Night at the Fair

Book Description

It's time! The gates are open, the rides are spinning-come to the fair! Nighttime at the fair is magic with Caldecott Honor-winning author-artist Donald Crews. The sky goes dark and the colored lights begin to flash and sparkle. There are games to play and treats to eat. From the top of the Ferris wheel you can see where you've been-and where you have yet to go. So much to do and see. Hurry!

Customer Reviews:

Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis; Meet Me at The Fair!.......2005-06-01

Donald Crew admirably captures the nighttime look and feel of a state fair in this beautifully illustrated kids' book. Using gouache and watercolor, his vivid primary colors contrasts the dark sky with the dazzling neon signs. One can practically feel the electricity pulsing from the bright lights, and the diffusion of light emits a magical energy. This super luminosity also enables readers to view the faces and emotions of the diverse crowd: romantic couples, excited kids, hungry teens, and pleased parents.

The book's spare prose grasps the essence of the fair's main delights: Food ("So many things to eat and drink. So many choices."), games and prizes ("So many games to play."), and rides (And now, on to the RIDES!"). There are no animals in Crew's fair; this is strictly a food and rides extravaganza, at least during the night. The rides coverage spans 12 pages, culminating in "The best, the best ride of all...the GIANT FERRIS WHEEL!" The story concludes with a 2-page spread showing the fairgrounds from the top of the Ferris wheel, and a line of people happily leaving the grounds. As in a picture book, some of the ride pictures have no caption, it's as if Crews anticipated the awe of his young readers. The book has a big "WOW" factor, mainly due to Crews' outstanding feeling for the electric atmosphere of the fair.

Obviously, Crews idealizes the Fair: It is blanketed by uniformly happy customers in a clean and wholesome environment. I've experienced nothing quite like this. Even in the most controlled venues such as Disneyland, one invariably encounters crying toddlers, parents arguing with their kids and with each other, exorbitant prices, and long lines. However, since this is a book for kids, Crews wisely excludes these details. As a result, he recreates a child's bedazzling experience of a fair's excitement and wonder.

My four-year-old adores this book.......2000-09-26

We found this book at the library, and my four-year-old was delighted by it. He loves fairs, especially roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, and was sad when we had to return to this book to the library. Donald Crews' book School Bus is another favorite of his, and we've already added it to our collection. I intend to give a copy of Night at the Fair to my child for Christmas.

Crews does it again!.......1999-07-29

As a teacher and mother of three children I recommend this book. I want parents to remember that there need not be tons of text for a book to be a real learning expereince.Take the time to look at the illustrations and colors. Predict what is going to happen.We are lucky to have so many talented people to illustrate kid's books. Again, take the time to look and examine the pictures. Books that the parents do not like will probably not be liked by their children.

Disappointing on several levels.......1998-08-26

I am puzzled as to why this book is recommended for children ages 4-8. There is minimal text, and what text there is does little to advance the story line. The illustrations are eye catching from a distance, but up close are actually rather frightening--the people's faces are amorphous and blobby. My two children (ages 5 and nearly 4) love going to the fair, but they don't love this book.

Disappointing on several levels.......1998-08-24

I am perplexed as to why the reading level for this book is given as ages 4-8. The text is so minimal as to be almost useless in introducing young kids to the sights and sounds encountered at a fair. The illustrations, although bright and eye-catching at first glance, are actually rather scary if you scrutinize them. The people's faces are amorphous and blobby. My two young daughters (ages 5 and nearly 4) love fairs, but they are only lukewarm about this book.

Average customer rating:

full of suspense
John Sandford in Top Form
Anna Batory deseerves a sequel
Sandford's stand alone thriller kind of boring
A bad recording of a decent story

The Night Crew
John Sandford
Manufacturer: Berkley Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425163385
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Amazon.com

Anna Batory's evening starts with a frenzied animal rights raid and then moves quickly to the site of a suicide jump. It's all in a normal night's work for Anna, who leads the Night Crew, a freelance video team out to make a quick buck on sensational footage they can sell to L.A. news stations. But this night is different: the jumper is a teenager named Jacob Harper, and Anna's cameraman Jason beats a strangely hasty exit after filming the jump. A few hours later, Jason too is dead: shot and knifed.

Jacob Harper's father is an attractive former cop who works out the connection between his son's death and Jason's. The two young men share a drug dealer--and when Harper finds said dealer dead as well, he calls Anna to the scene and shows her a creepy knife wound on the dealer's body: the name "Anna" carved into his chest. From that moment on, Anna knows she's chasing down a killer who's got a thing for her--but who is it? A series of heart-thumping encounters between Anna and her shadowy stalker keep this thriller moving at the dizzying clip that Sandford's fans expect.

Those who love the Prey series for the quirks and contradictions of its antihero, Lucas Davenport, will find a kindred creation in Anna: an attractive loner, taciturn and tough-minded, a classical pianist with the fighting reflexes of a wild animal. Will Sandford keep bringing her back? Time will tell. --Barrie Trinkle

Book Description

A mobile unit of video freelancers prowls the streets to sell the footage they capture to the highest network bidder. It is an exhilarating life. But tonight, two deaths will change everything.

Customer Reviews:

full of suspense.......2006-09-18

This was an excellent John Sanford book. Since finding this author i have purchased all of his books andd have read everyone of them. All were excellent and would recommend to any mystery/thriller reader.

John Sandford in Top Form.......2006-09-16

It's a good John Sandford. I admit Lucas Davenport is my favorite from the Prey series. I did like Lucas better as a bachelor. He's a bit boring now that he's married, but The Night Crew will keep you up late with them until the last page. I guess even John Sandford needs to get out of Minnesota once in a while so he takes us to Los Angeles for a change and it is an exciting change. I did think I knew the bad guy at times, but I wasn't certain until the very end. It's an old Sandford but a good one. Anna Batory is an interesting character. She is tough, intelligent and relentless. Give it a try. It's worth it.

Anna Batory deseerves a sequel.......2006-07-04

I have not read anything else by this author but definately will. This book was very enjoyable and kept my interest through the entire reading. Anna Batory deserves a sequel. She is a great heroine. Reading this book, I was wondering who would play her in a movie version of this story. The only thing I would change about this book...It could have ended about 2 pages sooner.

Sandford's stand alone thriller kind of boring.......2006-02-03

Anna Battory is the star of John Sandford's stand alone thriller, "The Night Crew." Sandford is best know for his Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This novel revolves around a group of people roaming Los Angeles at night trying to film newsworthy events and sell them to local and national television networks.

Anna and her crew film an animal rights group raiding a research lab at UCLA, then they stumble on a distraught high school kid on the ledge of a hotel. The kid jumps, the crew films it, and they sell it to all the networks. Then a member of the crew, Jason, winds up dead.

The novel summary says the suicide and Jason's murder are two murders that drive the plot. And they do, but not in a relevant way. Also, the father of the suicidal teen shows up bent on finding out what happened to his son. He was an okay character, except for the fact that little was done about his pain over his son's suicide. Anna and her crew are all portrayed solidly, and Anna was given more background and depth than Lucas Davenport has in any of the Prey books, yet this book wasn't as near as fun as the worst Prey books.

Anna and Harper, the kid's dad, investigate the killings but the investigation lacks the depth or the twists that Sandford is so good at in the Prey series.

This was a fun, quick book to read, but not as exciting as the Prey series. Still, I'd recommend it to all Sandford fans.

A bad recording of a decent story.......2005-04-08

John Sandford's straight-forward mystery "The Night Crew" tells the story of Anna Batory as she tracks down a twisted, mysterious killer who stalks her, brutalizes her friends, and leaves a trail of bodies everywhere he goes. It's not for the faint-hearted or squeamish - there's enough gore and mayhem to satisfy the thriller genre crossovers.

Anna Batory is a capable, modern woman who leads a weird sort of paparazzi crew through that part of L.A.'s nighttime mess that people want to see on their television sets: Murder, Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Larceny, and Motor Vehicle Theft. The wetter, the messier, or flashier the better! Anna and her gang of commercial photographers trail mayhem rather than celebrities and sell their video footage to the highest bidders who pay handsomely. Anna and her gang knock down 6 figure incomes and have a satellite truck of their very own. The "Night Crew" is very good at finding stories and getting the best video shots of them possible.

The story opens when they cover an (staged) animal liberation raid on a warehouse and jump cut to a suicide jumper and his drug induced high dive shot with multiple cameras and perspectives. The jumper, a high school student, is high on a drug called wizards. The next morning Anna learns that one of her cameramen has been murdered. More murders follow and when Anna's name is carved into the flesh of a victim, Anna teams up with Jake Harper, the dead student's father, to find out why all this is happening.

The story's action bounces between Anna's hunt for the killer who's pursuing her, Jake Harper's hunt for the drug dealers who sold his son the Wizards, and "The Two Faced Man" who delights in murder, torture and blood-soaked sexual fantasy. It's a decent story however marred by character slips, jarring coincidence and plot disconnection. One of the most shocking character slips happens when a morally "hardened" Anna criticizes Jake for "merely" breaking the legs of the drug dealer who sold his son the wizards. She follows that thought up at the end of story in such a way that it breaks the romance that developed between her and Jake. Is it simply coincidence that Anna's cameraman's girlfriend looks so much like Anna that the stalker killer confuses them?

The second half of the story is much, much better than the first. The action picks up and the characterization fits more closely with the "Prey" work that Sandford is famous for.

Sandford's development of the romance between Anna and Jake is unexpected and so roughly done that it invites suspicion that Sandford doesn't have much of hand for writing mystery and softer focus romance in a way that enhances the effect of both. The first touches between Anna and Jake happen are unprepared and clumsily drawn. Though both characters are later described in terms akin to sexual athletics, inevitably Anna's thoughts turn to the man who is trying to murder her even as Jake labors between her legs.

The story ends abruptly. Rather than summarizing the action and retiring the characters comfortably, Sandford presents an epilogue set some months after the climax of the story. Jake is breaking up with Anna for reasons that are perfectly understandable - Anna is not the kind of person that you really want to spend another minute with if you help it.

The audio quality of the audiotape presentation is terrible to the point of being almost unlistenable. The narrative voice is flat and monotonous. The vocalizations of the characters are extremely loud in comparison. The difference between the two presentations that are combined in this story is so radical that you need to listen to this story with one hand on the volume control.

Average customer rating:

Very dissappointing
Enhanced with more than a hundred photographs
Page-Turner

Saturday Nights with Daddy at the Opry
Libby Leverett-Crew
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry

Accessories:

ASIN: 1401601146

Book Description

Saturday Nights With Daddy at the Opry is both the story of growing up with a backstage pass to the entertainment world in Nashville as well as a heartwarming tale of a beautiful father-daughter relationship.

From the time she was a baby, Les Leverett, who was the official photographer for the Grand Ole Opry took his daughter, Libby, with him each Saturday evening to witness country music's greatest entertainers. Sometimes Libby carried his equipment, sometimes she played with the other children of Opry performers, but she was always observing.

Now some 40 years later, Libby Leverett-Crew touchingly remembers those Saturday nights with Minnie Pearl, Tex Ritter, Grandpa Jones, Roy Acuff, Dolly Parton, Porter Waggoner, Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, along with a few astronauts, muppets, ballet dancers, actors and actresses, and with Andy Warhol and kd lang thrown in.

Saturday Nights with Daddy at the Opry is a celebration of music and family-incredibly well written from one lucky daughter's perspective. Includes more than 100 photographs by Les Leverett.

Customer Reviews:

Very dissappointing .......2005-04-01

This promises to be something of a backstage look at the Grand Ole Opry, instead it's a more of a personal memoir with comments about country stars the author has known. While she writes quite a bit about Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Tex Ritter (hence the foreward is written by Tom & John Ritter, shortly before John's death), Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, and John Hartford, and a few others are pictured and briefly commented on (Marty Stuart, Stringbean, Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, etc.) there are scores of Opry stars that don't even merit a mention. And over 35 of the "over 100 photographs" in the book are exclusively of Leverett-Crew's family without a star in the picture! And that's not counting the hefty amount of pictures that are with stars that also picture family members. Too bad the author did not just make this a book a history of her father's career (Les Leverett, a famed country music photographer) instead of this effort.

Enhanced with more than a hundred photographs.......2004-07-06

Saturday Nights With Daddy at The Opry by artist, writer, and photographer Libby Leverett-Crew is the biographical story of country music photographer Les Leverett as told by his daughter. As a little girl, Libby's father would take her along with him on his job as the official photographer for the Grand Ole Opry -- a position he held for over 30 years. This is not only a tribute to her father but also to the people (ranging from Dolly Parton and Minnie Pearl to Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe) who touched the lives of her family and the powerful impact a loving father has on the formative life of his daughter. Enhanced with more than a hundred photographs from her father, Saturday Nights With Daddy At The Opry is enthusiastically recommended reading -- especially for dedicated fans of the Grand Ole Opry.

Page-Turner.......2003-11-16

I picked it up to thumb through and couldn't put it down. It's beautifully written, full of photos, and absolutely fascinating. You don't have to be a country music buff to enjoy this book. It has great stories of many others from Andy Warhol to John Ritter. I felt like the proverbial fly on the wall. It's a must have, if only for the history lesson, but it's so much more.

Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast, and Crew

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Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast, and Crew
Anne Siberell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195139666

Book Description

A delightful introduction to opera, Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera teaches elementary school children what opera is by showing how it is made. "Who writes the words?", "Who makes an opera happen? "Who is backstage?"--these questions and more are answered with easy-to-understand explanations and are illustrated with whimsical watercolors by the author. From composer, choreographer, and costume designers to the conductor, lighting and special effects crew, and, of course, the singers, the excitement builds as Anne Siberell explains each person's role in producing an opera. Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera reveals details of the most famous operas' plots and characters along the way and includes synopses of 27 popular operas, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

Only Owls And Bloody Fools Fly at Night (Bomber Crews)

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Only Owls And Bloody Fools Fly at Night (Bomber Crews)
Tom Sawyer
Manufacturer: Crecy Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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No Moon Tonight

ASIN: 0907579922

Book Description

Group Captain Tom Sawyer began World War II with over 1,000 hours flying in his log book and his exciting autobiography records more than 5 years service with Bomber Command. Flying Whitleys with 10 Squadron and Halifaxes with 76 Squadron, Tom Sawyer became one of World War II's most experienced station commanders. His account is full of highly readable anecdotes about squadron life in Bomber Command and how, night after night, the crews struck at the enemy heartlands.

Round the Clock: The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews Who Flew By Day and Night from England in the Second World War

Average customer rating:

Puts You In the Aircraft along with the Bomber Crews

Round the Clock: The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews Who Flew By Day and Night from England in the Second World War
Philip Kaplan , and Jack Currie
Manufacturer: Seven Dials
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

"The best sort of popular military history."--Times Literary Supplement. "...will be referred to again and again."--Air Classics. Those who flew the bombing missions from British airfields in World War Two lived through an utterly unique experience, conducting an epic campaign that raged day and night. A remarkable testimony to this turbulent time--and what it felt like to be part of that struggle--features contemporary, personal documents from English and American flight crews, as well as over 160 unforgettable images from during and after the war. The British RAF Bomber Command carried out sustained nighttime raids on Germany, inflicting wide pattern destruction, while America's fledgling 8th Air Force successfully took on the challenge of precision daylight bombing--at a huge cost of lives and equipment. Poignant and significant.

Customer Reviews:

Puts You In the Aircraft along with the Bomber Crews.......2006-07-06

I am frankly in awe of the men who made up the aircrew of the strategic bombing compaign, both of RAF Bomber Command and the USAAF. These men flew on dangerous raids night-after-night or day-after-day, respectively, and took the war into the heart of Nazi Germany, particularly at a time when the Allies were hard-pressed and Germany controlled much of the continent of Europe.
This book is designed to give the reader a feel for all aspects of the life of these aircrew, from their lives at the bases, to how they viewed their aircraft and equipment and finally what it was like to fly the missions from the point-of-view of the different jobs of the aircrew. The book also describes the dedicated work of the ground crews that kept the planes flying, what happened to men who cracked under the strain, and how the British and Americans differed in their approaches to running an Air Force. The book is of a "coffee-table" style, with lush color photographs, but there is a lot of meat in the substance.
Special "treats" include a photo of screen star Jimmy Stewart revisiting in the 1980's the airfield where he served as Operations Officer, and a transcript of the famous broadcast legendary CBS newsman Edward R Murrow made describing the mission he flew with Bomber Command against Berlin at the time when the aircrews were suffering significant casualties.
In summary, this book is a fitting tribute to those thousands of young men who sacrificed so much in the skies over Germany to contribute to the victory over tyranny.

FIRE BY NIGHT: The Dramatic Story of One Pathfinder Crew and Black Thursday,16/17 December 1943

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Fire By Night
Every "baby-boomer should be required to read this book.

FIRE BY NIGHT: The Dramatic Story of One Pathfinder Crew and Black Thursday,16/17 December 1943
Jennie Gray
Manufacturer: Grub Street
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Now available in paperback.

When she was very young, the author was captivated by the story her father, Joe Mack, repeatedly told her about his astonishing rescue from a crashed and burning Lancaster one night in 1943. As an adult she decided to find out what happened to his aircraft and the countless others returning from operations that same dreadful night...She writes from the heart, honestly and at times lyrically and her thorough research uncovers the harsh realities of warfare, the failure of procedures and, worst of all, her father's shocking secret.

Customer Reviews:

Fire By Night.......2006-07-25

I read this book hoping it would give me an insight into what it must have been like for my father who was an airgunner in Bomber Command during WW2. Whilst he completed some 49 missions and survived the war he must have shared some of the experiences written about in this book. As with most aircrew, little if anything was forthcoming from my father about what he saw during that time. It must have been as harrowing for him to live with the experience as it was for the author to pursue her quest. The latter part of the book is very moving and heartwrenching. The final outcome came as a relief after an emotional read. An excellent read.

Every "baby-boomer should be required to read this book........2001-06-21

A harrowing tale of your parent's generation, and how they lived, fought, and died to win WWII. The true story of the author's father, the sole survivor of a Pathfinder crew of seven flying a Berlin raid in a Lancaster bomber, and his experiences leading up to and following Black Thursday, December 16/17, 1943. Exquisitely researched and related, this may be the closest many of us will get to understanding the meaning of sacrifice.

Pursuit Through Darkened Skies: An Ace Night-Fighter Crew in World War II (Airlife Classics)

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Pursuit Through Darkened Skies: An Ace Night-Fighter Crew in World War II (Airlife Classics)
Michael Allen
Manufacturer: Airlife Publishing,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1840373555

Book Description

When Michael Allen "crewed up" with Harry White in August 1941, it was the start of a four-year partnership as navigator and pilot, respectively. Together they formed one of the RAF's top-scoring night-fighter crews of World War II. His crystal clear explanations of the way Serrate and other radar devices work, alongside his ability to relate personal experiences in the air and on the ground, make this book fascinating and compelling reading.

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The Night Crew (The Night Crew)

Manufacturer: RB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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The Night Crew (95053) MARC Record Unabridged Cassette (Product Type Info) 10.25 Hours /7 Cassettes Written By: John Sandford Narrated By: Richard Ferrone Genre(s): Fiction , Suspense ISBN: 0-788-7091-35 Pulitzer prize-winning novelist John Sandford has justly earned his reputation as master of the thriller genre with his eight best-selling Prey books. Now he takes his listeners to even greater heights of suspense with a new cast of characters and more harrowing plot twists than ever before. Anna Batory may be a small, shy farm girl from Wisconsin, but on the streets of Los Angeles shes tough, very tough. She runs a night crew of video free-lancers who roam the city shooting footage of accidents, robberies, and demonstrations to sell to the TV networks or local stations. After her crew films a suicide in progress, she suddenly finds herself the target of a deadly stalker, and her life becomes more dark and dangerous than any news story shes ever encountered. The juxtaposition of narrator Richard Ferrones expressive gruffness with John Sandfords masterful story-telling creates an audiobook that sizzles and crackles with energy. Listeners will find it hard to stop listening up to the last suspenseful moment.

Crew-served Weapon Night Vision Sight (Training Circular TC 23-13)

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Crew-served Weapon Night Vision Sight (Training Circular TC 23-13)

Manufacturer: Department of the Army
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IEUALM

Product Description

This is a re-issue from 1988.

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