Birthdays Books

this book was about this old guy named sadler and his life as a servant and all around nice but poor guy, and the very few people that actually came into his life. i gave it a chance because i loved Rose Tremain's Sacred COuntry, but this book was soooo different. it just kind of trudged on through, and i pitied the old guy but at the same time, i hated having to read about it. i felt like not a lot happened, and since i never cared about the characters to begin with, i didn't care about the story as a whole. i finished it because i'm one of those people who has to finish a story once it's started, but it was pretty dreary throughout the read.

I started this book with such high hopes which accelerated with each chapter. It reads like a cross between "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Howards End, with all the nuances between employers and employees..them and us, and the fascinating details about domestic life in grand houses in the early days of the century. Three quarters of the way through, the bombshell came with the hero displaying pedophiliac behaviour to an 11 year old boy whom he loved desperately. This conduct continued until the boy left the house when 16 years old. I'm not expressing any views about homosexuality but cannot countenance pedophilia in any form. I felt that it was such a pity that what promised to be a wonderful read, made me feel so let down and unsympathetic to a sad, lonely man.

Already a fan of Rose Tremain, I came to this novel at the suggestion of a novelist friend. I was already in the process of reading a classical novel, featuring a protagonist I was developing no feelings for whatsoever. Within the first three pages of Sadler's Birthday, I immediately set aside that other book and embarked on the journey through Sadler's life.
Unlike a previous reviewever, I felt drawn into the life of this lonely man. I could immediately sympathize with his feeling that life, and everyone in it whom he ever loved, had simply past him by. The author, by her use of flashbacks, makes us see the sadness that has comprised Sadler's life. I also thought it very appropriate that the housekeeper should leave at the end, like so many before her.
Although the pedophilia in this novel is obvious and greatly disturbing, somehow I was not terribly disturbed by it. I thought of it as more a sad commentary about Sadler's life. From what we gather, Tom was the only person in Sadler's life whom he ever loved in a romantic sense. Yet, Tom, too, leaves him.
This book is haunting; all the more brilliant when one considers that it is Tremain's first book. One leaves this novel with a little piece of Sadler inside oneself. Sadler is someone we can greatly pity. More than that, the Sadler we meet when the novel opens is the person we most fear; the person we ourselves may one day become.

This has to be one of the worst rip offs that I have come accross in a while. $30 for a book with no imagination, and no creative ideas is ridiculous. Save your money, you are better off looking to the internet for free.

This book has a lot of great ideas

I would highly recommend this book to anyone planning a birthday party. I don't feel that the sample pages shown on your website really do the book justice. This book is packed with so many ideas for each theme.
So far we have had the Wild West party and the Mystery party for my daughter, and the Pirate party for my son. My children's friends left the party with huge smiles on their faces. They tell us that our parties are the best parties that they have ever been to thanks to the ideas from this book.
We recently purchased this authors book Holiday Parties for Children and planned a Halloween party with many ideas from the book. That too was a success.

I LOVE my birthday calendar! It was shipped quickly and arrived in excellent condition. The photographs are beautiful, and I am thrilled to have it on my wall. I have been looking for a birthday calendar for a long time, and this is exactly what I had hoped I would find.

I wasn't as happy with this product as i thought i would be, The concept is great but their just isn't enough writing room.

Most cave family books get into evolution. Thanks for NOT including that belief, Mrs. Dubowski. I think the stone henge style swing is cute. Too bad that really wasn't their purpose. This is a good BOY BOOK. No DOGS OR HORSES !Invention of the wheel couldn't have been more fun !

My seven year old son loved this book. He used it for his accelerated reading program.

Dudley's Birthday Party sees a cute but naughty little toddler pig acting in a way that is so familiar to anyone ever having been to a child's birthay party. But thank goodness he gets his come-upence in the end! A thoroughly enjoyable romp that kept us laughing to the end!! What a cute character Dudley is!!

I was looking forward to this book because my 3-year-old daughter is such a fan of David Wojtowycz's "Rumble in the Jungle" and "Commotion in the Ocean." Here the illustrations and flaps are good, but the Dudley character is not very likable. He greets his friends at the door with "Where are my presents?" and eats almost all the cake by himself. I guess I could use this as an example of how not to behave, but I'd rather read to her about polite, good-mannered characters.

Our language delayed 3 year old loves the handtalk series. In this birthday story with a magical touch, the photos tell the story (there is text) and the characters sign along with the action portrayed. It's easiest to sign if you already know the signs as the photos don't always capture the exact motions.

Handtalk Birthday is a conceptual picture book that uses printed text and photographs of people speaking American Sign Language to tell the story of Mary Beth's birthday. They surprise her in her pajamas, give her gifts which she tries to guess, and they all have a party. All of her guests sign various numbers to guess her age. This is a book about language and counting in American Sign Language. Sometimes the signs are hard to interpret because they require motion to convey in reality, and this motion is photographed so the pictures are blurry. Also, the pages are too crowded with photographs and this makes the composition of each page seem messy and crowded. The facial expressions of the photographed characters are overdone and make the book seem ridiculous and garish. The book was published in 1987, and this is obvious in the photographs- the characters have not dated well and have become cartoonish. The concept is a great one but this book doesn't pull it off very well. Perhaps it would be valuable in a collection of children's books that incorporate American Sign Language for elementary school students.

Sometimes kids say the the most
charming things, but this isn't
one of those times--too many
unfunny selections.

I would like an address where letter's written by children can be sent to be published.

The book had 25 theme parties,ranging from "Old McDonald's Farm" to "Bon Appetit". Each had low cost ideas for invitations, activities and refreshments. Many of the activities were a little contrived and a lot were reworkings of familiar games like "Pin the Bow on the Teddy".

The cakes suggested were shapes related to the theme. Most were cute and fairly simple, but a top hat was made from 4 layers of cake. Not very practical for most children's appetites.

This book was a good place to start planning a party. It had good genral party giving tips and the themes will be fun. Readers can add their own ideas to make a party their children will love.

This book is organized according to different party themes that children will like, such as Wizard of Oz, Mother Goose and All Aboard. Within each party, the author gives you multiple creative ideas for creating your own invitations, decorations, activites and games, refreshments, cake decorating and party favors. The author also tells you how to draw the children into the party theme and keep them busy and interested. This book is great for someone who wants to make an old fashioned at-home party for their child. The author's ideas are easy to put to use. I made a Globe Trotting party for my 9 year old son...it was a big hit! This book will serve as a handy reference for many years of birthdays.

It's a 17-minute tape, but it felt like two hours. My two-year old daughter enjoyed it at first, but quickly lost interest, even with us reading along in the book. There's too much chaos and too many annoying voices. Maybe she'd enjoy it if she were older, but I still think it'll be too chaotic to enjoy. Winnie the Pooh, Franklin, Brown Bear, Arthur and Brambly Hedge, are so much sweeter and low-key, yet interesting, enjoyable and educational.

I know it was quite sexist of me to think of Hello Kitty as a "girls' character", but I did. My mother-in-law gave this book and tape to my oldest son for his 4th birthday. I couldn't possibly have predicted it, but it was to become the most favored of our book/tape sets. Both of my little boys just love Hello Kitty and her friends and especially this particular caper.

I thought this was a great book! In my 30+ years, I have had some birthdays and birthday parties that haven't gone exactly to plan. This book shows kids that they aren't the only ones that are disappointed in their special day - but just because things don't go the way you want them to doesn't mean you won't have a great birthday. Henry's birthday is wonderful, just not exactly how he envisioned it.

Henry's mother told him he could have a chocolate cake for his birthday, then without consulting her son, decided to make a vanilla one instead. She miscounted the candy baskets and instead of running to the store to buy an extra, she pressures Henry into giving his up, then doesn't allow him to wear his favorite outfit to his party. By the time the guests arrive, Henry is certain that his party will be a failure. During pin the tail on the donkey, one guest sticks a tail on Henry while his cousin calls him a donkey, and Henry loses at musical chairs when a rough guest pushes him off a chair. When the candles are lit, Henry wishes it was someone else's birthday. Still, the cake is good, the presents better than anticipated, and the day doesn't wind up being a completely miserable one, but this reader was unsatisfied with the artificially happy ending. Why would Henry's mother promise him one cake, then bake another without warning him first? Why couldn't she serve all of the children candy in paper cups instead of taking away Henry's basket? Why force her son into wearing an outfit he despises? Why don't the parents intervene when the guests tease Henry or the game of musical chairs gets rough? Who is this party for, anyway? While Henry's resilience is admirable, those around him are never held accountable for their thoughtless behavior. No one ever apologizes to Henry, so this is a pretty unsatisfying little book.