Product Description
‘Grasshopper, insouciant hero of Lobel’s free-and-easy reader, goes where the road leads, en route unsettling a series of set-in-their-ways insects.’ —SLJ. ‘One of the richest examples of characterization in the beginning-to-read genre.’ —BL.

Notable Children's Book of 1978 (ALA)
1979 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
"Best of the Best" Children's Books 1966–1978 (SLJ)
Children's Choices for 1979 (IRA/CBC)
Garden State Children's Book Award—Easy to Read (New Jersey Library Association) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Another fabulous Lobel book
I thought that I would only like Frog and Toad.I now love Grasshopper's adventures.

Arnold Lobel - Great Characters........Always!
I didn't think anything could stack up to the Frog and Toad Series, but grasshopper is another great character who encounters more interesting characters on his journey.Wonderfully written, great for ages 4-7.

real life lessons
I always enjoyed this book as a child. I recently pulled it out of some of my things and read it. Reading it as an adult I realize its true meaning and value. It offers real lessons on life, the people you meet along the way and how to gracefully just keep on walking down the road...

Watch out for "stupid" and "dummy" name calling
I love Arnold Lobel's work and have many of his books for my 23 month old daughter.Grasshopper on the Road is more of the same simple, lovable stories you'd expect from Lobel, with one exception: In the first story, "The Club", the grasshopper runs across some beetles who are celebrating morning.When it comes out that grasshopper enjoys the afternoon and evening, too, the beetles turn on him and call him "stupid" and "dummy".I'm keeping the book, but will be covering those words and replacing them with something more suitable to young children.Other than that, the book is great.

We loved this book
It is a funny and easy to read series of stories. All books by Arnold Lobel are written in a very good language and have unconventional plots, so a parent does not get bored and a child enjoys them. Before I discovered Arnold Lobel, I became exasperated with children's books that all seem to follow one of cliche plots. These stories are different from the mainstream children literature, best described as friendly fables for little kids. ... Read more

Product Description
The Grasshopper Games, Life and Utopia By Bernard SuitsIntroduced by Thomas Hurka

In the mid twentieth century the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously asserted that games are indefinable; there are no common threads that link them all. "Nonsense," says the sensible Bernard Suits: "playing a game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles." The short book Suits wrote demonstrating precisely that is as playful as it is insightful, as stimulating as it is delightful. Suits not only argues that games can be meaningfully defined; he also suggests that playing games is a central part of the ideal of human existence, so games belong at the heart of any vision of Utopia.

Originally published in 1978, The Grasshopper is now re-issued with a new introduction by Thomas Hurka and with additional material (much of it previously unpublished) by the author, in which he expands on the ideas put forward in The Grasshopper and answers some questions that have been raised by critics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The prophet of roleplaying
This is a fascinating and thought-provoking book.The most interesting, I thought, were the chapters on children's cops and robbers games, where he concludes that "make believe" games are nevertheless games despite not having discrete goals, and wonders why no one has ever devised such pasttimes for adults.Gary Gygax and Dungeons and Dragons had been around for a while when this book was written; Suits doesn't seem to have heard of them, but in these chapters their development is predicted.

think, smile, digest
I first read this book in 1980. It was a gift from my best and wisest friend, the hardcover version which I still treasure to this day. I have since probably bought half a dozen copies of this for the distinct reasonthat I felt someone merited a copy as a gift. This book makes you stop andthink about yourself, your life and your expectations. It does notcriticize your path nor does it necessarily offer an alternative. It justmakes you think....... in an easy, enjoyable manner. This book won't giveyou the "secret" to a fulfilling life of health, wealth orwhatever else you seek, but it will make you think...... and every now andthen you may actually catch yourself smiling as you do so. Recommended,highly - but more so, fondly remembered 20 years, university, failed andsuccessful career prospects, failed and successful romantic prospectslater. Yes so ever fondly remembered.

Platonic Narrativity to Explore the Philosophy of Games
Suits' claim that he is not furthering the extensive work done in the field of game theory is correct, but i feel he underestimates his contribution to our understanding of the importance of liesure activities in our lives.i am not so interested in the mathematical proofs provided by Von Nueman and Morgenstern, and how game theory is applicable to life, as i am in discovering why i have such a fascination with games.Suits' Grasshopper, via a Platonic dialogue, examines the nature of the game, what it is, why it is employed, etc.This already effective narrative structure is further enhanced by the Grasshopper's many digressions and introductions of hypothetical characters and situations.Suits has created a meta-fictional forum for both discharging his ideas and entertaining the reader.i found myself compelled forward, relishing every word, and fascinated by Suits' logic process and conclusions.i recommend this title to anyone interested in a hybrid of game theory and actual game play; the book does not reduce games to a mathematical model but it also avoids describing any one game in particular.Rather Suits seems interested in analyzing the structure and nature of games as a whole.It is a philosophical outlook on a very intriguing subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Did you know that a grasshopper makes its distinctive sound by rubbing its bristly hind legs together? Amazing discoveries abound in this intriguing tale of a day in the life of a grasshopper. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great for early scientist
We have ordered the majority of the Backyard books for our daughter who loves science.Good explanation, fair illustrations.Has been great for preschooler, early elementary age child regarding understanding material and encouraging interest in science.Our favorites are "Are you a Ladybug" and "Are you a Butterfly" but all books have been informative and fun to read!We have even learned quite a bit as parents and one of us actually has a science background.

Grasshopper
I quite like the format of this book. It tells the story of grasshoppers by asking questions. At the end it turns around to what a child is. The illustrations are terrific and the information is perfect for young children to understand. I was so impressed that I bought numerous other books that are by the same authors and done in the same format. They will work well in my classroom.

Are You a Grashopper
This whole series of Backyard Books are an absolute must for every early childhood classroom.The information is written in such a respectful, child-friendly form that the children ask for the books to be re.read. It is in a narrative form but filled with factual information The illustrations are exquisite!I have three of the series and my Kindergarten children are asking for the others! ! !

a wonderful find...
What a great book! My 2 year old was going through a fear of insects phase and this book helped tremendously. Not only did it educate her on the life cycle of the grasshopper, it did so without talking down to her. Now, she actually looks forward to going outside to "visit all her bugs". ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

Very happy with purchase and delivery
Written as only Patrick McManuss can write. Very funny. If you love the outdoors, you will love this author and what he has to say and how he says it.

One of many fantastically funny books by McManus
Go ahead and buy them all. I've yet to find one I didn't like. They keep you laughing from page one.

Patrick
Patrick F McManus is wonderful , verry funny . A GREAT read . Very relaxing he can make your day .

On of Pat's Best
Of the many books I have borrowed from my dad, this was one that I have read repeatedly. Unlike some humor, I still chuckle every time I read "A hunker is not a squat" or the one about the grasshopper trap. This is one of three of Pat's books that I regularly give as gifts to those young men of impressionable age in their pre-teen and teen age years. Hopefully reading this book will enlighten both their minds and hearts.

Hilarious!
I picked this book up at a liquidation sale at a used book store mainly because I liked the title and not knowing anything about the author.This was my first reading of Patrick McManus and now I just have to read more of his works.My better half was trying to watch TV while I was reading this and I kept interrupting by reading sections of the book.His comment was "I can relate to that."I got to the point where I couldn't read any more until I wiped my eyes. This is a must-read for anyone who needs a good laugh. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

Grasshoppers Refers To An Ill Wind Blowing This Way
The author points out that the current system of pretend to be democracies around the world have way too much representation with way too little democracy. These governments are need structual adjustments. Now for those not familiar with the draconian IMF/World Bank structural adjustments, forced upon governments in need of loans, they are designed to suck the life blood of society by extreme cuts to education, health care, infrastruture, local agriculture, local ANYTHING. Because in the international Help Business, local is a very bad four letter word, no matter how you choose to spell it: local is to be extermintated with extreme prejudice. So when the author writes that democracy is in need of structural adjustment, she means it in the normal way, not the Orwellian double-speak of the international instruments of international banks/transnational corporations. So, it is her play with words that cut deeply into the sinister character of the players in The New World Order, that are very soothing to my nature. The more deep and sharp the meaning, the more pleasure to my reading. And reading Arundhati Roy is, I assure you, extreme pleasure.
She says that today's democracies, under the current the stewardship, have fused with the free markets, into a single predatory organism with a thin, constricted imagination that revolves almost entirely around the idea of Maximizing Profit.
She refers to her India as the world's largest demon-crazy(as a Kashmiri protester once put it).
In today's privitized global march, freedom means choice, nothing to do with the human spirit, but alot to do wuth different brands of deoderant. Justice has to do with human rights(and of those, as they say, a few will do).
One of the means that this sinister plot is being staged worldwide, is with a dialogue of words that mask their intent, in truth they mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant. Sadly, this news-speak gattling gun of repeating mainstream news-speak opposites, soon become washed apposite. Suffice to say: those who cannot consume do not matter.
She notes that toay's corporate globalization demands an international confederation of loyal, corrupt, preferably authoritarian governments in poorer countries to push through unpopular reforms and quell the muntinies. It's called creating - a good investment climate. She also notes that history is now conforming more to an old Russian saying/The past is unpredictable. She writes about television anchors playing around with crucial facts, like young children in a sandbox.
The questions become difficult, as in/Are no elections better than meaningless elections? Or/Are intelligence agencies creating/infiltrating political parties? Or/Are there decoy politicians? Or/Have they created and destroyed political careers at will? Or/ Is there any connection between elections and democracy?
She is about the fighting back of the slow erosion of civil liberties, the day-to-day injustices. It means fighting to win back the hearts and minds of the people. It means keeping an eagle eye on public institutions and Demanding accountability. It means putting your ear to the ground and listening to the whisperings of the truly powerless. It means fighting displacement and dispossession and the relentless, everyday violence of abject poverty. Today's corporate globalization is being relentlessly and arbitrarily imposed on an essentially feudal society, tearing through its complex, tiered social fabric, ripping it apart culturally and economically.
The controlled corporate media purposely creates a schism between knowledge and information, between what we know and what were told, between what is unknown and what is asserted, between what is concealed and what is revealed, between fact and conjecture, between the real world and the virtual world, and so this has become a world of endless speculation and potential insanity. It's a poisonous brew that has been stirred to the most ugly, destructive political purpose.
She cuts right to the bone in her discussions on when genocide politics meets the free market, official recognition-or denial-of holocausts and genocides is a multinational business enterprise. It has rarely anything to do with historical fact or forensic evidence. Morality certainly does not enter the picture. It is an aggressive process of high-end bargaining that belongs more to the World Trade Organization than to the United Nations. The currency is geopolitics, the fluctuating markets for natural resources, that curious thing called futures trading, and plain old economic and military might. Or, as Robert McNamara might say/How much evil must we do in order to do good?
The poor, the so-called poor, have only one choice: to resist or to succumb. Perhaps they wonder how they can go on a hunger strike when they're already starving. How they can boycott foreign goods when they have no money to buy any goods. How can they refuse to pay taxes when they have no earnings? They know the new laws of the land criminalize the poor and conflate resistence with terrorism.

The author puts it all together in her field notes for us to use. Though she writes about India, her home country, she is talking symbolically about the world. But more importantly, she is writing about how to change its direction, away from a corporatized/privitized globaliztion.
We must find the courage to dream. To reclaim the romance. The romance in believing in dignity, in liberty, and in...

... justice for all. This is NOT negotiable.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !!!!!!!!

Awesome
If you think you care about India , do yourself a favor and read this book by India's Noam Chomsky.

This is a terrible rambling of unimaginary proportions.
Avoid this like plague! Stay away from it and gain some mental peace

I was aghast after reading this rambling of a delusional woman whose world view filled with conspiracies and blaming every evil on the on progress and democracy. She goes on and on and on blaming everything on Capitalism, US and India. Some Islamic fanatic blew up a train! No problem ... There is an answer. It is all your and my fault. It is America's fault. Bush's fault. British fault. It is every one's fault except the guy who blew up the train. That is the new ultra-modern, neo-liberal, communist view of the world.

She hates me too and abuse me to the fullest extent because I am relying on "progress" andRoy's early essays were written in a voice that some progressive Americans would call "prophetic," but like many prophets she tended to overstate her case. There are no small things anymore. This stridency tended to make her writing less agreeable, too.exploiting all poor. It is Okay for her to get rich like this but it is not okay for any of us. By her going, Amazon should close the shop. No publisher should publish a book. We should not read or buy any thing.

Before you buy this book, Please read this beautiful review of this book. I wish I did before spending my hard earned money and making her rich.

[...]

Great points in the review ....

Roy's anger has had a coarsening effect upon her thinking and her writing. She has chosen to trade in the wildest forms of anti-Americanism and the crudest critiques of capitalism. Her activism has led her into a kind of mental atrophy.

Roy's early essays were written in a voice that some progressive Americans would call "prophetic," but like many prophets she tended to overstate her case. There are no small things anymore. This stridency tended to make her writing less agreeable, too.

She believes that the United States is responsible for chaos and murder in the Middle East--and now, thanks to globalization, in India too. But this book is not a plea for a more humane capitalism (something we urgently need). Instead, it is an attack on many of the good and democratic aspects of modern Indian life. Even worse, it is an assault on democracy itself. Roy's status as a famous woman of the far left has obscured the fact that she is an outright reactionary.

Worse, she sees it as nothing especially new. "The rules of the game changed suddenly and completely," she says of the end of the Cold War. "Millions of people who lived in remote villages and deep in the heart of untouched forests, some of whom had never heard of Berlin or the Soviet Union, could not have imagined how events that occurred in those far away places would affect their lives." Roy's implication is that India became part of the Pax Americana as soon as the Berlin Wall fell. She is wildly wrong about this. The two countries eyed each other warily in 1990s.

The simplest way to describe India's insufficient but impressive steps to combat poverty would be to say that they represent progress. But Roy has chosen to make progress--along with democracy--her bete noire.

The "twin towers" reference is worse than unseemly. Roy expends considerable energy explaining that international capital flows are responsible for destroying the foundations of nationhood. But when it suits her purposes she is equally happy to make a contradictory point, and blame society's ills on nationalism.

If Roy's disgust with America helps to explain her opinion of India, then her opinion of democracy helps to explain her disgust with America. From the very start of her book she shows nothing but condescension and contempt for democracy.

When she explains a Hindu party's demand that Muslim citizens "earn the `goodwill'" of the majority, she nicely catches the threat lurking beneath the ostensibly outstretched hand. But even this narrative is marred by her tiresome overstatements and stabs at cleverness. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is indeed despicable, but it is not "no less dangerous" than the Taliban. Moreover, Roy cannot seem to write about anti-Muslim bigotry and discrimination without mentioning Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush. They seem to organize the entirety of her view of the world.

Since the two things that Roy hates most are democratic capitalism and Hindu fundamentalism, it makes sense that she would try and connect the two. Unfortunately, she has no evidence of any kind for such a connection, and so we are given passages such as this one: "It's interesting that just around the time Manmohan Singh, then the finance minister, was preparing India's markets for neo-liberalism, L.K. Advani [a BJP leader] was making his first Rath Yatra, fueling communal passion and preparing us for neo-fascism. In December 1992, rampaging mobs destroyed the Babri Masjid. In 1993, the Congress government of Maharashtra signed a power purchase agreement with Enron." This is equivalent to saying that in 1995 Michael Jordan returned to the NBA and in 1996 Bill Clinton was re-elected president. Roy adds, pathetically, that "the inexorable ruthlessness of one process feeds directly into the insanity of the other." One is tempted to remind Roy that correlation does not prove causation, but since she has not even bothered to prove correlation, the point would be futile.

Roy perfectly exemplifies the self-righteousness of radicals: she needs to see herself as a dissident in the wilderness, a lonely hero.

But these essays show a woman whose reading and experience and engagement with the world have served to narrow her thinking rather than enlarge it. Instead of allowing her reporting to shape her story, she has allowed her preconceived notions to shape every last drop of her analysis.

a must read
see the world as it is being used,
not the PR we get from some news programs
& government.

Indian Democracy exposed!
A collection of essays on behind the screen happenings of the largest democracy on earth!. Its worth a reading, whether you believe in or not in what Arundhathi say. One can feel the courage, anger and sarcasm on every page of this book. No wonder why corporate media and politians in Indian don't like her. ... Read more

Product Description
Renowned illustrator Alan Aldridge introduced the fantastical world of the Butterfly Ball in this breathtaking modern classic. It is now available in a lavish new edition, complete with nature notes by Richard Fitter on each creature and an introduction to the life and work of Alan Aldridge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
This copy of "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast"is exactly what I was looking for, as it brings back childhood memories of my time in front of the television.

The supplier was good at keeping contact and packaged it well so that it arrived safely and unharmed.

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
One of most beautiful books in the world. My daughter is studying fine arts and son is in second grade. Both of them enjoyed the book however for different reason. Highly recommmended. Excellent gift.

Best Children's Book Ever
I had a copy of this book when I was a child, I had it memorized by the time I was 7 years old and the incredible, detailed, colorful plates stayed with me and sparked my imagination for years to come. I lost my copy somewhere along the way and did finally find a replacement, which I am pleased to share with my son - it is the perfect book to introduce children to the concept of poetry and to allow them to hear the rhythms of language.

Why is this book not available anymore???
This book made an enormous impression on me as a child. The pictures are magical, beautiful, and incredibly detailed. I often spent hours gazing longingly at the illustrations and dreaming I was a part of them, wading through frog's waterlogged house, drinking ale with the newts, playing cricket with the snails and butterflies, keeping out of the way of the hornet and the wasp, and generally living it up at the feast and the ball. The final picture of the sleepy insects going home by the light of the friendly firefly always gave me good dreams if I looked at it right before bedtime!

What I'm trying to say is that the picturs and accompanying verses in this book awoke a rich level of magic and imagination in me. I almost hate to think how I would have turned out without having been exposed to The Butterfly Ball in my formative years!

Now that my family is expanding I realised that it is time for me to pass this wonderful book on to the children and spread the magic. Alas I can't find it anywhere!!! I find it tragic that such a beautiful work of art is not available to today's children. Please oh please will whoever has the power of decision over the future of this book kindly return it to the bookshelves where it belongs?

Stunning illustrations
I had this book as a child, along with the record.The illustrations were fresh in my mind after 20+ years.It is a joy to share with young readers. ... Read more

Product Description
In much of North America, crickets and katydids provide the soundtrack to summer nights, and grasshoppers frequent the fields and roadsides of midsummer days. Although insects from this group have long been the bane of those who make their living from the land, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets are themselves crucial food sources for many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians, and other creatures.

Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States introduces readers to the biology, behavior, and ecological significance of one of the most obvious (abundant, large, and colorful) and important (ecologically and economically significant) insect groups in North America, the order Orthoptera. A simple, illustrated identification guide assists the reader in distinguishing among the various groups and narrows down the options to expedite identification. The book treats more than a third of the species found in the United States and Canada in brief, easy-to-understand sections that provide information on distribution, identification, ecology, and similar species. Distribution maps accompany each profile, and 206 species are pictured in color. Black-and-white drawings highlight distinguishing characteristics of some of the more difficult-to-identify species. Sonograms provide a graphic representation of the insects' distinctive sounds, which may be heard on Thomas J.North America.

This is the first treatment of North American grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets to portray the insects in full color, and it will be the first time many amateur naturalists and students have the opportunity to see the amazing and colorful world of Orthoptera, because many are cryptically colored (their bright colors evident only in flight) or cryptic in behavior (nocturnal in their habits). John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, and Thomas J. Walker designed their book for amateur naturalists who wish to know the local fauna, for students who seek to identify insects as part of entomology and natural history courses, and for professional biologists who need to identify invertebrates. This invaluable field guide will be a useful supplement for laboratory and field activities and a reference for classrooms at every level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

These creatures have been SET ASIDE
These creatures were used by our Lord to punish the heathens of Egypt. They have been SET ASIDE.

I ADVISE ALL ROSY-CHEEKED TEENAGERS TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS SUBJECT!!!

pretty good beginning
This book sounds great when you read the description and when you get it, it looks like it will be another in the current wave of amazing field guides for previously obscure insect taxa exemplified by Ed Lam's 2004 Damselflies of the Northeast. When you try to use it, however, as I did on several recent occasions, you run into limitations. The keys are great to a point but I kept getting stuck at genus level or higher. Also, because you're often trying to identify a congener to the species illustrated, you have to "squint" a bit. Of course once you've had to do that once or twice you lose faith in the fine points of the illustrations even when you're pretty sure you're looking at the same species as illustrated. This book is great if you want to learn to separate the higher organization of the katydids, grasshoppers, and crickets and it is very useful for the information it provides on a particular species (habitat, life history, etc.) once you've got one identified, but for IDing a lot of grasshoppers to species, you'll need more.

Misleading Title
As an entomologist living in the United States and interested in identifying grasshoppers etc. I was pleased to see this book published. However, despite claiming to cover 'the United States' it does not. Alaska is absent. I'm sure the publishers don't mind the extra money from those wouldn't have bought the book if the title had said 'contiguous United States'.

Field Guide to Grasshoppers
As an amateur naturalist I had wanted a small book to help in identifying these insects. The Insect field guides tend to not be specific enough. This book is a true field guide to this group of very common insects and has some beautiful colored illustrations as well as an excellent key.

grahoppers
A good addition to a library of detailed information about a common insect.This book follows after a general insect guide for anyone with curiosity about grasshoppers. Walk through arecently dry filed or lake and have this book in your pocket. ... Read more

Product Description
“They have sent me here because of what happened on the pylon.”
When Clodagh Brown writes these words at the age of nineteen, she believes that she is leaving behind the traumatic events of her youth. But Clodagh soon learns that you can never entirely escape your past.

In the aftermath of the incident on the pylon--one of the great electrified structures that dot the English countryside like so many gargantuan grasshoppers--Clodagh goes off to university, moves into a basement flat arranged by her unsympathetic family, and finds freedom trekking across London's rooftops with a gang of neighborhood misfits. As she begins a thrilling relationship with a fellow climber, however, both Clodagh and the reader are haunted by the memory of the pylon and of the terrible thing that happened there--and by the eerie sense that another tragedy is just a footfall away.Amazon.com Review
A new novel from Barbara Vine (or Ruth Rendell, her alter ego) is always cause for celebration, and in this exceptional psychological thriller, she displays all her mastery of craft to draw the reader into an unfamiliar world. She paints a vivid picture of the roots of obsession in the history of a young woman whose love of high places has been marked by tragedy, guilt, and exile from her family's home.

Clodagh Brown has always been frightened by enclosed spaces and loved climbing, a phobia and passion that resulted in the death of her high school sweetheart. As a college student living in the basement of a distant relative's home in Maida Vale, a slightly shabby London neighborhood, she encounters a group of peers who share both of these psychological quirks and introduce her to the steep rooftops of her new surroundings. Clodagh soon falls in love with Silver, a young man whose top-floor apartment across from her flat houses a diverse and fascinating group of people. Their youthful idealism and moral certainties are often at odds with conventional values and legal niceties. While Clodagh and Silver carry the story, their peers present ample opportunities for Vine to showcase her talent for imagining a multiplicity of lives and personas--from Liv, the Swedish au pair who can clamber over rooftops like a mountain goat but is terrified of what awaits her on level ground, to Jonny, whose pathological need to dominate the others, particularly Liv, leads to the shocking and tragic denouement. When the climbers chance upon a top-floor flat where a couple and their adopted mixed-race son are hiding from the authorities (who would remove the child from their care), Vine's ability to alter pace without sacrificing story or character really stands out. Grasshopper is an acutely drawn, immensely satisfying book. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

Could have been shorter
This is a 400 page book that could have been 300.The reader has to wade through the descriptions to get to the plot.And that hopping back and forth from the past, when they were 19, to the present drives me nuts.

A true rarity...a dull Barbara Vine novel
Do not, and I repeat, do not judge Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell by this novel.Under both names, she has created truly superior mystery and suspense fiction.She writes an average of two books a year and hardly ever misfires. Unfortunately, this one is a misfire.The characters are not interesting and at times are even annoying. The story proceeds slowly with a lot of foreshadowing that fails to be fulfilled. I repeat, this author is one of the absolute best. This book just plain is not representative.

Absorbing but not compelling
Of the dozen or so Barbara Vine novels, for me this falls right in the lower middle tier.Hardly the best, but certainly not the weakest (I would reserve "The Minotaur" for that, but even then it was more readable and witty than most of her competition) in the canon.
The story, although absorbing, takes a while to get going, thanks due to the sometimes overly done descriptions of London and its architecture.But once it gets cranking and the folks are jumping from roof to roof, things gets interesting, particularly with the motley group of characters assembled for such a dangerous activity.They may not be a sympathetic one in the bunch, but some of their stories are darkly funny, and never less than absorbing.
However somewhere past the middle a couple of members does something that takes the story to a different direction, closer to themes found in other Vine books.This sudden turn--from almost no plot for the first two thirds to action driven final third--may not convince everyone.
True she could have discarded this last third and gone in another direction, but the final product is just as absorbing as anything she has written.Just not as fully convincing or as seamless as her best work.
Although I certainly enjoyed the book (I read it two days), I would not recommended it for first time Barbara Vine readers.The best titles are:"A Dark Adapted Eye", "A Fatal Inversion", "The House of Stairs", and "Anna's Book".

Grasshopper
Grasshopper

I am a dedicated Rendell fan but also enjoy all genres of writing. This is atypical for Rendell but I found it more literary and for me just as enjoyable. Unlike the murder mysteries, this is a tale of recovery and coming of age after the accidental death of a friend. I rank the writing of this book superior to Rendell's other works but may be less enjoyed if one is expecting a murder mystery. I was left feeling highly satisfied after reading it, as after a gourmet meal. Viva la Rendell!

The Road to Hell
If you have never read a Ruth Rendell or Barbara Vine novel, stop! Put Grasshopper down and move slowly away. Read Thirteen Steps Down or The Water's Lovely or The Rottweiler first. After you've become a committed fan, you may return to Grasshopper.

I read Grasshopper when it first came out a few years ago, but it was so-o-o slow and uneventful that I skipped along and didn't appreciate the story as it played out. I decided to give it another try recently and was finding that I had the same opinion of it. Slow. No murders. A generally gloomy ambience, but not much tension.

But as I made my way to the end, I started to see what was going on. The horror here isn't evil. It's disastrous consequences committed by people with the best intentions. Graham Greene's The Quiet American explored the same theme and so did Shakespeare, probably. Still, it's a theme that has rather a lot of relevance these days, and it's particularly horrifying the way it sneaks up on you, in Grasshopper and in real life. ... Read more

Product Description

In 1874, eleven-year-old Sam White and his family are moving from Kentucky to the Dakota Territory. These hardy pioneers know it will be hard work, but they don't expect the devastating plague that comes like an unstoppable force to sweep away all their hopes for the future. They will cope.
But they will never forget this grasshopper summer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Pioneer Story
The year is 1874.Sam White is living in Kentucky with his parents, his little brother Billy, and their grandparents.The Civil War is over, but Sam's father and grandfather are still upset over the result.Sam's father, especially, is bothered by any reminder of it, such as the farm where they live, which was burned by the Yankees.He decides that he needs to get away from these reminders.

So, Sam's parents pack themselves and Sam and Billy into a wagon and they take off for the uninhabited West.They are moving toward the Dakota territories, where they have heard the land is great for growing crops and anyone can get rich.

Sam is unhappy about leaving, and frustrated with Billy, who has a sunny disposition and always seems to be in a good mood about whatever is happening.But as they move farther away into the unknown, Sam and Billy begin to get along better.When they do make it to Dakota, though, there is more trouble waiting for them.

I liked the detailed descriptions of life--how the family's wagon was packed, what the people ate, and how they built a house, among other things.I also liked how Sam's mother and father related to each other and to their boys.I didn't like Sam's overwhelming jealousy toward Billy.I thought he treated Billy unfairly because of it.

Life After the Civil War
Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner is about Sam, a boy, who was quite happy where he was in Kentucky. Then his father decided to move the family west to start a new life in Dakota Territory. Sam's younger brother Billy was excited about the idea, but Sam hated it. Sam never thought of leaving his grandparents, and friends.
It was after the Civil War, and Sam's father was having a tough time without slaves so he decided to move his family to Dakota Territory. When Sam and his family had to move north his father wanted them to start getting used to not having slaves. Sam never thought of meeting people along the way. The family worked hard to make their dugout house. They worked through the weeks and gathered seed.
Sam started to see things a little differently and started to like the west. This book is good for people who like to read about survival after the Civil War.
Becca a 6th grader

Help Needed
A character from Grasshopper Summer by Anna Turner was Sam. Sam had some problems. One was that his family was moving. Then grasshoppers came and ate all their crops. Sam's friend wrote to George Washington for blankets and food. Sam wrote to his grandfather for the same reason.
They needed blankets so they could stay warm. They also had a shortage of blankets. So they could stay warm, because winter was coming soon. They needed food because grasshoppers came and ate most of their crops. They also could not grow crops because it was too late because of winter. They wrote to Washington and Sam's grandfather for some food and blankets. So they could survive winter, and they could stay healthy.
This book was better then I thought. I think this book was ok. This book was country related. So if you like country things you should read this book. Also remember never judge a book by its cover.
Danny a sixth grader

Pioneer Flavor After the Civil War
This book really captures the feeling of the times when pioneers thought moving westward would make them a profit.It helps the reader understand the trials and tribulations of moving westward.The killing of a colt to the grasshopper invasion real grips the reader.The charactes being approximately the age of a fifth or sixth grader really helps youngsters who read this book to make a personal connection. It also helps the reader understand the role of the father, mother, and children during the late 1800s.Furthermore, it shows them although slavery has ended, how many still felt the African American still had his place.From crossing the mighty Mississippi River, to going to the Dakota Terriotory, this book truly captures the time and events of an interesting period in American history.

A good book of surviving a 'Grasshopper Summer'.
Sam's father decides to take the family to Dakota Terrotory for a newlife.But Sam hates the idea of leaving his friends,grandparents for a newlife.The hard journey to Dakota Terrotory doesn't compare to the surprisesthat await Sam and his family. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (10)

Excellent Snapshot
Happened upon this book quite by accident but am very glad I did.It is a great read and a window into the life of the Northern California inhabitants in the early 1900's.Wish I could take the ladies our for tea...

Native American Life
This book is amazing if you are interested in what Northern California was like at the turn of the 20th century.The details about the Native Americans outlines a life that I did not expect.How amazing it would have been to be these women!

Charming book
This was a charming book.I thoroughly enjoyed it.Living in the area it is nice to read about some of the history of the area.

It gives a nice feel for the way the locals lived along the Klamath River.Also, a good view of the Indians lives.I only wish the women had gone back.I came away feeling sad that they left the area when they did.

by a local
Great book about a great place.Lots of change in a short amount of time.

Little has changed along the river....
From early in the 20th to the birth of the 21st Century, littlechanged along the banks of the Klamath in 95 years. The path these women followed remains little altered from when they traveled tho now covered in asphalt, it is still a remote and rough territory for the uninitiated. They stepped off a ship in Humboldt Bay and then walked off the map into the unknown. Surrounded by wilderness, the Marble Mountains and the Trinity Alps, as spectacular and rugged peaks today as they were then. Great Grandchildren of some of those who taught these adventerous ladies the skills to survive in this wild country still live on the same piece of ground. This is the canvas Mary and Mabel painted a wonderful picture of the world they found here. Let them show you the neighborhood and see if you could follow those footsteps down the trail.

Since the world was created at Katimin, the Klamath River has been home to the salmon runs that fed the eagles and fattened bears and filled the smokehouses of the people. The river is the life-blood that flows thru the canyon veins, like a puzzle, each piece necessary to make it complete. A blood transfusion 150 miles away only slowing foreclosure on farmland in another state, no crops must die. Now less water flows downstream and is murky colored and too warm for the salmon to survive in but the life of a potato was saved! A river with no fish is a watershed dying, when the life of the river dies will life along that river follow? These hardy women managed to live without fries, but a river without salmon would be both unbelieveable and inconceivable to them. ... Read more

Product Description
Meet upside-down Billy Ray Brown, the Tickle Monster, and a boy who makes grasshopper pie (with hilarious results!) in this wonderful celebration of what it means to be a kid. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

My 19-month old loves this book!
We checked this book out and the library and it was an instant hit!My 19-month old son loves this book, especially the story about the sneezing elephant Louise and the Tickle Monster (who doesn't have one in every household?).I wish this was in a board book format, we have another baby on the way and can't wait for the day to introduce this book....

A Fanciful and Whimsical Piece of Children's Literature
Though i am now growing older I can still remember the books that captivated me as a child. Now that my children have begun to discover reading I found that Grasshopper Pie is an excellent addition to their book collection and a creative way to nurture and develop their reading skills. The illustrations are also great and help my kids learn and comprehend. I hope both the author and illustrator of this book continue to publish books so that my children and I can enjoy themin the future.
Sincerely,
Boe Guse (new york)

I liked it... Funny stories and humorous pictures.
"Grasshopper Pie" is a very good children's book and I highly recommend it. My six-year-old daughter was able to practice her reading skills with it and enjoyed the illustrations very much. My daughter and I are eagerly awaiting the next book Mr. Steinberg and Mr. Sinnott do together.

Simply Fantastic!
This book is a wonderful collection of poems for children. I love the illustrations by Adrian Sinnott because they match the writing perfectly. They are silly, fun, and creative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Shel Silverstien.

A Fun, Whimsical Book
Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems is a collection of whimsical stories by David Steinberg. Brought to life by cartoonist Adrian Sinnott, the tales and illustrations will captivate children and parents alike. My two daughters loved the Grasshopper chronicles-- from the title story to a tale about an upside-down boy and an "Alien in My Soup." My oldest daughter, age 7, found the cover illustration fun to study, with grasshoppers playfully swimming in the kitchen sink, lounging in the silverware drawer, munching on a blueberry pie, etc. Anyone who has children knows that children love looking at the details of any given drawing and spotting the various activities depicted by the artist(there's a "Where's Waldo?" quality to the cover). As my oldest daughter said, "The drawings are cool and the stories are funny." Thankfully, Grasshopper Pie does not have any politically correct adult moralizing, and instead emphasizes children's imaginations. I recommend Grasshopper Pie for children ages 5 to 8, and for adults who wish to revisit the way they once thought when they were young. ... Read more

Product Description
Retells the fable about a colony of industrious ants which busily prepares for the approaching winter while a grasshopper makes no plans for the cold weather to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Story
While the ants are hard at work collecting food for the long winter, the grasshopper only plays and does no work at all to prepare for the long harsh winter up ahead.Soon the winter comes and the ants are warm and have plenty of food to eat.However the grasshopper is out in the cold with no food at all.I liked the illustrations in this book, and I also enjoyed the way the author told the moral to the readers.The author's main moral was that there are times when you can play and times when you need to do work, and you can't play all the time.The moral is easily understandable so that children will be able to pick up on it.Also it is a great way in introduce time management to older children

A delightful retelling of a classic story
This retelling of the classic Aesop fable is set in China, at the Emperor's Summer Palace.In this version, as in the classic, the ants work diligently over the summer to prepare for the long winter, when food will be in short supply and the temperature quite cold.The grasshopper, on the other hand, prefers to sing and dance during the long summer days, doing no preparation at all.In the end, the ants are rewaded for their hard work by being warm and full during the winter days, while the grasshopper is left to suffer in the cold.The illustrations were done on rice paper with ink and gouache paint.Not only do they support and enhance the text, but they are truly beautiful works of art.They are a delightful mix of soft, subtle colors and vibrant colors.The rice paper background provides a strong sense of texture and depth.Children ages 4 to 6 will be drawn in by the stunning illustrations, and will learn a valuable lession from the story as a whole.

Beautiful artwork!
I liked this retelling of a classic -- especially in the slight twist - yes, the ants have foresight but they are workaholics and the grasshoppermay not be industrious buthe appreciats the beauty of a summer night. But it's the elegant illustrations that really catch my eye and highlightthis story. Delicate ink strokes with sharp details on rice paper capturethe spirit of chinese art and are a wonderful complement to the story'ssetting.Simply gorgeous and a treat for the eyes.It makes me believethat Aesop should have done this himself! ... Read more

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Chandler State University is the one thing keeping the dusty, Western town of Chandler on the map. Now that its basketball program has fallen apart, CSU's only claim to fame is its Gravinics Department, dedicated to the study of an obscure European country -- its mythology, its extraordinarily difficult language, and especially its bizarre star poet, Henderson.

Having discovered Henderson's poetry in a trash bin, Stanley Higgs becomes the foremost scholar of the poet's work, accepts a position at Chandler State University, achieves international academic fame, marries the Dean's daughter, and abruptly stops talking. With all of academia convinced that Higgs is formulating a great truth, the university employs Orwellian techniques to record Higgs's every potential utterance and to save its reputation. A feckless Gravinics language student, Samuel Grapearbor, together with his long-suffering girlfriend Julia, is hired to monitor Higgs during the day. Over endless games of checkers and shared sandwiches, a uniquely silent friendship develops. As one man struggles to grow up and the other grows old, The Grasshopper King, in all of his glory, emerges.

In this debut novel about treachery, death, academia, marriage, mythology, history, and truly horrible poetry, Jordan Ellenberg creates a world complete with its own geography, obscene folklore, and absurdly endearing -characters -- a world where arcane subjects flourish and the smallest swerve from convention can result in -immortality.

Jordan Ellenberg was born in Potomac, Maryland in 1971. His brilliance as a mathematical prodigy led to a feature in The National Enquirer, an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS's Nightwatch, and gold medals at the Math Olympiad in Cuba and Germany. He is now an Assistant Professor of Math at Princeton University and his column, "Do the Math," appears regularly in the online journal Slate. This is his first novel.

Customer Reviews (8)

An intelligent (but never boring) read
This book was recommended to me by a friend and I absolutely loved it! I read it very quickly because it was so engaging. Ellenberg did such a fantastic job that I was convinced that Gravinic was a realy language (I had to Google to make sure!). I wonder how much of what Ellenberg writes is based on his own life since he is a Math professor? Highly recommended to all!

It would be great to see Ethan Hawke in this role
I think Ethan Hawke would be great as Samuel Grapearbor.I'm not sure the structure of Mr. Ellenberg's book would work for Hollywood, but the indie scene did manage to get Shattered Glass made into a fine film.Here's hoping!

And Now For Something Completely Different
The Grasshopper King is a highly original, enjoyable book. Though it moved somehwhat too slowly at times, I appreciated Ellenberg's creativity. I think he's really on to something with his created language, Gravinic. Often clever, and at times very funny, the Grasshopper King is an amusing read worth picking up.

great read!
I picked up this book based on a bookseller's recommendation and loved it so much that it moved me to write my very first Amazon review.

The writing is sharp; several passages had me laughing out loud (how many books do that?).The characters are quirky yet real.Despite their absurd situations, they are very human.

My favorite parts of the novel are when Ellenberg weaves Gravinic fairy tales, past history/legend, and (surprisingly) heated games of checkers into the plot.The twin questions of How do I know this is the person I want to marry? and What do I want to do with my life? are also part of the story, a bit more mundane but very real for most people.

This is one of those books where you enjoy the ride and don't want it to end.

very enjoyable
As a fellow mathematician (even down to the same specialty), I suppose my tastes will naturally run towards those of Dr. Ellenberg's, but even objectively I think this novel was one of the more clever takes on campus life I have read in a long while.I found it a quite entertaining and enjoyable read. ... Read more

Product Description
Located in the mountains of east-central Arizona, Grasshopper Pueblo is a prehistoric ruin that has been excavated and interpreted more thoroughly than most sites in the Southwest: more than 100 rooms have been unearthed here, and artifacts of remarkable quantity and quality have been discovered. Thanks to these findings, we know more about ancient life at Grasshopper than at most other pueblos.Now two archaeologists who have devoted more than two decades to investigations at Grasshopper reconstruct the life and times of this fourteenth-century Mogollon community. Written for general readers—and for the White Mountain Apache, on whose land Grasshopper Pueblo is located and who have participated in the excavations there—the book conveys the simple joys and typical problems of an ancient way of life as inferred from its material remains.Reid and Whittlesey's account reveals much about the human capacity for living under what must strike modern readers as adverse conditions. They describe the environment with which the people had to cope; hunting, gathering, and farming methods; uses of tools, pottery, baskets, and textiles; types of rooms and households; and the functioning of social groups. They also reconstruct the sacred world of Grasshopper as interpreted through mortuary ritual and sacred objects and discuss the relationship of Grasshopper residents with neighbors and with those who preceded and followed them.Grasshopper Pueblo not only thoroughly reconstructs this past life at a mountain village, it also offers readers an appreciation of life at the field school and an understanding of how excavations have proceeded there through the years. For anyone enchanted by mysteries of the past, it reveals significant features of human culture and spirit and the ultimate value of archaeology to contemporary society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent text book
This book provides an introduction to the archeology of Grasshopper Pueblo.Introductory readers of southwestern prehistory will benefit greatly from most of this book's narrative.I took an anthropology course from the author of this book, while a student at the University of AZ (I'm a 2008 graduate with a BFA from the College of Fine Arts).Dr. J. J. Reid is an excellent instructor, especially since he has done a dig at the Grasshopper Pueblo.Interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in anthropology.B. Best.

Southwestern prehistory in brief
The Mogollon people, along with other ethnic groups, flourished atGrasshopper Pueblo in the Arizona mountains for an astonishingly brief fewgenerations from around 1300 to 1400. This followed the Great Drought ofthe late 1200s, an event which changed prehistoric life in the Americansouthwest. Authors Reid and Whittlesey conceived of their book as a popularsynthesis, distilling for a general audience 30 yrs of archaeologicalresearch at Grasshopper Pueblo. And the book is certifiably general, oftenfrustratingly so. Practically every page includes some reference to life atGrasshopper Pueblo that could/should have been amplified. Here are randomexamples:

* The authors describe the period prior to the founding ofGrasshopper Pueblo as being characterized by "elaboration of themountain adaptive pattern and by the continuation of regionaldifferences" (p. 17). Which is a rather dry way to describe theintriguing notion that archeology can infer evolution and variation in lifestyle of a mobile people inhabiting only several hundreds of square miles-- a notion many readers will want to hear more about and, perhaps, need toknow about, in order to understand the meaning and value of southwesternarcheology.

* "The 1300s mark a special time in Mogollon prehistorywhen the mountains of Arizona experienced the largest year-round populationever" (p. 62). But doesn't the current population of the region (atleast) deserve to hear the authors' estimate of what the largest populationmight have been? or to be given a statistic on the region's currentpopulation, as a benchmark for appreciating prehistory?

* "Thethreefold division of the main pueblo into room blocks and plazas continuedthroughout the Aggregation period and was accompanied by distinctions inarchitecture, use of fuel wood, diet, and other differences, indicatingthat the people living in each room block maintained particular ways ofdoing things that may have been a product of their different origins oraffiliations" (p. 116). Wow -- How could the authors *not* explicatethe methodology, data and alternative interpretations pertaining to everyfacet of that prehistoric pluralistic society? is anything like it seenamong historic puebloan people?

The authors restrain themselvesthroughout the book, presenting only the broadest sketch of their andother's findings. Also problematically, the authors unconvincingly applythe archeological concepts of aggregation and abandonment to the history ofthe University of Arizona Field School, which convened each summer atGrasshopper Pueblo for 30 yrs. And lastly, the text is maddeninglyrepetitive, as if paragraphs were independently written and then collated,without regard to the duplication of material -- Where was theeditor?

Overall, the book provides an introduction to the archeology ofGrasshopper Pueblo. Many readers will be intrigued by the cohabitation ofMogollon and Anasazi peoples and by the peoples' remarkably poor health,but I suspect only introductory readers of southwestern prehistory willbenefit greatly from most of the book's narrative.

Bob Niles ... Read more

Product Description
As the ants work all summer and fall to prepare for winter, grasshopper dances and plays. When winter comes, grasshopper is cold and hungry and it's the ants turn to play.Find the moral to Aesop's fable in the easy-to-read, brilliantly illustrated Short Tales Fable The Ants and the Grasshopper. ... Read more