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This should be enjoyed by anyone who understands the mind of a dog or who has been to Paris. It will be especially pleasing to those who appreicate both

Liv says: They are magical, especially "Tomtemaskinen" (rough translation: The "Santa Machine"). We read it every Christmas.

Scott (48 yr old): These books are as special in their own way as Dr. Suess's books were to me when I grew up in the States. The artwork is suberb. At first glance, the illustrations simply document the story, but hold on, the longer you look the more you see that that tree is really brocolli, there is a small periscope sticking out of a worn boot by the door, one of the chickens has a stethescope and is listening to Pettson's taped-up foot, a sock hanging over the wood stove is darned using flesh-colored Band-aids, and small critters hide everywhere and do unexplained and unrelated things never appearing in the story itself, which is off spinning magic of its own.

While very much imaginative, the artwork is also old-fashioned in that everything is carefully drawn and authentically depicts what you see in a old cabin tucked deep into the cultural backwaters of rural Sweden. You cannot tell whether it is the 1890s, the 1930s, the 1960s or last week.

In all the books, the optimistic cat simply wants to discover and do things, much as a child; while Old Man Pettson is feeling his age and sometimes world-weary. But he is by no means a worn-out grump waiting for the the end. Rather, he is a creative, wonderfully eccentric inventor who will not let himself be outwitted by a mere cat! They spend a lot time thinking up ways to get the better of each other in a loving life of one-upmanship. Sometimes they team up to outwit a henhouse raiding fox or encroaching civilization.

Their antics are not slapstick, rather the humor builds up to a grand finale with a twist. They present a sort of Roald Dahl magic for the pre-pre-teens and will give any child (and adult) an authentic look at life in rural Sweden at its best.

I admit that I have never read the English translations, and I can only hope that the translator got it right; the author, Sven Nordqvist, sure did. It's hard to find a Swedish child who doesn't know each of these stories by heart, and better yet (at least for me) they far surpass Astrid Lindgren (of Pippi Longstocking fame) for just plain fun.

It has nothing to do with the adolescent potboiler written by Beatrice Sparks; its information on drugs and sex is technical, explicit, and meant to give answers, not scare people. The gamut of advice given runs from flirting to penis size to the effects of various drugs on the body to urinary tract infections, and it's delivered with humor and understanding, without the judgementalism that seems to be the case in many more traditional books.

While I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who hasn't hit their 13th birthday yet, this book is an antidote for prudishness and the information vacuum far too many young people live in, and in a world where basic information on sex and life can often be hard to find or heavily polluted by unnecessary moralism, this book can help ease fears and educate the uneducated in a way that scare stories and sermons can't.

This book is a compilation of all that great advice and the letters that inspired it. I have found this is a good book for high school kids as well, as many of them are concerned about the same topics.

In the story, Brother and Sister Bear have to go to Dr. Gert Grizzly to have a checkup. Brother isn't too bothered by the whole thing, but Sister is a bit worried. The next day Sister is able to help out some frightened younger cubs while she is in the waiting room and sets an example for all the children to follow.

Overall, a delightful little book that helps relieve children's fears of going to the doctor and gives them a broader perspective about life.

It is a good book to read to your kids if they are going to be going for their first check-up or anytime.

The drawings are cute and stay on topic. The pictures add to the text rather than being a distraction to the text.

The repetitive nature of the book is great it makes for a good prereading book. I also like the fun words that are not only fun to say but fun to hear.

A real winner.

People wanting to cash in on the current trend towards take-out convenience need this book, as well as From Kitchen To Market and How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets.

The three books are invaluable for overlapping reasons. A prospective store operator needs to understand how to setup his or her store and, just as important, how their competition operates. Beginning store operators also need to understand their industry in detail not merely from the viewpoint of their competition and from their customers, but from their suppliers position.

Gourmet To Go does a great job from a narrow viewpoint. Probably the only topic not suffriciently explored is the hands'-on advice. Perhaps the next edition will detail the possibilities for including rollergrills, microwaves and how to earn what the industry refers to as "Plus-sales." I'm speaking of the technique in all fast food chains and convenience stores to get customers to spend more money.

Other hands-on topics that should be discussed are controlling theft and the experience of many store operators who have lost significant chunks of money in providing lottery tickets. I know of a feww whose losses exceeded $10,000. Adding insult to injury, lottery only reimburses stores from one to three percent of gross sales and pay-outs for winning tickets. Despite such a poor return on investment, many stores consider it mandatory to provide lottery.

Further, computerizing the store could be considered, as well as installing UPC readers. It is not uncommon to see even the smallest store using such equipment. Yet, those installing such systems all seem to have to reinvent the wheel.

Again, buy this book but augment it with From Kitchen To Market and with How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets so you can keep up with and, perhaps, improve upon your competition and keep customers, suppliers and yourself happy!

It is full of relevant and cogent thoughts for anyone interested in this market niche. What I found very well done is the sections of writing the biz plan and the steps therein critical to putting together and then implementing such.

Also included are fairly thorough lists of resources such as consultants, trade journals, suppliers, etc.

What could possibly have been additionaly useful was stress on two key areas: concentration on obstacles and their probability of happening (i.e. scenario plotting) and finding and use of two key players from the outset: attorney and accountant/tax specialist.

If you only have money for one or the other, however, go with this one! There's some really great information in here. If you judge this book by its cover, then you'll probably make the mistake of thinking that it's for those kids next door who want to make a prequel to Clerks. It might work for them, but it also loads of valuable stuff that will make you sound a lot more experienced most people you know who think that they know what making movies is all about. Check out Bret's credentials on imdb.com, too.