Easter Books

Max Caufield's "The Easter Rebellion" is considered by many to be the standard account of the week-long standoff between Irish Republicans and the British Army in Dublin. Thoroughly detailed, Caufield chronologically accounts the events of Easter Week, 1916. This is a good introduction for those researching the events of the week. Some of his characterizations of the individuals involved in the events are off a bit, or in some cases just plain wrong. Use this as a starting place in your research, but don't accept everything in this book as truth.

Caulfield's history is a good read and good fun, but has its odd moments - for instance he weirdly typifies the funny, dreamy, sweet-natured poet Thomas MacDonagh as "arrogant", which would have surprised those who fought by his side and were taught by him. Not the definitive history, but very entertaining.

Although well written, Max Caufied's work suffers from a minute-by-minute focus on the military aspect of the Rebellion. There is an abundance of information in the manner of identifying a rebel who runs down Grangegorman Upper at7 PM, telling what sort of weapon he carried and how many rounds of ammunition he had, and what he reportedly yells to the man next to him as they round a corner. After a while, this reader found himself skipping over the numbing details and looking,in vain, for a broader view of the participants and the historical event they initiated.

You are there, as British troops try to cross the Mount Street Bridge. The withering fire of Irish Rebels cutting an entire British Battalion to pieces. The sense of urgentness in the insurgents, followed by a combined sense of doom and pride for what they had done. This book guides the reader through unbelievable scenes of heroism and tragedy. Nothing seems to be left out, and the flowery additives and imaginary dialogue, that seem to encompass so many books on the subject, are thankfully left out.

After providing an overview of the facts which led to the Easter rising in 1916, Caulfield focuses in a most detailed account of the rebellion. Written originally in 1963, when many of the participants of both sides were still alive to be interviewed, it describes the events almost hour by hour, switching from one place to another. The book is divided in chapters, subdivided in sections of no more than a few pages, as the author goes through the evolution of facts occurring at the same time in different locations in Dublin. There is a lot of thrilling action in the text. Many of the characters, some of which would later be famous are fleshed out with well documented descriptions. There are included some maps which help to understand the text, and some pages of photos for you to gain some atmosphere. At the end it is a chapter which explains what happened after the Rebellion, which events would affect momentously to the subsequent history of Ireland. The book is well balanced, and although focusing more on the Irish side, it has no axes to grind present. Anyone who wants to learn about the Raising which would, on end, led to the independence of Ireland, has to read this book.

I really love these books. I am fascinated by the technique used to get the 3-d affect. I have everyone out.

We like all books like this. Fun for the whole family!! I'm glad I could choose ones with a biblical theme!

My 13 yr daughter was into these 3D books, so I bought several for her. She enjoys looking at them. Not many of her friends can find the picture.

My 13 yr daughter was into these 3D books, so I bought several for her. She enjoys looking at them. Not many of her friends can find the picture.

My kids were really filled with wonder seeing these amazing images and reading the stories. This is a great book for building discussions about such stories as: Creation, Noah, Moses,Jonah,The 23rd Psalm,Ecclesiastes,Daniel and the lions den, Annunciation of Mary, Loaves and Fishes,Crucifixion,Easter and the Pentecost. The front cover looks like a stained-glass mural but melts into a 3-D Crucifixion scene (once you figure out how to see in 3-D! Instructions are included). Probably the best image is the Annunciation of Mary. You can see the faces of Gabriel and Mary! I also liked the way Moses "parts" the Red Sea in 3-D. Very effective. Also should mention the dove and the olive branch and the burning bush for their unique 3-D images.

This is a good story book for the kids that like to search for things on the page and count.

Blue's Clue's books and dvd's are very educational and entertaining for young children and my grandson really loves this book. He carries his Blue's Clue's books to bed with him.

This story starts out with Blue and Steve getting ready to head off for the spring fair. As they do, Periwinkle shows up. He's bored and thinks there's nothing to do. Steve thinks it's a great spring day, but Periwinkle wonders what's so great about spring. He gets invited to the spring fair. He wonders if there'll be a magic show. Steve says that he's not sure, but there'll be plenty of other fun stuff to do.

As it turns out, the spring fair is pretty fun. There are various booths, including a lemonade stand, and the first one that they visit, a leaf-printing booth (run by Magenta.) Along the way, we also search for eggs. Blue, Steve and Periwinkle also dress up as animals and plant seeds. Though there is no magic show, Periwinkle has a lot of fun anyway.

A bright and lively "Blue's Clues" story fitting the season it portrays. This one has added fun of seeing the characters dressed up in costumes. Steve looks particularly funny in bunny ears.

Regarding political correctness, "Blue's Clues" has had plenty of stories in which it refers to holidays by name. Easter is not referred to as Easter in this book because the events do not occur at Easter. Steve, Blue and Periwinkle attend a spring fair, nothing more, nothing less.

My child loves Blue's Clues and this book was in his age frame, but this selection didn't work well for us. The artwrok and story-line were great. The problem was in the length of the book, I'm not sure that there are many pre-schoolers that would sit still long enough to finish this book. I have attempted to read to several children, most of whom could not finish it. I think once my child matures a little more, it will be a better fit though. There is the great opportunity for parents to take the wonderful artwork and put the story in less verbose terms for there kids. In order to make the book enjoyable for my child, that what was necessary for us.

Steven takes Blue and Periwinkle into town where they get to go to a Spring fair. They take part in several activities including making painted leaf prints and an egg hunt. Fun book but It bothers me so much that these kids books have to be so politically correct that they cannot call it an "Easter egg hunt". I mean, at what other time of year do children hunt for eggs?

Few events in modern Irish history are as pivotal as the "Easter Rising", the dramatic seizure of the General Post Office and other parts of Dublin that marked the declaration of the Irish Republic. Yet for decades the event has never received the thorough examination it deserves, due in part, as Charles Townshend observes in his preface to this fine book, to the long-standing reticence to release the oral histories of the event contained within the archives of the Bureau of Military History. Their release in 2003 provides the best opportunity yet to study the uprising, and Townshend has risen to the challenge by providing a penetrating examination of the origins and the impact of the Rising.

Townshend traces the origins of the Rising to the development and definition of Irish identity in the late nineteenth century. Here the breadth of his examination is immediately apparent, as he moves beyond the political to study the role that the cultural movement known as the Celtic rising played in inspiring Irish nationalists to challenge British rule. A key figure bridging between the cultural and the political was Patrick Pearse, the president of the provisional republic claimed in the aftermath of the seizure of the General Post Office. By delving into Pearse's past as a nationalist consumed with freeing Ireland not only from British political domination but its cultural domination as well, he illustrates just how important the cultural component was in inspiring the nationalists and driving them towards action.

Yet Irish politics in those years was dominated not by nationalism but the issue of Home Rule. Here Townshend focuses on the reaction to the Home Rule measure in Ireland, which catalyzed Unionist resistance in the north to the devolution of Irish government. The formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, in turn, inspired southern nationalists to form their own armed group, the Irish Volunteers, a movement quickly subsumed by the Irish Parliamentary Party into their organization. Yet the outbreak of the First World War and the decision by Irish parliamentary leader John Redmond to support the war split the Irish Volunteers and came to undermine his standing.

The nationalist Irish Volunteers that broke away from main group were themselves divided over the next step, however. As they gained in standing with the growing unpopularity of Redmond's decision, Pearse and other members sought to take advantage of Britain's difficulty to throw off her rule of Ireland. Given the attitudes of the Volunteer leadership, such planning had to take place in secrecy, and one of the great strengths of this book is Townshend's laudable effort to wade into the confused jumble of half-hidden events to detail the evolution of the Rising. What was initially envisioned as a nationwide rebellion quickly became a Dublin-centric event that would take advantage of a planned Easter Sunday mobilization to strike against British rule. The last-minute efforts by the nationalist Volunteer leadership to head off the rebellion, though, resulted in a confused and only partial assemblage of Volunteers on the following day.

The three chapters on the Rising itself form the heart of Townshend's book, and they recount an event characterized by confusion on both sides. The poor preparations and questionable decisions by the rebels were equaled only by those of the British authorities, whose overreaction in the aftermath of the rebels' inevitable defeat turned them from extremists into heroes. Townshend concludes the book by looking at the belated efforts by the British in the aftermath of the Rising to craft a settlement in response to the growing nationalist challenge to their control over Ireland - a challenge that in the end they failed to avert.

With its clear prose and painstaking reconstruction of the tangled events of the Easter Rising, Townshend's book is a masterpiece of the historical craft. The thorough research and judicious analysis contained within its pages is unlikely to be bettered as a guide to the complicated and confused developments that led to this dramatic and exciting event. For anyone seeking a study that will help them understand the Easter Rising, its background, and its consequences, this is the one to read.

This book was very informative about the history of the Irish "Troubles." The information was well researched and it flowed in such a way as to make it easier to understand without being overly simplistic.
At times the military information was so detailed that the flow was slowed a little. This is, however, the most concise book I've read on the subject and leaves the reader with a more comfortable understanding of the basis of a very complex political issue.

This is a story of an insurrection that led ineluctably - and against all odds - to a small nation's freedom, so here's an interesting question. How does an author manage to recount this rip-roaring tale such that his description of the prologue and aftermath are fascinating, but that the chapters on the action-packed rebellion itself are incomparably dull? Answer - with passages such as this:

"B Company was to take over Westland Row Station, and send a party up the line to Tara Street Station where they were to link up with 2nd Batallion which would be in charge of the Amiens St area. C Company would occupy Boland's bakery and dispensary, together with Roberts' builders yard and Clanwilliam House; barricade the canal bridges at Grand Canal Street, Mount Street, Baggot Street and Leeson Street, where they should join up with the 4th Battallion and/or the Citizen Army. D Company was to be based at Boland's mill, and patrol the section between the bakery and the quays. F Company was to occupy Kingstown harbour. (E Company, which came from St Enda's school, was specially detailed to form part of Pearse's HQ force)"
[p. 176]

Feel yourself nodding off? I worked for some years in offices in the area described above (specifically Westland Sq and Grand Canal Quay), and I can say that even I found this description just not worth ploughing through. (Some of the placenames mentioned above are not even on the book's map.) Chapters 6-8 of this book, which cover the events of Easter Week, consist of a stupefyingly dull logbook of such details. With the reader's nose thus pressed against history's canvas, all shape and sense of the story is lost. After sixty pages of such researcher-exhibitionism, the reader emerges with no strong sense as to what was happening, who was commanding whom, how the rebels were faring throughout, or even the proximate causes of the rebellion's end. It's a shame, because the remaining nine chapters, covering the prologue and aftermath, are very readable and informative. They are also, however, debatable.

Townshend's account, for a start, scarcely brushes the surface of the long chronicle of English brutality in Ireland, and he seem to assiduously sideline the idealism and heroism of the 1916 rebels. At my home village, for example, our local football field is named after two republican soldiers who were captured by the Black & Tans: one had all his fingernails torn out with a pliers before being shot and the other was killed after being tied to the back of a van and dragged behind it. Thus locals might find it rather difficult to swallow Townshend's claim that the spirit of the age was circumscribed by 'the characteristic British values of reasonableness, compromise and non-violence' (p. 31). Far more grating, however, is the book's persistently condescending tone. Townshend speaks of 'the laxity of [Pearse's] logic' [p. 15]; the 1798 Rebellion as 'a vicious *civil* war' [p. 24]; 'the semi-hysterical Irish-American Republican culture' [p. 50]; that Major John MacBride's 'sudden promotion was certainly due to his military reputation rather than his intervening experience as a water bailiff for the [sic] Dublin Corporation, or his famous drink problem' [p. 179]. And so on.

It's certainly true that the Easter rising was characterised by great confusion and many missed opportunities, But the more one reads this book, the more one senses what Townshend is trying to disguise - that he genuinely relishes playing up minor incidents which aggregate to make the 1916 Rebels appear clownish. He explains in the preface that he chose to subtitle the book 'The Irish Rebellion' because 'that term - "rebels" - carries a charge of romantic glamour which was wholly appropriate' [p. xviii]. With that in mind, it's surprising to find that this dryly written book manages to drain all sense of heroism, self-sacrifice and tragedy from a story that's suffused with all of these qualities. Pearse, Clarke and MacDonagh, for example, are shot rather matter-of-factly in one sentence [p. 279].

Townshend's analytical skills tend to break down during his peroration. It is a captious and empty point to make, for instance, that 'the planners of 1916 had shown little if any interest in alienating northern Unionist opinion, and the possibility that their action might cement the partition of Ireland' [p. 349]. As is well known, the Unionists responded to the abolition of the House of Lords veto (which had blocked two prior Home Rule bills but now could not block the forthcoming one) by forming themselves into a massively armed and aggressive militia. The leaders of 1916 - idealists all - could hardly have been expected to take on the might and materiel of the British Empire on one front whilst reaching some sort of 'compromise' with the most extreme adherents to that Empire on another front. Asking Irish nationalism to find an accommodation with such militant anti-nationalism would be asking rather too much.

Morover, it's easy to see which of the two political entities is in the better position today - the Republic is independent and its long-term future is solidly secure, while the Northern Unionists, still clingingly dolefully to an anachronistic relationship (featuring no mutual warmth) with a post-Imperial Britain, will be outpopulated By Irish nationalists within decades and are merely prolonging the inevitable. Townshend nevers chides the Unionists for failing to consider the long-term prospects of cementing a partition in which their half was always going to become the far less viable political entity.

Additionally, Townshend does not trouble to rebut the revisionist Francis Shaw's breathtaking claim that Home Rule was 'a realistic and achievable goal' - a claim which completely ignores (i) the manner in which Ireland's 'internal majority' in favour of Home Rule always found themselves frustrated in Westminster by a four-to-one 'external majority' against; and (ii) whether or not it was culturally desirable in the first place. It might plausibly be argued that the volcano of Irish nationalism which burst through following 1916 was hardly 'created' by the event itself, but had been bubbling beneath the surface all along. How we are supposed to square this with the plausibility of perpetual subordination to England is unclear. Not only did the British fail to kill Home Rule with kindness, the 1916 Rising demonstrated that Home Rule, even if granted, would not have gone far enough.

Nevertheless, read as a desiccated factual account this book is certainly informative about the causes and consequences of the Rising. It deserves credit for placing the insurrection within the context of World War I, which few histories of this period seem to trouble with. However, it must be said that the centre has fallen out of the book: the account of Easter week itself is detailed to the point of incomprehensibility, and thus the most exciting part of the story has been left poorly told.

Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion is essential for any who would understand the history of Ireland: it changed millions of lives forever and this new coverage traces these changes, re-creating the social and political scene of the times. From the roots of Irish insurgents who occupied Dublin as the British waged war on them to leaders who made a difference, Easter 1916 summarizes some forty years of scholarship on the topic, adding its own dramatic flair and insights - and even the Bureau of Military History records which contains testimony from survivors. A quite vivid re-enactment of events results.

Charles Townshend has written a fairly good book on the Irish Easter Rebellion of 1916. Meticulously researched and quite informative; any reader interested by the events will enjoy the book.

Yet on a larger level this book doesn't completely satisfy its readers, because it is essentially a political and military history of events that were more than simply a matter of politics and military science. What brought men and women to stage an uprising that they knew couldn't succeed, and would lead to their leaders' executions? Was it patriotism? Was it frustration with their lot? This is where the events around that week no longer are the exclusive domain of historians, but also of dramatists and psychologists.

This lack brought to mind Macaulay's observations on the Irish: "The Irish were distinguished by qualities which tend to make men interesting rather than prosperous. They were an ardent and impetuous race, easily moved to tears or to laughter, to fury or to love. Alone among the nations of northern Europe they had the susceptibility, the vivacity, the natural turn for acting and rhetoric, which are indigenous on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...The genius, with which her aboriginal inhabitants were largely endowed showed itself as yet only in ballads which wild and rugged as they were, seemed to the judging eye of Spenser to contain a portion of the pure gold of poetry."

A book that would adequately capture this element of the Irish soul would be a truly amazing book, as it is, this is "only" a good book.

This book is hard to read because it is so sappy. I still read it to my kids because they like the illustrations, but I make up my own story.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a cute story. It shows kids what it's like to be greedy and grumpy, and that it is not fun to be like that and it doesn't pay to take things from other people if it is not yours. It also shows that when you work hard at something and share it with others, you will feel good about yourself. It helps kids realize the true meaning of love and that when your happy life is much more enjoyable. I think it's a great book for kids to learn from! I would recommend this book for your kids!!

This adorable Easter story is a family tradition in our home. Hopper is a grumpy bunny who doesn't want to deliver Easter treats. But in the story he learns one of the true meanings of the holiday. A delightful story with beautiful illustrations.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a cute story. It shows kids what it's like to be greedy and grumpy, and that it is not fun to be like that and it doesn't pay to take things from other people if it is not yours. It also shows that when you work hard at something and share it with others, you will feel good about yourself. It helps kids realize the true meaning of love and that when your happy life is much more enjoyable. I think it's a great book for kids to learn from! I would recommend this book for your kids!!

Hopper the grumpy Easter bunny learns a few lessons about sharing and responsibility in this charming story. Kindergarten through third grade listeners loved it!

Not only is the accompanying tape only about 10 min in total length, but there are only about 10 rhymes in the whole book!

I bought this for my nephew as a 'starter nursery rhyme' book. My SIL likes to sing, &thought this would be good for all. After receiving,they were strangely silent about it. When I finally visited last wk, I was horrified to see how badly I'd been ripped off. I couldn't apologize enough.

#1 - each little verse is sung only once.
#2 - as mentioned, the tape looks like a joke. If it plays 5 whole min before it needs to be switched to other side, I'd be surprised.
#3 - They could've at least made the book better, by putting each verse on it's own page w/picture, but no, it's a couple per page with one main graphic & tiny ones maybe for the other verses.

Book is good for toddlers, with hard pages, but is so short, & the TAPE IS SO SHORT, that it is a total waste of time to even put in a cassette player.

Was Carly desperate for a payck or did she just not care????

It is a whimsical and enchanting book! My 3 1/2 year old daughter requests it every night. She has memorized all the rhymes, and it is a complete delight to listen to her sing along. Thank you Carly Simon for bringing such joy to our bedtime routine!

Unlike a previous scathing review I think this book with music is perfect for the age of the child for which it is intended. Little minds have a limited attention span. I have purchased numerous copies for friends and relatives who have or are having children and it goes over big everytime. The only thing preventing me from granting this book 5 stars is that it is only avaliable with a cassette! How antiquated for being released in 2000. This book in in desperate need of being updated with a CD, other than that, it is perfect for the little ones.

It is a whimsical and enchanting book! My 3 1/2 year old daughter requests it every night. She has memorized all the rhymes, and it is a complete delight to listen to her sing along. Thank you Carly Simon for bringing such joy to our bedtime routine!

Carly Simon has done a wonderful job with this book of classic Mother Goose rhymes. The book is very colorful, which helped keep my niece's attention, and the illustations will be loved by the kids. Carly's tape of the ryhmes is pefect for children to listen too, and quite nice for Carly's "older" fans as well. This is a must for every child's collection!

This book was integral to a Stations of the Cross service for the children. The prayers and readings are perfect for children to read to a group and pray together. I would add a walking prayer between stations--we used Holy God, Holy & Mighty, Holy Immortal One. St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Kennewick, WA has a traditional solemn Stations service on Good Friday. When we've tried to involve the children the service has proven too long and boring. Our goal this Lenten season was to create a Stations of the Cross service that lasts around 15 minutes and has simple prayers and readings. We wanted the material to be accessible and meaningful to the children while being faithful to the traditional service for the adults. The pictures also helped as the bas relief images on the wall can be cryptic for the little ones. This book compresses and simplifies the service. It held the children's attention from start to finish. We plan to re-use next year.

As a kindergarten teacher in a Catholic School, I was looking for a book on this level to use with my class when we went to church to follow the Station of the Cross. I was extremely pleased with this one! The story of Jesus is explained in appropriate language for young children and the heartfelt prayers to be said at each station reflect the needs of children in this age group. The illustrations are beautiful,drawing on our emotions without being too graphic. The story includes the joy of Easter. I will use this book for many years, even with my own young children.

Our 5 1/2 yr olds love this book. The pictures are colorful and interesting as well as moving. The text brings the stations of the cross to them in a way they can really understand but doesn't dumb it down. It makes Easter more meaningful to them and generates discussion about Jesus. It is a great book for the whole family, really.

I used this book to present the stations of the cross for an art project during a palm saturday event for grades K - 5 (Episcopal). We read the book, discussed the prayer and either a child or a couple kids picked a station. They made cement stepping stones inlaid with colored glass for a lenten meditation garden with the prayers.

It's a simple, beautiful book with a powerful message for all ages. Worth its wieght in gold.

As a (trying to be) faithful Catholic, I have to say I have rarely been so disappointed in a religious text for which I had high expectations. I have sent a detailed two-page letter to the publisher and the catalog in which I saw it advertised describing my MANY, MANY theological and artistic complaints with this text. Wishy-washy, whitewashed, banal, toning down important events and people, ignoring other important events and people, and generally making the grand epic of our salvation into piece of beautifully (if incorrectly) drawn "eye candy" - all flash, lacking substance. I have a four and a two year old and I know what small children can understand. The message of salvation does not need to be, and should not be, "dummed down" to accommodate any age. I will agree that it is difficult to find quality materials presenting our faith well (especially Lenten materials) for little ones, but that doesn't mean we should settle for something inaccurate.

This book is excellent reading and is well-balanced! I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in end-time events from a scholarly point of view. There is no sensationalism here, just the facts, presented by one who has certainly done his homework, has taught the subject for many years at a respected Bible college in the Detroit area, and presents the various views on prophecy with dignity and respect. Further, the author has a pastor's heart (for he is one) and is able to take a calm look at the sign of the times and instruct us as to how we should then live.

This book is excellent reading and is well-balanced! I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in end-time events from a scholarly point of view. There is no sensationalism here, just the facts, presented by one who has certainly done his homework, has taught the subject for many years at a respected Bible college in the Detroit area, and presents the various views on prophecy with dignity and respect. Further, the author has a pastor's heart (for he is one) and is able to take a calm look at the sign of the times and instruct us as to how we should then live.

I have read this book, and find that the most important question was not asked by the author.. that question in whether the 'last days' of the New Testament were the last day of the New Covenant, or the Old? Numerous passages make it plain that the Old Covenant was coming to an end (Heb. 8:13), to be replaced with the everlasting New Covenant. The Preterist view (use a search engine) properly addresses this question, and shows why the passing of the Old Covenant was the creation of a New Heavens and earth (Heb 12:25-29).

Albert Einstein once said that everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. The problem with many popular works on the end times is that they try to oversimplify this complex subject. Mr. Lewis avoids this trap: this is not an easy subject and he has not written an easy book. Taking a thoughtful look at what the whole of Scripture says, he challenges many common assumptions and offers a perspective that many readers may be seeing for the first time. Refreshingly, he is willing to leave open the issues about which Scripture is unclear.

There are those who will not like this volume. Those who want prophecy condensed into a well-defined, neat little package, or who merely want support for the positions they already hold, or who are looking for the Christian equivalent of the horoscope column will be disappointed. The author doesn't claim to have all the answers, but he does have thoughtful and challenging answers to at least these three questions. I strongly recommend it.

Near the end of "Aku-Aku," one of the archeologists working with Thor Heyerdahl admits to being astonished at yet another unexpected turn of events.

"I never knew archeology could produce so many surprises," he says.

Indeed, anyone who thinks that archeology is just about digging in the dirt will be surprised -- pleasantly -- by "Aku-Aku."

In this account of his 1955-56 expedition to Easter Island and other Polynesian islands, Heyerdahl presents a series of mysteries: Where did the great stone statues on Easter Island come from? Who made them? How did they move them? Where are the hidden caves of Easter Island and what secrets do they hold?

Heyerdahl is not a great writer, but he is usually good enough. His weakness lies in portraying people; even the most prominent character of the book -- Easter Island's mayor -- comes off as just a simplistic caricature. An odd quirk of the author is that he refers to some characters almost solely by their titles -- "the photographer," "the skipper," "the doctor." After awhile you begin to wonder if these people have names.

But Heyerdahl is passionate about his work and his enthusiam shows as he presents -- and, mostly, solves -- mystery after mystery. He is relentless, for instance, in trying to get the natives to reveal their secret caves, even when it means he has to eat a chicken tail, strip to his underwear, and climb down a sheer cliff without a rope.

(The caves are a curious form of secure storage on this island that seems to lack locks. Note to self: Open self-storage franchise on Easter Island.)

A couple ethical issues occur to me, although I can't claim to have the whole picture from just one book. Did Heyerdahl adequately reward the islanders for the artifacts they gave him? He mentions some gifts but it's unclear whether all of them received something and how much. Also, he resorts to some trickery to get the natives to give him things -- is this fair? (I'm sure Heyerdahl would argue that he had to immerse himself in the natives' world of superstition and ghosts to communicate with them successfully.)

The bulk of the book is about Easter Island but the last two chapters discuss the expedition's visits to other islands. The story of the dig on Rapa Iti is particularly good, and I would have enjoyed a bit more on these other islands.

This book was very informative about the expedition to Easter Island by Thor Heyerdahl. While, at times, the writing was characteristic of a journal...it was nevertheless informative and a good read.

A good book if your interested in Easter Island. It was not quite as interesting a read as Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" however. It tends to focus on the natives currently living on the island more than those who created the statues the island is famous for. But, criticisms aside, Heyerdahl proved again to be a very adept writer.

Though criticised as commercial and overexposed, Thor Heyerdahl must be considered as one of the first scientists in wide spreading his archeological knowledge in an amusing and understandable way to common readers. And this book is a clear example of his effort. After his scientific expedition to Easter Island in 1957, Thor Heyerdahl wrote this fascinating book of discoveries, new theories and adventures. It was such a pleasure for me reading it that I can only recommend it.

My 3 yr old loves the Little Critter books. This one has Little Critter waking up on Easter hoping to be the first downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny has given him, only to find his little sister already playing w/ the Easter toys. The story goes on w/ more disapointments like his mom says no candy until after breakfast, getting dressed for church, and helping younger kids find the hidden Easter eggs, but in the end it was a fun and happy day. If you like the Little Critter series, you'll enjoy this one.

This book is about what Little Critter does on Easter day. Some of what he does is find his Easter basket, go to church, and have an Easter egg hunt. A nice story that isn't too cutsie.

"Happy Easter, Little Critter" by Mercer Mayer was a good children's book, especially for around Easter time. Children would most likely like the illustrations because they are cute and bright. I think the book would teach kids about Easter, and the different things that go on on Easter day. It starts off in the morning and tells about him and his sister getting their Easter baskets and getting ready to go to church. The book also tells about what they do in church and the lunch and Easter egg hunt they go to with other families after church is over. I think there are some good morals to the story such as helping others and getting along with your siblings. It shows children how much fun a family holiday like Easter can be.

Little Critter books have always been favorites in our house. My 13 year old loved them when he was very young and now my 2 1/2 year old loves them. Mercer Mayers illustration style just seems to draw kids in as he captures the emotions of children in his own silly way. As the title suggest this book has the Little Critter and his family celebrating Easter beginning with the kids finding the treats the Easter Bunny has left them.

From there it's off to church service. Little Critter does NOT like getting dressed up. So much like some little boys that I know! After church there's a big picnic where all of the kids dye their Easter Eggs and Little Critter thinks his are the best! The eggs are then hidden and all the kids go on an Easter egg hunt. Critter finds a lot but scowls when he misses one and someone else finds it. It's all good fun!

Now back home the kids finish their easter by digging into the wonderful treats that the Easter Bunny left them. Kids really love this book because they see Little Critter enjoying all of the fun activities and treats that they will be enjoying on Easter Day. Perfectly captures the spirit of Easter. Always a big hit!