Gruesome Guide to World Monsters

Book Description

Make room in your suitcase for this monstrously entertaining guide to fantastic creatures around the world — and how to elude them.

I did not make any of this up.

Do you know why you should have baby teeth handy when visiting the Midwest? Or why you should bring a cucumber with you when swimming in Japan? How good are you at solving Russian riddles? From Boston to Bejing, from Moscow to Mali, any place you visit has its own terrifying tales of very real creatures. Complete with handy "gruesomeness ratings," this guide offers all the important facts on some sixty-three folkloric monsters and how (if possible!) to survive an encounter with them. Meticulously researched by Judy Sierra and illustrated in grotesque detail by Henrik Drescher, here is the ultimate resource for any world traveler, armchair or otherwise, hoping to make it home alive.

Customer Reviews:

Not for children under twelve.......2007-01-22

I think the overall idea of this book is great- children learn different geographic folklore- and the presentation of it "What you should do if you run into this monster" is fun. I also think I am pretty lenient with what I let my children read, and likewise my son who is nine is a tough cookie-that loves scary stuff. At the age of six he went on every scary ride he was tall enough to get on at Disneyworld and didn't blink twice-he was never spooked by anything- and loves gory masks at Halloween.
So I thought this would be the perfect book and gave it to him for Christmas last year. I ended up returning the book. It scared the pants off of him especially the monster that disembowels people-I think it has some pretty evil undertones and think it could have been written a little more child friendly.

My kids 7 and 13 love this book........2006-11-10

The book is like an encyclopedia of mythical monsters. Good drawings and imaginative descriptions. It is fun, but not like a novel.

Good book, but not for young children.......2006-08-15

My six year old son is very into Halloween and anything spooky. So when we saw this book at the library we just had to check it out! The very first monster in the book is one that lives behind mirrors and grabs people. This freaked my son out and now he will not go into the bathroom by himself. After that, we had to pick and choose which monsters to read to him about and even then we had to leave a few words out. It says on the back of the book that this book is for age 6 and up. That surprises me and I would not recommend this book for a 6 year old. But, I still give it a three star rating because, as an adult, I find it very interesting reading about these monsters that live in folklore.

Awesome Gruesome Guide!!!!!.......2006-07-30

This book is extremely interesting to me because it talks about the locations of each monster and what each monster does to unsuspecting travelers. Also, this book talks about how to survive each encounter with each monster in great detail. The monsters are rated as (1) Frightening, (2) Dangerous, (3) Very Dangerous, (4) Usually Fatal, and (5) Fatal, with the fatal monsters usually having no survival tips for the travelers.

My favorite monsters in this book were the Sigbin, a beagle monster whose intestinal gas is deadly, the Kishi, who has half a handsome face and half a hyena face, the Rolling Head, who ate his whole body and goes after travelers and eat them, the cannibal baby, who sucks up the flesh of unsuspecting travelers, and the Curupira, who sucks out all the organs of hunters who harm the animals in Brazil.

This book is great for people who want to know more about the monsters of the world and how to survive them. This book is extremely entertaining for both children and adults. The adults will enjoy the book because of it description of all the monsters and the children will enjoy the book for Henrik Drescher's childish yet detailed drawings of the monsters.

A nice introduction to dozens of monsters from around the world.......2006-03-04

"The Gruesome Guide to World Monsters" is presented as a travel guide that will help you plan how to meet (and how to flee) the various monsters of the world. But you have to understand going in that the advice given here are only proven methods for escaping or overcoming SOME of these monsters, SOME of the time. So forget about a money back guarantee that you will come back from your vacation alive, because with some of these survival tips I am pretty sure they are just making things up to give young readers a false sense of hope. All of the monsters that Judy Sierra writes about and which are illustrated by Henrik Drescher are "real" in the sense that they are a genuine part of the world's folklore and have been around for thousands of years.

The book is divided geographically so that you learn about the monsters closest to home in North America before moving on to Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific. For each we are told the location where you can find the monster (e.g., watch out for the Cannibal Baby in the Rocky Mountains). Then there is the five point scale of the Gruesomeness Ratings: (1) Frightening, are monsters that are scary but not life-threatening, of which there is only one example, the Baku of Japan that comes into your bedroom at night and eats your bad dreams; (2) Dangerous, are monsters that smart travelers can avoid or overcome, such as Zombis; (3) Very Dangerous, are those monsters where you chances of surviving a meeting are 50-50 at best, such as Bloody Mary, the evil spectre who lives on the other side of mirrors; (4) Usually Fatal, are monsters to avoid at all costs, such as the Vukodlak of Serbia, a wicked person who lives on after death; and then (5) Fatal, where once the monster sees you it is too late, which includes the Jinn of North and Central Africa that kidnap people and cause diseases.

For each monster there is also a brief description, and most importantly the Survival Tip (e.g., the Ovda of Finland will apparently become powerless if you touch its left armpit). The illustrations should be appealing to younger readers because, quite frankly, they often look like something kids would draw. The exception that proves the rule would be the wicked painting of the Aniwye, a giant skunk that inhabits the Great Lakes region, which means that living here on the shore of Lake Superior if I hear the sound of giant teeth crunching the roof above my bed, I need to exit immediately. In her afterword Sierra explains some of the necessary roles that these monsters have played in the lives of people, from making sure children stay away from caves and forests to preserving the balance of nature. "The Gruesome Guide to World Monsters" is a nice little introduction to the monsters that people have been talking about for centuries, and if a young reader wants to find out more about the Kishi of Zimbabwe or the Nakk of Sweden, there is certainly enough here for them to be able to look elsewhere for more information.

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie (Picture Puffins)

Average customer rating:

Fabulous!
Hilarious Book
Kids love getting fat!
Great Story
My son got up and walked away!!!

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie (Picture Puffins)
Alison Jackson
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140565957

Amazon.com

In the awfully silly I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, children's librarian and author Alison Jackson bypasses pilgrims completely and cuts straight to the stomach of Thanksgiving in America--dinner. A slightly dizzying new spin on the well-loved cumulative rhyming song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," this madcap picture book stars a ravenously hungry relative who comes to Thanksgiving dinner with a pie. Since she eats the pie in its entirety before she even gets in the house, she has to swallow some cider (that "rumbled and mumbled and grumbled inside her"). If you must know, "She swallowed the cider to moisten the pie, / The Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry, /Perhaps she'll die." The story continues in this vein, as we watch the hosts grow visibly alarmed--and the children visibly delighted-- by the old lady's surreal appetite and supernaturally increasing girth. Illustrator Judith Byron Schachner--creator of the acclaimed Willy and May--has masterfully captured this ludicrous tale in hilariously haywire pen-and-ink drawings, splashed with watercolor. Kids will love this romping, rhyming frolic through a familiar favorite. (Ages 4 to 8)

Book Description

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry.

And with that the feast begins! After the pie the old lady swallows a whole squash, all of the salad, and the entire turkey! As Mother and Father watch in shock, the two children are delighted to see the old lady growing fatter and fatter. And, in the end, the old lady makes a surprising and humorous contribution to the holiday festivities.

"Jackson draws on some traditional Thanksgiving foods to give a familiar rhyme new zing. Schachner's exuberant, cartoon-style illustrations . . . catch the comedy splendidly!" (Booklist)

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous!.......2006-11-13

I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie is one of the best find for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is an adapation of the old classic rhyme, I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, with a Thanksgiving twist. She eats and eats until she blows up like a balloon, and flies in the Thanksgiving parade. It's hysterical, and little ones love it. The cadence is wonderful, and a blast to read aloud!

Judy Schachner's illustrations are colorful, and silly, somewhat like Nadine Bernard Wescott's [The Farmer Brown Series, Lady With The Alligator Purse]. If you're looking for a hilarious book for young children say 3 to 7 then this may fit the bill.

Hilarious Book.......2006-03-02

I loved this book! It is a great book with a fun twist to the original I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly! This book is great for kids and adults!!!

Kids love getting fat!.......2006-02-11

I'm a music teacher for grades K-3. Never have I seen kids react so intensely to a sing-along book as they did for all the "I Know an Old Lady..." books. This one especially sparks kids' minds and brings so many other subjects into play. Kids like talking about Thanksgiving as it's one of the few holidays both kids and teachers openly celebrate. This book brought about questions of traditional food and activites as well as the health repercussions of stuffing ourselves. In the end, kindergarten through third grade eyes will sparkle to see the Old Lady grow into a balloon!

Great Story.......2004-11-08

I've only read the reviews of this book and it sounds great! I'm actually too old to be reading these kinds of stories but I just love how the old ladies in the "who swallowed a..." books get fatter and fatter. If only I could actually read the book. Gotta work on getting this book and some of the other related books!

My son got up and walked away!!!.......2004-09-08

My son received several new books including this one. He actually got up and walked away while I was reading this one. And he loves to read a varity of books. We enjoyed the Old lady who swallowed a fly. This starts out with a pie and continues until the old Lady eats the entire thanks giving meal. She grows bigger and bigger and lumpier and lumpier until she becomes a thanksgiving balloon in a parade. I also didn't care for the illustrations. Our Thanksgiving meal is special and this illustrated a an old lady getting uglier and uglier. Well, it just didn't do any thing for me. I did read other people's reviews and I see that other families did enjoy this book. I could live without reading it again. And my 3 yr old son doesn't have any interest in it and he can sit for an hour reading many different books with me.

Festivals Together: A Guide to Multi-Cultural Celebration (Lifeways)

Average customer rating:

Understand together
Festivals Together

Festivals Together: A Guide to Multi-Cultural Celebration (Lifeways)
Sue Fitzjohn , Minda Weston , and Judy Large
Manufacturer: Hawthorne Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 1869890469

Book Description

Enrich your seasonal celebrations with Festivals Together. It includes stories, songs, crafts, activities, and recipes from the global village. Celebrate Eid, Holi, Easter, Wesak, Advent, Divali, Chinese New Year, and many more. This well-loved resource draws on the experience of a wide variety of faiths and cultures—Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslum, and Sikh.

Children and adults alike will enjoy the tales of Anancy, the spider trickster of Ganesh, and how he got his elephant head and why the Sun and the Moon live in the sky. You will learn how to make simple percussion instruments, kites that really fly, a Filipino Christmas star, Chinese lanterns, spring flower festival decorations, and Christingle oranges.

Whether you are a teacher, parent, or community group leader, Festivals Together offers a wealth of ideas for multicultural celebrations that will inform, inspire, and delight everyone.

Customer Reviews:

Understand together.......2003-06-07

This is a great book and the whole family can learn together. It is simple, easy to read and understand yet very detailed on the explanations and descriptions. Everybody can learn and it is a great way to open the world to your children for understanding who other cultures celebrate. A very nice book.

Festivals Together.......2000-12-20

This book is a very thorough, yet simply written book that gives a great over-view of Multi-cultural celebrations. As a teacher, it has been a great asset to my classroom.

Joyeux Noel: Learning Songs and Traditions in French (Teach Me) (Teach Me)

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Joyeux Noel: Learning Songs and Traditions in French (Teach Me) (Teach Me)
Judy R. Mahoney
Manufacturer: Teach Me Tapes, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Product Description

Celebrate the holiday season in France with "Joyeux Noel"! Accompaning CD has all your favorite holiday songs in both French and English.

The Best of Holidays & Seasonal Celebrations, Issues 5-8

Average customer rating:

The Best of Holidays & Seasonal Celebrations, Issues 5-8

Manufacturer: Teaching & Learning Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Preschool & Kindergarten | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1573101001

Book Description

The popularity of the second year's issues of the Teaching & Learning Company's magazine, Holidays & Seasonal Celebrations, has led to the compilation of the best ideas and activities into one, easy-to-use resource. The selections in this book represent some of the most innovative and frequently requested materials from past issues. The recurring holidays, seasons and themes are always timely and never out-of-date.

Each season includes pages of clip art; a Kid Space feature (for school yard learning adventures) and a variety of holiday and seasonal crafts, projects, stories, poems, ideas and activities.

There are back-to-school decorating ideas for those hectic first days of school as well as get-acquainted activities; autumn learning centers; fire safety tips; pumpkin units; and celebrations for Citizenship Day, Columbus Day and other fall holidays. Winter is a wonder of stories, crafts, learning activities, recipies and international celebrations. Spring and summer festivities include outdoor fun, books to share, reproducible pages, patterns and much, much more.

Book Description

"Wedding bells are ringing for Angel's mom—and Angel takes charge when she feels that her mother isn't preparing properly. A funny story about a contemporary dilemma, in which ordinary events are wed to extraordinary twists." —School Library Journal, starred review

Customer Reviews:

Funny and real!.......2006-12-29

Ten-year-old Angel O'Leary is worried -- her mother's about to get remarried, and she isn't doing very much to prepare. Everything Angel's ever heard about weddings includes lavish bridal showers, fancy invitations and months of preparation. Don't Angel's mother and Rudy know that?

Then, Angel learns that she and her little brother Rags will be taking on Rudy's last name...Pappadopolis! She can't pronounce it, let alone spell it...

But, as Angel learns, all her worrying is for nothing. Not all weddings have to be huge and fancy...and no name is as important as finally getting a new father who loves her and Rags...

angel's mothers wedding.......2005-11-28

Angel and Rag's mom is getting married in five months . Angel is worried her mother will not have enough time to plan the wedding. So Angel and Rags try to plan the wedding themselves. Angel and Rags try to keep it a secret from their mother. Angel gets so nervous about the wedding that she asks her mom when she's going to plan the wedding. If you read this book I think you will find it funny and entertaining. It is the third book in the series.

Angels Mothers Wedding.......2005-09-30

Angels Mothers Wedding was about a girl who lost her father and her mother went on a vacation because she was depressed.Her mother wants to get married again and what her mom told was that the person she likes is a clown. Angel thinks that he is going to have big floppy feet and baggy pants.Angel is always thinking about the clown that her mother was always talking about, and then she finds out that his name was Rudy she heard this from listning to her mothers conversation with Alyce who was her mothers best friend. Then one day Rudy arrives to their house and Angel looks through her bedroom window and she is so shocked that she cannot believe her own eyes. I would recommend this book because it has a lot of suprises that you couldn't believe and you understand the charachter. The way that Angel thought about things was how I thought about them too. When she feels sad or unhappy she describes her feelings and thats how I feel when I am sad.

Average customer rating:

KITTY IN THE MIDDLE
Judy Delton
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0395280044

Average customer rating:

Grumpy Pumpkins

PWS: Grumpy Pumpkins (Pee Wee Scouts)
Judy Delton
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440400651
Release Date: 1988-09-01

Book Description

Halloween is here. Parties, costumes, pumpkins. The Pee Wee Scouts listen to Mrs. Peters, their troop leader, tell them all about the holiday plans. First, a trip to Mr. Riley's pumpkin farm. Next, carving the pumpkins with a safe tool. Then, the big Halloween party!

Molly Duff is so excited about the fun and the food and games that the Pee Wees will play. She even plans her own special good deed. But when Mrs. Peters tells the Pee Wees where the Halloween party will be, Molly almost cries. Oh, no! Not there.

Bad news for Molly means grumpy pumpkins everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Grumpy Pumpkins.......2001-10-10

This is a touching book about the Pee Wee Scouts and the good deeds they do at Halloween. The Pee Wee's and their leader, Mrs. Peters, have fun visiting a Pumpkin farm, picking out their own pumpkin, creating and making their halloween costumes, and visiting a nursing home. Find out the lesson Molly learns about Grumpy Pumpkins! This is one of my favorite Judy Delton books. I like the way Delton uses scouts as a theme for her books instead of athletics. It shows young children how there are many activities, other than sports, that they can participate in and enjoy. The text has humor, as well as a serious side, that combine to grab the attention of the young reader. The illustrator uses black and white, cartoon-like, sketches throughout the book that add humor and fun to the text.

Average customer rating:

Yuck
Fun to read
This is a fabulous book to teach basic counting skills.

The House That Drac Built
Judy Sierra
Manufacturer: Voyager Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152018794

Book Description

One by one, a bat, a cat, a werewolf, a monster, a mummy, a zombie, and other frightful creatures emerge in the dark house. They chase, wrestle, and roar--until the doorbell rings and in walks a group of fearless trick-or-treaters who know exactly what to do.

Customer Reviews:

Yuck.......2005-11-11

This is one of the only books I'm willing to pay my own shipping to return it. I bought this because I liked 'Twas the Fright Before Christmas, and I liked the unique yet cute artwork of all the monsters in it and the details in the background. But this book, The House that Drac Built-- it's hard to believe it's the same artist! I have tons of picture books, and this has the ugliest artwork of them all. The manicore is gross-- a weird face and sausage-link tail. I didn't find the artwork creepy or scary in the way I'd love to see in a Halloween book for a change, but this art was just completely unappealing. I love Halloween picture books, but I highly recommend In the Haunted House and The Bones of Fred McFee, both by Eve Bunting, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, The Old Lady who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, or for an edgier book, Cinderella Skeleton Robert D. San Souci all over this one.

Fun to read.......2005-09-17

My 3 year old nephew adores this book. He is really into monsters and vampires and the like. Within just a few times of reading it, he now has memorized it and has a wonderful time with the words and expressions. I think he even loves to watch us adults have fun with him while we are going through the book. I adore watching him read it. It is a book I myself want to keep around for other kids as well.

This is a fabulous book to teach basic counting skills........1998-09-07

I am a student studying to be a teacher at UNL. I used The House That Drac Built for a lesson on counting. I created a felt board and allowed the children to add the characters as I read. We counted them and then took them away at the end when the children arrive at Drac's home. I found this book to be very entertaing and useful in my lesson. It served as a perfect way to integrate literature into my Math lesson If you agree with me, please respond and let me know what you think! I would love to know what you think!

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