Nostalgic book that stands up to its reread
935271
This book was interesting to reread. It was definitely much faster the second time than the weeks it took our class in fifth grade. The entire world of the Giver was quite fascinating. I didn't remember that Jonas was so young in the book. I had always thought he was fifteen or sixteen. Now I see him as a very mature person for his age. This might have been related to how the community works though. It is a very ordered society that on the outside doesn't seem terrible. People are happy and everyone knows their role.

The Giver isn't completely realistic in how the society would work, but I felt that the character interactions made up for it. The relationship between Jonas and the Giver is interesting. The Giver is a very tragic character who has sacrificed much for the community. Jonas is his designated successor. Without the Giver, the entire society would collapse. The question of the book is whether it is worth having security and relative peacefulness over freedoms.

That is a deep question for such an age group, but the author firmly decides it is not.
2316771
I first read this book years ago, and I loved it then.  After finally rediscovering it and rereading it, it's every bit as good as I remember-- better, even, since I had expected the writing to be aimed at children, but found it to be strong and mature.  Once or twice I did find it transparently preachy, but the excellent plot makes up for that.  This is a story about a boy finding out that he is capable of more than he ever thought possible, and does it in such an interesting way that it really stands out from the crowd.  I also loved the twist ending, and the fact that that twist is actually resolved, leaving the reader completely satisfied.  This book is every bit as good now as it was when I was eleven.
4407266
I was browsing the library one day as a kid and stumbled upon Alice Through the Needle's Eye.  Since I had just finished Lewis Carroll's two tales about Alice, I thought I'd give this third tale, written by Gilbert Adair, a chance.  With my recent Alice in Wonderland kick, I decided to revisit the book.  It's just as good as I remember it being.

It's a cozy winter's day, and Alice is sitting by a warm fire attempting to thread a needle.  As she puts the needle close to her eye to better perform that task, she suddenly sees an entire world inside the needle's eye, and before she knows it, she is falling.

Fortunately, she lands on a hay stack.  Or should I say A stack since what she thought were wisps of hay are really strands of A's clinging together.  As she begins to explore this new world, she discovers spelling bees, meets a grampus who has written his auto-biography in advance and works hard to make sure it comes true, meets Jack and Jill, and gets lost in a-maze-ment.  Will she ever find her way home?

If you've enjoyed either of Lewis Carroll's classic tales, you'll definitely enjoy this one as well.  It has the same level of the absurd and surreal.  You can't help but laugh as some of the creatures that Alice meets along the way.  Plus there are a couple of nods to the original books, making this a nice homage in every sense of the world.

Quite a few times, Mr. Adair used word play to add some humor to the events.  As a lover of this, I really enjoyed those moments.  Overall, there seemed to be a more humorous bent to the book than the originals.  Maybe it's because this book was written in 1985, so I catch the jokes more than I do something that was written over 100 years before that.

The book has two or three illustrations per chapter done by Jenny Thorne.  Her efforts deserve praise as well for capturing the flavor of the original illustrations almost perfectly.  Yes, she does put some small personal touches in, but at a quick glance, you'd think the original illustrator did the pictures here.

My only complaint is the writing style.  Mr. Adair does a good job most of the time capturing the flavor of Lewis Carroll's writing.  However, he seems to put in too many mid-sentence asides.  Used sparingly, they would capture the writing of the originals.  Over used like they are here, they distract more than help the feel of the story.

Alice Through the Needle's Eye may not be an official Alice adventure, but it has been lovingly created to capture the feel of those classic stories.  Anyone who loves Alice will be glad they took the time to track this volume down.
1936485
This was my favorite book when I was young, I always remembered it and when found again after many years, it still felt precious. It's really fun for kids. The holograms and spooky imagery are really captivating while not being intimidating. A really indelible piece of my childhood. It's ragged spine and nipped pages still rest on my book shelf now.
4950455
I absolutely adored this book when I was in grade school.  My daughter is 9 and we are now reading it again.  It's amazing how well this book held up over the years, and it was such a joy to read it again.  I actually still have my copy from when I got it back in the 70's, although it's very fragile now.  I ordered another copy for us to read so I could keep mine safe.

Highly recommend this book.  It's great for young readers, and it's smart and intelligent.  I enjoy when my daughter reads books that are written on such a higher level, and require some thinking.
4522291
I am a HUGE fan of Golden Books. They are so nostalgic and I can remember my Grandpa reading them to me when I was a child. I ordered this book for my sisters "Books" Baby shower theme to set out next to the pig in the blankets. It did a great job at serving its purpose. I even heard many people reminisce and discuss the Golden Books they had when they were children. However, like other stated the illustrations aren't that great, but it is still a good story.
1026808
One of my girls' favorite books, and they still remember it fondly now that they're in their twenties. It's a lovely dreamlike story full of rich language and gorgeous pictures, and it has a strong but very human female lead (not as commonplace as you might imagine). The story is about healing, as the heroine ran away from her colorful and challenging homeland and found herself in a very calm grey city. At first she finds the greyness peaceful, but eventually her heart longs for more. She finds work as a seamstress and though everyone wears the same dull grey clothing, she begins to embroider something of each person's dreams into his or her pockets. Eventually, the color, pattern and excitement hidden in the pockets begins to spread into the rest of the townspeople's lives, and the town is remade into wonderful joyful place. If your child enjoys color, craft, pattern or enchanting language, try this book.
4115719
This is another of my favorite books from childhood. It's been 30 years since I've read it and it still holds up for me. Lately I've been somewhat disappointed when rereading childhood favorites. I'm glad to find this one remains untarnished for me.
64419
I got hold of a paperback version of "The Scarlet Boy" in the 1960's and read it that many times that it started to fall apart, so I'm very pleased to be able to get this new (almost) hard cover one. It's not a "ghost" book as such and the "Scarlet" is just the boy's family name. The book leads one slowly into some very spell bounding situations; as part of the story there is some confusion of the generations that has to be kept in mind. Every few years I read the story again and find new things that I hadn't fully appreciated before. Read this much-loved book and you will be as grateful to the author as I am!
1493463
I fell in love with the entire series of Betsy-Tacy books back in elementary school. For some reason they became very hard-to-find until sometime in the 80s or 90s, when they were first reprinted. in paperback.

I bought the series & re-read it, and it was one of those rare things remembered from childhood that turn out to be even better than you remember them! They are lovely stories of the long friendship between two girls who grow up together in late 1800s - early 1900s Minnesota, closely based on the author's own life. Sounds sentimental, maybe, I know - but the entire series is just charming, both in its characters and their stories, and in the books' evocative depiction of life in a different time.

The first few Betsy-Tacy books are about very young girls, and as such are simpler, written for girls of about ages 7- 11 or so. The books become increasingly complex as the girls grow up, ending with the characters' various college educations, travels and marriages. The book I'm reviewing consists of  two of the latest books together, and are necessarily a bit more serious, as they depict the character's lives during World War I,  adjusting to marriage, etc.

ANYWAY - everyone I've introduced to the Betsy-Tacy books, young or old, have loved them. This includes my husband, who had his doubts but eventually picked  up one of the mid-period books, couldn't put it down, and ended up reading, and loving, the entire series!  * A note; it's well worth searching out the original hardcovers, or some of the earlier paperback reprints for the original pen-&-ink illustrations, which are (again) charming and gracefully rendered -even if only to have seen them! They are far better than the newer, full-color drawings used in most of reprints of the
later Betsy-Tacy books.
413900
Dreams is a lovely, nostalgic novel. This book really brought me back to my childhood. Though I'm a little bit younger than the character of Jo, I remember vividly what it was like to live in that time. As a college-bound woman growing up in the 50s, I can relate to Jo. I always put my studies first and my parents reinforced that, but it was frustrating when they thought letting me go to a dance would send my life spiraling out of control. Most boys I knew were too young to serve the country in Korea, but I have a cousin who served and a friend's older brother worked in a MASH unit there. It's really interesting to see how world news, the impending conflict, seeped into the awareness and conversations of people a bit older than me. No one really understands war, but it's most difficult for children to comprehend. I enjoyed reading Dreams, and have recommended it to many friends so they can experience the same nostalgia I did while reading it. I'm even hoping to convince my granddaughter to read it, so she can better understand what life was like for me when I was her age.
1000890
I originally read "The Lord of the Rings" eight years ago, when I was eleven years old. While I understood and enjoyed some of the story, I wasn't old enough to truly get into it. A couple of months ago, I was browsing a local bookstore and ran across the leather-bound Collector's Edition. While it held a hefty price tag, I've always been a big fan of high-quality, solid-feeling items. Especially books. So, I purchased it and read the story for the second time in my life... It was even better than I remember it as a child.
The bottom line is that if you're looking for a long-lasting piece of literature (physically and mentally), the Collector's Edition is the book for you and is completely worth the price you'll pay.
3454072
When I was a child, this was my favorite book.  And, like all good books, this one stayed with me over time.

I have thought of this book often as an adult.  Whenever I was in a situation where I wasn't quite sure what I was doing or how things would work out, I thought of Sally.  Sallys adventure was comforting to me because it was a reminder that, as adults, we are often unsure.  Others will sometimes look out for us and even though we fear otherwise, things seem to have a way of working out.

I reread this book recently because I decided to give my old tattered copy to my grand niece for her birthday.  Despite the fact that it was published in 1940, it did not seem terribly sexist.  Sally has her share of challenges when shopping alone, but more because this is her first real attempt to assert herself in an adult world rather than the fact that she is a girl.  She is treated with consideration and respect throughout the book.  Adults play a minor supporting role, but Sally is the star.  She makes her way through her adventure with some missteps, but she accomplishes her goal and is able to feel quite proud of herself.

This tale has not lost its charm.  It is, in fact, a nice bit of insight into another place and time that could provoke interesting conversation between the adult reader and the child listener.
2740851
I found the original edition of this book while I was randomly browsing the shelves of the University of Louisville's Ekstrom Library (dork alert), and I'm really glad I did. I've never heard anyone talk about it, reference it, or recommend it, so I was very surprised to see that W. W. Norton re-released it. As you can easily read in the sample pages, the book is the author's reminiscences on his boyhood, and readers too young to remember "those days" will have to just take his word for it -- and likely will want to, because it talks of the innocence and beauty (even in mischief and rebellion) of growing up in the safe neighborhoods of the early 20th century (the book was first published in 1957). This is easily likable and endearing reading, written in the author's casual, funny, and friendly style. As a counterpoint to today's odd devotion to scandal, spectacle, and (particularly in the childhood-memoir genre) agony/abuse, a healthy dose of perspective about enjoying "simpler times" is a soothing and possibly even necessary thing.
484073
This wonderful book for the wee ones was first published in 1978 and to this day is still one of the more popular books available. Longevity and the ability to appeal to generation after generation tell you a lot about childrens books.  I have often felt though that many overlook one of the most appealing aspects of this work and that would be the wonderful illustrations.  Janet Ahlberg won the Kate Greenaway Medal for her work on this book and rightfully so.

But of course the fairy tale like characters and the rhyming couplets make the book a delight to read with children and the presents of beloved characters such as Cinderella, Bo-Peep, Tom Thumb, the Three Bears, Jack and Jill, Robin Hood and the beloved Mother Hubbard and many others, only add to the warmness of the book.  Couple this with the fact that this is one of those I Spy books that little ones almost universally enjoy, make this a book that needs to be placed on the top of your childs reading list.

This work has been around almost 40 years now and I strongly suspect that it will be alive and well even 40 years from now.

This was a library find.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
4666790
I'm 36 now, but I still remember reading and loving this book as a little kid. My grandparents picked it up somewhere, and we read it over and over.

The artwork is fantastic. Richly drawn, and not by a computer either.

The stories are engaging, and always seem to have a moral. A typical story is four pages long, if you just count text. Some of them go up to 8 pages, but with the text embedded around rich drawings/paintings on every page.

It is a british book, published by College Books of London.

Buy your copy before all the used ones are gone, because it seems to be out of print. I think I may buy another copy myself. ;)
4289356
I remember this book from when I was in elementary school. It was a favorite of mine. I borrowed it from our library constantly. When I saw a box of old books in front of my old school marked "free", I looked through it and what should I find? I hung on to it for many years. It has since disappeared but memories of having it read to me for the first time in kindergarten by our school librarian will live on forever. :D