Mary Pope Osborne

This early picture-book from Mary Pope Osborne, better known these days as the creator of the immensely popular Magic Tree House chapter-book series, offers a simplified retelling of the classic French fairy-tale of Beauty and the Beast, retaining the basic structure of the original by Mme. Le Prince de Beaumont - the rich merchant with three sons and three daughters, the family's unexpected reduction to rural poverty and the futile journey to recoup some of their losses, the palace in the show more forest and the fateful plucking of the rose, Beauty's subsequent self-sacrifice, and her life with the Beast - but greatly reducing the text, and adapting it in a rather modern, colloquial fashion.

The result, unfortunately, is a narrative that is oddly disjointed, with dialogue that had me giggling at its unintentional hilarity:

"Tell me! What are you doing - stealing my roses?" yelled the Beast again. "My roses are my prize possession!"
"Oh, I'm sorry! Forgive me! Forgive me!" cried the poor man.
"I won't forgive you!" roared the Beast. "You will die for this!"
"Oh, please, no!" cried the merchant. "I only wanted one rose for my youngest daughter!"
"You have daughters?" asked the Beast.

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but the foregoing put me strongly in mind of some slapstick comedies I have seen ("No! No! No! - Yes! Yes! Yes!"), and certainly didn't communicate the sense of terror - or, at the very least, menace - that should accompany the Beast's first entrance into the story.

Sadly, the lackluster text is in no way redeemed by Winslow Pels' illustrations, which I found rather dreary, and oddly out of step, stylistically speaking, with the story. What on earth was up with Beauty's hair?!? Why, in the musical scene, was she playing an accordion and tambourine? There was one image - the one in which Beauty's father struggles through the snowy forest - that I found appealing, but one painting simply isn't enough to save this venture! Unless you're determined to read every version of Beauty and the Beast on which you can lay your hands, skip this one, and try the lovely retelling done by Marianna Mayer instead. show less

Mary Pope Osborne, creator of the immensely popular Magic Tree House chapter-book series, offers a poetic description of small town America on the 4th of July in this lovely picture-book. An extended family enjoys the day at Memorial Park, participating in various community activities - fundraisers, contests and games, eating good food - until it is time for the evening concert. After performances of some of America's most celebrated patriotic songs, the fireworks begin, and the entire show more audience is awed. The day draws to a close, and as the family are driving home, the boy-narrator wishes America a happy birthday...

Pairing an engaging narrative from Osborne with luminous artwork from illustrator Peter Catalanotto, Happy Birthday, America offers a snapshot of one rural community on an important day. Apparently Osborne's narrative is based on a 4th of July she spent in a real small town in Pennsylvania, the same town that Catalanotto traveled to, on another 4th, to get inspiration for his artwork. Given that this so, I find it rather disturbing that some have criticized this book for not being "diverse" enough. Our country is diverse, and part of what makes it diverse is that it is made up of a myriad of regions, states, cities, and communities, all of which have a different character and makeup. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the rural Euro-American community depicted here, anymore than there is something wrong with the urban, largely African-American and Latino communities depicted in the books of author/illustrators like Faith Ringgold. Leaving that issue aside - and it really should be a non-issue - this is a lovely work, one suffused with a sense of familial, communal and national love. Happy Birthday, indeed! show less

Follow the 3 rules of ninja!
1. Use nature
2. Be nature
3. Follow nature

Oh yes, I am ninja. Why? Because Jack and Annie taught me how to be one!!! Haha!! Another adventure, even more fun! This time, Morgan has left a message. She is under a spell and needs Jack & Annie to help her by finding 4 things!! I loved this one. Not just because it had ninjas, but because it had ninjas AND samurais. What could be better than that?? [Toss in Godzilla and you've got destruction all over little Tokyo lol] show more But anyway, great book, so much fun, LOTS OF EXCITEMENT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT =D show less

This was one of my absolute favorite series as a child, and as an adult I now collect them when I see them in thrift stores or garage sales! That being said, I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually sat down to read one of them so getting to revisit this was such a good time!! The few illustrations that there were included were so much cooler than I remembered them being! The line work is so simple but it adds such a cool effect to the book and makes it feel like someone was maybe show more drawing these things that happened from memory! Overall, the story was definitely attention keeping and fast paced enough to keep me interested. You also learn a lot more than you think you are going to throughout the course of all of these books making them fun and educational at the same time! Overall I would recommend this series to almost anyone I think!! show less