Classic Books

This has to be one of the most hilarious and enchanting children's books ever written. It was written ages ago, and yet it still has such a power over everyone that it might as well be considered a classic (I hope it is) as it artfully combines a fairy tale, humor, and a soft and simple story of caring.

The story begins as the little Princess Lenore falls sick and claims that the only thing that will make her better is if she has the moon. Thus her father the King begins a quest to find someone that can bring her the moon. He consults the wisest in the kingdom, people who cannot even agree on what is what.

Thus comes a surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent story about observation and personal view that is educational as well as enchanting.

A beautiful little book for the elementary school set (illustrations by Louis Slobodkin are wavy and whimsical). The story concerns the princess Lenore, who is ill from "a surfeit of raspberry tarts." To make her well, the King offers to get her whatever she desires. What Princess Lenore desires, however, is the moon. The King and his advisors scramble to fulfill her wish, and then to preserve the illusion once they have given her the moon. It is Princess Lenore herself who comes up with the solutions to both problem, out thinking the worldly, wise advisers.Thuber's storytelling style is quite wonderful here -- the language is fairly simple, and there's a nice cadence of repetitive elements that kids will enjoy. A beautiful, funny and satisfying story.

I read this book many time to my daughter, since her age of three-four, she still enjoy it much. It is a beautiful, funny, and well written story. It is my definitely one of my favorite. It teaches you that what the world is after all it is what we think it is. What a lesson for the half-empty fellows! It is written in a crescendo on this theme until the end: the eye blinking moon. Beautiful.

The princess wanted the moon. Her father, the king, demanded it be gotten for her. As you can imagine, this causes problems for the king's servants. The Royal Wizard, Mathematician and the Lord High Chamberlain have done many near-impossible feats for the king--but getting the moon? It's out of the question! But the Royal Court Jester thinks not. (Is this another one of his jokes?) A funny story.

A Non-Workbook, Non-Textbook Approach to Teaching Language Arts: Grades 4 Through 8 and Up

Illustrations are sketched and mostly pastel colors are utiilized. After reading each detailed page, the pictures don't seem to do much for the imagination. Good ideas are behind the words, but this book is extremely wordy at times and could've been shortened while still making the same point known. I enjoyed how the King, who was in search for the moon for his sick daughter, continued to ask his smartest men to figure out a way to get his daughter the moon only to find out that the court jester was the wittiest of them all. The daughter helps solve her own problem without realizing it and comes to a wonderful conclusion about how she can have the moon in her hand and also see it in the sky.

Quality hard cover book, absolutely the best Dr Seuss story of all time, IMPOSSIBLE to get in Australia. Order this book, it is truly the best thing you will ever do for your child, full of wonderful pictures.

This is a classic Dr. Suess book from my childhood. I have read it over and over again to my kids, and now I am reading it to my grandchildren. This book ranks right up there with The Cat in the Hat for entertainment value, for some reason it was a Dr. Suess book that wasn't as well known. Thank goodness my grandmother was a librarian and sent it to me for my 5th birthday. Your kids will LOVE this book, and adults actually enjoy reading it, too!

I thought I knew all the Dr. Seuss books, but this one came to my attention recently and I had never heard of it before. I bought it immediately in order to read it to my youngest daughter before she outgrows children's books. She loved the story and I had one more wonderful message to give her from Dr. Seuss, "Keep thinking of all the wonderful things that are possible!"

This is my favorite Seuss book (yes, I say that about all of them). Year after year I buy this for my friends' kids, but I think it's a great book for an adult library, too.

All you have to say is Dr Seuss. All of his books are excellent!

Fantastic bit of fun that is bright, colourful, clever, simple and appeals to all age groups! A true classic in the making!

My kids fight to be the one holding this book. They love the search as the pages turn to the next challenge.

This is such a beautiful book. I recommend everyone to add a copy of this book to their library. I picked up this book in the classroom I work in to engage a 3 year old child with autism. She didn't take her eyes off this book and wanted to play with it again and again. I am now getting one for my three year old son. Every child and adult will love this book. It is truly amazing. Never have I seen such wonderful pop up art done.

For 3 years now, I've been a David A. Carter fan. Why 3 years? You put two and two together. He's the author of these three *very* cool pop-up books that are unlike any pop-up books I've ever seen. They are like individual works of art only they're purchasable at any generic bookstore. It's "Pop" art. Get the double entendre? Well, if not, take a look at the pics above.

My first introduction to his work was with the book: "One Red Dot." Since then he's created "600 Black Spots" and "Blue 2." I purchased these in "new" condition for half of their purchase price on Amazon. However, if you're the type of parent who lets their child run amok with their baby books (not a bad thing) this may have to take a backseat for a year or two. I had to be very careful with my daughter when reading this book. Like any one-year-old her first instinct was to grab then ensuingly tear off the colorful fluttering paper. But I did manage to keep the book "relatively" unscathed and usable for my second daughter.

He's written a couple more "traditional" pop up books about bugs but these were the ones that hooked me. Oh and one more thing, one of the pages makes a great sawing noise when the blades scrape against the paper as you open the page. Clever.
'Kathleen Dougherty
http://the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com/

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R34SQ3IXMD8XCL

I recently purchased and read this book as I continue to avidly research autism and it's treatment. I came across this book and purchased it based on it's reviews, and there is clearly a reason that this book has very high reviews. Dr. Koegel has written one of the best books that I have read covering this topic. The book itself is very well written and documented, and it gives hands-on treatment approaches to problematic behavior. Most books talk about the various areas of difficulties that a child w/ autism has, but for anyone that spends anytime around a child w/ it, we don't need a book to tell us what defines problematic behavior because we could write one ourselves. What someone needs is this book that discusses why the behaviors occur and how to replace the inappropriate behavior w/ something the child can learn from and consequently, yield appropriate behavior. After all, if we don't have a cure yet, we should at the very least, have a way to beat it and overcome it!

Thus, my appreciation really does go out to Dr. Koegel and her research/exprerience w/ dealing w/ children w/ autism. My only regret is that she works out of UCLA and is far away because she would be an incredible asset to a child w/ autism in Texas. She does however have available for purchase through her website, a set of various training manuals that cover areas of problematic behavior that give a more in-depth approach to how to teach and work w/ a child so that they can learn how to eliminate the behavior and replace it w/ an appropriate one. That is, after all, the point -- help the child learn by teaching them how to effectively deal w/ their autism so that they can overcome it! This book is the answer, I thank Dr. Koegel for sharing and allowing us to have hope in, at times, a very difficult world.

So full of hope and realism. If you are going through a tough time coping with the diagnosis, this book will get you back on track and focused on how to best help your child from an ABA/educational perspective. You won't find all the controversial treatments in here, but straight forward therapist and parent perspectives on how to help your child. I immediately started using techniques discussed in the book and was impressed by how quickly my daughter responded. At 3.5 she still has a way to go, but I have such an improved outlook for her future thanks to this book.

My son was diagnosed with ASD at 2. I read many books and this was my favorite. It was clear, easy to read and most of all it gives you techniques on how to help your child overcome. It gave me hope when I was facing his diagnosis.

Although I have not purchased this book, I have read a copy that I borrowed from a library.

While the author of this book doesn't guarantee that autistic kids will improve suddenly as soon as their cargivers start giving them the help they need, she talks about how much they can progress eventually if their caregivers give them all the help they need. I really like books that tell us about how much autistic people can progress eventually if they are given every chance to progress as much as they can, and that also give examples of those who have made great progress already, as a result of being given every chance to progress as much as they can. In fact, I really like all books that offer solutions to major problems and/or better alternatives to the status quo!

There are books on autism that I recommend that parents and heathcare professionals read. This is one book that I recommend that they don't just read but buy and keep it for future references.

There is such a wealth of info on autism here. If you can only afford to buy one book on autism. Let this be the one.

The authors take a highly optimistic view of treating autism. However, they make no bones about the fact that the treatment process is long, tedious and can even be painful. The first chapter deals with diagnosis and dealing with the initial shock.

From the second chapter onwards, the authors get down to earth with managing the autistic child. They go down to every detail on how to encourage communication. Start from the very simple and basic. Turn sounds into words. Reward, reinforce ...

Next, it's down to breaking the self-stimulating or injury cycle. Introduce replacement behaviour. The authors go into the dos and don'ts for breaking repetitive actions. Why punishment doesn't work for them. There is also a very practical FAQ section that deals with the common concerns and problems faced by parents and care providers.

The following chapters deal with imparting social skills, providing education and family support. There is so much useful info that it's impossible to finish, let alone digest in one reading. Buy this book and keep referring to it as you manage autistic children and see them grow up.

Another excellent Pearl Buck Book. A study of the Chinese culture and the role of women within the culture.

This book is wonderful--a captivating read, and Madame Wu is possibly the most dynamic, interesting, surprising and lovable character I've ever read. The story goes much deeper than you expect it to, and is ultimately an investigation into freedom, the spirit, and the nature of love and knowledge.

At 40, Madame Wu discovers what love is and what it is not as she invites a young village foundling into her home as 2nd wife. She is composed and beautiful and intimidating, but discovers that love is finding your true self. Beautifully written and a story that keeps me intrigued until the last page.

I love Pearl Buck's books. She is so adept at taking the reader right into a foreign world and making it understandable. One begins to see how we are all really the same underneath our outward appearances and social customs. In this book, wealtlhy Madame Wu changes the course of her entire family's lives because of her strong desires to ultimately satisfy self. At first, her actions appear to be somewhat self-sacrificing in a certain way. Some readers may find her attitudes and actions quite modern, but there are far-reaching consequences to those actions and one wonders how selfless those actions really are in the end. I found the surprise turn in Madame Wu's relationship/feelings for the exiled priest to be a bit far-fetched for a wealthy Chinese woman of her time, but life can take odd twists and turns. To me this book is a moral tale of actions and consequences. I do not belive she or her family were better off in the end in spite of her taking over the care of the priest's orphans. Very interesting reading...food for thought.

The movie was good but it doesn't follow the book and the book is much better.

The children in my child care center LOVED this book. It sparked their imaginations like no commercialized series ever could. It is storytelling the way I remembered it as a child. You don't have to see the movie, buy a figurine or see the cartoon to enjoy it.

Sad to say, I'd never heard of Jolly Roger Bradfield before... until I found an original book at an Antique Book Fair. It was a bit too pricey for me so I checked out Amazon... YES! They're all here! Very cute stories and GREAT artwork. I will be getting them all!

A reprint of a children's classic - entertaining storyline, whimsical illustrations, timeless moral lessons. It recently captured and held the attention of my son's entire kindergarten class as effectively as it did mine over 40 years ago. The lesson: compassion and thoughtfulness is worthy of the biggest rewards in life.

I've looked for this book for years, wanting to read it to my own children. How lucky I am that it has been republished and that I still have children young enough to properly enjoy it, and how sad that my older children missed it when they were in the prime audience age range!

This is a beautiful, thoroughly enchanting story which illustrates how woefully wrong it is to sacrifice the well being of others in striving for your own personal joy and success. I recall how taken I was with the colony of artist mice painting mini masterpieces and the pie making creature, how much I would have wanted them for my own even without the promise of a princess' hand in marriage (or prince's for that matter, though at age six I wasn't interested in either) as a reward. I was awed by Bernard's show of respect for creatures I would have had difficulty recognizing as anything other than toys before learning they had lives and purposes of their own. Some people go through their entire lives without learning that.

This book is fabulous through and through. I love the creative, quirky illustrations and the imaginative storyline, but what really sets this book apart is the beautiful message: that the right prince for a princess is the one who shows kindness and consideration for others. A great message for girls among the princess-fantasy filled world of books.

High quality, very nice printing, wonderfully packaged. From the original publisher. This will become a keepsake item for your children and family.

I bought this product for my mother-in-law (at the request of my mother-in-law) who is 79. She had just seen the movie Miss Potter with Rene Zellweger on TV and wanted to read the books. I got on Amazon and told her the choices - nothing would do but the boxed set. And having received it she talks every day about reading one of the little books. She absolutely loves it. The illustrations are of course, beautiful and the stories sweet. The books are as Beatrix Potter thought they should be - little for little hands. It's a beautiful set.

Books arrived within seven days of purchase - excellent service when you consider they travelled more than 12,000 miles to Australia.

Excellent, elegant, always fascinating. Something the you shouldn't miss in your library. A great way to introduce Miss Potter's work to your chindren.

I bought this box as a gift to my family, as we have always loved the stories by Beatrix Potter. We've had a couple of books standing in the bookshelf since we (the parents of the family) were small ourselves. We have two boys ages 6 and 3, and both of them have fallen in love with Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and the rest of the animals.

The box itself is both handy and pretty, and we placed it directly in our bookshelf. The books inside are the same as the ones that can be bought separately, and they all contain Potter's beautiful artwork and well-written stories.

All in all we, the whole faily, are very pleased with this buy. It just couldn't get better.

I'm also really pleased with the prices here at Amazon, as we would have to pay about $300 for this boxed set in Norway.

Very clear and easy to understand. Covers odds and house advantage of various casino games. If you want to understand the math and odds the book gives good examples that are clear. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand this book. Got a copy for my retired uncle and he loves it for his casino trips. Clearly explains the house has an advantage, but teaches you how to minimize that so your money and free drinks last longer.

This book will explain to you, in no uncertain terms, exactly why you can't win at most games. However, it will give you tips on how to win more often. And, it will show you a few games where you actually have a chance to beat the house.

for anyone that spends any time or money gambling, you really ought to read this book.

...but, if you do make a trip to Vegas and lose, you'll know you did your very best and not be filled with complete regret about placing sucker and egotistical bets and getting taken in by the atmosphere in general. The author talks in detail about the emotional roller-coaster that is casino gambling, and this book will help you smooth out those bumps in the roller coaster.

Brisman is also very clear that no matter how skilled your decisions, the odds WILL remain in favor of the house at all times.

I'm not a particularly serious gambler - I go to casinos maybe 2-3 times a year. I bought this book several years ago before my first trip to vegas and read it on the plane on my way out (and have gone back and consulted it countless times since), and I'm very happy with it.

The book contains a few introductory chapters followed by 12 chapters devoted to common casino games (followed by a few misc. chapters at the end). It's very straightforward and takes a no-nonsense approach, backed by statistics/probability, to disect each game. For each casino game, the book tells you what the odds are if you play 'by the book', and describes various strategies for playing. In my opinion, this book (or a similar work) is a MUST if you are a beginning gambler and will probably be very useful if you are an intermediate level gambler. It's easy to understand, but at the same time it isn't dumbed down, so should remain a useful reference for all but the most serious/knowledgable gamblers.

I purchased this book primarily to learn blackjack, and specifically to learn basic strategy. The Blackjack chapter is very well laid out and should allow a beginner to learn basic strategy in a fairly short period of time, as it did in my case. If you play blackjack (or plan to play) and don't know basic strategy (or worse - don't know what basic strategy is!) then this book is an absolute must. I feel like I got my money's worth out of the blackjack chapter alone, with the rest of the book a very much appreciated added bonus.

The book has 16 chapters, 2 of which are introductory, and 13 are dedicated to the games themselves. If you've ever visited a casino, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by flashing lights and sounds of coins falling everywhere, and then perhaps make an errant decision about playing a slot game or joining a roulette table.

This book does a good job on teaching the fundamentals and rules of each game, and it goes further to tell you why the game is profitable for the casino and how fast you should expect to lose money on it. Since the only game that might possibly be played to the player's advantage is blackjack, Chapter 3, which deals with blackjack, is one of the largest in the book. The author also discusses popular "winning" systems and with mathematical detail displays their faults.

It's an excellent guide to all the games and casino business in general. However, the book serves a dual purpose - after I learned about the odds and the house edge in each game, it's unlikely I will ever gamble at a casino again.

This book would be an invaluable asset to have handy to anyone who reads a lot.It is a large book ,1144 pages.It is the type of book that will be turned to frequently when you come across something in your reading that you would like to know a bit more about without going to a lot of trouble or checking a lot of sources. The book covers a lot more than literature and authors. It is an encyclopedia in every sense of the word.For instance ,if you have never heard of an author,or a book,that is mentioned somewhere ;there's a good chance that here you will find enough to serve your needs.However;if you do know the author and his works ,you will probably basically know what is in this book.
Although most of the reviewers are very "well read";don't assume this is not the book for the "ordinary reader".I consider myself in that second group;and I can vouch that it is very down to earth and jam packed full of information,usable for everybody,regardless of their background or knowledge.
I must also warn you that when you pick it up there is a great tendency to flip around it from one thing to another. It is no problem to spend an hour or more glancing through it. It is also the type of thing that can be left around for anyone to pick up,open at a page at random;and they will find something to interest them.
It's difficult to say what all's in the book;because it covers all types of things other than literature.
Just a few for instances;

Pg 321..we get all the rulers of England from 829-
present,including their time in office.
Pg.44..explanation of Gordian knot.
Pg.434.. background of the guillotine.
Pg.491..Huguenots
Pg.581..Last Supper
Pg.717-718..Napoleon I,II &III explained.
Artists are covered.I found it interesting that max Ernst is included but not M.C.Escher. We get definitions such as epigram,epilogue,epinicion and epiphany on Pg.325.A flip of pages to 1020, and we get a short explanation of the Thirty Year War,mixed in with authors and book titles.
What I've been trying to convey is the wide range of entries in the book and that it covers much more than literature and authors. It is a bit of a guess what you will find;but that is part of the enjoyment you will getfrom this book.You'll find "whore of Babylon" but not "The Butcher's Apron".The Pulitzer Prize winners are all listed.
I could go on forever;I'll quit now,as most readers have gotten my pointby now.I hope so,anyway.
If you buy this book,or buy it for someone who reads a lot;you'll never regret it.

I love my 4th edition and am glad I've kept my 2nd edition as now I have the best of both worlds. New info in 4th and the deleted info in the 2nd. The only thing I would do to improve the next edition is go back to the alphabet tabulations.

He drove an ambulance during World War 1, before becoming one of America's most famous novelists. Who wrote "Death of a Salesman"? Who wrote "Manhattan Transfer? Who created the character, Sherlock Holmes"? Holden Caulfield was the main character of what famous novel? Who wrote "Catch-22"? These are just some of the questions that "Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia" can answer. Bruce Murphy's book offers biographical notes on writers, synopsis of famous books, plays and poems, descriptions of characters and detailed explanation of literary terms and movements.

I have had my copy of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia since its publication in 1987 and have found no better reference tool for writing research papers and for general literary inquiries. Although "Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia" is over-due for a major facelift, it continues to be a valuable tool - I keep my copy at arms reach along with my copy of "Oxford Companion to American Literature", by James D. Hart.

This is the kind of work which when first dipped into leads to the temptation to dip into it more and more . The sheer amount of information is so great, the entries so various in subject that endless delight is to be found in learning more and more. There are however as with most things, a few problems and limitations.
Take for instance the opening entry of the Encyclopedia, the entry on 'Aaron'. We truly learn important things about Moses' brother and mouthpiece. But for anyone who knows Biblical literature not to speak of its commentaries, the entry is a shortcut of shortcuts. And thus misleading. For it does not tell of Aaron's role as leader of the Temple ceremony worship, does not explain his connection with Moses in a deep way, nor even mention their sister Miriam, does not tell of the death of Aaron's son in offering up strange fire, does not tell anything about Aaron's role as ' man of peace beloved by the people'. One of the great farewell scenes of world- literature Aaron's climbing to the top of Har Ha-Hor is not mentioned.
I take this one example to indicate another simple truth. An encylopedia of this kind is always best on a subject one does not really know much about. Then anything we are told , adds to our knowledge if not necesarily our understanding.
In checking out a number of articles I did not find ' inaccuracy' here. In confronting other subjects I knew nothing about I did have a sense that I was getting reliable information.
This is again a good tool and source for attaining first knowledge of a subject.
However if one really wants to know and understand the meaning of a particular subject my recommendation would be to supplement this work with other sources of information.

I purchased this for myself my second year of college. Being an English major especially interested in the Modernists, it soon became the most used volume in my bookcase. A fantastic quick reference when crunched for time and excellent for understanding those oh-so-esoteric literary allusions. It's wonderful, with references for historical and artistic events and movements, novels, epics, authors, poets . . . a must for any lover and/or student of literature. This would make a fantastic gift, too!

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.