Stephen Krensky Books

This book was an exellent reference and a wonderful book to read every time you read it you will want to eat some ice cream. The historical facts were very acurate to popular beleifs.

This true story is a natural for a kids' book. During the War of 1812, when the British Navy was raiding the American coast, Abigail and Rebecca, the daughters of the keeper of Scituate Light in Massachusetts, successfully scared off a British warship by playing "Yankee Doodle" on fife and drum, making the British think the Home Guard was on its way. Krensky, who has written many fine children's books, does a great job with the text, using the sisters' own later account of the event as the source of their dialogue. Schuett is an excellent illustrator (I particularly like her Spring Thaw and Come and See), and the art is engaging, dramatic and pleasing to the eye. (My only quarrel is with the slightly too cartoony depiction of the British sailors.) A far cry from the run-of-the-mill illustrations you get in children's historical nonfiction. The story has been done before as a children's book, but this book is far and away the best version. If you want the perfect audio accompaniment to the book for your class or at-home use, get the CD "Airs from who knows where" by the Gloucester Hornpipe & Clog Society: on it Diane Taraz sings the terrific, catchy song she co-wrote, "An American Army of Two," which tells the same story. We play it every Fourth of July.

Dan Andreasen provides whimsical, fun drawings for TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS, OR HOW THAT POT O' GOLD GOT TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW. Leprechauns may be lucky on St. Patrick's Day, but on every other day they are noisy neighbors and they are causing chaos in the town of Dingle. But Finn has plans for curing the trouble, making TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS a pick not just for March but for year-round fun leisure reading.

There are some books that you read when your young that have an indelible effect upon you, and this book is one of them. It has been almost twenty years since I read it and the imagery of the book is easily recalled. I can remember dialogue, characters, plot lines, culture, even after all of this time. More importantly, the moral of the story, one of self-discovery, of dictating your own destiny, is one that is still with me. This is a book that I would read to my children, or encourage them to read. It is a wonderful book.

The story is great. Very simple to read and understand. The illustrations are the greatest. Anyone who has ever moved will identify with the character. It's a truly wonderful book.

After years of searching, was finally able to restore this treasured storybook back to our library. (Thank you, Amazon.com, for not giving up in your search to find it for me.)

My kids absolutely love this book. Every year when it's time for Christmas books to come out, this is the first one they want to hear, and they want to hear it almost every night, sometimes twice. It also answered a lot of my own questions about how someone like Santa got started in his particular line of work.

This is one of our favorite Christmas bedtime stories; it's short, funny and unique in its perspective on a well-canvassed holiday. Neither cloying nor maudlin, How Santa Got His Job is a delightful revision of the Santa myth. Its subtle humor is slyly reinforced by the illustrations - I especially like the jealous expressions on the faces of the zoo animals as Santa pals around with the reindeer! Parents will catch many little flourishes that children miss, but that makes the act of reading the story fun for everyone.

This book is wonderful for children of all ages around the holidays. It provides a cute explanation of how Santa got his job through trial-and-error of other jobs that he wasn't successful at.

Boy oh boy - you're going to like this one! It gives you the inside scoop about how Santa Claus came to be the Jolly Old Fellow that you all know him to be! For the first time ever, you'll learn about Santa's career ups and downs, his good times and his bad times, and how on earth it came to be that he started delivering presents to all the world's children - as he does 'til this very day! If your kids are getting to that question-asking age - this book will arm you with some wonderful "facts" that will help the kids to understand what makes Santa Claus such a magical man!

Excellent book. I am a seond grade teacher and this book teaches a plethora of things: Sequencing, perserverence, building on skills, and many more. Plus, the kids loved it! I am ordering them for all of the children in my family!

This is another beautiful story set from the series, but I have to admit that the voice of tigger is a bit annoying, other than that we still like it and it is definitely worth buying it, ...even if you prefer to skip the stories including tigger.

When I went to introduce my preschooler to Winnie-the-Pooh, I bought the big book with the complete stories and poems. It didn't take long for me to figure out that it wasn't quite right for my 3-year-old. Reading a story out of the original works takes a good 15-20 minutes, which is more than one can really expect from a preschooler or toddler. Also, the original Pooh is a bit like Sesame Street, in that there are phrases and indeed entire sections of the stories that adults will find amusing but which will just go over a child's head.

And yet, I didn't want to break down and go the route of the Disney-fied Pooh books, with their cartoonish illustrations and watered-down plots and characters.

That's why I was so pleased to find the Easy-to-Read series. There are six easy-to-read titles from two publishers. They are:

Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees
Pooh Goes Visiting
Eeyore Has a Birthday
Tigger Comes to the Forest
Christopher Robin Leads an Expedition
Pooh Invents a New Game

Each book is based on one chapter from the complete works. These little books are divided into four chapters, although it should be no problem to read one from start to finish in one sitting.

The print is large and well spaced, and there are ample illustrations (the original drawings by E.H. Shepard) on every page spread to keep little eyes engaged in the story. Most important, the editor has removed most of the passages that aren't so kid friendly and has simplified the stories without giving them a Disney style candy coating. One could read the original story and then the easy-to-read version and get the same basic plot; when going from the Milne works to the Disney versions, the same is certainly not true.

I didn't give these books five stars because the editor retained some language and dialogue that may be a bit confusing for children in the intended age range. Nevertheless, these books are a wonderful introduction to a classic cast of characters for the preschool set.

I love these tapes. My preschooler loves these tapes and has since age 2 or so. My sister gave them to me because she and her kids love these tapes. First of all, Winnie the Pooh is simply the best toddler/preschool character out there, as he's funny and not scary or naughty, (or loud), and they use lots of words and do things which are new and fun and interesting for your toddler/ preschooler. Second, this dramatization is unbelievably good--entertaining to adults as well as kids, the perfect mix of humor and gentleness. Another reviewer has said Tigger is annoying--I completely disagree. Tigger is FINE. I wonder if this reviewer has encountered Disney Tigger--now there's annoying! We have taken these tapes everywhere and now of course have lost or broken most of them so I HAVE TO buy some more. There are alot of books and tapes out there you can take out of the library--JUST BUY THESE

After my introduction to this ensemble cast with "Pooh Goes Visiting," I looked forward to the rest of the series. But this one is a bit of a let-down. Be warned that the stories are, or seem to be, out of sequence. Contrary to the title, only two, I think, are about or even contain Tigger. And the voice of Tigger is REALLY annoying. Really. But the rest of the cast continues to bring a gentle wonderfulness to the Pooh stories -- so much so that it's well worth the annoyance of Tigger. Get this one, but don't miss the other, better ones.

This amazing dramatization of the Pooh books is performed by a marvelously talented group of British entertainers who truly bring the Pooh characters gently and lovingly to life. As for this tape, I finally got this figured out. This is part of a four-tape program that represents the complete two-book Winnie-the-Pooh story collection, except the stories are out of order (probably so that they would fit equally on the tapes). Book 1, "Winnie-the-Pooh," is represented by "Pooh Goes Visiting" (stories in order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10) and "Piglet Meets a Heffalump" (stories: 5, 6, 7, 8). Book 2, "The House at Pooh Corner," is dramatized by "Tigger Comes to the Forest" (stories in order: 1 2, 4, 3, 9, 10) and "Pooh Invents a New Game" (stories 5, 6, 7, 8). When stories that depend on previous information are out of order, it gets confusing. My suggestion: Get the "Winnnie-the-Pooh" / "The House at Pooh Corner" gift pack, which is also four tapes (the same recordings), but in the proper order.

I give this book 4 bubbles up! My favorite part is bubble boat bubble float. My favorite line and picture is'"1 bubble no trouble" and" the best thing about the book is the illustrations.

Idid like this book because it was all about bubbles.My favorite part was when the bubbles took money out of the bank.There are bubbles climbing up a tree. Lots of birds and squrill chatter.

I loved this book. I loved this book because it tells about bubbles.My favorite part was when it said,'[;; one bubble no trouble,''. The pictures were beautiful. The best thing about this book was when the bubbles had icing on them.

my five year old is starting to read. This helps him a lot b/c the words are big and he can see them clearly enough to sound out each word. Some are still a little hard. He can only make it to the third page before he looses instrest. But he's 5 and is just starting. I defantly recommend this to parents who are looking for a fun way to introduce reading. Start out by reading it to them one night while they are taking a bubble bath. The next night let them try to sound out the easy words. Later go for bigger words and so on. It really gets them interested.

Critiquing Dickens' Christmas Carol is a misnomer. Rather, it is Dickens who critiques us with this masterwork.

A Christmas Carol has burrowed into the very heart of our Western Culture to where few people would be confused if you referred to someone as a "Scrooge," that is to say a skinflint, miser.

Aside from presenting us with some of the most memorable images in literature as Scrooge is taken by the Ghosts of the Past, Present and Future to review his life and probable ending, we are brought along with his and given opportunity to review those elements in our own lives.

A Christmas Carol was not just a nice story of the Christmas Season to give warmth and cheer.

Far from it!

Dickens had an agenda. Just as in his other famous works, like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, Dickens longed to make a social statement to draw attention to the poor in England, their plight and hardship. A Christmas Carol is about Scrooge as a person, but also as representing a class of the wealthy whose abundance is wrested from the large working poor such as Cratchett and his family. THEY are the point. THEY are the ones Dickens sought to draw to public attention.

Heaven help us is we simply see this book as nostalgia and fail to see the point Dickens had to make then and which still applies today!

Scrooge was a man whom lived in a small old house that at one time belonged to his departed business partner, Jacob Marley. Though he could meet the expense of the most expensive clothes available, he chose to dress in the fashion of a lower-class civilian. He worked in a counting house with only his clerk Bob Cratchit for business. Scrooge was a grumpy old man whom believed that Christmas is for rich people. He also thinks that Christmas is also just a reason to miss work and get gifts to one another and also to exchange the gifts. Every time the Christmas holiday would come Scrooge would get the same feelings as the years before which are not very Christmas spirity. Most people respected his dislike for Christmas holidays, and continued to dislike him, despise him, even hate him. He doesn't believe in all of the good cheer, happiness and charity that the season promotes, and he makes sure everyone knows how he feels about the Christmas spirit. His money was what he lived by. One night Scrooge was visited by his friend, which was Marley, who was also grumpy and cold as Scrooge was. When Marley visited Scrooge, Marley told Scrooge that if he continues to be stingy and so selfishly he would continue with greed as his assemble. He also tells Scrooge that three spirits will haunt him. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge received three visits from three specific ghosts. The ghost names where the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Those ghost showed him the true meaning of Christmas and the true meaning of his life. They showed him his error in valuing money over people. Scrooge saw his long forgotten past, realizing all the good quality he had deserted, and all he had done to guide him where he was now. He saw his childhood, his grief and pleasure. He saw his relatives and acquaintances. He also saw himself turn from all these through his greed as his age progressed.

Even though you wouldn't know it from the information shown above, this is an abridged adaptation, apparently prepared for young children. Which is fine if that's what you want. The illustrations are first rate and the quality of the book is excellent. However, if what you want is a graphic representation of Victorian London, rather than the screenplay for "Mr McGoo's Christmas Carol", then look elsewhere.

A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens is a book of being given a second chance. Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of the book, is a grumpy old man who feels he has no time for anyone. As an owner of a firm called Scrooge and Marley's, Scrooge runs the business while Marley has been dead. On Christmas Eve, exactly seven years from Marley's death, his ghost visits Scrooge. He tells him that soon three different ghost will visit him during the night.
As promised, the ghosts of the past, present, and the future visit Scrooge. He is visited by the ghosts because of his rude attitude and his disregard for anyone's attempt to be nice, which we all find ourselves doing now and then. The past shows Scrooge how he used to be, which was somewhat pleasant but still lonely for Scrooge. The present shows Scrooge his actions in a way Scrooge has never realized, most of which are to his dislike. The future shows the time when Scrooge is dead and no one cares for him, actually they are happy that he is gone. All of these visions has Scrooge sobbing in tears and ready to make changes in his life.
The book is cleverly written and fun to read. It often makes you put yourself into Scrooge's situations. My favorite part of the book is when Scrooge visited the past. I think it would be great to revisit all of the things you used to have in life. My least favorite part of the book is when Scrooge is dead in the future, instead of mourning, everyone is interested in his death will. It would be horrible to leave earth in such a way that all anyone wants is your money.
As far as recommending the book for others, I believe its a great story especially for the holidays. If you are into the Christmas glee spirit then you would like the book, especially the ending. A Christmas Carol can make you angry, cry and laugh all throughout the book. Its a story of one man whos favorite words, "Bah Humbug" becomes sincere and realizes all that he can accomplish in life.