Non-fiction Books

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but I loved this one. It's about a little bear who plays too roughly with a kitten, and his dad keeps telling him to be gentle with her. Let me just state this right now: I love misanthropic writers, such as Jim Goad and Florence King. Most of the books I read are pessimistic, angry, and explore the dark side of human nature. However, I have no shame in saying that a book about a bear and a kitten nearly brought me to tears. If that makes me a wuss, so be it

If you have a cat and a toddler you have experienced this book! It is so cute! My daughter is almost 2 and we have 2 cats that she loves but who tolerate her.

This book really caught our toddler's attention. Simple drawings, strong point. There has been a bit of sibling rivalry at our house, our older daughter is a bit jealous of our younger one at times and will be "not so gentle" or sometimes if she's overly excited, she might squeeze her little sister. After reading this book many times, we switched the names and put our daughter's names in - something clicked... she's been a lot... gentler! As always, check out your local library.

Poor kitty! "She's only little, Ba," a big gentle bear named George says repeatedly. A big bear hug from Bartholomew, and the kitten gets squashed. A playful squirt with the water hose, and kitten gets soaked. A rowdy drum serenade, and the kitten has had enough. Author illustrator Virginia Miller wrote this after her first book about the little bear with the big name, On Your Potty, grew in popularity. She enhances her spare text (only 203 words) with illustrations outlined in wide pencil and colored with soft, earth-toned markers. Ba is now out of diapers, but does not seem to be out of his "Terrible Two" stage. Be Gentle is my daughter's favorite Bartholomew bear story. Your toddler will not be able to get enough of this tale of well-meant but misplaced affection. I recommend the book Bartholomew Bear, a collection of five toddler tales of the same lovable bear at a great price.

"Be Gentle!" is the perfect book for toddlers learning the intricacies of proper social behavior. This book is my two year old's favorite because he knows many of the words. He has heard the phrase "be gentle" many times since the birth of his little sister, and this book helps him to truly understand what that means. He also gets excited because the book uses familiar objects such as a swing, a red wagon, and a drum in the storyline so he can sympathize with the characters. A great book for new, young siblings.

Un petit livre destiné à la jeunesse, "L'histoire qu'on lit au bord du lit" est écrite en vers et, en quelques pages, tourne autour du thème du lit : le lit tel qu'on l'aime, c'est-à-dire douillet, voyageur, pliant, casse-croûte, sous-marin ou tremplin. Chaque thème est travaillé de façon amusante, autour de paraboles et d'images hautes en couleur ! Les illustrations sont comiques, signées par Rotraut Susanne Berner, les vers sont traduits par Beatrice Vierne. Ce qui est particulièrement enrichissant, et s'adressant ainsi à un lectorat plus avisé, c'est que l'édition est bilingue : la page de gauche est en édition originale, celle de droite en français. Ainsi de lire les deux versions et de s'extasier sur la plume talentueuse de Sylvia Plath - auteur prometteuse trop tôt disparue !

Embark on a gentle, fantastic trip into a magical world that lies between reality and dream. Your child's imagination (and your own) will drift into sleep with images of acrobats, submarines, elephant beds, and so much more!

That this book should be out of print is a complete mystery to me, not enough violence in it, I imagine. As for the used price above, I can just imagine snuggling in bed with my child and an antique book... Books like this are meant to be read again and again, not placed in a gilded cage on a pedestal.

After years of searching for a copy (new or used) of Plath's "The Bed Book", which I used to read to my son when he was a toddler, I discovered that a publisher in the U.K. is going to re-release the book in September, 1999. I hope Amazon.com will make it available. . . this is a smashingly creative book, with page after page of beautiful watercolor illustrations.

My son and I read this book for years at bed-time - It was our absolutle favorite. Somehow we have lost the book and I have been searching for another copy for ages. Can the DC reviewer provide me with the name of the British publisher that is going to re-release this book - or any other details that might lead me to a copy? I would be very appreciative!

"Not just a white little, tucked in tight little, nighty night little, turn out the light little, Bed."

And this is not just an ordinary book. I came accross it one day and decided to give it a go, having read other Plath works. This book is incredible, te utter childishness of it, every time I think of it, it brings a smile to my face. This book is a must-read.

We love Alfie, Rosie and all their family and friends. Bondi especially.

All the Alfie and Annie Rose books are excellent! My son and I read them over and over, without getting bored. Gentle little stories about everyday life, with likeable characters and lovely illustrations. Often humorous. My favorite children's author.

We raised all 3 of our children on Shirley Hughes's books ("Dogger" was the all-time favorite) and now I'm giving them to my first grandchild. Absolutely first-rate stories with the most exquisite, fascinating illustrations. Do your children/grandchildren a favor and get them hooked on this series!

This book was an all-time favorite with my sons when they were ages 3-7. From unexpected adventures to everyday routine, Alfie meets life with good-natured friendliness, honesty, and quick thinking. The stories emphasize the multi-dimensioned personality of every human, no matter his/her age! I wish there were more books like Hughes writes.

My son, 3, loves this book. The stories have humor, tenderness, and the children are always treated with dignity. I love Shirley Hughes!

What I remember about this book are its beginning and end. What it means to me is that, I suppose, whatever happens in the world, 'la-il Allah el il Allah', which is what one of the characters says in the beginning and the end. It means, 'there is no God but God'. (Allah is the Arabic name of God.) Profound acceptance.

....as an antidote to material insanity....one of those "vade mecums" to have always in your backpack as you are traveling the world...I found this in a used bookstore in the original "quokka" edition, misplaced it and found it AGAIN in another store in the same out of print edition....have never seen it in any other store since...the author leaves you with the impression of true devotion, that as an "outsider" he has fully surrendered to and mastered the Sufi tradition; in fact it is one of the few fictional works I have read to give off the "perfume of devotion"...this, my friends, is the real McCoy.
For the spiritually aware, to be ordered without delay.

If you feel lonely and desperate among the 'madding crowd'of the 'modern world' you shouldn't miss that masterpiece. (By the way: May I make a transcriptional correction regarding Herman Greenstein's review: More appropriate transcription of the quotation can be 'La ilahe ill'Allah' which approximately means 'There is no deity but Allah'...)

I read the Turkish translation of The Book of Strangers twenty years ago. It was translated by the prominent poet Ýsmet Ozel and it was a great chance for the Turkish readers.It was an exciting experience for the westernised Turkish intelligentia to read this marvellous story of spritual as well as cultural oddysey written by a westerner. I think it would be as much interesting for all eastern and middle eastern readers living in the western countries or studying in American/British/German/French universities.

I came across this book entirely by chance, and only picked it up because the back cover claimed that it was the "Sufi Siddhartha." Being already interested in Sufism, my curiosity was piqued. And once having read it, I felt compelled to read it again and again. This is no mere introduction to either Sufism or Islam in a purely intellectual sense, as is so common in Western books on the subject. Still less is it a "novel" intended to amuse. Rather, it is an allegory of one postmodern, Westernized individual's journey into the Islamic Tradition. As such, I found it to be just as powerful as some of the classic allegories and poems written by the great Sufi masters of the medieval period. The plot is very simple: the story is narrated by a young man who works in a University library at some point in the near future. He is appointed to head the library after the disappearance of its former keeper. In this time, libraries are no longer merely buildings which house books, but they have been reduced to processing stations in which computers select and digest materials for scholars and students in such a manner that nothing will distract them from their area of specialization. However, the narrator becomes curious, and begins trying to solve the mystery of the previous librarian's disappearance. He soon comes across the missing man's journal, which contains the story of his growing dissatisfaction with modern life and his interest in ancient mystical writings as a more genuine form of knowledge. Finally, not content to merely read about the mystics of old, the vanished librarian ends his journal by confessing that he is journeying to the "desert lands" in search of living mystics from whom he can learn. The narrator very soon decides to travel in his footsteps, and departs for an unnamed location (most likely North Africa) to see what he can find out. The rest of the story details his gradual journey, first into Islam, and then into Sufism (Islam's mystical heart), after which he changes irrevocably. The book is interesting not so much for its plot but, as in any good allegory, for the record of a man's thoughts as he undergoes an inner transformation.

While I have read many books on Islam and Sufism, I have not encountered another work quite like this one. Most books on Islam intended for Westerners pander to modern beliefs and prejudices, treating it either as a relic of the past requiring modernization or as a threatening political force. This book treats Islam not as an intellectual or historical abstraction, but rather details the thoughts of a man, initially utterly submerged in the lies and half-truths upon which modern Western society is based, as he abandons his prejudices and comes into contact with the genuine reality offered by spirituality.

A brief, biographical note on the author is warranted. Ian Dallas was a Scotsman who travelled to Morocco during the 1960s and became involved with the Shadhili Sufi Order of the highly respected Shaykh Al-'Arabi Ad-Darqawi. After reverting to Islam and studying with the Shaykh for several years (the same period during which he wrote "The Book of Strangers"), the Shaykh appointed Ian Dallas as his successor. To this day, Dallas continues to lead his Order as Shaykh Abdalqadir, and has written many books on the subject of Islam under this name (although he has written a few other works under his original name). Thus, Dallas was uniquely qualified to write this book as a record of how a Westerner can come to understand Islam from within, rather than as an outsider. As such, it is a unique bridge between the modern world of deceit and the timeless, Traditional world of the spirit. If you have any interest at all in Islam, Sufism or any spiritual Tradition as something to be experienced rather than as a mere intellectual abstraction, I highly recommend this book for you.

I came back to Joyce Williams after reading her story "The Girls"in "Best American Short Stories, 2005." This was a 1988 publication. Another reviewer has given a sample of the quality of the descriptive writing, but it is in the dialog and characterization that she is at her most brilliant.
Willie and Liberty are a pair of delinquents who take up residence in the houses of rich and leisured absentee owners. It's often very funny.
The first chapter could stand alone as a Joyce Williams short story (I suspect it originally did). Willie is enigmatic and given to statements like "we can't disown the light into which we are born" The story gradually comes to center on Liberty, who has been rejected by her parents and by her foster-parents (who are Willie's parents) and has lost a pregnancy. She poignantly tries to care for Teddy and Dot, two neglected children while fearful of losing Willie. The caste of characters becomes filled with the eccentric and outrageous. It's a wonderful caste but eventually there's too much fruit in the cake. The plot loses coherence. Williams should learn from Shakespeare (one of the few writers superior to her). In Hamlet the prince's behavior is highlighted by the puzzled reactions of those around, by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. A few people acting and talking reasonably would have added a needed touch of realism, even though it's set in Southern Florida.

"Liberty and Clem continued walking over to the Trail to hitch a ride home. The Trail had once been a meandering Indian footpath over coral and limestone rock, but was now a murderous six-lane highway that gobbled up small animals for breakfast, dreamy old geezers for lunch, and doped-up young honor students in their developer-dads' jeeps for dinner."

Joy Williams books are rife with paragraphs such as the above--packets of words like candy pop rocks for your brain, exploding in multi-flavored glory. Like "The Quick and the Dead", this book is brimming with brilliant observations, strange characters, and mythic overtones. Williams has been compared to Flannery O'Connor, and even to filmmaker David Lynch. Her details are so good, so believeable, that you are drawn into the siren song of her plots and her skewed visions of America.

Willie and Liberty are two archetypal teenage lovers. Willie is part Charles Starkweather, all manipulator. Liberty is a beautiful lost child, always accompanied by her strange white hound, Clem. Willie and Liberty, in their meanderings, meet red-neck Duane, drunk aristocrat Charlie, and the Circe-like, 75 year-old female bodybuilder, Poe...who is one of the greatest literary inventions of the past few decades.

This book would rate five stars easily, except that I found it bogging down in several passages where Liberty went into mental soliloquies.

I hope there is a filmmaker daring enough to make this into a film--Quentin Tarentino, are you listening?

Fascinating. Sui generis. Great.

oNe oF THe DaRKeST TaLeS i'Ve eVeR ReaD. VeRy DeeP aND THouGHT PRoVoKiNG...a BooK i'Ve ReCoMMeNDeD MaNY MaNY TiMeS iN THe YeaRS SiNCe i FiRST ReaD iT.

like the above review notes, there is no reason why Joy Williams isn't a widely read and appreciated author. breaking and entering is a chilling story of isolation, paranoia and senseless postmodernity. The every-word-perfect prose reminds me of Nabokov in that the book is genius just for the way she twists and fashions language into an entirely convincing, if often surreal, journey into secret inner lives. look also for her story "trains" in the vintage contemporaries anthology of short fiction.

The 1st time I read this book, I flipped it over & began again the second I finished the last page. That was 6 years ago and I have read it many times since. Joy williams tells a sort of falling-out-of-love story...very touching, very poetic, often very funny. The isolation everyone feels in modern society is an omnipresent theme & it is often explored here with a surreal exactness.

My children and grandchidren love this story. I bought the book to read to my youngest grandchild, who is 2 and a half. We love both the story and the pictures. We also have fun braying, barking, meowing and crowing like the heroic animals in the story. When her dad was her age we lived in Germany and visited Bremen and saw the statue of the animals.

The illustrations are delightful for this traditional story. A great gift for any child or adult.

Some animals were going to Bremen Town to be musicians. On the way they saw some robbers. They kicked them out and the animals never went to Bremen-Town.
The donkey kicked the robber with his hind legs, that is why I liked the book.

The animals were going to Bremen Town to be musicians because the owners were going to kill them. On the way to Bremen Town, they met some robbers. The animals stole a house from the robbers.
I liked this book because the robbers looked funny.

Of all the stories my father read to me as a child, this was my favorite. Its endearing story of self-discovery is timeless, and not to mention quite humorous for a six year old boy. It reminds me of a time far less complicated and will thus always hold a special place of affection for me. This was the Catcher in the Rye of my Elementary years. I would highly recommend this to anyone with children looking for quite simply a flat out good story to read them that they will enjoy.

The cubs are scared of the sitter. She is pry this mean witch or something. Then she has lots of fun things to do and soon they relax and like her.

The book, The Berenstein Bears and the sitter, is wonderful. In the book, the cubs are very scared because a babysitter is coming to stay with them. However, once she gets there, the cubs find out that she is actually very nice and fun. They end up having a great time with her. I thought this book was very colorful and interesting. I love all of the Berenstein Bears books. Many times children are afraid of babysitters, but this book shows them there is no need to be. I would recommend this book to all children.

i liked this story and wish i could be a good writter like you i liked it when they thought that she was a mean lady and it turns out that she was a very nice and then they play games eat do a lot of thing. that is all i had to say. THE END!!!!!!!!!!

i liked this story because they thought she was mean and it turns out that they love her.THAT IS ALL I HAD TO SAY THE END!!!!!!!!!!

Mama and Papa Bear have to go to an emergency town meeting, along with the rest of the Bear family. Who will watch Brother and Sister Bear? They end up finding Mrs. Grizzly who lives in the old stump at the end of the street. But isn't Mrs. Grizzly a bit of a grump?

Lucky for her, the children are happily settled down with the odds and ends she's brought in her bag. Not only does this book prepare young (under 6?) children for a new sitter experience, but maybe it also will teach kids how to behave with grown-ups.

Mrs. Grizzly has a spunky personality that kids will warm up to and parents will enjoy reading aloud. The bright, colorful pictures are fun for kids.

BRUNO'S DREAM is a remarkable novel. It features an ensemble of eight characters, none of them very noble, and the action essentially consists in the kaleidoscopic shifts in the relationships between and among these eight characters. The reader observes everything somewhat like a voyeur, with an attendant sense of embarrassment over their clumsy grapplings with their egos and their ids, their dreams and their desires. The setting is an admixture of the starkly realistic (middle- and working-class London in the 1960s) and the bizarre and almost fantastic (Bruno's tomb-like bedroom and a cataclysmic flood). Nonetheless, the story somehow manages to stay within the realm of possibility, and it is always captivating. In the course of its unfolding, Murdoch raises and explores, almost as asides and without belaboring, a number of philosophical or metaphysical concepts (love and death, the existence of God, the thralldom of memory, life as a dream).

This is my introduction to Iris Murdoch, so I don't know if BRUNO'S DREAM is typical of her work with its blend of philosophy, humor, probing of human relationships and the individual psyche, and sheer narrative intelligence. I hope so, because then I have much reading pleasure ahead of me. Written in 1969 but not dated in the least, the novel appears to be out of print. If, however, you enjoy intelligent and slyly witty fiction, it should be worth the effort of tracking down a copy, for it is better than most novels currently being presented and reviewed in our leading newspapers as the best of today's fiction.

Iris Murdoch has written one helluva' dream for her protagonist, but here's hoping ol' Bruno changed the sheets once he woke up.

Of all the whimsical, fictional worlds created by Iris Murdoch, this one is the most haunting and compelling. Her gift for "reading" the human condition is a given; her ability to find consistently some light in the darkest human soul is a gift. The novel's humor notwithstanding, this is a story of desperate people who, unbeknownst to them, live under the watchful, sheltering love of a strange, gentle man (Nigel), who is everywhere and nowhere, and who, along with his unwitting protege, Diana, represents the purest example I've seen in Murdoch's fiction of her concept of selfless love, the ability to be "good for nothing." The final scene between tortured, dying Bruno and spiritually exhausted Diana is as moving as any in literature. I've read all of Murdoch's novels, and each has its beauties. This one stays in my heart, like the memory of innocence.

Bruno's Dream is a wonderful novel and it's a shame it's out of print. I was so pleased to discover a copy in a used book store, and even more pleased upon reading it. The story revolves around Bruno, a dying old man, and the people in his life--both living and not. Murdoch once again demonstrates her incredible talent to explore the realities of human relationships, to get you thinking on the nature of friendship and love. The novel is at times humorous, serious, philisophical and bittersweet. A truly enjoyable read.

Bruno's Dream is one of the forgotton books in the Murdoch oeuvre. While I would not encourage anyone new to Murdoch to start here I would suggest that anyone who enjoys her uneven but magical and haunting books should seek this one out.

It has an acute sense of place and the portrayal of the shabby and little known area of Chelsea, London near the Lots Road power station is powerful. It is one of the first times that I have felt a need to search out the actual physical location of a novel (not much changed actually).

This story of a dying man is a gentle and unfashionable book. I will never forget it.

A wonderful christmas story with all the trimmings. I enjoyed all of the characters (and there were many)and how they all went through a heart change. It showed how sometimes the littlest act of faith and kindness can have the hugest impacts in our lives. Debbie has a way of writing that draws you in so that you actually feel as though you are part of the story.

This book was cute and easy to read. It is the classic scenario but none the less very uplifting and wonderful!!! Keeping these books around remind us all of what is important and I am glad to add it to my collection!

"Can This Be Christmas" is a short, nevertheless touching story which will hopefully become a classic must-read for all. Twenty-four hours is such a short period of time unless your plans have suddenly been drastically changed and you have no control over them. The cast of characters learn quickly that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in each of them. That spirit does present itself once a "child" shows them the way. Even the most hard hearted will get a little teary-eyed with this quaint tale.

I read this cute little story in the dead of summer and it seemed to transport me back in time to Christmas. This was a beautiful story - I plan to keep mine and read it to my child one day.

This isn't one of Debbie Macomber's usual books. This isn't a romance, but it is wonderful all the same. People stuck in a New England train depot, each with their own baggage, wind up helping to make the birthday of our Saviour better for each one. I thought it was a great story.

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I remember seeing the film "The Deer Hunter" years ago and being blown away by the excellent performances, characters, and story. I never thought I'd see or hear of anything like that movie again, but thankfully I was wrong.

"Carry Me Home" is "The Deer Hunter" in print. Don't infer any hidden meaning from that sentence; the plots of the two are as different as night and day. But they both deal with the same subject - the aftermath of the Vietnam war, what that means to several men (and women) in small-town America, and how each of them deals with it.

The two main characters in this book are Robert Wapinski and Anthony Pisano, of Mill Creek Falls, PA. In such an environment it seems incredible that these two men apparently never met before the events in this novel, but that's what Del Vecchio seems to imply. And it really doesn't matter whether they did or not, because their lives become more and more intertwined as the story unfolds.

Their lives take radically different turns. Robert becomes moderately successful as a real estate broker and then as a pioneer in the solar and ecology field. Tony, on the other hand, drops out of society - he just can't handle what people think about him as a Vietnam vet (and more importantly, he can't handle what he thinks about himself as a Vietnam vet). That statement, including the parenthetical comment, may not make any sense unless you know something of the history of US involvement in Vietnam (e.g., Lt William Calley and the My Lai massacre). But Tony does try for a little while - he courts and marries a girl and has two children, but the pressure just becomes too much for him. And even though Robert seems able to integrate himself back into society, he too is haunted by what happened and what he did in Vietnam.

What these two men do to heal themselves and other vets forms the crux of this story, and Del Vecchio never falters in the telling of it until the very end. At that point he seems to deal too much in psychology and not in the people themselves. But until then this is a fantastic story of a subject that not too many novels deal with. The Chicago Sun-Times said of Del Vecchio's "The 13th Valley", "...quite simply, THE novel about the Vietnam war." Well, quite simply, "Carry Me Home" is THE novel about that war's aftermath.

I know John Del Vecchio, he's a friend of my ex-girlfrind's mother and I met him on several occasions. He was always such a nice guy to me and I bought this book because of several recomendations and because he's just a genuine, nice guy. I read the book and was blown away by his attention to detail and emotional weight. Being to young to remember the Vietnam war, this was an interesting lesson in coping with the seriousness of war and a country that doesn't want you back. The story is very involved and very fine tuned. Though not exactly light reading, the book is involving and beckons you to read on.

I had a chance to discuss the book with him a while after I read it and expressed my admiration and respect for him and his book. He was gracious and said he was working on a new book. This soon turned out to be "Darkness Falls"...Another great book by Del Vecchio. "Carry Me Home" requires dedication to read, but you're left with a real connection with the characters and a feeling of accomplishment...