Shoes Books

The book I received (hardcover edition) seemed fine, but once I opened it I saw that the first five or six pages were the title page, copyright, dedication, and table of contents from a completely different book, "The Biggest Bangs" by Jonathan Katz. The correct book start just after than and the rest of it seemed fine, but be aware of this printing error because I'm sure mine was not the only one like that.

As others have mentioned, the printing was a bit small but I did not think it was difficult to read. It did have the look and presentation of a textbook, so it probably would not be enjoyed being read by young children.

For years I thought there was only the Wizard of Oz book but I was talking with a friend who said there were many other stories. So I went to Amazon and found this collection of 15 books by Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz. Each story is as unique and well written as the Wizard of Oz. The movie captured the essence of the Wizard of Oz but you get a lot more detail in the book story. And you get a great cast of characters like Ozma, Mombi, Tip, Thing, and so many more. Great uplifting stories for children (and adults too) I am very glad I bought this book.

It's great having all the books in one. The only drawback is the print is really small.

Great bang for your buck. i grew up reading these books and i remember hating having to wait to find a library that stocked the various titles. it is very convenient to have them all together. however, it is a heavy book so younger children might find it harder to hold while reading and the lack of pictures as well as smaller font might make it less appealing to your junior readers. i would prefer to have all the books in a nice box set but good luck finding them and be prepared to spend a lot more if you do.

I like the idea of having all the stories in one bound book but I am a little disappointed at the size of the print, the lack of effort to separate the stories a little bit, and no pictures. The font is seriously tiny and after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is focus on tiny print. Also, it wouldn't hurt to dedicate one piece of paper to each story that boldly illustrates the title - or something...anything.

I liked the idea of this book in regards to helping my son learn how to tie his shoes. The illustrations are very well done and the rhyme is very catchy. However, my son kept getting frustrated when it came to making the bows. I don't think the book did a great job of explaining it. We've had to resort to a different method (not the bunny ears) that seems to be working well. Overall, this is a good book. I think it just depends on how your child learns.

Like others, my son found it really aggravating trying the bunny ears method of tying. It's the complete inability of kids to get one loop made, hold it, and then get the other loop made while still holding the first one! Ergh.

I ordered this book after I read about the good reviews. But I am disappointed. I do not really care what kind of methods (one or two loops) the book shows as long as my son can tie his shoes. But the pictures are really confusing for a 3.5 years old. The max he can do is to put the red lace over the yellow lace and tie the first knot. When it comes to the loops, he is totally lost. Hopefully it will work for an older kid. As for the wordings in the book, which the reader supposed to memorize and be able to tie his shoes later on, are not even rhyme.

We purchased this book because our daughter is great at learning rhymes and we thought it would help her learn to tie her shoe. We were dissappointed that it teaches the "rabbit ears" knot, but even more dissappointed to find two of the illustrations out of sequence. That type of error make learning very difficult.

This book tought my 6 year old how to tie his own shoes in 1 day.

I Love all of Jane Austen's books but the print in this one is barely readable the print was to small.

Jane Austen's books are, of course, must reads. I bought this edition because I wasn't sure if I would actually enjoy the books, and it was cheaper than buying all the books seperatly. My only regret is that the writing is small and the book looks like a text book. It is harder to bond with a book that looks like a text book, no matter how good the reading is.

The is a great way to get all the books at a crazy low price! The only drawback is the big book. As, I read from home it's not an issue.There are also illustrations. Love these stories!

Received book in perfect condition. Book arrived within a few days. Very satisfied with seller.

I do not recommend this book based soley on the miniscule size of it's print.
I have read Austen's books before and wanted the whole collection. I am unable to read this one without a magnifying glass because the print is the size of the worst phone book you have ever tried to read. I intend to get a new collection, this time with readable print. What a mistake this one was!!

A sweet delight, on many levels! A sequel to "Chocolat" it was fun spending time with old friends. There was a little more emphasis on magic and our characters have matured - the storyline of good versus evil was a little predictable - but, hey, I loved it anyway!

Initially i found the first few chapters confusing because there is no warning that the novel is written from 3 different perspectives. However once I understood the writing style I really enjoyed the depth it added to the novel. Harris uses this format so elegantly to weave an intricate tale about family, society, identy, being true to yourself and of course chocolate and magic. Great read for the holiday season. Hard to put down and easy to resume when you pick it back up.

It has been quite a while since I read Chocolat, but I don't remember it being so heavily laden with witchcraft as this sequel is. Vianne from Chocolat has changed her name to Yanne and is selling chocolate again in this story. Another main character, new in this sequel, arrives wearing what Yanne's daugher calls "Lollipop Shoes". (I understand the book was sold in the UK under the title "Lollipop Shoes".) This new character is actively practicing withcraft, and Yanne's daughter spends a lot of time with her and becomes very attached to her. Too much so. Despite Yanne having sworn off using any magic, she finds that she may need to use her "powers" in order to save her daughter. Personally, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I did Chocolat. But it was still worth reading.

This sequel to Chocolat is wonderful. I can't say enough about Joanne Harris and her consistent look (throughout all her novels) at how people navigate difficult life situations. While, broadly, this book is about good vs. evil, the author does not so easily categorize any one character as, solely, one or the other. We all have to face our shadows.

Joanne Harris is known for her witty and intelligent stories. Girl with no Shadow is not a continuation of Chocolat. It's been four years and the characters have grown, changed sense we last read. Vianne Rocher is gone, and so are the clothes, shoes, and spirit of Chocolats lead. Instead her and Anouk now try to conform to their new town, until Zozie enters their life with some plans of her own. Through the twists and turns of this mysterious read characters face cosmic dangers as the powers of witchcraft and chocolate are challenged. Along with the addition of a new group of delightful chocolaterie regulars is the return of some well loved characters from the first book. 'Shadow' is a second helping that is definitly dark, but Harris serves up one sweet ending that makes it go down smooth!

I'm still reading this book, but have jumped around a bit including reading of the conclusion. The style is similar to that of Lundstrom's two "First Team" books, which I also own. By similar, I mean that the book is generally readable, plausible, even-handed, and meticulously documented. The bibliography is very impressive. One of the most useful aspects of the book so far is its discussion of the various decisions in the context of the information available to the decision-makers at the time. What was and was not available is described in detail, with references. An interesting facet of the book is that it touches on and sometimes explictly discusses the "politics" of both the Navy and of naval history. I find these political dynamics to be quite similar to those seen in large present-day organizations (like my current employer).

This is a long overdue look at Adm Fletcher and his role in the critical first year of the war. I always found it odd that the victor of the three most important battles fought by our fleet in WWII was quickly shunted aside and treated with disdain by postwar historians. John Lundstrom does a fine job of exposing the biasis and backbiting within the navy at the time that resulted in Fletcher's downfall.
Mr Lundstrom is an eminent historian of this subject and has produced a first rate, readable and important work. It deserves a place with the best accounts of the wartime Pacific Fleet to appear in many years. It clearly shows Frank Jack Fletcher for the fine leader and fighter that he was.

Black Shoe Carrier Admiral is one of two excellent works to be published this year on WWII Pacific carriers, battles and the men who commanded them. John Lundstrom has obviously put a great deal of effort into setting the record straight on Admiral Fletcher and his contributions to our early victories in the Pacific. His work is well documented and thoroughly researched, and adds new sources that had not previously surfaced in World War II histories of that period.

The book demonstrates how Fletcher became the target of severe criticism for his actions, primarily by others who hoped to improve their own reputations or deflect criiticism as a result. Lundstrom pulls no punches, however, by describing both Fletcher's strengths and failings in the events of December 1941 to September 1942. He repeatedly demonstrates that misinterpretations of Fletcher's actions, particularly by Admiral King in Washington, resulted in Fletcher's eventual downfall. At the same time, he explains how some noted historians played down or ignored Fletcher's important contributions, that sealed the US victories at Coral Sea and, particularly Midway.

John Lundstrom's book is an excellent read for anyone wanting to know more of the early war in the Pacific. It is also an important source for any serious student of the period who wants to gain insight both to the actions of the war and the politics inside the Navy at that time.

This account of the World War II career of Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher is a needed corrective to the misinformation that has been served up to the public over many years. Samuel Eliot Morison took a dislike to Fletcher, possibly because the admiral failed to cultivate him at the time he was writing his history of World War II. The inaccuracies, omissions, and critical tone toward Fletcher in his volumes have been reflected in the works of other authors.

By writing the latest and possibly most detailed account of U.S. Naval operations in the Pacific from the start of the war through the Guadalcanal Campaign, Lundstrom has given us an updated history of this vital period when the Pacific War often hung in the balance. Many aspects of the naval war not directly involving Fletcher are discussed. Thus this book goes much further than merely providing a defense of Fletcher, it gives us the basis of a potential successor or even replacement for the histories of the U.S. Navy in the first year of World War II written by Morison and others.

John Lundstrom is well qualified to perform this task by having written three major works on naval operations during December 1941 to late 1942. His previous work has clearly helped him make this book a success. He has done significant in-depth research of this period of the war by using original sources apparently not consulted by others. The result is a book which provides new details on many aspects of the Pacific War at sea. Minor negatives are a somewhat dry writing style and insufficiently detailed maps.

"Black Shoe Carrier Admiral" reminds us that it was Fletcher who commanded the U.S. forces at Coral Sea, the first battle to seriously slow the Japanese advance and which paved the way for the decisive victory of Midway. Fletcher, not Morison's hero Spruance, was the senior commander at Midway who made many of the critical decisions that resulted in the turn of the tide in the Pacific.

Lundstrom explains why Fletcher's controversial withdrawal of the carriers from Guadalcanal was a wise decision. These carriers represented three quarters of the total U.S. aircraft carrier inventory and Fletcher was under orders not to risk them unless the potential results justified it. At Guadalcanal, the circumstances did not justify that risk.

There has never been an official history of the U.S. Navy in World War II, only Morison's semi official history. While Morison's work is well written and valuable, it was produced too close to the events it describes so it contains errors and omissions. A replacement is overdue. With some revisions, "Black Shoe Carrier Admiral" could serve as the first volume of a new multi volume history of the navy's role in World War II. John Lundstrom would be the man to do this job.

I've belatedly gotten around to reading the FJF bio, and it's absolutely indispensable to understanding the first year of the Pacific War. With due respect for The Big E, Fletcher and Yorktown (CV-5) lugged most of the flattop mail in the six months after Pearl Harbor, and with his Guadalcanal experience, he became the leading practitioner of carrier warfare in the US Navy--and in the world.

If you don't read anything else, go to the Conclusion for an education in how history gets written, especially by Recognized Historians with agendas. As an example of expositive historiography it will stand alone for a long-long time.

This book was very reassuring during the preparation for our international adoption. The author shares her own experiences, provides many helpful tips and resources, and writes in a very friendly and encouraging way. I liked that this book helped to make this feel like a manageable journey, and was realistic without being too scary, unlike many other books about this topic. I would definitely recommend this book.

As a soon-to-be adoptive mother of a 20 month old girl I have not yet met, I have been asking myself so many questions - do I change her name? how much of the nursery do I prepare? will she be in a crib or toddler bed? what size is she? I was absolutely amazed to see a book that asked (and offered realistic advice) to just those same questions. This book is written by adoptive parents that found themselves adopting a child much older than they were expecting, a situation very common in international adoption, with delays, red tape, and miscommunication. The book provides easy to read, NON-PREACHING suggestion and advise for any parent adopting a slightly older child (the "tweens", between infancy and preschool age). Even those adopting a 4-5 year old child could still find useful information. Among all the books about raising adoptive children, this is the one that "spoke" to me the best, on my terms, about things -I- was concerned about. I have already recommended the book to others in my pre-adoptive circle, and will continue to do so. Definitely worth your time.

International adoption is too expensive to waste your money on a book like this. The author says that she tried to write a book about everything she wished she'd thought of before adopting a toddler - unfortunately, my impression is that she didn't think it through much at all. The book is full of helpful tidbits like if you are adopting a three year old, you might want to consider getting a toddler bed instead of a crib, or if you're feeling frumpy and stressed out with all the waiting, you could go shopping! Or maybe get some Glamor Shots taken! Seriously, most of the things in this book are either common sense (don't leave the kid alone in the bathtub) or just plain goofy (Glamor Shots, getting your hair bleached blond). If I had been able to flip through it at a bookstore, I never would have purchased it.

Oooo! I forgot! Bring a cute outfit for the child to wear when you take pictures!

My husband and I found this to be one of the best books we have read so far on adopting toddlers. We are adopting 2 from Russia, and not having any biological children, we have lots of questions. This book is simply fantastic. It gave us lists of what/how to prepare for our new arrivals, some info on the process we can expect in Russia, home safety, sizes we can expect them to be, etc. This was well worth the money. The book is written in a very conversational tone, so it is not difficult reading like some of the other books that focus on case studies. We were able to read it in just a couple of hours. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who does not have previous toddler childcare experience.

This book addressed many of the questions I had about the details of a toddler adoption (packing, nursery, etc.) It is written in a style that makes you feel like you are just talking with a good friend and was a quick read. The author reccomends Toddler Adoption, A Weaver's Craft for informatin about the more complicated issues of attachment and bonding, and I agree. Again, it is an excellent look at the details associated with adopting a toddler and preparing for their arrival.

I never received my order and the company just blamed it on slow mail. I waited over a month before getting my money back.

A rather nice lady gave me this book and asked me to read it. I did. When I returned it to her I asked her why she wanted me to read it. I had never heard of Maya Angelou and unfortunately I found the book very unimpressive. The writing was done well and the phrasing was nice but as far as having something to say, I thought that it was rather shallow. I thought the author of the book to be rather mediocre, somewhat insensitive, and very much enamored with herself. This wasn't the life of Mahatma Gandhi or Desmond Tutu. She seemed to me to be a typical woman on a personal journey to success and all the people around her were stepping stones along that path.
Since that time I have picked up tapes of poetry by Maya and I enjoyed them - not so much for the content but for the presentation. Sorry. We all have our opinions.

Books written by Richard Noble:
"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."
"A Summer with Charlie"
"A Little Something: Poetry and Prose"
"Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother"

her poems are so great. They teach great valuable lessons that we should all here.

I thought it was a great book. It was my first ever read of Maya Angelou. I think the book has made me a fan of her. Her style of writing was mellifluous, sincere, and truthful.

I am not a very emotional person, but the part that made my eyes water was when Maya went to the market in Kato, as the book ended. She met Ewe women who instantly confused her for an Ewe. They were sure Maya was an Ewe decendant because of her features and tone of voice. Once, she was mistaken for a Bambara, and an Ahanta as well. It was beautiful. I admire Maya for her having fortitude and being curious and passionate. She loves her people and was more than willing to come back home to America to help them by working for Malcolm X, promoting civil rights, et al. I have great respect for her. She also learnt how to speak the Fanti language, which I would guess was not easy.

It was a great autobiography. I wonder what would have happened if she had married the Malian Fulfulde man.

From purely a literary standpoint, I find ALL GOD'S CHILDREN NEED TRAVELING SHOES perhaps the best of Angelou's series of autobiographical works that I have encountered thus far. It is the fifth "installment," having been preceded by I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME, SINGIN' AND SWINGIN' AND GETTIN' MERRY LIKE CHRISTMAS, and THE HEART OF A WOMAN. While I suppose that any of these could be read in isolation, to do so would be analogous to reading a single chapter from a full-length novel. One may enjoy the contents of that single chapter but will miss all the background material that explains how the characters reached that point in time and space as well as everything that follows to explain and wrap-up the story. For the same reasons, one really should read each of Angelou's books and in chronological order, too. Consequently, if one is examining reader reviews before purchasing ALL GOD'S CHILDREN, and if this is the first of Angelou's books being considered, please wait. Reading the others first will enhance significantly the reader's enjoyment of this one.

Pure autobiographies tend, in my experience, to be rather dull reading for the most part. Where is the excitement in a list of events and dates? That sort of dry recitation of historical facts is the reason that most of us were likely bored to somnambulance by our high school history textbooks. Happily, this is not at all that sort of autobiography. What one finds in Angelou's books is the world seen through her eyes and interpreted by her mind, and she carries with her the filters built strand by strand by her life experiences.

What "life experiences"? Being born Black into a legally, socially, culturally and thoroughly segregated country. Being abandoned by one's father. Being shipped across country by one's mother to be raised by an aging grandparent. Feeling the constant scorn and belittlement fostered by racial segregation. Bearing a child when one is still herself a child. Being duped by another into prostitution. Failing at an attempt at marriage. On the other hand, conversing with such figures as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Touring Europe as member of a musical cast. Living in Africa. Angelou's experiences, both negative and positive, were emotionally extreme, or at least significant, events, and they created interpretative filters that are quite different from those of essentially all of her readers. This difference is what makes her books captivating to read and worthy of her readers' consideration.

I suggest that the epitome of Angelou's skill as a prose author of the first five books I have mentioned above comes in the closing chapter of ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. Her encounter with the Ewe tribal women in the marketplace in Ghana's village of Keta is expressed in nearly supernatural terms. In the actual event, she is merely mistaken for another person, but, to Angelou, the encounter firmly establishes Africa as her spiritual homeland, the origin of her own ancestors who, generations earlier, were sold into slavery in a strange land across the ocean. The skill with which she describes her feelings at this encounter is one to which any writer might aspire.

I must admit to another aspect of Angelou's writing that I find almost annoying, however, and that is her repeated and continuous reference to the effects of slavery. If any evil exists in the universe, if sin seeks an embodiment, if a cause for all the misery in the contemporary world must be identified, Angelou finds it in slavery. Judging solely by the attitude revealed in these five books, one could conclude only that all Caucasians are blue-eyed devils, that they alone made possible the eternal and unforgivable sin of enslavement, that no redemption is possible and that racial integration is never achievable or even desirable. If there is such a concept as "original sin," it has nothing to do with a mythological Adam or Eve in a "garden of Eden" but rather with the insufferable conceit of Whites and the horror of slavery, most particularly slavery in the United States. To judge by the attitude that pervades these five books, one would think that Angelou was herself born into slavery, exploited economically and sexually by her White masters, and denigrated to the very edge of sanity. Not to excuse or to minimize in any way the physical and emotional pain of slavery, its immorality or absence of any ethical justification whatsoever, but "methinks the lady doth protest too much." She claims for herself an understanding of the debasement of slavery that her own history does not support. She assumes a mantle as spokesperson for long dead generations that she is not qualified to wear. To what extent historical slavery and racial prejudice may bear the blame for what were her own poor choices in life I am hardly qualified to say, yet I would caution the reader to bear in mind the fact that we are seeing events through the author's intellectual filters and that no one's filters are totally objective.

Having said that, I hurriedly add that my critical observation should in no way deter anyone from reading Angelou's books. On the contrary, while I may feel that she is at times presumptuous in assuming spokesperson status on the topics of slavery and contemporary racial bigotry, her perceptions provide many revelations for her readers and are worth noting. On now to the next book of this series, A SONG FLUNG UP TO HEAVEN.

I don't read too much of this type of fiction,but being a long time fan of Country Music;the fact that this novel was written by someone who was an actual Country Music singer ,enticed me to read it.I was hoping it would give me an insight into the type of lives these people lived and some of the hardships they faced ,not only on the way up, but while at the top and even after.The book did not disappoint me and surprised me how much these people go through to provide us with their music.After reading it,you will come to the conclusion that the people in the business love it in spite of all the problems and wouldn't trade it for anything else,and that particularly means a 9 to 5 office job.
Although many of the names in the book are familiar to me,I must admit that I've neverheard of Kathi Goldmark.That is not a problem since there are so many artists in recent years who appear for a short time or locally and then disappear.Kathi obviously knows what being one of the lesser known is like,and is a good writer and storyteller and gives ud a good novel.It is sort of an autobiography and would make a good generic movie of a Country music star.
I was also impressed by the comments on the back of the book by many writers and artists who have said good things about the book.It's hard to imagine such diverse people such as,Amy Tan,Roy Blount,Dave Berry,Olivia Goldsmith,Dave Marsh,Lynne Hinton,Roddy Doyle,P.J.O'Rourke,Carl Hiassen,Judy Collins,Scatt Turlow,Rita Mae Brown and Molly Ivens;would all like the same book. It is also a little surprising that there weren't more comments by better known Country Music Legends. Maybe it's just that they see so much of this life,they don't need to read about it.
For the rest of us with our comparatively mundane lives,it's a great read.

Kathi Kamen-Goldmark does more than just play guitar and sing with the Rock Bottom Remainders. She can write too!

She knows the bar band scene and understands that musicians are fun-loving souls, if sometimes a bit scattered. She also knows country music and how back-stabbing that business can be.

I laughed my way through Sara Jean's adventures, thoroughly enjoyed the back-up singer to star story, was enchanted by the rest of the cast (who reminded me of bar band players I've known all my life), and was completely entertained. I found the novel funny, witty, charming, fast-paced and plain old fun. Sara Jean is the bomb!

I'd recommending buying this book if you love fun reads (and I do) and also as a gift for any friend you know in the music business because they will get a huge kick out of it. I can vouch for that one first-hand as everyone I've given the book to loved it.

I will gladly buy Kathi's next book and voting with my pocketbook is my highest form of praise.

Two final thoughts: First, you really must read the blurbs on the back cover. My favorite is the one by P. J. O'Rourke who says Kathi's book "does for country music what Tolstoy did for the Napoleonic Wars and what Dave Barry did for boogers." The reviewers who didn't like this book must have fractured funny bones.

Second, everytime I came to the song lyrics I found myself making up a melody to fit them - which simply added to the fun.

Third, (yeah, I know, I said "couple". So sic the review police on me) I'm not even a country music fan and I loved this book!

This is a really fun read, and it's very well written. We follow Sarah Jean as she goes from single back up singer to a country legend to being a star of her own, in addition to becoming a mother and trying to find a man. The cast of characters around Sarah Jean is fun and makes you wish there was such a honky tonk around your corner too. Very highly recommended.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark reminded me just how great it feels to identify with rich characters, to breathe their breaths, to care as they do, to find myself in exciting situations all too familiar. Sarah Jean will make any reader laugh and sing, and at times she'll make them dance. Goldmark is to Literature what Faith Hill is to Country.

And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You is not a very good book; the plot is thin, the characters mostly stock, and sometimes the strain for comic effect is just too painful to bear.

BUT.

There's such a nice spirit in this book, an open-hearted warmth, that you might just like it in spite of itself. She nails the bar band atmosphere, and the camaraderie of people who play music together into the wee hours, and she treats her characters with kindness and humor even when she's having them do ridiculous things.

Mildly amusing, light, warm-hearted--so it's not literature. There are worse ways to kill a few hours and Kathi Kamen Goldmark is pretty good company, even it is just a road relationship that isn't going to go anywhere.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Hercule Poirot)

This book is a thoroughly enjoyable read with elements that still resonate today. Hercule Poirot is in rare form as he makes a dreaded trip to the dentist and finds himself involved in more than he bargained for. In typical Poirot fashion he is soon hot on the trail of insurrectionists, murder most foul with a plot to overthrow the British government thrown in for good measure. Poirot's ability to appreciate how his peculiar foibles make him the object of scorn by some members of a household in the countryside he visits during his investigation make this Christi novel different from others where Poirot seems to take himself much too seriously.

The story first started off alright- all the characters were introuduced, and everything sounded interesting.

however, the story goes on and on and it became a bit complicated. without paying close attention, one could be easily wandered off somewhere and got lost in the plot.

but it isnt a bad one. recommanded to skillful readers / experienced Christie's readers.

One Two Buckle My Shoe is one of the more contrived of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels but its twisted loops are definately part of the fun. The author does play around with politics in her conservative, often very naive, way but handles it much more smoothly than she did in her early twenties spy novels. The solution to the killer is both predicatable and satisfying as Christie crawls right up to the preposterous and then pulls back just a little. This is one of the Poirot novels that could have used Hastings a foil and his prescence is sadly missed, particularly as everyone at a certain dentist's office on a particular morning has something to hide and it would have been fun to read Hastings switching prime suspects with each new revelation. All in all, not a classic Christie but an interesting one.

Among the subtlest and "deepest" of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE is a murder mystery that comments on the British class system. That the story is essentially about class is clear from the widely differing social stations of its cast of characters. Take, for example, the three victims: first, a respected dentist named Mr. Morley is found shot to death in his office; then one of Morley's patients, a wealthy Greek immigrant, dies while another patient, a nondescript charity worker with the "pompous" name of Mabelle Sainsbury Seale, vanishes. Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp must find the common link between these three occurrences. The matter is complicated further by the fact that Alistair Blunt, a financier who gained his status by marrying into an Anglo-Jewish banking family (one obviously based on the Rothschilds) was also a patient in Morley's office on the day of his death; Japp believes that Blunt himself was intended to be the victim. But for the ever-observant Poirot, the case really begins with something quite mundane: that is, a shoe...a woman's black patent leather shoe with a large, ornate buckle...

Also highly recommended, for those who have finished the novel: the superb made-for-TV version of ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE, starring David Suchet as Poirot and Philip Jackson as Japp, and available on DVD from Amazon.com.

ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE has not, I think, topped anyone's list of favorite Agatha Christies for many years. Re-reading it again after many years, it seems to me to share some similarities to CURTAIN, Poirot's last case. Both of them are sort of bloodless, intellectual thrillers that play with ideas in a modernist way. BUCKLE is all about the cult of the superman, in this case the sacred financier Alistair Blunt, the Bernard Baruch type moneymind whom Britain "needs" and whose wellbeing is necessary to prevent the collapse of the UK economy. The attitude of the police and the secret service is, He may have his peccadilloes, but by Jove we need him in this country. In CURTAIN, which must have been written about the same time, the superman takes a darker turn, he is the man who can inspire others to commit murder for him, by the power of suggestion, but anyone who finishes ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE will know why I linked these two books on this one point.

I was surprised and shocked by the ending. Only Poirot could have figured out all the ramifications of the case, as well as to pull out the identity of the killer's accomplice out of thin air. I don't feel that Christie was using "fair play" in this novel, but it is so baffling that I don't even care! I love reading about her tormented, independent young women who cab't stand their own lives and yearn for something better--in this case. Jane Oliveira, the financier's niece. I wonder if elements of this novel didn't find their way into Ben Hecht's screenplay for Hitchcock's film NOTORIOUS. It's all about how you live with yourself when you're doing something wrong if it is for the public good, or if you can persuade yourself that it is while you're committing the crime (or sin, to be moral about it).

BUCKLE, like CURTAIN, is a little vague about--is there a war going on or not? Maybe it is set in an alternate universe in which others are fighting the war so we don't have to talk about it. In today's political climate, that kind of aesthetic amnesia rings a bell. Back then, it was a remarkably daring feat for the always experimental Agatha Christie.

I absolutely love and adore this little book. Having read it to each of my nieces and nephews and having promoted it to my 8th grade students, I had the good fortune to read this book with a wonderful group of 6th grade students. These students absorbed this delightful experience as they watched the rude, impolite Sarah Ida change and grow through the patience of three very important characters. These children loved the experience of learning how to shine shoes with me, an old timer who remembers the shoeshine stand. They were anxious to read and to follow the story; they showed patience and kindness themselves. Shoeshine Girl is a must read for anyone with children; grandparents who remember shoe shining and tougher times will especially enjoy sharing it with grandchildren. Important themes in the story include the value of money, learning responsibility, learning respect for others and for yourself. Everyone is a work in progress, capable of change and growth and love! Thank you, Mr. Bulla. Thanks, Edison, Derek, Zanisia, Dillon, Brent, Natalie, Zachery, Collin, Ben, Andy, Lexi, Pamela, Savanah, Miss Pruner, and Mrs. Brady.

I liked this book alot becuse it had a good point of view. If i could pick my favorite book this wouldd be it.

This is a story about a little girlthat had to live with her Aunt over the summer. She had to ride a trian to her Aunts house. Her Auant was wating for her at the train station and she asked if she could have some money, but her Aunt siad no becuse her mom does not whant her to have eney money becuse she had took her allwes for tow months. So she could go two a movie. So the little girl whent and found a job on a corner. The store was call the shoe shine stand. There is a old man sitting on the groud shinning shoes. she asked him if she could have the job becuse there was a sighn that said work whanted . so she got the job she worked for him all summer intlall something bad happend.

I liked this book alot becuse it had a good point of view. If i could pick my favorite book this wouldd be it.

This is a story about a little girlthat had to live with her Aunt over the summer. She had to ride a trian to her Aunts house. Her Auant was wating for her at the train station and she asked if she could have some money, but her Aunt siad no becuse her mom does not whant her to have eney money becuse she had took her allwes for tow months. So she could go two a movie. So the little girl whent and found a job on a corner. The store was call the shoe shine stand. There is a old man sitting on the groud shinning shoes. she asked him if she could have the job becuse there was a sighn that said work whanted . so she got the job she worked for him all summer intlall something bad happend.

Shoeshine girl, shoe shine girl was illustrated by Grant Leigh. She wrote some other books like Paint Brush Kid; Tree is a Pant, White Bird, sound like good books. It was published by Harper Collins in 1975. The title of my book that I read is shoeshine girl and the author is Bulla Clyde Robert. It was a very wonderful book that should how the main character made better changes.
Sarah is going to her aunt's house over the summer. Sarah is very mean and greedy all the time. She runs away to find a job. Then she found a job at a shoeshine stand. She became best friends with her boss, a man name Al. When something bad happen Al, Sarah becomes nicer. She stays and helps him.
The author created an interesting character that is rude and mean. At one point in the story, Sarah is running away and going to look for a job and making her people worry. When Rossi was crying and Sarah doesn't want to go at aunt's Claudia's house and she doesn't give her a chance.
Sarah becomes a better person. When the man got ran over she kept the stand open. Some people were helping Sarah and she got more money. She went to Al's home and gave his wife the money. She kept doing it until she had to leave.
Do you like rude books that do mean things to people? She runs away and didn't come back. She looks for a job and she got a job. At the end of the story Sarah becomes better. Do you like a book with rudeness and then in the end something impertinent. If you like it with action this is like one.

I think this book was interesting because Sarah Ida was a cool character. I can't believe she actually got a job at the shoeshine stand! She is probably very brave to go on a train all by herself. You'll probably like reading this book.