Games Books

When my friend told me about this manga 4 years ago my first reaction was "A manga about Igo (or Wei-Chi in Chinese)? Who'd want to read that?!" I resisted for about a year until I finally gave in to his naggings and picked up the first volume...and was completely hooked by the end of it. I immediately went and get a set for myseif, and to this day it has remained on the top of my favoriates (no small feat for someone who has hundreds of mangas and changes favoriates constantly). The story, the artworks, the characters... everything just grabs you and pulls you in and never letting go, and you don't want to be let go. I'm glad that they are bringing this manga to the US, and I'm going to collect the English version as well so I can introduce this wonderful work to my friends who can't read Japanese or Chinese. Do yourself a favor and pick it up, you won't be disappointed. This truly is a title that any manga or anime fans shouldn't do without.

Hikaru Shindo needs money fast and he's getting pretty desperate, even looking through his granfather's attic with his best friend, Akari, for any old junk he can sell. He's short of money because his allowance has been taken away by his parents for his bad grades in school. They manage to find an old Go board with what appears to be a bloodstain on it. Soon after that Hikaru begins to hear a disembodied voice only audible to him and then the voice is joined by a ghostly apparition of an 1000 year old Go player named Fujiwara-no-Sai from the Heian Period. He used to be the instructor to the Emperor, but a rival's plots threw him into disgrace and he eventually committed suicide. But his soul yearned to play more Go, and he has been able to appear to certain people through the ages to help him on his quest to play the "Divine Move". Now he hopes to enlist Hikaru in the drive to that goal.

I've found over the years that I can read manga or watch anime that get me interested in subjects I would never have sought on my own. The game of Go was something I had heard of but had no idea how to play before watching and reading Hikaru No Go. Even though I didn't understand every move being played by the characters I did get the GIST of what was going on, and felt suspense or excitement in what is essentially a mental game instead of a physical one. That is the true triumph of the writer and the artist. Making something that shouldn't be inherently interesting to non-players exciting and entertaining. Yumi Hotta's passion for the game really shows. Sometimes you can get swept up into another's passion through sheer force of will. The characters introduced in Volume 1 are likeable even though Sai is a little too girly for me. There's even a rival for Hikaru to go up against that is his own age, Akira Toya, the son of the best Go player in Japan, and a great talent in his own right. Great book. The anime series is good too.

I am amazed at how powerful an effect these books have had on my children. I mean that now that they have been reading these books they have developed an interest in playing go. They knew I played and have seen my go board but they never asked me to teach them until after they started reading these books. Within two weeks of the purchase of this book my 14 and 10 year old sons were playing go and I had never given any lessons to my 10 year old. They are continually asking me to get more of the series. It is great. I am very happy.

i love this manga its the coolest!!its about a kid named hikuru and he finds a spirt that used to play go and it helps him play go.its realy good i recemend it for all ages!

Yeah! I've seen the whole anime series (in chinese) already, and believe me it's really good! The end is sort of a "you choose" type of ending, so... you get my point.

Hikaru no go is a great manga promoting the ancient chinese/japanese game go. The object of the game is use black and white pieces and occupy most of the board. You can "eat" sections of your opponent's part by totally surrounding a portion of his pieces. Hikaru no go is about a young boy (6th grade) named Hikaru who just happens to find a go board in his father's attic! It seems that only he can see the blood stains on the board and suddenly a human/ghost come out of the board and has been longing to play go for the past hundred years. Sai (the ghost that looks totally like a person) couldn't die and go to heaven until he mastered the "divine move".

At first Hikaru, like any sane person, denys Sai what he wants (to just play go) Then, also like any sane person, consents when Sai's unquenchable sadness causes Hikaru to get sick. In Japan some people devote their whole lives just playing to and become go instructors. The game originally came from China, but it became more popular in Japan. Back to the story, Hikaru goes into a go club and finds that the whole place is full of adults. The suddenly he spots a boy his age and asks to play with him. Turns out, however, that the boy his age named Akira is the son of the best go player in Japan! Sai directs Hikaru in where to put the pieces and he wins without any effort. Akira is naturally shocked seeing that the way Hikaru holds the go pieces is like a beginner, but his moves are from hundreds of years ago! Akira has basically never been beat before, being a go prodigy, so now he has a new goal: to beat Hikaru.

The story progresses and tells about how hikaru gets taught by Sai in how to play the game, and expert moves. Hikaru learns very quickly and goes from a school team, to the city tournament, to applying to become a go instructor for life! It also tells of his struggles to beat Akira and how all the upper go players are keeping an eye on him. It's interesting when Hikaru and Sai go play on-line go with other real players from around the world. You get to see Sai kicking other countries' best player's butts!

Oh yeah, did I mention that only 3 people get become go instructors each year? Akira already got a spot the year before. Do you think Hikaru is up to the challenge? If he does get in, will he be able to compete with people on/above his level?

If you like this manga, I strongly recommend "Whistle!" as well

I was so involved in this book I neglected my friends and family until I could finish finding EVERY SINGLE THING on the lists! I loved it, and even though it's almost useless to ME now that I've found everything, I'll keep it on the shelf and show/lend it to others who come to visit. Maybe in a few years I can pick it up again and start over; my senior moments are becoming more frequent, and I might just forget where everything was hiding!

This was another great I spy book. Keeps the kiddies interested.
I loved it too.

Item as described and received in a timely manner... an excellent buying experience!

Very difficult book, but one you can't stop playing. Great person that I bought it from.

My grandson and I spend hours on these I Spy books. What I love is that even if we finish finding everything in the book (which we haven't on this particular book in the I Spy series), a couple months later, we have just as much fun doing it all over again!

Not having read the book nor able to check it out from a library, I relied totally on reviewers 5 star comments when deciding to purchase this book. Just about 1/3 the way into the book my parental radar piqued at the conversation between Reggie and Ira concerning ghost stories, "scary, creepy, spooky ghost stories." To my sorrow, no mention or even allusion of this was in any of the reviews.

My youngest 3 children (two 5 year olds and a 7 year old) are from a culture that emphasizes ghosts, the boogie man, evil spirits, etc. in a demonic fashion. Prior to becoming part of our family, ghosts were used as a form of disciplne to terrorize them to comply and obey. Even after having them in our family for a year they still struggle with the memories of these demons. Since the ghost story is the climax in Ira Sleeps Over, I do not recommend this book.

These books are perfect. His ear for spoken language is dead-on. It's a joy to read aloud.

This is one of the sweetest bedtime stories, getting kids ready for sleeping over with a reassuring message. Best of all, it features two little boys. There's not a lot of gentle message kids books out there that feature little boys.

This is timeless kiddie lit story: Ira is invited to his first sleep over. Ira's older sister, however, casts doubt in Ira's mind. Will Reggie laugh because Ira sleeps with a teddy bear? Should he go with or without his beloved teddy? His parents are supportive and Ira makes his decision, only to change his mind once again.

Jim Trealease, of Read-Aloud fame, read this story, with appropriate voices to a group of teachers. I was so enchanted with it that later, when I taught high school, I asked permission of my seniors to tell them Ira Sleeps Over. They loved it!

Every night Ira does the same thing. If others outside his family find out, he is afraid they will laugh at him or call him a baby. And just what does he do? He sleeps with a teddy bear.

Now, he really has a problem because his friend, Reggie, has invited him to sleepover at his house. Ira has NEVER slept without his teddy bear. Should he take it with him? His parents say yes, but his sister--who seems to be very sure of herself--tells Ira he'll be laughed at for sure. Ira is afraid he can't sleep without his teddy bear. Yet, he doesn't want to be thought of as a baby by Reggie either. What a problem! And what a good story. [A realistic fiction picture book suitable through the primary grades.]

Seriously this book is great! It was wonderful ideas for the garden, crafts, the seasons, herbal stuff. It is just fun, cool, great!

Heather mama of 5

I purchased this book for my 7yo son because we do use a lot of herbs at home. He likes the book very much but my 4yo dd LOVES it! She loves making the recipes, learning about the plants and how they work, and hearing the stories. It has become her favorite book. I love the recipes as well since they are wonderful to give to children. I can't recommend this book enough.

Reviewed by Juanita Watson for Reader Views (4/07)

Lesley Tierra's book is just as the subtitle suggests, "for children of all ages." This fantastic herbal showcases 16 commonly used medicinal plants that could realistically form the core of a home herbal pharmacy. It is truly a great introduction to the world of herbs.

I adore Tierra's original stories for each herb which will stretch children's imaginations while connecting them deeper to the spirit of each plant. Lesley pays special attention to warnings where indicated, explains specific doses for children, and includes a convenient quick guide to treating illnesses (matching symptoms with herbal remedy).

Beautiful drawings adorn nearly every page of this book bringing each and every page to life. As an adult I appreciate the visual aspect, so I can only imagine that children will fall for them too - maybe even color in some of the bigger pictures adding an artistic element to the book itself.

Tierra's includes sing-along songs for each herb (with accompanying sheet music), as well as a vast array of crafts, projects, activities and herbal recipes. This author hasn't left anything out, and it doesn't surprise me knowing her background and the 15 years spent researching this book. Tierra is a nationally renowned practicing herbalist with family and friends in the herb world, many of whom somehow contributed to this book.

The thing that really stood out for me about "A Kid's Herb Book" is the way the author attempts to connect the reader (parents, children, and ultimately, that inner child within all of us) with the amazing life force found in herbs. This book is a timely bridge that serves to unite the heart of each reader with the natural world in fun, useful, creative and joy-filled ways. I feel that this is what makes "A Kid's Herb Book" unique in comparison to many other herb books on the shelves today.

This is a good book and my son and I both enjoyed the fairy tale-like stories in each chapter about how the herbs came to be known for their healing qualities. There are a lot of recipes and activities for each herb but it's not what I personally was looking for. I was hoping there would be more different kinds of herbs listed and what they are used for.

I found this from an EarthWalk class that I sometimes volunteer for. A 4th grader showed this book to her teacher who in turn showed it to us. I wrote down the name and bought it a few days later. Why? Because it is really informative and done really really well. I'm new to the whole outdoor, edible herb thing so I feel like I could use a kid's book to help teach me (it even has sections for me to color!) :-)

Being in a go club that sees many beginners I feel fairly qualified when I say this book will not help you improve rank until you are 15kyu (AGA/KGS) and really waiting until you are in the single-digit kyu range will give you the best rank improvement per time spent reading... I first read this book at 13kyu and was really stretching. I recently re-read this at 5kyu and got much more out of it. If I had to pick a perfect rank to read it at I'd say 7kyu.

All that said, the writing style is superior to every other go book I've seen and there may be merit in reading this without the goal of rank improvement. Many other reviewers have pointed this out as well, but you should know that if you are 15kyu you will not be able to follow many of the problems, and in the end you will probably still be 15kyu.

For those goaling for rank improvement, I would strongly suggest reading at most one chapter per day. You need to play games between chapters or else you will not correctly apply what you are learning. With most other intermediate go books (such as Tesuji or Life & Death) it is not as damaging to read it all in one sitting... but Lessons in the Fundamentals must have games played between chapters. It is painful to make yourself stop reading between chapters, but you should.

This book is an endless source of information. As you get better at go, you get more and more out of it. When I first started playing, I learned little from the book but I did learn valueble basic tactics such as the net and the ladder and so forth. Later, I learned useful tesujis and opening strategies. After putting the book down for about 3 months, and as my skill increased, I went over it again and found more useful info including a generaly good attitude towards go.

I suggest this book to anyone who wants to keep playing go. It may not be useful at the time you get it, but keep skimming through and I gaurantee you will find useful information along the way.

I personally find this book very useful (at least for myself, but I believe as well for many of you guys). It is especially true if you read it the second and the third time. When I review my own game, I can find out a lot of mistakes which Kageyama has mentioned in the book. (Like forget to struggle to go ahead) There is a Go competition during summer, and I have just finished this book the third time. Some of the tesuji in the book is very useful.

I guess it will be good to learn the basic rule of the Go game and then play for a while. (may be a hundred game), then start reading this book. Then you can get the most out of it. (I believe Kageyama himself has suggested us to play for many games to get the feeling first. He mentioned player usually meet barrier at around 11-13kyu, 5-6kyu and 1-2kyu. So I guess if one train up to around 15kyu and then start reading this book, it will be very useful. And then review the book once a while. Get the fundamental idea in your mindset. And you will find Go even more interesting

Kageyama packs the book full of useful instruction, given in a chatty style with the occasional self-deprecating humour. While not a book for the absolute beginner, he surprises many readers by starting with ladders. But he shows that they are excellent training for reading (calculating) ability which also builds self-confidence during a game.

The book also covers strategic principles, typical endgame play (and a common mistake by handicap takers), josekis (corner openings).

Of course, in such a game full of complex possibilities, books can't solve everything. For example, I presume it requires experience way beyond his book to know whether a move is "proper" or "slack".

With his no-nonsense style, and quick wit, Toshiro Kageyama takes you thorugh 'the basics' of Good Go. Go, like mathematics, is a language (one of its many names is literally translated as 'handtalk'). Here, Kageyama is teaching us how to spell.

We are provided with easy-to-follow instruction and guided problems in chapters on Life and Death, Ladders (including spiral ladders); Territory and Spheres of Influence; How to study Joseki; Good Shape and Bad; Endgame Pointers; and my favorite, Tesuji (snap-backs and the like).

Kageyama also gives us a general feel for how the stones 'move' on the board, and the direction of play. These Lessons, and his writing style, combine with anecdotes from his professional career and television appearances to make this a wholly enjoyable book.

More on his style: The effect of Kageyama's writing is as if he's right there with you; very conversational. He will encourage and support, but he will also slap your hand if you are not paying attention. Make no mistake, his sole intention is that you express yourself, get better, and have fun along the way.

Beginners around 20 kyu and below:
You may want to concentrate on learning the alphabet, so to speak. But you should know that this book has some very simple 'words'. As soon as you feel comfortable playing on a 19x19 board, then find this book.

I enjoy reading this book not only to my 18 month old son but for myself.
At the moment he doesn't always sit for the whole book as it is a little long sometimes for a board book.
I feel this book encourages imagine and is simple enough for a toddler to understand!

This product was a wonderful addition to my teaching arsenal for animal adaptions. I gave the students an humerous start to thinking about the real life adaptions organism have that helps them survive.

I think this is a fun story with a good message at the end. It's funny to see the creature the chameleon winds up being toward the end - before he decides to be himself. I'd put this on the list of recommended Carle books.

My granddaughter loves this book. Like all of Eric Carle's books, it's a great story and the pictures are wonderful.

This text is an invaluable picture book for children learning how to read, how to enjoy reading and to learn about the joys and absurdities that life can bring. It is a humerous text that utilises excellent illustrations to represent the plot. The plot itself humerously intertwines fantasy with reality, ofcoarse it depends upon the child's imagination. A must for any child that enjoys playing with words and surreal ideas. The book's design is additionally unique in that is in an organisational folder style whereby children may select various imaginary creatures as they choose. I hope that others can share this wonderful picture book with all children they read to and/or with.

When my son was three, he made me read this book to him so many times that even now, 22 years later, I know the entire thing by heart.

Kids love this book. Parents do, too, at least the first 10 or 12 thousand times they read it to the kids!

I adored this book as a kid (I'm in my 30s now). I haven't gotten my new copy yet, but I think there is a lesson about temperance at the end, but that's not what I recall: I just remember the sheer joy of more, more, more. With books that use so few and such simple words, it's often hard for an adult to distinguish the adequate from the great. Speaking for my very young self, I can tell you that this book is great.

This is my favorite children's book - it is especially fun to read out loud. It has a cute level of humor and I've even had a class of 3-year-olds laughing at it. A good learn to read book - but also a good story in general.

I love reading this book to my daughter (2 1/2). I got it when i was a small child and have held onto it as one of my favorites. It is quickly becoming her favorite as well...the story flows so well its really fun to read...my daughter likes to see how fast I can read it without messing up.

I love this book. It lends itself to many activities with monkeys or spaghetti.

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a great adventure story such as this! With this book, I recaptured the same experience I had when I first read the "Hobbit". I sincerely hope Paul Kidd,if possible, would consider a second book! Kudos to the others reviewers who have been more eloquent than I!

Mus is one of my favorite books, so I thought I'd share it with a teacher at my school; little did I know it would take a lot of effort to find a new copy of my own. This book is one of the best examples of fantasy I can think of, and I just adore it. It's on my top 5, and that's saying a lot. Let's get it back into print! It deserves it a lot more that most books out there now.

I have already left a message here, but I feel that something else is necessary. After I left a review here, the author was kind enough the email me and thank me. I was too shy to email back and thank him. But I would just like to say that I love this book and that I hope it returns to print. It should,it really should. Even after a couple of years, It is stil my favorite book, and I have read many books. The other people here have reiterated their wonder in the quality of this novel so I will not be redundent. But, let me say that I find the book a sort of sanctuary where I can return to after I grow weary or depressed. Not that I am obsessed or anything. I only read it about 6 times :0)

When I first saw the cover, I thought it was Reepicheep from the Dawn Treader, the talking mouse of Narnia. It had a feather on its head, a needle of a sword and it stood on its hindlegs. This book deserved better attention, unlike blood and gore and cynical world weariness which seemed to pervade most fantasy books today.

Mus of Kerbridge is almost like one of Grimm's or Han Christian Anderson's fairy tales - of knights and castles, ladies and love, magic abound and courage renowned.

In a magical world which was not named, centaurs, humans, satyrs and harpies dwelt together within the same kingdoms. A political intrigue led to an accident which created another sentient race - the mouse of which Mus was the first. Mus was forced to infiltrate the chamber of Miriam, a centaur lady. Turning against his tormentor, and swore to protect his lady.

As war threatened the kingdom, Mus became the source of inspiration to battle-weary soldiers to rally against the invaders.

This book is very much written to relate to children, but cynical adults could learn a lot from it, if only to open themselves to the possibility of beauty and kindness.
Paul Kidd managed to re-create the fantasy feeling of childhood days in an expanded puss-in-boots fantasy.

From the website of original publisher TSR regarding Paul Kidd: "Up and coming novel releases may include... Mus of Kerbridge (2nd release by Streamline)..."

Those of us who have taken immense pleasure from reading and re-reading "Mus of Kerbridge" will be glad to see a second printing hit the shelves. Notice the quote says "may include" - it would be helpful if Mus fans wrote to Mr. Kidd via TSR and to Streamline to help facilitate this reprinting!

Perhaps it was the cute and rather silly picture on the cover, but "Mus of Kerbridge" didn't sell nearly as well as the story inside the cutesy cover deserved. I bought it when it first came out, in spite of the cover... and loved it! The story is as enjoyable for adults as it is for children; it has been a well-received and well-read gift many times. It has certainly kept my attention throughout the years and I still enjoy it quite as much as I did the first time!

The dialogue is occasionally a bit overdone in my opinion, but can not detract from the overall charm of this well-told tale. The plot is well-woven and the characters have substantial personalities and emotions. They are admirable people, even the enemy queen, showing strength of spirit and courage and a great lesson in appreciation for life.

I'm sure this is a perfectly wonderful book and I'll give it 5 stars based on how well it's written and how much fun it looks like it would be. However, I bought this book along with the Hidden Mickey's book and we soon learned it was impossible to do both, so we chose looking for Hidden Mickeys. I think the Treasure Hunts would be a lot of fun for large families, church or school groups.

This lets you see the ins and outs of Disney. It lets you look at Disney in a different way. It's just fun and it's great. So it's great fun!!!!!

My husband and I are avid Disney goers, visiting at least once a year. We always try to find something different to do when wer're there (i.e. tours around the parks). This book has provided that new fun thing to do on our next trip. It asks a lot of questions and you really have to hunt for answers. There are differnet levels of hunts so it's great for kids, teenagers, or kids at heart. Enjoy!!!!!!

This book is a necessity for anyone who visits WDW. We have been 11 times now, and thought we knew everything. WRONG. We had more much fun on this last trip using this book than ever before.

If you look around at WDW, everyone is hurrying, running, to get to the "next" thing. What you may not realize is that every step IS the next thing.

WDW is not just about shows and rides. It's all the little details that create the whole fun effect. We had never even stopped to read all the handprints in front of The Great Movie Ride, examine the fountain in front of Muppet Labs, notice all the details inside Country Bear Jamboree, or a million other things. Treaure hunting gave this trip so much more and really made this trip more "magical" than ever.

Can't wait to take this book on our next trip to WDW! We have been to WDW 78 times in the past 10 years and we still couldn't answer most of the questions at home -- so it will be a treasure-hunting experience for us!

My kids love game-boy, my kids love pokemon, if you have kids who love pokemon, they will love this book, it is hard-cover and had great info and illustrations about all the pokemon, KIDS WHO LOVE POKEMON WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

My son is in absolute heaven with this book. He can read it over and over, each time discovering something new. Thanks!

This is a terrific source of information for anyone interested in Pokemon.

This is pretty useful for checking out movelists for the various Pokémon. However, the information they give on stats is shaky, and sometimes actually incorrect when you do careful comparison between base stats for each creature. In general, the information is still in the ballpark, but the system they use can sometimes make it difficult to get an accurate comparison between two creatures without actually going in the game and leveling them up.

Also, the book really needs a list of the various Natures and their effects.

Overall, it's a nice purchase, though, and the hardcover is a great plus.

I bought this book for my 8 year old nephew who loves Pokemon. He reads this book religiously and often carries it around with him wherever he goes. He has memorized an incredible amount of information that he has learned from this book. At the very minimum, it is highly entertaining. At its best, it is good exercise for his mind.