English Books

definitely one of the best spoken word poetry books out there. a lot of mind blowing subjects. great read especially for 20 somethings up. not that suitable for young adults as this does have some pretty grpahic stubjects such as beastiality

I have had this book for ten years now, i read it once a year at least and am finding i get something new out of it each time i read it. I just bought this as a gift for a friend of mine who is big on poetry slams ( i didn't have the nerve to loan him mine). It is in my top five of my all time favorite books (and i own thousands of books!!) It pulls at my heart strings, makes me cry, and makes me laugh out loud.

I loved every minute of this book, you never know what you're going to read next, my boyfriend loved it as well, & I am purchasing this book for him as well.

I have read this book over and over and over. Every time I read this collection, the more I like it. Very unique. I recomend anyone who loves poetry and likes something different, to pick up this book.

A few years ago a voice mail was set up in New York City, and poets were called in every month to read a new poem everyday onto the message. Then the public could call in everyday, listen to the poem, and respond after the beep with anything they had to say. The poems were recorded on an album, and the best printed in this wonderful book.

The book came out in 1997. The phone number they have listed in the introduction is either wrong or changed, I called it twice and kept getting the voice mail to someone named "Kika." The poets in this book are: Penny Arcade, Tish Benson, Nicole Blackman, David Cameron, Xavier Cavazos, Todd Colby, Matthew Courtney, M. Doughty, Kathy Ebel, Anne Elliot, Janice Erlbaum, Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, John S. Hall, Bob Holman, Christian X. Hunter, Shannon Ketch, Bobby Miller, Wanda Phipps, Lee Renaldo, Shut-Up Shelley, Hal Sirowitz, Sparrow, Spiro, Edwin Torres, and Emily XYZ. All the poets get at least three poems, and very good portraits by photographer Christian Lantry. The poems are short enough that you can probably get through this in one sitting, or read a poet a day.

Penny Arcade starts the book off with a bang, using some really incredible verse. Tish Benson is next with poems that read like lazy blues songs, but filled with so much detail and activity, you can almost hear Billie Holliday gruffly whispering this in your ear. Nicole Blackman and her section is also incredible as she seems to speak for so many women who cannot find their own voice except hers. David Cameron's writing, while readable, is a little bland, like a freshman creative writing class. Despite his obvious emotion, I felt he was holding back on his own writing. Xavier Cavazos's section is slightly better, except for an entire poem that slams Rush Limbaugh. It may have been very clever when written and read, but it just give conservatives like Limbaugh more ammunition to go after art that they do not believe in. Why not a poem about Parkay hawking corporate monkey Al Franken, who had so much success slamming Limbaugh? Or Dennis Miller, whose rants against everybody was quickly dashed by asinine long distance ads. Nothing worse than a sell out. Todd Colby does better work with paragraph poems than traditional verse poetry. Matthew Courtney reads like poorly written Allen Ginsberg, full of "shocking" imagery and without a point. M. Doughty's work is scary and involving, and not your traditional stuff. Kathy Ebel left me with no response. I read it, I was done, and I was not terribly moved. Anne Elliot reads like poorly written Matthew Courtney. Janice Erlbaum is wonderful, filling a sonnet and sestina with modern situations, turning antiquity on its ear. Ginsberg is Ginsberg. Being a little familiar with his work, I expected to see poems about gay sex, followed by verses about a frog. Ginsberg is so Ginsberg. John Giorno's two poems are shocking, about more gay sex, and taking drugs. He seems to be shocking without TRYING to be shocking. I guess you could say his shock is natural.

John S. Hall also seems to be writing without getting to the heart of his point. His verse is so much posturing. Bob Holman is a bit of a bore, with quite a few poems here. Again, none stuck with me. Christian X. Hunter takes me into his world and it was hard to get out. He is probably my favorite poet here. Shannon Ketch reads like John S. Hall. Bobby Miller's very personal poems made me nostalgic for a time I could never experience. He writes about his first homosexual experience, and protesting Vietnam, so vividly, you swear you are there. Wanda Phipps opens with an angry poem, and never lets up. She is not threatening, but she has a lot to say. Lee Ranaldo also did not do it for me, his listed words seemed glossy and packaged. Shut-Up Shelley is fun because she is so different. Her changing font size on the page just screams at you, yet her photograph by Lantry shows her so whimsically. She is my second favorite poet here. Hal Sirowitz is my third favorite poet here, writing deeply personal poems about everyday things that had an obvious effect on his life. He is a blast to read aloud. Sparrow is weird. His first poem, involving possible sex with a cow, is a hoot, and his possible middle names for Bill Gates is a riot. Spiro is also very funny, especially his opening poem about heroin addiction. Edwin Torres also had me scratching my head for a while after I read him. His poetry is not hard, just inaccessible, and I was not interested enough in what he was saying to dig deeper. Emily XYZ reads like good Edwin Torres.

The 26 poets here are quite a variety, and I recommend this tome to any poetry lovers. I also repeat my mantra to read more poetry and keep buying those little chapbooks you might see in used bookstores or at flea markets. There is always time in your day to smarten up.

This does contain a lot of profanity, drug references, and sexual content, so giving it to your five year old to practice reading may not be a good idea.

This is an excellent children's book. It clearly explains "Where God Lives"
and does so in a way that children of all ages can understand. It not only
gives the "pat answer" of "God lives in heaven" ; it goes on and shows the
many places where God dwells. The book is written in rhyming style.
It has nice, colorful illustrations,too

This is Holly's best work in my opinion. Answers the question of Where is God better than any I've heard before.

This is our second book from Holly Brea. My daughter loves her books and I really appreciate how open and honest these books are. This is a wonderful story about a girl searching for God who finds out God is everywhere.

When I realized my 4 yr old twins knew all about Santa, but not about God, I knew it was time to start teaching this. I don't like the dogmatic and fundamentalist stuff that dominates children's religious books. This one is just great! It gives children a context for God, and the Grandmother tells the little girl that God doesn't just live in a far-away place called Heaven; God lives in all his creations, including you and me. A perfect book for introducing the idea of God without any denominational dogma, plus the ideas of heaven, and prayer to connect simply and purely to God. Allows you to teach your kids about God in a universal sense, without limiting God to Christian concepts.

This book is wonderful! I have read it hundreds of times to my 2 and 4 year old. It's rhyming text keeps kids interested. As the name implies, it explores the question of whether God lives in the beautiful ocean, the sky, etc. Ultimately it teaches that God is everywhere and in everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone. I have purchased it for several friends as well.

Yes, this is totally hilarious. But are 40 or so mind-altered quips really a book? So that's why I gave it 4 stars, not 5. If you want a collection of looney, twisted, crazy aphorisms, buy Deep Thoughts; but if you want a humor book, get a Dave Barry.

I loved deep thoughts ever since I saw them on Saturday Night Live. This book is worth every penny!

Don't let the small size of this book let you think it a light weight in the world of books on deep thoughts.What I'm really trying to say is that when something is really thought out ,it doesn' take a volumous manuscript to get the message across. Take Moses,for example,he could have filled 50 volumes explaining God's instructions.He took two stones,and in 10 Commandments,got the message across clear and simple.
When Handley set out to explain deep thinking,he managed to do it in so few pages ,he didn't even have to number them.Not only that,most of the page is a simple picture.
Most of the reviewers talk about how funny this book is.What he really makes us laugh so hard ; is how complicated we make the thoughts on living for ourselves.The great Philosophers have tried over the ages to give us great thoughts to live by.You know what? It ain't that difficult.
For instant,much has been written on the meaning of life.Handey tells us to think deep.
"Life is a constant battle between the heart and the brain.
But guess who wins. The skeleton."
Or how about this;
"You might think that the favorite plant of the porcupine is
the cactus,but it's thinking like that that almost ruined
this country."
Then his thoughts on afterlife;
"In my next life,I hope I come back as a parrot,because I
already know quite a few words."
And finally a deep thought in case we are invaded by Aliens;
"Warning to all outer-spage guys: You can capture me and put me
in your "space zoo" if you like,but I will sit way in the
back of my cage,where it's hard to see me.And when I do come
out,I won't be wearing any pants."
Now,how about that; Deep thoughts or what? Yeah,and it'll
make you laugh,too.

If you have any sort of a sense of humor whatsoever, you must get this book. Jack Handey is one of the most hilarious people alive! You may already be familiar with Handey's work, his work was featured on Saturday Night Live some years back. These are great to memorize and randomly quote throughout the day. I love this book, I've read it a bunch of times, and it's always funny.

If I were a rich gal, I would buy everyone in the world a copy of this book, because inside are some of the funniest thoughts ever produced! Each page holds a different "deep thought"; some immediately bring out the laughter, while others take a sec or two to sink in. Then you grin and want to immediately share it with someone. I think this would make a wonderful coffee table book. Put it out there at your next get-together and watch people chuckle, roar, giggle, snort, whoop, guffaw, howl, snicker, crack up, or whatever they do when they've just read something hilarious.

This is the most complete Spanish/English I have ever found. It can be used for Business, School or Personal purposes. It has all idioms and phrases that you could ever need.

This is a terrific dictionary used in conjunction with the Oxford Duden Pictorial Spanish and English Dictionary for hard to locate technical words. The Cassell's Spanish Dictionary can lead to a lot of imprecise translations in your readings, but it's useful in composition as a thesaurus.

This Oxford Dictionary is a true gem. It is the best general English Spanish dictionary written to date. In addition to having excellent meaning discrimination, it often includes the informal register in its explanations as well as the formal registers.

It is a tremendous resource for really understanding the nuances and shades of meaning between different synonyms and expressions.

As a translator, professor, and bilingual lexicographer, I am truly deeply impressed with this masterpiece.

This is by far the best dictionary I own. Not only does it specify a term's area of usage, but it also translates numerous idiomatic expressions. It is a bit bulky to take to class (but not impossible-I manage to), but the contents make it perfect for doing Spanish composition homework as well. Overall, the perfect bilingual dictionary

Excellent resource! I highly recommend this dictionary as it appears to have EVERYTHING in it! Even "kitchen" and "sink"... jokes aside, I find this book to be the perfect answer to all my spanish/english definition problems... What makes this dictionary unique is not only its exhaustive collection of words, but also the correspondence writings in its middle. It tells you precisely how to write a correspondence in Spanish (and English) including dates, openings, closings, how to address the envelope and more... It even has examples and instructions (with pictures) of how to create a professional job application, how to write a letter of complaint, how to write a check, how to request a catalog... This dictionary has everything! A must have for language students!! Too bulky to put in your backpack, but not too big for a bookshelf!

This Spanish/English dictionary is the best I've used, primarily for the reasons that it is very comprehensive, and it gives Spanish pronunciations, oddly lacking from other such dictionaries.

I have purchased at least 6 different Spanish/English dictionaries and this is the one I always come back to. I am currently using my second copy since the first one fell apart. This one is held together with tape, lots and lots of tape.

I almost always find the word I am looking for, and the definitions make sense, and I am picky.

I have purchased at least 4 more of these as gifts.

So, my only complaint is that the binding is poor quality - the pages easily come out. Fortunately, they can be taped back in, which adds to the character!

I am a high school ESL teacher for new immigrants to the U.S. Our school buys the Merriam-Webster English-Spanish in bulk so each student has one that is easy to carry around, and because they are cheaper. But after experimenting with various dictionaries, I find that I much prefer to keep The New World dictionary right beside me at my desk, when I'm standing at the overhead projector, when I am circulating around the room to help students. I find The New World easier to read and easier to use. For example, when looking at multiple meaning words such as plot or setting, it is easier to pick out the language arts/literary definition in The New World dictionary. It also offers more in the way of support for people learning English or Spanish -- for example the section that helps Spanish speakers understand English prefix/root/suffix is very useful to ESL students and teachers in a high school setting. This year we are going to buy several for each classroom that has ESL students in it.

I have been teaching English as a Second Language for many years and I have become fluent in Spanish. This dictionary for Americans (North and South) is the best for the money. It has many words that are American Spanish and American English whereas many other more expensive dictionaries use European words and sometimes spellings. It is not a good dictionary for travel but then I don't think most are. I don't use a dictionary when on the road. The paper editions wear out rapidly with moderate use but they are cheap enough. Do not waste time and money on smaller dictionaries such as the Chicago. This one not only has American language, it has many idioms, and a reasonable grammar section. I hope this little gem never goes out of print.

Very descriptive, lots of examples in grammar. This should be the only dictionary that a student will ever need. Everything is there. I have learned so much from this dictionary.

It is difficult to praise "The Discarded Image" too highly. It can be read with profit many times. Other reviewers have told you why.

That said, I would like to say something to those who have read and enjoyed the Space Trilogy, especially "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra." In writing those excellent stories, Lewis decided that the medieval outlook on cosmology, however incorrect from the scientific standpoint, would provide a marvelous-and to most of us-unfamiliar backdrop for tales of imaginative fiction. I promise you that once you have finished "The Discarded Image," you will reread the fictional works pleasantly fascinated by how the medieval image informs the novels.

This book explained and gave amazing and insightful information about the development of the medieval worldview and mindset.

To begin with, it must be acknowledged that the subtitle of this work is apt to be misinterpreted. Lewis's last book of his own initiative, which but for some late corrections would have been published in the final months of his life, might be better understood as a 'preface' to mediaeval and Renaissance literature than as what is now most often meant by an 'introduction'. For his stated purpose is not one of identifying, summarizing, and expounding major works, but of explaining the world-view or Model of the universe which informed any educated writer or reader of the time.

Lewis is concerned that a student may succeed in achieving a semblance of comprehension yet be wholly mistaken in his or her grasp of mediaeval literature through projecting onto it either very modern ideas or, perhaps worse, modern misconceptions of what our ancestors believed. While he does touch on authors and writings familiar from the average undergraduate survey course, he dwells far more on, and digs more deeply into, somewhat obscure examples which he feels better represent the mindset of the era. Boethius and his THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY get particular attention and are alluded to repeatedly throughout. Lewis then proceeds to outline the mediaeval picture of the universe's structure; of the inhabitants it held; and of the psychological, philosophical, and metaphysical aspects which integrated the whole system.

All of this gradually reveals a cosmology far more sophisticated and a civilisation rather better informed than they are often credited with being. Understanding of the nature of the universe was not so erroneous as is now generally supposed; and where it was indeed wrong, it was nonetheless remarkably insightful as well as internally consistent. The mediaeval era emerges as the vital and extraordinary world it was, and as a fertile ground in which the so-called 'Renaissance' took root and flourished.

Lewis concludes with a cautionary reminder that our own notions of the universe and of 'Reality' itself remain comparatively incomplete and are certain to be superseded one day, not merely by new discoveries but by the ever-shifting philosophies and tastes which determine what questions are asked and thus what answers are found.

This is a book I genuinely hope to read again. Parts of it, I confess, were a bit beyond me, if chiefly because I had too little acquaintance with what was under discussion. Even so, Lewis's characteristic wit, conversational style, and contagious enthusiasm succeeded in making me wish to improve my familiarity with his subject. And to inspire such interest is surely a teacher's purpose even more than the mere passing on of information.

Highly recommended for students of history as well as literature. A product of C. S. Lewis's day job at Cambridge, this volume helps the reader get inside the mind of both the common man and the writers of this period. They had a different view of reality and the world than modern man. To understand, let alone appreciate their history and literatue, you need to know how they saw things.

Broader and more scholarly that Lewis' "Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature" (Canto, 1966), I recommend "The Discarded Image" over it.

By the way, though not intended as such, it's also a great source of trivia on the origins of names and expressions.

C.S. Lewis is just such a pleasure to read. And this book is simply a joy. I am a PhD student in medieval history and have read an awful lot of books on the medieval mind and this is by far the best. There is a slight tendency in Lewis' writing to see philosophy as the sole motor of history--but this is to be expected from his generation and it doesn't detract from the picture he paints. The best part about this book is that when I was finished reading it, I loaned it to my mother, who has absolutely no formal medieval training, and she loved it too! It's such a relief to escape the arrogant jargon of academics, that just masks their ignorance and inane analysis, and explore the world of ideas with such a master of clear and honest language.

I believe the other reviews of this book to be quite accurate; rightfully noting its annoyingly bad layout(lacking index, missing page headings of what you're reading, etc). Disregarding these shortfalls, Orwell's writing itself easily makes up for--and surpasses--were the publishers have blundered. I read these essays with child-like Christmas morning joy; finding pleasure in them as if peeling away the wrapping paper from the presents, leaving me engulfed with intrigue over Orwell's subjects, prose and opinions. This book is a real treasure trove for all those who enjoyed Orwell's most famous, if not cliche, works of 1984 and Animal Farm.

What distinguishes George Orwell from every other political writer in history is his pitiless intellectual honesty. It is true that Orwell hated imperialism, fascism and capitalism, and that he spent the majority of his career stumping and scrapping for democratic socialism, but no political ideology ever swallowed more abuse from one of its own. For every positive word Orwell scribbled or spoke about socialism he threw in at least a paragraph of denunciation, insult and mockery; indeed, in THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER he so ridiculed the pimply, sniggering, ivory-tower intellectuals who were the public face of the movement that the Left Book Club, which had commissioned the book, added an introduction that basically disowned it. Orwell was quite simply something that doesn't exist nowadays: a man who didn't let his political opinions interfere with his observations. He spoke the truth, or what he saw as the truth, without any respect for the party line, and if he brassed off his own side in so doing, that was just too damn bad.

ESSAYS is not like the other Orwell books on the market, which featured pieces selected by an editor - THE ORWELL READER, A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS, etc. It is a massive, hardbacked, dumbell-heavy compendium of every single essay he penned in his entire career, spanning the period 1928 - 1949: letters to newspapers (some of them unpublished), BBC broadcasts, the innumerable "As I Please" columns, famous works like "Such, Such Were The Joys" and "The Lion and the Unicorn", innumerable book reviews...in other words, 1,360-plus pages of acid observation, scourging honesty and gallows humor, delivered by a master at the top of his form.

Obviously, you have to be a pretty hardcore fan of G.O. to lug this miniature telephone book out of the store, but it's a bargain at any price. Orwell's special genius was that he could tackle something completely ordinary - a ponderous scholarly work on political trends, a second-rate gangster novel, American comic books, magazines devoted to young boys, a government White Paper, even ordinary British postcards - and unmask the hidden, inner motivations which lurked behind them. His ability to see through dishonest arguments, expose hypocrisy, trace twisted motives to their roots, and draw timeless conclusions from seemingly trivial political and pop-culture events is rivaled only by his willingness to say the unsayable. Who but Orwell could get away with a such a brutally frank discussion of the motivations behind everything from anti-Semitism to pro-Communism, the allowance for the possibility that British Imperialism was worse than Nazism, or the statement that the root of Hitler's appeal was that Fascism was psychologically more sound than its alternatives, because it played into the fact that humans want struggle and sacrifice as much as pleasure and saftey? The answer is nobody; nobody else would have dared. Or would dare, now, when nearly every sentence written by politcos Left, Right and Center is either intellectually dishonest, partisan hackwork, or so filled with political, racial, and sexual correctness, with platitudes, with clichés and buzzwords, with stupidity and cowardice, that they essentially have no meaning?

In "1984", Orwell coined the term "duckspeak" to describe those who chatter unconsciously, unaware of the meaning of their own words but certain of their conformity to the party line. Well, you can love Orwell, you can hate him, or you can disagree with him to the middle of your bones, but one thing is absolutely certain: nowhere in the wrist-straining tome that is ESSAYS will you hear a single quack.

In these by times highly emotional essays written in the 1930s and 1940s George Orwell gives us with in depth analyses his personal viewpoint on the literary, political and socio-economic scene.

In literature, he sees the novel as `a Protestant form of art, a product of the free mind, of the autonomous individual.' Orwell's aim was to `push the world in a certain direction: a battle against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism.'
In his criticism he searches for the essential (hidden) message of the author.
Dickens's rather naïve creed is: `If man would behave decently, the world would be decent.' His ideal is `a hundred thousand pounds, a quaint old house, a sweetly womanly wife, a horde of children and no work.'
Henry Miller's books are `a passive acceptance of decay and evil.'
H.G. Wells dreams of a utopian World State.
R. Kipling is a jingo imperialist, but he didn't understand that `an empire is primarily a money-making concern'.
W.B. Yeats is in essence a defender of feudalism, `a great hater of democracy and of human equality, of the modern world, science, technology and the concept of progress.'
A. Koestler's main theme is `the decadence of revolutions owing to corrupting effects of power.'
P.G. Wodehouse's real sin is to present the English upper classes as much nicer than they are.
In `Gulliver's Travels', J. Swift delivers a frontal attack on totalitarianism and shows that he is a disbeliever in the possibility of happiness.

Orwell's view on world matters is rightly `no Law, only Power'.
Nationalism is inseparable from the desire for power.
The concentration of the media in the hands of a few rich men puts the freedom of the press and intellectual liberty under attack. The `very concept of objective truth' is lost.
The Spanish war showed him the essential horror of army life.
He is extremely severe for the British establishment: `The British ruling class thought that Fascism was on their side.' For them, `it is better to inherit, than to work.' `In an England ruled by stupidity, to be `clever' was to be suspect.'

But his solution is also naïve: `common ownership of the means of production. The State, representing the whole nation, owns everything, and everyone is a State employee.' In other words, he pleads for a massive bureaucracy.
But he contradicts himself when he complains that `everything in our age conspires to turn the writer into a minor official!'

These essays contain also vivid memories of his public school life (`irrational terror') and of his Indian life ('Shooting an elephant'). He comments on sports (`war without shooting), detective stories (J.H. Chase), poetry (`the most hated art form'), mildly pornographic comic postcards (`a harmless rebellion against virtue') and ends with a superb portrait of Ghandi.

These remarkable essays, written by a fearless superb free mind, a fighter for justice and a true `révolté' (A. Camus), are a must read.

As a lit major very interested in politics, I find this collection to be fascinating and instructive. Mr. Orwell's views on what corporations would do to the news media and the stifling effects of politically correct speech are vital today, and should be required in civics and political science classes.

Mr. Orwell managed to anger and inform both liberals and conservatives by exposing hypocrisy and dull-minded dogma. His writing style is sharp and free of tiresome twists and turns. In fact, "Politics and the English Language" (954) targets academic writing that is puffed up for no reason other than to hide the fact that the writer has little to say. (And this article should be required reading in graduate literature classes!)

The power of his insights and imagery can be seen in "How the Poor Die," a sad, upsetting essay that made me want a shower and a drink when I finished reading it. (Again, this is current today with the horribly neglected and virtually unregulated "assited living facilities"--and even the Walter Reed outpatient scandal.)

So few writers have had such vision that it is worth repeating the cliche: George Orwell was a social prophet--a genuine one.

Because of Mr. Orwell's deep understanding of political systems and human nature, his excellent style, and the breadth of his subject matter, I think it would not be over-praising him to say that this volume ranks with Montaigne's collected essays.

This volume is lovely, both in binding and text size; however, as other reviewers have pointed out, the publisher should have taken the trouble to include an index at the end of 1363 pages of essays! (Write to Knopf/Random House to complain!)

I'm going to contact my county library to arrange donating a copy of this; it is a shame this book isn't on the shelves!

George Orwell: 1984 and beyond


The futurist novels 1984 and Animal Farm are George Orwell's primary literary legacy. He contributed the phrase "Big Brother" to the language, and is remembered... if at all...as a novelist and social commentator.

But Orwell was much more than that - during the Second World War he worked for the BBC as a commentator, essayist and writer. He was a consummate professional, a brilliant satirist, and an indefatigable correspondent. He volunteered in the Spanish Civil War and wrote "Homage to Catalonia" from his experiences.

What is more surprising is that Orwell ...who died at 46... left voluminous essays, letters and reportage which have been compiled in four thick volumes by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus. * (George Orwell: Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters; Volumes 1-IV, Nonpareil Books, 2000), and in his Collected Essays.

. He lived as a tramp for a while, got arrested for being drunk, worked low-level jobs and wrote "Down and out in London and Paris" from his experience. Orwell struggled personally and financially; his first marriage ended with h is wife's death, his second was short, and he was usually broke. That changed with the publication of l984 and Animal Farm...the latter a satire on the Russian Revolution. Ray Bradbury's classic "Fahrenheit 451" owes a debt to Orwell. His BBC broadcasts during the War were classics.

In his short life, Orwell produced a huge body of work: his Collected Writings run to 20 volumes, and his essays fill four books. He is one of the major figures of 20th Century English writing.
Major Works

Down and Out in Paris and London
The Road to Wigan Pier
Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage
Homage to Catalonia
Burmese Days

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is the book you need for creating and maintaining a solid and authentic classroom literacy program. "The First Twenty Days" alone is extreemely helpful. You can start small and grow as you feel comfortable. A little overwhelming at times but worth it!

Excellent resource. Everything needed to start a reading/writing/word study workshop. My book is full of sticky notes of things to use!

Definitely one of the most useful and comprehensive reading and writing resources that I have ever purchased for my professional library. The price is very reasonable as well!

This book has helped me tremendously with my new job as a teacher. Going to school did not prepare me as much as this book has.

Every teacher who teaches grades 3-6 should own this book. It has practical mini-lessons, rationale for teaching comprehension strategies and additional resources. If you don't already own it, you should get your hands on a copy.

I'd first heard of Karl when I got the Ricky Gervais podcast from a friend for my birthday. His book comes across just like he does on the podcasts. It's a collection of his travels around the world from his Parents' house to Los Angeles to Ibiza. Some are written in story format, others as journal entries and sprinkled liberally throughout are poems and comic strips of "friend-of-friend" tales.

It is a mix of non-sequitur and absurdism. It's as if Karl stops thinking after the first thought that crosses his brain. Sure, I might have had the same thought, "hey, if my head were on backward, I'd be able to face the audience if I were a pianist." But then, being normal, I would follow that thought up with all the other side effects of having my head on backward.

Pilkington, however, does not move past the first thought of childlike wonderment of having his head on backward and doesn't seem to realize there is anything much past that initial thought. The end result is absolute hilarity.

I can't sum it up any better than what's in the title of this review. I wish I could be in a room with Karl, Stephen and Ricky...I think I'd die laughing.

Just like Ricky Gervais said, "I've seen him blossom from an idiot into an imbecile." Karl has such a different way of viewing the world and it's like no other. Maybe it's because he's borderline retarded, yet extremely observant and curious. This book is HILARIOUS!!!

P.S. WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR SERIES 4 OF THE PODCAST, KARL. HURRY UP AND FIX YOUR DAFT BOILER AND GET BACK IN THE STUDIO WITH RICKY AND STEVE.

Great book. Karl IS a genius, Ricky is the idiot, I know this cos im a genius and if Karl isn't one then im not, but I am, so he is, so there. Love it!

Karl is the king, but he has become a lazy king, and his subjects are getting restless. MORE PODCAST NOW YOU ORANGE HEADED MONKEY FREAK!!!!

...And there better be new monkey news included in the podcast...I'm just sayin'....

But about the book....Great book. Karl's an idiot, but strangely, his book creates a very enjoyable read. I esp. liked when he talked about the squirrles in Carmel, CA. I live by there, and I've seen those squirrles, and I want to go back and see if they've been traumatized by meeting Karl.