Another classic from Margaret Wise Brown. Captures the wonderful essence of childhood that so many contemporary children's authors miss again and again. The illustrations are still fresh even though it was originally printed in 1950. The story is an uncommon blend of whimsey, fantasy and the unexpected. And...no one can make a movie out of it! Simplicity at its sparkling best. Buy one for every child you know.

This was one of my favorite books when I was little, and I started reading the same copy of The Wonderful House to my little boy when he was just over a year old. It is still one of his very favorites at the ripe old age of 3. He of course has it memorized word for word. The illustrations are fantastic. Our copy is just about to be retired from use, how wonderful we can purchase a new one! It tells of many creatures and where they live. "Who lives here?" is on almost every spread, then the answer follows on the next page. The magical wonderful house appears and everyone tries to guess who lives there.

In their successful 1999 publication, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook", the authors Piven & Borgenicht gave us useful advice for surviving everything from a shark attack, to how to take a punch in the face with the minimum of injury. Now, as we swiftly approach the holiday season, they give us their latest work which focuses on holiday survival.

While you won't find information on how to safely jump out of a 2 story window into a trash dumpster, you WILL find information on how to gain control of a one-horse open sleigh, how to defend yourself against a charging reindeer and how to extricate yourself or someone else who is stranded in a chimney.

For the "rest of us" who aren't likely to find ourselves descending chimneys or dodging rutting male reindeer, there are LOTS of very helpful bits of advice for those things you're very LIKELY to encounter during this holiday season, including How To Wear Tight-Fitting Clothing that you've "outgrown" due to holiday eating, how to guess at what's inside a present (and how to PREVENT people who snoop on their presents!), as well as how to avoid kisses under the mistletoe and how to prevent yourself from being swept away by a marauding crowd of holiday shoppers.

Some survival tips are pure fun, like How To Repurpose A Fruitcake (doorstop, object d'art and tire block for your car are just a few), while others may actually be quite helpful in an actual situation: How To Prevent A Turkey From Exploding; How To Extinguish A Burning Turkey; and How To Treat Mistletoe (and food) Poisoning In Both People And Pets (you DID know that the berries of mistletoe are poisonous, didn't you?)

Naturally, this book is heavier on how to act in social settings (like dealing with meddlesome relatives and annoying carolers) and entertaining guests (how to open a bottle of wine with a broken cork, how to make an emergency menorah) than it is on actual dangers, but for anyone who's looking for a fun read and some practical advice, this and the other Worst-Case books are definitely worth getting! With it's festive, reflective silver cover, it's a perfect gift for the holidays as well as displaying prominently among your holiday displays. Besides, you just never know when disaster might strike, and you should always Be Prepared!! Highly recommended!

Being a big fan of the holidays, the snow, lights, decorations, etc. I decided to pick-up the newest addition to "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" series. And I am pleased to add, that this was definitely worth the money. The scenarios in this book are so stupid, yet so funny. They remind you of an MTV show entitled "Jack---" From tips on how to fend off a charging reindeer to how to treat a tongue stuck to a pole, you won't be disappointed.

The humor of "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide: Holidays" goes on an on. You'll even find yourself rolling on the floor laughing out loud. This is a must read for everyone.

In the spring of 1865, Major General James H. Wilson and 14,000 Union cavalry troops destroyed key Confederate industrial facilities in what had been, until then, relatively unscathed areas of Alabama and Georgia. Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama And Georgia is a vividly reconstructed account tracing Wilson's lightning run south and places the campaign within the larger context of the last days of the Civil War. Historian James Jones describes in detail the strategic background of the raid, covers the raid from both sides, and notes the economic significance of the industrial facilities destroyed. Jones' description of Wilson's capture of Jefferson Davis is the standard interpretation of what happened when Davis was taken by Union forces. Yankee Blitzkrieg is superb reading for Civil War buffs and students of Civil War history.

Yankee Bltizkrieg is one of the most enlightening studies of Wison's raiders in their finest hour. The book follows Wilson and his men from rain drenched northern Alabama to a triumphant capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Georgia. It explores how Wilson effectively moved over 12,000 men for over 500 miles in the span of about a month. A feat which would have made Guderian proud! It is a must for Civil War enthusiasts and military strategist

Beautifully various and distinguished--like a needle in the eye. I adore this book and this poet.

Year of Morphines
Poems
Betsy Brown
The National Poetry Series / Selected by George Garrett
"Allusive, edgy, smart, and utterly relentless, the poems of Year of Morphines move gracefully in the zone between our necessary morphine spells of forgetting and life's implausible reclamations: '. . . all these stories ending with life.'"-George Garrett, from his judge's citation
Betsy Brown is no stranger to loss. Breast cancer runs rampant in her family; both her mother and her thirty-two-year-old sister died of the disease and another sister has been diagnosed with its late stages. Her father also fell victim to cancer, this time pancreatic. The poems in Brown's stunning first book pivot around the mechanisms we use in facing loss and fear-whether those confrontations are as wrenching as a bone marrow transplant or as confused as a brief love.
In lyric verses with a driving narrative force, the poet depicts loved ones coping with illness, sometimes achieving recovery, and reshaping a family. From his hospital bed a father relates "the color of his pain-killers, / the in-and-out narcotic conversations / of the doomed." A woman recalls Baltimore, where her sister received treatment, as "a city of doctors, messy brain scans, / slick cobblestoned lanes thick / with Christmas." She returns to the spot where her sister's cremated remains were scattered, relishing "the secrets of ashes, / the clean wash of lake water / like all the nights we sat / with the little waves lapping."
An unusually intimate collection, Year of Morphines is both a heartbreaking portrait of the process of death and encouraging evidence of life's perseverance.
A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Betsy Brown works in corporate communications in Minneapolis.

There is a nice story here, of nice people. The writing moves without hitches, glitches nor bumps. It is very real, a terrific book for teenagers. Could and should be studied in college. Teaches without being overly preachy...actually teaches while being a very fun and funny book, too.

A must-read for anyone who grew up in Georgia during the 1940s or '50s, especially those of us who remember the day the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) hooked us up and turned us on. Life changed dramatically. If you're not old enough to remember those days, let Terry Kay show you what they were like. This book -- as usual in a Kay opus -- is hilarious at turns, tender and sad at others. Kay is a master chef at blending a bittersweet brew of young love, class consciousness and changing times. Don't deprive yourself of a look at this fine early work, which was first published in 1976 -- before Kay established himself as one of our great Southern writers with the novel, "To Dance with the White Dog."

"You Can't Win, Charlie Brown" offers up daily comic strips from "Peanuts" from the years 1960-1962. However, Charlie Brown is not the only one of the Peanuts gang having a rough time of it. In what are probably the best of Great Pumpkin strips, Linus puts together a pumpkin patch that offers nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see, but has trouble staying away on Halloween Night. Then poor Schroeder forgets to celebrate December 16th (and you have to wonder, did Charles M. Schulz do the same?). Meanwhile, Kennedy and Nixon are running for President and Lucy decides that Charlie Brown should become president one day so she can be First Lady. Not surprisingly, these 1960 strips are some of the few in which Schulz comments on the political process (you have to be prince before you can become President, which happens before you become Queen). Of course, politics in America would forever be changed after November 1963, so this is not especially surprising. There are also several strips devoted to the Christmas season and various ways of working Santa Claus for as many toys as possible that will strike a chord with young and old alike. On a more historical note, Snoopy has made friends with a flock of pre-Woodstock type birds and Linus has been told by his ophthalmologist to start wearing glasses (probably the first time the word "ophthalmologist" was used in a comic strip). This collection of comic strips comes from the heyday of "Peanuts," which for my money ran from the late 1950's through the 1960's.

Charlie Brown just can't win, which is why we like him so much, and how everything around him affects him. For example, Schroeder turned in his uniform, glove, and cap and went home to play the piano. However, he sparked a reaction that caused everybody else on Charlie Brown's team to quit, too. Charlie just can't win. Linus gives up his blanket in a bet with Miss Othmar. He lost the bet. Will Linus get his blanket back, or will it be lost forever? Speaking of Linus, Halloween is rolling around. The Great Pumpkin will surely rise out of HIS pumpkin patch to fly through the air on his appointed rounds--or will he? Will this be the one time he comes? Find out!

This book contains strips from the original Peanuts reprint book, "Peanuts Every Sunday" - strips from 1958-61. Published by Fawcett Crest.

ON THE BACK COVER: Doesn't anyone except Snoopy have a good word for Charlie Brown? You bet. Just mention his name a your friendly paperback book dealer and you'll learn that the good word is "Peanuts." More than 22 million copies of the Peanuts books have been sold in the new Fawcett Crest editions.

that was the first charlie brown book i've read. i love it. it makes you smile, it makes you think... don't miss it

More great comics. These are treasures and I just love them. When it seems like the world has got you down pull this volume out and just smile. That's something they can't take away from you. We have many thoughts we want to keep forever. This book in some way in some how never lets those memories die.

As one of the last books in this popular series (that ran for five decades), You're Not Alone, Charlie Brown has all of the profound wit and general silliness generations have come to expect from the late Mr. Schulz. For anyone who grew up reading this wonderful line of Fawcett paperbacks, this one will not disappoint and is a fine way to remember the life and accomplishment of a great man. Over the years, the books in this series have become collectable but it's impossible to put a value on the Peanuts gang. Don't get this one because it's a collectable. Don't buy it for Mr. Schulz. But it and enjoy it for yourself and your remembered youth. "Good Grief", you're still the greatest Charlie Brown!

Many of you have recently seen the re-run episode of Charlie Brown's testimonial dinner. It sounds like his dream come true, especially since Charlie Brown's hero, Joe Shlabotnik is scheduled to be there. Thanks in part to Marcy's tactlessness, the evening doesn't exactly go as Charlie Brown had hoped.

Speaking of reruns, new character Rerun Van Pelt (Lucy and Linus' baby brother) makes his debut. Lucy unintentionally comes up with the name and Linus thinks it's a great idea!

Snoopy is nominated Neighborhood Dog of the Year. Will he win?

And being obsessed with the great American sport (baseball), Charlie Brown discovers that he has a rash on his head not unlike a baseball. He wears a paper sack around his head (to avoid anyone autographing it!) and goes to summer camp. He later becomes a hero- all because of wearing a sack!

This book has IMHO one of the most brilliant Peanuts episodes the late Charles Schultz ever wrote. Charlie Brown puts a brown bag on his head to cover a rash and goes to the summer camp with his head and face covered. Guess what! Baptized as Mr Sack by the other kids, he becomes camp president and a hero. A mask is enough to turn a loser into a hero, Schultz seems to say in this story, but also, that people will believe anything they need to believe. If everybody says Mr. Sack is the best camp president ever, they will accept that. And then Charlie Brown takes off the bag...

Also, Woodstock organizes a New Year's party and Snoopy makes a terrible mistake; Rerun makes his first appearances, Charlie Brown's baseball team finally wins a game and the gang organizes a testimonial dinner for him. Guess who is invited too: Joe Shlabotnik!

I enjoyed this book for its readability and refreshing ideas. Mr. Brown tackles the mundane and unexciting subject of tax reform with humor and well-researched concepts. Each chapter begins with a quip from a noted historic figure; for example, Albert Einstein, or Mark Twain, and gives a thoughtful refresher course on the peculiarities and perplexing myths of the American income tax system. His facts and figures look accurate enough, though difficult to prove, but certainly will give the reader food for thought, and a new perspective on dealing with the future of "taxation without representation". A great afternoon read!