great photos by Tom Walker (wonderful wildlife photographer) that both adults and children enjoy ( so reading to my nephew is just as much fun for me!) the poems by Tom walker are very catchy (but once again not annoying for an adult to read over and over and over again!)

I bought this book (along with some other children's books about Alaska) when we visited the state four summers ago. Our son was 6 at the time. Wild Critters was his (and my) favorite!

It is sweetly amusing--with a photograph of a "wild critter" on one page and a short poem about it on the opposite page. A musk ox, fox, mountain goat, grizzly bear and many others are the subjects of these delightful poems. Each poem captures a quality that a young child--and the adult reading it--can relate to. For example, in a poem called "Back Seat Loonacy", the baby loon cries, " 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' Still the same old beat. No we are not there yet, why don't you try to eat?" My personal favorite is the poem for the Musk Ox, titled "Flower child". In part, it reads: "Few can understand me and some say I'm a slob. All they do is tell me, "Get a haircut, get a job".

The titles of the poems are amusing and inviting: "Pfine pfeathered pfashion" is about the ptarmigan and "The arctic waterbed" is about the polar bear, and so on. The photographs of the animals in their natural habitats are outstanding. They are either amusing (the grizzly trying to scratch his back on a post) or endearing (a baby caribou peeking around its mother).

I've emphasized the creative, delighful nature of this book, but it also teaches a small child much about the animals depicted: about how animals camouflage themselves, about how sea otters eat, about how fast a snowshoe hare can race across a field. An added surprise (which I loved because it's so subtle) is that each page number sits on a color imprint of the track of that particular animal.

I highly recommend this book to parents with children ages 3 and up. Even older children taking poetry in class can enjoy the simple, clever rhymes and use them as models for their own poetry.

In closing, I'll quote one of the most endearing poems--"Peekaboo caribou": "With nowhere else to go to hide from one another, I found the safest place to hide is right behind my mother". Enjoy.

I couldn't get over some of the things Sante Kimes got away with in her lifetime. I remember being in Los Angeles and first hearing about the murder of Irene Silverman. I started to follow the NY TIMES articles on the entire matter. Then, I saw Kent Walker on Larry King and decided to get the book--which I finally managed to read & finish during a flight to London & France. It was quite interesting to read this book from her eldest sons' eyes. He was true to heart about his feelings. It could NOT have been easy for him. It's miraculous how he was fortunate enough to take the 'right' road in life (although I'm sure he had his fair share of mischievous stories that were never revealed). The book really kept me interested. It's really worthwhile reading for anyone who likes True Crime stories. It's also so UNBELIEVABLE. It is a relief to know that Sante Kimes is 'locked up' for good now. She seemed to be a detriment to society at large. She literally got away with murder. It reminded me of Winona Ryder (on a smaller scale) as I read in the NY POST about how shoplifters simply do what they do for the THRILL...TO SEE HOW EASILY THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH IT. Once they get away with 'one' thing...they pattern continues--like alcoholism or any other disease. I guess one could say that Sante Kimes did have a disease and she passed it on to her youngest son, Kenny. It seems Sante Kimes did everything every day of her life for the thrill...simply to see if she could get away with it--and she actually did until it all caught up with her. YIPES! What a creepy woman. I wish I could meet Kent Walker and talk to him--I do feel for him and wish I could embrace him and let him know that it's all 'okay' (the feelings & emotions he has & will continue to live with). Kent (if you are reading this)...you have a friend in me.

This book is packaged and marketed like a standard brick of true crime with a photo section in the middle, but it is actually a unique and enthralling personal memoir, and a valuable contribution to late 20th century social history to boot. The prose is superb, and the clarity of Kent Walker's psychological insights, into both his family history and own mind are beyond impressive. Anyone generally interested in the phenomenon of charisma (REAL charisma, the Weberian kind, not manufactured "charisma" as seen on tv) will profit from this book, which plumbs its mysteries with particular intelligence. One would not think, either from the descriptions or photographs, that anyone would be able to find Sante Kimes as anything other than repulsive. And yet, she had this incredible, awful capacity to influence and control those around her, through sheer force of personality.

This is a horrifying story, but also, in the strangest of ways, an inspiring one, in that Kent Walker somehow managed to transcend an upbringing among sociopaths to become some semblance of a human being.

I read this book in two sittings, and it would have been one, except that I had to sleep.

OK - first of all, the content is fascinating. A highly detailed account of growing up in a family of sociopaths, and the aftermath thereof.

What makes this book special, though, is how it doesn't just recite the criminal history of the Kimes family, but uses it to rise above the true crime genre. Instead of just reciting the sleaze and scams that Sante Kimes and her family pull off (which, let's face it, no matter how much of a highbrow you might be, are worth reading about in and of themselves), Son of a Grifter elevates this material by describing how the Kimes' criminal activities map into (and out of) that defining aspect of our society, the search for the American Dream.

This book is not your usual tabloid quickie designed to cash in on a hot crime story. Thing more along the lines of Norman Mailer's "The Executioner's Song" or Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." It's scrupulously researched, incredibly well written, and really captures the voice of its central characters.

I hardly ever buy audio books, but I heard Kent Walker on NPR, and his speaking voice is perfect for this story. I'll be driving cross-country this summer, and think I'll get the audio version for the feeling of that coast-to-coast opportunistic drifting that Sante Kimes is emblematic of.