Fitzgerald Books

I really liked this book because I like magic and really funny books. My favorite part was when Pish made the mer maid come and the mer maid said " What am I doing here?" It was a very fun book to read and you should read it too.

I loved reading this book to my son. It gave us lots to talk about and we kept coming back to it. Check out other books by this author. She has a unique style and her insights into a child's mind are right on.

I am six years old and just started playing baseball this year. It was great to read a book about a boy who loved baseball so much even if his team wasn't winning. The end was very good and very exciting.

Our family loves Fred Bowen's books because each story includes a little real sports history. The history in Playoff Dreams is about Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs. He was a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude. He never got down on the game even though his team never made it to the World Series. The main character in Playoff Dreams is a centerfielder named Brendan. He is a really good player but he's bummed because his teammates stink. He goes to a game at Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs). The whole scene at Wrigley Field is very interesting and readers will be surprised at what Brendan does (reluctantly) because of a long-standing real-life tradition with Cubs fans. (It's really neat the way the author pulls in real history.) Brendan learns about the legend of Ernie Banks at Wrigley Field and the lesson about optimism takes root slowly in Brendan. Parents will love the moral of the story and kids will love all the sports action (there's lots of it.)

Gyleen puts together a visual feast of quilts coupled the simple yet expansive eloquence of a handful of syllables. Wonderful.

I received this gem of a book as a gift, loved it, and within a few months sent it as a gift to someone who also loved it. This beautiful quilting book is not about instructions, but about inspiration for the eye and thoughtful haiku for the mind. I keep it on my bedside table and have enjoyed different patterns and poetry at different times. This is a book to enjoy over and over again!

Porcupine is eating peanut butter and celery sticks for lunch when he gets an idea. Why not have a pajama party, so he invites Otter and Owl. Owl says he wants to watch a scary movie on TV, Otter wants to make cookies. No problem Porcupine says, we can do it all at my place. The cookies are good, but the movie is really scary and our trio imagines all kinds of things during the night, until they finally drift off to sleep.

My almost three-year-old son Devon really like this book. We've been reading these kind of early reading books for a year now, with me making up words to the stories, words I thought he could understand. But now that he knows all his letters (both upper and lower case), I'm reading the actual words with my fingers under them as we move along. If you want your toddler to read before Kindergarten, and I do, then this is the kind of book you want in your house. It's a nice story, an excellent addition to your reading arsenal.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training

My daughter and I found this book to be enjoyable. Not only is it fun to read (and quick) for dads, but a good book for new readers. The stories cover essential topics and how the three friends in the story handle them together. Easy for children to learn from and apply to their situations, such as what those noises in the night really are.

Of course, any of Fitzgerald's work edited by Mr. Bruccoli must be wonderful. These short stories, which appeared in various magazines from the 20s through the 40s are simply charming. Fitzgerald's elegant style of writing and sensuous story-telling techinque captivate the reader from the very first lines. Particularly appealing is Fitzgerld's use of humor - sometimes dry; sometimes understated - and well illustrated in the story, "The Pusher in the Face." Typical of early Fitzgerald, some of these stories end with an ironic twist of fate, such as the story, "Two for a Penny." Fitzgerald's themes are timeless and relevant to people living at the end of this century. These stories could have been written yesterday. If it is cold where you are, read these stories with a cup of hot cocoa by the fire; if warm, read them on your porch in the early evening with a pitcher of ice tea or lemonade.

Many American writers learn much about their craft by studying Fitzgerald. As Dorothy Parker said: Fitzgerald could write a bad story, but he couldn't write badly. Many of these stories, although unsuccessful by Fitzgerald's standards, are nonetheless instructive in their weakness: the strong parts stand out so clearly that they afford insights into what makes a given story truly work, and what makes one fall short. And: weak or not, there's beautiful writing in all of them. This collection is a treasure for Fitzgerald fans, and an important addition to a fiction writer's or writing student's bookshelf.

"The Pumpkin Patch" by Margaret McNamara. Illustrated by Mike Gordon.
Aladdin Paperbacks, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003

This is a "Ready To Read" book that begins with Mrs. Connor bringing her first grade class to the "Pumpkin Patch" to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween, and Katie wanted to find the perfect pumpkin. All throughout the long bus ride (on a standard yellow school bus), Katie dreamed about the "perfect pumpkin". BUT! When she finally chose a pumpkin, Katie's ideal pumpkin did not meet the expectations of all the other kids, Emma and Ayanna and Neil and James. Not round! Not big! Not tall! Too, too small! Katie realized that her pumpkin was too small.

When Katie tells her father that she had picked a "... bad pumpkin", Dad knows just what to do. What they do together is the central theme of the entire book, and I will not tell you here how the father solves the dilemma. This is an excellent Halloween book, especially for individuals who are concerned that Halloween is really an ancient pagan Celtic feast. By the way, one of the reasons that we purchased this book for our granddaughter, Tabitha, is that my wife, a widow, was Mrs. Connor, a school teacher, before she married me, a widower.

My son reads at an early first grade level and found this book to be only slightly challenging and plenty of fun to read. The story was interesting, which is always an important motivator. The pages have colorful pictures and are not overly wordy, which can somtimes overwhelm beginners. Finally, most of the words are phonetic, with very few sight words, which was great for us, as my son gets frustrated when a story has too many new sight words that he doesn't know.

What's more perfect that a cute little puppy licking your nose to show you that he loves you? When Nancy finally gets the dog she's been begging her Dad for, everyone is happy -- at least for a while.

It seems like food has been disappearing, and not just in the Drew household. What's even worse, it seems that the most adorable chocolate-colored puppy in the world is going to be held responsible. Unless, of course, Nancy Drew can get on the case and save her beloved pup!

This book is a solid winner with young female readers.

My 7 year old daughter (just finished 2nd grade) loves this series. She has read almost all of them (including the newer "Clue Crew" editions) this summer. We don't know what we'll do for an encore when she's finished, as the regular Nancy Drew books are still a little long/ intimidating for her (each of these is only about 70 pages). She likes solving the mysteries, but also loves having the familiar characters in every book. We highly recommend them, and will give them as gifts to her friends in the near future.

I've read many fantasy series but Secrets of Droon is the one that I cant wait to read. This is the 24th book in the series and it continues to revel mysteries and twist your mind. This book is great for kids from 8-100000000000000. Know what mean.

In the 24th edition of the Droon series, Lord Sparr's evil stepfather Ko is back and deadlier than ever. Ko and his beasts have now entered Doobesh, a city of swindlers, thieves, pirates, and people of the vile kind. Nobody can be trusted in this city, and Ko is using the magical forge in the city to create powerful armor for his army, an army that will be like none other. The kids, Eric, Neal, and Julie along with Princess Keeah realize that if Ko succeeds in making the armor, he would be unstoppable and destroy Droon as we know it. Their only option to save Droon is to destroy the armor first before Ko can use it. Can the kids outwit Ko and save the day once again? Read and you shall find out. Let the race begin! Once again this was a well written children's book. Good for young kids who are just starting more challenging reading.

Rat Race Blues is a real find. This account of the life of Gigi Gryce was an inspiration to me. We read it in our library book club for January 2003, where it was a great hit with all our members.
I would recommend it to anyone who is curious about life and/ or music and particularly to young people, struggling against the odds of poverty and racism.

The book rediscovers Gigi Gryce, a name that appears on the records of numerous famous Jazz musicians,Cifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Thelonius Monk, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer.... to name only a few.
The research done by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald is meticulous and sensitive. They manage to give us an insiders view of the Jazz scene in the 50's and early 60's, depicting Gigi's whole life from a strict and loving upbringing in Pensecola, Florida to his education at the Boston Conservatory; heady days in New York playing with all the greats and starting a family; his attempts to help musicians protect their publishing rights and finally his reinvention of himself as a teacher in the Bronx.
For the most part, the authors are in the background, letting the musicians, family and friends speak for themselves about their memories of Gryce. Some of the anecdotes are hilarious. There are also great photos, including one of a young Quincy Jones and Clifford Brown who worked with Gigi in the Lionel Hampton band.
Finding Gigi Gryce is akin to finding Zora Neal Hurston or more recently Henry Grimes.
Congratulations to the authors for a book that sets a high standard for biographies of musicians.

This book is the most complete discography you will ever find about the jazz great, GiGi Gryce. It is well-written and a very fascinating history of jazz, itself, revealing many "insider" type anecdotes about the old days in jazz history. There are many interviews with famous jazz greats but best of all, the story of a very talented and enigmatic gentleman, Mr. GiGi Gryce
Kudos to to Cohen and Fitzgerald for a Class A book destined to become a textbook reference on this period in jazz history.

Our class learned how to make canoes by reading this book. The book was very funny when the bear ate all of the fish. We learned about many different types of animals. Having something bigger is not always better. This book would be good for kids to read because you can learn about a lot of things.

The time has come for Red Fox to have his own canoe. He decides that it must be from the largest tree he can find. But when the canoe is finished, and he begins picking up hitchhikers, he learns that more is not always better! This was one of my favorite books as a child, and I am very lucky to have found it to share with my own children.