Fox Books

The message of this book is timeless, and yet is more needed in this time than ever, Focus on Peace to create peace, imagine a peaceful world, shifting the consciousness of the people on the planet to peace is the solution to ending violent conflict.

This poem appeals to children and adults with a simple, yet powerful and profound message.

Great family reading, also wonderful opportunity for book club and discussion groups.

A delightful poem with a message our world has never needed more. For every person who has thrown up his hands and asked "But what can I do?", The Peace Finder offers a simple yet profound answer. Join Riley McFee on his quest and become part of the solution. It may just change your life.

It seems that when chaos becomes the norm, common sense is eroded. Our world today is not peaceful. Whether you support the strategy of the current Administration or you don't, you have to agree that there is chaos, confusion and war in too many places. Can there be peace? Yes, but it's not going to be easy. Thankfully, Joan McWilliams has written a two-parter--perfect for someone trying to find their voice and perfect for someone seeking a realistic type of action plan that can be used as a model for peace. The first part focuses on the delightful Riley McFee and his search for world peace among all the nay-sayers. Part two identifies a variety of areas that the journey can be continued, one step at a time. This is a book to be shared by and with family and friends. Highly recommended.

If you want to make a difference in world peace but don't know where to start, The PeaceFinder is for you! It's an easy read and you can begin incorporating its messages into your life right away. The PeaceFinder would make a great gift or book club selection. Spread the word - Peace is possible - one person at a time!

Author Joan McWilliams has given us a grand idea in this charming, enlightening, and important book. Peace -- enduring world peace-- is within the reach of all of us; but, she says, we need to embrace that concept more than we entertain the rush to war as our default problem solving. Her straight-forward idea is told in a poem about a gifted young child (purity and innocence) finding his way through skeptics and nay-sayers to the mindful and conscious attainment of peace. Her concept relies upon scientific concepts and traditional global wisdom and shows us a method that is actually simple but relies upon aggregation, that is, a lot of us creating a tipping point. But, that is now quantum theory come alive: it is accessing science today for the good of our planet.
The book has, too, a section on ways to become an active "peace participant" that shows us specific ways to Ghandi's "being the peace we seek in the world" and Margaret Mead's "groups of committed citizens being the only way the world has ever changed."
The world can no longer afford the catastrophic economic and psychological consequences of war and violence. McWilliams points out that finding peace is imperative to our survival and shows a positive way to contribute our energy to the solution. A life without violence? The Peacefinder shows us it is possible.
This book is my suggestion for a perfect gift --think about high school students-- and all adults.

Finally, there is a book out there with common sense, a lttle dirt and a lot of laughs. Where has this writer Fox been all my life? The book is out of this world. A Punk in Gallows America is gonna be one of those underground deals. let's keep it this way. Anyone up for a Fox fan club, I'm in. I wanna see more of this guy's stuff.

Everywhere I look it seems like people have a copy of this book. I finally got mine and finished it in a day. Excellent. I understand why so many people are reading this book. Eddie Way is just like you and me, a little lost but with a lot of soul. Reading Fox's prose is out of this world. The guy is a closet genius. Rock on. This book is out and it is gonna cause a stir!

If you ever screwed up then gotten back in the game, this book is for you. It is wild and so funny. Eddie Ways the average Joe does some soul seraching in some strange areas. The descriptions for Chicago's seedy side are so P-E-R-F-E-C-T, it makes you want to find out more. I wouldn't be suprised if Hollywood snatched this one up. Remarkable.
But the best deal of this book is that the writing. Strong. Prokoving and very literary. No toliet paper here. Paul Fox is a promising writer with a long history of quiry and thoughtproking lit. I think as his first novel, this is gonna bring him some fame. You gotta check it out .

Wow. Talk about a 180 chage for Eddie Ways the main charcter. Once an everday person his wife leaves, his cash dries up and he's left with a house in the Burbs. What to do? Eddie jumps the line and soul searches ala getting into the real- real life folks. He meets his gal Lisa and begins an adventure that unravels his person down to the bone. In the eddie finds a way out but how he gets there is worth the read. Paul Fox is the hottest writer out of Chicago yet. Vivid. Clash. Bang of words. He's gonna big .

I recommend this book very highly. I feel there is a little of the PUNK in all of us. I read the book from front to back in record time. If you have ever read something and wished it would never end, this book will be a great experience for you. When you read it, I think you'll understand exactly what I mean!

I wish Reader's Digest would print some more of these books. It is such an excellent composite of popular music and the arrangements are fantastic. If anyone has a copy, I would love to buy it.

From "Somewhere, My Love" to "On Top Of Spaghetti", this book has so many songs that I find myself humming and wishing I could play. Did you like Sesame Street, Dr. Zhivago, The Godfather? Do you like showtunes? There's over a hundred of them here ... the breadth is part of the fun of the book!

Great book for the intermediate pianist. It's one of my favorites. Reader's Digest needs to reprint it. I borrow it at the public library and would buy it if available.

This songbook has many of the great songs of my youth. The chords are easy, there are guitar chords written above the treble staff and the print is large enough for those of us over 50 to see. The arrangements are outstanding. I wish Readers' Digest would reprint this book. I'd buy it in a second. I have to borrow mine from the public library.

Great songs to play for a party or for your own enjoyment: Georgia on My Mind, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, It's Impossible, My Funny Valentine, The Shadow of your Smile, The Way You Look Tonight, On the Street Where You Live, Honky-Tonk Train. ALL of the songs are excellent piano melodies sutable for the intermediate player.

This book should be twinned with all of the earlier works of Tom Sharpe, since it obviously owes its inspiration to Sharpe's peculiar and bitingly satyrical view of the world. As a life-long lover of Tom Sharpe, I was deeply saddened to find his latest Wilt in Nowhere raised not a smile on my face. Is something wrong with me? I thought I had gone off. But then, thanks to a review in Amazon, I picked up on Red Fox Goose Green, and subsequently its sequel Red Flag Blue Member, and I was once again into the madly inverted world where good folks go to church, then go to the pub, then go to kill a few foxes. Full of good naked sex, Fox's farce can certainly not be called subtle. Vulgar? Yes I suppose so, but a clever vulgarity -- like a really good joke written on a toilet wall. I think that if you are living in the gutter, this book will turn you face up, so you can see the stars. Thank God we have a new King of the absurd to put the world to rights by turning it upside down.

I could not stop laughing, even after I finished this book. Imagery stays in the mind. Beautifully crafted excentric characters bordering on the bizarre, and sometimes going over the border into a world that is seriously funny. There is a serious side to this book, but only if you choose to look for it. The hunters become the hunted and just about everything in an English village is inverted, making it more real by its dream-like quality. Very well written. Can't wait for the sequel.

As a manic depressive, I found this book a great tonic. Almost everybody in it is wierder than me. Mike Hunt, the ex-wrestler, banned because he could not remember the wrestling scripts, turned publican and maintenance man, with the wonderful logo on his van "If you want an odd job done, look up Mike Hunt". You have to really read this book or you pass over wonderful word play like that one. The characters are deliberately much larger than life. The retired gurka Colonel, "impeccably trained to kill quietly or noisily, to climb, to ski, to snorkel, to ride -- to do all of these at once while moving like the wind against the Queen's enemies, and living on a grain of rice a day...." The country vicar with a taste for very young girls and an almost balancing fear of God. Rita, the world's first Mistress of Hounds. The hundred-year old transvestite. Datardly Danny Dynamo. Cossack the canine defender. The Drip family. The village constable who seems to be the only sane personality -- and pays for it. The absconding wife of the Old Lord and her black "Rhodesian" lover. Hunchback Whistling Bob, so named because he whistles up foxes, bisexual lover of Rodg, who doesn't seem to know if he is really a she. The cast is huge and constantly entertaining in a sort of Canterbury Tales way. Almost by accident, characters find themselves locked in fellatio, pokers find their way up bums and everybody ends up naked in a battle royal. One of my favourite scenes is when the Quixotic Colonel tries to save the Vicar's wife, tied up and gagged in voluntary sado-masochism. I have never read a book quite like this one. Can't wait for the next one.

For many years there were villages in England where they got away with 'blue murder'. Never mind the mucky stuff to do with dog gets fox, or vice versa, which is of course the main plot of this book.

There was other behaviour going on that some might be ashamed of although to some of us it's very funny.... in a twisted sort of way.

What perplexes me is that the author is suppose to be based in Asia, yet has this finite knowledge of the foibles of English village life and the sort of pervs that thrive there.

I wonder if the true identity of the author is that of a retired or disgraced Tory MP, who would now be better suited to running a whore house in Bankgok. I wonder. It's a breezy fun read and makes a change from the usual boring stuff that gets onto the bookshelves of WH Smiths.

This book should be banned or awarded the Booker Prize for humour. Very adult humour. Amazon obviously made a mistake in putting this in the kids section. I would NOT allow my 14 year old daughter to read it (until she is 16, then I'd give it to her as a birthday present). Thank god we have another Tom Sharpe. Can't wait for the next one. Very British, vulgarly delicious in every way.

Gives a fantastic account of FDR from his privileged childhood and days at Groton, to his harsh induction into the world of politics; the skill at which he maneuvered the political currents to the New York Capital in Albany, and ultimately the White House. Once there Burns gives an account of passionate dedication to the American people, both during the Depression and WWII, that most likely was not seen since Lincoln. A must for anyone's Presidential Biographical collection.

This is the best account of pre-WWII FDR that has been written. Burns combines established facts with a commentary that examines the 32nd President's possible psychological views on issues. From major decisions during the New Deal to relationships with Eleanor and staff members, Burns paints an objective picture of FDR. The picture is neither rosy nor clouded, but is an intimate portrait of the longest- serving President in American history.

FDR was perhaps the craftiest politician to occupy the White House since Lincoln. The Title, "...Lion and the Fox" is an allusion to Machiavelli's dictum that one must be stouthearted like a lion and crafty like a fox. FDR combined these qualities to achieve political mastery of his time.

This book focus on his life up to the start of WWII. It paints a thorough life portrait of the president and illustrates the events and experiences that shaped this master politician. Although enjoying congressional majorities like no other president (that certainly aided the implementation of his program), FDR had to over come the reluctance of both GOP and Democrat conservatives to rework the federal government into the active economic and social player it is today. McGreggor's book explains how FDR the man made the New Deal possible.

This is a well written book that gives evidence of being thoroughly researched. For anyone interested in presidential history, I'd recommend this book.

This first of a two volume biography of FDR gives the reader an excellent introduction to the life of this most significant icon of the Twentieth Century. Although primarily a political biography, Author James MacGregor Burns gives the reader an introduction into the ancestry and early life of FDR.

FDR's education was received in the rarified air of Groton, where he under the tutelage of Rector Endicott Peabody, and Harvard, where he was a "C" student. His mother, Sara, moved to Boston to be near him during his time at Harvard, much like Douglas MacArthur's mother during his time at West Point. Formal education was completed at Columbia Law School, preparatory to his brief legal practice.

Roosevelt's life in the Democratic Party began with a call to run for the state senate in 1910. His position as a reformer made him an opponent of Tammany Hall. Over time he learned to retain his reform image while learning to work with the machine. His rise was not uninterrupted, as his 1914 attempts to run first for governor and then the US Senate were unsuccessful. His service as Undersecretary of the Navy in the Wilson Administration advanced his renown so that he was nominated for vice-president in 1920.

FDR's promising career was nearly brought to an end in 1921 by polio during a visit to the family cottage on Campobello Island. Burns tells the story of his convalescence and rehabilitation, culminating in his appearance at the 1924 National Convention to nominate Al Smith "The Happy Warrior".

Although 1924 brought crushing defeat to the Democrats, it was the start back for Roosevelt. Smith's presidential nomination in 1928 opened the governor's office for FDR who, in another Republican year, won a narrow victory, followed by a landslide in 1930. As governor he initially had to deal with a Republican legislature over issues involving the budget, electrical power and the balance between reform and Tammany. The advent of the depression brought with it new challenges of state solvency amidst rising needs.

1932 found Roosevelt as the leading Democrat in the nation, although his road to the nomination was rocky and by no means certain, with challenges from John Nance Garner, who would be placated with the vice-presidential nomination, and William McAdoo.

With election election, Roosevelt started to assume responsibility for the affairs of the nation. One of his most questionable periods was during the pre-inauguration time. As Hoover attempted to respond to the worsening economic crisis, his calls for joint action were rebuffed by the president-elect. Burns skillfully addresses the issue both from the perspectives of Roosevelt's willingness to let conditions worsen and the need to retain his own ability to act.

The main part of the story begins with FDR's first presidential inauguration in 1933 which started the fabled "First 100 Days", during which the Roosevelt magic was unchallenged. His proposals were passed with little or no opposition. With blurring speed, Congress passed the CCC, agricultural aid, states grants for unemployment relief, federal supervision of securities and railroads, the TVA, relief of mortgage debts and the start of the National Industrial Recovery Act.

Later in the year some opposition arose. One defeated measure was the St. Lawrence Seaway, which had to await the Eisenhower administration. The diplomatic recognition of the USSR and the economic downturn weakened FDR's position. Through 1934 conservative opposition held back administration measures, which led FDR to interfere in the congressional elections, not always in support of Democrats. 1935 saw a series of Supreme Court rulings which struck down New Deal measures, setting up the 1936 elections as a referendum on the New Deal. As hard as it is to believe now, the race against Gov. Alf Landon was expected to be very close. Although not officially campaigning, Roosevelt made the most of inspection tours.

The landside win in 1936 emboldened FDR to undertake his boldest initiative, the packing of the Supreme Court in order to obtain a majority which would let New Deal measures stand. Roosevelt approached the issue in total secrecy. The unveiling of his plan set off a firestorm of opposition, including much from traditional administration allies. In this he suffered his greatest defeat, mitigated only by a change which made packing unnecessary.

After the defeat of the Court packing bill, the second term was a period of mixed successes and failures, which did little to change the overall trend of events. In 1938 Roosevelt attempted, with little success, a purge of Congressional opponents. Through this term, he was hampered by the active opposition of his vice-president, John Nance Garner, a situation unlikely to exist today.

As the second term progressed, the focus shifted from domestic depression to the worsening foreign situation. This book does a good job in showing the reader how Roosevelt gradually turned the ship of state into the rising foreign headwinds.

The final drama of the second term was Roosevelt as Sphinx, leaving everyone guessing whether he would run for a third term or not. Ultimately, conceding that he could not turn down the call of the people, his nomination was assured and his transition to a war time leader continued.

Focusing on the political career of FDR, little attention is directed to his personal life, so one must look elsewhere for his relationship with Eleanor and his family. Burns skillfully presents a balanced approach of Roosevelt's career, explaining both the successes and the failures. He helps the reader understand the distinction between FDR's personal successes and the success of the Democratic Party. Neither an uncritical paean nor a hatched job, the book provides the reader with the facts of FDR's actions from his time in the New York Senate through his first eight years in the White House, with an epilogue so as not to leave the reading hanging pending the reading of the second volume. The FDR saga justifies the book and the book justifies the reading.

I recently had occasion to re-read James MacGregor Burns's marvelous Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox and was deeply impressed by how well its has withstood the test of time. The early paperback edition of this book, which was originally published in 1956 and covers the period from 1882 until 1940, characterized it as the "first political biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," and it continues to be the authoritative study of Roosevelt's preparation for and then conduct of his first two terms as president, when domestic affairs demanded most of his attention. This remains a wonderful book about this country's greatest politician of the 20th century, and it also offers many penetrating insights into the American political system.

Burns's treatment of Roosevelt is comprehensive, "[treating] much of [Roosevelt's] personal as well as his public life, because a great politician's career remorselessly sucks everything into its vortex." Roosevelt was the only child of a member of the upstate New York landed gentry, and he could have led a life of leisure. Instead, he was sent to Groton School in Massachusetts, where the headmaster, according to Burns, "made much of his eagerness to educate his boys for political leadership." Roosevelt completed his formal education at Harvard College and Columbia University Law School. Burns writes that Roosevelt's first elective office, as a New York State Senator was a "political education," and he became a "Young Lion" in Albany. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C., during World War I and was the candidate for Vice President on the Democrat Party's unsuccessful ticket in 1920. In 1921, Roosevelt was stricken with polio, and the crippling disease would have ended the public career of a less ambitious and determined man. Instead, he continued to work hard at politics, was elected Governor of New York in 1928 and then President in 1932. This was just the beginning of a remarkable career in high office.

Burns makes clear that Roosevelt was a progressive in the tradition of Woodrow Wilson but was without strong ideas or a specific agenda. According to Burns: "The presidency, Roosevelt said shortly after his election, `is preeminently a place of moral leadership.'" Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes offered this cutting assessment: "A second -class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Action to combat the depression was necessary to restore public confidence in government, and the first Hundred Days of Roosevelt's first term was one of the great periods of legislative achievement in American history. Burns writes: "Roosevelt was following no master program." However, in Burns's view: "The classic test of greatness in the White House has been the chief executive's capacity to lead Congress." According to that test, Roosevelt was a great president. Burns writes that, "[i]n his first two years in office Roosevelt achieved to a remarkable degree the exalted position of being President of all the people." Burns explains: "A remarkable aspect of the New Deal was the sweep and variety of the groups it helped."

As early as 1934, however, organized conservative opposition to the New Deal was forming. (A newspaper cartoon reprinted here shows a figure identified as the Republican Party holding a sign stating: "Roosevelt is a Red!") Roosevelt was increasingly attacked as a traitor to his class, but a large measure of his genius was his ability to hold the more extreme elements of the New Deal in check. Roosevelt's political skills were tested in every way. For instance, Burns writes that Senator Robert Wagner's National Labor Relations Act, which proposed to"[vest] massive economic and political power in organized labor" "was the most radical legislation passed during the New Deal." According to Burns, Roosevelt's initial reaction to the bill was "invariably cool or evasive," and the president, with what Burns describes as "typical Rooseveltian agility," announced his support for the bill only after its passage was certain. Burns demonstrates that Roosevelt's support, both in Congress and among the public, gradually eroded in the late 1930s, but he was, of course, elected again in 1940 and 1944. Roosevelt's nomination in 1940 was especially skillful. Many in his own party favored maintaining the tradition of limiting presidents to two terms, and Democratic Party leaders lined up in the hope of succeeding Roosevelt. Roosevelt outfoxed all of them and was elected to his historic third term.

I believe it is fair to say that Burns admires Roosevelt, but this book is not a whitewash. Burns candidly writes about Roosevelt's "deviousness." And the author is appropriately critical of Roosevelt's attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court following his overwhelming re-election in 1936. However, in my opinion, these instances simply are proof of the truism that great men are not always good men. Burns took the subtitle of this book from the Italian Renaissance political philosopher Machiavelli's dictum that a political leader must be strong like a lion and shrewd like a fox. Franklin D. Roosevelt was both, and that made him a great president. This is a great political biography of that great president

I read every single one the Willard Price "Adventure" series books when I was in the third grade. They gave me a wonderful experience that I will never forget. These are really good books for beginning readers.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and especially finding out all about the animals and about the different ways of life out in the heart of Africa. The whole Willard Price books are so good I am collecting them!

This a great book i cant get enough of the adventure series hal and roger are good characters safari adventure is one of the best yet! it tells so much about african wildlife. it also tells how the poachers catch the animals.

Elliott (age 11) Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure but also loves wildlife and loves to learn about it. I would also recommend all of the other books by Willard Price with Hal & Roger as main characters.

I've read this and several other of the Willard Price "Adventure" books to my students. They always ask for more. Former student's even come back and ask, "Who was that adventure story author that wrote about the two brothers? or What is another title of the Hal and Roger books?" Kids LOVE these books! I also enjoy reading them to the kids. I would recommend any of the Willard Price "Adventure" books.

If you're looking forward to doing the interior trim of a craftsman or Roycroft style home this is the only book you need. It has page after page of clear shop drawings of all the trim that will need to go in every room of the house, and covers every interior trim eventuality throughout the entire house.

Crown, base, casing, chair and picture rail moldings are shown in detail. Cabinet work for kitchen, bath, dining and living rooms, beams, columns, paneling, and doors are all shown in detail with full construction and assembly drawings.

This book, a few power tools, and access to a lot of oak is all it will take to create comfortable, inviting interiors that look like they're a hundred years old. Even if you aren't finishing off a craftsman house the book is great reading to fully understand the style, and could easily be the impetus for a lot of shop projects.

We own a home built in the Craftsman era, and are currently remodeling / restoring it. I have bought several books about home rehab, Craftsman furniture, etc., and was disappointed with every one of them. Then I purchased this book. The level of detail regarding moldings, for example, is incredible. The complete set of dimensions including radius data for the cove are included. Not only are all the major variants of Craftsman design illustrated and specified, the original drawings for cabinets are shown and then separate, updated drawings that conform to modern kitchen design standards are presented. Anyone who is interested in the architectural details of the Craftsman era should own this book. It is a MUST HAVE!

This is a great book for the craftsman wanting to actually build Mission style furniture. While designs for many pieces are not included, the concepts of design and construction can be used to make pretty much any item you can dream up. A craftsman style entertainment center? Stickley would never have dreamed of it. You can combine a few designs and he would be proud of what you conceived.

This book contains very good drawings of various craftsman details. Everything from front doors to various builtins. The author shows the historic details and how to recreate them with modern construction methods and materials. There are no color photos, but none are need for the type of book it is. I would love to have this author release a book on Craftsman Exteriors!!!!

The built-ins shown in this book are just what my old house needs to make it rustically "modern". I've hired a team of Amish carpenters to build them, as I don't trust my skill in that area just yet. Great book!

This is the story of what children discover every day as they go in quest of love and acceptance by others. The author, Ms Foster, brilliantly and effectively reminds children and adults alike, that unconditional love and acceptance, is already here, amongst us, quite readily available. This is the kind of story we want to read to our children. It has great family value, a lesson which is set in a delightful setting. We can only ask for another great story from this wonderful author!

Perhaps it was the instincts of genuine motherly goodness which caused Suzy Foster to write a book. For the book, indeed, does its part to coddle the next generation of Americans into aerospace engineers, doctors, moms, teachers, welders, etc.. Written as a poem with a gentle meter for small children, Solomun's Best Friend tells the story of Solomun Bunny, who --after being rejected from the social circle he desired to enter-- finds acceptance and happiness in a less likely place. As R.L. Stevenson wrote, "It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity." And like all good literature for children, Solomun's Best Friend has a valuable message for adults as well.

A simple yet effective story about love and sister-brother relationship. Makes for wonderful reading to a child. Looking forward to the next volume in the serie. Hats off to Ms Foster.

This book takes me back to a simpler time in both its words and look. It has a strong but simple message. I loved it!

"Solomun's Best Friend" carries a strong message that family is important. It is a delightful story that captures your heart as you read about Solomun's difficulties at making new friends. It is a book children will enjoy reading over and over again. It is also a good book to read to children.

A must read for all teenagers and even adults. Gives a perspective of life, adventure and information, interwoven with intriguing plots and excitement !

These Willard Price books are addicting to kids in my class...particularly boys. They read one after another until they've read them all. So glad I found a place to order them.

I love this book, I read it and I couldn't stop myself. When I saw how big it was at first I thought it was a waste of time but actually it was really interesting. I liked how they were stranded on an island with tons of pearls. Very very creative! Buy this book, it is the best adventure story I have ever read! END

I've finished reading all of Willard Prices books and I've found this to be one of the best.I liked the part when Hal and Roger started finding food and water on the desert island for themselves and their Polynesian friend,Omo.Reason I like these type of books?They are very informative,as well as having a good touch of humour and adventure.

I am 45 years old and read all of Willard Price's books when I was in junior high. I was caught up in each and every one of them! How I helped the boys struggle through each adventure! When my son was in his early teen years, I purchased all of the Price books that I could find for him. I am so excited that Amazon.com can find some of the books for me that I couldn't find years ago!! These books should be mandatory reading for all junior high students - male or (like me) female.

This is a great version of the story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier -- always one of my favorite stories as a kid. My son, age 7, loves this book and we read it over and over. The illustrations are excellent and I recommend it. My son found it in his school library but when we went to buy our own copy, it was out of print. So we had to buy it used but it was well worth the effort to have our own copy.

This book tells the classic tale of the one-legged tin soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina. The soldier suffers a series of misadventures, including being placed at the helm of a doomed paper boat, being chased by a rat, and swallowed by a fish. It's a wonderful tale that will hold older children spellbound. The illustrations are delightful. All told, the book has about 2000 words.

I taught 1st grade for 4 years and all of the teachers in my grade passed this book around at Christmas to read to our class. I cried everytime I read it. It has a wonderful message and my kids in my classroom always loved it! I have now (finally) purchased my own copy of this book to read to my little girl. It is a classic and I know she will love it as much as I do. Every home should have this book to read at Christmastime.

This is a really good book. It has all the characteristic's that made the original a cherished and remembered fairy tale. It is a great gift for any young child, and can be enjoyed by adults too. It maintains the feel of the original tale, but is more like a poem. The art work on each page is beautiful, and the pictures are totally devine. I would recomend buying this for a different and fully enjoyable version of the original.

A little boy had a set of tin soldiers that were made from a melted spoon. One soldier was missing a leg because there was not enough metal left over from the melted spoon.

Tossed aside by the boy, the one-legged soldier sees a paper cut out figure of a ballerina. She is poised on one leg and he feels an instant bond. He has found another one-legged toy and believes this to be love.

The steadfast tin soldier has a series of mishaps. He falls off the window sill into a stream. From there, he is transported to a rat infested sewer. He is swallowed by a fish and through an unlikely stroke of luck, winds up back in the boy's playroom with the other toys and the ballerina.

The ending is what gets to me every single time. A gust of wind lifts the paper ballerina up and she flutters into the fire place, winding up a charred heap of ashes. Devastated, the tin soldier joins her. The remaining metal that was once the tin soldier is a charred piece of heart shaped metal.

I still think this is a very sad story. The photographs really emphasize the feeling this story evokes.