It's Christmas Eve, Harold doesn't have his tree yet and he decides he needs one before Santa arrives. So armed with his imagination and his purple crayon, Harold sets off for the north woods to find the perfect tree. He follows the north star, encounters a blizzard, meets a snowman and continues to "draw" his way to the North Pole. There he finds Santa in trouble. He's snowed in and can't get his sleigh, reindeer and sack of toys out of his workshop, which is covered by drifts. Lucky for us, Harold comes to the rescue and lends Santa a hand, sending him on his way to deliver presents to boys and girls all over the world.....Crockett Johnson has created a simple, gentle and really ingenious story, showing the very clever Harold at his best. Those who love Harold and the Purple Crayon, will find this holiday adventure just as wonderful and inventive. Harold at the North Pole will delight and amuse all pre-schoolers, as he helps your youngster welcome in the holiday season.

The Harold and the Purple Crayon Series are wonderful. Harold is a little boy with a round head (around long before Charlie Brown) with a little purple crayon and a big imagination. In the North Pole book, Harold has set out on Christmas Eve to find a Christmas tree. Along the way, Harold ends up helping Santa but needs to hurry to find a tree to have it ready for Santa's visit. The simple line drawings are wonderful for younger readers yet there is always a charm to them. Harold inspires kids on so many levels; he's great for children who are timid, he's great for the mighty little explorers and he's great for kids who like to draw but feel intimidated by other artists.

This book is filled with such imagination. It is a great book, if your a teacher or a daycare assistant, to read to the kids and have a fun project.

This was the cutest book I've ever read. If you're thinking about reading a short story this summer, read "Harold's Fairy Tale:Further Adventures with the Purple Crayon." By: Crockett Johnson. Remember this book deserves five stars. Have fun reading!

First of all, since the political campaigns have been raging in the media, we have heard a lot about hate crimes. The category of hate crime however, is restricted to personal violence, as it is commonly understood to mean. This book broadens the concept by globalizing the notion of hate. In lieu of today's developments and some other notable global crimes, such as genocides (i.e., Rwanda, Bosnia) this type of macro approach to the etiology of crime seems highly relevant and necessary. What I found particularly noteworthy is the multiple-point stances and perspectives of the various authors. Such a diverse representation of opinions, I thought, added to the overall purpose and strength of the book.

The chapter on Colin Ferguson approached explanation by using Franz Fanon's theory of violence. The author does successfully incorporate the major tenets of his theory in his explanation, there were some questions I thought would be relevant to the discussion. For example, Sartre, in writing the preface to Fanon's book, concurred with Fanon in stating that the native, repressed in his hatred toward his colonizers, is apt to act more violently against his native man. I was not sure if such was the case with Ferguson. Perhaps, if there had been instances in which he did act out against "his people" it would strengthen the argument more.

Rage, anger, madness as manifestation of creativity and freeing force in the subject's double bind is a topic worthy of further exploration. I am looking forward to the author developing this idea in his further works.

I enjoyed the differing perspective on the nature of hate. By charting the macro origins of conflict, I think the book sheds insight as to the micro dimensions of hate crime as it presently finds form today.

The recent brutal beating and murder of a gay Wyoming student points out but one aspect of the type of hate crimes whuch in most countries of the world. In Hate Crimes: The Global Politics of Polarization professor Jess Maghan and Robert J. Kelly have brought together an excellent collection of essays which hit the problem head-on. The editors contributions add to the book, especially the article on the Ku Klux Klan by Kelly and Maghan's well researched annotated bibliography on the subject. The book includes essays on black rage and victimization; neo-nazis and skinheads; homeless Palestinians and the Arab world; hate crime in India; and the victimization of street children in Colombia. Of particular interest are several pieces on the historical aspects of hate crime, and the development of legislative efforts to cope with what is percived as a growing area of concern in criminal justice. Maghan, who is an associate professor of criminal justice at the university of illinois at chicago, and Kelly, who is a Broeklundian professor of social science at Brooklyn College and a professor of criminal justice at the Graduate School of the City University of New York are well respected authors in the area of hate crime, and in this book they have made a significant contribution to understanding the international dimensions and manifistations of hatred and brutality.

A great story line and fine performances. but the ending is missing. The final episodes to the story were never performed or recorded, so we are left hanging mid-climax with no conclusion in sight.

These tapes are the best audio horror that I have ever heard. They make you feel like you are part the story. I would recommend this set to anyone who loves radio theater in the same vain as Masterpiece Theater.

There are a few things you can depend on in Chester Himes's great police procedurals featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones : colorful characters, distinctive dialect, a fierce racial sensibility, and plenty of mayhem. Meanwhile, the stories are pleasantly devoid of the kind of self-analysis and interior monologue which clutter up so much of modern fiction, even crime fiction. The Heat's On is something of an exception. Oh, there's more than enough mayhem and what with a giant albino junkie, a hunchback dwarf, a pony-sized attack dog, a faith healer, and various and sundry other folk about, there's certainly adequate local color.

But when, first, the detectives are suspended for treating the dwarf a tad too roughly (for instance, he dies in custody) and then Digger is shot and reported killed, Cotton Ed lets his slip show a little. He becomes a frenzied dynamo of barely contained brutality as he tears a steaming hot Harlem apart searching for the cache of heroin that led to the whole mess. This is a terrific entry in the series and is particularly interesting for Himes's fearsome hostility towards the drug traffic which was blighting the inner-city even then. His attitude makes for an interesting contrast with the permissive modern attitude of many black leaders, who decry harsh prison sentences for drug dealers. It's awfully hard to see Coffin Ed, Grave Digger, or Chester Himes arguing that pushers are victims of an unjust drug war.

GRADE : A

Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are 2 of strongest characters and 2 of the toughest partners in crime fiction. However in this volume of the Himes series they play an almost secondary role. In spite of this I enjoyed the book as much as Cotton Comes to Harlem. Coffin Ed will go to extremes to revenge his partner as he unravels this mystery.

Colleen Deering -- She'll do anything for her sister, Sheila. And if her gift takes up nine months of her life and entails morning sickness and stretch marks, well, what are sisters for? Because what Sheila wants--more than anything is the world--is a baby. And it will be Sheila's baby; Colleen has assured her sister of that. She's doing this for Sheila. Michael Delaney -- Handsome and reserved, he's Colleen's brother-in-law, Sheila's husband. He, too, wants a baby--with all his heart. When Colleen offers to be a surrogate for his wife, he's stunned. But Michael eventually accepts the idea--and he's deeply grateful for Colleen's gift of love. Tragically, Sheila never even gets a chance to hold the baby. In their sorrow, Colleen and Michael turn to each other, only to discover an unacknowledged attraction--a dangerous attraction. Dangerous, because they both want Sheila's child... Wow!! I was soooo impressed by this novel. At first, I thought it sounded kind of sleazy. I mean, the husband of one sister falling for the other shortly after his wife's death. But Janice Johnson made the whole plot work beautifully. The characters came to life in a way that's rarely seen in many books. The conflict and the emotions were real. I could hardly put in down, and I'm in the middle of finals week!! Definitely one of Janice Kay Johnson's best. I highly recommend you go out and find this one immediately.

Finally, a book that explores the in-depth feelings of its characters. Colleen is a divorced mom with two children. Colleen loves her sister Sheila with all her heart, but her sister is unable to carry a child to term. Colleen offers her the greatest gift of all-to carry a child for her. Sheila and her husband Michael are delighted when Colleen announces that she is pregnant. Sadly, not long after Sheila is killed in a car wreck. Colleen stuggles with the loss of her sister and realizes that the baby inside her is still half hers and wants to keep it. Besides the gift was for her sister not her brother-in-law. Colleen does not realize that Michael intends to fight for his baby. The story that unfolds from there will make you smile and cry. Everyone's feelings are explored - Michael, Colleen, and Colleen's two other children. The ending is very heart warming. I can not wait to read more books by Janice Kay Johnson. This was the first and will not be the last.

I read this one to my 7 year old son and it held his interest from start to finish.
I wish there were more books like this around.

There aren't many books around for young people who like to hunt, so this book is a welcome surprise. In it Butch and Brian learn the ways of deer, and eventually Butch succeeds in getting his first doe. The book is easy to read, engaging, and holds the readers attention throughout. Certainly a great book for all young outdoorsmen and women.

Great book. Well organized, compact, easy to read. If you've got no time to lose, this is your book! I read it and learnt it in one day!

When you are short of time and still want to score good in step 1 immunology, then go for this book. I bet you won't repent.

As a Bay Area local, I've always stood in awe of the breath-taking views and natural wonders of the Marin coast. Attempts to conquer and explore this piece of jewel have never been better with the aid of this Marin hiking guide. It provides clear and detailed descriptions of over 120 trails in Marin, with illustrations, maps, and level of strenuousness. Featured in each trail are points of interests, what-to-see info, plants guide, and milestones.

I found the sections on Point Reyes National Seashore particularly useful. A land in motion, the Point Reyes Peninsula is an unusual, dislocated land that long baffled geologists. The rocks of this craggy coast match those of the Tehachapi Mountains some 310 miles to the south due to the constant motion of the Earth's crust. The varied surface patterns of Point Reyes are more obvious than the normally slow changes underground. You can see streams and estuaries cutting through the landscape of folded hills and valleys. Awaiting visitors are many miles of beaches within sight of Douglas-fir and Bishop pine forests.

Whether you're impressed with the motion of Point reyes and want to explore the San Adreas fault, of just a family planning on a weekend trip to Stinson Beach, or just a ride showcasing the beauty of the Pacific Ocean in Marin Headland, this Marin hiking guide has got the info you'll need. It is one of the best and thorough guide especially devoted to hiking in Marin.

I use an older copy of this book (it only lists 121 hikes), and I have found it a great guide. Grouping trails by the various geographies of Marin County, and Appendices that group some of the hikes in the book--like a listing of all the hikes that have great waterfalls, or places to see wildflowers in a particular season--are very handy. One thing I would have liked is to see the flowers in color: black-and-white line drawings are less effective representatives of what a hiker should see out on the trails. All in all, however, it is an excellent companion as one hikes a trail, describing major sights and milestones along the hike while marking out the distances and heights one might climb. Another useful item is that the hikes can be done in parts if, say, you can't do a whole 10-mile hike at the moment. The countryside around Marin is so wonderfully varied--seashores, redwoods, great views of the Bay Area--that this would be a great book for nature-types who like to explore.

As a child, I first hiked trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway with my father more than 40 years ago, and over the decades I've continued to return with a sense of awe at the area's spectacular beauty and rich seasonal variety. But what has been lacking for all of that time is a trail guide that mixes knowledgeable commentary and accurate descriptions with good topographical maps and photos. "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway," which I picked up just last week on the way to the mountains, now fills that void in exemplary fashion.

I've hiked a good many of the trails, but I was surprised and pleased to see that there are many that I've not yet tried-and now plan to experience. I can attest that my favorite hikes are described very accurately, with historical and geographical commentary that gives me a new appreciation for some of the places I thought I knew quite well. Details such as the topo maps, elevation gains, difficulty levels, and key-points lists really open up the trails for both beginners and experienced hikers. A 38-page Parkway mileage log at the back of the book is a handy reference for trails, facilities, and resources. I'm sure that this book will accompany thousands of hikers who want to get the most out of their Blue Ridge Parkway hiking experiences.

As someone who lives near and regularly hikes trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I commend Randy Johnson's excellent "Hiking The Blue Ridge Parkway." First, I love the author's dedication . . .

To past and present Appalachian families - the people who know how much you have to love the mountains to make a living there. And to the men and women of the Blue Ridge Parkway - who help the rest of us appreciate why it's worth the effort.

It shows the author's love, and indeed respect, for the region he so ably writes about.

As a guide, the book features 72 maps, the great majority of them, 68 by my count, being detailed topographic maps that will satisfy even the most serious hikers. The author has included a topo map for virtually every hike, something that is fairly unprecedented in this book genre. I've never understood how you can have a trail guide that expects people to read a trail description without a map to look at. The book also includes lots of good photos.

I appreciate the fact that the author provides broad cultural, geographic and historical overviews aimed not only at educating the reader about the region but also at explaining how to craft a hike to match the hiker's interests.

The mileage log in the rear of the book also provides travel information and observations that make this back-of-book section almost worthy of a separate guidebook itself.

Moreover, the author not only covers trails along the Parkway but also trails near the Parkway. The summit of Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in the Eastern United States, for example, is five miles off the Parkway, but thankfully the author covers the beautiful trails there. The book also includes the region's only truly urban hike, Asheville's Urban Trail.

Between the book's overall introduction, its maps and photos, and the travel-oriented introductions to the different sections of the Parkway, this book truly lives up to the claim in the book's subtitle, "The Ultimate Guide to America's Most Popular Scenic Roadway."

No wonder best-selling author Robert Morgan, who hails from this region, and Blue Ridge Parkway author Harley Jolley, both quoted on the cover, say this is the guide book to buy. If I had been able, I would have given this book six stars.