1. ISBN13: 9781423117001
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
4. Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Editorial Review :

Customer Review :

Very Helpful

I have visited Disney World numerous times since 1994. Each year I purchase this guide as I have found it most helpful in getting around the park. It covers new attractions and shows that I might have otherwise miss!! Each time someone ask me about vacationing in Disney World, I tell them this is the ONLY book they really need!!!

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Great informatin

I buy this book every year that we go to Disney. Would not go without it. Very detailed.

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Great Insider tips

This book offers great insider tips and tricks to navigate the Disney World parks. We found it to be extremely useful and will be getting a new one with each of our trips to Disney!

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Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2010

Wonderfully helpful book for anyone planning a vacation to Walt Disney World. The book was recommended to me by someone who had the 1999 edition. This was updated for the current year and has been most helpful in planning my vacation...especially from a financial point of view!

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Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2010


Good book. Lots of information, very easy to read and follow. When finished you will be excited for you vacation to come and confidence that you will be able to see as much as your time allows. Attractions are covered, shopping, dining, as well as activities out side of the parks (golf). Very helpful if your going for the first time or if it has been a while since you last visited.

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1. ISBN13: 9780470474051
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Review :

Nice Book For Adults Too

This book has a pretty comprehenisve list of great, educational things to do all around the world.... and there lies the problem. Not too many American families with kids are going to be traveling to the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Louvre in Paris, or Vatican City. It might have been more realistic to concentrate more on domestic car trips and less expensive things to do. Or maybe re-title the book, 500 places to take yourself before you die.

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Dumbed down new edition with fewer places to visit

I was excited to see a new edition, although hesitant since I thoroughly enjoyed the first edition and even used it to plan a few trips to Arizona and Texas. Yes, some of the places were unrealistic, and no, I don't plan any trips to China, but the stuff in the US was pretty good. With the new edition, they took out 44 sights and only added 39 new ones (yes, I actually counted). They did some funky splitting of previously mentioned sights to get to their magic "500" number. As an example, in the old edition, London got a single mention with various sights included in the text. This time around they split that section into FOUR different "must-sees". VT got totally shafted and with the exception of the Geffrye Museum in England, all of the places dropped were in the US.

So what did they add? Lots of Australia and New Zealand sights, plus Europe and Asia. I'm all for a less US-centric approach, but some of the stuff they added was stupid- it's more important to ride the Tokyo monorail than visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis??? Or how about Luna Park in Australia versus the National Zoo?? (Although, to their credit, they did add the Giant Panda of Wolong in China if you want to see them).

I also completely hated the layout of seven great views, parks, etc. They dropped tons of information and extras. In the previous edition, they had a section on cities to visit with a selection of highlights in the city. In the new version, Paris got dumbed down to the Eiffel Tower "for a great view". I agree, but there's more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower. It was the same with the other cities. I'm sticking with my old version and using my new book for a paperweight.

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Family Travel in the United States and Around the World

I like to travel and since I have two young kids, I try to keep vacation trips within the confines of what I think will interest them- at least for part of the trip, anyway. Given this desire, it make sense that I purchased and utilize Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. This guide offers 500 different travel destinations for kids of all ages, including both domestic and international travel options.

This book is organized based on the type of attraction and as you browse through this guide, you will quickly realize that there isn't any particular order to the destinations and some will be further surprised by the selections themselves and the omissions. The entries are not listed from best to worst; alphabetically; by size; or anything else. They are random, based on type of attraction. Some of the more popular world wonders, like the Grand Canyon, Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower, etc., are included, as they should be. But there are some popular places that are excluded, along with some unusual selections that will have some travelers puzzled, such as the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania or the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. These are not exactly top tourist attractions and there are certainly many more popular natural attractions that could have replaced them. But the guide included them anyway, most likely to provide balance and diversity.

500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up is a reference guide, but the writing is a little different from the straight- forward, factual type of material you find in almanacs and other guides. The writing in this guide is friendlier, with most of it written in second person and, of course, written with children in mind (it also includes a recommended age, for each attraction). The book's authors mention children in most every entry and they point out specific areas of different attractions that children will enjoy most. The majority of places included in this guide will appeal to adults also, so even if you are childless, you will like the destinations included in this reference guide.

This guide isn't sorted geographically, but there is a geographic index along with many useful maps to help you locate a destination more quickly. By checking the United States map, for example, the avid family traveler can quickly find out which destinations are located in his/her local vicinity. This is very helpful, but there is one limitation of the map: It lists only the names of the cities that include a destination listed somewhere in the book. The map doesn't include the name of the actual attraction, so it only serves as a cross- reference to the adventures within.

Travel is my favorite activity and Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up is a fun, informative guide to family- friendly travel destinations around the United States and the world. It will take time to get through all five- hundred places with my kids, but we will certainly have a fun time trying as we seek out new family adventures and learning experiences, courtesy of Frommers.




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Take the kids along

Overall, this is a decent, but not great travel guide. For example, I would agree with the two Oregon entries, Crater Lake and the Snake River canyon are great trips for kids, but would argue in the case of the Snake, there are more accessible rafting trips that kids would love in the state, most notably the Deschutes or the Rogue Rivers. The entries for each destination were short and informative; perhaps too much so. I would have rather seen less destinations and more detail

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Good Companion for Trip Planners

Overall, this is not bad and could serve as a useful guide to those parents who, like me, are attempting to show the kids some of "what's out there" before they go to college and in between video games, sports, school and the other attractions that occupy the minds of our young.

I liked the format on each of the 500 places. The summaries are about as thorough as they could possibly be on one page (small type warning). I found each entry gave enough of a flavor to allow you to explore those that are intriguing in further detail.

The only gripe, and it is minor, is that the places are organized around themes. So you have chapters on the likes or "water recreation" and "historic homes" and "battlefields". In each chapter you'll ricochet around the world from Verdun to Gettysburg to Fort Ticonderoga and back across the water to Ypres. Hardly helpful for a RV oriented trip. The alternative would have been a geographic organization, which might have been easier to meet the needs of most of us who travel. I get why they did a theme oriented organization and that works too, but at the cost of some convenience.

On the whole, this is a useful companion for world travelers who want to see natural and man-made wonders.

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1. ISBN13: 9781598801880
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
4. Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Editorial Review :

Customer Review :

Very helpful

This will be very helpful on my trip to Italy in April....altho I know Italian, there are some things I don't remember.....

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useful

I like that this book has phrases that you might not think that you will need. it categorizes phrases by subjects which helps when youre in a rush (food, greetings etc)

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Not that good

I'm going to have to break with other reviewers here, and give my less-than-stellar review of this book. We purchased this before we left for our European trip to Paris and 3 cities in Italy. We also purchased the French book by Steve's. Before we left we thought we'd found the perfect book with the perfect phrases, although they were harder to find due to the way he lays out the book. But after much research we settled on these books and were happy....until we had to use them in France and Italy. I quickly discovered that although the book had helped with pronunciation, almost none of the words we needed were in the dictionary in the back, nor could we find simple words or phrases in the proper sections of travel and dining, that we found in real life situations. This was very disappointing, first in France then in Italy. I quickly went to Google translator, put in all the phrases I needed but did not find in the book, and wrote them all down. This helped tremendously. I also searched for words that weren't in the dictionary and wrote them down, as well. Almost every night I did this as we encountered new circumstances that the book didn't have anything helpful for. Also, when you're in the moment and you need something, trying to find first the section which seems haphazardly placed in the book, then the area of the section where the phrases are located, then go down the list for the correct phrase, is time consuming of time you don't have, and frustrating when after all that time you don't find what you need. Meanwhile the person you're trying to speak to is just staring at you. Things worked much better when I whipped out my handwritten phrases and asked my direct question. Just remember that you probably won't understand what their answer is unless it's a simple yes or no.

After this trip my advise is to borrow basic language books from the library, type out what you need and get a good pocket dictionary if you need, something with substance which this dictionary is not. Use Google translator for the most used phrases you think you'll need and go from there. Save your money on this book.

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Italian phrase book

Was so well taken care of by tour director that I didnt need to use this book, but enjoyed reading it. Left it with tour director.

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Just love everything Rick Steves publishes!

Haven't been to italy since we bought this but reading it allevietes any fears of "language barriers". Looking forward to using it.

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Editorial Review :

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Customer Review :

I'm addicted to stories like this

I love to read about the daily living of people in history. I don't know what it is that drags me to it every single time. I liked this story alot.

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a great read

Very enjoyable! You can't beat a first person report of traveling through Indian territory! The descriptions of the perils of the journey plus first hand experiences in dealing with the native population make you feel as if you are there, sitting in the teepee, watching as an Indian woman kills and cooks a puppy because you are an honored guest. Great descriptive writing; blood, guts, wildflowers, horses, sunsets, and the beautiful, healthy forms of our Native Americans while they were still free.

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Pioneer Historian

As a young college student, Francis Parkman, the later noted historian of the early West, goes to the land of the Lakotas and experiences their life. This is a personal history of the travels of the author through the lands of the Lakota before the great American westward expansion. Tales of Indian life and their "wars" with each other. Also tells first hand of the author's maturation in this environment. Should be required reading for any "lover of the wild west" because "This Was The It Was".

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Very Interesting

There are a great many things about Native American life on the plains that I did not realize before reading this narrative. The level of warfare for instance. I wonder if this was heightend at that time related to population pressures from the east ( other tribes and whites ) Anyway, the writer tells an amazing tale of risk and daring while describing the lives of the natives- and we find out some things about the attitudes of the newcomers also. Keeps moving along-- no slow spots.

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1. ISBN13: 9780767919371
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Review :

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid."

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

Customer Review :

It got me through

I read this book after receiving some devastating personal news. I grew up at a later time than Mr. Bryson, and in a different part of the country, but I found myself laughing hysterically and relating very well to his accounts of growing up in America. I loved his bits of factual information providing references of where he was and what was going on around him. I consider this book ingeniously funny, and I smile just looking at the cover. It was a life saver for me.

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Fantastic story about 50'

After reading his first bestselling books, I decided to read other Brysons' books as well. This was third book of Bryson, which I read. And once again Bryson has very interesting and funny story for readers. Interesting to read how world was seen with child's eyes in 50' and what happened in the world, when Bryson was small kid.

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funny book, educational

The 1950s were a different time in America. TV was new on the scene, and so was the threat of nuclear annialation. All this is put in hilarious perspective by Mr. Bryson.

One thing does concern me. Did Bryson get exposed to nuclear fallout from the testing in Nevada:

"The Sedan shot resulted in a radioactive cloud that separated into two plumes, rising to 3 km (10,000 ft.) and 4.9 km (16,000 ft.) The two plumes headed northeast and then east in roughly parallel paths towards the Atlantic Ocean. A large amount of nuclear fallout was dropped along the way, narrowly dispersed in a relatively small number of United States counties. Detected radioactivity was especially high in eight counties in Iowa and one county each in Nebraska, South Dakota and Illinois. Most heavily affected counties were Howard, Mitchell and Worth counties in Iowa.." from Wikipedia, Sedan (nuclear test)

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Thunderbolt kit hits the mark

From a writer's point of view, Thunderbolt is a master's course in how to capture readers and keep them wanting more.

[http://ritastories.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/bill-bryson-and-the-thunderbolt-kid-hit-the-mark/]

While the story is not unique, the way it is told makes this a must read book.

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The Poignant Past

Love Bryson's stuff! I really got fits of belly-shaking laughter when I read this book -- not only because it is (entertainingly?) true and I can identify with it (the paper route, the anecdote with the little girl he wanted to be his girlfriend)-- but because it enlightens. It not only offers insightful nuggets of wisdom into the American psyche, but also reveals, via his personal anecdotes, our common foibles. Elucidation through laughter. I always laugh WITH Bill Bryson. Read it if you want to get a feel for living and growing up in America.

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