I love Edward Lear's story and James Marshall's illustrations are magical. I don't like the version with Jan Brett's illustrations. I've never liked Jan Brett's illustrations. I've spent hundreds of hours looking at children's books and I always pass over Jan Brett's books. Her illustrations just don't appeal to me. Her illustrations are distinctive and I can always recognize her work but I don't like them. There is just something missing--they don't have any life to them or something. I can't explain it. I have always loved James Marshall. His genius transcends understanding. His illustrations complement Ed Lear's beautiful tale perfectly.

A very good illustrated version of the classic poem- the pictures are beautiful with a distinctly exotic flavour, great for all ages!

This book is just so cool. Longing for a trip to the tropics? Read this version of the book to your little one and you can at least feel like you are there. The illustrations are really sweet. They have a lot of details so that kids kind find new things with each reading. My two-year old loves this book. It is a great twist on an old tale

I had all but forgotten about this gem from my childhood when I saw it sitting on the Halloween display at the library where I work.
That night when I read it to my daughter, the clever illustrations and the humor brought back a flood of memories from my own childhood. And when she told me that she wanted "the movie of Space Case" for her birthday, I knew it was one of those timeless treats that would carry on into her memories when she's a mother.
Marshall's subtle brand of humor, paired with the charming illstrations makes this a great non-spooky choice for Halloween reads.

This book is a real treat! The humor can appeal to the older kids, while the cute Halloween story can appeal to a younger age.

'It came from outerspace' begins the story and as this thing tries to make friends with cows and chickens and learns to trick or treat a cute story unfolds. The pictures are funny. I particularly like the father who lets them in the house after they have been out trick or treating (very funny) and the costumes that everyone wears are great!

It's adorable and it came from outerspace and it should be on your bookshelves.

"It came from outer space." Luckily it arrived on Halloween. While most of the natives were unfriendly (a cow and a chicken), the thing manged to find some friendly aliens out trick or treating. Buddy McGee takes the thing home only to discover that it is from outer space. He quickly makes friends with the thing and takes him to school. Will the thing stay with Buddy forever?

Marshall has done it again with a wonderful story accompanied by droll illustrations. The beauty of this Halloween tale is its appeal to adults and children alike. This is a standard in my Halloween read aloud bag. It can be used from K to 5th grade with great results.

If you have a child between 3 and 8, you should buy this book. The late, great James Marshall (Edward was a pseudonym) had the rare ability to tell a story using easy-to-read words, but still with genuinely surprising and humorous twists. This book's ending is a brilliant twist, which I will not spoil here.

If you don't have a child the right age, you should buy this anyway, but you may have to think of an excuse.

This book ranks with Marshall's best, which also include the sublime "Three By the Sea," as well as the better-known "Miss Nelson" and "George & Martha" books.

A note to the publisher: You really should keep James Marshall's better books available in hardcover library editions. This guy's best works are classics, and they'll continue to sell for at least another century.

This is the story of Lolly, Spider and Sam, three kids who have just eaten lunch and have to wait a while before they can go swimming. To pass the time, they decide to tell each other stories about rats and cats.

The first story, Lolly's, is a dead-on parody of an old-style phonics reader:

'The cat sat by the rat. "I see him," said the cat. "I see the rat."

The rat saw the cat. "I see him," said the rat. "I see the cat." And that was that.'

Spider and Sam naturally hate this story, and they work to top each other with much more entertaining stories, always about cats and rats. This is one of my favorite kids' books, by one of my favorite kids' author/illustrators, the late, great James Marshall.

I think it's an overlooked classic -- even better than some of Marshall's more popular works (such as the "George and Martha" series), and right up there with his other masterpieces: "Miss Nelson Comes Back" (written with Harry Allard) and "Fox and His Friends". All three feature very funny and surprising twist endings.

If you find you like this book as much as I do, you'll want to check out its two sequels: "Four by the Shore" and "Three Up a Tree". Those are also highly enjoyable, but this one is the creme de la creme.

Parents: This is a book they will love, although you may love it more. School librarians: BUY THIS BOOK! Publisher: Please restore this to print in a library-binding edition!

An excellent book for teaching the importance of reading and gaining an awareness of simlarities in plot. Poor Winnie learns that she may the next 'stuffed chicken for dinner' as a result of not wanting to read a famous tale. The story takes the reader on a rollercoaster of 'what-ifs' and creates wonderful moments for predicting text. I will be using this story for numerous lessons in my classroom, from developing a sense of story to partner predictions. Excellent illustrations, too!

The story, Four on the Shore, is about three kids, who are trying to do their homework but Sam's little brother will not leave them alone. So they decide to go by the lake to try to get away, but Sam's little brother follows him. He promised to be good but all he did was complain. So they started to tell scary stories thinking it would scare him away. But instead of that, he scared them with his story.
I like this book because it had a surprising ending and it is most likely to happen in real life. A lot of kids have little brothers or sisters that will not leave them alone. And I think this book will help them deal with it. This also was a good book because it has to do with things that go on single everyday. I know lots of people who have to deal with a little brother or sister and it isn't fun, but in this book it shows them that sometimes it is actually fun to have a little brother or sister. I am the youngest so I don't know what it feels like to be bugged by younger siblings. But I do know its not all fun to have older ones too. It also was very easy to read. I think a lot of little kids would enjoy reading this story, especially if they have younger siblings.

We need more books like "Four on the Shore". The characterization, plot and humor are all extremely well done while the vocabulary is very readable. I have found this book to "capture" many reluctant readers. Please keep it in print!

I read this book to my seven-year-old brother, and I think I enjoyed it more than he did. The story was charming, and the illustrations made me laugh out loud. I would definitely recommend this book.

This 48-page book is divided into three episodes dealing with our hero, "Fox." In the first story Fox reluctantly accompanies his sister to the park, when he encounters the pretty white fox "Raisin." The next day, he practically bribes his sister to go with him so that he might meet Raisin again. In "Fox and the Girls," Fox goes to a fair with Rose, then Lola ("On Wednesday Fox and Lola went to the fair."), and finally Raisin, who discovers Fox's previous "dates" ("And on Saturday, Fox went to the fair...all alone."). In the final story, Fox and his sister win second prize in a dance contest ("They did the boogie. They did the stomp."), after Raisin turns him down--perhaps still upset about Fox's fair dates described in the previous story. While the first two stories have some clever humor, the final one is a bit flat. The pictures, while simple and cute (somewhat similar to Sandra Boynton's style), are chiefly limited to green and orange colors. A good book for Fox fans, but I can't imagine most children getting too excited over the stories. However, children may enjoy a "chapter book" geared for the early reader (perhaps grades 1-2). The publisher (Dial) lists the reading level as 1.8; the book is one of several in its the "Easy-to-Read" collection.

My son loves to read all of the Fox-series of books. He is in kindergarten and just past the first level of readers. This is just the right level for him, and he loves to hear about fox's latest goof up. I enjoy them too for their droll wit. For some reason (a combination of being the right level and their funnyness...we can't wait to hear what happens next), he reads these books extremely smoothly.

This is an odd story about a girl who is fascinated by trolls. She finds that her mother has had an experience with outsmarting a troll, and eventually the girl must also outsmart a troll she encounters while walking through the dark woods. James Marshall, the illustrator, is the author & illustrator of the beloved "George and Martha" books - I suppose the author of this book, Edward Marshall, is his brother(?). This book is easy for children to read on their own.

I believe that Edward Marshall was a pen name that James Marshall used for many of his early books. I don't know why, or why he dropped it later on.

This funny story should definitely be returned to print. It's a bit wordier than some of Marshall's later books, and it doesn't have any sequels, but it is charming, amusing, and memorable. It's also a good early-reader that features a quick-thinking little-girl heroine. A great book for all kids, and especially for girls.

This book is a wonderful children's book that should be part of everyone's collection. The protagonist- Elsie Fay Johnson, outwits a rather lumbering and not too intelligent troll.