Do you remember being told as a child that some relatives (whom you didn't really recall) were coming to visit? If so, this book will evoke all of the trepidition and excitement of those days . . . not to mention the scattered inconveniences you experienced, that were quickly forgotten in oceans of warm acceptance.

The strength of the book is in its illustrations, which warmly capture emotional closeness, like being tucked into bed by your Mom after a wonderful but tiring day. For those illustrations, The Relatives Came won a Caldecott Honor Award in 1986 that is well deserved.

The images are very happy, soft and fuzzy all at the same time. The illustrations look as though they were produced with pastel pencils using very fine points, constantly sharpened. With rounded faces and bodies, everyone seems very open and comfortable in hospitable surroundings. I have rarely seen a book that sets a better illustrated tone for a friendly family gathering. It caused me to recall my favorite family reunions.

The story is not as strong as the illustrations, but is more than adequate. One part of the family lives in Virginia and is leaving before the grapes are ready to be picked. They get up at 4 a.m. and drive straight through in a food and luggage packed station wagon. They leave the same way, weeks later, after having spent a happy summer camping inside the relative's house they visit. The initial nervousness and homesickness give way to missing their relatives, based on the happy times they share together that summer. The solution? Do it again next summer!

The story is designed to pick up on the physical aspects of closeness, and use those to convey a connection to emotional closeness. For people who are kinesthetically oriented, this story will be gripping and realistic. For people who are visual, the story's illustrations will provide happy connections and experiences. For those who are auditory, the sound of breathing is described to extend the senses in that direction.

The story's strength is in drawing on happy memories of having been in the middle of such family visits. For children without such experiences, the book will seem abstract and disconnected. I suggest telling a story about experiences in your family that are like the one here. That will help your child make the connection to the themes expressed here.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the story is to act out the physical actions and sounds with your child. You can take turns being one or the other part of the family.

Does your family have opportunities for extended closeness with relataives? If you don't, hopefully this book will cause you to consider making that happen. That will be one of the finest inheritances you can provide your children, a connection to deep wells of extended family love and acceptance.

Hug your family whenever you can!

This children's book is a joyous and hilarious visit by a very large family to relatives in another State. Although everything gets very hectic, when the relatives finally leave, everyone seems to miss the visitors right away and already are looking forward to the next visit. I think that every family can relate to this story. The book was illustrated by Stephen Gammell and it was a 1986 Caldecott Honor book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

My favorite part of the story is when they traveled and they saw strange houses and bigger mountains. This part reminds me of when I was traveling to my cousin's house. I saw a baseball field and townhouse. It was beautiful too.

"Every Living Thing," by Cynthia Rylant, is a collection of 12 short stories. Although different characters appear in each tale, the collection as a whole is unified by style and by theme. Each story deals with an encounter or ongoing relationship between a human being and one or more non-human animals. Since the book is only 81 pages long, each tale is quite brief.

This is a gentle, moving book. Rylant has a gift for capturing resonant details. She also writes with great compassion for both her human and non-human characters. Her non-human characters come in many different species: a turtle, dogs, a parrot, squirrels, and more. Her human characters are also diverse: both adults and children, both male and female. I found one of the most memorable characters to be an alcoholic wartime veteran (from "Drying Out").

My overall favorite story in the collection, "A Pet," is about a girl who becomes the owner of a blind old goldfish. I would recommend this book especially to those interested in the short story as a literary form and to those interested in literature about animals. If you like this book, I would also recommend Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's novel "Shiloh."

This may be the last in the series, but was my first read. Each chapter is a minnie story depicted in the rolling hills of Scotland. The humble vet brings his interesting account of his practice to the reader in such a way that you cannot put the book down. That's not just a cliche, either. It IS a very good book.

Wonderful stories!! Life as it is!! Having read these stories aloud to adults in nursing homes on numerous occassion and found them to satisfy our need to hear good resolves, we can all recommend this good read. "A Bad Road for Cats", one of the favorites, that hits the hard realities of human relationships and good resolves in our dealing with others when things aren't right. Stories of people finding there way through realationships with others and the place that animals play in our lives to make bridges. Read them! You will love them if you love people and animals. Write more of these Cynthia!

This little gem can be read in one fascinating sitting; in fact, it just begs to be read aloud. But read this one slowly--to savor the salty smell of the ocean off British Canada and to
listen to the crashing surf and wheeling seagulls. One must look intently to notice the glistening droplets on a magical gift from the sea.

Ten-year-old Daniel, an orphan from the mainland, lives on a rustic islet with his taciturn Grandfather. They boy longs for companions his own age, but must rely on his ingenuity, compassion for living things and his affinity with Nature to provide stimulation for the lonely hours. Yet such primitive conditions (no TV, phones or even horses) are ideal to
inspire keen observations along the shoreline. When he spies a mermaid's comb--obvious at first glance that such it is--his drab existence is changed forever. This is a wonderful book of fantasy and personal growth to share with kids, from 7-70!

Are you looking for a interesting mystery? You should choose the Islander.I am a fifth grade student, I read this book for a mystery book report. I loved it. It's about a boy named Daniel and he lives on an island. A sea otter throws him a shell with a key inside.He finds out it a mermaids but he doesn't know what it opens.If you are interested and want to know how it ends read the book.Cynthia Rylant does a great job leaving you hanging at the end of each chapter. Hope you like it.

I'm in 7th grade with a 13+ reading level, but my teacher told me this would be a good book to read, so I did. I have to say I loved it. You should read it too! Daniel is such a great charachter! Cynthia Rylant describes everything so realisically, that you can picture it easily. You should read this book! It's a simple book, with a strong message!

Although the picture on the cover is of a soldier, this is far from a "traditional" war novel. While World War II is the turning point of the main character, John's, life, comparitively little of the book deals with John's life as a soldier. Instead, the book focuses on the period between Pearl Harbor (when John is 17), and when John turns 18 and can enlist. The author paints an excellent picure of John as a young man doing normal, ordinary things. He meets a girl (who is against the war), falls in love with her and makes plans of the future, when he is discharged. THe war, however, changes John forever; he is not changed because of a physical wound or anything similar, but in ways I think it's best to let Cynthia Rylant explain.

Have I given away too much of the story? I don't think so. Like "Romeo and Juliet," the joy in this book is not the suspense that comes with the unfolding of the plot, but rather the prose and feelings evoked by the author. Highly recomended!

I can't count the number of times I've read "I Had Seen Castles" since I first picked it up at age 14. For a confused adolescent or a pondering adult, the emotional tale of John Dante strikes a beautiful chord. The book is not long. But its simplicity and honest detail of conflict strikes one powerfully. As a teenager, Dante's remembrances of love, conflict and war introduced me to the ethically and emotionally complicated world of adulthood. His solemn tone makes real the cold realities of obligation and pain and regret. He tells of going to a war that his first love, Ginny, insists will destroy him and it turns out Ginny (a character I've been in love with since I first read the 30 or so small pages that describe her) is right. The story is without flair, and it sounds as if it was plainly spoken by a dejected old man. But the simple words strike the reader powerfully as Rylant taps into some truths about war and life that can bring early wisdom to sensitive youngsters.

The book I Had Seen Castles is probably one of the best books i've ever read. The author definitely gave you a feelin that you were right there with the characters. This short novel is waht i will absolutely call good literature.

Cynthia Rylant was giving he inside message of the war. She made it feel like the main caharacter, John, took your hand and brought you through a journey of his life in the 1940's. How he grew up in Pittsburgh, to his first love, and to the war. This book may not be that long, but youn get very descriptives visions of the war. The main characters said while he was in war, " The pictures in Life may have shown suffereing and death to the people back home, but they never showed dismemberment." This book takes you farther than what you see in the news and books, it takes you to the point you get a chill down your spine.

When my friend gave me this bok, i thought it was going to be another boring war book, but i was way off. This is definately a book you never want to stop reading. The character seem so real and their emotions are so intense. You actually feel for the characters, thei pain, suffereing, and loss. I never would expect such a short novel would be this good. I would definately recomend this to anyone whoe wants to read a book that isn't too long, and tos oembody who never knew what war was beyond Life and Time magazine.

Who doesn't love Cynthia Rylant? I've been a fan of Ms. Rylant's since I discovered her funny/sweet Henry & Mudge series. I borrowed this charmingly illustrated book from the library, and my six-year-old daughter loved it so much we had to order our own copy once the library' book had to be returned. The four short stories contained in this book are tenderly written odes to a family life well-lived in a little white house in the country, told from the perspective of the youngest boy, Willie Meadows. The stories are well-written and contain nothing objectionable. This is a book that will comfort children, and that is safe to read to even the most anxious child.

Cynthia Rylant can bring a family to life with just a few simple words. The Meadow family is warm and loving without being sugary-sweet. The stories in this book are delightful and Rylant's prose is wonderful. The watercolor illustrations are a perfect complement to the text. As a mother, I liked the Mother's Day story best, but all 4 of the stories, which correspond with the 4 seasons, had something special. This would be a perfect book to read aloud to children 4-6, or for children 7-9 to read to themselves. I'm a fan of all of Rylant's work. This is one of my favorites.

It was a very good book. I like the characters because they are pretty and it is fun to hear their thoughts. The characters have good ideas. I also like books with pictures, they help me figure out what is going on in the story and this book has several pictures. I really liked the Junie B. Jones books and was looking for other books to read. I finally found the Cobble Street Cousins series and really enjoy them.

I like this book because I like its' newspaper. It showed me how Lily Rosie and Tess put a newspaper together. It's a lot like the newsletter than Morgan and Julia and I write.

Bunny Brown spends a Sunday painting his friend Jack Jones, who has trouble sitting still. After that fun is over, Mr. Paris shows up needing help from the High-Rise Private Eyes. This their fourth case they learn that every morning Mr. Paris ties balloons outside his toy store every morning. But every Friday the balloons disappear. Once again Cynthia Rylant has provided young readers with an introduction to the joys of deductive reasoning and once again, while I am not sure that kids will actually figure out the clues, they will be able to look back and see how Rylant laid them all out to point them in the right direction. While the title really gives a bit too much away, I really like the way the High-Rise Private Eyes not only solve the case, but come up with a neat way of solving the problem. This series is a nice way of introducing youngsters to the fun of mystery stories.

Both our boys, ages 7 and 4, just ADORE this book! We are huge fans of her Poppleton series and just can't get enough of her perfect timing and humor. We've read this one at least 20 times already and they laugh over and over again at Jack's antics and Bunny's exasperation with him. If you're looking for a book to keep several kids of different ages amused, this is IT.

Although I usually love Ms. Ryland's work (this is the 5th book by the author I have) and the illustrations are warm, colorful, and inspiring, I felt the story to be not very easy for children to understand and not as particularly uplifting as some of her other works. I was a little disappointed but will continue to read it to my children as they age and see if they catch on.

Title: Scarecrow
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Favorite Characters: scarecrow, birds

This story tells about a scarecrows life from a scarecrow's point of view. It begins with the scarecrow being made in the spring and the garden is being planted. The birds love to hang around on his arms and talk all day. He goes through summer, fall, and all he knows is that plants are growing up all around him.
This book shows how a scarecrow's life is peaceful and relaxing. It also shows the seasons and what happens during those seasons. It's not ever day you get to read about a scarecrow and it's life, so I recommend you read this book.

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From an adult viewpoint, I thought the book was "very nice", but my child fell in love with this book. I am rating it as he would rate it. After all, the book is intended for children. He came home from school one day to describe a wonderful story that their teacher had read to them. He said it was so special because the words were soft and pleasing. This is a first! He also loved the pictures. So,I couldn't resist getting him a copy for Christmas.

This is definitely a book to get for the pictures. Warm and whimsical drawings make up the bulk of this oversized picture book. Kids can follow a brother and sister through the different rooms of a rather busy household--there are different times of day, different seasons of the year, different family members present, and definitely a lot of THINGS (some of them quite wacky) scattered everywhere. Among them are a couple of stuffed animals that follow the kids everywhere they go (one is a winged donkey?!!?). It's almost like a "Where's Waldo?" as you search for them each time you turn the page. The illustrations definitely portray a well-lived-in house that is a ton of fun to explore.

On the down side, the text is nothing to go crazy over. To me it sounds like someone talking off the top of their head--not well-crafted prose, but momentary thoughts. It's almost as if the book was not meant to have words--the adult is just supposed to make up their own story as the kid looks at the pictures--but they included words just in case the adult couldn't think of anything to say. Sometimes the words don't even match the pictures--for the life of me I can't find the dinosaur-shaped sponge anywhere in the bathroom!

That aside, this is a really fun picture book on a unique subject --perfect for some quiet one-on-one exploration with your child.

"There are many kinds of houses in the world, from little cottages to big mansions, from farmhouses to bungalows. But no matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful, what happens in each room that makes it marvelous. It is what the house means to those who live there. Let's walk through. Let's see the wonderful things about a house." And with an invitation like that, who could resist. Join author, Cynthia Rylant, and illustrator, Wendy Anderson Halperin, as they take the reader on a room by room tour of their house. From the front porch to the attic, and all the rooms in between, this dynamic duo investigates each room, detailing all the special things that belong there, and all the wonderful things you might do. Ms Rylant's gentle, lyrical prose is rich in imagery and magic. But it's Ms Halperin's colorful, busy, and expressive artwork that really makes this picture book stand out and sparkle, and she spares no detail in each fun-filled, joyous, cluttered picture. Young and old, alike, will linger over each two page spread, always finding something new and clever every time they open the book and explore a room. Perfect for preschoolers, Let's Go Home is a cozy and engaging read-aloud that's sure to open interesting discussions about your own home and what makes it unique and special. "Happy living."