Written and illustrated by Michael Foreman, Saving Sinbad! is a truly enchanting children's picture book about life in an English fishing village, as told from a humble dog's point of view. A daring rescue amid the pounding surf during a raging storm forms the high point of this enjoyable narrative. Saving Sinbad! is a highly recommended addition to school and community library picture book collections for young readers.

Seal surfer is a story of a young boy and his friend, a seal. It contains themes of birth, life and death, and the enjoyment of time spent in nature and with animals. The artwork is gorgeous, especially the color and water views. The language is very descriptive and very sensitive. My four year old boy loved it!

I give this book an A+++++++!! This book has/is: -great morals -explained well -descriptive -beautifully drawn pictures I recommend this book for ages 7+up Once again this book is great for kids and adults!!!!!!

Three generations, ending with the joy of the harvest of all before...

We've borrowed it from the library twice already and it is his favorite! The tiger goes through quite a bit to get his stripes back, and my son knows the story by heart. I think it's time to buy him his own copy so other kids can borrow it too!

What a cool story, beautifully illustrated. Here the tale unfolds, of clever animal schemes to avoid being hunted by early man, complete with the animals joining forces to walk backwards, wear oversized shoes, and ultimately, skateboarding which finally flummoxed those pesky Neanderthals! Look for lots of surprises in the illustration. Both of my children quickly found a natural compassion for the animals' point of view.

Too often we ignore the genre of children's books when studying history. Much is the loss for us. In his book, 'War Boy: A Country Childhood', British author and illustrator Michael Foreman tells about his early childhood years in wartime England with lovely watercolor-and-ink paintings and a simple and endearing text. Foreman and his mother and brothers live in the small fishing town of Pakefield, on the English Channel. On this section of coast, the British have erected coastal defenses, wired off the beaches, and encouraged all non-essential civlians to leave. Foreman's mother, who runs a small shop in Pakefield, chooses to stay. As a result, Michael's very early years, from maybe two or three to four or five, are lived virtually on the front of the British beachhead. Many soldiers and sailors move into the village and surrounding area, and many of these men spend time drinking tea and visiting in the Foreman's little store. They shower young Michael with the attention they would lavish on their own distant children, teaching him how to act like a little soldier. Michael's growing up is at once idyllic and harrowing, and the illustrations make this point. The paintings of the rolling fields and blue skies of England are alive with color, but so are the paintings of the Luftwaffe bombings. In these, the terrifying images take on a surreal loveliness. Foreman also saved memorobilia from his war years, such as the cigarette cards he collected that tell how to properly wear a gas mask, or how to make a bomb shelter, or the notice warning civilians to leave the area. These add to the historical nature of the work. Foreman recounts, mostly in the paintings, the warmth and love of the fighting men--Czechs and Scots, Brits and Americans, who pass through his life in the war years. Many of them, he realizes, would never see their own families again, but would simply disappear forever on some distant battlefield. In fact, the interesting characters are what really give the book its heart and soul: the little old lady who teaches at the school and wears bright socks under her bloomers; the hobo who passes through and entertains the small boys, the old man with the club foot who buys people's warts to make the warts disappear; a Cornish sailor named Pop, who takes him fishing, and many others. With this fine book, Foreman is able to transport us back in time to this strange, wonderful, yet deadly world. It is a fascinating look at war through the eyes of a young boy. This is a truly remarkable book, suitable for children and adults. Even if you don't have children, you should buy it for the magic of its paintings and characters. I highly recommend it.

Lowestoft a quiet seaside town in Suffolk was in the front during World War II. Bombing raids, fire and trips to the air raid shelter bacame almost daily events for young Micheal Foreman growing up in the 1940's. He lived in a small house with his mother himself and his brother's( his father had died when he was a baby).

"You will be haunted by Three Spirits." So forewarns Jacob Marley's ghost to Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser of stingy, unfavorable traits. And so begins the enduring Christmas classic distinguished by almost everyone. Come along on an erratic journey with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, all of whom attempt to point Scrooge onto a virtuous path. Meet the most notable characters ever introduced in literature: Bob Cratchit, angelic Tiny Tim, and good-natured Fred. With vivid descriptions of Victorian England and enlightening dialogue, 'A Christmas Carol' will enrapture both the young and old throughout the year with a vital lesson on hope and benevolence for humanity. This, I find, is treasured most of all in this brief story marvelously crafted by the creative Charles Dickens. No matter how many adaptations of the book one has seen on television or as films, the real source is highly recommended and should not be missed. For if you do pass the book up, you are being just a Scrooge (metamorphically speaking, of course!).

It's hard to think of a literary work that has been filmed and staged in more imaginative variations than Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"--there's the excellent George C. Scott version, the delightful Muppet version, the charming Mr. Magoo version, etc., etc. But ultimately true "Carol" lovers should go back to Dickens' original text, which remains a great read.

"Carol" tells the story of cold-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who despises the Christmas holiday and scorns all who celebrate it. But a visit from a series of supernatural beings forces him to reevaluate his attitude--and his life.

With this simple plot Dickens has created one of the enduring triumphs of world literature. It's a robust mix of humor, horror, and (most of all) hope, all leavened with a healthy dash of progressive social criticism. One thing I love about this book is that while it has a focus on a Christian holiday, Dickens puts forth a message that is truly universal; I can imagine this story resonating with people of any religious background, and also with more secular-oriented people.

This is a tale of greed, selfishness, regret, redemption, family, and community, and is enlivened by some of the most memorable characters ever created for English literature. Even if Dickens had never written another word, "A Christmas Carol" would still have, I believe, secured his place as one of the great figures of world literature.

Master storyteller and social critic, Charles Dickens, turns this social treatise on shortcomings of Victorian society into an entertaining and heartwarming Christmas ghost story which has charmed generations and become an icon of Christmas traditions. Who, in the Western world has not heard, "Bah, Humbug!" And who can forget the now almost hackneyed line of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one!" or his cheerfully poignant observation, that he did not mind the stares of strangers in church, for he might thus serve as a reminder of He who made the lame, walk and the blind, see. Several movie versions: musical, animated, updated, or standard; as well as stage productions (I recall the Cleveland Playhouse and McCarter Theatre`s with fondess.) have brought the wonderful characterizations to the screen, as well as to life. This story of the redemption of the bitter and spiritually poor miser, and the book itself; however, is a timeless treasure whose richness, like Mrs Cratchit`s Christmas pudding, is one that no production can hope to fully capture.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
By Roald Dahl

Just imagine that your have just found out that a famous chocolate maker of you town has a contest to find five different golden tickets, inside a candy bar rapper. If you find a ticket you win a tour of the giant Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. While you are on the tour things happen to the children like getting sucked up a tube of chocolate, chewing a piece of special gum that turns you into a big giant blueberry, getting attacked by squirrels throwing nuts at you, and being sucked into a television that's chocolate and getting turned into a midget. And the whole time you must not touch or eat anything that is not tested and be fully aware of everything.

For Charlie Bucket this was an extraordinary visit to the biggest chocolate factory in the world, in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, By Roald Dahl.

In this book Charlie Bucket and his family including his mom and dad and his 4 grandparents, are starving, poor, and live in a very small house with only a kitchen and one bedroom, which everyone shared. As Charlie is walking home from school one day in the cold winter he found a dollar bill on the sidewalk. He decides to go to a candy store to by a chocolate bar and run home to give the rest of the money to his mom and dad to by food. Instead the chocolate bar he had was so good he had to have another. As soon as he opened the second chocolate bar he saw a flash of gold and he stood there amazed he had found the last golden ticket!

In Charlie and The Chocolate Factory weird things pop-up all the time. One incident was this: Charlie was the last person to stay for the tour, and Willy Wonka had a glass elevator that could go every where from up, to down, to sideways, even diagionally. Charlie didn't know it but Willy Wonka had a special trip for him. They walked into the elevator terribly frightened. Willy Wonka pressed a button that said, "UP AND OUT." And suddenly the elevator speed upwards-no twistings or turnings and kept going faster and faster. Suddenly they heard a lout crash and saw wood flying all over. And soon enough they saw the whole town under their feet. (Remember it was a glass elevator). It felt to them like they weren't standing on anything. Since it was going so fast Grandpa Joe asked how fast it was going, and Willy Wonka repeated, "Candy power! One million candy power!"

If you enjoy fiction stories that are filled with comedy and imagination his book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is for you.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The book I read was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The year it was published was in 1964. The main characters are Charlie Bucket, Grandpa Joe, Agustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee. This book is about Charlie Bucket who wants to get a golden ticket in a Wonka bar so that he and four other children can go inside Wonka's factory. Unfortunatly, he can't even afford a candy bar! So one day when he was walking down the street he found some money in a gutter, which was enough to buy a candy bar! So he bought a Wonka bar and what was inside? A golden ticket! This was the last golden ticket. Now he gets to go inside Wonka's factory! The moral of the story is to live your dreams and don't give up. Charlie learns that being spoiled gets you nowhere, because all the other children get such as shrunk or sucked up a pipe. Charlie changes because he gets to own a big chocolate factory in the end. I gave this book a five out of five.

This book is so delicious I just want to eat it! "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" might be in many people's eyes a story about morality but to me, it's a story about children and their love of all things sweet, sticky and delicious. Charlie Bucket is the delightful boy (who is so poor all he gets to eat is cabbage soup) who finds a golden ticket in a chocolate bar he buys with money he finds in the street. This ticket entitles him and a companion to enter the wonderful world of Mr. Willy Wonka, the most famous and mysterious chocolate maker that the universe has ever known. Other competition winners include such heinous but wonderfully over the top characters like Augustus Gloop, the greediest boy in the world, and Veruca Salt, a spoilt brat whose father buys 10,000 chocolate bars so she can win a golden ticket. These greedy children and their frightful companions get their come-uppance in various hilarious ways that will have you spluttering with laughter with every page that you turn. Dahl's most famous creation in this book though are the Oompa-Loompas, a race of small people that Mr. Wonka has saved from extinction in the days when he traveled the world. This is a glorious, glorious book, filled with amazing characters, incredible sweets such as the everlasting gobstopper for the child with limited pocket money, and the chewing gum that that is a whole three course meal in itself. Your mouth will be watering throughout the story, and the river of chocolate will make you drool a waterfall. A scrumptious book for everyone no matter what their age.