Form-4 Books

Well, we're in countdown mode now, and it's less than two years until the next president takes the oath of office. But how to manage in the meantime, reading every day about the idiot-in-chief? Pat Bagley combines humor with sound ideas to help you keep your sanity--even though the rest of the world has apparently lost theirs.

If you are one of the 49.5% of voting Americans who cast your ballot against Bush and are seeking some comic relief, this book is simply a hilarious gut buster that rightfully should put local Salt Lake newspaper cartoonist Pat Bagley on the national political cartoon map. After having a good laugh with Bagley's biting, sharp-edged humor, it gave me some more heart to move on past the 2004 national election and start thinking about what needs to happen for 2008. E.g. - "Reason" or cartoon #48 is titled "You can't fool all the people all the time - a simple majority will do," followed by a cartoon of a person trying to convince a voter outside a polling place with the speech "Saddam did 9-11 and Bush smoked him out!" Reason or cartoon #23 is "Get drunk with Colin Powell - [and] find out the real poop," followed by cartoon of Powell and an ordinary guy getting drunk with the question "Colin, dude, what happended?" Highly recommended for a quick personal read for comic election relief or as gift for your Democratic friends anytime for the next four years.

This is another excellent book in this Williamson art series for children. The cover says it's for ages 8-13, and I'd like to emphasize that it's definitely not for younger children, although a few can be adapted for younger children. Many projects are challenging enough that high school students and adults should enjoy them also.

Many of the projects take a definite commitment to time and care in order to have good results. There are some that require meticulous attention to details and fine motor coordination. Quite a few projects use an exacto knife to cut our small pieces of paper or poster board. There is a soap carving which requires a paring knife. Other potentially difficult and dangerous materials and equipment include glass sheets, turpentine, bleach, nail polish, cooking oil and paraffin heated for making candles, dye, needle and thread, tiny bits of paper for mosaic, wire cutters, pliers, handsaw, drill for a wooden birdhouse, nails for piercing a metal can, vegetable peeler, iron.

There are paintings and drawings using special techniques with pencil, paint, charcoal and markers, as well as many 3-dimensional projects that use folding, carving, building and other methods. Although there is an excellent variety of projects that can turn out very satisfyingly, there should be supervision for many of them, especially for younger children.

I highly recommend this art activity book. The ideas are original and fun and yet they are not exhausting to complete. As I homeschool our girls, I have found this book to be a great asset in my thematic approach to learning.

I'm only 1/4 way through the book and it's a keeper. Durst is as funny in book form as he is on the stage. His observations are dead on, sane, and make me laugh out loud.
If you're frustrated with the current state of our union, buy this book. You'll feel better.

Being a teacher, I read this book during the summer (at the pool). I must have laughed out loud at least 20 different times. People started asking me what I was reading that was so funny. I love Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Bill Mahr and Keith Olbermann. Now I love Will Durst, too. He speaks the truth, hits the nail on the head, and has you laughing out loud, all at the same time. Read it - you'll love it!! I didn't want to finish the book, because it would be over, but I couldn't wait to loan it to my sons, who love satire and sarcasm.

When my 7-year old son is fighting with my 9-year old daughter for his turn to read AMELIA RULES!, you know these books are going to be a hit. The artwork is beautiful, the dialogue full of great humor and pathos, the stories engaging. But what appeals most to the kids, I think, is the characters themselves. Amelia is out-and-out fascinating--a perfect combination of pre-teen girl and tomboy--and her friends are as lively and entertaining as any you'll find in American literature.

In fact, this IS literature, and if you're the kind of parent who thinks comics are no better for kids than TV, AMELIA RULES! will prove you completely and utterly wrong. Get these books. Your kids won't be able to put them down--and neither will you.

Simply put, there is no kids' comic book on the market
better than "Amelia Rules!" It is intelligently written,
beautifully drawn, and totally hilarious. The stories
contained in this volume are a cartooning tour de force.

I have used this book in my classroom and it really helps to spark ideas. I teach high school and this book translates well to upper levels.

Whether you are an art teacher or a parent, this book has an amazing number of creative projects for children. It shows in a wonderful, easy to follow and creative style different techniques of drawing and painting, use of color and design and even a make it yourself board game! The author, Ande Cook, writes in her intro that this comes from an extensive collection of art activities she did for her own students and this book mixes philosphy, process, vocabulary and art history facts with entertaining illustrations. She teaches not only how to draw and paint animals, trees, clouds and people, but includes such esoteric subjects as aboriginal design and islamic architecture! It's all done with a great measure of fun and laid out so intuitively that each page covers a project and can be easily photocopied by a teacher.

An amazing, creative collection and a real must have!

I've purchased several copies of "Authors By Request: An Inside Look At Your Favorite Writers," as gifts for my children's teachers and student teachers. It's a wonderful gift for educators because it profiles the popular authors our kids are reading, plus offers writing tips and activities. I also bought a copy for my sister, a teacher, and for our family bookshelf. We love books at my house and this paperback really highlights some terrific writers. It's a good book at a good price.

I've purchased several copies of "Authors By Request: An Inside Look At Your Favorite Writers," as gifts for my children's teachers and student teachers. It's a wonderful gift for educators because it profiles the popular authors our kids are reading, plus offers writing tips and activities. I also bought a copy for my sister, friends that are moms, teachers, and for our family bookshelf. We love books at my house and this paperback really highlights some terrific writers. It's a good book at a good price.

This book has a series of tales from the Silk Road countries - China, Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan, and Afghanistan. They are easy to read and interesting. I have Afghan students and recently saw the Afghan treasures show at the National Gallery. This book goes along well with a teacher's unit on this area of the world. We don't teach much about Central Asia and I think we often don't much about it. This is a book that gives the area more life and interest in Central Asia.

This has been a favorite for our kids from about kindergarten on up, and perhaps even a bit earlier. In Bearfoot Book style, this book includes a full curriculum of art, geography, religion and history in the form of plain old good, engaging stories. The silk road slinks from China through the deserts of Central Asia and into the Middle East, and in this age when so much new history is being written in Central Asia and the Middle East the stories and the accompanying discussions will really help orient your kids to the broader world.

Among the stories that have struck our kids the most are "Monkey and the River Dragon", which should keep the kids laughing through the whole story, and "The Bride and the Horse's head", a story with more pathos and tragedy.

The art in this book particularly stands out, even with the high standards usually set by Barefoot Books, and the maps are a particularly colorful delight. Among kids books, this is one of the better selections when you are reading to children that span all the elementary school grades, as it has something of interest for the older kids as well as the younger ones.

This book is excellent! It is hilarious as was all the other Calvin and Hobbes book! I hope that all the readers out there will enjoy it as much as I did!

I loved this book. As always you laugh at Calvin and hissarcastic humor, his plots to mangle Susie in one way or another. Thenthere is Hobbes wh just goes with the flow, occasionally tossing a water balloon or two. For style you just can't find any where else turn to this book.

Received my order in excellcent condtion, would use this supplier for other purchases.

This is an amazing collection of stories. All the classics are in one book. Well put together.

Well, not really. I did work with him back in the '80s and I discovered that he was a damn good writer and I wondered why he was the religion editor and/or an assistant city editor rather than a superstar columnist. But I didn't mention this to anybody, because who would have listened to me? These things tend to work themselves out in time, and I'm glad to see that this one did. Get the book, and anything else he writes.

I've been reading Clay Thompson's Valley 101 columns in The Arizona Republic for years now. I grew up in Phoenix, but have not lived there for 20 years. Thompson has answered questions about Arizona's quirks (and our own) that I always wondered about but never knew where to ask, or had the time and inclination to find out for myself.

He has an irreverent, yet never offensive style. 90% of his answers would make great subjects for bar bets, if you're into that sort of thing.