Title: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
Author: Mem Fox
Favorite Characters: Mrs. Jordan, Mr. Hosking, Mr. Tippett, Miss. Mitchell, and Mr. Drysdale

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge was a curious little boy who loved the old people that lived right next to him, especially Miss. Nancy. In the story, Gordon finds out that Miss. Nancy has lost her memory. There is a slight problem, though, he doesn't know what a memory is! He asks everyone what a memory is and everyone gives him a different answer.
After everyone's different answers, Gordon goes out to look for Miss. Nancy's memory. Gordon ends up bring a box with a football, a puppet, a medal, a shell, and a warm egg to Miss. Nancy. What does this all have to do with her memory? Find out by reading the book...

No matter how many times I read "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge" by Julie Vivas, this book never fails to touch something deep inside my heart. It's about a little boy who lives next to a retirement home and his friendship with the people who live there. We get to see these elderly people in a little boy's eyes. And the thoughtful illustrations by Mem Fox show us quite clearly. (I love the illustrations) The touching and simple relationship between Wilfred Gordon and Miss Nancy is poignant to the core. Wilfred Gordon's desire to revive Miss Nancy's lost memory is sweet and absolutely delightful. It's a great story to share with children about memories and Alzheimer's disease. The world seems a much friendlier place through a child's eyes. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is a fantastic book for all ages!

I really like this book. I read it today for the second time, but I remember it from when I was younger. This story has siplicity for young children and a wonderful story line for any age. I am going to get this book for my children when I grow up and hopefully my little sister will read it some day.

William Faulkner is a fantastic, interesting writer. This collection of short stories is as engaging and well-written as his longer novels, with stories and characters as real as memories.

Faulkner is a brilliant storyteller. Begin with "A Bear Hunt" and "A Rose for Emily." You will be captivated by this wonderful collection.

Reading these stories by Faulkner is like listening to your granddad tell about a town and county you want so badly to be real and are heartbroken that its not. These stories are some of the best ive ever read. Their beauty lies in their sense of believability and simplicity of the characters in them. Just like everday people

William Faulkner's work has influenced many writers. His extravagant language and quirky stories are the epitome of fiction. Having read this amazing collection of short stories, I have no doubt in my mind that Faulkner was a very interesting person -- I would've loved to meet him.

My favorite story is "A Rose for Emily"; the quirkiness and symbolism in the story is both beautiful and strange. I also like "A Bear Hunt," "All the Dead Pilots," "Wash," and "Two Soldiers" -- all of the stories have a very unique language. If you like good literature, I strongly suggest that you read this amazing book.

It's is worth the money. It is the single most comprehensive book on Gardening. I know it does not give super detailed descriptions of every plant out there. Their supplemental book can help you with that. Buy this one first. When I built a greenhouse, this book have several pages on construction, types of materials, venting, watering systems, cooling, hydrating, you name it, it was covered. When my neighbors pine tree was getting a white pithy coating on the lower leaves, this book described the problem to a T, and had several methods of curing it. No matter where I go, in irrigation, propogation, seed starting, grading, setting up a bed, identifying which plants work, where, when, and in what kind of soil, climate, etc., this book is there. They must of had a zillion contributing editors-authors create this work, because nobody knows everything this book has to offer. It is big, it is well illustrated, and a definite must have for any gardener. It is even a great read during the winter, for planning your spring garden. Even at this price, it is about twice what other books cost, but it is 5 times the book. It's a bargain. In the long run it will save you money by avoiding costly mistakes. I highly reccomend it.

This book as a reference is great. It provides me, the novice and working my way up gardener, with a great source for understanding the fundamentals of gardening. However, I think I'm going to purchase one of its sister books, American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. The A-Z provides more details about specifc varieties which can be helpful when you're selecting plants for your garden or simply trying to learn more about a specific plant. I believe the A-Z also contains much of the information contained in this one altough it is not as encompassing from a general perspective.

This book is a great reference book on plants. One of the things that makes it so good is that it has so many excellent pictures of the plants listed. If it grows here in America, you can probably find it in this book. Beware, though, it is very heavy!!

What, in all sincerity, can be said of Fernando Pessoa's Book of Disquiet? The book presents us, as with any superb literary work, with a problem of translation. That is, of translating into value (good, bad, average) an expressive incoherence (the aphoristic style) that is manifested in the heteronyms that Pessoa was, in the dispersed identities, and in the fragmentary incursions into the absurd(real) that pervade the book and brings forth the 'disquiet-ness'. 'Conventional' writers need a 'plot'(could be a subject-person, an event etc) as an anchor in which to secure coherence and from which meaning is derived. Pessoa's genius (like Kafka, Beckett, Lawrence, Blanchot) lies in his deliberate abandonment of (monotonous)anchors and his intrepid embrace of diversity(in the most general sense imaginable) and immanence(one feels 'floating' within life). This author will, I am certain, be recognised as one of the greatest European literary genius.

Pessoa was a true acrobat of the imagination. The Book of Disquiet is a collection of epiphanic journal or diary prose kept by Pessoa and found decades after his death. The prose is truly some of the most gorgeous musings about everyday life and existence that any reader could ever find. The poet's world is laid out exquisitly and paradoxically for the entire benefit of those who read.I can't say I've ever found such beauty in the pages of a book before. If you like literature albeit simple or complex this book is something that you will immediately cherish for a very long time.

"If i think, it all seems absurd to me; if i feel, it all seems strange; if i desire, he who desires is something inside of me."
Sums up the book perfectly. Pessoa explores one of his many personalities. "The Book of Disquiet" explains, in complete depth and faith, the beauty of a lonely, existential, moment by moment life. He explains the beauty that people forget. He explains the world, his perception, as if every moment were the last.
"The book of disquiet" is one of the most insightful books a person can read, but only if one has imagination and an ability to let go. Bernardo Soars, Pessoa's personality who wrote the book, is extreme and eccentric. It isn't easy reading, and it won't affect you if you can't overlook the fact that life doesn't go on like Soars'; that there is more in thinking, dreaming, and desiring than Soars admits. What makes the book so special is how Soars can forget everything but the thought and the moment, and how he can analyze and critique and put into words something that most of us forget to remember. "The book of disquiet" reminds me, at least, of how to appreciate my own mind. It is the only philosophy-like book that i enjoy (as yet) because it is the real thing and encompasses a forgotten part of real life.

One of my earliest memories as a child is of Mom and Dad taking the whole darn family to the only McDonald's in our area at that time (mid-60's) in Belmont, California - it was still the old fashioned McD's with giant golden arches and outdoor seating (why they decided to tear all of those down, I have no idea - they were wonderful!). A week after my 16th birthday, I started my first real (non-babysitting) job at the local McD's in Foster City. Although I seldom dine there now (waiting for veggie burgers!), the impact and history of McDonald's has always fascinated me. Before picking up "Behind the Arches" the only book I had read about the subject was "Big Mac - the Unauthorized Story of McDonalds" which in fact is not really the story of McDonalds at all, but rather one of franchising in general with a bit more of a focus on McDonalds.

Mr. Love's book, however, focuses more on the genius of Ray Kroc and Fred Turner; how the corporation relies on its owner/operators and suppliers for new ideas (Filet-O-Fish, Big Mac, apple pies, McMuffin, etc.). The chapters on the development of the perfect frozen french fry and Chicken McNuggets were especially interesting...as well as how McDonald's moved into Japan and Europe. Even if you detest McDonald's food, read this book - HIGHLY recommended.

The story behind the ubiquitous golden arches, and the man who expanded them coast to coast, (and today they reach the edges of the Earth). This book provides a reader friendly, detailed synopsis of McDonald's through decades of the original brothers, to Ray Kroc's entry and exit of what would become one of the most recognized oranizations of the world. (Whether this fact has positive or negative implications is another matter entirely). This is a good book about Mickey-D's and sheds light on many other aspects of American history, diet, culture, business and advertising.

Two brothers named McDonald went west to California from the north-east. They came with about about $8 dollars in their pockets (according to them) and got jobs moving props on movie sets in Hollywood (sound familiar?) After some initial business ventures the brothers opened their own small restaurant in San Bernadino.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest Ray Kroc left school at 16, and like almost all other achievers that reached his level of success, he had a strong work ethic and a hard-driving tenacity to succeed. Expecially at concepts that intially proved successful (hence SOP procedures). How ya build opon something that has a good and successful foundation. A gifted, successful salesman from an early age, he got a job selling paper cups and sold them for 17 years as one of the top salesman of his company. Some of his clients for example, were Wrigley field's vendors, among other Chicago establishments. In his late thirties, he started selling shake mixers. McDonald's comes into the picture when Kroc noticed that two brothers who owned a drive-in hamburger restaurant in Southern California, kept ordering lots of shake mixing machines, when Kroc's mixer business was dying out everywhere else in the country. He met the McDonald brothers and was greatly impressed by their practices. Ray implored them to expand and they replied "who'd want to do it, we don't," and Kroc became the seller of their franchises in the Midwest. He was very successful at establishing McD's in that part of the country (hint).

For his work he didn't earn a lot because of the deal he made with the brothers (an inkling of what was to come). So he added a creative and logical way to profit from his diligent work in spreading the franchises. He formed a separate corporation, and when setting up franchises he'd purchase the property where a new McDonald's was to be built, from his own original corporation he created. (Read Robert Kiyosaki's "Loophoes of the Rich" for details). So, with his corporations being the owner of the property, Kroc would either collect the rent, or a percentage of the restaurant's profits, whichever was greater, by contract structure. This allowed him to be compensated more fully in addition to his original deal with the McDonald brothers, which wasn't the most favorable.

Kroc was selling the franchises and focusing on keeping the model and SOPs identical for every franchise. Perhaps an analogy to the assembly line of the Ford. Kroc had a methodology. If a winning method was not altered or diluted by individualistic owner operators or franchise restaurants here and there across the country, the sales, expansion, and growth would continue. McDonald's had tapped into what a large part of the American public wanted in post WWII America. Ray later bought McDonald's from the McDonald brothers for $2.7 million cash. When he discovered after the deal was finished that the original McD restaurant in San Bernadino was not included, and was to be kept by the brothers, Kroc had forced them to change their restaurant's name on legal grounds, and then and built a franchise across the street to put them out of business. The brothers asked for this, and likely didn't understand 3 major things: 1. ethical business practices 2. the law 3. common sense.

Advertising: to help solidify more growth and consumer loyalty, Kroc knew the value of kids. He hired top advertising people: enter Ronald McDonald. After some marketing tests in some particular regions, came the major nationwide promotion to get the kiddies pleading with their parents that they wanted to go to Mickey-Ds. Have you heard kids clamour their parents to do this? I have. And today, McDonald's has continued the kid-concept by investing large amounts into the Playgrounds added onto many of its' stores.

McDonald's represents many things about American culture. To Americans, and today throughout the world. No matter what you think of Mickey D's it's quite an interesting story of how it started, evolved and came to it's ubiquity today. It's a fact that those golden arches are more recognized than the Christian cross. Again, whether we think that's good or not leads to several other issues involving, chemicals and food science, general health, obesity, globalization, homogenization, marketing to children, and corporatization.

For additional insights into the McDonald's phenomenon read, Jennifer Talwar's "Fast Food, Fast Track" and Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," and Fumento's "Fatland."

This book is as fascinating as any of the best Ludlum novels I have read. It put to rest many misconceptions of McDonald's as a "cheap hamburger joint". One cannot help but leave with great admiration for Ray Kroc and others surrounding McDonald's for their perseverance in bringing to the world an affordable, quality food product in spite of a barrage of barriers placed in their way.

This book is not only beautifully written and perfect for all ages, "The Princess and the Goblin" is also morally strong and uplifting. Children of either sex will be interested in it, with a loving and beautiful grandmother, a strong and intelligent young girl, and a young boy who is intent on protecting his loved ones and uncovering the evil goblin plot. I have read this countless times, and each time I discover something new. The sequel, "The Princess and Curdie," is also worth reading. I love this book!

So you love C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles? There people who don't are few and far between. One of the biggest influences on C.S. Lewis was this man, George MacDonald (1824-1905). It was MacDonald's talent for telling fairy stories that inspired Lewis in writing his own. Like Lewis, MacDonald has a remarkable ability to tell a delightful and enchanting story for children, layered with strong Christian themes and imagery by means of allegory and symbols. 'The Princess and the Goblin' is one of his most beloved works for children, and an excellent introduction to his style and success.

'The Princess and the Goblin' features a heroine ' a princess called Irene ' and a hero ' a simple miner's son called Curdie. While working overtime in the mines to earn money to buy his mother a red petty-coat, Curdie chances upon the goblins who live in the mountain, and discovers that they are hatching an evil plot against the king and his palace. Meanwhile the princess makes a discovery of her own ' high in the castle she finds a wonderful old lady who is her great-great-grandmother. The problem is, nobody else knows of her grandmother, and nobody believes her. But the princess does believe, and it is by her faith in her grandmother and the magic thread that she receives from her, that she is able to rescue Curdie. Together they rescue the entire palace from disaster at the hands of the goblins.

In telling the story, MacDonald has an enchanting conversational style, wonderfully suitable for reading aloud to enraptured children ' an ability perfecting in telling stories to his own eleven children. But 'The Princess and the Goblin' is more than just a story. Before pursuing a literary career, MacDonald was a Congregationalist minister, and so integrates important underlying Christian themes. Believing in the great-great-grandmother despite the fact that many cannot see her, is a symbol of believing in God. MacDonald uses this to show how the Christian faith involves believing without seeing, and that not everyone has to 'see' something for it to be true. The grandmother's lamp and magic thread are the guides on which the princess must depend, much like the Word which is a lamp on our path. It may sound tacky, but it works.

Children are not likely to grasp the deeper underlying themes that MacDonald is working with. Nonetheless the story has a clear message for children. The clear conflict between the royal powers of light against the goblin powers of darkness is unmistakable. Moreover, the princess is presented as a model of virtue, and MacDonald frequently asserts the importance of moral virtues such as always telling the truth, keeping your word, and admitting your faults ' moral virtues that are equally important for princes and princesses of God's kingdom. Courage, honesty, grace, dignity and beauty are timeless ideals for children of all times to strive for. If you love Narnia, you're sure to like this one, and you'll find yourself quickly grabbing the sequel, 'The Princess and Curdie.' 'The Princess and the Goblin' was one of J.R.R. Tolkien's childhood favorites, highly regarded by C.S. Lewis, described by W.H. Auden as 'the only English children's book in the same class as the Alice books', and generally considered as a classic example of nineteenth century children's literary fairy tales. So if you haven't yet read this book, it's about time you did. With admirers such as Tolkien, Lewis and Auden, if you become a MacDonald's admirer you'll find yourself in good company!

I cant believe I haven't read this untill now, its such a great book! A princess lives in a castle all her life, never knowing of the great dangers that go on in the mountain. One day(being about 7 years old) she finds a stairway in her house that she has never seen and it leads her to her great, great grandmother. After she meets her grandmother she is shown the dangers of the goblins and meets a boy named Curdie who mines in the mountain with his father. Throughout the book Curdie and the princess have many encounters with the goblins. This is a great book I highly recommend it for readers of all ages.

This book is great! So far, my favorite in my child's collection. The rhymes are fun to read and the illustrations by Steven Kellogg are amazingly cute. I plan on buying more books by the same artist.

My daughter loves this book, and so does every kid who visits our house! I read it over and over, with it's rhyming text and wonderful illustrations, I still enjoy it even after all the readings.

Is your mama a llama I asked my friend...? This phrase is repeated through out the book giving the intended audience of a pre-schooler the chance to assist in "reading" the book.
The sing-song verse clues the listener and reader to what each species Lloyd's friends are.

I have read this book to my pre-k to 1st grade classes and all have loved to join in the reading AND have requested to read it again and again!

This is a great book for the emergant reader.

Troon McAllister rocks! Okay, so you need to suspend your grip on reality to flow with a plot that sees a nobody picked for the Ryder Cup team, but it's worth the effort. Eddie Caminetti is a perfect nobody for the Ryder Cup and the Ryder Cup is the perfect setting for Eddie to unleash his talent for golf and off-beat psychology on an unsuspecting golf audience.

This book is all about Caminetti. It's also all about golf, hustling, and human nature. Along the way there's ample suspense and more humor than has any right to be in it's 300 pages. Most golf novels (and most sports novels for that matter) follow a familiar plot but this book takes us to new, and very original, ground.

Truly funny and the first real competitor to "Missing Links" by Rick Reilly, this is a gripping read. You just never know what's around the corner . . . but you know it's going to be hilarious.

I had thought Dan Jenkin's book, Dead Solid Perfect, was probably the most realistic and believeable novel about the professional game. That was until I read Troon McAllister's book,The Green. Even non-golfers would probably enjoy it as it is about more than golf. Great characters in believeable situations all handled superbly by the author. Eddie Caminetti is much more than a golf hustler with the game of a tour veteran. He has a mind like a steel trap and the nerves of a tight rope walker. How he becomes a Captain's pick for the US Ryder Cup team and how he handles the assignment are a treat. There is much to learn from this immensely entertaining book...about golf...it's rules...human nature and life itself. You will not want to put this book down. It is that good!!

The Green is extremely entertaining on a number of levels. It gives the reader the vicarious pleasure of believing that many of those guys out on the tour have 'feet of clay' with their own foibles. Even though they get to play and get paid 5 or 6 days a week, the author would have you believe that most have some personality defect that the common guy doesn't.

On another level, Eddie, the lead character, is everything we wish we could be, in or out of golf. A hustler yes, but dig below the crust, a complex, honest, and talented person, unwilling to put up with the BS of the profession. He's an iconoclast, supremely confident of his own abilities, ready to thumb his nose at traditional concepts.

If you don't love this book and this guy, you don't like good fiction and the game of golf.

Plunkitt was a king in a world that needed benevolent despots. In a place like turn of the century of New York before Keynesian economics and the Welfare State, Tammany was the only relief the poor knew. Plunkitt reveals with refreshing honesty the seemingly rough and coarse manner with which one needed to play the game of politics in his town. However, one must look at it in context. This was a different time from our own, and the reader must imagine whether a person of Plunkitt's demeanor can last in the information age political world. Then again, the book also illustrates how many of the problems Tammany had still exist today.

I originally read this book in undergraduate school as Political Science major, and had to go back and find a copy because of the profound affect it had on my psyche. George Washington Plunkitt was a "stereotypical" politician. You know, the one who says what he needs to say to get elected; but once there does what's necessary for his party.

Comparing his comments to the actions of present day politicians, I don't think there are many differences. Everyone does a little grafting and civil servants are still "civil servants." Understood?

As with any politician, Plunkitt "seen (his) opportunities and (he) took 'em." This is a must for anyone interested in any realm of politics.

I first read this highly informative, often hilarious book for Intro to Political Science back in college. In this short tome are pearls of wisdom about politics and human nature still relevant 100 years later. Plunkitt, high atop his regular boot-black stand in NYC, declaims to his biographer, Riordan, a life spent in the political machine known as Tammany Hall, with such disarming honesty that is nearly non-existent today. Plunkitt's diatribes on "honest graft vs. dishonest graft," "Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds," and the evils of civil service exams are outright hilarious. I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in politics.

Hey! If you're bored and can't find a good book, look for this: Judy Moody was in a mood.Not a Good mood.A Bad mood by:Megan Mcdonald. Let me tell about the main character : Judy Moody. She is a girl who isn't too girly, if she was too girly, she would hate venis fly traps, plus she wouldn't have a best friend who is a boy. To tell the truth I think I'm telling too much about this book. I might tell you everything so I'm just telling you this....(this is the part that is funny) when Judy got...... well uses a fake hand, in a toilet for her brother, but when he found out I giggled in my mind. Like I was saying, I have to get to the point: read it it's a great book for girls,but if you don't like it you might be a boy.The reason i like it is because it's realistic. I don't like too funny books, plus I didn't know, but the Moodys (Judy's main family) lives in Virginia. Well, this is a really great book. If you want to know, just read it!

This first book in the Judy Moody Series is very funny to read and the illustrations fit right along with the "mood swings" of Judy Moody.( Get where the name came from?) Judy starts 3rd grade with a bad mood but when she learns they are going to be doing a collogue about themselves her imaginative juices are surfaced.

I laughed a lot during this book and it is really a great book to enjoy with a family. I especially liked the part about the T.P Club( I won't tell you what T.P. stands for!). That was hilirious. I recommend this book to all ages because everyone deserves a good laugh and it doesn't have to be within the 6-10 age limit because ... I loved it!

I am a fifth grade student at Waldron Mercy Academy (CLS).

I would give this series five stars. The Judy Moody series are the best books ever. The best book from the series just has to be "Judy Moody is in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood." Judy Moody lives in Virgina. Summer vacation is over way to soon. Judy Moody's going to be a third grader this year. She hates the first day of school. Everyone always comes back with a shirt from their vacation spot, but Judy didn't go anywhere. She remembers the shark she brought from the supermarket and gets out a white shirt and writes: " I ate Shark." Her best friend is already waiting at the bus stop with a shirt that says: "Loch Ness Monster." For summer vacation he went to Busch Gardens and rode roller coasters. Her little brother Stink, is in second grade and thinks he knows everything. Judy Moody is in a bad mood and everybody knows it.