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Arthur Ransome's seventh "Swallows and Amazons" adventure is set not long after the action of "Pigeon Post". The action occurs, this time, in the south of England, rather than in the Lake District, and with just the Swallows alone. They are passing the time on the Rivers Orwell and Stour, while waiting to meet up with their father - due, at any time, on leave from his overseas posting with the Royal Navy.

What starts out as a few days quiet sailing, though, quickly turns into something rather more frightening, with the children suddenly drawn into a terrifying and completely unexpected adventure, when they find themselves and their (borrowed) boat being swept out to sea by a fierce tide. For once, the Swallows face a very real and serious danger that is to test their combined courage, fortitude and seamanship to the utmost. It is fascinating (for grown-up readers, at least) to see each of the children's highly individual (and completely characteristic) reactions to their predicament. Younger readers, of course, are more likely just to be carried away by the pure nail-biting suspense of it all!

While this is a gripping and enthralling tale throughout, the tensions (arising from the danger and the worries of the older children) are lightened for the reader by the pure infectious glee of the younger pair. They, of course, are less aware of the seriousness of their predicament - especially Roger, who, as usual, is perfectly content so long as there is plenty of food around - and rather enjoy themselves!

As in all of the "Swallows and Amazons" books, Ransome's story-telling abilities are second to none, here. The narrative is at all times feasible and this book is a completely absorbing read for young and old alike. This is an inspired and an inspiring tale. Readers who have worked their way through the earlier volumes will also not be disappointed when they finally do get to meet Daddy in this volume!

Of all the "Swallows & Amazons" books, this is the most compelling read -- it doesn't share the laid-back mood of most of the others, and the Walker children are in real danger, which is unusual for the series (the nearest to such would be the "Israelites" sequence {in "Secret Water"} or in "Pigeon Post" {in the "Moles" or the fire sequence} all of which are important but limited parts of the books).

Visiting aboard the "Goblin", the yacht of a young man they had recently met, they find themselves adrift in a fog, swept helplessly out into the North Sea as they drag (and lose) anchor, and then running before a full North Sea gale, with no idea where they are or where they are headed, and no certainty that they will not find themselves sinking on shoals or run down by much larger ships (In a particularly tense and thrilling sequence, just that almost happens, averted at the last instant by ingenuity and level-headedness on the part of Captain John.).

Facing the dangers they discover, drawing on their experience in sailing much smaller boats and on their own courage and common sense, they succeed in keeping themselves and the "Goblin" from harm, and even succeed in a mid-sea "rescue".

And, in the course of the adventure, John Walker (somewhere in his late teens, if i calculate aright) makes a major part of the step from boy to young man, learning valuable lessons about himself and what he is capable of, and keeping himself and his sisters and brother safe through the long, stormy night.

This is children's adventure at its best, with action, comedy, thrills and danger enough to satisfy almost any taste, but no violence, gratutitous or otherwise.

I have read all the SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS books several times since I was ten. Now I'm fifteen and they are still among my favorite books. I DIDN'T MEAN TO GO TO SEA is my favorite of them all. The Swallows are all of a sudden in a very precarious situation - How do we survive this? They are in a small schooner in a big storm at night on the North Sea. John must use all his seamanship to get them across to Holland. It is an awesome adventure against the sea and all the problems that arise every two seconds. Its not a book you can put down easily. I guarentee you'll love it.

I remember the basement horrors of my own shredded childhood, and I remember believing that fairies could take me up, up, above Gardner Lake on a silver cloud to a place of peace, where no abuse could reach me. Little did I know that Susan Bassett floated there, too. Her book brings back not only the sadness of abuse, but also memories of the time in my life when my belief in fairies kept me whole. I shared this book with my own children. They intuitively understood both the harm done to little Suzy, and the healing work that freed her. As a mother and a survivor, I am glad to have found the magic and truth in this book. -- Kiesa Ka

Susan Bassett's journey through the "dark night of the soul" speaks from the depth of a child crying out in pain - before embracing love, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance. Joelle Tuttle, Women's Health Center, Seattle, Washingto

When I Go To Bed At Night is written in the language of the child and takes the reader through the tragedy of sexual abuse with the care and nurturing of a strong and sensitive advocate. Mary Lansing, M.A. Marriage and Family Therapist, Portland, Oregon

The title at first hadnt seemed so appealing to me, but the contents of the novel is what matters the most. My mother had urged me to read this book saying it was both witty and funny. A optimistic novel, turning lifes issues into comedy. In her book " When you Look like YouPassport Photo" she writes about her travel experiences which you can both laugh with and at the same time relate to. It starts off with her never having left her home town, to renting the smallest and most unpractical home RV in the world to deciding to leaving her children home to explore Europe. Even if you havent traveled you can laugh at the way she describes even the weirdest things and if you have relate to the tour guides and horrible food services. The memeroable husband always thinking that there are consipiracies going on in the system. The Hotel rationing the same piece of hard roll for every serving. Then there is always your typical bus groups. The health fanatic upfront, the photo mania and your typical drunk always singing at certain stops. I found it funny when she explaned that she had more children than she had window seats and just basically how she compared her life to things. IN her book, she gives tips and rules on travel issues. I havent read a book that made me laugh from page to page liek this one, this is a book no one should miss reading. Her perspective is always fresh, always giving her own ideas her own opinios. " Food for the dangerous" isnt this a catchy yet dangerous phrase. Erma describes all things with a different look. I heard that the authot died a few years ago and i praise her. Having suffering so much illness and even althrough this, having the ability to narate such an optimistic and hilarious book.

Erma's funniest book yet! Every time I'm on a car trip and I'm stuck behind an RV, I think of her experience driving the "rig" with her hands clamped to the wheel, etc. I think of her regretting having more children than she had backseat windows and paying a fortune for a cruise only to spend half the voyage throwing up into a sink shaped like a seashell. Erma took mundane real life for mothers/wives and made it funny.

& this was the best. You can litterally place yourself in her shoes & experience comical things you could never have imagined happening to yourself. The way she narrates really grabs you into the book & won't let you go, & when your finished you need another of her books or you'll go into withdrawl syndrome. It was a horrible loss she died & took her comical genius that no one else has mastered with her.

Get the kleenex ready, because this is a heartwarming tear-jerker. However, it will provide some comfort and assistance in dealing with the grief of losing a beloved pet. An ideal gift book for the animal lovers in your life. Buy several copies at a time, and keep them on hand, for when the appropriate occasion arises, and for when the right words fail.
Arlene Millman
author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY
(The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier)

This is a wonderful, heartwarming book. It helped me tremendously after several of my pets died. This book gave me peace of mind as well as hope for the future. It is written in a clear, concise, easy-to-understand manner & would be helpful if read to children as well. I raise show dogs & will be recommending this book to all my puppy buyers for the time when the inevitable happens. If you have lost a pet at any time of your life, this book will help you with the grieving process. Be sure to have a box of tissues at hand!

Four weeks ago, my beloved family German Shepard/husky-mix dog of fourteen years had to be put down because of ravaging cancer in the spine which finally immobilized him. I tried not to think what I would do or how I would deal with the impending moment of decision, but it did come and now all I have are memories and pictures of the happy times. Steve Wohlberg's book has brought great hope and joy to my heart as I continue to grieve my dog's absence each day. His painful ordeal forced me to ask many questions which have thankfully been addressed in this thought-provoking book. Many pet owners, myself included, have established deep, connecting relationships with our pets, almost on the same level as people. Why is it then, that we should be allowed to experience these deep-seated loving relationships with our pets, only to have to say goodbye - sometimes snatched suddenly and unexpectedly from our grasp in tragic circumstances as the Wohlbergs did? Will our pets ever be restored to us and all made right again? Or do we all say goodbye forever to our animals who love us unconditionally? And why should these animals have to suffer an eternal extinction for a sin problem that was caused by people, not animals? This book is unique and unlike any other. If you are like me and want to know what the possibility is of one day seeing our pets again, then this is definitely a book worth reading and sharing with your family, friends and neighbors. You just won't find this topic discussed anywhere else in such an intriguing, throught-provoking manner. Simply a must for any animal lover. I have personally bought three copies as gifts already and will be getting more to give away.

I agree with all of the reviews posted here I was learning to read in the late sixtes/early seventies and I remember this book very well. I must have read it a few hundred times.
Well, imagine my surprise last week when my dad found it in the attic and asked if I wanted it for my 4 year old. As I dug into the pile of books he found I found not only my copy, but my sisters edition from 10 years earlier. The c-right on my sisters was dated 1959 mine was 1971. The art and the text were redone. The same authors but two different illustrators. By 1971 we had a functioning moon program and we were a more "politically correct" society.
The art in the 59 edition is more in the vein of 50's fantasy. One of the big draws in the 59 edition is that you will be able to see what's going on by watching a Television. The 71 edition is clearly based on Apollo. In the 59 edition there are no female "Spacemen", by 71 one there are female astronauts in the book.
Seeing the two side by side is a great history lesson. and a real trip down memory lane for me.

Born in the mid 50's, this book arrived with my Young Readers collection of Dr. Seuss and became an all time favorite. At a time when there were no female astronauts, it brought hope to a little girl with BIG space dreams.

This book related the wonderful concepts of space travel so well that I desired the experience of anti gravity badly enough to have dreams about it. It was easy to understand how and why we would one day reach the moon, albeit slightly skewed by our inexperience in the field.

Even though this book is outdated, it is a good example of our roots in space travel... just as current books will hopefully become in the future. I considered it such a gem, that I salvaged it after my nieces grew up and no longer read the Young Readers collection I passed on to them. My only regret is in not saving the entire set... each book anxiously awaited in the mail each month so long ago were the Harry Potter series of their time. These books are my touchstone to a reading world that started at age 4 ... and will continue until my last day on earth. Unfortunately, I never did go to the moon!

This is an "impressionable" book of colossal proportions. The subject matter absolutely fascinated, inspired, challenged, and motivated a generation of American "rocket scientists" that would eventually come to operate the Space Shuttle and the Space Station. I am one of those. Born in 1960, I would end up participating in a work-study program with NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, earn an Aerospace Engineering degree, and operate the Space Shuttle--on the ground, that is! Of course, I am sure it stimulated many others that chose different fields of endeavor.

As a young "Cat In The Hat" reader I was enormously fascinated with this book. Yes, this book was distributed by mail to many young readers, right along with "Green Eggs and Ham." What a time in history to begin learning. Imagine training to read with the imagination of Dr. Suess, to experience the creativity of Walt Disney, and be exposed to a vision of space travel by Wernher von Braun and his followers--all while the Mercury, Gemini and Saturn/Apollo programs hit the headlines and the TV screens!

With over forty years having passed, I suggest reading it again-or for the first time. On the one hand, you will find that much is fulfilled. Alas, on the other hand, the fact that the title is addressed to "YOU" should cause us all to reflect on the promises one generation makes to another...and inspire us all to action once again. This time to enable all those who would like to Go To The Moon!

This is my favorite book ever. The deep, tense plot, and the intriguing and multi-dimensional characters kept me reading non-stop from start to finish. Barney is good for all ages, especially the over-50 crowd. For those of you tired by the mindless action and violence, this is for you. This is unlike the TV show Teletubbies.

I am NOT a Barney fan (can any adults stomach that show?), my son is though so I got him some of the books. I love how positive they are and how they influence good behavior and don't reinforce any bad. It's worth putting up with Barney to end up with a well mannered kid!

A nice book for young children, encourages good behavior in resteraunts.

My grandaughter loves your book and we would like to purchase more by Thomas Hood. Did he write anymore or is he about to??!!?? She's just two years old and is fascinated with all the little tricks and picture plays within the pictures. Please write more!! Deb Weber

Realistic, detailed pictures. Modern in the way of letting kids know they can be anything they want to be, and fun because it takes you many places, it's adventurous.

My 3 1/2 year old has loved this book since he was very little. The poem captivates his imagination and the pictures are wonderful to look at. He loves to show me which animal the boy is imagining and loves to find as many things from the poem in the picture on the last page. It's funny and sweet and kids discover new things every time they read it.

I Thought I know how to work with Photoshop, but after I read this book I discovered that I didn't. This book was extermely helpful to me in building web site graphics, and has introudced me to many different techniques that I used in to build the effects that I need in short time; Everyone was amazed, and so was I.

Most of the Books has very boring and useless Intrduction, this book doesn't. It was very useful to me ( I confess I was about to skip the first two chapters , but the writer urged the readers not to).

Although this book is useful, I was able to get all the techniques it offered in less that three days !

If you know your way well in Photoshop, don't buy this book. If you are a confused designer; you see these amazing designs and wonder How did they do it ?, then buy this book, and the best of luck.

I have only scratched the surface of Photoshop. The directions in this book are very clear, and easy to follow. Even for me who jumped right into the middle of the book. It's set up in a logical learning sequence and covers EVERYTHING for someone wanting to use Photoshop for their webpages. I admit, it was an impulse buy for me, but it has been worth every cent.

I've been using Photoshop for years, but only recently for web graphics. This book totally opened my eyes to things I never knew it could do! I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get more out of Photoshop. It's written clearly, even though it has too many typos, and gets right to the point.

Evans does a phenomenal job of expressing what's on every right-winger's mind. Chapter after chapter he hits the nail on the head and drvies to the heart of our country's problems.

I'd refer to it as the guide to America's struggles: Liberal quest for power vs. Republicans desire for progress.

James Evans has done a good job in creating a simple, straightforward book that debunks the liberal trends in our country. He explains clearly the imaginary concepts that liberals conceive their ideals. He illustrates the roots that took shape in the 1960s that evolved into the leadership coming of age today. He exposes very well the outcomes of the law, Affirmative Action and public education. He also demonstrates common sense rules to live by that would create an orderly society. Mr. Evans was of the hippie culture of the 1960s. He later understood the irrational thinking that this liberal ideology would bring about. His book is an easy to read guide to the trends our country has been on for the past 40 years. He simply demonstrates good alternatives to develop good citizenship, self-directed responsibility, and a better community for us all.

Not only is Mr. Evans right on the money, but he does is hilariously. If you are a liberal standing on shaky, Mr. Evans is going to get you. The humor is gut wrenching, the satire thick and the message right on. Another good work from Mr. Evans.

Warning: This travel guide is not designed for the "accidental tourist," the person who travels to foreign lands hoping only to recreate a faraway, expensive version of his homeland. This book is for anyone who wants to travel not only for pleasure, but also for knowledge. With humor and incredible insight, Phil Karber writes of his adventures in the lands he has visited, lands that most of us will only see on National Geo specials. Karber immerses himself in each culture, learning as much as he can about the history, philosophy, people, and customs of each country that he visits. After reading this book, the reader will feel as if he, too, has visited each place Karber describes. This book is a must-have for anyone who plans to travel to these exotic locales, but it is also a delightful way for those of us who lack the courage, time, or funds to travel to experience places that may no longer exist in a few year's time.

Phil Karber is my Dad's first cousin. Trust me, the sarcastic humor runs in the family. I have not read my cousin's book yet, but I have no doubt that it is wonderful. Phil is a great guy to be around, and he could write a dozen books about his life. I would love to read about his childhood also.

I've just finished Yak Pizza--and how much I was transported from Fort Smith, AR to places I've only dreamed or heard of. Each day I looked forward to that time after dinner when I could grab Yak Pizza, get off by myself, and take trip after trip.

Phil Karber did a remarkable job here, finding the right distance from his subject matter--at times letting places and experiences speak for themselves and at just the right times giving such keen insights from observation and analysis.

There were such poignant moments and then humor and then righteous indignation and then such a knowledge of the background history of environment, economics, political/social structure. . .and gadzooks what a vocabulary.

I wrote a haiku over my impressions the night I finished the book and had such bittersweet emotions on finishing it--here tis Brushed bamboo, twisted thickets of morass. Leeches hold time in their craw.