Readers Books

This book is very touching. It's about a young girl who's just moved to America and isn't sure if she'll survive or make friends. And that's until she meets Priscilla, a girl who befriends her and they become stuck together like glue. Readers of all ages will enjoy this short, fast-paced book.

"The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang" is an important book for children and adults alike to read. In America, we have so many cultures living side by side, it's important for us to attempt to understand one another. Dori Jones Yang successfully creates a book that is enjoyable, educational, and inspiring. I feel many people will enjoy this book because they can relate to, in one way or another, the main character Jinna. After moving to Seattle from China, Jinna (Gina as she is dubbed in English), finds herself unable to communicate in school. Not only can she not understand and speak English, but she finds herself unable to speak AT ALL. Soon after, Gina is befriended by another class outcast, Priscilla, and both children are able to overcome their anxieties and issues with the help of each other's friendship. This is an excellent, inspiring book. I hope to read more books by Dori Jones Yang in the future.

The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang is one book that you cannot put down. All though in the beginning, it is sort of boring, once you get through a few chapters, you will not stop reading it until you finish.

This book deserved 200 stars. I loved it the from the moment i started reading it. It is masterful and wonderful. It is appropriate for a large range of ages (i would say from 8 to 15). The suspense is wonderful, and the ending is MARVELOUS! At the beginning, it may seem a bit dull, but if you read on to the 3 or 4th chapter, you will fall in love and not be able to put this book dowm. The plot is remarkable, and it always seems to have you waiting to see how this wonderfully creative girl will solve new problems. Read this book, and see how GREAT it really is for yourself.

Dori Yang's ten years in Asia provide her with a rich treasury of Chinese customs. She brings a Chinese family to America and spins exciting yarns. Ms. Yang weaves a colorful tapestry of fantasy, reality, suspense-even desperation. Ultimately, frightening faces become warm and friendly. The language is appropriate and readable for students who need to learn English very quickly. It is an engaging book and important to all students especially to those struggling with our language.

I want to buy 10 of these books to give for birthday gifts for my childrens' friends. My children are 5 and 3 and they both adore it. I am very disappointed to learn it is out of print!

This cover of this book grabs the attention of children and holds it through the last page. It is so realistic they often cover their eyes or duck when pages are turned! The story line is great and the drawings intriguing! Suitable for preschoolers through primary grades. Wish it could be reprinted!!! As a former teacher of preschoolers and a grandmother, I highly recommend it!

Our family loves this book! It has gone through three boys and we need another one! PLEASE REPRINT!!! My two year old goes around saying shh when he wants to read a book. Absolutely a great book!!!

Wow!! I am a Pre-K teacher and this is one of my classes favorites. I wish I could find this book somewhere. I borrow it from the library over and over. As soon as I return it, all my students beg for the book again and again. We even have made our on Shhh! book, but it's not the same. They love to see that eye looking at them. What great squeals of delight. Now I'm pregnant with my first child and I would love to have this book in my collection. Boo, hoo I can't find it anywhere. So it will be off to the library.

I have been a children's librarian for 11 years. I use this book every year during National Children's Book Week. I read it to Preschoolers through 2nd graders. Every year I ask students to write down their favorite book. This one wins in a landslide! PLEASE REPRINT IT!!!!!! I have people who want to buy it for their kids and it's out of print. If you want a sure hit, with students or children of your own, try to get a copy of this book.

This is a collection of scary stories. This contains some great scary stories. They are well written to keep you in suspense. The stories are short enough to read in a matter of minutes and each has been very entertaining.

This volume contains genuinely creepy tales from various parts of the world. The writing is atmospheric and Katherine Coville's illustrations are well-crafted. This would be an ideal choice for anyone looking for a spooky book to read to classes at Halloween, around the camp-fire, or just for their own entertainment. And really, who could resist a book with memorable monsters like the Tailypo, the Cegua, the Golem, and the Loup-Garou?

This book is a well put together collection of folktales and true ghost stories from all over the world . i enjoyed it very much.
There is a nice diverse mix of stories, but no matter where they are from, all are relatable because fear is a universal human emotion.
Beautifully done illustrations set the mood of the book off perfectly.

Short and Shivery

Do you like reading ghost stories that leave you afraid to turn out the lights at night? Short and Shivery by Robert D. San Sousi has many haunted stories that are really creepy.
In the story of "The Haunted Inn" a guy named Wei along with a couple of his friends were driving around. All of a sudden a storm appeared. Because of the violent storm they had to stop and stay at an inn. They were greeted warmly by the innkeeper and his wife. I felt one of the best parts in "The Haunted Inn" was when the group went up in front of Wei's friend's face. The reason I mentioned both both of these incidents in the stories is because they were the creepiest.
In another story, "The Duppy"the protagonist, a boy named Jubal Lescot had an aunt that died when he was six. He told us she had been mean and evil. He overheard his neighbor talking about a duppy, or a ghost. A few weeks later he went to the graveyard to spy on the duppy, but instead, the duppy spotted him! One of the best parts in "The Duppy" was when Jubal came running from the duppy and ran into his father. His father said, "In the morning we will put the duppy to rest." They were going to kill!
If you didn't enjoy the last book you read, you shouldn't wait to read this. This book has many different stories, and each will excite you. Go and buy it now! These stories will creep you out.

My sons, ages 8 and 5, absolutely LOVE these stories! They are just scary enough without going overboard, and have great plots that keep their attention the whole time. We will definitely be buying more in this series.

I think that this is the best book that i have ever read and now that i have read this one and the 1st one i have bought the next 2 books of the series.

This is one of those books that once you start it I say there is no stopping yourself, and I'm NOT a reader and I give this book a 5 star rating... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



-Chicklet

I think that this is the best book that i have ever read and now that i have read this one and the 1st one i have bought the next 2 books of the series.

This is one of those books that once you start it I say there is no stopping yourself, and I'm NOT a reader and I give this book a 5 star rating... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



-Chicklet

THE ATTACK OF THE TAGGER is a great book . Wendelin Van Draanen.
It has great words in it . The book is for 10 year olds and up.
The best part of the book is when Nolan is on the mystery.
My favorite character is Nolen because sometimes he can be funny or weird.
One funny thing he does is when he hides in the trash can to find someone.
The weird thing he did is when he looked in the trash for a clue.
He is hiding a secret from his parents that he is shedder man,a school hero.
You will enjoy this book if you like MYSTERYS.

When I was at a friend's house I was bored so I picked it up and started reading. It was soooo cute. I really want to read the other books in the series but my library doesn't have them. Even thought I'm not in second grade I really enjoyed this book! You should definitely read it!

People who like mysteries will find this book mysterious. Wendlin Van Draanen writes his second book, Attack of the Tagger! The main characters of this book are Nolan (A.K.A Shredderman), Nolan's parents,and Ryan Voss. The problems in Attack of the Tagger are when Nolan(A.K.A Shredderman)was trying to trap the tagger but the tagger was trying to pin the blame on Nolan(A.K.A Shredderman). The setting of this book takes place in Ceder Valley,California.

In the beginning of the story Nolan(A.K.A Shredderman) was spying in the bathroom at school and saw Carl Blanco, Manny Davis, A.J Penne, and Ryan Voss talking about the graffiti showing up on cars, and Nolan thought it was one of them doing it. Next,the police found more graffiti in the park at night and Nolan and his dad went to look. When Nolan got home he found out who the real person was, who was doing the graffiti. The closest person was Ryan Voss, the principal's son. To find out who really did the graffiti go to your nearest library or book store and get the book.

The theme in this book is don't damage other people's things. This book remindes me of graffiti writing on buildings or signs. Boys in 3rd-5th grade will love this book.

J.H. in Annapolis

This is one of my daughter's favorite books. It's nice because it's small, with cardboard pages, so it stands up to wear, and we can take it anywhere.

My 17 month old checked this book out from the library and after 3 weeks of having it at our house, she couldn't live without it. This book has beautiful, peaceful drawings and really helps her relax at the end of the day. By the end of the book, she is usually right on the verge of falling asleep herself. I highly recommend this book!!

Sweet and snuggly - perfect for bedtime. My little girl (age 3) adores this book. She now knows every word and when Mommy is not reading it, she is reading it to her baby dolls. Her favorite line: "Love, love, Mama love." You will love this book too!

I just bought this book for my 21 month old daughter a few weeks ago. I loved the story and illustrations and it turns out that she does too. She wants to read it at every bedtime and sometimes requests multiple readings. The illustrations are colorful and adorable, and the story is wonderful. I highly recommend this book!

The illustrations in the Snuggle Bunnies book are so cute and adorable! Your little one will really enjoy! Highly recommend!!!!!

This book contains the quote, "Don't be saddish, have a radish" that many people seem to quote without being able to cite where it came from!

I used to own this book as a child and I loved it, but having moved several times, its disappeared. I would love a copy of it so that I can share it with my son. I remember it being called A Special Swap though over here (UK) Please reprint this book. its a real treasure.

I'm not sure how I got my copy of this book, but it has always been one of my favorites. I have had it since I was a little girl, and I was trying to get hold of a copy to give as a present to my niece, and also one to keep for when I have my own children. I suppose the fact that I am going to have to make do with the tatty old copy I have makes it all the more precious, and I'll be sure to keep it safe! I think its a lovely story and one all children should have the opportunity to read.

I, too, first heard this book read on Capt. Kangaroo. I often checked it out of the library to read to my two young children. My father would push them in their strollers. He walked along when they learned to ride bikes and roller skate. Now at 76 years old, he is suffering from Parkinson's and has to be pushed in a wheelchair. My grandson, his great-grandson, loves to help push him. I want to get a copy of this book to read to my father and give to my grandson as a special memory.

This was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl. My mom and I used to go to the library just to get it and I always knew exactly where it was in the library. I don't know why we never just bought it. I guess being a library book made it more special. Recently (about 20 years later) I thought I'd surprise my mom with a used copy. First I couldn't find a copy and now I see this book is going for [$$$] I think we should be ashamed of ourselves for exploiting a beautiful children's story, ironically written about love and generosity, and turning it into what everything else seems to have become, an empty, profit-driven shame. I'd reccomend this book very highly anytime-- at a reasonable price.

This is good book that briefly describes the events of Episode I in a picture format perfect for young and non-readers

this is the best book you can look at to see all the details put into episode 1! there are pictures, quotes, and much info about each character! it truly is a good buy!

I just bought this book and I just can't get over how amazing it is. I learned who played Darth Maul finally and I found out a lot of things about the movie I really didn't noticed when I watched it.

When I got this book, It was totally AWESOME! there are a lot of pics and COOL stuff that you couldn't of had guessed...I mean is was "THE BEST" I couldn't stop reading it...it's REALLy good...trust me!

This book is really great. I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know before! For example, it explained more about the Jedi council and other characters.

My son (age five) saw this book highlighted on Reading Rainbow and was so taken with the story that I purchased it for him. We've read this book over and over. He loves it.

My 7-year-old read this (with a little help), and we were both fascinated. The story is told accurately but with sensitivity to the age level. It satisfied my son's curiosity, and he understood what a tragedy it was, without being overwhelmed with horrifying details. It was explained what went wrong, and there was reassurance that we had learned from the mistakes. And I liked the follow-up about how Robert Ballard and his crew found the Titanic years later.
Great illustrations, too, showing period clothing, etc.
This is a really nice little book that seems to me appropriate in all ways for kids about age 7-9. And if you're getting this, go ahead and get "Moonwalk" by the same author. That one was downright exciting.

The Titanic is a very good book.I hope that you like it and that you will read the Titanic.It has sad parts in it and good parts that was the best book.

In 1912 a magnisafint new ship namd the TITANIC was made. Peopol clamed it an unsincaboul ship.Why? The titanic did`t have one bottom it had two.Then at last the titanic set sail. Then one night in the crows nest one of the men saw a iceberg.Then another man rang a bell and shouted ICE BERG RIGHT AHEAD! but they saw it too late. the titanic hit the iceberg on the starbord side.and the engons stoped and the ship stoped move ing. the titanic begen to sink.it sank hier and hier and hier then a crashing and booming and craking sound was herd. the titanic split in two.while the bow section sank down to the bottom of the ocean the stern section stuck up and began its final plung to the bottom of the ocean 78 Years later dr. Robert balerd descoverd the titanic sank in two insted of sinking in one.

This wonderful children's book explains the history of the ill-fated ship, from the beginning of its maiden voyage in England to the discovery of the boat at the bottom of the ocean depths by Dr. Robert Ballard. The illustrations are lively and vibrant, giving depth to the easy to understand, yet enchanting text. I have read several children's books about the Titanic and this one seems to have the best of everything.

I often review works which I have read long ago. Upon beginning to write about them I invariably discover how much time I gave to something which seemed so worthwhile at the time, and which I have almost completely forgotten. I then ordinarily do some catch- up learning about the book. And my review becomes an amalgalm of distant past and most recent present impression. And meanwhile the heart of the book is forever unknown to me and lost. And my review is only a minor tracing an impression both of the book itself and what of my mind knew when reading through it.
This certainly applies to my reading of this particular work, ,the one work of Levi- Strauss which I remember reading with any degree of real understanding and pleasure. His making of a life and career as an anthropologist which are a good part of the first part of the work interested me then.
The long travelogue and explorations into Amerindian society and mind, interested me less.
I understand though that the real voyage is into and along with the mind of Levi- Strauss itself, a mind much more complicated than I was ordinarily used to meeting and ingesting .
I do remember however the somewhat majestic tone, the tone of restrained sadness of quiet mourning which seemed to go through the work as Levi- Strauss met with worlds being lost and deterorating , in part through their meetings with the very kind of Western mind he himself exemplified. It is the mind destroying the object in the process of knowing it , as the Western explorers of these tribal societies transformed them out of their own natural state by meeting with them.
For Levi- Strauss and this I remember, the ' primitive mind' is not ' primitive at all' and may be in its linguistic complexity and social structure far more intricate than the ' civilized ' as it were sophisticated worlds we believe we live in.
I read this work as a way of being acquainted with a great mind, a mind which to my mind proved to be quite elusive and even distant.
But clearly the exploration made by Levi- Strauss of his own inner and external worlds is one which calls to the curious human mind and heart in its quest for understanding ' of the other'
Montaigne took a trip in the Brazilian jungle in the twentieth
century, looked in the mirror and saw the face of Levi- Strauss.

I like to travel and to observe the cities, landscapes, the plants and animals and the human inhabitants of the countries I go to. So does Levy-Strauss, and he is a fantastic observer, much more sharp-eyed than I could ever hope to be, and a highly entertaining writer. In this classic he talks about a wide range of observations from a number of corners of the world, but mainly about South America.
The book deals with Levi-Strauss' time as a teacher in Brazil and his trips into the South American hinterland; his escape from Nazi-occupied France; His later expeditions to visit remote tribes in the Amazon; and an assortment of observations about such diverse topics as the frustration of the traveler to never encounter the true, pristine state of a culture, the Indian caste system and the division of public and private space in different parts of the world. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes: My favorite one is how a native chief from observing Levy-Strauss grasped the social importance of writing, but not its role in information storage and transmission. He bluffed to impress his underlings and drew freshly invented line configurations on a paper. This leads Levy-Strauss to observe that from the invention of writing to its universal knowledge a few millennia passed, during which it did not serve to liberate the masses, but to control them. Such wide-ranging philosophical associations are frequent and were very enjoyable to me. The book is, however, definitely not only a collection of anecdotes, but in parts a very detailed description of the life of some of the native tribes he visited in the Amazon. Drawings of artifacts, patterns used in body-painting and photographs supplement the text. We are given both anthropological descriptions of the lifes of these peoples, their social organization, attitudes and material culture, as well as Levy-Strauss' personal experiences when living among them, sometimes his friendships with members of these tribes. Of course these people were strongly affected by the contact with European civilization, often to the worse. We also learn about these developments. There isn't really much direct explanation about his theoretical approaches to anthropology. This is the kind of book which made me wish that I could have been an expedition member of Levy-Strauss' team. Highly recommended.

Tristes Tropiques, surely one of the great books of the twentieth century, is Levi-Strauss at his intoxicating, idea-overloaded best and an elegy for a world that colonialism and then globalisation have doen their rational best to annihilate.

Levi-Strauss, like most thinkers who come up with new ways of describing the world-- those who Richard Rorty calls "inventors of philosophical vocabularies"-- has of course been mis-read and his ideas mis-applied, as we see with the much-hyped "creation" and then "demise" of "structural anthropology." The real pleasure of this book, which mixes fascinating accounts of Levi-Strauss' travels in Brazil in the '30s with autobiography, and adds chapters on the Maya and ancient Hindu (Indian) civilisations, is in its sheer mass of artfully arranged detail and its endless, provocative play of ideas.

Levi-Strauss stays conversational, descriptive and straightforward, avoiding academic jargon and obscure references. He assumes you know the basics about people like Freud, Marx, Darwin and the Buddha, and then shows you a trip through largely non-industrial societies which unfolds from anthropological description into deep philosophical speculation on the meaning of society and life.

In Brazil, Levi-Strauss watches an illiterate but canny chieftain use his anthropological fieldnotes to intimidate his illiterate tribesmen subordinates, and speculates on the parallel origins of writing and slavery. In Matto Grosso, he meets a butcher fascinated with elephants, since "he could not imagine so much meat in one place." On the banks of the Amazon, a non-industrial tribe is dying, hypnotically lost in the symbolic intricacies of an ancient social system that makes its citizens inbreed. In India, Levi-Strauss watches Islam and Hinduism-- the "locker room" and "mother" religions-- wage symbolic and then real war post-Independence.

The book starts as anthropology, turns into philosophy, and ultimately becomes a critique of the West, driven by "reason" and technology to shake off what Levi-Strauss calls the "thick blanket of dreams" with which non-industrial civilisation arranges the Universe into Meaning, which remains for the industrialised world the greatest and unanswered question.

But Levi-Strauss does not idealise the primitive. His point is that through the study of those and that which are different, a kind of "ideal model" of society-- one which will never exist-- can be built in the imagination, and people can evaluate their world by reference to this community of mind.

This is a remarkable book-- easy to read, engrossing, and endlessly thought-provoking.

One way to gauge who's in among fashionable academics is to read the catalog for the "Writers and Readers' Documentary Comic Book" series. Sartre has an entry, and so does Derrida, and Lacan. Thirty years ago, you would have expected to find an entry in this index for Claude Levi-Strauss. No more. Translations of his principal works appear to persist in print, but the sales numbers are look low, and he seems almost to have disappeared from the trendy book reviews and such. This is perhaps a matter for at least idle curiosity: Levi-Strauss is surely no more abstruse than his magisterial contemporaries - but no less so; one is perfectly willing to be relieved the obligation of ever picking him up again.

With one exception. In style and temperament, Tristes Tropiques is so different from almost everything else Levi-Strauss wrote that it is hard to believe it is written by the same man. Oh, the primitive tribes are there, and a brief personal intellectual history, that offers a bow to Freud, and Bergeson, and Saussure. In my own copy, which I first read about 1980, I even have a pencilled notation "structuralism" - this at page 375 (Pocket Books edition, 1977). But there is almost none of the portentous vacuity that you had to cope with in the so-called "serious" works.

What you get instead is Levi Strauss the raconteur, full of travelers' tales. He dines on roasted parrot, flamed with whisky. The termites make the earth rumble. Virgins are made to spit in pots of corn, to provoke fermentation - but "as the delicious drink, at once nutritious and refreshing, was consumed that very evening, the process of fermentation was not very advanced." You almost expect the anthropophagi and the men whose heads grow beneath their shoulders, that you meet in the Voyages of Sir John Mandeville, Knight.

Laced through it all, you get a kind of austere sadness which is either (a) a tragic view of life; or (b) a kind of self-indulgent posturing, depending on your temperament for skepticism. "Every effort to understand," he says, "destroys the object studied in favor of another object of a different nature." Or: "Anthropology could with advantage be changed into 'entropology', as the name of the discipline concerned with the study of the highest manifestations of [a] process of disintegration."

Well, call me anything the like, they say, as long as you call me for dinner. It might even be an elaborate con. But so, for that matter, might the stories of Herodotus were you get the same mix of the eclectic and the tolerant, the surreal and the sly. Herodotus, we may note, is one of the first great works of Western literature. Let's hope that Levi-Strauss is not one of the last.

This is Levi-Strauss most readable book, and it is a fantastic introduction to the "why" behind his interest in structuralism. There are hints of the various methods and approaches that he uses in later works, but this book shows why he was to develop structuralism in later works. The writing is clever and eloquent, and various conclusions he made about cultural diversity address contemporary concerns in a highly articulate and responsible manner. Read this book before delving into the other writings of one of the 20th Century's most important anthropologists.

Excellent, everytime I use the restroom, I pick up the book and just pick a page and just start reading. Very imformative!

My husband loved it. I will never get him out of the bathroom again Great Christmas gift

its a great gift for someone you have no idea what to get. and it was loved by that person.. for months they just ran around reciting the facts they read in the book. great product

I purchased 3 copies of this book and gave one to my Father-In-Law, my Father and my Husband! They love the book and find it interesting to read.

This book is full of interesting things. You really can learn new things everyday!