Darby took my breath away. It truly did. I teach middle school and intend to put it on my reading list for next year. Without a doubt, kids will love the spirit and courage demonstrated by the title character. A nine-year-old girl growing up in 1926, South Carolina, Darby (amongst simply living and breathing in the perfectly described time period), for the first time in her short life, becomes aware of the racial inequalities and decides to address them in an article she and one of her best friends writes for the local paper. After that, the troubles begin. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, but I will say that it is a gripping, exciting story set off by lovely writing and a huge dose of goodwill and humor. Darby will surely become a classic in classrooms and libraries. Two of my students already read the book (one in a day), and they absolutely raved about it. It's good to have strong female characters in realistic rolls, but it's even better when a whole family shows bravery despite the very real possibility that they will end up as social outcasts. (How often do similar fears grip the occupants of our schools?) An exquisite story for all readers, I highly recommend Darby to educators, students, and even adults. :>)

My teacher made us read Darby, and I didn't want to. Now I'm so happy she did. It was the most intresting story I've ever expirienced at school. It was so good that I was entertained the entire time I read it. I loved Darby as a girl and I wish I was her . It's important issues that she was involved in, about race and how everybody needs to get along better in the world. It really might be the coolest story. I know it was the nicesyt a teacher ever made me read. I would read it without a teacher telling me to.

Darby is my very favorite book I've ever read. The main character Darby is so cool and real, and the stories she tells about her time growing up in the 1920s with a black best friend are perfect. It was entertaing, pretty, and funny a lot. It even got exciting. She's brave and doesn't try to be, which is the best thing. I've never read a book so fast and enjoyed a story so much for just the way it feels and sounds and kind of goes. I wish all of the characters were around here for me to meet, and I wish I could see Bennettsville where she lives. I try to imagine it a lot now. I try to picture her and back to when she was a girl, and it's so different, like how her twelve year old brother can drive and black and white kids aren't supposed to be friends but they are anyway, even though a lot of adults don't like it. I think it's the best book I'll ever read, with the best type of story and the best way to learn about the past.

This book is great! I first got one for my daughter when she was about 2 (and a real Daddy's girl!). She loved it so much she'd go to sleep with it! The pull-tabs are pretty easy to move, even for her, but most of the time I have to do it for her and help her resist the temptation of tearing away at the parts that stand out. Well, having been somewhat unsuccessful in doing that, we now have to get a second copy for her little brother! But not until after we wore out the battary in the book first!

My 18 month old daughter received this as a Christmas gift from her Grandparents and absolutely loves reading it with Dad and Mom or on her own. She loves to pull the tabs and surprisingly enough after several months of abuse, it still works. I'm purchasing another copy so her brother has a chance to read this great book!

My baby boy Emre, loved this book since he was 12 months old. Now he is 16 months old and he is still crazy about it. When I take this book out, he gets involved in it for at least half an hour. Nothing else can do that. He imitates the sounds and loves to pull the tabs. Of course the figures got pretty damaged with such pulling and tearing but still it works. And the book is quite good in making the mother role an independent one, and making the father the care taker at home, at least for one night.
I deinitely recommend it.

Well, I really don't have much to say about the book. However, this Jonathan Pollard has caused me a great deal of embarassment over the years. I will be grateful when he is forgotten. When the news media distributed stories of his capture, an erstwhile friend of mine who was living in London at the time called my mother and expressed shock at my arrest. My mom was a bit shocked by the news, too, considering that we had just had lunch the previous day and I hadn't mentioned any big news - such as imminent arrest! Good riddance to Jonathan Jay Pollard!

Jay Pollard for some reason is one of only a handful of spies that most Americans heard of. Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen being the others. Pollard was given a life with parole sentence. But at that time, no American who ever spied for an ally was given more than 8 years. People who had spied for the Soviets have been paroled from prison. There seems to be a double standard. Apparently, the US was upset that close friend like Israel was using a mole in Naval Intelligence. It seems they punished Jay Pollard to punish Israel. The ironic part is that there are Israelis serving time for spying for the CIA. Pollard was wrong in what he did. It's true that US Intelligence was withholding intelligence information that it had promised to give Israel. Pollard felt this wromg and gave the informtion to Israel himself. He should have gone to the Naval Inspector instead. Pollard it was shown had a lousy lawyer. Pollard agreed to a plea bargain as recommended by his lawyer. The problem was the plea did not set a determinate sentence. It was open ended. He could have gotten as little as a year or as much as life. This was the lawyers fault. What kind of lawyer plea bargains for an open ended sentence? The worst is that his appeal in which his new lawyer said that Pollard had his rights violated was rejected because it was filed late. Pollard was wrong in what he did. He deserved to go to prison. He does not deserve to be labled Americas worst spy. There are least 15 Americans who gave secrets to the Soviets who deserve that honor.

MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE
VS. "INFINITE JUSTICE"

The bitter irony of the life of Jonathan Jay Pollard, U.S. Navy spy for Israel, is the haunting, tragic message of Miscarriage of Justice: The Jonathan Pollard Story (Paragon House, c. 2001) by Mark Shaw. This former criminal defense attorney thoroughly captures the countless flaws in the judicial maze that has left the entire Pollard family distraught and millions of Pollard supporters worldwide desperate for justice.

More than any other human being, Jonathan Pollard is responsible for attempting to avert the current American war that was initially called "Infinite Justice." During 1984-85, Jonathan alerted American and Israeli military authorities to the looming threat of biochemical terrorism by militant Arab and Islamic factions. Years before the Iraqis used poison gas air raids in murdering and disabling over 10,000 Kurds, Jonathan brought the issue to the military leadership of the U.S., to no avail. He was told that the Jews were overly sensitive about matters involving poison gas, so he decided to save as many human lives as possible by providing Israel with U.S. intelligence on chemical weapons factories in Arab countries and plans for Arab terrorist attacks.

Jonathan Pollard potentially and intentionally saved millions of human beings in the Middle East and worldwide from excruciating deaths and painful lifelong physical disabilities. Although he never had a trial and was never convicted of a crime, he is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for friendly-nation espionage, a common practice of allies.

Jonathan's remarkable story begins with his extraordinary family, especially his devoted Jewish mother, Mollie, and his prominent father, Morris, a renowned international leader in prostate cancer research. Morris had sometimes assisted American intelligence agencies and has devoted his life to serving America as a preeminent scientist at Notre Dame University. As a boy growing up in an anti-Semitic town, Jonathan was the daily target of verbal and physical assaults, which made him resolute in his commitment to protect Jews everywhere, and especially in the Jewish homeland, Israel.

For decades, Jonathan's grotesque mistreatments in prison after prison have only served to highlight the malicious, malignant miscarriages of justice against the man who saved human lives en masse, at the expense of his own safety and personal health. For most of nearly 17 years behind bars, Jonathan has been locked up in solitary confinement, suffering countless and pointless "cruel and unusual" mental and physical punishments in prison cells two stories underground, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees to 107.

At the hands of Iran-contra figures like Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense who was indicted on five felony counts, Jonathan's life sentence was a direct retaliation for his efforts to expose Arab threats to the world, while American officials were secretly engaged in supplying arms and chemicals to militant Arab and Islamic nations. Weinberger still insisted for years after Jonathan's life sentence had begun that Jonathan should be shot.

The essential question that Miscarriage of Justice answers is how much punishment is enough, no matter where you stand on the Pollard case. The book boldly concludes that "Enough is enough"; and when the judicial, political, and penal systems inflict gross mistreatments, the American conscience must intervene to demand restoration of the constitutional guarantee against "cruel and unusual punishment."

The aftermath of this miscarriage of justice is the needless deaths of thousands of Americans through merciless terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, Pentagon, postal stations, media, and more because of heedless American leadership. The final image of Miscarriage of Justice is the pitiful mental picture of Jonathan wasting away in prison, as a political pawn of the Reagan-Bush administrations, which busily conducted the covert, illegal Iran-Contra operations with terrorists, and of the Clinton presidency, which bestowed a presidential pardon on billionaire financier Marc Rich instead of poor, penniless Pollard.

This book has vivid, exciting, colorful illustrations and wonderful langauge. As an inner city elementary school reading specialist, I look for engaging books with a creative use of language. This book has rhythm and rhyme that may inspire many children to try to emulate the style and write their own book. Also, the language is rich and lends itself to a study of synonyms and words that appeal to all five senses. I took it out of the library and now I am adding it to my own.

Heard this book on NPR Saturday edition 10 days after the twin towers bombing. This book was among the first things that provided healing of the shock--allowed me to get my mind off of terror and sadness and onto my child and life going on (like the seasons). Daniel Pinkwater's rendition is priceless and I plan to use this book to read to my son and treasure forever.

happy and fun!! imaginative lyrics and drawings that spill right off the pages and into the dreams of the little ones who spend the afternoon reading this book with their loved ones.

a great book.

I must have had my dad read these stories a million times at bed time. I remember always bugging him to read one more story. It has been so many years since then and I can't wait to read them to my own children, although i don't think I can do the voices quit so well. The illustrations in the hardcover edition were beautiful and i would spend so much time pretending with my little sister that we lived in rootabaga country. It will be a pleasure to reread all the stories of my childhood. When i would pick rootabaga stories at bedtime even over everybodies all time favorite Winnie-the-pooh.

Carl Sandburg, winner of Pulitzer Prizes both for his biography of Abraham Lincoln and for his COMPLETE POEMS, explores another genre in ROOTABAGA STORIES, fairy tales that he wrote for his daughters. When asked how he wrote the stories, Sandburg replied, "The children asked questions, and I answered them."

The ROOTABAGA STORIES are unconventional in almost every way. Unlike traditional fairy tales, they have no perfect princesses and evil witches. They are American fairy tales with a rural flavor and, in fact, they have no evil characters. The settings, though fanciful, include images that defined America in the 1920s, when the stories were published: the railroad, which "ran across the prairie, to the mountains, to the sea," and the skyscraper.

In Rootabaga Country the railroad tracks go from straight to zigzag, the pigs wear bibs (some checked, some striped, some polka-dotted), and the biggest city is the Village of Liver-and-Onions. Characters in this fanciful world are equally peculiar: Please Gimme, Blixie Blimber, Eeta Peeca Pie, and dozens of others. Children and literary critics alike would be hard-pressed to explain (even symbolically) the events that occur in the stories. Nevertheless, meaning comes through and truth is revealed. For example, in "Three Boys with Jugs of Molasses and Secret Ambitions," ambition is defined as "a little creeper that creeps and creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, 'Come and find me, come and find me.'" Who would expect that "The Two Skyscrapers Who Decided to Have a Child" would have an absolutely poignant ending?

Although the events of the stories may not be explainable, the stories are replete with concrete images. Sandburg provides both visual and auditory description with musical, repetitious phrases and novel juxtaposition of words ("a daughter who is a dancing shaft of light on the ax handles of morning"). Occasionally he invents words, such as "pfisty-pfoost," the sound of the train's steam engine, and "bickerjiggers," the buttons on an accordion.

ROOTABAGA STORIES are wonderful for reading aloud. They provide an opportunity for readers and listeners to delight in language and revel in truths revealed in a fanciful world.

Sometimes it is late and you want to read your child something short so you naturally will reach for this book - where most of the stories are 4 pages or less and they are not really connected - the problem is: you can seldom stop at one and if you are not careful you will read the whole book! My 10 year old is just as mesmerized by Sandberg's words as my 8 year old was 2 years ago, mostly because Sandberg's choice of words and fantastic plots and settings are continually unexpected and surprising. I'm mesmerized too, but I won't reveal my age.

This is a firm favourite of both my Godsons! The pictures are colourful & eye catching and keep them entertained. After we have read it together they always want to play a part of one of the animals!! Would recommend it!

There are many children's books on the market today and as a parent, I am always on the lookout for something special, a book that grabs the imagination of my son and delights him in a magical way. This book, and Ms. Gomez' illustrations in particular, create a wonderful world of colors and creatures that my son has responded to in the most wonderful way. Through the Heart of the Jungle has become a instant favorite and one that I enjoy reading to him time after time. Do yourself and your child the greatest favor and add this book to your collection. You will both delight in the experience.

I bought this book for my seven year old son, but I think I enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures just as much as he does. The artwork is wonderful and the words have a great rhythm that almost turns the pages for you. If you want a book that your children will love right now and a book that they will hold on to, to read to their own children some day, then this is a must have!

This is an excellent story for all to enjoy. It is fun and entertaining for the young and old. A must read by every parent and to every child. A book your little ones will want you to read to them over and over agin. And you will enjoy doing so.

My three year old little boy Nicklas loves this book to death he thinks it the greatest book he has ever heard me read to him, he likes reading it over and over again. He loves the noises the clothes make when froggy puts them on. And he also loves when the mother frog yells for froggy and asks himm if he forgot to put something on, ands how embarassed froggy gets when he forgets to put on his underwear.

I read this book to my pre school class and they just loved it, especially when Froggy forgets his underwear. We bought copies of this book to give to all of the children for christmas. My daughter Melissa is going to graduate in May with a teaching degree so I am buying this book to give to her so she can share this story with her class. Great Great Book for young children

"The Hunting of the Snark" is a brilliant nonsense-poem. Yet Gardner has seen fit to put pretentious, geeky, ...pedantic annotations all over it. Now I like nonsense, but the vulgarly rational "sense" of some of these annotations irritates me. Do we really need to know that the word "BOMB" begins and ends with B (thereby relating it to the Boojum) and that OM is the Hindu name of God??? Do we really need to know of a political cartoon in which Kruschev says "BOO", and does Gardner have to tell us that he was trying to say Boojum??

Annotations should be done in the manner of Gardner's own annotations of Alice in Wonderland. Now those were annotations that made *sense*. Annotations that simply explained out of date concepts, gave relevant details from Carroll's own life, or obscure humour. That's all! That is what annotations should be like.

The pedantic geekery of these annotations remind me of the...games of Star Trek fanatics (or Sherlock Holmes fanatics).

The poem is brilliant, though; and the illustrations were funny, before the annotations over-analysed them.

Lewis Carroll is brilliant in this piece. First of all the poetical music is perfect, absolutely perfect, and yet the words don't mean much. Many of these words are not even to be found in any dictionary. Be it only for the music, this piece is astonishingly good. But the piece has a meaning. I will not enter the numerical value of the numbers used in the poem : 3, 42, 6, 7, 20, 10, 992, 8, and I am inclined to say etc because some are more or less hidden here and there in the lines. Hunting for these numbers is like hunting for the snark, an illusion. But the general meaning of the poem is a great allegory to social and political life. A society, any society gives itself an aim, a target, a purpose and everyone is running after it without even knowing what it is. What is important in society is not what you are running after or striving for, but only the running and the striving. Lewis Carroll is thus extremely modern in this total lack of illusions about society, social life and politics : just wave a flag of any kind, or anything that can be used as a flag and can be waved, in front of the noses of people and they will run after it or run in the direction it indicates. They love roadsigns and social life is a set of roadsigns telling you where to go. Everyone goes there, except of course the roadsigns themselves who never go in the direction they indicate. Lewis Carroll is thus the first post-modern poet of the twenty-first century. He just lived a little bit too early.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

I am a fan of Lewis Carroll, but somehow was unaware of the existence of an edition of "The Hunting of the Snark" with annotations. As someone who tremendously enjoys Martin Gardner's "Annotated Alice," I heartily recommend this book to like-minded readers. Gardner's annotations and introduction set the stage for the reader, putting the composition of the poem in its proper context in Victorian England, and in Lewis Carroll's life. And as with "Annotated Alice" the annotations are fascinating and amusing in their own right. "The Hunting of the Snark" is one of Carroll's lesser-appreciated (or at least lesser-known) works, and this paperback is an excellent introduction.

I noticed some confusion in the Amazon listings for this book, so let me clarify that the edition with Gardner's annotations is the paperback, and for illustrations it contains reproductions of Henry Holiday's original woodcuts from the 1800's. There are only eight pictures, and these are in old-fashioned style which may turn off some modern readers. This edition does not contain the illustrations - listed in the review of the hardcover editions - by Jonathan Dixon, nor the illustrations by Mervyn Peake also listed as available in hardcover from Amazon.

To Snark fans, though, I would unhesitatingly recommend both those editions as well. Dixon's is little-known, but excellent, the most profusely illustrated Snark, with pictures on every page in lush, gorgeously detailed and humorous pen and ink. It may still be available through the website of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, who published it in a small edition. Peake's drawings are also in beautiful black and white, and capture his own rather dark, quirky "Gormenghast" take on the poem. (A good companion, too, to the recently released editions of "Alice" with Peake's drawings.)

This book is definitely hard to get into, but once you do, you're hooked. The jazz theme is awesome (although I wouldn't have chosen a cat...) and the pictures are brilliant. What a great picture book!

This is one of the most amazing children's books I have ever read. Jonathan London is able to convert prose into music. You have a sense of being inside jazz and understanding what it is from a completely emotional standpoint. I was thrilled to have the pleasure of reading this book to my 5 year old son and to introduce him to what jazz feels like. We listened to several Jazz albums after reading this book and the book helped to make a connection to the music. Thank you, Thank you Mr. London for this incredible experience!

This Reading Rainbow Book, Hip Cat, by Jonathan London and illustrated by Woodleigh Hubbard is a refreshing introduction to the lyrical and "cool" genre of jazz music for the young child. It gives them the opportunity to experience with words and visuals a character who desires to make his livelihood by doing what he enjoys best! The story is dedicated to Herschel Silverman, jazz poet, Bobby McFerrin, scat man, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Young learners, hopefully, will come away with a heightened idea of self-awareness as it relates to career choices and a greater level of endurance to make of their lives what they choose. Oobie-do John the Sax Man Scat Man, the cool cat man, realizes his love for making jazzy music on his saxophone. Others enjoy his craft and his pay is peanuts and applause. Oobie-do needs more to survive. He doesn't give up finding a good gig, one that will feed him and pay his bills. Persistence and perfecting his craft win him a just reward.

Teacher Note: Excellent opportunity to integrate language, music and rhyme. Students can also meet and greet jazz greats via musical listening/movement experiences. A real opportunity to submerge classroom experiences into "multiple-intelligences" mode. Another recommended book is Willie Jerome by Alice Faye Duncan.

I found this book to be quite stirring. It has a powerful message about not giving up our minds today. I found it to be a treat, after realizing that the metaphorical fool was the man who dealt with the world without knowing himself. Great read, Mr. Deaugust!

Blacksun Rising is a story that anyone living in a large Metropolitan city can visualize. It can be any homeless man acting out the evils of what society has imposed upon the male population. Fool fits the description of many homeless mentally ill, yet highly educated persons who has fallen from the top to hit rock bottom, denying family and friends to escape reality. This book is interesting, and will hold the reader in suspense from one chapter to another. You wouldn't want to miss this enchanting story.

I don't usually do this but has to be one of the best I've read in a long time. This novel will captivate your interest and you will want to continue reading till the end. Each event happens will have you glued to you chair spellbound. I loved it and I strongly recommend this reading treat. "Never Surrender"