Denmark Books

This great cookbook has a wealth of Scandinavian recipes (113, if I counted correctly), organized into seven chapters: soups, appetizers and snacks, fish and shellfish, meat poultry and game, vegetable dishes and salads, desserts, and cakes cookies and breads. Each recipe has the flag of its country of origin, so you can even pick-and-choose among the nation of your choice, if you so wish.

The text is reasonably large, and the book is large enough to lay open without anything holding it open, which I liked. Wonderful pictures are scattered throughout, thought I could have wished for more. (That's a small complaint, though.)

So far, I have made the Potato Dumplings Stuffed with Bacon (p.56) and the Sour Cream Waffles (p. 96), and both were delicious! I am planning on making several other things, but I have no basis to comment on them, yet. Overall, I found this to be a very nice cookbook, one well worth having!

Hans Christian Andersen is one of the all-time best tellers of children's tales. They are full of circumstances that are relevant to their lives and they generally end happily and always have a moral. This collection contains:

*) The Fir Tree
*) The Princess and the Pea
*) The Ugly Duckling
*) The Darning Needle
*) It's Absolutely True
*) The Steadfast Tin Soldier

It is profusely illustrated with several color and many black and white pictures. They capture the feelings and situations without being cluttered and overdone. I strongly recommend that you read this book to children.

This is a marvelous speciman. Mr. Monsell, the author is to be commended for doing such an outstanding job in editing and putting this well-informed book together. A must for any Hamlet fan

Richard Watt and Magda Carson, both British, have been peacefully living on their farm, La Vigna di Giobbe, in Tuscany, for several years. Though their life appears to be idyllic given the setting and the climate, they both have to work hard growing vegetables and fruit, producing wine and olive oil in order to make both ends meet. But why did Richard decide to leave his fatherland and emigrate to Italy? The reason for this matter may seem slightly utopian at first glance but Mr Cook manages to describe the situation so masterfully that it is utterly believable - even more so, considering what we know today about the former East-European countries. Indeed, Richard used to be a journalist at the time when a certain Jobling was Prime Minister. Richard was made redundant when he predicted that Jobling, for fear of being thrown out at the next election, would simply announce that he was going to rule by himself. And indeed, it turned out that there was practically nothing to stop him, making Richard's prediction true. After a particularly vitriolic TV interview, Jobling won the election just the same and Richard was put on a blacklist so that he couldn't afford to live in Britain anymore. But Jobling isn't about to forget Richard Watt and he finds out means to extradite him. For Richard, being forced to return to Britain, now a crumbling and decaying totalitarian state, will prove, as you may guess, to be fatal.
A harrowing and powerful account,

I can highly recommend this book. It was first published decades ago, but is still valid in the way it describes how we treat children during their education and growing up.

First published in 1962, this is still the most respected text on the sword in the Anglo-Saxon period.

The book includes detailed research about the making of the swords, hilt decoration, blade inscriptions, and the weapon as mentioned in Anglo-Saxon literature.

By the end we have gained a real appreciation of these objects not only as masterpieces of art and technology, but as powerful symbols in Anglo-Saxon culture.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer: A Down to Earth Guide to the Runes

I am way above the recommended age for this book, I picked this up on a whim. My childhood's first memories is reading Andersen fairy tales. They were always the oddball stories that didn't conform to any typical mode: most of them included death (Matchgirl, Little Mermaid), had unconventional heroes (Tin Soldier - what kind of hero has one leg?) weren't all sugar-spice-n-everything-nice, and whimsical in the right place. They were inscrutable and strange to a child, but because of or in spite of that, they stuck with you.

I'm moved to write a review for this children's book for one reason only: the annotation is superb! I never knew that Andersen worked with toy theatre, or there were parallels in his life and The Ugly Duckling, that he came from poverty and never completely overcame the inferiority complex from his low birth. He was the first to adopt a conversational voice in his story-telling, also the first to give human characteristics and voice to inanimate objects. The details with which he embelished his stories is genius and brilliant; re-reading the description of the Little Mermaid's undersea world confirms that. His fairy tales have a literary element: the details, the drama, the dissonance, the untidiness of real life. I don't think I understood all that when I was 8 or 9, but I wish someone had read this book with me when I was 8 or 9, and explained to me the vanguard genius of Andersen.

The stories are beautifully translated, the illustration is fetching, although I don't get the drama-set vibes. There is annotation preceding every tale, and it takes an adult to read and explain this to a young reader. For example, preceding The Little Mermaid, there is a small paragraph dealing with the soul. Young readers will need help with the concept and vocab. I'm happy to have re-discovered Andersen fairy tales through this book, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who grew up with the inscrutable Andersen, adult or child. A great book for the future lit studies post-doc, and his/her lit studies post-doc parents.

The familiar Hans Christian Andersen story of Thumbelina has received the royal treatment from Susan Jeffers. Her large, lovely pictures make this seem like you are stepping into the story for the first time. Thumbelina is so dainty and sweet that it's no wonder the toad wishes to marry her but poor Thumbelina has a harrowing time escaping from her warty suitor. Share a trumpet vine blossom with Thumbelina, a pair of hummingbirds and a fat bumble bee or take a ride with her on the back of a gallant swallow. This whole story is enchanting from start to finish and the pictures are a delight!

Very pleasant speaking voices, the classical music is well done and offsets the stories nicely without overwhelming the narrative. The stories have morals well worth listening to in the car or at bedtime. The prose is well-written and has an excellent selection of vocabulary words presented in a very straight-forward and intelligent format. Thumbelina was one of the stories with which I was previously familiar and the others will soon become favorites, as with most of Hans Christian Anderson. Wonderful way to expose children to the written word in an interesting format. The stories do not seem to be altered from the original prose, although I would have to check that to be sure. Excellent choice for auditory learners.

This really serves up the mood and flavor of Tivoli in summer. Great photos of one of the World's greatest amusement parks.