Schools Books

This is a sweet story but I found the narration by Jimmy B. and his daughter a little lacking. I'm a Jimmy Buffet fan no doubt. I just don't think voice overs are his thing. It is cool to hear him doing something with his daughter though. Like I said, it's sweet but I don't think we will pull this one off the shelf very often.

When I read the initial literary review, I had to laugh. The story is not weakened by the Jolly Mon's lack of efforts! Hah! The story is about the Jolly Mon's total surrender to his own destiny. He sings, the fish jump out of the sea, a musical instrument comes his way, he tries to play and makes a discovery. He trusts nature. He takes the opportunites that come his way with faith and grace. He uses the gifts he was given to the best and highest purpose. He does as he is asked to do. The book is a metaphor of faith and surrender. Besides that, it is beautifully illustrated, the music is lovely and my 2 1/2 year old son asks for it again and again. And, yes we are all parrotheads...

Anyone who is familiar with Jimmy Buffett understands ~ fantasy and fun are important parts of life.

This book & CD get the dream underway...

When I ordered this book I didn't realize it was a children's book. But when it arrived I read it then mailed it to my grand daughters. So it didn't go to waste and it was at least read/heard by three people in my family. I have loved the other Jimmy Buffett books and songs.

The quality of the printing, the beautiful 'semi-true story', the bright and well done colorful pictures and the bonus CD of Jimmy Buffett's song, aka The Jolly Mon, make this an excellent purchase for anyone with young children in their lives. It can lead to laughter, clapping, dancing and giggles!

It was a good book for young children. There grandparents hide a treasure.

1979. I was 7 years old. Found this masterpiece in the elementary school library one day. This book changed my childhood; it introduced the concept of mystery and adventure. It's effects - lasting. Now 35, it's the year 2007, and I once again stumble upon "Key to the Treasure". Life is great. Nostalgia warms my soul. Kids: enjoy your childhood - read as many books as you can. These years are the BEST of your life.

Thank you Mrs. Parish for the memories!

Now... it's on to "The Mystery of Chimney Rock"...

Have you ever searched for hidden treasure? Jed and his twin siblings Bill and Liza do just that in The Key to the Treasure. These three adventurous youngsters must solve clues and do it secretly so that they can surprise their grandparents. Along the way they often learn to set aside their differences and work together.
The three kids were staying with their grandparents for the summer when they accidentally stumbled upon the clue to a treasure their great-great grandfather had hidden over a hundred years ago. Using their wits they solve clues and overcome obstacles to help them find the key to the treasure. Some of the things they encounter are a hissing goose, a mischievous little boy, paper that is so old it falls apart, wasps, and moldy pouches.
I loved this book when I was a child and still read it to my students today. I always tried to figure out the clues before the three kids and I always dreamed of hiding my own treasure for someone to find. The writing style may not be the best especially compared to books written in our day and age but it is a fun book and a quick read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes quick mysteries and hidden treasure.

I thought this was a good book because there are lots of clues and it is very interesting for kids to make pretend discoveries. It was fun and there were lots of decriptions about how the treehouse looked. (Nicolas, Age 7, 3rd Grade)

As a child I read "Key to the Treasure" by Peggy Parish at least three times, if not more. I became enraptured with the story line from the very beginning as the accidental discovery of a piece of paper rolled up in an old Indian war bonnet turns into the adventure of a lifetime for three young children.

What I enjoy most about Peggy Parish's book is that it is fiction based on facts. This lends a great deal of believability to the story while providing young readers with glimpses of a time when life was far more simple and yet much more fun. For this reason alone I purchased a new copy of the book for my nine-year-old daughter.

I highly recommend "Key to the Treasure" for children ages seven through twelve who enjoy reading and also enjoy using their imagination. Many hours of pleasure are sure to be derived from this book that I believe to be a classic children's story.

This is an exceptionally insightful book looking into the juvenile criminal justice system in L.A. It does a good job of illustrating the perspectives of all individuals involved, from "criminals" to "officials" and also shows gradients of right and wrong, and just how complicated and even faulty the system may be. It is very well written, and I highly recommend it.

A great introduction into the juvenile criminal justice system. I actually went to work for a public defenders' office because of this book.

A more recent book I'd highly reccommend is "Last Chance In Texas." Ironically, Texas has perhaps the most progressive juvenile justice system in the country. This book tells how Texas' worst juvenile offenders had their lives changed for the better.

This book is so SOOO depressing. And we deserve to feel that way about our Juvenile Justice system. Everyone remotely attached to criminal law or children should read this.

Written over the course of one year in LA's juvenile court system, this book is very enlightening to the plight of our kids in detention and on the streets. It has recently been reported that less than 10% of Florida's almost $709 million juvenile justice budget is spent on prevention. I hope to do my personal part to change this in my community, by supporting intervention programs for at-risk youth.

No Matter How Loud I Shout reads like a novel. It is an incredibly well written and compassionate view of the life of some of the country's forgotten "children". I really enjoyed it as well as "Baby ER" also by Mr. Humes.

I was explaining this story to a friend and actually got choked up just thinking about it! I read this every year to my students and every year I am moved by it. It details an old woman's life and how she has learned to attach herself to inanimate things rather than living things because so many people in her life have died. Ultimately she finds companionship in a dog. The most poignant part of the story comes when she looks back at her life and realized her human interactions have enriched her life and she decides to name the dog and claim him as her own! Ah, see, I'm tearing up again! What a sap!

We bought this book for our 5-year old son after reading a positive magazine review of it. Still, when we received it, it surpassed our expectations. This is a great book! Our son has read it over and over with our family and he even asked to bring it to school for the "hundredth day" of school. It also was timely because our family had suffered some losses this past year and the book provided a good reason for us to talk about why the old lady may have been reticent to name something and how her feelings changed by the end of the book. It's a somewhat silly (in a good way) book to read yet it still has a wonderful message. Our 8-year-old daughter loved it too. We all did, actually! Great book - buy it and enjoy!

Ten years after first reading this aloud at circle time, Rylant's lovely story of the old woman who has to decide to, once more, take a chance on love and loss, has become a beloved old friend to me. Brown's quirky illustrations are quite memorable--especially the joyous spread near the end of the story in which the dog, with his tongue hanging out, happily sticks his head out the window of the old woman's car that is driving him home. Cynthia Rylant has won a Newbery for MISSING MAY, and has authored HENRY AND MUDGE, the greatest easy reader series ever published. THE OLD WOMAN WHO NAMED THINGS is absolutely right up there with the best of her work.

Cynthia Rylant has done it again-- this story tells of an elderly woman who has outlived most of those she loved and doesn't want to risk a new attachment-but but a nameless stray dog changes her mind. The story is done with a wonderful blend of humor and poignancy. It is a favorite in one pre-K classroom I know--wonderful way to positively approach those tricky issues of aging and death with young children.

This book is so emotionally satisfying. Cynthia Rylant brings the universal struggle of choosing to risk love and loss to a child's level. I never tire of reading it to my daughters (ages 5 & 3). They love the book, as well.

This is a beautifully illustrated version of _The Owl and the Pussycat_. My three-year-old son absolutely loves looking at the whimsical pictures of the fish and other sealife that are abundant in this book. The pictures are done with beautiful colors and have their own story.

What a beautiful version of Edward Lear's poem. I've always been a James Marshall fan, but this book is absolute tops for his illustrations. The colors are glorious, the characters, as his always are, deftly and lovingly handled. I understand that it was his last work, and it's a shame that it is out of print. Buy it, save it, and pass it around.

Jan Brett's Caribbean-inspired illustrations for the classic Edward Lear poem are teeming with life, and the effect is stunning. The colors, textures, and shapes are a visual treat. Each page also has a different pattern of "straw" border, adorned with a different tropical flower.

The pictures overflow with detail, to the point where there's even a sub-story (pardon the pun) involving two yellow fish.

I didn't give it the full 5 stars because the way the text is broken up across spreads makes it difficult to read the poem with any kind of flow, and because some of Brett's admittedly gorgeous illustrations could (and perhaps should) have had more of a connection to the text. For one notable example -- there's no pot of honey on the boat, and we never get a look at the money wrapped up in the five-pound note!

But there's no denying the beauty of the illustrations, and the Caribbean theme works surprisingly well. This is a great book for anyone -- for newcomers to the splendid silliness of the poem as well as for old fans of the poem who are looking for an edition with fabulous illustrations.

I have always liked Lear's rhymes, especially this one, but more than the rhyme, it's the illustrations in this version that I like. We live in Florida and all our sub-tropical and tropical flora and fauna is in this book, beautifully illustrated and very recognizable to my 3 year old daughter. Following along with the secondary story of the two damsel fish (I think they're damselfish, but if they're not, the fault is my fish identification skills, not Brett's illustration) is really fun for her too. A bit further south, but still full of recognizable plants for us Floridians, is another of Jan Brett's books, "The Umbrella."

I have the Audio CD that Eric Idle did and it was wonderful. I listened to it with my 5 year-old and we both just loved it. He could understand most of what was going on and I could explain the rest. I'll start looking for other versions, too. Like the original poem and the various hardcover book versions. It is a truly charming story with a playful use of words. There is humor of the best kind here: they classic kind with jokes and puns for the adults and kids at the same time (like the old bugs bunny cartoons). I recommed this with NO reservations!

My almost three year old friend Harrison just loves this book. He waits on the edge of his seat for the NOPE! from the littlest piggie. He fell asleep cuddling this book two naps in a row. This is a child that could not be torn away from books about trucks, especiallly trash trucks. The rhyming rythms of Charlotte Pomerantz saved Auntie Dawn from the rumble and roar of another front end loader!

This is a great book! I initially borrowed it from our local library. Our kids loved it. It's a great oratory book. I read it for a PreSchool class, in a Kindergarten Class, and for First Graders the book was loved by all who heard it. It has great rhythms, it's funny, it's cute, and the kids enjoy being a part of the story. When the smallest piggy mocks her parents and her brother by saying, "Nope!" in all of the circumstances there has been great participation by the children. It has quickly become one our favorite stories.

Crackling with lipsmackingly silly rhyme and hilarious James Marshall illustrations, this book is like read aloud popcorn -- I bet you can't stop after just one page.

my 19 yr olds favorite book as a baby...now she has a good copy for her kids(she is a preschool teacher)

This is my favorite book for storytime reading. Mainly preschool - but I've also had adults keep asking me to read one more page, too.

Charlotte Pomerantz has created a work of art - the ending and internal rhymes, the way she plays and puts words together, the right amount of repetition. This is why people think it's So Easy to write a children's book. This is a deceptively simple title, but if it were easy there would be more books out there like this one. This one of the few books I truly look forward to and love reading aloud - the words taste delicious!!

If you like this one check out "How many trucks can a tow truck tow" also by her.

Dense writing, with a good plot that deepens along the way. The title does not describe the book, as it is more about the relationships that Meg forges with people, rather than about actually questing for Marie. Note for people that do not like historical fiction in general: the historical notes and flavors do not intrude on the story. Ever read a historical fiction novel that continually interrupts the story line with mini-lectures on history? Doesn't happen in "Quest for a Maid." Note 2 for other folks that read poetry... it is delightful to see Sir Patrick Spens come alive.

I just finished reading this book although it has been on my shelf for several years. I'm really sorry now that I waited so long to read it! I loved the characters and the language, although younger children might have a little trouble with it.

It is told from the point of view of Meg, daughter of a scottish shipwright. She grows up very close to her oldest sister, Inge, who everyone believes is a witch. Then, when she is about ten, she saves a little boy from drowning. He is actually the son of her father's friend, Patrick Spens (the boy's name is Davie) and she becomes engaged to him and goes to live at his house to learn how to manage it. Soon they become close friends.

One day, in town she sees the boy who pulled her and Davie out of the water that day being chased through the town as a runaway serf. She quickly comes up with a lie to save him and he becomes her friend and servant. His name is Peem.

The next part of the book is devoted to how they grow up together. Then Master Spens is called to take his ship to bring the Maid of Norroway to England so she can wed the ship. Meg comes along to be the Maid's attendant, and Davie and Peem follow in their own boat. On their return voyage, they encounter a ferocious storm which tears the boat to shreds and drowns many people on board including Master Spens. Davie, Peem, and Meg save the Maid and take her on board their own boat.

However, their problems are not over, many people are pursuing them and they may have to leave the country to be safe. The ending is excellent, a few good plot twists and some feel-good moments. I loved it. :)

I first read this book back in gradeschool but it is one that has always stuck with me and I have looked forward to sharing this with my younger cousins.
The tale of Meg pulls you in as you watch her grow up with all these huge events happening and discovering what it means to idolize someone who may not be worth that kind of respect. Meg's innocent love of her family and friends is what sticks out to me and their love and loyalty in return.
It's a great book for young girls to read, I wish there were more out there like this.

I loved this book! its great it has hard vocabulary but i really enjoyed it!

Quest for a Maid is about Meg Wright, who lives in Scotland. She lives a normal life, except that her oldest sister, Inge, is a witch. Then one day when Meg is nine years old, she hides under a table and hears Inge kill a king. Nothing will ever be the same again. There is a fight for the throne going on in the country. Then Meg gets betrothed to Davie Spens, and is sent to live with his family to prepare. (The wedding will be in seven years.) When Meg is chosen to journey to Norway to bring the rightful eight-year-old queen back to Scotland to claim the throne, she goes, but with doubts. What will happen when they get to Norway? Will the little queen even want to go back to Scotland?

I would like to thank you for sending this product in a timely manner. It was recieved in excellent condition.

I read this book back when I was in middle school & I remember thinking to myself - "He loved her for how beautiful she was as a person". How many books do that for kids?? Even as an adult now, I love the memory of this book. I'm buying simply to enjoy it all over again & pass it on to my future children to read ( even boys can get a good lesson from it!).

I thought the book was very interesting. It was a good book and it was a fun kid's book. When I read it the book reminded me of Cinderella, but I didn't know it was an Indian version. I think many girls who like nature will like this book.

On one level, it's a Cinderella story in a different setting. But it's more than that. On a little deeper level, it's a story about true beauty being inside, but it's more than that. The book seems to have so many layers of meaning depending on how you look at it, all in what seems at first like a simple picture book. Confidence, ties to the Earth, insight into others, and more. I've read this book to my sons and daughters more than any other, and never tire of it. I hope they don't either, and more, I hope they come to understand the richness of the kind of lives lived by the rough face girl, and her sister-in-law to be, and husband to be.

"Wretched" might be the biggest difference between the Algonquin Indian Cinderella and European Cinderellas. Over 1500 versions have been collected throughout the world. They have in common the themes that justice will prevail and evil will be punished. These are the common denominators, no matter where the story may be set.

"The Rough-Face Girl" takes place along the shores of Lake Ontario. She wasn't born with a rough face--her older sisters make her sit beside the fire and feed the flames. When the burning branches pop, sparks hit the girl, scarring her arms, her legs, her clothes, her face and her hair. She is a mess and is too embarrassed to go outside her wigwam. It is a wretched situation.

One day the the two sisters ask their father for all manner of dressy clothes because they plan to propose to the Invisible Being who lives in a giant wigwam across the village. Their father gives all he has and the two strut through the village, certain they will marry the Invisible Being. His sister awaits them at the door. The only requirement to marry him is to see him first.

His sister quizzes them and learns immediately that they have not seen her brother. No, we don't know what his bow is made of. And, no, we don't what his sled runner is made of? After foolishly strutting TO the wigwam, they have to drag themselves home, carrying shame and disappointment.

The Rough-Face Girl wakes up one day and says she is going to marry the invisible Being. She has seen him. Her father has little left to give her, so she makes some things out of bark and reeds. People laugh at her as she walks to the giant wigwam. She describes the IB's bow and his sled runner. When the IB claims her, she has bathed in the lake, rejoicing when her scars wash off. "They live together in great gladness and were never parted."

Evil is punished and justice triumphs. It's a happy-ever-after story, one of the "most magical, mysterious, and beautiful of all Cinderellas,"(Author's note).

As a footnote, I must comment on David Shannon's glowing, romantic artwork. He is the same illustrator of the David series. Click on one of these titles to see a difference in style just on the covers alone.
No, David!
David Gets in Trouble
Alice The Fairy

The trapper Link and his snow dog Chiri are my favorite characters in books by Jim Kjelgaard. Link and Chiri are both natural loners who are steadfast and competent in the far northern wilderness. Chiri's mother is a big pack dog that Link had just bought. Her first litter of puppies had been killed on the trail by a cruel master. With a new litter on the way, she cleverly runs away and bears her three puppies in a windfall in the territory of a fierce black wolf that hates man and dog alike, having been shot early in life. Chiri is the biggest and most promising of her pups, and the only one who escapes from the black wolf. His mother and siblings dead, the lonely pup learns survival by necessity, and being a superior animal, becomes a strong and able hunter. The trapper Link is also strong and competent, but like the orphaned dog, he is lonely. He has dreamed of having a special dog who can be his companion in the wilderness. How he tames the great dog and together they live in nature, experiencing beauty and danger, and hunger and plenty, should make dog lovers and nature lovers of any young person who reads the book. There is a sequel that is just as good, maybe better, entitled "Wild Trek". If you liked these two books of adventure in the north, you would also like "Lost in the Barrens" and "Curse of the Viking Grave" by Farley Mowat.

This story has delicate explainations of many things for instance, the beautiful nature, the sign of each season, and the animals behaviors especially the humorous doing of the mask face puppy, Chiri. Moreover, The story has shown the relationship between dogs and men that is very impressive.

This book was one of my favorite childhood reads when I was growing up. I loved dogs, and I loved it when dogs bit back and had their own little adventures. Years later, and now a young adult, I still cherish this book, however, I now love wolves as well as dogs, and although I love how Kjelgaard describes the harsh wilds style a la Jack London, it is clear that Jack London has come first, and did something a bit better when it came to wild wolves.

Meet Queen, a Husky/Irish Wolfhound mix that is supposedly The Dog to get and a lucky trapper Link Stevens had gotten her from a good bargain. However, Queen is weary of man after being mistreated by past owners, and even more so when she is due with pups. So fleeing Stevens' cabin and his dogs, she goes off into the wild to raise her puppies in peace. Of course, as the summary already supplied, we already know Queen and two of her pups will die to a vicious black wolf with a grudge against mankind and the beasts who are slaves to men. The black wolf is the main villain in the story, the leader among a great pack of bloodthirsty wolves who follow their leader in the joyful act of killing for the sake of killing. Of course, the strongest, darkest, and bold pup survives the black wolf's vicious killing of his family by hiding deep in a hole and fighting back as the black wolf tried to dig him out. After that, the gray pup grows into a strong, wild dog who is soon captured by Link Stevens. Link names the dog Chiri and despite his many tries to break the dog in, Chiri proves to be too wild for the man to handle. After Chiri runs away from Link, the man gives up and tries to leave his cabin along with his other dogs when the weather proved too harsh to stay. However, the black wolf and his bloodthirsty pack await in the next corner, and after tense moments, Chiri comes out of nowhere, slays the bad wolf and saves the day.

The action is very well-written, the suspense there, however, the author does not seem to know anything about wolves. Given the time period that it was written in, I can't be too rigid about it, but let it be known that wolves do not travel in such a large pack, even if food is scarce. If an outside wolf ventures into their territory, they will do their best to chase it out, but they will not go out of their way into territories to make sure that tresspassing wolf is dead. They also do not kill their young if they prove to be too weak or worthless to hunt down game. Wolves also do not blunder into the snow when chasing prey. Their paws are flat, large, and they are able to walk across snow. Reading this when I am now a lot older was a bit painful because there were so many false facts about wolves in this story. Although the author had tried to give the reader that it was only the black wolf's pack who killed for the sake of killing, I couldn't help but think that he was also labeling all other wild wolves. Despite these mistakes, I'm sure you can stomach down this helping of a wild dog facing the harsh wilderness in one sitting, unless you're a rabid wolf lover, to which I think you should avoid this book like the plague.

This boook was and is still my favorite book in my collection. This is a thrilling story about a trapper named link stevens who traps in the "Black Devil's" territory.The black devil is a black woulf who was shot by a Chirikov as a puppy and in time the black wolf has killed him.
Link lost ha dog named Queen who was about to give birth to a litter of puppies.She dose and is killed by the black wolf protecting her puppies . Only the masked face puppy or Chiri survives .
This story is one of the best

I am a 50ish woman and Jim Kjelgaard was my favorite writer when I was a young reader. I found I could get his books and ordered Snow Dog and Wild Trek. As an adult I still find the writing to be better than average compared to many current best selling authors. I enjoyed reading Snow Dog and am looking forward to reading Wild Trek (which was my favorite book).

Reading Kjelgaards books, and other books about the outdoors and wilderness adventures, probably contributed to my life long love of the outdoors and my interest in the environment and conservation.

I am glad to see young readers are still enjoying his books

A parent turned me onto this book several years ago. I read the book aloud to my second graders and it soon became a hit! The children begged to create a play based on the story. They then created an adapted play and performed it for the school and the parents. Since then, I've used the book each year in my classroom. I've read it to my own children and used it in classes at church. The message is strong the story is endearing. I highly recommend this book.

I first read this book on a long car drive when I was 9 years old. That's 12 years ago. I can't quite recall all the details of the book, however, I will never forget the profound, magical awe I felt as I turned each page with a mixture of eager anticipation and a slight tinge of sorrow--sorrow because I knew that each page turned would be a page closer to the end.

The richness of nature, familiarity of self-doubt, and beauty of pure love are all gracefully instilled in the reader's mind and heart in this wonderful story focused primarily towards childen, but perhaps also towards sentimental adults who would like to re-visit the innocence of childhood.

A while after reading the book I actually forgot the title (being a 9-yrs-old you don't pay attention to titles and authors) and could not, for the life of me, find this book based on my ambiguous memories. Well, today I saw it on Amazon and will definately have to make a purchase.

It has been over a decade since I read it, so take this review with a grain of salt, however, I do have to say that this book was the most enchanting of the many stories I read in my childhood.

This is a must have for any home with Elementary age children.
We all really loved this story, full of adventure and amusing characters.

The Wainscott Weasel
Author:Tor Seidler
In this book a weasel named Zeke Whitebelly falls in love with a girl, Wendy Blackish. Bagley Brown Jr. falls in love with not Wendy but a fish named Bridget! Paddy the frog comes asking for help. Bagley cant resist when Bridgets involved. Then he finds out she has kids. Will he still help them? Find out in this amazing book about weasels helping alll creatures and how love can go far.
Review by: Frances

This was a wonderful story which takes place at a location Mr. Seidler used to visit and that means a lot to him. The weasel society enjoys life and dancing, and even has its own celebrity, Bagley Brown. Bagley has a secret crush that would raise eyebrows if it were discovered, and he questions a pretty weasel's crush on him because he's never done anything great enough to earn the honor of sharing his father's name. Circumstances happen to change his destiny, and the destiny of his tough-guy rival, Zeke Whitebelly. I liked the theme of loving someone who's different, because even in this day and age the love of someone for a person of a different color or faith still raises some eyebrows. The way the book ended was a complete surprise to me, and the description of the beautiful lake with the ocean nearby made me wish I could pay a visit.