BEACH BALL is the third episode in the imaginative adventures of Mary and her mother. In fact, Peter Sis humorously draws the two prequels, WAVING and GOING UP!, as the books mother and daughter bring for beach reading. As in the adventure books of Matt by the same author/illustrator, the text is minimal and the drawings become more intricate and more riotously colored as the child's imagination runs wild. Yellow is a predominant color throughout the Mary trilogy, so I think of her as following yet another yellow brick road to Oz and back, this time while chasing her windblown beach ball.

Along the way, Sis challenges young readers with a maze page; plenty of practice with identifying alphabet letters, animals, colors, and numbers; and with pages of opposites and shapes. There is also a Martin Handford's find Waldo type scene in which it is not so easy to find Mary. As in KOMODO!, also by Peter Sis, crowd scenes are always fascinating, with such individual features and quirks as different people wearing the same colored hats in different ways.

Each book in the trilogy stands alone, so it is not necessary to read all three in order to appreciate any one. However, it is fun to read the complete trilogy in publication order, so we see Mary growing up and her mother growing older. The consolidation of the loving parent-child relationship across the three books is particularly evident here, with mother and daughter wearing similar dresses, hats, and shoes. BEACH BALL gives a happy spin to the tradition built up by such chase classics as THE GINGERBREAD MAN.

The illustrations in the book are fascinating and extraordinary! My four-year-old son loves to look at and have me read this book to him over and over while he points out different characteristics in the illustrations. It's also a great introduction into American history for youngsters.

What I liked about the Hobbit was how J.R.R. Tolken described every thing in such detail. For every person he described from the persons height and weight and clothes to the way the sun shines on there hair and length of their beard. I also like how he made up a whole world in his head and some new languages. I believe the topic of the story is courage and the theme is to have the courage to stand up and do what you are afraid of. When Bilbo confronted smog the first time but then go back and stand there and talk to him about stealing his gold and make fun of him. To confront the spiders in the woods or even sit and talk riddles with golem when he knew if he lost golem would kill him. I would recommend this book to anybody, but I would recommend it to people who love adventure, and lots of detail. The book is also for people who like twists in the book. I would also recommend this book to people who are looking for a good story and not a message.

Once upon a time a little boy appeared with a bottomless sack, full of wings. There were fluffy white wings, scissor-pointed wings, gossamer wings, even wooden wings, in all shapes, colors and sizes. The Little Wing Giver called out to all, "Come get your wings./Beautiful wings!/Come get your wings/And fly, fly, fly!" And birds, insects and butterflies all came to him, and soon the world was full of flight. But the wind grew jealous one night, and blew all the Little Wing Giver's wings away, forever. The Little Wing Giver grew sad and very tired and lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The birds sang to him and the insects tickled him, but he wouldn't wake up. Finally, a nosy magpie saw one last pair of wings sticking out of the Little Wing Giver's pocket. The creatures quickly attached them to his shoulders, and he soared away, up into the sky. "And it was on seeing the Little Wing Giver flying toward Him through a sunlit cloud that gave God the idea of creating angels."..... Jacques Taravant has written a whimsical and evocative story, that will charm youngsters with its imagery and magic. His tender text, and gentle message, is complemented by award winning artist, Peter Sis' enchanting illustrations and together they've authored a spiritual and uplifting story that's sure to become a classic. Perfect for all ages, The Little Wing Giver is a wonderful family read-aloud story to share and discuss and pass on to loved ones, friends and future generations.

This sequel is worthy of its predecessor; it too consists of folktales, very concisely told, that in some sense are a riddle, a puzzle, a play on words ... These stories are presented as problems to solve.

A major strength of the book is the variety of sources of the tales - Korean, Liberian, Kasmiri, Russian, Bengali, Chilean, Mexican, Burmese; in fact many of the stories could have come from any of a number of cultures. The illustrations add to the interest of the book for its intended audience.

The only weakness is that it offer no alternative answers or requires knowledge that may not be familar to the reader. If children are reading the book independently, they may not have the confidence to recognize that their answer is a clever as the one given in the text.

This is a fun book that should be enjoyed by parent and child.

This little gem of a book brings the reader into that imaginary world where everyday items engage the imagination into entertaining adventure. In Ship Ahoy, a small boy transforms his couch into a series of various sea-worthy vessels, much as the sheet used to turn our childhood tables into caves and houses. Safe in his own living room, with his mother nearby, he travels on these ships until another object from daily life threatens to undo his happy fantasy. Mom tames the beast and contentment returns, in the safety of Peter Sis' endearing illustrations.

My mother first came across this book when she checked it outof the library for my niece (my niece was about four years old at thetime). While they soon realized that the book seemed to be targeted at a younger audience, they discovered that it was also a wonderful first-time reader since the entire book contains only five words: Three / Yellow / Dogs / Run / Home. My niece was so proud of herself when she mastered this book and was eager to continue her reading journey. My son, Alex, just turned four and my mother checked out "Three Yellow Dogs" for him. He easily mastered the five words and is very excited that he can actually read this whole book by himself. In addition, he just loves the illustrations and likes to discuss them as well. Thanks to this book, my son has developed an interest in continuing his reading journey and has the confidence to do so. I highly recommend this book for all first-time readers.

WAVING is the first adventure in the Mary trilogy by Peter Sis. As in the sequels GOING UP! and BEACH BALL, there is a signature appearance for Greenwillow publisher, this time on a bicyclist's green banner. Along with GOING UP! and KOMODO!, the duller colors of daily life backdrop the watercolor magic of dreams.

With his hallmark humor, the author/illustrator names two big city restaurants Five Little Pigs and Seven Dwarfs, for storytelling favorites; Mary's residence Home Sweet Home; and the last business The End grocery store. In a plug for his adopted 'burb, he sketches a big apple in one of the first store fronts. The very last building has a welcome mat and the initials PS for an address, with perhaps the writer holding a book and looking out an upper window. As in the book AN OCEAN WORLD, where the letters PS also appear obviously within the pages, the storyteller lets us know that all this might have happened because he might have been there, too.

In WAVING, the pen and ink drawings are whimsically more audacious than the surprisingly more conventional, yet delightful watercolors. So the author/artist draws how Mary's route looks on the introductory pages and then sketches what the little girl adds, to the block and the street, while flatfooting it back home. Along the way, the appropriate numbers of baby chicks, books, cakes, cups, eggs, fish, hats, left and right handed waving passersby, and trees get her past each numbered address.

Although Mary's mother wears a Princess Diana style work attire in red and white polka dots, other females appear as Girl Scouts, joggers, passengers and tourists. This might suggest other activities that the mother and daughter share. It might also tell us about the deeply loving mother-child interaction evident throughout KOMODO!, the Matt quartet and the Mary trilogy. Mary might be at that bonding and imprinting stage in which the only woman in the world for her is her mother, as seen by copied facial expressions, hairstyle, and shoes. So why not interpret the unsuccessfully flagged down cab driver as a friendly chain reaction (beginning and ending with taxis) that only her mother can start? Therefore, the male working world she conjures mostly in distant grey might express mild curiosity as to what Daddy does, while, secure in her mother's more present love at this stage, she does not yet ask with Dolores Johnson, WHAT WILL MOMMY DO WHEN I'M AT SCHOOL?

In San Diego, thirteen-year-old Alexis Castille-Reed attends a pool party where the alcohol flows. An accident occurs, but fortunately no one dies. However, her upset mother "banishes" Alexis for the summer to live with her father in International Falls, Minnesota.

Alexis' dad is the authority on the bald eagles. Currently, he leads a study that is banding eaglets to gain research on their natural habitat. Alexis is put to work, but though she loves the birds, she remains angry with her father for deserting her. On a nearby island, Alexis climbs up a tree to remove a fish lure from an eagle's nest. However, when she lifts an eaglet out of the nest, she drops the bird. That error is compounded when she finds herself stranded on the island protecting the injured eaglet from nasty weather and a bear.

This is a wonderful preadolescent to young teen novel that focuses on Alexis, a person in trouble. She needs closure on her younger brother's death from cancer, but at first is not able to find a way to grieve without guilt for living and without alienating her parents also mourning in their own ways. Through the eaglet rescue, Alexis attains an understanding especially of her father whom she previously loathed as well as personal comfort. Though her parents talking with one another following their estrangement feels strained, WHEN EAGLES FALL is a strong survivalist tale that the young at heart will enjoy soaring with.

Harriet Klausner

The Hobbit is a fascinating adventure tale about wizards, elves, dwarves, dragons, and many other fantasized creatures. Burrowed inside a hill, deep within Hobbiton, lives a particularly interestesting hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Being the jolly little hobbit that he is, Bilbo enjoys his peaceful life in the Shire until he is summoned by the old wizard, Gandalf, to go on an adventure across the lands. Bilbo accepts this adventure and sets out into the unknown on a quest for gold and riches. On his quest through the land, curious young Bilbo encounters many new things that are foreign to the Shire and life as he has known it. Traveling over the lands to strange towns, treacherous mountains, and dangerous forests the hobbit gains possession of a magic ring that he uses to his advantage on this journey for fortune.
This novel has been acclaimed a classic through generations for over the past 60 years. The Hobbit is an adventurous book about strange lands from long ago in a time when things were very different than they are today. The book is sometimes a little hard to follow with its elfish dialect and some tongue twisting sentences, but it is nothing a couple of read-through's can't fix. You may hit some boring drawn-out scenes, but stick with it. Once you are into the heart of the story, you will find it hard to put down. If you have a vivid imagination and an interest in fantasy, than this book will become a classic favorite of yours too.

This book is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who lived a quiet life except for a single, life-altering year. He is recruited by a wizard named Gandalf to accompany a band of dwarves on their quest to reclaim the land and fortune that is rightfully theirs by slaying the dragon who took it from them. Bilbo is a reluctant hero, but nevertheless a memorable one. And his tale is an extraordinary flight of fancy that will stay in your heart forever. I am extremely picky about which books I like to reread, but after reading this for the first time I am sure that there will be a second, as well as a third and fourth. Tolkien is a masterful storyteller, and the world he creates is so vivid and well-conceived that it is easy to lose yourself in the forests of Mirkwood, the Misty Mountains or the desolate Lonely Mountain. Bilbo's adventure is captivating from one leg of the journey to the next. "The Hobbit" touches on issues of greed, courage and friendship without ever losing focus or seeming preachy. The only fault I can find is with me, for not reading it sooner.

The Hobbit is JRR Tolkien's prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though it stood on its own legs for 30 years, it is now difficult to disentangle this tale of Bilbo Baggins' adventuring with dwarves and finding of the One Ring from the grandly-scaled tale that would follow. This is a charming story, less an epic than a good old-fashioned tale, as Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield and the rest trek to the Lonely Mountain to wrest dwarvish gold from the dragon Smaug. Along the way they encounter Beorn the Bear-Man, elves, trolls and giant spiders.

This edition is quite beautiful, and would make a lovely gift for someone who has read the story and considers it something special. The binding is dark green and embossed with maroon and gold runes and an image. The paper is heavy and augmented by Tolkien's own illustrations.