Customer Reviews:
Sweet childhood story - Pictures were phenomenal.......2007-10-10
My husband lived in the Netherlands for two years, so we've seen a few pictures and heard a few stories. When we checked this book out through the library, I knew we had to have it. The story is simple, and the pictures are amazing and penetrating classics.
Classic tale.......2004-03-29
This book tells a version of the story of the little Dutch boy who holds back the sea with his finger. In this version, the boy is a bit naughty. He gets to skip church by offering to carry a pie to blind man, but then eats the pie himself instead of delivering it. When he finds the leaky dike, nobody believes him because he is known to be such a troublemaker. As a result, he ends up spending the night alone by the dike and has to endure a raging storm before he and the dike are rescued. The book is a little scary but it's a good engaging story. The pictures are all done in the style of the Dutch Masters. It has about 1000 words.
Book Description
With their large, colorful beaks, their upright posture, and their big, dark eyes, it's easy to see why puffins are popular all over the world. But for the past hundred years, puffins along the coast of Maine have been threatened with local extinction. Biologist Stephen Kress decided to try to bring puffins back to Maine with an experiment that had never been attempted before. Stunning color photographs on every page capture each step of this wildlife success story. As you learn about The Puffin Project, you'll also learn all about puffins how they are so wonderfully adapted to their ocean environment, how they catch fish, socialize, nest in burrows, and raise their young.
Customer Reviews:
A delightful book.......2006-06-07
This is a delightful book, which shows that there IS help for some species via the conservation efforts of dedicated environmentalists. And FYI, the efforts continue today. You can find out more (and view the PUFFIN CAM during the summer - morning viewing is best) on the web site for the project run by Dr. Kress and his staff - projectpuffin.org
one of my favorite childrens' books.......2001-08-06
this was one of my favorite books when i was little. i checked it out at the library almost every week. the photographs are beautiful and lucid and the writing is informative (but tells a compelling story). this is a really great book for kids who like to learn about rare animals. another book, slightly longer but on a similar subject, is _The Wheel on the School_. It's about storks and has pencil illustrations rather than great photographs, but i think people who like this book would also like that one.
project puffin.......2000-12-11
Hello. My name is Anna and I'm 8 years old. I think that Project Puffin is a very inspiring book and that the baby puffins are the cutest thing in the world. I am glad they got the puffins and other sea birds back to Egg Rock and other places. If you are cruel enough to think that wearing feathers on hats is a good idea, you will not like this book. People, like myself, who are concerned about nature will like this book a lot.
A very moving account of the puffin project.......1999-09-06
I was very interested in this book and its account of the project since I was involved in its 3 year attempt to bring the puffins back Easter Egg Rock while attending the Audubon Camp on Hogs' Island. I'm so pleased that Stephen Kress has recorded his enthusiasm and experiment so that it can be shared with others. It will be a birthday gift to my great-niece. Alexandra de Grandpré
Book Description
`Rusty Dickinson was sent to the United States from England at the age of seven in 1940 to survive the war. When she returns in 1945, she finds a country and a family she neither understands nor likes, and vice versa.A marvelous look at the complexity of mother-daughter relationships." —ALAN Review.
1984 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1984 Children's Books (NY Public Library)
Customer Reviews:
superb idea for a book.......2006-02-19
(I am an adult, male, and American, but was in school when Rusty would have been.)
Having watched "Back Home(1986)" many times, and being bothered by a number of things about the movie, I decided to read the book. I was disappointed to learn that the book was not autobiographical, although that explains certain things about the story that don't quite fit.
On the plus side, the book avoids some of the more egregious mistakes of the movie, mainly Rusty's brashness in dealing with the people at her school. Her behavior might fit today's teenager but would have been extremely unusual for a 12-year-old in school during WWII. (1) At that time, no pupil would march into the principal's office and plop herself down (as in the movie). In the book, she simply entered. A real child of the time would have entered quietly and cautiously. (2) No child would have marched into a room full of stranger-children for the first time and brashly started talking to them. In the book, she merely says "Hi" (and never seems to figure out that this is offensive). A real child would have held back to get the lay of the land, would have looked for a friendly face or for some girl who made eye-contact with her. Also, Miss Bembridge in the book is not presented as the monster she is in the movie. She is tough and rigid, yes, but not mean.
The author hedges by saying that Rusty went to an atypical school in the U.S. That might seem to protect her from credibility problems, but it won't do. The point is to contrast the U.S. schools with the English ones. Making Rusty's school nonstandard defeats that purpose.
One wishes that Rusty could have been more adept at dealing with her hostile schoolmates. At first, she might have behaved in an extremely polite and correct manner. (If she had been to school in the South, this is certainly what she would have done.) After that failed, she would have fought back (as she does).
In fairness, it must be said that the movie did make a couple of improvements. The movie began with Rusty's happy life with the family in America and with the sad farewells, not with life on the ship. Also, the movie (wisely) followed the mother's searches for her runaway child rather than following Rusty's journey.
It must also be said that the line-level writing in the book is amateurish in several ways. Often, it is impossible to tell who is speaking. Often, it takes some sleuthing to find out whose head we are in. Although many objects are named, there is virtually no description (except of the decorating of the "cabin in the woods") and no sensory details. For instance, readers who know what a lacrosse field looks like need only be told that it is one; readers who don't, need a few words of description.
Still, there are some admirable lines. "The [English] girls danced as if they had been frozen from the neck downwards." Also, as the school begins to have an effect on Rusty: "She began to notice that her breasts were getting smaller and that her clothes were lose. ... She felt as though she was being shrunk to fit the school, her grandmother, and England itself."
It would be nice if some woman who actually went through Rusty's experiences of being evacuated to America at that age, would write a nonfiction novel to present us with more detail about how it really felt arriving in America, living in America, arriving back in England, and living in England. Maybe with some comments contrasting the people and customs of England in 1945 with those today.
Another hit by Magorian.......2006-02-11
I was read Goodnight Mr. Tom when I was younger and fell in love with this author. I didn't read Back Home until I was bit holder, when I was a teen and I love it. I own it and read it over and over again. I admire Rusty's spunk to keep going at it even after all else fails. Again Magorian knows how to write and give you a good image of WWII.
So, happy to see this has been reprinted!!.......2006-01-26
I read Back Home when it was first out in hardcover way back in 1984. It was one of the first books I checked out from the public library on my new "young adult" card. This is an excellent choice for young women; had i a daughter, I would have her read it.
I plan on purchasing a hardcover version for nostalgic purposes, and hope one day my nieces will read it and enjoy it as much as i did.
The Best!!.......2002-04-12
This book is one of my favorite books that I have ever read. It's the type of book that I can't put down. "Rusty" an English girl who was evacuated to America during World War II, comes back to England after 5 years to find everything in England has changed. Her mother doesn't even seem like her mother. Then she is sent to boarding school, and even has difficulties there. I reccomend this book to teenagers.
The Best!!!!!!!!.......2002-04-09
This book is one of my favorite books that I have ever read. It's the type of book that I can't put down. "Rusty" an English girl who was evacuated to America during World War II, comes back to England after 5 years to find everything in England has changed. Her mother doesn't even seem like her mother. Then she is sent to boarding school, and even has difficulties there. I reccomend this book to teenagers.
Book Description
It happens every year, in the spring. After months of living on the open sea, far away from land, puffins return to the rocky coast of Maine. These colorful birds come back to shore for only a short time, to mate and to raise their young.
Not too long ago, the arrival of spring brought fewer and fewer puffins back to Maine. So many birds had been hunted for their meat and feathers that the puffin was in danger of dying out.
In 1969, scientists from the National Audubon Society worked out a plan they hoped would insure the survival of Maine's puffin population. No one was certain the plan would work. It would involve many people and many puffins, and it would be years before anyone could say for sure if the project had been successful.
Today it seems clear that the plan has worked very well. Every year more and more puffins return to Maine in the spring. There's great excitement in the air when the call goes out -- The puffins are back!
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1991 (NSTA/CBC)
Customer Reviews:
best introduction to Puffins I've seen!.......1999-11-09
This is how I teach my 1st. graders. They love it
Average customer rating:
- Not all that impressed
- Incredibly Boring!
- The Magic of MacDonald's Fairy Tale
- Diamond is someone you can admire
- Innocence at its finest
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At the Back of the North Wind: Complete and Unabridged (Puffin Classics)
George Macdonald
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The Complete Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics)
ASIN: 0140367683 |
Amazon.com
This is a story of a poor stable boy living in Victorian London in which everyday lives are mysteriously enveloped by a power and a glory, personified here as a beautiful woman known as the North Wind. She visits the small boy, Diamond, and takes him with her on her journeys, teaching him about herself. Through the eyes of an innocent and yet perceptive child, MacDonald explores North Wind as a way of exploring the place of death in our lives. He looks squarely at social injustice--he knew poverty and the poor first hand--and yet also sees that the deepest need we have is for love and forgiveness, which are rooted in eternity.
This is a book for children--I've read it to my own daughter more than once--even though they may not understand just who North Wind is until years later. Adults on the other hand will learn that while they thought they knew something about death, there is much to relearn--and probably the most important part. --Doug Thorpe
Book Description
Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title--offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.This edition of At the Back of the North Wind includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by Nancy Springer.Listen hard....you can hear magic in the wind!Diamond lives in a hayloft. But that was all right with him. He loves to snuggle up to the horses at night and listen to them snore away. Sometimes he can even hear the stars twinkling in the sky.One night Diamond is visited by a beautiful fairy with long flowing hair. She calls herself North Wind, and she lives in the enchanged land far, far away. Best of all, she has come to take Diamond back with her--back to the land at the back of the North Wind.Adored by millions of young readers since its first publication in 1871, George MacDonald's magical tale continues to delight.
Download Description
A charming and heart-breaking classic. Not for children only.
Customer Reviews:
Not all that impressed.......2007-02-09
I can see the main point of this book, and I think that's cool. "Don't worry when bad things happen - good things are around the corner." Or, to put it another way, "All things work together for good." But most of this book honestly annoyed me. Diamond is entirely too perfect (it starts to get on my nerves).
However, there *are* some scenes that really touched me and really made me think. For instance, when Diamond goes to help the drunken cabbie and his family. I like it when George MacDonald makes these side-notes about society and how we often approach situations from the wrong angle. That was definitely worth it.
After I read this, I went on to read "The Lost Princess." What a contrast! I went from reading about one angelically perfect boy to two horrendously bratty girls. I found the girls much more interesting! (And I felt like I could learn a few lessons myself regarding pride and humility)
Incredibly Boring!.......2006-10-18
After reading and loving his "The Princess and the Goblin" and "The Princess and Curdie",I thought this would be a joy as well. I was wrong! I tried to like it. I read about 75 pages and had to give up. I could detect no plot,no point at all and it seemed to be going nowhere,all he did was fly around with the North Wind,and they chatted about nothing of any interest or importance. This is the worst book that it has been my misfortune to come across in a very long time,and only the second,that I ever remember closing and giving up on. Read the other two,but forget this one!
The Magic of MacDonald's Fairy Tale.......2006-07-31
I am quite ready to add At the Back of the North Wind to my collection of masterpieces that shall remain close to me, I suspect, my entire life. While a collection of favorite books by C. S. Lewis' site largest on that shelf, At the Back of the North Wind will be the second book by George MacDonald to join them. This seems quite appropriate as Lewis himself held MacDonald in such high esteem, even calling him his `master.' While more childish than Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind manages to enchant my imagination in the same way that Narnia always has, while upon first inspection the tale may seem to be of little substance to a more mature audience I think there is subtle depth hidden within the deceptively simple child whom the story centers upon.
Diamond is the young boy of a poor coach driver and his wife living in England during the late 1800's. The story begins in the hayloft above the horse stalls where Diamond sleeps, as the wind blows, but it is not a simple wind, it is the North Wind, the romantic and enchanting idea of a grand lady who is the north wind. Diamond, the infinitely innocent and pure child is beckoned into the air and weaved into many journeys with the north wind where he learns goodness, truth and beauty. Throughout the story, other people see him as quietly wise or as one of `God's Babies.' As the story progresses Diamond becomes week and ill and while being taken to the enchanted country at the back of the North Wind he lapses into unconsciousness. Diamond returns, and with what strength he has, blesses everyone whom he meets; helping his family by driving his father's cab while he is ill, saving an orphaned friend off the streets, even quieting the drunken man's baby who lives next to him, whom even mistakes him for an angel. Finally touching the heart of the rich, but generous and altruistic man who looks after Diamond's orphaned friend and gives Diamond's father a job and lodgings in the countryside.
Yet, it is not these heroic acts, if one might call them that, resound so thoroughly, he is not doing good deeds, doing good deeds seems almost insincere when considered next to his genuine good nature. Like Narnia and Phantastes, there is a longing for something we may never fulfill here in our daily lives, a longing for something we have only hints of, Lewis defines this as Joy, for Diamond it is the longing for the country at the back of the North Wind, of which his first journey there is only a hint of the true country. As for me, I too feel this longing and it is an experience likely to be found in a quite forest and in the embrace of this extraordinary book.
Diamond is someone you can admire.......2006-05-11
This is a 299 paged fiction book.
This book most likely takes place in Europe where horses and carriages were people's transportation.
Diamond is a young boy.
His father is a coachman. His mother works in the home.
Diamond is named after his dad's favorite carriage horse.
Diamond is first visited by the North Wind in his bedroom in the loft.
When he was with North Wind, he could not say he was exactly happy because he didn't have his parents with him; but it was more than happiness, he was content, at peace and still when there.
Diamond is a small boy who has blond hair, light blue eyes, light brown skin, lips like a red rose, sings songs to his little brother and sister that some time make you cry.
Diamond was kind to his little brother and sister; he was brave, clever, neat, and generous. He was wise beyond his young years.
People liked him. He was kind to every one.
North Wind is gentle and kind to Diamond. Even though it doesn't say it at the beginning, North Wind is death. Diamond went to be with her.
I would recommend this book to 6th graders and up.
The book talks about death in a peaceful way.
Diamond is someone you can admire.
Innocence at its finest.......2006-05-05
George Macdonald suceeds in creating a perfectly innocent character in this book: the young boy Diamond. A previous reviewer said that Diamond was too perfect and not believable. I assume that this reviewer would say that Adam was not believable before he fell as well. Why someone is looking for "believable" (by believable I believe that he meant a character we would expect to meet in real life) characters in a George Macdonald fantasy novel in the first place is beyond me. It is like criticizing China for not producing any Englishmen.
Secondly, a previous reviewer said that this book is important historically but that it was not fun to read. He says that "He's the point when 'just fun' and 'sound moral instructions' combine in children's literature." I would like very much for him to show me one of these childrens stories with no moral instruction. That is what all fairy tales were about until recently. Try to find any traditional fairy tale that is not meant to convey moral truths to us. I am afraid that the reviewer has got it exactly backwards. This novel is not historically important at all, but it is very fun to read. George Macdonald is a master at creating fantasy worlds which the reader find easy to become immersed into.
Overall grade: A
Average customer rating:
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At the Back of the North Wind: Complete and Unabridged (Puffin Classics)
George Macdonald
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0140350306 |
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