Bedard, Michael

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The Divide

The Divide
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

When Willa Cather was a girl, her family moved west to the open prairie of Nebraska, leaving behind a world Willa loved dearly. Gone were the wooded hills and the meadows marbled with sheep. In their place was a flat, empty land, as bare as a strip of sheet iron. Willa felt she had come to the end of things; she felt the land did not want them.

But then spring came, and the silent land stirred to life. Summer followed, long and hot, and Willa roamed free over the open fields on her pony. Slowly she began to explore the hidden delights of this strange new countryside, and to make friends with her fellow settlers on the Divide. By the time autumn came, with its splendid sunlit colors, Willa understood that what she had thought was an ending was really a new beginning.

Michael Bedard and Emily Arnold McCully evoke the spirit of the American West in this lyrical story with delicate, richly hued illustrations. They celebrate, as Willa Cather did in her novels, the wild beauty of the vast prairie she came to love and the sturdy spirit of the pioneers who made it their home.

Customer Reviews:

The Divide.......2003-11-04

This is a colorful picture book with great discriptions of the season Willa Cather lived in the plains of the Divide in Nebraska.

Average customer rating:

Hauntingly Beautiful
Prose that will change the way a child hears
Emily
An ok mystery book to read
A Glimpse of Emily.....

Emily
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0385306970
Release Date: 2007-03-11

Book Description

A young girl who lives across the street from the reclusive Emily Dickinson gets her chance to meet the poet when her mother is invited to play the piano for Emily. The girl sneaks up to Emily's room and exchanges a small gift for an authentic poem, which is included in the book.

Customer Reviews:

Hauntingly Beautiful.......2006-05-15

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up for my children. At first reading, I was concerned that it was a ghost story, which might be a little too scary for my three year old. I was delightfully surprised that it is more of a mystery, with a little girl (the narrator) discovering Emily Dickinson in the house across the street. Barbara Cooney's slightly primitive paintings are a wonderful accompaniament to Michael Bedard's text. But it is Emily's own poetry which is the climax of the book. This book would be an excellent accompaniament to any young person's study of Emily Dickinson's poetry.

Prose that will change the way a child hears.......2005-10-09

The beauty's in the telling, and even more in the not-telling: "The road was full of mud and mirrors..." Thanks, Michael Bedard, for not talking down to children, and for an explanation of poetry that any child or adult would be better for hearing. Gorgeous prose without the overblown cloying sentiment of so many children's books.

Emily.......2003-03-17

In this story this little girl is curious about her neighbor and this letter her mother recieved. He say footprints coming from her neighbors house to her door. This neighbor hasn't left her house in 20 years. This lady is Emily. Later in the story they decide to go visit her. They went to play music for her. Emily just wanted spring that is why she asked them to play her music n the letter. The little girl keeps thinking about the mystery of Emily when spring has come. This Emily is Emily Dickinson and she is shut in the house for so long because she is writing poetry. She has the little girls mother come to play music becase it inspires her. This is a very good story and might even be true story. I enjoyed it.

An ok mystery book to read.......2003-03-06

The book "Emily" was an ok book for me because I'm just not into mystery books but you other kids may like it. Its about a myth that a person is living in a yellow house and has never came out for 20 years. This little girl, Emily, has always wanted to go there and give the person some bulbs that grow into lillies in the spring. Will she do it? Who knows? You need to read the book to find out what happens next.

A Glimpse of Emily............2002-04-15

"There is a woman on our street they call the Myth. She lives with her sister in the yellow house across the road. Her room is the one up on the left at the front. If you stand on tiptoe, you can see it peeping over the high hedge as you pass. She hasn't left her house in nearly twenty years. If strangers come to call, she runs and hides herself away. Some people say she's crazy. But to me she's Emily..." When our young narrator's mother is invited to cross the street and play the piano for the elusive Emily, the little girl can't wait to accompany her. Emily is nowhere to be seen, but Mother sits and nervously begins to play. "When Mother stopped she turned to me. A sound of clapping rippled down the stairs, and then a small voice like a little girl's. "Dear friend, you put the robin's song to shame. Play more. Already I can feel the spring." As her mother continues, the little girl creeps up the winding stairs to investigate, and at the bend at the top, finds a small woman dressed in white, sitting and listening to the beautiful music from below. From her pocket, our narrator takes out two lily bulbs. "I brought you some spring...If you plant them they will turn to lilies." Quickly Emily dashed off some words on a scrap of paper and handed it to her guest. "Hide this away, as I will hide your gift to me. Perhaps in time they both will bloom." And so as spring arrived, so did the lilies, and a young girl's special poem from Emily Dickinson..... Michael Bedard has captured the quiet and intriguing reclusive nature of Emily Dickinson in his well researched historical story. "In writing this book, I went to Amherst to visit the house where she lived. I sat in the parlor with the piano, visited the room where she wrote. I stood beneath her window and she lowered this story to me." His simple, eloquent, and engaging text transports the reader back in time to nineteenth century Amherst, Massachusetts, to spend an afternoon with Emily Dickinson. You can almost hear the piano drifting up the stairs, and the scratches of her pen as Emily dashes off a poem. Barbara Cooney's beautifully evocative oil paintings are rich in period detail, and complement the text with their quiet settings. With an Afterword to complete and enhance the story, Emily is truly a masterpiece of word and art, and a fascinating story that shouldn't be missed.

Average customer rating:

A wonderful book for children... and adults!
Not just for kiddies
Parents will love it.
Delightful Ducks
Phenomenal book :)

Sitting Ducks

Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Alligators & Crocodiles | Animals | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0698118979
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Book Description

Day after day, brand new ducks roll off a giant assembly line operated by alligators at the Colossal Duck Factory. They are loaded into trucks and taken to Ducktown, where they are fattened up in preparation for their final destination-into the stomachs of alligators. Everything proceeds smoothly, until the day one of the alligators decides to take a wayward duck home. Over time, the alligator grows fond of his future dinner. Can a duck and an alligator really be friends in an alligator-eat-duck world? Find out in this charming and humorous friendship story.

"Funny and poignant."-Children's Literature

"This appealing book with its cast of near-irresistible ducks and only mildly menacing alligators is sure to please young readers. Bedard's sprightly illustrations make the work seem like an animated cartoon between picture book covers."
-Parents' Choice

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful book for children... and adults!.......2004-06-01

I agree that this book was written for adults as well as children. After seeing this in a local bookstore, I bought it, with the intention of putting it on my desk where I work.

The story, in unambiguous terms, is about how an alligator befriends a helpless duck in a large New York-like metroplis populated by alligators. It is wonderfully illustrated, and the takeoff on Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" is almost worth the price of the book alone.

It's too bad that the book did not include a few paragraphs from the author which could have shared some of his ideas and experiences in producing "Sitting Ducks". The craftsmanship that went into the making of this book must have been very time-consuming.

As a children's book, "Sitting Ducks" is truly a gem. Scholastic Press is to be commended for the publication of this creative effort.

Not just for kiddies.......2001-08-02

This is a wonderfully off-kilter kids' book that's not just for the diaper set. I gave it to my best friend as a gift, but it gets an airing whenever he substitute teaches at an elementary school. He's read it to his "kids" so often that they call him the "Sitting Ducks Man" now. Definitely a cute comment on friendship at any age.

Parents will love it........2001-08-01

While studying to become a teacher my professor had a pre-release copy of this book that he read to us adults. It felt like I was back in primary school in London (except for the snotty nose and need to use the bathroom) because I was enthralled with a picture book again. I got hold of a copy recently and my three year old asks for it every night. I of course throw a Kipper book at him, throw myself into bed, and look at the excellent pictures until I fall asleep.

Delightful Ducks.......2001-03-19

I fell in love with the art work immediately. The animals in this book do not fall in the "cartoon" range, but take on lives of their own. The story is a little long for a young child, but anyone would treasure this unique story with it's humor and charm.

Phenomenal book :).......2000-08-26

The adorable ducks on the cover of "Sitting Ducks" caught my attention when I was perusing a local book store and I proceeded to sit down and finish the book right there. The enthralling story of the bond that forms between the duck and alligator completely made my day. The pictures themselves are worth the [$], my personal favorite was looking at all of the ducks' expressions as they work out. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to brighten their day with a great children's book.

The Painted Wall and Other Strange Tales (Aesop Accolades (Awards))

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Fairy Tales With A Twist

The Painted Wall and Other Strange Tales (Aesop Accolades (Awards))

Manufacturer: Tundra Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

Honor Book for the Society of School Librarians International’s Best Book Award - Language Arts, Grades K-6 Novels

Selected as one of four recipients of the 2004 Aesop Accolade

Selected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003

At about the time the Grimm Brothers were gathering their famous collection of folk stories and fairy tales in Europe, in China a similar collection of almost five hundred stories had just been compiled by the scholar Pu Sing-ling. Drawing on oral and written sources, he called his collection of the strange and wondrous Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure.

The fruits of his life’s work become immensely popular with storytellers who performed the stories in teahouses, where rapt audiences would sit for half a day drinking tea and listening to tales of ghosts, fox fairies, and other wonders.

Almost unknown in the West, the stories are given new life in this important work by the masterful Michael Bedard.

Customer Reviews:

Fairy Tales With A Twist.......2007-05-29

"The Painted Wall and other strange tales" by Michael Bedard is a collection of Pu Songling's 7th century Chinese folk and fairy tales adapted into short stories for a young adult audience. It's tumbler of Grimm's fairy tales with a twist of "Twilight Zone".

Imagine a painting so beautiful that it could become real. Could you walk into such a landscape and interact with its animals and people? Wouldn't it be nice to use a magic pear tree to teach a greedy merchantman a lesson? Or a pair of glass eyes to teach a naughty boy a lesson about stealing? All of these and more await you in "The Painted Wall and other strange tales".

My first experience with a Pu Songling story was the 1987 film "Chinese Ghost Story" starring Leslie Cheung as an inexperienced tax collector who encounters a beautiful woman, an evil tree demon and a wise old monk. The movie was smart, sexy and packed with stunning action sequences. It was great Hong Kong cinema and a fairly close, although cleverly embellished for the big screen, adaptation of Pu Songling's "The Magic Sword". While that is not one of the stories in this collection, there are 23 others to enjoy in this collection.

Bringing Pu Songling's classic stories to a young adult audience isn't easy, even word for word translations of the stories do not have their original subtleties or nuance. Cultural differences are as unavoidable as they are unexplained. The protagonist of every story is male. The villain of every story is either female or a wealthy person. Bedard does accomplish the goal in spite of all this. What really works about this collection is everything else - the originality of the tales themselves, the compactness of the writing, the diversity of the stories, and the rare opportunity to read tales of this kind.

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Blake-Understood
Blake's Alive!
Great Blake book for all to experience

William Blake: The Gates of Paradise
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Tundra Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 088776763X
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Book Description

Journey back to the 1700s to meet one of the most fascinating people in history. Dreamer, craftsman, poet, madman, and genius — William Blake. Born in 1757 in London, as a boy he apprenticed as an engraver and began a career that would include masterpieces of art.

Blake lived during times of incredible change and upheaval, including the Gordon Riots and the French Revolution. Spiritualism and the allure of magic were being replaced by a belief in rationalism. Blake celebrated the beauty of small things. His work showed, “…a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower….” [William Blake] Yet, with the noise and dirt of mills (factories), the Industrial Revolution was drowning out a quiet, rural way of life. The value of things made carefully by hand was being lost.

At the same time, the printing press was making it possible for more and more people to read. The rise of printed books and book illustration was revolutionary and Blake was part of it.

On the 250th anniversary of Blake’s birth, master storyteller Michael Bedard brings this Renaissance man and his times to vivid life in this biography that is lavishly illustrated with Blake’s work.

Customer Reviews:

Blake-Understood.......2007-02-03

I always wanted to figure out what was behind the art and poems of William Blake and I think this author has a special way of getting the reader to that exact information. It is kind of like an Ed Burns documentary but added to that is the joy that the author feels for his subject. That joy added to the rapture of Blake's life leads the reader to splendor.

Blake's Alive!.......2007-02-01

This is much more than a kids biography. This is a well-organized, handsomely-presented full read on Master Blake. Yes it's a perfect introduction for someone, but I also found this to be a superb supplementary book for the William Blake fan. I was impressed throughout -- especially with the loads of illustrations herein. Killer lil Blakebook.

Great Blake book for all to experience.......2007-01-09

Wonderful summary of Blakes life geared towards young adults but also helpful for older readers. Great illustrations and beautiful inside cover illustrations. A real joy to read and own!!!

AJ FAL

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Born to Be Wild ("Sitting Ducks")
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Walker Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sitting Ducks
Duck Naked ("Sitting Ducks") ("Sitting Ducks")
Plucked Duck (Sitting Ducks)
My Best Friend's a Duck ("Sitting Ducks")
Quacking Up (Sitting Ducks)

ASIN: 0744594928

My Best Friend's a Duck ("Sitting Ducks")

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My Best Friend's a Duck ("Sitting Ducks")
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Walker Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Born to Be Wild ("Sitting Ducks")

ASIN: 0744594553

PIPE AND PEARLS - A Gathering of Tales - Underground; In the Prison; At the End of The Lane; The Mask; The Steamer Trunk; The Chalk Circle; The Dream Master; The Wizard of the Danbury Wood

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PIPE AND PEARLS - A Gathering of Tales - Underground; In the Prison; At the End of The Lane; The Mask; The Steamer Trunk; The Chalk Circle; The Dream Master; The Wizard of the Danbury Wood
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: Gardenshore Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0920134033

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Nacido Salvaje (Oberon Junior)
Michael Bedard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Infantil y juvenil | Libros en español | Formats | Books

Average customer rating:

Storyline doesn't flow

CLAY LADIES
Michael Bedard
Manufacturer: TUNDRA BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

One day, a small girl finds a wounded bird. She knows where to go for help, because on her street live two women known as the Clay Ladies. Their home is an old church full of wonders: half-finished statues and pieces of pottery. The Clay Ladies help bring the bird back to life, just as they infuse pieces of clay with life. Moreover they introduce the girl to the world of clay. Although the incident is imaginary, this beautifully written story is based on the lives of artists Frances Loring and Florence Wyle.

Customer Reviews:

Storyline doesn't flow.......2006-09-11

This was a difficult book to read aloud. The sentences didn't flow and the storyline was somehow cluttered. The illustrations are beautiful. The story is losely based on lesbian artists Frances Loring and Florence Wyle. If I had known about the main characters before hand I wouldn't not have borrowed the book. The book makes no moral statements, however, the two clay ladies look like males.

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