The four canonical gospels provide readers with few details of the life of Jesus as a boy. Many authors of children's bibles in America, however, have been happy to fill in some of the details. This article suggests that these retellings regularly create or adapt stories of Jesus' childhood to teach children virtues that serve to affirm…

In this article, author Trevor Cooling presents a review of three books that disseminate recent research on religious schools. The first, "Leadership and Religious Schools: International Perspectives and Challenges," edited by Michael T. Buchanan, is an edited volume of essays about leadership in religious schools. Editor Michael…

The pressure to publish or perish or, more recently, to be visible or vanish, marginalises a culture of critical reading and reflection that has historically been the province of book reviews. Today, book reviews are roundly rejected by academic bureaucrats as unimportant, easy to write and hence, easy to get published, mere summaries, uncritical…

This review examines seven scholarly, high quality publications on Jewish religious education that have appeared in the past decade and that are also accessible for various forms of readers. The books in question represent the best in the academic study of Jewish education, and they share the virtue of being engaging and useful resources for a…

This article provides a close reading of Meg Rosoff's award-winning novel "How I Live Now". It argues that an understanding of the text can be extended through an application of ideas found in contemporary spatial discourse concerning place. Reading the novel within this context allows a discussion of ways in which it draws on…

This article evaluates a writing assignment in which students read a non-fiction book that they chose from a list provided by their instructor, identified examples of social psychological phenomena, and fully explained how those examples fit social psychology concepts. This novel twist on a traditional assignment yielded surprisingly robust…

In education, contemporary discussions of standards and standardisation often appear incidentally, as part of the critique of particular standardisation projects, such as national or international assessments and comparisons. This review essay focuses not on particular standards but more broadly on how standards develop, how they participate in…

Some job descriptions of academic librarians, tenure track or otherwise, will emphasize publication, while in others, it is essentially an irrelevant factor. Some librarians have a combination of education and experience, however, that permits them to undertake research and writing in scholarly fields other than librarianship. In some ways,…

Charles Dickens is arguably the greatest storyteller in English Literature and his novels have been loved and respected for nearly two hundred years. As accurate reflections of Victorian society they are unparalleled. Vivid characters and realistic settings are created in the mind of the reader, all laced with Dickens inimitable humour, wit and…

The current study aimed at showing whether native, ESL and EFL book review authors differed in terms of types of rhetorical moves the employ in the reviews they write. 60 book reviews (N = 60) from applied linguistics journals were randomly selected from a pool of 87 book reviews published in "Asian EFL Journal," "ESP," "System," and "TESOL…

Winners of the most respected prizes in children's literature speak out in an exclusive collection of acceptance speeches, culled from the archives of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and "The Horn Book" magazine. Featuring authors and illustrators selected during the past 10 years, the book includes speeches by: (1) Neil…

Fewer employees, shorter hours, diminished collection budgets, reduced programs and services--all at a time of record library usage. In this book, library expert Carol Smallwood demonstrates that despite the obvious downsides, the necessity of doing business differently can be positive, leading to partnering, sharing, and innovating. This…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Laying the Foundation for Success (Mary Caputo); (2) Ready or Not? (Laura Koenig); (3) Every Child A School-Ready Child (Leah Newkirk Meunier); (4) Parents As Teachers (Erin Garner);…

In view of the serious challenges facing college and university administrators, it is encouraging to note the increased interest in improving leadership knowledge and skills. This book presents an additional option to college and university administrators in their efforts to enhance their leadership skills. The case study approach to improving…

"The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing" is a groundbreaking resource that offers emerging and experienced scholars from all disciplines a comprehensive review of the essential elements needed to craft scholarly papers and other writing suitable for submission to academic journals. The authors discuss the components of different types of…