Awards Books

The best book ever which brings back wonderful memories of one of my three brothers reading this to me when I was about 5 years old. We used to sit on top of a big chest of drawers behind a curtain and read about three boys who sent messages in a bottle and formed the most exciting club. Matobi. The whole experience was magical and brought the book alive and absolutely real. My four children think this is a book that is amazing and rate this as one of their favourite books. They conjure up all sorts of adventures for the holidays just as I did as a kid. It's brilliant to fire the imagination and get children using make-believe and inventing things from natural materials. A must for a seaside holiday or somewhere near the coast. Enjoy! Relive the magic of your naive and beautiful childhood.

I have read this book when I was about six years old, now I am fourteen, and I can say that this a great book. I enjoyed it then, and even though it is easy to read now, I still enjoy it just as much. And for such, a price, what do you have to lose?

I'm happy to say that I now am able to read the same copy of this book to my own children that I myself once read as a child. Most appropriate for kids aged about 5 to 10 I'd say, though it can certainly appeal to kids outside that group as well. Three friends send bottles by sea with coded messages to each other and form a secret club. A good book for people who want their kids to develop an interest for imaginitive play and adventure, or as a precursor to books like the Hardy Boys series. Fun illustrations and large, easy-to-read print. Matobi!

I liked this book. Both Matthew Jackson and J.P. had problems. Matthew had trouble with reading and J.P. is a basic tomboy with green eyes, freckles, inch-long hair, and strange habits.

Not only did they have to face their own problems but those they encountered at River Road School. Matthew had friends back in New York and help with reading, something he missed in Ohio. J.P. just had to get through school without getting into a fight "just for looking different" and "acting strange".

Miss Bass asked the class to read books during the summer, which frightened Matthew. He couldn't read well and needed help with big words. J.P. just needed a friend to understand her awkward looks and strange ways. I liked that they complimented each other. Even Miss Bass admitted to having a few problems of her own growing up. J.P.'s grandmother was one smart cookie because J.P. was always quoting her throughout this book.

I liked this book. Both Matthew Jackson and J.P. had problems. Matthew had trouble with reading and J.P. is a basic tomboy with green eyes, freckles, inch-long hair, and strange habits.

Not only did they have to face their own problems but those they encountered at River Road School. Matthew had friends back in New York and help with reading, something he missed in Ohio. J.P, just had to get through school without getting into a fight "just for looking different" and "acting strange".

Miss Bass asked the class to read books during the summer, which frightened Matthew. He couldn't read well and needed help with big words. J.P. just needed a friend to understand her awkward looks and strange ways. I liked that they complimented each other.

This was a good book. Very funny! I could identify with Matthew feeling embarrassed by JP's odd behavior because I had a friend who did that, too. It was very embarrassing. However this book helps you to learn to be a good samaritan. JP was a good samaritan by befriending Matthew, who didn't know anyone since he was a new student; and noone liked JP and she was picked on a lot but Matthew was a good samaritan to her! Great book!

Following the weird but vaguely sensible logic of a dream, a teacher finds his school's field trip buses redirected to his father's house, where he grew up.

Once there, the father presents the son's life in a dry slide show. The son rushes from room to room, encountering memories and blocked escapes. A mother and a former lover that he pleads with to hide so that no one should see them. That his lives, past and present, should remain segregated.

And throughout, despite his attempts to put clothes on, the son finds himself naked.

Field Trip, a story from Greg Downs' collection Spit Baths, paints the haunting hopelessness of the great Southern exodus -- the withered roots that never quite break from a region that's all but died. And the guilt that always hangs with the accumulating weight of generations. Each story aches with the same pains.

They flow into each other, each one an expansion on the same themes. The blending of stories is subtle, rich, and connected by the universal string of the past. The prose throughout has a Southern informality to it, making an accessible and enjoyable read which still manages to glimmer with fluid and evocative observation. Cans twang in impacts against the ground, a girl's skin coats her lover's tongue with dried sweat. It all has the familiar, dry, dead beauty of a preserved antebellum house, with furnished rooms all coated in dust.

Spit Baths is a subtle but stunning achievement. A must-read for all Southerners, both resident and expatriate - Greg Downs has given us as grand a eulogy as any for our lost homeland, but tucked it quietly into the obituary page of a small town newspaper.

I am generally not into this genre of fiction, but, a reading group that I follow picked the book up and I decided I would try it out. I'm glad I did. Greg has an uncanny ability to get deep into his characters with what seems like minimal effort and smooth transition.
I'm looking forward to his future work.

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Downs characters have a very unique view of the world they inhabit. Their pasts weigh heavy on them as they struggle or push themselves to move forward in an ever changing world. Their take on events and often peculiar advice is refreshing, if somewhat bizarre. It's a good read.

Author Joosse chooses a tough subject and writes about it in the most touching manner. The love of a family, a mother and a younger brother, are not enough to keep a boy from joining a gang. Even though Richard tries to hide his gang activities from them, the young narrator of the story tells us "I know what I know." The boy and his mother come up with a plan that involves their neighbors, making them true "stars in the darkness." Every parent and child will find in this powerful book a way to connect to the feelings, fears, and hopes of the families whose lives are affected by gangs.

This book is worth buying twice just to support the author. Fantastic writing, illustrating, everything. As soon as I picked it up I was instantly drawn to its pages and once I began I couldn't put it down-and it's a book for kids! In any case, it's a book all pre-schoolers will cherish. It's about love and family and sticking together to overcome adversity. I can't wait for Barbara Joosse's next book. She's doing something great. And as always, I leave you with my favorite picks: most creative, The Butterfly: A Fable (Singh); most engaging, The Alchemist (Coelho); most interesting, Life of Pi (Martel); most enlightening, 9-11 (Chomsky); most thrilling, The Lovely Bones: A Novel (Sebold); and finally, the most creative, engaging, interesting, enlightening and thrilling book of all, The Little Prince (Saint-Exupery). These are the books I'd recommend to my family, friends, students, and wife. There are many more, trust me, but these are the first that come to mind (for having left an impact slight or proud as it may be). If you have any questions, queries, or comments, or maybe even a title you think I should add to my list, please feel free to e-mail me. I'm always open to a good recommendation. Thanks for reading my brief but hopefully helpful review. Happy reading. Donald S. Buckland

"Sometimes, Mama and me look down at the street and pretend it's not the city. We shut out eyes so only a crack is open, lookin' through our eyelshes, and pretend we live on the moon. The lights we see? They're stars, as many as the sky can hold. And sirens? That's wild wolves howlin' at the moon. If there's shots fired, we say it's the light of the stars crackin' the darkness..." So begins Barbara Joosse's nameless young narrator's story of the dangerous and tenuous life in the inner city. When his beloved brother, Richard, stops coming home at night, he and his mother realize he's become a gang banger. "We can't pretend no more," she says. "We gotta be strong now." His mother implores him, "Don't you be hanging' out with those bangers, Richard. Don't. Be somebody for this world." But Richard is caught up in the life, "walkin' that walk, like he's King Stuff." When Richard comes home injured and bandaged, Mama and Richard's little brother hatch a plan, a plan to take back the neighborhood. "We call 'em Peace Walks. Every night now, there's family on the street. We take turns walkin' the night. When it's my turn, I shut my eyes so only a slit is open, and I look through my eyelashes. I see streetlights, like before, but now I see flashlights, too. Stars crackin' the darkness." Ms Joosse's bittersweet picture book, geared to little brothers and sisters, "the stars in the darkness," is neither judgemental nor sentimental, but truthful and filled with hope. Her evocative text, rich in imagery and magic, is compelling, written in realistic language and complemented by Gregory Christie's powerfully bold and expressive illustrations. Together word and art paint a vivid portrait of life in the inner city, family love, and the courage and strength to try and make a difference. With an Author's Note about the real Richard, to enhance the story and help open important discussions, and a comprehensive list of resources on gang prevention, Stars In The Darkness is an inspiring narrative that shouldn't be missed, and definitely one of the best new books of 2002. Kudos to Joosse and Christie.

I thought this book was great as a new kind of number book! The pictures are beautiful and intriguing. At the end of the book, kids and adults can find out more about the animals featured in the book. It is a great way to have kids count and use math!

My toddler received The New Alphabet of Animals as a gift. He loved it so much, I had to buy the counting book. The pictures are so unique and realistic while still being artistic. We spend extra time on each page as my son studies the pictures. I love that the animals are not always the usual ones you expect and its not your typical childrens book colors. This is a book you will cherish for a long time.

I loved this book!!! The paper quality was outstanding as well as the book itself. The book illustrates the numbers one through twenty using animals or parts of animals. The text is on one page and on the opposite page is the illustration. It uses the numeral, the number word and then the words of what illustrates that number in the picture using large print. The pictures are simple, clear and colorful. At the end of the book is a smaller picture of each animal with a paragraph giving information about that animal. Finally, there are two pages showing the number on top and the picture of the animal below it in order to see all the numbers and pictures together. I am a retired teacher and would have enjoyed sharing this book with my class.

This song is so beautiful! It touches your heart and soul with so much Love and appreciation...I dedicate this song to my girlfriend Michele who led me to the Lord. It is a song that will bring tears to your eyes whenever you hear it, if you have Jesus in your heart and know He is the only way to Heaven! :)Like the song says...Thank you for giving to the Lord...Mine is the life that was changed! :) May you all experience God's life changing power. Amen!

I bought this for my son's birthday as I remember the day he had done a play at our church with this song. Their was not a dry eye when everyone listen to this song. It made me think he was thanking everyone around him as well as myself for his life was changed. An upbeat song teenagers will love as well as anyone else!

My daughter bought this book to thank her Dad and me for everything we have ever done for her. I read it and cried, as we had just lost our son to a battle with brain cancer, and this book reminded me of him as he touched so many lives esp. in how he accepted his illness and in his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. But it also reminded us of our other three children, as they, too, have touched many lives in their own way ----so we bought each of them this book to thank them for what they are. This book is for all the people who quietly do the kind things in life that few people know about, yet who influence people just by the goodness that shines through them. It is a heart warming reminder to all of us that everything we do does matter.

If ever a book should be required reading for middle-aged, basketball-playing, poetry-writing, underprepared-student-teaching folks, then that book is Themes for English B by J.D. Scrimgeour. As a reader, I happen to fall into that limited demographic, but this book far transcends such a small pool of potential readers.

Scrimgeour's unadorned but note-perfect prose dances through a range of subjects beyond poetry, teaching, and basketball to weave a collection of memoir essays united by the tread of thoughtful reflection on human experience--both his own and the people around him, his students, teachers, family members, friends, and teammates.

This book is highly recommended for readers with an interest in education, poetry, basketball, and life in general.

Scrimgeour writes not just about teaching, but about life. He has grasped the deep truth that what matters in everything -- in reading, teaching, baseball and basketball, choosing a place to live -- is how you connect with other people, and how you affect them. These are simple descriptions of simple, everyday events, but the clarity and honesty of his observations shine through on every page. Very worthwhile.

He says about college teaching what I wish I had said before him, but he says it better. He reminds us of why books matter. Very honest stuff, lyrical and -- at times - funny.

TO FLY THE STORY OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS is a very nice non-fiction book by author Wendie C. Old. It tells the Wright Brothers story of making the first flying airplane in an easy to understand format for children 12 and under. Parker's illustrations are delightful and really make this book visually interesting. I brought Ms. Old in as an author visit to my child's school around the time the nation was celebrating the hundredth anniversary of flight. Her visit and this book were a wonderful way to learn about why that first airplane was such a big deal.
A. D. Tarbox, author of ALREADY ASLEEP (Oct. 2006)

Wendie Old introduces Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio, who dreamed of leaving the ground behind and soaring through the sky. From experiments with kites and gliders to the first self-propelled flying machine, the Wright brothers used ingenuity and imagination to do something no scientist had ever been able to master, fly a heavier-than-air machine..... Ms Old's easy to read and engaging text traces the lives, work, disappointments, and triumphs of these two unassuming dreamers, and her simple scientific explanations of things like wind resistance, drag, and air pressure bring the mysteries of flight to life in a simple and informative way. Robert Andrew Parker's stunning and evocative pen and water-color illustrations enhance the story with drama and wit, and imaginations will soar as kids watch the brothers' ideas come to life and take off. Perfect for youngsters 7-11, To Fly is an inspiring and intriguing biography that's sure to whet the appetite of young scientists and dreamers everywhere. "Watch buzzards,/Flying kites,/Lazy, crazy boys/The Wrights. They // Tried to fly/Just like a bird/Foolish dreamers/Strange. Absurd. We // Scoffed and scorned/Their dreams of flight/But we were wrong/And they were Wright. (Beverly McLoughland)"

"To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers" is a science lesson told as the opening chapter in the Age of Aviation. The story is about how Orville and Wilbur Wright went from flying kites to the first heavier-than-air manned flight (the book touches briefly on the initial skeptcism over their claims and their vindication five years later in France). Each chapter by Wendie Old consists of a page (maybe two) of text and an accompanying diagram, and the result is a sequential study of process by which kites became gliders and gliders became flying machines because of the Wright Brothers. The biographical elements become the backdrop for the invention of the airplane, focusing more on the unique working relationship that developed between the two brothers more than anything else. The illustrations by Robert Andrew Parker were executed in watercolor, which is appropriate to the subject matter; I was reminded, as you may be as well, of the famous drawings of DaVinci. The moral of the story is explained in the epilogue, where it was noted that the problem of making a flying machine work was not solved by scientists but by two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio. However, because of the way that Old tells the story, many young readers are going to be struck by the idea that what the Wright Brothers did is something that could have done. Ultimately, "To Fly" is not just informational, but inspirational as well.

My 4 year old daughter and I are big pig fans, and Toot & Puddle are among our favorites. This story is especially endearing. In it we are introduced to another sweet pig, Opal, who is Puddle's cousin. I enjoy this book because it reads more smoothly than some of the other Toot and Puddle books which rely on the charming pictures to carry the story. It is also a lovely story of friends working together to help out each other when Opal loses her first tooth.

Toot & Puddle are fantastic stories about two adorable pigs that highlight the differences in people and how they can get along, matched with equally rewarding illustrations resulting in perfect combinations. This time around add cousin Opal into the mix and I was reduced to a withering mass. This journey about a first loose tooth has got to be one of the best...if not the best...of the series. The expressions and actions come through loud and clear and the journey is one acted out everyday. And, well Opal is positively Charming!

Another fantastic book from Holly Hobbie and one I intend to be gifting as much as possible.

I found Charming Opal in a pile of recently published children's books at my favorite bookstore. It both caught my eye and stole my heart. A light hearted story of youthful "piglet" innocence and joyful discovery, Opal's protected world comes close to shattering. Her treasured loose tooth finally falls out, but is nowhere to be found. Without a tooth to place under her pillow, the Tooth Fairy would not come. Cousin Puddle and Toot do their best to reassure her that everything will be all right.
Author Holly Hobbie remembers what it is to be a child. By accurately portraying the excitement, innocence, and angst we all experienced, her readers are drawn into and become part of the story. They can feel Opal's joy as well as her pain. This story reflects the simple and uncluttered flow of a child's mind. No complications or hidden agendas. Holly Hobbie has written six other popular Toot & Puddle picture books.
Both author and illustrator, Holly Hobbie has worked as an artist for thirty years. Her skill is evident in every picture she draws. I consider Opal her most adorable character. The soft, gentle flow of both color and line add elements of warmth and comfort to the entire book. An excellent use of constrasting light and shadow intensify the mood and feeling the author is striving to portray. Text and illustrations are beautifully matched.
Of course, I shared this story with my class of kindergarteners and first graders. Their toothless grins and smiles confirmed how they felt and identified with the story!

Herbert Kohl is a specialist for childrens' literature.But this book seem s to be something different.

Based on a classical biology which is prior to the molecular biology,the authors told readers this world is made of many creatures. You can't think it as a matter of course. Because he cited von Uexkull, it does not mean the "objective" world is made of diverse worlds of creatures but the world for human being is a part of worlds.Doing so, the authors guide us to the last chapter "Views of the Oak".At the end, we realize we can't deside even whether the oak is hard or soft, tall or small.Because depending on the relations to the oak, it can be changed.

You can ask yourself why the title of last chapter is different from the title of this book. And enjoy this world view which is quite simillar to the world view of buddism. If children can read it and expand their imagination, how happy they are!

With the exception of the one false sentence about Columbus, this book is very insightful. It provides a fascinating possible portrait of life from the perspective of ticks, spiders, dogs, birds, etc. A great read.

I am very happy to see that this book has been reprinted. I have two copies from the mid-70's, well-thumbed and dog-eared from being read so often. What the authors have to say about the way perception affects the world that we and other animals perceive, and how they say it, is timeless. To be read and enoyed by everyone, from ages 10 and up.