Party The Books

Anything Shirley Hughes writes is worth reading! She writes about everyday situations with which my 3 year old and I can relate (and we laugh, cry or feel whatever other emotion she provokes) and always enjoy!. She both writes and illustrates her books - and do so beautifully!

I am fond of this book because it incorporates death as part of a continuum of events in a child's life, instead of placing it front and center in a "the-moral-of-the-story-is" type of typical children's story.

Alfie's neighbor loves his old cat, the cat dies, the neighbor is very sad, the neighbor stays sad, and Alfie and friends and family decide to plan a surprise birthday party for the neighbor. Then there are lots of details about the party, including the purchase of presents, the making of the cake, and even getting a new kitten for the neighbor. Then, ta-dum, everybody yells SURPRISE! And the neighbor is happier, and the kitten turns out to be pretty cool, and the party is fun, and even though everybody remembers the old cat fondly, the new cat becomes a part of their life.

I like this approach and so, apparently, do my kids. I've been trying to find good books for kids about death, and this has turned out to be a favorite. And the pictures are *adorable,* I just wanted to reach right in and pinch Alfie's red cheeks.

Shirley Hughes is a wonderful author who uses beautiful illustrations and a quiet writing style in her children's books. My toddler loves her book, Chatting, as well as other Hughes titles. I highly recommend sharing Alfie with your children.

We (my 3-year old son and 2-year old daughter and I) loved Hughes' "All About Alfie," and her story "Dogger," and this book is a wonderful next step for us, especially my son. There's a bit more text per page, and more mature subject matter (the death of a neighbor's pet) which helps ensure it will grow with him. (I was worried that he'd lose the wonderful role model he has in Alfie!) The only negative is that since the stories so completely capture Alfie's point of view, Annie Rose is a little flat, and my daughter is not as engaged by her. Alfie stories are a great example of how to be caring toward your siblings. The illustrations showing a happy family without a spotless house (it looks comfy and lived in!) make me want to give Hughes a hug!

This is an excellent, highly readable book for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of British politics. Each constituency is profiled in-depth, and I reach for this book every time a by-election is caused. This new edition is highly welcome, as the old edition was made hopelessly out of date by the 1997 Labour landslide. Buy this book, and you'll know which seats Peter Snow means the next time he says "Now let's have a look at our Swingometer!"

Excellent resource for British Politics. Glad to see it has been updated to reflect the sweeping 1997 Labour Victory and Boundary Commission changes. A must for anyone interested in British Politics.

This is the 'bible' of British electoral politics, but it suffers from one major drawback - since it was published we have had the 1997 General Election which renders much of it out-of-date. The next edition is therefore eagerly awaited. Basically the book consists of an account of each parliamentary constituency, detailing its location, social and political mix, and boundary changes imposed since the previous election in 1992 (which in some cases make drastic changes to its political flavour). The really fascinating element of this analysis is the prediction made as to the likely outcome of the 1997 election - the authors followed the common belief that the (then) opposition parties would catch up on the Conservatives, but failed to predict the size of the landslide that overwhelmed John Major's government on 1st May 1997. In my own constituency, for example, the prediction includes the line "there will be no more close contests in Bosworth" - the sitting MP saw his majority slashed from 19,000 to 1,000!

The constituency profiles also include potted biographies of the sitting MPs and, in some cases, of the people thought likely to replace them. These are 'warts and all' sketches that are often highly amusing. My own MP, we read, was described as "so stupid that he couldn't find his own bottom with both hands and a compass" - by someone who is now a government minister!

As a student of the political scene I turn to this book constantly when an MP or a constituency hits the headlines, and I always learn something new from it. It has a value despite the turn of events, but I won't be alone in my eager anticipation of the next edition!

Excellent review of british politics. Gets even better with time. If you are interested in what is going on in a major player in europe this is the book to get. Provides excellent portraits of all the major players in this parliament and of Tony Blairs government.

Ambassadors At Sea, a private memoir of a public life, reads like a novel that you can't put down. In in, Catto---a self-described small-town Texas boy who grew up to be a Washington insider--takes us on a tour of his career in various high-level positions under several Presidents, culminating with his appointment as Ambassador to the Court of St. James, where he hung out with such world-stage stars as Margaret Thatcher. But Catto's book is not a dry laundry-list of a diplomatic career, but rather, a witty, moving, and always fascinating story of the wholly human characters who most of us see only through headlines---as well as the personal sacrifices and conflicts that Catto himself experienced. Throughout it all, Catto is charmingly self-effacing and always very witty. I simply couldn't put the book down--and was sorry when I came to the last page.

"Ambassadors at Sea" by Henry Catto is an informative, and at the same time,delightful book. Ambassador Catto has recounted his experiences as ambassador first to El Salvador and later to Great Britain, as Chief of Protocol, as head of the United States Information Agency, Ambassador to the European Office of the United Nations,and spokeperson for the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense,Cap Weinberger.There are wonderful anecdotes about all the Presidents he served under:Reagan,Bush, Nixon, and Ford, as well as interesting asides about Nancy Reagan, Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, and countless foreign dignitaries.Catto expresses his reactions to the famous and the fatuous in an honest and self-deprecating way. For example:he refers to a conversation with Nancy Reagan at a dinner party by commenting,"To say she was hard to talk to would be a gross understatement",or on President Nixon;"I never heard anyone accuse him of having a sense of humor".These bits of information make for fun reading., This book is both educational and enjoyable. What more can you ask!

This Ambassador has written a beautiful and witty book. It is a joyous romp through a glamorous career in which he finds himself in the "sea" of the world's great and powerful and enjoys every minute of it. Ambassador Catto worked in important positions under several administrations from the 60's to the 90's, including appointments in the Departments of State and Defense, US Ambassador to the UN (Geneva), Great Britain and El Salvador, as well as Chief of Protocol, and Head of US. Information Service and League of Pan American States. His perceptions give depth and breadth to the history and newsmakers of the past four decades, and shine light through keyholes of the rich and powerful. Ambassador Catto's view is so optimistic and good natured, you can't help but feel the past 50 years have been great after all. American Ambassadors have a reputation for being big financial contributors to presidential campaigns but not necessarily knowledgeable of languages, world history or foreign affairs, or sensitive, compassionate and tactful. Ambassador Catto, however breaks the stereotype and is uniquely qualified. As a knowledgeable businessman he was able to promote American business interests abroad, and being fluent in French and Spanish and a lover of people, and art and literature of other cultures, he was always comfortable in any society. His book is written with unfailing generosity of spirit, humbly giving credit for his successes throughout the book to his brilliant wife and others, including his good friend, President George Bush. He manages to be humorous, poignant and poetic all at the same time. I think his book should be made into a movie with Bill Murray starring as the lovable roving chief of protocol and ambassador. It wouldn't be Saturday Night Live, but it would be lively.

Ambassadors at Sea by Ambassador Henry Catto is an informative look through the back door and into the closets of world leaders. By recounting his experience on a very personal level, you live with the author among those on the international stage whose personas are usually submerged into and behind their official facades. Ambassadors at Sea is thus a footnote to history, and will appeal to those who wish to delve deeper than the news releases and headline portraits of those who shaped the world during a very crucial period of our history.

Jesse H.Oppenheimer San Antonio, Texas

One of my favorite books when I was learning to read was the original Amelia Bedelia. It was nice to be able to share the silliness with my own new reader (daughter).

amelia bedelia is very genuine in the sense that she just wants to make people happy but she ends up taking everything literally and doing just the opposite but in a funny way. She "staked" the beans, fed the chickens "scraps"...of cloth! And made "tea" cake that everyone raved over for instance.

This is a very funny book and is especially good to be read to toddlers. When Amelia is asked to stake the beans, she ties steak to them. When she's asked to make a tea cake, she makes one with tea in it. It offers a very good example of how what we say makes all the difference in the world, and whether or not what we are saying is what is being understood. When Amelia is asked to weed the garden, she thinks she's supposed to add more weeds, not "unweed it" as she states in the story. It's a little long - about 50 pages in my edition so it's a little much for a youngster to sit through but if they can do it like mine can, it is a great book to teach. I highly recommend this one.

I think that Amelia Bedelia Helps Out is a good book. Amelia Bedelia is funny. She does everything the wrong way. She feeds the chickens with cloth instead of chicken food. She also makes her Tea cake the wrong way. She didn't pull the right weeds in the garden. I like it because Amelia Bedelia like to help out and I do too.

Excellent book to read aloud to children. My sisters and I are tea drinkers, and we each have at least one daughter, so this book of tea drinking "Aunts" with a smart daughter who manages a wonderful surprise for her mother with the help of her Aunts is much loved around our house.

The only thing possibly more fun for a child than her own birthday party, may be participating in throwing a surprise party for someone else -- someone like Mama. This book is a wacky retelling of a family story of just such a surprise party. Told through the eyes of a little girl who sees herself as the only organized one in an extended family of true characters, the story is a fun ride through the chaos of planning the party and keeping the secret.

I loved the two principal characters, two aunts who are as opposite as fire and water. One nitpicks every detail of the party plans while the other puts off her responsibilities until the very last minute. And I had to smile at Dad, a quiet, good natured male lost in a maelstrom of female activity. He is left trying to remember the secret party password. Add to that cats, who like to play "Tarzan with the streamers and hippo with the punch," and you've got the recipe for some real commotion.

Told with a rare combination of running narrative and speech bubbles, this story is fun for adults and children. My kids loved reading the speech bubbles themselves while I read the narrative. And the wonderful, bright illustrations add visual energy to convey the absolute bedlam that ensues when the family tries to pull off the big surprise.

This book is really a celebration of family, and a clever look into the elements that make family special. Full of great language and imagery, it's a winner at our house.

This is a children's book that truly will delight adult readers. (Proof: I'm 37 and I've read it several times, sometimes when my two-year-old daughter, Isabel, was napping.) This sunny story is entertaining and speaks to the good (but too often bungled) intentions of families everywhere. Please read it!

This is a delightful story about a young girl who is conspiring, along with her two aunts, to have a surprise party for her mother (who of course says she doesn't want any fuss for her birthday). Her aunts have some differences in opinions over the party plans, chaos breaks out, and the girl is there to pull it all together just in time for her mom's arrival at the party. This is written from the girl's perspective, which I really like because it gives you insight into her spunky personality. The illustrations are cute, too. I probably wouldn't recommend it for children under 4, but older kids will definitely like it.

Firstly, I have to declare an interest - my novel, Stag: A Story About Coming of Age--In a Bar, is set on a bachelor weekend and David Boyer used a contribution from me in this book so I'm bound to be a bit biased. That said, it's brilliant. My copy arrived here in London this morning - and I haven't been able to put it down all day! It's funny and full of fascinating insights... some of these tales make the bachelor parties I've attended look positively boring by comparison. This would be a great book to buy a male friend (or a woman who's keen to know what happens when guys get together!)

I was at the bookstore trying to get some ideas about planning a bachelor party for one of my best friends from school, when I came across this hilarious,(and often warmhearted),account.Makes me totally look forward to the party and I got some GREAT ideas.A cool read too.
My wife is going to give it as gifts to some of her friends. She said it was quite the eye opener!

And I thought I had been to some crazy bachelor parties!

Boyer -- a trained journalist -- collects some pretty hair-raising stories here of the age-old tradition of bachelor parties. But this book is more than just a collection of accounts about the funny, surprising, erotic and sometimes embarrassing last-nights of freedom. The author provides both a history the bachelor party ritual (yes, it goes WAY back) and -- more interestingly -- a real behind-the-scenes look at the "industry" itself. The interviews with strippers, dwarves, and adult-entertainment clowns (NOT to be missed!) are pretty interesting and definitely give you a window into the lives of people who, even if you meet them one day, you'd never hear the real stories about.

This would be a great gift for a guy about to take the marriage plunge, or his bride who's wondering what could possibly go on at a bachelor party. Highly Recommended.

In answer to the main review of the book just below the publishing informaton above: In fact, I found this book to be very, very sociological: a good ethnographic method of participating and observing the parties and a good historical method of interviewing participants. That its prose is fun and wry does not lessen its documentary appeal. Why does convoluted language and theoretical name-dropping constitute sociological (or scholarly) all the darn time? Can't sociological, historical, and journalistic writing be fun to read and clearly written?

I love this book. Only problem is it is not a board book so I have to be careful when using it around my one year old. Maybe I missed the information on it being a paperback.

This is a very nice Barney book that demonstrates not only good manners but also cooperation and cleaning up. In the story, Baby Bop is having a pretend birthday party for Mr. Bear. Baby Bop and Barney decide to use the pretend session to practice their manners. They then set up a party table, blow up balloon, get out toy plates, make peanut butter sandwiches, make music, have a puppet show, etc.

Besides practicing say 'please' and 'thank you', Barney shows children that you don't speak with your mouth full, and that after you are done playing that the right thing to do is to clean up. (Go Barney!)

One of things that I wanted to add was that this book is appropriate to use as a beginning reader. My daughter, who is six, reads this as one of her practice books. Since there is no "search inside this book" feature I'll give you the text from the last page so you can judge the reading level for yourself. This is perhaps the most challenging text in the book.

The two friends take turns
washing and drying dishes.
Barney says, "Thank you for inviting
me to your nice party, Baby Bop."
Baby Bop smiles happily.
"You're welcome," she says.

Five Stars. Here's a Barney book that demonstrates the wonder of please and thank you, as well as demonstrates that you don't talk with your mouth full, and that part of manners is also cleaning up after yourself. Good Read-Aloud. Typical and good Barney artwork.

Engaging story line. Lots of good examples of proper please and thank you use. My daughter enjoys it every time.

As always, with all Barney books, we find brillant colorful illustrations in this wonderful book of learning the importance of please and thank you. Mr. Bear is having a make-believe birthday party and Barney is takes us through a lively story using the words,"please" and "thank you," throughout. This is a great teaching help for parents to use to encourage their young ones to have manners. Great storyline! Great illustrations and great educational value.

I thought this book was one of the best I read. You can still be a great friend even if you don't shoplift. I would reccommend it to all ages.

This book is a goood example which shows us that in some cases, friends think that if they stole or did something for you, you must do something in return. Most of these things are rather not good. From my point of view, friends are not worth stealing for. If that's the way you might think, then you are on the wrong side of friendship. think positive and don't let your friend dow. Also, it shows you how to take responsability for your own positive and negative actions and outcomes.

I like this book because it was about peer preasure.The girl in the book is named Claudia.She lives with her to bigger brothers Charlie and Baily.She also lives with her sister and her little brother named Julia and Owen.It is about a girl that gets preasured into shoplifting.She steals a jacket,football,lip gloss,and a Dress.She starts to like it and it gets her in trouble.She steals a ball for her brother and gives it to him. She regrets stealing the ball and tells her brother Bailey and he gets mad at her.Well you really have to read this book so you can found out ALL the details.

Hi I love this book it is the best i read so far. I am planning on getting more party of five claudia books. I let all my friends borrow it and they all loved it. Hope youll like it too!

A delightful story, not only bilingual, but perfect to teach children about Latino culture. A helpful tool for teachers to expand students' knowledge of the traditions of a vast minority in the United States and a way for Hispanic children to be proud of their heritage. The illustrations are also great and the writing style excellent!

The Dynami Duo strikes again! My seven year old boy, eight year-old girl and nieces and nephews have fallen in love with Chavi. The book is bilingual, in Spanish and English, and is set in a Latino Community. The writing is exhuberant and entertaining and the illustrations are vibrant and cartoon-like, something kids love. Our family can't wait till the next Chavi book in the series is out. Kids love this series!

Birthday In The Barrio/Cumpleanos en el Barrio is the collaborative bilingual picturebook by the Cuban/American team of author Mayra L. Dole and art critic/visual illustrator Tonel. Chavi is a young girl who proves that with a little determination and creativity she can do anything. Now she must find a way to throw a birthday party for her friend's sister. Lazarita is turning 15 and wants a special "quinces" party, but her family does not have enough money for such a fancy event. Chavi decides she can help by rallying together her neighborhood friends to donate food and decorations. Before long, the entire Cuban American community of Miami is working together to organize a birthday celebration.

I'm a librarian and read this book for review before its publication date. Chavi and Rosario (Drum, Chavi, Drum!) are back! Rosario's sister, Lazarita, is mad because she can't have a quinces after her Pipo lost his job. But don't think for a moment that Chavi can't mastermind the wildest, most fun quinces street party ever! She enlists the homeless, the mayor, and the entire community. But can she pull it through? How can a little girl possibly throw such a colossal fiesta? Mayra L. Dole's imaginative and exciting prose and Tonel's vivid illustrations make this a delight for readers of all ages. This is a gem of a book.

I got a number of these books for my 4-year old nephew for his birthday, and he has absolutely loved reading them.

I purchased this book for my son (almost 4) and he loves it. He asks me to read this every night and also requested that I prepare the snacks from the book (they're actually healthy snacks and could help to influence picky eaters). This was a very good choice.

My son is 2 1/2 and love Blues Clues, so this book was a win. It is interactive: lifts & flaps, and searches for "blues clues." Very colorful and exciting for a young child.

Blue is having a snack party. All her friends are bringing snacks. We discover what each is by lifting flaps that show the ingredients and recipe with the finished dish underneath. These are healthy snacks made by Steve, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, Mailbox, Tickety Tock, Shovel & Pail, and Magenta. In the meantime we help Steve solve Blue's Clues to discover what snack Blue will bring. A final picture of everyone with their snacks suggests the upcoming party will be festive indeed.

A nice addition to the Blue's books.