Next book

MAKING SCHOOLS BETTER

HOW PARENTS AND TEACHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE TAKING ACTION--AND HOW YOU CAN, TOO

An upbeat look at a dozen schools where innovative programs are boosting academic performance and helping troubled students at the same time. Martz, a contributing editor to Newsweek, gives no quarter to the US educational system: ``Our schools are fortresses not of violence and despair, but of mediocrity.'' But his book is about hope, not blame. The experiments in these schools from Long Island to California, from high school to preschool, are templates for parents and teachers everywhere. Some, like the Fannie Mae/Woodson High School partnership in Washington, D.C.—which offers college scholarships and corporate mentors to struggling teenagers—cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Others, like a student-tutoring- student program in Texas, cost about $300 per child. What all of the programs have in common is one committed person with an idea, the eventual support of enlightened administrators and concerned parents, and a focus on the children. But most important, according to Martz, is the ``Hawthorne effect,'' by which achievement is enhanced simply because a select group of students becomes a focus of concern. Each chapter concludes with a list of guidelines that could help other schools launch their own Hawthorne-effect programs. Some of the programs discussed here have been mentioned in other, recent books on American schools (e.g., George H. Wood's Schools That Work, p. 245); the duplication reflects not on Martz's research but on the dearth of such efforts. A book full of human interest, designed to inspire more teachers and parents to take one small step for the children that could lead to a giant step for American schools.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-8129-1939-4

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992

Categories:
Next book

NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:
Next book

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

Categories:
Close Quickview