Grandfather Tang's Story (Dragonfly Books)

Book Description

"Drawing on a Chinese form of storytelling with seven shapes cut from a square of paper, Tompert recounts the tale of two fox fairies. Parker's pen-and-watercolor art adds drama, while the tangram insets will motivate children to try their own versions."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Customer Reviews:

Grandfather Tang's Story.......2007-09-06

This is a terrfic anticipatory set for doing a lesson on tangrams. The students loved the story and had so much fun creating their own tangrams.

Great book in many respects.......2007-09-06

When I came across this book, I was in the midst of planning for an Autumn Moon event. We are having a tangram craft, and the book contains great illustrations of animal tangrams. The story is very imaginative while leading you through a series of changing animal characters. Although simple reading, I think there is still appeal for children over the age of 7 because of the introduction of the ancient Chinese art of tangram puzzles. The book also contains instructions for making your own puzzles.

parallel and perpendicular lines.......2007-03-02

You can use this bbok to introduce parallel and perpendicular lines.

A Moral in a Mystery.......2005-07-07

This story, simple on the surface, embeds a major moral of loyalty to friends in a gripping morph thriller.

Excellent for teaching spatial relations!.......2002-07-24

This book is NOT for babies and pre-schoolers! This creative story shows children how to use a puzzle set of math manipulatives called Tangrams to create pictures. It could be used in ANY grade to improve children's comprehension of spatial relations. A pattern for the tangrams is included in the back of the book to make teaching easier. Any child would love to play with these picture puzzles!

Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper

Average customer rating:

A totally unbelievable poorly written fictional tale.
Real fiction
Super Sniper - I think not
What a load of rubbish
Action packed alright

Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper
Timothy Erenberger
Manufacturer: iUniverse Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595164625

Book Description

Every grandfather has a tale and this is the tale of Georg Frick, a German sniper for the German Army during World War II. Georg Frick is an old man now, but in 1937 the German Army drafted him.

Grandfather’s Tale is the story of Georg’s transformation from reluctant new soldier into a master sniper. Georg fought in dozens of battles in several countries, including Poland, Belgium, the Soviet Union, Crete, Italy and Germany. After proving himself to be an exceptional sniper, he joined a special team of German paratroopers. This group of expert soldiers was parachuted into Eben Emael, the strongest single fortress in the world!

Georg's story is one of adventure and survival under extreme circumstances, including the brutal Soviet winter, and the final battle, the Battle of Berlin. Join Georg as he recounts his harrowing experiences to his grandson, in hopes that he may learn the lessons of war, and not repeat them.

Grandfather's Tale is an action-packed journey through the entirety of the Word War II. German weapons, tactics and strategy on a platoon level are explained with meticulous detail. Several battles, including the Battle of the Bulge and the Invasion of Crete are told from a German perspective.

"Erenberger's story is fast-paced, his descriptions of the conditions a sniper must undergo through in each engagement were unforgettable...This book is strongly recommended for all who want to know what 'the big war' was all about in the eyes of a German sniper."—Capt. M.R. Doehrmann, USMC

Customer Reviews:

A totally unbelievable poorly written fictional tale........2007-07-31

First just to clarify this book is 100% fiction, some reviewers seem to think this is a factual account.

Way over the top and poorly written. At one point in the novel the author has this guy carrying 4 rifles(Kar98k,BAR,M1,and a Tokarev along with a supressed pistol and a 30 pound bag of ammo.) Johny Rambo meets WWII.

Not for me at all.

Real fiction.......2007-07-04

I could only complete about 2/3rds of this book, frankly because this fictional account is quite unrealistic. If you have read first person accounts of sniper stories in any theater of war, you should stay away from this book in my opinion because you will really struggle with this fictionalized account. The method of storytelling (a grandfather's recollections each night to a visiting young grandchild) did not do much for me as well.

Super Sniper - I think not.......2007-07-03

The book is very light reading. I am sure it is great for the uneducated student of WW2. No sniper ever amassed the number of kills that this guy did. All head shots at 700-1100 meters with close to 100% hit ratio ??? No way.
Look at the authors credentials, a computer game player??
Anyway it is overpriced and silly.

What a load of rubbish.......2007-06-15

I only got to the second chapter of this book before putting it down and swearing that I would never pick it up again!! How inaccurate can a book be! The author has obviously never heard of research.
I was one of the poor suckers who got this in a 2 set with Sepp,s book (which is excellent) and don't I regret it!
According to this 'fantasy tale' the german ID tags had name rank and serial number on them...WRONG!!
And apparently they had divisional markings on there sleeves...WRONG!!
And the snipers were only issued 7 bullets a day..DON'T GET ME STARTED
And all the main characters training was held in places near ??? No distinct names given.

I think my 12 YO daughter (who has no knowledge of WW2) could have written a better book.
Just look at the credits, not a single wehrmacht veteran amongst them.

Do your self a favour and avoid this book if you want:
1 A factual account
2 A book that is well written
3 A book that has pictures of Germans on the cover, not Americans in 'fritz' helmets ( how bad is that)

Action packed alright.......2007-04-25

Yes it is action packed.

It follows a style which is commonly used in the movies where the character talks to someone in the present of events in the past. I don't like it in a book.

Overall how accurate is the book well it just seems over the top. This one sniper should have won Hitler the war. I suspect that snipers like fighter pilots have a tendency to exaggerate their kills.

I also thought it was a bit of a white wash of war crimes. What really got by annoyed was this line "There had been units of the SS soldiers who committed atrocities, such as killing Jewish and other civilians, but even regular army troops were brutally punished." Unfortunately this line is not true.

Having said that it certainly a good read. If definitely gives you a feel of how soldiers must have felt in the war.

If you like this book look at "The forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer" and "With the old breed by E.B.Sledge"

Average customer rating:

Enjoyable, but Overlong
An eerie ghost story with love at the heart of it all
Great achievement
Stephen King is BACK!!!
A Ghostly Love Story

Bag of Bones
Stephen King
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0684853507
Release Date: 1998-09-22

Amazon.com

Bag of Bones is partly inspired by Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca, but there's more than homage in this novel of horror and romance. Like du Maurier's Manderley, King's scary old place (on the shore of Maine's remote Dark Score Lake) is haunted by the late lady of the manor. There are many gory ghosts afoot, though: men, women, and wailing kids. The hero, a thriller novelist, stirs up hell's plenty of angry shades while investigating his wife's death. It turns out she either had a dark secret herself or was onto some dread scandal lurking in Dark Score Lake. As in King's previous book, Wizard and Glass, the fabric of reality is thin, and nosy narrators are in peril of plunging right out of this world and into a rather hostile otherworld.

Bag of Bones is a writer-haunted book, too. The spirits of Herman Melville and Ray Bradbury are deeply felt, and so are the tale's two romances (the hero muses on his marriage and falls for a young single mom with a marvelous, psychic daughter). There is also good-humored satire of the real bestseller book world--the hero complains that "the publicity process is like going to a sushi bar where you're the sushi." In its deep concerns with love, sprawling families, the writer's life, endangered children, and good old-fashioned storytelling, the book resembles a John Irving novel. It is also absolutely classic Stephen King, packed with nifty turns of phrase, irreverent wit, and lurid ghouls who grab you from beneath the bed while you cower under the covers. --Tim Appelo

Amazon.com Audio Review

No longer content to be the prolific provider of text, King grabs the audio reigns to recount this haunted tale of grief, young love, and otherworldly visits. When 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan returns to his lakeside cabin to process his wife's death, he finds the place a beacon for nightmares and ghoulish visits. But there's hope in Kingsville, as this struggling writer falls in love with a young widow named Mattie and her 3-year-old psychic daughter, Kyra. If you've never heard King speak, be warned: 19-plus hours of his western Maine, nasal-drenched tones may be more than some listeners can bear. But there's a certain warmth and believability to King's voice--after all, it's his book and he is a middle-aged bestselling novelist--that jive well with Noonan's character. And since King rarely reads his own work, perhaps his doing so indicates that he's especially pleased with Bag of Bones; most listeners should be as well. (Running time: 19.5 hours, 14 cassettes) --Rob McDonald

Book Description

Stephen King's most gripping and unforgettable novel, Bag of Bones, is a story of grief and a lost love's enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.

Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, Bag of Bones recounts the plight of forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor.

Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonans' isolated summer home.

He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath -- held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

As vivid and enthralling as King's most enduring works, Bag of Bones resonates with what Amy Tan calls "the witty and obsessive voice of King's powerful imagination." It's no secret that King is our most mesmerizing storyteller. In Bag of Bones -- described by Gloria Naylor as "a love story about the dark places within us all" -- he proves to be one of our most moving.

Download Description

Stephen King's most gripping and unforgettable novel, "Bag of Bones, " is a story of grief and a lost love's enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire. Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, "Bag of Bones" recounts the plight of 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor. Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonans' isolated summer home. He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath -- held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable, but Overlong.......2007-09-27

I love most of Stephen King's work, but I think his later novels spend too much time on irrelevant details that don't really further the plot. BAG OF BONES is a nice example of that.

It's a good story, but it's not a tightly written one. King produces hundreds of pages where the main character does nothing except mope around his house, passively watching one supernatural event after another. This gets tiresome after a while, and I wished the action in this novel started sooner. I know King takes his time in setting up his stories, and I normally don't mind that in his books. But in BAG OF BONES, I just felt there was too much set up and not very much payoff in the end.

Also, the only character in BAG OF BONES that seemed real to me was the narrator. All the other characters seemed a bit on the silly side, such as the incredibly adorable 3-year old daughter and the incredibly villainous computer magnate. Given the large size of this book, I was hoping the characterization would be more complex than it turned out to be.

Overall, this is a good novel, but it lacks the compelling nature of King's best work, such as THE DEAD ZONE, MISERY, SALEMS LOT, and THE STAND. If you're new to King, my advice is to go with those earlier novels first, before moving on to this slower-paced effort.

An eerie ghost story with love at the heart of it all.......2007-09-03

This book was a definite page turner. A ghost story entwined with a love story and a mystery to be solved. This book really hooked me, and parts of it where so eerie it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I have a whole new respect for Stephen King.

The story is about an author Mike Noonan who has suffered from writers block for four years after the tragic death of his wife. He moves to their summer house which turns out to be haunted by several spirits while he tries to get to the bottom of a secret his wife was keeping from him before she died, a secret that the whole town seems to know about but has been hiding for generations.

Great achievement.......2007-08-26

Stephen King's place as a successful mass-market thriller writer is, shall we say, pretty secure, but his skill at varied and deeper storytelling has often been unfairly denigrated. Sure, he's had his clunkers - out of 50 books that should surprise nobody - but Bag of Bones is a story any of the more highly acclaimed novelists currently writing would be proud to call their own.

Bag of Bones is a ghost story, yes, but it is much more than that. It is first of all a love story, a story about family and family history and connections, somewhat of an homage to various writers in the past, an amusing look into the career and thought processes of mass-market writers like King himself, and often just very funny. King writes some of his very best stuff here - inventive turns of phrase, great similes, subtle jibes, not-so-subtle jibes, self-effacing and self-referential humor, the works, all with a built-in soundtrack.

And yes, parts of the book can still thrill. This is by no means his 'scariest' book - not by a long shot - but the tension builds steadily and the story develops seemingly effortlessly. King is simply a master of prose English and reading his fluid, natural paragraphs, one after another until one realizes one has just popped off another 700 page book, makes one realize just how mediocre so much recent fiction by other authors really is.

I very much enjoyed reading Bag of Bones.

Stephen King is BACK!!!.......2007-08-22

I was quite pleased with this book. All of Stephen King's gripping narrative and spine-tingling spooks were out in force. The characters were fantastic and very believable (matter of fact, I think he used my grandma for one... hehe) and he's just got such a unique descriptive style!

It followed the perfect King formula. Find some schmoe, give him a few hard knocks and see what rattles loose. Add a few spooks and/or monsters, and see what our hero makes of them. Of course, he has to make himself a few stalwart friends along the way to help him at crunch time, but mainly, he'll just bumble along making enemies until the pieces fall into place.

Mike's grief when his wife Jo dies is so palpable, you begin to feel sorry for King on the loss of his own wife (until you realize that Tabitha King is very much alive). Bag of Bones was most definitely a page-turner, and I could barely stand to put it down when I'd arrived at work in the morning!

Sara Laughs was one hell of a lady, and she won't disappoint here either. Stephen King is definitely back on top with this effort!

A Ghostly Love Story.......2007-06-27

Great character, great story, great read. Additional proof that King is a literary genius.

TALES OF A GRANDFATHER BEING STORIES FROM THEHISTORY OF FRANCE (complete in 3 volumes)

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TALES OF A GRANDFATHER BEING STORIES FROM THEHISTORY OF FRANCE (complete in 3 volumes)

Manufacturer: CADELL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I145Y8

Doesn't Fall off His Horse (A Kiowa Tale)

Average customer rating:

Exquisite! A must-have in every elementary school classroom!

Doesn't Fall off His Horse (A Kiowa Tale)
Virginia A. Stroud
Manufacturer: Dial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0803716346

Customer Reviews:

Exquisite! A must-have in every elementary school classroom!.......2000-05-25

Teachers searching for authentic literature about Native Americans will find this the perfect book for several reasons. First, it is not a set-in-the-past story. Rather, it opens in a modern day home, with a contemporary Native child and her grandfather. Second, it is written by a Native American woman, and her insider experience makes the text ring with the authentic speech patterns of the Kiowa people. Third, Stroud is an award winning artist whose work is known world wide. Her illustrations for the book are stunning. Finally, the story is about two different tribes: the Kiowa and the Comanche. By naming these two groups in the book, Stroud's story can help children understand the diversity that exists in Native American culture. There are presently over 500 tribal entities in the United States; Kiowa and Comanche are only two. It is truly wonderful to have this book in today's classrooms. It helps to counter the idea that Native Americans are extinct and that there is a monolithic tribe.

Average customer rating:

Read This Book!
Fresh retelling of an old folktale
Pulling the Lion's Tail
A TRADITIONAL ETHIOPIAN FOLKTALE BEAUTIFULLY RECREATED

Pulling the Lion's Tail
Jane Kurtz
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689803249

Customer Reviews:

Read This Book!.......2002-01-01

I found this book to be very good and highly recommend it to teachers who have children from Ethiopia or any other African country in their classroom. They will find an appreciation for their country or continent in the reading of this story. Many times Americans tend to put down the African continent and dissolve it into stereotypes. Kids from Africa need support that where they come from is appreciated and that they are welcome in the US too.

Fresh retelling of an old folktale.......2000-12-16

The story upon which this picture book is based changes depending on the locale--it might be a tiger in Indian tales or a bear, as I have heard it told in a Native American version. In all, the story is a tale of patience and love discovered, and Kurtz paints this theme beautifully in LION'S TAIL.

In this version, set in Ethiopia, the story is told from the point of view of a little girl who feels left out when her father takes a new wife. The girl gets advice from her grandfather, and thus the tale is set in motion. What sets this apart from the traditional tellings is the strong character development, as well as the point of view.

Cooper's expressive illustrations set the mood for the story setting, as well as the images of the characters, beautifully. With Kurtz's well written prose, illustrations are hardly necessary, but wonderful icing on the cake.

Pulling the Lion's Tail.......2000-04-17

My son (age 7) brought this book home from library day at school. We read it together and while I think the lesson of the story might have been lost on him, I don't believe it would be lost on children who face the difficulties of negotiating new mom's, dad's, foster parents, etc. I work with children that have emotional problems and the issue of acceptance (giving and getting) in step and foster families can be dealt with powerfully and sensitively with this book.

A TRADITIONAL ETHIOPIAN FOLKTALE BEAUTIFULLY RECREATED.......1997-01-02

In this beautiful new version of a traditional Ethiopian folktale, it is young Almaz, the stepchild, who must earn the love she seeks from her stepmother through great patience. Jane Kurtz has created a story that transcends culture while transmitting a strong sense of place. Floyd Cooper's evocative oil paintings complement the text as they convey the strong emotions of the characters and the beauty of the countryside

From Bannockburn to Flodden: Wallace, Bruce, & the Heroes of Medieval Scotland (Tales of a Scottish Grandfather)

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Perhaps the best introduction to Scotland's history ever written
Wonderful Scottish History!!
History made pleasant to all ages

From Bannockburn to Flodden: Wallace, Bruce, & the Heroes of Medieval Scotland (Tales of a Scottish Grandfather)
Walter, Sir Scott
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1581821271

Customer Reviews:

Perhaps the best introduction to Scotland's history ever written.......2007-08-17

Walter Scott's History of Scotland written for his young grandson, with better editing and presentation, should be the perfect companion piece to many of Sir Walter's poems and novels. This Cumberland House 4-volume edition has large enough print and contains a helpful list of the Kings of Scotland and a good index. Lacking are much needed maps. Nonetheless, this is a truly great but simple introduction to the long history of Scotland in the "great man" genre of historical writing.

Fans of Mel Gibson's movie BRAVEHEART will be enchanted by the treatment of England's King Edward I, Longshanks -- corrupter of Robert the Bruce and conqueror in the end of Sir William Wallace. These and other great men and women as well as the Stuart Kings all strut across Walter Scott's well-lighted stage.

This first in a four volume edition covers the years 1033 - 1542. We see Scotland as a nation never conquered by Normans and intent on national independence but increasingly coveted and invaded by the Normanized English. We begin with MacBeth. We conclude with the struggle between England's Henry VIII and Scotland's James V, closing the Roman Catholic centuries of Scotland with the death of James just after the birth of his unhappy daughter Mary, "the Queen of Scots."

Let Chapter XVII, "Robert III" (1390 - 1406) serve as one of several examples of how determined readers of Walter Scott can easily and pleasantly flesh out the fiction of "the Wizard of the North." Readers of Scott's novel THE FAIR MAID OF PERTH will find here a brief but memorable description of events behind that bloody novel.

All in all, FROM BANNOCKBURN TO FLODDEN is a book well worth the time of anyone just beginning to read into the history of Scotland

Wonderful Scottish History!!.......2006-07-03

Sir Scott really knew how to bring history back alive!! The writing is very visual and very heartfelt. Thank you Sir Walter Scot !!

History made pleasant to all ages.......2001-08-15

Although I am a Spanish speaking reader, I found this book most lovely and interesting from the first page. It is written in a clear style that makes it easy to understand and attractive to read. Writing History is a hard task, not suitable for everybody. Sir Walter Scott is certainly one of the greatest British poets and here he combines all his virtues in this matter with a great skill to narrate past events which almost turns this book into a "Romantic History" . It is wonderfuly adecquate for kids as it was originally intended even to those learning English as a second language.

Lucas and His Loco Beans: A Tale of the Mexican Jumping Bean

Average customer rating:

Love the Illustrations!!
Lucas and His Loco Beans
Lucas and His Loco Beans

Lucas and His Loco Beans: A Tale of the Mexican Jumping Bean
Ramona Moreno Winner
Manufacturer: Brainstorm 3000
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Short Story Collections | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0965117413

Book Description

Bilingual tale of the Mexican Jumping Beans. Snappy, rhyming text in both Spanish and English. Great science supplement.

Customer Reviews:

Love the Illustrations!!.......2006-03-23

I read this book to my first graders as we learn about the life cycle of the bean. The writing is definitely engaging and I can't get enough of this artist. Wish there was more out there of hers to view/read! Enjoy!
A. Lauderdale
1st Grade teacher in Santa Barbara

Lucas and His Loco Beans.......2002-07-02

Lucas tells the story of a summertime visit to his grandfather's ranch. He and his grandfather share love of nature. On a trek into the mountains, Lucas learns about the Mexican Jumping Bean and how his abuelo (grandfather) collected them to play with as a boy. Lucas can hear a clicking noise coming from the bean and can see that the seed itself moves. Grandfather tells Lucas about the moth larva that inhabits the bean until it turns into a moth.

This book is written in a lively, rhyming, bilingual style, with English as the main language and English meanings given for the Spanish words used. It is an exciting story, whether your language is English or Spanish. There are four pages at the back of the book with jumping bean facts in both English and Spanish, and then a neat multiple-choice quiz on word meanings.

This book is both entertaining and educational, and in case you wish to purchase Mexican jumping beans to observe the life cycle of the little critter that lives in them, purchase information is included in the book.

Beverly J. Rowe, Reviewer for Myshelf.com

Lucas and His Loco Beans.......2002-07-02

This is an enchanting childen's story that is so well presented any parent would be delighted to read along with their children all about these loco beans.

Average customer rating:

Spellbinding "tail"
Not a Disney mermaid
Great
Mermaid Summer
The book was GREAT,but was sad!

The Mermaid Summer
Mollie Hunter
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064403440

Book Description

About a hundred years ago, they say,

a mermaid ruled the cold sea that washed around northern lands

Everyone in Jon and Anna's village knows of the mermaid's beauty -- and her cruelty -- and is careful to speak well of her. Everyone but their grandfather, Eric, until the day the mermaid smashes his fishing boat against the rocks.

After that, Eric bids his family good-bye, for no one will sail with him again. But Jon and Anna never stop missing him, so they decide they must defeat the mermaid's curse and bring their grandfather home. . .

Customer Reviews:

Spellbinding "tail".......2002-10-08

These are the mermaids that sailors feared -- vain, nasty little finned misses who don't hesitate to call up storms if it suits them. Mollie Hunter is in prime form here, in the tale of two brave kids who struggle to free their village from a vindictive mermaid.

Eric Anderson never believed in the mermaid -- until his ship was crashed on the rocks, and he saw a mermaid seconds before the disaster. After that incident, he stays on the land with his family, but eventually grows restless for the sea. He leaves for a shipping job far away. Three years later, his wife, children, and grandchildren Anna and Jon receive nine gifts -- which the wise woman Howdy tells them is significant. Everything regarding the mermaid and their grandfather, she says, will be connected with the number three.

One of the gifts is a conch shell, which the spooked Jon finds will summon the mermaid. After Anna accidently calls the mermaid up, the fishy girl is at first charmed by the sight of a "female land creature," then demands Anna's gift, a beautiful jade comb. When Anna refuses to give it to her, the mermaid threatens to drive away the herring -- meaning that the village will starve that winter. A war of wills begins between two ingenious kids and a ruthless mermaid -- not just for the village, but for Eric Anderson as well...

This is a stronger book than Hunter's "Stranger Came Ashore," partly due to the more mainstream plotline and partly due to the third-person narrative. For the characters, Hunter hits all the nails on the head, as every person's emotions and responses are perfectly-written. Her descriptions of a rural village full of life and work is appealing, as are her atmospheric descriptions of the coastline.

Jon and Anna are good heroes for this. Jon is strong-willed and a little befuddled by what is going on around him, while Anna is an innocent little girl with a scheming streak. Senior citizens Jamie and the Howdy add a note of experience and wisdom. The mermaid is also excellently drawn: she's not evil so much as lacking in generosity, mercy, or basic kindness. Like a spoiled brat, she wants what she wants, and will throw a tantrum to get it. And in keeping with her vanity, her only goal is to make her sister mermaids envy her.

"Mermaid Summer" is a charming, sometimes spooky look at the less benevolent mermaids. With endearing heroes and a tight storyline, it's a good read for any and all kids.

Not a Disney mermaid.......2002-04-24

Eric Anderson was the only fisherman in the village who laughed at the tale of the mermaid whose favourite place was the Drongs, the huge rocks off the coast of the village. (They're real, by the way, lying off Hillswick Ness in the Shetland Islands of northern Scotland.)

Eric stopped laughing, though, on the foggy day when he and his crew not only saw her, but were lured onto the rocks by her singing. After consulting the Howdy - the local wisewoman, in this 19th century village - Eric left the fishing fleet to sign on for a long ocean voyage, rather than endanger the other fishermen. The Howdy offered hope - and riddles, recommending what gifts he should find and send home to his family. Not until later do we understand the Howdy's prophecy that Granda Eric's gifts will be his hope of coming home, and that his fate is ruled by the number three. The Howdy's character is well drawn - we see enough of the story from her viewpoint to know that she's not as uncanny as she seems, and enough to understand why all the kids are scared of her.

Eric sends gifts and letters to his wife Sarah, his son, and his grandchildren, Jon and Anna - but not the name of his ship or its home port, fearing that he might weaken if they write back. Both the adults and children of the family are developed properly as characters; Sarah, Eric's wife, reacts about as you might expect to her husband's exile to the ends of the earth, giving us a glimpse of the Howdy's treatment of the ailments of despair. While the adults are too proud to write against Eric's wishes, Anna is so determined that she figures out how to get her letters to Eric, always ending, 'Please come home soon.' She may even be determined enough to defeat the mermaid's magic...

The mermaid, as you may have gathered, is drawn in the tradition of the old legends: beautiful, but ageless, and as uncaring as the sea of any human feelings. Mermaids have *some* feelings, just not the softer ones: they revel in the jealousy of other mermaids, for instance, or the rush of power. She isn't evil; she's outside human reckoning, like a storm or a shark. When the children finally encounter her face-to-face, they find themselves trying to outwit her for both Granda Eric's freedom and the fate of the entire herring fleet.

Great.......2000-03-03

My friend read this book and she said it was a real good book Now I'm reading it.

Mermaid Summer.......2000-01-20

When I first bought Mermaid Summer I was very excited to start reading it. It was a good book, but I was a little disappointed in some ways. For example, I was hoping the author would explain where the mermaid was from. The mermaid was being thought as a dangerous creature. The author also didn't really go into great detail of the mermaid. The book was really a tale of a little girl hoping to see her grandfather again, hardly of a mermaid.

The book was GREAT,but was sad!.......1999-11-10

This story is about Jon and Anna .They had summoned the mermaid.She wanted Annas comb to make her sisters jeaious Anna would not give it to her.So she gave her three weeks to get something more beautiful than it,and her.But the Howdy told them the sercret. I like this book because the mermaid was trying to receive gifts so her sisters would be jealous.But Anna and found out the way to train her .If you want to know what happens to her and ,and Anna ,and Jon read it!

From Gileskirk to Greyfriars: Mary Queen of Scots, John Knox & the Heroes of Scotland's Reformation (Tales of a Scottish Grandfather)

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Early Modern Scotland. Stuart Misrule of England, Scotland and Ireland.

From Gileskirk to Greyfriars: Mary Queen of Scots, John Knox & the Heroes of Scotland's Reformation (Tales of a Scottish Grandfather)
Walter, Sir Scott
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 158182128X

Book Description

The "Tales from a Scottish Grandfather Series" are the most intimate, most accessible, and most dramatic of all the tales Sxott ever presented to his readers. Meant to comfort his sickly grandson, these books are a combination of history and story-telling sure to entertain and teach.

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Early Modern Scotland. Stuart Misrule of England, Scotland and Ireland........2007-08-25

GIleskirk and Greyfriars in the title are the names of two houses of worship in Scotland's capital. They refer to the Cathedral Church of Edinburgh and to a suburban pre-Reformation Franciscan church. Gileskirk's pulpit is associated with the 16th Century leader of the Reformation, John Knox. At Greyfriars in 1638 the National Covenant was signed, a landmark in asserting church independence of royal control.

This second volume begins with the birth, life and execution of Queen Mary Stuart. It moves through the reigns of her son James and grandson Charles and their increasingly autorcratic misrule of Scotland, England and Ireland. The volume ends in 1658 with all powerful Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, about to die. His brief rule did much violence to both Scotland and Ireland and trampled on old traditions. It abolished monarchy itself, bishops, the House of Lords and brought back the Jews after several hundred years and gave England its first and only written constitution.

Scott's TALES OF A GRANDFATHER should be read in parallel with his many historical novels and narrative poems. They bring Scotland and England to life as do few other books. -OOO-

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