Children's Books

This book, read first when I was 14 years old, and since added to my adult library, read and re-read again, has stayed with me like so very few other books in my life.

I wont over-egg the review - Corbett wouldn't have liked that kind of lionising (good pun!) and he doesn't need it. Suffice to say I respect Corbett deeply, and often think of him. Unabashed admiration for this man is easy. All his books are worth your money, but start with this one.

Jim Corbett put together his experiences in the forests of the Himalayan foothills. The details are truly amazing. It does also provide a great ammount of details about wildlife. In a nutshell an epic collection. Does not get any better than this.

Probably the best big game hunting book ever written. Will keep you on the edge of your seat and I do not recommend reading it while camping in the woods (especially if the woods happen to be in India). Corbett describes stalking man-eating tigers and often they stalk him. These are not made-up stories nor are they self justifying. Corbett ONLY hunted tigers that the local population asked him to, after dozens or sometimes hundreds of people had been killed. His descriptions are beautiful and picture an era (India in 1900-1930) that has long since gone. I have read it many times, the first when I was about 11 years old.

This book was written by not only a very brave man but a man that possessed great character and class. His only reason for hunting these Man-Eaters was to rescue the villagers from this ever present terror. He took no money for his efforts. Very exciting reading without ever a hint of bragging about his extraordinary gift of successfully hunting the most dangerous animals on earth.

I can't speak highly enough about the book. His discription of his journeys made you feel as if you with right there with he and his men. If you like the outdoors and adventure, you simply must read this classic.

Spectacular Pop-ups, beautifully done, very intricate. Most pages have two separate pop-ups. I will enjoy reading this to my grandchild and we will marvel together at the scenes that magically unfold before our eyes. Not suitable for handling by toddlers without adult supervision because, as with all pop ups, the pages can be torn easily by exuberant little hands!

Once again, Robert Sabuda has created a wonderful visual masterpiece based on Clement Clarke Moore's classic tale of The Night Before Christmas. It delights the child in all that open the cover, each page brings new surprises. I'm a 6th grade resource and reading intervention teacher and all my students enjoyed the book, wanting to explore the pages again and again. At home, toddlers to great-grandmothers have enjoyed it. I highly recommend that you add this work of art to your holiday collection.

I purchased this book to read and show to my grandchildren. They love pop up pictures. It brings the story to life. A book you want to pass on down the family.

Very creative and well done. The pages are well thought-out and executed. Complicated and clever. Enjoyable.

This book started my love for pop up books. I now own nearly every Robert Sabuda and/or Matthew Reinhart book. This book is a wonderful representation of a beloved story. It has become a Christmas tradition to read with my children, as dear to them as decorating the Christmas tree, wrapping presents and baking cookies.

This is an AWESOME story for kids and grown-ups alike--for all the right reasons! Berkeley Breathed weaves such a rich and colorful tapestry with his words and the illustrations will make you "fall on the floor laughing!" It is a delightful Christmas story about the human experience and one of enlightment without any deep religious undertones. It's old-fashioned in the respect that it has a "moral." It's tickles one's fancy because the story is based on an actual "thing" that can be visited with wonder and intrigue. I know because my family had to make a "pilgramage" years ago to see it with our own eyes!!

As a Realtor in the Portland, Oregon, area I make it a habit to give this book to clients every Christmas...whether they have kids or not! You certainly won't be sorry for the purchase and I truly believe you're getting an excellent value for the cost. Enjoy!

Leslie Newberry
Cell: 503-349-2727

This is my favorite Christmas story, hands down. I cannot read it without getting choked up and teary... and it's NOT a sappy story! This tells of a young boy who has a run-in with an old man who may or may not be Santa Claus; the boy has little and believes in even less, though his encounter changes that. Don't think you know how this ends though - the boy is not easily won, and he does more for the old man than the other way around. The final image will give you chills... (in a good way)
DON'T SKIP TO THE END! IT IS BEST AS A SURPRISE.

This is my favorite Christmas story. The story is great, the pictures are amazing and it makes even my older child think twice. I gave this book as a gift to several neighbors this year and they are all believers now! We read this every year.

The Red Ranger Came Calling has overtaken every other book, even my now #2 pick How The Grinch Stole Christmas, as my "must-tell" Christmas story. I am not able to read it aloud without tearing up at some point, curiously not always at the SAME point in the story.
This is a tall tale, more accurately the re-telling of a tall tale, and it's poignant message to remember to "look up" when seeking answers. The beautiful story for all ages is matched in brilliance with the artwork of Breathed. I have yet to find a child or adult who doesn't "get" the story and its beautiful moral. One need not be an Opus fan to love this book and appreciate the artistry inside.

I'd bought this for myself because I love the Bloom County/Outland series. This last Xmas I needed a gift for a 5 year old boy. Remembered how much I loved this book but on the re-read remembered it brought into play the concept that Santa dosen't exist, then resolves it. As it turns out it arms a kid with some fun mythology to run with. And the art is incredible.

An excellent book and a great series quickly sent by seller very happy

This book was great. It was a little difficalt because it went back and fourth between the characters and things that went on in the past. This book is a gory one so it would be good for 7th grade and up. It tells the tall of the twins very good. but only read it if you read the first one time of the twins.

War of the Twins is one of my absolute favorite books to come out of the Weis-Hickman machine. Mind-bending concepts of time travel and of the future locked in place combined with world-altering events makes for a dramatic and intense read that will keep you up late at night. It is also perhaps the most emotionally tense book in all of Dragonlance. The interactions between Raistlin and Caramon and Crysiana and Tas are fantastic. The strange love triangle between the brothers and Crysiana makes for interesting reading and also helps the reader really appreciate the emotions of the characters. Of all the characters, Raistlin in particularly really starts to reveal his true self: merciless and determined. While at times you feel like Raist must be starting to actually feel for the people that love him, it is quickly revealed that he only cares about his ultimate goal. Caramon comes into his own in this book, leading an army and realizing that he doesn't need his brother in order to live his own life. Crysiana doesn't evolve too much in this one but does grow in her sense of purpose and in her faith. Tas kind of gets left by the wayside for much of this novel, but comes back for dramatic impact on the overall story.

The only complaint I can think of is that the Dwarfgate wars were sort of skimmed over, not revealing too much detail as far as the actual battles are concerned. The leaders of the various armies and factions could have been better fleshed out, especially Kharas and the leaders of the plainsmen and hill dwarves. These are minor regrets thought and Weis and Hickman leave much to the reader's imagination which probably enhances the overall effect of the story. They focus on the main characters and the emotional battles they are going through, and that would have been taken away from some if they had included too much detail about the side stories and characters.

Overall I'd say this is one of the more mature and grim of the Dragonlance novels, without very much humor at all and a lot of tense and dark moments. The vivid characterizations of the book sold me. I'd recommend this entire trilogy to anyone in for a good emotional story.

Dragonlance series is beyond doubt one of the best known and loved works of heroic fantasy. Written with an exceptional honesty and story-telling talent, it sparkles with the authors' love for their characters and the world they created. The Twins Trilogy is a dark tale following all the patterns of heroic fantasy, but it still manages to be fresh and exciting like the best folktale. Raistlin remains one of the most striking tragic characters eagerly awaited to reappear in subsequent Dragonlance novels.

The Legends Trilogy- the Time of The Twins, the War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins, is the sequel to The Chronicles Trilogy- Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning, which brings to life the ultimate battle between Good and Evil in the magical World of Krynn. The books are so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. The authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have truly outdone themselves and have presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work and RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies. Duty, honor, bravery, magic, dragons and heroes are all about. One should seriously start thinking about maybe turning them into movies...

I think the author should stick to writing about racing. In this book, a horse kicks eight-month-pregnant Ashleigh in the side. She has to go to the hospital. Her baby is born, but a blood vessel in Ashleigh's brain bursts. She goes unconscious, and she starts to dream about Christina, her baby, in her older years. In the dream, Ashleigh has died, and Christina is eventing. I won't go into further details.

In this book, Joanna Campbell has Christina jumping a three-year-old filly and considering riding her in three-day events. Ridiculous! That would do damage to the young horse's legs, and the horse would be too young to compete, anyway. Also, in the book, the filly, Jazz Goddess, is born as a runt. But later in the book, she is portrayed as tall and big over and over and over. There's also a lot of other unrealistic stuff, but I'll let you read the book on your own.

I loved this book, just like all the other ones, but it was really weird how they had all this stuff that was a dream and never really happened! It sorta gives you a fake idea of what will come. But dont get me wrong I loved the book and the story line was really cool. I absolutly love Jazz Godess! She was like almost one of those perfect horses! Except when she crushed Christinas leg, but she went on to come in second or third in the Rolex, and that might not have happened if her leg didn't motivate her! So, this was a great book, if a bit werid.

I think it is vey sad that Christina has to live without a mother, especially one like Ashleigh...She was my favorite character of all time besides Mike. I was glad that Christina did what she wanted to do, and not be another Ashleigh...Everyone who read this book will probably like it!

I LOVED this book!!!!! This was like the perfect book in this series!!! I loved that Christina was into jumping, because thats what I'm into!!! This is a great book, if you havent read it GET IT!!! YOU WILL LOVE IT!!! I only wish that the new books could be this great. I am glad that Brad's real son (Parker) isnt like his son in this book (Ross), who was a jerk. I am also glad that in the new books Christina is with Parker, not Kevin. But other than those things, I wish the new books were more like this one. I also liked Rebecca, Christina's best friend in this book, a lot better then Melanie. I wish the new main characters/couples were Christina and Parker, and Kevin and Rebecca, Melanie get on my nerves! Well, this is a wonderful book, and you should difinately read it.

At first I didn't really get this book. I mean, in the prologue Ashleigh's like in a coma or something and no one's sure whether she'll live or die. Then the entire story takes place as if she dies, but then in the end it says she lives. I didn't really get it. But then I figured out the whole story was about how everything would have played out if Ashleigh had died. How her daughter, Christina, goes on to be a great Eventer and win second in the Rolex and so on. It's a bit confusing, but after I read it for the second time I understood how the book worked.

After reading so many praises from young adult readers, I'd like to make a suggestion for adult readers of historical fiction. I read this book, not so that I could instill a love of reading for my children, but rather, for my own pleasure in reading young adult fiction. The books may not involve many subplots, intrigues, and thickly woven characterizations, but certain ones can immerse you into their world of historical make-believe and even lead you to tears. I for one cried when reading this book. The way Louise Erdrich handles the coping of virulent illness and death through the eyes of a child is incredible. Not only does she paint this glorious heroine from a late 1800s Ojibwa girl, but she makes me dwell on the delicate vitality of the human soul and the subtle interconnectedness of each other. Yes, this book describes accurately the lives of the Ojibwa people of that time, but more importantly, above the cultural/historical lesson, the most prominent lesson from Erdrich's storytelling is her unveiling of human transformation into maturity clothed in the culture of the Ojibwa girl, Omakayas. Her auspicious past, her gifts with animals, her perseverance in caring for her family during the smallpox epidemic, and her coping with her brother's death -- for readers to feel that the book has a slow start, Erdrich more than likely chose to portray Omakayas' life in that way because that was exactly the pace it was. Meaning to say, it's not always violence and passion every minute, every chapter. The life of Ojibwas had a steady rhythm that followed the course of nature and only when the white settlers introduced themselves did that rhythm falter. For people who'd like an exciting quick read having to do with Native American history, I can't think of any. But for people who want to see life through a young girl's eyes -- life that involved hard work, sacrifice, love, death and living with what nature has provided, then this book is an excellent choice. Otherwise, there are a lot of old western novels that involve Native Americans (inaccurately of course) that would provide more of a thrill ride, if thrills are what you seek.

I purchased this book for my daughter who is attending CSUN. It arrived in a week and was in good condition, just like the description said.
Very happy with this purchase and many others.

This sweet, tender, sometimes humorous book, chronicles a year in the life of Omakayas, a seven year old girl who lives with her tribe on an island near Lake Superior. The book is divided into four main sections, each relating to a season of the year, just as the Native America daily life is based. Through Omakayas, children learn as they read about how she helps build a birch bark house, how she does her chores, and many other important details of Native American life. This makes the book especially invaluable for the fifth grade Social Studies curriculum. Many Native American words are used throughout this book, but this is done in a manner which makes their meaning apparent. There is even a glossary for these words in the back of the book. Children will love this book as Omakayas makes friends with animals and deals with feelings about her family, loss, fear, happiness, and contentment, as well as other feelings familiar to the young reader.

We had to read the Birchbark House for a 7th grade class assignment. I thought this book was kind of interesting, because it had some funny parts and some sad parts in the middle of the story. In the beginning it was really boring. Sometimes it's hard to understand because they used a lot of Indian words but they provide a glossary. I think thee book could use some more funny and violent parts to get people interested to read more. I gave this book 3 stars because it was an o.k. book. It was kind of boring in the beginning but it got a lot better. It needed more funny parts. It was a good book but not one I would have picked. I would recommend this book to high schoolers, but they have to have a little Indian in them to understand you must like: sad, boring, exciting, and funny to enjoy this book.

The Birchbark House (originally published in 1999) is the story of a year in the life of a seven-year-old girl and her Ojibwa family, living on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. The book was written by Louise Erdrich, herself a member of the Turtle Band of Ojibwa (former name: Anishinabe). The Birchbark House takes place during the same time frame as Little House on the Prairie, and the two books share certain similarities. However, The Birchbark House illustrates that time frame from the perspective of the Native Americans, who fear being pushed ever Westward by white people. It includes many Ojibwa words and customs, and Ms. Erdrich does a wonderful job of conveying the sense of harmony that the Ojibwa share with their surroundings.

The Birchbark House is told from the point of view of young Omakayas (Little Frog), so named because her first step was a hop. She lives with her parents (when her father isn't away working as a fur trader), her grandmother, her older sister Angeline, and her two younger brothers, Pinch and Neewo. As the book begins, the family is moving to their summer fishing camp in a birchbark house by the lake. The reader quickly comes to know Omakayas. She is bright and quick. She admires and envies her beautiful older sister, and adores her baby brother Neewo. Pinch, on the other hand, is the bane of her existence, and we see that sibling rivalries easily transcend cultural backgrounds. The characters of Omakayas' entire family are realistically drawn.

At first, this book seems like a pleasant, easy read, with descriptions of berrying and scaring away crows from the corn, and harvesting rice. Soon, however, Erdrich begins to deal with larger issues, related to the encroachment of the white people, the dreaded small-pox, and the possibility of starvation during the harsh winter. I was stunned by how bleak things became, relative to the early joyfulness. But in the end, the book offers hope.

I listened to this book on MP3, and thought that the narration was excellent. The Native American voice of the grandmother, in particular, was quite compelling. And I'll remember the voice of the family's pet crow for quite some time, squawking out "Gego, Pinch".

I think that this would be a perfect companion book for anyone reading the Little House books, showing another side to the story. The Ojibwa words should also lend themselves well to read-aloud for younger kids. The book is targeted to middle grade readers, probably up to about 7th grade. However, because there are sad parts to the book, I would strongly recommend that parents read the book themselves, too. Without being heavy handed about it, The Birchbark House opens the door to discussions about how Native Americans were treated during the 1800s, what constitutes a family, survival, and respect for elders. And it's also fun, too! Really, it's a wonderful book, and I'm glad that I finally got around to listening to it. I highly recommend it.

This review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on April 27th, 2006.

SPOILER ALERT:
Astrid Lindgren lost her marbles when she wrote the last chapter. The story is beautiful and as a christian I have no problems reading it to my children as a fantasy rendition. The illustration of evil regimes and quest for freedom is very moving and uncanny in many ways. Worth reading for this alone, but the ending speaks a message that should never have been spoken. The older boy, the hero, would rather kill himself and his younger brother in a suicide attempt, rather than living a life as a cripple. SICK!

Way before Harry Potter and JK Rowling came along, European children book writers were taking children more seriously than most English and American writers. At the helm of this beautiful movement of children-centric literary world was Astrid Lindgren of Sweden and the wonderful Erich Kaestner of Germany, both well-known and widely read in non-English speaking Europe and most other places, but conviniently limited to a few of their works in UK and the USA (Pippi Longstocking for Lindgren and The Parent Trap for Kaestner).

Brothers Lionheart is Lindgren manifesting Kaestner's frustration at those childrens books authors who think that "children are made out of sweet pastries and cotton candy" (expressed at the beginning of the Flying Classroom, another master piece not known in the English speaking world). I read this book when I was 7 and have continued reading it, mainly in other languages, and had never seen it in English. The translation is good, although I do not like "Scotty" as a translation of Carl's nickname. The real one "Skorpan" (a sort of doughnut) is much nicer and homier.

Brothers Lionheart was very influential in my life. I learnt many lessons from it and enjoyed it very much, and I never felt that I was being preached to or was put down by the author. It is a novel that will appeal to children and even many adults (those who have not forgotten their childhood and thus their reason). I profoundly disagree with the person who is worried about the "negative" effects of the books darker issues (the after-life). It might surprise you that children are a lot more open-minded than their parents: they have not been spoiled by the prejudices we call "our heritage".

This book, I will claim, is one of the best books ever written, anywhere, in any language, and if it was me, I would have given it to all the 6 billion people in the world to read...

I read this book when I was a child and it was one of my favorite. Now I finished reading it to my sons and they love it too. It took me a while to read the first two chapters though, I just couldn't stop sobbing...although I knew the story. It didn't take us long to finish the book, we needed to find out what was happening next...Such a great book, we will buy some copies and give them to friends!!!

The Brother's Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren is a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone. Although the end of the book may be a little sad, the rest of it is fantastic. First of all, the Lionheart brothers, Jonathan and Rusky, live with their single mother in an apartment. Rusky is very ill and is to die soon. Out of nowhere, a fire strikes their house. Jonathan, being the brave boy that he is, sacrifices his own life by carrying Rusky and jumps out of the window. While in the air, Jonathan turns his body so that his body will be a cushion for Rusky. Sadly, Jonathan's plan had worked. Rusky was unharmed, but Jonathan died. A couple nights later, Jonathan returned to Earth as a dove. He told Rusky not to worry, because Jonathan was waiting for him in Nangiyala. Rusky's illness caught up to him, and he died. When he arrived in Nangiyala, he met up with Jonathan down by a creek fishing. Everything was perfect, but as they soon find out,there is a traitor in Nangiyala!
Nangiyala is a place like Heaven. In my book, after Jonathan and Rusky die, they go to Nangiyala. It is pretty much like the Middle Ages. There are lots of trees, mountains and people. There three regions: Cherry Valley( where Jonathan and Rusky live), Wild Rose Valley, and Karmanyaka. Wild Rose Valley is the kind of place that has no hope. There are unpassable walls that surround the Valley. It is reigned by an evil tyrant named Tengil. Karmanyaka is a dark, evil place that is the home land of Tengil. Any ways, it is very beautiful. After you die in Nangiyala, Your next stop is in Nangilima.
I would definitely recommend The Brother's Lionheart to anyone who can read. It is by far one of the greatest books I've ever read!

A number of stories end with the death of their heroes; this the first one I can recall that BEGINS with the death of its heroes. In addition the sometimes charming, sometimes terrifying illustrations by Ilon Wikland nicely complement the story.

Everyone knew that 10-year-old Karl (Scotty) Lion was dying, what with his crooked legs, his constant coughing, and now being too sick to go to school anymore; everyone except Scotty that is. But now he knows, and he's terrified. His brave, handsome, and loving brother, 13-year-old Jonathan Lion, tries to comfort him by telling him that when he dies he will go to Nangiyala, where all sagas come from, where he will be strong and no longer sick and where Jonathan will eventually join him, and because time passes differently in Nangiyala, it will only seem like a couple of days to Scotty even if Jonathan lives to be 90. But poor Jonathan must live on Earth without his Scotty, maybe for 90 years.

Well, it doesn't quite work out like they thought, but a couple of deeply moving, heartrending chapters later, the boys are together again in Nangiyala, and the REAL story begins. Jonathan told Scotty that in Nangiyala you have adventures from morning to evening and at night, too, but he failed to mention (or more likely failed to grasp himself) that there are adventures that should not happen... but do. There's a cruel tyrant in Nangiyala who has imprisoned the people of Wild Rose Valley and intends to do the same to Cherry Valley where the Brothers Lionheart now live,...

and it is going to be up to them, especially little Scotty who still doesn't believe he is brave at all, to stop him.

Astrid Lindgren, of Pippi Longstalking and Mio, My Son fame, has written a powerful and deeply moving story here that I'll not soon forget if ever. So why only three stars? Because I've got a serious problem with her shocker of an ending.

With far too many sincere but ill informed parents panicking over the Harry Potter books (while Philip Pullman's openly, even proudly Satanic "His Dark Materials" trilogy oozes by under the RADAR), I don't want to hit this too hard, but parents need to be aware of what is IMHO a serious flaw in this book. It is NOT as you might expect with the neo-pagan afterworld her story takes place in; IMHO there is nothing here that anyone whose religious beliefs postulate a different sort of afterlife need fear to expose his children to. It is FICTION after all. The problem is the ending.

SPOILER ALERT

The Brothers Lionheart triumph in the end but at a heavy cost; many friends are dead, including their beloved and faithful horses. Worst of all Jonathan has been poisoned and will soon be paralyzed, but he has a solution. It seems that when you die in Nangiyala you go on to Nangilima, where it is still the time of the sagas but only happy ones and no more adventures that should not happen. So if Scotty will take Jonathan upon his back and jump off a high cliff, just like Jonathan took Scotty upon his back and jumped out of an upper floor window to save Scotty's life from the fire at the cost of his own back at the beginning of the book, they can go to Nangilima now, together.

So that is exactly what they do,...

and I'm sorry, but this is SICK!

Jonathan earns the name of Lionheart when he risks his life, loses it in fact, in order to save his soon-to-die little brother, but when HE faces some amount of life (but probably not all that much) as a paralytic, he talks that very same brother into killing him along with himself, in order to get into a BETTER afterlife a little bit sooner. What in God's name was Lindgren thinking? Oh, I'm not especially worried about children reading this and killing themselves in order to go to Nangiyala, but our children could do without Yet Another message that if you are crippled, you are better off dead. They get quite enough of that from too many so-called "Pro-Choicers" who apparently fear that if people get the idea that life is still worth living even for the severely handicapped, they might begin to wonder about the ethics of killing the healthy but merely too small to scream.

END OF SPOILER

If you disagree with my opinion and own an older edition, The Purple House reprint of The Brothers Lionheart is worth picking up because of the smooth new English translation by Jill Morgan (the publisher herself?).

Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.

Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.

Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.

I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.

This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!

I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.

Grabbed it off my english teachers shelf junior year of high school, loved it so much I never gave it back. This is an amazingly wonderful book. Vivid writing style...I could see every last detail in my head. It was like a movie in my brain. Love it.

Book Review: Down These Mean Streets

We recommend this book because Piri Thomas wrote the book in a way that you can visualize the story. This book is interesting because it talks about a young Latino's life growing up in the streets of Harlem New York in the 30's. However Piri the main character in the story gets discriminated throughout his young life for being a black Puerto Rican. We think this book has some strong scenes suitable for children under 13. Little by little the story gets interesting to the point where you don't want to stop reading. To conclude, this story is a good autobiography to learn from

This book was received in excellent condition as it was listed on Amazon. Also, the book was received in a quick manor. Thanks!

When I was in fifth grade, I remember I was sitting in music class when the librarian stopped by to ask me to return this book. One of the teachers wanted to use it in class, and I'd had it out so long, no one else could get a shot at it!

I was an only child, very bookish and introverted. I read and reread this book. I married a guy who planned to become a Methodist minister (like Helen Doss) and we have four bio kids and two adopted from Haiti. I always wanted to adopt, which I'm sure came from this book. I was probably drawn to my husband at least partly because of the warm and fuzzy feeling about Methodist pastors that I had from this book.

Reading things as a kid, you pick up on the stuff you like and ignore the stuff you don't. The Dosses adopted most of their kids as babies (with some exceptions). They did have some difficult issues one summer when they took a Native American boy in for a vacation in their family. I ignored this part of the book, focusing on the wonderful and easy other kids. We adopted an older boy from Haiti and it's been rough for him and for us. I should have paid more attention when I was reading, maybe . . . We also adopted a baby girl, and that's been great.

One of my favorite books ever. I didn't know there was a new edition with updates on the family--I'll have to get it just for the updates, although I own an older copy. By the way, my parents never ever talked to me about racism. We had no friends of different races. I imagine I formed my beliefs that "we are all brothers" regardless of color, mostly from this book.

I was VERY disappointed and, at first, pretty confused when I discovered the haphazard way this edition of the book is put together. Less than one quarter into the book, approximately 20 pages come up missing. Upon searching for them, I found other pages printed twice (some 20 pages), but the missing pages were NOT there. It was early into the story, and I was disappointed not to be able to get the whole story on such an admirable, loving, Christian family. The binding is new; pages were NOT torn out. It was actually bound this way!

I read Helen Doss' heartwarming book in grade school and am thrilled to see it back in print. Carl and Helen Doss, a young couple struggling to get Carl through divinity school, adopt a baby boy. Without really planning it, they adopt eleven more children!

Mrs. Doss' book is more than just a memoir of her precious children; it's also an indictment of a social service system that, through prejudice, denied who-knows-how-many mixed-race children loving homes. So many couples could have known the joy of children and given loving homes to them in return. Her book helped raise awareness and open doors (and hearts) to the needs of "unadoptables." Thanks to families like hers, those policies are now dead.

I've thought of the twelve adoptees over the years, and wondered how their lives turned out. Mrs. Doss gives an update of sorts in this new, revised addition, but left out more detail for privacy concerns. I hope one of them decides to expand on mom's work someday. Five stars.

This book is very heartwarming and can touch anyones heart. This book talks about a couple that can't have children so then they go to another option which is adoption. First of all they are a very poor couple and can barely afford food. They go apply for adoption and get declined they then fix the problems with their financial needs and then apply again getting approved. They get their first baby boy, Donny. They have trouble taking care of him since their very afraid of 'breaking one of his bones'. But they get through after that they apply for MORE AND MORE children and go through troubles along the way. At the end they adopt 12 CHILDREN and get in an article in a magazine. This book was really nice and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a comforting story...

Updated words/lyrics and instead of stressing materialism--"going to buy you a..." it speaks of experiences parent will share with child. So what if it's "mama" in the story. You can (and should!) easily substitute papa. The mama rabbit wears a bathrobe throughout the whole story, so for all your not-yet-reading-baby knows, it's a daddy rabbit wearing a slightly ruffly nightshirt under his bathrobe. This is my favorite gift book to new moms and dads.

Good concept, but still very old-fashioned---I don't know anyone, let alone a mom, who plays a banjo!

"If that lighning bug won't glow, Mama's going to play on her old banjo."

I thought it was going to be more up-to-date. One the plus-side, the board book seems good and sturdy...

Really well drawn and written - nice updated version of the nursery rhyme. Its a wonderful story to sing and definitely a favourite bedtime book.

I love this book- it is a great gift for a new mommy- Its a classic song but the words are changed to not be so materialistic which is wonderful in this day and age! You also cant help sining along as you read it to your little one!

My 2 yr old son loves this book. The story is a redo of the classic song set to a story. I like to sing it too him because it doesn't talk about buying him anything but rather spending time with him. He often asks for it before bed. I highly recommend it for anybody with a 0-4 yr old.