Friendship Day Books

I love the wonderful illustrations in "Tom & Pippo." Messy playrooms, mommy and daddy snoring with their mouths open, the soft-boiled egg dripping on the tablecloth.

Their's much more than just a story about Tom's day or his friendship with Pippo for my son and I to talk about, as Oxenbury's simple and sweet writing let you explore what she *hasn't* said.

I know this by heart, which is good, because my son has worn the words right off the pages!

My son loves all the Tom & Pippo books and we have all the ones that are still in print! I recommend any of these Tom & Pippo books by Helen Oxenbury as they are very sweet and perfect bedtime reading for toddlers and preschool ages. I wish she would write more as I enjoy the little simple but adorable story lines as well!

This book beautifully communicates the friendship a toddler feels for his favorite stuffed toy. My daughter loves this book -- she's not even one year old but the instant I say "Do you want to read Pippo with me?" she is happy and eager to help turn the pages. Few things entertain her for more than a few minutes (except, of course, my dog's food dish) but she will sit and listen to this book as often as I will read it. It's a very short book but the effect upon her is consistently magical. I cannot say enough good things about it, but I must stop typing regardless -- I've got to go order more "Tom and Pippo" books for my daughter.

This is another hit by Nathan Hale. The illustrations are again immaculate and unique. The story is milder than that of The Devil You Know, but just as entertaining. It's a great primer for a child about to start school. The musical allusions are fun, too. I highly recommend it.

This is a great book! The pictures alone are worth purchasing it. We just happened to check it out at our local library. My girls wanted it read over and over to them. I knew I had to go to Amazon & get it!!!

I just literally stumbled across this book at a friend's house and was enchanted by it! Her son asked me to read it to him, while mine started to wander off, but two pages in both boys were hooked. The illustrations are amazing and the story is a delight. I've been telling everyone about it all day, "And then Plum was a frisbee!" I'm buying this for my son right away, and will probably buy Hale's other books as well.

We Were Not the Enemy: Remembering the United States Latin-American Civilian Internment Program of World War IIWE WERE NOT THE ENEMY IS AN AMAZING INSIGHT INTO WORLD WAR II AND THE "CONCENTRATION CAMPS" OF AMERICA. TO SOMEONE WHO NEVER LIVED SUCH A NIGHTMARE YOU CANNOT IMAGINE THE INTERNEES SUFFERING. THIS BOOK SPEAKS TO THE IMPACT OF INTERNMENT ON THE COUNTRIES, STATES, COMMUNITIES AND THE HIGHLY PERSONAL ISSUES OF HUSBAND, WIFE AND CHILDREN. THIS IS A STORY THAT NEEDED TO BE TOLD THROUGH THE LIFE EXPERIENCE OF AN INTERNEE. HEIDI GERCKE DONALD DID LIVE THIS NIGHTMARE. THE RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK ENRICHED THE PERSONAL STORY. JOB WELL DONE !

It is well known that Japanese citizens living on the American West Coast were interned in concentration camps during World War II. But on the whole the Germans and Italians living in the East and Midwest were not.

This book reports on the internment of Germans who had been living in Latin America that were arrested by their government at the instigation of the US government, deported to the US and interned. (Later, the Government in a strange sort of logic determined that they hadn't entered the country legally and were trying to deport them.)

This is the story of a little known incident that affected the lives of a lot of people. It was not the United States at it's best. Then again, neither was the treatment of the Japanese, nor the situations at Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib.

Addy and Sarah are against Harriet even though they are workingtogether on a booth for the church fair that is raising money to helpblack slaves get to their families. But when the money is stolen, Addy and Harriet must work toghether to get it back. Addy also meets a surprise person in this book. Addy Saves The Day is one of my favorite American Girl books because it is fun and exciting to read and I definitely recommend it.

This is another in the American Girls series about Addy Walker, a ten-year-old African-American girl living in the America of 1865. With the war over, Trinity A.M.E. Church decides to hold a fair to raise money for those hurt or displaced. Addy's idea for the children to hold a puppet show and sell the puppets is warmly received, but everything looks gloomy when she and Sarah are partnered with Harriet. Everything depends on the girls working together, much more so then they realized, so the girls must come together to overcome.

The final chapter is an informative look at outdoor activities in 1865. This is another, wonderful book, well written, with a captivating storyline and great lessons. My daughter is an Addy fan, and so am I! This book is great!

(K-8)This is a great book to show children (and adults) that there are people like them all around the world who wake up each morning but live their lives differently and that is ok. The book is a wonderful representation through artwork and captions of what each child around the world does throughout the time period of a day and gives more accurate representations of what cultural norm's are through the images which can help children of all ages understand different countries and ethnicities. This book could be used with children of ages and to explore any content area not to mention it has wonderful illustrators.

This book is truely a classic and I can say is one of my favorites it shows how the world is always going from one side of it to another and each country is represented by an author of that country, if you really want a keepsake get this book today!!!

This has been a favorite of both my sons for a long time. The story is silly and sweet, and the illustrations fairly burst off the page. The end is a pleasant surprise and lesson in developing good interior dialogue.

The illustrations in this book are fabulous- they are very old-fashioned & colorful. You will smile as you read through the story- excellent bedtime story.

I love everything Becky Kelly lays her talent to, and this book is no exception. Whimisical drawings, soft and pastel.

The book entitled "Brighter Days Are On The Way",
is illustrated by the magical & wonderful artist,
Becky Kelly and written by the prolific writer,
Patrick Regan. As a Doctor in New York City and
my fellow colleagues agree....if you need to send
a special 'Get Well' gift for someone who is ill,
this is exactly what the Doctor (Rx) prescribes.
The book emanates good wishes, healing and
soothing thoughts that will instill positive
and bright thoughts to your friend or family member.

Well, the book Meet Calliope Day, was funny, outgoing and Calliope could cook up mischef as fast as you can say Two Tan Tonned Men 56 times. WOW. This book, Captain Tweakerbeak's Revenge wil surly be just as funny and outgoing. P.S My name is Calliope. So I at least have a coincidence with a book! At LEAST!

Noreen Catherwood, otherwise known as Little Miss Prissy Toes was the teacher's pet, who never raised her hand to answer any question, never lost her homework, finished every assignment on time and consequently annoyed the heck out of every other student in the fourth grade including Calliope Day. She was the one the teacher chose to umpire the day's game of recess kickball. Here was Noreen wearing black shoes with white laces, and lacy white socks. And Noreen had the audacity to tell Calliope she was out.

Calliope did what she could to hate Noreen. But to every challenge Calliope presented, Noreen rose. The girls' bad beginning grew into a strong friendship that involved a plot to transform Noreen's pet parrot Baby into Captain Tweakerbeak. They taught him language appropriate for a pirate bird, and presented him to their class, complete with the pirate's scarf on his head and an eye patch. He wasn't a sea parrot, but a space pirate: "Silence earthling," he told the cheeky boy in the front row.

The children liked the parrot too much, though, and the teacher sent Calliope to the office with him. She discovered the intercom on, and instantly cooked up a prank. "This is Commander Zero, leader of the Red First Squadron, Planet Mars. We have seized your school. Do not, I repeat, do not panic." The plan ended in disaster when Captain Tweakerbeak reverted to Baby's personality.

Naturally, Calliope was in for it. But the events that overtook our mischievous little heroine and the cigar-smoking parrot must, I am afraid, remain secret, until you read this book.

Here's a hint for parents, though: This book will keep your third or fourth grader reading for hours. Alyssa A. Lappen

Bob Patterson's review really captured a lot of what I was feeling. As a former member of the Canadian Army, I was not only able to see in my mind's eye the scenes that Christie was describing, I was able to see many of the soldiers, often because I actually knew those men. The Canadian Army is not big - and the Army of West is probably about 6,000 Regulars and a few more thousand reservists - that's not a very big town, and all of the larger than life characters tend to become known by all - men like Mars Janek, whom I had the honor to serve with back in 1995, and who features prominently in this book as the extraordinary soldier that he is. Canadians really have no idea how lucky they are that these bright young men and women are willing to put their lives on the line in the service of their country.

Christie did a great job with this book, and clearly she wrote it her own way. My only real citicism is that I would have liked her to spend a bit more time of the achievements and field operations, and a little bit less on deaths, but I understand why she went the route that she did.

The Canadian army is very small - many organizations claim to be like a "family" but the Canadian Army is a family. In the larger world there may be 6 degrees of separation but in the Canadian Army there may be only two. So every loss is a wound for all. Every loss is indeed the death of a brother.

This remarkable book is a revelation of what it may mean to be part of a true Band of Brothers - a world where the most senior general lends a master corporal his own wedding ring so that he can ask his girl to marry him - a world where the entire platoon comes to the home of a fallen comrade and spends a week in the community celebrating his life - a world where a 40 plus year old widow enlists so that she can continue to be part of the family - a world where Colonels weep for their men.

The book also causes the reader to think more deeply about war and soldiers. It is politically correct to feel that all war and everything about it is bad. But we discover, that for all its terror and for all the losses, for a soldier war is what he lives for. It is when he also discovers whether he is any good at his life's work. We discover how good our soldiers are. Surprisingly, for we always think the less of ourselves, in Afghanistan, we are considered the heavy weights who punch well above our weight.

We discover that while war exhausts a person more than any other activity, it also makes him more alive.

We discover that PTSD is much more prevalent in peacekeeping than in the kind of situation that we find in Afghanistan. In peacekeeping the kit was awful and the impotence high - imagine simply witnessing atrocity? But in Afghanistan our soldiers can take the initiative and they are very well equipped and have rules of engagement that make sense.

We discover a new kind of woman soldier - who are at home in this strange world, as is of course the "Blatch", and who are no longer seen as odd.

We discover how the families of our soldiers have been integrated into the mission and we see how the worst of all news is given and how the families are supported when what they all fear the most occurs.

This is not the civil service in green that was the sadness of our forces for many years. Implicit throughout the book is that someone really knows that he is doing. I think that someone might be called Rick Hillier.

We discover how great our local field leadership is too which also says something more about General Hillier -

Brig- Genl Dave Fraser to LTC Ian Hope, in radio orders given at 11.30pm on July 17 "You need to recapture Nawa and Garmser by 1600 hours.

Hope to Fraser: "Roger that. Recapture Nawa and Garmser by 1600 hours."

Fraser: "Any questions?"

Hope: "Just one: Where are Nawa and Garmser?'

Not only do we routinely pull off tough missions, but the Cols take all the risks that their men do - they lead by example. They also tend to do the really terrible things like personally extract the burnt and mutilated bodies of their dead so that the buddies in the platoon would not have to remember their friend like that. There is all this bull in the public service about "Servant Leadership". Here you see it for real at all levels from the LTC down to the Master Corporal.

We discover the central frustration of the mission. That we have to go back again and again and take the same ground because the ANP, the police, cannot hold it - we learn how complex this work is.

But most of all, we learn how fortunate we are to have those wonderful people wearing our uniform.

It is a mystery to me how, in a nation, so cut off from the reality of war, that we can once again have the kind of army that we had in 1917. A pathfinder Army.

A small army that can think and adapt. A small army that is lead by men and women of an integrity and skill that put our business and public organizations to shame. A small army largely made up from men and women from small town Canada who have that can do attitude that used to be the hallmark of Canadians.

Who else could tell this story but "Blatch"? A woman who acknowledges that she knows of only two soldiers who swear more than she. A woman who shares the hardships, the joys, the terrors, the losses and the fun. A woman who loves her boys and who is loved back.

She writes with such a love and a passion - I could not put the book down except when my eyes were so full of tears that I could no longer see.

It is exciting, it's very funny, it's very sad. But in the end it is heroic. Not in a little boy's view of heroic but in the most mythic sense of people who live for each other in undertaking a very hard task.

At the end of the book, "Blatch" goes back to see everyone to see how they are.

"Eight months later, Hope (LTC Ian Hope) answers my email form an airport lounge somewhere. I wrote back to tell him of one of the stories - bawdy and funny, loving and sad, always brutally honest - I'd heard from the troops.

You must miss them so xxxxxx much," I said. " I can hardly bear to write about them sometimes. I find them so beautiful."

"You understand what I miss," he wrote back. "I am Odysseus."

This is a wonderful book about wonderful people written by a wonderful person - who has by the way a wonderful dog but that is another story.

This book not only helps children realize that they can make choices that affect their lives and attitudes, but also teaches them that they are not alone in facing the discomfort of being "the new kid." It shows them that their choices can affect how they meet and overcome the challanges of a new school situation. All parents who have children who are relocating should get this special gift for them

In this interactive book, the reader is allowed to try different ways of connecting with potential friends in a new school. It works well to stimulate discussion about ways of meeitng and making friends.

Parenting Press publishes "The Decision is Yours" series of books. Each book deals with common dilemmas faced by elementary or middle school students. At the end of each page, the reader is asked to make an ethical choice. Based on the choice, the story takes a different branching path. Positive, negative and intermediate outcomes are available. The potential outcomes are not sugar-coated. Sometimes even the "right" choice may not have an entirely happy

Carol Watkins, M.D.