This book is very reminiscent of my English childhood and will amuse adults and children alike. Similar ilk to Milly-Molly-Mandy. Be warned, however, there is much use of the word 'bad' in relation to children rather than children's behaviour, some parents may object to this. My 5-year-old found the naughty little sister's antics quite hilarious and greatly enjoyed the short, lively chapters and lovely illustrations. I would recommend this book for little children who would appreciate the English references.

When I was little my parents would read me this book and it was halarious to me at the age of 4. This book will amuse any child and even parents. Best of all they are true stories. I give it 10 stars !

The words is easy to understand, and the story is very good. I love it

This book should be included in the recent printings of "Life Among the Savages." (especially as "Life" is much too short!) It is very funny and also serves as an historical peek into the flavor of it's time.

Shirley Jackson proved with this book that she is not only an excellent mystery writer, but by writing Raising Demons and Life Among The Savages she can have the reader laughing until he cries!

I received "Raising Demons" as a gift from my teacher in 8th grade (1972) and have read it hundreds of times. I even named my children after the children in the book and find that all-too-often my life as a busy mother parallels Ms. Jackson's, even though the book takes place decades ago. The children are realistically eccentric, the relationships true, the pets demanding, and the house... well, anyone who has ever bought an old house will surely recognize the situations found here.

Somebody too really addresses and brings to light the fact that there is a person and a story behind all those alcoholics we may see and casually dismiss as just another no good drunk.In her southern style, Ms. Ware relays her story from a family perspective presenting the sad, progressive demise of her brother from a fun loving young man to a tortured alcohol.
When reading this,one can feel the degradation he endured and
the pain of the family that had to helplessly stand by as he
sunk deeper and deeper into a hell from which he was unable to
escape.This book is recommended reading for anyone whose life may have been touched by alcoholism and a reminder that there is a person inside if we take a closer look.
It was a very thought provoking piece!

Somebody Too by Shirey Gerald Ware was an excellent book! As a former substance abuse therapist, I found this book to be both insightful and intriguing. The story of Grady working so desperately to find happiness in material possessions and relationships to hide his pain is all too often true. Ms. Gerald also brings out the point regarding how children from the same family can turn out so differently when she states that "people are like flowers, requiring plenty of sustenance and nurturing. But like the flowers, some grow and blossom while others stagnate, ... slowly dying. " This is most defintely what happens when a person succombs to alcohlism. Ms. Ware also does justice in speaking up for the homeless and their problems and how we all in society, family, friends and as people need to share responsibility and provide help. I highly recommend this book to all.

Somebody Too is a fascinating work, indeed. The story is a moving, very touching tribute to the life of a man named Grady.

We are taken deep into the troubled life of a man hopelessly stricken by the horrible effects of alcohol addiction. While full of life and talent as a remarkable dancer and entertaining, loving human being, he could not shake the inner demons that haunted him. The narrator takes us through the chapters of Grady's life including the hopes and dreams he had for himself and those his family and friends had for him. The author uses a fitting parallel of a stranger on the street as a reference point for the prototype lost soul, in search of peace and happiness that seems ultimately elusive.

Like Kafka and Dostoevsky, MS. Ware explores the psychology of the troubled soul in gripping detail, documenting every nuance and facet to demonstrate the harsh realities of the character's ordeal. We learn to relate to the basic quandary of choosing between a long life of enduring satisfaction versus a "live fast and die young" approach that sucks many in. It begs the question: which is the better path? When the void is calling what determines the various paths we take? Is it free will or ordained by other more powerful forces of determination?

We gain such insights as, "he was a prisoner to his addiction, and those who suffer from addictions often find themselves being used by the strong," when referring to Grady working for his brother for "peanuts."

Another line that struck a chord in me:

"The strong indeed do survive, but they cannot survive without preying on the meek."

I found it fascinating and illuminating to discover different theories about society's role in fostering addiction and the unusual battles of one who goes against the norm and throws all caution and prudence to the wind.

The reader will become endeared to Grady and feels the narrator's pain in pulling for his ultimate victory.

This is a tear-jerker - an absorbing analysis of the struggle of the human soul.

MS. Ware is an insightful, eloquent writer who brings tangible life to her characters and a fresh perspective to the subject of addiction. I know Grady would be proud, for he gained immortality through MS. Ware's work.

A novel well-done.

Shirley Abbott has truly captured the southern female experience, both past and present. Her vivid descriptions of her own family and her mother are the best parts of this book. The historical accounts of women from antebellum times to present are interesting, though not quite as engrossing as her own recollections. It is impossible not to regret the passing of an era in the south as one reads this book and realizes the complexities of women who were so often deemed simple hillbillies. Many women, like myself, who grew up in small southerns towns will recognize their own experiences as they follow the author's. I know I did. On occasion, Ms. Abbott wanders off into feminist interpretations that could get a little harsh. I didn't agree with all of her conclusions, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

Any Southern woman who has ever been tempted to transmogrify her prolific, feisty, cow-milking, chicken-plucking, garden-producing grandmothers into delicate, helpless ladies of the manor should read this book first. For in it, Shirley Abbott looks straight in the faces of the proud, independent, and powerful female descendants of the Scots-Irish migration to the Southern states and discovers something far more admirable than the Southern Belle.

In the process, she challenges such old-line interpretations of southern experience as that of W.J. Cash, who claimed the poor Scots-Irish immigrants who stepped off crowded ships at Charleston and Philadelphia fled inland in search of land that would permit them to become part of the English-American slave-holding, plantation-owning power structure of the Southern colonies. Nothing could be farther from the truth, Abbott argues convincingly: their experience had instilled in the Scots-Irish an abiding hatred of all things English, including the political and economic institutions the English established in centers like Charleston. These new immigrants preferred the terrifying, unexplored baclwoods, where they were free of English domination and what they conceived to be English decadence. The pioneer experience, reinforced by continuing poverty, a civil war, and the depredations of a occupying army only reinforced the pride and self-confidence these people brought with them to America.

In a well conceived study driven by her desire to place and understand her own poor, white, rural, and proud forebears, Abbott produces an elegant combination of memoir and cultural history. Her crystalline two-page account of the Scots-Irish trail to America is in itself worth the price of the book. And the memorable descriptions of the homes, tables, and characters of her Arkansas kinspeople demonstrate the consequences of that migration. For anyone wishing to understand Southern culture and southern women in particular, this small volume is a must-read. It takes the reader beyond stereotypes to a realistic picture of people whose lives are far more inspiring than that of any Belle, Sweet Potato Queen, or YaYa. I have spent my lifetime in the South and in the study of its literature and culture. Yet, I came away from this book with a deeper undersanding of the region and my own personal history in it.

I like to read this book once a year to remind me who I am and where I came from. I will never again be critical or ashamed of my rural mothers'and grandmothers' ways. I always feel like crying after I read this book--tears for their toil and for the disrespect society dealt them, but mostly, I cry a little for myself, too. I regret that I can't sit with them all around the table and hear their stories anymore, and I wish I could pile in the car like Shirley and her cousin to ride out to the cemetary to tend the graves. Abbott's story was familiar to me from the first page. I appreciate the opportunity to remember my maternal ancestors--the poor, white, uneducated, transient,hard working women of the south

Great for examples of practical math problems. Useful for the math solutions you forgot from high school and college!

I purchased this book to help prepare my son for his written test with the local fire department. The problems start off easy but progress rapidly in difficulty for each category. It has a multiple choice format that is easy to read and understand. The answers are provided with a brief explanation on how to solve the problem or why it is correct. The book comes in a nice size with space to work out the problems. Now my son is telling me he needs one for the spelling test!

I felt that the black and white line drawings were inappropriately "chunky" and a bit misleading about the fashionable silhouette for certain decades. Nonetheless, this book is, as far as I know, the only reference that systematically describes the elements and accessories of 20th century costume, and judging by the decades for which I have personal experience, it is largely accurate. (Note: This review is based upon the 1982 trade paperback edition of this book).

I've always been into nice clothes, and several years ago I figured out that nice clothes hit their peak of style and class in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Ever since then I have searched high and low for a book that had both written descriptions and adequate drawings of the clothes I like to wear. I found that book: "American Costume". The research that has gone into its writing was obviously exhaustive. Not only does the book have sensational drawings depicting the various styles from 1915 to the 70s, it also has extremely detailed descriptions of the styles. Through these thorough descriptions, the reader can not only see what the styles look like, but how they are made, what accessories to wear, and how to style one's hair to period authenticity. It is quite simply an excellent resource book, and and invaluable tool for anyone interested in costumes or clothes.

John Shirley constructs a concealed world, existing side-by-side with the world visible to the normal human eye. We all know that a similar world must exist within the sub microscopic, quantum realm of which we are all composed. Shirley populates his concealed world with creatures who feed off the souls of mankind. Environmentally, these creatures are vulnerable to the electromagnetic emanations man uses in his radios, cell phones, TVs and radar. Their message to mankind is 'clean up your environmental act.'

Max, the main character, begins as a soap opera star whose ennui drives him to quit his TV role playing. He accepts the larger task of unraveling the role concealed within his being. The Angel with TV Eyes changes Max's perspective of his dream like visions describing a concealed world. At an earlier date Lord Greymark had been dissolved into pure information and implanted in the womb of Max's mother. Max's pursuit of a larger than life role triggers his revelation as Lord Greymark, a 12 foot entity concealed within the jaded actor's soul. Lord Greymark possesses great power that he uses to extinguish the fires of Thanatos, a character representing death and vowing destruction of all that is good in man.

Just as the pictures on a TV are converted from unseen waves, the vision of the Angel with TV Eyes flows via holowaves from within the quantum realm. This posits a reality which few can either detect or receive on their vision screen. By personalizing a character with TV eyes John Shirley creates an entity directed from within this hidden reality. A story that begins with a cast of bud-like human characters soon blossoms into a bouquet of revealed Spirits constructed of plastic, metal and electronic switches. As the evolution of man is expressed through DNA, so the Spirits evolve by means of vibratory packets-a non genetic form of evolutionary record keeping. Thus the author posits another method the unseen Spirits are using to throw the evolutionary dice. What the Spirits seek is the same as what man seeks-companionship.

Admittedly this might sound like straining an old blurb cliché, but John Shirley's latest novel really IS a tour de force on the darker side of literature (dark but not without humor). It's one of those rare books so crammed with astonishing images, bizarre scenes and brilliantly written passages (some of them just begging to be read out loud) that it leaves you breathless and absolutely satisfied. On a stylistic level the author has combined the neo-baroque images of his earlier works with the condensed, razor-sharp language of his more recent fiction. Shirley always writes on the edge of reality but with such a controlled and experienced voice that he can make the most weirdest things seem natural and plausible. His menagerie of oddities is described as vivid as if the author has personally met the hybrids of ancient mythology and industrial materials which populate his novel: the vinyl harpies, Thanatos, the angel with television eyes and all the others. And if you think that the Weaver from China Miéville's "Perdido Street Station" was a strange fellow, wait until you meet Vega, the discoball guy who overdoses on e-guitar chords.
"...And the Angel with Television Eyes" has an unbelievably fast-paced plot, some cool narrative gimmicks (just look at the chapter titles) and also profits from its author's insider knowledge of the media business. Definitely some hell of a ride.

It showed how life was back then and what Zoe did to get rid of the Northern soldiers, but it didn't have much else. It was sort of boring.

Zoe Snyder is a yound girl who's whole world, like those around her, has been turned upside down. Zoe must struggle to keep her wits about her as she tries to survive the occupation of the Yankee forces in her town and in her home. She discovers that courage lurks in the strangest of places.

This was one of the first historical fiction novels I read as a child, and since then I have read many more. This is a short beautiful work that I would recommend to anyone of any age although it is aimed at young adults. Ms. Climo has a talent and I am glad she wasn't afraid to share.

I loved this book. It transports you into the middle of the civil war. It's easy to identify with Zoe, an ambitious young girl trying to take her house back form imposing soldiers. I read this book four years ago, and I find myself thinking of it often. It left a lasting impression in my memory.

This is the kind of book that turns the saying, "Physician, heal thyself" into, "Author, heal thyself."

"Nostalgically Yours, Shirley" is a history of the Bragg family, penned by the oldest living sibling who is seeking answers about her past. The writing mechanics and word usage were frequently weak, making this a difficult read. But the tale is straight from a feminine heart, using both the broken shards and pieces that managed to stay intact. My sentimental nature propelled me on to the last page.

Besides being a biography, this book is an honest portrayal of a depression-era family and its struggles to survive. An amiable alcoholic father and a passive-aggressive mother attempted to feed, clothe and love nine children. For the most part, they failed miserably and the family unit fell apart.

Rather than being a solid base where the children could feel secure and grounded, the Bragg family splintered. And like a splinter in one's finger, the family festered and became a source of pain for all involved. Its members were left to survive, wounds and all.

Another reason "Nostalgically Yours, Shirley" was a challenge to read was because of events transpiring in my own life at the time. My mother was dying and the author's memories of the hurtfulness inflicted on others by her mother flowed into similar memories of my past.

Even though the author's parents were married 21 years, the children were rarely together under one roof. It was an eye-opener for me in the respect that I did not realize people in the 30s and 40s did things like sleep with the babysitter, abandon their children for years or allow a step parent to molest their daughters while they themselves remained silent about the whole thing.

Yet, it is the shocking revelations by the author that give this book its universal appeal. Centuries later, people will nod in understanding while reading the book due to the commonality of dysfunctional families, no matter the generation.

Writing a family biography is a brave thing to do, if you're going to do it honestly. Shirley Bragg Farley did it honestly. It's a lot like laying out your entire wardrobe on your front lawn for the neighbors to see. Some items are frayed beyond respectability, others are gaudy and tasteless, but a few are normal and nice.

The author laid out her family story much in the same manner, with much the same results.

While reading this book, I became more aware of family heritage. I also feel that most families will relate in some ways. A lot of families have war heroes, problems with alcohol, abuses and the tragic losses of loved ones. They also have love, in some manner, the courage to have the stamina to fight on, and as a child, suffer many indignities. This book not only reveals real life, but puts you in the story, making you a part of the happiness and tragedies. It is a must read, especially for those who do not understand what makes some rejected and abused children persevere, and others turn to lives of crime. A good book for adults just starting their own families. Easy, smooth reading, candid and has a lesson for everyone.

Very interesting, well wrote book about everyday people their joys and hardships. I was really interested in this because I knew some of the family and I am from Coshocton.

Organized around eighteen themes, with five books featured for each, this resource is a valuable aid primarily geared toward the classroom teacher or daycare worker rather than a parent. With a nice selection of 90 well-regarded books, each is devoted two pages and features a picture of the book's cover, a short description of the content, Circle Time presentation ideas, five story stretchers well marked in bold (Art, Snack Time, Math, Music, Science and Nature Center, Library Corner, etc.) with a learning objective, materials list, and instructions. At the end of each chapter are the complete citations for the five featured books as well as a list of additional books related to the theme.

An example of the content: the first theme is Families, and the five featured books are 'A Baby Sister for Frances', 'Me Too!', 'Whose Mouse Are You?', 'Five Minutes' Peace', and 'Titch'. For 'Titch', story stretcher activities are: decorating t-shirts; listening to a tape of the story and turning the pages; counting to three; watching plants grow; making a pinwheel. Other themes include Friendship, Feelings, Colors, Counting, and Transportation.

As someone interested in homeschooling one child, I found that quite a few of these activities were inappropriate for me, but some were adaptable and others were as applicable to one child as to many.

An appendix instructs one in binding a book, constructing a rebus chart and making art dough. Separate indices list authors and illustrators; book titles (both featured and recommended); activities organized by type; and terms (objects, concepts and techniques used in the activities).

Strengths: nice book selection; well-organized and presented.

Weaknesses: activities are not consistently relevant or creative; no information is given about appropriate age or reading levels for the books or activities.

Overall, I would say this is a valuable resource, particularly if you are working with a group of children and don't have the time or the knack for coming up with ideas of your own to expand on reading material.

I was introduced to this book in a Preschool Literature Class I'm taking. A friend has one...and I had to buy it too! There are lots of great ideas in all curriculum areas all based on a book. And several books fit under one theme or topic. What a wonderful resource for teachers who like to teach from literature!

Story stretchers help prolong children's favorite books by offering many activities that correspond with each story. The stories are grouped by theme, so it is easy to find books for your weekly theme. Not only are there featured books for each theme, but the authors have listed other books that will work with your theme, too. Story stretchers makes it easy to turn one short story into a whole days worth of fun activities that incorporate all curriculum areas (math, art, music & movement, etc.).