Customer Reviews (1)

An illustrated retelling of a classic fairy tale, appropriate for intermediate readers
I found the Read it! Readers series of books at our local library. The "Read-It! Readers" series of books begin with the Purple Level which presents basic topics and objects using high frequency words and simple language patterns. The Red Level books present familiar topics using common words and repeating sentence patterns. The Blue Level books present new ideas using a larger vocabulary and varied sentence structure. The Yellow Level presents more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary, and wide variety in sentence structure. The Green Level books present more complex ideas, a more advanced vocabulary, and more complex language structures.

The story and illustrations are interesting and visually pleasing respectively. The story here is an adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tale. The sentence structure is more varied and there are some advanced vocabulary. My 5-year-old daughter needed extra help with this book and we reviewed the vocabulary after reading. Overall, a good beginning reader to challenge young children with some intermediate reading skills, especially those with an interest in classic fairy tales.
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A boy the size of his father's thumb has a series of adventures, including stopping a pair of thieves, being swallowed by a cow, and tricking a wolf into bringing him back home. ... Read more

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The Pied Piper pipes a village free of rats, and when the villagers refuse to pay him for the service he pipes away their children as well. ... Read more

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Enraged at not being invited to the princess's christening, a wicked fairy casts a spell that dooms the princess to sleep for one hundred years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Retelling of a Classic
This was my daughter's favorite book when she was four. The illustrations are darling, and the text is clever. It's great to see a nicely-done classic without the too-familiar Disney trappings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Retelling of Aesop's Fable, appropriate for intermediate readers
I found the Read it! Readers series of books at our local library. The "Read-It! Readers" series of books begin with the Purple Level which presents basic topics and objects using high frequency words and simple language patterns. The Red Level books present familiar topics using common words and repeating sentence patterns. The Blue Level books present new ideas using a larger vocabulary and varied sentence structure. The Yellow Level presents more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary, and wide variety in sentence structure. The Green Level books present more complex ideas, a more advanced vocabulary, and more complex language structures.

The story and illustrations are interesting and visually pleasing respectively. The story here is an adaptation of Aesop's Fable. The sentence structure is more varied and there are some advanced vocabulary. My 5-year-old daughter needed extra help with this book and we reviewed the vocabulary after reading. Overall, a good beginning reader to challenge young children with some intermediate reading skills, especially those with an interest in classic fairy tales.

Cute short story
Good illustrations with a short story. Gets kids to think "things are easier said than done." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great story with a great meaning
This is a cute story to read to children.The pictures are wonderfully illustrated.It is a great way to show children what happens, when they don't tell the truth.Children want you to read it again and again. ... Read more

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We all desire to feel God's presence in our lives throughout each day. These inspirational writings rekindle a spark deep within the heart and fan it into flame, giving the reader a burning desire for God.

Each divinely inspired passage contains a lesson or teaching experience applicable to everyday living. Organized in an easy-to-read format, the book includes the following collections:

Inspirational
Motivational or Self-Help
Life Experiences

Enjoy the penetrating and profound wisdom found within these pages while Rekindling God's Glorious Presence in your own life. ... Read more

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A retelling of the fable in which a young boy's false cries for help cause him problems when he is really in need of assistance.

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A twisted soul is killing young African-American professionals in Baltimore and reporter Darryl Billups returns to his investigative background to cover the story and in the process he unwittingly places himself within the killer's deadly orbit. (approximate length: 6 hours, 4 cassettes)Amazon.com Review
Darryl Billups calls Baltimore "the world's biggest country town," and he'sdrawn to it like a magnet. He gained sensational success as a crimereporter for the (fictional) Baltimore Herald, where he exposed theneo-Nazi who tried to blow up the NAACP headquarters, an eventchronicled in Up Jumped theDevil. Following this stint, Billups tried his luck as a reporterin New York. But the offer of a management job at the Herald and a $15,000raise has brought him back to Baltimore, where he remains thehottest thing to hit that town since the Homicide televisionseries.

Darryl's hopes for a quiet life are disturbed when someone begins killingpeople--all young, all African American, all upwardly mobile--anddecorating their faces with decals of the Confederate flag. The tough oldpolice detective who worked with him on the NAACP bombing case letsDarrylbreak the story to the country. Meanwhile, the killer--(who incidentallygets turned on by Jerry Springer)--gradually emerges from the shadowscomplete with acatalog of frightening surprises. The author knows his Baltimore, and heknows the inner-workings of a journalist's mind. He makes Darryl a most human and very interesting kindof hero. --Dick Adler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

GREAT AUDIO BOOK!
This audio book contains one very intriguing mystery. It was great all the way to the end.Well done--I really liked it!

Looks can be deceiving
HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW is an engrossing mystery set in Baltimore, Maryland.
Someone is killing a seemingly unrelated set of African-American professionals
in their late thirties.Each victim is found in the bathtub of his/her home
with a decal of the confederate flag attached to the center of his/her
forehead. The police are stumped and seem at a loss when it comes to solving
a case which reveals no clear cause of death.Homicide detective Phillip
Gardner seeks assistance from former reporter turned editor, Darryl Billups,
who worked with him in the past on a case that won them national attention.
Darryl attacks the scene with a reporter's curiosity and intuition which has
him quickly stumbling into the killer's path.It is not long before he
earns himself a place on the killer's hit list.

Blair Walker has written a fast-paced thriller that draws you in from word
one.He gets into the minds of his characters in a way that displays the
strengths and vulnerabilities of each.His style has you empathizing not only
with Darryl and the victims, but the killer as well.Walker switches deftly
between street vernacular and proper English seamlessly throughout scenes and
dialogue.The characters are amusing, endearing and downright frustrating at
times.HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW is a satisfying and encompassing read that is
sure to please mystery lovers.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

SUSPENSE DELIVERED WITH STYLE
Blair Walker sweeps you along on another incredible case of his nemesis,Daryl Billups, and what a case it is.He allows you to walk in thefootsteps of the murderer and see through their eyes without ever oncelooking in the mirror to tell you exactly who it was.From this vantagepoint the reader experiences the insanity even though they can't quitegrasp the process that makes it tick.Hidden In Plain View provides thereader with enough suspense to keep them in the pages and enough thrills toinsure completion.Congratulations Blair on another intelligent,insightful and well written offering to the literary arena.

The Least Suspected
Darryl Billups is back in Baltimore and this time his focus is intra-racial i.e. black-on-black crime with a twist.When black professionals start turning up dead in Baltimore at upscale addresses theusual easy answers--drugs and gangs, for such crimes aren't applicable. Themysterious unseen causes of these deaths aren't made any clearer by theautopsies and suggest that the killer has a very diabolic mind and method.The novel is written in both first and third person. Darryl speaks to usin first person so that we follow him along as he gains new information andworks to put the puzzle together.In alternating chapters the killer andthe killer's actions are described in third person, allowing the identityto remain a mystery until close to the end, when the reader discovers whoit is first.As the novel picks up pace in its concluding chapters, youhave a strong desire to warn Daryl of the danger ahead, but you're force torace through the pages, hoping and praying that he'll figure it out in timeto save those closest to him.A true spell-binder, equal to and surpassinghis previous novel and every bit as good in its own right and for its genreas his autobiography on Reggie Lewis was for its.

A must read mystery murder!
This is the first time reading Mr. Walker's novels, but one thing for sure, I'm definetly hooked.I found myself laughing out loud and sometimes saying "oh uh uh".And once starting "HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW" I didn't and couldn't put it down.A easy read but, also verytantalizing.

Mr. Walker's writing is refreshing after reading about"she did me wrong, or he aint' about nothing books".Can'thardly wait for the next book! ... Read more