Catherine Daly-Weir has done an excellent job of presenting a general and yet fairly complete introduction to Heraldry. The illustrations are beautiful and attractive. Obviusly written for the younger reader, adults will enjoy just as well. If you are working on a club/class project and need to creat a Coat of Arms, this book and Rosemary Chorzempa's "Design Your Own Coat of Arms" are all you need! You will have no trouble creating your own Coat of Arms expecially with the plastic stencil which is included in the book. A must have!

This book is written for a younger audience than, say Rosemary Chorzempa's Design Your Own Coat of Arms. While there might not be as much information included, what is included is presented very well. There are full-color drawings that will appeal to kids (and adults, for that matter!) and the explanations are clear and understandable. But truly the best thing about the book is the stencil. It includes many of the common images found on historical Coat of Arms. More importantly, the stencil is made from plastic, so it will withstand many tracings. Many times a stencil included with a book is made of heavy-duty paper or cardstock, but those just don't hold up to repeated use. This stencil is made of see-through green-tinted plastic, so it is easy to see exactly where to place the image you are tracing.

This is a wonderful educational book, where the child can actually create his/her own coat of arms using the stencils in the back. The illustrations are also vibrant and beautiful!

I could not believe my 7-year-old son's reaction to this book. We've read a lot of books together, but I've never seen him act like this before. I read Dragon Breath to him. Then, for the FIRST time ever, he picked it up and read it himself. Again and again! I loved seeing the beginning of a love for reading. Now if I can just find other books that he loves as much...

This is the type of book kids love to read! It is a little spooky and a great adventure. My 7 year old son really enjoyed it. He reads it over and over again. The "Eek! Stories to make you Shriek" series is a very good way to create an interest in reading to your child.

I bought this book to read to my 4 year old. He LOVED it. It has just the right amount of suspense and "scare" to capture the imagination but won't cause nightmares.

Nina, Nina Star Ballerina is a Great book for little girls it is an awesome way to get them to start to read.
I'm 12 and I read long thick novels but when I was little my mom read me this book and I fell in love with it because I thought Jane O'Connor(the author)had writen the book for me! I thought this because I was taking ballet like Nina (the main character of this story)and my name is Nina too!!
After my mom read me this book the first time I wanted to be more independent and start reading it by myself. And so I did.
I suggest that all or most mothers should have their daughters try to read this. I think that they would like it if they like dance.

My 5 year-old daughter and my 3 year-old son both enjoyed my reading this book to them. My son was glad there was a boy in the dance class and my daughter was empathetic about the story line. We played the recognize-one-word game while reading. The kids learned the word "mom" and were able to see other words by memory, too. I would reccommend this book to first readers also since the words are simple and easy to read.

This book illustrates how one might get trapped in an untruthful situation. Nina's friends think she is the star of the show when she is only one of several dancers portraying stars. She allows them to think she's the star because she likes the attention. When there is the possibility that one of her friends will attend the performance, Nina has second thought about the deception. She considers getting excused from the show because of a feigned sore leg. Then, confessing to her mother, she gets the good advice to tell her friend the truth. This is accepted and the dance performance goes on with her friend and her mother in the audience.

My grand daughter is facing her first dance recital and is very nervous about it. This book fascinated her, I read it to her three times, and hopefully she will now participate in her recital.

I got this book as a birthday present because I like to garden. I read this book over the summer in about one and a half weeks by reading for about an hour each morning. I learned lots of new stuff about all kinds of plants that I didn't know before. The short sections which are only about 4 pages long make this easy to read whenever you need too. This is a great book for all of you gardeners!

A friend bought me this book as a joke but I read it and found it very good. I have been a gardener my whole life but it is still a nice read and can teach even the gardener a few new techniques. It has a very nice list of very easy to care for plants great for those that are beginners and afraid of killing everything.

Easy readers are tough to write, and this one is satisfying on just about every level -- funny and exciting, clever, a plot that works. Our two daughters learned to read with it, and now our son is, too.

Though the book is listed as being for ages 4-8, we bought the book for my then 2-year-old son and it quickly became his favorite bedtime book. The story is adorable, as are the illustrations - and it's overriding message that it's okay to be different and that it's what's inside that counts - is very happy and positive. Even before he can actually read the words, my son has memorized the text, and actually quotes it back, complete with his own sound effects. It's a joy to read, and a book I highly recommend to all parents with toddlers!

I think Slime Time is a cartoon. Its worth1 point and it's a very good book. Two boys win a game show called SLIME TIME His skateboard it got bad over night. The game was on TV. The sisters did not win the game. It's a silly book so if you like a silly book here's the one for you. Getting dunked in chocolate sauce and spread with feathers is for the losing team . Its is a wacky fun filled book.

I read this book in Elementary School and still remember how good it was! It is written very well and deals with a unique subject, two friends and a "Nickelodeon-type" game show. A toy line called "Dino-Tots" (or something like that) is also featured in this book, with a reoccurring jingle that I'm sure you'll memorize before the end of the book. I wish that this book would go back in print so that I could buy a copy of my own. I also hope that there will be a sequel in the future!

With all of the misinformation surrounding the subject of homosexuality, it is often hard for young people to get accurate information on this topic, especially if they don't know anyone gay and/or their parents are homophobic. This situation is tragic, I believe, because of all of the prejudice surrounding gays and lesbians. How can we possibly begin to debunk our ancestors' deep-seated hatred against homosexuals so that it isn't passed on to future generations? Eric Marcus has the answer -- education. In his book "What if Someone I Know is Gay?", Marcus answers some common questions about homosexuality and the lives of gays and lesbians. These questions include information on the basics of homosexuality, family, friends, religion, and school. The goal of Marcus's book, which follows up on the success of its adult version called "Is It A Choice?", is to help young people understand that gays and lesbians aren't very different from heterosexuals and, therefore, shouldn't be discriminated against. The book is well-written, articulate, informative, objective, and easy to follow. The questions that Marcus answers come from actual submissions by preteens and teenagers across the country. I believe that this book contains information that all young people need to know. With this new information, a new generation of leaders will begin to see homosexuals as humans deserving of equal rights and respect, not as inhuman animals that deserve to be mocked, ridiculed, and subjugated. I therefore recommend "What if Someone I Know is Gay?" to all young people and to all groups and organizations that serve young people (schools, churches, etc.). If this book can help just one person come to a more compassionate understanding of homosexuality, it will be an enormous success.

Eric Marcus has written this wonderful book for middle and early high school kids about homosexuality. Written in a question and answer format in larger print, this book tells the TRUTH to kids who might be questioning their sexuality, or might have a gay friend or family member, or are bigoted about gays. For older kids and adults, read Eric's book, "Is It a Choice?" It covers the same territory but in greater depth.

Homosexuality is usually not discussed at a middle school level, although children can sense sexual identity differences at this age between themselves and others. This often leads to shunning, confusion, prejudice, bullying, harassment and beatings. Some gay kids even have urine and feces thrown at them or are spit upon. If you condone or excuse this behavior you become part of the problem of gay harassment and hateful behavior.

The best way to avoid negative, bigoted behavior toward gays is to be proactive: buy this book for your child, your church, school, and home library. Homosexuality is a normal, natural expression of human sexuality. Let's take the lid off the pressure cooker of bigotry and become lesbigay advocates for all children everywhere. All straight, gay and questioning kids need this book's truth desperately. I highly recommend it as an educator and Lutheran church librarian.

I work at a public library in the kids' dept., so when I saw another alphabet book I almost passed it by, but the picture on the front of the book of an alligator eating a salad really piqued my curiosity. "A is for Salad??? What???" I said, and had to open the book to see what was going on. I didn't just look at a page or two, but had to read through the whole thing - it was just so cute and had me smiling as I figured out what each letter REALLY stands for. Great to get kids thinking while having fun, each picture depicts an animal beginning with the featured letter engaged in some activity. For example, an alligator is eating a salad. There are a few animals, such as the iguana and narwhal, which have helpful clues as to the animals' identities hidden in the pictures. Kids may need help to identify the jellyfish and vulture, though.

This book is for all the adults who secretly watch Sesame Street and read Shel Silverstein. More clearly for kids and less cynical than Uncle Shelby's ABZ's but just as funny. The illustrations are great, giving the animals wonderful personality. I laugh every time I see this book.

A is for Salad, by Mike Lester, is a wonderful book! My children (ages 7 and 5) love the humor, and so do I. It's a fun break from the plethora of alphabet books on the market. We laugh at the irony. We are buying this book to share with my older daughter's class - I think it will fast become a favorite.

I found this to be a great book for any dancer or child that feel that they are not as good or won't shine as much as someone else might. Nina felt that her mother wouldn't notice her on stage that she would blend in with the other children. The book teaches us to do our personal best and we will all shine to whomever is watching us!!!!!

I like this book because I wanted to be a ballerina. It told me what ballerina's do and how they dress, and what types of dancing they can do.

This is a wonderful book for any child who feels they just blend in,either in dance or life itself. It teaches them that when you do your best, you will be noticed for what you can do. Your personal best will let you shine to those who love you. Never let other people intimidate you.

I think this book was very comical. It shows how horrible camp can be when bad things keep on happening to you like getting poison ivy. I really did enjoy this book because I go to camp every year and to me it's kind of boring, but this book taught me how I can just learn to get the best out of it. The best part of the book to my opinion was when at the end Roberta and Abby sign some kind of pledge to their friendship. This shows how much they enjoyed their company and how much friends should care for each other. I think O'Connor really deserves the highest award for her magnificent job on this book. I also like the way she put all of her childhood experiences in the events because it really made it enjoyable for some kids who like adventure.

Years later, thinking it was out of print, I came across a copy in an airport bookshop. It's still a great read. The plot is simple - "(mis)adventures at summer camp" - but the characters and situations are very entertaining. I'd especially recommend it to fans of Lois Lowry's "Anastasia" series, and vice versa.

This book is so good, I swear I've read it, like 1 million times! You really need to read this book, You'll feel like you're experiencing Abby's camp stories right along wiht her! Read it, it's my favorite book.