Form-4 Books

Although written for children, this collection of myths and legends from Ethiopia is also enjoyable and informative for adults who have friends from Ethiopia or who enjoy learning about other cultures.
I thought it was particularly interesting that the stories were collected from throughout Ethiopia, and include representations from the diverse subcultures within that rich and varied country.
The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful.

My daughters who are aspiring astronomists are in love with this book! Highly recommended...easy read for kids but full of information that they can understand!

Maitena is an Argentinian cartoonist whose cartoons center on women, relationships and life in general. Her cartoons are fun, but also food for thought, sometimes.

If you are a woman and you happen to buy this book, you will laugh quite loudly several times, because you'll realise that you aren't alone, and that many others share your likes/dislikes, habits and peculiarities. We live in different countries, but we are first and foremost women :)

If you are a man, you'll have the opportunity of at least beginning to understand some of those many things that women do and just don't make sense in your humble opinion. Of course, Maitena's cartoons don't explain women and their points of view (I don't think anything can), but they might shed some lights on some of our idiosyncrasies.

Maitena says that "Women are not all the same, but the same things happen to us". If you want to know more about those "things that happen to us", or laugh a lot, read this compilation of cartoons. I highly recommend it to you :)

Belen Alcat

I've been reading Cathy comics since I was a kid, only because it seemed to be the only "girl comic book character" who was not a superhero but a real person. As an adult, I see so much more into Cathy's evolution as our culture has evolved. And as work is a major fascet of life, it shows how the workplace has changed right along with the rest of us.

How ironic are the latent effects of social changes and how they relate to the office! Within 30 years it's been turned onto itself. Women were being told so long ago that they didn't have to stay home but to have jobs, careers, interests, etc. other than our families. We went into the workforce with abundance. Ask anyone in an office, and they will tell you times have changed. Now, women work to make ends meet. More than half of the women (whether they be married, single or divorced) in my office are the breadwinners in their households. Many are supporting deadbeat boyfriends or some other terrible domestic situation. People are coming to work not because they want to support their families or themselves, but because they want to get away from whatever's going on at home. As Cathy points out, that's why so many offices look like homes now days.

Throw in all those factors plus the topics du jour (ex. sexual harrassment) and you've got a disaster on your hands. Cathy, though not always the most hilariously funny, reads it just like a Woody Allen movie. Stumbling through life one foot at a time until you take a flying Dick Van Dyke leap into disaster after disaster, but pulling through.

Our family uses this book often around our summer campfires in the back yard and when camping. Easy to read for kids and has chords for accompanying adults. Includes Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, Miss Lucy and many, many more.

a maasive, funny volume well worth the steep price for a joke book/ the only problem is that is compiled, leading to some duplication of material. not a major drawback, but a little editing wouldn't have hurt

This book is a must have if you have children. Kids love to tell jokes and these are great, easy to remember, and funny! Very comical and captivating for the kids!

If you are a teacher or parent of children from age 7 up (or an adult!), and love to learn through hands-on projects...this book is an absolute MUST. I have been recommending it to my teachers (and using it myself) since the ink was first dry---many years ago. I have not found a book even to compare with this one in content, approach, or style. It not only gives the HISTORY of writing, there are a zillion hands-on projects! You want to make your own paper? Write your own book? MAKE your own book? Learn where calligraphy originated...and how to do it? It goes on and on and on. It's easy and fun, and uses around-the-house items, nothing expensive. The drawings are beautiful, the layout complements the text and is easy to read and follow, the information is well researched and presented. I just LOVE this book. My profession? A mother many times over, and a handwriting expert...

Yo, Aesop! Get a Load of These Fables, is a collection of updated, silly, funny, irreverent stories. No fox and grapes, no lion and mouse, Paul Rosenthal has taken these fables and given them a very modern twist with wonderful, hip text, large colorful cartoon-like illustrations and a note from Aesop himself, at the end of each tale. Your kids will be laughing out loud, at the antics of the characters in these stories. A delightful book for your whole family to share and a great addition to any home library.

In You Have A Brother Named Spike?, Snoopy gets a visit from his brother, Spike, who lives with coyotes. The Peanuts gang is surprised that Snoopy even has an older brother. They take the news in their usual humorous stride.

Snoopy shines especially with his imagined conversation to Lucy and Charlie Brown about Spike. When Spike arrives, everyone welcomes him. Charlie Brown bought him a special bowl. but Lucy, after seeing Spike, feels that she needs to nurse him back to health.

This book is just plain fun. Lucy is a riot as she tries to help fatten Spike up in Linus' bedroom. I think the Peanuts have a great way of making anyone laugh and this book definitely proves that point. I'm glad that my nephew picked this book out at the library, while he was here on a visit. Brother Named Spike is another good way to introduce humor to kids.