Hello, Is Anybody There?

Rating:
Summary: It helped me and my daughter
Review: I love Jostein Gaarder's works. But this one is really special. Because it helps me a lot to explain about the universe, the world, to my little daughter, in a very fascinating way. And yet so easy to understand. Mostly for children under 9 years old. I bought an extra copy from Amazon just to give it to my best friend, so she can enjoy the same experience like me and my daughter. Thank you Jostein!

Rating:
Summary: It helped me and my daughter
Review: I love Jostein Gaarder's works. But this one is really special. Because it helps me a lot to explain about the universe, the world, to my little daughter, in a very fascinating way. And yet so easy to understand. Mostly for children under 9 years old. I bought an extra copy from Amazon just to give it to my best friend, so she can enjoy the same experience like me and my daughter. Thank you Jostein!

Rating:
Summary: Jostein Gaarder's ~The Little Prince~
Review: When I first picked up this book I was expecting a short and yet very philosophical book on the views that we have on the world in a general sense. Seeing as this book is by Jostein Gaarder I was very surprised when I opened up the book and found that the letters were at least a cm long! But the text doesn't prove the books reading level does it? So I carried on reading in hope of finding something interesting. But the book started in a way that I thought was familiar-the book started in a way any elementary book would start. The cover is covered with bright colors and illustrations and the inside of the book is decorated now and again with pretty line drawings of animals and various characters in the book.

The story is told in an interesting way so if you read the book directly whilst ignoring the blurb on the book then you'll be confused whilst reading the very first page. "Dear Camilla," it starts. From this you can tell it's in the format of a letter. The story itself which is explained in the letter is about eight year old Joe who is about to become a big brother. The letter is written when Joe is now an 'uncle' and he writes to his niece, Camilla (his baby brother's daughter) about his experience the day his little brother (Camilla's father) was born. Whilst Joe parents are at the hospital waiting for the new baby to arrive and Joe has to stay home alone until his aunt comes. When looking outside the window Joe spots a tiny little boy hanging upside down in an apply tree in the garden. This little boy does not have any features that can be called human but both he and Joe are very alike. Mika has accidently fallen out of his spaceship and needs to go back home but he has so much he wants to know about planet earth. Joe explains everything to him about how dinosaurs roamed the earth and what a telephone is aswell as teaching Mika how to fish too. And the Mika tells Joe about his home. Mika is from Eljo, where babies hatch out of eggs and how the water in Eljo got so polluted that there is no longer any water or mammals. They talk about a lot of things and learn a great deal from each other. About how questions are more precious than answers and why gravity doesn't exist on every planet.

"Hello? Is Anybody There?" is the perfect book to read to your children etc and a wonderful book to give as a presant to anyone. Anyone over the age of 7 should find this book interesting to read. It's in the style of "The Little Prince" and has conversations that remind you of "Alice in Wonderland". I certainly enjoyed it by the end of the book-do give it a go.

::::EXTRACT::::
The next moment, here was a small boy hanging in the apple tree. "Who are you?" he asked.
"My name's Joe," I said.
"And I'm Mika. Why are you standing upside down?" I couldn't help laughing. He suddenly stuck a thumb into his mouth and began to suck it like a baby. Maybe he was embarrassed.

"You're the one who's upside down," I said. Mika pulled the thumb out of his mouth, and all his fingers began to wave. "When two people meet," he said, "and one is upside down, it isn't always easy to tell which of them is the right way up."

Rating:
Summary: Philosophy in simplicity
Review: Yes, this may be a children's book but for adults, the insights are invaluable and worth the read. Besides explaining simple stuff like our 5 senses, it attempts to introduce simple philosophies in life which both adult and children can appreciate.

The fantasy tale makes this an easy read but the lessons learned are definitely not child's play. "An answer is always the stretch of road tha's behind you. Only a quetion can point the way forward". Simple but nontheless true words of wisdom.

In the story, Gaarder explains the fundamental...... things can be so alike that they are different. You and me could be alike but the experiences we share each day are different and no 2 days are ordinary 'cause they are diffrent.

Read Gaarder - he makes you think and reflect on the fundamental things we may too occupied with our daily lives to think about.