Titles Books

We love the "Jump at the Sun" books. I have bought almost all of them for my 4 year old daughter. She is at the age when she is *so* enchanted with all things "princess," and I am so sick of the lily-white Disney ones. Having these fairy-tales told with African-american characters is a wonderful change. The stories are pretty much as you would remember them -- the only difference is the color of the characters skin. I recommend this book to any little girl ages 2 to 7 -- no matter who she is.

Beautifully illustrated with gloriously vivid colors, this book and ALL the others in this series/collection are wonderful. The adaptations in text and in the illustrations are masterful and clever. I wish these books were available when I was growing up!

I bought a copy of all the jump at the Sun Fairytale classics. I added it to my multiculture collection in my classroom. These books are ones that many kids continually gravitate to and is a lovely way to include different ethnicity to a "traditional" fairytale.

I recommend this book to every little girl, and not just African American little girls. We should have more stories to show another images for our young ones. (Thumbs UP)!!!!

I bought all of the JATS fairy tales for my girls. It is great to have books that feature black girls but are not ABOUT being black. Our kids want some fantasy too. The one problem I have is the a few of the JATS books (including this one) feature villians that may be too threatening for very young kids (mine are 2 & 4). In this book, the beast threatens Beauty's father by saying that he will die by by the end of the day for stealing roses. There are at least two others that use an explicit threat of death against the hero or heroine. It's just not a topic I want to discuss with my kids because the older one if afraid of it already. Just a warning for parents who have not really discussed death with their kids.

This is an adorably-illustrated book that children will adore, HOWEVER I am so thankful that I previewed it BEFORE reading it to my daughter. In the story, the ladybug is lost and is told by other creatures that he "doesn't look like" them, so he doesn't belong, isn't part of their family. This is not the message I want to send to my internationally-adopted daughter!!!

I have been a children's book enthusiast for many years. This is a must have for any child. Beautifully written and illustrated. I always give a childrens book, along with my gift, in lieu of a card. I personally sign it with (exp.) "Baby's name ~May You Love To Read ~Auntie Deb" It's always a big hit! This book was no exception.

Linda Ripa writes an excellent Children's story

I have been a children's book enthusiast for many years. This is a must have for any child. Beautifully written and illustrated. I always give a childrens book, along with my gift, in lieu of a card. I personally sign it with (exp.) "Baby's name ~May You Love To Read ~Auntie Deb" It's always a big hit! This book was no exception.

I find this book to be a great children's book. The story is a wonderful preschool age story. This Hardbound book has bright pictures and large letters. This book is also a great learning to read book for Kindergarteners & First grade Students. My little guy loves to read it over and over. I know those of you who have it agree and those of you who haven't yet read it should get it now! I give this book 5 stars for creativity, bright colors, large letters, beautiful pictures, and winning the approval of my little guy.

I agree with the other reviewers that this book is completely engrossing. Rarely cam that be said of a reference type work like this! The author did an excellent job of making things understandable for someone like me who does not know any Chinese. He gives a very clear overview of the different dialects, including discussion of what exactly characterizes these dialects. It is also a great into to the other language families of China (Mongolian, Tungusic, Tai, etc.), information which is not easy to come by. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested Chinese, China, minority languages, and language classification in general.

I picked up the book out of curiosity and could not put it down. It gives an engrossing history of the Chinese people by way of a study of the languages of the area. It is not just a linguistic text however; it is about all aspects of life in China: politics, economics, poetry,history, everything. Language is just what ties it all together, much like the language ties the country together.

This book is completely engrossing. I knew next to nothing about the history of my native language and it's place among the "dialects" of Chinese. Nor was I really aware of the roles played by geography, politics, and cultural influences in shaping a language or even in a language's classification. The writing is concise and lucid; and much of it is accessible to laymen. I think for the information contained within and for the price, it deserves a 10. (FYI, the colors on one of the maps seem to be offset in my book. Maybe it's intentional?)

S. Robert Ramsey's THE LANGUAGES OF CHINA is a survey originally published by Princeton University Press in 1987. China is an immense country with a rich linguistic heritage, and it is a challenge to cover even the basics adequately in a mere 340 pages. Ramsey does an admirable job, and this student of historical linguistics was thrilled to see such attention paid to the diachrony of many languages mentioned within.

The "Chinese language", the set of mutually unintelligible dialects belonging to Han people and descended from a relatively recent common ancestor, is by far the most widely-spoken in China, and Ramsey dedicates the first half of the book to it. He begins with a presentation of the historical debate over Han linguistic unification, with the northern dialects winning out over southern dialects like those of Shanghai and Guangdong. Since Mandarin has, for better or worse, been taken as the standard, it is the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Mandarin that Ramsey describes as representative of the entire language. Ramsey clearly wrote for a non-specialist audience, as he tries to debunk older Western myths that Chinese is somehow a "primitive" language due to its lack of inflection. The grammar of Mandarin here is splendidly full for just a few pages, though the debate over the use of the particle "le" isn't mentioned.

Ramsey's coverage of Chinese isn't, however, purely synchronic, for he also devotes space to the earlier stages of the language. He begins with an explanation of the Qieyun rhyming dictionary, the document compiled by Lu Fayan that, in spite of its faults, is our only useful source for the pronunciation of Middle Chinese. Ramsey then gives a colourful presentation of the life and work of Berhard Karlgren, the Swedish scholar who, by applying the comparative method to modern Chinese dialects, worked towards a phonetic reality for the mere algebraic relationships of the Qieyun dictionary. But this is not mere blind adulation, Ramsey does acknowledge Karlgren's faults and lists the younger scholars who followed him and improved on his theories. Ramsey also briefly mentions Old Chinese, the reconstruction of which is quite uncertain, and talks about some of the important changes from Middle Chinese to modern Mandarin.

The second half of the book deals with the many non-Han languages of China. First is the "Altaic family" spoken in the north of China, the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic languages that may or may not be a valid genetic grouping, but which have significant typological similarities. Here again Ramsey gives abundant space to diachronic issues, showing how various modern languages each differ from their common ancestor. Writing systems, too, are covered. The languages of the south come next, including the Tai, Tibeto-Burman, Miao-Yao, and Mon-Khmer families, as well as unclassified or isolated languages. The story of how these languages have fared under Han domination is a major theme of the book.

If you have little bit of Mandarin under your belt (and you don't need a lot) and are interested in the linguistic diversity of this part of the world, THE LANGUAGES OF CHINESE is worth seeking out. This is especially true for historical linguistics curious about China. I can only wonder why it hasn't been reissued.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I examines the Chinese language and the Chinese dialects while Part II surveys the other languages spoken and written in China.

The book offers fascinating historical, grammatical, and political, insights; for example about possible reasons why the north is more unified than the south (easily traversed northern plains vs. isolating southern valleys and mountains).

Westerners often say that Chinese is a language without grammar simply because it's uninflected. This is grossly wrong and Ramsey describes the rudiments of Chinese's positional grammar and how the grammatical rules change somewhat from dialect to dialect. He also gives many examples of morphemes and words and how different dialects put them together.

As for political insight, I am no fan of China's repressive government and its policies. But when it comes to the cultural and linguistic minorities, its policies are surprisingly tolerant and have been for centuries. When we think that as recently as the 1950s, the French government was still trying to suppress the Gaelic language of Bretagne (Breton) we must wonder if there isn't something we can learn from Chinese policies. After all China has for centuries been making room for its minorities, and when Mandarin (putonghua) was created and adopted as the national common speech, much was made that it was no one's native tongue.

I personally wasn't very interested in the other languages of China, but they get the same, though shorter, descriptive treatment of their history and grammar. On the other hand, one real failure of the book is that all the examples are romanized (pinyin) but almost always without the corresponding Chinese characters. This is a pity since with them the book would have certainly been more useful as a study aid. I suppose in 1987 it was much harder (and expensive) to typeset Chinese passages in English books.

All in all, a fascinating survey of the linguistic landscape of China.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

I bought this book because it was required for a masters class. This is a book I will keep and not resell. It has many strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities.

I think the product was excellent. It came brand new and it was hard cover. I would recommend the book as well as the person who sold it to me. It came very quickly in the mail at a good price.

This is the textbook I used while in college. It is very easy to read and well organized. It covers all aspects of learning disabilities from history to teaching strategies. It covers all the characteristics of learning disabilities; perceptual problems, motor, reading, written language, math, social and emotional.

I am a teacher of students with mild to moderate specific learning disabilities and I have found this book to be of such a tremendous help, I call it my "special education Bible!"

Professor Lerner has put together a comprehensive book of approaches within the filed of learning disabilities; procedures for assessing and evaluating students; and teaching methods, strategies, and materials. This 8th edition is written with the new IDEA '97 regulations in mind.

Whether you are an undergraduate, or graduate student, pre-service special ed. teacher or an inservice teacher, this text is an invaluable resource that will benefit the novice and the veteran alike. I am in the process of completing my student teaching and I bought this text because I felt that there was so much I still needed to learn about learning disabilities. I am sincere when I say I was not disappointed!

This is an excellent book. It is very readable and quite informative. I used the book for one of my graduate classes in Learning Disabilities. It was also an excellent review source for Praxis II preparation. Get it if you can, especially if you are planning to be a Special Education teacher.

A great book for showing girls as heroines and teaching about giving to others. A Native American folktale told by Native Americans adds to the richness of the story. Lends itself to several classroom studies including northern lights, heroes, folktales & legends, ladyslipper flowers and Native American culture.

This beautifully illustrated edition of the Ojibway legend lends itself easily to reading outloud to groups of children in the classroom or anywhere else. The colorful pictures help the flow of the story, both of which help hold the youngsters spellbound. Young children identify with the characters in the story and having one of their own age group in a situation of bravery and steadfast love empowers them. Excellent book.

I read this book as part of an assingment for a class (Children Resources for Children and Young Adults). I loved it. I am also currently taken Ojibwe and enjoyed how the authors incorportated Ojibwe words. The illustrations are simple, yes, but add charm to the well told (or rather retelling) of the origin of the lady slipper.
I recommend this to any teacher. Please, incorporate it in your class (high school teachers, too!). On a latter note, after reviewing it for class, I realized that this book was written by my teacher. Margi is the nicest person and an excellent teacher. And her book reflects her spirit.

This book is excellent for all ages. It contains beautiful illustrations to compliment the story of a little girl's courage. A good one for use in a classroom.

This is such a pretty book that tells the tale of the Ojibwe legend of the laddy slipper or moccasin flower. The illustrations are simple and colorful and greatly add to the folk atmosphere of the book. A little girl must go on a heroic journey through a freezing wintry night to find healing herbs when her whole village is stricken with terrible disease. She is encouraged along her route by the spirits of the stormy environment who speak to her in the Ojibwe tongue. This is an exciting and satisfying story and makes an excellent conversation starter to teach little ones about communing with the elements of Nature.

Mr.VanFranknhuzen was in our area schools in Clinton Township for 5 days this spring and used his wonderful books as lessons for the children to draw. He was so good with the kids the time just flew. One of the things he shared with us was about the "secrets" of the Loon book. He told us how much fun he had painting hidden loons in almost all the paintings and the children as well as the adults had fun trying to find them all. I don't think we succeeded but we're still looking. The magical story in combination with the beautiful paintings are a joy to read and see. We wait anxiously for your next legend. Thank you.

My mother-in-law loves loons! This book was perfect because it is about grandmas and loons. I would not suggest this book for the baby-preschool level... This is really a book that is written for the 4-12 yr old range. (4-6 if you are reading it to them and 6-12 if they are reading it for themselves.)

Great revelation! Grandmothers throughout the world should be such a guardian for their precious children. Warms my heart, and passes on great love from one generation to the next. Outstanding prose and melodic writing, great for young and old.

I read this story to my grandchildren today, and they loved it! We live on a lake where loons nest, and their call has always captivated us. I don't think I have ever heard a more beautiful tale that this one! My grandchildren are now calling every loon they see "grandmother lom". This story will be read again and again.

The legend of the Loon by Kathy-Jo Wargin is another one of her great legends. Although it doesn't specifically mention Michigan it certainly could be. The grandmother becomes concerned when her grandchildren go out in a boat and are late coming back. The children are lost and finally find their way back by following the loon. Grandma turned into the loon to show them the way back to safety. Great for older kids, although our younger ones enjoy the story as well.

With illustrations that make you want to step right into the picture, this book is a great telling of great classic for little kids. Sometimes I think we forget or don't realize just how powerful certain images and impressions we get from our early childhood books really are, and just how much they can impact our lives. My 4-year old adores this book. And what a great image for her to take through life - the realization that she might be hindered by fear of her own reflection.

For 20 years I've delighted in the story collections of Idries Shah. I'm very pleased with his entire new series of children's books especially, "The Lion Who Saw Himself in the Water". As my wife and I read this story to young children in our family, we can see their eyes light up.

The kids strongly identify with all of the animals in the book, especially the lion as he overcomes his fears and learns something about his own individual identity. I have to confess that I've picked up the book several times and read it for my own enjoyment. It somehow soothes my mind after a tough day at the office.

[....] It's clear that we need to provide our kids - especially boys - with tools to counter the violence and knee-jerk aggression ubiquitous in popular culture. These children's stories by Idries Shah are just this kind of tool. They're not preachy. They don't offer simplistic lessons or moral platitudes. They're more like exercises for "mental muscle groups" grossly underdeveloped in this culture: A strong sense of one's own value. Empathy. Flexibility in thinking and responding. Appreciating that not everyone is the same, not every outcome is predictable. Seeing that there are more than two sides to a situation. A sense that patience and perseverance can pay off, sometimes in unexpected ways. Not demanding easy answers. A sense that things are not always as they seem, that the viewpoint of "experts" - or even the whole community - is not always right. The experience of seeing something that even adults don't see, of creating clever solutions. The sense that taking positive action is possible and rewarding-even when one has to buck the tide. That help can come from where and when we least expect it. The sense that life has interesting "loose ends" for us to reflect on. And so much more. At least one of these books should be on every child's book shelf.

My daughter is two, and she really enjoyed this book. Did she understand it? Perhaps not; but she loved all the animals, especially Share the Lion. Cheerful illustrations, and yet underneath it all an important message. This book fills a tremendous gap in our children's literature in that it is a fun and light-hearted look at the ways in which we understand or misunderstand both people and events. For conscientous parents who are neither moralistic nor trendy. This charming book deals with problem solving in an innovative way.

I have used this tale with many children ages 6 to 12 in schools around the United States. It is a terrific vehicle for asking higher order questions and for teaching thinking and questioning strategies. In Central Asian educational systems, the "teaching story" is a vehicle for indirectly teaching concepts that are not always possible to get across in more direct, intellectual ways. They also have a deconditioning effect, that is, they prepare the listener or reader so that when faced with difficult circumstances he/she can chose a less automatic, more conscious solution. My students have thoroughly enjoyed this tale and easily understand the concepts that many adults have trouble getting. It's a great discussion starter for helping children understand the differences between irrational and beneficial fears.

Again, my favorite illustrator- fun rhyming story with a great beat. The kids love it and I love reading it over and over! Mommy's High Heel Shoes

I love this book! I got it at the library, and ready it every night. Not sure if my kids loved it, but they let me read it because I had so much fun reading it. My kids get enthusiastic when I am enthusiastic. I had to buy the book, and all (ok, could only find one more) that the author had written!

We got this book for my daughter's 4th birthday. She loves to read it at bedtime.

This is a very cute book with great rhyming words and an appearance by many Mother Goose favorites. It is a fun story with a moral about telling the truth. My niece loved Ms. Dealey's first book, Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox, and was excited to see this one that is similar in style. The retro drawings are very clever. Great young reader book!

Who knew Little Bo Peep's brother was Little Boy Blue? Or that his shenanigans (those darn little brothers!) caused her sheep to go missing, giving Poor Peep a sleepless night? The author has artfully lifted characters from an assortment of well-loved fairy tales and created something witty and new. Written in bouncy rhyme, with cameos by Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, and the Farmer in the Dell, and others, this charming story will have little ones nodding in recognition at the familiar names, while they root for the reunion that will allow Peep to get her beauty sleep. Terrific for bedtime, or story hour. The stylized illustrations have a funky retro look that adds to the appeal.

I'm sooooo glad we found this book!! My daughter has story book character day at school and had to pick a book and a costume. We were so happy when we saw this book because the picture on the front cover looks a lot like my daughter. We were also thrilled with the pop ups. My daughter can't wait to carry this book to school to share with her class. She's only 6 and the pop ups will help her with reading the story to the class. I'm sure they will love this book too!!

I collect pop up books and this is a rare treasure. I feel privileged to own one of only 100 copies in the world. This book has a great deal of creativity and originality for such a familiar story. There are many great pop-ups and illustrations such as; the wolf licking his lips and when he sneezes out the grandmother. It has a wonderful moral twist at the end. I love this book.

This pop-up is awesome. I am completly amazed at how wonderful each page is. It's the little details that are so nice. I can't wait to share this with my daughter. She loved her first pop-up, which wasn't made so great and broke apart. I plan on keeping this as a special read. I think this may have turned me into a pop-up book fan!!!

I was absolutely enchanted with this pop up book, it is the best pop up book I've ever seen. The paper engineering is incredible - a "grandma" that is revealed to be a wolf, the wolf sneezing out grandma, grandma and red riding hood chasing the wolf... My 2 year old is enthralled with it - but I am careful to read it together with her... a toddler could easily tear the beautiful pop-us.

MY NEICE INSTANTLY FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS AS DID I!
IT HAS BEEN 5 MONTHS SINCE I GOT IT AND IT'S STILL ARE FAVORITE!
YOU WILL LOVE NOT LIKE LOVE THE POP- UPS!

I enjoyed Patricia Mckissack & James Carville's lovely story set in the Lousiana Depression-era about a little girl hearing lots of talk about hardtimes with people out of work, no jobs and about her adventures in the swamp meeting up with a real swamp ghost, or so it seems at first. Little Lu shows her big caring heart when she be friends the ghost only to find out he's a little orphan boy. It is here we see her joy in finding one good friend and feeling mighty rich from it. David Catrow has out done himself again with his fabulously fun illustrations. This book also comes with a CD read by James Carville giving the listener a good flavor of that Lousiana drawl. A great story about family and friends.

I read the book to my son and he loved it. I think Paula should read the book before she reviews it. Unfortunately Paula hasn't taught her child the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover". Maybe Paula should see if the FOX News Channel will let her fill in for Bill O'Reilly when he reviews a book. There is one book I think her child will love its called "My Pet Goat".

What a well done little book. This is a story of a little girl, during the Great Depression, who lives on a farm with her family and figures she is "just a little poor." This is a story of friendship and strength and simply helping others that need help. The illustrations by David Catrow are very well executed and a delight to the eye. They also go perfectly with the text which is nice when reading to a group of young ones. There are several lessons to be learned from this tale, all good ones. I have read this to several classes of children at school and it quite holds their attention and is very useful in helping to open up discussions. THe kids all seem to like it, and often times ask for a seconed reading. This is probably the best indorsement a children's book can have. All in all, there is not much to not like about this book and I do recommend it highly.

My son is only 2 1/2 but sits still for this story aimed at 4 -6 year olds. He just likes the story and the art. And wonderfully imaginative art it is by David Catrow. It's written by James Carville...yes THAT James Carville. KNown most for being a former advisor to President Clinton, Carville grew up in the swamplands of Louisiana and writes a captivating children's tale of the mysterious bayou country.

Lu is a poor little girl who has no friends her age. One day she encounters the legendary swamp ghost of whom tales have become legend in her neck of the woods. But all is not what it seems with this "ghost" and soon Lu finds a true friend as Carville teaches a well thought out lesson about impressions we have about people. Nicely done and the fact that it's about a "ghost" really intrigued my little one.

Lu and the Swamp Ghost is a wonderful book that should be read to kids of almost any age and a sure to be classic.

Young Lu has always been told that as long as you have wonderful friends and family, you're never actually poor. But Lu, who has a great family, knows that she must be a little poor, for she doesn't actually have any friends. However, all that changes one day while Lu is taking a stroll along the Louisiana bayou, for she comes face-to-face with a real, live swamp ghost, who ultimately becomes her one true friend.

Taking place during the Great Depression, James Carville has created a wonderful story that will show even the youngest reader that friends and family are more important than material items. Filled with super-adorable illustrations by David Catrow, LU AND THE SWAMP GHOST is sure to earn a place in the hearts of readers the world over.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper