Readers Books

I love the illustrations in this book, and my horse-crazy daughters enjoy them too.

I just think that the very end of the book [SPOILER - the citizens welcome Fritz into their town at the end because of him saving their children] wasn't handled the way I would have. It felt like an implicit ratification of the townspeople's attitude - still only the beautiful horses allowed in town, and Fritz is allowed because he worked so hard. I'd have preferred something about the people realizing that the heart matters more, or that they were wrong about what's most important (exterior vs. interior beauty). I don't think it would have needed to be heavy-handed.

As it is, we don't read it that often and when we do, I find myself modifying the last few words. Or starting a discussion about being kind etc.

A great story especially for children entering school and not "fitting in". Jan Brett again blends beautiful artwork with an easy to follow story. Highly recommend for ages 4-10.

Love the Jan Brett series, this book did not have the famous borders that most of her books have. The story is a cute story of a pony who wanted to belong, and finally proved himself.

if your little one loves horses this is a cute book, all about jusdging from the way you look and not what you can do. good for the little ones.

Once long ago there was a walled city known for its beautiful horses, and so a law was passed out that only the most beautiful were allowed in the city, not even a scruffy pony who very much wanted to look and be grand. Suddenly, the bridge breaks. Will Fritz be able to save the children? The plot is colorful and imaginative. The setting is just outside the walled city with ponds, fields, and roads. Fritz is the main character of the book. He is sure-footed, kind, and always willing to work. The men and ladies mock poor Fritz because he is scruffy. The children absolutely adore Fritz but are scared of their own horses who prance around and show themselves off. Jan Brett, the author of Fritz and the Beautiful Horses, was born December 1, 1949, in Hingham, Massachusetts. Fritz and the Beautiful Horses was her first published book ever. Today she lives in Norwell, Massachusetts, an historic area on the south shore, and spends her summers up in the mountains where she works hard on her books. Jan Brett wrote a boat-load of other books including Hedgie's surprise. I thought the book Fritz and the Beautiful Horses was great and would recommend it to everyone.

This is, I believe, the first in the Good Knight series. We borrowed it from a friend while we were in California, because we simply Did Not Have Enough Books! (In our household, 400 books isn't nearly enough by far, so how we thought we'd live a week with only 7, I don't know.)

As you can guess, some of the humor in this book comes from the fact that Good Knight and Good Night sound alike - my five year old niece pointed that out to me several times, and then asked why "Knight" has a K in it. (I didn't point out that it also has a g and an h. Why confuse the matter?)

The knight makes four trips to help put some baby dragons to sleep. Every aspect of the story is explained with simple, repetitive adjectives. His tower is, twice in every trip, "crumbly tumbly". His horse goes "clipety clop" and he shouts "Away!". He stands on watch for ten minutes, five minutes, one minute before heading towards the roar again.

And the dragons are repetitive too. First one dragon wants a drink of water. Then one wants a story, and the first wants ANOTHER drink of water. Then one wants a song, one wants another story, and the first wants YET ANOTHER drink of water. And then... they want... a kiss. (This is going too far!)

But he's a good knight, the Good Knight, so he helps tuck them in every time to get them ready for bed, before finally snuggling into his own bed at the end.

My nieces loved it, and still talk about it a few weeks after coming home. We'll have to get our own copy. I found the style very easy, and the story just long enough for older children, but just fast enough for those days when you really need everybody asleep NOW. A bit much in parts (especially the umpteenth time through), but after you've read it that much you can demand that *they* read (or "read") it to you!

Maybe not a must-have, but very, very close.

Product arrived in good condition, as stated, promptly. Great communication and service by seller. Would definitely use this seller again.
Pam Pate

I love to read this to my son. It's a sweet little story and the illustrations of the dragons make you want to reach out and hug them. This book has a repetitive scene, which I really like. Similar to a song, each part of the story is a different stanza bound together by a repeating chorus. It allows my son to anticipate what the Knight is going to do. I throw in some sound effects and it makes the "chorus" a favorite part.

We love most books about dragons and knights. This one is very sweet and my 4 year old loves it. I can't wait til he's the one that begins to read it. The dragons need help going to sleep at night and the knight in shining armor is the one for the job even though its not what he expected. Its silly and fun and is great bedtime reading.

This is the kind of book that even parents will want to read again and again. Moms and dads will be able to relate to the bedtime struggles, and kids will see themselves in the whiny little dragons (and so will their parents). This book makes me smile every time, even if I am reading it for the hundredth time!

I loved this book. I fell in love with the characters. Carly is so funny. What she does is so down to earth and real life- (she reminds me of one of my friends). And I find myself smiling with Jack a lot of the time. In addition to being a really good BOOK, it is also a great romance!
Check it out- fuh real.

I have read most of the love story books....and I find that my two favourites are Hot summer Nights and At first sight by elizabeth chandler. Hot summer nights in particular is easy to read..enjoyable and above all interesting to read. It's not one of those books where you read the first chapter and put the book down. When you read the book you want to read it to the end! I think this book is a great success...and Elizabeth chandler should be commended for her books...not only this one, but all the books she has written.

One thing that struck me about "Hot Summer Nights" is that it's not the typical light and frothy young adult romance novel. Aside from the romance, it deals with teenage pregnancy and holding on to worn-out relationships and wraps everything into a witty and bittersweet package. The heroine, Carly McFarlane, is definitely a person of substance with her own set of insecurities and a lot of teenagers can relate to her. This is one of the few stories that really stuck with me after all these years, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes young adult novels.

this book is INCREDIBLE !! the story is about a girl whose best friend is the perfect blonde petite girl who always has to take guys away from her!! whoever she dates, heather (her best friend) dates just after her, i mean, the girl doesn't even waits for her to brake up! so that's why carly makes a perfect plan to keep heather away from luke, the guy she's after, she just has to find heather the perfect guy for her... so she starts this huge caimpaign to pair up heather with someone, and after a few tries she find the perfect guy for her, jack, whose a guy who works with her as a counselor at summer school for kids. but when they start to hit it off, carly realices that she is developing a major crush on jack, and then her sister whose pregnant and at home tells her to do exactly what heather would...
well i hope i didn't give away to much about the story! i recomend this book to anyone who into a excelent love story, i mean, i have like 8 books of this serie and this one is by far, one of the best i've read!
u just can't miss it!!

Carly is definately going to have a non-stop summer this year. With her job as a camp counselour, her sister home from college her freshmen year - pregnant with a baby, and her gorgous best friend Heather who keeps snagging all of her guys, Carly's really in for it! Then Carlys spots Luke, a dreamy muscle man that would turn any girl's head. But what about Heather? The minute she finds out Carly is interested in someone beside the guy that she just took she'll be hopping right over and throw a smile right in Luke's face and Carly's dreams of romance with muscle man are history. So here's Carly's plan: If she could just find a guy that she could pretend to be in love with then Heather could be obsessing about him while Carly secretly dates Luke. And who else could play the part except forJack Ryder who is irresistibley cute and funny and always has girls kissing the ground he walks on - a perfect match for Heather. Her plan is working out perfectly except for Carly. Turns out Luke is a self-centered, boring, jerk and Carly can't stop thinking about Jack. She can't stand the sight of Heather and him together and pretty soon she finds herself down right in love with him. And she has a feeling Jack just might have a thing for her too. Will this cute couple get together? This is just another example of another Elizabeth Chandler novels that will keep your heart racing. I would be throughally surprised if you didn't like this book 100%!

I'm sorry so say that The House at Pooh Corner isn't quite as good as the Winnie-The-Pooh book that preceeds it. It spends a lot of time on the new character Tigger. Too much if you ask me. Even though Tigger is a darn cute fellow in words and pictures, I thought the first Pooh book to be much more balanced out, and to be honest, I didn't think Tigger to be as funny as the other characters. He's only funnier than Rabbit, and that's not saying much. Rabbit's darn plain when compared to that crafty Brer Rabbit of the Uncle Remus books.

Actually, maybe Tigger isn't the problem. It's just that some of the middle chapters of the book are quite bland. Two, Three, and Five don't stand out very much, and look rather ordinary. However, Eight, Nine, and Ten more than make up for the bland chapters and suddenly this book becomes well worth reading. Eeyore's even funnier in his second appearance than his first, and Milne does such a great job giving personality to even the most inanimate of objects. The man's a darn good writer, let's face it.

And, my goodness, Chapter Ten really gets you thinking. Where is Christopher Robin going? Is entering into the grown-up world really so bad? What will the forest do without him? It's very subtle, but you can tell it's important too.

I think my favorite thing about the Pooh books is the entire universe is pretty much limited to 8 or so different individuals. Pooh wakes up and says, "Let's visit everybody to wish them a Happy Thursday!" He can do that because there are only like 8 people in the whole world. It sure makes things a lot simpler having so few people.

The Pooh books make simplicity beautiful. They seem to be set in a very limited technological environment with a heavy emphasis on nature. Heck, everyone there lives in a tree, for goodness sakes.

The House at Pooh Corner is yet another book in the Pooh series. This book is ok, I say this only because it's not as good as the original Winnie-the-Pooh, (When We Were Very Young, etc.) But with A.A. Milne's storytelling and Ernest H. Sheppards fantastic drawings you can't go wrong.

I actually enjoy Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner much more as an adult than I did as a child. Maybe this is because I was not properly introduced to them at an early age. I am sure that the Disney shorts set some preconceptions in my head (namely, that these are merely childish stories). I think that the original Winnie-the-Pooh features from Disney are wonderful gems, but they do, nonetheless, depart significantly in overall character from Milne's stories. It is also true that there is a great deal of cleverness and insight here that I did not discover or appreciate until I was grown up.

It turns out that these are beautiful, masterly crafted tales full of witty dialogue, lively songs, gentle landscapes, and real warmth. Shepard's lovingly rendered illustrations do not simply complement the stories, but are easily the equal of Milne's narratives.

I look forward to reading these books to my boys--when they are ready for them. In the meantime, I am quite content to snuggle up with these tales myself, again and again.

This classic is listed under the age group of four to eight, and as a Poohphile I am quite appalled that it is. Winnie the Pooh books have such wit, wisdom, and humor that gets better every time I read them. Their not just for children, they are for everyone. Over the years, Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga, and Roo have become some of my dearest chums. I once heard someone say, or perhaps I read it, that "books are like dear friends, and who has too many friends?" I am quite inclined to agree with that statement. This book is a dear friend of mine and I hope that you shall make it yours. :)

I was participating in an on-line discussion on the subject of the single book that had influenced us each the most.

The book that first came to my mind was "The House at Pooh Corner". It seemed rather silly, but after considerable reflection I decided it was probably the correct answer after all.

The book was read to me by my Dad before I could read, and I still re-visit it occasionally fifty years later. In fact, I wouldn't be adverse to using it's ending as my epitath.

This is a well written & nicely illustrated book about how common items may come from far away, exotic lands. If you enjoyed this, you may also like Cocoa Ice by Diana Karter Applebaum - written for slightly older readers about two little girls whose families harvest and trade cocoa beans and ice.

This is an excellent teaching resource for second person point of view. It is an excellent story and the children enjoy it!

This is a wonderful book with lovely illustrations. It is a favourite of my daughter's since childhood and she was thrilled to have her own copy for her 16th birthday!

Good book for teaching the natural, human, and capital resources used to produce the apple pie. Identifying the types of transportation used by the baker in gathering the resources for her pie. Trace the route of the baker as she travels around the world. A skit can be made from the book also.

We had so much fun with this book! We used it with the Five-in-a-Row Homeschool curriculum and enjoyed it so much. Besides being a really neat children's book in general, there is a lot to learn about geography and language and other cultural benefits in this book. I recommend this one for any kid who likes to read or be read to. We have enjoyed it very much - it is one we had to have in our home, not just borrow from the library! Can't say enough!

my son is 7 months old and when i got a book version of twinkle twinkle little star, he loved it! when i found this book at the bookstore, it reminded me of my sesame street days! he loves the song and the pictures and now we'll both have grown up with this song!

What a wonderful book based on the great Sesame Street song! My twins love the song and book!! Beautiful pictures and easy to follow for toddlers.Pricey, yeah.... But well worth the money!!!Best money I spent in a long time!!!

We have enjoyed singing this song to our son almost since he was born, and when we got the book recently, it was an instant hit with him! It makes a wonderful bedtime story. I wish we had known about it a long time ago! Great gift idea, too.

My 22 month old loves this book, as do I. We sing it together every night, and she loves to see her friends Ernie and Bert in the beautifully illustrated pages. Its a wonderful song, and a lovely story about taking adventures but always coming home.

I can't read this book to my children without singing. The song is a lovely little lullaby we heard on Sesame Street, sung once by Aaron Neville. It is so beautiful, if you buy this book and don't know the tune, do yourself a favor and get a CD, too! You'll want to "sing" this book! It doesn't matter if you think you don't sing well -- the tune is so simple and your toddler loves your singing voice, anyway.

Even if you don't know the tune, don't sing the song, and don't ever care to "sing" a book with your baby, this little board book catches a lovely, lilting rythym (even without music) that's perfect for bedtime. Read softly with lots of cuddling. The point of the story is that "home" is the best place to live, and other spots are great "just for visiting."

In this final installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out for the shattered kingdoms as a dark lord and evil kings seek to reign. War amongst the kingdoms of men has become a war across all lands -- war has even found the elves and the in the reaches the elves of the west battle the elves of the east. Even the santuary of the elves capital grows more vulnerable by the minute as King Mark's army sweeps across the land. In the kingdoms, it is up to a select few to save what they can and escape. In the reaches, Prince Valam and the Elven Brotherhood make their stand. This one delivers stunning surprises at every turn as Robert Stanek explores the far corners of his sprawling world. Full of adventure and heart-pounding action, this last installment is the most thrilling adventure yet. Would recommend for all ages...even parents!

If you are ever bored, pick up this series, and start reading. Usually when I read books, I read in short segments. But when I picked up the first one, it was different. When I started, I couldn't stop until the end of the fourth one! It is action packed, and has so many adventures. Plus, it is suspenseful! I highly recomend this to EVERYONE!

All 4 dragon books are filled with mystery, suspense, adventure and action, but this is by far my favorite. I've read the Kingdoms and Dragons books about 10 times each (I'm not exagerating). These books are better than Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings combined. I liked this more than Eragon and Eldest. I love all the battles and action but nothing prepared me for this one, HOLY CRP!!!! I was glued to the book the first time I read it and totally blown away!!! This book is amazing and everyone who I've talked to says its great too! Read it you won't be disappointed.

In the Service of Dragons #4 is Stanek's crowning achievement and a grand conclusion to a magnificent journey begun with The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches. Eight books later, I was astounded at how well he pulled the varied threads together and wrapped up this epic story of magic, wizards, elves, and dragons.

The characters in this series are exceedingly well portrayed. They have hopes and dreams, they have fears and wants and hungers. Each of the books features alternating storylines, allowing the the reader to see the world of the author's imaging through many different points of view. The changes points of view brings the reader into the utter chaos of this world torn by war on multiple fronts. In the Kingdoms of men, the alliances of old have shattered and Great Kingdom has fallen. In the Reaches of the elves, the elves of the West and East are for the first time at war with each other. And the reader has a front row seat for all the action across many lands.

This book does a wonderful job of bringing everything together from the previous books, all the way back to The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches #1, and answering all the reader's questions. The rousing conclusion and rip-roaring pace provide that this is one of the greatest of the great fantasy series. I love that the story is as much about the changing world as it is about the characters in the world.

Highly, highly recommended.

This book was amazing. I started reading this series because the kid across the street was already reading it. So then I picked up the first one and kept going and going It's like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars all rolled into one. It's really entertaining and I couldn't stop reading. I read all 4 in 2 weeks. I'd recommend this for anyone who likes fiction.

My kids love this book. The pictures are great and the plot is simple.

For me the key lessons from the story are:-

1. That wise men (ie experts) are not always that wise.
2. Government intervention to solve a problem is not always that successful and often does a lot of damage.
3. It is sometimes far better for a government to simply find a way to accommodate a problem rather than try and fix it.

41 years later:

The cheese is government cheese.

The mice objected to the king's idea of good manners as species-centric, and rebelled.

The king blamed the peasants, and forbade them to keep cats or chase mice from their homes.

This made things worse. Peasants that could afford to do so moved as far away from mice as possible.

I can't wait for the next chapter.

This was one of my favorite books since I was a kid. The pictures were funny and the story has two good lessons in it. People should try to figure out your own problems and don't judge a book by its cover. In this case the mice. The king learned to share his home and his cheese and that's the moral of this story. I would recommended this book to my friends if they where doing this project. It is a great learning experience for kids.

One of the best books I have ever read. The message is deep wisdom that our government leaders and makers of US foreign policy would do well to internalize.

Your kids will like it too.

This is a wonderful story and both my 5yo and my 3yo love it (and I like reading it too). The King wants to get rid of the mice and his wise men keep coming up with progressivly worse solutions until the King is right back where he started -- and creative thinking saves the day! Great illustrations.

I love the selections from Ovid in this book! I like the slow start, using words very similar to their English equivalents, and the series of exercises that follow the selection. I even enjoy the discussion of etymology at the ends of the chapters.
My only complaint is the lack of answers at the back for the exercises. I'm trying to learn Latin on my own, and having the help of seeing answers would make my task somewhat less daunting. Still, taking enough care, and looking back at the examples and reading excerpt, I think I'll learn Latin well enough to read it on my own. Eventually.

I learned Latin using Wheelock's textbook, studying with an engaging instructor. That is an excellent text but, as many have noted, it is very dry. This book is more entertaining: less philosophy and more blood, sex, and other agreeable topics. Can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a great book to learn latin at your own pace. I have been studying it for almost a month now. The explanations are clear, and the examples meaningful. I highly recommended it for anyone who wants to learn some latin.

I found this book very useful and, if I were learning Latin from scratch as a youngster I expect it would have proved more interesting than the volumes I did work with. Of course, being American, the declensions are in the "wrong order" but this is a minor nuisance. Interesting exercises and additional information on Roman life and mores, mythology and magic.

Goldman's text is wonderful for someone desiring to learn Latin on their own. From the second chapter onwards, all the readings consist of revised excerpts from Ovid's Metamorphoses. As you are taught more grammar and vocabulary, she gradually introduces more and more of the original into the readings until you are reading what Ovid actually wrote. And although there is no answer key, the excercises (of which there are plenty) are usually of just the right difficulty: just hard enough to help you in learning Latin, but not so hard that you can't figure them out on your own.
I would also recommend the accompanying workbook, which is a little more difficult, but does include an answer key.

I don't fall asleep while reading. When I get sleepy, I put the book aside, turn out the light, and pull up the covers. How anyone can fall asleep with a book in their hands and the light on is beyond me--or at least it use to be. Candie Moonshower's The Legend of Zoey was so compelling that I simply couldn't bear to put it down. I knew I was growing sleepy, but I couldn't stop reading. So finally, I have the experience of falling asleep while reading thanks to Zoey.

The Legend of Zoey is the story of two thirteen year old girls who meet under strange circumstances--strange because they're living two centuries apart! Zoey, your average, mouthy twenty-first century gal boards a school bus for a class outing and finds herself in 1811. She meets Prudence and her mother struggling to survive the wilderness while the man of the house is off converting Indians to Christianity. You'd think that was enough turmoil for Zoey, but no, she picked the months the New Madrid fault took bites out of the Mississippi Valley landscape to time travel!

Clearly, the time traveling is a clue that the book is fiction, but the story's non-fiction details add charming pieces of reality. You aren't just reading a book--you are a young girl traipsing through the wilderness with a very pregnant and grouchy woman you barely know. You hear the leaves crackling under your feet. You feel the cold wind bite at your nose, fingers, and ears. The campfire stings your eyes as it gradually thaws your tired, aching body. You will experience this book, not just read it.

Moonshower does what every author sets out to do--she tells a story so vivid and so captivating that once it's over, the characters live in your head for days. I am especially grateful to the author for allowing Zoey to have a real experience. Moonshower didn't sell out in the end.

Almost all the characters are female, so this is probably a girl's book. However, Moonshower weaves those females into real events and traditional stories about the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. For that reason, it should be an easy choice for students studying the event--boy or girl.

I loved so much about this novel, The Legend of Zoey by Candie Moonshower. These are the things I enjoyed the most:

1. Candie blended the past and the present so well together . . . they literally tied into one another. That was a really good move.

2. The two girls (Zoey and Pru) both faced similar problems in their lives, one with modern conviences and one without.

3. Zoey was not interested in the past, but when she had to go to the past she wished she'd paid more attention in her history class.

4. I actually felt at times as though I'd traveled back to the past with Zoey and it made me wonder if I could have been as brave as she was about the time difference.

5. Candie didn't make the kids sound stupid. That's always a plus.

6. The comet! The comet was an awesome detail. I loved how it became sort of like this invisible bridge, and similarity between the two worlds, past and present.

7. I loved the description and close detail Candie used throughout Zoey. Great job!

8. For someone like me, who hated having to study Arkansas history and American history, made history just a little more interesting. Even though the story was about Tennessee history. I actually had very little knowledge of what happened with New Madrid and everything that occurred, so I learned something. :)

9. The novel was very believable. Candie did a great job telling this story of Zoey and Pru.

This novel is a great choice for young adults and adults as well. Happy reading.

Candie Moonshower has seamlessly meshed the experiences of two girls in two different eras into a delightful tale. Against the background of real events, she has written a fun and at times, poignant story and manages to teach the reader, too. Writing about time travel and using two points of view can be tricky, but Moonshower makes the transition between points of time and view with ease. I look for more great books from Candie Moonshower.

I love Zoey's strength and the way she always tries to figure out a solution, rather than just sitting and giving up. Also, it was a nice change to see the main characters aware that Zoey was from another time, rather than the usual dance around the truth and attempts to hide it. Most of all, I love that the links across time don't go away (I don't want to put in a spoiler!) after Zoey returns to the present.

Wonderful, lovely read!

The Legend of Zoey is a charming time travel novel. Candie Moonshower has done an exellent job of integrating the facts of the New Madrid earthquakes with an exciting story. It was a real pleasure to read about two wonderfully diverse characters. It works.