Kfx.org.uk Review:
KFx Drug Consultancy Initiative - Learning of Substance - KFx is a drug consultancy initiative run by Kevin Flemen. It seeks to balance a large amount of common sense with up-to-date harm reduction and drug policy information.
Country: Europe, GB, United Kingdom
- J. Prather - A super squirrel with the heart of a poet.Flora and Ulysses is a fantastic read full of charm, humor, a pretty intense vocabulary, and most of all a great deal of heart. I am not surprised that the author who so thoroughly enchanted me with a mouse named Desperaux was able to charm me once again with a squirrel named Ulysses.
The characters in this novel are both quirky and believable, thanks to the author's effective use of dialogue and her always firm, intuitive grasp of the inner workings of a child's mind. When Ulysses lands in Flora's life, she is coping with her parents' divorce and a mother who never seems to have time for her. Her firm reliance on comic books as a means of escape from her dreadful home situation helps paint a picture of a young girl who is stubbornly self-reliant, a self-professed cynic, and incredibly lonely. She is fiercely intelligent, and it's her compassion and willingness to act that brings her into contact with Ulysses, a squirrel who finds himself endowed with super powers after being vacuumed up by a sweeper.
Ulysses has a poet's heart, typing out his feelings about things as varied as donuts, cats and his beloved round headed Flora. He is just beginning to form his own identity, having been awakened from a squirrel life that consisted mostly of thoughts about food. He is now contemplating Rilke and the beauty of words while he tries to evade his arch-nemesis - Flora's mom!
Flora is convinced that Ulysses is a superhero, but aside from saving her father from an irate cat, he doesn't do many things that are superhero-like. He does manage to save one young girl, a father who is floundering in depression, and maybe even a mom who has forgotten what is most important. I'm still annoyed at the evil mom, who never quite redeems herself.
The adults in Flora's family are pretty much worthless in this book, with the mom exhibiting absolutely no compassion for her daughter or her squirrel. Dad is too depressed to effect much change (until the very end), and even the next door neighbor is a bit of a scatterbrain. It's Flora that saves the day, along with her friend William and of course Ulysses. Even if the adults aren't much help, this is an empowering story for children that is sure to elicit many laugh out loud moments, and stay with them long after they reach the final page.
Finally, these aren't called The Illuminated Adventures for nothing! My advance copy did not contain all of the final art, but from what I was able to experience, I found the graphic aspects of the novel a perfect complement to DiCamillo's charming and witty text. There are plenty of standard illustrations and also around a dozen instances when the illustrations carry the tale, via a graphic novel style format. The most notable for me are the very beginning when we first meet the offending vacuum cleaner, and a series of panels that depict Ulysses flying over the city searching for his beloved Flora. I was thoroughly moved by the illustration depicting the reunion of Flora and Ulysses, and it wasn't even the final rendering!
I am going on far too long just to say that I truly loved Flora and Ulysses and am convinced it will be adding more awards to this author's already crowded shelf. This is a must read for any young person grades 3-6. - Audra Price - Great productPurchased this for my 9 year old for his bday. We went through 3 android tablets (cheap ones) and I decided to purchase this one and he loves it and I am loving it as well. I am more of android person and now thinking about Ipad Air.
- Cynical in NYC - Surprisingly EnlighteningSo I am probably one of the biggest skeptics when it comes to "love". I can't even say the word without air quotes or the usual rolling of the eyes. So the fact that I bought this book is a miracle unto itself. I must admit that what did get my attention was Matt's sexy Aussie accent on that horrific Ready for Love show (I didn't say I was cynical about bad reality TV!). He was honestly the only thing that kept me tuned in and to be 100% transparent I would DVR the show and only watch when Matt was speaking. So you get the drift that Matt lured me into this read, right !? I found myself wanting more of those male perspective nuggets of truth that made you feel like you were being let in on a massive secret. So i bought the book the next day after the second show aired. Now let's be honest this isn't rocket science here - we're talking about men- but there were so many ah ha moments in this book where Matt just breaks it down so simply that you have to respect his honesty and his seemingly obvious betrayal of the male sex and their dirty little secrets. I won't say that I'd follow this book verbatim and wield it around as my source of life and breathe but I did find myself proselytizing a bit to my fellow single friends at work about it and putting a lot of his principles into practice in my every day life. I even challenged friends to talk to five men during the week as he does in the book to help with our "odds" and its actually been kind of fun! (I'll expect my royalties in the mail for this brand ambassador -ship!)
Listen. I'm a native NY-er and cynical stubbornness is kind of in our DNA so any book and or motivational writer that gets me to read their "self help" book cover to cover, makes me tap into my good old common sense and make me feel like there is some small light at the end of the tunnel then they can get my vote and my positive review!
Thanks Matt for a very entertaining and enlightening read. I'll let ya know if there is a decent man to be found In the Big Apple. ;) - Whitegirl - love this product!Very happy with this product, I highly suggest if you have a sweet tooth this is not for you. I love the taste but most will complain that it is not packed with the sugar they love. It looks disgusting and is a little bit grainy but what do you expect from something that is by far one of the healthiest meal replacements available. If you want to feel better, get over the taste and drink it.