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The classic mini-series from the 80s is even more vivid in print. From the first page the novel clutches the reader's heart and refuses to release it till the final word. That old cliché, " I laughed, I cried" applies so well to this wonderful novel about the great war between the states. The reader will laugh and certainly will cry.

The novel centers on two families, the Geysers and the Hales, bound by blood but divided by geography and ideology. The Virginian Geysers and the Pennsylvanian Hales are cousins but when war breaks out they are bound by pride to take up arms against each other. It's blood against blood in this horrific tale of pain and suffering and war.

John Leekley has produced an epic sure to become a classic. The Blue And The Gray is worthy to stand beside the works of Margarette Mitchel and John Jakes as the very best of Civil War literature. John Leekley's brutal imagery, described with unrelenting passion, brings the horror of that bloody conflict to vivid life.

This is American literature at its finest. Honest, thought provoking, and superbly written, The Blue And The Gray will touch the reaser's heart and reverberate through the reader's mind long after the final page is turned.

For someone looking for a more emotional view of the Civil War, with more 'people and feelings' than true history, then this is a very nice read. It is the fictionalised account of the Geyers and the Hales, cousins - one family of the South, the other from the North, that find themselves divided and fighting each other during the War Between the States in the US. The Geyers were farmers, of the land, though were not slave owners, and the story focuses around their eldest son, John, an artist who went into the war as an artist correspondent, torn by his love for both families and seeing both sides of the argument. He hates the institution of Slavery, a hatred amplified by the hanging of his black friend, a freed man for hiding fugitive slaves. The Hales were city-folk. Not only were they divided on their views, but by their styles of life. You see all the various scenes of how families were divided, how the glory of war could turn sour for the many boys simply looking for adventure.

There was a real John Geyser, and he did draw a lot of pictures as his time as a soldier. But he was not a war correspondent, and not that professional of an artists. Still is immature drawing carry a power to convey the horrors of war.

So take the 'history' with a grain of salt and enjoy the 'emotions' of the great conflict that ripped families and friends apart.

This book was basis and 'publicity' version for the CBS television mini-series The Blue and the the Gray, an epic staring the great Stacey Keech and Gregory Peck as Lincoln. This book and the mini series had Bruce Catton as consultant. I also highly recommend this mini-series as giving a human side to the conflict.

"Blue's Big Parade" is Blue's Clues book #17, once again featuring a new story style in which Blue and the other dog characters can talk. The new format seems to be working well.

It's the start of summer and Blue comes up with the idea of a summer celebration parade. They have one week to prepare and Tickety Tock is around to help keep track of the time. Kids will learn about time management and preparation as the characters ready instruments, parade floats, a song routine and more.

The pages are for the most part fully colored and the cover art is particularly great. This is a fun book for summer or any time of the year.

Summer has arrived and Blue, Joe, Magenta, Periwinkle, Green Puppy, and Purple Kangaroo are all excited about the town's upcoming summer celebration.

Blue gets the idea that they could celebrate by having their very own parade. Tickety Tock, Mr. Salt, Mrs. Pepper and the rest bring out a calendar to count the days until the celebration. They also use the calendar to decide which projects they need to accomplish before the parade, which is 5 days away. These include making hats, using wagons to make floats, and practicing their marching.

This delightful story is #17 in the Blue's Clue series published by Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. By using the calendar, children can learn the days of the week, planning for future events, and breaking up large projects into manageable tasks.

Blue's Big Parade is an extra-colorful book which ends with a spectacular fireworks display. My son enjoys it very much, and I feel it's a wonderful book to celebrate summer, teamwork, planning, and accomplishing taks.

Those that have seen the TV episode should have a pretty good idea what this is about. Blue is going for a doctor's appointment, a checkup with Dr. Maya, but she's a bit nervous. She's not really sure what will happen during her visit. We do some roleplay and Blue also gets to bring along Polka Dots to help her feel better. And Blue learns that going for a checkup isn't so bad. She gets her reflexes checked, is weighed (20 pounds), and has her blood pressure tested. And, yes, she gets a shot, which doesn't really hurt all that much. Finally, she gets some stickers.

This book is particularly notable because it's the first one in the numbered series in which they started the practice of Blue talking out loud. "I wonder what will happen during my visit... What will Dr. Maya do?" Oh yeah, this story, like the TV episode, features the male Nurse Kenny and the female Dr. Maya, doing some stereotype-shattering work. This book is sure to be great for any kid that has some fear of going to the doctor.

Our son was terrified of the doctor's office-total melt down everytime. He loved Blue's Clues, so when we saw this book, we bought it and started reading it to him for several days before his next visit. Like Blue and Joe, he took a friend. And he was fine! He knew exactly what the doctor was going to do. He now loves going to the doctor! We highly recommend it!

This book would be great for a child up to 18 months. The words are very simple (only one word per page). My son was a little bored with the book because he is 20 months.

I got this book for my daughter when she was about 18 months old, and she loved it. Each page has an engaging drawing and a simple sentence about what friends do together (e.g., laugh, sing, play, share). My daughter especially enjoyed doing the sound effects written on each page (e.g., "hahaha", "lalala", and so on), and we would talk about friends in her life that she had done these various fun things with. It was a very nice book to read together, very interactive.

I bought this book for my nephew this past Christmas and he falls asleep to it every night. What a wonderful way to go!

We got this book for my 11-month-old daughter for Christmas, and she loves it! She's not yet able to crank up the star just yet, but she loves it when we sing along, and she points at Blue and leans over to kiss Blue on every page!

Beautiful book. I saw first at the library
and then I bought this in Amazon. It is really
cute and explain all the things around the
house,bedtime, seasons and school.

I cannot describe how much I recommend this book. It was an instant hit. I have a 7 and 5 year old and it has become a night time routine to read this book. My 5 year old has read it so much she has actually learned to spell some of the words in the book on her own. It is a must have for parents of preschoolers.

My 12 month old daughter loves this book! She really responds strongly to the revelation of the characters and loves to feel the different textures. Even my four year old liked it the first time through because the identities are not immediately apparent and she liked guessing "who I am".

My 13 month year old son loves this book!! He loves the textures and fliping through the pages to see what is next. There is a clock that has a shiney mirror and my son even kisses it and smiles. He has alot of fun with this book.

My son is a almost 2 and a Bob the Builder fan. He loves this book! I enjoy the cute story, too. Thanks.

This is a very cute book. Bob and the team are busy building a road when Roley almost smooshes a family of porcupines crossing the road. Bob stops him just in time and has to sit down and figure out what to do to keep them safe. Wendy watches them back in the yard while Bob comes up and builds his plan. He makes a little tunnel for them under the road so that they can pass over safely. Wendy brings them back and they adapt very easily to the tunnel built just for them.

We really like this book in our house and I particularly like it because it teaches kids how to respect animals and their habitats. Bob goes out of his way to help them and it just provides a nice way to remind kids to respect animals, especially wild ones, and to help them when needed. Highly recommend!

I bought these for my son and he just loves them. They are the perfect books for pre-school age. He has all the Bob The Builder Toys and re-acts the stories from the book.

My granddaughter has had this set for several years and she still likes to pull them out and now is well able to read the stories herself.
Six stories come in a very nice holder which is easy for children to bring with them whereever they go. My granddaughter's favorite story is "New Boots for Bob!" The stories are easy to read and have colorful, bright illustrations. All in all this is a very nice package that any child who enjoys Bob the Builder will treasure for years to come.

This book is very cute. Obviously, it's about Bob's birthday but instead of acknowledging it, Wendy has everyone act like they don't know it's his birthday so she can throw a surprise party for him that evening. Bob goes about his day working, and getting a little sad and disgruntled that everyone seems to have forgotten his birthday. Wendy even goes to the trouble of getting the mail before Bob can so she can hide all his birthday cards. When he returns back to the yard from a long day (he even has a bunch of accidents. Just wasn't his day!), he is surprised with two cakes, many birthday cards, and presents. Dizzy even made him a cement birthday cake! It's quite cute and a nice way to teach kids to remember others' birthdays. We read it all the time in our house and we highly recommend it!

This show is the best thing that people could let their children watch. My 21 month old loves it, and so do I. I catch myself still watching it after he goes on to something else, or to sleep. I love the way that they put the children's everyday adventures into something that is going on with them. Like Muck thinking that Scoop was being hard on him one day, that is just like the trials that I went through as a child, and I know that children now days go through more than I did. This is definately a 5 star show and I'd recommend it to anyone with children, young or old.