Papers Books

This is the first book that I ever saw of Colin Thompson's and became enchanted with his detailed illustrations. I could look at his work for hours discovering something new everytime. He has also written a beautiful story to go along with his illustrations. This is one of those classic books you want to keep forever.

My daughter brought home "The Paper Bag Prince" by Colin Thompson, from our trip to the library. What a delightful surprise when we sat down together to read it. The story itself is wonderful; it teaches children how nature works so hard to repair human polution, how the main character never lost sight of what was important in life (nature and home) and it demonstrates caring and compassion.

But the best is yet to come. Along with this story is the most wonderful illustrations. Not only did we play "I Spy" on each page, but the illustrations make your eye and mind work so hard, you cannot help but be entertained.

I have turned to Amazon to order my own copy, and look forward to sharing this artistic work with my nieces as well. This is a keeper! Bravo!

For those of us who love the Paper Bag Princess, the extras included in this book are amazing!! What a way to celebrate an Anniversary! Thank you, Robert Munsch, for the special edition!

I've always been a big fan of the original Paper Bag Princess, but this 125th Anniversary Ediciont offers so much insight that I've not been able to find ANYWHERE else. Itd interesting, for istance, to see what the editors asked the illustrator and author to change.

i have to rate this book with addonizio's _The Philosopher's Club_ and Kate Light's _Laws of Falling Bodies_ as my favorite first books. It's a powerful work. Most of the poems are religious/spiritual, which Creech handles with a skill you don't see anymore. even if you're like me and don't particularly enjoy religious poems, you'll like these. i wish i had more space here to go more in depth, but you have to get this book.

This is one of the most moving and beautiful books of poetry I have read in years. It is a collection of deeply felt, often spiritual--in the best sense of the word--meditations. Creech's language is lyrical, at times even ravishing but always exact. There is nothing slipshod here. It's been many years since a book of American poetry this good has been published. If you love beautifully worked language in service of truly serious and important subjects, then this is a book you will read again and again.

This book has some great ideas for paper art. The instructions are easy to follow. I have enjoyed doing several projects featured in this book. I'm glad I bought it.

This is a great book full of techniques for the beginner, intermediate and advanced crafter. Great reference---enjoy!

This writer has captured her own misery as a damaged child and addicted adult in a brutally honest and wonderfully written book of poems. Her refusal to give in to her demons and her her desire for recovery are truly inspiring. This is a great read, especially for addicts and family members or friends of addicts.

This is a poetry book about addiction and the struggle an addict faces emotionally and physically it is written by an addict in recovery.At times the poetry is harsh and ragged.I hope that anyone reading this book will feel the pain the writer has been through and the hard road any addict faces.

I was first introduced to the works of Naoya Shiga when I read his wonderful novel _A Dark Night's Passing_. Shiga's short stories are just as interesting as his longer works. The stories in this book stretch a long period of time from 1904 until 1945. Shiga, although considered one of the top modern japanese writers, is famous for the small amount of writting that he produced in his very long life. My favorites in the book are "The Razor," "Seibei and his Gourds," "The House by the Moat, and "Kuniko."

Without going into detail about each story. Several themes pop up in the stories: death, lonliness, unfaithfulness, among others. But the thing that struck me the hardest was the male's view of women. The stories "A Memory of Yamashina," Infatuatio," and "Kuniko" really show this very well. In the first two a husband who has been caught having an affair makes his wife feel guilty because she fell in love with her doctor. She never had physical relations with him, but the husband thought that was enough to excuse his affair. "Kuniko" must be read to be believed. Good book check it out.

The book I enjoyed the most in Japanese. SHIGA is unlike other famous Japanese writers such as Mishima or Dazai. If their works are like roses, his is much like Morning Glory. His style is more simple. Yet beautiful. It is like a piece of art. Just reading a sentence and you can actually "see" it in your head... Unfortunately there were some parts mistranslated in this book.

The only thing more magical and fun than this woodsy Raggedy Ann adventure are the completely enchanting illustrations. What a wonderfully talented artist and writer. Ever since I was given an old falling apart copy of The Camel with the WRinkly Knees as a gift, I have collected this storybook series. This innocent story embodies all that is good in many of Mr. Gruele's Raggedy Ann stories and touchingly presents helping and friendship in such a beautiful and magical way. This is instantly unforgettable as are many of these classic stories.
Also recommended:
My Very Own Fairy Stories Charming collection.
Mimosa and the River of Wisdom (The Fairy Chronicles) Part of a new fairy series.

This Raggedy Ann adventure comes complete with the illustrations of Gruelle and the classic color known and loved by Raggedy fans for generations. Here Raggedy and her boyfriend embark on a walk in the woods and find a magic wishing tool enables them to help Marggy find her lost father in the wild woods. A beautiful story evolves.

Nadia's father died of a heart attack when she was five. Her mother told Nadia that she had the same condition, and kept Nadia sequestered all of her life. Now in sixth grade, Nadia has no friends, no activities, and the bleak outlook of being further isolated by being home schooled. Her slightest cough has her mother putting to bed. Sometimes in school, Nadia gives up as well and puts her head on her desk--after all, no one expects anything from the sick girl. She tries out for the school play, does a brilliant audition and is devastated when she doesn't get the part. She finds out later that her mother told the teacher not to allow Nadia to participate. Nadia is old enough now to raise questions, and, with typical coming-of-age surging of independence, to rebel against her parent. She finds out, by virtue of being in a position to read her medical chart at the doctor's office, that she is perfectly fine, a slight heart murmur notwithstanding. This encourages Nadia to take her life back to herself. Some reviewers have felt the narrator's voice to be unsympathetically whiny, but it is perfectly well-drawn for a child who was treated as sickly her whole life. Who wouldn't be whiny? This is a well-done chyrsalis-to-butterfly story--the larval stage being neither understood nor revered by most onlookers.

Nadia really does want to play with the other kids. She is tired of playing with paper dolls. But her overprotective mother will not allow her to do anything that will put her fragile heart at risk; i.e. anything that could help her make real friends--running, jumping, rolling around on the forbidden sawdust pile. Besides, the paper dolls have never laughed at her. They have never pointed at her or called her "the sick girl." Still, as she plays with her dolls, despite her mother's constant warnings to the contrary, it occurs to Nadia that she does not wish to allow fear to dominate her life: "Paper dolls. Paper books. Paper cards. Paper life" (p. 85).

So, Nadia devises a plan. She will become an actress. She will secure the lead in the sixth-grade play, and then she will be someone everyone will want to know. She won't tell her mother, of course, and by the time Mrs. Riley knows that the little white lies she has told to get the role are, well, not the complete story, no one will be angry with her because she will have shown them all that she does indeed have value beyond being a source of constant worry for her mother and a target for teasing for the kids at school.

Arrington does an excellent job of exploring the problems that arise when a parent becomes overprotective of a child with a medical condition. Additionally, the unexpected twist she includes is a welcome breath of fresh air in this reviewer's opinion. It is entirely credible, but keeps the storyline from becoming predictable. Nadia's quest to be more than just "the sick girl" becomes a journey for both her and her mother, and it is one that the reader will be glad she has taken, as well.

Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

Susan Kay Law's latest novel, The Paper Marriage, is for anyone who understands John Lennon's words, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Sometimes you swing for a fast ball and totally miss the change up when it arrives. Tom Nash, the former Twins pitcher, understands that. Ann McCrary doesn't. The fast ball she aimed for was a long-term marriage and children with her childhood sweetheart, sharing a home and the architectural firm they started together. The change up was the auto accident that left her husband in a coma.

At least in the batter's box either you're out or you immediately get ready for the next pitch. In Ann's case it has been twelve years since that fateful changeup, twelve years of faithfulness to a man who doesn't know she's there. Twelve years until Tom Nash moves in next door, followed by his teenage Goth daughter Mer. In spite of the blown shoulder that ended his baseball career, he delivers another change up to Ann.

Mer, raised by her gold-digging baseball groupie mother, comes from Chicago for the summer to live with the father she barely knows. Tom is clueless on how to make up for everything he missed in his daughter's life and how to accept her for who she is.

It's the people and canines in Ann's life - her aging hippy mother; her in-laws, the perfect couple until Martin finally decides he wants to live again and Mary, so faithful to her son, has to find a new life for herself; her dog, Cleo, and Cooper the mutt next door (and the puppies); her neighbors; the denizens of the nursing home; and especially Mer and Tom --who finally convince her she can move on, that she can maintain her loyalty to her husband and find a life of her own at the same time.

The Paper Marriage tells a story we can all identify with, full of intriguing characters who live their lives in spite of the change ups.

Twelve years ago, John McCrary was in a nasty car accident that left him comatose. His wife Ann had him placed in Cedar Ridge where he has lived ever since in a deep coma. Ann believes not only has John's life been placed on pause so has hers; still she and her therapy dog Cleo visit her husband every evening at 6:30 to insure he receives proper care at the nursing home although her mother-in-law Mary is there diligently everyday as she expects a miracle to occur as well as her daughter-in-law standing by her vow of in sickness, etc.

When Ann's neighbor Mrs. Hillerman moved into assisted living, her house was sold within a day to former baseball star Tom Nash. He moves in almost immediately accompanied by his angry purple haired sixteen years old daughter Mer who will spend the summer with him in the burbs. He is clueless about life in the suburban jungle and what to do with a teen girl, whose self-absorbed mother like the former All Star pitcher neglected her. As Tom and Ann become acquainted starting with brownies and perversions and coaxed by Mer, they fall in love. However, in spite of encouragement from her mom and discouragement from John's mother, Ann takes her vows to her husband seriously.

THE PAPER MARRIAGE is a deep contemporary relationship drama that focuses on complex personal issues. The story line contains an obvious serious undertone re when does a person move on in his or her life without neglecting or forgetting an incapacitated loved one. With some humor to lighten the mood a bit, readers will appreciate The Paper Marriage with tears glistening throughout this powerful tale. There is a final spin between Tom and John that will leave no one dry eyed.

Harriet Klausner

Ms Erhart's account of her, and other people's lives from the perspective of the checkstand is very entertaining and enlightening. Her funny, lighthearted, Erma Bombeck style, makes for a book that I would recommend to anyone.

I just loved this book. It is hilariously funny. I could not put it down; I wanted to know what was going to happen next or who was going to do what. If you want a good laugh and some insight into other peoples lives this is the book for you. I bought ten; it is going to make a great gift.