I hadn't actually heard of the Hildebrandt brothers,but got this book for the simple fact that it bore the name of Tolkien.I opened it up and there it was,scenes I pictured in my head were now right in front of me,in richly painted acrylic colors,with moods of sadness,fear,peace,and courage.I recommend this book and give it five stars!Get it come on you know you want to....

The Bros. Hildebrandt were *the* Tolkien artists of my youth, and even today, when I find my own artistic interpretion of the scenes varies so much from theirs, I still deeply appreciate what they did, and am thrilled to see their calendar work -- with the associated sketches and model photos -- reproduced here.

The childhood anecdotes by the author -- son of one of the Brothers -- are occasionally interesting, more often annoying. But the art itself remains glorious.

this book cotains hundreds of photo's of paintings, drawings and refrences photo's of tim hildebrants artwork. It also cotains the original sketches of the paintings of lord of the rings paintings. highly recommended.

The artwork in this book by Greg Hildebrandt is beautiful in its use of color and light, and it has great fantasy themes. His work can at times be kitschy, but I don't mean that in a bad way. By ignoring stuffy conventions about what makes great art, he has really put his own personality and feeling into the art. A wide variety of sources have been included as examples of his art: personal paintings of his children, advertising, commissions for collectors, posters, calendars, books, etc. This makes it fascinating and valuable to me as another artist. The only negative aspect of this book is that half the text (not by Greg) is very pretentious and vague, in a "dark and stormy night" kind of way. Just ignore that and read the rest of the text, where Greg gives insight into his history and techniques. Or just look at the beautiful pictures.

Gregory Hildebrandt, a twin, recalls his earliest memory of his drawing when his father showed the twins how to color and his mother says, "wouldn't you know it, they stayed perfectly inside the lines. They were not yet two!"

Here, you get a good grasp of his distinctive artwork. In most of the the art, the style with it's use of light, illuminates each piece. The image of light contrasts sharply with the darkened or vivid hues where detail is explicit.

Hildebrandt is a master at illustrations with children, the elderly to the cuddly animals.

What is included here are paintings of his children. He mentions how frustrating it was for him to learn to draw hands, and here on a 1980 and 1984 paintings of his children, it is clear that drawing the hands were not to perfection as other elements.

You will see posters and commercial advertising artwork. Also, fantasy paintings from the popular Tolkien Calendars, Charles Dickens, and fascinating images to favorite fairy tales such as Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pied Piper. For a specal treat, included is "A Christmas Treasury with it's impressive illustrations and text.

I love the Peter Cottontail Surprise. How wonderfully charming these are. Also, if you are not familiar with Hildebrandt's work, you may recognize the theme from Dracula and other dark subjects. The crowning images are from the Wizard of Oz from the forest to the beautiful striking image of the Emerald City.

What further enhances this collection is an "Interview with the Artist" with plenty of information about this wonderful artist!

This book features black pages with white text. The cover is black with gold trim and two colorful images on the cover. Excellent book! Inspirational for any artist.....MzRizz

Don't miss this book if you are a Greg Hildebrandt art lover! It is jam-packed full of glossy full colour reproductions of his paintings. Each page also contains personal insights into every painting that he has personally chosen to represent some part of his artistic or personal life. This book is a 1-in-100 perfect gem. Like I said before, DON'T MISS IT :)

This is a delightful version of the classic Robin Hood. I especially love the illustrations by Greg Hildebrandt, and the timelessness of this leather bound edition. We see Robin hood as handsome and brave. The romance between him and Maid Marian is bitter-sweet. The book is divided in chapters, yet can be enjoyed by children and adults alike without being boring. I personally keep it on my bookshelf, away from little hands.

McSpadden stays true to the Robin Hood legend and in my opinion this is the best portrayel of Robin Hood I have read and I recently read five other book about Robin Hood and find this one the best. If you are looking to buy Robin Hood then get this one you wont regret it, trust me on this one. I like how Robin Hood is the best archer in Sherwood bet is not as good in other forms of combat so it makes him seem more human, but not ordinary like many other book about him.

Filled with wonderful glowing full page color illustrations. Hildebrandt's trademark of making his subjects pop of the page and giving them lustrous color and light make this tale a perfect object for his brush's attention. His depiction of both the underground world of rabbit tunnels and the above-ground world of sunshine and fields is magical. Another great rendition of the Peter Cottontail saga!

My 4-year-old son loves this book. We checked it out of the library and he cried when we had to bring it back so I ordered him a copy and he reads it all the time. As you read the book you can lift all the flaps for more information about the characters and the ships and droids and creatures in the Movie. Great fun for the little Star Wars Fan.

This beautiful book was in my family as a hard cover edition for many years and was a Christmas Eve tradition for my four sons when they were growing up. It's poor battered body disappeared some time after the last of my little ones went off into the adult world. I am so delighted to see it back again, though this time as a nicely affordable soft cover. Clement C. Moore's enchanting story poem already provides an atmosphere filled with warmth and joyful expectation and with the addition of Tasha Tudor's quaint, nostalgic water-colors from an antique New England the Christmas magic is complete!
The winter landscapes fill our senses and Tasha's own gray tabby cat and Welsh Corgi welcome us into this charming world.
Tasha's Santa that you will meet in this book has been portrayed as the poem describes him...a right jolly old elf. He's not that much larger than the corgi and his team really consists of eight "tiny" reindeer. His pointy ears and his Eskimo mukluks add to the delightful ambiance of the book. He dances with the toys and with the happy animals and we can truly believe it will be a happy Christmas for all.
I hope this book becomes a Christmas Eve tradition for many, many more families.

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

I discovered this book 31 years ago, for my daughter and it is still loved by all the family. The illustrations are wonderful, warm, charming and delightful and bring a special meaning to the story. We still read it to all the young children on Christmas Eve and for adults we read the story and pass a grab bag gift every time the word THE is mentioned. It would not be Christmas without this book. It is magical.

Peter Pan is a good adventure/fantasy that kids and adults can enjoy alike. With much exaggeration, it is something kids can enjoy and read into. It's a page-turning book that once you started you can't stop.

Wow! What a great story this is! I picked it up on a whim years ago having enjoyed the Disney cartoon, and when I finally got around to reading it, I couldn't put the darn thing down. This is really exciting stuff! Peter is ten times as irrascible as he is in the toon. One line has always stuck in my head - its where Peter is faced with certain death (I forget exactly what). He thinks to himself that its quite possible he could die, and thinks `That would be the greatest adventure of all!' That line sums of the feel of this book. Imagine being a kid who can never grow up who has the power to fly through a world woven of dreams and fairytales....I learned later that this was probably the sincere wish of the author, James Barrie, who was afflicted with a disease which made it impossible for him to grow. Though an adult in mind, he was the stature and semblance of a child. The warmth of this story has a deep heartfelt resonance in the heart of any boy who has grown up having adventures in his mind. It can't really be described -it has to be read and appreciated. If you love fantasies in the vein of The Never Ending Story and The Wizard of Oz, you will love this book.

Driving with young children in the car quickly convinced me that it was unsafe to not give them something to listen to. After ten years I have collected a large (30+) bag of books-on-tape. I have also loaned them to others and asked for opinions. Peter Pan (read by Wendy Craig) is not only my favorite, but also the favorite of my wife and most of my friends. It is excellent for all ages (4 to 80) and even most hardened teenagers. Humour, presentation, ... a prefect 10.

Just as Clement Moore gave us the definitive Santa Claus in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (a.k.a. "The Night Before Christmas"), Charles Dickens gave us the definitive Christmas spirit in his simple but charming novella "A Christmas Carol". First published in 1843, this supernatural story of an elderly man's redemption from his mean-spirited, miserly ways takes place in Victorian London, but its universal theme of charity towards our fellow man has endeared this classic to many a generation around the globe. In addition to its priceless role as a morality tale, the book colorfully describes the Yuletide customs practiced in England during the early nineteenth century. This Washington Square Press edition of "A Christmas Carol" is unabridged, yet you can understand why so short a book is yet published in abridged versions, especially for schoolchildren. Not infrequently, Dickens veers from the main story line and goes into tangents of a philosophical or descriptive nature, much like the converser who abruptly changes the subject only to return to it with the familiar "Anyway, ... ". I assume children (and some adults) may find these tangents cumbersome and distracting, but they are still useful in that they reflect Dickens' thoughts while writing the book. It may still be difficult for some of us to think that cold-hearted Christmas-bashers like Ebenezer Scrooge exist, but look at human nature around you, and it will be difficult no more. At a time when "Merry Christmas" is being supplanted by a more vague "Happy Holidays", and the season gives way to coarse behavior and unchecked materialism, "A Christmas Carol" is the perfect guidebook to put things into perspective.

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.

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.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a classical story about a girl and her dog that get trapped in a twister. She wakes up in a magical land and asks how she can get home. They tell her she has to follow the yellow brick road. She meets people on her way to the Wizard. The Scarecrow needs brains, the Tinman needs a heart, the Lion needs courage and Dorothy needs to go home. They meet strange things on the way to The Good Witch of the South. I like the book because it's interesting and exciting and that's why I think you should read it.

The Wizard of Oz is about a girl named Dorothy who is a farm girl from Kansas. One day Dorothy is carried away by a cyclone to a magical land called Oz. While she is there she meets a tlaking scarecrow, a man made of tin, and a cowardly lion afraid of his own shadow. Dorothy and her friends follow a yellow brick road to the Emerald City where they hope to find the famous wizard that can grant each of their wishes. But the wicked witch keeps trying to ruin their trip to the Emerald City.
The setting of the book is in a magicla land full of little people called Munchkins, flying monkeys, and a wicked witch that will melt if touched with water. The characters have their separate reasons for wanting to see the wizard. As the story goes on, the reader can not help but fall in love with them.
The text gives great detail as to what everything looks like and with those details the whole world of Oz can come to life in the readers imagination.

The Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum is a wonderful book about a young girl who goes on an adventure full of excitement and fun. Dorothy the main character lives on a small country farm in Kansas with her Aunt, Uncle, and small dog, Toto. One day a twister comes over their country farm and whisks Dorothy along with her little dog away to a make believe land called Oz. There she is greeted by the people who live there. She asks them how she can get home to Kansas. They tell her that the Great Oz will help get her home. But before she heads on her way to Oz the Good Witch of the North kisses her on the forehead and says that with that kiss no one can harm her. So she and Toto head on their way to Oz. On her way she meets The Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Woodman made of tin who wants a heart and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. These four new friends eimbark on an adventure to the great city of Oz. Will they all get their wishes? Find out when you read the Wizard of Oz. I loved this book because not only did it have fantasy but it is a great book for all ages. I recomend it to anyone who loved being a child.

Bram Stoker's tale of terror, 'Dracula,' is just as chilling today as it must have been to readers a hundred years ago. Stoker's original story, which has been told many times since in film and book, is the tale of Johnathen Harker, his love, and his friends, and their horrific experiences at the hands of Count Dracula. The book begins with Harker traveling to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Dracula. Aquainting him with English customs and traditions when the Count buys land all over London from his firm, Harker soons learns of Dracula's true nature- that of an unnatural fiend who causes destruction wherever he goes. When Dracula travels to England Harker's friends enlist the aide of Dr. Van Helsing, the only man who understands just what evil the Count is capable of. The story that follows is one of love, hate, maddness, and adventure as Dracula seeks to destroy Harker and his friends. As well as being a great work of literature, 'Dracula' is a wonderful tale of horror that modern readers are sure to enjoy!

Although this book was originally published many years ago it is still one of the most frightening horror stories ever published. Written in diary form it introduces the reader to the young English Lawyer Jonathan Harker, his wife to be Mina, the enigmatic Professor Van Helsing and various other colorful characters that make this story so deliciously scary.
At the heart of the story is the Vampire,Count Dracula of Transylvania who has decided to take residence in England and in doing so seals the fate of several people. One of the Count's first victim's is Mina's best friend Lucy who becomes a Vampire herself and suffers the fate of a stake through the heart and having her head cut off. Soon it is a race against time to stop Dracula getting his fangs into Mina as well, and only the brave Van Helsing and his trusty companions can save the day. Bram Stoker has written a very sexy and scary book for his time, and it is no wonder that Count Dracula's appeal in this form has not diminished over the years.

One of the scariest books in history, DRACULA is nevertheless misunderstood. Our civilization is removed from the Victorian era. We think of it as somehow distant and quaint, and ourselves as modern. But when Bram Stoker published DRACULA in 1897, the Victorian era _was_ modern. Stoker meant to make the book more frightening than most books by bringing an ancient horror into a modern, anti-superstitious world. He uses typewriters and phonograph disks the way a modern writer would refer to the internet and e-mail. DRACULA's first readers might've looked out of their town or country houses and expected to see Dracula's gaunt figure emerging through the fog.

He tells the story through a series of diaries, letters, clippings. Normally this is an unweildy method of storytelling, but in this case it is most effective.

The novel is divided into three broad sections. In the first, young Jonathan Harker and Dracula have the stage almost alone. Though Harker's diary we learn details of his journey through eastern Europe to meet a Count who wants to travel to England, and Harker carries him certain important papers. Count Dracula's character comes across very strong and well-defined, and grows ever menacing as Harker slowly learns he is not going to be allowed back to England, but will become food for Dracula's vampiric harem.

The second part of the book, set in England, deals with Mina Murray, who is going to marry Jonathan; Mina's friend Lucy; three men who are in love with Lucy; and a good-hearted but mysterious Ductch doctor, Abraham van Helsing. The bulk of this part deals with Lucy's mysterious disease, her decline to death, and her transformation into a vampire that her suitors must destroy out of love. Dracula appears only fleetingly through the book, but the reader knows what happens, and suspects the cause of Lucy's decline.

In the last part, Jonathan, Mina, and Lucy's three lovers band with Dr. von Helsing in a pact to destroy Dracula before he can spread his contagion throughout England; and meanwhile, Dracula wreaks his vengeance on them for taking Lucy from him.

Stoker uses many ways of approaching his subject. Occasionally the horror is direct; but once it is established, he makes it subtle, working behind the scenes, in a way that may be even more frightening. Though he also uses different voices, his prose is invariably fine. And as each character has to overcome his aversion to ancient superstition and face Dracula with a mind open to the fact that there's more in the world than science and technology and late-Victorian materialism can contain, the book becomes eerily meaningful for the twenty-first century.

Modern purveyors of vampiric fiction dispense with the blatant Christian symbolism used to fight Dracula's ilk, such as a crucifix or sanctified host, or prayer. They also turn the evil of Dracula topsy-turvey and somehow invent sympathy for soulless monsters who view living humans as food. Stoker doesn't hesitate to show Dracula as an evil, totalitarian horror; as a contagion that must be eradicated; as an enslaver of women, like Lucy, and men, like poor Renfield. And Stoker has reason enough to realized that only Supernatural agencies could fight the supernatural. The saving Blood of Christ on the Cross, blood of which a soulless terror like Dracula cannot drink, is the most effective symbol for fighting and defeating this brand of evil. It was part of the novel's consistency that as the characters have to come to grips with the reality of ancient evil, they must also return to the symbols of good that they also have rejected in a narrow-minded embracing of the modern.

Dracula, the strongest character in Victorian fiction, does not weaken himself by the need to be "understood" or "pitied". He will destroy or be destroyed. And the worst destruction that could happen to him would be mitigation.

DRACULA may be the scariest book ever written; it's certainly the best of the classic horror stories. It's well-crafted and exquisitely constructed enough that it stands as a great novel even without genre pigeonholing.