My five-year-old found this introduction to subtraction entertaining. It has value for parents, as well, because it reminds them that the opportunities to play at math with children are everywhere, even in elevators.

Through repitition, this book is a good beginner reader. It is also just a little silly. The illustrations are detailed and add to the story line.

The story line in this book is cute and good for kids learning to read. It associates sounds with objects, scissors go snip, zippers go zip, bunnies go hip-hop, ect. It's also good because it only uses 57 different words in the book, so it's good for learning vocabulary and it has a vocab list in the beginning of the book. The reason I gave it a 4 was because the pictures are so-so. The drawings are filled in with different shades of blue water color. I'd say this book is defiantly for a child whose getting more into reading themselves, and not very much into just looking at the pictures or being read to. Cause all the objects in the pictures are all blue.

The book has lovely pictures, slightly reminiscent of Sendak, and a cozy rhyme to go with it, however I feel that the children who might truly appreciate the poem and pictures are much older than a child who would want to read it as a bedtime story - its only one line per page, or sometimes per two pages. But I do enjoy reading it to my 2 year old, despite the fact that she doesn't really follow what's happening.

A pretty good read. Interessting details about the war with Russia, many of which I am sure are true. Gave me a better understanding of the Afgan people. The write goes a little "Tom Clancy" at times, but it's a good book and I think, for the most part, based on truth.

Upon its publication, this was the most complete volume on Kara Walker that I had come across. The essays are well written and informative, and delve deeper into various aspects of the artist's work than had previous reviews which often focus solely on the racial controversy of Walker's work. The interview with Thelma Golden provides some insight into possible future directions that Walker contemplates with her work. The images and color plates included in the book are of high quality and are representative of much of Walker's work, not only her installation at the University of Michigan.

Every child I know - my students, my children, my nieces and nephews - loves this book. The repetive refrain is perfect for beginning readers and the rhythm of the language engages young readers immediately. Your child will want to hear the story over and over. Non-readers will make up their own story but the refrain is easy and fun for them to remember and "read".

Second grade is about the age where children are torn between wanting mom to visit school, but aware their friends might think it uncool. Second-grader Cassandra's mother would like to go, so Cassandra suggests mom dress like a plant to tie in with what is being taught, but more importantly, to stay anonymous. While the other children find something "very peculiar" about the visiting plant, Cassandra learns that her mom and plants have a lot in common, and that having mom at school is fun! This one earns an extra star for making my little one giggle all the way through!

It's about time we got a view of the whole Jackie/Aristo (not Ari, it turns out) thing from the other side of the Atlantic. This book is breezy and gossipy and so sycophantic I have to wonder how much of it it true. Kiki justifies and sugar-coats as much as she can (is she still getting Onassis money???? One has to wonder...), yet you can't help but see that the Onassis clan were an abusive, debauched, and addictive bunch. She rationalize EVERYTHING--physical and emotional abuse, drunkeness, profligate spending, ruthlessness, cheating...but after all, Aristio was really a very CHARISMATIC and RICH man who'd made it up from poverty. Other sources dispute many of Kiki's facts. If she gets even the most basic details wrong, what else is suspect (i.e., Jackie's governess/cook Marta Sgubin is ITALIAN, not Spanish, and her name is Marta, not Martha)? Everything. Does that make Onassis behavior any less reprehensible? It shouldn't. I have to say that this book makes me think the Onassis family did themselves in, no matter how much Kiki spins it.

I've read almost all the Jackie books on the market, and what I most appreciate about Moutasatsos's book is the way she acknowledges the rumors and innuendos of other authors while putting forth her perspective as exactly that -- nothing more. While her memory is generous, she also strikes me as honest; she really loved her employers, so she saw them as noble, honorably-intentioned people with understandable flaws. I would recommend this book to anyone who's tired of the unceasing merry-go-round of Onassis-related rumors who wants to hear about this family from someone near it but not of it. Also, Moutsatsos, with co-writer Phyllis Karas, tells her story in lyrical English I can only guess was translated from the native Greek... resulting in a particularly musical and poetic narrative, quite an exception for a translation.

This book got four stars from me, not five, merely because there IS a bit of fairy tale stardust sprinkled through it... Moutsatsos does come across as a bit of the Onassis groupie, her only failing.

Usually, when reading biographies, you get an author's version, romanticized or warped, raving or critical. But this author has an innocent voice, one of a young person who simply allowed each of the Onassis family their own role, without analyzing, criticizing, or eulogizing. I could sense the real life of each person, the heart life, as Kiki describes their words and manners, the tones of voice when speaking to each other. The book implies much more than it puts into words, with its honesty and open-heartedness. The tears and tragedies were real,too. The Greeks live life fully, and draw the spirit of each scene in. Jackie O. was given a true portrait. Kiki didn't miss much as she escorts the reader through many encounters and shares what no one was ever allowed to know. From inside the walls around wealthy, powerful people, we see their vulnerability in love and in death. My heart was greatly moved. Makes me glad my life is simple!

atkinson's third novel is unconventional, witty, and wry with loads of wordplay and mixing up of plots and characters. you've got to be in a special mood to read her novels and i waited several months after getting the book to be in just the right mood to dive in.

atkinson's novels read like life in a cough syrup haze -- the characters and events as hazy as the fog that envelopes the scottish setting of this story. her descriptions and vocabulary and meandering plots are something entirely new. i looked up the meaning of words on just about every page, as i do with will self's works.

if you liked her first two novels, then go ahead and read 'emotionally weird.' i think you'll agree that it's a fun and engaging and witty book. you just have to forget about all those conventional novels you've read and suspend your disbelief for the duration. if you've never read atkinson, then start with the first two novels to gain a better appreciation for the third.

she's also a spendid short story writer -- check out the ian st. james award collection titled 'snapshots' for her award-winning story 'karmic mothers - fact or fiction.' it's a wee story at 8 pages long, but it has a big impact and is a good introduction to her writing.

I gave it a 3 because it IS a good read. It's not the best but still worth reading. I did find the characters to be engaging and amusing. Prof. Cousins is a hoot. The different plots/settings take time to get use to but you quickly understand that the "real" story is happening with Nora on the island. Overall, if you're looking for a deep, meaninful read I'd say this isn't it. If it's a quick funny book you're after, this is a decent choice. It seems as though Ms. Atkinson had a lot of good ideas, but just couldn't make them all gel together.

I had never read anything by Kate Atkinson before this and was quite pleasantly surprised. What I hastily concluded from the jacket description was that this was going to be a play-like dialogue between a mother and daughter. This is, instead, a multilayered, multigenre piece of experimental fiction that is fun to read, thought-provoking and original. As much as anything else, Emotionally Weird is about writing and the creative process. Effie, the young woman who is the narrator, tells stories which may or may not be true to Nora, an older woman who may or may not be her mother. The two live on a secluded island off Scotland. The stories Effie tells are mainly whimsical character studies of bohemian college life in the 1970s. By contrast, the scenes that take place on the island beteen Effie and Nora are told in a somberly poetic, almost gothic (and very Celtic) style. To further complicate things, Effie is also herself writing a detective novel about yet another set of characters. If this sounds confusing, at times it is. Yet, you don't have to completely understand what's going on to enjoy this novel. After all, there is very little plot to worry about following. There are, appropriately enough, several references to Alice in Wonderland, though, compared to Emotionally Weird, Lewis Carroll's tale is almost conventional and straightforward. James Joyce is also mentioned, but despite her radical style, Atkinson is much, much easier to read. There is a very deliberate pointlessness to the book. When Effie is at college, for example, there are scenes that are little more than parades of absurd characters. Professors are portrayed as gibberish-speaking buffoons; some of my favorite scenes took place in the classroom, where the professors uttter meaningless jargon to apathetic students. Nora often interrupts the tales to deliver her quite valid criticisms, such as the fact that Effie creates too many characters. Some of the scenes could be considered more like writing exercises than actual scenes that propel a story. Some readers will find this novel tedious; it does take a suspension of your usual expectations regarding fiction. I enjoyed the contrasting styles and the existentialism of the characters that is alternately tragic and comical. Finally, I found it's labyrinthian stories within stories to be a fascinating exploration of creativity and of identity.