This is a refreshing way to spend your time listening to some of the best interviews from the show. I like the show but sometimes don't have time to catch it on NPR. This audio set gives me lots of the memorable interviews I've heard or partially heard over the years. It's a great collection of some of the folks who are major influences in their work. The inquisitive and probing questions of Terry Gross really open up conversations with the likes of Tracy Ullman and Dennis Franz, they sound like us. These are wonderful snippets of real life.

My 5 year old son loves the stories in this book. We borrowed it from the library twice and even brought it on our 2 week holiday recently where he actually took the book out several times to read it amid all the excitement of the holiday! We finally bought one to read over and over again.

It consists of 15 short stories some of which are King-Smith's funny animal versions of familiar fairy tales like "Hogsel & Gruntel", "Little Red Riding Pig", "Goldipig & The Three Bears", etc. Sure winner with young ones, just like the rest of his books. Many of the stories appear in individual books, but this beautiful hard cover collection with colour illustrations is great value for money.

That book is the best one I found in Hong Kong bookstore for the Pharmacy staff or the student in the Pharmacy. The information is update and very clear. GOOD

Rhino hates his horns, and feels that the horns of other African wildlife are fancier and nicer than his. His friend Baboon decides to convince Rhino that his horns suit him - with fun results. A simple format and very bright, large illustrations lends to easy reading.

This is a lovely little book containing on the left pages one or more core principles of emotionally (& spiritually) healthy family life (with none of that saccharine & righteous moralism that often afflicts books of this genre), and on the adjacent, a reproduction of a captivatingly creative graphic - perhaps an oil or acrylic or chalk - on high quality stock. Visually alluring and emotionally pleasing.

Only about 50 pages of "back to core principles" reminders which we so often need.

I'm planning on buying several as "no special event" gifts and looking forward to seeing more of their work.

I was checking out a critique I did for America the Babylon on Amazon recently and thought I would also see what kinds of books Terry has written lately. I was pleasantly surprised to find his poem Sheehan on Amazon's book list. I have not only read Sheehan several times but I also took every one of Terry's English classes at the community college where he teaches and have heard him read Sheehan several times. My copy was destroyed in a fire so I'm having to do this critique from memory.

Terry's guidelines for a good story/poem in his English classes were as follows: Show your spirit, your heart, and your brain; dig to the depths of your soul until it hurts but get your feeling down on paper; force the reader to experience what you've been through; help them to hear what you heard and see what you saw; and to experience your senses. It's your story, write it the way you feel--as if you're never going to show it to anyone else--you can always take it out later. And last but not least--truth is better than facts. Terry's poem Sheehan encompasses all of the above because this author practices what he preaches.

The thing I liked most about this poem is the immense love that this person in the poem has for Sheehan, his son, and how he dealt with an enormous heartbreak that splintered his hopes and dreams for this child. This poem relays the struggle it took for him to finally come to grips with the facts, accept what is, and move forward with his life. It shows how one man weathered an enormous trial through being honest with himself, admitting his fears, and conquering a desire for revenge on others as well as himself. I think it is this person's vulnerability and honesty that grabs you by the heart and draws you into the story. You cannot NOT have strong empathy for the person in this poem, because this story relays the struggles a lot of us can relate to.

The strong visual imagery of this poem is enhanced by the artwork which adequately portrays what your heart will be feeling as you read this book--if it were possible to draw feelings. If you can read this poem without your heart jumping in a thousand different directions then you're a prime target for a heart transplant. I recommend you buy the booklet and then go to Spokane and listen to Terry read the poem in person. I give it a 4.0 And no, he didn't pay me to write this critique--I haven't talked to him for about 5 years. (E)LE

Boris' friends see that he needs cheering up, but nothing is going right and Boris becomes even grumpier. As each friend finds his efforts at cheerfulness thwarted, Boris becomes even lonelier and angrier, until it's time for parental intervention and affection. Michael Terry's drawings are appealing and fun.

Kenneth Graham achieved a masterpiece with The Wind in the Willows. Please don't judge it on the basis of Disney's "Mr. Toad" cartoon; the book itself is lyrical and engaging, with fun characters in wonderful settings facing a number of thrilling adventures. Some scenes are purely down to earth, such as Mr. Toad's escapades with his beloved automobiles, and some are sheer magic, as the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter. Reading the musical Christmas chapter has become a holiday tradition in my family.

This is truly a book that anyone can enjoy, a claim that is often made on the front covers of teen-market books but which rarely stands up to the promise. In this case I could read this book to my youngest and oldest child, and all three of us would be entranced.

This childhood favorite is as fresh and charming as when it was first published--and when my father read it to us with obvious . delight when we were kids. The animal protagonists--Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad--remind us of folks we know, which endears them to us with their all-too-human dreams and foibles. For both People and Creatures struggle to survive in the forests and streams of life.

Exhausted from his strenuous spring cleaning, Mole sets out into the world Aboveground, where he discovers the joys and challenges of riverbank life with his new friend and host, the water rat. But beware the perils lurking in the adjacent Wild Wood!

Kenneth Grahame weaves a gentle tale with willow strands of friendship, dedication to ideals and personal sacrifice for others. Come ride the roads with Toady, and scull down the river with Ratty; savor the sentimental whisperings of Home with Mole. Then join the ranks of Badger's Avengers to honor ancestral memories. This beloved classic combines humor and pathos with lively adventure in an animal realm which closely parallels human endeavor. This book is a true gem, to be rediscovered by successive generations and treasured by children of all ages!

Kenneth Grahame's classic children's tale can be enjoyed by people of all ages. As we follow the rural adventures of Ratty, Mole, Toad, and Badger, we encounter moments of earnest emotion, and intense moments that brush the depths of what it is to be human. For Grahame's characters, taken from amongst the familiar animals that inhabit the English countryside, have all the vulnerability and sensitivity of real human beings, and we genuinely warm to them as together they learn life's lessons.

The early scenes of Ratty and Mole's boat trip and picnic are a delight, and the story progresses into absolute hilarity as we meet Toad and are introduced to his crazy adventures and ill-fated escapades, as well as his incorrigible, over-inflated sense of self-importance. The most humourous episodes involve the wise and avuncular Badger's attempts to thwart Toad's hairbrained schemes and his seemingly endless conceitedness. Toad never seems to learn his lesson, and he remains a tremendously loveable rogue, though a rogue nevertheless.

Ernest Shepard's brilliant illustrations will only add to what is an incredibly touching, joyful, and involving experience.

Shakespheres Stories was a good book. The book told you about the 3 diffrent typs of writtings he did. It tells you little interesting facts and tidbits about him and the history and actors of his plays. The book wraps up his plays in diffrent point of views you understand for example:Hamlet is explained through an officer writting a police report.

Not only does this book count down the top ten Shakespeare stories, but between each chapter there are the top ten lists like " Top Ten Shakepearian Actors" . My favorite one was a list of all the people that might have written the plays instead of Shakespeare. You should know that the book doesn't have the real plays, just the summeries and facts. The only problem I had was that there wasn't much detail- Like in Hamlet, it was just one of the characters saying how everyone died, and not a lot of detil of what else happened. But it was still a good book, and you'll really like it if you read Horrible histories.

This book was very good. It gave life to Shakespeare. While I appreaciate the beauty of his words, sometimes Shakespeare is a little......stuffy. But not in this book! It tells Shakespeare in a language I can understand. Even my 7-year-old brother was reading it!!! This is definatly a good book for anyone to enjoy.
- MKL

As any fan of the show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, knows, the Solomons are a group of aliens, sent from another galaxy to study the earth and humanity. This quirky book is a distillation of all of the things that the Solomons learned. Sadly, as every fan of the show knows, every lesson they learned is hilariously wrong! This book is a collection of hilarious observations of the human condition, guaranteed to leave you in stitches!

This book is so incredibly funny. You'll be laughing all the way to the next galaxy. A must-read for fans!In what other book would you find Harry's Movie Reviews, where he says that "Showgirls" is a good film for youngsters. I quote him in that, "the dance sequences will dazzle young and old alike." A quick read, and not one that you will soon forget

I am a huge fan of this show, and I think that this book is the funniest thing I have ever read! It is filled with zillions of pictures, color and black-and-white, and tidbits from each character on everything imaginable and unimagineable! I reccomend this book to anyone who loves this fabulous show, and is in the mood to laugh uncontrollably!!!!!