Artistcally, Camara's novel displays many of the weaknesses of a young novelist's first work: too often lush images do not equate character development, enthralling scenes seem to be written for themselves without significantly contributing to the novel's overall construction or character development, and the conclusion seems to surrender to his inability to have a clear (moral or ideological) intention behind the very problematic quest of the hero Clarence. In significant ways, I doubt that Camara had a clearly articulated or organic vision for the novel or the main characters: one increasingly recognizes the colonizer's satiric portrait, but the depictions of the major African figures seem even more dismissively caricatured. Ultimately, this novel sits uncomfortably between a colonized and a nationalist mentality, between the coopted view of a Sekyi and the mature nationalism of Soyinka's great novel "The Interpreters." Granted, from an African point of view, Camara is seeking to explore the very unsavory history of a people's colonization, if not their romance with the colonizer's image, but Achebe does it much more astutely in "Arrow of God," but both pale in comparison to Cheney-Coker's stunning epic "The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar."

This book is a wild trip. The main character is a white French man, living in an unidentified African setting (although the author must have been inspired by his Guinean background), who is totally broke. We don't know anything about his backgrounds, his reasons for being in Africa, or his prior professional occupations. Rejected by the French community, he is bummed. To get out of his misery, he wants to meet a mysterious African king, and apply for a position as advisor at the court. In his quest to find the king, the white man gives up his 'white' identity, and gets in touch with a variety of weird and fascinating characters: an old griot, two annoying boys, a mad village priest. During his journey, 'regular' situations rapidly degenerate into eery hallucinations.

One of the things I especially liked in this breathtaking literary masterpiece was that Camara Laye didn't emphasize human weaknesses of a white oppressor (like Oyono enjoys doing, although I like Oyono a lot); Laye didn't try to denounce Colonialism as a system either, like Cheikh Hamidou Kane or Pramoudya Ananta Toer have done (quite well, of course) - I think that a novel is not the most suited platform to do that: characters quickly tend to become boring academic abstractions rather than interesting people and the literary power of the work suffers. Instead, Laye gradually "forgets" the whiteness of his main character, emphasizing the humanity of all players.

Anyway, Camara Laye's "The radiance of the king" (I read the original French "Le regard du roi" - I can only hope the translation is just as good) is a truly unique book in style and content. Definitely a must-read!

My son learned to read using Johanna Hurwitz's marvelous Russell/Riverside Kids series, and so we were very excited to begin Pee Wee's Tale. We were not disappointed! The animal story is a nice diversion from Hurwitz's more realistic fiction, but still has all of her markings as an author: humor, empathy and strong characterization. Yes, my son was concerned about the guinea pig's plight, and yes, the release of the guinea pig into the park raised an eyebrow...but it also incited some wonderful discussion about caring for pets and how animals adapt in the wild. Besides being an exciting and provocative chapter book for emergent readers, I think this would make a great classroom read-aloud, and I am giving it as a gift to my son's teacher! Also, don't miss Lexi's Tale, the sequel from a squirrely point of view!

"Share this with me. You'll like it. It's very sweet." are the last three sentences of this lovely chapter book for young readers, and I hope that many children and their parents will do just that.

It's a story of friendship between a naive housepet and a street-wise Central Park(New York City) rodent, exceptionally well written, with fun forays into poetry and sayings. Who could resist a squirrel with the philosophy, "a nut in the jaw is worth two in the paw?"

Add this to the CHARLOTTE'S WEB type of books children of all ages take into their hearts and share it with a child you love soon.

When an author sits down to write a book, she/he uses many elements: fact, memory and imagination. My book about PeeWee began with fact. I read an article in the New York Times telling of 45 guinea pigs set loose in Central Park because their owner faced eviction by his landlord. A few days later, a second story told that most were captured, sent to an animal shelter, and put up for adoption. Starting with that fact, I began to imagine what would happen to a single guinea pig that was not found. Memory came to play because I recalled the parents of two of my own children's friends. Both released pet kittens onto the city streets when their children were not home because they felt stressed and unable to continue the responsibility of pet ownership. As the owner of two pet cats myself, I was shocked when I heard what these parents had done. And finally, when I sat down to write about that little guinea pig, my imagination took over. Suddenly, the little guinea pig was looking at the newspaper scraps in his cage and discovering the mystery of the printer letter. His wise mother, who grew up in a first grade classroom, teaches him how to read. His reading skills together with his friendship with a street smart squirrel named Lexi helpt she hero of the fantasy survive.

Here is another news story that I have not written about: a few years ago, a crate of tropical parrots broken open at Kennedy Airport. The small green birds flew free and everyone predicted that they would soon die in the cold and hostile climate of the New York area. But as recently as a week ago, a cousin of mine who lives in Connecticut saw two dozen of these parrots in a local park. Somehow, they have adapted and continued to live and reproduce despite cold weather, snow, different vegetation and new enemies. Like human immigrants before them, they are learning to live and thrive here. It's my favorite kind of story - one with a happy ending.

If you're looking for a good general rat care guide, this is not the book for you. It's packed with great photos but at times seems to be style over substance -- some of the "rat" photos are of mice! The experience of reading the book is similar to finding the occasional mouse photo, there's some interesting stuff but every once in a while there's some jarringly bad info (like the suggestion of cedar chips for bedding). It will be hard for a first time rat owner to tell which is which. More recent offerings by Debbie Duccomun or Ginger Cardinal are much better choices for your first rat care book.

This book is a well-researched guide, although sometimes written at a bit of a simplistic level. Approximately 80%-85% of the book is information about proper care for a pet rat and diagnosing possible diseases. The book contains little information about rats as a species that is not commonly found in an encyclopaedia; if you are looking for a general book, this one will probably leave you unsatisfied. However, if you are looking for a guide to keeping rats as pets, I can say that the book is quite useful. When I've kept rats, I have particularly found the section on ailments to be valuable. For people who are new to raising rats, the book is an excellent place to start.

As a complete beginner to the world of rat keeping, I found this book to be useful regarding practically every aspect of rat keeping. The section on taming and training was excellent, much better than any other book that I had seen. For me that section was the most important since it deals with how to make the pet-owner relationship more rewarding for both parties involved. Susan Fox obviously also owns her own rat/s which means the book is written from personal experience, not just theoretical conjecture. Very good information and interesting reading.

I read this book because a good friend is going to Papua New Guinea and I wanted to learn more about the island. Wow! What a book. This story is set in the 1970s when the country was still under the colonial control of the Australian government. However, the novel is about an American couple and their child who go to the country to do medical research -- yet it's about so much more. It's about life and marriage and the disappointments one can find in one's mate and in oneself. There were points when I wanted to know more, especially about the culture of the aboriginal people in the village. But for me, what was really captivating about this upsetting book was the background. The rain forest in Papua New Guinea really came alive. The animals and birds and insects are all vividly described as is every aspect of the Campbells (the family in the book) relationship to each other and to the country. I wound up re-reading it. This is the kind of book you lend to a friend because you want to talk about it so much.

This isn't the type of book that I normally pick up, I'm not big on "literary fiction". It was given to me as a gift. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down, though. The story is extremely sad but told in this hypnotic, poetic way. I couldn't get enough of the place, Abini, in the book. Papua New Guinea, as rendered by the author, is an intense and strange place, overwhelmingly beautiful, frightening and inviting all at the same time. I do a lot of outdoor exploring, back packing and hiking etc and I found myself imagining a walk through the rainforest near Abini. Perhaps Gillison got some of the place names wrong or confused her directions but she clearly knows this place and makes you feel it too. Try this book, you'll like it. At the very least you'll be moved by it.

This extraordinary novel follows the Campbells, Peter, June and their young daughter Taylor, into the depths of Papua New Guinea. The story revolves around their experiences in the rainforest, the dissolution of a marriage and the integration of a young girl into the lives of the natives. An eerie, compelling book. Once inside the rainforest and the Campbell's story this novel is impossible to put down!

The Lost Tribe is an account of a journalists short (2 week) trip into one of Papua New Guinea's more remote areas. The book is descriptively well written, but is also full of inaccuracies caused by the authors lack of knowlege of local languages and of modern Papua New Guinea. The people he descibes may well be highly isolated but as with most of PNG, their names are included in the common role. Had he given imself more time he could have obatined proper maps which reveal the location of the village and the fictitious volcano he descibes. He could also have learnt Pidgin properly which would have been useful in getting himeself out of the situation that arose. What the author doesn't know is that after his departure from Wanakepa those villagers were forced to pay huge compensation for what happened. They would like the author to bare some of the cost. I'm sure this could be arranged through MAF whoom he can contact through the internet.

This was an author I had hoped would deliver something that many travel-writers don't - a sense of the freedom and anguish of the way we once lived, portrayed through the experiences of the living. In review, he largely managed this. But I still felt strangely unsatisfied when finishing the book. A feeling that emerges from the fact that you leave the story without actually knowing all that much about the tribe. You see, in truth this book is more about a series of events along a storyline than an expose of a 'lost' tribe. Of course this has much to do with his difficulties in communicating with the tribe, but nevertheless it is a shame.

I did though feel that this story highlights the gulf still existing in the world across the spectrum of human cultures. It is for the reader to decide (or not) the value in maintaining or trying to close such a gulf, and for whose benefit - ours or theirs. For example, the impact of western religion on such tribes is shown in the book to be thoughtless and combattant in the way it is taught. Perhaps to be expected in the 18th or 19th century, but quite disturbing when it is in the present day.

In conclusion, I think Marriot has done the Liawep justice with this story, but the damage he did during the course of his stay will probably haunt him and the Liawep for many years to come.

It is not often that one finds travel writing elevated to the level of adventure. What's more, Marriott's prose is clear and sincere. Overall, a great read. If you have not got your hand on a good travel book in a while, invest in this one. I'm going out to get the "Savage shore".

While on the surface it may appear informative because it's full of "facts", the author does, in fact, know nothing about gerbil breeding (especially genetics.. whee gave me a good laugh there.) I'm a pretty well-respected gerbil breeder and I've raised many gerbils, and let me tell you a lot of their info is just plain wrong. (unfortunately this is the case with most gerbil books, especially the TFH ones, so sad). A lot of the breeding info is just plain dangerous (ie leaving 2 females with one male. Sure, if you want dead pups or mothers, hey why not go ahead?) So depressing. Don't buy this book--there are much better ones. If you want to know my opinion on some other books, then email me! =)

This book, like so many others, is filled with misconceptions about gerbils, their care, and especially breeding and genetics. I would definitely not follow most of the advice in this book, because it is largely incorrect. For instance, it says that females are less quarrelsome than males. While this is true in mice, it does not apply to gerbils, in which females are much more quarrelsome than males. Also, "One of the first color mutations to appear in gerbils was the albino". Hah! Still to this date, there is no such thing as albino among gerbils. And "The black gerbil is one of the newer colors to become available commercially". Yeah right. Blacks were the 2nd color (after golden agouti) to become available! There is also a picture of a gerbil turned on its back. It is labeled as a male, while it is clearly a female! Basically, this book is a laugh to read, and might turn out to be quite dangerous for the less-informed gerbil owner taking its advice for granted. However, this book is not completely bad; it has very nice color pictures, and some of the advice in it is correct, such as it stating that cedar bedding is dangerous and should be avoided as bedding.

This book covers all the basics to owning a gerbil. It has a easy to understand genetic chart and helpful advice in breeding, housing, and simply everyday care. It covers nutrition and food that is poisonous. this is a great book for a beginner and a helpful resource to have around.

It had the things you know mixed in with the things you wouldn't think of. The answers are things you would never think of. You really have to rack your brain to think of the right answer which I promise you is not totally impossible.

Edward J. Harshman's "Clever Lateral Thinking Puzzles" is a rather serious disappointment. For the uninitiated, "lateral thinking puzzles" are mind exercises that discourage standard problem-solving methods and reward cleverness and innovation. One of the problems with Harshman's book is that it includes no instructions or introduction. Some sort of proem would have gone a long way to helping the uninitiated. While it would seem clear what the puzzles want (i.e., an explanation of apparently strange facts), there is indeed room to wonder.

Consider, for example, the puzzle in which a man locks his son out of the house, for which the son thanks his father. Harshman's solution is that the father's actions forced the pampered son to strike out on his own and make a living for himself. While there is nothing wrong with that solution as *an* (as opposed to *the*) answer, certainly other answers come to mind. The father could have bombed the house for fleas without the son being aware of that fact; the father then could have locked the door to prevent his son from inadvertently walking in and inhaling the noxious fumes. The point is that few of the solutions are unique, and there is really no clear way to arrive at Harshman's answer and not an alternate one that works.

In fairness, this problem is hardly unique to "Clever Lateral Thinking Puzzles." Games such as "MindTrap" and the Mensa quiz books contain similar problems, though not on the scale that "Clever Lateral Thinking Puzzles" does. And at least in the case of MindTrap, it is clearly intended to be interactive and therefore allows one person to answer questions and avoid the ambiguities.

This book was great. I loved it the puzzles streched my brain it made me a lot smarter. Hours of fun!

I found this book to be trite and predictable. It could help children and parents to prepare for Kindergarten, but so could many other books that are better, such as the Miss Bindergarten books or The Night Before Kindergarten. I understand that young children need simple, colorful books, but the illustrations in Look Out Kindergarten just did not do it for me. I myself have little visual art ability, but feel I could have illustrated this book better. Being a librarian, I know that preschool age children need great illustrations to enhance their listening; this book was a large disappointment.

I bought this book for my almost five year old granddaughter who is about to enter kindergarten and found it to be below her comprehension and appreciation standards. Her younger sister who is 2 seemed to enjoy it.

I am a Kindergarten Teacher and my students loved reading this book. It is a great way to introduce the school year. Parents this is also a great book to read to your little one as they begin school-it discuss first day of school jitters and excitement. Nancy Carlson does a wonderful job!

Stuart Little has always been a wonderful book and it would have made a wonderful movie if the producers had used the original text as a guide. Instead, they strayed so far from the original text in making the movie that they were forced to publish books like this to bridge the gap. The E.B. White text is beautifully written and has captured the imagination of children and adults for decades. Do not buy this, buy the original.

I Read Stuart little when I was little in the late 70's I enjoyed the book I allways felt it would make a great cartoon, it's about time they made the movie if you like Stuart little Reald Mouse and the motercycle and Runnaway ralf

As a longtime hedgehog owner and rescuer, I am saddened to see that this is one of the more widely distributed books on pet hedgehogs in the country. The information is outdated and inaccurate, but since hedgehogs are fairly new as pets, many novice owners will not catch on to the problems in this book.

The diet that Mr. Kelsey-Wood recommends in his books is too high in fat, too low in protein for a pet hedgehog. In addition, the habitats he shows are too small for a typical active hedgehog! But for those owners used to seeing small mammals like hamsters in tiny cages, with grain-based diet, how are they expected to know that hedgehogs have radically different needs?

Mr. Kelsey-Wood certainly does nothing to enlighten them. Hedgehogs all over the country are receiving sub-standard care as a result of the information in this book.

The content is sometimes controversial, the index is lousy, and all those lovely photos make it near impossible to skim the contents for a particular tidbit of information.

I disagree with Mr. McCurdy's review of African Pygmy Hedgehogs As Your New Pet. As an owner of several African Pygmy Hedgehogs I like the cutesy pictures, and especially the wall poster included with the book. The book was very informative about maintaining the health of African Pygmy Hedgehogs. If you buy a hedghog, buy this book.