Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a great, easy, relaxing way to keep up your already advanced Spanish. It might also be a good way to greatly improve your intermediate Spanish. Keep a dictionary and a notepad handy for those new vocabulary words. Or don't. After a little while of recording new words, I finally quit and just read for the pleasure of it, deciphering words by context. Sometimes I grabbed the English version to check a phrase. That worked well, too. In short, for use as a language builder and confidence builder, I highly recommend this book to you. However, if you're hoping to comprehend the complexities of grammar, there are just enough strange turns of phrase in this book that I would say this is not your first source for grammar lessons.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal

Harry es húerfano de padre y madre y vive con sus tíosodiosos y su primo insoportable y malcriado.Por suerte Harry puedeir a un colegio especial de magia.Ágil y divertida, esta novelaentretiene a grandes y chicos.

Click here for more information about Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal

Read More...

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Public Television Storytime Books) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Mem Fox fans are a livid crew. If you've ever met one then I think you might know what I mean. When you meet a Mem Fox fan, it is more than likely that you may find yourself grabbed bodily as your arms start to fill with Mem Fox book after Mem Fox book. Mem Fox fans love her work and are quick to recommend everything she's done in a thrice. If you should feel like giving in and reading her works, then let me recommend that you begin with the delightful, "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge". A touching tale of a boy and his elderly friend, the book explores the nature of memory itself in a way that children can understand.
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge lives next to an old folks home and (as the book is quick to point out), "he wasn't very old either". Just a scrappy young boy, Wilfrid likes all the old people in the home, but his favorite is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she has just as many names as he does. One day Wilfrid hears his parents tsk tsking over the fact that Miss Nancy has lost her memory. Wilfrid asks what a memory is and his pop explains that it's something you remember. This definition doesn't sit well with young Wilfrid, however, and he runs over to the neighbors to get a little more clarification. What he finds instead, however, are mixed messages. I mean, Mrs. Jordon says a memory is something warm, while Mr. Hosking says it's from long ago. Mr. Tippett says it's something that makes you cry while Miss Mitchell claims it's what makes you laugh. And to top it all off Mr. Drysdale says it's as precious as gold, period. Using his head, Wilfrid decides to put things from his own memories into a box to give to Miss Nancy. After giving her the things one by one, Miss Nancy suddenly realizes that she does remember bits and pieces of her life by going through the objects. We watch as a medal reminds her of her brother who went to war and didn't come back, and a puppet reminds her of one she herself owned and would entertain her sister with. And that is how a small boy helped Miss Nancy find her memory again.
The fear behind a book such as this is that it might unduly raise the expectations of those kids whose beloved grandparents suffer from such memory sapping diseases as Alzheimer's or dementia. After all, Wilfrid makes it look so easy. But if used conscientiously the story is a sweet intergenerational tale for all kids to enjoy. Who wouldn't want to run around playing with a bunch of wise elders like this crew? There is a definite sense that Wilfrid is a great comfort to these people and his easy going camaraderie with them is a joy to behold. The story is a well told one, hinting at the backgrounds of these different men and women but never exactly telling anything specifically. I was also pleased to find that Miss Nancy's memories were not purely cheerful ones. She remembers sad facts as easily as happy ones, suggesting that perhaps nothing is worth forgetting. And where else will preschoolers be given the chance to discuss the nature of memory itself?
Add to Mem Fox's adept narration the color imbued illustrations of artist Julie Vivas and you've got yourself a hit! Vivas has such an original eye-catching style that it's difficult not to recognize it instantly. It's a little like a rounded out Patricia Pollacco. Here the elderly sport slippers and elastically-challenged socks as well as fabulous multi-colored dresses and baggy pants. Wilfrid is your average kid, skateboarding in the old folks home and climbing hither and yon. I was especially taken with the shot of him lying upside down between his parents as he father lazily carries his teddy bear. Most interesting are the pictures of Miss Nancy's past. Here the young red headed Miss Nancy (looking a little like Wilfrid's older sister, perhaps) sports lank black tights, high brown button shoes, and eclectic purple silk loose-fitting chemises. Kids won't notice the obviously odd clothing, but parents may pause a moment and wonder just how exactly it is that Miss Nancy found such clothes back then.
Still, it's a lovely tale. Full of wit and imagination. Many picture books contain active elderly characters, but few contain so many within a single book. Here we have a story that gives respect to the older AND younger members of our society at the same time. We owe so much to both that it's nice to see a story that gives them the fun color filled adventure they so richly deserve.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Public Television Storytime Books)

Click here for more information about Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Public Television Storytime Books)

Read More...

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of your chest."
Meet Oscar de León. Once upon a time, in elementary school, Oscar was a slick Dominican kid who seemed to have a typical life ahead of him. Then, around the time he hit puberty, Oscar gained a whole lot of weight, became awkward both physically and socially, and got deeply interested in things that made him an outcast among his peers (sci-fi novels, comics, Dungeons & Dragons, writing novels, etc.). A particularly unfortunate Dr. Who Halloween costume earns him the nickname Oscar Wao for the costume's resemblance to another Oscar: playwright Oscar Wilde (Wao being a Dominican spin on the surname). His few friends are embarrassed by him, girls want nothing to do with him, and everywhere he goes Oscar finds nothing but derision and hostility. And he's not the only person in his family suffering through life: his mother, a former beauty, has been ravaged by illness, bad love affairs, and worry regarding her two children; and his sister Lola, another intense beauty, has been cursed with a nomadic soul and her mother's poor taste in men.
The kicker about the de León family? They just may be the victims of a bona fide curse (a particularly nasty one at that, called a fukú) as a result of their history with Rafael Trujillo, a former dictator of the Dominican Republic renowned for his brutality, and whose enemies uniformly met with disastrous ends one way or another (historical details about Trujillo and the history of his reign are scattered throughout the novel, a tidbit that may turn some off of the book, but rest assured that Díaz is so utterly entertaining a writer that they are a joy to read). The de Leóns are on a collision course with disaster, but can they break the curse before it's too late?
"you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in."
Embroiled in all this mess is Yunior, our primary narrator and Oscar's former college roommate (not to mention the philandering ex-boyfriend of Lola, the novel's other narrator), whose experiences with the de León clan will haunt him for the rest of his life. His attempts to help Oscar become more popular fail, as do his tries to escape Oscar's grasp. "These days," he remarks at one point, "I have to ask myself: What made me angrier? That Oscar, the fat loser, quit, or that Oscar, the fat loser, defied me? And I wonder: What hurt him more? That I was never really his friend, or that I pretended to be?"
Oscar is far and away the most poignant character to come along in a great long while; in my book he's every bit as memorable as Ignatius J. Reilly, Holden Caulfield, Randall Patrick McMurphy, and other literary giants. Furthermore, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is a phenomenal novel that is hysterical, hypnotic, heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal parts (and quite often at the same time). The plot is a madcap high-wire act balanced with astonishing dexterity by Junot Díaz. If he has a misstep it is in the denouement, which is rather sudden and slightly lacking in clarity for an otherwise thorough novel. Nonetheless, I loved, loved, loved this book. And, naturally, I highly recommend it.
Grade: A

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Click here for more information about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Read More...

Where Is the Green Sheep? (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards)) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Have you ever noticed that many of the best picture books for children aged zero to five tend to involve sheep? Why is this? What is it about sheep that make them ideal receptacles of authorial wit and wisdom? Is it their woolly coats? Their sly sweet faces? Their remarkably loud baas? Whatever the case, I've had the pleasure of reading smartly written sheep books that vary from "Sheep In a Jeep" by Nancy Shaw to this more recent Mem Fox creation, "Where is the Green Sheep". Helped in no small part by newcomer Judy Horacek, the book is a deft examination of various sheeplike and unsheeplike activities. It's a surprisingly charming and winning little book that's certain to earn the undivided love and attention of ankle biters worldwide.
Using remarkably simple words, the book follows various sheep through their day. We see sheep of many colors and sheep taking baths. We have sheep up and we have sheep down. There are band sheep, wind sheep, near and far sheep. Just about any kind of sheep you can think of, this book's got `em. Still, one question keeps popping up throughout the pages. Where is the green sheep? By the end, we discover the mysterious green sheep's location and exactly what it is doing. It's an oddly satisfying way to end the tale and so we do.
Mem Fox incites an odd following of rabid pro-Fox fans everywhere. People cannot get enough of this woman. I've never completely fallen under the Fox spell myself, but with this book I'm beginning to see her charms. Though the story would be far less interesting if it was not accompanied by Judy Horacek's illustrations (more on that later), it's still a bouncy flouncy flurry of fun. In fact after all the crazy sheep antics there are two blank pages containing these words at the story's close. "What IS that green sheep? Turn the page quietly - let's take a peep...". And then you see the book's namesake, "fast asleep" under a lovely green bush. The whole book rhymes beautifully, scanning perfectly on every page. So to finish with this sweet quiet ending... well it does the heart good.
But the real star of this show is Judy Horacek. An Australian who's bookflap merely refers to her credits as having, "written and illustrate(d) books of her own", she has burst onto the children's publishing scene with a whiz and a bang. Her style is best summarized as deceptively simple. In truth, it mostly consists of sheep, scenes, and actions drawn with a black Rotring Isograph pen and colored in with various shaded and colorful watercolors. This sounds dull. It is not. Horacek's sheep have somehow been imbued with remarkable jolts of personality and joy. Whether you're watching the antics of the rain sheep dancing about a lamppost or the car sheep fixing its engine, something about these animals is bloody fascinating. But the moment in the book where these wooly stars really got me was the section that discusses near and far. You turn the page and find yourself nose to furry nose with a sheep viewing you intently. The two little black spots that make up its eyes bore into yours. And on the next page is a far sheep. Possibly as small as Horacek's thick tipped pen could draw. It doesn't matter what these lollygagging lambs are doing. Every step they take is spellbinding.
So there you have it. A great book for children that are just beginning to read. And trust me, a predilection towards sheep is not required to enjoy this book. It's just one of those rare tales that adults will enjoy reading over and over and over and that kids will find equally enjoyable that many times. It's not one of those grand works of preschool literature, but it's a great book. Just give it a glance. As sheep books go, it's a keeper indeed.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Where Is the Green Sheep (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards))

Click here for more information about Where Is the Green Sheep (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards))

Read More...

Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang (Street Language) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you're learing Italian, even if you're not planning to go to Italy - you may benefit from watching Italian movies. You can learn slang from the movies, too, but having a book which some common expressions spelled out may help you, too. It will also help you if you're socializing with Italian crowd in your neighborhood. It will spice up your interaction and you can enjoy the pleasure of understanding what they're talking about when they use slang.
The previous reviewer pointed out that Italian language has been standardized - all that this means is that everyone is learning in school the same Italian. People from different regions at home may still use the dialect from their own region, so for example, a Calabrese will speak the standardized Italian, but he may also use Calabrese dialect.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang (Street Language)

Francesca ha una cotta per Giovanni! (trans.): Francesca has a crush on Giovanni! (lit.): Francesca has a baking for Giovanni! Ho mangeato in un ristorante caro, dove mi hanno spennato! (trans.): I ate at an expensive restaurant and got fleeced! (lit.): l ate at an expensive restaurant and got plucked! Mamma mia! Even after years of trying to learn Italian, you still have trouble conversing with a native speaker. Why? Because everyday Italian is filled with slang and colloquialisms. Street Italian 1 is the first in a series of slang/idiom books that teach you how to speak and understand the real language used daily on the street, in homes, offices, stores, and among family and friends. Entertaining dialogues, word games and drills, crossword puzzles, word searches, and "inside" tips will have you sounding like a native in no time at all.

Click here for more information about Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang (Street Language)

Read More...