This book has a handful of good stories about animals, some funny, some heartwarming, other just plain great. My favorite is "Redruff: the story of the don valley partidge" as a grouse hunter, I loved the way this story was set up in the eyes of the grouse, and not the hunter for a change. This is a very nice book and I'd recomend it.

What a wonderfully produced book! It beatifully captures the essence of an era through its generous use of evocative illustrations of children's books dating from the first half of the twentieth century. The authors cover British writers primarily, but there is a good representation from the States, Canada and Australia.
The book is organized by decades, which gives the reader the chance to see more clearly how each particular period panned out: a refreshing change from the unimaginative alphabetical strategy usually favoured in such tomes.
Each featured writer is given an introductory essay. A complete bibliography for the decade is appended. This is fascinating. One can easily compare the output of famous writers (Enid Blyton - manic; Arthur Ransome - considered). The content of the essays is informative and ungushy. The authors also have a nice line in dry wit - Beatrix Potter's "Tale of Pigling Bland" is described as "a crackling good tail" for instance.
The pictures are the stars, however. Largely of highly rare dust jackets, they are enough to make any collector both ecstatic and jealous. For once it is probably not an exaggeration to talk about "the only copy in existance". The jacket of "Children's Fiction" is itself a work of art. Ultra scarce jacketed copies of books by Milne, Blyton, Henty, Brazil, Brent-Dyer, Crompton, Ransome and WE Johns lie, as if scattered, before a blue background.
I suspect that the comparatively high retail price is the only thing that has stopped this book reaching a wide audience. If only Ashgate (or another publisher)could reissue it in paperback (perhaps without the bibliographies and with more colour) then this would surely be a widely heralded addition to the ever increasing nostalgia genre. As it is, I recommend it to those thousands who, like me, love this era and collect children's books. You will not regret the purchase.

The writing was very captivating with lots of action and suspense. The whole idea of hidden treasure in East Anglia and the puzzle of the carved coal were intriguing. The reliance on characters previously developed helped give more depth to both the characters and the story. A real winner.

This book is a firm favourite for my four year old son. We have now had the book for two years and read it at least once a week. A young boy catches a fish and takes it home, but it grows bigger and BIGGER. Each flap reveals a larger fish. My son loves the beautiful pictures of the boy and the fish (especially when it is loaded into the wheelbarrow!) and lovingly recites the final words hidden behind the "curtain" on the last page. We have "a whale of a time" everytime we read it.

I never liked to read. Then my mom got me Gargoyles of Gaylord by Johnathan Rand, and now I just can't stop reading!!! I'm on my third Michigan Chillers book in three days.

What I liked about this book is it mentioned stuff about my home town like the festival we have every year. Plus, the street that the Gargoyles were on is one street over from MY street!

My favorite part of the book was when the gargoyles were after the main characters in Darkland. I liked how each chapter made me want to keep reading into the next chapter, the way it said, "They were getting closer..." or, "I couldn't believe what I was seeing..." and, "The strangest thing I've ever seen..."

I couldn't put down this book!

I can't wait for the next Michigan Chiller!

I recently purchased this book for my daughter. She enjoys the illustrations and I particularly enjoyed the story line. The story is about a young hippo who longs for the attention of his very busy father. It reminds us that a child needs more than toys, food and an abundance of activities -- or in the hippo's case, "mountains of food, lots of things to play with and plenty of mud". They need the attention of their parents, and in this story, especially the attention of dad. This adorably illustrated story goes through the creative ways a growing hippo tries to "capture" his busy father's attention and the wonderful time they had when he finally succeeded. This is a nice addition to our large library of story books, one both myself and my daughter enjoy.

The book has lovely pictures, slightly reminiscent of Sendak, and a cozy rhyme to go with it, however I feel that the children who might truly appreciate the poem and pictures are much older than a child who would want to read it as a bedtime story - its only one line per page, or sometimes per two pages. But I do enjoy reading it to my 2 year old, despite the fact that she doesn't really follow what's happening.

cute but not a good children's book.It's not going to keep his/her attention for long.Pictures are imaginitive but sort of odd.

BOTTOM LINE: Get it if you want to, I'm not going to reccomend it.

Although this book is out of print it is worth the search if you like family memoirs. I happened upon this little treasure when looking for Angela's Ashes at my favorite local library. What is particularly striking about Yardley's book is the candor with which he presents his parents and his family. Yardley, a book critic for the Washington Post, tells the story of his father who was a long-time headmaster of a private, all-girls school in Virginia.

This Christie is a surprising treat for loyal fans. It comprises of eight short stories. Two of which are from the familiar egg headed detective Poirot, "The second gong" and "Yellow Iris" The later of the two involves Poirot being mysteriously called to a restaurant by an unknown lady caller in danger. Poirot has to discover who the caller is and the looming danger. Both these stories like the majority in this collection originally appeared in the Strand magazine. Mr Parker Pyne "The one and only original wizard", appears in two delightful tales which focus on the dapper English gent, solving a problem of the heart In "Problem at Pollensa Bay" and the mysterious disappearance of a diamond in "The Regatta mystery". The first of the two stories was my particular favourite as Christie explores the mystery of relationships in quite a comical almost Wodehousian style. This story shows us what a good sense of humour and keen wit Christie had. The Mr Satterthwaite and Harley Quin double act is really different. Mr Satterthwaite is helped by the supernatural presence of Mr Harley Quin, in "The Harlequin tea set" and "the love detectives". Mr Quin aids Mr Satterthwaite in solving puzzles by slowly revealing and suggesting things to both Mr Satterthwaite and the reader. The most surprising stories are the last two, "Next to a dog" and "Magnolia Blossom." Neither follow Christies usual tale of murder, however they are both morbid and serious. The stories explore the sombre side of life and are perhaps showing what the author thought about relationships she had experienced.. I enjoyed this selection of short stories because it is such an eclectic mixture of tales, illustrating the versatile talent of Christies writing. I would recommend this book both to newcomers to her writing and an unexpected welcome to those familiar with her work.