4 comments about There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Lrning Libry).

1. The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library books are all great tools to get beginning readers to read and explore different topics at the same time.
   
   There's a Map on my Lap is my favorite in this series. It explains in typical Cat in the Hat rhyme and stance all the different uses for maps.
   It explains the difference between a globe and a map, what latitudes and longitudes and other features of maps are. You learn to read a map by using the windrose or a grid.
   The book goes well beyond town or country maps. It features weather maps, topographical maps and even marine charts.
   
   What truly separates this book from the crowd: it is shockfull of hands-on things to do. It begins with peeling an orange while leaving the skin in one piece to demonstrate what a world map should really look like - brilliant idea! Then it goes on to make a map of your room, town, imaginary countries. Or how to measure the length of a curved road on a map using a straight ruler and string.
   
   At the end of the book you find a glossary that explains the "big" words like topographical map and others again. Also a list of more books about maps and globes for children.
   If you like doing hands on things with your preschool through 2nd graders this book is for you! Hours of fun and education all rolled into one big happy Cat in the Hat poem.



2. This book is classic Dr. Seuss...fun, silly, and children don't realize they're learning something. Great book for teaching about maps. I bought this for my 6 year old prior to going on vacation. We had been looking at maps and talking about what states we'd be driving through on our trip. He enjoyed listening to the book and because of the way the information is presented (fun and silly rhymes), he has retained what he learned. He has even referred back to specific bits of information we read from the book (i.e. Never Eat Shredded Wheat to remember North, East, South and West.)
   
   The back of the book contains a glossary of terms mentioned in the book. Highly recommended as an additional tool for teaching about maps.



3. Children enjoyed this book. Used in map unit for PS and elem. settings.



4. This is a fun book for introducing young children to maps. I will use it in my early childhood classroom but I wish I'd had it when my own chldren were young. They would have loved it!

5 comments about Flight: A Novel.

1. Before I begin my actual review, I would like to agree with previous reviewers stating the novel is very short. It is indeed a quick read - I finished in about 4 hours - but this is not necessarily a bad quality. I would much rather read a short book, which I enjoy immensely page to page, than read a long book with only specific scenes that I enjoy (for example, LOTR or The Catcher in the Rye). This obviously depends on the reader, but I think the ability to write a piece of literature that captures my attention from the beginning to the end should be judged on that quality, not how long it is.
   
   That being said, Flight is a good name for this novel - the action and superb styling made me want to fly through the story and find out what happens at the end from the very beginning. Although not exactly multi-dimensional, Zits is a convincing reproduction of a mistreated adolescent, with an interesting past and about a 90% correct teenage attitude (I'm 16, so I think I'm allowed to judge this).
   
   The plot twists are interesting, if a bit confusing at first. I found myself letting go of over-thinking in favor of simply enjoying what was happening after his first trip to another's body.
   
   The only lull in the story I would say was the trip to the pilot's body, but that's quickly fixed in his next trip. I also didn't really like how the ending was completely and utterly happy. After such a negative atmosphere from the rest of the novel, the juxtaposition was slightly awkward. Along with that, as said by an English classmate of mine during a discussion we had after reading the novel, the message was a bit too strong and the symbolism a bit too weak - the allusion to the smell of "beer and onions" throughout the novel, for example, was, I thought, a deeper allusion to something evil... but even that is answered by the end.
   
   This is still an engaging read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to fellow teenagers - for adults, I really have no clue, although my English teacher Mr. Johnston seemed to like it!



2. The story of flight tracks a 15 year-old known only as Zits. He is an American Indian living in Seattle with a foster family. His real mother is dead and his father abandoned his mother. Zits' first appearance in the novel is one that will not be forgotten. He curses at his foster father and is sent to jail. Eventually he is let out by a kid named Justice, who tries to fill Zits' head with ideas of a violent revolution.
   
   Then Zits starts traveling back and forth through time in different peoples' bodies. For example, he wakes up in the body of an Indian boy at the Battle of Little Bighorn and witnesses what occurred there. In all of these events there are moral issues and Zits must choose what is right in each situation. The dialogues feel like they were said by a teenager and are very exciting. Overall, the story is entertaining and raises some provoking questions about society.
   
   Words of caution: the is some severe language as well as some descriptions of intense images so it should not be read by anyone of an age lower than 13.



3. Flight by Sherman Alexie is a very nice escape from the usual high school literature taught in classes. IT reads much easier and quicker than many other books, due t6 its target audience of teens, which could be interpreted by some as being boring. I do not think this, with Alexie's story of Zits, an "orphaned" half-Indian teenager in Washington state who gets shipped from jail to jail and foster home to foster home.
   
   After one escape from jail, Zits meets a white boy named "justice" who convinces him to rob a bank. While in the process, Zits has an epiphany and gets transported into multiple circumstances ranging from a remorseful flight instructor, to an FBI agent, to an Indian at Little Bighorn, to a homeless man near his home town.
   
   Alexie's writing style is one that reads very easily compared to much clasic literature, and the story is compelling, so to keep the reader reading. It is however on the short side of books, and a relatively quick read, so one may be better off checking it out from a library rather than investing in their own personal copy. One other criticism of the book is that there are many literary cliches placed throughout the book, which some readers may find annoying and repulsive. Overall, it was a good book and was worth reading, and I hope Alexie Continues to write books of this genre.



4. I love Sherman Alexie. He is an accomplished writer, poet, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, director, and editor. I love his poetry. I love his unique style. He can make you laugh and cry at the same time. This quirky book is a fast entertaining and interesting read. The young man in the story is about to commit an extreme act of violence when he finds himself yanked into time and into the body of an FBI agent during the civil rights era. He continues to travel through time inhabiting several different bodies. When he finally comes back to his own body he has learned a lot along the way, and so have we--vicariously, through him. He is transformed by what he's seen and we are transformed in the reading of this book. This is Sherman's shamanistic magic and he puts it to good effect in this book.



5. Ya know, it was one of those things. I've collected non-fiction Native American books for for close to two decades. They remain largely ignored. I spied Flight on the shelf for $13.00!, not knowing if Sherman was a woman or a man, Indian, European or what he or she was about to teach me. The concept was brilliant, the humor made me laugh out loud and I came out of it humbled and grateful. Very short, sweet and to the point; this novella taught me something about what it might be like to be fatherless, a Northwest Native American shunned and stunned by what the America of the Starbucks's generation has become. Alexie has a great sense of humour and I suppose, if he didn't he might be one dead or bitter alcoholic.

5 comments about Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy).

1. I have read all of Rita Mae Brown's books and was eagerly awaiting this new one. I was very disappointed. First of all, it was a lot more detailed about the horse industry than need be. So much so it lost the reader, got bogged down in the details. Second, it actually read like she did not even write the book! It was not her style of writing. If you like her books, stop before this one!



2. I have read all of the books in this series, and I was excited to find a new book on the shelves. What a disappointment! One of the things I enjoy about reading a series of books is to have the chance to connect with the recurring characters and places previously described. When the author chose to set this story in a new location without most of the main characters, she lost me. None of the new characters were appealing, and the horse show story line was dull. I also don't think Ms Brown has taken the time to develop the relationship between Harry and Fair, and they don't seem to have much chemistry at all. I hope the next book gets back some of the charm of the earlier books.



3. I feel bad writing a review for a book I couldn't finish. In fact, I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and tried to listen to it after I put the book down for the last time. If anything, the flaws in RMB's recent writing are more glaring when read aloud. The stilted dialogue is even more apparent. I've read all the other books, and I have to agree with many of the other reviewers here. The series seems to have lost its charm. A lot of the problem is that RMB took the characters out of Crozet, so the wonderful, colorful supporting characters were not there. Secondly, and I hate to say it, getting Fair and Harry back together has taken some of the sparkle out of the story line. Thirdly, RMB is explaining far, far too much about some pet subject (in this case, horses) and not developing a meaningful plot. Finally, RMB's writing is choppy and her dialogue is very stilted and unrealistic. Honestly: I tried very hard to get past the 40 or so pages I did read, but I couldn't. And then when the audiobook, too, failed to engage me, I gave up.
   
   I have also read all of the Stephanie Plum series [such as [ASIN:0312349491 Lean Mean Thirteen]] from Janet Evanovich. While the quality of Evanovich's plot lines does vary from book to book, overall she has maintained the crackle and sparkle of the Plum series from start to finish. Hopefully RMB can get back on track with the Mrs. Murphy series with the next installment. More story, please, and better dialogue. More Crozet and its great cast of characters. Less soapboxing. Less pedantic didacticism.



4. Includes treatise supporting need for undocumented workers and brief blurb on how boring sports are without steroids. To add injury to insult, my dog put a muddy pawprint on page 56 so I can't even sell it to some other unsuspecting person.



5. This is by far the worst book of the series, not only because of the colors of the cover, and most certainly the last one I will touch.
   
   Not only does the author start the book with 30 pages of background information about "Saddlebred Shows" and horses, there is no reward for ploughing through them, it does not get get any better.
   
   Other already mentioned the views of the author being very visible. I cannot remember these opions being so unnerving. When mentioning the drive to the horse show and the huge car, the reader is told in no uncertain words that "industry pollutes more than cars", that there are no bus stops in the country, large cars are fun and that every charity organisation is corrupt anyway. Great philosophy... The idea of legalizing steroids for humans was the next low blow.
   
   Shame about the paper the book was printed on.

4 comments about The Underneath.

1. "But when she got to the place where the hound sang, she knew that something was wrong.
   "She stopped.
   "In front of her sat a shabby frame house with peeling paint, a house that slumped on one side as if it were sinking into the red dirt. The windows were cracked and grimy. There was a rusted pickup truck parked next to it, a dark puddle of thick oil pooled beneath its undercarriage. She sniffed the air. It was wrong, this place. The air was heavy with the scent of old bones, of fish and dried skins, skins that hung from the porch like a ragged curtain. Wrong was everywhere.
   "She should turn around, she should go away, she should not look back. She swallowed. Perhaps she had taken the wrong path? What path should she take? All the paths were the same. She felt her kittens stir. It surely wouldn't be safe to stay here in this shabby place.
   "She was about to turn around, when there it was again -- the song, those silver notes, the ones that settled just beneath her skin. Her kittens stirred again, as if they, too, could hear the beckoning song. She stepped closer to the unkempt house, stepped into the overgrown yard. She cocked her ears and let the notes lead her, pull her around the corner. There they were, those bluesy notes."
   
   After being abandoned by her former owners in East Texas bayou country, and having been drawn through the woods by the lonely song of the chained-up, often-unfed hound dog named Ranger, a pregnant calico cat arrives at the isolated home of Ranger's bitter, violent, and disfigured owner, Gar Face. There, in the the dark space beneath the slumping house -- the Underneath -- the calico cat gives birth to her son Puck and her daughter Sabine. The two young kittens are repeatedly warned by their mother and Ranger about the danger posed by the hard-drinking, rifle-wielding Gar Face and that to be safe they must always remain in the Underneath.
   
   Tragedy strikes when Puck's curiosity causes him to not heed those warnings. THE UNDERNEATH is in large part the story of Puck's subsequent journey.
   
   Meanwhile:
   
   "She has been trapped for a thousand years. But she is older than that, much older. Lamia. She is cousin to the mermaids, the ondines, the great sealfolk known as selkies, perhaps the last of her kind."
   
   THE UNDERNEATH is also the story of another mother, Grandmother Moccasin, and what befell her a thousand years earlier in the days when a native people named the Caddo inhabited the area along the creek that has since come to be called the Little Sorrowful:
   
   "And all around, the watchful trees, the oldest ones, shimmered. They knew that Grandmother Moccasin, when she awoke, would not be happy. The trees knew, but they also recognized the moment for what it was: a love so strong that there was no going back for either one. So for just a little while, the soughing trees used their own ancient magic to stir up the Zephyrs of Sleep. To keep all the others in the forest a-snoozing until Hawk Man and Night Song, in their brand-new skins, had slipped away. For trees, who see so much sorrow, so much anger, so much desperation, know love for the rare wonder of it, so they are champions of it and will do whatever they can to help it along its way."
   
   In this perfectly crafted, suspenseful tale filled with myth and magic, pain and love, and the beauty and the perilousness of bayou country, those ever-watchful trees include a grand old, ailing-yet-proud loblolly pine that will provide a bridge across a thousand years of story and across the Little Sorrowful itself.
   
   The story is perfectly complemented by David Small's beautiful pencil illustrations. (My favorite is definitely his depiction of the scene when, "Suddenly the sky filled up with...a million different birds, calling in their million different voices.")
   
   Without question, Kathi Appelt's THE UNDERNEATH is the finest animal story for children I have read in years. A suspenseful page-turner featuring an incredibly endearing hound dog, I cannot wait to hunt down a young audience with whom I can share it.



2. Wow. What a book. What a story. What an amazing piece of writing.
   
   Now I admit it took me a while to read this one. While I definitely enjoyed sad animal stories as a child, now, with the occasional exception, I avoid them. And so, when I received a gorgeously packaged ARC of Kathi Appelt's The Underneath, I admired it (as it is handsomely illustrated by David Small) , and then read the flap. "An abandoned calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up dog...." Nope. Not for me. Until someone told me it reminded her of Russell Hoban's The Mouse and his Child which happens to be one of my favorite books. So yesterday, feeling lousy with allergies, a head cold, and a painful hip (can't run which is misery for me), I pulled out the ARC and read it.
   
   And was immediately and utterly drawn in. I read without pausing till I was done. What a remarkable book. It is an adventure, a story of myth and magic, of sadness, of family -- and is very beautifully done indeed. Yes, it is sad. Yes, there are abused animals. Even worse, some dead ones too. But, oh my goodness, is it rich and complex and gorgeous. I would have loved, loved, loved it as a child.
   
   While I can see why someone might compare it to The Mouse and his Child because of the journey aspect of the story, the setting, and the sentiment within (and the illustrations as Small also did an edition of the Hoban book), it seems extremely different to me. Another book this reminded me of was Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux. The darkness, the multiple plot threads (from different points in time) all coming together slowly, the allegorical qualities, the magical elements are in both. But DiCamillo's like Hoban's has humor. Be warned that Appelt's book is deadly serious. Actually, the more I think about it the more it reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books, still books I love, love, love.
   
   What is it about? Hard to describe. It takes place in a deep Southern swamp -- a place full of sentient trees, of intelligent animals, of shapeshifting creatures, a place of misery and mystery, a place of magic and myth. Within this magical yet hyper real place are two twisting and intersecting groups of beings. There is the bad man, an abused dog, a calico cat and her twin kittens. And then there is the other group. The magical and mythical one. The story threads swirl and twist around each other, a mix of the past and the present.
   
   Just writing this makes me get all hyperbolic. Sorry! Suffice it to say I recommend it and look forward to hearing what others think about it.



3. I review lots of books. Oodles of caboodles of books. And a lot of the time my thoughts can basically be boiled down to very simple sentences. "Me like book. Book good." or conversely "Me no like book. Book bad." It takes a very special story to knock me out of this frame of mind. When you pick up a copy of "The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt and you read the words, "A novel like this only comes around every few decades," on the back cover you're forgiven if you scoff a little. Uh-huh. Suuuuuure it does. But doggone it if it isn't true. Appelt in her debut novel has somehow managed to write a book that I've been describing to people as (and this is true) Watership Down meets The Incredible Journey meets Holes meets The Mouse And His Child. If that doesn't make any sense to you it is because you have never read a book quite like this. Bound to be one of those books that people either hate or love, I'm inclined to like it very very much. But that doesn't mean it isn't weird, man. Really freaky deaky weird.
   
   "There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road." North of the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Sabine River that divides Texas and Louisiana, three hundred miles north of Houston in far East Texas a cat is left to fend for itself in a forest with her belly full of unborn kits. She is looking for somewhere safe to live, but instead she finds Ranger. Ranger is a hound, shot be accident years ago and chained ever since to the house of a man known only as Gar Face. Ranger warns the cat that this place is dangerous and that Gar Face will kill her if he finds her, but she refuses to leave. The two curl up under the house into the Underneath and there she gives birth to two kittens that she names Puck and Sabine. Unbeknownst to them Gar Face searches the nearby swamps for a massive alligator, hoping to kill it and earn the respect of the men he despises. And even further in the forest a bowl waits, containing a serpent known only as Grandmother Moccasin who remembers how she was trapped and contemplates her imminent escape. All storylines finally coincide in unpredictable, interesting ways.
   
   I brought this book up with a fellow children's librarian, the first I'd run into that had also read the story. When asked what she thought she said, "I liked it. But I couldn't figure out who it was written for." This is more than a little understandable. The story is dark. Dark in tone and in content. Yet I think "The Underneath" will definitely have its fans and not just librarians and booksellers either. I've already heard from a couple sources about kids being read this book in class and being desperate to hear at least one more chapter. Not all children will dig it, of course. If you've a ten-year-old that can't read Charlotte's Web because they find Charlotte's death too disturbing, boy oh boy is this NOT the book for them. Other kids though, the ones with thicker skins, they will find much to love in this story. It will usher them into maturity, whether they want to go there or not. And it will use cute furry animals to do it.
   
   The sticking point with "The Underneath" is that anyone at any time in this book could die. Ranger could die. Puck could die. Puck's mother could die. Gar-Face could die. Appelt does away with a major character fairly early in the story and because of that you lose any sense that everyone's going to be okay. The author has ratcheted up the tension to the point where you have to keep reading if only because you have this insane sense that if you don't you won't be able to protect the characters you're reading about. Does that make any sense?
   
   But the darkness extends beyond the critters. I for one cannot think of a children's novel that spends as much time as this one does in the head of its villain. For that matter, I've never met a villain this nasty that managed to have zero redeeming characteristics and still remain three-dimensional. Gar Face is a bad man, and normally I have a real problem with children's book authors telling the audience, "This person is bad and there is nothing good about them and that's how the world works." It's not like we don't see how the guy came to be bad. We see his entire life story from a nasty bird-poisoning kid to a nasty bird-shooting adult. So why didn't I have a problem with the author rendering him in such stark black and white moral terms? I can't account for it, except maybe to say that Appelt's writing somehow manages to overcome the normal pits and fissures into which less talented authors fall.
   
   I've read Kathi Appelt's picture books, you know. In fact, I am particularly fond of her Bubba and Beau series, following the very low-key adventures of a baby (Bubba) and his hound dog puppy (Beau). Clearly she has a thing for hound dogs. One of the things I like about those books is that Appelt has a real ear for a Texan tongue. Midwestern gal that I am, I can't think of a famous Texan children's book author, though I know there are bound to be heaps of them out there. But if we can make Appelt our honorary author of the Lone Star State then I am all for it. We need more children's books out there that take advantage of colloquialisms and distinctive turns of phrase. You'll see a couple come out every year, but few rope you in completely. Now we've Appelt taking Texas and Ingrid Law's Savvy handling Kansas. Things are looking up.
   
   And her language. Oh, the language. Gripping story I can understand, but wrapping it in words like these cannot be easy. In the space of three sentences we see a gnarled tupelo tree and an old loblolly pine. We hear the wind in the pines and the smell of the water. The chapters are always short, often not much longer than a page, but it works in the context of the tale. And I loved the way her sentences wrap around themselves. "Ask a tree, and it will tell you about any number of traps. The steel traps of hungers, the steel jaws of gators, the vicious jaws of the water moccasins." Notice how that second sentence went from steel traps to steel jaws to vicious jaws. Beautiful.
   
   Appelt uses repetition in such a way that the book deserves to be read aloud. "Respect. A word he had never had any truck with. Respect. It crawled down his back like a rat. He reached around as if to catch it and then held his empty hand in front of his hideous face. Respect. He wanted it." This repetition doesn't just happen in sentences that repeat a single word or phrase over and over. Ideas are repeated too. Read the book closely and carefully and you'll find that words you ascribe with families pop up again and again. The Alligator King calls Grandmother Moccasin "sister". Gar Face, searching in vain for the gator he wants to kill, calls him "brother". Grandmother Moccasin's past mistakes are centered upon her family and what happened to them. And of course, the whole story revolves around an unexpected family consisting of a dog and some cats.
   
   Questions that come up in the reading are answered as you come to them. Why does Gar Face continue to feed a creature that he thinks betrayed him many years ago? We learn it is because the dog acts as a reminder. "Do not trust a living soul. Do not." This narrative voice is not as intrusive as a "dear reader" narrator might be, but it does act as a kind of go-between for the reader. It tells you what to do, how to think, and what goes on in the head of someone like Gar Face. The villain is a rough crude man and could never be an eloquent speaker, so the narrator serves to speak for him and explain about his past. It puts us in the mind of Grandmother Moccasin and poor chained Ranger. The narrator will even ask questions about why the world is the way it is, as if the reader had the answer.
   
   I compare this book to "The Mouse and His Child" by Russell Hoban in large part because of David Small. Mr. Small is fine with doing carefree picture books along the lines of Imogene's Antlers or Once Upon a Banana but there's a darkness to him and to his work that occasionally peeks through the surface. The newly reillustrated Hoban book featured Small's illustrations, and they were dark moving images. In "The Underneath" Small goes even darker, his pictures never going for the obvious shot. These illustrations complement the action but Small seems to have taken a great deal of care not to distract the reader, or even create an image that the reader will look at with more interest than the text on the opposite page. He sometimes will miss a detail from the book (Hawk Man's long black hair is conspicuously absent) but for the most part his images are dead on the money.
   
   I'm fairly certain that there will be some objection to the fact that in the middle of the book and for a very long time nothing much happens. Characters are in their respective areas and it's only until you reach the slam-bang last fifty pages or so that they begin to take action. Much of the space in-between concerns Grandmother Moccasin's past mistakes, and that's why I kept thinking of "Holes" as I read the book. The climax of the story hinges on Grandmother Moccasin's family, such as it was, and if you don't pay attention to the past then the ending of the book will strike you as unsatisfying. It may be hard for some people to invest themselves in the past when the present is so dire. Maybe that is why Appelt chose to include some magic. She didn't have to. She didn't need to. But because she did, she made Grandmother Moccasin's memories just that much more interesting. It's up to the reader to determine if it was worth it in the end.
   
   Here is what I think the author is trying to say. This is just my own interpretation, mind you, so I could be completely off. But the book is basically telling us that there is evil in the world. It does bad things to good people, and often these people have very little recourse in their lives. There is also love in this world. Compared to evil, love does not look like much. It might just be a kitten licking a dog's ears to make it feel better. But love can win and should win and when it does win then that's the story worth telling. That's the moment worth remembering. It is up to each person to do what they can for love and in doing so understand that while it isn't always enough, sometimes it's everything you need. This isn't a pretty message or one that you can tie up with a little bow. It's also not often found portrayed as well as it is here in "The Underneath". Adults don't always like children's books to address the nature of evil, real evil, without coating it in sugar first. But as Lemony Snicket's, A Series of Unfortunate Events taught us, kids are more resilient and intelligent than we give them credit for. They can take messages like this one, process them, and draw their own conclusions. This is a book that is not always pretty, and for that very reason a lot of people are going to hate it very much. I can only hope that enough other people read it through and take what it has to say to heart. Memorable, controversial, wonderful.



4. Like one of the other reviewers, I usually avoid sad animal stories - they make me too sad. That may be cowardly, but it is true. However, I couldn't resist the picture on the cover of this book and picked it up yesterday only to finish it this morning. This is a beautiful story, told well, without any false notes. I loved it, and only wish that I could take the animals in the story into my home and keep them warm and safe.

No comments about The Cat (The Sons of Destiny, Book 5).

5 comments about The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (The Cat Who).

1. Although the humor and style were pure Braun, the ending of the book left the plot hanging. Koko got plenty of press, but poor Yum-Yum was barely mentioned! And Polly moved to Europe? The barn burned? No! I hope this isn't the final in the series!



2. I am a fan of this series and have read all of the books. I was amazed at how awful this one was. It wasn't just the fragmented sentences, the total lack of plot or the disjointed events. Polly moves to Paris and Qwill's reaction is to start a relationship with the woman who moves into Polly's apartment. The barn burns down and there is no reaction at all. His character is totally flat and one dimensional, unless he is sprouting verse or accepting the unfailing praise and adoration of everyone in Pickax (this has gotten very old and unbelievable too). He is pompous and bombastic, which is so sad to see in a character that was so much fun earlier in the series. Don't waste your money on this one. If Ms. Braun actually did write it, she has made plenty of money on the rest of the series. If it was ghostwritten, whoever wrote doesn't deserve your money. Although hopefully, he/she will use whatever they did earm from this to go back to school and learn how to write a proper sentence.



3. Disappointing to me. Not up to the usual standards. The characters and cats. are still interesting but too much back story. Not enough of Koko and Yum Yum.



4. I agree that "The Cat With 60 Whiskers" isn't one of the better episodes, and that this has been happening over several books. It could be Ms. Braun's age or perhaps she now has a ghostwriter. In either case, I hope there's some good changes around the corner when "The Cat Who Smelled Smoke" comes out. I admit I was really getting tired of Jim and Polly's romance, so I'm glad for some changes there. I love this series, and it was almost be heartbreaking to see it come to an end; on the other hand, I hate seeing what is happening now.



5. Although the characters were still charming I was profoundly disappointed to see Polly go and even more so to have the apple barn burn. I will not be nearly as excited about the next book knowing the ambience of the apple barn will be missing. Shirley D Jordan

5 comments about Moonrise (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 2).

1. Pre-teen and early teen girls love the series. It has my 10 year olds attention. She is reading like never before.



2. Get lost in the world of cats. The author does a great job discribing tribes of cats in the mountains - cats with different anscestors and different lifestyles. This book is a good for young audience as well, of course, as for cat lovers who often wonder how cat percives our world.
   
   Check also The Dog Who Rescues Cats: True Story of Ginny, The



3. The group meets amysterious tribe of mountain cats, who keep Stormfur prisoner so they can fufill their own prophecy.
   A sad, interesting and detailed read, worth re-reading.



4. All of the Erin Hunter books are great! I just love them and have read them many times over. I am not a reader, I hate to read!!! But give me a Warrior series book and leave me alone for a few days. They are the best. Thanks Erin for opening up a new world for me.



5. After Midnight I wasn't really impressed with the quality of the writing but with moonrise it came up alot so I really recommend this book.

5 comments about Warriors Super Edition: Firestar's Quest (Warriors).

1. When Midnight came out I wondered exactly how Willowpelt was killed, Longtail was blinded and a lot of other things. It also filled in a few questions from The Sight. For example, the prolouge of The Sight where the mysterious grey cat has a talk with Firestar. I could hardly keep my eyes off it and I finished it in a weekend. Great Book!!!!!



2. Pre-teen and early teen girls love the series. It has my 10 year olds attention. She is reading like never before.



3. I wasn't 100% sure on what this book would really be like as the picture and description is kind of lacking. But the book was a beautiful hardcover. It is very long and the story is wonderful; I read it myself! It was bought as an xmas present for my 10yr old daughtor and it has sparked a new obsession! She is collecting the entire series now. Its a story written from the perspective of wild cats. They live in clans and have a surprising amount of drama occur. It is exciting but still manages to be appropriate; there aren't overly violent scenes portrayed in the book. All in all, I would have to say that I am as satisfied w/ this purchase as humany possible.



4. I have two very different children, one is sweet and cares deeply about living things and the other questions everyone and everything but they both have fallen in love with this series. My second grader picked up Firestars Quest at his school bookstore and after reading it ask me to get the rest of the series. He's on book three the The second series (The New Prophecy). He loves the books. He talks about them so much, our first grader started book one of the first series and has also fallen in love with them, he's now on book 3. They both agree that these are their favorite books to date. I have not read these books but the boys have spent hours discussing the cats and their various adventures before bedtime.
   
   One reason this is significant is my six year old (first grade) did not have a passion for reading like our second grader. These books have changed that. In fact, that's all he wants to do. I'm very, very happy and wish there were more, it won't be long before they are done reading them and it always worries me that I won't find books that capture their imagination.
   
   BTW, my son has recommended that this not be the first book to read, get the first series and start with book one.



5. Firestar's Quest is the best book of the Warrior's series in my opinion. It's one of the best books I've read in a while. Erin Hunter is a wonderful storyteller and I believe that she outdid herself on this story!

5 comments about Skippyjon Jones.

1. I don't know why no one told me about this series before. The illustrations are "snappy" and the story is hilarous. The adventures of this little Siamese cat who thinks he is a Mexican dog are entertaining to the very young and to the adult - Holy Guacamole!!!



2. This product was great! I already had the book, but I wanted the audio. It was shipped in a timely manner and it was in great condition.



3. It must be hard to get everything to rhyme and make sense all a the same time. The author really writes the book well though. Its really funny and fun to read to the kids. Its our favorite book in this house!



4. My daughter and I go to the library every Thursday and pick library books to read for the next week. When we got Skippyjon Jones, I had no idea how much I would love it! It is so much fun to read aloud, and yes, my daughter enjoys it, too. Sometimes I can hear her playing with her stuffed animals saying "Yes, I am el Skippito Friskito, the great sword fighter!" The book is quite catchy, and I would imagine most people will find themselves in a deep Spanish accent by the end of the book! Very FUN!
   
   We highly recommend this book!



5. This book is very offensive and full of stereotypes about Mexicans and Spanish-speaking people in general. I don't buy the argument that "children know it's all pretend" from people who, by the way, are also quick to tell everyone to "lighten up" even though we all know that racism starts many times through jokes. It's a shame that a clearly talented writer has to use such stale, embarrassing humor, but it's even more of a shame that this book is being touted as "multicultural."

5 comments about Sunset (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 6).

1. Brambleclaw, son of the murderous Tigerstar, struggles to earn respect from ThunderClan, for no cat will forget who his father was. Will Brambleclaw win?



2. This last book in the second series of Warriors Novels is as good as all of the rest!! I love cats and find these novels so interesting I can hardly put each book down until it is finished!!!



3. For starters, I'm a big fan of the warriors series. I love the way Erin writes and the way she is so kind at her book talks. These series are amazing! I recomend them to everyone.
   I was so excited for this book and had to wait forever! And the wait was worth while. This book is one that you can't put down, with an excellent ending. Although it may sound a little violent, it is a great end to the New Prophecy series.
   This book would have to be my second favorite in the series, after the Darkest Hour. I encourage anyone who has read the other books to read this one.



4. Last Book in the second series of Warriors, and I absolutely adored it. It only took me three hours to read, and made me cry and go 'awwwww' so many times!!
   I simply can't wait to get the next series, Power of Three, and am hoping it's as good as the first two series.
   Although, the ending did seem a bit rushed, overall it was a very enjoyable and satisfactory end to a lovely series.



5. This book was received in most excellent condition and shipped very promptly! I was extremely satisfied!