Reviews (12)

Great way to hear the stories
These are well produced/read versions of the classic stories.A bit "old" for my 2 year olds, as it didn't hold their intrest as well as some others we have purchased. (Hence the 4 starts)I'd say it's a 5 star for older kids who may be familiar with the stories already.
Charming stories, but then there's Dinah, remember?
I'd have to agree that the stories are charming from an adult perspective.However, as in many pieces of classic literature the representation of the African-American maid "Dinah" working for a extra white family is pretty bad.In this particular collection Dinah appears only once, but there is an illustration replete with head wrap, laundry wringer, and extra large lips.Dinah is also the only character who gets the colloquial speech.."Jess lemme hang Miss Raggedy on de line in de bright sunshine foh haff an hour..".Since she only appears in one story it is avoidable - but it's there.Buyer beware.

If you believe in GOOD literature for children...
...then do your family the favor of buying and reading this book.The language is beautiful (especially compared to the garbage I see in so many children's books) and classic, but not dated.Oh, and my six year old girl and three year old boy are both rivetted when I read from this wonderful book.I would recommend you add it to your permanent collection. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies    2. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Classics    6. Dolls    7. Fiction    8. Short stories    9. Toys, Dolls, & Puppets    10. Juvenile Fiction / Classics    11. Short stories & other fiction   

Editorial Review

Once there was a little girl--an orphaned African princess--who narrowly escaped death by human sacrifice in a West African village in 1850. A British sea captain named Frederick E. Forbes saved her life by talking King Gezo of Dahomey into giving the girl to Queen Victoria of England as a gift: "She would be a present from the King of the blacks to the Queen of the Whites." As impossible as this tale sounds, it is a true one. Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers--piecing together her story from letters he found in a rare book and ephemera shop in London--paints a hauntingly detached portrait of the small African princess whom the heroic captain named Sarah Forbes Bonetta. Read more

Reviews (12)

Interesting and easy to read.
My son had to pick two books off of a large list to read over the summer for school.After reading the other reviews of this book, we picked it.It was a wonderful choice.The book was very interesting, fast paced, well written and easy to read.I read it in 3 hours, and my son was able to read in in a few nights without any complaints of boredom.

Why Isn't Hollywood Calling???
If any literary giant needs to have his work adapted to film, it is Myers. As one of the premier writers of fiction for juveniles, the author has added another significant piece to his long line of classics. This one tells the story of a little-known African princess who comes under the wing of England's legendary Queen Victoria. Good book!
I think this is a very well written book. I think that Walter Dean Myers is an amazing writer and that it is great he found this fantastic girl that many have never heard of. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Africa, West    3. Africans    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography - Cultural Heritage    6. Bonetta, Sarah Forbes,    7. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    8. Children: Grades 2-3    9. Great Britain    10. History    11. History - Africa    12. History - Europe    13. Juvenile Nonfiction    14. Juvenile literature    15. Missionaries' spouses    16. Nigeria    17. Oyo State    18. Princesses    19. Queen of Great Britain,    20. Victoria,    21. b. 1843?    22. Africa    23. Bonetta, Sarah Forbes    24. Fiction    25. Friends and associates    26. Juvenile Fiction / Short Stories    27. Victoria   

Reviews (7)

Animals can also teach us and your children.
Some of my friends consider that the animal stories are childish and we teenagers are too old to read them. For example, I told them that I cried while I was reading the story "The Fox and the Hound", they laughed at me. Well, I think that these stories are just too easy to understand, but they're not childish at all. They can teach us much, and teach your children more. I was growing up in Disney's wonderful animal stories.
A nice book but not worth buying it if you already have Disney's storybook collection
I was looking for Disney's books for my daughter and bought both storybook collection and animals stories as well. These books are almost the same, emphasis is put more on animals from Disney in the Animals series but books are about the same. I will soon return the Animals Stories.
I love it!
I love animals, so I love Disney Animals Storybook!I think this book is very good. If you love Disney's stories, it will be worth reading�I ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals - General    3. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    5. Children's stories, American    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Fiction    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Short Stories    10. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / General   

Reviews (1)

Teacher comments
My seven-year old daughter heard a story from this book read by a dear elderly friend.She came home and told me the story word for word. She repeated it to her school during story time the next day.Since then I have used it as a play for my classes. The stories is this book truly speak to the children.They are about children and adventure and animals; all the things children love.The repetitive phrases add a lyric quality to the writings and help the children retell them.They make good stories for imaginative play during outside time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Animals - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. General    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Fairy tales, folk tales, fables, magical tales & traditional stories    8. Short stories   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (5)

Great CD. Sound is no problem.
This is the definitive reading of some of the best, wittiest children's stories ever. Kipling delights in playing with language and Karloff highlights the author's literary gifts. The sound is nowhere near as bad as other reviewers have suggested. On an ordinary stereo, the volume simply needs to be turned up a couple of notches. Another thing: this is Edwardian literature, so the elephant's child is spanked - a lot. While some parents might not wish their children to be exposed to this, it is worth noting that the spanking is portrayed (with some irony)as being both ineffective and a knee-jerk response by ignorant adults to natural curiosity in children.

The CD has poor sound
The sound on this CD is barely audile. We need to have the volume at the highest level. We like the stories from our old 331/3 record and were very disappointed!

A wonderful classic, brilliantly read.
The Boris Karloff readings of Kipling's stories are one of the great treasures of childhood.This is a long overdue CD release of the originial record of Just So Stories. It includes "How the Whale Got His Throat," "How the Camel got his Hump," "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin," The Elephant's Child," "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo," "The Beginning of the Armadillos," and "How the Leopard Got His Spots."
Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Children's Audio - 9-12    3. Children's audiobooks    4. Children's stories, English    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Classics    7. Fiction    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Short Stories    10. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

What family doesn't have secrets? The Read more

Reviews (8)

Unhappy Secrets
"Dirty Laundry: Stories About Family Secrets" is a well compiled and, for the most part, well written anthology of stories.Each revolves around a long-concealed secret, and most are entertaining, though the overall tone of the book does tend to lean toward the morbid - or at least unpleasant. 1/2 good, 1/2 not
This book is put into lots and lots of short stories. I love many of the authors that contributed stories. Some of the stories were very good, such as: Durty Laundy, edited by Lisa Rowe Fraustino
This book is full of fictional short stories.All there short stories had the same overall topic, dirty laundry of the family's past, present, and future.This book explains how not every family is perfect, and has someing shamful tohide from the rest of the world.This was a good book, some stories more engaging than others. Overall, I think this book lacked in interesting deatail, but included creative ideas for each story.I would recamend this anyone to read this book that needs a laugh, but more encouragement to the teenage readers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    3. Children's secrets    4. Children's stories, American    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Family - General    7. Family problems    8. Juvenile fiction    9. Problem families    10. Short Stories    11. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (1)

Best bang for your buck
This book is of good quality.It is hardcover and the pages are thick.It has 7 stories in one book.The stories are a good mix.There are seasonal as well as ones for everyday.It also has stories with Magenta, which my 2 year old daughter loves.This is one of her favorite books.Any child that loves Blue's Clues will enjoy this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Dogs    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    3. Children's stories, American    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Dogs    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Movie Tie - In    9. Short Stories    10. Juvenile Fiction / Movie or Television Tie-In   

Reviews (2)

Stories of clever boys
This is an excellent collection of folktales featuring heroes who overcome adversity using their wits rather than brute force.My six-year-old son absolutely loves this book, his favourite story is The Devil with Three Golden Hairs, but he loves them all.I enjoy reading most of the stories to him myself, though I admit I found a couple of them a little dull, but most of them are wonderful. The stories come from many different cultures, but all feature clever, likeable heroes .This book should appeal to any boy with imagination.

Great Folktales for Boys & Others!
This is a great collection of folktales specifically selected for the author's sons and grandson. The stories are interesting and exciting - they'll hold the attention of the most reluctant reader. Disguised under the fun tales are great lessons of character and integrity that boys today need so desperately to hear. I highly recommend it to parents, teachers, and kids! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Boys / Men    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Anthologies    5. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Country/Ethnic-General    6. Folklore    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Juvenile Folk Tales / Mythology / Fables    9. Juvenile Short Story Collections    10. Short Stories    11. Tales    12. Juvenile Fiction / Short Stories   

Reviews (14)

The Stories Julian Tells
The Stories Julian Tells is a book that has six stories. You should read all the stories! One of the stories is about a father that makes a pudding!

The Stories Julian Tells
The Stories Julian Tells is a book that has six stories. You should read all the stories! One of the stories is about a father that makes a pudding!

Catalog Cats
I didn't like this book because it doesn't have good stories.I reccomend this book to someone who likes girl books.I did not like the stories in the book because they were confusing to me.I was confused on the pudding story because they said, "You ate some, so I have to eat some, I ate some," over and over again.That's all I have to write. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Children's 4-8 - Fiction - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Children: Grades 3-4    6. Family - General    7. Family life    8. Fiction    9. Friendship    10. Health & Daily Living - Daily Activities    11. Humorous Stories    12. Juvenile Fiction    13. People & Places - United States - African-American    14. Readers - Chapter Books    15. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / African American    16. Short stories   

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Subjects:  1. Children's Audio - 9-12    2. Children's Books/All Ages    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. General    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Short Stories    7. Fiction / Classics   

Reviews (2)

Charming for parents and kids alike
Friendly Mr. Horse offers rides to the other barnyard animals.One by one, cat, dog, pig and duck ask to be included, and then to go faster, FASTER!!They start to fall, Mr. Horse "skids to a halt"-- and over they fly, into a haystack.Mr. Horse is worried, but his friends are fine-- and want to go "AGAIN!"
Great Book!
This is a delightful book with charming illustrations.My 2 year old daughter LOVES it and want me to read it to her again and again.I can even hear her using some of the lines from the book when she plays with her own animal figures-too cute! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Fiction    5. General    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Short Stories    8. Speed    9. ANTIQUES & COLLECTIB - ANTIQUE/COLLT TRD HC    10. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (44)

The Wonderful Story of HENRY SUGAR and Six More

Dahl as always
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More tells, obviously, seven short stories.The collection includes "The Boy Who Talked with Animals", "The Hitchiker", "The Mildenhall Treasure", "The Swan", "Lucky Break", "A Piece of Cake", and of course "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar."The story of Henry Sugar tells the adventure or a man who learns to see without his eyes and the interesting way he chooses to use his talent.The character of Henry Sugar undergoes a transformation from an egotistiacl socialite to a humanitarian with a twist.
funny
One day he did'nt want his fortune and used it to start an orphange.I liked it because it was funny. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biographical - General    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    3. Children's stories, English    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Humorous Stories    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Short Stories    8. Sports & Recreation - Miscellaneous    9. Juvenile Fiction / Biographical / General    10. Sporting stories   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Horses    2. Anthologies (multiple authors)    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children's stories    5. Children: Grades 4-6    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Short Stories    8. Fiction / Anthologies (multiple authors)   

Reviews (8)

GREAT BOOK
Of all of the books that I Baught for my classroom about ADHD and kids with it, this one has to be the best...although school has not started yet I know this will be one of the first books that I read to them.I wish there were more books out there like this one.
8 year old loved it!
My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and I wanted to get him some books so that he realized he wasn't one in the world with ADHD.He loved it.He has started writing a journal -- red pencil and all.

Just Wonderful For Everyone Involved With An ADD Child!!
I bought this book along with several others when my 8 year old son was diagnosed with ADD.Along with the ADD came depression and anxiety, due, of course, to a high IQ and stresses in school.I wanted to buy some books for children about ADD to donate to his classroom, to better help my son's peers understand why he acted "goofy" sometimes.This book is absolutely fabulous.I read it first, and I had to laugh.My son read it next and he laughed and laughed.He was delighted to see his own personal thoughts and feelings, expressed by another kid (Sparky), written about in a journal format.He was joyous!!He thought Sparky was awesome!He couldn't wait to bring it to school!I can promise you that your ADD child will be so happy to read this book, as will you.I even gained alot of knowledge and insight into my son's FEELINGS and thoughts!YOU NEED THIS BOOK!!You absolutely will not regret it!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Attention-deficit hyperactivit    2. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Babies & Toddlers    5. Diaries    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Short Stories    9. Social Issues - Special Needs    10. Disability & illness    11. Fiction dealing with specific issues    12. Picture books    13. ADD    14. ADHD   

Editorial Review

"'This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I'm afraid,' he said."With those words, Patrick Maloney seals his fate. He has no idea that his mousywife, Mary, isn't about to take his abandonment of their marriage lightly. Henever sees the frozen leg of lamb that hits him squarely in the noggin. Andhe'll never know how tidily Mary cleans up the evidence--by having the localpolice dine on the murder weapon! The late Roald Dahl, best known for children'snovels such as Read more

Reviews (19)

You will be jumping out of your "skin"!
"...Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head..."
this book sucks!!!
This book totally sucks! When I bought it, I was like, yes! a good book finally! But majorly, this book is the worst book ever! I repeat: DON'T GET THIS BOOK!

TOO GOOD
Very good. Beyond words to describe..so i won't heheh =)Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Humorous Stories    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Short Stories    6. Short stories, English    7. Humour & jokes    8. Juvenile Fiction / Short Stories   

Reviews (16)

Nicholas will do anything to get across the wall
Nicholas will do anything to get across the wall even exploring the source of a strange power that will change his life. Across The Wall features a fine novella and additional short fantasies which take on aspects of the Merlin myth and bring it to the modern world.
Nick's tale and other stories
This is a collection of short stories written by Garth Nix at one time or other in his career, plus a novella continuing the Abhorsen Trilogy from Nick's side of the story.
would like more about abhorsen
disappointed that there was only a short story about abhorsen (better than nothing I quess). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Fantasy    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Fantasy    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    6. Short Stories    7. Fiction / Fantasy / Short Stories   

Reviews (4)

Sixteen
The book I read was name Sixteen.It had many types of stories that included emotion in the reading.My reaction was that I really like the book.It reminds me of the book call Black Boy.The stories are great to sit down and read to yourself.I did have many different dislike about the book.It does have any scary stories, and it doesn't include murder stories either.But I did like how it brought out the love stories, and how it gave information about the people's lives who the stories are about the book. For example, there was a story called Furlough that had two people name Dottie and Jack.They were in love with each other, but they had to leave one another for the war that was going on in their time.The story did bring out the characters and their emotions as well. I really think it's a great book overall.It's nice to have something you can relate to or feel the reactions it sends out to you.I would recommend it to anyone who is emotional, because if your not the one who cries, then you're not going to like this book at all.But it is a great book.

The Epitome of Depressing Eighties "Writing"
This is going to be short, but sweet. This book was by far one of the most bothersome collections of short stories I have had the misfortune to come across. With authors such as Robert Lipsyte, Diane Duane, and Richard Peck, this is hardly what I would call a "selection of great work from great writers." For that matter, It isn't a collection of anything but chronologically trapped short stories featuring such characters as "Craig the Cat" the rock-star who dressed like a cat and held a bottle of spilling milk while posing atop a garbage can for magazine shoots. The biggest problem with this book is that the stories are oriented for pre-teens but to find any value or worthwhile messages in the book, you would have to be at least sixteen. Oh the sweet irony. As a young teenager, I feel that this book was a complete was of time. G'day.

real short stories
I was realy impressed by the length of these. I have wriiten better and some times even longer ones when I was in 7th grade. I have to admit I was spoiled by a collection of short stories by Jack London called fantastic tales it was great. Now this one had extremely small stories. Ithink that 1 or 2 typed computer pages single spaced would equal some of these stories. They also have no real content. One on page 22 is about a unicorns that live under the streets of New York and that had no begining middle or even no plot and no end. This is definetly not worth it. It also is not for young adults like it advertises it is for small children. Also they can't destroy the human race in the blink of an eye. These stories are not appealing but instead appalling and they are atrouches for 20+ year old writers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. General    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Short Stories    6. Juvenile Fiction / Short Stories   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    2. Children: Kindergarten    3. Juvenile Fiction    4. Performing Arts - General    5. Readers - Beginner    6. Short Stories    7. Juvenile Fiction / Movie or Television Tie-In   

Reviews (6)

Jessica the know-it-all
Jessica declares they've discovered a chicken egg.She helps the youngster find her mother and Jessica is astonished when the mother calls her baby an alligator. Simply loveable and laughable. An excellent read-aloud.See Lionni's imagery of Rodin's Thinker when Jessica visits her quiet place.

An EXTRAORDINARY book for children!
"An Extraordinary Egg" is a beginning reader picture book about three sister frogs that live on an island. One of the frogs, Jessica, finds an egg in some stones and brings it home. The three sister frogs believe it is a chicken egg, even though none of them has ever seen a chicken. The egg hatches, and it is an alligator but the frogs still think it is a chicken. They all become good friends, and "the chicken" even saves Jessica's life one day when she falls into the water. Soon though, the chicken's mother and the "chicken" are fatefully reunited. Jessica goes back and tells her sisters that it was very funny that the chicken's mother should call it "my sweet alligator." After all, their chicken couldn't have been an alligator!
EGG-ACTLY WHAT CHILDREN ENJOY
It's that time of year again when many are looking forward to Easter and Easter Egg Hunts.But, what if someone found a really unusual egg, and to make it even more unique there's not a chicken inside but an alligator?Read more

Subjects:  1. Alligators    2. Animals - Reptiles & Amphibians    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Fiction    6. Friendship    7. Frogs    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Short Stories    10. Social Issues - Friendship    11. Social Situations - Friendship    12. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / General   

Reviews (28)

More pics, please
My children so loved the Rikki Tikki Tavi video--based on a Kipling video--that I wanted to find other Kipling stories on tape (besides the Jungle Book). I wasn't successful, but I found many different editions of Just So Stories. It was hard to choose!
Great Book
It's a nice budget edition of the famous book with sophisticated authors' illustrations.

Delightfully funny
Kipling did an excellent job in compliling and communicating these stories.I thoroughly enjoyed each story, with the exception of the one about how writing was invented, which seemed a bit boring to me.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Classics    6. Fiction    7. Humorous Stories    8. Short stories    9. Classic fiction    10. Juvenile Fiction / Classics