I've been a Rita Hayworth and Gilda fan since I was 28 - half my current age. Caren Roberts-Frenzel, a Hollywood historian and head Hayworth cheerleader through her Rita Hayworth Fan Club and bi-monthly newsletter has brought the full measure of Hollywood's 'Love Goddess' to bear in her beautiful, just released book 'Rita Hayworth: A Photographic Retrospective.' Primarily through vintage black and white photographs from her own vast collection (with a few in Technicolor to add richness and contrast to the blend) and stirring, thoughtful narrative you would think that the young author personally knew Rita. Caren tells Rita's story in such detail and with such compassion; from Rita's early life as a member of a professional dancing Cansino family through her spectacular rise to the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom in the 1940's and the epitome of the WW2 pinup queen and yes, of course, the coffee table-sized book includes a full-page picture of the famous 1941 Life magazine photo (taken on Hayworth's own bed) which catapulted Rita on her trip to Hollywood and cinema immortality. Some have called the Life photo arguably the best 'woman shot' ever. Few have challenged it in the sixty years since its creation. After reading Rita's story and basking in the mixture created by the warmth of Rita's femininity, sexuality, grace and glamour through the tragedy of her final ordeal with Alzheimer's Disease the reader will see hundreds of seldom seen photos yet yearn to see the sequel. The beautifully produced book discusses Rita's five marriages, including Orson Welles and Prince Ali Khan and many of Rita's 60 movies through photos and narrative that make Rita's full and complex life story a treat to eaves drop on.
I've purchased 50 Rita-books so far to give to friends, corporate business associates and for listing incentives and closing gifts for my family-owned, franchised real estate agency. Because of my patronage, the author has generously agreed to personally inscribe each book ' I pay the shipping, of course. This gift is just perfect for movie buff and non-fiction reader alike. I've given it to professional people and blue-collar types. In fact, my UPS driver stopped in last night to say that he's up through the Hayworth-Welles marriage and can't wait to get home tonight. Earlier today I left a book in the waiting room when I visited my favorite 'painless dentist.' (For those that follow in my footsteps, it will sure beat reading a 6-week old Time or People magazine.) For some reason that last trip to 'the chair' didn't hurt quite as much as usual.

"Rita Hayworth A Photographic Retrospective" is such an amazing
book it's hard to put into words.I'm a huge Rita Hayworth fan
and for a photo book of Rita to come out is a dream come true!
Caren put this book together perfectly as only a true Rita fan
could! Rita in technicolor is a real treat to behold!The photos
really speak for themself-The candids photos really show the
real woman behind the "image".

This truly is the most GORGEOUS photo book I've ever seen!!!
Anyone will love this book-If you love the golden age of
hollywood you'll love this book or if you just love photo books
this is a book you would enjoy!

Thanks for the Amazing book Caren!

Caren Roberts-Frenzel is the president of the Rita Hayworth Fan Club and this book is her dream project come to life. Caren's appreciation of every facet of The Love Goddess is evident on every page. It was so good to see someone who knows and cares about Rita create such a labor of love. Caren doesn't whitewash the blemishes in Rita's often tragic life but rather allows them to complete an honest and ultimately loving portrait of this gentle woman.

Like its subject, this book is breathtaking in its beauty. It contains scores of genuinely rare photos and they are a treasure. I own many books on Rita but "A Photographic Retrospective" is easily my favorite.

This book has had a profound impact on my view of the war in Vietnam. Written from the perspective of "One who was there", I have been a part of the author's experience. No other book to date has had the same impact. I sense the truth in it's pages. The author has "been there". Truly one book that the reader of Vietnam War history should read. Thank you Robert Roth, Not only for your service to the United States of America, but to the world, for your portrayal of the involvement of our troops in this time of war and of the personal perspective that so truly states the feelings of the marine involved. Clearly a masterpiece.

I read this book twice over the a span of ten years and found it as awe inspiring the second time as the first. It has moments of sadness, irony and humor. It leaves the reader emotionaly drained as you become caught up in the lives and deaths of the charactors. The war as seen by those that fought it and did their best to survive it and return home. How this has missed by the movie industry is beyond me.

This book is one of the all-time great books about the Vietnam War. Read it if you want a real inside look into the USMC fighting in Vietnam. I have served in the Army over ten years now, and I still believe this book captures the true feelings of service to God and Country.

This is a wonderfully uplifting book on surviving a difficult battle with cancer, but it is even more the story of a family's love and support for each other through that difficult battle. Through this young woman's faith in God's healing power, and the love of her parents and husband she confronted this terrible illness with determination to live and the courage to undergo the treatment necessary to live. It is obvious, too, that her family also had to have a lot of courage and faith in this battle. Where many husbands might have become faint-hearted in this, Lisa's husband stayed at her side and had tremendous conviction that she would recover. He is to be praised for his steadfastness! With her recovery complete, what a blessing Lisa, her parents, and her husband were given with the birth of a son. This is most definitely one of the most uplifting and inspirational books I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while. I highly recommend it!

This is a wonderful book. It will make you cry, but will also bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face. It makes you realize the "choices" Lisa and her family had to make to survive where very hard for her and her family. You will admire her strength, courage, and her determination to beat this. You see first hand how it effects everyone in her family. How the love of her husband, parents, family members and friends are unconditional. It shows us how the small things we all take for granted can be taken away from us in seconds and our world can be turned upside down. How Lisa never gave up and if you "believe" anything is possible.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just those dealing with cancer. There is a "lesson" for everyone to learn from Lisa's experience. It's a WONDERFUL story of love, courage, faith and determination of a young woman who is fighting to survive cancer.

One word...amazing!

I have not had cancer myself, however I have many friends and family members who have both won their battle with cancer and some that have lost. I thought I understood what they were going through, not until I read Lisa Shaw-Brawley's book did I realize just how little I knew about their struggles.

I found this book educational and surprisingly, though I never thought I would describe a book on cancer as such, but also a love story.

For such a young woman, being diagnosed with Hodgkin's, Lisa at only 24 is a very centered and determined young woman. In the very early stages of her treatment she made choices about her journey through cancer that meant the difference between living and dying. With determination to fight her way back to a body free of cancer, along the way Lisa helped those around her deal with all of their confusion and fear of a disease that came into their lives with a thunder and changed them forever.

Have faith in God, trust in your doctors, love and support from family and friend and a will to survive, is what Lisa said got her through to where she is today. I cried for her and rejoiced for her and along the way was lost in this book that I could not put down. I have a greater understanding and admiration for what my friends and family members went through because of "Only When I Sleep".

Thank you Lisa for writing this book.

With all the nonsense written about astrology it's good to have a reliable book to explain the daily influences in your horoscope. Put down the newspaper. Put down the book that claims to tell you about your day based simply on your Sun sign. Those things are completely worthless. I was once fired on my supposed lucky day in one of those magazines. The newspaper and magazine daily horoscopes have given astrology a bad name.

Planets In Transit by Robert Hand is the real thing, the kind of book Sir Isaac Newton would have approved when he defended his belief in astrology to Halley (of Halley's comet fame) by saying - I have looked into the subject, Mr Halley, and you haven't.

This book is not for novices. You have to know the fundamentals of astrology to use it. You have to know what transiting Mars trine natal Venus means in astronomical terms before Robert Hand can explain it to you in astrological terms. You also need your chart and an ephemeris. If you don't have these things and don't know what I'm talking about, pick up a basic primer in astrology before graduating to Planets In Transit. I recommended the book to my astrology students when I taught an adult education course.

Is your life at this moment in time in a state of upheaval ? Then I bet you have major aspects in fixed signs. Saturn is making his last transit through Taurus (next trip is in 2028) and upsetting some applecarts along the way.

Learning about the transits of Saturn and Uranus has helped me analyze my life and has been constructive in dealing with change, making me resilient and adaptable. Robert Hand, who in my opinion is our greatest living astrologer, has in this book (originally published in '76) the definitive interpretations of the transits of sun, moon, and the planets through the houses and by aspect.

I usually focus on Saturn and Uranus, as these are the big daddy planets of change, but the others have their merit too, though the influence is subtler, and Hand's clear, concise and inspired writing and no-nonsense descriptions will help you get a good grip on the meaning of each transit. If you can read and own an ephemeris, this should be the # 1 book to go with it.

The first 3 chapters are short. One on interpretation, one on timing, and a case history of Nixon and Watergate. The rest of the book is devoted to aspect interpretation...477 pages of some very enlightening information, written by the best of the best.

I bought this book years ago in hardcover. I'm happy to say that I had the foresight to cover it with plastic since I refer to this book more than any other astrology book that I own and now, more than 20 years later, my copy is still in good condition. I have an entire shelf filled with astrology books, probably in the area 400+ books. I've been an astrologer for over 30 years and my highest recommendation goes to Planets in Transits. In 1980 I had the opportunity to hear Robert Hand at an astrology conference. He talked about how he wrote Planets in Transit and he said that at the time of the writing, he had a transit of Neptune going over his Sun. He jokingly said, "I don't even remember writing this book." Surely, with Neptune transiting over his Sun, he was blessedly inspired. For all new and intermediate students, this is the one to have on your shelf.

Fresh out of engineering school, Zack Zaremba quickly loses any idealistic notion of pursuing his profession as a creative activity at International Instruments. He fights gallantly against a thousand obstacles and betrayals perpetrated by bosses, bureaucrats and the system in general, as well as his own weaknesses. But through crushing disappointments and small triumphs, he learns about himself and how to live his life. Along the way you'll meet a gallery of memorable characters populating this demimonde, and laugh out loud as Grossbach deftly plays each one's foibles against the next.

Grossbach is a gifted and knowledgeable storyteller who weaves a tale rich in sensitively drawn characters, ironic twists and turns, and authentic detail. A satirical, disturbing and yet compelling glimpse into the basement below technology's ivory tower.

A Shortage of Engineers is a must-read book. If you love Dilbert, Office Space, or just plain common sense, this book will appeal to you. It strips away the thin veneer of sanity that hides the dysfunctionality that characterizes large companies, while entertaining with a love story and a rite of passage for a young engineer. Any thinking person will see deep meaning in this book, but the other 90% of the population should view it as a wake up call.

In my past life, I worked on large contracts as an engineer. Grossbach hits resounding chords, again and again. I found myself cheering at some points. At others, I nearly cried. But mostly, I laughed. Out loud. If you're tired of dealing with politics in the workplace, politics on your kid's soccer team, or any kind of nonsense, you will find A Shortage of Engineers is more documentary than fiction.

To all you dysfunctional, cut-off-from-reality CEOs out there, you really need to read this book. If only you knew what kind of waste goes on in your organization, how ridiculous it is, and how foolish it makes you look....

This is one of the best books I have ever read! I have a feeling that if everyone read it prior to voting, we'd have a far different legislative landscape. We would not have the IRS, for example. Think about it. The only purpose of the IRS is to give a group of hostile, insane, stupid people a place to go where they can make harassing phone calls and send out threatening letters. This is cheaper than building asylums for them and hiring people to take care of them. We have a few dozen IRS-inflicted deaths each year, and consider that normal.

As A Shortage of Engineers points out, lunacy is quite normal. The best thing we can do about it is laugh. And A Shortage of Engineers will have you in stitches.

Robert Grossbach's A SHORTAGE OF ENGINEERS is a tragi-comic laugh-out-loud must read for people who enjoy a good chuckle at the aburdities of bureacracy, managers who cannot manage, and parents willing to risk their seven-year-olds for the glory of a soccer game.

Fresh out of engineering college, an idealistic Zack has nothing to do for the first seven weeks of his first job with a large engineering firm. Then suddenly the rush is on to meet impossible deadlines, as he tries to work through a Kafkaesque bureaucracy with only Alice-in-Wonderland characters to help. Pitted against hypocritcal managers, insane cynical coworkers with bizarre philosophies and agendas, and nearly impossible electronic tasks, Zack manages to preserve an ideal of engineer as miracle worker.

Surpises, sex, and hilarity characterize Grossbach's latest novel. There are no shortages of comic situations, crazy but true-to-life characters, serious issues, and laughs--lots and lots of laughs. The flow diagram of an engineer asking for a date in the middle of the novel is worth the cover price alone.

Rober Schuller's book is EXCELLENT!!!!! How to "Turn Hurts into Halos and Scars into Stars" is very clearly defined in this book and as a young adult I found this book very crucial as my growth as a young Christian.... Two Thumbs Up to Dr. Schuller for a job well done!!!

Dr Schuller has written a wonderful book about turning life's most negative experiences into something positive. This book has touched my heart and helped me in so many ways.

Dr. Schuller's first chapter is so aptly titled! "Welcome To The Human Race" - we are all hurting human beings! What sets us apart is our ability to recognize that the hurt is not punishment from God, but instead a reality of our life on earth. Schuller takes his reader through a series of practical analyses of hurt, in much the same way that Elisabeth Kubler Ross taught us to move through the stages of grief. How heavy is the hurt? How hardy (what is its lifespan)? and, How healthy is this hurt? He reminds us frequently that we must constantly examine our priorities and renew our faith that with God, all things are possible. Not an easy road to take, but worth it.

The book is written in an easy to follow manner and uses real life illustrations of both the author's personal struggles with hurt and those of others who survived life's worst tragedies and came out of these fires strengthened and renewed. Had Dr.Schuller omitted his own experiences, this would be just another sampling of inspirational story gathering. But as the "father of possibility thinking" was feeling victimized, he realized that he "needed to delve deep into the meat and potatoes of handling hurts and get over that seductive, self-absorbing, pity-party reaction." And he shares the wisdom of his exploration with us in an easy to read format that time and again reminds us of Schuller's powerful commitment to God.

Both believers and non-believers will find this book helpful as they search for the skills to cope with the hurts that come with divorce, death, destruction and our perceived failures. I liken it to Christian counselor Gary Smalley's teaching that we must learn to "treasure hunt" within a hurtful experience and find ways to bring acceptance and peace back to our lives.

This may be the ultimate gift book for a hurting friend!

As far as I know, this is the only book specifically about the rare and mysterious pervasive developmental disorder known as Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (or Heller's Syndrome), in which children lose previously acquired skills and develop the symptoms of autism after several years of apparently normal development.

With an introduction by autism expert Fred Volkmar, the book presents the stories of eight families of children with CDD, including the editor's own son Thomas, and Jordan Schulze (the subject of his father Craig's book "When Snow Turns to Rain"), as they struggle to cope with and find an explanation for their children's devastating regression.

Hopefully, this book will increase awareness of the under-diagnosed condition and let other families know that they are not alone.

This book was fantastic. I stayed up all night to finish it, because I got so involved. I am giving this a 5-star review because I absolutely believe it deserves one. I think these families have been through a lot with their children that have CDD/autism. It was well-written, and interesting to read.

A diagnosis of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) seems a pretty frightening thing and one that most of us would choose to run away from (as if we might have a choice!). Some- where along my own path for answers concerning my child's regression I can remember a well meaning speech therapist sharing with me the short criteria list for CDD from DMS-IV. I xeroxed it and carried it around for a couple of years glancing at the paper from time to time in order to reassure myself against that diagnosis. I've got to tell you that this book is a must read for many of us who are still searching for the true diagnosis for our kids. Yes, it's scary but it's also VERY enlightening. The preface by Dr. Catalano begins, "This book is not for the weak of heart." He's right and should you read it, you can expect to shed some tears... for the families profiled and for all families in search for answers when their children regress.

The DMS-IV criteria for CDD specifies that the child develops typically to the age of 3; the condition's onset may be abrubt or more gradual; "sometimes there is a period of non-specific agitation as the child begins the dramatic regression that is the hallmark of this condition." Dr. Robert Catalano is an opthalmologist and a parent of a CDD child, while Dr. Volkmar of the forward is an authority in the autism/ CDD field. Dr. Volkmar explains that "for many years the presumption was that CDD was the overt manifestation of some identifiable neurological or other medical condition and, therefore, did not deserve official recognition." He adds, that "this has not been the case. Although such cases have been observed, it usually is the case that exhaustive medical evaluations do not reveal a specific medical 'cause' although non- specific abnormalities consistent with some as yet undiscovered neurobiological process or processes of seizures or abnormal brain wave activity are sometimes observed."

I have been reading the book at every available moment including in the middle of the night (hard to put down)... it haunts me, but still I must read further. I am the parent of two severely language-disordered, autistic spectrum children. A little over a year ago, my girls were given a tentative diagnosis of Landau Kleffner Syndrome (LKS). Even prior to this diagnosis I had begun an on-line support group for LKS families. Notably, several of the families profiled in the Catalano book have been down the LKS pathway. We (those who stories are in print and countless others) hope for the potentially curable diagnosis of LKS over the seemingly hopeless one of CDD (formerly referred to as Heller's Syndrome or Disintegrative Psychosis). Catalano writes of the parents, "They press for one more test, one more chance to expose the cause. They also try one more procedure, one more drug, and one more placement in this quest." He/ they are writing our individual and collective stories.

The book consists of eight chapters, each written by the parent of an autistic/ CDD child. Reading these chapters is like peering into the hearts of those parents. Except for the child in the final chapter, the children profiled are in the 5 - 10 age range, and given that this book is newly issued, these children's stories truly do parallel the stories of the 70 or so families in my on-line group. One wonders how many other such families exist... how many children's lives are marked by the fact of regression and a kind of slipping into autism? These kids were born in the late 80's and early 90's, and many of the doctors and other professionals are recognizable names to many of our families. These families have followed many of the same paths as we have... it truly is eerie to read.

Each story has tough moments, and yet, somehow the book remains hopeful. I suppose that there is some comfort for me in knowing that other parents who have tried with great diligence to find answers and the elusive path to recovery, have met similarly with frustration, incomprehention from professionals and the greater community, incomplete and inadequate answers, and instead of recovery have found a kind of resting place. Another reason that I can recommend this book to fellow parents of children "in the grey zone of an LKS diagnosis" like my own, is that they have put together in print a compilation of almost every conceivable path that parents might follow. It becomes a compendium of our search.

The book profiles the families' pursuit of various medications including anticonvulsants, antipyschotic drugs, steroids and IVIG. These families have spent countless hours in sensory integration therapy, speech therapy and Lovaas. One family combined Lovaas methods with Greenspan's naturalistic approach to communication. Alternative approaches are enumerated along with elimination diets and vitamin therapy. Virtually every method (sorry, no magnetic therapy!) is touched upon. For the most part, medical interventions did not lead to a lasting normalization for these kids. An aside, many of the stories include very convincing evidence of a connection between vaccination and subsequent regression.

A hopeful note for me was reading multiple accounts of a kind of stabilization in these children. One child undoubtedly benefited from taking the anti-psychotic, Largactil. Risperidol, by contrast, resulted in a loss of skills and increased agitation. His mother writes, "It was a blessing that the first anti-psychotic that Aaron was placed on had a positive effect. If he was tried on 3 or 4 different drugs with the same result as he had with Risperidol, I would have given up." Surprisingly, this same mother didn't benefit from her own wisdom when she tried an anticonvulsant. Aaron was started on a trial of Tegretol which made him quite ill within the first few days of treatment. His mother writes, "Aaron's allergic reaction to Tegretol finally made me (confront) my constant search for another (other than CDD) diagnosis. For whose benefit was I putting him through extra tests and sickness?" Her own response; "I am confident that I did it for Aaron.... (but I realized), it was time to stop." Each of us are confronted by this dilemna... when do we push for another path, another diagnosis, another cure and when do we accept and move towards a kind of stopping place?

Ultimately I'm recommending this book for the familiarity it brings... a kind of validation for all of our efforts no matter the outcome. The consolation for me was two fold. Firstly, CDD doesn't mean an endless collapse.... the disintegration appears to end for most of the kids profiled. In fact, most seemed to have some nominal recovery to a place where they were able to function within their environment. Parent, Craig Schultze, summarizes the second reason for my consolation. He writes, "The diagnosis of CDD is just the beginning of a process that will subdivide the fundtionally useless label of autism into subgroups that can be better studied to find causes, preventive strategies, and cures."

... and incredibly out of print. I found this book in a big pile of sci-fi books including Frank Herbert, Pohl, Asimov, etc. Together with it, there was Stranger in a Strange Land, and they were both the best in the pile :). My girlfriend was also a sci-fi fan: I got the 'Stranger' and she got the 'Past' in the idea that we'll share them. Unfortunately, when we separated I had read only half of the anthology. Since then, my first question to every clerk in every used book shop I enter is: "Do you have Heinlein's 'Past through Tomorrow?'"

It's a possible set of improbable future events from the perspective of a writer interested in equal measure in the well-being of the human society and in the development of the individual. It avoids paradoxes pragmatically, by applying them to themselves in amusing Turtle vs. Rabbit solutions; it's full of no-nonsense characters who are excellent role models and passive educators. Like most of Heinlein's work that I read, it's spanning the spectrum of emotions from hysterical laughter to the occasional tear. The technology depicted may get outdated, but the juice of humanity that Heinlein injected in all his work will always remain a wish and hope for the future.

It tied me to a chair in an office for the few precious hours before I had to return the book to my ex-girlfriend. I wonder why nobody reprints it: look at all the good marks it gets!!!

I stumbled upon this book in my younger days when I was tearing through the Sci-Fi genre and I have repeatedly since then gone back to it. Unfortunately, I lost my copy in a move and have ever since scoured garage sales and bargain book stores in vain. It is probably the best collection of short stories and novellas ever gathered in binding. The way Heinlein tells a story is not only mesmerizing but kind of eerie in the way he is able to almost predict a future from so far back. The events and times may not be correct but his vision isn't far off. Aside from being a visionary, the characters in his stories are as real as anyone you know today. In Heinlein's futures people act exactly as they always have..greed, lust, murder, love, loss of love, etc. The magic that is Heinlein is that he allows us to see our flawed selves through his mid-20th century eyes. I highly recommend this book especially if you have never read any Heinlein. I warn you though when you start,(if you can find a copy), be prepared to lose sleep and possibly a few meals....YES, IT'S THAT GOOD!!!!!

I'm surprised there are only two other reviews on this book. It is a collection of stories that forms the backbone of Heinlein's primary Future History. Although the majority of the stories are quite old (I can't remember for sure, but I think none came out after the sixties, and most are from the forties and fifties), they form, together, one of the first coherent glimpses of the power of Science Fiction to detail a potential future, one that can show us what might happen, for good or for ill, and entertain us along the way.

I've read this book about eight times from cover to cover, so often that I don't read it any more because it's burned into my mind.

From the moment that Darcy set her eyes on the three foster kids, she knew that baby-sitting would not be a "fun" job. Even though the pay was twice her rate, was only for a few hours a day, and Darcy was an experienced baby-sitter, she didn't count on the mysterious things that started happening at the children's house after she took the job. She did everything a good baby-sitter was supposed to do. She didn't let the stranger saying he was from the gas company into the house, and she called the police when the house alarm went off in the middle of the afternoon. All of a sudden, a strange thing happens, and now it is up to Darcy to rescue the foster kids and herself from three dangerous kidnappers.

This book is full of suspense. That's why it's interesting to read. Once you start reading you can't stop. You just keep on turning the pages. Will Darcy be able to save herself and the kids? If you want to find out, read the book and get caught up in the great adventure with Darcy and the three kids.

I liked this book because everytime you turn around something exciting happens! The characters are fit for the book.I liked the main character, Darcy, because in the end she is very brave. This book has exciting, mischievious characters. The baby-sitter,Darcy Stevens, gets interviewed at this "high-quality" house. She gets the job and finds out that the children are pests! The second day as she was finishing making lunch ,when all of the sudden the burgular alarm went off!The police come and search, but there's no one around. The police leave and a few minutes later... If you want to know what happens you'll have to read on!So hurry up! It's to exciting to wait!

This is one of my favorite books. I don't usually enjoy this type of book but there is something about the style of writing that that just made me love it!

This book received a Caldecott Honor as one of the best illustrated children's books in 1990. The rich, subtle watercolors expand the reader's appreciation of the story, and help keep some of its stronger elements in balance for younger children. The story itself is a cross between several favorite fairy tales, most significantly Cinderella, and represents a retelling of a Creole story from the American South.

A widow has two daughters, and lives with them on a poor farm that "looked like the tail end of bad luck." Rose, who was like her mother, was "cross and mean and didn't know beans from birds' eggs." Her sister, Blanche, was "sweet and kind and sharp as forty crickets."

Unfortunately, their mother liked Rose best because they were so similar, being "bad-tempered, sharp-tongued, and always putting on airs." While the two of them chatted, Blanche did the work.

One day, Blanche was getting water and ran into an older woman who asked for a drink. Blanche helped her. As a result, Blanche was late returning and received much ill-treatment from her mother and sister. Running off, Blanche saw the old woman again, who asked Blanche to join her. She warned Blanche not to laugh and to do as she was told. Soon, they are in a magical place where all kinds of strange things happen. But there is plenty to eat and drink. At the end, Blanche is told to bring back certain talking eggs and throw them over her shoulder. When she does, a nice set of surprises occurs.

Immediately jealous, her mother sends Rose to the old woman to get similar help. But Rose cannot follow directions, and the magic either doesn't work for her or causes her problems.

In each case, justice is done.

The story is told in an imaginative way that makes the reader want to know what will happen next. Unlike many fairy tales where you can pretty much outline the rest of the plot near the beginning, this one has some interesting, unexpected twists.

The writing is witty, and makes good use of the story's inherent charm in praising goodness of character.

If you have a sensitive child, this may not be the right book for you to acquire. The treatment of Blanche can upset some children. The magic involves creatures having two heads, and the old woman being able to take her head on and off again. In one scene, Rose takes the woman's head as a ploy to get some talking eggs, too. You can see how this might be a bit much for a sensitive four year old. Children who are able to suspend their sense of reality will probably have no problems with the story.

I enjoyed the watercolors very much. They provided a richness in their exquisite detail that made me feel good just holding the book. Also, it made the book seem more sophisticated than the typical treatment of fairy and folk tales.

The book deals with many realistic problems that occur in families, like having only one parent, not having enough money, having one child be favored over another, having one child be treated poorly, and children looking for sympathy from nonfamily members. This will provide many opportunities to discuss these issues, and find out what your child thinks.

I also suggest that you talk about whether or not Blanche should have gone off with the old woman. The book seems to suggest that looking for help from strangers is a good idea. That's not an idea that I wanted my children to have, so you will probably want to clarify your feelings on this subject as you read the book.

May all be loved, and treated fairly!

I thought this book was so good because it was full of surprises,magical happenings,it was funny too. I was glad Blanche found someone to love her. She deserved it. And as for the sister and the mom, they got what they deserved too.I first heard this story when I was five and I still love it now that I am seven.Every kid would love it!!!!!!!

This is a charming little folktale about two sisters Ð one mean and greedy, the other generous and kind Ð and their encounter with a strange, magical old woman. In the end, the good sister is rewarded and the bad one punished. A nice story with a good message.

But this isnÕt just a nice book, it is an extraordinary one. One thing that makes it special is the way the author uses language. Robert San Souci draws on an African American storytelling tradition and a southern rural dialect that just makes the language sing! The book is full of wonderful, poetic lines and great rhythmic language. ItÕs a joy to read aloud. The words feel good in your mouth. And any parent or teacher who reads aloud a lot knows what a rare quality that is. Even when IÕm tired, I feel like I canÕt read this book badly. The words just flow.

And the illustrations are gorgeous. Jerry Pinkney is one of the best illustrators around and this is one of my favorites of all his work. The composition, the subtle colors, the intricate detail Ð you rarely come across art this fine in childrenÕs books.

I bought this book for my daughter a couple of years ago, and weÕre still reading it over and over again. ItÕs so good, I hope in a generation sheÕll still be reading it to my grandchildren.