I was born on June 1, 1941. My first home was an apartment in Manhattan's Upper West Side, a neighborhood that overlooked the George Washington Bridge. Soon after kindergarten, my family moved to Scarsdale, which seemed to be “in the country.” In high school, I broke my ankle when I went out for the lacrosse team, so I wrote a sports column for the school newspaper. I don't think I showed any particular talent for writing then.
I went to St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. I actually learned to read Greek (I didn't understand it, though). I transferred from St. John's to New York University, so I could study political science and economics. I graduated with a major in philosophy and a minor in English. My first job was a market researcher for a beer company in New Jersey. Over the next five years, I switched jobs several times: advertising copywriter, advertising account executive, and marketing manager at a candy company.
I married Vicki and we had a baby, Douglas. I wanted him to have a home surrounded by grass and trees and ball fields, so I accepted a job in Minnesota, and Doug got a baby sister, Dana. What rescued me from poverty was that my wife and some other mothers wrote a cookbook. We published it ourselves, and it was a huge hit. That's how I figured out that I wanted to be a publisher when I grew up. We built Meadowbrook Press, and I became an author of baby name books and humor books for adults.
Ten years ago, I wanted to put together a children's book of all the poems they loved best. To find these poems, I tested poems in elementary schools. As I was testing poems on children, I decided to write a few to see what the response would be. At first it wasn't that good, but as my writing improved, I added my poems to new books. To get them just right, I'd rewrite them over and over. I've now edited six poetry anthologies and filled three books with my own poems. Because I spent a lot of time reading and testing poems in classrooms, schools started inviting me to perform. I've now performed at hundreds of schools. My goal to put on the most entertaining, most educational, and most motivating assembly a school has ever had. My web site, http://www.gigglepoetry.com, helps kids discover the fun of reading and writing poetry.
Language arts are a very important part of what you learn in school. You can read great books that take you to far-away lands. You can write your own stories and make yourself the hero of exciting adventures. Even if it seems hard sometimes, don't give up. Keep practicing your reading and writing skills, and soon it will become easier. There are so many wonderful worlds to explore in books and poetry. Get your very own passport by learning to read and write the very best that you can.
This review is from: Free Story "The Girl Who Wanted to be a Princess" from Newfangled Fairy Tales (Kindle Edition)
My daughter loved LITTLE BAD WOLF AND RED RIDING HOOD, so I read her this story by the same author. She likes it even more. The moral of the story is great, particularly for girls fascinated with the Disney princesses.
~ I received a free copy of this book from SimonandSchuster dot com. It is also free on Amazon and in iBooks. ~
This book is from the "Newfangled Fairy Tales" series which is edited by Bruce Lansky. This series is a collection of revised fairy tales with new twists on older themes and even some modern characters. It includes the story of "...a beautiful princess who is put to sleep for 100 years because she is so cranky... and Hansel, who is so obsessed with candy that he steals Gretel's piggy bank and runs off to the Old Witch's Candy Factory."
This series is suitable for both male and female children from the ages of 7 to 13.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!
At only 20 pages it is a quick read and despite the fact that the target readership is children, this is also a great short tale for adults to enjoy as well.
The main character is a 'tweenage' girl named Michelle Koszlowski. This girl is like many other girls her age and she is 100% believable. She lives "...with her parents and her bratty little brother, Donald, in a gray house with white shutters. The Koszlowski house looked just like all the other gray houses with white shutters on Maple Street in Sheboygan, Michigan." Anyone who has ever visited (or lived in) modern day suburbia will recognize what Michelle's house looks like.
Michelle is very similar to some modern day tween girls I know. She doesn't like her house; she thinks it's too "ordinary". She's lazy, spoiled and feels like it is her right to have everything she wants given to her immediately. In short, she's an annoying, spoiled brat.
Michelle wants to live the life of a Princess.
But, when her dream comes true, will Michelle be happy? You'll have to read the story to find out.
Since this fairy tale is available free of charge courtesy of Simon and Schuster Publishing you have nothing to lose by giving this book a chance. If you have children that are between the ages of 7 and 13, you really should have them read this book. Or, better yet, sit and read it together. You will enjoy the story and its moral shines through and could open up a new topic to talk with your child about.
I rate this "Newfangled Fairy Tale" as 5 out of 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love the idea of "newfangled fairy tales," and I admire the desire to teach contentment at home. However, I found it difficult to relate to the main character or feel any sympathy for her "plight." She makes childish demands of her parents, refuses to help with simple chores, snubs her little brother, and in general acts like a spoiled brat. She then visits relatives who live in a castle in Poland and balks at the expectation that she behave with civility and eat the food that's offered. In the course of the story she learns to appreciate her parents and brother, which is commendable, but the whole thing lacks warmth and humor.
I read it to my daughter and she loved it thank the lord it was free!!!I as so loved it but the girl didn't have to be so bratty about her life ! my gosh respect what you at least have in life instead of being mad about not getting what you want!
Much shorter than i had expected. Basically, a bratty girl gets her chance to be a princess and quickly realizes she hates all the rules and weird food. She learns to be grateful for what she had. The end. My 4-year old daughter liked it.
Aku tidak sengaja mendapatkannya dari Play Books, dan gratis. Masih dalam misi membaca buku english, dan dengan halaman buku ini yang sedikit—tidak sampai 20 halaman—apa lagi yang kutunggu? Aku mulai membaca.
Michelle hanyalah gadis biasa, tapi selalu menginginkan lebih dari apa yang dia punya; orangtuanya punya. Dia selalu meminta apa yang tidak dimilikinya, selalu jalan-jalan ke mal dan keluar bersama teman-temannya. Dia tidak mau sekalipun membantu kedua orangtuanya di rumah. Karena dia ingin menjadi putri.
Semuanya berubah ketika keinginan Michelle tercapai. Dia dituntut untuk benar-benar menjadi seorang putri. Tidak seperti yang dibayangkannya, dia menyerah dan ingin kembali menjadi gadis biasa.
Yah. Plotnya menarik tapi tidak menjadikannya berkesan—mungkin karena singkat. Cukup untuk melatih kosakata dan pemahaman cerita berbahasa Inggris. Hanya itu.
Squarely in the tradition of children's 'morality' tales, this story reminds us that when we get our wish, sometimes it is not what we expected.
There seems to me to be a mismatch between the age of the protagonist and that of the intended audience. This kind of 'morality' story is generally written for young children, under 8 or so; by the time a child has reached her teens she is more sophisticated and requires more sugar coating on the morality pill. Yet the protagonist here is a teenager, and the tone of the writing, matching the content, reads as if it's intended for quite young children.
Nicely done, but lacks the spark that would give it appeal to adults as well as children.
This book was more true to life in other situations as well, whether being a princess or wanting to live where the grass is greener. It's a scary thing to be under someone else's control and finding out that things are not what you thought they would be. That's part of losing your mental innocence ... It's a hard lesson for many children to learn in all areas of life. The lesson far outweighs what they had to go through. Appreciate what you have and just work for what you want.
A young girl thinks she wants and deserves the better things in life. Her only problem is that her parents are normal middle-class working people. They can't afford to just give her everything she wants and she doesn't want to work for it. Luckily, the family has some castle owning relatives in Poland. Will the young girl like being treated as a princess?
A really nice little tale with the moral-to be happy with what you have. It is a lesson a lot of young people (and quite a few adults) could stand to learn or at least be reminded.
I received a general idea from the introduction of the last Newfangled Fairy Tale series that these books were suppose to be a take on older fairy tales. Somehow I couldn't rack my mind with all the fairytales that I do know on which one this was suppose to be a parody of.
There was truly not much of a plotline while the characters were very flat. There was nothing at all to really relate with except the attitude of today's children.
I am going to pass from reading this story again....
This was not a favorite of mine, even though there is a happy ending reuniting the girl, Michelle, and her family. This one wasn't as goofy as the Little Red Riding Hood story, and Michelle's character really got on my nerves, though I'm sure she's supposed to. Michelle is unhappy with her middle class life in Michigan and goes to spend the summer with her aristocratic aunt and uncle. She stays for only a couple of days and realizes she's better off at home.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book is great for young girls. Things are the way they are for a reason and changing it is not always for the better no matter how much you think it would be. The perspective of the young girl thinking she wants to be a princess and actually becoming like one is a big reality check for her. I like the way this idea was presented.
Free Book "The Girl Who Wanted To Be A Princess" by Bruce Lansky. A new twist on the fairy tales. It was a short story with a moral. Be careful what you wish for. It does not always turn out as you think it will.
This is the perfect story for almost all pre teen girls. It teaches a life lesson that is sometimes very hard to learn. A quick read, which will make it all the more enjoyable for young girls who aren't excited about reading long stories.
A well-written, cute short story about how having everything isn't always as fantastic as one might imagine. Especially when it means giving up things that are most important.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha this book is hilarious and the other hand is a great deal of the most important thing is for a while back I have been a lot to learn how much
This could be so much better it's so boring and short forget this if I had to buy this I would want my money back plz ten dollars to buy me a purse so lame