Form-4 Books

Peanuts started in 1950, but didn't show up in the Sunday Paper until 1952. This collection features the early days of Peanuts as they appeared in the Sunday Paper. Lucy tries hard to get Schroeder's attention (but he's not having any of that). Snoopy acts crazy even in the early days (he scratches up an LP record with his teeth, causes the other team a home run, and ruins a nice game of paddleball for his master Charlie Brown, he even has a TV set inside the doghouse). Pig Pen is a mess, and Linus endures Lucy's fussbudget ways or her inane lectures on life. And then there's good old Charlie Brown, who can't get a break on the croquet field, gets stranded on ice and needs a little help from Snoopy, and can't win a game. Classic line used by Charlie: "You drive me crazy!"

Charlie Brown books are a one of a kind story books that every person I know can't stop reading them. I check them out from my local school library every chance that I get.

Some of the finest work Mr Schulz has done. Hundreds of bitterswet laughs that you've come to expect from the Peanuts gang.

Very useful book for those responsible for keeping young children interested and involved with handicaft projects. Supplies are readily alvailable and at nominal cost. Instructons are clear and uncomplicated.

Kids Create! is an excellent collection that uses various mediums and can apply to children with varied artistic ability. I am a 6th grade art teacher, and I purchased the book after borrowing it from the library. There are too many wonderful ideas to let it slip away! My students especially love Carlson's collection of sculpting projects.

The craft instructions in this book are indeed easy, fun, cheap to do (etc) for kids. But the best part was the discussion in the back of the book on appropriate levels of creative projects for kids of different ages. It clearly outlined what attention span and dexterity level you should expect from kids of different ages. And it had useful advice for adults on how to make the project fun for kids; not just push the child to produce an "aesthetically ideal" finished project. That unanticipated inclusion in the book made it really stand out for me.

This book is not only good for kids, but a good book for adults who are just getting started with polymer clay. I've been using polymer clay for years and got some great ideas for my own art from this book. My kids love the variety of projects and are excited about working with PC.

This is a wonderful book. It is GREAT! And not only for kids. It has inspired me even though I'm WAY past the kid stage :o) I've done countless craft programs with various ages of children in the past 10 years, so I know what it takes to work with children. This book is wonderful for kids to use on their own or for adults to follow. The directions are clear & everything is easy to understand. I LOVE the kids in the book. Lark did a great job with the photos. They look like they are having fun :o) My favorites ideas are the"Makin' Faces Face Plates" (what a riot!), "Pushpinzzzzzzzz", "Fine Feathered Friends", and "Spirit Dolls". I'm planning to give a copy of the book to a friend's 9 year-old daughter for Christmas.

I was so happy to participate in making some of the projects in this book and with Irene Dean writing it, I knew the book was naturally going to be good.

But, when I received it, I was totally floored at the quality - hardcover, great paper, clear pictures, well-written instructions. It was so much better than I'd even anticipated.

This book was written for someone much younger than I am, but I found it completely entertaining, throughout. Very thorough "basics" section, including a look at making simple canes, then on to the projects. Lively and colorful from cover to cover.

Jazzy, upbeat writing, hip kids in artful demonstration, wonderful photography, lots of humor and cool fonts surround each of the thirty projects. There are beginner items to advanced - critters, jewelry, things to make for gifts, from simple to sophisticated - kids are going to absolutely love this book! And just in time to give to a young person before the appearance of "summer doldrums," too. :)

But, I don't think its appeal is limited to the 8-14 years-old age bracket because IMO, most adults would find it fun, too. I'd recommend this one to beginning clayers of any age.

Congratulations to Irene and her terrific editor for a fabulous, fun book!

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This "Color Special" reprints some of the stories from Dark Horse's series of Little Lulu books, but in color rather than black and white. The color improves the stories, especially in cases where color is integral to the story, like the one where Lulu accidentally dyes her skin green. Little Lulu is generally considered to be the best comic book about a little girl ever. This book provides solid evidence in favor of that belief.

Finally! After 11 volumes of classic Little Lulu stories in black and white, Dark Horse has released a "Color Special" of stories reprinted from issues as early as Little Lulu #4, ending with a tale from Little Lulu #86. Except for Tubby's little cousin Chubby no longer being a mini-Tubby (in this Dark Horse release he's inexplicably blonde instead of red haired like Tub), I have no argument with this issue. "Witch Hazel" stories abound (including "The Witches Picnic" from Little Lulu #75, one of my all-time faves) and there's a sampling of "Spider" stories, wherein Tubby acts as a detective to clear an innocent Lulu of blame for some misdeed committed -- usually -- by her dad.

There is no other comic I can think of that can be read over and over for sheer pleasure than Stanley's Little Lulus. Brilliant writing, clever plotting, and funny gags abound. Except for Carl Barks, who wrote and illustrated the magnificent Donald Duck comics, John Stanley was without peer in comics for juveniles.

John Stanley's Dell Little Lulu Comics are some of the most popular comics in history, and Dark Horse's recent decision to reprint them vies with The Complete Peanuts as the comics publishing event of the century. The Dark Horse series, currently up to twelve books, reprints the comics in black and white with color covers. Even the Another Rainbow hardback reprint volumes were black and white with included color covers. Here at last is the first all color volume, and it's a Lulu!

Little Lulu Color Special reprints twenty six stories random from Dell's Marge's Little Lulu comics numbers 4 through 86. Since they're not being released in order, this leaves plenty of room for future volumes. Remember when comics were a quarter? Neither do I, but this is almost as good, with Amazon bringing the price down under 50 cents per story. Of course then you got a whole comic for that. But there are tradeoffs. Instead of newsprint, here's a high-quality 10 X 7 inch over 200 pages bound volume with clearer printing than the comics ever had. These are the same comics, though; you can still see the mistakes common in the Dell and later Western Publishing reprints.

These comics were the inspiration for CINAR's The Little Lulu Show cartoon seen on HBO Family, with Lulu initially voiced by Tracey Uhlman (and now on DVD). Many show episodes were based on the John Stanley stories, and many of those stories are in this book, including "The Green Girl" and "Boy Canon Ball". Thanks to Dark Horse, fun comics are back, and heralding their return, the queen of them all: Little Lulu.

Quino is just a mind-boggling genius. Everything is funny, everything is still applicable to things happening today. My dad had most of them when I was a little girl, and I started buying them for myself. Best seven dollars I have ever spent.

I adored these cartoons when I learned to speak Spanish years ago. While Mafalda's political leanings were definitely a product of the time and place, her interpretation of the adult world is hysterical and sharply insightful. I am only sad that I can no longer understand many of them since I haven't used Spanish for so long.

Parte fundamental del humor latino es y será Mafalda. Ella, como siempre, con su fino humor nos hace reir y reflexionar acerca de la vida y el mundo en general.

The photos of the book are breathtaking and the book gives a good overview of Celtic art spanning the Celtic period. However the reader should bear in mind that the book is not comprehensive. Books available in German such as the Praehistorische Bronzefunde series give one a glimpse as to how wildly creative the Celts were especially in all of the art in general of Hallstatt period and of the variety of of styles found on fibula in the La Tene period. I highly recommend one with a serious interest in Celtic art to continue to search for more source material in addition to this book. However if one were to own one book as an overview of Celtic art I would recommend this book as one of the books to have.

As a Celtic artist I'm always on the search for books speficially on Celtic art, not just the Celtic people in general. This book by the Megaw's is the best I've found yet, giving lots of impartial information without romantic colorings about 'mystical meanings' and such. Just a great overview of how the art style is thought to have evolved, how it changes throught history, and lots of great photos. And a word on the photos of artifacts... many of these photos are 'new', in the sense that they're not the same ten images you see in every other book about the Celts. New photos of new artifacts not often shared with in publications. Great for Celtic artists who enjoy checking out ancient artifacts to use as source material and to track the evolution of its design and patterns!

I enjoy this book a great deal because it includes history, art, timelines, and discoveries in the Celtic civilization. There are several maps that describe the Evolution of the Celtic Empire and its power before the rise of the Roman Empire. It talks about the beauty of the iron work that the Celtics created and the complicated knotwork designs that are very popular in Scotland and Ireland today. This book will give you a great overview of the Celtic Culture, I greatly recommend it!

After our son was born we started really reading the old nursery rhymes we'd grown up with and were disappointed by the often harsh and callous messages. The New Adventures of Mother Goose is such a welcome relief! It full of the characters we recognize but they're so much happier than we remember them. For instance, the three KIND mice take out their cheese and cut her (the farmer's wife) a slice. How much better than getting their tails chopped off! Most importantly, it's our son's favorite book and he's starting to complete the rhymes himself. We feel good about having him repeat happy rhymes.

My kids enjoyed this book so much they have most of the poems memorized. This is a much more enjoyable version to read than the original Mother Goose. I received the book as a shower gift and have since bought three copies as gifts for other children.

My son loves this book and seemed unimpressed with the original Mother Goose when they were read to him weeks after getting this book. This book is much more entertaining for any age at any time. Warm, positive, and funny.

The English language is filled with quirks and puzzles. In Dictionary Of Troublesome Words, copy editor Bill Bryson provides the reader with an expert guide to avoiding the traps and snares of what is justifiably considered the most complicated and dominant languages of the world today. Bryson's A-Z dictionary clearly outlines some of the more common problems involved in using ordinary words such as 'either', future', or 'may well be'. Dictionary Of Troublesome Words is another browser's joyride in the proper pursuit of English and a welcome addition to personal, school, and community library reference collections.

Palindromes form different words when considered from left to right or right to left (e.g., dog/god). This zany collection provides words or phrases which read the same forward or backward, pairing the zany phrases with entertaining comic strip cartoons. A whimsical, fun gift for the English major.

This book is 112 pages of entertaining cartoons of palindromes. Jon Agee creates whimsical one to four panel stories in which all sentances are palindromes (the same forwards and backwards) and then illustrates them to bring them to life. If you enjoy palindromes, this is the perfect item for you.

It's always timely to have an international issue, but especially during a time of war, when borders are tightened, and focal points are narrowed. Literature tends to be able to leap over the checkpoints, and the stories in Reading Room/4 perform these acrobatics. The most striking piece that makes the leap for me is "Awakening," by Kenyan writer Julie Obaso. The story is centered on a child's initiation into brutality. The story's concern is the child's reaction to having to wring the neck of his pet, Old Rooster, for dinner. What is of interest is how the boy denies himself as a way of coping with the violence, and how he sees this denial, at different levels, in those around him.

A new translation of Joseph Roth's story, "Strawberries" opens the journal. Roth describes the people in a rural, poor, European town who survive on "miracles" and the generosity of a rich count. One character complains -- after selling the last bit of "lucky" rope from a man who hung himself -- "Life is like a prison, and we have to wait for God to let us out." Among other things, it's a story about getting by on bits of luck and scraps of work - definitely worth the read.

It's notable that the cover of this issue is a Larry Rivers portrait of Roth. The artist died in September of this year, around the time the journal was being distributed. His portrait of Roth would have been one of his last works. Serendipitously, his work is part of the editor's lusty essay on Marcel Duchamp and the conceptual artists' struggle with "the pesky body thing." In this essay, Barbara Probst Solomon probes the influence of Duchamp's 5-year affair with Maria Martins on his ideas about art's remove and on his long secrecy surrounding his work, "Etant Donnes" and "Woman with Open [word]." Rivers' work is brought in as a challenge to Duchamp's restrained gaze.

As usual in The Reading Room, there's an exciting blend of emerging and established voices. South African writer Anthony Schneider is one of the newer ones whose story, "An Uninhabited Place" is written in haunting and seductive prose about a different kind of desire than the one Duchamp strugged with. The author links a "dry and disconsolate" land to a struggle with infertility, in a beautiful rendering of a thing hoped for but unattained. I find myself linking this story to the drought we've been having in the east, and the infertility of the economy and the White house. But that's what's on my mind as I read it. Each reader will bring a new association.

These stories and the others are good for reading by a fire, or at least some incense. Or if no incense, than crack the book to Donald Maggin's "Gray Smoke of Incense" and imagine!

I've read all three issues of The Reading Room, and Issue Three continues the inspiring path set by One and Two. Barbara Probst Solomon, the editor, in her own essay included in each issue, has a way of exploring an author as if she's in deep with them. In the case of Saul Bellow, in this issue, she is actually an old friend - she'd befriended his first wife in Europe, and then Bellow, too. (Probst Solomon was also friends with John Updike, with whom she has a lavish conversation in the first issue). With Bellow, it's a conversation that starts with the memoir material of their friendship and moves onto the influences of Don Quixote and Ulysses on his work, and his argument with intellectuals ("We like to celebrate our nihilism....The fact is that in the morning, factory gates open, and people go to work"). It's a jaunty, enlightening read.

For those interested in things `70's, which seems to be everyone these days, check out the piece on a primal scream therapy cult, written by one of its recuperating daughters, Judith Kellem. For people who are nostalgic for disco duck and bell bottoms, it's a little shock-treatment to be inside the walls of one of the more dodgy components of the decade.

A special element of The Reading Room is its embrace of writers from Europe and other countries. Theme headings help you navigate through the many offerings of each issue, and one such theme in this issue is "Sex and the Ultimate French Novel." Here is a work that will help satisfy the literary scene's new hunger for sex workers' stories. It's a new translation of Charles-Louis Philippe's novel, based on the author's real-life failed attempts to "save" a teenage prostitute, at the turn of the last century.

Aside from being international in flavor, this journal is on the eclectic tilt, with artwork that follows suit (William Anthony and Spanish artist Gonzalo Torne in this volume). At a full 300 some pages, The Reading Room is large enough (and expansive enough) to invite not only writers of national and international renown but a few new kids on the block, too. The mix makes this "room" energetic, a place where you want to hang out for a while and see what happens next.

What a pleasure to come upon literary review of real quality. This is a wonderful collection of writers -- comfortable, funny, edgy, and stimulating. They have been brought together in a plain chunky book that smells good and is handsomely (and cleverly) printed. I sipped this morning's coffee as slowly as possible, ignored the phone, and read (into mid-morning) Juan Goytisolo, Daphne Merkin, Madison Smartt Bell, and Julian Rios. The best part is that when it's over, it's not over. There'll be more "Reading Rooms". The new year is looking pretty nice after all!

I purchased this book over two years ago, and find myself reading it again and again for it is such a useful compendium of children's literature. The book itself is beautifully bound and contains numerous black-and-white illustrations, as well as full color illustrations. It is divided into 6 parts,
i. Children's poetry [Mother Goose, other nursery rhymes, singing games, jingles, chants, counting-out rhymes], riddles,puzzles, and tongue twisters, lullabies & folk songs, nonsense verse, the storytelling tradition [ballads, narrative poetry], poems of a child's world, poems of imagination, poems of nature, poems of reflection].
ii. Picture books [text, selection & history]
iii. The oral tradition [ fables, folktales from different countries around the world, myths, legends, and sacred writings[Judeo-Christian, Islamic etc, epics and romances, story-telling]
iv. Fiction [realistic & historical fiction, fantasy & science fiction]
v. Nonfiction [ biography covering such famous people as Beatrix Potter, Gandhi, Anne Frank, also covering tracel & history, and science]
vi. Readings on children's literature [the creators, the critics]

and finally it ends with a very useful selected bibliography of children's lit, and has an appendix, and subject index, as well as an author, illustrator, and title index.

This is a truly valuable resource for parents, teachers, and anyone interested in children's literature.

When I was a young, my mom was taking college classes and got this book for her class on children's lit. When the class was over, we would sit around and flip through the 1000s of poems, fairy tales and story excerpts from ya novels.
Now the book is on my shelf, and I pull it down to find poems to read to my daughter.
Completely enjoyable book for those looking for tons of poems/stories from around the world for children, and for those who want to learn more about the poems/stories themselves.

This book is quite a treasure for any parent, but especially for teachers! Some of the material available include: Mother Goose Rhymes (104); Singing Games, Jingles and Chants (130); Riddles, Puzzles, Tongue Twisters (21); Lullibies and Folk Songs (29); all kinds of stories according to voice, fiction, nonfiction, or biography; and a treasure of poetry. Any teacher who needs good resource material will love this book! The price is high, but the material is priceless.