Can't think of anything off-hand that deals with saying "Please" and "Thank you" and "No, don't scratch there . . . or there" "No spitting, biting your Sister, answering back, showing off" etc Would Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman, with many translations available, be too scarey? I remember listening to them at school and being disturbed by the finger-cutting-off one! Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales are wonderful and even small children will enjoy memorising them. No doubt you will send me a polite response . . . Here is a link that might be useful: The Chief Defect of Henry King

we needed shelving in our current library/office and it already had white wainscoting and crown molding--- I didn't want white built in shelving in the library and didn't want to redo the trim,etc that was already here so we bought a couple of the RH Parisian open shelving units. they were much less expensive than builtins would have been and they look nice and are sturdy. I looked at the French library shelves and didn't like them as much in person as I thought and the foot bar is really only about 6-7" or so off the floor, so not much of a boost in height... originally I decided I wanted the the atkins quad tall shelves(option #3 style) but found out that we wouldn't be able to fit it through any of our doors!

Karin, It seemed like one page did just show the index (or just parts) but the other had the whole newsletter once you clicked on it. On that page, click on the photos and make Facebook full page. It works okay, not exactly my favorite method. Lauren Whitaker from Maryland (and Violet Voice) has an article in it. I haven't read it yet but it does look like there's some good stuff in there. Can we make a Facebook page for people who hate Facebook ? ;) Joanne, There were numerous versions of Helen Van Pelt Wilson's book. They kept updating it. The one I borrow in ebook form from openlibrary.org (free!) is the first one - 1948. Yes, it's very old but it's interesting. They have a second version there and I don't like that one. To give a little perspective on this book, there were no variegated violets (at least not stable ones in production), no stick-tites, no double pinks, at least no registered or widely known stars and everyone wanted violets! Montague Free's book (1949 although it was also updated a number of times) is less chatty but he was a horticulturist at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and his book has b/w photos which makes them contemporary vs. the charming yet less useful drawings in the Van Pelt Wilson book. A slightly later version of his book had tinted drawings and I let it go. Should have kept it, I guess. However, they are available quite reasonably as these were book club books. AND, on a current note, I forgot "Grow to Show" by Pauline Bartholomew. I don't have a copy now but I keep seeing it recommended and I remember working with it (never even tried to show) so I do believe there's good info in that one. It has been updated from my old one too. I remember she showed you how they growed in 3's and which to remove and I about went nuts. However when "Annie" on the podcasts was doing it, I knew which to take off so I guess I learned something there. (I think maybe my problem is that they only kind of grow in threes. When they come up, you get two. I believe my idea would have been you'd get three, then three, etc. and that would have been far easier to grasp. :) I daresay my system might produce a strange plant though. Easy groomer. Diana in PA

First, there is no guarantee that a book you find helpful for IDing plants will be equally as helpful when it comes to how to care for plants. In almost every case, books with 'care instructions' are going to assume you're using an off the shelf soil based almost entirely on very fine particles, like peat, coir, sand, compost, composted soil products ....., which means the advice offered will take for granted you'll be using a very water-retentive soil. A large share of these types of books are published by a "vanity Press" and are written by folks who really aren't capable of producing a book that will do much in the way of advancing your capabilities. A book you would be able to label as "good" would offer instructions re how to deal with excessive water retention or how to eliminate that malady from a soil's list of negative physical traits. Those books are few and far between, and you'll pay a good price for them, new. Virtually all the important information contained in that type of book is available at this forum and the container gardening forum. The largest single step forward you'll take as a container gardener is gaining an understanding of how water behaves in soils, and how to structure soils so they are not excessively water-retentive. Easily 90% of the problems that bring people to fora related to container gardening in search of remedial help are directly related to the effects of poor root health brought on by a less than ideal soil choice and in many cases a hand too heavy on the watering can. Books that will decrease the time it takes for you to arrive at 'green thumb status' will be books about soil science and physiology (how plants work). Brian Capon's Botany for Gardeners would be a good starting point w/o breaking the bank. For soil science, you might try Plant Production in Containers II by C E Whitcomb PhD or the Ball book Water, Media, and Nutrition for Greenhouse Crops. You should be able to find all three used and in good condition for much less than they would cost new. Al