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Last of the Summer Wine
6.9
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TV Show
Last of the Summer Wine is the longest running British sitcom, created and written by Roy Clarke and...
I usually don't judge a book by its cover, but I'm not going to lie. When I saw the gorgeous cover for Nancy Churnin's children's book For Spacious Skies, I fell in love with the cover and knew I had to read the book. I'm really glad I did because everything about it was fantastic, and I even learned a few things I had never known about the song America the Beautiful and its creator, Katharine Lee Bates.
For Spacious Skies tells the condensed biography of Katharine Lee Bates, the creator of the song America the Beautiful although when it was written, it was originally a poem. Katharine Lee Bates comes across as a fantastic person. She lived in a time when men were seen as being far superior than women, but she didn't let that stop her from getting an education and being a voice for those that felt they had no voice.
I admit that I didn't know the history behind America the Beautiful, so this book was the perfect starting point. I think my favorite fact in the book was that Katharine Lee Bates never wanted or accepted any payment for penning America the Beautiful. She just wanted to give something back to the country she loved so much.
This is a biography picture book for older children, and I believe that it's written in a way that speaks to children and will draw in their attention quite easily. The length is perfect, and the wording is fantastic. Everything flows perfectly. I also liked the fact that Nancy Churnin includes an author's note as well as a timeline of Katharine's life and accomplishments at the end. The author's note goes into a little more detail about Katharine's life which is great for adults, children who want to learn a bit more, or for a discussion. The timeline makes it easy to picture events as they happened.
The illustrations in For Spacious Skies are absolutely breathtaking! Olga Baumert is the illustrator, and her talent shines through in every page. Each illustration is full of detail and really helps to drive the story. Although my 5 year old was a little young for this book, he did love the illustrations in it and even asked if we could just look at the pictures as they are quite colorful and really draw you in. Seriously, I could go on and on about amazing the illustrations are, but it's better if you just pick up a copy of the book yourself to see what I'm talking about.
Overall, I feel that For Spacious Skies is the ultimate girl power book. Katharine Lee Bates was obviously a force to be reckoned with according to this book. If you're looking for a book with a strong female and beautiful illustrations, pick up a copy of For Spacious Skies. I would definitely recommend For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin to adults and children aged 8 and older. I feel as if this book needs to be required reading in all elementary schools and should be in every school library. That's how good and informative it is. Grab a copy, and see for yourself!
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(A special thank you to Edelweiss for an eBook copy of For Spacious Skies and to Nancy Churnin and Lone Star Literary Life for a hardback copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
For Spacious Skies tells the condensed biography of Katharine Lee Bates, the creator of the song America the Beautiful although when it was written, it was originally a poem. Katharine Lee Bates comes across as a fantastic person. She lived in a time when men were seen as being far superior than women, but she didn't let that stop her from getting an education and being a voice for those that felt they had no voice.
I admit that I didn't know the history behind America the Beautiful, so this book was the perfect starting point. I think my favorite fact in the book was that Katharine Lee Bates never wanted or accepted any payment for penning America the Beautiful. She just wanted to give something back to the country she loved so much.
This is a biography picture book for older children, and I believe that it's written in a way that speaks to children and will draw in their attention quite easily. The length is perfect, and the wording is fantastic. Everything flows perfectly. I also liked the fact that Nancy Churnin includes an author's note as well as a timeline of Katharine's life and accomplishments at the end. The author's note goes into a little more detail about Katharine's life which is great for adults, children who want to learn a bit more, or for a discussion. The timeline makes it easy to picture events as they happened.
The illustrations in For Spacious Skies are absolutely breathtaking! Olga Baumert is the illustrator, and her talent shines through in every page. Each illustration is full of detail and really helps to drive the story. Although my 5 year old was a little young for this book, he did love the illustrations in it and even asked if we could just look at the pictures as they are quite colorful and really draw you in. Seriously, I could go on and on about amazing the illustrations are, but it's better if you just pick up a copy of the book yourself to see what I'm talking about.
Overall, I feel that For Spacious Skies is the ultimate girl power book. Katharine Lee Bates was obviously a force to be reckoned with according to this book. If you're looking for a book with a strong female and beautiful illustrations, pick up a copy of For Spacious Skies. I would definitely recommend For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin to adults and children aged 8 and older. I feel as if this book needs to be required reading in all elementary schools and should be in every school library. That's how good and informative it is. Grab a copy, and see for yourself!
--
(A special thank you to Edelweiss for an eBook copy of For Spacious Skies and to Nancy Churnin and Lone Star Literary Life for a hardback copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Shakespeare Saved My Life in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Dr. Laura Bates is an English professor at Indiana State University. She is given to opportunity to teach inmates in Indiana's Correctional System. She decides that she is going to teach them Shakespeare. She was discouraged by others thinking that Shakespeare would be too much for inmates to handle.
Dr. Bates was surprised at how well the inmates were able to, not only understand the material, but also apply it to their own lives. One inmate in particular, Larry Newton, took the material and really changed(saved) his life. Larry was really able to relate to Shakespeare's works, especially MacBeth. He used the material to look back on the choices and decisions he had made and was able to better understand the right choices to make.
When I saw this book as part of the Big Library Read, I was very excited. It seemed like an interesting book that would hold my attention. These days, I tend to do a lot of reading before bed. Even though the chapters were no more than a few pages long, I fell asleep frequently. I thought I would have been able to finish this book in a week because the subject matter was so interesting. But, I felt as though it continued to go over the same thing. I enjoyed the subject matter, but I thought I would be a little more engaged.
Dr. Bates was surprised at how well the inmates were able to, not only understand the material, but also apply it to their own lives. One inmate in particular, Larry Newton, took the material and really changed(saved) his life. Larry was really able to relate to Shakespeare's works, especially MacBeth. He used the material to look back on the choices and decisions he had made and was able to better understand the right choices to make.
When I saw this book as part of the Big Library Read, I was very excited. It seemed like an interesting book that would hold my attention. These days, I tend to do a lot of reading before bed. Even though the chapters were no more than a few pages long, I fell asleep frequently. I thought I would have been able to finish this book in a week because the subject matter was so interesting. But, I felt as though it continued to go over the same thing. I enjoyed the subject matter, but I thought I would be a little more engaged.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) in Movies
Nov 17, 2020
The Vampire's Blood
Taste The Blood of Dracula- is the fifth Dracula movie made by Hammer. The Fourth with Christopher Lee.
The plot: Three elderly and distinguished gentlemen, searching for some excitement in their boring lives, get in contact with one of Count Dracula's servants.
Taste the Blood of Dracula was originally written without Dracula appearing at all. With Christopher Lee's increasing reluctance to reprise the role, Hammer intended to replace Lee and Dracula in the franchise with the Lord Courtley character played by Ralph Bates, who would rise as a vampire after his death and seek revenge on Hargood, Paxton, and Secker.
Hammer intended to replace Lee and Dracula in the franchise with the Lord Courtley character played by Ralph Bates, who would rise as a vampire after his death and seek revenge on Hargood, Paxton, and Secker. Hammer's American distributor refused to release the film if it lacked an appearance by Dracula; this prompted Hammer to convince Lee to return, with Dracula replacing the resurrected Courtley.
In its original United States release, it was rated GP (General audience, Parental guidance suggested—the forerunner to today's PG), but when it was re-released to DVD it was rated R for sexual content/nudity and brief violence.
Its a hammer film, what else do you expect.
The plot: Three elderly and distinguished gentlemen, searching for some excitement in their boring lives, get in contact with one of Count Dracula's servants.
Taste the Blood of Dracula was originally written without Dracula appearing at all. With Christopher Lee's increasing reluctance to reprise the role, Hammer intended to replace Lee and Dracula in the franchise with the Lord Courtley character played by Ralph Bates, who would rise as a vampire after his death and seek revenge on Hargood, Paxton, and Secker.
Hammer intended to replace Lee and Dracula in the franchise with the Lord Courtley character played by Ralph Bates, who would rise as a vampire after his death and seek revenge on Hargood, Paxton, and Secker. Hammer's American distributor refused to release the film if it lacked an appearance by Dracula; this prompted Hammer to convince Lee to return, with Dracula replacing the resurrected Courtley.
In its original United States release, it was rated GP (General audience, Parental guidance suggested—the forerunner to today's PG), but when it was re-released to DVD it was rated R for sexual content/nudity and brief violence.
Its a hammer film, what else do you expect.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Bad Santa 2 (2016) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
Meh
The original movie was a real guilty pleasure. Dark, twisted, funny and something very different from the million other saccharine and sentimental Christmas movies out there. The sequel is unfortunately very disappointing, it seems to think just consistently swearing is an acceptable substitute for actual humour . The writing is very weak and none of the actors look like they want to be there. It feels like a contractual obligation and a waste of talented actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates. The delightfully weird sandwich obsessed Thurman Murman does provide a bit of amusement and a few callbacks to the superior original but overall this is a poor sequel.
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