Wood Books

I've been trying to think of unique ways to describe this graphic novel without using "visually stunning" and "breathtakingly beautiful," but I can't do it. Every panel is a work of art. The scenes where the lava meets the ocean are perfect. It's just ink on a page, but Wood captures the light, the hiss, and the heat. The graphic novel not only stands up to artistic scrutiny, but also has a gripping story.

It's a mystery, adventure that appeals to a younger audience, but I found myself engrossed. Brothers, Sumo and Duffy, are pulled out of class unexpectedly by their father to be shipped off to an island with a mysterious cousin they've never met. The whole enterprise is shady, and when the boys meet Auntie, it gets even more suspicious. The book twists and turns, so the reader is never quite sure who's good and who's bad. The boys have to do some self-reflection.

Wood's artistic portrayals of the characters captivated me. I was shaken by overweight Auntie with her greenish-pink skin and broken foot. I immediately knew something wasn't quite right with her. You can almost smell her. The boys have a pugish Hawaiian look, which made me not fall for them right away. That's a good thing. Most books aimed at younger audiences try to win the reader over to the protagonist's side with sentimentality too soon. Wood's style and scope gives the book a cinematic depth that I have rarely seen in graphic novels. One panel you're in the boat with the characters, waves pounding; the next you have a bird's eye view. It sets a fast adventure pace that young readers will love.

Overall, I'll be shocked if Into The Volcano doesn't win some awards.

Wow. Don Wood's Into the Volcano is one powerhouse of a graphic novel that you won't want to miss. In fact, as far as missing goes, I almost missed my bus stop so engrossed was I in this totally wild adventure in and under and around an erupting volcano. The word gripping is completely apt for this (here comes another trite but accurate word) roller coaster of a read. Wood grabs you on the first page as brothers Duffy and Sumo are called out of their classroom to meet their father who immediately turns them over to a cousin they have never met before, the burly Come-And-Go. Before any of us can take a breath, the two boys (who appear to be between 8 and 12 years of age) are flying off to their just-learned-about mother's home island of Kocalaha. Once there they and we are thrown into an extraordinary adventure involving questionable people (are they good or bad?), an erupting volcano, secrets (of every sort), life and death circumstances, heart-stopping moments (many of them!), and family ties. A truly brilliant work.

Look, I hate to burst your bubble but not every picture book illustrator born is necessarily cut out to write his or her own graphic novel. It's an entirely different set of muscles, after all. Melding text and image well enough to sustain a story means having a firm grasp of what does and does not work as a comic. So I know you might have gotten all excited when you heard that Don Wood had written a graphic novel, but don't be happy because a great Caldecott-winning illustrator has dipped his toe in a new format. Be happy because the man is good at it. Crazy good. He may have amused you with King Bidgood's in the Bathtub or entertained your children with his The Napping House but sister you ain't seen anything like to compare to his breathtakingly beautiful Into the Volcano. The past ten years have seen incredible strides in graphic novels for children. Into the Volcano appears to be the next logical step in the process. A full-color adventure with double crosses, death-defying escapes, and personal growth, it has no equal.

The Pugg brothers Duffy and Sumno are just sitting in their classroom in the dead of winter one moment and the next they're being whisked off to the island nation of Kocalaha. It seems their Aunt Lulu has been longing for a visit from her nephews and Duffy, for one, is thrilled. Sumo's far more reticent and likely to complain, a quality that doesn't serve a person well in Kocalaha. Soon they meet their cousin Mister Come-and-Go who disappears and reappears without a warning. They meet the beautiful Pulina, her boyfriend Kaleo, and Mango Joe, a fellow in the witness protection program. But not all is right on this beautiful island. Why won't Auntie let the boys talk to their dad on the phone? Why is everyone so gung-ho certain that the boys should go on this "expedition" that they're told is done for all the tourists but seems to mask a sinister plan. Before Duffy and Sumno know it they're dodging lava streams and spelunking in dangerous territory. But in a world where no one is what they seem, people of seeming weakness can find the strength to do what must be done.

I've been saying for a while that at some point an artist is going to create a graphic novel so visually stunning that the American Library Association will either have to start handing Caldecott Medals over to comic books or create an entirely new award for them. We've come close in the past. Mouse Guard was beautiful, but the story didn't hold up its end of the bargain. The Arrival would have been ideal, but the book wasn't originally published in America. Into the Volcano, though... now here's a title with potential. The entire enterprise is so lush you find yourself just poring over the images for long periods of time. Honestly, I could see a real push put to have this considered as the very first graphic novel worthy of a major children's award. Yet in many ways, it may come down to the way in which it was drawn. According to Scholastic's press material, Mr. Wood drew AND colored this entire enterprise on the computer. No fully computer created children's book has ever won a Caldecott, and perhaps none ever will. If there was a candidate, however, this would be it.

At the beginning I found Wood's boy heroes off-putting. With their snub noses and blunt faces, they resemble nothing so much as a pair of kids that could have jumped out of a Maurice Sendak book. Maybe We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy. Wood utilizes the grotesque in a variety of ways. Sumno is a dislikeable character in a lot of ways so the book makes him the more unattractive of the two, both personally and physically. Aunt Lulu's sheer mass, weight, and injured foot will focus on her entirely one moment and then close in on her long grotesque toenails. Yet everything that I initially found off-putting in this book eventually grew on me. My resistance must have fallen apart entirely when I got to Chapter Seven: Lava in the Water. Trust me.

It takes skill to build the kind of excitement and tension Wood conjures up here. I wish I could get a sense of what comics Mr. Wood looked at before writing Into the Volcano. He's said in the past that he's a Carl Barks fan, but that doesn't explain what I see here. How did he learn to draw these action sequences? Who were his other influences? His references? Because when push comes to shove and people are fighting nature (lava, earthquakes, tides, and waves) you can't help but be sucked in. Reading Into the Volcano you have no sense that this is the man's first book of this kind. Clearly there are years and years of work in this pup. The biography in the back says five. It shows.

And take a close look at Wood's style here too. The sheer range of artistic styles and impressions... I mean this man has scope. There's a weight and a breadth to his art that we just haven't seen in graphic novels for young readers before. And just look at his ability to play with light and textures. As one of a million examples, take a close look at the sequences where the small boat is trying to navigate the rapids past streams of hot lava. Wood has managed to draw or illustrate the effect of hot orange light beneath water and steam. Now look at Aunt Lulu in all her full fleshy glory. You can practically feel her sweat and smell her moist possibly perfumed body. I mean this woman has a physical presence that seems to extend beyond the page. And look at how he changes angles in his panels. We're constantly looking at each scene from every possible viewpoint. It's as if Wood had a camera and he's using it to swing around his action, now below in the water, now up above.

I should probably talk about the story too, eh? Certainly Into the Volcano hits on all cylinders in terms of visuals but how does the writing itself stand up? Well, it's complicated. The story concerns the boys Sumo and Duffy and we watch as Duffy accepts and enjoys everything new while Sumo cowers and questions. For much of the first half Duffy is clearly the stronger, braver kid but as time goes on Sumo's suspicions appear to be well founded. Some younger kids may have a hard time figuring out who's a good guy and who's a bad guy from moment to moment. Sometimes you think you're rooting for the heroes and the next minute they appear to be villains. The plot requires a close reading, but it holds up (particularly on subsequent re-readings, which is crucial). In a way, this title is perfectly positioned to appeal to younger kids in terms of its danger and heroes and to older kids who need a complex story to bite into.

I'm the kind of person who wants to label everything. To slot every book into a neat little category, even if I didn't know the category existed before I read the book. For example, name me the greatest children's book out there about volcanoes. They exist. I know they do. But until now I've not seen or read a book that really worked factual information with a breakneck plot as seamlessly as Into the Volcano. And more to the point, I've never seen a graphic novel written with a child audience in mind that was as out-and-out beautiful and gripping as this puppy here. Read it cover to cover and you will find a title like no other that is sure to make a few waves when it hits bookstore and library shelves. A true original.

An excellent short bio of the wondrously talented songwriter who had little musical education yet produced hundreds of great popular songs between 1908 and the end of the century (He died at 101.) As a non-musician, I didn't always understand the author's explanations of why a particular standard broke new lyrical or musical ground, but I found the information riveting anyway. Berlin, the immigrant, became a symbol of the American Dream and deservedly so. Anyone who cherishes American music should read this.

While this book doen't cover as much of Berlin's personal life as does Laurence Bergreen's biography entitled As Thousands Cheer, Furia's biography does cover in great detail the background involved in a number of Berlin's songs. "What'll I Do" was written just after the loss of his mother. However, Berlin said people read too much personal stuff whenever he writes a ballad. I like the fact that the author includes the lyrics of a number of Berlin's songs. Despite being a prolific song writer, Berlin often felt insecure about his ability to continue to write songs. Following his first big hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" he always felt he had to continue to follow up with another big hit. He was able to continue to adjust to the music tastes of the country until rock and roll came in the mid-fifties. He became a very private man in his later years and felt people no longer cared about his music. Despite these thoughts, his contributions to American music remain timeless and will remain with us long after the latest fad of music passes by. To think that so many great songs came from this one man simply boggles the mind.

The creativity of Irving Berlin was amazing. This is a story of an interesting life, but also points out that, eventually, time erases foundations just like eroding soil or dripping water. Now, I would like to find a source to hear all of his songs as his number one concern was always quality. At times he would create a song in minutes, but it could also take years. As with most artists, he was continually looking for verification that his output was good. The appendix lists ALL of his tunes as well as other interesting data. A fine read.

This book exceeded my expectations.Even though this book series are usually published in hardcover this title is published as a softcover.

Its a comprehensive story on the E-Type with plenty of beautiful photographs throughout.Its thorughly researched.This book will please most people.

An ideal and inexpensive book to add to your collection.

This 200 page, 150 picture, 50 chart book is a great overview of the XK-E's produced from 1961 to 1974. A nice history of the company and the model, this allows the complete novice to talk intelligently with Jag lovers. It is possibly an inexpensive beginning to an E-Type love affair with attendant significant wallet hemorage.

If you are a novice regarding the E-type, and wish to know the differences between the 3 different series, or are shopping and trying to figure out which model will best meet your guidelines, then this is the book for you. It describes in very good detail the differences in the models and interposes historical details. The color photographs are also excellent, so one can get an idea of the different shapes and changes. For example, some people prefer the so-called simple lines and mechanics of the Series 1 and others prefer the flared fenders and extra equipment (e.g.,a/c, automatic transmission, power steering and brakes) available on the Series 3. There is a chapter titled"Buying the Right E-type", which briefly describes the differences and gives tips on problems to watch out for, such as rust. Buy it as a reference and keep it out as a coffee-table book. Once you decide on a car, then you should check out Haddock's "Jaguar E-Type 6 & 12 Cylinder Restoration Guide" and Russ's " Jaguar V-12 E-Type: A Guide fo Authenticity" for details on the equipment, which your vehicle should have.

As a member of a small quilting group, I purchased six copies of Jenny's Country Kitchen: Recipes for Making Homemade a Little Easier by Jennifer Wood for group members. Every person in the group love the variety of recipes and the overall layout of the book and it's practical and easy to prepare recipes. Members have used several recipes and report the success in results and reception of food prepared. I, personally, will be purchasing additional copies for my daughters and daughter-in-law. Monique D. Graveline

The title of this book is right on: if you like homemade taste without as much work, you'll enjoy this cookbook. There are make-ahead mixes, freezer and crockpot recipes, and helpful color-coding of recipes. Our family enjoyed making the banana bread recipe, which also encourages readers to make a double batch (4 loaves) and wrap'n'freeze the extra loaves for convenience later. (Yes, we baked two loaves and now wish we had made more.) Jenny's recipes are pantry-friendly and do not require exotic or specialty ingredients. Even so, I will definitely try her suggestion to make our own vanilla with a real bean infused in alcohol. The artwork adds a charming touch throughout the book and makes it feel like a book you can sit back, browse and enjoy. This book would make a nice gift as well.

Very nicely enhanced by the illustrations of Carol & Gary Goodding, Recipes For Making Homemade A Little Easier! is a compilation of recipes and shortcuts from Jenny Wood of Jenny's Country Kitchen. A color-coded index makes dishes for specific needs easy to look up, while direct instructions walk the reader through 130 recipes for just plain yummy homestyle food with an emphasis on saving time and energy. From Oven Fried Chicken; to Strawberry-Spinach Salad; Pantry Stocking Brownie Mix; Blueberry-Banana Fruit Salad; Grandma's Favorite Pecan Pie, and more, Recipes For Making Homemade A Little Easier! offers a wealth of tasty, memorable, "kitchen cook friendly" treats for any and all dining occasions.

Lo empiezas a leer y no quieres parar. El libro es fascinante, exotico. Lo que mas llamo mi atencion fue el gran misterio del mundo de la mujer musulmana, son mujeres apasionadas, amantes de su familia e igual como todas nosotras las occidentales, deseosas de una verdadera historia de amor.

Este libro nos presenta no solo la interesante historia de una mujer y su relacion con su familia, sino tambien las costumbres musulmanas y el papel que toma la mujer en un mundo regido por los hombres.

Este libro nos presenta no solo la interesante historia de una mujer y su relacion con su familia, sino tambien las costumbres musulmanas y el papel que toma la mujer en un mundo regido por los hombres.

This is a lovely story set in a town in Ohio during the '40s. Lentil learns to play a harmonica and there are sweet scenes of small town life as well as a marching band. My 3.5 year old son loves this book, along with all of McCloskey's books. What has been wonderful for us about this book is the character of "Old Sneep", who grumbles and does mean things. This has really hit home with my son regarding our teaching of having a joyful heart and not complaining. Great literature at its best.

As a retired preschool/ daycare administrator I never hesitate to say that McCloskey is one the all-time great writers . Lentil has always been one of the best books to read at story time . You can't go wrong with buying this story for your favorite 4 or 5 year old, but even my 9 year old grandsons love this tale, and it got them interested in playing a harmonica!

This is an excellent book for the musically inclined child whose singing voice is a little less than melodious. In the book, the vocally challenged Lentil finds his mantra through the harmonica and ends up saving the day with it. My father gave me this book along with a harmonica when I was seven years old in response to my wobbly warbling, and I've been playing harmonica and many other instruments ever since. I just can't 'harp' enough on how great of inspiration this book was to me and could be for other vocally vexed children. -stephen

If you've ever spent a winter in the northwoods, and even if you haven't, you'll enjoy this book. He accurately chronicles living in a small town in northern Minnesota. His writing in excellent, and as you read you will feel that you are standing next to Peter as he sees the wolves and the northern lights

Peter Leschak's style of writing tales of life up north is both immediate and reflective. He starts out philosophically sounding a bit like a contemporary Calvin Rutstrum, but avoids being "preachy" by moving quickly into interesting but everyday stories of rural life. I am glad he has written other books: I plan to read them all!

Peter is one of the best authors I've read. The reason I address him by his first name is because *know* him.. Lives quite close to me. I've read each of his books several times over...and as for the feeling of "being" in the north woods, I sent a copy of this book to a friend in Texas--and she said she felt as if she were here. I promise--once you read this books, you'll be hooked, and want to go one with each of them...

As a figurative sculptor. I have a studio full of anatomy and life drawing books, but Bridget Woods' 'Life Drawing, A Journey To Self-Expression' does indeed stand out.
Artists that write 'how to' books, generally have their own style and the drawing you see on the cover is often pretty much what you get throughout. Turning the pages of Ms. Woods' book however shows that this artist is comfortable in a huge variety of styles, from realism, to lovely interpretations and beyond (pages 66, 62 and 134 are personal favorites).
Traditional subjects, such as anatomy and perspective, are cleverly covered, but what makes this book different is the huge range of practical advice for so many different styles, presented with such enthusiasm, in an unusual but easily understood format.
Any artist, at any level, will find inspiration and ideas in this book. It should be required reading for any life drawing group and should be on the shelves of Barnes and Noble, Borders etc., as it is superior to most of the 'how to' life drawing books found there.
Though relatively unknown in The US, Ms. Woods is I understand, a popular teacher at a variety of colleges in her native England. It is easy to see why.
I would confidently recommend this book to anyone interested in drawing the figure.
Ed Hamilton

I have many, many figure drawing books and this is by far the best. It is jam packed with information and inspiration and in an amazingly short time I am thrilled with the results I am obtaining. There are loads of exercises that are interesting and fun. The nine chapters it contains are:

1 Getting Started ( Sample Exercises: observing how we see, rhythm and curve, Circling, measuring, angle finding,five star, the elastic band, negative shapes, zig-zagging)

2 Perspective and counterbalance
3 Contour, the specific outline
4 Exploring tone
5 Anatomy, the inside story
6 Marks, methods and hues
7 Movement: The body in Action
8 Altered Images
9 Personal response and self expression

As an example here is a piece from the book explaining the advantages of the 'rhythm and curve' exercise for the artist:
- He/she stops worrying that 'this drawing must be perfect because it is a long pose'.
- there is no time to worry about what their drawing looks like to others.
- the technique loosens up hand/arm/body movement, and opens up eye/brain/hand channels, and because the artist must work at speed, this stops the brain 'correcting' the drawing.
- Short poses can be more dynamic, and therefore visually stimulating.
etc. (and this is just the first exercise of many! :-D ).

I have applied the techniques and theories to subjects other than the figure and an thrilled with the lovely arty results. This is an all round super star book that is worth its weight in gold.

The book is written in a warm and very encouraging way.
This book is my life drawing 'bible'. I reccomend it to everyone, beginners to advanced, as well as to teachers who will get great mileage from its many lessons and ideas.

What a wonderful, wonderful book! This books has everything! It covers things for the very beginner and yet offers things for the most advanced. I was very impressed that the author also included the private thoughts and doubts all artist experience and yet confidently asserts that one WILL learn and be among the very best. As a book-a-holic, I own hundreds, if not thousands of books. This is one I would save in case of a fire. BRAVA Bridget Woods, BRAVA!

This is a beautiful book. Beautiful stories. All around beautiful. Even the ugly, gritty bits.

Big, beautiful and hefty. These things come to mind when you're actually holding this puppy and flipping through the pages. The black and white art really pops out and, while reading it, you always get a sense that this could be the best thirty bucks you've spent on a graphic novel. Just an amazing collection of stories.

Megan, our main character in Local, goes through a personal life journey. She is the everyman in a world full of everymen, and I think that's the main appeal of this book. We see abit of ourselves in Megan and in the other characters. We can identify with her struggles, her struggles with her own identity, with her purpose, with her life. It's what everyone of us goes through on a daily basis, and that reason is why we take to Megan's world very quickly.

Patterned after Demo but not quite. These are single issue self-contained stories dealing with different periods in Megan's life (from young adult to adult). Many of them feature Megan as the main focus, while the rest are more about the peripheral characters rather than Megan herself. But one thing's for sure, she appears in everyone of them, and she, I think, is the touchbase on which we fall back on most of the time, thus making her real and human.

And the pacing's very suited to that kind of storytelling. Here, like Demo, you'll feel like you're getting to know the characters at a leisurely pace. Every detail in Ryan's art gives you just a little bit more insight into the characters and at the end of it you always come away feeling like you know them like you would real people. Everyone of these characters feel very three dimensional, and I think this is a testament to the level of maturity in both Brian and Ryan. Brian knows how people tick, and Ryan does a good job depicting that here. The result is just a non-stop ride through urban life.

If you're looking to get into the creative process they went through making this book, there are essays, written by both Brian and Ryan, in here which give you exactly that.

All in all, if you're considering getting this book, consider no more, just get it. At the current price these babies are worth every penny. I can hardly find a book as complete a package as this one.

If you like short stories about urban youths this one's for you.
Coming of age - like to read about that? Get this.
This great book offers the entire 12 part series previously published by Oni Press as single books.
Local is the story of Megan McKeenan on her way to find herself.
She meets ordinary people on the way, and lesser ones too. She works here and there, falls in and out of love and lives through all the different stages of happiness and deception in much the same way that we all do.
Very much like in real life every encounter leaves a memory and shapes Megan's character.
As you follow the girl/ young woman on her journey through the different US towns and states you can't stop yourself from remembering your own past and what changed you along the way. Who and what made you into the person you have grown to be?
Although the stories are interconnected, once you finish reading the entire storyline it's just as rewarding to read them crisscross all over again.
The art perfectly fits the scene. Black and white, always moving, with thick lines yet sketchy. Well done Ryan Kelly!
Brian Wood's writing is top notch. Period.
The collection, a perfectly sewn bound HC, comes with tons of sketches, notes from both artists on the creative process and a color cover gallery.
You should also check out these other books: Brian Wood: Demo, DMZ ; Ryan Kelly: American Virgin, New York Four
A must!

I thought high London prices would keep me from shopping on an upcoming trip, but this book has lots of budget-friendly shopping ideas. And I love the feature that lists a bit of culture nearby -- that way I can combine my love of shopping with a little art or architecture to alleviate the guilt. Highly recommended!

Whether you read it beforehand and map out your shopping or just read it on the fly as I did, you'll be glad to have this down-to-earth, practical information in an easy-to-reference guide. I had very little time in London to shop and I really wanted to find some specific things for myself and others. Although I've traveled fairly widely, I don't know London well. Even without a real language barrier, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get everything done, but I did. London Shopping Companion is more than a companion, it's a true friend. If you want to find all your must-buys-in-London easily, then this little book is a must-own.

I used this book to plan a recent trip to London and found it easy to use, quite informative, and just plain fun to read. I used it to plan shopping in combination with sightseeing -- so I really appreciated the book's organization (by area) and its lists of attractions and restaurants near to each shopping district. The store descriptions are accurate, and I was able to find unique items, for myself and as gifts, in all price ranges. Thanks to The London Shopping Companion, I was totally organized and ready to hit the ground running when I landed in London.