This is a beautiful advent calendar - buy it!

I saw this calendar last year at a friends house and this year am buying two! Everyday you open a window makes you re-analyze and re-appreciate the painting and understand a little more about the thinking of the times. I highly recommend it!

This is too funny! The kids @ school loved it!!!

I currently work with a group of 4-9 year olds and it is very difficult to get them to agree on an activity, however, when I brought them The Three Little Cajun Pigs one day, there was no problem. They all enjoyed playing with M'sieur Cocodrie as each of them received a turn at passing him through the slit pages. They all sat in suspense as I continued to read the story. I contacted the publisher and I was informed that an audio cassette will be out soon, and yes, of course, it will be filled with a rich cajun atmosphere! Well, I can't say anymore but, this is a great book (and cassette) and will become an instant winner in your home, school or club.

I am a reading teacher and I just read this book this morning. The book is an adorable and engaging approach to teaching children how to write and to be authors. It encorporates everything I have learned in my master's level readingand writing courses!

I guess I am biased I have had this book in my care since I was a young child. Once I started having children of my own I found it still in great condition. My son who was 1 at the time he carried it around with him where ever he went. Of course after all that it started to fall apart. I have been looking for one for about 2 years now so I can put it away and keep it for them when they get older. I love the great story line. It gives kids a sense of being out on the water. The pictures jump right out at you. The author is very talented when it comes to children's books. I would recommend it to any one young or old.

In preparing our list of Christmas books to share with others, we had to search far and wide on amazon to find this particular book, a paperback edition of the classic Night Before Christmas.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

I discovered this book 31 years ago, for my daughter and it is still loved by all the family. The illustrations are wonderful, warm, charming and delightful and bring a special meaning to the story. We still read it to all the young children on Christmas Eve and for adults we read the story and pass a grab bag gift every time the word THE is mentioned. It would not be Christmas without this book. It is magical.

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

I was fortunate that I could share the Cajun Gingergread Boy book with my kindergartners accompanied by an audio tape, the result of a large group of teachers sharing an Internet project based at ( ). We passed the book around the country with a taped reading by a real Louisiana teacher. She included a printed pronunciation guide for each receiving class to keep and refer to after the book left us for the next stop. Sharing the Cajun Gingerbread Boy book and comparing it to other versions was a wonderful way to learn about and be exposed to other cultures. Many of the teachers will be purchasing their own copies of the book and using it each year for Mardi Gras themes each year. I recommend the book for every kindergarten and primary classroom.

We used "The Cajun Gingerbread Boy" in my son's kindergarten class in conjunction with many activites, for example, cooking, art and writing projects, based on the story. The children loved the delightful Monseur Crocodile, and loved being able to take the gingerbread boy piece from page to page. This is a great book to use with more traditional renditions of this story.

I purchased this book for my three-year-old while in Nawlins in May 2002. What a joy! My daughter loves pushing the gingerbread boy cutout through each page into each new adventure. Unfortunately, with two young children my opportunities to head to New Orleans again in the near future are slim...
My only complaint about this book is that there is no addendum that provides the phonetics for proper Cajun pronunciation.

What little information there was about illustrating books was too basic and there was no index. Also, it included many illustrations from old children's books without identifying the illustrator or the book they were from. More than likely the copyright had expired on these images yet this practice irked me for two reasons-first, this shows a lack of respect, for not only those neglected illustrators but for all illustrators, and second, an aspiring illustrator may have been moved to investigate and study an illustrator that they liked had the name been listed. Bad form for a book whose intent is to teach.

If you really want to learn about illustrating picturebooks, check out Writing With Pictures by Uri Schulevitz.

...I rated this book a "3" because the information contained for illustrators was minimal & the art work was old and dated. This book was directed to the prospective writer of children's books and illustration was a by-line.... It was excellent for the "writer to be" in giving helpful guidelines: how to get started, submission of manuscripts, and the subject matter which would attract publishers.

My monetary resources are limited so finding informative resource material is a must for me. This Book admirably fills the bill. With its exercises and readability, it engages the reader from the first. Info on not only rendering, it gives a lot of detail on submitting. Colorful and straightforward text, a great reading list, and suggested assignments all focus the reader to the goal of being and illustrator. Written from both sides of the fence, artist and editor, it gives the reader a realistic view of what to expect from the field and why. I think this is a must have for anyone in the business or interested in the business.

Gloria Skurzynski wrote this book back in 1981 so much of the material is dated as to the pictures and statistics. The book follows the careers of three women: a wildlife ranger, a wildland fire specialist, and a range conservationist. From encounters with bears to teaching environmental classes to tracking down the causes of forest fires this book helps one to understand the day to day duties of those people who take care of the recreation land around us.

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. And as an avid fantasy reader,I felt that the author did really badly with the charecters,the plot,and everything else as well. Mixing history and fantasy would have been allright for another fantasy author, such as Patrica Wrede or Lloyd Alexander, but it just did not work for Berthe Amoss.I'm never reading someting by her again.

Ceridwen the main character is a waif who gets her name from Gallena,a wise woman who knows of the healing arts.When Ceridwen saves Lord Robert with her herbs she becomes known as Wise Woman of Bevedre. Elinor, Lord robert's only daughter becomes Ceridwen's companion and loves her. after the death of Elinor's mother, Dame Bewick starts accusing Ceridwen for witchcraft. Ceridwen takes Elinor into the forest to save her from the Plague. Elinor gets caught by the Plague but dies when she drinks Ceridwen's 3 magical bouncing drops. The fairies come into her and she becomes a changeling. Ceridwen is accused of Witchcraft and will be burnt. Right when she is about to be burnt Ceridwen finds her hidden inner powers and seets Elinor free from the fairies, making her a child again. Ceridwen changes her self into a stork and flies away. This is an excellent novel which must be read for the details.

Lost Magic gives you a nice feeling when your read it, Berthe makes you just slip into a fantacy world when you cant get out until its finished.

I was very disappinted with this book because I was expecting something spectacular, with great advice and tips. In reality, this is merely a book of lists, such as what is on a playgroud, what clothing kids wear, etc. If I just open my eyes, I can see these things for myself, and save the money on this over-priced book. Writing is about creativity, and Suben and Amoss say taking elements from a list will make better writers.

I own several of their books on writing for children and this is the latest addition to my collection. These book are not only beautiful with excellent print and paper quality but packed with sound advice. This team of author/illustrators has put out top of the line books and they know their business.

The information is well organized and you will find illustrations, bullets and a wide array of information for anyone wishing to write/draw for a child audience.

Even if this was not your subject, the book is warm and inviting. It is easy to comprehend and the lay out is made fun and easy for the reader.

Another excellent reference book on writing for children that is not put together like an average, oh so boring, reference book can be. Beautiful to page through and wonderful to read!

As a published book author for children, I continue to find insight and information in these titles. EXCELLENT!