Form-4 Books

We saw these stories (in small vintage books) at a friends house recently. I instantly fell in love with the sweet characters and illustrations. When looking them up due to cost ended up ordering this collection. I was worried about the illustrations but they are wonderful. It is a perfect bedtime/storytime book for young children 3-7 (possibly a little younger depending on child). All the animals Ernest Owl, Joe Robin, Mr and Mrs Nibble and their young bunnies Rosey, Posey and Christopher, Walter Duck, Little Martha the lamb and more are so sweet. Children fall in love with them. The stories are simple, 25 of them! The language is English (as opposed to American!) this was a plus for us having grown up in England reminiscent of my childhood,

A little warning as one or two of them are "old fashioned" a little politically incorrect! (mainly the adventures of Walter) We just skip or update!

Another great thing about this book is that the characters come to life and visit and live at our play farm! so it had led to hours of creative play.

Highly recommended. Read before exploring the Uncle Wiggily Bedtime Stories (Children's Thrift Classics) books orUncle Wiggily's Story Book

What a comic strip.

The first three volumes of the already gripping adventure began in 1935 with a blocky, art deco style almost flat and hyerogliphic like all good early 1930s strips in the vein of Chester Goulds' Dick Tracy.

The masterful Milton Caniff yet to emerge as the consummate storyteller he was so soon to become developed a new style, in his use of heavily stylised black areas, and fantastic lighting, along with meticulously accurate real life scenery, bringing out volume by volume a true American original.

The prinicipal characters, Terry Lee, Pat Ryan, and their Chinese servant and interpreter, Connie, lead all manner of rivetting adventures in the South China Seas battling the pirates of the title such as the Dragon Lady.

By this, the fourth volume, its the eve of America's War in the Far East, and in the weeks before Pearl Harbour, our interpid heroes suffer their first true tragedy when Raven Sherman, the beloved of the character, Dude Hennick, a loose tail Flyer dies horribly slowly after being thrown from the back board of a speeding truck by arch villain, Captain Judas.

Poor Raven, relief worker to Chinese orphans, and philanthropic Heiress died from her injuries, and in real life, provoked a storm of reader protest unparalleled in the World of the funny papers.
The cover of this volume depicts the luckless young Terry Lee, and Dude Hennick, burying the body of their friend in cinematic long shot, on a barren Chinese hill, in a nameless grave. Highly poignant and very sad, this is storytelling of pure Hollywood calibre.

The volume here is the first real acknowledgement that people do die in war, and as the strip moves into the early months of 1942, Caniff finally manages to emerge from his veiled pro War stance which up until the real war had been thinly disguised due to the editorial policy of his newspaper, to a full - fledged commitment to military activity. Gone are the boyish serial adventures, replaced by a reality of America field hospitals, and air operations.

This is a beautiful book in keeping with the other parts to this series, with two very good essays, and some various pieces of non comic strip continuity art, and other features. Of particular interest was the piece written by John Romita Snr., about his own experiences as a ten year old reader coping with the death of Raven Sherman, and his drawing a parallel to his own career at Marvel, thirty years later when he had to kill off a popular comics character, Spider Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy.

Excellent ...................
This reviwer cannot wait for volume 5.

We had to read this book for an English class, and I was thinking ugh, a nonfiction book. We only had to read a handful of articles, but almost everybody in the class read the whole thing. This is truly awesome.

not sure why a teacher would want to read 50 research papers on Death of a Salesman, but mine does. This book will fill several lines on the works cited page.

My son loves this book. He uses it at school as well and his teacher recommended it to us. He can sit down and trace the dinosaur for long times and it makes him concentrate.

The current Republican touting of Ronald Reagan and proclaiming of how great a president he was amuses me, as I am someone who was politically conscious through the years of his presidency. Reagan invented the massive federal deficits during peacetime that have plagued this country since then, with of course the exception of the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton. Those times were nowhere near as rosy as the Republicans proclaim, which made my reading of this book so interesting.
Trudeau's Doonesbury cartoons were based on current events and reading this book takes me back to the headlines of those years. There is the presidential campaign of 1980, where Carter, Reagan and John Anderson were all major players. The disastrous American intervention in Lebanon is once again brought up and when contrasted with the current involvement in Iraq, proves once again how little we have learned. At least Reagan had the courage and intelligence to recognize when it was time to cut and run. And who could forget Secretary of the Interior James Watt, a man who openly ridiculed the environmental movement and proved to be one of the politically dumbest people ever to serve in the cabinet. To the best of my knowledge, Watt was the first example of a born-again who used his religious beliefs as a rudder for the generation of his policies. It is somehow fitting that he was ultimately indicted on 18 felony counts and reached a plea agreement that kept him out of jail.
If you did not live through the early Reagan years, then these cartoons will probably not make sense to you. That is one of the unfortunate consequences of the best political cartoons in that they simply do not have a long shelf life. Once the context of their appearance fades, then they can be made incomprehensible. Nevertheless, they are still just as biting and entertaining as they were when they were a thorn in the fatside of the Republican group who was in power at that time.

Drawn and Quarterly presents three, deftly told stories that have nothing more in common than a shared medium. All are stimulating in their own way.

The first is by Gabrielle Belle, a subtle tale featuring Anna, an art student who deals with criticism for her life drawings, and Felix, the 12-year-old boy she tutors. In small ways, the two grow closer as the comic progresses, but Anna becomes unexpectedly drawn to Felix's father. It's a deceptively gentle story with complex emotion underlying many panels. I've read through it at least twice, discovering something new and revealing about the characters each time.

While Belle goes for the heart, Martin Cendreda goes for the nerves in "Dog Days" where the comic wanders across the lives of a number of characters at the end of summer, including children, dogs, and a man trying to sell his TV. Marlon is a soon-to-be high school graduate and, along with the rest of the town, is speculating on a string of recent murders. Marlon's grandfather, however, insists that the crimes are being committed by an aswang, a vampire-dog common to the Phillipines. The monster's alleged presence dominates the story, as apparent as humidity.

"Won't Be Licked! The Great '37 Flood in Louisville" by Dan Zettwoch is a refined and realistic piece of history. It follows a young man's adventures through a flood with the use of his boat, constructed from a refrigerator box. The comic's attention to detail is staggering, documenting the flood's effect on a variety of people literally trying to stay afloat. Monuments are submerged and buildings are trashed, each site documented wonderfully.

This astoundingly charming - yet strange - keepsake book retells the Hanukah tale with the cats as the Jews & the dogs as the Greco-Syrians. Brilliantly capturing the spirit of the tale in both text and illustrations, Dreidelcat is a book I would highly recommend for children of all ages, at any time of the year. Adults would also like its off-kilter take on Hanukah as well. Be sure to check out the wonderful drawings of the cat with its whiskers cut off, the dogs riding their "army of armadillos," and the infamous cat sacrifice scene in the temple. Brilliantly conceived! Destined to become a classic!

Tired of projects supposedly for kids, but really require adult help all the way? Then this book is for your family. Young kids can truly do these projects on their own. The text is simple. The adoreable illustrations are step-by-step. Best of all, there's lots of opportunity for them to add their own creativity. My kids were so proud of their results!

This is a super book for fairy craft people.whether you do drawings or sculpting this is a great idea book..its very well done and can be used for glass painting as well.Im glad I took a chance on this one..its really good..B.W.