pictures citadels folktales cremation

books:

8 reviews
Arnold Lobel

Greenwillow Books, 1982

Beautiful, funny, childhood classic
Ming Lo and his wife live next to a mountain. The mountain constantly drops rocks on their house; clouds form at the peak and rain falls on their house (through the holes the rocks have already made) and it blocks the sun. Eventually, they have had enough!! Ming Lo's wife sends him off to the village wise man that first tells them to run at the mountain with a large pole-this will knock the ...

War Horse

8 reviews
Michael Morpurgo

Greenwillow Books, 1983

Made me think of Black Beauty
I decided to pick up War Horse after the nice, new cover caught my eye in a local bookstore and immediately brought it home, cracked open the cover, and allowed myself to be swept off into Joey's story. I love the fact that this book comes directly from the "horses point of view," which is similar strikingly familiar to Black Beauty by Anna Sewell as to compared to Michael Morpurgo's War ...

Dogsbody

44 reviews
Diana Wynne Jones

Greenwillow Books, 2001

A Star Among Us
Imagine that the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and every stellar body in the sky are alive and conscious, possessed by great spirit beings known as "illuminaries." This is the story about one of the greatest of such entities, Sirius - the Dogstar. Notorious for his fiery temper, Sirius is unjustly found guilty by his celestial peers for the murder of another illuminary. Their sentence upon him is ...

Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart (The Story of Amber and Essie Told Here in POEMS and PICTURES)

7 reviews

Greenwillow Books, 2001

Not just brave and smart but also amazing!
This book contains poetry, and as a general rule I don't like poetry (unless it's funny, and stars that charming man from Nantucket!) However, I made an exception for this book because it's just so GOOD! It's not that rhyming sort of poetry, but a gentle, flowing sort that's even more poetic, which tells a story in separate, glorious little parts. I'm not ashamed to admit, I was so touched by ...

Prince of the Godborn (Seven Citadels, Part 1)

15 reviews
Geraldine Harris

Greenwillow Books, 1983

wonder why it was never reprinted
This is a suprisingly good series, though each of the four books is a short 200ish pages and could have just been sold as one 800ish page doorstopper in the current style. It is about a fascinating central and ancient empire, the rulers of which are descended from gods, but have fallen into decadence. The empire itself is threatened by barbarians who have recently united. The story ...

Hey, dollface

8 reviews
Deborah Hautzig

Greenwillow Books, 1978

My Mom bought this book for me!
My Mom bought this book for my when I was 12. This remains one of my favorite books, and I don't think any other book has become such a part of my identity. I think this book addresses the issue of friendship in girlhood, gay OR straight. If I ever have a daughter, I will pass my treasured copy on to her!

Round Trip

7 reviews
Ann Jonas

Greenwillow Books, 1983

Intro to M.C. Escher
I remember this book! That's what I thought to myself as I picked up this sly little piece of black and white elegance. When I was a child I remember seeing this book in some form or context. Literal minded child that I was, I was always a little perturbed by the content. In this book, deceptively simple black and white photographs tell the story of a car trip to the city and then back home ...

The Cremation of Sam McGee

11 reviews
Robert W. Service

Greenwillow Books, 1987

Illustrated Picture Book of Classic Yukon Gold Rush Poem
I recently saw this poem used effectively with a sixth grade Social Studies class studying the Yukon Gold Rush. The poem with it's morbid/supernatural theme is intriguing to kids in the middle school years and the colorful yet somewhat archaic and ambiguous language led to a great beginning Socratic Seminar. This ...

Charmed Life

57 reviews
Diana Wynne Jones, Diana W. Jones

Greenwillow Books, 1977

A Charmed Surprise ...
"Charmed Life" is my first Diana Wynne Jones book (I know, I know ... I'm a little late) and I'll openly admit I came to her work through Miyazaki's amazing film "Howl's Moving Castle". Imagine how stupid I felt when I realized that I had been missing out on one of the best writers of our age. While it starts off slowly, Jones's first Chrestomanci book is still a grand, magical, yet simple ...

The Homeward Bounders

17 reviews
Diana Wynne Jones

Greenwillow Books, 1981

Mythic collage and literary merit
A well-crafted book like this has literary merit long before most YA fiction was considered to be of much merit at all. The mythic background of this book is tremendously evocative to me. A former reviewer mentioned the Christ symbolism of one of the characters - this is simply false - the chained up nameless character is Prometheus, the bringer of fire to humanity. Reflecting in the mood of ...

I Read Signs

5 reviews
Tana Hoban

Greenwillow Books, 1983

Excellent pre-reader
I found this book was an excellent pre-reading excercise for my preschooler. She just loves to see and recognize the signs as we are driving. This also makes it a great book to bring along for car trips of any length. I am buying a copy for her friend who loves all things car & truck. I know this will make a great gift for boys as well as girls ages 3+.

Jack's Garden

5 reviews
Henry Cole

Greenwillow Books, 1997

A book worth getting
I'll share the review I wrote for The Home School Manual ======= Jack's Garden "This is the garden that Jack planted." The first double-spread illustration with these words shows Jack on the bare ground. Next, "This is the soil that made up the garden that Jack planted" and an underground picture of various creatures. The story repeats on each page spread adding a new line. This book is a ...

Stories to Solve: Folktales from Around the World

6 reviews
George Shannon

Greenwillow Books, 1985

Logic outside the box - made fun
This book 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 - Tibetan, Aesop, Armenia, India, Grimm brothers, Ethiopian, Japan; in fact many of the stories could have come from any of a number of cultures. The ...

Don't Forget the Bacon!

5 reviews
Pat Hutchins

Greenwillow Books, 1976

My son is 15, and this is still his favorite book!
I bought "Don't Forget the Bacon" at a library book sale for $.25. It had been taped and rebound several times. At the time my daughter was 5 years old and my son was 2. We would curl up together and read it over and over each night. They loved to chime in: "...and don't forget the bacon." It remained a part of our bedtime story ritual for many years. When my son entered kindergarten, he ...

One Hot Summer Day

5 reviews
Nina Crews

Greenwillow Books, 1995

Delilghtfully Hot Book!
I loved Nina Crews' collage artwork depicting the hotness of summer in the city. The images were incredibly colorful and I wanted to explore all the details in the pictures. The little girl in purple whom the author used as the subject is absolutely adodrable! Her smile just lights you up and you can just imagine all the fun she is having. Nina lets the reader experience many emotions while ...

My Parents Think I'm Sleeping

6 reviews
Jack Prelutsky

Greenwillow Books, 1985

Nice collection of poems
This collection of poems relate to bedtime and nighttime. While much shorter than Jack's better known collections ("New Kid on the Block", etc.), I believe the emotional range is broader in this book. This book includes wistful poems and cutesy-scary poems, that would feel out of place in Jack's funny poems compilations. Of course, there are many funny poems, but the real gems are the ...

Big Like Me

6 reviews
Anna Grossnickle Hines

Greenwillow Books, 1989

Great to give BIG SIBLING at the birth of LITTLE SIBLING!
My 19 month-old son was "reading" this book when we brought his new baby sister home from the hospital! He had memorized all the words because of the beautiful way Ms. Hines rhymed every line! The first thing we had to do was sit his little sister beside him on the couch so he could "read" it to her!! How excited he was to know he could teach her how "to fly, we'll touch the sky!" He ...

On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC

5 reviews
Rachel Isadora

Greenwillow Books, 2003

Perfect for Aspiring Dancers of All Ages
Author illustrator Rachel Isadora's Ballet ABC book is as magically elegant as the dance itself. Each letter introduces a ballet term. Each drawing illuminates the term in graceful pastels. Isadora once studied at the School of Ballet and danced with the Boston Ballet. Her passion for the dance lives on in her books. Don't miss the glossary after letter Z for Zipper: it helps the reader ...

Futuretrack 5

6 reviews
Robert Westall

Greenwillow Books, 1984

Criminally Overlooked
Like, I daresay, a lot of people, I first read this book when I was about 11-12. I've kept coming back to it ever since (I'm now in my mid-twenties) and it reveals new layers every time I read it. It's superbly written, darkly funny, fast-paced, and thought provoking. The characters are facinating and the way Westall gradually reveals the Big Picture is just masterful. A classic.

Tomorrow's Alphabet

6 reviews
George Shannon

Greenwillow Books, 1996

Innovative!
My 4 year old daughter loved this book when I got it from the library. I first thought that it might be a bit confusing for her but she understood it perfectly and has memorized the entire thing. This book is definately a keeper.

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