A kindly, lonely shoe cobbler prays that the Lord will pay him a visit. Three people in need come his way, and he helps each one of them, and he realizes that when he helps the "least of these" he is serving the Lord. Great story with vivid insight. A must read.

I think that this is a great book for a young child to read, it is also a book that some older adults would probably like. I think that this is one of my favorite children's books. It has colorful, detailed pictures. It is a good story. It will keep children interested and wondering what will happen next. Alexander has a great friendly personality that kids will relate to. Alexander is lonley and wants a friend. Whenever he leaves his home to go find some crumbs to eat, the family that lives in the house catches him and chases him back in his hole in the wall. One day he runs into a wind-up mouse named Willy. He befriends this mouse and he decides that he wants to be a wind-up mouse too. He meets a lizard in the backyard and tells him his wish, the lizard tells Alexander to bring him a purple pebble. So Alexander goes on search for this pebble. He searches everywhere and finally finds one. But then he changes his mind and decides that he wants Willy to become a real mouse. So he wishes then goes back to his house. When he gets in his hole in the wall, he sees another mouse and asks who he is. He discovers that it is Willy, so they then live happily ever after and stay friends. I really liked this book out of any others I have read. Thats why I give it four stars and reccomend it to anyone who is looking for a book to read to their child, or to read themselves.

The Book Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse was a great book to read. I thought that it was easy to follow along and to understand it. The pictures and drawings in the book were very cool too. I hope that if you decide to read this book, you will feel the same way about it that I do. I think that you will like reading and find it a very neat book to enjoy.
In the story, Alexander wants to be like the wind-up mouse because the wind up mouse gets more attention than he does. He meets the wind-up mouse one day and starts to talk to him. He finds out how he can become a wind-up mouse too. If you read this book, you will be able to find out what Alexander does. Will be ever become a wind-up mouse or not??
Brandon M.

My mother started reading this book to my brother and I when we were about 2 maybe younger. It was one of our favorite books. By the time we were about 3 we could recite the book as the pages were turned. We still have the book and I now read it to my children. I still love the book and hope my children enjoy it as much as my brother and I did.

I've just started War and Peace.....and already it promises to be as satisfying as Anna Karenina, so I can't wait to really get 'stuck in'. It is incredibly readable, lovely to get lost in, time flies by while you're reading it. His characters are so richly drawn, his ancedotes about each one are filling and often funny. I only wish that a translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky were available as they bring a fresh modern voice to translation (I can't wait to read their translation of Anna K. and 'The Idiot' by Dostoevsky).

So why am I writing a review of W&P if I've just started it? Well, first to share the fun I'm having and encourage others to give this great book a try.....and to invite others who have read the book or are reading it to write to me and share your comments. One of the best things about writing reviews on Amazon.com is that I occasionally hear from other reviewers or readers with comments on my reviews or recommendations of their own.....and I love it.

And I love Tolstoy! I think he's the best writer in the world. Although....quite honestly, the most memorable literary passage I've ever read was found in Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". But you'll have to write to me to find out which one I'm referring to!

Happy reading!

Although my blind urge to read the Great Classics has (thankfully) faded somewhat over the years in favor of reading whatever I damn please, I finally decided it was time to give War and Peace a try. After all, how can anyone who enjoys novels resist the lure of "the greatest novel of all time"? And Tolstoy himself was an unusually interesting man -- not a screwed-up genius but one who seemed to eventually figure it all out. It took me maybe a hundred pages to get into the rhythm of the book and figure out who all those characters with multisyllabic Russian names were. After that, it was totally engrossing and surprisingly easy reading. There's no point giving you a book report on what happens -- you're supposed to read it yourself -- but I do disagree with some of the other reviewers who didn't care for the sections describing Tolstoy's philosophy of history. I found those sections (a very small proportion of the book) fascinating, albeit a change of pace. This is part of what makes the book great. War and Peace is not just a story of what happens to a bunch of made-up people, but a major work of art expressing the wisdom of a great man.

Few novels have the breadth and scope of detail as "War and Peace". This is a novel that took years to write and may take the average reader up to a year to finish. It is well worth the effort.

Tolstoy has successfully mastered the arts of military and romantic literature. Often times when these elements are combined in a novel the author is not particularly strong in both areas. That is certainly not Tolstoy's weakness. Tolstoy's one weakness is his tendency to engage in long-winded narration about his system of philosophy. I've always believed that if the author wants to bring his personal philosophies into a book, they should be woven into the fabric of the work and not kept as separate parts that break up the flow of the story. Fortunately these narrations do little damage to the overall story.

I have read many non-English language books from German, French, Russian, etc. authors that have been translated into English. "War and Peace" was the first and only one of those books which made me want to learn a foreign language. Translated works, no matter how hard the translator tries, can never stay completely true to the original work. Through the translations of Tolstoy's work one gets the sense that he had a command of the Russian language equal to Dickens' or Shakespeare's command of English.

One piece of advice: if you feel that it may take you longer than six months to finish the novel, you may want to keep track of the families on a separate sheet of paper like a family tree. In can get rather confusing with all of the marriages and child births that occur in the course of these family's lives.

This book [and separate tape are] essential for ESL/EFL teachers who teach intermediate or advanced communications courses. Each chapter focuses on a business theme such as negotiation, business meetings, telephoning. The tapes are slow for learners above an intermediate level; however, the speaking activities can easily be used by both intermediate and advanced learners. One good aspect of the tapes is the British Accents which makes a nice contrast to my North American accent for learners in EFL situations. You can even stretch certain exercises into writing exercises. However, the book lacks any structured grammar lessons. At an intermediate level in some contexts you might find the book a bit thin because of this.The teachers guide is unfortunately essential because you often can't complete exercises without having the companioned instructions. Which means more of a cost outlay for some teachers.This book absolutely cannot be used for self-study or one-on-ones. Nevertheless, it is the best resource I've had for these types of courses so far. Definitely worth investing in.

I have found this workbook extremely helpful in instructing business English to the many foreign professional students I receive. For the intermediate English speaker it is helpful in teaching them the basic communication that they need as they communicate around the world with colleagues. The book makes my instructing easy and covers all the basics I need to convey the language to them. I use the book with all my International professional businessmen .