Festivals Books

My 18 month old twins love this book so much that they have torn it to pieces reading and re-reading it. I have to buy another copy because it's in parts all over the house and they keep bringing me parts to read but look for the rest!

I have the paperback version of this book. I read this book with my 17 month old daughter AT LEAST twice a day. The illustrations are colorful and very detailed. She has memorized the story so that when we lift the flaps, she says the words that are written beneath. The plot (if you can call it a plot) is very cute, and the mice are adorable. My daughter has only ripped one of the flaps off, and I was able to glue it back on successfully.

This was a great book to read to my 2-year old, since it included parts about mommy going to work as well as doing things at home. It's also highly recommended for younger ages, since there's only one flap per page. Younger children like peeking under flaps, but this book won't overwhelm them with too many flaps to lift.

As a single mommie, I also like the book because of the relationship it depicts between a mommie and her son.

Great resource to open children's mind to science outside of a book or a classroom. I am a science teacher (4-8 grade) and I used this book in a summer camp. The kids LOVED IT!!!! They were excited and ready to go each day. If you are looking for a different way to get students involved in science while teaching them key concepts this is your book! I am waiting on the next one!

Students really got involved in science investigation as they tried to solve one of the mysteries in this book. During a summer camp for children ages 9-12, we used the mystery written for the older students. They loved the hands-on involvement and stayed engrossed all week. If your science curriculum is putting your students to sleep, this book will help you jumpstart their interest. There are two different mysteries. One is designed for K-3 while the other works well with the older students. Even students of mixed ages and abilities worked well together and were successful. The students only had one complaint...The book did not give them a definitive answer as to who was the guilty party. They wanted to be told who the criminal was and why, but had to settle for a deduction of their own. Although I find value in that open-ended style, they were frustrated by it.

This book is absolutely amazing! It contains two different mysteries to solve (one for younger grades and one for older grades). In a practicum for my teaching degree we did the older grades mystery with a class of fifth graders and they loved it. They were able to look for clues, gather evidence, map the crime scene, scientifically test the evidence, use deductive reasoning to solve the mystery and much, much, more. The educational value of this book is tremendous. A great supplement for the science curriculum and also to help kids to use logic and reasoning. It's a must have for all teachers!

My sister and I used to repeatedly check this book out from the library when we were little. I'm 35 now and she's 31. I purchased this book for my 3 year old and we have read it every night since. There are no words to this story, so the adults can embelish upon the story in any way they choose. My daughter also loves to "read" this story on her own as she can tell the story just by looking at the pictures. The art work is beautifully done as well. My daughter laughs continuously throughout the story, especially when Nancy sits in the baptismal font and gets a wet bottom. This book is a must have for avid readers.

A charming wordless book with intricate, detailed illustrations. I checked these books out of the public library and my children enjoyed them immensely. I have been periodically checking Amazon.com for the past two years and I see that some of the books have been reprinted. Naughty Nancy kept my children entertained at age two. They loved to turn the pages to see what was behing the half page. Because there are no words, you can make up the story as long or as short as you wish. I think that young children can easily relate to the antics of Naughty Nancy. Nancy is allowed to be in her sister's wedding, but she gets into mischief constantly right up to the end when her sister leaves on her honeymoon!

As a child I loved this amusing tale of a mouse who gets to be a flower girl. Each scene changes with the flip of a half page which I found intriguing. As an adult, I once tried to find the book and it was out of print. I'm thrilled to see that it's back! Every child with a mischevious heart will enjoy this book. Nancy is naughty!

I can't believe that this edition, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline, is no longer available. This is, without a doubt;), the illustrated version that has the most ethereal Christmas Eve atmosphere accompanying the classic poem. I am glad that I still have my badly worn childhood copy, but I would like to get a new one, and others for gifts. Bring it back!

As a child, this was always my favorite edition of Moore's poem to read because Gorsline's illustrations always took me away to a nostalgic world where Christmastime was a perfect time. I loved the details in each room, finding the family cat in each picture, locating the Star of Bethlehem in every scene and especially Gorsline's version of St. Nick...one of the best. I recommend this edition to anyone who, like me, loves to read this classic poem every Christmas and is looking for a nice set of illustrations to help bring the story to life.

The classic illustrations, by Douglas Gorsline, of the timeless story is what sets this book apart from all other editions of "The Night Before Christmas". This simple paperback book is a beloved treasure that should be shared with the generations to come!

This is a simply gorgeous pop-up rendition of the familiar work. It is an instant classic in my house. My children (and I) are mesmerized by every single page.

Amazing. Fun. Inspiring. Curious. Dazzling. Great for the child in us all!

I don't much like Christmas any more. It mostly makes me crabby and wrinkled, like an old person, just at a time when I would most want to feel ebullient and charitible. Happily, there are moments each year when I feel young again and possessed of a wide-eyed sense of wonder. Reading Robert Sabudas pop-ups is one of them. This year, we are blessed with a new addition to Mr. Sabuda's Christmas series, The Night Before Christmas. I make this suggestion to all ye of Christmas weariness. First, buy The Night Before Christmas. Second, wait until you are alone to read it (you can share with children later--that's fun, too). Third, open the book to the the "reindeer" page, hold on to your socks, and prepare to be utterly charmed. It'll make a believer of you. Don't be surprised if you find yourself leaving milk and cookies out for the big guy this year! And, perhaps, believing in Angels bearing glad tidings.

Very entertaining book, gets you hooked on the author. I will be reading more. Protagonist extremely likeable and entertaining. Makes you laugh out loud.

This is my favorite humorous mystery series by one of my favorite British authors. Nick Madrid is a self-deprecating masterpiece of an unlikely investigative hero. Laugh out loud situations and rapid dialogue combine with a strong mystery to be solved. A great read.

Bridget, Frank and Nick fly from England to Montreal to cover the Just for Laughs Festival for different newspapers. While Nick is tied up in a yoga position, he sees a young woman flash past his hotel room window. He concludes she is a jumper who he later learns was Cissy Parker, a movie starlet. The police rule it an accidental death due to drugs, but Nick has doubts when Frank mentions he heard a man screaming at a woman on the eighteenth floor.

A reporter Julie informs Nick that she took pictures at a celebrity bash that Cissy attended. The starlet offered her a lot of money to buy the negatives, but Julie refused. One of the photos shows Cissy with an unidentified man. When Nick learns the victim was pregnant he concludes she was pushed. Not realizing the danger he causes to himself, his friends and others associated with Cissy on both sides of the ocean, Nick keeps digging as more homicides occurs.

In between murder, beatings, chases, air travel, NO LAUGHING MATTER contains amusing comical scenes, but the prime story line is the protagonist is drawn into a homicide investigation that he prefers to avoid. Once he begins making inquiries, he continues to the bitter end, which he realizes could be his death, in an effort too learn the identity of the mastermind behind the killings and the beatings he suffered. Talented Peter Guttridge provides a journalistic investigative mystery that stars a fine cast worthy of sequels.

Harriet Klausner

Not only does this little book have the wonderful traditional recipes of Norway and Norwegian Americans, it has a lot of terrific, older photos of Norwegian artifacts. For those who are researching Norwegian roots, this one is a gem.

Not only does this little book have the wonderful traditional recipes of Norway and Norwegian Americans, it has a lot of terrific, older photos of Norwegian artifacts. For those who are researching Norwegian roots, this one is a gem.

More than 90 Norwegian recipes, some more than 100 years old, are in this book. The recipes came to America from grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and others. All the recipes are authentic!

The 88-page book features 24 pages of color photography by Joan Liffring-Zug depicting folk arts, events and foods centering primarily on Vesterheim, the Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.

Contributions of recipes come from all over the United States.

The book is dedicated "to all those who have helped to develop Vesterheim into one of the finest ethnic museums in America, where the descendants of Norwegian immigrants...can find the preservation on their heritage."

The author traces her husband's family for thirteen generations. His ancestors came from the island of Byroe, near Fister, Norway. Liffring-Zug tells of her Norwegian roots and of a grandfather who settled near Decorah, Iowa, and a great-uncle who died in the Civil War.

The cover photograph pictures Marilyn Skaugstad in her Norwegian grandmother's costume. Marilyn writes in the book: "Who would have thought as I sat with my elbows propped on grandma Olson's big kitchen table, watching her bake, that 40 years later I would be recalling her Norwegian heritage....With flour and dough frying, she told me about her summers as a little girl spent high in the mountains above the Sorfjorden Fjord making flatbread on an old wood-fired cookstove in a little cabin where she tended the sheep for her family. With her `letter' in hand, she came to America in the early 1900s and worked for a family in Wisconsin. Eventually she married my grandfather, Ole J. Olson, whose family also came from Norway. They farmed a beautiful big farm in Humboldt County, Iowa.

Stories of families are covered in the book along with their recipe contributions.

Snappy dialogue and hilariously realistic body language bring to life a story that clearly illustrates the magic of a carefully crafted perspective. Generously sprinkled with subtle humour (for both adult and child), this is a year round family favourite.

Noel is performing in a ballet - as a tree. Envious of the child who is cast as a doll, she tries to weasel in as one, until she
talks to her ballet mistress. The wise and wisecracking mistress tells her to become a tree - to be happy as she is. Noel is transformed from an unhappy child to one who fulfills her dream of being a ballerina in a beautiful scene. A wonderful book full of imagery and real-life emotions of a child. Not necessarily a Christmas book!

My children and I just love this book. The children enjoy it because the story is compelling, the characters are interesting and the illustrations are evocative (although they would probably use different words). I enjoy it because the message is insightful and important for all of us: "If you lean fully into your life, no matter how ordinary it seems at any given moment, you'll find extraordinary beauty."

We are big fans of Lark Carrier at our house. "On Halloween" arrived yesterday, and my four year old girl oooed and ahhed at every page. Lark's text is witty, and her illustrations are fun, and exciting. Creaking bones, cackling witches, and darting bats kept my children's attention. We love the book, and think it is a great alternative to candy to give to our special friends for Halloween.

My daughter-in-law received her books from Amazon today. I can't WAIT for mine to come Saturday. What fun the children and grandchildren will have with this one.

the interactive quality and vivid art should make this a solid hit with little trick-or-treaters. i can't wait to give it to the kids before we go out on our tour of the neighborhood for all those goodies. definitely a must buy.

This is an adorably illustrated book. I teach preschool and need a book with simple language and great pictures to get the point of the Thanksgiving season across - I think this one does a great job.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims is a delightful children's book for the very young. B.G. Hennessy's writing is clear-cut, and doesn't overreach, as many Thanksgiving books have a tendency to do. There is no mention of death, or the hardships the pilgrims endured. This is a pleasant story recommended to the 3 to 8 crowd, but I say children 2 to 5 are more likely to appreciate it. The illustrations are equally delightful, and bursting with color. The text is rhythmic, and entertaining. If you don't mind singing the Thanksgiving version in the shower, or when drifting off to sleep, then check it out. It's an addictive read, but very effective, and worth a look.

This book is a wonderful story for the preschool crowd. It is sung to the old Ten Little Indians, but is a little more multicultural. It shows(with very cute illustrations) the Pilgrim & Wampanoag Indian children ina positive yet accurate light, and also depicts the different foods that were eaten at the first thanksgiving.