And to continue my vicious

And to continue my vicious editorializing, (we all know what I think of Nancy Stouffer), to balance heidi’s fairness, I’d like to include one of the reviews that a reader sent us from the Barnes & Noble Web site of Ms. Stouffer’s book. As the reader pointed out (and I wholeheartedly agree) this sickeningly sweet review can only be written by Nancy “N.K.” Stouffer herself. F.J. Lauver indeed – only Ms. Stouffer (or her lawyer) would call her book “historical” because she is going after the “all powerful” Warner Bros, Mattel, Hasbro, and J.K. Rowling herself and because she has received some news coverage in high profile publications. And as far as I can tell only one of these news outlets has had a reporter read and write a review of her book – and that’s the Associated Press. Read the AP review and the one below. Then form your own opinion.

FJ Lauver, a writer & historical researcher., May 10, 2001, (Five Stars)
A delightful fairytale with beautiful illustrations by the author.

To really appreciate ‘The Legend of Rah and the Muggles,’ Nancy Stouffer’s beautifully illustrated and brilliant reissue of her 1980s original, you need to place her work in the same context of any other writer you know nothing about. Most often in literature, you have a wonderful story and someone else does a wonderful job of illustrating the story, if indeed any illustrations are included at all. Stouffer has the rare talent of being both a good storyteller and a gifted illustrator. Starting with the dazzling, colorful book wrap, you will find a mythical castle which will instantly draw the attention and imagination of children. Immediately they will be transported to a magical place before they have even opened the cover. Inside are twelve high-quality, full color, and very delightful story pictures that are very unusual to be included in a children’s book. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book and children will love the harmless looking characters.

Inside, parents with weary eyes at the end of a work day, will love and appreciate the larger print that also makes it easy for their young children to follow along, an important step in learning to read. There is nothing frightening in this wonderful fairytale, but your children will protest when you tell them it’s time to go to sleep if you have not finished the book–it’s that interesting to the kids (adults will also find the book delightful). I won’t give away the story, but parents will also find a glossary of characters in the back and, if you haven’t received your money’s worth by now, also included is the sheet music to the ‘Muggles Bye.’ Nancy also has a musical background and has written songs, including this lullaby in the book.

Aside from ‘The Legend of Rah and the Muggles’ actually being a fantastic book for young children, you may also want to consider that this book is publishing history. This is the book and the author that has taken on a billion dollar publishing giant and refused to back down to protect what is rightfully hers. The author has made front page news around the world and has been discussed on most major broadcast talk shows. For that reason alone, it is a collector’s item–a must have book. By the way, this reprinted version does not have an activity book as did the old version. The old version, out of print version was not as good of printing quality as the reprint. Make sure you order the 2001 edition.

Get the new version, eh? Maybe we should try and order the old version since no one besides Ms. Stouffer has seen a copy of them and compare them to the covers, titles, and author name of the new ones.