Titles Books

i absolutely love the illustrations in this book. this artist is one of my preferred, her pictures are so soft and expressive, i just love it. and as if the illustrations themselves weren't enough, the story isn't that bad either. it's very short and is about a girl inside a miniature castle in a museum (hence the title). someone tells us about the girl and then we get to see the girl up close and find out that she wants a friend. in the end she gets the reader to be her friend... in a way. its a cute story line, but with the ethereal pictures it goes beyond being cute to being something more meaningful.

amazingly well done.

I purchased this for my daughter but found myself drawn to the book. It's beautifully illustrated -- you'll linger on every page. The story is simple yet magical, with a "surprise" at the end for the reader. Enjoy!

This is a story that captured my granddaughter AND me, from the very start. It has wonderful illustrations that enhance the written words. I had visions of the little girl in the castle, long after we had finished the book. It is so well written that she stayed with us and sparked great conversations. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a child that they love, to share and to treasure.

This is a picture book unlike any book I've ever read. The premise is that there is a girl who lives in a castle inside a museum. The castle is encased in a glass globe, and when children come to the museum, they press their noses against the glass globe and get a glimpse of the girl in the castle. When the children leave at night, she gets lonely even though she is surrounded by beautiful things. At night she dreams of children her own size visiting her, and "sometimes the girl in the castle even dreams about you." Her solution for overcoming her loneliness is to hang a picture of you, the reader, on the wall beside her bed. The last line of the book, "Do you see her? She sees you." EEEK!

I really like it because it is different, and has an ethereal, dream-like aura that takes me to another world. Nicoletta Ceccoli's soft clay model, acrylic, and digital media illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, and in fact, they are the most beautiful illustrations I've seen in a picture book yet. They, along with the story, will captivate the reader.

Kate Bernheimer has hit a home run with her first children's book, and I will definitely look for more from her in future.

A girl lives in a castle in a museum in this original fairy tale about a tiny girl who lives on display in a castle. When the museum visitors go home the girl is lonely - how can she keep her fans with her at all times? A magical world comes to life in a fun story that invites kids to look at scenes and imagine.

The Complete Angler - Izaak Walton and Chalres Cotton

This book deserves a place in a collection of great angling books, such as those of John Geirach, Henry Middleton and Scott Waldie. It is really two books and an odd sort of middle section on property rights and fishing (funny how some issues have not changed much since the late 17th century). It has some wonderful discourses on not just fishing but the lifestyle and philosophy of fishing. There are some sections and descriptions that can be tedious but they minor compared to the overall wonderful dialogue of the majority of the book.

The first section is written by Izaak Walton and, to me, was Canterbury Tales-esque, is it's older English language (which is entertainingly preserved) and its format. Three travelers - a fisherman (angler), hunter and falconer meet. In the course of discussing the merits of their activities the angler convinces the hunter to come along fishing with him (after seeing a hunt with hounds). Over the course of a few days on the rivers of England, the angler turns the hunter to the quiet joys of angling. He goes through the fish in England and all the baits and methods of fishing for them as well as how to prepare each of them. I had never through of carp of chubs and fish to eat, but after some of the descriptions in this book, I may have to give the a second look someday. The first book is as much of a celebration of the social and contemplative nature of angling as it is descriptions and methods of fishing. Interspersed are encounters with the local farmers, milker and inn-keepers as well as the talking over of the days activities among friends. But the highlight of this first section, and in my opinion the entire book, is the parting words of the angler to the hunter of how angling is a life philosophy that departs sharply from the hustle and bustle of the capitalist life. The first book is replete with references to early Christianity and its admonitions against looking to wealth for happiness.

There is an odd middle section about property rights and fishing which serves as a rather odd bridge to Charles Cotton's section. This book focuses on fishing for trout and graylings in a small section of England. If found the wordy descriptions of the flies by month to be tedious and the lack of philosophical discussion of fishing to be a little disappointing of an end.

Five days of fishing along the river Lea which joins the Thames near London is the background on which the cheerful narrative of The Compleat Angler is laid. The splendid civil conversation of Latin named Piscator, Venator, Auceps, Viator, and Piscator Junior is a joy to hear. Shakespeare was just publishing his first work when Izaak Walton was born in 1593 in Stafford. Walton retired in his early fifties and traveled about rural England visiting friends, fishing, and writing in his easy-going fashion. After publication of The Compleat Angler in 1653 he continued to add to it in his leisurely way for the next quarter century. Samuel Johnson praised the book in the eighteenth century and later Charles Lamb recommended The Compleat Angler to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 'It breathes the very spirit of innocence, purity, and simplicity of heart,' he noted. 'It would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it; it would Christianise every angry, discordant passion; pray make yourself acquainted with it.'
The Compleat Angler is a true classic of English literature that owes it's esteem not to advice about fishing but to Izaak Walton's pre-occupations and exquisite manner. Subtitled The Contemplative Man's Recreation the pages glow with delight in the hills and dales, woods and streams of the beloved countryside. Walton conveys a message of meek thankful fellowship and peace to all "honest, civil, quiet men". 'The Compleat Angler is not about how to fish but about how to be,' said novelist Thomas McGuane. 'Walton spoke of an amiable mortality and rightness on the earth that has been envied by his readers for three hundred years.'

This is surely one of the earliest books available to the modern angler. But it's worth distinguishing 'anglers' from 'fishermen'. I take 'anglers' to be people who go after fish for fun or sport or pleasure and 'fishermen' to be people who go after fish for work.

The first thing to be said about Izaak Walton's book, is that it is a play followed by a text book. The second thing, is that it's in a foreign language even to the English, because it was first published in 1653 when the author was 60. A ripe old age in England in those days.

Walton was essentially a biographer. He got paid for it - often commissioned as a good artist might. He wrote 'The Life of Donne' - a poet who even I've heard of. He's alleged to have been a prosperous merchant, but it doesn't really matter. Great angling writers like Richard Walker were engineers. Old school writers like George Skues, were public school educated solicitors in London practices who took the train to the chalk streams of Winchester in Hampshire at weekends, tying flies as they went.

The play concerns three people who meet by chance and get into conversation about their interests. They're travelling at a walk, and so they lighten their journey with convoluted conversation. Before long, it develops into a bit of a competition. Walton is the angler (Piscator). Another gentleman is keen on falconry (Venator) and yet another is keen on hunting (Auceps).

If you tire of 17th century banter, skip forward to the chapters on each particular species of fish, which will ring true immediately. To me it's a revelation that these friendly old fish will still fall for the same tricks as Walton was playing on their ancestors over 350 years ago.

Three hundred fifty years ago Izaak Walton wrote of the curious blend of inner peace and giddy excitement which the amateur naturalist finds at streamside. He invites us to stroll with him through the countryside, discussing the mythology, superstition, and the science of England's aquatic fauna. It is an unrushed journey, though we often arise at sunrise, and the author introduces us to many of the local inhabitants. Indeed, if our fishing is successful, we might exchange our catch for the song of a pretty milkmaid. The Compleat Angler is a brief book, and Walton's intent is to hook the reader, and encourage him to try fishing for himself: "I do not undertake to say all that is known...but I undertake to acquaint the Reader with many things that are not usually known to every Angler; and I shall leave gleanings and observations enough to be made out of the experience that all that love and practise this recreation, to which I shall encourage them." Interestingly, Walton starts off on the defensive, since the fisherman's passion was even then caricatured. By the end the reader has joined the "Brotherhood of the Angle," making artificial flies and enjoying the poetry of fishing: "The jealous Trout, that low did lie, Rose at a well-dissembled fly." To the modern ear Walton's literal belief in naturalists' old wives tales may seem humorously anachronistic, and it comprises a remarkably large part of his affection for his subject. We are also frequently reminded of the book's timeline with comments such as "...the Royal Society have found and published lately that there be thirty and three kinds of Spiders," while we now know that there are thirty thousand species of Arachnids. And the Brotherhood of the Angle is a genuine fraternity to Walton, "...I love all Anglers, they be such honest, civil, quiet men." The prospective reader must also be disabused of the misconception that Walton was a purist for artificial lures; he strongly recommends worms, minnows, and live flies. In Walton's watery world there is no dry humor, only fresh. Following his description of the twelve most effective artificial flies he says, "Thus you have a jury of flies likely to betray and condem all the Trouts in the river." And here he compares the beautiful coloration of a living trout to...well, you'll see: "Their bodies [are] adorned with such red spots, and...with black or blackish spots, as give them such an addition of natural beauty as, I think, was never given to any woman by the artificial paint or patches in which they so much pride themselves in this age." At the risk of taking some of the surprise out of the book, I here present a sample of Walton's fishing secrets: "Take the stinking oil drawn out of Polypody of the oak by a retort, mixed with turpentine and hive-honey, and anoint your bait therewith, and it will doubtless draw the fish to it." I would guess that Walton wasn't much of a cook, however, and I do not recommend his recipe for eel (partially skinning it, packing the viceral cavity with nutmeg and anchovy, cutting off the head, slipping the skin back over the body, and sewing it together where the head formerly was, then barbecuing it on skewers). Walton's affection for fish and fishing extends beyond the aquatic nobility of trout and salmon, to the often ignored commoners: gudgeons, sprats, bleaks, herns, tench, roach, umber, loach, and sticklebag. And as for the importance of fishing in Walton's world: "I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do; I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do."

Walton uses the perspective of an enthusiastic angler to promote a lifestyle of reflectiveness, gentle humor, and appreciation for nature. The book is easy to read, despite being first published in the 1600s.
The Coachwhip Publications reprint edition (ISBN 1930585209) is inexpensive and contains Cotton's "Part 2," written at Walton's request for the fifth published edition of "The Compleat Angler."

I bought this book for my mom - she is a pre-school teacher and was telling this story to her class for years without having the book. The kids love this story so much, so she was excited to be able to bring her new book to share with her kids.

The Gunniwolf is a classic story about a little girl who wanders off into the woods, where she is confronted by a wolf. She is, of course, frightened, but she and the wolf soon establish a cordial relationship. In fact, the wolf wants nothing more from the little girl than that she sing a little song for him. Although the Gunniwolf story has been around for years, the illustrations in this new version make it particularly appealing. A young child can enjoy the book simply by turning through the pages.

This was my favorite book as a child. I am so excited it is back in print. The text is the same, but the illustrations are different. I prefer the older illustrations, but that may just nostalgia. This has been a favorite of all four of my children. It is fun to read aloud and teaches an important lesson about obedience.

The Gunniwolf should be in every home with children 7 and under. It was consistantly the favorite picture storybook for my kindergarten classes over a 20 year time span. The book was out of print for a long time, and I was delighted to see the book become available again. My only regret is that the wolf doesn't look a bit more scary in the new illustrations. The text is excellent for using voice inflections, and to incorporate movement via hand movements, nodding, etc. Why this story isn't better known is beyond me!

This story is a classic and has been presented in many cultures using familiar places and customs. I liked it mainly becasue of the lack of violence. Most importantly my three year old grandson loves it.

"It's very hard, rescuing yourself."

Life is not a fairy tale, but it can be an amazing journey. Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes confirms this.

In this extraordinary epistolary juvenile novel, a young girl drafts letter after letter to P.O. Box #5667. She addresses her concerns there after seeing the post office box on an unfinished letter from her father. Now that he has been hospitalized for clinical depression (or, as she calls it, the "Evil Spell"), she feels as if this unknown recipient is her only touchstone to her displaced parent. Feeling as though she's trapped in a tower, she signs the letters "Rapunzel" and sends them out as signs of life, slivers of hope, perhaps even small calls for help.

Though the letters seem to be one-sided, the story is full and its protagonist three-dimensional. She acts her age and responds to her situation with equal parts optimism, realism, and cynicism. While waiting for her hardworking mother to pick her up from the dreaded afterschool Homework Club and waiting for her father to come home from the hospital, she channels her anxiety and emotions into her writing. Her short stories and letters reveal more about her own identity, even as she yearns to learn that of her would-be pen pal. Just as the heroine feels compelled to keep writing to the mysterious #5667, kids will feel compelled to keep reading her letters to the very end.

This book sounds like a fantasy title, and shows a picture of a girl with long blond hair dropping letters from a tower. However, it is actually about a very real girl who calls herself Rapunzel because she feels trapped in after-school Homework Club (because she's not quite old enough to stay home alone). Rapunzel's beloved father is in the hospital for depression, which she likens to an Evil Spell. Finding a scrap of a letter that her father has written to someone at a post office box, Rapunzel starts writing to this apparent friend of her father's, hoping that the person can help. The entire story is told in the form of Rapunzel's letters and stories.

Rapunzel is a complex and engaging character. She struggles with a nemesis named Andrew, resists pressure to join the Gifted and Talented program, and fights to save a historic bridge that's important to her father. Her intelligence and creativity shine through her letters, stories, and poems, as do her insecurities, need for stimulation, and sense of humor. Here is an example that shows Rapunzel's voice:

"My Mom's very concerned that I don't have any friends my age. I admit that I usually hang out with my dad or our neighbor, Mrs. Booth, who's sixty-seven. But can I help it if we haven't lived here that long -- and that everybody at my new school thinks I'm a geek because I can use the word "fortuitous" in a sentence?" (Page 15)

And here's one that shows her fears:

"The scariest thing I found out is that the Evil Spell runs in families. Like if somebody close to you has it, then your chances of being zapped by it are more than the average Joe-on-the-Street. That means me.

And it turns out that being smart doesn't help you either. Everyone thinks that smart people are happy, but it's not true. What's so happy about being able to see what's wrong all the time, and not having the power to fix it? What's so happy about feeling weird and different every day of your life? What's so happy about having gorgeous, superlative, wonderful hair (or a BRAIN) when you're kept in a tower?" (Page 61)

And her boredom with study hall (Homework Club):

"Okay. I'm so bored that I spent ten minutes watching the clock and saying "One Mississippi" each time the second hand clicked a space to see if time was mysteriously warped in this room like it is in Rapunzel's tower. But it's not. My hair and I are getting older at the exact same sluglike pace." (Page 104)

All in all, Rapunzel is a delight. I think that kids who are different in any way, especially kids who are different because they are easily distracted or bored in school, will relate to her. She feels real.

Letters from Rapunzel also tackles, in a highly accessible manner, the subject of clinical depression. Rapunzel's father is unable to be there to support his wife and child, leaving Rapunzel alone, worrying about her father as well as her own future. When he's under the Evil Spell, he can't function at all. Sara Lewis Holmes clearly has a real-world understanding of depression and it's impact on others (read more on her blog). For kids who have relatives struggling with the Evil Spell of depression, this book could be invaluable.

All in all, Letters from Rapunzel is a wonderful read for fourth through eighth graders, with an unusual storytelling method, and a unique and engaging voice. Although difficult subjects are covered, Rapunzel's breezy tone keeps the book feeling safe for the reader. Recommended for upper elementary and middle school kids, girls and boys. (Though I think that the title and cover might make it a stretch to get boys to read it). Letters from Rapunzel won the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on November 1, 2007.

Letters from Rapunzel is FRESH and far from a fairytale. THIS Rapunzel is smart, witty, creative and struggling to come to terms with her father's illness - Clinical Depression (a.k.a. - the Evil Spell.) THIS Rapunzel is suffering teen angst and looking for answers. She begins writing to P.O. Box #5667 after she discovers the ripped up remains of a letter her father has addressed to this mysterious pen pal. In her quest for answers and a "happy ending" she discovers so much more - the heroine of her life - herself.

A girl calling herself "Rapunzel" writes letters to a post office box after she finds a scrap of a letter written from her father to the box number. It says that the unknown recipient is the key to his succeeding as a poet and as a human. Now Rapunzel's dad has been hospitalized for severe depression, and Rapunzel begins pouring her heart out in the letters, although she never receives a reply.

Rapunzel feels as trapped as her namesake --- only instead of being in a castle she is stuck in the dreary Homework Club in her school cafeteria. Her busy mother insists that Rapunzel attend this after-school program.

Rapunzel is new at her school and doesn't have friends her age. According to her IQ test results (which she hides from her mother), she's a genius. But she doesn't care enough about school to actually study and has no desire to enter the gifted and talented program her teachers believe is right for her. Meanwhile, she pleads for help from P.O. Box #5667.

A curious Rapunzel goes to the post office to check out the box and finds it crammed full of mail. No wonder she's not getting any responses! She questions the clerk, who refuses to tell her who rents it.

Rapunzel comes up with her own plan to break her father's Evil Spell. She will buy the bridge that is the subject of his book of poetry, since the bridge is for sale. Owning it surely would snap her dad out of his depression. If only she had, uh, three-quarters of a million dollars.

Rapunzel's maneuverings fall through, and she is forced to attend the gifted program. The first day does not go well, to say the least. When a boy finds a poem she wrote about her father and mocks it, she decks him with an English textbook and finds herself in an all-day detention. But things go way downhill from there when poor Rapunzel learns something shocking about the bridge for sale.

LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL won the Ursula Nordstrom First Fiction Contest, and it's easy to see why. Gutsy Rapunzel has a delightfully forthright voice. Several mysteries thread through the plot, which eventually are solved in a satisfying manner. The book is humorous but also heartbreaking, filled with yearning and poignancy. Rapunzel's fresh story is one that will linger in the minds of readers for a very long time.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

This is Sara Lewis Holmes' debut novel, winner of the first annual Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest. An epistolary novel (that quickly becomes tantamount to reading a young girl's diary), it centers around twelve-year-old Cadence who calls herself Rapunzel. Cadence is extremely close to her father, a poet, who is suddenly hospital-bound with clinical depression. Soon after his hospitalization, Cadence finds an intimate and cryptic (but incomplete) letter he had written to someone nameless, addressed to a post office box. In the hopes that the recipient of the letters will help her save her father, she composes letters and sends them to this particular post office box, #5667. However, she finds herself writing so much more -- re-writings of fairy tales with her own plucky spin (one of her protagonist princesses decides not to marry the prince after all and not to sleep on any more piles of mattresses: She will no longer "take teeny-tiny steps. Instead, I opened my own detective agency, and lived happily ever after, asking lots and lots of questions. THE END"); creative responses to homework assignments and math problems; and letters to the editor when she hears about the imminent destruction of one of the last authentic swing bridges in her area, a place holding special significance for her father and a place, she learns the hard way, that was the backdrop for a devastating turning point in her father's illness. All the while, no one, including her mother, is talking to her honestly about his depression. She imagines herself a modern fairy tale heroine, mostly "just a victim in a tower," she writes to the nameless letter recipient: Her particular prison tower being the afterschool Homework Club, and the evil spell that has afflicted her father, his depression.

The book has a steady, vigorous pace; Holmes' Cadence is fully-realized (she's entrancing when she really gets going) and will especially draw young pre-teen girls who feel a bit left of center or a bit out of place, especially if its due to their brain power in and out of the classroom ("Everyone thinks that smart people are happy, but it's not true. What's so happy about being able to see what's wrong all the time, and not having the power to fix it? What's so happy about feeling weird and different every day of your life?" she writes in one letter); as The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books put it well, the novel possesses a "{d}elicately layered grace and springiness"; and there's a lot of poignancy in the novel, yet Holmes knows how to put on the brakes and keep it from getting too schmaltzy or overdone. Her relationship with her father is especially moving; here she is writing to the nameless post office box recipient (though it quickly becomes clear, especially after getting no letters in response, that she's writing for her own self-preservation):

"Did you know he writes me a letter, with a poem in it, every year, for my birthday? Half the time I don't understand the poem - not completely anyway - but it doesn't matter. Understanding isn't the point. It's how those poems make me feel. I read them to myself at night, sitting cross-legged on the bed, catching the words on the paper like they were fantastical beasts in the round, pale moonbeam of his silver flashlight. In the daylight, the words seem to run away when I try to read them, but at night, safely circled by my mighty beam, they slow down and turn toward me, and I whisper them to myself, memorizing their tracks on the page.

That's what I love about my dad - he doesn't give me cute or fancy verses for my birthday. He gives me strange and beautiful and mysterious pools of words, way over my head, but right at eye level with my heart. Those poems make me feel I'm truly growing older, that it isn't just a cake-and-icing-induced hallucination."

And there are also several beautifully-rendered moments as Cadence works through her confusion and her sadness over her father's sudden absence, all through her letter-writing. In thinking about her father's love of poetry ("One time he said poetry happened whenever he felt `the weight of reality's shadow.' I didn't get that exactly, but then he said it was like the world tilted, or shifted a little, so that he could see its hidden side"), she comes to understand her own writing abilities, albeit accidentally: "Then something weird happened. I wrote a poem about it. I didn't mean to, but all of a sudden, it was like there was another SOMETHING in the room, like a ghost. You know how you feel like there's breath on your neck? I didn't know how long it would last, so I grabbed a pen and I wrote down everything I could about that moment. What I wrote didn't make sense at first, but then I remembered what my dad told me once about his work - that he tried to make his poems like spells (good ones, not evil) so that when someone heard one, the listener would be haunted by the spirit of the poem, as he was when he wrote it . . ." Ah, loveliness.

Best of all, though, is Holmes' perceptive commentary on modern education (or, at the very least, the tendency of some teachers to adhere a bit too rigidly to pedagogical orthodoxy). Cadence is brilliant and very determined to avoid trying the new gifted program that her mother and some teachers want her to join. Compounding her dislike for school, a handful of her teachers refuse her rather imaginative ("frivolous" in the eyes of some teachers) efforts at answering homework questions. "Why do teachers encourage you to be creative when they don't mean it?" she writes. Indeed, her letters to the editor about the imminent destruction of the bridge are smart and incisive.

And, in the end, thoughtful readers will appreciate Holmes' further commentary on some readers' insistence for happy endings in stories and Cadence's acceptance that "{y}ou must be willing to have your heart broken in order to live. There's no other choice, scramble as we may to look for it, to find a way out of our dilemma. It is hope, crack your heart open and breathe, or close it up and die." That's not to say that something dreadfully tragic happens either; this is not the case at all. It's simply that Cadence -- and her father, for that matter -- comes to realize that she must make herself vulnerable, despite the pain, that the light can come through, even when things seem topsy-turvy and beyond repair.

In the words of Cadence, "It's very hard, rescuing yourself."

I was looking for an uncommon story for my granddaughter and this book delivered. Lovely graphics and story.

I am delighted with this book, as I have just been to Russia on a cruise and the nesting dolls are what I brought back for everyone! Thank you for making this little book available! Malissa Baugh

I love the illustrations in this, they are sure to fascinate many detail oriented children, they are very much like the art that is painted onto the little nesting dolls. The story is a wonderful sort of reverse Sleeping Beauty, but told from the rescuer's point of view, Katya is a sweet but strong and determined heroine who rides a wolf, a bear and a firebird to save her sleeping prince.

A great gift for a child (or inner child) who loves fairytales.

The illustrations in this book are reminiscent of the lacquered boxes that come from Russia - textured, detailed, and layered. A gorgeous book retelling a classic Russian tale - a wonderful addition to any child's library, but particularly children adopted from Russia.

This is the most exquisitely illustrated and delightfully magical book for children I have ever read. My daughter just gazes at the pictures, and she'll never let me read "just a few pages". We always have to read the entire book, and each and every time she is as enchanted as the first time we read it together. This is the kind of story I wish my mother could have read to me as a child. And I'm hoping someday I'll be able to read it to my grandchildren. I intend to keep this book forever. I cannot say enough about the beautiful illustrations...they are more exquisite than any real place on earth could ever be. As a result, they're sure to capture your child's heart and imagination. The facial expressions are haunting and I find myself wishing we could just leap into the page and spend a little time in this world. I am only wondering if Laurel Long has prints available? I would so love to hang one on my daughter's wall in her bedroom. Please read this book. It's just fabulous.

I just finished "Making Time, Making Money", and thought it was awesome! I found great ideas and inspiration, and took tons of notes. It may have been written in 1982, but is still very relevant for today.

Everything Rita does is first class and simply awesome! Amazon... you ought to ask Rita about her newest addition of "Making Time, Making Money in Network Marketing". The tapes are brand new and they are fabulous!

Rita gave a speech on time management at a home economics convention in Kansas City when I was a college senior at Kansas State University. I can't tell you how many times I've turned to her book, Making Time, Making Money, to get her advice on a topic in my life. Delegation is a huge issue that she shared. I've always wondered what happened to her wanted MORE of her work. It was a pleasure to find this site today!!

Several yours ago i saw the tail end of a commercial that changed my life in about 30 seconds. i would like to know if anyone has or knows how i could get the audio books. please let me know any info you may have....thx dave

I would like to find a copy of Rita's audio tape, "What goes around comes around" which I had until recently. It's missing & I would love to source another (or similar) tape. It was recorded at a corporate rally in the States after her book was published. Wonderful themes & inspiration. Very easy, entertaining listening as I drive. I miss having it around! Will also consider obtaining the book, given the great reviews. If anyone can help, please contact via my Australian Email. Kind regards Cherry Cole

Published and updated for the year 2000,this book is nevertheless another "stellar" contribution by author Terrence Dickinson.Spiral-bound,it is easily transported and accessed while out "seeing." Well-presented, and down-to-earth(pardon the reverse pun) for those of us who are newbies to this most wonderful adventure of amateur astronomy.Dark skies!

This is an excellent book! If you are a beginner and just starting out like I am, this is the book for you. The topics are excellent. They are written in easy to read and understand words and terms. This book covers all the topics including what to look for in your first telescope. The charts are wonderful and easy to read. The pictures are awesome. In addition, Terence provides a list of stars and constellations along with their pronunciation and meaning. Terence shows and explains how to use major constellations to find other constellations and stars. I found that I couldn't put the book down. This book will hook you on backyard astronomy.

After perusing a number of books, I found this one to be the best. It is the easiest introduction into astronomy and star gazing that is offered. Many of the confusing explanations of other books are ommitted. Moreover, the essentials of finding the constellations are easily explained and easily followed. Lastly, the book had a great further reading and information section that was very helpful. I recommend this book to anyone with a budding astronomy interest.

This is the first book I've read explaining the universe that keeps it simple enough for a beginner to understand. I checked the book out at the public library and can not wait to get my own copy and a highlighter. Fantastic!

While echoing the positive comments of all other reviewers, the reader should be cautioned that the new Third Edition (1998) has been released.

The planetary tables in the back of the "New Edition" (1989) only go through the year 2000; those in the "Third Edition" are good through 2010.

Make sure that you are ordering the Third Edition!

What a great addition to any St. Patrick's Day arsenal! A great cliff-hanger-type folk tale, complete with kings, sea monsters, vindictive witches, and a heroine who gives a whole new meaning to "riding off in the sunset"! The illustrations are superbe! My kinders raved about this book, even though I feared it would be a bit above them. We read it in sections, stopping at the brink of each near-certain disaster, so that it was just the right amount of listening for my many wiggily boys!! It fits in so well with our current fairy tale theme, that I would include in this genre, as well. This is a not-to-miss adventure, complete with classic twists and turns, and a few new ones!

I bought this book for my nephew but decided to wait to give it to him for several reasons. The main one being that I absolutely LOVE the book myself! LOL! However, while the story is good and I know he'll enjoy it, he's still a bit young (not even 2); it seems more appropiate for 4 years old or older.

In the story, Young Kate uses her wits to save her family and her village with an ending I never saw coming -- not your typical 'Fairy Tale Ending' but an excellent one nonetheless especially for our modern times. I fell in love with the illustration's ton of detail that kept me looking at each page long after the reading was over.

My one complaint is that, while the book itself is good sized so you can see the pictures, the paperback edition seems a bit flimsy. If this story is to be loved (and thus read) as much as I think it will then I may have to order another copy or two to last through the years. Perhaps the school binding edition is more sturdy?

Both girls and boys will enjoy this story and I think you grown ups will, too.

"O'Sullivan Stew" is a rollicking book with a truly heroic female protagonist. The pictures are both lovely and funny--if you pay special attention to facial expressions I guarantee you'll be laughing out loud. Kate, the heroine, spins yarns with a skill beyond her years, painting pictures with her inventive tales. Her speech is like music--you can practically hear her brogue while you're reading. And if her storytelling doesn't convince you that she's painting pictures with her words, then the illustrations will. They vary from dreamy pastels to muted and murky to bold and bright depending on the nature of the tale she's telling. And when she stops, the world turns black and white.

Not only does this book contain excellent illustrations, a strong, believable heroine, and a captivating story line, but there are several surprises and an unexpected ending. I hope you'll read it... it would be a shame to miss out on such a marvelously fun book!

The Irish have long memories, and even longer tales to reflect that. This book is a wonderful way to get children caught up in the excitement and tension of a classical tale, while also giving them a resourceful and modern heroine to admire. The book is everything a children's story should be: it's funny, the languish reads well and beautifully, and the illustrations are well done. This is a must-have.

This is probably my favorite story for a St. Patrick's Day read aloud. The village of Crookhaven is cursed when the local witch's horse is stolen by the king. Kate O'Sullivan and her father and brothers try to steal the horse back but are captured. It is up to Kate to weave a series of tales to get them all off the hook by describing other "true" stories where her family was in a "worse spot" than this one. The King is amused and enthralled by Kate's tales until the last one and all her work is about to be undone until an astonishing secret is revealed.

Hudson Talbott's illustrations are a riot of color and action. The expressions of the characters are so evocative you will laugh out loud.

Grab some Irish music to play in the background and share the story with everyone. The story will compell you to read with an Irish brogue even if you never have before.

Hudson Talbott books are like having a storyteller sitting at your elbow. The pacing of the story as it interplays with the illustrations is perfect.

I remembered this book for years after I lost my copy....and finally realized how easy it was to replace. Am I glad I did! What I remembered best was the art, especially the pictures of the princess in her amazing dresses, but upon reading it again for the first time in at least a decade, I found that the story itself was still as good as I remembered. Very well-written, and it was easy to imagine myself in her place. Great emotion. I love this book!

Although this story is commonly thought to be a variation of the tale of Cinderella, it is actually based on another Grimm's fairytale called "The Princess in Disguise". While in the original, the protagonist is irritatingly meek and eventually agrees to marry her father, "Princess Furball" reinvents the heroine as a clever and cunning protagonist who escapes the life her father chooses for her and instead finds happiness on her own terms. A fabulous tale with great morals for a younger female audience.

I have been searching for this book for years! I read it one time when I was about 8 years old, and fell in love with the story. Many years later, after forgetting the title and author, I have finally found it! I have spent countless hours searching for this book on-line and in bookstores. Princess Furball is a wonderful, inspiring version of Cinderella. I love that she isn't a damsel in distress that lets everybody do stuff for her, because in my mind that's not a heroine! Princess Furball has spunk!

The book Princess Furball is a good book because it is full of surprises. Her father is going to make her marry an ogre! The book is full of surprising twists and turns. I think that you should read this book.

I have been trying to find a copy of this book for over a year. A librarian read it to my class when I was just a little kid and I loved it. Upon finding it on Amazon I remembered why...it was such a great story. Not your average princess, she uses resourcefulness and her wits to take charge of her fate. Now my best friend is expecting her first child and I am excited to have someone to get this book for.

I loved this story. I still cry sometimes as I read the ending. the artwork is fun and interesting to look at. The story is about how this clever girl teaches the king about how he can find happiness by helping out his people instead of focusing on making more gold. I love reading this to my little girl. She is 18 months and asks for it. I don't know how much of it she gets but I certainly think children younger than 4 can really enjoy this book.

This inspiring take on Rumpelstiltskin is fabulous. Stories that model awesome choice making inspire people to make good choices. I love to read this story to my kids. I love the message that family is more important than vanity and worldly glory.

This children's story is 29 un-numbered pages in a large format. The cover size is 9 x 12 inches. It is well illustated with large, full-color illustrations.

It is a delightful retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin. In this version, the miller's daughter finds Rumpelstiltskin more attractive than the greedy king, and escapes with him to take up a new life on a farm. But, later, the king discovers their daughter, and kidnaps the daughter to try to force her to spin his straw into gold.

The daughter is certainly not attracted to a greedy old king in his dotage, expecially one that her mother had already rejected when he was younger. But the daughter has plans of her own for rescuing the kingdom, and she is a lot smarter than the king.

Like many good children's stories, this one has gone out of print. One could hope that the publisher will reissue this one.

This book has a great message for young girls (and boys!), and the illustrations are very clever. I think I enjoy this book as much as my daughters do! It makes a great gift.

I *love* this book! And so does my 3 year old daughter. The artwork is beautiful and so wonderful to look at. The story is *awesome* and just great for little girls [and boys!].

The author has a superb wit and a gift for storytelling. This has quickly become one of our very favorites and my daughter spends lots of time now pretending to be "Rumplestiltskin's Daughter" [who also had a name!]. I'm very happy with the impact this tale has had on her sense of what it is to be a woman.

This tale encourages girls to be clever and self sufficient without being tedious or overbearingly feminist. [And without being anti-male]. I can't recommend this book highly enough!