Fathers Day Books

I gave this to my 50 year old brother-in-law and ended up reading most of it before I would wrap it.

It brings back memories and makes you think of memories you'll be creating in the future.

I bought this for my 11 year old son as a gift and have spent many nights reading it with him. Last night we read through 'Girls' and 'The Declaration of Independence' He's excited to build trip wires to set off alarms on his younger brother. It's just FULL of stuff that's interesting to young boys and adults.

My son bought this book (9 yrs old) with his Christmas money and has been glued to it. He and his father will be building a tree house next year. He loves it!

I am a geezer and things like this were taught when I was young and had to run from dinos to avoid becoming supper while going home for supper BUT
The IGGIES put everything right here!!
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Get 2 copies of this book, one for the young man who needs to know these things because... a mans gotta know what a man should know.
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Get the other copy for yourself because you've forgotten things you should not have.
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Zeke

I bought this for my son and he's carried it with him to and from school for nearly a month. He won't be parted with it, and any book that interests my kid that much has GOT to be good. The book is filled with fun projects, and is not just a father/son book (although my husband does read it with him), but also a brother/brother book, or a fun book on its own. I will probably purchase this book for my son's friends when their birthdays come up. I know there's nothing worse than receiving a book for your birthday when you're eleven years old, but in this case, I think an exception can be made.

This book is an incredible account of a man's journey and almost an obsession with finding the truth - and how his efforts were sometime thwarted by his own government and bureaucratic bull. Mr. Baer makes an excellent point that the CIA and the United States in general has to get back into the nitty gritty of operations and spying - face to face, person to person contact. Technology can only take us so far and get us basic information. In order to beat this enemy, we need to be patient, determined, and willing to accept the truth.

Excellent story that provides an inside view of life on the ground for CIA operatives.

Much of the book revolves around the Middle East and Mr. Baer's search for those responsible for bombings in Lebanon. One name that comes up frequently was a terrorist by the name of Imad Moughniyah. This person was involved in the Beirut embassy and Marine barracks bombings, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, kidnapping of Terry Anderson, hijacking of TWA flight 847, etc...By coincidence, Moughniyah was assassinated in Syria on the day that I finished reading this book. I must assume that was good news to Mr. Baer.

Some of the stories he tells of bureaucratic ineptness do not engender a great deal of confidence in the CIA..."As the civil war in Afghanistan started to boil, I repeatedly asked for a speaker of Dari or Pashtun...to debrief the flood of refugees coming across the border...I was told there were no Dari or Pashtun speakers anywhere...Headquarters instead offered to send out a four-person sexual harassment briefing team."

Near the end of his career, he seemed to descend into a self-destructive pattern of behavior that only got worse after he returned from the Middle East. In my opinion, he had spent so much time looking at the trees (and individual leaves) that he got lost in the forest.

His closing comments, however, are right on the mark..."It all comes down to the point that we have to start listening to people again, no matter how unpleasant the message is."

Overall a good book about very brave men who were willing to take significant risks for their country.

This is probably the best memoir I have come across by a former CIA case officer. Baer is spot on when it comes to how government operates. Who could ever imagine that those in the field are often times prevented from achieving superior results by risk averse management, or that those in Washington are too concerned about politics and/or "drinking and whoring" to comprehend what's truly unfolding beyond our borders? The truth can be ugly.

Robert Baer's account illustrates how American intelligence gathering capability was decapitated by bureaocrats and politicians. The author paints a vivid picture of work in the field as humint (human intelligence)was relegated to the back bench. Our enemies could not have done better than our own political establishment in neutralising the CIA. This book tells it all.

Kingmaker

For those that think the goverment (not CIA) is here for you. This book should show you otherwise. For those conspiracy theorists...this should be right up your ally. Where is the justice in this country when such fine individuals can suffer through so much to keep us all safe....all in vain and all only so the richer can get richer. The government doesnt run this country, the "big oil" does. This will never change. Great book, great read.

This book is one of my favorite Tom Clancy books. I have read all his books many times. In this book, we learn about two men who have intel on Communist/Left-wing Soviet Union's emerging missile defense program. One man is CARDINAL, a Soviet Army Colonel who lost his sons to Communist indifference. He is America's highest placed spy. And the KGB is running him down. An American is trying to save this hero and stop a potential war. Nuclear strategies are intertwined in Clancy's best global strategy book to date. Jack Ryan is at his best as an analyst chasing down some unusual structures in the southern Soviet Union - responsible for downing a satellite with a laser. Cardinal is sending details about this program, risking exposure. It was great to see the introduction of Mary Pat, a female CIA operative, who threads through the subsequent Clancy books. The plotting is excellent. The characterization is solid. Clancy is at his best in this fine work.

Michael Mandaville, Author - "Stealing Thunder"

This novel is Tom Clancy.

As action is concern this is the least action pact novel he has written, but this novel is totally character and event driven. It is a bit slow to read, but this novel is one of the best!

This is a cold war driven novel, Russia and America are playing the "Game" and America has a gold mine in the Russian Government, who is leaking the "good" stuff. And it is up to Jack Ryan to protect the source and bring the Cardinal Home to America.

Though, this is a Jack Ryan novel, the main Characters are really the Foley's (I hope I am spelling that right), they are the ones who are stationed in Russia and sending the info back to the US and it is their lives on the line. Jack is more of a support character in this one, though he got the credit for the novel.

The novel Red Rabbit is another good one with the Foley's as main characters along with Jack Ryan.

But this is definitely one of Clancy's best novels. One of my top five.

this is one of Clancy's better novels, it has a little of everything, Military, intel gathering in the field, counter-espionage, and CIA operations. It isnt a big Clark book but it is still good.

I had read this book previously, but wanted to read it again. Clancey's books are just too good to read only once.

I do not like Tom Clancy. I despise his totalitarian amoral politics and I canNOT stand him slapping his readers with them in his latest oversized and underwritten duds.

However, Tom Clancy was once an EXCELLENT technothriller writer. He might not have invented the genre, yet he launched it into the stratosphere.

This is HIS BEST BOOK and it is actually very good.
The mid-80's Cold-War atmosphere, the paranoia, the double-agents, the clandestine methods and the hardware are all expertly presented.
Now, him being, well...Clancy there still are stereotypes and bigoted characters galore. Deciding to overcome this however, the reader can actually enjoy this one.

Do not judge CARDINAL OF THE KREMLIN based on his deteriorated career.

We took this book on CD on a road trip from TX to Montana. Boy did it come in handy. My kids were ages 11 and 13 at the time, and they both really enjoyed this book. These kids are not easy to please either. My husband and I liked it as well. The narration was great, and the story was very entertaining. If you are going on a long road trip with kids, this is a must have. We had "Hoot" with us as well, but that was before the movie came out.

Read the book Flush. It is a really great book! The book is by Carl Hiaasen. If someone likes boats or oceans, or both, you'll like this book. Meet the Underwood Family: Paine, Donna, Noah, and Abbey. At the beginning of the book, Noah's dad is in jail because he sunk the Coral Queen. Dusty Muleman, the owner of the boat, was dumping sewage in the ocean. The reason why Noah's dad sunk the boat is so that none of the sewage would get in the ocean. Noah and Abbey try to make up a plot to get Dusty Muleman busted for eternity for dumping sewage into the ocean, to prove their father's innocence.
My favorite thing about this book was how the book took place in Florida. The plot was really twisty with lots of surprises you never see coming. Watch out, there is some cussing in it! There are fights with a gun and with things blowing up. Read the book Flush: it has adventure, fights, and explosions. This is a five star book and they should make a movie from it! Have fun reading Flush!

Carl Hiaasen has done it again! After writing "HOOT," Hiaasen has managed to think up another great book about kids saving the environment.
Kids will be interested to read this book because it is narrated from a child's point-of-view. Unlike reality, it is the adults who get in trouble and the kids have to get them out of it. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, so don't think reading this book sporadically. Adults will like "Flush" because it deals with the corruption of society. PLEASE READ CARL HIAASEN'S MASTERPIECE OF SUSPENSE.

Carl Hiaasen did a great job including every thing a good book should have; mystery, tense moments, and tons more!!! When Noahs dad sinks a boat because he supects the owner of illegal dumping and then gets put in jail he leaves Noah to find out if the owner of the Coral Queen (the boat his dad sunk) is really illegally dumping. It's a dangerous job, one of the owners "body gaurds/goons" is supected to have murdered someone.

Noah Underwood isn't all that happy that he has to visit his dad in the local jail. His mom is even more angry about it. But when Paine Underwood gets in his head that something isn't right, he can't be stopped. So when the operator of a local casino boat pumps in all of his toilet waste into the ocean, Paine thought the only logical thing to do was sink the boat. Unfortunately for him, the local authorities disagreed. So while he sits in jail, Noah and his sister, Abbie, set out to find a way to prove that their dad was correct about the toxic dumping and see if they can find a way to protect the local waterways.

Hiaasen's story is clever and has great easy to love characters. This book for younger readers has the same tone and humor as do his adult books. And it is so well written that adults will enjoy the story as well. It is a shorter, less involved book than his others, but Hiaasen doesn't "dumb down" anything for his younger readers. The plot is still rich and exciting and full of savory personalities. A real winner!

An excellent read, you're a couple hundred pages in and fascinated but still not sure whether you like the protagonist or not, much less where justice could be found. I've read 30+ authors (hundreds of books Clancy and Brown to Griffith and Brown to Rankin and White to Connelly and Ludlum, to McCarry and McKinty and Pelecanos....), most of them their entire work, and never read DeMille. It is great to find a new (old) one who has been prolific. Other reviews will give a flavor of the book, my purpose here is to offer up some names which if you recognize and enjoy them as I have, may help you determine if my taste in books might be beneficial in your search.

Word of Honor is spectacular human drama and in the latter stages courtroom drama. Benjamin Tyson is a successful corporate businessman who 17 years ago served as an officer in Vietnam. His platoon engaged in a horrific incident (think My-Lai); he swore to never speak of it again. But the issue has resurfaced and begins to tear down Tyson's life: family, reputation, sanity. Through it all, Tyson remains humorous and honorable while dealing with a collapsing world. This is a truly scintillating masterpiece, that took me through so many emotions--up and down, up and down.

I'll have to wait for the reread to confirm it, but at the moment this is my all-time favorite novel. Ben Tyson is portrayed so well that the reader begins to truly feel his feelings (at least I did). The supporting characters are also fabulous. Don't be scared away because you're not for sure about the plot or the Vietnam War. This is about human drama; a must read.

If there is a better book I want to know about it. This is extremely well written from cover to cover. I have read several of his books and ejoyed them, but this is by far the best. It has made me an avid fan of his books.

The more I read of Nelson DeMille, the more impressed I become. This man is probably one of the most talented genre writers around, and he knows how to tell a great story.

WORD OF HONOR is one of his earlier works, a serious novel about a Vietnam veteran who must face a trial over the actions of his platoon, which took place twenty years before. Under his command, the platoon allegedly murdered a large number of civilians in a hospital, in an incident similar to the My Lai massacre. The real mystery of the novel is what truly happened all those years before, and whether the protagonist's actions were in any way understandable or forgivable.

This novel is very well done, but is quite long, and DeMille focuses far more time on the protagonist's private life than I would have preferred. There are also many conversations and situations in WORD OF HONOR that don't seem to advance the story. This novel probably would have benefitted from some major league editing, although I'm sure many readers would disagree. Once the trial begins, however, this novel is undeniably tense and exciting.

Overall, this is a first-class effort, although I preferred THE GOLD COAST and THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER a bit more.

The writer is very skillful in putting together his books. He follows a formula of writing about those thing with which he has some familiarity while always including the attractive or alluring female as part of the storyline. In this book, there is a strong story that does not need anu diversions. Benjamin Tyson was an officer for the military when he served our country in Vietnam. A recently published book about the war speaks about atrocities that were inflicted upon the Vietnamese by the Platoon under his direct command. The military does a full investigation and our protagonist finds himself being recalled to duty and facing a Court Martial.

The characters in this novel lack depth and many ancillary peopl seem to drop in and out with a feeling that they are more like stick figures rather than living breathing people. The book is far too long and the story wanders along in a somewhat aimless manner until the Trial begins. Even here the story is not able to build the suspence that is expected and the entire segment is plodding and rather predictable. This is a good read, although it is not felt to be one of the witers better works.

Having read and enjoyed Le Carre's more recent novels I felt it was time to turn back to the older ones to help me recall why I picked up this author in the first place. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy took me a while to get sucked in to - but once there, I could not put it down. The writing is just so superior to many of the junk read spy novels available now - which makes for a more difficult but thoroughly more enjoyable more satisfying read. Of course now I'm going to have to go and buy the next two in the series.

Not a quick read, nor should it be. Stay with it slowly. The book has a lot to offer. A classic by any means and one that should not be missed by those who enjoy mysteries.

The strongest feature of this novel is the beautifully created atmosphere of psychological fog that pervades everything. You can't trust no one, you can't really know if any information is true or false or only an incomplete version of truth .... The whole novel serves as a sort of philosophical reflection on loyalty and trust in human interactions. The spy world, with its experts in deception, is a metaphor for the fact that man is such a complex creature that no one really knows another person in its entirety.

This is a British spy story but it is not a James Bond kind of a story. There are no car chases or gadgets. Our "super spy", George Smiley, is a 50 something short guy who is somewhat over weight and wear thick glasses. Unlike Bond, Smiley is not a ladies man. In fact, he is faithfully married to a beautiful unfaithful woman. Smiley's main talent is rational analysis of information and perceptiveness. The premise of story is that there is a "rotten apple" in the highest level of British intelligence That is, a high ranking member of British intelligence who is betraying his country and Smiley's job is to find him. Betrayal of all kinds, whether real or imagined, is the central obsession of the characters who populate this spy world.

The major weakness of the novel is its unnecessary complexity. For instance, the novel evolves in non-linear fashion in time. There are flash backs in time on a constant basis. One extreme instance, we had few paragraphs of past, a paragraph in present time then back to past and then back again to present and then back to past and once again to present in less than 10 pages of a 350 page novel! A relatively minor character (a Russian cultural attache who is "running'" the mole) is refered to by 4 names (his real name, a fake "cover name" for his British assignment, another fake cover name for his junior colleagues in Russian intelligence and, lastly but not least, a nickname, Poly, assigned to him by British intelligence).

There is a BBC mini-series based on the novel which is far easier to follow. You might be better off watching that than trying to decipher the novel. This might be one of the rare instances, where the adaptation exceeds the original novel.

TINKER, TAYLOR, SOLDIER, SPY
This one of le Carre's best stories, quite dark but very well written. The times it describes (the 70s) are history of a different age, when Europeans in particular lived under what seemed a very real nuclear threat from the Soviets and their satellite countries. One is left with a sense of thankfulness that terrorists are pretty much the only threat we need worry about today.

The real genius of Le Carre's novel is its pacing and form, with each page unfolding one more layer of a complex and compelling story. Both an intellectual and (somewhat) psychological thriller, the novel does not conform to almost any modern standards of the spy genre, preferring George Smiley's patient study and analysis to slowly and eloquently present a masterful deception within the Circus (British Intelligence). Le Carre's characters are excellent as well: Smiley's shy and arrogant brilliance, Peter Guilliam's dashing lack of versatility, Connie Sachs' (a particularly delightful invention by Le Carre) vitality...and all live under the shadows of legends like Control and, of course, Karla. It is a world that is entirely believable and yet satisfies all the complexities the imagination demands from spy stories. And on top of it all, Le Carre is a genuinely good writer. Another reviewer lamented the somber tone of the book, saying it causes one to feel that every sky is dark gray and the rain is always just about to fall. This is hardly a fault, however, but instead it provides a perfect backdrop to the grim proceedings of searching for a mole in Her Majesty's Secret Service. Le Carre loves the search itself, and no one brings it to life quite like he does.

Michner writes about places most of us are curious about yet don't know much about. Alaska is our most remote state and this novel gives you a sense what it was like to brave the harsh conditions and establish settlements. I find Michner's characters a varied bunch in that they range from superficial to more in-depth interesting personalities. In general though they seem exist to portray the land in which they reside.
It isn't a masterpiece and somtimes the story drags. However it is a good way to delve into Alaskan life.

Another great epic from Michener. You may quibble over whether a wooly Mammoth would have really had those thoughts, but overall it's a highly interesting and informative book.

Perhaps non-Alaskans are more taken with Michener's portrait of the state than those of us who live here, since we experience its grandeur and special essence every day. Nonetheless, for a cheechako, the author does an admirable job of conveying facts and feelings about the 49th state. While there is always the danger with historical novels that readers will not know where facts end and fancy begins, the historical backdrop is well-researched and essentially accurate.

Like other Michener works of this variety, the book weaves the stories of several families over a number of generations, and in doing so illustrates how today's Alaskans often have unusual family trees and complex cultural traditions. Throughout the book he develops some of the same themes that run through the state today, including the struggle to break free from the almost colonial status we once enjoyed at the hands of marginal government officials and outside corporate interests, the pride of being apart and different, and challenge/blessing of a uniquely diverse population.

The reader may think that the characters are "larger than life", but not necessarily so. Alaska has more than its share of vivid, grand, and heroic citizens whose stories could fill many long cold nights. While no substitute for a first-hand Alaska experience, Michener's Alaska-sized novel is a wonderful way to experience the state at a distance, and undoubtedly has whetted many people's appetites to come and see for themselves.

it's a wonderful book that I have read before and have always wanted to own!!!

First, let me announce my bias: I was born and raised in Alaska.

When I saw this novel on the bookshelves when it first came out, I promised myself I'd read it even tho I had never read anything by Michener. Well, some 20 years later, I finally read it. And -- boy! -- do I wish I hadn't waited so long. It's a long book (close to 1,000 pages) and I was so engrossed that I almost lost sight of the real world for the duration.

Of course, being from Alaska helps. I could orient myself geographically with little trouble. I had the broad outlines of the history already. And the historical names were almost all familiar to me if not the details of their lives.

But what Michener did which I most appreciate about his novel is painlessly impart the details of history by interweaving it so tightly with his colorful fiction that it was hard for me during the reading to separate the two. Yet I'm sure I know what is historical and what isn't. It's a contradiction, I know. And a compliment to this man's storytelling skill.

I let out a satisfied "whew!" when I closed the book a final time and returned to reality. Then I suffered withdrawal symptoms for days, maybe weeks. I found myself gazing wistfully at some of his other large works in the bookstores. Did you know there's no Michenerholics Anonymous? I've just begun reading THE SOURCE. I couldn't help myself.

I cannot thank Robert Lewis enough for this book. I pastor a church and will be ordering the "Raising a Modern Day Night" DVD series, as well as enough books for the men in my church. I am going to teach a class where our men read a chapter or two at a time and then get together and discuss what we are learning. I have already mentioned this to a couple of men in the Church and both of them said that they themselves wanted to be a modern day night. Robert Lewis also has a .com website called Mensfraternity where I am going to be ordering his Manhood series for myself and my church.

The book is divided into five sections. They are "The Need For Modern Day Knights", where Lewis lays out the desperate need in the modern world for fathers to take their role as dad seriously; "The Knight and his Ideals", where a vision of manhood, code of conduct and the need for a transcendent cause being instilled in our sons is laid out; "The Knight and His Ceremonies", which for me was the most interesting part of the book; "The Knight and His Round Table", which speaks of the community of men that your son needs around him to reinforce the stuff discussed in section 2; "The Knight and His Legacy", which has a very important chapter for dad's who think that they have blown it and it is too late for them.
I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to every man. Some men will say "I don't have any sons", but every man has been a son and this book will heal and help you in your manhood or in your relationship with your father. May God richly bless you as you take the journey through this great book. Buy it, I promise you will not regret it.

Lewis addresses a major need in our society: raising our boys into men. This is a timely message because we live in a society that has completely forgotten that there is such a thing. Or else its definition of a man is far short of what the Bible calls 'a man'. Lewis offers many helpful tips on how to celebrate rites of passage from boyhood to manhood - tips that I may just use with my own sons.
That said, I felt that his overall view of what a man is still fell short of the biblical standard. What was lacking in this book was 'how' this is done. To come up with good insight and goals to strive for in wanting to become a man is one thing - to show young men 'how' that is to be done is quite another. Our power to become men and to live like men and to treat women as they should be treated and to stand for truth the way we're called to is rooted firmly in Jesus Christ, not in our best intentions to be men. I'm not sure that Lewis wouldn't agree with this; however, I did not read much of it in his book.
We cannot just give ourselves a good vision of manhood and then strive, in our own best intentions, to live it out. We WILL fail at this if it is not rooted in our life source Himself, Jesus Christ. I appreciate what Lewis has done - he has narrowed the gap between what little writing is out there on biblical manhood and what should be. But I would have liked to have seen our Savior magnified more as the Cornerstone for how such men are made and sustained.

As I began reading this book, my initial reaction was negative. The author obviously was portraying knighthood in a romantic fashion, one drawn more from Hollywood movies than research in the area. It wasn't long, however, that I gave him a mulligan on that one and listened to the more important points he was making. I finally decided that if he wanted to use a romanticized notion of knighthood, I could deal with that because he was also saying a lot of things that needed saying. Lewis' premise is that boys have know idea what a man is. That resonated. I also liked his principles of manhood: A real man rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously and expects the greater reward. Even more appealing to me was his assertion that ceremonies that mark key life passages in ways that make them memorable for a lifetime are important. While I am proud of the men my sons have grown to be, even without the book, I can see how memorable ceremonies in their lives would have been advantageous. All in all, this is a book with enough insights in it that it would be worth the time of any father, but especially of boys in the 10-12 year-old age range.

The book is very helpful with the raising of a boy. It is only helpful if you are willing to follow the instructions and perform or have the ceremonies.

Men are being emasculated today. Mainstream family media shows us to be idiots fumbling our way through life. Fathers are accepting passivity and surrendering our manhood in the process. This book is an excellent guide to help counter this and create an authentic relationship with our sons.

This book is a whimsical tale about a boy who sets covetous eyes on his friend's goldfish, and after rummaging through all his belongings, finally hits upon the idea of swapping his dad for the goldfish. Though the friend initally doesn't think it's a fair swap ("I've got two goldfish, you've only got one dad"), he eventually agrees. But when Mom gets home, the boy has to go return the goldfish and get his dad back. Returning the goldfish, he finds his dad has been swapped for something else, and so the boy has to go through the town returning item after item until he eventually gets his dad back.

Though it's dressed up and marketed as a children's book, it's a little long to hold the interest of anyone under 7 or 8, and a little too simple for those over that age, but who aren't old enough to really see the humor in it. But as an adult, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The illustrations by Dave McKean are delightfully creepy, and the story is just silly enough to remind me how I thought about the barter system when I was a kid. The story is funny, and the ending even funnier. My wife and daughter enjoyed hearing me read the whole thing aloud in the store, and by this merit I was allowed to buy it. The edition that I got has a CD insert with a recording of Mr Gaiman himself reading the story. Though my performance was masterful in the extreme, I have to concede that Neil reads it better than I do, and I've listened to the disc several times since I got it.

If you're reading it aloud to kids, make sure you've got a patient audience first, since it takes a while to get through. But if they'll sit for it, they'll probably enjoy it. I personally loved the illustrations, done in a mixture of media, collages of photograph and hand-drawn images, a staple of McKean's artistic style. Not the typical happy-cartoony children's book drawings.

Though I've gotten mixed responses from the groups of children I've read this to, I enjoy the book a lot, and think that you will, too.

I'm sure I'm not the first reviewer here to say that I love this book as much as any kid ever could. Great story, great writing, exceptional artwork by the inimitable dave mckean. If you don't fall in love with this book, then I'd be willing to wager that you never had a childhood.

By any means necessary, no matter how old you are, read this book; even if you have to swap your favoritest family member for a copy. (I've heard Amazon does in fact accept this kind of bartering system)

One minor problem for me, that is evidently not a problem for many others, was the art. I was put off by the blotchy, surrealistic, color-schemes, which were distracting, and rarely added to whatever charm the line-drawings themselves possessed.

Getting past that, I was able to enjoy the silly story. Humor is often generated when the tension is created by horror or fear, but then is punctured by the absurdity of the situation.

All decent people should be horrified by the idea of buying and selling other human beings, in pursuit of materialistic goals, as though they were mere objects. Here, however, the absurdity of the situation breaks the ice. We know that virtually no real child would want to sell his or her father. Moreover, the idea of this rather useless dad permitting himself to be bartered all over town by children, without ever once looking up from his newspaper, is completely nonsensical. I suppose children might laugh (just as I did).

Another saving grace is that, even though the story is told from the point of view of the creepy little sociopath of a son who sells his dad, there were other characters for me to root for. I was completely on the side of the little sister, who (quite properly) objects and protests the scheme. She (quite properly) rats him out to his mother, who is also suitably furious, and makes this creepy little materialist promise never to sell his dad again. Morever, since the bulk of the story concerns the quest to RECOVER the bartered-off dad, even the boy is doing the right thing for much of the narrative.

But then comes the TWIST. You see, he never promised anything about not selling his little sister. The last panel shows the brother's huge shadow, mouth open with glee, reaching like an ogre for this little girl, who looks small, isolated, helpless.

This time, I did not laugh.

Why not? This time, sadly, the absurdity of the situation does not puncture the horror. It is not absurd enough, and it is too horrific. We do not think the boy is joking. Earlier in the tale, we actually saw the little sister bound and gagged by the older brother to prevent her ratting on him to Mom (a disturbing enough scene in its own right). Moreover the pictures make the boy look much larger and stronger than his little sister -- the situation lacks the obvious jokiness of bartering off one's much-larger dad while he never looks up from his newspaper. Even the THREAT of selling your little sister to your friends is potentially a nasty and frightening form of abuse.

Gaiman's afterword tells us the story reflects real and bitter hostility that existed between two of his children, and further reflected a similar bitter hostility between himself and his own sister. This eerily suggests that the final panel might have been inspired by genuine malice. How, then is it a joke? If bitter hostility between siblings is a problem -- and it often is -- ought not the message, in a picture book ostensibly marketed for children, be a bit more positive? Payback time, little girl! I guess she shouldn't have ratted out her creepy older brother. Funny to Gaiman, perhaps, but not to me.

This is not a children's book. It is dark. Don't read this to yor children. This person should not be writing childrens books.

Take Neil Gaiman, put him in a room together with Dave McKean. What do you get? Wonders. This dream-team has worked many times before and has produced some of the best Sandman comics in the bunch.

Although it is presented as a book for those who are still children at heart and offers a moral which should not be overlooked, it spins a wondrous yarn about a boy and his friends, and mocks the sixdegrees theory in its undertow...

Gaiman�s words are beautiful and McKean�s art is fantastic. You can read this book over and over again and never tire of it, or just leaf through the pages and marvel at the pictures, which are a great source of amusement for children who are yet to be able to read on their own.

(I only wonder how come I never though about it doing this when I was 10...)

I bought this for my daughter to give to my husband/her dad on Father's Day this year. She seems to like it, and enjoys when he reads it to her. It is a short, straightforward story that is easy for her to follow, and she likes to point out all the little spiders and grasshoppers lurking in the corners of every page.

I find the illustrations to be quite goofy, and not so easy of the eyes, as the characters are all so raw and odd looking - so it's appeal is sort of lost on me. But, it gets it's point across, showing a special time spent between a dad and his child, so I guess it serves it's purpose. : )

I love Mercer and his books and she saw a couple and went wild, great job and fast service.
Thank you

Our young son can't get enough of Mercer Mayer. He kept checking this book out week after week. We decided it was finally time to have a copy of our own in the home.

My son is 8 yrs old and loves this series of books. The reading is fairly easy and the stories short so it keeps his interest. We read them as bed time stories and they are perfect. We own several of this series and we like them all.

My Dad used to read this book to me when I was a youngster, 25 years ago. It became a really bonding thing for us. And on days when I had him all to myself, we started to say they were "Just me and my dad" days. He is about to turn 60 and I decided to see if I could track down this book to give him as a reminder of how much he meant to me as a child. I was so excited to find it online.