Book Description
There's a Fly on My Toast! is the long awaited collaboration from the team that brought forth the award-winning and beloved Ol' Lady Grizelda!
For breakfast or dinner or even for lunch!
I'll eat them forever,
munch them by the bunch!
I like it when they're double!
I like some extra cheese!
Cheeseburgers are awesome!
I'll have two, pretty please!
Cheeseburgers are just one of the subjects Matott writes about in this delightful book. From dogs and cats, annoying siblings, wrinkled elbows, and underwear, to many other subjects, you will surely be entertained and will nod with recognition from your own experiences as you read.
There's A Fly On My Toast is coming out with four different colored covers, including white, blue, orange and green.
Customer Reviews:
Patrick IHE.......2007-05-24
There's a fly on my toast! by Justin Matott is a book of poems. A Book at Night is really calming. There's a fly on my toast is when fly poop gets on his toast! Justin Matott has been a good author for many years. Nightmares is scary and funny. In the song his mom wants his room clean so he puts clothes under his bed. It is a fantastic book.
This is a GREAT book!.......2005-05-03
my mom got me shawn silverstine books and i read them all. I like crazy poems and then I got this one. It is so funny and has a ton of different kinds of things to read about. The pictures are funny too and i want to read more of Mr. Mattott books.
TOO FUNNY.......2003-07-03
Jello squirting from your nose? Shorts that are too tight? Subjects that might raise an eyebrow until the parent or teacher listens to the other words that instruct in A Boy I Once Knew or others that make one think about the world as a better place. These rhymes will bring a smile, a frown and a giggle, but most important, they will bring a child's imagination alive! As a teacher I will keep this available for all of my readers to enjoy!
THIS IS AWESOME!.......2003-02-13
This book is SO MUCH fun! I have read and reread the funny, peculiar, thought provoking poems so many times with my daughter that it is already showing great signs of wear, after only two months. I hope this author is discovered by some big time talk show people. He deserves to be known as well as some of the others such as Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelusky and the others that keep us laughing. Encore! Encore! Encore!
It's Great.......2003-02-09
I am nine years old and I think that Justin Matott's books are great for young kids to read. I have read all of them many times. My favorite poems in "There's a Fly on My Toast" are, "Revise This, Revise That" and "There's a Fly on My Toast." I can't wait for his next book!!
Book Description
After barely surviving his tour as a mountaineer in the Italian Alps of the Second World War, William Bromley settled down and made a quiet life for himself: teaching history at a London boarding school, reading, a few drinks at the pub on Friday nights. That all ends when a soldier from Williams mountain regiment reappears, calling in a bargain struck during the war. William must return to that perilous ground, reliving the terror of the war and confronting new dangers in a narrative so strong in imagery and detail that the reader can almost feel the gusts of an Alpine blizzard (Library Journal).
Customer Reviews:
"In the mountains you learned who you were, for better and for worse.".......2006-12-13
In 1950, William Bromley is still haunted by his tour as an army mountaineer during World War II, but does his best to create a new life teaching history at a London boarding school and idling his spare hours away with lifetime friend Stanley, with whom he has formed "The Society of Former Mountaineers". Stanley's uncle, the legendary mountaineer Henry Carton, has been a force in William's life since the war, when he induced William and his fellow climbers to undertake a particularly dangerous, but vitally important mission, planting a honing device that would allow Allied planes to navigate safely home through the Alps. Carton is deeply disappointed by his nephew's refusal to join the army with his friend and the mission falls squarely on William's shoulders, their route filled with the extraordinary treachery of the majestic terrain and near Carton's Rock, Henry's one claim to mountaineering fame upon which he has built his career.
Bromley believes he has finally escaped the horrors of the past, but upon Henry Carton's death he is thrust back into the emotional abyss by an unexpected request to return to the scene of his disgrace: Carton's final wish is to be buried at Carton's Rock. With no intention of ever climbing again, or revisiting the scenes of his nightmares, William is thrust into confusion, suffering recurrent memories of the failed foray to plant the transmitter, losing most of his men in the short, deadly battle. For William, the past mixes with the present in a hallucinogenic fugue. After much contention, with Stanley by his side, Bromley sets out to face the past and claim the future, fully aware of the dangers that await, the two men dragging Carton's weighty coffin in their wake. While Stanley hopes to prove himself to the woman he loves, William is after more elusive truth, yearning to recover an identity besmirched by self-doubt and the fallen bodies of his comrades-in-arms.
The emotional terrain of the novel is as strewn with obstacles as the landscape the men traverse, dragging their incredible burden to its final resting place, the icy wind howling a lament for the lost souls, storms obliterating the treacherous landscape, blinding the climbers pitted against the implacable grandeur of the Alps. Watkin's prose is chilling, the recreation of their endeavor palpably atmospheric, filled with authentic historical detail and the hollow desperation of man against nature, Bromley's courageous journey to reclaim his broken spirit. Luan Gaines/2006.
Three Mysteries in the Ice.......2006-10-29
The protagonist of Paul Watkins' excellent novel "The Ice Soldier" is one William Bromley, a decorated veteran of the Second World War and former mountaineer, now working as a schoolteacher in London and living with some uncomfortable memories. In June of 1950, his seemingly settled life comes unglued in the face of three mysteries. Watkins will unspool these mysteries in parallel in the course of his narrative.
The first mystery is what actually happened on a military operation in the Italian Alps in which Bromley led his pre-war climbing team. Bromley was decorated for his leadership but is haunted by his memories of the operation.
The second mystery concerns the uncle of his best friend, who sent Bromley on his wartime mission and who is famous as the sole survivor of a fatal climbing accident during the conquest of a peak in the Italian Alps. His unexpected suicide places an stunning obligation on Bromley.
The third mystery is the outcome of a journey of redemption undertaken by Bromley and his best friend, each for his own reasons, on behalf on the dead uncle.
Watkins' narrative follows Bromley on his journey in the present, periodically circling back to his wartime journey to the Italian Alps. Watkins's prose and grasp of telling details in set-piece vignettes are often pitch-perfect, whether the action takes place in a London Club, an English boarding school, an Italian village, or the wreckage of a plane in the Italian Alps. His description of an alfresco meal in a field in Italy is an example of a simple but memorable piece that adds surprising depth to the narrative.
The storyline is complicated by the need to account for the interactions of multiple characters. Watkins does very well when his characters interact face to face, but less well when the storyline is stitched together by sometimes awkward chunks of exposition.
This novel is highly recommended to the reader looking for an entertaining story, especially those with an interest in climbing and the changes mountains make in people's lives.
The climb.......2006-05-11
THE ICE SOLDIER, by Paul Watkins.
The story is set six years after the Second World War. It deals primarily with two characters, William Bromley and his colleague Stanley Carton. William is the main character. The story is told through him. Both William and Stanley were involved in a disastrous mission during the War. In which they had to climb the Alps, to set up a beacon which would assist the navigation of Allied bombers.
After the war, William decides never to climb again. Yet the memories from this ill-fated mission are engrained in his mind. So that when he is asked, together with Stanley, to once again climb the Alps, he sees this as the chance to rid himself of all his self-doubts and illusions. To forever banish the demons that his mind has conjured since the events of that war-time mission.
The relationship that William shares with his Father, has a bearing on William's decision to once again journey to the Alps.
Pringle, an eccentric and rather annoying character in his own right, holds a life-time grudge against Stanley's Father, Henry Carton. It is the death of Henry Carton that is the prime factor in motivating William and Stanley to undertake this difficult and challenging climb. Their task - to reach the peak of a mountain in the heart of the Alps, known as Carton's Rock. Taking with them, a special and rather macabre piece of `luggage`
It is with the start of the actual climb, that the story takes on it's true dimension. I suppose the novel could be described as being in two parts. The not always plausible sequence of events, and rather eccentric characters that lead up to the eventual climb. And the subsequent narration by Paul Watkins of the bid to reach the summit of Carton's Rock. The author's narrative of the glacier as well as the mountain - it's savagery as well as alien beauty - is as powerful as it is engrossing. He writes with such persuasion that it is easy to be part of this climb. Along side William and Stanley. To experience with them, the hostile environment of the glacier. To share their deprivations of hunger and exhaustion. To witness with them, the fury of the ice storm. To feel their fear of the hidden crevasse and to marvel at their endurance.
another of Watkins' adventures for boys.......2006-04-26
Watkins does a good job writing a boys' own adventure, with a stock female character as plot device, some cool descriptions of mountain climbing, the typical boy's fascination with weapons (including an intact B-24 frozen in glacier), and an utterly incredible attempt to manhandle a coffin up a previously unclimbed mountain (the boys attempt to do the impossible--heroic!). Despite these fun features, the novel has its share of longueurs.
"There are those who climb and those who dream of climbing".......2006-03-09
Reminiscent of the adventure novels of Alistair McLean and even Joseph Conrad, Paul Watkins' the Ice Soldier is a rousing, stirring adventure tale, a story of heroism, comradeship and love that takes place high atop the windswept pinnacles of the Italian Alps. The novel opens in 1950 when ex-mountaineer William Bromley is trying to put the ghosts of the War behind him whilst quietly forging a career as a schoolteacher in central London.
For William, mountain climbing has been a lifelong fascination, he and his friends once indelibly drawn to "the stony rafters of the world," not just worlds of rock, snow and ice, but worlds of bleak and unforgettable beauty." But when a war time expedition to place a radio beacon on Carton's Rock, the highest point on the Alps, goes horribly wrong, and results in the death of three of his mountaineering comrades, William's climbing days become a thing of the past.
All that is left are weekly drinking binges at the Montague Hotel where William and his best friend Stanley Carton, join the Society of Former Mountaineers, and reminisce about bygone days. Both realize they have become, each in their own way, outcasts from the mountaineering community.
William travels home to Gloucestershire, hoping his father's kindly advice will help him temper some of the regret and guilt. Yet he can't help but stand on the verge of oblivion, clinging to symbols of those old days when he had taken life for granted, certain that he would climb again and again. When Stanley's uncle, the feisty Henry Carton commits suicide, he makes a posthumous request, instructing his lawyer to tell William and Stanley they must climb, and that his body be returned to that fateful alpine peak named in his honor.
For Henry Carton, even in death, the Alps remains the ultimate proving ground, convinced that only by climbing the mountains again could William and Stanley find any hope of redemption and freedom from guilt. It is only through placing his body high atop Carton's rock - the view from the top one of the greatest wonders of the world - that these two men will be able to free themselves from the constrictions of the past, up here you are "all that one could be," and where all that one was becomes clear.
William and Stanley's adventures as they retrace their steps up through the rocky peaks, the desolate valleys and the snow-covered glaciers, are extraordinary and full of tension, far removed from the structures of their comfortable life of London. Both are upstanding and essentially "British" chaps who value loyalty and integrity, fanatically hold onto their youthful dreams, and both are of the belief that up atop the mountains no climber can ever afford to be sheltered by his wealth, his social connections, or by his clever turns of phrase. On the mountains, "you learned who you were, for better or for worse."
Watkin's prose is vital, precise and accessible; he taps into the mechanics of mountain climbing, yet the novel never gets bogged down in excessive detail. There's clarity of thought that comes from climbing, from being in a world not clogged by a grid-work of roads and playing fields; where life is infinitely simplified. Aside from an ice axe, "a few carabiner loops and a length of rope," there is nothing to rely on but yourself and those with whom you climb.
The author also excels in describing the beautiful desolation and the unique grandeur of the mountains: The freezing night, the dripping icicles, true snow glittering like broken glass, the steel-blue light thrown down by the moon. On the glacier's ice there is "only the angry sun or the blind eye of the moon," enough to make a person feel as though they were marooned on an empty planet, alone.
The war and the changes it has bought to William's life remove any plan for the future, even the future itself, now the past and the future are endlessly spinning around like the streams of time itself. Only by returning to this sacred ground can William - and Stanley - come to terms with their newfound fears of climbing and perhaps take back their lives. Mike Leonard March 06.
Book Description
Just as The Things They Carried and Catch-22 spoke to their generations with truth and dark humor, this brilliant first novel defines the experience of war for its era.
Benjamin Jones, twenty-three, discharged after an army tour in Somalia, heads cross-country on a Greyhound, seeking refuge on the West Coast. He has left behind his best friend, Trevor, and Liz Ross, a female soldier with whom Jones has fallen in love. But Jones has also left behind a tragedy -- a horrible, split-second action made in Somalia -- that Trevor, Jones, and the army have implicitly agreed to forget.
Alone on the streets of San Francisco, and then north on the Washington coast, Jones finds that an uneducated ex-soldier is qualified only as a peep show fantasy object or as a hired hand to a bottom-feeding smuggler and pornographer. Recurring visions of his life as a soldier gradually reveal the full truth -- and agony -- of his experience, and a reunion with Liz and a violent confrontation with Trevor bring the young soldier's journey to a wrenching conclusion -- but one not without hope.
At equal turns tense, brutal, and poetic, The Ice Beneath You is a soldier's story for a time when there weren't supposed to be any more soldiers' stories.
Customer Reviews:
Former waterborne .......2006-10-26
Being a former waterborne soldier, I ordered both books by Bauman. Bauman definitely has related the experiences of a waterborne soldier and the experiences of a soldier transitioning into the civilian world. I was amazed at his accurate portrayal of reasons why soldiers enlist, why they risk their lives defending what others think is important, and the difficulty of transitioning into the civilian world. Memories came flooding back when he mentioned the Gasthaus and experiences in the barracks.. Experiences mentioned are very truthful. Although fictional, Bauman has captured the essence of the waterborne soldier.
Gripping storyteller.......2004-03-20
I came to this book out of curiosity after hearing a few of Bauman's essays on the radio on "All Things Considered." (He's great on there, if you ever get a chance to hear him).
The novel sucked me in from page 1 and wouldn't let go. And every time I thought I'd decided what the book was "about," I was wrong.
On the surface, it's about a group of soldiers in Somalia, and about one in particular, Ben Jones. You quickly realize the Somalia stuff is a flashback, though (confusing at first, but once you figured it out the rhythm was good), and that Jones is out of the army now, and suffering emotionally from something that happened over there. His travels put him on a bus to San Francisco, then finally up to Washington State. Both narratives (with the army in Somalia, and as a civilian in America) come together as the book nears its end, both in an absorbing, page-turning way.
I already knew from the radio stuff that Bauman's writing was beautiful. It was inspiring to see he could sustain it for the length of a novel. Looking forward to his next book!
Ice Beneath You.......2004-02-23
A beautiful, tragic read. Easily one of my favorite books of the last year.
Our modern US soldiers.......2003-06-21
After reading some of the reviews I will admit straight out that I have no military experience. I respect those that have come from military background as their impressions of this novel will certainly be more acute and critical.
So, speaking purely as a reasonable educated person in world events, I admit my knowledge of the military operations in Somalia is inadequate. In the attempt to learn more about Somalia, and being attracted to the book trailer, I purchased the book.
It just so happened that Desert Storm was at it's climax when I started the book and the events furthur impressed me with the author's story. Here, on one hand you have America's big war in Iraq happening, and in Somalia, the efforts of our young soldiers was just as important, but oh, so overlooked.
Christian Bauman offers a well written, gritty, sarcastically relevant book. He offers that it takes more to just being a soldier... there are facets of their characters that are in constant change. I appreciated his ability to allow this perception in each of his characters to develope, and to develope randomly. It kept the story line fresh, unanticipated and sharp.
The story is about Benjamin Jones and his tour of duty in Somalia with the US Army (gunboat unit). It is a reflection of what happened in Somalia and how it is impacting him now and with the decisions he tries to make. In his story, you will meet his best friend, Trevor, and heart throb, Liz.
As Benjamin tries to assimilate into civilian life, it becomes clear that no one is going to make this easy for him, and for most people they don't even acknowledge what he did for his country. Coming from this mindframe, his experiences make for a rich insight into the modern military heroes of today.
Instant classic.......2003-05-30
I don't say that lightly. But this novel IS an instant classic, if such a thing is possible. It's a war story but it's just as much about class war in America as it is about Somalia. With all the flag waving and "freedom isn't free" ranting these days, it's wise to take a deep breath and remember the forgotten soldiers who fought in America's "little wars" in the 1990s while everyone at home seemed to be living it up, or obvlisious, or both. If this book doesn't make all the flag-wavers these days seem like hypocrites, nothing will. One of my favorite paragraphs in here is a scene where the protagonist, Ben Jones, tells a guy he's just back from Somalia, and the guy says "Soma-what?"
What really makes this book though, is Bauman's writing. It sneaks up on you. Part II of this book stands, IMHO, as the best, and the opening of Part II is breathtaking. Breaking away from the narrative for a few pages, Bauman describes sunset in Mogadishu (sunset being a very important, and scary, time of day, because there's no electricity). The description shimmers and hums, and was so beautiful (and brutal) I went back and read those pages again.
Customer Reviews:
Something Different.......2007-07-10
This is the only Forgotten Realms novel I own or have thus far read from "the Harpers" series. I wasn't really sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.
The story is fairly straight forward. The main character is a ranger trying to gain membership to the Harpers and is thus sent on basic reconnaissance mission as a test. As expected, the whole mission falls apart.
She has to use her wits and quickly forge alliances between different races which include a Gnoll shaman, a clan of hardy Gnomes, and a Human fighter living as a hermit.
I thought the story was very well written that was quite enjoyable with a straightforward plot that is easy enough to follow.
I would suggest this title if you want to read a Forgotten Realms story that is straight forward and a little different.
Not another run-off-the-mill FR novel.......2005-01-26
While the language, the storyline, and the characters in this novel are mediocre at best, there was something that caught my attention as truly unique. For a welcome change, there are no epic battles, no world-shattering magic, no mighty kings or ancient dragons, and no scorching romance stories. It is a tale of small-water heroics and mere survival. And yet, it carries a strong question: are we truly different from those we fight, no matter how bestial they look?
NOT THE BEST!.......2004-07-26
Unfortunately Soldiers of Ice was a quite a disappointment! The title is a bit misleading if you are expecting epic battles/wars. There are encounters with ice mephits and elementals (one of each...) and gnolls, but the book lacks that extra something needed to push it over the top. Both the plot and the writing are average. Instead, I recommend other books from the Series such as Red Magic or Parched Sea to mention a few, all the while keeping in mind the "heavy artillery" Forgotten Realms novels that have been written by RA Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood etc My advice, read the Soldiers of Ice only after you're done reading most of the other Forgotten Realms books and you are still in need of more Toril related material.
Wonderful Breakaway from plot architypes.......2000-05-12
A stand-alone novel in the FR Harper series. I loved thedescriptions of the frozen environment; some of the best I've read inany novel (this coming from someone who lives in the snow). The book breaks away from conventional "good vs. evil", blurring the lines, showing both sides of the battle with intriguing characters. Don't expect a cliff-hanging plotline, but do expect a fresh look and new take on the way characters and the overall book is portrayed as compared ot other FR novels. My only complaint is that there hasn't been a sequel written (yet - knock on wood).
Awe inspiring cover art... little to be found inside........1998-12-24
I read this book some years ago now and I remember not being overly thrilled with it. I don't think that I was happy with the way the story went. The book was purely medicocre, especially in the character development. its a shame, The cover art was awe inspiring, too bad the story wasn't.
Average customer rating:
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ICE COLD IN ALEX (FICTION) (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
Christopher Landon
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
War | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0304366250 |
Book Description
They served it ice-cold in Alex - pale amber Rheingold beer in tall, dewy glasses. This is the image that haunts Captain George Anson. Stationed in the North African desert just before the fall of Tobruk, an ice-cold lager seems a million miles away. When Anson is detailed to escort two nursing sisters to Alexandria, it looks as though his wish is finally about to come true - a routine assignment, with a lager at the end of it as his reward. But what starts out as a routine journey soon becomes an epic. Forced to drive further and further south in order to escape the advancing German Army, Anson and his small party are soon on the edge of the Great Sand Sea. As they battle with the physical agonies of a six hundred mile drive through the desert it soon becomes apparent that each member of the group has his own private struggles to resolve. Not only that, but with a Nazi agent in their midst, it is clear that not all of them are going to make it to Alexandria...
Customer Reviews:
There'll always be Alex.......2006-10-25
It would be hard to find anyone who, having seen the film version of this book, doesn't find the film moving. It is rightly proclaimed to be one of the best World War Two films made.
Set against the book, the film is pretty accurate, and despite one or two deviations from the original text, is thoroughly moving. What you get with the book though is a deeper sounding of what is up with Captain Anson and the relationship he has with Sergeant Major Tom Pugh.
The Hero's Journey is here laid out in greater detail than could ever be seen in the format of a film. Both Anson and Pugh, and the characters Zimmermann (van der Poel in the film) and Nursing Sister Diana Murdoch, evolve through the novel and all can claim to have made a breakthrough change by its conclusion. The book is charged throughout with `hope' and ends with the sun going down on the characters' long rite of passage and talk of a new voyage starting tomorrow.
Book Description
The COBRA creeps are in the Alaskan wilderness trying to melt huge chunks of the frozen wasteland in order to mine the gold and silver underneath, and it's up to the G.I. Joe team to stop them!
Average customer rating:
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Tears of Ice : The Littlest Soldiers
Gary Livingston
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0738852074 |
Book Description
Long before Hitler and the Holocaust, the Jews of Russia faced their own relentless terror from Czar Nicolas' I thirty year (1825-1855) reign. His Rekruchina Decree of 1827 forced 60,000 Jewish children, some as young as ten years of age, into the Russian Imperial Army in hopes of erasing their Jewish religion.
Tears of Ice is a poignant story following the forced conscription of twelve-year-old Poti Levin. Torn from his mothers arms by khappers, he was forced on a journey to a military camp in the eastern interior of Russia. This book delves into what happened to these boys along the route and when they arrived at the camps.
Poti and the other boys are under the care of the brutal Sergeant Yuri Dominkov, a grizzled veteran of Russia's many wars. On their long trip they are befriended by the story telling Private Gai Bosha. This is their story. There have been many love stories, but this is a story of love.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Frozen Food Age, published by Cygnus Business Media on November 1, 2003. The length of the article is 2521 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Low carb mania: the 'diet revolution' has invaded super markets, and its freezer-case foot soldiers include carb-reduced ice creams, bagels, dinners, breads, and pizzas.
Author: Al Urbanski
Publication:
Frozen Food Age (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2003
Publisher: Cygnus Business Media
Volume: 52
Issue: 4
Page: 20(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- This Old Boat
- Turbulence: A Novel (Pegasus Prize for Literature)
- Vegas Sunrise (Zebra Fiction)
- Will & Vision: How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets
- Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)
- A Better Man
- A Brief Lunacy
- A Jerk on One End: Reflections of a Mediocre Fisherman
- Alberich and Friends
- All the Sweet Tomorrows
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