Clubs Books

Seriously, I think a lot of this book. The artwork is wonderful; the story is wonderful. We had to buy this copy because we wore out our first one.

Another great book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson. Nice story and great artwork. Recommended if you already own and like Ferdinand.

So glad it's back...this classic book on how different people can get along. Not just for kids.

"Wee Gillis" is a classic of children's literature, and this is an excellent new reprint. There is no dustjacket, but the book has a very strong cardboard cover and good quality paper.
The book combines an interesting commentary on the cultures of the Scottish highlands and lowlands with a simple and rather old-fashioned story of how a boy takes his place in the adult world.
The black and white illustrations complement the text beautifully, and almost tell the story on their own.

Originally published in 1938, this one is a delight to see back in print thanks to New York Review Books. The Scottish setting is charming and the central message, to be who you are, is important. Not content to be a hunter like his father's family or a farmer like his mother's family, Wee Gillis finds his own place in this world as a bagpiper. Baby boomers will be familiar with Robert Lawson's illustrations from such children's classics as Rabbit Hill, Ben And Me and The Story of Ferdinand, also written by Munro Leaf. I adore this book so much I named my dear and very independent Cairn Terrier puppy Wee Gillis.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, Abby and the rest of the BSC help at a club, and then the action starts. I thought they were mean not to let certain people get in. But the rest is O.K.!

This is my second Baby Sitters Club i hate! It is only a a murder of a reporter.

It was my seventh mystery read. The first 5 mysteries were just borrowed and the sixth one was the first I bought.I was discouraged by that, I never bought any mystery any more.But mom seemed to like it rather than the other books I read.So she gave me one for my birthday.I liked it because Abby and I both have asthma and a mom that works far from home. Idecided to collect as many as I can of these mysteries.I now have all up to mystery #28.I stareted collectin this since my birthday last month.

When Abby discovers that there is a mysterius past about Stonybrooks new country club the, "Baby Sitters Club," decides that they should find out about it. This book is fast paced, exciting, and readers of all ages will enjoy it. It is also a must read for those young detectives out there.

Abby hates February, too hot for some things and too cold for others which is why she decides to help renovate dark woods to greenwoods . She finds out about a secret society at Dark woods and the death of a journalist who was looking into the secret society. Then it becomes more than a February distraction. I would recommend this book to all ages because it is not complicated and is easy to follow but i think it was a bit unrealistic at times.I would rate it 41/2. A great book on the whole.

I am an art teacher in an elementary school. Each year I read the series of three Angus books (in the order they were written) to my first graders when we are folding an origami puppy. They love each book. I introduce the Scottish Terrier by showing the encyclopedia entry about dogs. This gets them excited about dogs AND the encyclopedia. By the third book, Angus Lost the children can hardly stand it - they are so excited. They cheer at the end. We look at the dog entry again in the encyclopedia to find the collie that Angus meets on the wide road. (These children don't know Lassie!) We compare the sizes of the dogs, etc. The books offer a view into the past: suspenders, hedges, and the milk man, but the story is current, the illustrations lovely. In Angus and the Cat the children whoop with delight over the illustration of Angus looking out the second story window looking for the cat. All three books are great read-alouds!

I love all the Angus books. Having owned a Scottie dog, I am particularly thrilled with the illustrations - they are so accurate. I used to read these to my daughter when she was a child & am now buying them for all my friends' little kids. I'll keep my set forever. The stories are so endearing.

My 1.5 year old is already a fan of this book. We bought it because she's fascinated with ducks. The realistic illustrations and complex sentences are a nice change of pace from most of her more recently published children's' books. The story has a bit of intrigue, a quick pace, and a humorous ending. It's just perfect.

This is a wonderful book for children or for any age. Subtle and beautifully written, and perfect artwork.

I think this (or Make Way for Ducklings) was my first library book. At any rate, it starated me on a lifelong love of reading--and dogs! The illustrations capture every nuance of a dog's body language--you can practically feel Angus' warm little tummy as he stands up to reach something high. The story is not babyfied, but, as another reviewer indicates, is told with an intelligent vocabulary. Build vocab early!
I treasured my Angus book and each time my mom took me to the library (years and years and years ago), I confounded her by ALWAYS adding the same old Angus book to my pile of borrowings. I hope I will OWN them all one day!

I discovered this book at our local library and fell in love with the charming story. I instantly ordered it from Amazon, but the one I received has been re-written to be quicker and thus not as charming and sweet! This version has the kitty running from animal to animal in a panic looking for her purr, whereas the one at the library described how she went on her search through the day, and at days end she was getting quite tired by the time she talked to owl and the ending read much sweeter than this one. I don't know what year that edition was (it was hardbound - maybe that's the difference) or if it had a different publisher, but I was disappointed with this version and will continue my search for the one I fell in love with.

P.S. After posting this, I did find out that the book I bought from Amazon was published by Tiger Press and the book at the library is published by Dutton Children's Books. I do see that Amazon lists the publisher as Dutton - so no guarantee there.

I love this book for two reasons:

It is a good illustration for children about happiness and how the cat was looking for happiness in all the wrong places.

It is an excellent introduction to farm animals and their sounds. Most children can probably relate to the purring of a cat, but might not have yet had exposure to farm animals. This book does a good job of bridging the sound of purring of an every day cat to that of farm animals.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and quite effectively support the prose.

This is a different twist on learning animal sounds. My boys love it (3 & 5) and ask for it repeatedly. It shows animals on a farm in their habitats. The kitten is very sweet, and I have made it into a flannel board story for my kids as well.

I really enjoyed this book because the little kitten thinks that she has lost her purr but she has really not. In the book she also goes to all of the farm animals and asks them if they have it and at the end she finds out she has it all along and her mother shows her. I hope when you read it you will enjoy it just as much as i did.

The bright, large and, I might add, accurate, illustrations in this book are great, eye catching and very, very well executed! The story line is simple, a kitten who is searching for her purr. Her encounter with the barnyard animals keeps the story moving. The text is well matched with the illustrations. This is a cute warm story and is an excellent one to read with your young child. Recommend this one highly.

Although this is the last book in the Saddle Club series, it is not the last book about the Saddle Club themselves. If you want to read more about the Saddle Club, read the Pine Hollow series.
The Pine Hollow series is about the Saddle Club when they are around 15 years old. And Lisa is dating Stevie's brother Alex. Ewe!!! Talk about disturbing.

This ends the Saddle Club series. Carole, Stevie and Lisa have been invited to attend a horse show, along with their rival, the snooty Veronica diAngelo. However, none of them can afford Christmas gifts AND the show fees. Their dilemma is resolved in "Gift of the Magi" fashion. Drama comes when they are trapped inside Pine Hollow due to a freak snowstorm and must care for themselves and the horses. But of course, all turns out well in the end.

As far as I can tell this is the last book in the series. Overall it was very predicatable but a warm and fun read. The Saddle Club is extremely short on money so they all think that they will be unable to attend an important horse show in the Carolinas. However in the end they all help each other out during Christmas.

I think that anyone wanting a successful completion to the series will like this book as it really shows the friendship that all of the books had been centered on.

Best Friends, the Saddle Club Book, is a great book because, Lisa, Stevie,and Lisa get to compete in a show! It is called the Carolina Invatational. Its a show where special people get to participate. Theyre very excited until they figure out that they wont be able to pay for the show. They try everything possible but all fails. Will they succeed?
Anyways, this is a great book for horse lovers. I also reccomend it for kids who liketo read about diffuculties. -FeatherBall

This sadle club book is very special...who would think that all the sadle club members could'nt go to the competition. this book will keep you on the eage of your seat. A good book for horse lovers!

The Bucky Wilson Story is a wonderful adventure for children of all ages, whether a read-to-me story for a pre-reader, or a book for the more experienced reader. Bucky Wilson shows children that you don't need to be big in size to be important, that the size of your heart and your courage is much more important. With Christmas just around the corner, this book makes for a perfect gift!

This book is a very educational read and helps get the Southampton swim team pumped up! A must read for all Southampton swimmers and people interested in Russian midget circus clowns!

This book is teeming with wit that parents will enjoy as well as a grand sense of imagination and creativity that children will cherish. Despite being what some might call an uptight "yuppie" high school principal, I love it nearly as much as my kid! I've read it to my son Sam and even my colleague Keith's son Ronnie about 6 times through, simply because we all enjoy it so much. The 124 pages ensure that it won't just be another picture book you can read your kids in one night. You can spend a few weeks on it, and your kids will want to hear it over and over, so you save money on children's books! It is a story of resiliance that teaches good lessons, and the amount of creativity captured in the tale is incredible. What is more incredible is that this David J. Stott unfortunately has no other books to buy; however, I check the site frequently, anticipating any possible future work of his. He is a talent to say the least, and his ability to appeal to youngsters is something I could sure use in the faculty of my high school! In conclusion, this is a book you should order right away--your kid will be so hooked on it that he or she might even read it on their own (if old enough), and reading is surely a much safer activity than many others that appeal to children these days, such as dodgeball, MTV, and the like. There are some big kids that play dodgeball these days...

hey this book is very cool! i think everyone should read it.. even if u r afraid of clowns!! the clown in this book is the bestest clown ever!! so anyways i recomend this book to anyone!! 4 all ages!

This is a great book and represents my circus very well. Bucky was a true hero and he will be remembered forever.

This book from my childhood is one that lingers in my memory. I recently came across my old dog-eared copy, and hoped to find another one used. Instead, I find that it is (rightly) hard to obtain because it is (wrongly) out-of-print. At least I now know I am not alone in my affection for this volume and series. _The Cat Club_ explores that place between our sense of self-worth and our social status, in ways that still delight me (even at forty-something)

A wonderful story. My six year old loves the Cat Club, but we're having a hard time tracking them down, with 12 of the 13 titles out of print. If any publishers are listening, please bring back Jenny Linsky! All kids seem to love "The Cat Club" and it should always be available.

I also read these books when I was a child, and they were wonderful!!! I used to go to the library and get them over and over and over. I remember my mother would try to get me to get other books and I would read these again and again. I was also looking for them for my daughter - I also wish they would bring these books back into print. I have not been able to find at our library.

I loved this book and a child and wanted to get it for my children, to my dismay i found it to be out of print. I found it in the public library, though, and my kids also fell in love with it and wanted to keep it and read it over and over. They were sure sad the day it had to return to the library. This is a wonderful book about a shy little cat and her adventures with the cat club. A must for any child who loves cats and grownups as well.

It's been at least 25 year since I've read any but I still remember the members of the Cat Club: Jenny Linsky the shy black kitty who always wore a scarf, her adopted brothers Checkers and Edward, Concertina the club secretary, who scratched notes into the bark of a tree...

Why oh why are these books out of print? My favorite was Jenny Goes to Sea, where she visits exotic locales like Zanzibar and Siam.

What this book does is teach a chilkd that the only person that they can truly rely on is themselves. It teaches a child how to be self aware and alerted. It also allows the parent to bond with the child through lesson of education for both. This book also has alot of extras that all parents should have, like a list of emergency contacts and information on how to put together an I.D kit. this alone is worth the money.

As a father I always try to find ways to protect my chiuldren. This book teaches everything I needed to know. A easy book to read and easy book to use as an educational tool for my kids.

The book gets strait to the meat ant holds your attention until the ending. Maurice Woodson did a wonderful Job. I recommend this book very much.

The book gets strait to the meat ant holds your attention until the ending. Maurice Woodson did a wonderful Job. I recommend this book very much.

Exceptional! An Informative Gem! No household should be without this one!

The added material is a major plus. Run don't walk to buy this book!

Wow, by far one of the best books that I have ever read. I usually do not like history because I prefer to be more proactive and immersed in today's world. But the clarity on our society's current situation that this book gives by examining the roots of the movement to capitalism is incredible and was so worth my time that I had to take a week's vacation off work in order to make sure that I could focus to read this. The writing conveys only one thing - complete clarity into the world today. It is an incredible opus; I loved it.

There is no easy answer to the challenges we humans face in organizing and creating a shared activity to enable the greatest overall productivity and happiness. The evolution of humanity during the early Renaissance years provides the explanation for where and why we are organized in this way today. Understanding this time in this way (through the lens of the economics of that time period) gives a much greater appreciation for the world today that we have constructed. The most core problems of humanity - social mobility, equitable distribution of resources, stability, and collective cooperation, have never (and may never) become solvable. This book explains these dynamics so eloquently that I wish I had time to read it again and again - much like a great adventure novel that as a kid you just wished would never end and felt a real loss once it did and you had to re-emerge into the real world around you.

Braudel is phenomenal in his depth of understanding about how society of the 15-18th centuries operated. I can't recommend it more highly.

In The Wheels of Commerce, Fernand Braudel deftly blended history and economics with the result that neither suffers. His goal in this book, the second volume in his Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, was "to analyse the machinery of exchange as a whole, from primitive barter up to and including the most sophisticated capitalism" (21). In the process of examining this machinery of exchange, Braudel also proposed an ambitious thesis concerning the origins of capitalism. The book itself is a monumental work, an impressive combination of statistical analyses and illustrations from primary sources.

Braudel's first two chapters, "The Instruments of Exchange" and "Markets and the Economy," investigated the role of circulation. In chapter one, he concentrated on the mechanisms by which goods (and money) were traded. Braudel explained that markets and shops were at the bottom of the world of commerce. Markets took place once or twice a week, and shops were open everyday. Fairs, the wholesale markets, were on the higher level. Participants traded large amounts of goods and settled their accounts at the end. Braudel pointed out the importance of fairs in the development of capitalism: "The fair itself created credit" (91). If one merchant had a negative trade balance with another merchant, he would either offer a bill of exchange (a promise of payment on another exchange) or defer payment with interest until another fair. Additionally, these bills of exchange could be sold to a third party if necessary, introducing speculation. The trading mechanisms of the fair were eventually consolidated into the large exchanges of cities like Amsterdam and London, and eventually these exchanges grew into the stock markets. Chapter two investigated the manner in which merchants engaged in trade. Braudel stressed the importance of trading circuits and the use of paper (especially in the form of bills of exchange) for profitability. One of the key ideas in this chapter is the role of distance on price. Price was not set solely by supply and demand, but was also affected by the distance the product had to travel. His insight into system was helpful. "Any capitalist market has a series of links in a chain, and somewhere near the middle there is a point higher and more remunerative than the rest" (193).

The next two chapters, "Capitalism Away from Home" and "Capitalism on Home Ground," dealt primarily with issues regarding production. Chapter three dealt with what could be considered the lower world of production. One of the key issues that Braudel explicated was the role of fixed and circulating capital. The fixed capital that was invested in production was tied up in equipment and other items, while the circulating capital was more liquid and included wages. Braudel also investigated the role of land in production and capitalism, noting: "The great landowner was not a capitalist, but he was a tool and a collaborator in the service of capitalism" (271). He also focused on the peculiarities of production in these pre-industrial years. In chapter four, Braudel investigated the higher world of production. His explanation of the development of banking practices, which would fund production, was illuminating, as was his discussion on the development of companies from private family business to joint stock companies.

Though the book focused on capitalism's development in Europe, Braudel integrated discussions on other geographical locales as well. Braudel did not present Europe as arriving at its capitalist system in a vacuum. He noted the role that other cultures had in aiding the formation of the European model, not just through trade, but also through Europe's adoption of foreign innovation. However, Braudel surprisingly downplayed the importance of double-entry book-keeping to the emergence of capitalism. He asserted that the practice did not spread quickly and was not universally adopted, giving notable examples (574).
Even though successful merchants were found all over the world during this time period (especially in Islamic lands that provided them with a favorable status), full-blown capitalism developed first in Europe. Braudel attempted to provide an explanation as to why this was the case. His thesis regarding this matter is the raison d'ýtre of the book. Braudel believed that three conditions were necessary for the emergence of capitalism. The first was a "vigorous and expanding market economy" (600). Braudel noted that many regions fulfilled this qualification. The second necessity, which hindered many prime candidates, was a strong hierarchy was necessary. This hierarchy encouraged the accumulation of wealth. Landed positions were not hereditary in India, China, and Islamic lands making the nobility's position precarious and the accumulation of wealth difficult. Braudel only mentioned two areas that fulfilled these first two necessities: Europe and Japan. However, Japan closed herself off to world trade, the third necessity. Braudel noted, "Long-distance trading ... was the only doorway to a superior profit level" (601). Braudel's case is a compelling one that must be addressed by anyone investigating this topic.

The Wheels of Commerce is immense, but immensely readable. Braudel portrayed for his reader a heady, exciting Europe, one in which the prime goal was to spend money faster than it could be made. However, even during his descriptions of the dizzying pace at which money was circulated, Braudel did not lose sight of his objective. His scope was large, but he remained precise in both style and purpose, obviating the befuddlement of the layperson (which I confess to being). The book is a balanced work, exhibiting a variety of historical methods. Braudel made extensive use of statistics and mathematical models (the book contains a plethora of charts and tables), but he also included numerous narratives regarding business practices of the time (demonstrating an astonishing knowledge of the primary sources). Because of the attention with which he supported his claims, historians of all stripes can admire this book.

Finally, the student of economic history should not overlook one of the finer aspects of The Wheels of Commerce. This book contains over 120 excellent illustrations from the 15th-18th centuries. The pictures, which vary from woodblock prints to oil paintings, depict the lives of those involved in commerce at the time. Not only do the abundant illustrations make this book a more attractive read, but also they provide the book with a certain level of completeness, giving the reader more tools by which he or she can comprehend the emergence of capitalism in Europe

In the first volume of this series, Braudel sets the stage for life and commerce in the period under discussion. Volume two of Civilization and Capitalism really gets the ball rolling. Or as much as anything ever gets rolling in a Braudel book.

This is fascinating stuff. But it is not easy going. The language is straight forward, but Braudel wanders around his subject, giving us mountains of specifics and following various side currents to their ends. The basic point of the volume is to outline, first, the difference between the market and capitalism, and then to trace the creation of capitalism in the markets centers of Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Unlike many historian of this period, Braudel is more concerned with the world of finance than the world of production, which I find fascinating and innovative. If you care to know how the financiers of Amsterdam dealt with getting a ship in the ocean and bound for America or India, this is the place to look.

While not being an economic determinist, economics is at the center Braudel's work. Unlike many other economic historians, Braudel does take the time to deal with how culture (there a section on fashion in the first volume!) religion and other factors play into the shaping of an economic and social system. This makes for a deeply convincing argument when he demolishes Weber's idea of the protestant work ethic, but is less informed or convincing (and sometimes borderline racist) when he is dealing with non-western cultures.

I appreciate that Braudel didn't assume that by "civilization and capitalism" one can only mean Western Europe, but his sections on the rest of the world I found lacking. They did not have the erudition he exhibits when taking about Western Europe.

I found the book fascinating, but I think Braudel could have done with some editing. This book is not going to lay out point by point the creation of capitalism for you. You'll need to discover the steps through the examples Braudel gives. It's riveting if you're an econ and history nerd, but complicated and meandering work, which could have used a co-author (or a better team of research assistants) to handle the non western areas he covers and a editor to tease out the string of the creation of capitalism that subtly floats through this work.

There are various pretenders to the throne of explaining globalization, such as Thomas Friedman's recent The World Is Flat, but all such efforts seem shallow and pallid compared to the masterwork of the genre, Fernamd Braudel's trilogy Civilization & Capitalism, 15th - 18th Century (The Structures of Everyday Life (Volume 1), The Wheels of Commerce (Volume 2)
and The Perspective of the World (Volume 3)

I do not lightly suggest tackling almost 1,800 pages of reading, but there is simply no substitute (short of a master's degree) if you aspire to a true understanding of global trade's role in the social, political and economic history of our world. It is not a boring read--anything but, for Braudel's depth of research, breadth of knowledge and his appreciation for the limits of current scholarship are matchless. Where authors like Friedman incautiously grind whatever axe they set out, drawing upon work which supports their thesis, Bruadel is ever-cautious about drawing hard-and-fast conclusions from the data he has culled from archives' dusty pages.

What Braudel reveals is a world which has been disrupted by far-reaching trade for hundreds of years. Capital has flowed across the great oceans of our globe for far longer than most people realize, destroying local industries in favor of distant ones in the process. It is impossible to summarize such a rich, vast work, but reading even one of these volumes will give you a deep insight into the long history of globalization, and how entire industries and financial centers have been displaced time and again in the Arab Levant, in Asia, and in Europe. You will also come to understand the rise of European economic dominance, and how it cannot be so neatly attributed to guns, steel and germs, as appealing and powerful as Jared Diamond's thesis may be.

Braudel does not work to create over-arching explantions so much as present the archival facts he so assiduously assembled. (The books were written in the late 1970s; Braudel died in 1985 at the age of 83.) For example, he shows that prosperity, since at least the 1400s if not earlier, is inevitably found in those cities and regions where prices are highest. It is counter-intuitive at first--since shouldn't money go farther where prices are low?-- but the same is obviously true of our era. The most prosperous nations are those with the highest costs, and the poorest are those where prices are lowest.

At a minimum, this sheds light on the centuries-old exodus from rural to metropolis, and on the nature of prosperity itself. I recommend these volumes not just for their vast erudition but for the enjoyment gained from his unparalleled mastery of everyday life in distant lands and distant times. Not much has changed, it seems, except the speed of the ships and the communication between traders.

I don't even LIKE history or economics...but I love this book.

In the course of researching some historical background for an English Lit paper, I ran across two of Braudel's books -- this was one of them.

It was so fascinating that I read the entire book (even though what I needed for the paper was a few pages); and then I went ahead and bought my own copy, plus others by this author.

The Copacabana flooded me with memories of one of my first dates with my then future husband. It was a big deal because we didn't go into New York very much, so it was a special occasion. Kristin Baggelaar's book evokes these special times in our lives. These are wonderful memories of a bygone era filled with elegance, romance, and high-living. It is an easy book to pick up, browse through, and look back on the different times in our lives.

Other books have been written about the famous Copacabana nightclub, but none have captured the feeling of that era the way Kristin Baggelaar has - every page is a joy.

Edna Ryan, former Copa Girl

The Copacabana personified the nightclub era of 1944 to 1953 in the country. Kristin Baggelaar's nostalgic book captures those days of mega stars and their acts in 126 pages of page-turning comments and photographs.
- Former Copa Girl Wendy Bartlett

book is great, it shows and tells of all the happenings at the wonderful
nightclub on 60th st. in manhattan for so many years. It brought back
wonderful memories. I wish it was still there.

The Copacabana captures the essence of entertainment, particularly the1950's, during which time my parents and relatives in the Midwest savored the music and comedy of these young emerging stars. Though they never attended the performances at the Club, they were well aware of the biggest names in show biz through radio and newly emerging television.

Performers like Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Fischer, Frank Sinatra, Julius La Rosa, Red Buttons, Tony Benett, Sammy Davis Jr. Johnny Raye, Milton Berle, Mel Torme, Sid Caesar, Xavier Cugat, and Joe E. Lewis among many others entertained our families and captured our attention while we were gathered around the television at my grandmother's house. My parents and grandparents owned most of their albums.

Kristin Baggelaar makes all of these stars come to life in her book, which celebrates this famous Manhattan Night Club. Her interviews create an intimacy with the characters as if she knew them all personally. In a few words she cites their place in history and highlights their accomplishments and personality. Billy Eckstine was a "robust" baritone, "big hearted" Jimmy Durante was a "perennially crowd pleaser," and Tony Bennett "grew as a performer" at the Copacabana.

Her writing is lively, historic, fast moving and makes all of us who have read this book wish we were indeed a part of the glamour and sophistication of this era of American history.

Jean E. Baldikoski