Titles Books


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Titles Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Titles
Petite Rouge (Picture Puffins)
Published in Paperback by Puffin (2003-06-23)
Author: Mike Artell
List price: $6.99
New price: $3.32
Used price: $3.94

Average review score:

Great cajun spin on Little Red Riding Hood
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-14
The story line follows the traditional but captures the cajun language and lifestyle well. The pictures are great and I love the characters. The book arrived timely and it was in perfect condition.

Funniest Book Ever!!!!!!!!!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-15
This is my absolut favorite story ever written!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My 2 1/2 year old loves just as much as I do!I bought extra copies and sent it to every child in my family! It's become an instant classic.
It's especially fun if you read it with a creole accent which isn't that hard to do since they put a glossary in the front of the book on how to pronounce many of the words. Funny! Funny! Funny!

So fun to read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-06
I love reading this book to my 6 year-old boys, and they love to hear it. The rhythm of the writing, and the very clever story, makes this book a real joy, and very funny. Look for their other books, too.

A Cajun Red Riding Hood
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-14
This book is a huge hit. My 4 year old loves me to read it to her. I have entertained guests at our house by reading it too. So much fun!

Fun for the grown-ups, too... sho'nuff
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-26
One sentence into this book and even the not-keen-on-bedtime-readers will find themselves lending life & voice to Artell's characters in this whimsical updated romp of a fairy tale. What fun! The drawings are superb, but it is the story that shines here. You will find yourself speaking cajun almost as if you were born to it. At least that's what you'll tell your friends, when you recommend this book to them to dazzle their own children.

Titles
The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Word: Quotes - Titles - Poetry - Tips - Words
Published in Paperback by Bluegrass Publishing (2004-05-15)
Author: Linda Latourelle
List price: $19.95
New price: $12.80
Used price: $13.08

Average review score:

My copy is worn!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-30
I love this book! I have used it over and over for my scrapbooks, for the "blank" greeting cards I purchase, for notes to my children, and bulletin board topics for my classroom! I especially love the friendship and volunteer quotes. A wonderful, organized and varied arrangement of inspiration!

very helpful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-04
This book covers everything that you will ever need to use to journal or find a title. It is worth every penny.

A Must Have for Scrapbookers
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-04
Love this book. I keep it handy for all my creativity blocks. I shared it with a friend who loved it so much she's getting one too. Use it just once and it will have paid for itself. Well organized and covers all the topics.

The Ultimate Guide To the Perfect Word
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-18
Great resource for scrapbooking! Has great quotes and titles for use with those "hard to find the right words" scrapbooking pages....has a wide variety of subjects and topics too! Highly recommend!

A must-have!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-23
This book is a must-have for serious scrapbookers who are always on the search for page titles. I have owned this book for over a year, and I have used it for inspiration dozens of times. Even if it doesn't have the "perfect words" for my page, I can usually tweak the ideas to make them perfect. Definitely worth the buy.

Titles
Advanced Organic Chemistry
Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons Inc (1986-11-12)
Author: Jerry March
List price: $27.50
Used price: $68.95

Average review score:

The Green Bible of Organic Chemistry
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-15
March never leaves my desk. It covers everything. From functional group transformations to mechanisms to FMO theory - you name it it's there. Highly recommended for any advanced undergraduate, graduate or post-doctoral researcher. It's a bookshelf staple that any organic chemist should have available.

Nice book, for sure
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-06
I'm pretty sure that you _must_ have this book if you are studying advanced organic chemistry. Maybe it's not the best one to use as a study guide, but it's extremely helpful as a reference book both for undergrads and graduate students. However, one can argue that this edition is a bit out-of-date.

An investment that'll last you for years.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-04
I bought a copy of this text (2nd Ed) after finishing my sophomore year of college, and it proved to be the best single investment I've ever made in chemistry. I used it so often, I had to duct-tape the book together.

I think the happiest moment of my career was when my name appeared in the index of a later edition. Anyway, buy it and treasure it.

The Best Reference for Organic Chemistry
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-09
This is by far the best text I have found. Although it is considered a text book, it is more handy as a reference tool. I have seen no other book that contains more information than March's. This book is actually worth the price.

1495 Page Bible Of General Reactions And Mechanisms
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-09
I paid more for my 4th ed. new, and find it to be worth even more. It is not a cookbook per se, but it is a very comprehensive textbook that details general reactions by functional group. It outlines every way known to remove, add to, or otherwise modify every functional group. There is as much commentary as is needed, if not more, and every pathway is mentioned regardless of how exotic or primitive and low-yielding. The corresponding OS synth refs for specific cpds. are given for each type of reaction, along with a total of 15,000 other refs in footnotes. This was cutting-edge in 92, with much updating of the 3rd ed. The index will take you to the section that shows how to make the manipulations you want - if it doesn't, it probably can't be done.

Titles
Frog and Toad All Year
Published in Hardcover by Amer School Pub (1987-01)
Author: Arnold Lobel
List price: $33.30
Used price: $8.99

Average review score:

Frog and Toad All year
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-17
Frog and Toad where helpachful to eatchather.There storys where creatav.I like Frog best.He teaches Toad alot of things.Frog and Toad spend all year together.

excellent
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-01
Frog and Toad All Year continues in the delightful and thoughtful tradition of Arnold Lobel's books. It has stories for each season and as always they are deceptively simple but actually full of love, truth, good values, and humour. My daughter's, 3 and 5, love them.

Arnold Lobel's books fan
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-30
Frog And Toad All Year


Hi, if you are a fan of Arnold Lobel's books, and you have not read Frog And Toad All Year, then you might want to read it.

If you like ice cream, then you should read page's 30-42. It is about Frog and Toad sitting by a pond Frog wishing for something sweet like ice cream. Toad thinks that is a great idea, so he gets some but before he can make it back it melts. They both go and get more ice cream. But instead of going back, they sit under a tree by the store. I like this chapter is because of the ice cream melting.

I liked this book because of the lessons like the lesson in chapter Ice Cream and the lesson is never travel with ice cream on a hot summer day.

Review by Giovanni P.S. 39
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-07
If you are scared of being alone, well, you might pick Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel. Find out if Toad will ever learn how to be alone.

In the beginning, Toad was so nervous to be alone in the sled. So Frog was behind him. There was a big bump and Frog fell out. Toad was still on the sled. And he went by himself all the way to the bottom. Toad learned that being alone is not that bad, and you don't have to be scared.

If you like this book you might pick others in the series. There is Frog and Toad are Friends and Days with Frog and Toad.

Arnold Lobel's fourth charming collection of Frog and Toad stories
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-28
I was at a wedding where the minister was a very good friend of both the bride and the groom. When it came to the part of the service where the minister imparts words of wisdom, he started to read the Frog and Toad story of "The Surprise." It is all about how one October when the leaves had fallen from the trees Frog decides to go to Toad's house to surprise his friend by raking up all the leaves on his lawn and Toad decides to go to Frog's house and do the same thing. The minister read the story, showing the surprised groom the pictures, and when he finished the story he explained how it was all about thinking of somebody else before you think of yourself. All I was thinking is that I have to get my hands on this story.

"The Surprise" is the fourth of the five stories that make up "Frog and Toad All Year," a Level 2 (Reading with help) "I Can Read Book." The stories begin and end with winter, starting off with "Down the Hill" as the two friends go sledding and end with "Christmas Eve." In between Toad finds that Spring is waiting around "The Corner" and buys some "Ice Cream" cones for he and his friend to enjoy, before it is time to rake the leaves. Lobel's stories have an exquisite simplicity that should really resonant with young readers. I know that frogs and toads are both amphibians, but I had to look up the biological differences: toads have brown skin that is dry and leathery because of convergent adaptation to drier climates and environments than frogs. So there is a reason why frogs are green and toads are brown. What that means to kids is not evidence of convergent adaptation, but rather than Frog and Toad are alike and yet different. In the end what is most important is that they are friends. Whether you think of yourself as a frog or a toad, you still need a friend and friendship is what these stories are all about.

"Frog and Toad All Year" was originally published in 1976, the fourth of Lobel's collections of stories about these characters. It follows "[[Frog and Toad Are Friends" (1970), "Frog and Toad Together" (1971), and comes before "Days with Frog and Toad." Each has five stories and if I think this one is the best it may just be because it was the first one I happened to read. If you have the soundtrack to "A Year with Frog and Toad," the musical adapted from Lobel's charming stories, you will find that three of these stories end up in Act II. "The Surprise" becomes "He'll Never Know," "Down the Hill" retains its title, and "Christmas Eve" becomes "Merry Almost Christmas." I mention all this because once your young reader reads one of these books they are going to want to read the rest, and when they find out that there are only four books you might need something else to keep them happy and the musical is out there to be enjoyed as well.

Titles
Rumpelstiltskin
Published in Hardcover by Dutton Juvenile (1986-10-16)
Author: Brothers Grimm
List price: $16.99
New price: $6.74
Used price: $1.64
Collectible price: $16.99

Average review score:

fairy tale told true
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-22
This is a lovely version of the classic Rumpelstiltskin. I enjoyed reading it with my third graders. The illustrations are beautiful and spark the imagination. A good story demonstrates struggle and challenges the students to compare present day expectations with the past.

Great pictures
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-29
The pictures in this book are very nice. My 5-year old loves to hear it as a story before going to sleep. The ending of the story is also suitable for this age, since Rumpelstiltskin ends up flying out the window, instead of something more tragic happening to him.

Rumpelstilskin
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-20
I wanted a classic children's fairy tale story with handsome illustrations. I got just what I wanted with this book. I have a 3 1/2 year old and it is the perfect length for bedtime.

GREAT BOOK!!!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-08
I read the book Rumpelstiltskin. It is about a poor miller's daughter who is very kind. One day the miller sees the king and says, "My daughter can spin straw into gold" The king said" get her over her right away" So when she got there the king said" if you don't spin this straw into gold by tomorrow you will die" So the miller's daughter cried and cried until a strange person comes in and says" I will spin this straw into gold for you. But you need to give me something". So she does and the next day she goes to another room and he comes again. She gives him something again. Then the next day she goes to a bigger room and he comes back and says, "you will give me your first born baby So the next day she gets married to the king. She has a baby so the man comes back and she says" if I don't find out your name in three days you can take my baby. So she sends out a servant to find out the mans name. So the servant finds out his name it is Rumpelstiltskin. Then he comes and she says" is your name Rumpelstiltskin. Then he was never heard from again.

I liked the book because it had bright detailed illustrations. I liked the picture of the king and the miller. The message is don't trust strangers because she talks to him. The theme is karma because he tricks her and then she tricks him. There is good vs. evil because Rumpelstiltskin is bad and she is good. I know this because he tricks people. The conflict of person vs. person is interesting because she is ahead and then he is. It keeps going back and froth. I think kids should read this because it will teach them to not trust strangers. There are no more versions of this story that I have read.

Rumplestiltskin
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-08
I READ RUMPELSTILSKIN BY PAUL O. ZELINGSKY.
THERE ARE THREE CHARACTERS ONE IS THE KING ANOTHER IS RUMPELSTILSKIN AND THE LAST ONE IS THE MILLERS DAUGHTER. THE MILLER SAID TO THE KING MY DAGHTER CAN TURN STRAW INTO GOLD.
I DID LIKE THE BOOK BECAUSE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. I LIKED THE ILLLUSTRATIONS BECAUSE HOW THEY MADE STRAW INTO GOLD IT WAS COOL. THE CHARACTERS WERE NOT GOOD BECAUSE THE KING THREATENED THE MILLERS DAUGHTER AND RUMPELSKILSKIN SAID I WILL SPIN STRAW INTO GOLD IF YOU GIVE ME SOMETHING. THE CONFLICT IS PERSON VS PERSON BECAUSE RUMPELSTILSKIN TRICKS THE MILLERS DAUGHTER. THERE ARE NOT ANYMORE VERSIONS OF RUMPELSTILSKIN,
THE BOOK WAS EASY FOR ME. IT COULD EVEN BE FOR MORE THAN THIRD GRADERS. THE THEME IS DON'T TELL LIES BECAUSE THEY CAN CATCH UP WITH YOU. PEOPLE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK SO THEY WILL KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS BACK THEN.

Titles
Troubleshooting Windows 2000 TCP/IP
Published in Digital by SYNGRESS (2000-03-01)
Authors: Thomas W. Shinder and Debra Littlejohn Shinder
List price: $19.98
New price: $19.98

Average review score:

Amazing!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-31
I took the Microsoft exam 70-216 for network infrastructure today and all I can say is AMAZING! How did the writers know what was on the exam? There is so much obscure stuff on the exam that no other book I read covered the questons on the exam. But this one did. So much of the test was troubleshooting the network, so I guess a TCP/IP troubleshooting book would be the right one. But the similarity of this book to the test is amazing.

This book was good to read too and I am using it at my job and fixing some of the problems we've had with WINS and VPN based on what I learned. Great book and best study guide for the test.

Good book
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-02
This book is heads and tails above any other TCP/IP book I've read or own. Finally understand how DNS works, the RAS section helped me put together my Win2k VPN. Get this is you wnat to understand some of the weird stuff in Win2k TCP/IP.

Good TCP/IP and Networking Book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-31
We are in the process of moving from NT to Win2k and my boss made me the project manager. I had to get on top of Win2k networking fast. I bought this book on the recommendation of several of my co workers. Glad I got it. The book is informative and detailed in explanations and examples. A must have for the busy guy like me.

TCP/IP is revealed to the clueless
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-15
OK, I admit it. I learned my TCP/IP for Windows NT exams from reading Exam Cram. Needless to say, I passed the Windows NT TCP/IP test, but couldn't tell a subnet from a supernet. Now I have a job in the industry and I needed to actually learn TCP/IP, especially since we are moving up to Windows 2000 in our shop.

This book is unreal in how good things are explained. Great detail in describing RRAS, WINS, DNS, and the TCP stack. Using the information in the book I am now up to speed on TCP/IP. Enough to pass the 70-216 test! Not bad for a NT MCSE!

For Real, this book helped a lot. I owe the author's a beer on this one.

Excellent Coverage of Win2k Net Services
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-04
This book is fresh air to someone like myself who has read at least a dozen Windows 2000 books. I get the impression that a lot of the Windows 2000 books were written by people who write books and don't work with the technology. This book doesn't fall into that class. It was great to read this book, because it renewed my faith that a tech book could be written in a way that doesn't put me to sleep.

They cover Windows 2000 TCP/IP from top to bottom. WINS, DNS, DHCP, RRAS, IIS, routing and network devices. Its all there, and its filled with little known factoids that makes me want to keep reading and have another "aha!" experience.

This book also was the major reason I passed the Microsoft 216 exam so easily. Although I didn't buy it to pass the exam, they seem to cover all the material that the exam covered. A nice bonus. I wish they made the book longer, because I'm sure they could have said a lot more that I would like to read about.

This book isn't for beginners, but neither is Windows 2000. I think once the reader is ready to manage Windows 2000, they'll be ready to get the most out of this exceptional book.

Titles
Beauty
Published in School & Library Binding by Topeka Bindery (1999-10)
Author: Robin McKinley
List price: $14.65
New price: $12.45
Used price: $8.50

Average review score:

Wonderful Horse Story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-12
I read this book for the first time when I was a horse-crazy little girl. I absolutely loved it then and I still enjoy re-reading it. It is a wonderful story, especially appealing to horse-crazy children.

Beauty is a book for all ages to read and enjoy!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-18
Bill Wallace writes this book as though it's real life. Once you start, you an hardly put it down!
Luke, a young city boy, is the son of divorced parents. he lives with his mom on his grandfather's farm. because his mom lost her job. Luke never wants to do anything at the farm because his mom made him leave all of his friends when they moved.
After a long summer, Luke befriends an old horse called Beauty. They share a special bond with late summer walks and secrets. But when a terrible accident happens, Luke does something that may break that bond.
This book is great for children and adults. It has adventure, suspense, and funny, laugh-out-loud moments, too. It shows that when you have a bond with a clase friend, keep it for it will become one of your greatest treasures. I give this book a four out of five star rating.

Beauty
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-24
This book is really sad, when the horse, Beauty died. Luke's horse, Beauty were best friends, and were really close. Until one night when Beauty escape from her pen and went outside into the stormy night. Then Beauty accidently went into a trap, that made her cried out loud. There was no chose for Luke. He had to kill Beauty. So he shoted Beauty in her head where her star was. At the end there was anther horse that looked like Beauty, with a star on her forehead. A memory of Beauty.

Beauty...Greatest Book EVER
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-04-21
Beauty is a great book. Other than Harriet the Spy it's my favorite book. It teaches relationships. When I started this book I was crying and when I ended it I was crying. At first Luke and his Mother move to Oaklahoma to live with Luke's grandpa. Now at first Luke hates him, but grows to love him. Luke's favorite horse Beauty gets caught in a corral and... well you'll have to read it for the ending. But by how I read it I think you'll think the same "It's sad but Good"

Best book in the world
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-09
This book is one of my favorites. I think that ever kid needs to read this book. It sounds kinda like the way I got my first horse. The book is very sad. I even cried at the end. This book is awesome. So Read It.

Titles
Cinder Edna
Published in Library Binding by HarperCollins Publishers (1994-04)
Author: Ellen Jackson
List price: $15.89
Used price: $2.33
Collectible price: $15.89

Average review score:

great
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-01
i think my teacher read this book to me in grade 3 or 4. its the cinderella story, but 'cinderella' doesn't wait around for prince charming doing nothing. she goes through the cinderella story but finds practical solutions to problems cinderella does nothing about or complains about. i can't remember if cinderella is in the book or not as a foil for cinderedna, but it was an amusing read and a enjoyed it at the time. it thankfully isn't a bra burning approach to feminism, but a 'you can do things on your own' book. its cinderella without the idealism. of course we all love the idealism, that's why such stories as cinderella exist, but for every cinderella there must be a cinderedna... because a person can't be entirely practical or entirely idealistic, but a balance of both must be achieved. unfortunately there aren't as many 'cinderenda' books on the market as there should be for young girls, so i guess this one is good!

A Classic Tale Recycled into Something New...and Wonderful!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-15
This adaptation of the classic children's fairytale Cinderella brings something of a mixture of the classic story elements (princes, castles, and fancy dress balls) with modern, contemporary settings (the city bus, penny loafers, and recycling plants)...Cinder Edna is Cinderella's more self-reliant, self-sufficient neighbor who just doesn't have time (or see the point of) sitting around in the fireplace cinders feeling sorry for oneself. She gets out and about doing for herself and enjoying life...she even knows 16 different ways to make tuna casserole (and that's quite spectacular, don't ya know)! While Cinderella needs her fairy godmother to get her a dress, a ride to the ball and snazzy glass slippers, Edna gets her dress off layaway, puts on her comfortable penny loafers and takes the city buss to the ball. In the end each girls get her man...Cinderella gets her prince charming and Edna falls for charming's somewhat dorky younger brother Rupert. This story, like the classic, portrays a happy ending for all...the somewhat ditzy and bubble-headed Cinderella spends her days in luxury and self-absorption (and is perfectly happy), Cinder Edna winds up in an ecologically friendly soar-heated cottage with her recycling prince...and she also lives happily ever after (in a life that looks to be infinitely more interesting and full of fun than that of Cinderella and her boorish, snobby prince). I enjoyed reading this as did my 7 year old. I got a kick out of the artwork, which goes along so very well with the message of this particular adaptation (that living happily ever after is in the eye of the beholder...and getting there doesn't necessarily involve fairy godmothers and magic...you CAN make your own happily ever after)! I give Cinder Edna 5 stars and two thumbs up...it made me smile deeply and often and even had a few laugh out loud moments that really made my day! I'd recommend it as a read aloud for ages 5-7, though it's a picture book I don't think that he length of the text makes for ideal reading for younger children (3-5). I also think it would be well received by children transitioning to independent reading, as this would provide a "new story" with some familiarity and the amount of text is just about right for emerging independent readers (6-8).

Excellent role model for girls
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-02
Can't recommend this book highly enough for females of all ages. Cinder Edna is an incentive to become an actor in life, taking joy in doing, being, and sharing. The Cinderella story, on the other hand, emphasizes the superficial, and her value is obtained by being picked as the most beautiful by a prince. There's nothing wrong with beauty, but that's not where one will find happiness. I want my daughter and granddaughter to live their lives to the fullest, and Cinder Edna is a excellent role model of that. An inspiration for little girls and an awakening for women who have spent their whole lives wishing to be Cinderella.

Happily Ever After, by Mariah Krauel
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-10
"Now she's gone - the only girl I ever loved."
"Well, didn't you get her name?" asked Rupert impatiently (page 15).

In Cinder Edna, Ellen Jackson compares the classic Cinderella to a more light-hearted, realistic one, Cinder Edna. This Cinderella story with a twist is an enjoyable real world fairytale for children, especially little girls. The readers are able to relate with either Cinderella or Cinder Edna. While relating this enjoyable story, Jackson creates a dual tone of melancholy and optimism which are emphasized through the use of theme, contrasting diction, structure, and foils.

The tone of this children's story is illustrated through the theme of Cinder Edna. The theme portrayed is one of gaining happily ever after. Through the theme a lesson is taught about living happily ever after and the right attitude needed to achieve it. The theme is emphasized through the contrasting tones of the two main characters. Both Cinderella and Cinder Edna are forced to work for their wicked step mothers and step sisters. However, each girl takes on a different view of their situation. Cinderella evokes a tone of melancholy through her self pity and disparity towards her trial and chooses to dwell in pity, sitting among the cinders. On the other hand, Cinder Edna creates a tone of optimism through her self-sufficiency and independence toward her hard situation. She chooses to make the most out of her hard situation and to learn new skills. In the end, it is a cheerful outlook in hard times that leads to happily ever after.

Contrasting diction is also used to illustrate the tones of optimism and melancholy. Jackson uses "cruel" and "endless" to describe Cinderella's outlook on her situation. These words evoke a forlorn tone and create a feeling of pity toward Cinderella. Instead of trying to change her predicament, she sits and wishes for someone to come and change it for her. Contrastingly, Jackson describes Cinder Edna and her similar situation with cheerful diction. She uses "spunky" and "silly" to illustrate Cinder Edna's self-sufficiency and optimistic personality. Jackson also utilizes light-hearted rhymes to create Cinder Edna's happy tone. Cinder Edna figures out things for herself, and prepares ahead of time. Therefore, the varieties of diction help to create the contrasting tones of optimism and somberness.

The structure of Cinder Edna adds to the dual tones. While describing Cinderella's point of view Jackson uses long and loose sentences. She uses many descriptive words to add to Cinderella's distress. However, while discussing Cinder Edna, Jackson uses short sentences that add to Cinder Edna's "spunky" personality. This difference is noted through the description of both girls preparing for the ball. Cinderella is described as depending on her fairy godmother to figure out how she would get to the ball, through the utilization of various forlorn describing words. Therefore, a fairly large paragraph is formed to describe Cinderella's means of transportation instead of just a few lines. However, Cinder Edna's transportation to the ball is described with "Cinder Edna took the bus" (page 9). This short sentence gets to the point and emphasizes Cinder Edna's self-sufficiency and optimistic personality. Therefore, structure helps illustrate the dual tones of optimism and melancholy.

Jackson utilizes foils to create emphasis on the dual tones. Cinderella dwells on her troubles, sits in the cinders, and wishes for something to happen to change her predicament. After her wish comes true, she returns home moping and "sits forlornly among the cinders in the corner;" thus creating a somber tone (page 18). However, Cinder Edna makes the best of her predicament. She sings and whistles while she works and learns new skills. Cinder Edna works on the side to earn money and figures things out thing for her self. She buys her own dress and takes the bus to the ball. After returning, Edna continues on with her work, happy to have had the chance to go to a ball; thus illustrating a cheerful tone. The princes Randolph and Rupert are also foils of one another. After the ones they love disappear, Randolph blames others and pities himself. He did not have the common sense to ask Cinderella's name so he goes on a quest with her glass slipper to find her. However, Rupert prepares a plan of how he will find his true love. Rupert, having the common sense to ask the girl's name and about her, searches through the phone book and visits all of the Edna's in the village. He asks them questions pertaining to things he had learned about Cinder Edna at the ball. Therefore, through the use of foils the dual tone is created.

Throughout the story, Jackson illustrates a dual tone of cheerfulness and somberness. These contrasting tones are seen through the author's use of theme, contrasting diction, structure, and foils. Through this story the reader learns that we have to work for our own happily ever after. We need to have an optimistic attitude while overcoming our obstacles. We learn that with the right attitude anything is possible. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and recommend reading it to children.

Attitude, it's all attitude!
Helpful Votes: 21 out of 43 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-14
This is the story of two neighbors, both overworked sisters to mean, wicked, old step-sisters. Cinderella is the pretty one who sits in the cinders and daydreams after she finishes her chores. Next door Cinder Edna, the spunky one but not so pretty, sings while she works. She doesn't like sitting in cinders--gets her clothes sooty--so she takes on extra chores from the neighbors who pay her, enabling her to put a lovely dress on lay-away, her just-in-case dress.

One day the two princes announce a big ball and invite all the women of the kingdom to attend. The six wicked sisters ready themselves through the help of the abused step-sisters. Cinderella's fairy godmother comes along to poof the pretty lass ready. Cinderella's lack of imagination, lack of spunk, lack of proper attitude cannot see a way to the ball. GM has to turn a pumpkin, you know the rest.

Meanwhile, Cinder Edna gets her dress off lay-away, decides to wear her comfortable loafers to dance in, and takes the bus to the ball. There is no effort except her own good attitude. At the ball she finds the handsome prince too stuffed full of himself. Boring, she decides of him. Then she meets Rupert, the younger prince, head of waste recycling and keeper of orphaned kittens and master joke teller. She is known to tell a joke or two herself. They dance the night away.

All good stories must come to an end. The usual hunt for the right foot for the glass slipper, and a woman who can recite 17 tuna casserole recipes play a major role. There is a double wedding (surely this is not a spoiler!). But the big question is: Which couple lives happily ever after?

Titles
Planet of the Blind
Published in Audio CD by DELETED TITLES (2000-09-21)
Author: Stephen Kuusisto
List price:
Used price: $40.00

Average review score:

Moving Memoir about Dealing with Blindness
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-21
Stephen Kuusisto, the author of the memor "Planet of the Blind," is a poet. You can hear it in every word he writes.

His moving memoir focuses on being legally blind and on the challenges he faced every single day trying to pretend he was a normal, "seeing" person. Along the way, you watch him grow up from an isolated, awkward child to a sensitive and extremely determined individual, one who lived in constant fear of being labled not normal, yet whose refusal to get help made everyday living a challenge to his own survival. At the end, he finally gains independence and normalcy in the form of a guide dog. It is a moment that brought me to tears.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well-written and inspiring memoir, which does read like a poem. It took me just a few hours to read finish it, it was so engrossing. It also opened my eyes to the world of the blind, a world I had never really considered before.

Thank you, Mr. Kuusisto, for sharing your story.

Striking prose
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-12
When I picked up this book, I was expecting an autobiography, a memoir of a blind person. I've always wondered how a blind person "sees" the world, so I was curious to read the book. What I got was something much more than a non-fictional account. The prose is absolutely striking, poetic, full of rich vivid metaphors. It inspired tears, and laughter, and rage, and awe in me at different points in the book.

This book is more than a non-fictional autobiography. It's a work of high literature. You will be enriched after having read it.

Very inspiring book EVEN inspires me to want to write
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-18
I was reccommended to read Planet of The Blind due to my interest in writing stories about people who had disabilities and about by own disablility for I'm visually impaired myself and I have an interest in writing. So I read Steven Kuusisto's book Planet of the Blind and found it very facinating and inspiring! I highly reccomend it! I'd love to know what is he doing now and is he still writing and speaking of the book?

Powerful and redemptive
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-24
I read Stephen's book late into the night and then got up and read more in the morning. The book not only brought me new understanding of the world of blindness, it spoke intimately of the journey of self-acceptance. Stephen's story is threaded through with grace, and his language is musical. A deeply spiritual memoir; you will finish it changed.

Vivid and moving memoir
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-12
As a legally blind person, who had totally blind parents, this vividly written book went a long way in helping me come to terms with my own situation. Like Stephen, for years I was in denial about my own limited vision and tried, successfully for a time, to "pass" as fully sighted. This is no longer possible and I have to face my own limitations head on, as Stephen finally does.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to understand what living on the "Planet of the Blind" is really like, and for anyone who enjoys beautiful writing.

Titles
Popcorn: A Frank Asch Bear Story
Published in Hardcover by Parents Magazine Pr (1979-10)
Author: Frank Asch
List price: $5.95
New price: $89.94
Used price: $0.09
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Popcorn
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-23
I love using this book to teach my class. And it provides the perfect opportunity for a popcorn party!

Childhood Memories...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-16
brings back memories of when my mom used to read this story to my little brother and I. The mini edition is VERY small - smaller than I thought it would be. but a great gift idea to go with something.... like a popcorn machine!!!! that is why i purchased these...i did popcorn themed gift baskets. Awesome!

Glad it's back!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-28
I loved this book as a kid and have been searching libraries and used book stores for it so my own kids could enjoy it, too. Finally it has been reprinted and it is exactly the same story and illustrations. My kids love it.

Our Favorite!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-23
One day my two year old daughter pulled this off her bookshelf (in Nana and Grandpa's house- so it must have belonged to me or my brother), and I remembered it immediately. Ever since (for a several months now!) we have been reading Popcorn before every nap and bedtime (and in between). Whenever we sit down to read, she always asks for "popcorn, popcorn!" It is a fairly short story and very cute, so I don't mind reading it again and again. The illustrations are simple, but entertaining and offer a lot to look at and talk about. I highly recommend this book. Later, she found another Frank Asch Bear Story (Sand Cake), and she loves that one too. But, Popcorn is still her favorite. I came online today to find more Frank Asch books, and I just had to rave about this one first!

Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-03
Popcorn was my favorite book as a child (I'm 25 now) My mom used to read it to me at the dentist's office everytime we went and I couldn't remember the name of the book or who the author was until I searched on here. I bought a copy so I could have it for my children. Hopefully they will enjoy it as much as I did!


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