Young wizard-in-training Harry Potter has had his hands full during his first four years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As if excelling on and off the Quidditch field isn't enough, Harry has heard evil voices in the walls, saved lives, and fended off convicts. Only time will tell how Harry will manage the certain dangers in store for him over the next few years. The first four titles of J.K. Rowling's magical, witty, exciting adventures are now available in a gift set, perfect for the legions of children whose big brothers and sisters (and parents) have made off with their copies. These gripping fantasy novels are on the road to becoming classics--don't wait to collect these lovely hardcover editions, illustrated by the talented Mary GrandPré. Each boxed set includes Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Review by Amazon.com
Books: Harry Potter Boxed Set (Books 1-4)
- For All Things About Harry Potter
Seven-year-old Matthew disappears one day on a walk into Horshoe, a dust bowl farm town in Depression-era Saskatchewan. Robert, his older brother, is determined to find Matthew, even when the grownups seem to give up. Other children go missing just as a strange man named Abram Harsich appears in town. He dazzles the townspeople, long plagued by the effects of drought, with magic mirrors and the promises of a rainmaking machine. Only Robert seems to be able to resist Abram, and to discover what happened to Matthew.
Books: Hardcover -
It is two hundred thousand years ago. A small group of children are cut off from their Kin, the Moonhawks, when they are driven from their "Good Place" by violent strangers. While searching for a new Good Place, they face the parched desert, an active volcano, a canyon flood, man-eating lions, and other Kins they've never seen before. Told from four points of view, with tales of the Kins' creation interspersed throughout, this epic novel humanizes early man and illuminates the beginning of language, the development of skills, and the organization of society. It is a triumphant book from one of the genre's most revered authors.
Books: Hardcover -
- Paperback -
Make no mistake. The Bad Beginning begins badly for the three Baudelaire children, and then gets worse. Their misfortunes begin one gray day on Briny Beach when Mr. Poe tells them that their parents perished in a fire that destroyed their whole house. "It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed," laments the personable (occasionally pedantic) narrator, who tells the story as if his readers are gathered around an armchair on pillows. But of course what follows is dreadful. The children thought it was bad when the well-meaning Poes bought them grotesque-colored clothing that itched. But when they are ushered to the dilapidated doorstep of the miserable, thin, unshaven, shiny-eyed, money-grubbing Count Olaf, they know that they--and their family fortune--are in real trouble. Still, they could never have anticipated how much trouble. While it's true that the events that unfold in Lemony Snicket's novels are bleak, and things never turn out as you'd hope, these delightful, funny, linguistically playful books are reminiscent of Roald Dahl (remember James and the Giant Peach and his horrid spinster aunts), Charles Dickens (the orphaned Pip in Great Expectations without the mysterious benefactor), and Edward Gorey (The Gashlycrumb Tinies). There is no question that young readers will want to read the continuing unlucky adventures of the Baudelaire children in The Reptile Room and The Wide Window. Review by Amazon.com
Books: Hardcover - Cassettes Audio Cassette - Everything About the Baudelaire Children
Brian Jacques's 14th fantasy in the popular Redwall series exceeds expectations in this suspenseful tale of good versus evil where the nefarious vermin seek to destroy the peace-loving mice, moles, shrews, and otters of Redwall Abbey. The villainous Sawney Rath clan of rats, weasels, foxes, and ferrets believe Deyna, an otter born of the community at Redwall, is their Taggerung, a great warrior destined to lead them. Members of the Sawney Rath clan kidnap Deyna from his home as a young otter, but to no avail. As Deyna grows, he embarks upon a search for his true family at Redwall.
As ever, the master storyteller's language lends his swashbuckling adventures a mysterious and magical quality, as well as a hint of the Old World as the characters address each other with thees and thous. Hearkening back to medieval times, Jacques presents a tale of courageous warriors and grotesque evildoers alike, each group journeying toward conflicting ends. Danger, fear, action, heroism--Taggerung is an intense page-turner with startling plot twists that will keep readers on their toes.
