I really love this book ~ it is perfectly illustrated for children.

Peter Spier is one of my favorite illustrators of children's books. Here, his illustrations for three verses of Francis Scott Key's poem and song, "The Star-Spangled Banner," provide an excellent introduction for children to the meaning behind his famous lyrics.

I usually read this aloud to primary classes around a patriotic holidays. This year, because of our late school year, I read it for Flag Day. Since the words and historical setting are unfamiliar to most younger students, I have begun introducing this book with "The Story of 'The Star Spangled Banner,'" which can be found in "The Children's Book of America," edited by William J. Bennett. These two volumes make fine companions.

Even with this introduction, Key's text needs explaining, however with Spier's finely detailed illustrations, this task is much easier. Children love to examine the intricacies and they usually come up with some excellent comments and questions. On the page featuring Arlington National Cemetery, they ask about who died in battle, why some of the grave markers are stars instead of crosses, and why the flag is flying at half-mast.

Our copy of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is nearly worn out from heavy use. That should say something about the popularity of this excellent patriotic book.

our four-year-old claims this is his FAVORITE book. Perhaps it is because his mother chokes up and tears drop to her cheeks as she reads this book. We have found that this is an excellent read-aloud and has stretched our four-year-old's language skills in many ways. As if The Star Spangled Banner weren't moving enough, the arrangement of pictures flows along with the words of the song to create an image of heroics and bravery. In addition, little incidentals like soldiers feeding their horses and wet clothes hanging to dry aboard ship cause us to remember that these were real people fighting. Peter Spier mixes history with the present as he causes us to remember what these men were fighting for. We see schools and businesses, Arlington Cemetery and the Statue of Liberty, cities and rural farms, synagogues and churches, Amish buggies and a Friends Meeting House all as evidence of our cultural diversity. We also see that the fight continues as we witness a renovation project and scientists working in a lab. The first, second and fourth verses are illustrated. The pictures help the capable parent define words such as "conceals" and "discloses." In addition, the artwork contains so much information and story that conversation just develops as the book is read. There is an oustanding collection of Flags of America and a thorough history of the War of 1812. The words to all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner and the music by J Stafford Smith follow. Peter Spier is becoming our hero as the author of our favorite children's books.

Come in from the Cold vividly portrays the turmoil of life in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War. Teenagers are fascinated by the war, draft dodgers, and protesters, but there's not much good fiction for them. Come in from the Cold is excellent. Another good YA novel about the war, from a different perspective, is Ellen Emerson White's The Road Home.

I've owned this book for only a year and I've read it over 10 times. 17 year old Arden is an orpha. The only family she has is her 29 year old brother Scott.After a near collusion death her brother Scott starts acting depressed. A couple of weeks later he dissapears while snowmobiling, the same way he almost died. His body is never found but the town of Penoke believes he's dead...except Arden. She searches for him but never suceeds that winter. I won't tell you if she finds him or not but it is an awesome book. Arden is a hilarious character with her wit and sarcasm.My favorite book!

Arden is a very creative and smart individual. Her brother Scott has been raising her since their parents were in a plane crash. Scott and Arden's relationship is just like any other brother and sister's but not only is Scott a brother to her, but he's a father figure too. I recall one time when he tried to explain her name, "Arden can't you wait. I mean didn't you want to know why mom chose to call you Arden?" Everything seems to be going well with Scott. He's got a girlfriend who he seems to be happy with, and he has his snowmobile. But he hasn't convinced Arden that he is happy with his life. One morning Arden wakes up for school and notices that her brother hasn't came home. A day later she gets worried because her brother still hasn't shown up. She calls her brother's friend,Al Walker, who is also a policeman. He calls for a search and a few days later they find Scott's snowmobile by a creek just a few miles away from their house. Arden couldn't believe it, no he couldn't be dead. Everybody assumes that Scott is dead, except for one person... Arden. She spends the next few months searching for her brother. The big question is... Did Scott really die or did he just fake his death? Read the book to find out! I believe that young teens will enjoy this book because the charaters are very real to me. The relationships between the characters are easy to relate to.

This book was really good. I read it on recommendation of a friend, and all I could do after I started was read. I liked it a lot. After I finished I just kept going back and reading over some of the best parts, over and over. It was really good!

The story is about a teenager named Arden who lives with her brother. Both of her parents died when she was young, so he takes care of her. One day he gets in a snow machineing accident, which really scares him. A week later when his snow machine, and other things are found in the river, she knows he is dead. Or is he? No one beleives her, thinking it's brought on by depression, as she starts to search for her missing brother. This book was captivating, a story like no other. I would DEFINATELY recommend it.

This was a really good book although it was a little slow at times. The story line was good and the characters were very well thought out. I would recommend it for older readers.

Border Baker is a lot like teenagers I've known. Sometimes he wishes his family would just disappear; his friends are the ones who really matter to him. When his father moves him across the country to a tiny Minnesota town, Border has to come to terms with his family and what he really wants. That sounds serious, and some of this book, set during the Gulf War, is serious. It's also very real and often funny.

I went to a writers conference and met the author, Marsha Qualey, and when she talked about this book, it persauded me to buy it. When Kelly, a recovering heroin addict meets Prince Tomas, they spend a crazy day together. First its all for a story, for her aunt Kit, delivering a book to a recording artist who made her mad, but in the elevator she meets Prince Tomas, who is here for peace talks. They run from security guards and spend a night on the town. Where, Tomas tells Kelly about his sister, who is hurt from a mission trip, and forces Kelly to go in depth of her addiction. He brings up the pain and hurt she faced when family comes up. She almost killed her baby sister when she was on heroin because there was a fire and she was stoned and didn't know what was happening. What will happen when the morning comes?

This book is poorly plotted, confusing, and the story seems unoriginal, however, i did enjoy reading "Thin ice" by this author.

Close To A Killer was a exciting book for people who like murer mystery books. In the book Barrie's mother is an ex-convict who decided to create a hair salon to get herself back on her feet. She decided to do this with other ex-convicts that were sentenced for manslaughter.
Later in the book a number of murders start to pop up in the city of Dakota. They link all the murders to Killer Looks the hair salon. People in the city start to acuse the ex-cons of the hair salon.
This book was definately a book that I would recommend to a friend. It has lots of key elements such as mystery, love, and other anonamous suprises. This book is definetely a book for young adults and adults alike.
The plot was very different then most of the books that I have read before. It's like a fiction story that could be true sometime in the future. If you seem to like this book write a reveiw about it and tell me waht you think about this book.
Also if you are a kid doing this for your english project it is a wonderful book to do a report on.

Barrie's mom, Daria, owns a hair salon called Killer Looks. One of the reasons its called that is because all of the stylists happen to be women convicted of murder. When the husband of one of their regular costumers is shot, the police of course investigate Killer Looks. Barrie works there part time, keeping track of appointments and such. On her way home she often stops by a used book shop, An Open Book, that the friendly old people Willa and Eric own. They know Barrie and give her old photos that Eric finds in flea markets. Barrie likes to write stories about them. She wonders what those people's lives were like. One night at the store she meets the former druggie Wylie. A short while later another person is killed. This time it was a Killer Looks regular. The salon starts loosing buisness and people start thinking one of the ex-cons who works there is the killer. Barrie doesn't know what to think. But then when she gets very involved with it all. Dangerously involved...

This is one of the best mysteries I've read. It was impossible to guess the killer and many little things made the book more than just a mystery that Barrie has to solve. And it isn't a book where the heroine takes it all into her own hands and solves everything. Barrie's character is a believable person, and this book was well done.

Qualey's young adult novel will appeal to young adult readers for two reasons: the love story between the Native American youth and his Euro-American sweetheart and the spearfishing controversy involving the two ethnic groups. The main characters are appealing, their relationship grows out of friendship rather than passion. They are sufficiently misunderstood to win over adolescents. Descriptions of Northern Wisconsin culture are accurate. The annual controversial shouting matches at the piers when the Native Americans exercise their treaty right to spearfish are tamed down to give the reader a sense of balance. The result is a novel which gives the heartstrings a twang and the brain a nudge.