I think that the Tale Of Tricky Fox is a wonderful, well-written children's book. It teaches the youngsters who read it a valuable lesson through a cute, exaggerated story about a clever fox who tries to trick adorable elderly women into getting what he wants, a big fat pig.
To Tricky Fox, "stealing chickens is too easy." He plans on getting himself a plump pig to eat. How might he go about doing that, Brother Fox questions him. "I will fool a human into putting one into my sack for me!" Tricky Fox has a witty idea up his sleeve.
He pretends that his is an old, tired, feeble Fox who needs a warm place to sleep. Each night, he finds a new woman to take part in his sly scheme.
Everything seems to being going well for Tricky Fox. He is right on his way to getting the "big fat pig" he dreamed of. However, the last old woman he tries to trick is a school teacher. Everyone knows that teachers are much smarter than "regular humans" and this teacher has a feeling that Tricky Fox is up to something.
In the end, well, I can't spoil the story, now can I?
I highly recommend this story for children of all ages. I, myself, enjoyed the lesson-teaching storyline, the quirky rhymes, the lovable characters, the crafty twist of an ending, and the old-fashioned illustrations. I believe that any good-hearted person will find this an amusing, silly masterpiece of children's literature.

Completely delightful story of a cute, clever, cocky fox who plays tricks on unsuspecting women just to win a bet with his cousin. One of the unsuspecting women, however, manages to return Tricky Fox's cleverness with a little trick of her own... Read and find out all the entertaining details! Kids and adults both will find the story fun and satisfying, and the illustrations well-detailed and expressive.

Tricky Fox is tired of stealing and eating chickens. It's just too easy and not all that fun anymore. He decides what he really wants is a pig and tells his brother that he can trick any human into giving him one. But, Brother Fox isn't so sure and takes the bet. "I'll eat my hat if you do!" he tells his tricky brother and the games begin. Carrying a sack and acting old and tired, Tricky Fox talks his way into three cottages, asking each little old lady homeowner to guard his sack while he sleeps. He adds that they mustn't look inside and of course, as soon as he falls asleep, that's exactly what they each do. The first night he puts a log in the sack and claims the next morning that his loaf of bread is gone. His hostess, embarrassed that she took a peek, quickly gets him a loaf of her own bread and says nothing, even though she knows it was a log in the sack. The next night he does the same thing with the bread, claiming the next morning that his chicken is missing, with the same results. But on his final evening, he tries to trick a teacher (and everyone knows that teachers are smarter than most humans) and learns a big lesson the hard way..... Jim Aylesworth has taken this old folktale and given it new life. His charming and amusing text is full of energy, rhythm and rhyme. Barbara McClintock's wonderfully old fashioned, detailed illustrations add just the right touch and together, this dynamic duo have authored a story that pulls your youngsters into the story, captures their imaginations and includes them in all the fun. Perfect for kids 4-8, The Tale of Tricky Fox is a winner!

A must for an artistic girl or boy. The illustrations are truly unique for a contemporary children's book. The message of 'being true to one's own artistic vision' is an invaluable one. I love to give this one as a gift to special kids

Gorgeous illustrations and a charming story. This book is for everyone - boy, girl, young, old. Don't hesitate!

I have read this book more than any other!! My children love to hear run run run as fast as you can.... that they chant with me! Great classic book!!

Run as fast as you can, and get this book! The illustrations are fantastic, and the rhythm and rhyming are far better than "The Ginger Bread Boy"! I have purchased copies of both, and my 3 year old enjoys this one MUCH more! This is a book that every child should have in their room! Even if the "Ginger Bread Man" does get eaten in the end, he is after all, just a cookie! This is a fun book to read to your children, and I highly recomend it!

this book was a cool book when i was 4-5, and I stil like it now. I remember it like it was yesterday. thats how good of book it was.

When I was a girl, my mother read this book to me over and again. I remember begging her to read it to me, and when I was old enough reading it myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, including the "Two bad mice", and as in all Beatrix Potter books it is well written and a lesson is well learned. I am looking forward to reading this book to my own children (which is why I am on Amazon.com looking for it).

If your children enjoy the Littles or the Borrowers, they'll love the Kleins. They are a tiny family living a big family's home and need to gather supplies for the holiday. There's just one problem...the big family owns a cat!

We have about 10 Channukah books at our house, but none come close to capturing the spirit of this holiday evident in "When Mindy Saved Hanukkah." The story presumes a knowledge of the reason for Channukah-so you still need at least one other good book about the story of Channukah. But this book can stand on its own as an example of heroics, a model of family, and a spirit of giving. My kids love this book and we read it all year long, but because of the well written prose and the wry way the story unfolds, I enjoy it every time, as much as they do. Even more importantly, my kids sort of believe this story and my 3 year old son insists we look for the cat in the sanctuary at our synangogue, since he reasons one must exist in every temple.

This is a terrific book! I read it with my 9 year old daughter and 7 year old son. The story describes the personal integrity and strength of Dr. McClintock, both as a child and as a adult. It describes the difficulty of a girl in the 1920's who doesn't aspire to be a docile, married, domestic woman. As an adult, she is intellectually brilliant but has difficulty getting recognition for her discoveries. Thirty years after her most significant discovery, she receives a Nobel Prize for it. The books reads well, lets the reader feel the emotion of McClintock's difficulties AND gives an indepth enough explanation of her genetic research so my 9 year old could understand it and want to know more about it. It was not condescending - didn't oversimplify the concepts.

What a wonderful story! I read this to my 3.5 year old daughter, who like Charlotte (and myself when that age) loves to collect rocks, sticks, feathers and bugs and make wonderful mudpies, decorated with rocks, leaves and feathers....and also can be best friends with and nurture a well-loved stuffed animal or doll. She loves this book, Dahlia, just as much as I do : ) It brings the joy and wonderment of a childhold well spent to life!

Warm period watercolors bring to life this classic tale borrowed from Charles Dickens's story "The Magic Fish-Bone."

When Molly went to buy fish for dinner, she happened upon an old woman who told her that she would find a bone in her portion of dinner fish. The woman identified herself as Molly's Fairy Godmother, told her the bone would provide her with one magic wish, and then disappeared. Molly thought her imagination might be working over time, and went home.

Yet, that evening, sure enough, there was a bone left on Molly's plate. She kept the bone and contemplated everything for which she might wish but nothing seemed quite right.

What she really wants is eventually revealed, and with it a lesson in patience and rectitude for young readers.

The illustrations are delightful, and the moral worth remembering.

Gertrude the Possum has a potbelly. Her brother Otto does not and ridicules her for it. However when Otto goes out after her one night in search of food and is unsucessful, she is able to prove that she is courageous and is able to find food for the both of them. This book is delightfully different than most books with an overweight protogonist. Instead of Gertrude losing weight and becoming a "normal" sized possum, she is able to come into her own and prove herself. This book is fine proof that you need not be of "normal" weight to be successful in what you do.

I liked this film alot. The scenery and costumes were beautiful, and the acting was brilliant. I especially enjoyed the presence of Ermengarde and Lottie, two wonderful characters from the book who were not in the previous Shirely Temple version. However, I've noticed that the filmmakers borrowed some scenes from Shirley's film, especially toward the end. The climax of the film is very similar to Shirley's: The Indian servant sneaks into their room at night, decorates it all up nicely, and then later Miss Minchin comes in and blames the girls for stealing the stuff. She locks them in their rooms and calls the police. The girls attempt escape by going out on the ledge and into the window of the house next door. Sara makes it but Becky gets caught. Sara hides in the house (in the ST version she manages to get to the hospital) and, while still on the run, happens to find her father, who doesn't remember her. Just as she's about to be caught by the police, her father remembers her and comes to her rescue -- and all is happily ever after.
The original story ends differently. In the book, the Indian servant comes back night after night with new additions and good food, and the girls' newly decorated attic room is never discovered by anyone else. The old man who lives next door is actually a very kindhearted gentleman, as opposed to the bitter, cold man in the film who hardly gives Sara a second glance. He secretly sends Sara some fine, new clothing and Miss Minchin, who believes Sara has some wealthy, distant relative, allows her to wear them and begins treating her more decently, even allowing her to resume her lessons in the classroom. One night, the Indian servant's monkey escapes into Sara's room. She goes over to the house next door to return it, and starts a conversation with the old man. Upon telling him her name, she finds that he is a friend of her father's who has been looking for her for two years. Although Sara's father really does die in the book, the ending is still very happy. While I enjoyed this film, I think the directors should have stuck closer to the original story than the previous film version. Otherwise, great movie.

Title: A Little Princess
By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reviewed By: ...
Period: 4

There is a young girl named Sara. She is a very smart, kind and clever girl. Sara likes to read books and imagine things. Her father had to go off in India for a job so he left Sara at a school. They were a very rich family. Sara always wore the fancy clothes and she got everything she desired. At the school, everyone always looked at her. She made some friends but very few. A few Years later, her father dies. She becomes a poor, dirty maid who cleans at the school. She still has contact with her friends but very few. She met a neighbor that just moved in. It turns out that he is looking for her because he was a close friend of her dad. The neighbor doesn't know that Sara is the girl at the school next door.
Later on they meet, and Sara's life becomes a lot better.
I liked this book because it kept making me want to read on. I didn't want to stop. It was such a interesting book. I've never read a book like this one. It's so fun how she is very happy at first and then sad later on. " Nobody but Sara herself ever knew what had happened in her room after she had ran upstairs and locked the door. In fact, she herself scarcely remembered anything but that she walked up and down, saying over and over again to herself in a voice which did not seem her own: 'My Papa is dead! My papa is dead!'" That was the sad part.
This book always made me think about how nice of a girl Sara was and what a kind heart she had. I was crying when she had become a poor, maid after her father died and left no money. She always cared for others and was an excellent student at school. "'Ah, Madam, ' he said, ' there is not much I can teach her. She has not learned french; she IS french. He accent is exquisite." That is what her french teacher told The head mistress.(She is very smart)
My favorite part of the book is when she meets friends. Although she had kind ways to talk to people, she always met people in a strange way. For instance, when she met one of her friends, Lottie,it was when Lottie was crying. Lottie was screaming out that she had no mother. Sara never really met her mother. Then, Sara offered to be her adopted mother.I thought that was strange but nice of her. It stopped Lottie from crying so hard and she became very close friends with her. That is what I liked about the book.

I first read this book when I was ten years old. I still remember being transported from my Boise, Idaho sunroom, circa summer vacation 1976, back to the foggy gaslit streets of Victorian London. I don't believe that I moved off that sunroom couch until I had devoured this entire book. I loved the whole idea of A Little Princess -- the beautiful clothes (watered silk and petticoats!), the food (gruel!), and Sara's suffering in the garrett. Sara's life was so different from mine. Reading this book was like travelling to a different continent.

In some ways, this is a formula book for girls -- although it might be fair to say that this book invented the formula: plucky, mistreated orphan (mysteriously stripped of her fortune), who never loses hope and remains truly good transformed through a mysterious benefactor into a girl rich beyond her wildest dreams (see also: the Boxcar Children; Little Orphan Annie, etc).

Sara is an extremely engaging character. She is almost too good to be true -- kind to the servants, smarter than the headmistress, and able to tell stories that ensnare her listeners. Sara's stories enable her, first to make friends, and then later, to cope with the rather significant blows that life (and the author) deal her.

And, in the best of tradition of this type of story, Sara is rescued, her wealth is restored, she remains a perfectly lovely little girl, and the horrible headmistress who mistreated her gets her comeuppance. All is right with the world once again.