Rating: 
Summary: A Deliciously Fantastic Story
Review: I loved this book. The plot is skillfully woven, the characters amazingly creative and unique, and the description vivid and poetic. This is a fantastic and fascinating book.
Rating:
Summary: The Thirteen Clocks
Review: I thought that this book was a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read great fairy tale. A tale with Princes, Princess and an evil Duke. I couldn't put the book down. It was short and sweet. There is a simple plot and characters that are easy to relate to. There were many descriptive sentences that painted detailed pictures in your head. I also enjoyed the pictures in the book and found them very amusing. This book as some surprising twists in it that you would never guess. Again I would highly recommend this book for anyone of all ages that just want to read something that is good and it doesn't take him or her days to read. It is just an awesome book to read. I hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: A library essential at any age
Review: I was introduced to Thurbur by my mother when I was still in elementary school.One of the books we have is The 13 Clocks. As an owner of this wondrous tale (the lack of availability is a crime worthy of the Duke himself) I have made it one of my missions to have all of my friends read it. This is an acient story of good and evil and how complex they both can be.
Rating:
Summary: Magical, Whimsical Fairy Tale
Review: If you liked The Princess Bride, you will love this book. Sadly, Thurber is not as well known as many of the 20th Century 'Greats' such as C.S. Lewis, O. Henry, and Dorothy Parker. Perhaps this is because he is in a class to himself, and it's difficult to even compare. He is far from boring, everything is delivered in a fast-paced, fresh tongue-in-cheek style. You find yourself at the end, wishing there were more. Too bad there aren't more authors like Thurber. This should be required reading in all middle schools - but perhaps it's simply too entertaining. This marvellous little tale is both entertaining and enlightening. This is a 'MUST' read!
Rating:
Summary: Its just great!
Review: If you love fairy tales, poems, and parables, you'll love this. James Thurber takes all of these and rolls it up into one great book. It is a hillarious book about a young prince trying to rescue a young princess. This princess was kidnapped at a young age by a Duke. He has many prisoners. One of them is a Golux. He is the funniest Golux around. He has the talent to make people laugh and cry for jewels. If you love other books by Thurber, you'll love this.
Rating:
Summary: On guard, you musty sofa!
Review: In summary form, "The Thirteen Clocks" will almost certainly come across as a clever but fairly conventional fairy tale, populated by amusing variants of the archetypal beautiful princess, wicked Duke, and poor-hero-who-isn't-what-he-seems. This is unfortunate, because while all of these characters are great fun, the real hero of this little book is the English language. Few authors are as skilled as Thurber when it comes to playing with words, and in "The Thirteen Clocks," verbal gems pop out of almost every page. Moreover, when it comes to making up new words for comedic or literary effect, only Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" does it better - you'll not find "guggle" or "zatch" in an anatomy textbook, but in the context of the tale, their meaning is both perfectly clear and perfectly hilarious (also perfectly clean - this is definitely an all-ages book). I'd offer more examples, but that would deprive you of the joy of discovering them for yourself - and not even a Todal in full gleep could make me do that.
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting fairy tale for all ages
Review: It's hard to categorize "The Thirteen Clocks" -- is it a children's fairy tale? a book for grown-ups? Who cares? Readers from 5 to 95 will enjoy this wonderful book; the kids for the story and the adults for Thurber's marvelous way with words. It's a simple little fantasy tale of an abducted princess, a murderous duke, and the prince who comes to her rescue. And it starts off as all fairy tales should, with "Once upon a time..." Thurber brings us the beautiful Princess Saralinda, the Duke of Coffin Castle who was so cold that he managed to stop time one snowy night when all thirteen clocks in the castle stopped at ten minutes to five and never started again, and Prince Zorn of Zorna, who called himself Xingu, the prince whose name begins with X and doesn't, who is the one man who can defeat the duke's evil plans and rescue Saralinda. But Thurber's best invention by far is the Golux, a spaced-out wizard whose spells have a way of backfiring from time to time, who assists Zorn in his quest to save the princess. And there is a deliciously spooky, never-seen monster called the Todal, that "smells of old, unopened rooms and sounds like rabbits screaming", who is the cold duke's infernal weapon, and, ultimately, his nemesis. Thurber's way with words will leave you boggle-eyed. This is the quintessential read-aloud book and the kids love it. On the second or third reading they'll be chanting along with sentences like these: "The brambles and the thorns grew thick and thicker in a ticking thicket of bickering crickets..." And Thurber goes hogwild in making up all kinds of words that somehow managed to portray what he want to get across. When he tells us that the duke slits open his victims from their guggles to their zatches, you may not know exactly what is a guggle and what is a zatch, but you get the idea. And when the Todal gleeps while devouring a victim, we know just what Thurber is talking about. (Try going "gleep" way at the back of your throat and you'll see what I mean.) "The Thirteen Clocks" is full of dark humor and the illustrations by Marc Simont are right in character -- dark, haunting and yet comical at the same time. The book is a great mix of a good story, good characters, good writing, and just plain good fun.
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting fairy tale for all ages
Review: It's hard to categorize "The Thirteen Clocks" -- is it a children's fairy tale? a book for grown-ups? Who cares? Readers from 5 to 95 will enjoy this wonderful book; the kids for the story and the adults for Thurber's marvelous way with words. It's a simple little fantasy tale of an abducted princess, a murderous duke, and the prince who comes to her rescue. And it starts off as all fairy tales should, with "Once upon a time..." Thurber brings us the beautiful Princess Saralinda, the Duke of Coffin Castle who was so cold that he managed to stop time one snowy night when all thirteen clocks in the castle stopped at ten minutes to five and never started again, and Prince Zorn of Zorna, who called himself Xingu, the prince whose name begins with X and doesn't, who is the one man who can defeat the duke's evil plans and rescue Saralinda. But Thurber's best invention by far is the Golux, a spaced-out wizard whose spells have a way of backfiring from time to time, who assists Zorn in his quest to save the princess. And there is a deliciously spooky, never-seen monster called the Todal, that "smells of old, unopened rooms and sounds like rabbits screaming", who is the cold duke's infernal weapon, and, ultimately, his nemesis. Thurber's way with words will leave you boggle-eyed. This is the quintessential read-aloud book and the kids love it. On the second or third reading they'll be chanting along with sentences like these: "The brambles and the thorns grew thick and thicker in a ticking thicket of bickering crickets..." And Thurber goes hogwild in making up all kinds of words that somehow managed to portray what he want to get across. When he tells us that the duke slits open his victims from their guggles to their zatches, you may not know exactly what is a guggle and what is a zatch, but you get the idea. And when the Todal gleeps while devouring a victim, we know just what Thurber is talking about. (Try going "gleep" way at the back of your throat and you'll see what I mean.) "The Thirteen Clocks" is full of dark humor and the illustrations by Marc Simont are right in character -- dark, haunting and yet comical at the same time. The book is a great mix of a good story, good characters, good writing, and just plain good fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Once Upon A Time
Review: Predictable, but still a wonderful story. The pictures are an especially nice touch. Lighthearted, fun and funny. Should be more available.
Rating:
Summary: BEST read-aloud EVER! Excellent for a car trip!
Review: Read it aloud to your children, or you'll miss half the fun! Better yet, give each child a character's part to read. Who could resist with lines like "You may frighten Octopi to death, but not the Duke of Coffin Castle! En Garde, you Musty Sofa!"?
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