Humor Books

This book may perhaps not meet your expectations regarding content: I expected to see the uncles in their own habitat, surrounded by the debris of compulsive hoarding, at one with the world they had created. Lidz does not show this world: instead, he shows mainly the two uncles who live outside asylums at odds with the outside world, fumbling their beyond-quirky way through the landscape of New York.

That difference could make or break your interest in the book. Which do you want to read about, two curmudgeons at home in the nest they have created or two outcasts in society? I'm not saying that either narrative pathway makes for a bad or good book; I merely suggest that, before you read, you be prepared for what you will be reading. You might also consider that the four uncles of the title really refers mainly to two uncles; one of the others makes a single cameo appearance, and the other uncle gets a bit of space toward the end.

Lidz takes slow steps in childhood, telling ancedotes about his times with the two main uncles. These humerous takes are made forceful because they are told against the backdrop of his mother's long, ultimately fatal bout with cancer, a narrative that underpins the first half of the book. You thus have two strong narrative themes in the first half: the bumbling uncles (and the question of how on earth they function) and the sick mother (and the question of how on earth she manages to hang on to life).

The book becomes rockier in the second half, beginning when Lidz is an adolescent and his father remarries. Time speeds up considerably and without warning: you go from the slow ascent of the roller coaster to the rapid descent, and, narratively speaking, it's a rocky ride. It does make some narrative sense to speed up this second half, but it's too much too quickly and thus disconcerting for the reader. The second two uncles are introduced rapidly and don't receive as much analysis as the other two.

The book goes on to wrap up (incompletely) too quickly as well. It's as if when one uncle dies, another uncle is plugged in to take his place, and, what with the uniqueness of the uncles being emphasized, it doesn't work in the narrative. Lidz's attempt to introduce his recording techniques is also akwardly introduced, though I don't know how he could have done it more smoothly.

All in all, though, it's a good book. The strong first half does much to make up for the weaker second half, and the character's personalities make for excellent dialogue throughout. Lidz is an excellent prose writer who simply needs to pace himself a bit better; the writing itself is commendable. Recommended.

Heard the taped version of UUNSTRUNG HEROES by Franz
Lidz, the author's tale of growing up in what might charitably
be called a dysfunctional family . . . it consisted of him and
his sister, their parents, and their father's four brothers who
played an even more significant role in his upbringing when
his mother died.

If you ever thought your family was strange, wait until you meet
this group of eccentrics . . . for example, one brother thought
Mickey Mantle was out to get him . . . another collected
shoelaces . . . how Lidz, who became a writer for SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED, managed to escape the lunacy is beyond
me.

The fact that he grew up on Long Island, not far from where
I was raised, made the book even more interesting to me . . . that
and the narration by John Turturro . . . the actor's work greatly
aided in my enjoyment of UNSTRUNG HEROES.

This story although sadding at times kept me giggling and laughing at the antics of these uncles based on the real-life uncles of the author. I can see why it was made into a movie--it is a ball of fun and yet heartbreaking in others and down-right silly at times--in the end you come to feel as if you KNOW these men and the rest of the family and you feel slightly sad that more people don't look at the world through their eyes, but instead are so quick to judge those considered "different". I hated to see it end---a great, great story!!!

The author possesses fierce intellectual honesty, and his prose has a bare, involuted rhythm that is almost hypnotic. Very, very funny.

I could show you a sentence in Unstrung Heroes as elegant in its implications as the binomial theorem, and another as economically sphinx-like as the square root of minus one. The declarative sentence, Franz Lidz makes you suppose, is perhaps a writer's highest achievement.

Yes, the judicial system needs an overhaul! On the flip side, there are some real jerks out there - good throne material!

Yes, when the book arrived, I was headed to the bathroom. And the book has been enjoyable reading while I'm otherwise busy. The one to three page stories make for the right amount of diversion.

I've read through most stories twice now.

The Stella Awards is a good read, but I can't see how people are doing the thing they are doing to other people for just money. Is this what we are coming too.

The cases decribed make very interesting reading. And it is unbelievable that they are true. It makes it hard to review the book. On one hand, the cases are entertaining because they are incredible...making it fascinating reading. On the other hand, the fact that these ridiculous law suits are real is totally frustrating and sadly disappointing. While reading them I am so utterly disgusted by the behavior of these people and what our society/legal system allows that I have to stop reading. It is infuriating that these lawsuits are even filed let alone heard in court. Filing frivolous lawsuits should be considered a crimial act! Good book...but watch your blood pressure...read at your own risk.

Named for the woman who sued McDonalds after she spilled coffee on herself this book is filled with weird but true lawsuits that you have to read to believe.

Some of the suits in the book include:
1. A girl who sued the school system she was at because they wanted to have other kids be Valedvictorian along side her

2. A guy who sued the school system because he got an A on a prject instead of an A+

3. A mom who sued people because her drunk over 21 year old son decided to pass out under a running car and died

and many more interesting stories that will keep you entertained for hours

I had an original post WWII copy of this book and gave it away when I moved from W.Va..... Boy, was that ever a mistake!!!! I needed a copy for an event here honoring the Veterans, and so I was very pleased to see this one in print..... Bill looks at war from the dogface's perspective, and I'm quite sure there's a Bill Mauldin in Iraq somewhere.... but he's tied to the Internet and I'm not sure if we'll get good pen and ink sketches outta him now..... Bill had the way of seeing the ironic, the humerous, and the just plain sorry, in the average G.I.'s battle to survive....... I'd recommend it to school teachers for a look at WWII (AND I'd hustle up some of the last survivors... that first hand look isn't going to be with us much longer).............the Students would actuall LEARN something useful!!!

I am very satisfied with my purchase.The book itself is a pleasure to look at.The drawings are just as funny as I found them as a kid.The writing itself is new to me,but superb.It will allways be among my favourit books.Again marvellous

Indispensable depiction of the face of the Second World War. War and the pity of war. The humour is in the pity.

It's a gift, the ability to draw, to have perspective, to create, to be able to portray human misery as humor, for a reader to see the image and words and turn to laughter. Bill Mauldin had this gift that gained prominence in a time of war where talents rise to their greatest heights or sink to their lowest depths.

Truth is portrayed in humor or the humor isn't funny. Sergeant Bill Mauldin, an infantryman, barely twenty, and serving in Italy picks up a pencil and anything he can draw on, and begins to sketch two characters named Willy and Joe, two, brave, disheveled, irreverent, likeable and crusty infantry soldiers that give meaning to the names infantrymen were referred to as: ground-pounders, dogfaces, legs, and grunts. Mauldin portrays their grim and grimy existence with fatalistic pictures and captions--or grunts. One called "Breakfast in Bed" finds one of them waking up under a cow's utters, or the one where both are in a rain-filled foxhole and Willie touches Joe's shoulder saying, "Joe, yesterday ya saved my life an' I swore I'd pay ya back. Here's my last pair o' dry socks," or with rain pelting down on a scrawny dog facing the opening of their make-shift shelter, one of them says: "Let'im in. I wanna see a critter I kin feel sorry fer." My all-time favorite is a drunk German staggering toward a hidden Willie and Joe, holding a bottle of schnapps, unaware that he is wandering into American lines: "Don't startle `im, Joe. It's almost full."

These cartoons show the comradeship that soldiers developed for each other that would last a lifetime. Each man knew each other better than his own family or spouse ever would, and they could see the good and the bad in everything. They would carry a wounded lieutenant back to safety because he wasn't a "salutin' demon," or curse the Germans as vile, evil Nazis for scuttling a large keg of cognac before their retreat. These soldiers were miserable without being despondent. They were scared without being cowardly. They complained about their predicaments, but carried out their mission as American soldiers always do--attacking silently. The viewer cannot help but feeling empathy and admiration for soldiers who sometimes spent thirty months "in the line."

Mauldin goes further than just making us laugh at the miserable existence of two men trying to stay alive. His real success is that his humor defines the very best and most humane in the human character when it is engaged in its most destructive behavior. It is also timeless. Seventy years later, civilians and servicemen can still see the gallows humor in Willie and Joe's death-defying predicaments.

"Up Front" is Mauldin's account, of what he was doing when he created a particular drawing, why he made sure to include medics, engineers, chaplains, and even Tommies. The writing is matter of fact, well-written, and interesting, but without fascination. That was saved for the cartoons. The author is explaining each one in his text. It's the drawings and the captions that make this book a winner and a conversation piece.

Bill Mauldin died January 22, 2003. Willie and Joe occupying a foxhole filled with water and several cubic feet of complaints, live on.

Think about this the next time you put on a pair of dry socks, and marvel at the simple pleasure of just how good they feel.



May 26, 2008 Memorial Day (observed)

In Memory of the Fallen and all our Gold Star Mothers--especially today.

Of course, this is not a novel. It's a collection of cartoons as they appeared in the Armed Services newspaper Stars and Stripes. The cartoon began to appear in 1944 as the invasion of Europe was underway and millions of Allied troops were fighting their way through Italy and France and into the heart of the third reich.
After a few false starts, Mauldin settled on two characters, Willie and Joe-infantry men. Willie and Joe (who were barely distinguishable from each other) were concerned with all the things that veterans said concerned them during the war. Lousy food was as much of a concern as enemy artillery, fear of cold, wet feet as annoying as the fear of death.
The cartoons, and Mauldin's self-effacing recollections together form a kind of narrative that is at once immensely personal and deeply historical. Mauldin was a pioneer. It was ten years before Cornelius Ryan The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Dayturned personal narratives into history and almost forty before Ken Burns came along.The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Mauldin was, in effect, the only war reporter who was relatively uncensored. Since his cartoons carried no strategic information, his only worry was the military's possible perception that he might be lowering troop morale with his swipes at the brass and the rear-echelon. Fortunately, some American sensibility that 'it's good to laugh at the boss even if the boss is us' prevailed.

Up Front was one of the few books that my parents kept by their bedside. This is the book that helped the post-war generation remember the war as it was fought by the men who did the hard work. A quiet masterpiece.

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel

It will only take the reading of at most 10 pages before you will reach the conclusion that Bill Watterson is a genius. He captures the lament of all children whose imagination overpowers them, leading them to other places when they "should" be concentrating on more mundane things like schoolwork. Calvin is a young boy who is always in trouble, yet his problems are a consequence of his tenuous grip on reality. If he can maintain his imagination into adulthood, he no doubt will be very successful as a writer, but as a child, there are strong forces that will strongly dampen his wandering mind.
I was such a child, often preferring to play off by myself on the playground and pretend that I was doing greater things than simply kicking a ball or swinging in a swing. My teachers often wondered about my being alone, yet those were my favorite times during the school day. Elementary school teachers have a collective abhorrence for any child that is "different."
Some people enjoy C & H for the amusement, yet some of us recognize something deeper, the imaginative nonconformist who struggles to hold that characteristic into adulthood. For it is not till adulthood that it is appreciated.

I ordered this item and received it within a week. Very good timing.

I love this book!When my friend got a Calvin and Hobbes book, I did'nt really like it because it was not in color. But once I got this book I loved it! I colored in the ilistrations so now I don't have ANY problems with this book! I want to collect all of the Calvin and Hobbes books, but right now I only have 4. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes funny books. They are so good my dad reads them! Other good Calvin and Hobbes books are Revenge of the Baby-Sat,Scientific Progress Goes Boink, and Attack of the Deranged Muntant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Well, I guess that's it. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

This is a funny book about a kid named Calvin and his stuffed tiger named
Hobbes. They do funny stuff and they have adventures. Calvin is a funny six year old. Hobbes is a smart tiger! YOU NEED TO READ IT!

Forgive me if my review runs a bit on the sappy side, but I grew up with Calvin and Hobbes, and I sometimes think they are among the best friends I've ever had. Bill Watterson's comic is gentle, sincere, and magical. At its core it is an examination of what it means to be human, and the value of friendship. Watterson's philosophy of the comic strip was that it should be based around characters rather than gags; we should feel as though we know the protagonists as real people, rather than as interchangeable vehicles for jokes. That comes through on every page, even from the very beginning. Calvin's world has a cast you can probably count on two hands, but every character (except possibly Moe, the bully) has at least a hint of fully-rounded personality. Watterson's world is one of simple pleasures shared with good company.

As with any comic strip, the first collection is rather crude in pretty much every aspect--the drawings, the humor, the personalities--but as a prototype for what would come later, it is not without its own charms. Even at this stage I would hardly call Calvin and Hobbes a forgettable, generic strip. It still has heart and a sense of profundity, even if Watterson had not yet figured out the most effective way to illustrate these things in his strip. It's interesting to see the origin of Hobbes (even if this version was discarded later), the genesis of Calvin's relationship with Susie (the love-hate romance, which will later be toned down, is at the forefront here), the first appearance of Spaceman Spiff, the introduction of a then-unnamed Rosalyn, and so forth. Also, early Calvin and Hobbes are somehow a bit more adorable here than their later incarnations, but you didn't hear that from me.

In an age of disposable comics, Calvin and Hobbes is one of the few childhood experiences of my life that I can actually appreciate more with age. I would not find it an exaggeration to say that Watterson's perspective of life heavily shaped my own, as I find myself much less concerned with superficiality and the plastic culture of Hollywood than many of my reality-TV-addicted, Nike-sporting, iPod-blasting peers, and more appreciative of the little things in life that we tend to take for granted. All Calvin needs to be content is a good friend and a search for adventure, and even as I grow, kicking and screaming, into adulthood, I find I can still relate.

Bob Tarte's second book about his life with ducks, ( cats, parrots, bunnies and more) was just as compelling as the first. I enjoyed learning more about his wife Linda and his best friend Bob. This book was a little more about finding his way in in the world while in the throes of depression after losing his father and more members of his animal kingdom.

He appears more vulnerable and unsure, but never fails to have his life brightened and gilded by Linda and his pet family.

Those of us who have grappled with depression can find many ways to connect with his feelings, and the occasional feeling that his life was whirling out of control. He is more fortunate than some, with a good support system of family and friends.

Both of these books will make you laugh out loud, and shed a tear. I know that they did that for me. I hope there is more about this wonderful family to come.

Clearly Bob Tarte strikes a chord with readers of all stripes. The way he gives his life over to his animals, and the rewards he receives, are quite spectacular. There is really no writer like him. This book made me laugh out loud several times. Knowing that the author is prone to depression, and that his wife has chronic back problems, this could easily have become a whinefest. But they both see the humor in everyday situations, and the demands of their menagerie are what keeps them both going. The sad parts are quite touching but never maudlin. I loved living their life vicariously. Thank you, Bob Tarte, and please keep on sharing!

Laugh out loud funny.I am currently reading the sequel"Fowl Weather"and it is just as good.Bob,put pen to paper and give us more.

I will be one of the few dissenting opinions here. While the author certainly lets us into his life with honestly and humor, the fact that nearly of his pets treat him and his wife with what appears to be contempt makes this entire book seem like 3 hours of looking at a car wreck. And while a normal, well-adjusted life wouldnt make an interesting book, I lost sympathy for the author and his wife when some of their pets deaths were due to lack of proper maintenance of their housing. In addition they seem to have some sort of weird co-dependency with the most abusive animals such as the older parrots, enduring much pain for little return and yet insisting on always replacing them so the level of abuse stays the same, while treating the few animals that actually return love on a regular basis as somehow less important.

If you want to spend three or more hours looking at car wreck then buy this book.

I'm not normally a nonfiction reader, but Bob Tarte's Fowl Weather is a great book to break away from the fiction habit. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will restore your faith in the human race to know there are people out there (besides yourself) that truly care about, and nourish, God's creatures. Bob Tarte and his wife, Linda, go above and beyond in their nurturing of wild, and not so wild, animals. Bob relates his adventures with them in a funny, honest and totally involving manner. From Moobie, the white, picky cat, (who I loved) to Stanley Sue, the endearing parrot, to Bertie, the bunny, Bob writes about all of his pets with intelligence, humor and obvious affection. - Lisa, the Librarian

This is a great tutorial and reference for anyone considering writing a comic book for the first time (or perhaps someone more experienced who'd like to get a fresh perspective and/or deeper understanding of fundamental structure). Scott has taken all those elements that go into making a good comic book (that you've probably noticed subconsciously but couldn't put into words) and laid them bare with expert analysis.

The analyses and guidelines are presented in a light-hearted, comic book format that is both entertaining and enlightening. You won't find yourself getting sleepy or distracted while reading this book - and you will understand every concept with perfect clarity, even if you are a complete novice.

Get this book! I found it at my local library and read it twice (cover to cover). I plan to buy it so that I'll have it handy for reference as I plan and begin drafting my first comic book.

Highly recommended.

Scott McCloud's "Making Comics" is a must-read for all aspiring comic artists. This book is very different from other comic technique books. While most other books will teach you how to draw characters or backgrounds, this one teaches you how to tell stories. McCloud goes in depth into what makes a good story through pacing, image choice, layout, words, facial expressions, among many other factors. All of the instruction is given in comic form, so it is very easy to see how the techniques are implemented since he shows you right on the page. I particularly like the section on facial expressions. He has a very inventive method of using basic facial expressions and then mixing them to create totally new facial expressions. It has to be seen to be believed.

If you're thinking of starting to draw comics, or if you're on the edge of giving up comics because you just can't get it right, this will give you the inspiration to keep trying. If you're a great artist, then you'll come to a better understanding of the techniques that you use. I definitely recommend reading this book.

I've always found it fascinating to imagine how a comic book author/illustrator creates the stories and images that appeal so much. Having been a non-fiction book author for many years, I have a firm understanding of the writing process. I sometimes pick out a few illustrations to put into a book.

But building a story around the illustrations, that seems like a trip to the planet Neptune to me. I was very pleased to find that Scott McCloud is very good at explaining (and illustrating) the creative and production processes he uses. I was delighted when I realized that he had also described how an individual could make a few comics to share with friends.

With computer art getting to be easier to do, I can see that there's even hope for those of us who couldn't draw out way out of a paper bag.

Mr. McCloud has the kind of mind that sees everything in perspective, in this case as facets of an overall story-telling task. He always has the goal of engaging the reader in mind and relates his points well to that purpose.

The work is impressive at another level . . . it's a masterpiece of providing instruction. The book shows more than tells, as a book about comics should do.

If Mr. McCloud ever tires of making comic books and graphic novels, he should go into explaining non-fiction subjects. He would make a fortune!

Well thought out, well written, quality throughout. I like this book the best so far; the previous weren't as appealing as this but were still very well done. The author really practices what he preaches as far as his message and the book speaks for itself. You won't be disappointed. Looking forward to the new books!

When my grandparents got me this book, I didn't think it could help me. I was looking for a "How to Draw" not a "How to Write". This book proved me so wrong. I couldn't believe how much fun it was to read, and it helped me a lot too. Almost everything I thought I knew was proved wrong and after reading it I felt like I understood comics so much better. As well as making me better at writing comic books, it made me a better writer altogether. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in comics or in just plain writing or art.

It's all been said before by other 5-star reviewers...and I crave other comics from Tatsuya Ishida - he is very good, too good for syndication, even!

Ever since Calvin and Hobbes left the comics scene, I've been hard-pressed to find another comic that really hit home with situations I can relate to. Nothing is sacred to Ishida, since he makes fun of everything from God and the devil, to the ongoing battle of the sexes.
I recommend this highly. =)

Always with things popping up, this web comic has always entertained me. Some are just a giggles while others make you wanna laugh out loud. I love keenspot comics, I've been reading them for about 5 years now. Sinfest is one of my favorites of all time. Just how the characters interact is so priceless and well thought out. How the random stuff can turn into a delightful story line. You won't find this at your local book store. Fun for the whole family(if you like corrupting your children that is).

Quality comic, which I highly recommend. However, you can purchase the books for only $15 on the author's cafepress.com page. He has a link to it on sinfest.net.

Sinfest is the best web-only comic I've read. I've been reading Sinfest since 2002 and I'm surprised that it's still not syndicated.

This book contains comics from 2000 and 2001. Tatsuya Ishida's art has improved since then, but even his older material is good. The Sinfest comics are all online, so you can check it out and decide for yourself if you like it before you buy.

If you love C&H, you'll like this book. For me, Calvin is like pepperoni pizza... when it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad, it's still good.

Unfortunately, I say it rather cynically.

My, there are so many monsters peopling this strip. The kid's a monster. His parents are monsters. The tiger's a monster. The teacher's a monster. The babysitter's a monster. And the only character who's not a monster (and more of a victim) is naturally enough, a young girl who is never bad or gets into any trouble. And the strip, while a rugrat's fantasyland, also smacks of extreme adolescent rebellion.

The strip is so overrated even after its demise a decade ago that it's been ensured that no cartoonist alive or yet to be born would ever create a strip as well-worshipped as it is for all eternity to come. So why not just remove the whole comic section from the news for good?

This book combines material from both Yukon Ho! and Weirdos From Another Planet!. Perfect to read with a blanket and a cup of tea on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It lifts my spirits up and makes me laugh, even when there's no one around. Really, that could be said about any Calvin and Hobbes book, though!

Whether the collection is the "Indispensible" or "Essential" or "Quintessential" Calvin and Hobbes, it doesn't really matter. Watching this hyperactive, hyperimaginative child and his willing though wise accomplice, Hobbes, take on evil babysitters, Susie Derkins, the class bully and all creatures (real or imaginary), is a pleasure and laughter without stop. "The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes" is another in a long list of the great comic work of Bill Watterson. This is an indispensible/essential/quintessential collection for all Calvin and Hobbes and humor fans!

Calvin is a beam of light, a dinosaur, Spaceman Spiff, a pollster on the election of new parents, a robotic explorer from Jupiter (in search of chocoloate) -- well lots of things. He's all the best and all the worst a boy about five can be, and that covers a lot of ground.

If the others around him never quite see things Calvin's way, that's really not his problem. Hobbes will always understand, and generally offer some understated commentary on events. I prefer not to say too much about Hobbes. It's really best if you let him introduce himself.

This book is a treasury of daily and sunday color strips. It captures a part of one of the best strip comics ever. If you already know C&H, you'll surely want this collection. If you missed the strip when it was still in the papers, this will give you a wonderful introduction.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood, and Calvin offers his for your enjoyment.

//wiredweird

I was not expecting anything when I started this book...frankly, I'm not sure I remember ordering it. In any event, the parallels between this graphic memoir and my own life make this book read more like an answered prayer than merely another memoir.

I take that last part back. It's not just that the author's experiences mirror my own life that makes this book notable. Rather, it's that Gregory manages to capture his own HUMANITY...without resorting to irony or the manufactured self-deprecation that seems to plague the modern memoir that makes this book so notable. I mean, finally!, someone has managed to write an HONEST memoir, one that does not require an attorney's Release of the Facts as a prologue.

"Everyday Matters" reads like a private journal, without the pretention that comes when the author knows other folks'll be reading it. Gregory's sketches are likewise uninhibited and imperfect; together, the text and illustrations create a personal, intimate environment for the reader that is inviting and judgment-free; none of the "You shouldn't have looked (though I knew you would, so I gave you my best side)" business that is the meta-text of so many memoirs, but instead offers a reassuring, "Well, that's me, hair and all...what do you think?"

A thoughtful, generous gift from Gregory to his readers.

A very enjoyable read and inspirational. I went out purchased a sketch pad and started drawing after finishing the book!

This is a great book! I read it in an hour and a half. I enjoy knowing the process people take in order to deal with life's occasional hiccups that knock the world out from under you. It helps to know that you're not the only one sometimes. It's always a relief when the person works it out positively and thinks enough to want to share it with others. Thank you, Danny!

love it, love it, love it !!!!
a wonderful inspiring little book.
perfect smaller size (6"x8") to carry along with your sketchbook to keep you encouraged in your drawing.

I suppose I had some misperceptions of this book. I was assuming there would be more inspiration that would cajole me into journaling and artwork. I also thought is was he who was disabled - it was his wife. There was little mention of how his wife's diability figured into the whole pictue of his life. As a disabled person, I thought there would be some insight into overcoming disability to do what you want. I do however, love the way he draws and journals. In the end I saw this as a simple journal that anyone might have done. I still have his other book and I have higher hopes for that.

Opus is listening to the same (boring) story he's heard zillions of times before when he departs from the text, in quite a spectacular way - flying through the milky way, going diving with Abe Lincoln's statue, nearly crashing into an airplane...!

It does go on and on for a while. Not for kiddos with short attention spans.

I am a homeschool mother. Homeschooling was recommended to me for my 8 year old by an educational consortium of public school administrators, psychologists, and independent Dr.'s in the fields of child development, biology, and classic studies. This book, "Goodnight Opus", is hands down, my favorite children's book. I have bought countless copies for friends and aquaintances. I have read it to grown men who keep my yard, neighbor ladies, and numbers of children in the kid sections of 4 local libraries. While it would be silly to correlate this book to my child's level, know my child - now 15 - is working on her 2nd college degree. My original copy is displayed in my library on it's own library stand. 1993 should be ignored completely - the book is timeless. Berkeley Breathed should be one of my closest friends!!

Both charming and mesmerizing, Berkeley Breathed has created an endearing bedtime story for his greatest creation, Opus. Even at 30+ years old, I can still sit down on any given night, and take 10 minutes out of my evening to be swept away to to the marvelous Milky Way and remind myself that sometimes, it is perfectly normal and quite a bit of fun to depart from the text, even if just for awhile.

love the pictures in this!! its got so many little details- you notice something new every time. and its crazy imagination that today's children's books are seriously lacking. my favorite part is with abe lincoln- "he said he himself had chased a few dreams. now that he's marble- he wished for small things. "and what," i said "would you most like to do?" "a swan dive" he said- so we stripped and did two...

Wonderful story, fantastic art. A childrens book from my favorite cartoonist in the whole world, and my two year old son won't go to bed without a reading. This book is an instant classic.