February of 2001 found me on a hilltop next to an old barn about ten miles from the Vermont border. It was cold out, that's for sure. New England winter is no joke!

Soon, however, I was sweltering, as I was being ushered through the hot attic of an old barn, past row after row of thick rods of colored glass, and down onto the working floor of Josh Simpson's hot shop.

I was standing there, a couple of paces from four or five furnaces, fiery orange crucibles of molten glass, watching T-shirted apprentices clad in protective eye-shields, colored to keep out heat and ultraviolet radiation, when a friendly man I had never seen before showed up at my left elbow.

"Hi, I'm Josh," he said, and as we chatted about glass art, and how he started out with glass to begin with, he told me some of the stories you can read in this excellent book.

The book gives you photographs showing how his beautiful glass 'megaplanets', intricate and astounding, have been inspired by ice, by scenery, and by crystal-clear, detailed, yet strangely unfamiliar views of the earth from space. The close-up photos of Josh's pieces of glass art are startling. You can really see why glass is the most-collected stuff in the world.

Andrew Chaikin describes exactly how Josh makes a megaplanet, a challenging process illustrated with some of the most evocative photographs of molten glass you can imagine.

That's interesting enough as it is, but the second part of the book, where you can clearly see Josh's artistic imagination at work, and almost hear him talk as he writes in a warm, autobiographical voice, is intriguing.

This book comes as close as you can get to being in Josh Simpson's brain and seeing the images in the world which inspire his glass art, and then actually visiting Josh Simpson's studio to see him create it.

If you're at all interested in glass art, "Josh Simpson: Glass Artist" is definitely worth reading.

P.S. Getting the book will be a lot less uncomfortable than actually being in the hot shop, which I believe is probably not open to the public.

THIS INSPIRED STORY IS GREAT FOR CHILDREN OF THE AGES 8 AND YOUNGER. THE STORY OF LAVENDER IS ONE OF A SMALL GIRL WHOSE AUNT (MY REAL-LIFE AUNT) IS PREGNANT (WITH MY REAL-LIFE COUSIN). THE GIRL IS HAPPY FOR HER AUNT BUT IS AFRAID THAT WHEN THE BABY COMES THERE WILL BE NO TIME LEFT FOR HER AND HER AUNT TO BE TOGETHER. THIS STORY IS ONE TO BE SHARED WITH ANY SMALL CHILD WHOSE MOM IS PREGNANT AND SEEMS UNSURE OF WHAT A NEW BABY WILL MEAN FOR THEM. IT IS HEARTWARMIMG AND ALLOWS THE READER TO GO INSIDE THE CHARACTER'S MIND TO HER PRIVATE THOUGHTS.

When Luther wishes he had a product to sell that people actually wanted to buy, a piece of paper that the wind was blowing somehow finds its way to him. It's advertising for Professor Popkin's Prodigious Polish, which apparently needs salesmen. He signs up for the job, and soon gets a package cotaining the polish. He puts it on some tools and other things, watching it work its magic. Soon he realizes it turns every day items ALIVE! Then starts his wild adventure to keep people safe from the things he polished which are on the loose! This is a great book which I recomend to everyone!

Almost impossible to find. This book tells how to build everything you need to set up a pottery studio including detailed plans for a treadle wheel and kilns. It tells how to make your equipment on a budget -- an important consideration these days.

I checked this book out of the library years ago. Since then, someone has stolen the library's copy. I have been looking for a copy for years. If you find a copy, I strongly urge you to buy it.

This was a fun and entertaining book to sit back read to my children. It was funny and well illustrated.

This story is about a strange man named Thaddeus Blinn who came to the town of Coven Tree. He had a tent and a sign in front of it read that he could give whatever anyone asks for and it was only 50 cents. Most poeple walked by thinking that there was no such thing as making dreams come true except Rowena, Polly, Adam, and Stew Meat. They recieved a card with a red dot on the middle and were told to make a wish while pressing the red dot. They all walked out with the card in their hands and went home and tried forgetting about it because they thought it was impossible. They all made their wishes after a couple of days, but the bad news was that none of them got their wishes the way they wanted it. All except Stew Meat had made a wish. He was still thinking of what he should wish for...
My favorite character in this story was Stew Meat because he was kind... After reading this book, it made me wonder if there could really be a person out there who can grant wishes and other magical things.
This was one of my favorites and another story that has magic like in this book is Harry Potter.This book has been recommended to me by a teacher because I liked the book, Harry Potter so much. I think that poeple who are interested in adventors and mysterious magic, will like this book and also learn a lesson from it too.

The Wish Giver, a story told by a character, Stew Meat, broken up into three tales, a prologue, and an epilogue, is fantastic! Written by Bill Brittain and illustrated by Andrew Glass. The book starts off with the prologue; "The Strange Little Man", where Stew starts off with the first wild adventure. Stew Meat stumbles across a mildew covered tent that says: THADEUS BLINN, I CAN GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU ASK FOR... ONLY .50 cents. Curiously, Stew casually walk into the tent, looking at the bench and spotting Polly Kemp; a fresh mouthed little girl with braided pig-tails, next to Polly sat Rowena Jervis; a fifteen, love-struck, young lady, and a good distance apart from her sat Adam Fiske; a young man that pretty much keeps to himself. When Stew sat down, Thaddeus Blinn told them "I can give you each one wish, but think about how to say it and what to say, for your wish will be granted exactly as it is said." After paying their fifty cents, Thaddeus gives them each a white rectangular card with a red spot on it. Off went Thaddeus Blinn, with his mildew covered tent and $2.00, never to be seen in Coven Tree again.
It would take too long for me to tell all of the tales, what with all of the great language, so I'll tell my favorite one; "Jug-a-rum". This tale is about Polly Kemp. Sometimes her mouth gets the best of her and gets her into trouble! Luckily, her best friends, Leland and Lenora Wickstaff are there to help her out this time. Polly only has 2 friends, the Wickstaff twins. Her wish, obviously, contained having attention and more friends. Well, Polly gets her wish, but not the way she wanted it to happen. To give you a hint on what happens, she likes frogs and other critters in that category. Also, don't forget that the name of this tale is "Jug-a-rum". I got so into the book, that I felt like I was there with Polly, Rowena, and Adam
during their adventures.
Think that the author's message is that you should whatch what you wish for and how you say. I loved this book and I know that you would, and hopefully will too!

The book The Wish Giver was very exciting because there were 3-5 main events, and they were all pretty crazy. It was kind-of mysterious because you could never make a reasonable prediction unless you really thought about your clues and what was going on in the story. This story had alot of suspense also. A brief summary is: There was a church social oneday. Alot of Coven Tree's townspeople went. Stew Meat, Polly Kemp, Rowena Jervis, and Adam Fiske went to Thaddeus Blinn's {the Wish Giver's} tent and bought a card with a red dot on it for $0.50 per card. They each got one card. When they wanted to make their wish, they put their thumb on the red dot and said their wish out loud. After reading this wonderful book, you will probably learn this lesson : be careful what you wish for.

This hilarious Appalachian folktale was voted the Washington (State) Children's Choice Picture Book Award in 1996. I've read it aloud to 2nd graders in my school library to their delight.

Forgetful Plug goes to the store for his mother, repeating the phrase, "Soap! Soap! Don't forget the soap!" But with each encounter he forgets the phrase, picking up a new one, getting into trouble, and getting dirtier each time. By the time he remembers the soap, he is in desperate need of it when he gets home.

Click on the cover illustration to get an idea of Tom Birdseye's humorous style.

This book is a fun piece of entertainment, but I gave it 4 stars, since there are certainly more memorable folktales out there.

My 2 year old son runs around the house yelling Soap! Soap! Don't Forget the Soap! We loved the characters in the story, and the colorful illustrations are captivating.

This book Graven Images was good! In this book there are three stories. My favorite story out of all of these is the "Binnacle Boy". The "Binncle Boy" is about a boy who dies in a ship reck. There are not alot of pictures in my book but I still thought it was a good book.

The 3 stories were all connected in some way. But they are also very diferent,too The author puts a twist at the end.

This book was a pleasure to read. It was easy to understand. There was no violence and it had many morals we can all use. For example "don't be 'nitpickey' about things.

If the title of this book sounds like it's trying too hard, that's probably because it is - and the story follows suit. Not terribly suspenseful, its characters only faintly given depth, rarely engaging and boringly derivative, the story seems to focus on writing style at the expense of relating anything substantive. The story is cloying, with overdone and predictable characters and situations, all of which makes the characters' occasional sense of urgency confusing since their stakes and motivations are never really addressed. In fact the exact motive of the chief antagonist isn't ever made clear - it all just comes off as being menacing for the sake of being menacing - and so the protagonists' struggle just seems pointless. There are times when the story takes itself so seriously and is so bad it's funny - such as when Old Magda gives Ellen a stick to defend herself against great danger, the townspeople accept Dr. Dredd's monsters into their town without a second thought, and numerous anachronisms roam unattended. These events would be intentionally funny if they were treated as comic hubris - but they're not. Additionally, the characters in the town are barely made distinct by their names. Not even deeply characterized enough to be stereotypes, the townsfolk are a mob - a grey, behaviorless, functionless mob.
Compare this story to some of the great suspense/mystical/adventure stories - like the Narnia Chronicles, or for something darker Christopher Pike's work - it doesn't stand up for a moment. Bland, bland, bland.

this spellbinder kept me at the edge of my seat while i read! it's the best book ever.........A MUST READ!!!!!

Dr. Dredds wagon of wonders was my favorite book of Bill Brittain. I always wanted to read it! I liked it because it was exciting and I couldn't wait till the next page! I hope you like it as much as I did!

Andrew Moor gives a thematic exploration of recent developments in stained glass, with a strong emphasis on its architectural uses. Up-to-date and with excellent illustrations, it is a useful summary of the current state of this exciting art-form and some of its leading practitioners.