Town Books

When I read this book I felt as if I was really in Newburyport. The stories are perfectly detailed, and the stories simply flow from the pages to your mind. I would reccomend this book to anyone who loves to read about America's history from colonial times to mid 1900s. Buy it! it's great!

A book filled with real history relayed in an easy pick up and read sort of way. Portrays the amazing story of Newburyport - the small city with mighty stories - through the centuries in a way that will make you want to read more of these stories.

News from Thrush Green is, as are all of Miss Read's books, perfect. It provides relaxed, clean reading, humor and wonderful people. One can't ask for more.

All of Miss Read's books are enchanting and this one is no exception. I only wish that her Thrush Green books and Fairacre books would be republished as sets so I could read them all again and this time in chronological order.

My 3 year old son loves this book. I learned of this author / illustrator team reading "Close your eyes," another good bedtime book. I came across this one on Amazon and noted that it is one of relatively few books that focus on children and their fathers. Mom's feature prominently in most childrens' books. As a divorced fatherwho doesn't get to spend nearly enough time with his little boy, I wanted to find some that focus on kids spending time with Dad. The illustrations are simple but evocative, and the words seem to transport a child into the world of a busy city at night.

I highly recommend this, especially for fathers and sons.

Every night, Papa kisses Alex good night, puts him to bed and then goes off to work. He's an engineer at a construction site and a night worker. While everyone else is home and in bed, sleeping, Papa is at work, doing his job. One special night, Papa gives Alex his own hard hat and together they go out into the night to Papa's job..... Kate Banks has written a gentle, endearing story full of imagery and magic that turns the quiet night into an unimagined busy place...full of street sweepers, delivery men, heavy machinery and cranes that dig holes, move earth, pour concrete and lift steel. Her simple easy to read text is complimented by Georg Hallensleben's wonderful, subdued artwork that will transport youngsters right to the job site, surrounding them with the sights, sounds and construction activity as the night workers go about their work. And as day begins to break, all is quiet and little Alex has gone to sleep, dreaming of becoming a night worker, too, when he grows up.

As a scientist who has measured and studied tectonic plate motions, I found the first four of Mara Purl's series on Milford-Haven quite captivating. I particularly like the forays into various spiritual, psychological and technical realms. Her insights into art, music, and nature seem to emerge in a way similar to their appearance in life. Quite an impressive creation. After helping with her with research for "Nobody's Fault", it was fun to read and see she'd woven the threads of facts into the fabric well.

As Director of UNAVCO and Radiometrics, I study and measure the movement of tectonic plates via satellite imagery. I found the first four of Mara Purl's series on Milford-Haven quite captivating. I particularly like the forays into various spiritual, psychological and technical realms. Her insights into art, music, and nature seem to emerge in a way similar to their appearance in life. Quite an impressive creation. After helping with her with research for "Nobody's Fault", it was fun to read and see she'd woven the threads of facts into the fabric well.

The first part of this book entitled, "Notes from the Underground," is a simple and terrifying set of diary entries from a dark, self-destructive man who has been oppressed by society in many ways. The terrifying story that emerges from his thougts and actions bring out the themes of power, innocence and violence in this quick and deceptively simple piece. The second part of this book, a three-act play entitled "Scenes from the New World," looks at power and violence in three different ways: the raw power and violence of the streets, the achieved power and violence within the greed that is supported and sustained in business and commerce, and the subtle power and violence inherent in the dehumanization of individuals for one's own fulfillment of childhood fantasy. Both pieces are striking in their messages and the way that the messages are brought out by the writing. Mr. Bogosian is a skilled and adept author looking at postmodern alienation in systems and society. This is the second book that I have ready by Mr. Bogosian ("MALL" is a wonderful, gripping novel) and I am truly impressed by his talents.

Brilliant. Not that I am anything like the main character, but I do think this way. I think about thinking this way. I highly recommend this book to anyone that's interested in a quick, disturbing read. For anyone that has thought about what it would be like to stop acting normal.

All of Shawn Hall's books are excellent. We have used them for several years to plan trips and then go find the locations he mentions. He gives the reader not only the history of the site, but what remains today of the ghost towns, old stage stops, and railroad towns.

Shawn Hall obviously has a love of history and it's preservation. "Old Heart of Nevada: Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Elko County" is obviously the result of 1000's of hours of research and countless miles of off-road exploration. Hall's account of these now vanished towns is both factual and facinating as he provides the history, stories, and current state of dozens of now defunct towns, mines, and ranch sites of the area.
The text alone is worth the price for the facts and stories, but even better are the historical photos which can often be contrasted with the author's own photo's of the same area.
A must-have for any Nevada historian or explorer.

We saw this book at the library first and decided we wanted to add it to our children's collection. It's a very touching account of a house that believes it's too old and worn out to have any value to anyone any longer. But along comes that special family who can see it's potential. This book has a great lesson for kids and adults alike...When we read it we saw the surface message about the value of renovating beautiful old homes, but we also saw the deeper lesson of treating our own elders with respect and recognizing their continued contributions to our family life. My 5 year old resident philosopher also recognized that the house can represent anyone who is `a little rough around the edges' and that we just need to take time to get to know them before we can see how beautiful they are on the inside (from the mouths of babes come the wisdom of the sages!).

Reviewed by Matthew Feliciano (age 7) for Reader Views (12/07)

"This Old House" is about a house that is very old. One day a family comes by and wants it. When the moving truck comes, the house thinks it's the bulldozer coming to knock it down. When they think the bulldozer is coming, all of the house's friends come and say goodbye to it. When the house and his friends look at the bulldozer, it's no bulldozer at all!! It's a moving truck bring a family to come live in the old house. In the end, the family fixes up the house and lives in it forever. The family and the house both are very happy together.

I liked this book a lot! It was fun to read. I felt sad for the house in the beginning and then at the end I felt really happy for the house because it was going to be lived in like it dreamed. "The Old House" is the best bedtime story I have ever read.

Emma and Luke visit their Grandma in the city. Grandma escorts the children to places she has lived and recalls her life as a child. Emma does not believe that the little girl "Norrie" was her grandmother. Grandma then shows Emma and Luke proof that she is talking about her own life. The children then see their grandmother in a new light.

I enjoyed reading this book because it illustrates that adults have had a young life. The pictures are well created and designed. They add a lot to the story. The ending of the story shows that grandmothers (and grandparents as a whole) can sing and dance and have fun, just like "younger people". This is an important lesson for young children to understand.

From an educator's standpoint (as well as a parent's standpoint), this book could be used to teach children about grandparents. It could be a starting point for a variety of lessons about families, grandparents, and celebrations. It's a book that doesn't present older persons in a biased point of view.

Emma and Luke visit their Grandma in the city. Grandma escorts the children to places she has lived and recalls her life as a child. Emma does not believe that the little girl "Norrie" was her grandmother. Grandma then shows Emma and Luke proof that she is talking about her own life. The children then see their grandmother in a new light.

I enjoyed reading this book because it illustrates that adults have had a young life. The pictures are well created and designed. They add a lot to the story. The ending of the story shows that grandmothers (and grandparents as a whole) can sing and dance and have fun, just like "younger people". This is an important lesson for young children to understand.

From an educator's standpoint (as well as a parent's standpoint), this book could be used to teach children about grandparents. It could be a starting point for a variety of lessons about families, grandparents, and celebrations. It's a book that doesn't present older persons in a biased point of view.

Erin's poetry style is imminently readable, and a lot of the poems in One Above & One Below are positively fun. One of my favorites was "On Being Fired Again." The poet's wry sense of humor is evident even she deals with darker issues. She also has a remarkable ability to fashion a poem in a form to fit the content - you can tell the workmanship behind even casual-seeming phrases. I also recommend Infanta, which showcases a different, more melancholy facet of this writer.

A spectacular second volume, this group of poems features settings as culturally central as Paris, but finds its home mostly in the badlands of Nebraska. Belieu places people in the most quotidian of circumstances (hanging out in the Dairy Barn parking lot, cooking stew in a pioneering sod house)and finds a way in each instance to reveal the richness of her character's imagination via an exact and lyrically rich procession of images. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the best that the youngest generation of American poets has to offer.

Some ancient scrolls are proving that some vikings lived in the Kinetic City 500 years before Colombus discovered America. But some citizens including J. Angstrong Sneer think that the City Scrolls are fakes. So the super crew try to discover the truth about the scrools and...oops, I can`t tell you what is going up next. If you are doing a book report, I recommend you to choose this book. I also recommend this book for people who love adventure and detective books.

This was a really good book. This is my favorite series of books. This one is goofy and suspenseful. -Alex (age 9)