Product Description
slowly, slowly, slowly—that’s the way the sloth moves. slowly, iteats and then, slowly, it falls asleep. what strange kind of creatureis this? the other animals wonder. why doesn’t it run or fly or playor hunt like the rest of us? "why are you so slow?" the howler monkeyinquires. but the sloth doesn’t answer any questions until thejaguar asks, "why are you so lazy?" Anyone who has ever felt toobusy will appreciate the sloth’s peaceful lifestyle and realize that it’sokay to take time to enjoy life. eric Carle’s dazzling collage illustrationsintroduce readers to the exotic beauty of the Amazon rainforest and the many unusual animals living there.Amazon.com Review
The three-toed sloth of the Amazon rain forest is very, very slow. "Why are you so slow?" the howler monkey asks. But the sloth doesn't answer. He doesn't respond when the caiman asks why he's so quiet, either--or when the anteater asks why he's so boring. He is only moved to speak when the jaguar asks him why he's so lazy. After thinking long and hard (as sloths tend to do), he begins to elaborate on his many slothful qualities: unflappable, lethargic, but not lazy. "That's just how I am. I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly." This simple introduction to the joys of sloth (and sloths) may be the perfect book for bedtime--parents and children alike will enjoy learning in zoologist Jane Goodall's foreword that sloths sleep 15 to 19 hours a day! The beautiful tapirs, tree frogs, and birds of the Amazon that adorn Eric Carle's cut-paper collage, color-drenched pages are identified at the close of this lush, oversized picture book. (Preschool to age 5) --Karin Snelson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Clever, unusual, and sweet
My 3-year old son is just bananas about this book, which desribes the attributes of a sloth a way that also introduces children to some excellent new vobaulary. This is a fun, sweet book in the traditionally imaginative and joyful way that Eric Carle's book approach children and teaching.

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth
Bought this book for my grandson.This is one of his favorite books.He loves books & being read to.

Eric Carle Fan!
My goal is to acquire every Eric Carle book for my son!We love the Sloth story!

Liked it more then my daugther
This book is classic Carle.Easy flowing text and pretty pictures. Overall it's a good little story though I must admit the ending will not be understood by little ones. Many "big words" are used and I don't think many would understand them or the point of the message.

There is a great introduction by Jane Goodall. My little girl listened to it instead of getting bored from it as such detailed information tends to be dry.My girl was "grossed out" (in a funny way) by the fact the Sloth rarely leave the trees and will come down to go to the bathroom and go back up much thinner!

She also had a little fun looking for the animals that are listed in the back of the book.

Overall; it's a nice book but it did not get the same level of repeat reads as with previous books.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, said the sloth
I purchased this book because of my interest in the rain forest and to read to my granddaughter.I liked how many animals were introduced in this story.This introduction was reinforced by having pictures of all the animals, with their names, on the last two pages.

The last text page incorporates many words that describe a sloth.This page could be used as a wonderful vocabulary lesson.

I would recommend this book to other grandparents, parents, and teachers of pre-school and early elementary grades. ... Read more

Product Description

Lester's story is often fun and funny, but the best parts of this book come from Munsinger's whimsically worn-out sloths--slumped under desks, draped over swing sets, even stacked up (snoozing) in between building blocks. Score one for the sloths, indeed. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Very Good and Funny
This is a really good and funny book about sloths. The sloths' school is about to be closed down since they aren't learning anything. So, when a new sloth (full of energy) comes to school, can she save their school? Find out in this hilarious book featuring lots of cute sloths! A must-read for all animal lovers!

Score one for the sloths!
What I thought about this book is that it was great and had a great story.It had a lot of details.What else I thought is that it had colorful pictures and it was funny.I also liked the funny and great details and descriptions.Also I loved the pretty pajamas and the nice words, like "disgrace."It had so many nice things in it.I liked the teacher too.He or she was funny.Get it now!

The lazy sloths that did not do anything
This book describes sloths and what I think is this book is a classic and that little kids should enjoy this book, because it helps the kids mostly learn about what sloths say, how they do it, and what they do.I say let the sloths have a place for them to sleep -- YO!

Life of a Sloth
The best audience for this book would be primary students (K-2).Older kids or more advanced readers might not find it interesting or challenging enough.The author uses creative, funny language, and the pictures illustrated this language well (e.g., "slotheteria").The characters are very lazy except for Sparky, who is smart and wild!Basically, we liked their school and wished for their life!

The Sloths scored one
Welcome to Sleep Valley Sloth School where you will find sloths just hanging around in pajamas, " content in their slothfulness". The classroom was equipped with pillows for each sloth as well as a place for slippers and robes. Adorning the walls are individual drawings of a chair that reclines, a bed and a pillow that made a B+. The schedule listed shows nothing for morning and afternoon with a chalkboard showing the counting of sheep.

Sometimes the teacher would arise to instruct the class to yawn, roll over or to keep the snores coming. Through out the day the sloths were found in chairs sleeping, on the floor and on top of the desks. Lunch hour showed the most movement of the day when they had three lunch hours, " when the sloths would amble around the slotherteria taking a berry at a time, slowly chewing each one ever ... so... carefully."

Once lunch was over it was time for the sloths nap, then study hall and on to recess. Each of these activities shows them in various positions such as being slumped over a swing or on top of the swing set. During the study hall they each had a book opened and placed over their faces. Yes they had their faces in the books fast asleep with pencils still lying on the floor. These sloths were able to sleep in any position as their bodies were twisted in balls, sometimes with tails tucked underneath them.

Although the bell rang daily at three these sloths did not leave willingly, but with a push from the janitor at six. Usually one would complain about a leg hurting and they argued over who would get up to get the door. This is what caused them to stick around till six each day. They were literally swept out the door and rolled home in their same positions of slumber.

The sloths banded together in the end to save their school and Sparky fit right in. My son was not too interested in this book because it is only about sloths and they are too slow and old. He also made note that their eyes were closed on all the pages. ... Read more

Product Description
Troubled teenager Miguel Torres has had it with life.The only alternative he sees is to willfully slip into a coma.But one year later, Miguel becomes a walking urban legend after he wakes up virtually unchanged -- except for his sloth-like pace. Soon, a haunted lemon orchard, the mysterious goat man, and murder will collide as Miguel, his girlfriend Lita and their best friend Romeo take on the teenage wasteland that is suburbia in the 21st century.

Will Miguel find love? Or has he risen from his slumber just to end up another rock and roll suicide? In this hypnotic, coming-of-age tale, Gilbert Hernandez deftly defines what it means to truly be alive in a land where life is not precious. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Gamble in mid-book does not pay off
Somewhat of a spoiler ahead--but nothing more than you'd find out reading the book description:


I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The story seemed really interesting. There were a couple mysteries I was looking forward to unveiling as the book progressed. However, as mentioned in the book description, halfway through the book the author switches the roles of all the characters. All the mysteries and story lines are ended abruptly to experience essentially the same storyline from the vantage point of other characters. Although I finished the comic (it's short) I felt like I wasted my time. I guess I have a problem with unrelieved suspense!

A diamond in the rough
Just thinking about Sloth makes me feel happy.From it's plot outline and the other reviews I'm sure that you think this book is a downer.It is not.It is written so passively that I was almost hugging myself while reading it.To spoil anything from any part of this book would be to spoil the end of Hamlet.
However, if I had to choose one thing that I don't like about Sloth, it would be that it appeals to a very small group of people.It is very strange, not very accessible, and it didn't win any Eisner awards.Along with that, not many people (even graphic novel fans) have not even heard of it.
So to make a long story short, read it.I promise you that you will not regret it.

Excellent Bit of Surreal Fiction
I really enjoyed Sloth.I like Gilbert Hernandez's side projects better than Love and Rockets, which I don't read, and this one is another good entry into that list.If you enjoyed his "Fear of Comics" you'll probably like this.Also good for those who like Charles Burns.

Lemons Inside a Freaky Graphic Novel
I am reviewing this purely for the weird factor. Is this one of the highlights of my graphic novel reading? Absolutely not, but it impresses me that graphic novel creators continue to expand the storylines graphic novels tell. It used to be that graphic novels took simple storylines and made them more complex by adding the graphic element. In Sloth, we have a fairly complicated storyline successfully contained in a short amount of pages (probably less than 100), due to a picture being worth a thousand words.

Now about the weird factor. The cover art on the entry pages shows lemons dropping to the sky like A-bombs. Weird, indeed. Miguel slept for a whole year with no medical explanation. You could call it a coma, but there was no medical explanation. Apparently this was a self-chosen slumber. After three months of physical therapy, Miguel is ready to rejoin the world, but he moves very slowly. It seems his legs just can't work at a normal pace.

He's back together with his old girlfriend, Lita, and playing in a band with his friend, Romeo. He's seeing a shrink and getting picked on by the locals. All seems kosher, except for these dreams he keeps having about lemon orchards and freaky women being buried alive by lemons.
After Miguel and his two companions explore the local lemon orchard late at night, the truth about Miguel's troubles gets more and more blurry. What was life like for Miguel before his coma? Is there more beneath the surface?

It kept me reading just so I could see what Miguel's problem was. This graphic novels has some language and a few scantily clad women shots. It is recommended for college age and up.

Like a Lucid Dream Comes "Sloth"
Surrounded by rumours and legends of murder, suicide and beyond-the-grave visitors, the characters in Sloth are haunted more by dreams than the "boring" world around them. Miguel, the protagonist of the first portion of the book, has awoken from a year-long coma (suspected by professionals, sans precedent, to have been self-induced). Upon returning to the conscious world, Miguel sees his girlfriend Lita transfixed by the unseen oddities within the lemon orchard just outside of town. Still very much in love with her, Miguel finds himself veritably tormented by her association with his best friend, Romeo.

However, all is not as it seems - for just when the story begins to formulate itself, a very unusual twist skewers the reality as it had been presented up to this point. This is no mere hackneyed plot device, though. Upon delving further into the tale, one witnesses just how fragile a human existance is, how tenuous the day-to-day relationships and concepts accepted as "truths," as layer upon layer folds inwards, making linear assumptions and concepts all but invalid!

With primary themes such as guilt, paranoia, and abandonment mixed with passion, fascination and ambition, Sloth presents a captivating story which doesn't evaporate with the final panel on the final page. Instead, it gently tempts the reader to cogitate upon what has just unfolded. While Mr. Hernandez touches upon a variety of conditions, the book doesn't linger on any of them.

This book is reminiscent of many other pop-culture phenomenon such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (including its humourous moments), with shades of Mulholland Drive, but is essentially Mr. Hernandez' very unique take thereupon. A short tome, this book makes for excellent re-readability... and in fact, proves to become even stronger with each subsequent reading. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

The Mostly Tragic Story of Andrew Whittaker
"The Cry of the Sloth" is Sam Savage's second book. It's set in the 1970s, with America struggling under Nixon's presidency and covers a four month period in Andy Whittaker's life.

Things haven't been going terribly well for Andy when we first meet him. He allegedly earns his living as a landlord, though many of his apartments appear to be lying empty. (Those that are occupied aren't doing him much good : they're in such a bad state, his tenants aren't keen to pay their rent and Andy can't afford to make the repairs). Divorced and without any apparent social life, he lives alone. His phone's been cut off, he's in trouble with the bank and he regularly falls short on his alimony payments. His ex-wife, Jolie, moved to Brooklyn a couple of years previously : she's proven to be a very a bad loss to him, both professionally and personally.

Andy' seems to be a very lonely character, with Soap - the literary review he founded seven years previously - his whole reason for living. The magazine is widely mocked by the local arts community and, now that Jolie has left, the sniggering has been getting louder and louder. (Having said that, he does have some very loyal contributors. Some even continue to submit their work after Andy has begged then to stop). Unfortunately, Andy can't afford to bankroll it any longer and he's hoping to raise some funds by launching a literary festival.

"The Cry of the Sloth" actually reminded me a little of Adrian Mole books. Both Andy and Adrian wrongly believed themselves to be intellectuals, and both told their own stories. The Mole books are published as diaries, while this is a collection of Andy's writings - mostly his letters and his attempts at a novel. A lot of Andy's letters are very funny and, at times, he can be sneaky, devious and underhand. However, as the book progresses and Andy's world collapses around him, it's hard not to feel sorry for him too. Absolutely recommended.

Sammy Boy
So the main character dude is a landlord for some rather choice rentals. In one instance he writes a letter to a tenant that basically says your wife is so large that when she soaks in the tub, the overflow of water finds its way into the floorboards and rots the ceiling underneath causing it to cave in.(How can you not love that??)

I loved Firmin...I loved this. Basically a slew of letters to a selected bunch that showcase what remains of his life. Too bad the author, Sam Savage is already seventy.Hopefully he's got a few more books in him.

Interesting but sad
Hey, I like a little melancholia because life has quite a bit of that. This book is kind of sad but I enjoyed the depth and main characters drift from reality into
illusions brought on by loneliness. Sadly this book is about someone out there.

Absolutely brilliant
This is one of the best, most amazing books I've ever read. I've read a lot of books. I loved it. I can't believe how good it is. I don't want to talk about the specifics too much, because I don't want to give away what happens. It's an epistolary novel (a story told through letters and other documents). The protagonist, Andrew Whittaker is talented, but he has terrible flaws. He runs a literary magazine. He also owns some decaying rental properties. The story is told through the letters he writes to friends, tenants, his ex-wife, colleagues, and so on. You learn about his struggles and trials. Outrageous and pathetic incidents occur. The letters range from hilarious to tragic. The thing about this book that's so amazing is the degree of subtle reality in the character of Andrew Whittaker. As you read it he just somehow turns into a real person.

I had never heard of Sam Savage's work before. I was just walking around in a bookstore picking up books and reading the first few sentences. The Cry of the Sloth looked pretty good. I liked the title. It has turned out to be one of the moving literary experiences of my life. Honestly, I've never read anything like it. I know I sound like a dork. I just loved this book so much.

Perfectly Written.
I never imagined that a book written with a copyright 2009 would become my favorite book. How is that even possible? All of the books I've read across a lifetime, and this book, written in the last year, becomes the favored. I spent a few nights mulling it over. I even slept with the book on my pillowcase.

It was difficult watching Andy Whittaker unravel. Reading it made me feel like I was watching myself unravel.

... Read more

Product Description
High in the thick mangrove trees, a baby sloth clings to his mother. As he grows, the young sloth learns what leaves are best to eat, and where to climb the treetops to bask in the sunshine after frequent rains. But the sleepy sloth never leaves the safety of the trees. It isn’t until his mother finally deserts him that the lonely young sloth must discover the world below all by himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Educational and beautiful
This book is an excellent introduction to the gentle life of a sloth. The photos are beautiful and the text talks about the daily life of a sloth, when the baby leaves its mother, what sloths eat, who eats sloths, etc. The language is simple enough to engage my 3-year old and my 5-year old at the same time. There is also a one-page section with extra facts for the parents you can use to answer questions or to give more information. ... Read more

Product Description
Discover the awesome powers of the written word. (20070507) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

SFC 4 star review
Have you ever had to write a report for school and just stared at a blank piece of paper, not knowing where to begin? This is what happened to Jeffrey. Until he started to doodle on his paper, and . . . one of his doodles came to life. His doodle is a long armed sloth that tries to distract Jeffrey from writing his report. The sloth starts to boss Jeffery around; telling him to draw this and that for him. Will Jeffery take back control of his life or will he doodle the rest of his life for the sloth?

Kari-Lynn Winters tells a colorful and wild story about taking control of your life, and not letting the little things distract you. She helps us understand that we all have times where we just stare at a blank sheet a paper, wondering where to begin. And that sometimes, `where to begin' is to write about nothing. Ben Hodson's illustrations are so vivid and live. Together, Winters and Hodson make this story pop off the page.


Stories for Children Editor, VS Grenier ... Read more

Product Description
While Sloth sleeps, the other animals are busy. Cheetah is on a "treadmill, working on his speed"; Elephant lifts weights; Kangaroo bounces on a trampoline; and Monkey swings. They all cease their activities to inquire why Sloth is so lazy, and he cleverly turns things around by challenging Monkey to try to lift Elephant's weights. Monkey topples over, and suggests that Elephant try jumping like Kangaroo. After everyone fails at another creature's talent, Sloth points out that they all have something they do best, and for him, it's snoozing. Expressive animals rendered in soft tones fill each page. Although this cast of characters would not all be found "deep in the jungle" as suggested, the story still works. A message-driven, yet fun tale that can be used to spark discussion about individuality. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a rollicking parody of the self-help genre, one that skewers the couch-bound, apathetic mentality so pervasive in America today.With tongue in cheek, Sloth guides readers step-by-step toward a life of noncommittal inertia. "You have the right to be lazy," writes Wasserstein. "You can choose not to respond. You can choose not to move." Readers will find out the importance of Lethargiosis--the process of eliminating energy and drive, the vital first step in becoming a sloth. To help you attain the perfect state of indolent bliss, the book offers a wealth of self-help aids. Readers will find the sloth songbook, sloth breakfast bars (packed with sugar, additives, and a delicious touch of Ambien), sloth documentaries (such as the author's 12-hour epic on Thomas Aquinas), and the sloth network, channel 823, programming guaranteed not to stimulate or challenge in any way. ("It may be difficult to distinguish between this and other channels, but only on channel 823 can you watch me sleeping.") Readers will also learn the top ten lies about Sloth, the ten commandments of Sloth, the SLOTH mantra, even the "too-much ten"--over-achievers such as Marie Curie, Shakespeare, and William the Conqueror. You will discover how to become a sloth in your diet, exercise, work, and even love-life (true love leads to passion, she warns, and passion is the biggest enemy of sloth).Wendy Wasserstein is one of America's great comic writers--one who always has a serious point to her humor. Here, as she pokes fun at the self-help industry, she also satirizes the legion of Americans who are cultural and political sloths. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Humorous
This book is one of seven in a series on the seven deadly sins. Originating in a series of lectures, Oxford University Press has published them. This volume consists of Wendy Wasserstein's musings on sloth. Written as a parody of a self-help book, Wasserstein tells us that sloth is the new route to health and happiness. This is a funny book. Wasserstein is a comic talent, and she shows it here. Wasserstein mocks the impulsive culture of diet and self-improvement, but there is a serious side to her critique as well. In her last chapter, Uber-Sloths, Wasserstein dishes out some directed criticism at people who do a whole lot of nothing. The people who race from gym to group to meeting to engagement, enjoying none of it, and all for the sake of being so important as to be busy. This book is a quick read that made me laugh, and also made me nod in agreement.

Embarrassingly bad
I almost never give a book just one star in my reviews.If a book is so bad that it rates no more than a single star, I generally leave it unreviewed.The only times I violate this rule are when I run across books that not only are bad but also, in my judgment, harmfully bad.Wendy Wasserstein's little volume on sloth fits that description.

Wasserstein (who, since this book, unfortunately has died) was a brilliant comic playwright.On stage, her satiric wit in plays such as "The Heidi Chronicles" is wonderful.But why she was asked (or allowed) by the 7 Deadly Sins series editors to write on the vice of sloth is a mystery.She's clearly out of her depth.Alone of all the other authors, she has no obvious qualifications.

Instead of thinking deeply and writing cogently about sloth, Wasserstein shoots for the easy laugh.Her approach to sloth is to write a mock-manual on how to cultivate it, filled with faux easy-steps-to-laziness advice.Given that contemporary American culture is so obsessed with busyness and careerism that fewer and fewer of us actually know how to enjoy leisure time, Wasserstein's jabs at the fast-paced and frenetic life are well-taken.

The problem is that you get the point in the first five pages, and after that you look, without success, for substance.Even worse, Wasserstein mischaracterizes sloth from the get-go.Sloth isn't merely laziness; in fact, it's not clear that sloth is laziness at all.Sloth, as commentators from the desert fathers in the first centuries of the Christian era to psychologists and philosophers today maintain, is a form of despair, the inability to feel joy or gratitude.Sloth can lead to a dispirited lack of energy that leads to behavior frequently thought of as lazy.But lazyiness connotes a relaxed internal state that the person suffering from sloth simply doesn't enjoy.Neither is sloth leisured, nonbusy time.The latter is an opportunity, as Aristotle noted, for enrichment.The former is always a state of alienation and interior impoverishment.Wasserstein's failure to make these sorts of distinctions leads to a caricature rather than an analysis of sloth.

Sloth, when understood as despair, may be the single one of the 7 deadlies that most characterizes American culture.How doubly unfortunate, then, that the volume on sloth in the 7 Deadly Sins series is so inadequate.Its easy conflation of sloth with laziness only legitimizes our present-day tendency not to take it seriously.And this is where Wasserstein's bad book graduates into the harmful book category.

I laughed SO hard!
I found this book by chance at the library and I am now considering purchasing it for some folks. I kept reading parts to my husband (he was forced to listen)and I was howling and doubled over with laughter. I have read tons of self-help books and found this satirical book FABULOUS! What a fun read.

Thanks Ms. Wasserstein, I plan on looking up your other books.

Excellent advice spread out way too far
The intro and first chapter was excellent and indeed made me really look at how much of an 'eager beaver' I was.

Perhaps the book should have stopped there...isn't that what a sloth would do? But no, the publisher wouldn't have published a pamphlet as part of a multi-book series. Ironically, the writer ambitions, using various unnecessary reframing techniques like most authors do, to expand the wisdom of a fortune cookie into a book on sloth...which is so unslothlike. Here it is in a nutshell: the opposite of America's uptight unhealthy culture is NOT sloth; the opposite is peaceful and healthy; regardless, the uptight unhealthy industry will call you a sloth.

We know that health is based on diet, exercise, and lifestyle. There are a gazillion books that really address diet and exercise, but few that realistically address lifestyle like Sloth. The book instantly clicked for me and I let go of so many worries that frankly I never really had. My emotional eating went away, the unnecessary stress at work went away, concerns about political stuff that I never really understood nor could do anything about went away. Thus I was able to get healthier on all levels, do more things that I truly wanted to do, and so on.

So the book isn't about sloth so much as it is about letting go of all the unnecessary stress that we put on ourselves. At least that is what I got from it.

disappointing
I read this work after I read Gluttony which was sharp and acute. This work by Wasserstein by contrast is sort of like the subject she chose 'sloth', that is to say sloppy and without effort. This work is not funny, has tired joke themes from some of her other work, sags, is inert, not sparkling. Contrast with Hunter Thompson, a sharp eyed and sharp minded satirist. Or with Mencken. I'm sorry this work is disappointing; her Heidi Chronicles, even though it is now a sort of aged romantic comedy about a very narrow class of women in America, was fresh to the East Coast audience in its time. ... Read more

Product Description
"Have you ever tried to convince someone you weren't crazy?" So begins the seduction journal of the unnamed narrator of Sloth. It's not a mere hypothetical because he's fallen in love with a TV exercise girl named Holly Servant; he must convince her of his sanity from afar if he's ever to woo her in the flesh. But how can he win her heart when he's a waiter--that is, a man who waits in long lines for a living? How can he cut the line to her affections? Women like Holly don't date the likes of him. So he assumes the identity of his friend Zezel, a former newspaper columnist who once wrote under the pen name "Mark Goldblatt."But in this satire of postmodernism, which is also a postmodern satire, nothing is what it seems. Does Holly actually exist, or is she a figment of the narrator's imagination? Does Zezel actually exist, or is he an alter-ego who takes over the narrator's journal? Does the narrator have a name, or is he just an excuse to ask questions? (And who's writing this cover copy, come to think of it?) Nothing of the sort concerns Detective Lacuna. He only wants to know who murdered the male prostitute who used to cruise for tricks out down the block from the narrator's apartment.Sloth is a timeless love story with a rim shot core, a pulse-quickening mystery wrapped in knish skin. You'll never look at your reflection the same way after you've read it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great find
I found this book intelligent and fun.Imagine those two words in the same sentence...

Funny and Engrossing Read
This slim novel is packed full of off-beat personalities and improbably situations that require the reader to have a mighty sense of humor and a charitable view of the a world its characters find themselves in when nothing makes sense and improbability abounds.A delightful romp through the world of the absurd in a world that increasingly makes no sense to even the most grounded of us.I heartily recommend.

Very intelligent, very funny
Just finished reading this and it was very funny and probably the most intelligent novel I've read all year (and so far, I think I've read 45--I'm pretty voracious).The references come fast and furious, the word play is great, and one thing I enjoyed is while the humor can be broad, it is also quite pointed and sharp. Read it and you'll see what I mean.The best thing I can say about the book is that on two occasions I almost missed my train stop because I was so engrossed in the story.The characters are types yet they take on a life--they are believable.I know these people.This is not a book for folks who take academic pretensions too seriously, or who are overly concerned with political correctness to the point that they can't see the humor in taking it too seriously, but independent thinkers should enjoy it very much.Very New York in flavor, which in my book is a plus. One quibble would be with the female characters, who are more cardboard stereotypes than fully fleshed out characters, but then this is a book about male friendship and male obsession, narrated by a man who perhaps has a slight problem with objectifying women, so that could be a function of the narrator's ability to view women. That sentence sounds like I'm hedging, but I'm not.It was purposely vague as the narrator is an ambivalent character. I liked him. And often disliked him.

You Scamp!
"Sloth" surprised me with each new page. I actually can't get it out of my head.

Hilarious send-up of pretentious writing
Mark Goldblatt's Sloth is like a walk through a hall of mirrors strewn with banana peels.If Nabokov had played the Borscht Belt, he might have written this book.Read it.You won't be disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description
Deep in the heart of a big city....

RamÓn's lawn chair has disappeared. It's only a cheap plastic chair, but it's RamÓn's favorite chair, and he wants it back. Who (or what) would take a lawn chair? When (and how) did it disappear?

This sounds like a case for the High-Rise Private Eyes -- Case #005, to be exact, the case of the Sleepy Sloth. Because no mystery is too mysterious, no puzzle too puzzling, no crime too criminal, no trouble too troubling for ace detectives and very best friends Bunny Brown and Jack Jones.

Customer Reviews (1)

Is This a Real Book?
This book seems to to have been "written" by committee, with all of its meager contents randomly lifted from the web and then shoddily compiled with a photoshop program. It's hard to believe that the author really even cares about the subject: this book has all of the conviction and cleverness of the grade school book reports I handed in as a kid, copying entries from the World Book Encyclopedia, tracing a few photos and padding the thing with a title page and table of contents!
I do not recommend this book! ... Read more

Product Description
"What animal has shaggy fur and long claws and sleeps in a tree? Sloths! But do you know how sloths find food? Or why their fun can look green? Read this book to find out!

Learn all about different animals in the Animal Close-Ups series--part of the Lightning Bolt Books(tm) collection. With high-energy designs, exciting photos, and fun text, Lightning Bolt Books(tm) bring nonfiction topics to life!" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a fascinating introduction to the sloth, a very unusual, yet very appealing animal!
Sometimes a sloth is hard to see when it is hanging in a tree because "its fur looks a lot like the tree branch where it hangs."Sloths are either gray or brown and have long shaggy fur.If you look closely at a sloth, it sometimes looks green.That is because "tiny plants often grow" in their fur.Because the sloth moves so slowly, the algae can grow quite well on its fur.This green color enables the animal to blend in "with the leaves in the rain forest."When a sloth is in a tree, it will hang upside down by using its long hook-like claws that are growing "on the ends of its toes."All sloths have "three toes on their back feet."The toes on their front feet can vary and so we have both two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths.

These very unusual looking creatures live in trees and are known to "sleep most of the time."Their diet consists of "leaves, fruit, bark, and twigs."They pull a branch toward their mouth and nibble on its leaves.When they want to move, they swing to another branch similar to the way a monkey does.When they do this, they can be assured of a fresh supply of food.They "may also eat the algae from their fur."About once a week the sloth will climb down the tree to find another one.In this book you will also learn how her changes location, how babies are raised, you'll learn how well they can swim, and what kinds of predators it has.Do you think a sloth can walk upright?You may have to read this book to find out.

This is a fascinating introduction to the sloth, a very unusual, yet very appealing animal.Many young children love to learn about "different" animals, ones that are not likely to be seen in their own surroundings.Each page in the main text is accompanied by a photograph of a sloth or, in some instances, that of a predator.The emergent reader can comfortably tackle this text with a bit of assistance with only a few words. This is an introductory, nonfiction text about the sloth and does not explain that it is a mammal or discuss what a mammal is.It's a perfect book to introduce the young student to animal science and get them excited about nonfiction.In the back of the book is a "Sloth Range Map," a "Sloth Diagram," an index, a glossary, and additional recommended book and website resources to explore. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the seven is dead, and everyone's reeling:

Adam's done. With love, with school...with everything. Done.

Beth's doing her best to act "normal," but even Reed recognizes devastation, since all he does is fantasize about Kaia.

Miranda's lost too.

Did she ever really forgive Harper?

Only Kane is actually doing something: uncovering how the crash happened -- and why.

But there's no do-over with death.

There's only moving on -- to the most unlikely places.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Aftereffects
After an accident that left one girl dead and another injured, the seniors at Haven High are shaken and scared. And understandably so: Harper's return to school and Kaia's permanent absence are making everyone uncomfortable. Harper is haunted by nightmares of Kaia and the accident; the events of that night are still foggy and frightening. Beth's determined to make Spirit Week memorable, but she finds herself slipping up. Miranda misses the old Harper; the new one seems to be pulling away from everyone and everything. The boys are stumbling as well: Adam's falling behind in school, Kane's partying, carefree; and Reed's surprised to find Beth leaning on his shoulder.

While each of the characters are plagued by varying degrees of guilt over Kaia's death, the only thing that seems certain any more is that nothing will ever be the same.

Sloth is the fifth in the Seven Deadly Sins series by Robin Wasserman. It is recommended that you read the series in order:

Lust
Envy
Pride
Wrath
Sloth
Gluttony
Greed

A good book for a lazy day
Wasserman came back again for the fifth installment in her Seven Deadly Sins series with "Sloth". Although it had some shoes to fill with the fourth book "Wrath". I found this book to overall be good but not as good as the previous book. At the end of "Wrath" Harper and friend Kaia went to escape the world and their troubles by driving as fast as they could to get away from their small town. But after being drugged by Beth Harper was in no condition to drive and the girls ended up in a car accident with one dead. Although unkown at the end of the last book within the first few pages of this book we find out who died, and as said in a previous review for the book it was Kaia who died. After the accident everyone is dealing with the death in their own way. Harper keeps havin dreams in which Kaia is still alive and speaking to her, and Harper can't help but feel guilty for being the one driving the car. Adam is trying his hardest to be nice to Harper because he feels semi-guilty for shoving her away in the last book. Kane is trying to figure out how everything happened. Reed is dealing with the loss of a girl he loved. Beth has a total change in her personality knowing that it was her fault that Harper was drugged when the accident happened. Miranda as always is dealing with being second to Harper, and she and Harper again have friendship problems. I didn't find this book as good as the last one (as a usually do with these books). This book was not bad but it seemed of more of a transition between "Wrath" and the upcoming "Gluttony". This book seems to lay a lot of groundwork for "Gluttony". This book didn't seem to have a complete ending either which makes it feel like there needed to be a book between "Wrath" and "Gluttony" to tell youthe moods of everyone. Overall this book was not bad and as always I can't wait for the next!

Not bad...
This book wasn't too bad.I liked number 4 (Wrath) the best.This book could have taken on a couple more interesting events.Aside from Harper and her problems, this book became a little dull at times.Beth is a good girl gone bad.Adam tries to be nice to Harper because he feels sorry/guilty for her.Kane is surprisingly less of an idiot that her normally is.I don't know... Maybe this book is laying the groundwork for the next one. ... Read more

Product Description
Sammy the Sloth has fallen asleep on a tree branch during a big windstorm. It's up to Diego to save the day! Come along with Diego as he flies through the rainforest to get to his sleepy friend. Watch out for the Bobo Brothers on the way! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Educational and Entertaining Book - a review of "Diego Saves the Sloth!"
This is a very nice "Go Diego Go" book.Alexis Roman has done a very good job of squeezing the essence of the television show into 24 pages.The featured creature in this book is the slow moving sloth.The threat is a wind storm that threatens the branch he is hanging from.The artwork is typical of the series; colorful and attractive.

Though any book that gets children to read is good in my book, I particularly like "Diego Saves the Sloth!" because it's also educational.There are the Spanish words, of course, which are trademarks of his show.But in addition there is information about sloths.In particular, the last page of the book gives quite a few factoids.

Pam T~
mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews

Engaging Diego Book
My 4 year old son is a huge Diego fan, and this is one of his favorite Diego books.It is sort of short, but still keeps his attention.No stickers included, but a good buy for the price.

Fun and exciting
Diego is on a mission with the help of his readers to save the sloth! Kids will have fun with Diego while reading this story. It has a fun and exciting pace which will appeal to kids. The words lend a natural way for a parent to convey the adventure of the story and the pictures full of activity will be sure to capture kids attention. The interjection of spanish words thoughout is a wonderful opportunity to teach children in a fun way. ... Read more

Product Description