I first read this book to my nephew about ten years ago. Now I have a son of my own I was terribly disappointed to find it out of print. Bribing my nephew for his copy, which is so well loved the cover is hanging by a thread, has proved useless. No promises of money, video games etc. can pry this book out of his hands. I may have to resort to burglary...

Babette Smith's book Mothers & Sons is based on a limited sample of interviews with both mothers and sons, mostly Australian and English, and mostly middle class. Smith has also reviewed extensive literature on this most basic and yet most misunderstood of relationships. The book will enlighten many. Smith sees a sea change in relationships between men now in their 50s and 60s with their mothers and with men now in their twenties and thirties with theirs. The younger ones confide in their mothers more and are less bored in their company. Smith credits feminism and increased workforce participation for the increased worldliness of women and hence their sons' greater respect for their advice. Older women had less education and resorted to catchphrases when giving advice: "Be a gentleman", "Waste not want not", etc. They were more apt to see things in black and white - another result, Smith says, of lower average education. The book has worthwhile messages for mothers, sons, daughters, sisters and (most of all?) daughters in law.

I have to confess that I haven't read this edition of the Poetry Handbook, but I still have the 1962 edition I had to buy in high school -- battered and rebound, but still highly useful. Whereas books like the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics are wonderful for those already familiar with the subject and looking to deepen their knowledge, Babette Deutsch's dictionary of terms is perfect for those students whose experience of poetry is limited to Hallmark cards and whose understanding of poetics is nil. Having just discovered that the book is still in print and now in its fourth edition, and, better yet, available through Amazon, I will recommend it to all my Freshman Comp II students (and, for that matter, to my literature students) as an approachable and useful starting point for the study of poetry.

This book has fun, colorful characters that seem to be from the imagination of a child. The rhym and rythm of the book are fun.

I have always been a huge fan of Babette Cole (Dr. Dog) and she has once again thrilled me and my child with her new book.Truelove is the name of the puppy in the book , and when the new baby comes the puppy feels ignored and "not loved". The images are a riot and wonderful , the message is wonderful. This is a hit with my daughters, and myself !

This is a book I read to my daughter on a frequent basis. It is a fun story, with a great play on words. It touches on love for horses, vegetarians, and living your dreams.

I never laugh so hard in my life, my class loved this book so much that I been reading it everyday since I brought it to read to my class. If your an adult you understand with the kids what they go through with their mother being differnt. The pictures within in the book makes it a page turn. If you want to buy a great author and a really funny book buy this one!

The Trouble with Mom is an illustrated children's book (first/second grade reading level) that takes a slightly skewed look at life from the point of view of a young child whose mother is refreshingly different from the rest of his classmates. The child doesn't find his mom's quirks at all refreshing though and is a little embarrassed by mom.

The mom wears lots of bright lipstick, funky pointed hats rimmed with rats, and she wears the most adorable high heels even when she's doing something as ordinary as stirring her bubbling cauldron. Her gothic looking home is outfitted in spooky décor and she keeps a giant furry bird, a creature that looks like a huggable alligator and a fuzzy tarantula as pets.

One day the child decides to invite his friends over for a visit. The "normal" parents, of course, are horrified at the suggestion and tell their kids they cannot go. The kids, being typical kids, ignore their parents, go anyway and have a fabulous time being "wild". When their parents discover where they've been they freak and call the "different" mom some hurtful names which make her sad.

When the school is ravaged by a terrible fire and the "witch" mom saves the day the other parents realize that, hey, maybe they were wrong and she's okay after all! A lesson is learned by all. The young child and the PTA members accept the unique mom for who she is and learn to co-exist quite nicely after their rough start.

This is a great story with some laugh out loud moments, comical illustrations and a thoughtful message. The words were all familiar or easy enough that my six year old beginning reader figured them out without becoming frustrated. He enjoyed reading the entire story to his little sister and read each word with enthusiasm. Being six, he particularly enjoyed the illustrations of the "Fear Factor-like" cupcakes his mom served to members of the PTA that were crawling with bugs and other various grossness (I got quite the laugh out of the horrified reactions of the parents too). This is a five star read in our house!

The narrator of this book, a child who can't understand why her well-meaning mom (complete with witch outfit, flying broom, caldron, and spells) just doesn't fit in among the other parents of children at her school, is a pitch-perfect example of a kid complaining about a somewhat embarrassing parent. The accompanying illustrations, which are superb in their way, turn the text into howlingly funny comedy that will send children of all ages into peals of laughter. Given the witch motif, it's a perfect accessible Holloween present for any child, and given the parental miotif, it's a great gift for any child who has dealt with embarrassment over some little something thier parent has pulled--pretty much every child, I'd think. And the book's happy ending helps make it clear that even the oddest parent can have something to offer, given the chance!

I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I had expected a useful handbook on a series of widely used business and market analysis techniques. This book, however, is neither clear nor concise, and the 1980s vintage style graphics scattered throughout the book are not a particularly compelling summary of the rather wordy chapters. Keep looking.

It is rare to find a text that pulls together the many quite different techniques that can be used to analyze a business and the competitive environment in which it operates. This book does that, and more!

The authors have addressed their personal needs as much as the needs of those who will use the benefits of their labours. Now, when asked about a technique or asked for a recommendation as to how to attack an issue, one can turn to this one text and extract the most appropriate tool(s) and make sensible assessments of which of the various analytical tools is most appropriate.

The authors have gone one better - and I suspect that more than one MBA student will appreciate their efforts - they have included a very useful and quite comprehensive outline of financial analytical tools that add to the more "marketing" oriented techniques detailed in the core of the text. The various financial ratios are now at your fingertips. The financial analysis can be woven into the market and environmental competitive analysis.

Oh to have had access to this at an earlier stage of my career.

One of those indispensable tools. A "must have" in the office.

As a strategy consultant, I am often asked to provide my clients with well analyzed recommendations and findings. My biggest problem always has been to justify the methods I choose to reduce a wealth of data into something meaningful. For years now, I have relied upon Porter's classics and my strategy texts from my MBA program, but they usually aren't practically oriented. This book, better than any other I have seen, provides a straight forward set of instructions and directions, along with enough examples and charts, to keep me on the straight and narrow with my analyses. I do have a few beefs eith this book - as I do most of the others on my shelf. Unlike my strategy texts, the text isn't the most colourful, and it could have benefitted from even more samples although it is already quite large in size, and you cant read through the book from cover to cover, but I keep it handy anytime I'm applying a strategy method and it works great in that way. The other thing I would have liked is even more coverage of some of the newly evolving technology-focussed methods. These minor shortcomings aside, I'd recommend it to others who, like me, have to rely upon the application of proven methods to regularly produce findings for our business clients.

It was afew years ago that I read this book. This story is about a guy whom I believe was A reporter who tried to save A girl from the streets.

From the author of the equally amusing "Prince Cinders" comes a masterpiece suitable for Valentine's Day or anytime.

Ms. Cole gives us a glimpse into the origins of the (in)famous Cupid in her trademark style, with some hilarious insights about how the whole "shooting people" part came about.

The toddlers will love the colorful and stylistic illustrations and parents will enjoy the humor. Find this book at your local library or order it on Amazon and get ready for a fun read!

dr.dog is a very good book and who ever likes a funny book once in a while you should read or even buy the book. If you buy this book you'll never stop laughing at the funny things that happen to the Gumboyles. It's all up to dr.dog to save his family. I myself enjoy reading this book again and again. I hope you enjoy reading dr.dog and learn a lesson about the germs and how they affect our body. Enjoy.

I recently read Dr Dog to my 6 year old in a book shop. We were so helpless with laughter that another customer came up and said," Whatever it is, I have to buy it!" In the end we each bought two copies. I sent one to my father for Fathers Day. It is the most hilarious book children could possibly read about personal hygiene and bad habits. If you are at all stuffy, forget it and find something else. For children and parents alike it is very funny and very rude. My kids love it and I am just about to order a new copy from Amazon as requested by my mother-in-law.

I recently became acquainted with Dr.Dog, the drawing caught my eye because he looked like one of my dogs. My husband, who is a pediatrician, loved the book. We recently read it to our office staff at the end of our annual mandatory OSHA meeting. There was plenty of useful health advice in Dr.Dog, and the staff appreciated something so funny (and gross) not unlike many of our patients. Our office manager planned to get a copy to read (to the adults) at her two year olds birthday party! What a fun book!