This wonderful little book tells the story of Hannah the Hippo, who wishes to be something she is not, until she finally discovers that she is perfect just the way she is. The concept is not new, but it is presented in a charming story that young children enjoy and can relate to. A valuable lesson that we all should learn.

Rather than a straight biography, this excellently compiled volume of writings and photos (many reproduced here for the first time) is an eloquent tribute to a truly great artist who graced the stage of the Metropolitan during the not-too-distant past when "the Met" really did hold the standard of greatness. One very amusing photo taken in Pons' dressing room shows her entertaining a group of young students, one of which is an enthralled Bernie Schwartz (later known as Tony Curtis). Highly recommended.

This is a fine thematic unit based upon myths and fables. It is challenging and rigorous. Students first take a pre-test so that the teacher can find out what students already know about mythology in general. After that, they are introduced to Greek mythology and given its context in time. Students learn about the Greek and Roman gods. Familiar myths such as Arachne, Echo and Narcissus, Phaethon, Io, Pegasus, Pygmalion, Icarus and more are presented to the students along with a plethora of extension activities to build upon language and vocabulary and higher level thinking. The four focus areas of this unit are vocabulary, literal comprehension, interpretive comprehension and literary terms.

Critical thinking activities are presented: making inferences, characterization, compare/contrast, analogies, and distinguishing multiple meanings.

Interspersed throughout the unit are creative writing activities, hands-on games, artistic activities, mazes, crosswords, debate topics, dictionary and research activities and more.

There is a reproducible reading skills checklist provided at the end of the book for the teacher's convenience.

This is an excellent resource for teachers who want to provide students not only with cultural and historical material, but also want to incorporate serious language and thinking skills into the curriculum.

An excellent bibliography is provided which includes reading material of varying skill level. There is also an answer key.

This book is wonderful. It is not just paperback, it is SOFTback. My son who is 9 mos. loves to feel it, play with the lamb used for a bookmark and put it in his mouth! There are very few words which gives you opportunity to TELL the story. I highly recommend it.

This book is short and to the point but gives great info. It has forms which can be copied for all areas of small businesses. Better than most books on this subject and costs less.

The book's format is the first good thing about it. I had a bad breastfeeding experience with my first child, who is now 3. I ordered the audiobook while pregnant and listened to it in the car on the way to work. Afterwards, I can listen to it during a feeding to help decipher baby's body language. The next best thing is Ms. Morgan's emphasis on becoming a partner with your baby rather than remaining in the teaching role. This helped me not to try to control the breastfeeding sessions, letting them be baby-led, which made baby and me both happier, resulting in improved feedings and milk supply. I would recommend this book to everyone and not just first-time mothers!

My favorite part ot the book was when it talked about her life and what it was like to live on a farm without electrisity,plumbing and without a lot more. I would like to recconend this book to any body who likes books that are extremely descriptive. I really enjoyed this book and I hope that you do to.

This is the Ramona book where all the important things happen: birth of a little sister, death of a cat, wedding of an aunt. As far as I know, this is the last book in the Ramona series, but it repeats a pattern from the first one, Beezus and Ramona (the only book from the older sister's viewpoint). Beezus had her friend Henry, and was pestered by Ramona and her friend Howie. Now Ramona wants to play with Howie, but his sister Willa Jean (who also has a friend, Bruce) annoys her. I think that in this book, Ramona becomes an older sister, not only because of Roberta's birth, but also because of her problems with Willa Jean. She goes through serious things, and she's not always seen as a pesky little sister anymore. Perhaps the reason Beverly Cleary didn't write any more books about her is because in this one, her situation changes so much that she would never have the same kinds of adventures and feelings as before. This book means the end of the series, but also the end of being "a dumb stupid little sister" for Ramona. The title might mean something like this.

We are the students of Mrs. Chaya's Fourth Grade Class, and we would like to say that we enjoyed the book tremendously. We compared and contrasted Ramona and her sister, Beatrice, and we realized that as Ramona is growing up, differences with her sister are lessening. Both are finding more in common, such as sharing the loss of Picky-Picky,disliking Uncle Hobart, and worrying about their mother. Being together after school allowed the girls to work out their differences such as the name-calling episode where Ramona calls Beazus , PizzaFace!!! This misunderstanding happens close to the time of the cat's death but also serves as a stressbuster for both. The sisters come to realize they really do care about one another. Being in a wedding together also makes everyong realize that the girls are growing up and on the way to being lifelong friends. A new baby sister is born giving the girls another reason to be united.

Beverly Cleary has always had a grasp on family dynamics when writing her beloved children's books. In this installment, Ramona Quimby and company face major changes. They include the kinds of situations that are commonplace in many households today (and will probably still be common in the future): getting along with siblings, life/death, friendship, financial problems, etc. All of these issues are seen from a child's point of view, making the story poignant but not quite as heavy as adult or teenage drama.
In all of these books, Ramona is the little girl with the big imagination who would do anything to make sure her family is happy and stays together. Here, she continues to grow and learn. And readers can certainly relate to her, whether she's in confusion or triumph. A child can learn from Ramona's adventures whereas an adult can reflect on their own childhoods and remember when they could be innocent and wide-eyed.
I thought this book would be the last in the Ramona series, not because Beverly Cleary took so long to write the next one (called "Ramona's World"), but because I felt some sort of resolution with this book. If Mrs. Cleary had never written another book about Ramona, I would probably have been satisfied with this conclusion. But Ramona still has room to grow, so I'll happily be along for the ride.

In Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Beverly Cleary demonstrates the positive effects that reading can bring into the life of a child. She does this in such a way that readers can measure the actual growth resulting from Ramona's reading. Since starting school, teacher expect Ramona to list unfamiliar words as she reads class assignments. This school year, she can read without being expected to list words. Toward the end of the year, Ramona describes a book assignment, an age-appropriate book, as using "babyish words" (148). The transition that occurs in Ramona is a result of the importance that she places on her reading. The more she reads, the easier it becomes until there are few words that she does not know. She not only reads better, but her vocabulary increases from learning new words by looking at the context in which the word is used in the sentence. While writing her oral book report and presentation, Ramona becomes so involved in her ideas that she forgets that it is an assignment and thinks of it as enjoyment. Ramona uses colorful paper to make cat masks and puts on a commercial to her entire class. Here, Cleary stresses one of multiple ways that children can learn and teach others their interpretation of a certain book. They not only enjoy the book, but they show their creative side; these oral reports give other students ideas how to express themselves, and also give them self-confidence to perform in front of a group. Cleary examines one way to teach literacy that keeps children excited and shows how that way affects a certain child. Ramona's teacher lets the class read a book of their choice every day. This is Ramona's favorite part of school. She looks forward to her silent reading time because it makes school enjoyable for her. Even when nothing else is going well for her, this positive experience serves as her one escape from reality. Ramona Quimby, Age 8, is a refreshing tale of some of the challenges a child faces in school. Beverly Cleary consistently demonstrates the impact of reading on children. This could quite possibly be why her books are so popular. She develops books that involve children reading for pleasure and captures the attention of the children that she depicts so accurately.

This was a great book because it is about a girl and some of the things that happen to her during 3rd grade. Her dad used to be a check out person at the grocery store, now he is going back to college. Her mom works at a doctors office. Her older sister Beezus just started middle school. Money is tight in the Quimby house and Ramona and Beezus try to help out as much as they can. Some bad things happen to Ramona. One day at lunch she cracks an egg against her haed and realizes that it is not hard boiled and it meeses up her hair. The she gets sick and throws up all over her desk at school. The Quimby's car gets sick and needs a new transmission and it costs a lot of money. One rainy Sunday tha Quimbys decide to go to Whopperburger for dinner and a nice old man pays for their dinner. They realize that they may not have money but they sure do have love! Ramona Quimby, AGe 8 is a good book for kids to read becuase a lot of the same things that happen to Ramona could happen to us!

Hi! My name is Roger. I am 9 years old and I am in third grade. I just read the book Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. It is about Ramona Quimby, a member of the Quimby family. The third grade is harder than Ramona expected. Ramona is funny and intelligent. Beezes is starting junior high school and has a lot of homework. Ramona's dad is going to college, and Ramona's mom has a new job.

I think the book was great. It was funny. I recommend this book to 3rd graders. It would be too hard for 2nd grade and 1st grade students. I give this book 5 stars for the vocabulary and the funny parts it has.

I thought that this book seemed a little rushed at the end. By about 1/2 way through, I knew what was going to happen at the end (if not earlier). I thought that it was well written, but some story lines were just dropped--for instance, we never know what Justin's reaction is to Katie's decision, and we never find out more about Katie's life change at the end.

I did like how the Amish quilters were brought into the story. Also, I liked how Daniel was written in. However, I think that it is a little strange how, by the end of the book, a bunch of the Plain people are being "saved". As I said in one of my other reviews, I think there could be a little less preaching going on in the story, but it's ok.

There were emotional sections of the book, but I think that there could possibly be one more book coming in the series. The book ended well, but there were still questions, in my mind...

If you've read The Shunning and The Confession, you've got to follow up with this new title! As with the first two books in the series, this was a page-turner. While the previous titles left me with a negative feeling toward the Amish (in relation to their beliefs and practices), Lewis digs a little deeper into the hearts of the Amish characters in The Reckoning. In it, she shows that, though under the hand of the order, the men and women are truly individuals who can see the imperfections in the Amish beliefs but still revere the traditions. Also, it's good to see Katherine mature in The Reckoning. She opens her eyes to the world and to the Lord. Just as with the last two, I can't wait to see where Lewis takes Katherine/Katie in the next title in the series.

While the story is great and I've learned a lot about the Amish community, I felt that the story was ended short. You read the whole book to have Daniel and Katie get together in the end, in the last half of the last chapter. It would have been great if the author would have grown the relationship a litte more and explained in more detail about Katie giving up her mansion and what she did with her money. Also, it would have been great to see if Justin Wirth was really a good guy and really loved Katie enough to give her up in love or was really angry when Katie said "no" to his marriage proposal. I do hope there is a sequel.