Napoli brings an old tale back from the grave. With a captiving story, full of anything a reader could want, she tells a tale with great power and force, that will rapture any reader forever.

Napoli's retelling of old fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, brought back magical memories from when I was a child. Jack is living a fairy tale dream, when disaster strikes what he and his family have worked for. Drought dries up the crops, father disappears amongst the clouds and finally, Flora, the girl of his dreams, thinks he has gone crazy. Crazy is just what Jack becomes! He must be, however, what sane person would trade a cow for a few colorful beans? When Jack returns, he finds anger in his mother and Flora, until he plants the beans, which turn into a stalk high in the sky. Amazingly, Jack finds more than riches to bring home on his journey above the clouds. Riches he and his family are sure to enjoy for life. This book was an excellent retelling of the ever-so-popular story of Jack and the Beanstalk. What I enjoyed so much about the book was how the characters were brought to life and how the language spoke to the adult side, whereas, the other version touches on the child. I blasted back into the past and enjoyed the tale all over again!!

This was a perfect example of the surely mesmerizing Napoli tales. Obviously adapted not from Disney, but from Grimms brothers' twisted tales of the fine line between love and insanity, Napoli never fails to leave the reader stunned. This, like always, was a five star read. Don't be fooled by the lack of pages, this is an obvious case of quality over quanity.

Sensitively written by Donna Jo Napoli, Flamingo Dreams is a color picturebook about a very serious theme -- coping with grief. Told from the point of view of a child losing a father to a slow bout with cancer, Flamingo Dreams is about accepting coming death, coping, and finding joy in life. With a marked art style by Cathie Felstead that is very similar to how young children themselves draw with crayons, Flamingo Dreams is a touching and heartfelt book highly recommended to help young people through great loss.

The little angel of friendship only needs a few more feathers before he has the daring high flying wings he has waited so long for, but the task he has been assigned to is harder than he thought. He has to help a young girl named Patricia make friends in the new city that she and her family have moved to. Patricia is deaf, so she has to use her hands to talk and the other kids are treating her like a baby because of it.

This the first book in a series of angel wings books. It was just published in 1999 and there are 13 books in the series already. Children will find it enjoying to read the book themselves. The black and white pictures help to show more what Patricia's life is like.

I found this book to be very heart warming. It helped me to realize that even though someone is different on the outside we are all the same on the inside.

Ashley @ MyShelf.Com

I liked the book because I like to think about the things in the book. I like the Angel talk and Angel thoughts. I like how the archangel helps the little angel to help the person in need of help. The little angels are each different in their own way. I only have 3 books but I for one love the books.

A good children's book follows the same rules of writing as a good adult book and even if the plot is not omplicated, it will keep you wanting to know how things turn out. That's the case with ON GUARD. It's about a young boy who wants to find a way to be special.

He thinks that becoming a good fencer will be the key for him. He finds out that fencing is more than an athletic activity and comes away with much more than the skills needed to face an opponent on the strip.

This book has a nice view of the main character's family life and displays some very good values for children. I read it to evaluate it for kids who attend fencing classes at a fencing salle with which I am associated and I thought it was a good one to suggest they read. It's a good story even if your child is not a fencer. The main theme is one to which anyone can relate.

Adam thinks his freckles can talk and help him with problems; but middle school introduces girl problems and one girl in particular - a soccer star who invades the boys-only team and changes their lives. His freckles don't offer easy solutions in this involving story.

Donna Jo Napoli writes tasty little morsels derived from myths, legends and fairy tales. Here the Grimm's HANSEL AND GRETEL provides her a magical springboard for a short, but pithy essay on the extraordinary strife the human spirit will endure for the sake of doing what's right. The witch here is not inherently evil, but is herself a victim of simple ignorance and substantial bad advice. As mentioned elsewhere, this reviewer always enjoys new and imaginative explanations for all those fairy tale elements which are as familiar as gingerbread houses and wicked stepmothers, but never are quite entirely elucidated in the classic tales. Napoli's take on the candy house, while entirely logical and appropriate for the story, is nevertheless a bit bizarre and unsettling, descriptors most apt for this short novel. As another reader said, you'll never again see this tale in quite the same manner. Napoli is generally considered a young adult author; this reviewer is not so certain that this would be much help for those average "troubled teen readers." Still, Napoli's style is like a thread-dense Egyptian cotton bedsheet for smoothness and comfort, even if, again like those bedclothes, it feels a bit chilly to the touch.

The Magic Circle, written by Donna Jo Napoli is a book filled with beauty and terror, and a sense of compassion. This is a story of a poor midwife in a midevil times, how is convinced by her neighbor, bala, to become a healer. It is a sort of twist off of the folktale "Hansel and Gretel ". Just like many other of the finest horror novels, this chilling tales looks at another side of the well-known story of two children and a candy house. Although I liked her great attention to detail and discription describing the physical features of the characters in the book. In the story a good healer is turned bad, because of greed and trickery by the devils. She then runs off to a fairytail forest where she lives alone as a witch. After 9 years suddenly two children show up unexpectedly. Despite all of her efforts the devils still seem to find out they are living with her. All in all i think this book was good and worth reading.

While the short length of this book may make some people believe that this is a book for children, quite far from it. A dark retelling of the traditional "Hansel and Gretel," Napoli shows true talent in the twists of this story. She manages to combine the beautiful with the evil, telling the story of a good woman who sells her soul to save her daughter, and then hides herself so she won't be forced to do horrible things to people. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under eleven...its very dark, but uplifting and touching, too.

Sirena was a wonderful book to read. It had many mind creating images in it. I enjoyed the book. It was a little boring in the beginning but then later it much more interesting. It was a mythical book and took plqace in the Aegean Sea. Sirena was a mermaid. She sang siren songs to make men adore her. Nymphes anbd mermaids sang the siren songs hoping one man would become each of their mates but it only lead the men to thier deaths. Some parts in the book I found very disgusting. Even though the book was fantasy mythical book, it still kept me tuned into the book the whole time. This book has a lot of emotional, romantic, and powerful scenes in it. I am glad that Donna Jo Napoli (the author) wrote such a Heart Warming book for teenagers and adults. I hope there are other books like Sirena. This book is truly a book worth buying and reading.

I am very pleased that I gave Donna Jo Napoli's books a second chance. I read Crazy Jack and, for whatever reason, did not like it very much the first time around. A few months later, I picked up Sirena and did not regret it one iota. "Sirena" combines the Greek myths with sirens, nymphs and mermaids as well as Odysseus and Troy. The mermaids are told that if they fall in love, they will become immortal. Sirena, one such mergirl, distances herself from the school of nymphs she normally follows and ends up falling for a wounded man who was on his way to the war. After a short while of tending to him without his knowing, she finally reveals her true nature to him and their relationship builds, slowly at first, then to a state in which they regard themselves as married. The book takes place over a few years so you do feel as if you get to know Sirena and fall into her normal daily pattern right along with her. This book is the embodiment not just of the Greek myths, but of the saying: "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it doesn't , it never was."

As an avid reader of Greek myths, I have tried this book and found it to be absolutely magnificent! This book is a mixture of a beautifully retold fairy-tale and love story.

Sirena is mermaid in ancient Greek mythology who is told that to gain immortality, she must make a human man fall in love with her. Being a hybrid of fish and human mortal, the only way she could achieve this was to use her siren voice. However, after a tragic event, Sirena decided to leave her mermaid school for a secluded, uninhabited island.

At that island, Sirena found love. Cast cruelly upon the island was a wounded man. He had suffered the wrath of Hera, and would have died had it not been for Sirena, who had taken it upon herself to save him.

To find out more, buy the book...I would recommend it very much, and I must say it is one of the best books I have ever read (and I've devoured a whole lot). In truth, if there were more stars to give, the book would deserve it. It really pulls (hard) on the heartstrings, and I even shed tears while reading this amazing story.

As you probably know, this book is a retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel.

When I read this, I was surprised at how original the story as told by Napoli really is. It isn't simply Rapunzel told with more detail than usual, it is an entirely new story, which uses the fairy tale Rapunzel only as a guideline. At the same time, the book keeps all the plot elements of the original Brothers Grimm version.

It fills the gaps of the original tale beautifully, by giving all the characters sympathetic personalities and motivations. In this rendition, all the people are likable and realistic. In the most striking example, Napoli removes the one-dimensional villain, originally an evil fairy or witch, and replaces her with Zel's overly-loving step-mother. There are also many new characters and situations, such as the town and townspeople. It's fascinating how this book adds so much to the original story but still keeps all its details, such as Rapunzel's tears healing the prince's eyes.

The only plot element of the original tale that no longer makes sense in Napoli's version is Rapunzel's imprisonment in the tower. There are some attempts made by her mother to explain why exactly she is imprisoning her beloved daughter, but in the end it still doesn't completely fit. Also, the issue of selling one's soul to the devil doesn't quite suit the atmosphere of this story. It seems like something taken from an entirely different genre of folk tale.

However, this book remains an amazing show of skill on the author's part. Some of the scenes are written so beautifully that they can bring tears even if they aren't remotely sad. The switch of narrators, back and forth from Zel to the prince to Zel's mother, gives a full perspective on the story, at the same time keeping everything interesting. This is a lovely book.

Many classic fairytales have been done and re-done, worked and re-worked Cinderella for example. Off the top of my head I could list five different ways I have seen or read Cinderella. But thought it's immense popularity is still strong, Rapunzel has never gotten the same recognition by authors looking to "redo" a classic fairy tale. And perhaps for the better. "Zel" is a wonderful tale, telling not a new version, but a more indepth version of the story of Rapunzel. The story is told from three different pointso of view, Zel's, her mothers and Konrad's. Napoli gracefully ages Zel and makes the smooth transition from being a child, to a young woman. This book has a touching and innocent love scene, nothing compared to what people see in the movies today. So with that in mind I would recomend it to people ages 12 and over, or maybe 10 and older, depending on what their parents allow. I loved this book when I read it two years ago, and it didn't "take away" my innocence, in any way shape or form. Happy reading.

Unlike Robin McKinley, who usually doesn't add much to the tale except length, Donna Jo Napoli retells fairy tales and legends perfectly: she doesn't stray too far from the original, and most importantly, she ADDS something to it. These characters have depth and you really sympathise with them. Who else could make the wicked witch so likable? The writing is exquisite and you won't be able to put this book down. Read it. One more thing: it's not for younger readers. There are possibly disturbing descriptions of what Zel does after she goes crazy from being locked up in the tower. I am 15 years old, and I would recommend this book to anyone from age 14 up. Also, make sure you don't miss Song of the Magdalene and The Magic Circle, by the same author. I haven't read Sirena yet, but I'm sure it's good too. I hope Donna Jo Napoli writes more books as wonderful as these.

This book is very good for the person who wants to follow the trail of a teenage Italian WWII captive. Roberto and his friends are taken by German soliders to a German labor camp. Samuelle a.k.a. Enzo and Roberto are caught stealing eggs and sent to a concentration camp in Ukraine. There Enzo dies from beatings and the cold. Roberto escapes from the camp and starts on a long, dangerous journey. In total Roberto estimates that he traveled somewhere between 220 to 230 kilo meters both on land and water. Although, Roberto isnt alone through this, first he befriends a young Ukrainian boy who helps him escape later from more trouble and an Italian soldier who he can finally talk to and be understood. This book really describes the horrific events of the holocaust and I recommend it if youcan stomach war subjects.

Stones in Water is a wonderful book about an epic adventure of a 13 year old boy named Roberto and his friend Samuele a.k.a Enzo. Roberto, his two brothers and his best friend Samuele are abducted by German soldiers at a movie theater. Roberto and Samuele are seperated from Roberto's two brothers and are sent off to a German work camp. Samuele is Jewish and changes his name to Enzo so the soldiers don't find out his awful secret and kill him. They go on like this going through many bittersweet moments until one night Enzo is brutally beaten by the other boys and dies during the night. After this horrible event Roberto decides to escape the Ukranian camp and tries to got back to his home is Venice, Italy. He meets up with a small boy and they try desperately try to survie in the harsh Ukranian winter. The ending is bittersweet. I absolutely LOVE this book and I recommend purchasing this book. It is an absolutely wonderful and moving book about the Holocaust, and it had me wondering...

Patrick Murphy
10/19/02

Title: Stones in Water
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
ISBN: 0-439-14122-2

Stones in Water Book Review

Roberto fell on his chest and rolled quickly to the right, kicking out his legs in defense. "Damn!" The soldier who stood over him pointed a pistol. And he was wearing an Italian uniform. Italian! He looked quickly back at the river, then at Roberto again. "What's wrong with you people?" he hissed. "That whack was hard enough to knock any normal person out. Is a bullet the only thing that stops you? Does everything have to be death? I am sick of you. I'm so sick of all of you." He shook his pistol as he talked, and he kept looking over his shoulder at the river every few seconds. The book Stones in Water is a historical fiction about an Italian boy named Roberto and his Jewish friend Samuele who was taken as a work prisoner in the WW2. This book takes place over all Western Europe mainly in Italy in Germany. The plot of the story is for Robert and Samuele to make it home safely back to Italy without any one finding out Samuele's Jewish or else they will not be able to tell about the adventure they had.

This book is a great book because the writing style left you hanging and wondering about what is going to happen next. I was constantly finding myself being sucked into the story; I was always fumbling though the pages to see what happened to Roberto and his friend. The book put a movie in my head; every time I had to put it down, I could not wait to pick it up again. The chapters end would make you want to pee your pants in anticipation to see what happened next, for example "then he held out his pistol and shot one of the boys in the head. Red spray fanned out in front of the boy as he fell forward." She would just not tell you what happened to the rest of them until the next chapter.

I would recommend this book to people of ages 11-14 and for people who like an exciting war book, and do not mind a lot of violence. If you like, action and adventure this is the book for you. This is a truly great novel about friendship, courage, and heart.