This is defenetly ONE TO REMEMBER!! Ratha's creature came highly recomened by my big brother. I'm so glade I didn't ignore his recomendation!! You follow Ratha from her cub-hood struggles to her adult life. A wonderfull book and I recomend it to people who like books about animals with human emotions. I'm sure most who read the book would agree with me when I say this book is the best! This is my first time reading anything by Clare Bell, and I think I will read more. The emotions are so real that you can feel Ratha's joy and saddness. So well, infact it made me cry! This is mostly why I liked it I think. I normaly take a month to finish a short book,{out of lack of intrest in them} but it took me only two days to finish Rasha's Creature! If Clare Bell is reading this, I beg you to not deprive others of such a phenomenal book and put it back in print!!! On a scale of one-ten I give it a ten!! I loved it!!!

My grandmother worked for MacMillan publishers and would often bring home books that were printed backwards, upside down, slanted, whatever. I read every one, and Ratha's Creature haunts me. I must have read that book a dozen times! It is an adventure, a love story, a moral lesson that subtley instructs the reader to never judge a book by it's cover. Luckily I didn't, or I would never have had the opportunity to read this treasure!

Ratha's Creature is an exceedingly good book. It has a really good plot that sucks you in once you start to read it. I often find myself wondering what becomes of Ratha, Thakur, Fessran, and the others after the book ends...It's a great pity Ratha's Creature is no longer in print.

When my Mother first wrote MARSHMALLOW, many people could not believe that an older bachelor cat (Oliver) would really adopt a baby bunny as his own, well, kitten. Because cats and rabbits were considered arch enemies, this story holds lessons for children on many levels, as well as featuring wonderful drawings from life of Oliver and his bunny, Marshmallow. Just as one of my Mom's verses reports: A bunny's a delightful habit, No home's complete without a rabbit.

When my Mother first wrote MARSHMALLOW, many people could not believe that an older bachelor cat (Oliver) would really adopt a baby bunny as his own, well, kitten. Because cats and rabbits were considered arch enemies, this story holds lessons for children on many levels, as well as featuring wonderful drawings from life of Oliver and his bunny, Marshmallow. Just as one of my Mom's verses reports: A bunny's a delightful habit, No home's complete without a rabbit. The House Rabbit Society agrees, "MARSHMALLOW is a true children's classic..."

Although my children are now grown, "Marshmallow" was their favorite book. We almost wore the library copy out and we later named our sweet white bunny, Marshmallow. The artwork is beautiful and engaging as well as the story line. So glad it will be re-published soon!! A "must buy" for my grandchildren.

I love Edward Lear's story and James Marshall's illustrations are magical. I don't like the version with Jan Brett's illustrations. I've never liked Jan Brett's illustrations. I've spent hundreds of hours looking at children's books and I always pass over Jan Brett's books. Her illustrations just don't appeal to me. Her illustrations are distinctive and I can always recognize her work but I don't like them. There is just something missing--they don't have any life to them or something. I can't explain it. I have always loved James Marshall. His genius transcends understanding. His illustrations complement Ed Lear's beautiful tale perfectly.

A very good illustrated version of the classic poem- the pictures are beautiful with a distinctly exotic flavour, great for all ages!

This book is just so cool. Longing for a trip to the tropics? Read this version of the book to your little one and you can at least feel like you are there. The illustrations are really sweet. They have a lot of details so that kids kind find new things with each reading. My two-year old loves this book. It is a great twist on an old tale

I first found this paperback in a used bookstore 15 years ago. I couldn't put it down - too enjoyable! Since that time, the paperback has come apart at the seams (I lost track of the number of times I've read it), so I tried to find a hardback. Since it was out of print, I had to wait for Amazon.com. I still love this book and its characters! Absolutely timeless!

I'm so glad to see others have enjoyed this book as much as I have. I first read it as a teenager but have read it a few times again---it is that good. I am an avid reader and have read quite a bit in several genres and I say without hesitation that this is my favorite book of all time. I highly recommend it to everyone. I noticed some comments on a few posts about a possible movie or film...I have mixed feelings about this. While I would love for others to experience this story, the movie would have to be very well done to capture the essence of this very fine work.

I first read this book as a teenager. To this day (22 years later) it remains my all-time favorite. The story presents some of the richest characterizations of human beings to be found in written word. It combines the best of adventure, history, humor, sorrow, friendship, fraility, and love into a riviting story.

I love to read mysteries; they are my favorite types of books to read. I thought this book was excellent. The way the author put her words kept you in suspense the whole time. The reader never knows what is going to happen next. I would reccomennd this book for anyone who loves to read a mystery. The way the book was written makes you want to keep reading to see what is going to happen next.

I really liked this book. This was the first book I have read by Ms. McNally, and would recommend it to everyone that likes suspenceful tales....

I love Ms. Mcnally's book but this is the best. I read it when it first came out. Then reread it two years later and then two years after that. I never read a book twice but this was so good it was worth reading THREE times. When is her next book coming out?

... My biblethumping sisters and I are always debating the issue of reincarnation and this book provided validation for me. Reincarnation just makes sense all around..I have never believed in the "all or nothing christian dogma". ...this book has made me feel so much better about myself and my life.

This was an excellent book with excellent information that clarifies a lot on how the teachings on re-encarnation (tought in hinduism, for example) came to be removed from the orginal teachings in early Christianity. Gives a lot of history that on what happened to a faction of early christian mystics that followed the teachings of Christ and how politics got involved in to what you are now tought. A most read for anyone who wants to know.

This is the most interesting and well documented work I have read about the missing link between Reincarnation and Christianity. Besides being informative and entertaining, it also opens your eyes to the history of the manipulation by the Catholic Church, and other Christian denominations, of the true teachings of Christ about life, death and the beyond.

In Anne of the Islnad, the character that I have grown to love and become familiar with, grows up and moves on to college. With college, comes new friends and new romances too. The only part that continued to annoy me was how Anne was rejecting everybody who asked her to marry. However, Anne learns through her failures and to my contentment, ended up with the one person whose heart truly belongs to her.

If you loved the first novel in the series, Anne of Green Gables, you won't be disappointed with it's sequel, Anne of Avonlea. Continuing where Anne of Green Gables left off, we meet up again with our kindred, bosom friend Anne, as she has graduated from Queens, and begins her teaching position in Avonlea. Living at home with Marilla at beautiful Green Gables, Anne & Marilla find themselves the caretakers of six year old twins, Davey & Dora. As Anne embarks on a classroom full of new students, and life at home helping to care for the twins, L.M. Montgomery provides us with more delightful stories and hijinks with our favorite characters of Avonlea. Mrs. Rachel Lynde is still up to her old ways, Diana remains Anne's dearest bosom friend, and we meet some new characters too. What does the future have in store for Anne & Gilbert Blythe? Anne of Avonlea is full of the magic and charm that one can expect from L.M. Montgomery. The ending will leave you yearning for the next in the series~

Maud's "Anne" series has captured my heart since I was a young girl. I can relate to Anne because we share a lot of the same characteristics. We are both hopeless dramatists and romantics. Anne is as hilarious as she is touching. I know I will share this beautiful story with my own daughter some day. A MUST READ!!

Though far from an all-encompassing movie guide, it is still well-worth the price of admission. I didn't always agree with the choices they made (I mean, Andrea, come on! "My Fellow Americans"???). But I enjoyed every page of the book and found it to be among the wittiest I've read this year. My one complaint? It was too short. I wished there were more!

At first glance, this is a book you think you might want to pass up, but it's the perfect guide! These four girls have very different tastes, but each of them have a lot to offer. With little side-bars, and essays, this book is as fun as they come! They have made some very good recommendations for me. If it weren't for these four, I wouldn't be able to expand my horizons. But they're the type who make you open your mind. I mean, I hadn't even heard of 'Gas, Food, Lodging' before this book and let me tell you, it's a good movie! So get this book and see what these girls have to say. You might find a gem of a movie that you enjoy just as much as they say you will.

I sat down to read a couple of pages of this book and ended up reading the entire thing! Not only did I find the movie suggestions and reviews on target and helpful in battling the video rental ennui, I found myself laughing out loud! At then end of the book, I felt like I knew the "girls" myself! I bought several copies of this book for gifts ranging from a Father's Day gift to a graduation present for my 12 year old cousin! Buy this book for yourself and for anyone who likes movies.

This book is yummy fun for anyone trying to coax young ones to eat - and it's fun for parents who are dying of boredom from boiled hotdogs and instant mac-n-cheese. With three kids under four years of age, I'm looking for all the inspriation I can get - and this book is it! It's a great gift for the birthday party circuit as well. Crespo has done a great job.

As Clare Crespo tells us in her introduction: "...For me, food is an art supply. I hope that these recipes will be an inspiration. Don't be afraid to come up with your own food art pieces. When you are reading a recipe, be creative. Let your cooking tell the world who you are..." Each of these 46 recipes not only offers a tasty treat, but also a feast for the eyes. Try the simple and inventive Caterpillar Cake for birthday party fun, or the Spider Web Soup on a cold or rainy night. Make lunchtime extra fun with Handwiches or Burrito Presents, and dinner more exciting with Football Meatloaf or Mutant Chicken. Kids will go gaga for Chocolate Moose, Monkey Pops, Licorice Records, Fruit Pizza, and Jell-O Aquarium. Each recipe includes a list of ingredients, simple step-by-step instructions, and marvelous photographs that are sure to whet the appetite, and get your creative juices flowing. Great for holidays, parties, and especially family fun, The Secret Life Of Food is an adventurous, no-holds-barred cookbook that makes a wonderful gift, and will delight not only the diners, but the cooks as well.

When I first saw this book on a table at a friends house I said out loud, "This looks great what is it?" To my surprise I was treated to the most clever, intelligent, and creative approach to a "cook book" imaginable. Ms. Crespo's book has beautiful photographs, great style and a fun approach to creative food thought and preparation. I highly recommend it for all ages. What a fun way to have a party. Who needs a martini?

At age 28, journalist Clare de Vries of England decides her life needs shaking up, so she embarks on an auto tour of the United States with her pet Burmese cat of 19 years, “Claude”. I & CLAUDIUS is their on-the-road story as they start out in Connecticut, then head south through New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, then west through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Nevada to the Pacific at Los Angeles, then finally north to the San Francisco Bay area. As Clare describes it early on, her route is a smiley face on a map of America.

Clare can be endearingly ditzy. At one point, she all but admits not knowing that cars need regular infusions of motor oil to run. She drives west ignorant of the difference between Las Vegas, NV and Las Vegas, NM until she arrives at the latter and can’t find the bright lights and casinos. She carries on imaginary conversations with Claudius, the back-and-forth repartee of which is recorded in the book as if she was talking to another human. She can also be infuriating. An understated need of her journey is to find Love, or at least Lust. Yet her taste in men is so abysmal that she consistently attaches herself to Complete Losers. .... She blames it on a fear of commitment. Only Claude has her heart.

Claudius, on the other hand, is the coolest feline on the planet. Perhaps it’s mellowness due to his advanced age (133 in human, biological clock years). I can’t even imagine my own cat, Trouble, sitting quietly on my lap for the entire duration of a western rodeo. Or on my lap in a 4-seater, light plane flying over the Grand Canyon abyss. Claudius manages every experience with aplomb, though his serene composure did crack a bit when faced with a bear noshing from his food dish.

I & CLAUDIUS is a touching and amusing travel essay, though the smiley face on Clare’s map is a bit forced at times due to her angst over what she expects to be her pet’s sooner-than-later demise. (He is, after all, 19 cat-years old.) Occasional crises, real or imagined, in Claude’s health are interspersed with droll car, motel (“No Pets Allowed”) and man problems. Indeed, it’s a minor miracle that Clare found time to enjoy any of America’s attractions. (Claudius apparently did. While on the road, he became addicted to KFC – regular, not spicy.) One of the funniest incidents is that of the Tarantula-Under-the-Car-Seat. (I was tempted to peer under the seat of my own sedan after that anecdote!) And the montage of color photos on the inside of both the front and back covers of the paperback edition is a very nice touch.

I unreservedly recommend this book to any cat owner whose pet is also a true pal. ....

A humorous adventure across the southern sweep of the USA by a young British woman and her 19 year old Burmese cat, Claudius. De Vries writes with wit, keen insight and a frenzied combination of neuroses, paranoia, fear & loathing, and humor that makes the book enjoyable and an all-too quick read. (Claudius, for his part, takes it all in stide, acting as the Voice of Reason and Wisdom.) In typical Road Story fashion both De Vries and Claudius come to terms with each other's strengths and weaknesses and to the greater meanings of love and life. A highly recommended book!

Clare De Vries - Intelligent, beautiful and just a little bit crazy.

Claudius - Clare's alter ego. A wise old philosophising cat. One of the few sane males in the entire book and the only male that Clare loves unreservedly.

Running away from her past (the death of her mother) and unwilling to face the future (the inevitable demise of her cat), Clare embarks upon a cathartic journey across America, accompanied by her old and ailing cat, Claudius.

With a typically British arrogance when abroad (in her case endearingly so), and not caring about local custom or etiquette (When In Rome, and all that), Clare is feisty and outspoken. Willing to stand up for herself and not at all bothered as to whom she upsets. In all her audacious escapades Clare's basic attitude throughout is - Just go for it. Dive in with both feet and damn the consequences.

Possessing a very savage wit, with irony and sarcasm thrown in for good measure, Clare takes no prisoners. Of the Americans Clare meets, most fail to realise what has hit them before it is too late. They are bemused by her antics, unsure of how to deal with her, and are certainly at a loss to understand her humour. Which leads to some very funny scenes and glorious misunderstandings.

Clare's journey consists of a) staying in some of the most disgusting and roach infested Motels in America b) getting totally off her face as often as possible, and then picking fights and causing arguments with anyone and everyone c) obsessing about sex with the perfect male and being always on the look out for her Adonis d) meeting psychos (see previous).

As well as attracting the seriously deranged Clare actively seeks them out - Obsessed People, oddballs, the dangerously psychotic and out and out Loons.

Constantly worrying about Claudius' progressively ill health, Clare suffers violent mood swings, despair and deep depression. There are moments when you cannot help feeling that Clare is wildly out of control and self destructive as she careers across America from one crazy disaster to another.

You are transfixed by the increasingly bizarre and often extremely dangerous adventures that Clare manages to get herself into. But Clare is not stupid. Using all her feminine wiles and beguiling charm she manipulates men and suckers them into doing her bidding. And with a strong survival instinct, plus a little luck, Clare manages to extricate herself from sometimes violent and potentially lethal situations.

By turn's laugh out loud hilarious, moving, hair-raisingly reckless, madcap and scary, this is a wonderful book and a cracking page-turner. Edge of your seat stuff and a joy to read. If you are open to high adventure, decidedly weird people and strange encounters, then Clare is your ideal travelling companion.

Although significantly different in style this is the best travelogue across the American Heartland since Martin Fletcher's 'Almost Heaven'. Highly Recommended. More Please.