There's no barbie on a broom on the cover of this book!
584665
It is very rare in the current market that an author will follow the first book with anything other than a rehash of the first, and this book is one of those rareties.
This book builds upon its inspirational predecessor (In The Circle), introducing new concepts to the reader whilst furthering the ideas presented in the first guide.  This book clearly demonstrates that Elen has both the knowledge of her chosen subjects & the ability to present it in an easy to understand manner.  She also seems to be able to finish off all of this by writing in a beautifully inspiring manner, in which an hour of reading can seem like minutes!  It is quite clear from the outset that this author has actually put some thought into her book.
This book covers many areas, including the elementsm, chakras, meditation, visualisation, the moon, festivals, sacred space, ritual, magic & divination.  However, there are three chapters that really stand out in all of this.
The first is the chapter on the elements.  I don't know how many times I've despaired at the complete lack of information that is conveyed on this topic, but this book has answered that prayer.  The elements are discussed one by one (including Spirit), relating the physical qualities to their esoteric symbolism and giving plenty of ideas that will help an alignment with these powerful forces.
The second is the chapter on the chakras.  I must admit I already had an understanding of the chakras as I work with them a lot & have studied them profusely.  However, the one thing that sets this apart from other information is the way that Elen has clearly thought about the way they fit in with witchcraft and our beliefs, not merely trying to jam an eastern concept into a western belief system.
The last section of special mention is that on the festivals & the moon.  Although these are covered in the first book, here they are expanded upon, clearly demonstrating the ways in which both the moon phases & the festivals can be worked with to enable personal development, as well as the ways in which they can be utilised in magic.
Elen has also avoided the pitfall of so many authors who attempt to write guides on this spiritual path, in that in no way does it become a dull lifeless technical textbook.  Throughout this book Elen manages to weave information and exercises together in a poetic, almost lyrical, fashion.  The result of this are down to earth ways by which one can fit the craft into daily life, and the most vital part, the inspiration that drives you to stop reading about it & start doing it.
4064030
I was given a copy of this edition in 1988, when I was twelve. Since I recently bought a Kindle collection containing almost all the books in the series, I figured it was probably time to let the old copy go. As with all my old books, I typed the ISBN into Amazon because you never know if you have something rare. I was shocked to see all the negative reviews of this version based on the cover.

For the record, the cover of my version (which is a dust jacket) is a painting of Anne with dark reddish hair. I always thought of it as pretty unattractive, and in fact I remember it was some time before I actually read the book based solely on that factor. I just wanted to add this here so folks know that if you buy an old, used copy of this book, you might not get the awful cover.

Although the cover image on Amazon has obviously been changed since most of these reviews, a Google image search revealed what everyone was talking about. What an absolute travesty of an image for these books. I can see why people were so upset.
3931118
This is only the book! No where did the seller state this! I feel ripped off and had to go elsewhere and pay again to actually get the doll! The book wasn't even binded together when I got it. I picked it up and pages fell out!!! This seller shoul be BANNED!
819213
I confess, the green polka-dot dress on the cover, as well as the catchy title, were what caught my eye. The description on the inside flap reminded me of two other books from my childhood; Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade and Blubber, which are both about bullying of obese girls. This story was supposed to be written by a Missouri fourth-grade girl for English class. Laney and her family were portrayed as very "countrified"; their language, the brief descriptions of their poor living conditions, etc., make them appear very "hillbillyish". The characters are not very well developed. No back story is given, except for a brief statement about the mother "running away" and a mention of her picture hidden in a drawer. No explanation is given for the behavior of the three brothers toward Laney; they have almost no interaction  with her except for teenage bullying. The only time the father pays attention to his children is when one of the boys gets into trouble. The problem is not detailed, and hints about abuse are present. Laney is so afraid that certain phrases in this story will "get the book burned" by her family that she actually changes some of her writing. Laney makes a secret list of nouns and verbs and it includes fear, hit, hit back, cursed, etc. She also mentions her father's drinking habits; these are simply accepted, not explained. I admire Lara. She seems like a sweet girl who has been raised by responsible parents, as far as her personality, manners, and intelligence. She follows the Golden Rule, almost to a fault as she is bullied more and more cruelly about her weight. No explanation is given for her obesity; not even overeating is portrayed as the problem. Her parents show up only once at school, angry and determined to take Lara to a private school, because of the diabolical trick the the children play on her. It  REALLY bothered me that everyone was oblivious to the constant bullying until the pranksters pulled their stunt, even the adults who were at play rehearsal every day. Also, the students involved get a dressing-down from the principal, but no punishment, not even cleaning up their mess!
My overall reaction: this book left me with an "empty" feeling, largely due to the lack of background stories for the characters. I thought it very sad that the most memorable scene is that of Lara's great humiliation. I was surprised that I did not enjoy the author's writing, because I read The Secrets of Tree Taylor by D.D. Mackall and loved it.
4109021
I give this book one star for having a nice cover and being written in English.  From there, it goes downhill.  The book's main premise - female detective masquerading as lady's maid - is absurd.  Her accent alone would have given her away, and that is not something that can be convincingly faked.  If it were possible to learn to be a lady's maid in one or two days, every scullery maid would have done it.  No middle class Englishwoman would be able to pull this off.  Then there are the mannerisms.  And the lack of work-hardened hands.  And on and on.  I simply could not get very far into this book, for those reasons.
1511021
The instructions in the nook are for very rudimentary flowers not at all like the cover. No thirty in advertising. I believed that the book would progress to the Iris pictures on the cover but it does not. If I could have given this a zero I would have done so.

Hopefully I can receive a reimbursement.
791107
This book has no content. Cover and right to the end. I enjoyed the other books which I why I didn't penalize the author with a 1 star review, but what gives? How can I read the book I bought if it has no content???
1413707
This book is not worth one star but I had to give it a rating.  See the cover...That's it.!!!!  The entire book shows those elements and expresses how the author works very fast and apparently just as sloppy.  There are no new ideas here and the designs are practically the same throughout the whole book that are also exactly like the cover.  HUGE WASTE OF MONEY.  TO THINK I HAD THIS ON PRE ORDER AND WAITED FOR IT. ???  WHAT A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY.  I WISH I COULD RETURN IT.
4068343
Never judge a book by its cover...
I made the mistake of purchasing this book because of the cover and that was probably the only thing good about it.

It was full of cliche's and about finding faith (which I believe was a cover up for an unfulfilled woman) especially with all the diary entries. Really? Do I care that you wanted Cheesecake for breakfast?

Cloris Larue's writing style at best is comparable to a high school student trying make it through English class. It is a simplistic mixture of fluff and garbage. After reading this book, I feel that the author needs to re-evaluate her faith. She uses the acronym H.O.P.E. which clearly stands for Hustling Other People Evidently. I only H.O.P.E. you don't waste the [...] plus shipping like I did. --Reviewers Unlimited
3516988
I can only say how tremendously disappointed I was by this book!  My son adores the Dangerous Book for Boys and I had high hopes that this book might rival it for my daughter.  If one's only hopes for "daring" must entail tangling with the occult, it is a sad day for young girls everywhere!  The book encourages girls to read tarot, play "Bloody Mary", and venture into other avenues of the occult.  Somehow they managed to intersperse a few bits of fun with the objectionable material - we clipped out the section on hand jives before ripping off the cover and recycling the book.  So disappointing!
4510108
This book is written for the one in a million doll. It doesnt list any common dolls, or any remarkable dolls. It does not even list home run dolls. It lists grand slam in the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the world series dolls. You have about as much chance of marrying Tom Sellack as you will finding any doll in this book. I was hoping it may even be educational but it isnt. Its rather pompous and I will not read anything the author writes and don't care to hear how smart she is. I am looking for a real persons Doll Bible...any suggestions?
4395738
OK, I am on a crusade here. When Amazon says 'search inside this book' I hope to see  the kinds of kites the book teaches how to make. Instead, they are (as they couldn't and wouldn't be in a bookstore or library) blanked out, although some pages showing construction methods are actually, inexplicably visible!

Since art and craft books are really all about appearances, I've decided not to buy books that don't show what things look like. I can understand why they don't want to show details of how the kites are MADE - although that wouldn't be possible in a library or bookstore either.

Get a clue, folks! I - and many others - actually browse books - unfettered and unremarked in real bookstores - before buying them. And then, if we like them, we buy them.

I don't expect anyone to put the entire book online. Certainly not the diagrams and instructions! But craft books are eye candy and we really ought to be able to see what we are buying.
4314081
I noticed that the picture and title said "activity book", but the product description and reviews all talked about the "Room on the Broom" story, so I figured it was the story, plus activity book stuff. WRONG! There is no story at all, just stickers, puzzles, etc.  Unfortunately, my little one started playing with it before I figured it out, so now I have to keep it.  Wish I knew a way to get Amazon to fix this description.

I'm sure it would be fun to use, but since we haven't read the story yet, not so much. On another note, I absolutely love Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and so do my kids. Great rhymes, a good message, and beautiful illustrations.
3144049
This book is terrible. Definitely merits zero stars. My daughter had me read it to her in a bookstore so, thankfully, I didn't spend a dime on it. It's like the thought process behind whoever wrote this was,"let's take part of "The Little Mermaid", "Sleeping Beauty" (she gets taken away from her parents as a baby for protection) and "Cinderella",  throw in some weird supporting characters, something shiny, of course, so it has maximum appeal to little girls, and see how much we can exploit parents for by slapping the name "Barbie" on it.
Don't waste your money. There are so many really good children's books out there.
666602
A beautiful cover is quite deceptive when it comes to this volume. A prelude to the video game (clearly a bad sign), this is a five-issue storyline that is targeted to ADD children who are unfamiliar with the villains of the Batman universe. This volume is a waste of time for anyone older. The artwork by Carlos D'Anda is over-stylized in the manner that has oddly afflicted the comics industry in recent years. It's all very polished, of course, I just don't like the look.

I usually like stories where Batman narrates his detective work to the reader. But since this book is carefully written as a Prelude, nothing happens to anyone, there's no point to it whatsoever. Then why buy it? You've been forewarned.

Putting this book in hardcover was overkill. "The Lead-in to the highly anticipated video game!" is on the cover, and should have stopped me there. Go buy something like the Arkham City calendar if you want something beyond the video game.  If you want to see something recent and interesting from the Batman library, get "The Bat and the Beast" or "Streets of Gotham Hush Money". (I give this book an extra star for the pretty dust cover.)
976610
This was purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband, and I'd love to be able to review it. However, when he started reading the book, he realized very quickly it had nothing to to with the cover!

It turns out Princeton's printer had placed this cover on the text of a different book - one on economics by a different author with the same surname. I've had to send the book back. I've never seen anything like this before. You would think someone would have double-checked the production run.

I'm not sure if all of Amazon's copies of this book have the same problem, but they might want to examine their stock!
2064193
This book hit on every stereotype and clich!  In fact, I was bracing myself for the old ice-cream joke: a white kid says to a black kid, "I'll bet you like chocolate!" But fortunately, Jodi restrained herself.  In a nutshell, the book just OOZED white, female, liberalism; it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it was ghost-written by Hillary Clinton!  And it's been a while since I've a read a book that required such absolute "suspension of disbelief" -  as other readers have observed, the original premise of the book is beyond bizarre, especially for 2015, in New Haven, Conn.  I'm having a tough time deciding which group the book was most insulting to: men, women, whites, blacks, lawyers, nurses...?  Okay; it's probably most insulting to women. Jodi's portrayal of a maternity ward is ludicrous; women howling and screaming and upset that they can't do their make-up!  I even wondered if Jodi herself had ever had kids.  Hey Jodi: hate to tell you, but having a baby, while certainly miraculous, is actually not such a big deal - roughly half the human race experiences childbirth.  The good news is I got the book from the library, so didn't have to pay for it.  The bad news is my book group will be discussing it soon, and I can't think of anything "nice" to say about this book.