Friday November 21, 2008
Children's Books: Issues
Displayed below are the top selling items for today, Friday November 21, 2008 along with the review customers have voted "most useful".
To find top selling items in for a specific category, use the menu on the left or click here to see all categories.
- Fancy Nancy at the Museum (I Can Read Book 1) by Jane O'connor
- Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1) by Jane O'connor
- Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set : From the Library of Hogwarts by J.K. Rowling
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid : Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
- The Care & Keeping of You : The Body Book for Girls (American Girl Library) by Valorie Schaefer
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Fancy Nancy at the Museum (I Can Read Book 1)
by Jane O'connor
(based on 14 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Jane O'connor
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Price: $3.99
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
20 out of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 2/8/08
Cute as a button; educational to boot!
A trip to the art museum is right up Fancy Nancy's alley -- she gets to see masterpieces! The whole class gets a gentle lesson on what a gallery is; the difference between a still life, a landscape and a portrait; and what it is like to go on a field trip.
I was especially charmed by Nancy's art teacher, Ms. Glass, the epitome -- that's a fancy word for best -- of a great teacher. She wears earrings that look like miniature Alexander Calder mobiles and a smock over her dress decorated with an artist palette and the giant word "Art" on her back. She is kind and funky and listens to kids when they have a tummy-ache on the bus.
Nancy herself is as cute as ever, not only in her girly outfits but also with her boundless enthusiasm. She likes to use big "fancy" words, and French words, too: "'Merci,' I say. That's French for 'thank you.'" At the end of the book is a list of all the fancy words used in the story, with their definitions.
Like the other Fancy Nancy titles, the cover has glittery sparkles on the artwork and letters.
Click here to see more reviews for: Fancy Nancy at the Museum (I Can Read Book 1)
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Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1)
by Jane O'connor (based on 4 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Jane O'connor
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Price: $3.99
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
8 out of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/22/08
A little more advanced - in a good way
My daughter was born in March, 2002. She's now 6 and a half. We didn't discover Fancy Nancy until Feb 2007, so she was about 5. It's been a little disappointing for this series to come out as she is outgrowing it. The stories are cute but a little simple for a first grader.
Although "The Boy from Paris" and "...at the Museum" were good, this book just seems more advanced. I am hoping that Ms. O'Connor will write a few books aging Nancy as the authors of Junie B. Jones and Katie Kazoo have done. We'd like to keep the illustrations while progressing to more challenging reading. (Although, her books are all great at introducing new words!)
Click here to see more reviews for: Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1)
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Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
by Stephenie Meyer
(based on 2828 customer reviews)
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(Audio CD)
Edition: Unabridged
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)
Price: $19.79
You save: $10.20 (34%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
404 out of 566 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 9/30/05
Not just for young adults
I am a big vampire genre fan, so when I saw this book in a magazine, it caught my eye. I have to admit, I felt a little funny even thinking of buying it, because it is listed and shelved as a young adult book. Well, I decided to "bite" the bullet, and I purchased it, curled up with it over a weekend, and could not put it down. Don't let the fact that you have to visit a different section of the book store stop you from reading it, (or of course, purchase it on Amazon, no one will ever know if you don't want them too). This is a really great book with real emotions all wrapped up in a vampire story, a young woman's story of having to grow up faster then she maybe should have because of her parents, and yet still dealing with all the issues that growing up brings with it. All in all, a great book, glad I decided to overlook the age description.
Click here to see more reviews for: Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
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Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer (based on 2828 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Price: $6.04
You save: $4.95 (45%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
435 out of 621 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 9/30/05
Not just for young adults
I am a big vampire genre fan, so when I saw this book in a magazine, it caught my eye. I have to admit, I felt a little funny even thinking of buying it, because it is listed and shelved as a young adult book. Well, I decided to "bite" the bullet, and I purchased it, curled up with it over a weekend, and could not put it down. Don't let the fact that you have to visit a different section of the book store stop you from reading it, (or of course, purchase it on Amazon, no one will ever know if you don't want them too). This is a really great book with real emotions all wrapped up in a vampire story, a young woman's story of having to grow up faster then she maybe should have because of her parents, and yet still dealing with all the issues that growing up brings with it. All in all, a great book, glad I decided to overlook the age description.
Click here to see more reviews for: Twilight
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Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer (based on 2828 customer reviews)
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(Hardcover)
Edition: Standard
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Price: $11.99
You save: $8.00 (40%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
435 out of 621 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 9/30/05
Not just for young adults
I am a big vampire genre fan, so when I saw this book in a magazine, it caught my eye. I have to admit, I felt a little funny even thinking of buying it, because it is listed and shelved as a young adult book. Well, I decided to "bite" the bullet, and I purchased it, curled up with it over a weekend, and could not put it down. Don't let the fact that you have to visit a different section of the book store stop you from reading it, (or of course, purchase it on Amazon, no one will ever know if you don't want them too). This is a really great book with real emotions all wrapped up in a vampire story, a young woman's story of having to grow up faster then she maybe should have because of her parents, and yet still dealing with all the issues that growing up brings with it. All in all, a great book, glad I decided to overlook the age description.
Click here to see more reviews for: Twilight
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Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set
From the Library of Hogwarts
by J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Quidditch Through The Ages (based on 459 customer reviews)
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(Hardcover)
Edition: 1st American Edition
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Price: $8.99
You save: $6.00 (40%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
154 out of 159 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 3/14/01
Clever, funny, and completely integrated with the novels
J.K. Rowling has given us facsimile editions of two of Harry Potter's schoolbooks, all proceeds going to children's charities around the world. The books are only 64 pages each, but the print is very small and they are crammed with remarkably interesting information that fills out the background of Harry Potter's world. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself provides introductions to these special editions."Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", by "Newt Scamander", describes all the magical creatures we have seen in the first four books of the series, plus many more. Harry's marginal notes (along with Ron Weasley's, since Ron's own copy apparently fell apart) remind us of many of his adventures. "Quidditch Through the Ages", by "Kennilworthy Whisp" shows how this magical sport (along with similar ones) has evolved, and also provides a history of magic broom technology with a good deal of supplementary material shedding light on wizard-Muggle relations throughout history.
Both books provide many hints towards a better understanding of what's really going on in the "backstory" in the Harry Potter books. They may not suffice to keep Potter fans totally satisfied until the next book comes out, but they'll surely create a big demand for other "supplementary" materials.
Click here to see more reviews for: Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney (based on 177 customer reviews)
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(Hardcover)
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Price: $10.15
You save: $2.80 (22%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
93 out of 110 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 3/26/07
Or why you never want to play a tree in a school production of The Wizard of Oz
The world has not yet invented a method of finding the best webcomics currently available on the Internet for kids. So basically, for every twenty low-quality/poorly thought out amalgamations of crap, you get one bright shining star. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," the webcomic, was one such star. The only conclusion I can really draw at this point is that somebody at Abrams is a friggin' genius for plucking the comic up and making it into a book. Now normally I don't like to separate titles into "girl books" and "boy books", but Jeff Kinney has written such a marvelous "boy book" that for every parent that walks in the door of my library I'm going to be cramming this title into their arms. Heck, I'll slip it into their purses if I have to. This book is going to reach its intended audience whether I have to wrestle skeptical parents to the floor with it clamped firmly in my teeth. Want to transfer your Captain Underpants lovers from graphic novels to fiction? This book won't do that. It's just something that every single person will get a kick out of.
First things first. Boys do not have diaries. Girls have diaries. Let's get that straight cause things could get messy if we don't. Basically, what we have here are the gathered thoughts and memories of Greg Haffley. Greg's got a pretty average life, all things considered. His older brother is a jerk, his younger brother annoying, his best friend a doofus, and his parents perfect dweebs. To top it all off, Greg's been thrown into his first year of middle school and things are really weird. Suddenly friendships are shifting and Greg's not sure who he wants to be. Add in some haunted houses, wrestling, downhill games involving bodily injury, forbidden cheese, and basic family fears and you've got yourself one heckuva debut.
I should specify that in spite of the fact that this book is based on a webcomic, it's not a graphic novel. Not really. Comic illustrations appear on every single page and complement the storytelling, but this is really more a (what's the term again?) illustrated novel. What this appears to be, more than anything else, is a notebook that's been written in by hand with the occasional cartoony illustration here and there for effect. It never breaks up into panels or long illustrated periods. There are just tasty little comic treats on each and every page.
Now the term "laugh-out-loud funny" is not to be bandied about. When I say that something is "laugh-out-loud funny" I don't want to be talking titters, mild chuckles, or undersized, underfed guffaws. I want to describe something so amusing that you think about it later and start laughing in an embarrassing manner on the subway. Jeff Kinney gave me that more than once. There was the moment when Greg's trying to get out of performing as an apple-throwing tree in his school's production of, "The Wizard of Oz." He thinks that maybe if he screws up what he has to say, that might be his out. "But when you only have one word to say, it's really hard to mess up your lines." The next thing we know, "Dorothy" has picked an apple and Greg's trying out a tentative, "Owwwchhh?" Oh! And the form thank you letters! Greg figures out that he says basically the same thing to all his relatives. So he just cranks out a form letter and fills in the details. This works great until he gets to something like, "Dear AUNT LORETTA, Thank you so much for the awesome PANTS! How did you now I wanted that for Christmas? I love the way the PANTS looks on my LEGS! All my friends will be so jealous that I have my very own PANTS." I think I was laughing over this for a good three hours after I read it.
There's something particularly charming about Kinney's illustration/cartoons too. The lines are incredibly clean and precise, even as they are showing some pretty raucous stuff. Kinney's grasp on visual gags is without comparison. At one point Greg happens to mention that if you "mess up in front of Dad" (i.e. kick over your little brother's toys maliciously) he'll throw whatever he has in his hands at you. We then see two shots of Greg misbehaving. The first is labeled, "GOOD TIME TO SCREW UP:" and shows him kicking over some blocks while his dad is holding the newspaper. The second reads, "BAD TIME TO SCREW UP:" and shows him doing it while his dad is cementing together a brick wall. Comedy gold, people! The comics are drawn over lined paper, making the whole enterprise really feel as if you're poring through someone else's journal.
And for all that, the writing's not too shabby. When Greg talks about week-ends he says, "The only reason I get out of bed at all on weekends is because eventually, I can't stand the taste of my own breath anymore." Been there. Tasted that. Kinney's able to point out all kinds of funny school details we adults may have forgotten, but that kids will recognize instantly. For example, why should you tell kids that "It's great to be you," when a lot of people really should think about changing themselves? We see two bullies shoving some poor kid down at this point yelling, "It's great to be me!," you you have to concede the point. I mean, Kinney remembers what it was like to roll a really big snowball and then see that you were ripping up the grass on your lawn in the process. No one remembers that! Characters are also lovingly delineated, not only in words, but in their little comic illustrations. Take as your example the character of Greg's fellow student and neighbor Fregley. Fregley is weird. So how would you, as the writer/cartoonist, convey this? You might want to have him say things like, "Wanna see my secret freckle?". You might draw him with a mouth wider than his head. You might have him stabbing kites in his front yard, shirtless. For a start, anyway. Every character in this book feels real. Even Greg's annoying, practically mute, little brother.
And so much more. Such as the name of Greg's older brother's band. Loaded Diaper, only it's spelled "Loded Diper" with an umlaut over the "o". Greg suspects his brother thinks that it really is spelled that way. And there are the small failures and triumphs of your average pre-adolescent. No one in their right mind would ever want to return to the days of Middle School, but if Jeff Kinney keeps churning out books like this one, I'll follow him there any day of the week. This title has already been getting some pretty choice reviews here and there. Can I make a nomination for funniest children's book of 2007? Consider it a necessary purchase.
Click here to see more reviews for: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Rodrick Rules
by Jeff Kinney (based on 115 customer reviews)
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(Hardcover)
Edition: 1
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Amulet Books
Price: $10.15
You save: $2.80 (22%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
68 out of 87 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/17/08
Jeff Kinney Strikes Again! PYP Funny!
In his latest book, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES, Jeff Kinney nearly put me into the hospital. That man is going to have serious medical bills to pay if this keeps up. I almost busted a gut laughing out loud and almost aspirated my Diet Dr Pepper on a few occasions. And, yes, I hold him completely responsible.
If not for Kinney's dry wit, keen insight into the lives of elementary school boys (especially their rationalization for EVERYTHING), and fantastic line drawing on nearly every page, I wouldn't have had so many close brushes with death in his latest book. But he put me there time and time again. Even when I thought I had things figured out (because I was once an elementary school boy with a wild imagination without a governor), Jeff would throw a wrinkle at me that I didn't see coming. He ambushed me with regularity throughout the pages.
But it's not just me that Jeff has his merciless sights on. He's taking out EVERYBODY. My wife teaches elementary school and Jeff's books are all the rage among the students. I have to admit to adding to that bonfire because I talk about his books all the time (and I have to admit that I haven't quite become the responsible adult either, because I'll rile my wife's fourth grade class up and take my leave--taking her out to dinner usually gets me off the hook and my cool points go up with the kids).
Parents have become interested in the books and I've told them they need to keep up with what their kids are reading. After all, they're supposed to be responsible parents. (I, myself, have been known to buy extra copies of Jeff's books and give out as gifts - some parents have accused me of inciting subversion, but I point out that Jeff's first book was a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller and that is a far better recommendation than I could ever make. Except the TIMES doesn't give away Jeff's books as gifts that I know of. That's why they hold me more accountable.)
But when I recommend the books to parents, I issue a stern warning. I call it the PYP warning. I especially give it to pregnant mothers and people with weak bladders who read in public places. PYP is Pee Your Pants. The books are just that funny. You're reading along, and the next thing you know, WHAM! -- you're laughing so hard you're peeing your pants.
The funniest thing about Jeff's humor, and the life of his main character, Greg Heffley, is that everything in the book COULD BE COMPLETELY TRUE. Speaking from experience, a lot of what's between those pages has been true. But I'm not going to incriminate myself now when I got away with those things all those years ago. And there should be some kind of time statute on most of them. I still don't want my mom to know, however.
Greg is THE man when it comes to taking a boring day and turning it upside down. People who underestimate the creativity of a bored child are simply asking for trouble. Nuclear war pales by comparison.
And Greg has an excuse - or a rationalization - for everything he does. Worse than that, half the time I get sucked in and totally buy into his point of view. Because, upon occasion, that point of view has been mine as well (or at least my defense). That's where Jeff's magic truly lies: he's never lost touch with his inner child. And boy, his wife must be mad and his kids must be terrified!
In this second book, I was totally blown away yet again. Greg is a middle kid, which means that his life is made miserable from both ends of the spectrum - from his older brother Rodrick and his younger brother Manny. Rodrick is the sulky teen with a band called Loded Diper. And their music stinks, so they're appropriately named. Manny is three and gets into all of Greg's stuff.
I love how Jeff sets something up in the books and continues to play off of it at appropriate times. His sense of pacing is fantastic. The work of "art" Manny creates out of toothpicks and aluminum foil is great, and I've seen that done, actually. Greg's mom tells Greg he should keep it around and he does - until it impales Greg's semi-best friend Rowley.
Another sequence in the book focuses on Greg's ringleader abilities. Kids will follow anyone with a semi-great idea. Or at least one that will bring pain or embarrassment to another kid. See, Greg is NOT hero material. At least, not yet. He does show some potential, but it's really far into the future.
One of those ideas involved making believe one of the other kids didn't exist. Following Greg's lead, the rest of the class pretends the kid doesn't exist so much that Greg gets called into the principal's office, then gets read the riot act by his parents.
I loved when Greg gets involved in the role-playing game Magic and Monsters and his mom becomes concerned. She decides to show up and play with them. And her rules don't involve all the violence and bloodshed all the kids are used to enjoying. Worst of all, some of Greg's friends start liking the way his mom plays!
Another instance is when the parents leave for a weekend trip and put Rodrick in charge. They're no sooner gone than Rodrick is on the phone calling people over for a party. Madness ensues. A door gets painted with permanent marker. Rodrick gets Greg to help him change out doors so the parents don't find out. Later, when they're punished, Rodrick says he's going to study the effects of decompression of the spine suffered by astronauts during prolonged weightlessness. He does this by sacking out on the couch and sleeping all the time while he's grounded.
If you want, you can even read the books for free on the internet. Just go to Funbrain-dot-com to read them. One of the most interesting things about Jeff's books is that they're given away for free and STILL sold enough to make it to the top of the NEW YORKS TIMES BESTSELLER bestseller list.
You see, Jeff wants everyone to read his books that wants to. However, kids want books they can hold in their hands, share with friends, and put on a shelf. Plus, it's kind of hard to take your computer and internet along when you're stuck in the car on a family trip or out with a parent at a doctor's appointment or a shopping spree.
One of the best features about Jeff's books after you put them in your kids' hands is that you don't have to worry about batteries going dead. They're kid powered: fueled by imagination and driven by humor. They're good for the environment. Except for that whole PYP warning.
Jeff's books are hilarious. I just can't recommend them enough. Call me subversive if you want.
Click here to see more reviews for: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
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The Care & Keeping of You
The Body Book for Girls (American Girl Library)
by Valorie Schaefer (based on 265 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Valorie Schaefer
Publisher: American Girl Publishing Inc
Price: $9.95
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
271 out of 277 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/9/02
Appropriate for preteens
My daughter is 9 and I thought it to be an approprate time to start the "talks". This age group is still so innocent, it's hard for them to fully understand all that is coming up for them in just a few short years. The thing I like about this book is that kids can absorb information at their own pace and as they need it. What they're not ready for they won't read and when they are, they can look at it with some privacy (I've even heard her giggle about it with her friends).The book coveres a lot of self care like teeth brushing, showering, and the basics. The last part of this book is about menstruation and body hair. There is no sex talk like some other puberty books.
Click here to see more reviews for: The Care & Keeping of You
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