Festivals Books

We really enjoy this series- we read to our 5 & 3 year old boys
each night...just two or three chapters. They love the MT stories.
Easy reading.

Mary Pope Osborne has done it again with this book. A great book for children.

I love the magic tree house series!!! I greatly enjoy reading these with my daughter!!!! Keep bringing them on.............mommytess

If you like adventure books, than read this book. This book is about three kids who go to a castle and try to help a family, while trying not to be too scared. This is a really good book for anyone to curl up and read. It also has easy text for young readers to read and understand. Maybe you will like this book if you read it too.

Book review of
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve


If you like magical places this is the book for you. The ages are 7-11. Jack, and Annie, and teddy have to finish a mission. That they were assigned by sorcer. They have to restore a castles order.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy have to restore a castle to normal. Jack is the leader. Annie helps and takes to animals. Teddy is a young sorcer. Teddy has rims to make the magic work.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy have to work together to save the castle. Teddy comes up with a plan to get the diamond. Jack found the diamond right away and flew to the castle. They help each other to protect the diamond. These three have to work together to over come obstacle.
The story takes place in a castle, tree house, and a nest. The castle is hunted. The tree house is failed with books. It can also transport you almost any ware. The nest is failed with jewelry and rare items.
Jack and Annie have to get back. Sometimes supped up on the ledge. It was the raven king. He had Teddy in a bird cage. You will have to read it to find the rest out.

This was the favorite Christmas book of my childhood, and remains the favorite with my children too.

great story book for children. reprint of original from 1950s. recommend as holiday reading with children.

the book is okay, the stories are short, and the drawings aren't that great, a lot of the drawings are in black and white too

This book is a must-have for your children's Christmas story collection, a great choice for snuggling up at night during the holidays with your family. It's filled with lots of classic tales about Christmas, and some that have been faded in the cultural memory, but which are well worth sharing. My children particularly enjoyed the tale of the Babushka, searching for the little child who was born on Christmas night. There is a wonderful variety of stories to choose from, and a well-rounded treasury to appeal to both boys and girls alike.

The Tall stories are really cute and creative. I'm glad to have discovered the book.

This gentle story, told in simple rhyme, shows animals in a stable getting ready for a special guest. The block-print art, rich in earth-tones, gives a humble and loving feel to the scene. Each animal does what it can to prepare the stable, and when Mary and Joseph arrive, the animals stand in hushed anticipation. The final page shows all the animals gathered around the new baby Jesus, saying, "Welcome, welcome to our house!" A perfect read-aloud for little ones.

My toddler class loved this book. They loved the repetition and every time I'd read the line "Who is coming to our house?" they'd yell Jesus!! It is a great story told from the animals' perspective and a wonderful addition to any preschooler's library!

A wonderful little board book for the little ones. Nice size for them to handle! The Christmas story from the viewpoint of the stable animals is special. The colors are eye catching. Highly recommended!

This book is a favorite for my two pre-school-aged children. We read it year-round.

The rhymes of the tale are engaging. (I love the oft repeated line: "Someone, someone," says Mouse.)

My only quibble with the book is the art work. It is not to my taste, though I think that that is more a matter of personal preference than anything else.

I am SO SICK of this book. I have to read it over and over and over again all day long. My daughter (17 months) will pull it from the bottom of a pile of books and bring it to me to read. On the final page she pats the baby's face and says "Baby. Baby." It's a very sweet little book and worth getting; your child will love it.

A wildly creative/artistic romp through Cuban Miami's Calle Ocho festival in Little Havana. Feisty, strong Cubanita tumbadora player's drum sounds leap off the pages. Your children (and you)will fall in love with Chavi and want to start speaking Spanish, drumming, and dancing merengue! Tender, heart-felt bilingual story (written in Spanish and English) about a drummer girl who shows the world that unlike what her teacher, family and barrio friends think, Cuban girls CAN and SHOULD be able to play tumbadoras!

A must buy for kids who love fun stories that inspires them to think critically, create, and perform. For Latino/Cuban book collectors, parents who want to teach their children Spanish or English, libraries, teachers of ESL, music teachers, performance art teachers, and for anyone interested in Latino cultures, particularly the Miami Cuban working-class culture.

FUNTASTIC!

Finally, a book about two dynamic Latino girl characters. The determination of Chavi, against all odds, to play the congas in the Little Havana Calle Ocho Festival will have you rooting for her. You can practically feel, smell and touch everything in her barrio; this is due to the vibrant, lively writing and the wild colorful artwork. Your kids will love Chavi and view her as a little barrio heroine.

Mayra Dole's character, Chavi, is a touching, vibrant, young female character you will want to introduce to your children. In fact, Chavi is so "touching" that she can't keep her hands from tap-tap-tapping everything that she comes in contact with. Chavi is a drummer in a culture where girls are not supposed to drum. Despite the strong forces trying to stop her, Chavi perseveres and lives out her dream. This book will give you a taste of Miami and its unique blends of cultures. Beautifully illustrated and written in both Spanish and English, this is a story that will most certainly...touch you.

Rhythmic as a conga beat. Highly entertaining, motivates critical thinking, strong/fun girl characters, jam-packed with Cuban culture, and my 2nd grade class loves it! 10 stars! A++

Cuban-American Chavi has such character and spunk. Your children will fall in love with her conga sounds/passion for perseverance/spunky attitude/and the cartoon-like, wild illustrations. A must buy for anyone interested in exposing children to ethnic cultures set in US communities/barrios and Spanish & English language.

I too stumbled upon this book as a child and was completely enchanted by the story and characters. I hadn't read it for more than 30 years, but recently bought a copy to read to my children (girl 9, boy 7, girl 4) It hasn't lost any of its magic - I'm enjoying it as much as they are. It includes so many of their favorite things, magic, witches, mermaids, babies - and it blends real and imaginary worlds in the same way that they are blended in the minds of children.

One of my favorite childhood books. I bought this for my niece. I'm sure she will love it as much as I did. A perfect book for young girls with big imaginations!

Forty years before Harry Potter, there was Hannah.

Bookstore displays which feature "if you like Harry Potter you might like these" should place this book and LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea" in prominent view.

What is most satisfying about this story is that it is simultaneously real and imaginary; the events take place, but are also somewhat directed and controlled by the imaginations of the two human girls at their drawing table in Washington, so that, in a way, they are witches too. This is the same premise as Pamela Dean's "Secret Country", and creates the same complications. But this book is easier for much younger children to read, making a good introduction to the concepts.

This was out of Estes' usual territory, and she handled it with both silly fun and knowledgeable grace. Ardizzone's done his homework as well; look at the posters on the walls at Hannah's school. I would give this to any child six years old and up.

This is my all time favorite childhood book. I originally bought the soft cover at the Salvation Army for a quarter. I read it so many times, that it's falling apart. I now purchased the hardcover and look forward to reading this book to my daughter (who, by the way, was almost named Hannah).

The Witch Family is about two girls who while drawing witches pretend to banish the head witch, also known as Old Witch, to a glass hill because she is very wicked. If you multiply the "Old" with one million, you get some idea of how old she was! The girls also let Old Witch do her abracadabra so that she can have a witch girl named Hannah and a witch baby. Old Witch gets to be wicked only on Halloween. At the end, the two girls take pity on Old Witch and turn the glass hill into a real hill with grass. After that, Old Witch is not wicked anymore except on Halloween. I think this is a good book to read on Halloween.

I picked this book up for me because of the beautiful artwork. The detail, color and composition make you wish you could take a seat in the woods and experience the forest first hand. But then, I realized this book also caught the attention of my son. At 12 months old, he began to bring books to my husband and I to read, and this was one of his selections often. To my delight, a few months later, he started imitating the actions of stretching, yawning, sneezing and scratching as I read. At 18-months old, he still gets excited to read this book, and I still love studying the artwork (to find the well-hidden McCue (the artist) signatures)...I've only found a few when there's a bouncing boy on your lap.

I love reading this book to my boys! We love the beautiful illustrations but I have no idea how to find the hidden McCues. At first I thought, is it that mouse? But he only makes a couple of appearances...it can't be the ladybugs and grasshoppers because those are obvious, so I guess they are actual words...but I have yet to find one!

The book and pictures are nice, but it is the puzzle of finding the 13 hidden "McCue" words painted into the pictures that is great. It usually takes me about 30 minutes to read this book to my kid because I spend so long straining my eyes to find the hidden words. Perhaps I need to upgrade from the board book version I have that has such small illustrations!

This is just the most precious book. The illustrations are beautiful and the story invites interaction with the child by having them make the sounds in the story, such as a bee buzzing or a sneeze. I can't imagine anyone not loving this book. But don't get all sentimental about bunnies and run out and get one for your young child- they require a lot of space and adult attention to be happy, so stick to the pictures in the book, unless you do your research on caring for bunnies and have lots of extra time on your hands (and who does, with young children?)

My 23 month old daughter LOVES this book - the first time I read it, she wanted to hear it again. I act out all the noises and actions in the book, and she thinks it's a charm. Highly recommended - I love Lisa McCue's illustrations.

This book has fantastic artwork and a wonderful story. Although written for younger children, it's appeal holds for all generations. The story is simple, but interesting, and teaches children to be honest and respectful. This story will be especially enjoyable for Corgi lovers, as Corgis are the main characters, along with cats, bunnies, and Bogarts.

I am a big fan of Tasha Tudor. I have read that this is her favorite work so this is the book I always give as a new baby gift. Every child and every adult should own a copy of this book.
The story is clever and fun with lots of animal action for little ones to enjoy. The art is Tasha at her best. Every page has so much to see. Like all of the Tasha Tudor books, this one provides REAL art fo children to enjoy and learn to appreciate.

We own many, many, many children's books and all 7 of our children agree this is the very best one! Everyone should own it, just to see how enchanted Corgies really are and to see the fun at the Corgiville Fair. We also really like the rabbits who are diving into the pond and the use of chickens in the place of horses is to funny!

This fills both interests:
#1. illustrated AND written by my favorite illustrator
#2. it's all about Corgies
Thank you. It is lovery!

Nothing pleases me more than to open the pages of "Corgiville Fair" and marvel at Ms Tudor's ability to create a magical, mythical world of corgis, goats, cats, bunnies and boggarts. The story is so dear, the illustrations are truly inspired, and the boggarts are personalities a reader will never forget. This is a treasure for any child's or adult's library; as a child I wanted nothing more than to be able to live 'west of New Hampshire and east of Vermont' in the wonderful, cozy world of Corgiville.

I forgot how long Curious George books are. I remembered them being short when I was a kid. Anyway, my 4 year loves the cartoon and show on PBS so I thought I would give these a try. She really likes these books w/ CD. She can follow along on her own. Audio and Narrators are very good. My 4 year old has a long attention span. Some of these books can be up to 30 minutes. If your child cannot sit still that long, it may not be for you.

I bought this set for my 4 year old boy. Little did I know that this would also be a mommy sanity saver gift as well. I gave this to my little boy with a cd player to enjoy. On the first day he opened it, I had forgotten that he was in the house beacause he was so quiet, for a whole hour. And well my little boy is like Curious George, always into something. So for him to be quiet and out of trouble for an hour was a glorious event in my house. He enjoys the book and cd so much that now it's his own little word of reading and enjoying. He even brings it in the car to take with him to enjoy. What an incredible gift this turned out to be. I highly recommend to anyone. I will definitely keep on my list to buy again as Birthday presents in the future. Trust me all your friends with thank you endlessly.

My Grandson loves Crious George and I am always satisfied with my purchases from Amazon.

Tells when they need to turn the page. My 4 yr old loves it. Him and my 2 yr old love Curious George!

We use books on cd as an alternative to using a dvd player in the car... and these cd's work perfectly for that! The narrator tells you what the picture is on the page where the story starts if you want to follow along with the book (which my kids sometimes do). I like that they have the sound that lets you know when to turn the page (if you choose that track, every other track has the page turn sounds)... some kids' books on cd/tape don't do that and if you have a kid that isn't a reader yet, it makes it harder to follow along without a reader's assistance. These are also great for bedtime... we will read one story, then turn out the lights and the kids can go to sleep to another one (without the page turning sounds).

I wish that all kids collections were available like this one.

Wonderful is too weak a superlative to describe this book. Written in a factual style and incorporating historical events such as Peary's trek to the North Pole, it is one of the most delightful stories about Christmas ever written. There is also a detailed account of the land expedition by Will Steger, the only man to actually see Santa's village at the North Pole.
The chapters are:

*) The reindeer by the river: It was a wondrous thing. In which the author tells of his search for the true Santa Claus.
*) The echo of hooves: Searching for yesteryear's reindeer. In which Santa's history is detailed, past adventures are recounted.
*) The North Pole today: On the roof of the world. In which the kingdom is visited, the elfin life is described.
*) The miracle of reindeer flight: Mysteries explained, science revealed. In which the way he does things he does is discussed.
*) Eight tiny reindeer (Plus one): Santa's starting team and his helpers. In which a host of heroic animals and people are met.
*) Like down on a thistle, evermore: Work that never ends. In which the future of Santa Claus and his mission is pondered.

The spirit of Santa Claus within the concept of Christmas is a powerful one, in this book you can capture some of that spirit and appreciate the strength of the man and his mission.

I have this book, with some handwritten annotations. The author got a couple facts wrong, but then I used to be in the Air Force, worked in many. many different command posts and operational centers, and well somethings are still classified. Some good guessing and all!

Cute book, I love it, my husband, a "Santa Helper" loves it, our teens liked it (really!) and the few copies I have given as gifts were very well received.

If you have older kids this is a great book.

I have the movie with Bridges and Thomas and I love it. It is called "The Christmas Secret" it is suppose to be taken from part of the book "Flight of the Reindeer" I don't know if that is true or not. Because I did not buy the book yet.

There is a Santa Claus! This is an amazing book, written in documentary style about the existence of Santa and his reindeer. It is a delightful addition to anybody's coffee table at Christmas time or any time. I really love his description of how he found Rudolph, and how he guided the team that one year, a small reindeer with a big heart. The description of the reindeer's year is fascinating!

This book will warm the hearts of Virginias everywhere. Yes, there is a Santa Claus!

I found this a long time ago in a bargain bin for $2. I *love* this book--it's one of my all-time favorite books. Although I haven't put up a tree in years, it's now a tradition to read this book every year. It puts me in the Christmas spirit--and adds realism, proof and perspective to the Christmas mission.

Buy it and make your own family tradition.

Each year I add a Christmas book to each of my grandchildren's collections. This book is right at the top of my list of fine collectible childrens books.
Not only did Grandma enjoy the incredible art work and stories but so did each of our five grandchildren and their parents. The book was read repeatedly throughout the holiday season. I know this book will be treasured and brought out every Christmas for many years in our family.

Alice Topp

Wonderful detailed illustrations that children as well as adults love. We already were familiar with some of the stories by her that appear in the Treasury, are thrilled that she compiled them all into one book!

Every Christmas Eve, I started a tradition of giving my son a new keepsake hard cover picture book that we can share and read together every Christmas thereafter. After searching for this year's special book, I found this treasure..the artwork is beautifully illustrated and the stories are wonderful and make for a good cozy night cuddling up with my son and a hot cup of cocoa and sharing the magic inside the book's cover. Would very highly recommend this book as a keepsake for Christmas' to come.

We Love this book. The stories are lovely. The art work is amazing. My daughter loves how it shows what will happen next in the little circles on the side of the page. This is a large book but I love having the collection in one place. It makes it a special read together book.

great illustrations. But the content has very little with Christmas as christians understand it. It is just a usual secular staff about Santa and joys of winter.