floors. The photograph of the entry inside Marble House, for example, devotes approximately 50% of it's space to the floor. The photographer does this many times. Look at the cover of the book. Have you ever seen a photo of The Breakers like this? The floor of the patio takes up 50% of the photo. The house itself?............not even 25% of the cover. Odd, to me at least.
4276212
I am an avid reader of true crime books, but this book reminded me too much of another book dealing with shocking claims-- Lauren Stratford's " Satan's Underground"-- and that book was revealed to be full of lies. I do not trust this " recovered memory" syndrome as to accuracy to the truth and while I do not know of this person other than what was described in the book, certain claims seem conviently no longer verifiable while some other claims, such as her alleged births of some bablies , can be revealed even with the hysterectomy ( the pelvic bone). While I have no doubt that severe sexual and physical abuse does happen, the authors seem to say trust us, we are telling the truth, without providing legit corroborative evidence. The descriptions of some acts are suspiciously too vivid, as is her claim she remembers being raped while still an infant. The claim of the LAPD being corrupt so they will not reveal the files sounds like an excuse to avoid possible information that may contradict the claims. It is POSSIBLE she is telling SOME Of the truth, but I would need more actual proof that validates her claims before I actually believe her. It just doesn't fit.
3463167
Wanting to return, again company is wanting a photo of what is wrong, how do you take a photo of what you don't like, have no way of taking a photo
4300041
When buying from Amazon, one relies on the pictures to see what the item is really like.  In this case the pictures showed a stitched border around the screen, and the one I received did not have this...and the texture of the faux leather was not at all the same.  The one I received began to chip and come apart around the frame... which, considering how carefully I treat my things, is absurd.  I am sending it back.  Amazon graciously refunded my money...which will go toward another attempted purchase.  Hopefully the next one will match the pics!  Don't bother with this case.
993982
Although I'm going to keep this book because of its historical significance, the pictures that were posted were not accurate at all. From what I can see, it isn't even a picture of the same book.
1153917
When I looked at this product, the picture provided by the seller didn't look too great. However, the customer images looked fantastic. So, based upon the customer images and comments, I took a chance and ordered it; I was hoping that the seller had used a stock image or something.  What I received was exactly what the seller image looks like. Either the seller WAS selling some great looking books, and then stopped for some reason, or those reviews and pictures are fake and are just used as a way to get people to purchase this. Based upon the dates of the comments, I would say its the latter and this is simply a clever way to get around false advertising claims. Technically the seller never put those images and comments up, so they are not lying. Realistically, I wouldn't even be mad if it wasn't for those clearly fabricated comments and pictures. I will attach the real pictures of the product you will receive if you order this. If you are looking for small paperback journal almost completely devoid of pictures and quotes (there are three quotes and the first two pages have some weird, hastily scrawled pictures that look like a 3rd grader drew them), then this is for you. If you are looking for a prop, a piece to a costume, something cool, something worth any amount of money at all... then this is not for you.
4691335
Majority of the photos in this book are taken in 3rd-world countries.  In my opinion, these photos stand out, not because they are meaningful or full of vision, but because they are different.  Anyone who came from a similar background would immediately recognize certain photos as blank stares by weathered, aged, and wrinkled people.  They are different and might evoke certain emotions from people who are so far removed from certain parts of the world.  Local photographers with vision and understanding take far more interesting and emotional photos of the same people.  The author's style of photography would have never stood out had the subjects been in North America or Europe.

  The author repeatedly painted himself as a respectable worldly photographer with vision and humility.  However, below are his own words:
  "She (a Hindu woman) graciously allowed me to photograph her for five minutes, then invited me in for chai.  Fearful that she'd marry me off to her daughter, I declined.  In retrospect, I wish I'd accepted(the chia, not the daughter)."

  I find this statement utterly degrading and demeaning to a different culture.  The author effectively took the photo for his own benefit, and smeared an entire population sector with his insensitive and presumptuous words.

  Overall, I find this book self-promoting and un-interesting.  Then again, the author's got Joe McNally for foreword, Vincent Versace for afterword, and Scott Kelby for a few words.

  Sigh!