If you want your 3-7 year olds to understand the 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall), this is about as good a book, as any.

The story features a girl having a conversation with her mother in the beginning explaining, "When summer ends I will cry and cry." When her mother asks why, the daughter lists all of the things she loves about summer (watermelon, splashing in the pool, etc). Her mother then asks her about each successive season pointing out the things that she (and most children) loves about those seasons.

The illustrations that accompany each season's features will have your children talking about what their favorite seasons are for days to come.

I have been a faithful reader since the first issue of "Where to Eat". The reviews are detailed and contain all the pieces of information that make choosing the spot for your next meal easy. Anyone who wants to eat out in the Boston area should definitely pick up this publication. As always, great job ladies!

Whispered Wisdom is a collection of profound spiritual thoughts masquerading as a travelouge through the Rocky Mountains. The spiritually based poetry and prose contained in Whispered Wisdom will provide countless hours of nourishment for the soul. It makes a wonderful jumping point for daily contemplation. This would be a wonderful gift for anyone on your list.

This was one of my favorite books to read under the covers. It has 2 very important qualities that girls love...horses and mystery. One of the best independent characters available after they starting making female heroine (too) feminine.

If I was only to buy one John Muir book (a tragedy), this would be the one. Excellent essays that demonstrate both his lucid writing style and the amazing country that he describes. He coherently describes his own life (and the times that surround it), in a way that makes me want to grab a cotton rucksack and a bag of food and head off for the High Sierra.

A gripping drama that realistically portrays the daily life of professional baseball players, both on and off the playing field.

As an avid reader, the vibrant renderings of our national pastime and colorful charachters leap off the page. A great summer read, I'd highly suggest buying this book for that baseball fan in your life! Well done, Ms. Dudek!

When I ordered this book, there was no other review for me to go upon. I judged this book solely on its cover and I am very pleased. The pictures are beautiful (in an ordinary way) and fit the story very well. However, they are not in the same league as K.Y. Craft or Mercer Mayer's fairy tale work. One thing that I found very helpful within this book for a classroom is the diversity pictured. The King and Queen's friends are all different colors and different cultures, which teaches young children an important lesson. My favorite is Maya Monsoon. The story also teaches children the importance of compromise and settling arguements with words not actions. The story is a creative way to explain the changing of the seasons and weather, with the neat addition of the King and Queen's friends. This book does a nice job explaing something quite complicated to young children. Enjoy!

I am very glad I purchased this cookbook. I have Scottish roots, and this book provides me with a way to enjoy Scottish foods easily, and with interesting background information. American users of this book will have to have a kitchen scale, or diet scale in order to use the recipes. It isn't hard to use the scale to measure dry ingredients, etc,. and the results are well worth the effort. I particularly enjoy the shortbread recipe, which gives you a choice of three textures. I usually use the second one, as it seems most authentic in my experience. When I feel I can afford the calories and fat, I make Aberdeen Rowies, and the recipe and story in this cookbook for Rowies is wonderful. (Rowies are Scottish butter rolls, kind of like croissants, but more substantial.) All in all, this is a very useful addition to my cookbook collection.

"From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This book is an adventurous fiction. The main characters of the story are Claudia, a 12 year old girl who loves adventure, Jamie, an 8 year old boy who is rich, and Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, an old lady who is so rich that she has an elevator in her house. In this book, Claudia and Jamie run away from home and stay in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They find out about a statue of an angel that people think was carved by the master Michelangelo. Claudia and Jamie spend days finding out about Michelangelo and the angel sculpture. They go to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler's house to find out if she knows if Michelangelo made Angel. Will Jamie and Claudia ever go home? Will they solve the mystery of Angel? Find out in "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." I only gave it 4 stars because the book seemed long and was boring to me at the beginning, but it got better. I would recommend this book for kids in fourth grade and up.

In the book, From The Mixed Up Files, Claudia and Jamie aare the two main characters. Claudia feels that her family isn't treating her faairly. She desides to take Jamie with her because he saves all his money. He also is the one Claudia thinks most understands her. They decide that they will go to the Mteropolitan Museum because they both would like to see it. As stowaways they find something special that will change their whole aadventure.
I liked this bokk because it haas a lot of adventure to it and has an excellent plot that is easy to foolow. I would recommend this book to you because it is a superior Newbery award book for all kids. I think that this book is a first-class selection because it can show you how to come up with things you don't have. I think that this book is about being without a real home or food sevrved to you. If you don't have an all time favorite book, well then just go to the bookstore and read From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. E. Basil Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigs burg.

"From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" has got to be the longest, most confusing title of any classic children's novel, and I wouldn't change a word of it! Having read my copy to pieces in the fourth and fifth grade, I recently bought another copy to have in my daughter's library. Even though she's only 3 now, I know she'll love this book in a few years. To this day, whenever I go into a museum, I find myself wanting to sneak into the bathrooms and hide there until after closing, just so I can sleep in one of those old beds and jump into the museum fountain for the spare change! The novel is as good now as it was thirty years ago, with all the same simple beauty of this fantasy of the successful runaway. If you haven't read it yet, I envy you. If you have, read it again -- it just gets better with age.

Hatchet was an amazing story of the survival of a 13 year old boy named Brian Robeson in the Canadian wilderness. I really enjoyed this book and it held my interest with extraordinary descriptions and intense suspense. Hatchet contained adventure, but it also had deeper meanings not usually found in adventure stories. Although this book was not hard to read, and it was not very long, the descriptive details of the wilderness and the survival tactics kept me turning the pages.
My favorite part of the story were the conflicts. The main conflict in the story was a boy trying to stay alive in the wilderness alone with no food. There also was a strong internal conflict that surfaced about "the secret". "The secret" was that Brian found out about his mother's affair. In trying to survive, smaller external conflicts occurred, such as animal attacks, tornados, and starvation. All of the conflicts combined made an exciting story. Another thing that I liked about the story was the theme. The theme of Hatchet was that Brian learned from his mistakes, and moved on. This was extremely important to the story because every mistake was very crucial. For example, when Brian's shelter was not closed securely, a porcupine was able to get in to the shelter and stick Brian with its quills. This injury caused Brian great pain and limited his ability to get survival supplies. He learned from his mistake and made his shelter more secure so animals could not enter as easily. Because Brian learned from his mistakes the story was more realistic.

I disliked the mood of the story because some parts were sad. For example, the mood was sad when Brian thought his situation was hopeless. Actually, the sad mood was the only thing that I did not like about the story. I think that someone who likes adventure and challenge would like this story. A person who dislikes the outdoors probably would not like Hatchet. I enjoyed reading this book and I would read it again. I do not think that this book would make a good movie, because there was not much dialogue in the book, and I really do not think a movie without dialogue would be very good.

A good lesson I learned from this book is that being positive will always help make a negative or difficult situation better. Reading this story really gave me a new appreciation for the necessities that I take for granted.

Brian Robeson is thirteen and is on a survival mission in the Canadian wilderness. His plane crashed because his pilot had a heart attack and died. Brian then then found himself having to fly the plane all by himself. Brian decides to land in a near by lake. When Brian survives the crash he finds himself with only a twenty-dollar bill,a windbreaker, and his new hatchet his mother had given him. The lake in which he crashed in provided him drinking water, a bath tub and food. Brian learns to scavenge for berries and catch fish. He made a spear out of a long narrow stick. He speared fish, rabbits and foolbirds. Brian was not successful at this in the beginning. Brian learns to survive in the willderness with little or nothing at all. I reccommend this book to anyone who likes the outdoors or wo li kes a great adventure. This is a great book for anyone who wants to read and have fun. You do not only read the book but you learn in the process as well. You learn how to survive in the wilderness with limited supplies.

Imagine being stranded in the wilderness alone and learning to survive. We all think about it at least once in our life, learning to hunt, getting shelter, and staying sane. In the book, Hatchet, Brian Robeson, age thirteen, is stranded in the Canadian wilderness, after his plane crashes, with only a hatchet and the clothes on his back. Brian was on that plane to his dad's house because of the Secret... This survival-fiction book tells how Brian undergoes a complete character change. When he first arrives he is relatively weak, but eventually Brian has keen, alert, senses, and he is a stronger person. In the book, Brian must deal with insane moose, and making a new friend; fire. Hunting and food gathering is a major part of the book, which makes it seem very realistic, but will Brian ever make it home alive? This book is a Newbery honor book and I believe it is very deserving of that prestigous award. Gary Paulsen's portrayal of someone in that predicament is very accurate. He puts you right in the action and in the struggle. I recommend this book to people of all different ages and backgrounds. You will feel every moment of hope and rejection in this amazing Paulsen novel.