Whipple's book features a wonderful selection of poems about animals and the natural world, including Jane Yolen's "Winter Song of the Weasel," Douglas Florian's "The Winter Tree" and Ted Hughes' "Goose." Marilyn Singer's delightful "Deer Mouse" replicates the rhythms of a deer mouse scampering over the snow to gather food: "get get get get get/get/out of the nest/get/into the cold."
The poems are brought to life by the wonderful illustrations of Japanese artist Hatsuki Hori. Whether Hori is illustrating a deep blue sky over a snowman, or leaves swept away in a mighty wind.
Whether you are young or old, a fan of poetry or not, this compilation is a literary treat.
This is an American book, which was brought back for me by a relative, but I believe should be available in England very soon. When it is, I recommend it to everyone as a truly enjoyable read.
The second book I will review is ‘Roy Keane: the autobiography’
The most talked about, written about and argued over sports autobiography of 2002, Keane: the Autobiography does not disappoint. This story of Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane's brilliant and controversial career, written in collaboration with Irish journalist and former professional footballer Eamon Dunphy, crackles with score-settling vigour.
It presents a revisionist view of a life in football that has had tabloid editors rubbing their hands with glee almost from the moment the fiery, confrontational midfielder made his British debut for Nottingham Forest under arch eccentric Brian Clough right through to his sensational bust-up with international boss Mick McCarthy and subsequent departure from the 2002 Irish World Cup squad on the eve of the finals.
Make no mistake about it, Keane is frank about his own failings, franker about the failings of others and prepared to spill the beans to some extent about being the odd-man-out in the Old Trafford glam-fest.
This book allows an individual to get inside the mind of the talented, aggressive and determined footballer, that is, Roy Keane. And this, I promise you, is his side of the story.
Whether you are a sports fan or not, even if you know nothing about the world of football, I am in no doubt that you will more than enjoy it.
Priced at a modest £12.99, it is available in all good book shops, and even in some not so good ones.
Finally, I will the review the well-known novel, that is ‘Silas Marner’, by George Eliot.
Question: How can you ensure that a person will hate a book? Answer: make him read it for year-11 English class, make sure that the language is old-fashioned, and above all, make sure that the ideas and concepts are over his head. If that's what happened to you, and that's why you have an aversion to Silas Marner, then I am with you all of the way.
It starts out sad, as our pathetic hero looses both his trust in humanity and his faith in God, and I am afraid, continues in this vain throughout.
In my opinion, this book can only be understood by the highly educated, as those less so will struggle to keep up with and understand the concepts and underlying meanings, which are dominant throughout.
Without explanation, I predict that many will struggle with this book and is not one of my recommendations.
This book has been for many years, an still is available, in most book shops.