The Houdini Box

Book Description

Victor is forever trying to escape from locked trunks, walk through walls, and perform any number of Houdini's astonishing magic tricks...without success. Then -- amazingly -- he actually meets his idol, and begs Houdini to explain himself. A mysterious locked box is the magician's only answer, and Victor is left to wonder: Does the box contain the secrets to the most famous magic tricks ever performed?

Customer Reviews:

My non-reader loved it!.......2007-06-29

My son is 9 and dislikes reading but he read this book in about a half hour and liked it! The Houdini Box has many pages with great pictures and also many pages with a few short paragraphs. A child who dislikes reading becomes overwhelmed when faced with page after page of WORDS and this was not like that. It kept him turning the pages! Also the story was interesting and to the point- no unnecessary babbling on and on to discourage a child with a short attention span. I thank the author for seeming to understand how to grab the attention of the tough to grab!

Loved the book as a kid, love it now.......2007-05-13

I was read this book when I was in 2nd grade. I absolutely loved it and checked it out from the library repeatedly. Now that I'm about to become a mom, I wanted my little boy to have it. But, I couldn't remember the name, just that it was about Houdini and a little boy. After about 4 months of searching, I finally found what seemed like it was the right book on amazon. I wasn't positive, but I bought it anyway. When I got it, I was so happy. It's the exact book, and is still as entertaining today as it was when I was 8.

Lukewarm fiction.......2001-08-23

This book is barely based in fact, and the author notes this at the end. I didn't find the story particularly satisfying -- as fan of Houdini OR as an avid reader of children's literature -- but the artwork is wonderful, particularly the renderings of Houdini himself. I will treasure my copy of the book for the artwork alone.

Rebirth of Passion.......2000-08-08

When I opened my desk drawer at 7:30 one summer morning to find an annonomously placed copy of "The Houdini Box," I'd no idea that I was connecting with my muse. I sat in the serene silence before the stirring of a workday and read through this children's book about the loss and regaining of a dream. As a children's book, it's delightfully written and beautifully illustrated. I know several children who've enjoyed the tale. For adults, Brian Selznick's book is a parable about the obstacles that turn us from our passions and the serendipitous moments that call us back on track.

Gre Houdini Book.......1998-05-08

This book was great book even though it is fiction.I think it is for ages 6-100.

Kids Party Games And Activities (Children's Party Planning Books)

Average customer rating:

Idea generator for parties, play dates and birthdays
Kids Party Games and Activities.
A wonderful book for ideas and themes!

Kids Party Games And Activities (Children's Party Planning Books)
Penny Warner
Manufacturer: Meadowbrook
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

Party Planning | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0671867792

Customer Reviews:

Idea generator for parties, play dates and birthdays.......2005-05-14

I was looking for books that would help with active games for my daughter's summer birthday party when I ran across this book. In contrast to many other books which are organized by party theme (dog, princess, superhero, etc.), this book is helpful because it is organized first by age and then by type of activity. The age ranges are preschool (2-5), school age (6-9) and preteen (10-12). The activities are grouped by traditional games, contemporary games, group activities, outings and events (which are closer to the theme parties you get in other books) and entertainers. Each game identifies not just the target range, but how far you can stretch to encompass older kids, the number of players needed, game objective and what materials to have on hand. It also gives ideas for creative ways to modify the game to fit children's disparate interests or different settings, prizes, favors, and trouble-shooting tips. We host our children's birthday parties at home (in contrast to many families, which use other locations such as gymnastics centers, pottery facilities, etc.) so I am always looking for activities both to keep kids active, but also to calm them down at the right time. This book offered ideas for both. All in all, a very helpful book not just for the upcoming birthday party, but also for future play dates and field trips with my kids.

Kids Party Games and Activities........2001-06-23

This book was arranged in 3 age groups. Tha's really helpful, so you can zoom in on your child's party and find just the right activities. Each section includes lots of traditional games as well as innovative ones and other party activities, like face painting. Also included are trip parties and theme parties for each age group.

Each game or activity includes creative suggestions for adapting the game, ideas for prizes and troubleshooting common problems ahead of time. The game directions are complete and easy to follow.

This book will offer ideas for many parties to come. The games may be dropped into your theme. The theme parties offered here are easy and fun and offer the inspiration to add your own ideas.

A wonderful book for ideas and themes!.......1999-11-11

I think I may just like the ideas from this author, because I liked another one of her books. This book will help you with games, invitations, tips,etc. I think it's a good book to keep around and pass around. I was stuck with no ideas and it lifted alot of stress from my party planning.

Judy Moody's Double Rare Way-Not-Boring Book of Fun Stuff to Do (Judy Moody)

Average customer rating:

Great writing improvement tool for your child.

Judy Moody's Double Rare Way-Not-Boring Book of Fun Stuff to Do (Judy Moody)
Megan Mcdonald
Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0763627690
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Book Description

Visit www.judymoody.com for lots of way-not-boring stuff!

Dive right in and join the T.P. (Take out your Pencil) Club for hours of Judy Moody fun! Get the low-down on Screamin' Mimi's ice cream, knock yourself out learning knock-knock jokes, try out your Judy Moody trivia with quizzes and crosswords, plan a Judy Moody-themed birthday party, make your own Me collage, cootie catcher, custom-designed T-shirt, and much, MUCH more! Whether the reader has just met Judy Moody or is already her biggest fan, this hands-on, fun-filled activity book — complete with twenty-four stickers inside — absolutely and positively rates a "rare squared."

Customer Reviews:

Great writing improvement tool for your child........2007-04-01

Great tool to practice writing and reading and very entertaining for a third or fourth grader! An absolute must have!

Average customer rating:

I love this book

Happy Birthday Everywhere
Sharon Lane Holm , and Arlene Erlbach
Manufacturer: Millbrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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

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Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0761300074

Customer Reviews:

I love this book.......2000-06-27

This book includes birthday greetings and celebrations from 19 different countries. Packed with interesting trivia and simple games, recipes, and crafts this book is fun for the whole family and is a great way to begin to introduce different cultural celebrations to small children.

Average customer rating:

Bold and sturdy book celebrating a great day!

Elmo's Birthday Party (Touch-and-Feel)
Random House
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baby-3 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0375821902
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Book Description

It’s Elmo’s birthday and all his Sesame Street friends are going to his party to help him celebrate. There are lots of things to touch and feel in this interactive book, including slippery balloons, a silky ribbon, and a fluffy rabbit. But as Elmo knows, while parties and gifts are fun, the best thing about a birthday is celebrating it with friends!

Customer Reviews:

Bold and sturdy book celebrating a great day!.......2004-10-29

Bright and colorful pages make this book loads of fun for any little one's special day. Elmo celebrates his birthday with the whole Sesame Street gang from Bert and Ernie to Zoe and Cookie Monster. Each page has a touch and feel texture, i.e. Elmo's nose is soft and velvety, Ernie's box has "straw" inside. The pages are large and sturdy, a great board book to have in your child's library or give as a birthday gift to a Sesame Street fan!

Look-Alikes Christmas: The More You Look, the More You See!

Average customer rating:

It's all in the details!
Nice Gift
I really wanted this book
An Amazing Feat...and Utterly Fascinating to Look At!
Not as good as the first.

Look-Alikes Christmas: The More You Look, the More You See!
Joan Steiner
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0316811874

Book Description

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . . and the more you look, the more you see.Using everything from dog biscuits and candy canes to gloves and starfish, Joan Steiner has created an entrancing three-dimensional world for puzzlers of all ages to pore over. This long-awaited follow-up to the bestselling Look-Alikes and Look-Alikes Jr. has nine more original, breathtaking images, including a cathedral, nutcracker ballet, Santa's workshop, and cozy Grandma's kitchen scene. For added value, the book includes instructions on how to create your own Look-Alikes Christmas decorations, as well as a question and answer session with Joan Steiner, including color photos from her studio.

Customer Reviews:

It's all in the details!.......2007-01-22

my daughter loves all the look-alike books. Look-Alike books are not "I Spy" nor "where's Waldo." It is better! Steiner used tons of little everyday items and put them into a theme-scape. Look closely and you see the train tracks are made of pencils, and the snow-capped mountain-tops are covered with white gloves! It invokes young readers' imagination and surprises even the most well-read adults! These well-done photographs teach us to see things differently. We enjoyed going over the pages and tried to identify all the objects. It is a great book to show kids examples of "it is all in the details!"

Nice Gift.......2007-01-04

I gave this as a gift.
The person "loved it"!
Thank You,
Jim

I really wanted this book.......2006-12-16

I had every intention of buying this book for my [...] daughter. BUT when I saw the first page with the "see inside" feature, I was taken aback at the skull and bra. As an opening page??? Not for my young daughter. I'm disappointed, because I like Joan Steiner's books. I would buy it if those two elements were gone.

An Amazing Feat...and Utterly Fascinating to Look At!.......2006-12-13

For those unfamiliar with the Look-Alikes series, creator Joan Steiner makes fascinating scenes using everyday objects--many cleverly hidden! Some people think Look-Alikes involve trick photography, but Steiner assures readers this is not the case. Most of her sets measure four to five feet across, in fact! The painstaking process of the perfectionistic Steiner often takes years. She admits that it took her THREE and a HALF YEARS to complete Look-Alikes Christmas! WOW...that's dedication!

I'm totally intrigued by the Look-Alikes books (we have two), and LOVE trying to spot all of the elements. Look-Alikes are similar to the I SPY books, but don't have the riddles. And, the items aren't so much "concealed" as they are so seemlessly integrated that you don't realize (at first!) what you're looking at! For example, in the Nutcracker scene, one look at Uncle Drosselmeyer's outfit and nothing really stands out. However, upon closer inspection, you realize that the flowing orange lining to his black cape is actually a Dorito!

There are ten lavish sets in the book, each spanning two pages:

*Winter Wonderland - A snowy outdoor scene (The skeleton draped in a bra is bizarre and a poor choice for this scene.)

*The Nutcracker - Dolls come alive in this indoor scene. Look closely--the curtains are made of hair!

*Santa's Workshop - What looks to be a fake nose serves as Mrs. Claus's cap, while orange Circus Peanuts double as elf shoes!

*Grandma's Kitchen - It's obvious that Grandma's apron is a dollar bill, but did you notice that the "spoon" the granchild is using to lick the batter out of the bowl is, in fact, a Q-tip?

*Christmas Windows - Shoppers stroll outdoors, gazing at delightful holiday windows. Women's purses are made up of a lock, a fig newton, a postage stamp, and a packet of pepper. How cool is that?!

*Cathedral - Jellybeans and suckers double as stained glass windows, while vertical bullets (?!) stand in the center of the church.

*Dollhouse - Dental floss as a water closet, a loofah sponge as a hamper, a wooden switch plate as a table top, and a jar of nailpolish as a lamp bottom.

*Toy Train - A loaf of bread does time as a tunnel, while dry spiral pasta makes a neat bow for a present under the tree.

*New year's Eve - A skyscraper made out of a computer keyboard, radiator, and crossword puzzle makes a great background for a bright celebration.

If you love the I SPY or Where's Waldo? books, you'll love the Look-Alikes books by Joan Steiner. I'm partial to the Christmas one, I think, because it was the first one I bought! My 8 year old, a train buff, likes the original because guess what's on the cover? Yep, a train!

Not as good as the first........2005-10-09

My family has owned and LOVED the first book for 4 years now.Our sons (now ages 10 and 8 years) still look at the first book and beg us to play what our family calls "The wacky game"(one person is "IT" and spots something on a page in the book while everyone else has their backs turned , and the challenge is on).When I saw this second book I thought it would be the perfect family Christmas Eve present.Boy was I WRONG!Our whole family was so dissapointed at how unchallenging the pictures where put together.We've look at it for a total of 15 mins and it's sat on the book shelf ever since.
I must say that we STILL enjoy the first book and it's always under one of the boys's pillows.

Lithgow Party Paloozas!: 52 Unexpected Ways to Make a Birthday, Holiday, or Any Day a Celebration for Kids

Average customer rating:

hilarious fun for kids

Lithgow Party Paloozas!: 52 Unexpected Ways to Make a Birthday, Holiday, or Any Day a Celebration for Kids
John Lithgow
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Party Planning | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0743270886

Book Description

Holidays, birthdays -- whatever the reason you decide to whoop it up, there's a palooza for it!

John Lithgow -- star of stage, screen, and television and bestselling children's book author -- has spent years perfecting the art of the palooza. A palooza is an invitation to a creative adventure, a jumping-off point for making your own fun. All twelve months of the year are loaded with opportunities to palooza. Sure, you can celebrate all the familiar holidays and birthdays the way you always have. Or you can turn those days -- and every other day -- into something special: a real wingding of a palooza!

This book is packed with fifty-two of John's easy and original celebrations for kids ages three through twelve. Each palooza costs little to nothing, and if you learn a little about art or music or food or philosophy along the way, hey, who's complaining! So turn off the TV, roll up your sleeves, and dive into:

Beatlemania: Plunge into the exuberance and musical genius of the Beatles and have a party no one will ever forget.

Opening Day: The first day of the baseball season signals a new beginning and the chance for a family of fans to invent a new tradition.

National Bubble Day: Yes, it really is on January 8, but you can stage this party any day of the year.

Tilting at Windmills: Make like the madcap adventurer Don Quixote on Miguel de Cervantes's birthday.

Lithgow Party Paloozas! shows us how to make holidays unique and birthdays original -- and how to party with a palooza every day of the year.

Customer Reviews:

hilarious fun for kids.......2005-06-01

Do you want your kids to have fun? Of course. Do you want them to learn and grow and explore their worlds imaginatively? Certainly. But can they do both at the same time? If you don't think so, think again: this book is full of ideas that will both entertain your kids and encourage them to think creatively. Lithgow lays out crazy party plans that will definitely be a first in the neighborhood. If you're tired of the same old slumber party and birthday cake, this book is the answer.

Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas (Can You See What I See?)

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous - Can You See?
Highly recommend
See for Yourself!
another great I spy book
Another Tradition

Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas (Can You See What I See?)

Manufacturer: CARTWHEEL BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0439769272

Book Description

The first photograph, "The Night Before Christmas," features a gingerbread house, Christmas cookies, candles, bulbs, and more. "Visions of Sugarplums" is an abstract composition of Christmas confections; and "Such a Clatter!" is a dynamic explosion of objects. In "It Must Be Saint Nick," Santa is shown in shadow; and in "A Bundle of Toys," the presents in Santa's sack are revealed as a magnificent jumble. The final photograph, "Happy Christmas to All" is a beautiful, pastoral landscape, lustrous under new-fallen snow. The original poem is printed on the endpapers. Can You See What

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous - Can You See?.......2007-05-08

This series of of books is terrific! Fantastic art work, and the book can be enjoyed by many ages. A definite "must-buy" for Grandmothers!

Highly recommend.......2007-01-10

Approprately intriguing and challenging while this book is also in season and fun. I recommend it highly due to the invitation to interact with a young person while "reading" it and see it as one more way to stimulate initiative, observation, and awareness.

See for Yourself!.......2007-01-03

Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas, using The Night Before Christmas theme, is a seek and find it book similar to the 'I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles' book. We bought one each for our granchildren so they could more easily and peacefully look for things together rather than trying to jockey the book to get the best viewing angle for themselves. This is another great low key way to spend some time together. It's a fun Christmas seek and find book. We like it and they enjoy it! I think I see a winner! ~ Mrs. B.

another great I spy book.......2006-07-13

I bought this book for my kids ages six and seven. Good mix of tough to find and easy to find. If you are thinking of giving this as a gift I think it would be good for ages five and up.

Another Tradition.......2006-03-10

My husband has taken great delight since our son was born, 30 years ago, in reading his copy of "The Night Before Christmas" to him. Our son now wants to be the one to read this book to his daughter every year. My husband and I found this book while shopping one day and he thought Jessie might like it. That was an understatement. She's two years old and absolutely loves the book. She loves it so much, I couldn't bear to pack it away til next year. She only wants "grandaddy sonny" to read it to her and runs to get it every night before bed, and before naps. She never seems to tire of it and gets better and better at spotting the items. She has her favorite pages, and I even noticed that every page has something on it that relates to another. It's like a surprise every time she reads it! I would like to find others in this series, they're definitely books for life, and books to keep a tradition going forever.

The Family Easter Book/Stories, Features, Crafts and Activities for All the Family

Average customer rating:

The Family Easter Book/Stories, Features, Crafts and Activities for All the Family
Alan MacDonald
Manufacturer: Lion Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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Hidden Pictures: On Halloween (Ultimate Hidden Pictures)

Average customer rating:

Hidden Pictures: On Halloween (Ultimate Hidden Pictures)

Manufacturer: Price Stern Sloan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0843102640

Book Description

And when summer is over, just in time for Halloween we have the ultimate in spooky searches all lined up. From costume balls and Halloween parades, to haunted houses and creepy pumpkin patches, there's no shortage of funny goings-on this Halloween. And with so much packed onto each page it's no wonder that things go bump in the night!

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