I loved this book as a child so much that a few years ago my mom special ordered it for me as a Christmas gift. I read it to my daughter now and she loves it too. The story is about a bug family where the dad is a "daddy longlegs" and the mom is a lady bug. They go shopping and buy potato bugs, squash bugs and silverfish to make for dinner. The book is full of clever narration using real bug names and the pictures are cute. There is a bug city parade, the bug family goes to the zoo (to see the camel crickets, and rhinoseros beetles) and in the end everyone goes to "bedbug." I highly recommend this charming book.

mrs. ipcar's book is incredibly brilliant. based on a chess game, the white side fights the black. if you are a chess player, you can follow the moves made by both sides, as they are recorded in the back. if not, you can still enjoy this adventure story. there are, however, many deaths in the book. it bounces from one character to the next, as the first dies. then the next is killed and it bounces to a third. you never really get to know the characters well, however, so it is not at all sad. i give this book only four stars, not five, simply because it can be a bit hard to follow at times.

i really loved the idea of the story and the way the author described a chess game was wonderful. Great for anyone who likes fantasy.

The Queen of Spells is an undistinguished one of the many retellings of the ballad Tam Lin. Ipcar isn't particularly clever about adding new interpretations and I remained indifferent to the characters throughout. I agree with the previous reviewer-- the ending was quite confusing. On the upside, it did move along at a nice clip and managed to keep me reading; I liked it much better than Pamela Dean's dreadful Tam Lin (an exploration of life at a literary college masquerading pretentiously to be a retelling of the ballad). However, for better done retellings, try The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (which contains fabulous characters and dialogue), Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip (the prose is simply gorgeous) or Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (vintage Jones; innovative and often humorous).

When I was in Elementary school I read it 5 times. It's inthrolling. The ending is hazy but the more you read it the more you get it.It was a great book, I loved it!!

This is a wonderful introduction to the fantasy genre, based on the Scottish ballad "Tam Lin." It's the story of Janet, who falls in love with Tom Linn, the mortal favorite of the Queen of the Fairies. Carrying Tom's child, Janet is forced to enter the fairy realm in order to rescue her lover. The book is entrancing, reading almost like a dream. The plot resolution, however, is a little too dream-like and seems a little jumbled. All in all, though, a great read.

I wanted so much to give _A Dark Horn Blowing_ at least three stars! It's based on a ballad, "The Fairy Queen's Nurse", and I always love books based on ballads, in general. Plus, the story was pretty decent most of the way; although the writing could get a little choppy and weirdly paced (Oops, three years just passed, and barely a sentence is given to it). I found it hard to get truly interested in any of the narrators, since they just seem to be Generically Nice People without many quirks or anything. The most three-dimensional character was the villainess Bab Magga. But all in all, it was going okay.

Then the ending approached. As the book progressed toward a climax, almost nothing seemed to work right for me as a reader. Eelie did a memory regression to figure out why he couldn't walk; his solution was so simple and obvious that he shouldn't have needed to meditate to get it. And then suddenly he knows this, and he can walk. All in about 2 pages. Also, and more importantly, a big and moving reunion scene between Nora, Owen, and Eben was being set up throughout the novel. Then, when it finally happens, whose POV are we reading it from? Eelie's, and he's watching from a distance. No emotional release. Argh. Then there is a long digression at the end that just seems to be Eelie going for a joyride. It's like someone told the author, "I need you to tack ten more pages onto the end."

_A Dark Hown Blowing_ could have been so good, but wasn't.

I first read this book when I was a teenager, nearly two decades ago. The plot is a melding of folksongs and ballads: A young wife is stolen to be nursemaid to the child of the evil king of elfland, leaving behind a beloved husband and newborn baby. Nora hates her situation but she pities the elf-queen and her weak child and gives him all the love she yearns to give her lost baby. This selflessness is rewarded when her foster child learns human love in spite of his father. This love will save both of them from the elf-king's cruelty. Unfortunately for most readers the language *is* lyrical, owing more in its rhythms and word-choices to old ballads than to modern prose. The characters are archetypes rather than individuals: A Dark Horn Blowing is driven by setting, mood and plot rather than by an in-depth exploration of character. Fans of the mythopoeic, however, will not be disappointed.

'A Dark Horn Blowing' is the kind of book that is impossible to put down. The characters are described in such detail that I can relate to them, and understand how they feel, even though I have never been in their position. The main reason that I enjoyed this book is because it showed how each character was feeling about the same (or almost the same) situation. I knew exactly what the setting looked like from the author's explainations. I love the descriptions of Ornhest, the horse. I adore all the characters, Owen, Eelie, Eben, and especially Nora. She shows strength and loyalty. Owen is brave and Eelie is sure of himself. Eben wishes only for the best. I wish that there were a dozen books like this one!