The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story

Book Description

Here is the incredible true story of a Red-tailed Hawk that makes himself at home in the most unlikely of places--atop a high-rise apartment building in New York City. Named Pale Male by his many fans, this majestic bird not only endures in this urban environment, he thrives. But when the residents have Pale Male's nest removed from their building, a historic battle--and triumph--ensues, uniting bird lovers everywhere.

With Jeanette Winter's beloved folk art-inspired illustrations and soulful insight into the spirit of this beautiful hawk, this is a book that will delight nature enthusiasts of all ages.

Includes an author's note.

Customer Reviews:

High-flying fun.......2007-04-24

"The Tale of Pale Male" is a gussied-up true story for the Picture Book set. Remember Pale Male--a Red-tailed hawk--and his Fifth Avenue perch? (Mary Tyler Moore lives in his building.) Remember how Pale Male brought his gal pal Lola to his favorite spot and they built a nest? Remember the birdwatchers down below and the momentous birth of two "hungry chicks"?

Pale Male and Lola set off a media storm when they build their huge nest and begin circling the skies of Manhattan. People lined the street to watch the birds fly and the chicks hatch. Winter chronicles their story and their abrupt eviction from 927 Fifth Avenue when downstairs neighbors complain of the "evidence of Lola's meals" falling on "to the balcony below." (Note: Winter includes only bones, leaves, and twigs in this "evidence.") Media and public outrage follow culminating in the restoration of Pale Male's home.

Winter successfully combines two stories in "The Tale of Pale Male." On the one hand it's the story of people standing up for nature even in the heart of Manhattan. On the other hand, it's a nature story--we learn how Red-tail hawks build nests, what they eat, and how they live.

Winter's pallette of grays, purples, and teals beautifully suits Pale Male's city life, especially when contrasted with the opening pages illustrated in the greens, blues and browns of a Red-tailed hawk's life in nature. An "author's note" at the end of the book gives us the straight story.

"The Tale of Pale Male" is best suited for readers ages four to eight. School-aged children in kindergarten through second grade will especially like "The Tale of Pale Male" at story time. Its dual story line will appeal to city slickers and nature lovers alike.

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Winter Birds ~ Reviewed
A character-driven story rich in profound insights into human nature
fascinating different novel
Appreciate your elders
Slow, beautiful read - well worth it!

Winter Birds
Jamie Langston Turner
Manufacturer: Bethany House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0764200151
Release Date: 2006-09-01

Book Description

Plain and dutiful, Sophia Hess has lived most of her life without ever knowing genuine love. Her professor husband had married her for the convenience of having a typist for his scholarly papers. The discovery of a dark secret opens her eyes to the truth about her marriage and her husband. Eventually nephew Patrick and his wife, Rachel, take Sophia into their home, and she observes from a careful distance their earnest faith and the simple gifts of kindness they generously bestow upon her and others-this in spite of an unthinkable tragedy they've suffered. Dare she unlock the door behind which she stalwartly conceals her broken heart? An insightful and moving portrayal of the transforming power of love.

Customer Reviews:

Winter Birds ~ Reviewed.......2007-10-01

At eighty I knew I must not delay. The branches of the tree were nearly bare. My method: I sent letters to nine people, family acquaintances, five of whom responded, to apply as Providers of Winter Hospice for Sophia Marie Langham Hess.

The wealthy widow Sophia chooses, finally, to live with her nephew and his wife in a modest bungalow in Greenville, Mississippi. Winter Birds, Jamie Langston Turner's third novel, is the story of Ms. Hess in that winter season and the tale of the gradual unthawing of her heart in the home of Patrick and Rachel.

The time period spanned in this contemporary novel is about one year, though through Sophia's flashbacks and memories we are able to piece together the entire life story of this intelligent but embittered octogenarian. The setting is spare. Mostly we're in Sophia's room, which looks out over a playground, has in view a mortuary and, just outside the window, a bird feeder.

This book majors on characters. Sophia, the main character, who tells the entire story in first person (present tense, no less), is rich and complex. As a former English teacher and the widow of Eliot Hess, a noted Shakespeare professor, she shows herself to be intelligent, cultured and perceptive. She is also sneaky, funny, and at times a less than reliable narrator, colored as her outlook is by low self-esteem, betrayal, disappointment, and cynicism.

Other main characters Patrick and Rachel, as well as secondary characters Terri, Steve and Potts, are seen and interpreted through Sophia's eyes in satisfying physical and psychological detail. Sophia's penchant for people-watching leads to some amusing reflections - like this one at the Christmas dinner table, when most of the guests are gushing about the pin Sophia got as a gift and Sophia, catching the look on teenager Mindy's face muses:

"Mindy is eyeing the pin, frowning slightly as if wondering how such a small thing, something she would never be caught wearing, can evoke such emotion from adults. Perhaps she will tell her friends about it later: "And this fat old woman was wearing this weird-looking bird pin that everyone was having a cow over!"

Langston Turner's prose style is simple. In one place she has Sophia overhear aspiring writer Patrick report to Rachel "in painstaking detail" (Sophia thinks Patrick is an incredible bore) something his teacher has said about "two kinds of simplicity - one producing art, the other banality." As I read this book, I got the feeling that simplicity producing art was the effect Langston Turner was after and, in my opinion, achieved. But if the prose is simple, other stylistic features like Shakespearean lines as titles and the descriptions of bird behavior under those titles, both of which are then woven into the story line of the chapter, make the book satisfyingly thoughtful and layered.

Death is a theme that runs through the entire story. That's probably not surprising, as Sophia is 80 and feels that her own is imminent. This theme is underlined again and again as Sophia watches the goings-on at the mortuary across the street and obsessively reads the "Milestones" columns from old Time magazines, paying special attention to the obits. Other themes that emerge as the back story unfolds are betrayal and deception. What finally transforms this often pessimistic story into a hopeful one is the message that love has the power to heal and restore.

The Christian aspect of the novel is handled with a light touch. Sophia, herself a skeptic throughout the book, does a good job of articulating common objections to belief. These are countered not with platitudes and sermons but with actions. Rachel, Patrick and others do a good job of showing in their own imperfect ways, what it means to serve and love the way Jesus taught.

This book is easily one of my favorites of 2006. The beautiful writing full of wisdom, literary allusions and stylistic elegance give it the moodling possibilities of poetry. Its quiet but compelling plot, realistic characters and sly humor made me wish it were twice as long. It reminds me of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and, like that book, it's one I'm planning to read again, this time with highlighter always at hand.

Violet Nesdoly
http://vnesdoly.blogspot.com/

A character-driven story rich in profound insights into human nature.......2007-06-06

For many years, Jamie Langston Turner's novels stood squarely in a class by themselves --- "in" the CBA market but in some ways not "of" it. Turner's writing is often so elegant, so detailed and so richly textured that her books have distinguished themselves in a category all their own. Recently, though, the quality of evangelical fiction has risen to a remarkable degree, and the field of high-caliber writers has likewise widened. With WINTER BIRDS, however, Turner proves she still has what it takes to stay one step ahead of the CBA pack.

The novel's opening premise sets the tone for what is to come. Accepting the fact that she has entered the winter of her life, Sophia Hess, a no-nonsense, relatively healthy but embittered octogenarian, has "auditioned" a number of extended-family members for the responsibility of caring for her for the rest of her life. In return, the selected candidate will be her sole heir. She settles on her nephew Patrick and his wife Rachel, who hold the greatest promise for providing her with the care, accommodations and independence she demands. She settles into their spare room, content to observe the birds that visit the feeder outside her window, watch reruns of vintage television shows on the one channel she can tolerate, and check out the obituaries of notables in issues of Time magazines, both current and past. Oh, and eavesdrop on conversations that take place elsewhere in the house.

We learn all this, and everything else in the book, from Sophia's perspective. And that makes for a languid pace --- exactly what you would expect from an elderly woman. Even so, the story never lags; it's told by someone who has no regard for time, but that someone is both so ordinary and so fascinating that we're easily lured into the running account of her daily routine in the present and the memories of her marriage to a literature professor in the distant past. That late-in-life marriage accounts for the bitterness that has poisoned Sophia's thinking and robbed her of every last shred of hope; the good Professor Hess, as it turned out, harbored a deep, dark and dirty secret throughout their 13-year marriage, prompting the dutiful Mrs. Hess to whisper curses in his ear as he lay in a coma shortly before his death.

Eventually, though, Sophia's world, until now pretty much confined to the four walls of her room, begins to expand as the well-intentioned but bombastic Patrick and the reticent and long-suffering Rachel open up their lives to a motley assortment of friends, co-workers and neighbors --- something they had been hesitant to do since the kidnapping and murder of their two young children years before. Among the newcomers is the rebellious teenager Mindy, whose overly protective parents have withdrawn her from public school and enlisted the help of Sophia, a former college instructor, to assist them in homeschooling their daughter.

In telling Sophia's story, Turner sidesteps the landmines that so many other Christian writers blithely stomp on. Patrick and Rachel are born-again Christians, but never does that fact feel intrusive, even when Patrick gets a bit long-winded in his praying and his expounding on the Bible. It's Patrick who is long-winded, not Turner. That's a distinction that makes all the difference between mediocre writing and the finely honed art of an author like Turner. The faith element is presented subtly, as simply a matter of fact in their lives. And yet, the way they live out their faith has a profound effect on everyone, including Sophia.

But let me repeat --- while "Christian" novels are littered with landmines, Turner deftly maneuvers her way around every one of them. And as in her other novels, in WINTER BIRDS Turner shows her undisputed skill in creating verisimilitude, which basically means --- in case it's been a while since you encountered that word in high school English class --- that everything rings true.

WINTER BIRDS is highly recommended for those who appreciate a character-driven story rich in profound insights into human nature.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

fascinating different novel.......2007-02-21

I like the style of the author. Outwardly not much happened in Sophia's life but a lot happened inwardly. I am also 80 and the book seemed a bit depressing to me at first because her life seemed to be over. It was pleasing to see it get more lively as she got more involved with helping others. In the beginning of the book she saw something in Patrick's office that shocked her. I never did figure out what that was. Can someone help mme?

Appreciate your elders.......2007-01-15

Sophia is a elderly woman who is living in the home of her nephew Patrick and his wife Rachel. She has chosen them as the place where she will live until she dies. She then proceeds to tell us about here life and what goes on inside this household. She reveals that her marriage wasn't what she had expected it to be. Her stepchildren hated her from the beginning, her husband treated her as just a mere companion, and denied her of any little happiness she had hoped would come from her marriage that she did not experience in her childhood. Plus she also found a devastating secret about her husband that he had kept hidden throughout their entire marriage until his death. Living with Patrick and Rachel has allowed her to view this small family and their lives as a quiet observer. They have lost their two children and may not have the greatest marriage but since they are Christians they still find the strength to get through any hardships that come their way. This puzzles Sophia as she struggles to understand the meaning of her life and how not to take everyone for granted.

This book was a very relaxing read for me. Have you ever seen the movie Junebug? This book reminded me of that movie, being down in the south where everything is just slow paced. You think it will be a long time before the story gets exciting, but before you know it you've already been drawn into this world. I felt that the characters were very real and the reader feels very connected to Sophia. Being still a young adult, it was fascinating for me to read the story through the eyes of an eighty year old. I never realize how really we treat the elderly, until I read about how Patrick treated his aunt IE talking to her loudly because he think she can't her or doing things because HE feels that it's best for her. I did like very much how Sophia changed throughout the course of the book as she starts to realize that she doesn't want to look forward to dying anymore. I also found the scene where she's caught eavesdropping by Rachel and to cover it up she pulls off the button from her dress on purpose very amusing. I love how all of Jamie Turner's books bring in characters from her other novels and while this story took place in a different setting from the others, we still have appearances from two memorable characters. This book is touching, hopeful, funny, sad, and manages draws you right into the story all at the same time. I highly recommend this book.

Slow, beautiful read - well worth it!.......2006-12-31

Winter Birds differed a fair bit from the description offered on the back of the book.

The story begins with Aung Sophie living in a somewhat private apartment within her nephew Patrick and his wife's modest home. The story is written in the first person, by the plodding, bitter, very introspective but also sharply insightful Aunt Sophia. On one hand I despaired that that the story would never get moving - but on the other hand I gained much insight and sympathy towards not just elderly Aunt Sophia, but to the plight of the lonely aged everywhere.

Though slow moving, this is a beautiful in - depth study of several all too human characters. I came to love and appreciate both the strength and weakness of each person portrayed in the novel.

The very gradual change and softening of Aunt Sophie's heart happens as she observes the lives of others who are also shattered, but still trust and love Jesus. This change is very belivably and lightly done.

In summary, a slow beautiful read that warmed my heart. I loved this book - and plan to read all of Jamie Langston Taylor's books.

Average customer rating:

The following information is from the inside cover:

Stokes Guide to Nature in Winter
Donald Stokes , and Lillian
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Birds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0316817236

Customer Reviews:

The following information is from the inside cover:.......2005-06-06

A Guide to Nature in Winter is an un paralleled introduction to the wintertime natural world. Nature is never dormant: on close observation, a silent, snow- blanketed winter landscape reveals itself as the setting for intense and purposeful activity in the plant and animal worlds. Because natural activity is greatly simplified in winter, though, it is the ideal season to introduce oneself to the complex series of relationships that tie the natural world together.

Perhaps this volume is better described as eight comprehensive field guides in one. Donald Stokes covers thoroughly the eight prominent aspects of winter most easily studied in the field: winter weeds, snow crystals, wintering trees, evidence of in sects, birds and abandoned nests, winter mushrooms, tracks in the snow, and ever green plants. For each topic, he provides a general introduction, a key to field identification of items within the topic, and a natural history description of each item (arranged alphabetically, by common name).

The 485 stunning pen-and-ink drawings that grace these pages make accurate field identification easy and convey a feeling for nature in its entirety. A Guide to Nature in Winter will inform and entertain nature lovers, winter walkers, cross-country skiers, campers, birdwatchers, armchair naturalists - in short, everyone interested in understanding the marvels held by nature in winter. The combination of an expertly organized text and splendid illustrations enables readers to see, clearly and piercingly, the winter landscape as a bountiful whole.

Donald Stokes is a naturalist and teacher. Deborah Prince is a freelance artist. Both live in Massachusetts.

Average customer rating:

More than Ravens
Precise and poetic
Exploration in Ethology
Great book on observing nature, but not the best on ravens
Bernd Heinrich teaches us how to study animal behavior

Ravens in Winter
Bernd Heinrich
Manufacturer: Summit Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Birds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0671678094

Amazon.com

Ravens are among the most elusive and yet (or, consequently) fascinating animals of North American I have ever encountered. Heinrich--an incredibly patient and cold-hardy fellow, not to mention, a heck of a writer--studied ravens in the dead of winter in Maine, and made some remarkable discoveries of how these normally solitary birds would actually engage in food sharing. Few of the many works on behavioral ecology I have read so compellingly capture the tedium of field work, the inscrutability of subject animals, and the satisfaction of discovery that provides even greater warmth than a blazing wood fire in the middle of a northern winter. Highly Recommended.

Book Description

Why should ravens--which are usually solitary birds--share valuable food in the dead of winter? How clever are these birds? Do they have a language? These are some of the riddles that noted sociobiologist Bernd Heinrich, author of Bumblebee Economics and winner of the John Burroughs Medal, explores in this intriguing book. 16 pages of drawings.

Customer Reviews:

More than Ravens.......2006-09-26

A very interesting book. I found the hardships the author so enthusiastically suffered for his research even more interesting than the ravens. Doctor Heinrich was not a young man when he began the research in the frozen Maine woods. I believe he was about 45 when he started and close to 50 when he finished this particular phase of study. He was climbing close to the top of 100 foot trees in freezing or below freezing weather, he was shivering in blinds (and in his cabin) for hours in below 0 weather, he hauled hundreds of pounds of meat in snow and sleet countless times. He walked and sometimes ran many, many miles through the snow with and without snowshoes. He was up before dawn many, many times. Pretty amazing.

Of course, his raven research is extremely interesting. I thought I had heard at least one of them sound like a barking dog at my cabin in the Canadian woods. My dog barks in the cabin when I have to leave him when it's too hot to take him in the car. I know now that it's possible the raven copied the bark.

Certainly worth reading even if you aren't a scientist.

Precise and poetic.......2005-10-09

Academic field biologist Bernd Heinrich created a poetic and spiritual account of his exacting field observations regarding the intelligence of ravens. This book is moving and illuminating. It is also a true life mystery novel that keeps you turning pages to see how it all works out. The best part: Bernd Heinrich has written many other books equal to this one.

Exploration in Ethology.......2005-07-07

This book provides an introduction into how questions of animal behavior are asked and answered. Heinrich, a professor of zoology and naturalist noticed that crows seemed to call others to join them when they discovered large animal kills in the winter. Such behavior would seem to be against the crows' best interest, since an individual crow could perhaps have more food if it kept it all for itself. This set Heinrich's curiosity afire, which impelled him to embark on a multi-year study of crow behavior so that he could determine why the crows seem so eager to share their bounty. In this book, presented as a daily journal, Heinrich details his project, from the original posing of the question through final publication of the results. He describes how he gathered downer cows, transported them to the study site, and how he observed crow behavior for hours and days on end at feeding sites. He also describes how he trapped and banded crows so that he could record the behavior of individuals over time. In the end, he builds a very solid case for the idea that juvenile crows recruit others to overwhelm resident crows who would otherwise defend their territory (and food) from outsiders. The book is illustrated with a set of black-and-white drawings done by Heinrich. End material includes appendices with numerical and graphical analyses of the study data, an extensive bibliography, and an index.

What takes this book beyond simple ecological description is Heinrich's careful inclusion of his methodology. He is very much a teacher, so he takes great care to explain how he came up with his hypotheses about the recruiting behavior, which in the beginning numbered not one but nine. He discusses scientific methodology, the right way and wrong way to observe natural phenomena, as well as background material about ravens. He also notes how any one piece of data or type of data do not in themselves lead to a conclusion, but that the final result in this type of research must be constructed by examining all the data, and seeing how they all point in the same direction. I found one comment particularly fascinating. Somewhere along the way, I had been told that animals do not have the mental capacity to experience emotions, or that if they do experience emotions at all, such emotions are simple and limited. But Heinrich states "Birds are primarily emotional beings, and their responses to emotional drives are probably much more direct than ours are, since human reactions are tempered by reason." When one considers animal behavior in this light, much becomes clear, yet many more questions arise.

Great book on observing nature, but not the best on ravens.......2004-10-12

As readers of his other books know, Bernd Heinrich is an outstanding observer of nature. He has retained his childlike curiosity, and enjoys poking around under rocks, climbing trees to look around, and conducting simple experiments in the woods to see what will happen.

He has long since grown up into a scientist and a teacher as well. As a result, he knows how to take notes, conduct a literature review, justify his conclusions, and convey information to readers.

In this book, he does all this very well in trying to figure out a puzzle of raven behavior. If you want to walk with him on an intellectual journey, this is a five-star book.

But . . . I wanted a book about ravens. Instead of the journey, I wanted the destination. There is a better book out there on ravens, and as it turns out, Bernd Heinrich wrote that one, too. If, like me, you want to know what we know about these remarkable, intelligent birds, read Heinrich's "Mind of the Raven" instead.

Bernd Heinrich teaches us how to study animal behavior.......2004-07-22

Mr. Heinrich has hit on a truth: when studying the behavior of animals you must remain mentally flexible, keep an open mind and open senses, and keep your eye on the big picture--all while preventing yourself from either trying to make the organism either too human or too robotic. He has developed an amazing capacity, rare among scientists, to do all these things while balancing them with the need for a scientific approach, and that skill has led him to exciting results. While his approach may seem frustratingly scattershot to those who practice or admire "pure" sciences like mathematics, it is revealed in this book as the only method that can provide rapid (within a human lifetime), ground-breaking results in the complex and chaotic world of behavioral research. Heinrich has revealed ravens as neither humans wearing feathers nor as creatures of knee-jerk instinct, but rather as fascinating and intelligent members of our living planet. I am in as much awe of his ability to penetrate to the reasons behind behaviors as I am of his endurance, strength, persistence, and love of nature. I'm going to have to read his book on bumblebees next--and in fact, every one of his books!

Average customer rating:

A fun little poke at the Olympics
Penguins in a Wacky Wonder Land: Hilarious Book!
QUITE GOOD AND THE KIDS LOVE IT
I love Tacky

Tacky and the Winter Games
Helen Lester
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618556591

Book Description

"A-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff-and-a-huff-and-a-puff" "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Tacky the penguin wants to know. The Winter Games, that's what's happening. And Tacky and his fellow penguins Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect have to work hard to get in shape so they can represent Team Nice Icy Land in the athletic competitions. After rigorous training, they're ready - but are the games ready for Tacky? Will his antics keep Team Nice Icy Land from winning a medal? From bobsledless racing and ski jumping to speed skating, Tacky lends his unique, exuberant style to each competition. In laugh-out-loud scenes of Tacky and his fellow penguins' athletic debacles, Tacky reminds readers of the underlying joy and enthusiasm that propells athletes to greatness. So get ready to cheer for Team Nice Icy Land and let the games begin!

Customer Reviews:

A fun little poke at the Olympics.......2007-08-05

"A-huff-and-puff-and-a-huff-and-puff-and-a-huff-and-puff. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" blared Tacky the Penguin as he came across his companions Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect."

Tacky quickly learns his companions are training for the Winter games. They try to get him to work out as well and Tacky does in his own unique style.

Soon the games arrive, opening ceremonies and then the events.

His team handily wins the bobsledless race as they jump on Tacky and ride him to victory. But a judge calls them for riding a bobsled. Tacky tries to point out his is not one but they still get disqualified.

Next is the ski jumping event with frozen fish for skies. Tacky decides to toast his toes in a cabin but unfortunately he thaws his fish. He tries to jump and lands....several times.

Finally, it's the last event; speed skating. Everything is going well but when the baton is passed to Tacky; he eats it. Frustrated, his companions chase him. Tacky things it's a game of tag and races faster and faster. They win. But did they? They take him to x-ray and look for the baton. Point out the cobwebs in his head as it made my girl laugh.

They eventually are declared the winner and as always: Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.

Overall, it's a good story and well illustrated. However, I found my girl not liking this one as much.

Penguins in a Wacky Wonder Land: Hilarious Book!.......2007-01-08

"Tacky and the Winter Games" nails the difficult challenge of writing a truly funny kids' book; it's one of the funniest I've read in the last several years. Text and illustrations combine superbly to give a fully realized portrait of a Tacky and his wacky winter land. You and your young audience will enjoy both immensely; It's one of those rare books that adults will enjoy appreciate almost as much as kids.

The Modus Operandi here is depicting penguins--those lovable but waddly, often awkward looking mammals--training for a Winter Olympics type contest. For credibility, Lester presumes that most penguins might adapt well to winter sports, given sufficient training. However, Tacky is not "most" penguins: He combines a wonderfully comic combination of the sloth and gluttony of Garfield the cat with the wild abandon of Mr. Toad. Not for Tacky the rigors of training: Whereas his four teammates hike, do sit-ups, lift weights, bicycle, eat "special training meals" and keep "strict training hours," Tacky lays down in the snow, abandons the sit-ups, Mr. Toads it on his bicycle--sending his teammates scurrying for safety, feasts on pizza and donuts, and stays up late munching popcorn and watching TV.

The story opens up thematically and pictorially with the 2-page spread describing the Opening Ceremonies. Teams of other penguins come from the "Highlands," the "Lowlands," the "Fun Lands," and Tacky's own "Nice Icy Land." They all march with dignity--except for Tacky who falls on his head while carrying the 'Nice Icy' pennant. However, this episode gives observant readers some insight into his character: Although Tacky falls down, he manages to hold the flag aloft with his feet. Could there be something more to him than his clownishly lazy behavior suggests?

Well, sort of. His team wins the NO-bobsled race but is disqualified because they use Tacky as a bobsled. Penguin ski-jumping, as we all know, uses frozen fish for skis; Tacky's fish skis thaw when he chills (so to speak) by a pot-bellied stove before the race, and floppy fish make for funny aerodynamics. Finally, there's a relay race. The first four members of Team Nice Icy Land pass the baton neatly to each other, but when it's passed to the last skater, Tacky, he eats it! "Ate it? Ate it. Well, it looked like a hot dog." In frustration, his teammates chase him, and Tacky, thinking it's a game of tag "skated faster. And faster. And fasterandfaster and barreled across the finish line in record time." However, will a strict judge (wearing a button that says, "I rule") award them first place when the baton has disappeared? I'll only reveal that the resolution involves X-rays and that the four other penguins give Tacky a big hug. Lester concludes, "Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around."

Just about everything here is perfect: The pacing, the funny and vividly colored illustrations that evoke place and person, the plot--which could have stopped much earlier but is well-developed but not long or meandering for its young audience. I'm surprised to see it so low on the Amazon.com sales list. I hope this is not indicative of its popularity. If so, Tacky and his crew deserve a much bigger audience.

QUITE GOOD AND THE KIDS LOVE IT.......2006-09-07

Small simple story, excellent art work, funny...the kids love this one to the read to them and they do enjoy the rather good illustrations. I like reading this one to the class myself and probably enjoy it as much as the kids do. It is a rather off beat story featuring a rather off beat penguin - it is different. Overall, highly recommend this one.

I love Tacky.......2006-03-11

I love Tacky the penquin. This book was great to read to my Kindergarten class during the Winter Olympics. We had a lot to talk about. Of course my children know Tacky from, "Tacky" and "Three Cheers for Tacky". These two books are at the top of my list for read alouds in my class. Classic favorites!

Average customer rating:

affecting and grim
This story is more chilling than any horror genre tale/movie
Beautifully melancholy
very, very grim
Too Cold to Fly

WINTER BIRDS: A Novel
Jim Grimsley
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0684829916

Book Description

In Jim Grimsley's remarkable first novel,

Winter Birds, Danny Crell tells himself

his own story, and in doing so illuminates

the heartbreaking story of his father's violent

tyranny over his mother, his sister, and his three

younger brothers.

The novel begins on Thanksgiving in rural

North Carolina in a broken-down cottage the

Crell children have nicknamed "The Circle

House." Ellen Crell's attempts at a family meal

are thwarted and finally disastrously ruined

when Bobjay draws her into a violent quarrel.

It leads to a chase wherein Bobjay is the hunter,

Ellen the prey, and their five children are caught

in between.

Winter Birds is a haunting, unforgettable

portrait of an American family shattered by

violence, and of the lengths a woman will go to

keep her family whole.

Customer Reviews:

affecting and grim.......2006-08-05

The mood and tone Grimsley is able to evoke is stunning. While the plot wavers around somewhat and the characters act in inexplicable ways, the power of the narrative will touch a chord in your heart that will reverberate for years. I'm looking forward to reading more from this talented first-time novelist.

This story is more chilling than any horror genre tale/movie.......2006-03-30

No Jekyll & Hyde monster movie could ever achieve the level of true terror that exists in this book. I disagree strongly with reviewers who have said the author is somewhat disengaged from the characters, that this story is an exercise in writing technique. Writing style was nowhere in my mind when I turned page after page, anxious over the fate of the Crells.

Beautifully melancholy.......2003-10-18

Readers and reviewers have panned this novel as grim. But it is a celebration of the courage of Danny, a character who reappears (starring) in the novel "Comfort & Joy." We all know abuse happens - especially in situations of poverty. Compound that with the inherent abuse of an ignorant father against his small hemophiliac child and you have a definite "tear-jerker." Defying cliche, again, as he does in all of his novels, Grimsley shows the silent strength of the children who help their mother to dodge the father's brutality. You quickly envision the souls of 40 year olds trapped in the body of toddlers. It is something profoundly emotive. Something to be savored. Grimsley's talent lies in painting a psychological portrait of the characters. This can be a daunting task, but he does so with ease and fluidity. I recommend this book not because of its "tearjerker" plotline, but because of the inherent hope that rises from the strength of its characters. Much like his novel "Comfort and Joy," the writer seeks to ensconce desolation with strength and hope. It's a novel that is not grim; it is a novel that seeks to show the points of light in the pitch black of sadness.

very, very grim.......2003-09-23

This book, a cringing, nightmarish, too-violent-to-not-be-real heart wrencher, is nevertheless beautiful and extremely transfixing. The story is told in an eerie second-person narrative by Danny Crell, one of five children in a family with an unbelievably abusive alcoholic father.

At the beginning of the book after meeting Danny's brothers (one of whom is a hemophiliac like himself), the reader is also introduced to Danny's fantasy world near the river adjacent to the family home (dubbed "the circle house" due to its spherical path of doors). Danny has imagined for himself a kind and attentive father he calls The River Man, who is described to appear somewhat like bigfoot. As the stories of abuse begin in flashback form, we see very little of Danny's River Man, yet it sometimes feels as though the story is being told by him: "Even with a new baby she watched you every minute, Danny, and you never stepped out of the house without her warning you to be careful."

The novel culminates on Thanksgiving Day with unimaginable horror and a final act no one would suspect. The resolution I was hoping for never arrived, perhaps making the work even more realistic. A devastating book, but one worth reading. I look forward to reading Jim Grimsley's other novels.

Too Cold to Fly.......2002-09-09

There is no doubt that Jim Grimsley is an extremely talented writer. The language of Winter Birds is such that in places it can make you cry. Yet, in spite of this, there is an emotional sterility that pervades this book. I have noticed that many of today's writers equate seriousness of subject matter with seriousness of writing. Is this the [term] that writers fall into?

The subject matter of Winter Birds is one that has - thanks to [person's book club]choices - become cliched: family abuse. I do not mean to say that abuse in families does not exist or that it is not serious. I am saying that it has been written about to the extent that there is not much more to say about it. The shock value I found in Before Women Had Wings was emotionally overpowering. By the time I got to Winter Birds there was not anything that could be said or done that I did not expect.

As I say, Grimsley's ability to use language in setting a scene is almost equal to that of Lee Smith. But, language alone does not make for great writing. What should be an emotional experience simply becomes an exercise in writing technique. In Winter Birds I felt that Grimsley was an outsider observing what went on in the family he wrote about. Well, it may be that Grimsley has experienced some of what he wrote about. If that is the case, he has not dealt with his experiences or processed them fully. He was too detached, especially when he reached the point in the novel that was supposed to be the most shocking. When I read this part, I just felt that I had been manipulated through a weak effort to shock the reader into caring about and doing something about family abuse. I did not feel the pain the characters should have felt because the emotional link was not there. The book had fallen from the grace of writing to the skill of technique.

Book Description

Winter's cold and winter's darkness,
wraps us in these frozen hours.
as the ceaseless wheel turns we call
the sun to warm us with its power.

Cooper, Annie, and Kate celebrate the winter solstice in true Wiccan spirit. The threesome joins practitioners of the Craft in a remote, haunted house in the wintry mountains. An unexpected blizzard strikes, and the girls cannot resist the lure of the dark house's shrouded mystery.

Download Description

Special PerfectBound E-Book Feature! The Death Mask Ritual - Isobel Bird describes a ritual for making a death mask and exploring your own feelings about death. Cooper, Annie, and Kate celebrate the winter solstice in true Wiccan spirit. The threesome joins practitioners of the Craft in a remote, haunted house in the wintry mountains. An unexpected blizzard strikes, and the girls cannot resist the lure of the dark house's shrouded mystery.

Customer Reviews:

Too horror-like.......2002-05-09

This book was somewhat disappointing to me.

Its story of good and evil ghosts, playing with dark magick, possession, and other elements was more suited to a teen horror thriller, not a series that up until now has done a realistic, respectful treatment of what real Wicca is.

The story itself is entertaining, but not what I've come to expect from this series.

getting dull.......2002-04-04

I have liked others in the series, but this one just didn't click for me. The 'twist' at the end was extreamly easy to guess. Her passive writing style is also beginning to grate, it's far too preachy and contained. The book didn't do anything good with the characters at all. Isobel's writing is losing it's spark, and I think she's relying to much on the fact that the girls are studying Wicca, instead of the real storyline. If you plan to buy this book just to see what type of Yule lore there is, and ideas for rituals, save your money. And if you still want to read it, get it out from the library.
In summary, the passion has left the series. I can only hope it will come back soon.

Close but no cigar.......2002-01-09

Hello again from sunny California I give this book 4 stars. Please do don't think I'm being to harsh first hear me out. Like other of her book's it was full of magic and suspense. But yet it felt like it missed something. The house of Winter is about when the four girls set of for a weekend at the "Haunted Hotel" with the rest of their class. They meet the hotel owner's twin daughter's who have seen a ghost {Mary}who is traped in a diffrent dimension she must complete her buisness in order to be released and finally be in peace. But one of the sisters does not want her to be released and will do anything not to see it happen. Which sister is trust worthy and which one is just seeking for their own personal advange.

Close but no cigar.......2002-01-09

An Avid Reader.......2002-01-02

This is the latest in the "Circle of three" series and my favorite. It has our favorite three "almost witches" trapped in an extremely old hotel. Although the Cooper, Annie, and Kate find themselves far from the comfort of their small town, the hotel gives them plenty of action in the midst of a blizzard. If you enjoyed Bird's craftily written characters and their "witchy" adventures then you are sure to be wrapped up in this roller coaster of adventure.

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Spectacular Nature Writing

Winter Moon (Seasons of the Moon)
Jean Craighead George
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0613505255

Book Description

Under the winter moon:

Survive an icy night under a December moon with a song sparrow stalked by a midnight predator in Ohio's suburban meadowland.

Navigate through underground passageways with a mole in the chilly darkness of December and January beneath the Great Plains of Kansas.

Experience January moonlit courtship with a hooting horned owl in the forests of the Catskill Mountains.

Prepare for hibernation with a female bear as February's ice crystals replace the dew in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

In this series, acclaimed naturalist and Newbery Medal -- winning author Jean Craighead George takes readers on a wondrous journey through each season of the year as she captures the lives of thirteen different North American animals in their natural habitats.

Customer Reviews:

Spectacular Nature Writing.......2002-02-01

Newbery Medal-winning naturalist and acclaimed author Jean Craighead George wrote a series of stories in the late 1960's entitled The Thirteen Moons. Each of the thirteen books focused on a different wild animal struggling to survive in a different month of the year and a different part of the United States. The books were: THE MOON OF THE ALLIGATORS, BEARS, CHICKAREES, DEER, FOX PUPS, MOLES, MONARCH BUTTERFLIES, MOUNTAIN LIONS, OWLS, SALAMANDERS, WILD PIGS, WINTER BIRD, and GRAY WOLVES (see my review of these books under THE MOON OF THE OWLS). They had simple black-and-white drawings for illustrations and went out of print. Then in the early nineties the books were republished in handsome hardcover versions, with spectacular full-color paintings to complement Ms. George's original writing. Sadly, these books again went out of print. But now the thirteen books have been republished! They have been condensed into four paperbacks that revolve around the different seasons; AUTUMN MOON and WINTER MOON have already come out, SPRING and SUMMER MOON will be out in spring of 2002. At last this enchanting nature writing has been made easily available. The books are sure to be enjoyed by any person, young or old, who appreciates the natural world, its seasons, and its creatures. WINTER MOON features four stories--THE MOON OF THE WINTER BIRD (December), MOLES (December-January), OWLS (January), and BEARS (February). They are captivating and enjoyable, and very descriptive. Each one resonates with the kind of chilly coziness, combined with a sense of gloom and antagonism, that comes in winter time. You will shiver with the little song sparrow under the December moon; find your way through the underground darkness of a mole's lair; fly with the great horned owl through the Catskill Mountains; and wait for winter to be over with the hibernating black bear. Ms. George's words are lively and interesting and will draw you right into the stories. Also, some of the paintings from the early 90's versions of the books have been reproduced; however, they are not as fine quality to portray the scenes as wonderfully as they did in the out-of-print hardcover versions. Still, it is nice that they were included in the new paperback books. The colors are rich and accurate; I wish that more had been included. Jean Craighead George has written almost 100 books for young naturalists, among them JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, the ONE DAY. . .series, and the ECO-MYSTERIES, so check these out as well. Also, musician Chris Kubie has released a spellbinding CD of the Thirteen Moons entitled MUSIC OF THE THIRTEEN MOONS. Read along with the music and you're sure to find a very enjoyable reading experience.

Birds of the South: Permanent and Winter Birds

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Birds of the South: Permanent and Winter Birds
Charlotte Hilton Green
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The late Charlotte Hilton Green was an early and influential champion of the Tar Heel state's natural environment, and her popular weekly column, 'Out-of-Doors in Carolina,' appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer for forty-two years (1932-74). A classic in the field of popular nature writing, Birds of the South was originally published by UNC Press in 1933, preceding by a year Roger Tory Peterson's landmark volume, A Field Guide to the Birds.

In this engaging collection of her early newspaper columns, Green details more than sixty varieties of birds common to southern gardens, fields, and woods. Quotations, poems, and anecdotes complement the descriptions of each species and help to make the book accessible even to novice nature lovers.

Customer Reviews:

The BEST children's book ever written.......2000-01-27

Call me crazy, but Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street is perhaps the best children's book I have ever read. It captures the very essence of the seasons and of the heart. Anyone who reads this book will be touched by its sincerity and blessed by it's message. Anyone who has not read this book should buy it and read it immediately!

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