They are a delight.  One mother emailed:

Dear Professor Schmidt,

. . . On Saturday, my friend lent me her copy of "Life of Fred: Fractions."  That evening after supper, I started to read it and giggled so much my [11-year-old] daughter came and sat beside me to see what I was reading. . . . We got a piece of paper and a pencil, and she wouldn't stop until we had read five lessons. . . . She said: "This is the funniest math book I have ever seen."

Another mom wrote:

Hi,

. . . From the time I was in 2nd grade, I cried my way through math.  In high school, I wrote my best friend's term papers and she did all my algebra. . . . Now, here I am with your book. . . I've found myself sitting at the kitchen table, giggling over the story lines, working out problems and actually "getting it" for the first time in my life!!!! :)  And that's a very good thing since I am now a homeschool mother of 5. . . .

Just so you know, even my 7 and 6 year olds are BEGGING me to read the story of Fred to them!!!!  Enough so that they're grabbing paper and pencils attempting to answer the questions with their sibling so I'll read more!!!  It seems too good to be true.

They are self-teaching. 

No need to have anyone interpret them.

The Life of Fred books are gloss-film laminated hardcover with Smyth sewn binding.  Fully indexed and illustrated.  They are not workbooks to write in, and each book will be enjoyed by all your children (and grandchildren!) 

They are roughly one-third of the price of everyone else.

Take, for example, Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra which sells for $29 (with no charge for shipping!)

Looking on Amazon.com in March 10, 2010:

Beginning Algebra plus MyMathLab Student Starter Kit (10th Edition) by Margaret L. Lial, John Hornsby, and Terry McGinnis (Hardcover - June 3, 2007)
Buy new: $155.33

...................All of the Fred books are 1st edition--written right the first time..................... 


Beginning Algebra (7th Edition) by John Tobey and Jeffrey Slater (Paperback - Jan. 7, 2009)
Buy new: $142.67


Beginning Algebra by Julie Miller (Hardcover - Jan. 8, 2010)
Buy new: $202.80
 

Beginning Algebra Plus MyMathLab Student Access Kit (5th Edition) by K. Elayn Martin-Gay (Hardcover - May 1, 2008)
Buy new: $155.33


Beginning & Intermediate Algebra, 4th Edition by K. Elayn Martin-Gay (Hardcover - Mar. 6, 2008)
Buy new: $158.67


Beginning Algebra, 4th Edition by K. Elayn Martin-Gay (Hardcover - May 2, 2004)
Buy new: $138.67


Beginning Algebra: Early Graphing (2nd Edition) by John Tobey, Jeffrey Slater, and Jamie Blair (Paperback - Feb. 5, 2009)
Buy new: $142.67


Beginning Algebra Sixth Edition by Man M. Sharma (Paperback - 2007)
1 new from $216.88


Beginning Algebra, Books a la Carte Edition (5th Edition) by Elayn Martin-Gay (Loose Leaf - Dec. 21, 2008)
Buy new: $103.13
 

Beginning Algebra with Applications & Visualization (2nd Edition) by Gary K. Rockswold and Terry A. Krieger (Hardcover - Jan. 6, 2008)
Buy new: $147.33



Beginning Algebra (Gustafson/ Karr/ Massey) by R. David Gustafson, Rosemary Karr, and Marilyn Massey (Hardcover - Jan. 1, 2010)
Buy new: $169.95

Each of these books contains more math than is normally taught at the college level.  These are not skimpy.  Solid preparation for SAT exams and upper-division mathematics.

A) 46 ruler-and-compass constructions

B) a discussion of higher-dimensional geometry with a chart to 14 dimensions.  How to compute how many edges there are in a hypertesseract.

C) modern geometry (invented about a hundred years ago) which fixes the errors in Euclid's geometry. 

To see the Table of Contents for Life of Fred: Geometry, click here.