A fascinating true story of how A 3 1/2 year old child was brutally abused and ultimatly murdered by his adopted mother, Lois Jurgens. You Will learn how her husband, family and friends were very aware of the abuse and did absolutly nothing to help this poor child. You will also read how the justice system and adoption agency failed to save Dennis. And the painful events for the natural mother, Jerry Sherwood and her family to get justice for her dead son. Very well written book that goes into the background of Lois and Harold Jurgens and how this evil women was able to adopt a total of 6 children (all which ran away and was removed from her home due to abuse). The book also gives a compelling account of the trial and finally the conviction of murder for Lois Jurgens, who almost for 22 years got away with it.

As a parent myself, I will never forget what happened to little Dennis Jurgens.

Karen, OHIO

I have lived in White Bear all of my life. My parents grew up there. We all attended classes in the "new" high school that is talked about. My aunt was in that school's first graduating class in 1965. I say this because, horrifying as the Dennis Jurgens case may be, it is not hard to see how it happened. Even today, it is a small community where most everybody knows everybody else. My family often attended holidays at the Zerwas home, and even today they find it hard to speak ill of Lois. This book does a wonderful job of telling what so many people have been trying to keep quiet for so many years. This is a story that needs to be told in order to make sure that it never happens to another child. Siegel does an excellent job of projecting the difficulty of following up a 20 year old crime that nobody would admit was committed. This is a powerful story that will make you look at child abuse in a whole new way.

A stellar performance on the part of Barry Siegel and Peter Borland. The detail, history, and character development are exquisitely attended and because of that the writer's talent has created a smooth and clear and compelling flow of the story, when it could have been quite muddled. I am a voracious reader and prefer nonfiction to fiction. This is one of the best. Thanks, Mr. Siegel. More. More. Do it again!

This book is a fantastic read for both child and adult. We bought it when my daughter was about 1 1/2 years old and she's just fascinated by the text and pictures. We use silly voices to tell the story and have fun looking at the pictures...if you look really hard you'll see lots of tiny animals peeking down from the trees! I missed those...the one year old is more observant! A gem!

My grandson and I saw this book at a bookstore, and he had to have it. He has a bear of his own that gets misplaced at times. The story was entertaining and the colors were delightful. A book that we have read over and over. In fact he has had two. I just ordered his third, one at home, one here and one at his ggrandmother's.

This is my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter's absolute favorite and has been for the last six months. She loves the rhyming text and the beautiful illustrations and recites the story as you read it - she knows all the words. The story has really captured her imagination. It's always the last story she reads at bedtime before going to sleep with her own special Pooh bear.

These four stories about Little Bear and his friends are a charming introduction to the world of reading for beginners. Little Bear is a sweet child to his mother and father and a good friend to Duck, Hen and Cat. Minarik's simple narrative will be easy enough for young readers, and Sendak's illustrations will hold their attention. The four stories are: What Will Little Bear Wear?, Birthday Soup, Little Bear Goes to the Moon and Little Bear's Wish.

A soothing alternative to ninjas and power rangers.

Our daughter is 2 1/2 and loves all the stories in this book. She asks to have Little Bear for her bedtime story several nights a week. She even acts out some of the stories in her pretend play and "does" the things that Little Bear does, like going to the moon and making Birthday Soup. This book is certainly a family favorite.

The lovely and sweet stories easily capture the attention of my three-year old daughter (who has English as her second language). The stories are beautifully read out, with wonderful background music. Almost every night my daughter and I listen to several Little Bear stories before she goes to bed. We will often discuss the stories afterwards. This is the closest and most cherishable moment between us. The unfortunate thing is that she is most unwilling to turn off the cassette player, which somehow often delay her time for bed.

Clearly drawn and cleverly constructed pop-ups are the heart of this simple tale. Our 24 month child loved it from the outset (he first saw it at 20 months), and subsequent gifts of this book to the childern of our friends suggest that our experience is far from unique. For a good two months this was book of choice, but then went out of favour. Older children who have seen this book have appreciated the story more - so we expect our's will come back to it at about 30 months when he will understand it more. Strongly recommended

Kipper is looking for his teddy bear. Is it in the apple tree? No! Birds come flying out instead. Thus begins our odyssey into Kipper's world -- populated with mice, pigs and moon people (among others). Pop-ups are activated by lifting flaps and manipulating tabs. The latter may be difficult for young children, but they will most likely enjoy the action anyway.

The little surprise at the end is charming and sure to bring a smile to your little one's face.

Exceptionally well done.

Caveats: A few of the flaps are flimsy, so be careful if your child is rough on them. Kipper's usual friends (Pig, Arnold and Tiger) do not show up in the story.

This is such a sweet, lovely book- the illustrations are wonderful, easy on young eyes, but still interesting and colorful... and the book is beautifully designed. My 16 month old daughter loves to pull the tabs to make the loveable characters appear. A first rate, imaginiative and elegant book.

I have this book and i like it alot!!! I think the bears are cute in it!! i love to read it over and over again!! Great Book!!!!!!!!!!!!=-}

What a wonderful book for children and how many great memories! I can't even think of the title of this book without a grin plastered to my face. When I was very tiny and first learning to read aloud, I used to read this book to my younger brother. He found it riveting and it quickly became his favorite book and a nightly ritual to "read" the book. Ordinarily, no reading took place because the book was so simple to memorize. I can still recite the entire volume, cover to cover, almost thirty years later!

My brother now has two sons and the first present I bought for them was a spanking new copy of "Bears in the Night." The elder of the two has it commited to memory. Since the younger boy is only six months old, I'll give him a few more months until he has done the same!

Seriously, this book has a simple but attention grabbing plot where the kids are mischevious and sneak out of bed after dark. They go exploring and soon find that scary things lurk in the dark on the top of Spook Hill. Thankfully, they make their way home to safety. Somehow, you know that Mom was completely aware of what they were up to but knowingly let the children learn this lesson for themselves.

I am in my 20's now, but I still have my copy of "Bears in the Night" that was passed on to me from my cousin in the 1970's. That book holds so many great memories for me. My mom and I read it together many, many times and was it especially helpful in teaching sight words. It is funny too, I still laugh everytime I think of the bears sneaking up "Spook Hill"!

"It's the Bear" is a fun book to read aloud to young children. It's simply written, in near-rhyme, with lots of opportunity for the reader to whimper, yell, growl, and sniff. My son loves to holler some of the lines along with me. The drawings are great, with an absolutely oversized bear grasping a huge teddy bear of his own, and eating a bite-sized picnic that he stumbles upon.

Very enjoyable, a great bedtime read. I'll be getting more by this author.

It's the bear is a frequent read in my home. All my children, ages 7 to 2, love the bear who is just as afraid of little Eddie as Eddie is of him. Infact, my (almost) 4 year old chose a teddy bear picnic theme for his birthday based on this book. A copy for each child attending made a wonderful gift.

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Eddy and Mum are off for a picnic in the forest, but Eddy's heard about the big bear that lives there. Mum assures him there's no bears around.

When all the picnic things are laid out Mum realises she's forgotten the blueberry pie and has to go home to get it.

Eddy is frightened and when he hears a voice say, "I can smell food" he decides to hide in the hamper.

Out of the woods came a big hungry bear (holding his own teddy!) and sits on the hamper to eat the picnic. After eating all the food he looks inside the hamper --- Eddy yells out for help.

Mum arrives and doesn't see the bear at first. Then he snatches the blueberry pie.

Of course our bear is harmless. A blueberry pie was the perfect desert after a picnic. It's just what he wanted. YUM YUM.

The illustrations in this book are fantastic. The large format works well, with each page varying in its layout. There's a mixture of frames; some laid out horizontally, others vertically on one page, or full panels on another. It's a very effective way to measure the pace and suspense of the story.

"It's the Bear!" is sure to become a classic. Look out for other Jez Alborough books.

My daughter (who is now 18) loved this book so much she'd begin crying on the next to the last page because she knew it was about to be over. I must have read the Large and Growly Bear at least a thousand times!!

I discovered this book at a used bookstore and bought it for my toddler twins. We fell in love with it at the first reading. The premise is ingenious: a large and growly bear wakes up one morning and decides to find someone to frighten, and although all of the animals he encounters are too busy to be frightened, the bear does manage to frighten himself. This book has a lot of repetition, which aids in language development, and it employs many poetic devices. In addition, having such distinct characters makes for good voice-changing possibilities (and we parents know that for a toddler, voice-changing=interesting.) The best adjective I can think of to describe this book is transcendent. Skip the [bad], uninspired new children's books and scour the used bookstores for this gem.

An excellent book for pre-readers because they get so animated with the actions of the bear in the book. Young smart minds will memorize each page and anticipate which animals are coming next and what they will do as the bear tries to frighten them. We are in our second generation of use.

These Hap Collins/Leonard Pine books is probably the best series you've never heard of. If you're already a fan of the books , you know what to expect, a good plot, great characters, and maybe the best dialogue in the business. Two-Bear Mambo is my personal favorite. If you just discovered this series , start with the first book "Savage Season" and jump right in.

In this novel, Joe Lansdale continues and deepens the partnership/friendship of Hap and Leonard, seen previously in Savage Season and Mucho Mojo.More than any other current writer, Lansdale has the uncanny knack of placing more hilarious dialogue and description on virtually every page, while he follows this seemingly mismatched pair's quest to find a friend who has disappeared deep in Klan country. Lansdale manages to shine his literary light on racism, southern culture, human relationships and foibles, all within the context of this gripping suspense novel. I guarantee that you'll not only set aside this book at times to think, but that you'll have to stop reading regularly to laugh out loud. A most wonderfully human novel from this gifted writer

Sad to think this book is already out of print. This one is the third installment of the Hap/Leonard series and picks up where Mucho Mojo left off. The pair rush off to the aid of a friend, but pay the price for their outsize egos as they find themselves in a part of the South where the calendars seem to be set 30 years behind schedule. There are no quick, easy resolutions to be found and the Hap and Leonard at the end of the book are markedly different from the two at the beginning. As always, Mr. Lansdale's keen ability to understand and describe human nature is evident. Highly recommended!

There are over 120 designs and so many wonderful ideas. Patterns are included for 11"-25" dolls both modern & antique including undergarmets & accessories even shoes. The book makes great reading & has lots of color photographs. I am very impressed & can't wait to try some of the designs!

Venus Dodge's lavishly illustrated *The Doll's Dressmaker* is more than a collection of sewing, knitting, and crochet patterns: it's also a how-to book suitable for both experts and beginners, as well as a good read. The book is clearly organized in sections for every conceivable item of clothing, from diapers, underwear, shirts, dresses, and pants to sweaters, shawls, hats, shoes, and trimmings. Patterns are given for dolls from 11 to 25 inches. Want to make a puff-sleeved, round-collared, full-skirted dress for an 18" doll? You simply take the doll's measurements, compare them to those of the appropriate pattern pieces, and put the elements together, guided at every step by Dodge's crystal-clear instructions. She includes every possible bodice style, sleeve, collar, cuff, and skirt, tells you how to sew each, then sets you free to combine them however and in whatever fabrics you wish. For the uncertain sewer, she suggests suitable fabrics; often, she bases her suggestions on what would be historically accurate for a given style. That so many styles are possible makes this book an excellent bargain. With Dodge's patterns, one may duplicate ready-made doll's clothes, including that sold in upscale catalogs, at a fraction of the price, and, with fabric store remnants, in much better fabrics. One can even duplicate a child's clothing so she and "dollie" can dress alike! I've had this book for a couple of years, used it many times, and can honestly say that my daughters' dolls are better-dressed than I am.

The subtitle of 'The Dolls Dressmaker' by Venus A.Dodge is The Complete Pattern Book. The subtitle says it all. This comprehensive guide to making antique reproduction to modern baby-doll clothes has interchangable pattern pieces. Therefore, any of the dresses or other clothing items can use almost any style sleeve, collar or bodice in any length. The photographs of her beautifully executed examples, make you want to re-dress every doll you own. The patterns fit the dolls that they are intended for. This book allows the experienced and novice seamstress to make just the right frock. I highly reccomend this book

We gave this book to our 8 year old son as a First Communion gift. The book is the moving story about a young bear asking his mom if his parents love him. The story continues as mama bear explains to the young cub how God have given them the miracle of his birth and walks the cub throught the pregnancy, the waiting over the birth of the baby, the first night at home, and so on. Our 8 year old son loves to cuddle at night and listen to the story of a mom and dad who are so thankful to God for the gift of their cub. Beautifully illustrated and written, this book is a gift to share between parents and their children.

My husband and I love to read this book to our daughter who is 6 months old (we have read it to her since she was in my belly) It is such a sweet story about a mommy bear and a baby girl bear. The story tells the baby what a blessing she is to her mommy and daddy and how God had given her to them.

This book is a beautiful way of explaining where baby comes from without giving an adult answer. The simple message that your child was a gift from God sums it up, and in a sweet story. The illustrations are soothing, and the story is a good bedtime read.