Phyllis McGinley is a great author. There are other fine books by her, but this is certainly the best. This book talks about all the things that you would find around a big city, especially New York. There are 27 poems including a parody on East Side West Side. Then they talk about different things from A to Z that you would see especially around a big city. For Example E is for Escalator, and S is for Subway. We checked it out of the library and really thought of not returning it but just paying for the book, but we didn't want to deny other children the joy of reading it. We just got back from New York City, and recited most of the book to them. We're going to try to get it with your search, but we don't think you will ever find a good copy. Most of them are probably falling apart from so much love and use. Please encourage the publisher to reprint it. The lessons it teaches are desperately needed in todays violent society. Through the pages children can visit a much better place.

All Around the Town by Phyllis McGinley takes us all over an anonymous, somewhat dark city-implicitly New York-making stops at each letter of the alphabet. One might guess that K is for kindergarten and S for subway; but would one guess that C is for circus and H for horse? Not in a city of the nineties. Still, thanks to the bright, impressionistic drawings-now watercolor, now charcoal-and its sweeping vistas of the city, the book is far from quaint. Rather, it's beautiful and optimistic. A small poem also accompanies each letter. Sadly, the title is out of print, and libraries are apparently getting rid of their copies, as we've found two library discards in the last year. Each had children's scribbles here and there-no surprise. We highly recommend the book for people of all ages, but especially New Yorkers.

This is a book I remembered fondly from my childhood, so I purchased a used copy for my two little ones. It is a simple, straightforward tale about a horse, Joey, who works in the city, drawing a vegetable cart for a vegetables salesman. Yet he to longs to live in the country and "kick up his heels." After he is sold to a country farmer he realizes that the city is where he belongs, and lucky for him, he ends up back there. A classic tale about appreciating what you have. My kids love hearing about Joey.

This is a wondeful book for little girls 6-10. The reading level is probably 3rd grade or so, but it is a great story any Mom would enjoy reading outloud. There is a nostalgia there that makes me swear I read it when I was 8. The pictures are beautiful and the story is worth reading many times. My girls love it and my son also listens to it when I read it.

This book, while written decades ago as the women's movement was in its infancy, still has much to offer today's woman. Ms. McGinley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, writes a book devoted to the "world's oldest (and most honorable) profession" that of housewife.

Divided into three sections, Wife, House and Family, the book covers these traditional concerns with chapters on higher education for women, thrift as a philosophy, children's literature, hospitality and keeping up with the Joneses.

A quick and enjoyable read, this book makes even the most devoted career-minded woman take a moment to savor the ways in which to improve one's home, meals and family life. This is one of those books that I pull out and reread over and over again when it is time to get some perspective on what's important in life. A truly wonderful book that while slightly dated--is never out of style!

I absolutely love Phyllis McGinley's "Saint-Watching." It is a book filled with humor, wit, and honesty. It is a treasure that should have a much larger reading audience. Even if this is not an area you have ever had an interest in, I recommend it most highly to you.

The saints used to be a big deal. Time has changed all that. Still, what is the meaning of the word "saint" in the present day? While the saints surely still serve as guides to a few, they have taken on an air of incomprehensibility for many others. Even most Christians have a hard time with what the term "saint" means.

All too often when we speak of saints in modern times, images of the self-hating joyless ascetic spring to mind. The only problem is that most of the people we call saints were the furthest thing from these images.

What Phyllis McGinley restores to the image of the saints is their basic humanity. These women and men were no different from you or I. Some were shockingly earthy. Some did indeed live among the clouds. All loved their Savior with great fervor.

The stories contained in "Saint-Watching" are insightful and very entertaining. I recommend them wholeheartedly to you. Find a copy of this book and see for yourself.

Your rating this book as for the toddler to preschool age group is like saying all movies with Linda Hunt are for children because Ms. Hunt happens to be short. This poetry collection retells 15 legends associated with the birth of the Christ Child. It inlcudes beautiful line drawings which would probably be lost on most pre-schoolers. (The drawings are present even in the paperback edition.) The poems themselves are readable and sometimes thought provoking. Some are amusing and some are song-like. A number of the pieces involve animals and their response to Jesus' birth. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a whimsical and upbeat meditation on Christmas. For children of all ages, as the saying goes. A great gift book if the publisher re-issues it. Used copies are available for both hardcover & paperback versions.