The advetures of tom sawyer was on of the greatest books I've ever read. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a mischevios adventurerous kids. This book is good for adults because it could most likely to take you back to your own childhood. For kids it could give some ideas to enjoy your childhood.

Tom sawyer is a mischevios boy who always gets into trouble. tom tricks his friends into doing his chores. He falls in love. He wittnesses a murder scene. he runs away to be a pirate. He attends his own funeral. he finds buried treasure. feeds his cat pain killer. gets lost in a cave with the person he loves. Also gets 6,000 dollars.

I've learned from this book the importance of being young. It also taught me don't rush to grow up because you're only young once. IT also taught me what it was like to be a kid 150 years ago.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of the best books I have ever read. The language,the thinking,the adventures-all of it was just incredible and enjoyable. The only thing this book needs is more pages! Mark Twain's skill in writing has created a book that all ages should read (or have it read to).Mark Twain reactivates the life and actions of a boy in the mid-1800's,and showed me that kids should be who they are- not what they will be. This is a classic for every generation to read and enjoy.

Mark Twain's,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, tells about a boy loving and living his life to the fullest. Tom Sawyer is the kid that the world has seemed to forgotten. He is the kid who always get in trouble but continues to have fun with life. In this book, Tom does everything from being engaged, to watching his own funeral, to witnessing a [death] and finding treasure. Twain's creative character finds fun everywhere in his little town in Missouri, as do his friends. The storyline is basic, but it is a piece of the past that everyone should hold on to.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I learned mainly two things. The first thing I learned was that you can make life fun with just about anything if you use your imagination. Life is too short and precious to be wasted. I also learned that where you least expect it [help or protection], you might just get it. This book was just amazing-filled with unique characters, exciting events, and how a town can pull together to help those in need.

Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy!

Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya, translated by Tomoko Tsuchiya Dykes and illustrated by Ted Lewin, is a very moving picture book story. It describes how during World War II three elephants at the Tokyo Zoo were euthanized by starvation, because of concerns that they might escape during an air raid and become dangerous. I plan to use the story with my 4th and 5th grade reading group as part of a unit about WWII, but one thing that troubles me about using such an emotional story, is that I do not understand where fact and fiction meet here. The subtitle reads "A True Story of Animals, People and War", and the introduction also describes it as a true story. I can't help wondering though why the animals had to be killed in such an inhumane way. Did the army forbid the use of an elephant gun because they did not want to "waste" ammunition? Aren't there ways to drug even animals as large as elephants? How do veterinarians treat elephants? And what happened at zoos in other parts of the world where there were air raid attacks, and similar risks that wild animals might escape and cause problems?
After writing this review two weeks ago, I discussed the book with other teachers in my school and decided that to use it with 4th and 5th graders would be committing a kind of emotional highjacking. We read a number of books together during our WWII unit and I plan to finish up with another zoo story - Hannah's Winter of Hope by Jean vna Leewen, which tells how the people of Budapest saved their hippo from starvation during the occupation.

Faithful Elephants-A True Story of Animals, People, and War is an amazing book. I heard this book first when I was in grade school. I am now doing it for a forensics competition because I love it so much. Children can't always understand how bad war is but they can understand how it would hurt to loose a friend or family member that is very close to you. They will be able to relate to the keepers and trainers that are loosing their beloved elephants. I would recommend this book to teacher's who are teaching their students about World War II, or to anyone who wants to know a little more about what people in Japan went through. This book is probably most suitable for children ages 9 and up. Faithful Elephants also has amazing illustrations and a page of text that tell's about why the book was written. Overall, it was well put together and is an awesome and emotional children's story.

A heart rending story....capable of bringing out so much...., September 30, 2002

I read this book with my 9 year old daughter....and we both cried....tears dried up but the pain lingered....
Why, oh why, did these animals have to suffer so much, they had'nt wronged anyone, they were not at war with anyone, papa? They needed to be looked after by humans, who had bought them here against their will, and those humans decided their fate with death? Why could'nt they be let loose in a jungle?

My daughter consulted an atlas, looked at the map of Japan and asked why could'nt the animals be taken to some remote part of the country which was less likely to be effected by war? Why was not the enemy told to stay away from the zoo which housed so many helpless and innocent animals, and for this the zoo could have been highlighted by placing lights or lighting fires all around it's boundary? Why did'nt mother nature come to their rescue? What must the animals have thought....their caretakers have become their killers....how betrayed and grief-stricken they must have felt? If the effects of war are so bad and sad, why is war not banned? I could feel her sadness....her turmoil...her helplessness. She was trying to find a way so that such things are not repeated, wars are stopped, and she came out with her own solution....she decided to type the whole story, word by word, and send it over email to all her friends and all email addresses that she could get hold of!! She also decided to set up a table beside her school gate, with this book on it, and request all visitors who came to attend the pet show being organised by her school on 4th Oct'02,which is the World Animal Welfare Day, to go through this book!
The questions she asked me were many....and many may have remained unasked in that young mind....I could feel her questioning justice, engaging her imagination and creativity to find alternative solutions, overflowing with compassion and empathy, maybe wondering about the indifference of mother nature, seeing the insanity and ravages of war, setting up of small but noble goals for herself....
This book conveys and wakens up more than just the futility and pain of war. Anti-war seeds have to be sown in an individual as she is the basic unit of society, changes there will ultimately change the society, and this has to be done at an early age. By what I saw in my daughter, the feelings this book evoked in her, I very very strongly recommend this book for everyone at every place. Ensure your presence as the child reads this book....she will have so many questions....and her innocent mind will be in a turmoil....she will need you beside her.

This collection of seventeen poems presents fourteen different species of birds to the reader. The poems vary in length from just a few lines to multiple stanzas. The poems are at times lyrical, thoughtful, and whimsical. Each poem gracefully presents a unique charactereistic, behavior, and/or habit of each bird to the reader. The poems are complemented by double-page water color paintings which accurately depict each bird. There are short notes about each bird at the back of the book. The book is beautiful and would appeal to elementary as well as middle school students.

In Bird Watch, the poet integrates a fact or two about the bird as she paints an elegant picture of its uniqueness and beauty. The reader can envision the cardinal, brilliantly sitting atop the white blanket of snow, "A brilliant blot on winter's page." Or see the song birds, sitting on telephone lines that in one's mind now become lines of music and the birds "like scattered notes." Other inviting features of the book include the bird facts in the back and Ted Lewin's illustrations, marvelously bringing each bird to life. When in search for nature poetry, Jane Yolen is the end of your journey. Enjoy!

Ted Lewin always does gorgeous work, and "Red Legs" is no exception. This story is about nine-year-old Stephen, a drummer, who goes off to do his duty to help save the Union during the Civil War. It is a real shocker to get towards the end of the book--I won't give it away, but you may want to read this yourself first before sharing it with your children in case they are squeamish or scare easily.

Fortunately, the surprise turns out to become another, happier surprise and the book ends with Lewin telling the story of the real Stephen on whom his book is based. Lewin's handsome watercolors deftly convey the heat, stickiness and tension of men awaiting battle, while at the same time being handsome in their own right. His use of light within the forest scenes is really something to behold, and the pictures with many soldiers in them are amazing--each soldier has a different expression, with some of them apprehensive, some angry, some laughing, some wistful. It's masterful work.

Any older child who is interested in the Civil War would enjoy this book, and any adult as well, if only for the superb illustrations and the interesting history of the real Stephen.

I really enjoyed this book. The pictures are wonderfully detailed and colorful. The story is about Stephen, a drummer boy in the Civil War, and is, in fact, based on the life of a real drummer boy, as you learn at the end of the story. We follow Stephen as he prepares for battle, and then throughout the battle when the drummers are sent to watch from a nearby hill. We see Stephen fall, blood showing on the drum strap across his chest. Then, we see his father come help him up - this has been a reenactment. I was surprised and relieved. What a great way fo teach kids about the Civil War in a personal way.

Megan McDonald's "The Potato Man" is the tale of what happens when bullies get their comeuppance. It begins with a grandfather telling his granddaughter and grandson a story from his childhood. After just the first page, we are quickly whisked back to somewhere around the beginning decade of the 20th century. The "potato man" in question is a man who drives a vegetable-and-fruit cart, and who is catcalled and jeered at by the neighborhood boys because he is missing an eye and thus has a face that looks somewhat like a potato. It turns out that the grandfather telling the story is one of the boys who is rude to the potato man. When push comes to shove, however, and the boy realizes that he should treat the potato man as kindly as he himself would want to be treated, the potato man forgives him without a second thought. It's a powerful lesson for children.

Ted Lewin's illustrations are up to his usual sky-high standards. You can practically hear horse's hooves clop-clopping through the city neighborhood as they land on the cobblestone roads. You can almost smell the warm produce as it sits in the sun, and hear the hurdy-gurdy man as he cranks his instrument up to play "Pop Goes the Weasel." Lewin is a master, and he is in fine form here.

This book will help children put themselves into Sami's war ravaged world. They will feel the angst of civil war and worry about Sami's safety in a book that makes readers feel as if they could reach out and touch the rubble in the streets of Lebanon. The book portrays the intermittent bombing and roller coaster of emotions faced by those who lived through the civil war. A wonderful mix of history and fiction which must be read.

This novel is an amazing novel about Velvet, a 14 year old girl, and a young, green, piebald (a spotted/two colored horse) that she wins. This story is not that exciting at the beginning as it introduces you to Velvet's and her family's personalities and daily life. The book becomes more alive when Velvet hears that a horse is being given away by raffle. Velvet quickly gathers all the money that she has and buys a ticket for the raffle. Amazingly the wining raffle ticket is Velvets' and she wins the piebald. After showing him is a typical/normal show, Velvet realizes he is not meant for those types of shows and decides to go bigger. After seeing how high the piebald can jump, Velvet chooses to train the piebald for the Grand National, the biggest steeplechase in the world. Throughout the whole book there are disappointing parts and parts where you smile all over. This book is like a sister to the classic novel Black Beauty. Overall National Velvet is a book for horse lovers of all ages to read; in fact it is a book everyone should read.

I thought this book was great, but it confused me on which was which character. I love the Pie. I saw the movie first, so I was surprised when the Pie was a piebald (In the movie he is chestnut). This was a great book. All horse/classic lovers should read it.

"National Velvet" is the story of the literaly ugly duckling of the Brown family. Velvet has three older sisters (Edwina, Meredith, and Malvolia) and a younger brother named Donald. her mother, Arminity, swam the English Channel as a young girl, and has the opinion that none of her daughters should be weak characters.Mi Taylor, her father's hired hand becomes Velvet's coach (as his father was to Arminity)when Velvet inherits five horses and then wins a Piebald carthorse in a village raffle.
When Mi and Velvet see how well the Piebald can jump, Velvet decides to enter him in the Grand Nationals. Velvet dresses as a boy(no girls were allowed to compete)and rides in the Nationals.
This book was really good- it showed how a person can do almost anything if they set their mind to it!

It's unrealistic and untrue. Why does the author try to romanticize something so cruel and tragic? I grew up near Atlantic City and vacationed there every summer. Those diving horses were frightened to the point of defecating and urinating in the pool. The young women on those horses were not glamour queens but exploited for the greed of the horse owners. As a teacher, I will not support the introduction of this book in my classroom or school library.

Set in the summer of 1936, The Girl On The High-Diving Horse: An Adventure In Atlantic City by Linda Oatman High is the story of a young girl who sees the daily performance of another girl and her horse, diving from a tall platform to the delight of onlookers. Looking up at the girl on the high-diving horse, she wonders if she can ever share that much courage and adventure. Simple, almost photograph-style illustrations by Ted Lewin add a realistic touch to this charming story.

Contrary to what you might expect, this short book is not a fantasy; rather, it offers the popular theme of the Country Cure, as well as the rewards of historical research. Readers will receive an easy instruction in the skills of art restortion and the thrill of an auction. Related in the first person, this
story tells how Caroline became horse crazy at age 11 and why
her family ultimately moved out to the country--where she would more easily afford riding lessons.

During the renovation of the century-old house which they bought, Caroline discovers a locked trap door into an unknown attic, where she finds several
dusty paintings--long stored and forgotten. She falls in love with one of a black race horse and eventually hangs it/her in her room, where she fantasizes about having her own horse. This family offers a refreshing change from the usual dysfunctional dynamics one encounters in YA literature. I particluarly enjoyed the relationship between Caroline and her father; they shared a unique bond, as the country helped their outlooks on life bloom. Clymer also provides a gentle introduction into archival methods and art appreciation. Reads as swiftly as Dark Lady herself!