This is a wonderful book for reading aloud. Each character has its own "voice." Our children were fascinated by the dialectic speech of the characters. As previously commented, they will insist that you "do the voices." My wife read the book in class to her 4th graders and they loved it as well. Each story shows how the "easy way" often leads to trouble. This is a book of fables. It is supposed to be moralistic and didactic. This is Aesop's fables with giggles.

Though written for younger children, my 12 year old daughter still asks her Daddy to read these wonderful stories, reminding him to "do the voices". I enjoy listening to him read them. My husband, a middle school teacher, uses the stories in his Drama class. He likes the book because the characters are so fully developed that the beautiful illustrations are almost unnecessary. Children can relate to the characters, and the situations in which they find themselves. The tales spring to life, and young people learn important lessons about life, choices, and relationships.

I picked up this book about 5 years ago and read it to my oldest son who was 7 years-old at the time. He loved it. It went back on the shelf and I just finished reading it to my middle son who recently turned 7. He also loved it and begged me to read him a chapter each night.

I couldn't disagree more strongly with the Horn Book review of this work. Maybe it is a little politically incorrect by today's oppressive, fun-removing standards, but the kids love it and it just happens to subtly teach them some important lessons in life. The so-called violence is far less than what one would see on the average children's cartoon -- and it isn't even visual! Speaking of the visuals, the illustrations are beautiful, and both of my sons loved looking at them and trying to identify which character was which.

The dialogue -- which is the key to any good story -- is engaging and fun, with each animal speaking in the vernacular of the South, colloquialisms, and all. Each chapter ends with a "moral" to the story, if you will -- a proverb by Solomon.

If you can find this book, I suggest that you buy it or borrow it, and try it out on your kids. Don't let the thought/content police deter you from sharing the joy of reading some interesting and funny stories to your children. I have a fifteen month-old, and when he turns about 7, I'm sure I'll read it to him as well.

K. Follis Cheatham is an excellent writer, and she has every right and reason to be proud of this book in particular. Elizabeth's story is wonderfully presented and a delight to the reader. It takes us to a distant time and place and allows us to experience that era, so very different from out own, through the eyes of a bright and determined young woman. I would have enjoyed meeting Elizabeth. I did enjoy reading about her as Ms. Cheatham created her.

This is a truly fine novel. I particularly enjoyed the way the author was able to blend history with fiction and create an entertaining and enlightening story. The post-Civil war setting came alive for me as did Elizabeth Fortune's situation as a young woman of mixed heritage in those troubled and exciting times. I'm definitely looking forward to Ms. Cheatham's next book.

Elizabeth Fortune could be viewed as a victim, but that is not how she sees herself. Disdained by her white grandparents for looking too much like her black father, Elizabeth sets out to find him and her place in the world. That she undertakes this quest, a young woman alone, in the years immediately after the American Civil War makes her a heroine indeed. It is refreshing to see such a counterpoint to the stereotypes of American womanhood from that time that we are used to. Elizabeth Fortune serves to remind us that this was not only the days of hoop skirts and corsets, but also of Seneca Falls and the first vigorous upswelling of the women's rights movement. A vicious attack and a robbery of all her money are no checks to Elizabeth's determination. If she cannot make her way west to find her father as herself, she will go as a boy. And so she does.Her adventures are many, and vividly drawn. Elizabeth herself is a young woman of both grit and charm. I would recommend this book to anyone in search of a heroine to identify with.

Startling in its intelligence, moral power, and sheer beauty, this text is a treasure for both the seasoned wise and the passionate young. Lusseyran was a man of rare talent and courage; his untimely death in 1971 saw the loss of one of Earth's freest and wisest souls. May our children and our children's children have the privilege of reading his remarkable story.

This book was recommended to me in 1970 by Marshall McLuhan. He was greatly impressed by this book, as was I. Lusseyran's experience with the human voice was particularly intriguing. I tried to contact him at the university, but he had left. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Upon becoming blind at 8 years of age, Jacques Lusseyran discovered a deep inner joy that henceforth illuminated his entire life and never left him, not even in the horror and despair of Buchenwald. He was a daring, courageous French Resistance fighter who taught people not just to see but also to experience that life beyond all life and that joy that surpasses all human understanding. Even the evil of Nazism sweeping throughout France could not dim this ever-shining light. Jacques lived life to the fullest every moment of his waking hours with an enthusiasm that is astonishing, energizing, and almost unbelievable. To read this book is discover anew that light which the darkness has never been able to extinguish.

A great read and brilliant exploration of the mind of a terrorist and the sanctity of life. I live in the area where this is set and Ms. Laden's descriptions are lovely and true to life. The plot is stupdendous and will have you riveted to your reading spot, wanting the book to end but not wanting it to be over. I have never read a book quite like this. It is mystical, thought provoking, funny, sad, and original! Will appeal to men who like action books, too,

I could not put this book down because I fell in love with each character. It also made me want to live in Idaho. This is the perfect gift for all your friends who love to curl up with a thriller packed with romance, hope, and celebration of the human condition.

Elizabeth Laden has once again transcended all our highest expectations. In "Angels of the Unborn," the sequel to the beautifully powerful "Mystic Warriors of the Yellowstone," we are taken on another ride through the lives of some of our favorite characters-- the way that only Ms. Laden can! After reading "Mystic" and "Angels," I anxiously await her third novel. Her writing takes us to the real heart of Yellowstone, through the tourist sites, and then much, much deeper. She knows her subjects, her settings, and her characters; and brings them all to a glorious apex, (which may yet be topped in her next book), with "Angels of the Unborn." Elizabeth Laden leaves us with very high expectaions for her next novel, and is setting new, higher standards for writing.

This is a great book for girls who love to do fun crafts. I rate this book 5 golden stars. You've gotta buy it!!!

This is the perfect activities book for young girls. I bought it as a gift for our neighbor girl and she keeps telling me how much fun she has had been having trying out "her projects."

I wish I had this book when I was a kid! The activities included are creative, intelligent, and they are actually FUN! My two girls, ages 7 and 9, loved discovering new cool activities and then putting their own twists on them.

The activities are great because some can take up a few minutes, and others can take as long as the girls would like the activity to continue. They also got a huge kick out of the illustrations.

Clearly the authors are on to the fact that girls nowadays don't sit at a table and cut out paper dolls for hours on end! I vote for a sequel---more of these great activities for best friends---girls and boys.

This book is wonderful. It simplifies the "art" of leadership and makes concepts clear. It's an excellent reference tool for anyone in leadership, or wanting to be there!

I was 100% satisfied with respect to my dealings with this user.

I read this book in one of my master classes and took the advantage of reading it in my life. Especially the communication chapter describes all the required traits that you should do in your both professional and personal life in order to become an effective people. I am sure that this book will be your potential consultant. Highly recommended...

If you are looking for a sequel to Winterlong, you will be dissapointed. This book is more like a companion, but it is beautiful in its own right. Sheds more light on the world that Winterlong gave so many tantalizing little hints about, while at the same time, almost seeming to create another world within that one.

It's a far out comparison, but some of Hand's sci-fi images and concepts remind me of Cordwainer Smith (if you don't know him you should!)

Elizabeth Hand has done it again! She has created a profoundly disturbing, beautifully written masterpeice. Like it's predecessor WINTERLONG Ms. hand has taken what could have been nothing more than a dime store sci-fi novel and turned into a rich, well crafted, stunningly beautiful epic. This isn't so much a science fiction novel as it is a sweeping tale filled with deeply felt characters and lush prose. I would reccomend this book to anyone.

Elizabeth Hand's immaculate use of the English language to portray a world in disharmony and upheaval is as beautiful as it is disturbing. This book will haunt you years after you read it. Highly recommended.

My husband and I bought this book to get ideas about color schemes to paint our Italiante Victorian home. WOW! Are there ideas here! This book is page after page of gorgeous photos of Victorian homes all over the country. I'll be honest and say that I've read little to none of the text, but I have spent literally hours looking at the pictures. It is also one of the most frequently looked at books by guests in our house. People just love to look at the pictures and "ooh" and "ahh" at the beautiful homes.

We liked it so much we bought "Daughters of the Painted Ladies" too!

What a thrill it was to find a book that was dedicated to one of the most appealing houses ever built.. the Victorians. I learned so much from reading this text and each time I look through the pictures, I find another feature in these grand houses to focus on. There is so much to learn that I only concentrate on one aspect of the house at a time. I want to get all of the texts before we start to apply the first of SEVEN colors that we have chosen for our 'Painted Lady'!

Each picture is more gorgeous than the next! On a more serious note, there is practical information on architecture and authentic Victorian painting techniques. I learned a lot about how to identify the type of building style, and got my fix for Painted Ladies more than satisfied. This is a comprehensive, informative, beautiful book, and I recommend it highly.

This is the most poignant and introspective memoir this reader can recall having read. Kendall tells her personal and family story, intermingled with social and political history of the American 1950's and '60's, from the time she was born in 1947, until April 3, 1969, when, on the way to a spring vacation on the Gulf coast of Alabama, her mother was the only fatality in a car accident in which Kendall herself was the driver (She and her three brothers and a sister were all injured, but survived.). Kendall's mother, Betty, began her adult life as a young society matron, married at age nineteen to a charming but temperamental and bullying ex-Marine pilot and Harvard graduate (She herself had attended Vassar, but left college to marry, and never finished her degree.). She had six children, but despite the burden she bore at home managing her large family, she evolved into a civic leader and civil rights activist. In the meantime, she and her eldest daughter Elizabeth came to rely on each other as confidantes, companions, and friends. This book is a chronicle of white, middle class American life in the mid-twentieth century, as well as a loving tribute to a mother who was taken much too soon, and is for anyone who has lost a loved one.

This story of a mother and a daughter strikes a balance between the personal and the historical in an interesting and informative way . Kendall's honesty , humor and intelligence make a personal story a universal one. I was moved by her descriptions of the intense mother-daughter bond and all of it's ramifications. I would recomend this book highly to anyone interested in women's roles in the last half of the twentieth century.

I found this book tremendously interesting and absorbing. It says important, perceptive things about all American mothers and daughters, while describing one specific mother/daughter relationship that was both heroic and tragic. An admirably honest, fascinating book.

This book is a valuable guide for students considering a career in the arts. Each career path includes a brief history, a description of the actual processes involved in the work and discusses training options and job potentials. A particular strength of the book lies in including some of the more unusual crafts like book binding, stained glass design and weaving.

Excellent advice on how to pursue careers in the arts and crafts fields and professions. It is practical and fun to read especially since so many opportunities in these fields are discussed. The histories of these fields are very good as are the processes involved. It makes one want to pursue one's interest in arts and crafts!

Do you sometimes think to yourself when you're doing a project, "I wouldn't mind doing this for a career." Then the one question you must definitely ask yourself is, "What procedures must I take in order to develop a career out of my talent?" This book can get you started in the right direction.

Opportunities in Arts and Crafts Careers offers you a clear understanding about the various careers available, the skills needed, and how to get started. I wanted to read this book to find out if it would help out fellow woodworkers who would like to pursue a career with their skills, and if it had information for them to get started in one. I've found that not only does it provide information for these two avenues, but also an understanding of the history of the craft.

I extremely recommend this book for those who would like to seek a career in the arts and crafts. Elizabeth B. Gardner has performed an exceptional measure of research, in order to write this book with the facts provided in it.